#and I can't just one shot them all with raptor

[highwaytothedangerzone502]

Foxtrot Alpha Alpha - Chapter 4

Pairing: Hangman x Female OC

Word Count: 2243

Warnings: Discussion of pregnancy complications

Summary: Hangman learned his lesson a long time ago to never show his true feelings when someone's words or actions hurt him. To do so showed weakness that could be exploited, and Seresin men couldn't show weakness. Of course, there was an exception to every rule, and Jake's always came in the form of women, three in particular: his mom, Juliette Kazansky, and the girl whose name he could no longer bring himself to speak. She was the girl that got away; she was his biggest 'what if' and his biggest regret; she would forever be the ghost that haunted his dreams. Jake believed that's where she'd stay, for he would surely never see her again after what he did.

Or so he thought.

Notes: This is the sequel to India Lima Yankee; I'm using the same callsign for the Female OC as in Ghost Story because I just really like it, but they are different characters; chapters in italics are flashbacks.

Chapter Songs: It's Nice to Have A Friend Skin & Bones

****

Juliette

"So let me get this straight-" Ghost said, steepling her fingers and staring down Rooster and Juliette- "in the span of essentially two and a half weeks, you two have a not-so-happy reunion at the Hard Deck, get wrapped up in a special training detachment to take care of a secret uranium enrichment site, your trainer was Maverick, who was also at odds with Rooster, so I know that couldn't have been a good reunion, and you two start making up somewhere in between."

"You've got it so far," Rooster confirmed, taking a swig of his beer. It was the next day, and the couple had had Ghost over for dinner for a proper catch-up without the other Daggers overhearing all the nitty gritty details of Rooster and Juliette's story.

"Okay, and then Jules, you nearly died when Coyote went in G-lock, Phoenix and Bob crashed right after but thankfully survived, and while you were waiting to hear about them, your dad died, you had his funeral, you two get back together that same evening, your brothers pulled some strings to make sure you get on the carrier with the Daggers, and then you-" Ghost pointed a firm finger at Rooster- "get shot out of the sky going back for Maverick, steal an enemy plane, nearly get shot down again, Seresin saves your life, you land on the carrier with no landing gear, and propose to Juliette once you crawl out of the trashed jet?"

"Yeah, that about covers it."

"And you find out your pregnant with twins Christmas Day?" Juliette and Rooster confirmed with a nod. Ghost massaged the sides of her head. "Jesus Christ. When you told me you had a lot to catch me up on, I wasn't expecting so much of it to happen in two and a half weeks."

"Looking back on it? Yeah, it was a whirlwind," Juliette admitted, resting her hands on her growing belly. Three months along, and she barely showed. She thought being pregnant with twins would make her bump more prominent, but that wasn't the case. At least, not for her. Juliette tried not to worry about it, but sometimes that doubt would creep in. 

"I can't even begin to- that's crazy! But I'm so, so happy for y'all!" Ghost exclaimed, her eyes alight with excitement. "Is it boys? Girls? One of each?"

"One of each," Juliette confirmed, petting Raptor on the head when he rested it in her lap. Looking at her ever-faithful German Shepherd, she asked, "Do you and your brother need to go out?"

Lightning barked in confirmation from behind Raptor. Juliette started to push herself up, but Rooster placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "I've got it."

He whistled for the boys to follow him, which they did willingly. Juliette got up anyway, needing to refill her water glass. Ghost joined her, getting more banana bread for the two of them.

"So," Jules began, "that's all that's been happening with me. What's been going on with you?"

"Not anything near as exciting as what you've been through. Really, it's just missions. Although I did get put in hack for buzzing the tower-"

Juliette snorted. "Oh my God, you didn't."

"Admiral Cain was up there. I was legally obligated to. Cyclone was up there too, though, so I felt bad for him."

"How recently was this?"

"About a year ago."

"You're lucky Cyclone likes you so much."

"Outside of my mom being who she is, I really don't know why. I'm certainly not the poster child for the Navy."

Juliette studied her friend carefully. "He's seen you grow up, Annalise. One mistake isn't going to make him hate you. You weren't always so-"

"Reckless?" Ghost suggested, smiling weakly. "After the accident, the Navy treated me differently, like I was less than I was before. I guess it got to me more than I realized because I started acting up. Word got back to Mom, she talked to Cyclone, who talked to me, and things got a little bit back on track."

"But not completely?"

"No, but that-" Ghost handed Juliette her slice of banana bread- "is not of importance. I'll be fine. I always am. Have you had a baby shower yet?"

"No," Juliette said, noticing the sudden shift in topic. "Haven't even had a chance to think about one. Not between work, being pregnant, and slowly trying to plan what I can for the wedding."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Not really, but I am having a get-together with Phoenix, Maria, Halo, and Firefly this weekend. I want you to come! I meant to ask you last night, but the terrible friend I am, it completely slipped my mind."

"Give me a time and place, and I'll be there!"

"Serẽa at the Hotel del Coronado this Saturday at six? It's my treat. I want to hang out with my girls."

Ghost whistled. "You're not kidding, are you? Well, count me in. It'll be nice to see them and to be around girlfriends again."

"It's good to have you back, Annalise. I missed having you around."

Ghost smiled appreciatively. "I missed you too. I'm sorry I didn't stay in touch more."

"No apology necessary. We're both busy with our own lives and careers, and we always pick up right where we left off when we do talk."

The back door swung open, and the dogs entered with Rooster on their heels, saying, "Who are the bestest boys in the world? Do you want treats for being such good boys?"

Lightning barked excitedly, causing the girls to laugh. Ghost knelt down to pet the dogs, but they ignored her until after Rooster gave them treats. Only when he showed his empty hands did the dogs turn their affections to Ghost, licking her on the face and turning her white shirt black with their hair, making Juliette remark, "I'll get you a lint roller before you leave."

"Ah, no need. The wind will blow it off when I head home. Speaking of which-" Ghost stood and cracked her neck- "I should be heading back. It's great seeing both of you, and if either of you needs anything, and I mean anything, don't hesitate to call, okay?"

Ghost hugged Juliette and Rooster tightly, kissed the dogs goodbye, and then headed out the door. With the departure of her friend, sleepiness started settling in over Juliette. Without a word, she shuffled to her bedroom. There, she took a quick shower, dried her hair, put on some comfy PJs, and then slipped into bed. Rooster soon joined her, stripping off his shirt and sliding under the covers. He rolled onto his side and placed a gentle hand on her belly.

"Have they started moving yet?" he asked, propping himself up on his elbow.

"No, not yet. It should be any day now, though. At least I know to expect it. I had one coworker who didn't know she was pregnant until she felt something move in her stomach. Turns out she was six months pregnant."

"How could she not tell before?!"

"Sometimes that happens."

"That's- that's terrifying. Can you imagine not knowing you were pregnant right now?"

"I mean-" Juliette briefly lifted her hand to glance at her bulging stomach- "I don't know much else that would explain that bump outside of weight gain, but no, I couldn't. That reminds me, what is that stuff underneath the sheet in the back of the Bronco?"

"Supplies to make the kids' room. Paint, brushes, etc."

"Do you need any help?"

"No, I'll be fine, but even if I do, you shouldn't be anywhere near those fumes. I can ask someone else."

Juliette smiled. "Ask Ghost or Hangman. I think they're almost as excited as us about the twins."

At that, Rooster laughed. "Hangman and I would probably kill each other before we got anything done. I'll stick with Ghost or Maverick. Speaking of, I knew you and Ghost were acquaintances, but I didn't know you were so close."

Juliette bit back a smile and feigned innocence, having a solid idea of where this conversation was going. "Oh, yeah. I noticed a creep following her in the store, so I approached her, pretending I knew her. Ironically, it turns out we did. We ended up chatting for a couple hours while we were in Target and exchanged numbers and then met up for lunch a few days later. We clicked, hit it off, and the rest was history."

"I see... hey, uh, I don't- maybe she told you, maybe she didn't, and you have absolutely nothing to worry about because I would never-"

"Is this about you sleeping with her after Top Gun?" 

Rooster blanched. "It was a drunken one-night stand, I promise. I'd just seen you at Top Gun and was drinking away my sorrows, Ghost was dealing with her own shit, and-"

"I know. She told me the same thing. If your stories differed, then I'd be more concerned, but they don't. Ghost was as mortified as you are right now when she found out who you were to me. If you say there's nothing for me to worry about, then I'm not worried."

"Good. I just- I can't- I don't want to mess this up again between us."

"Bradley, there was fault on both our sides for what happened. We agreed that it's water under the bridge, and it's going to stay that way, okay?" Juliette pulled his lips down to hers, hoping to convey her love and trust in him through the kiss since words apparently weren't doing the job properly.

"India Lima Yankee," Rooster mumbled against her lips, hand reaching up to caress her face. She lovingly repeated the words back to him. He finally rested his head beside hers but didn't close his eyes. "When's your next appointment?"

"Not for another few weeks. I'll have to double-check on the date."

"Let me know. I want to try and go."

Juliette raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you going to interrogate my doctor again?"

"I was not interrogating her! I was simply asking her very pointed questions that required perfect explanations."

"Rooster."

He sighed. "Fine, yes, maybe it was a small interrogation on my part."

"Honey, what's got you so worried about this? I know you don't trust doctors after what happened with your mom, but something tells me there's more at play here."

"I might've freaked myself out reading up on the different types of pregnancy complications online after you fainted at Christmas. I didn't realize there were so many! You already have anemia, but did you know you could have gravidarum, which could hospitalize you? You could get an infection that could hurt you and our babies, you could have pre-eclampsia, or worse, eclampsia, you could have a stillborn or a miscarriage, you could get depression or anxiety or both-"

"I'm getting anxiety now hearing you list everything out," Juliette jokingly interrupted, rolling onto her side to face him. "Bradley, I'm in perfect health. The anemia is because I have two babies growing inside of me. It's not a sign of anything worse, I promise. And if, for whatever reason, I do encounter a serious pregnancy complication or think something is wrong, you will be the first to know."

Juliette could see the gears turning in his head, the skepticism in his eyes, the urge to argue with her, but he bit his tongue. "I trust you."

"Good. Now, I have a pointed question of my own to ask you."

"Which is?"

"What the hell is going on between Hangman and Ghost? Neither of them will tell me, and they purposefully change the subject whenever I try to lead them in that direction. What gives?"

Rooster grimaced. "I don't know much, but it has to do with how Hangman got his callsign."

"Didn't you give him his callsign?"

"Unintentionally. I didn't intend for it to stick... I don't know what happened, but I know Hangman was in the air when Ghost and her WSO had to eject. It's not the first time that happened to him, so I called him a 'hangman.' It was once, but someone overheard, repeated it, and before I knew it, his callsign went from 'Texas' to 'Hangman,' and I couldn't undo the damage. I didn't like him back then, but I could see it got to him, even if he hid it well. Whatever happened between them, Hangman caused Ghost a lot of pain, and she wants to hate him for it but can't bring herself to fully do so."

"How do you know?"

"She treats Hangman almost the same way I did Maverick."

"Do you see reconciliation for them in the near future?"

"Without knowing the full extent of what happened, I can't say for certain, but my gut instinct is no. They have history, but it's different from ours. They're not going to make up and get engaged in two weeks."

Juliette chuckled. "I doubt most people would have a history or story like ours," she said, yawning and closing her eyes. "I think I'm fading. Wake me up before you leave in the morning?"

He placed a gentle kiss on her head. "Of course. India Lima Yankee."

Juliette thought she murmured it back, but exhaustion overtook her too quickly to be certain, and she fell into a deep sleep, her dreams plagued with nightmares of pregnancy complications.

****

Tags: @lgg5989 @shanimallina87 @polikszena @summ3rlotus @icemansgirl1999 @supernaturaldawning @thedarkinmansfield @lyannaforpresident @lapilark @getmyprettynameoutofyourmouth @simpofthecentury @shadeops21 @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @double-j @bradshawsandbridgetons @majdoline @catsandgeekyandnerd @peachiicherries @multifandomcnova @fandomsstolemylife00 @bookloverhorses @mak-32 @midnightmagpiemama @luckyladycreator2

Chapters: Chp 1 Chp 2 Chp 3 Chp 4

If you're on the tag list, it's because I copied from the India Lima Yankee tag list. If you don't wish to be tagged for this story, just let me know! If you're not on the tag list and want to be, comment below :)

#top gun #top gun fic #maverick #rooster #hangman #phoenix #bradley bradshaw #iceman #bob #jake seresin #coyote #payback #fanboy #omaha #yale #halo #fritz #harvard #tg2 #tgm #top gun maverick #fanfic #jake seresin X oc #pregnancy

[toskarin]

a few months back i sent an ask asking about extraterrestrial life in vesalblood (here) and the answer was basically "aliens aren't a thing" but 1. i got the impression you were talking specifically about sentient life, so, is there non-sentient alien life, like how it's theorized there might be aquatic creatures on europa? 2. elaborate on the "eldritch things and monsters"

to answer the second question first, that's something that won't really be gotten into for a while, so I can't post an answer for it

as for the first,

so, with alien life in general, it's kind of a grey area. enough time has passed to the point where it's clear that terraforming of certain planets did occur, but it's not clear exactly what it entailed and what might have existed before

this is a pretty lightly detailed aspect of the setting, just by virtue of how little it comes up. all that means is that it's more "islands" of lore than a full setting primer

for a quick slice of the kind of thing that exists, see below the break

mars (called irra at this point) is actually more habitable than earth (kishar, at this point), but has a major downside: it's not actually liveable for the majority of people longterm, outside the major city walls

there isn't really a canon name for the specific phenomenon yet (it's literally noted as "mars predators" in my setting notes) but irra has a problem with how quickly things there seem to adapt. when irra was resettled, a lot of refugees picked up their lives to do it. there now exist several distinct species of (mostly non-flying) avian-like creatures that rapidly evolved against the pressures of high-tech human colonists and high grade military weapons

irra now has a much more sparse population, simply because the wilderness kills most things that go into it. armoured vehicles are quickly pried open like cans of sardines, packs of predators quickly learn how to combat any given firearm, and ambushes regularly take out trade routes that don't travel through orbit

as social animals, they periodically mobilise in enormous flocks to attack smaller settlements. they eat things other than humans, but get a lot of enrichment from pursuing something that intelligent

that being said, the predator problem is still fundamentally just an animal problem. there exist plenty of frontier towns and unofficial cities that seem to be doing well enough, but they're prone to rapidly ceasing to exist. the larger cities, with the full might of their respective subnational entities behind them, fare much better

kishar dynasts find the flightless raptor-like ones, about the size of a small dog, charming. they have beautiful enough plumage to allow one to forgive their horrible teeth, provided you can muzzle one. their ownership is technically prohibited, but like so many other things in kishar, it's largely overlooked if it's not causing problems for the families or their image

that being said, the nobles do castrate their pets. there's not a particular concern around invasive species, given that the only spaceports are in the larger cities. anyone who might have their own means of breaking orbit would be subject to being shot down by the orbital defence arrays

(provided, of course, they couldn't get through on diplomatic privilege)

#boyfriendofsteel #vesalblood

[homeofhousechickens]

Hi Dezi

Just a quick note to say thank you for your reassuring note and advice.

The weasel incident was devastating and I think we're fortunate that two girls actually survived despite their injuries.

We live in a predator-rich location in the Scottish Highlands. We know we have foxes & stoats - we've seen them - along with red kites, buzzards and other raptors. We know also that pine martens were/are nearby, although we've seen no sign of them on our property since an adjacent plantation was clear-felled last year. Whikst here are badgers near us too, the nearest sett is well over a mile away, and our immediate environment isn't that attractive to them.

We genuinely thought our defences were fairly robust. What I didn't realise was that the back door of the Solway coop had warped, leaving a narrow gap at the bottom. That's where the attacker got in and back out again. The hallmark injuries were pure mustelid, as was the killing frenzy. The gap was less than an inch, and I can't think of anything that would fit through there apart from a weasel.

Repairs are done, albeit late. I'm still beating myself up for not noticing it, even though I would still have missed it had it not been for tell-tale blood and feathers stuck to the door where the beastie exited.

In some ways, we were lucky. A neighbouring croft lost their entire flick of over 30 hens in a single pine marten visit. Another neighbour lost all their birds to a fox in another hit. Several locals have had to replace their flocks, in some cases two or three times over the years because of pine martens.

We had to accept the risk when we started keeping hens. I just didn't think it would be so emotionally punishing, and having to despatch my girls hurt more, but not as much as finding them in need of that.

I'm currently building a new hen house where we'll be rearing several rare and endangered breeds. We hope to increase that if we can achieve success this year. We're working with a breeder who simply cannot keep up with all the orders she has and it's good to know that we'll be making a contribution to keeping some of these breeds from dying out entirely.

The two injured girls are improving steadily. One Eye isn't one-eyed any longer; she has both open and is able to range about her pen without difficulty. The dark one improves too. She stays in the coop most of the time; her injuries make her limp badly,but she regularly appears at the pop hole to see what's going on. They're both feeding and drinking well, and I have one more shot of antibiotics left for each of them. They're both very much alert. I think I can be cautiously optimistic.

Now we need to find another rooster. Whikst he'll never be a replacement for Donald, who was such a gentleman and so protective of his ladies, it'll be good to have a noisy boy back with the girls. Obviously, the two patients come first, and we won't be letting them near a cockerel for some time.

Thanks for reading this far and thanks again for your kindly note.

Warmest wishes

Mark

Its sounds like your gals are over the biggest hurdle. Is a chicken survives a predator attack but still passes away usually it is do to shock, shock is what can kill a bird but after they are stabilized after a few days they should start to quickly heal and are typically out of the "danger" zone which sounds like your gals. I hope they continue to recover and thrive.

Predator attacks can be emotionally devastating because its up to us to protect our birds because everything wants to eat a chicken. We are only human though and as structures and farms get older things warp and wear down in places we might not expect. Its important to take in these lessons but also dont beat yourself up to much so you can continue to give your birds the best possible care and it does sound like they are in good hands.

I hope your able to find a rooster who is good like your old one, he wont be a replacement but when your used to having a rooster its always relieving to hear them crow.

[wacky-nameless-inventor-24]

💕 gyro 2017/falcon graves (gravesloose), and i’ll let you decide what kind of kiss

OHHHH this one's fun 'cause fenro and gravesbeaks are my two favorite ships so I "'know'" these characters but I haven't seriously thought of them together-

💕 Kisses

Ever since F.O.W.L. had been making themselves more obvious with Bradford accidentally revealing he was the man in charge, Scrooge had become more and more worried about what they would do to his family.

Which was how Gyro was now stuck with a bodyguard, one meant to be with him at all hours when he was at the lab. Gyro had protested immensely- he was a mad genius, he could take care of himself- but Scrooge didn't budge.

But Gyro's new bodyguard, Falcon Graves, was alright. He was professional, quiet, and knew exactly what he was here to do and never stepped outside of that. He almost never spoke to Gyro unless he was spoken to, and when he did it was sharp and to the point. He hardly ever said more than five words at a time. Oftentimes Gyro almost forgot he was there, the raptor blended in quietly to the background.

He was gruff too. The bird had constructed a brick wall around himself, both physically- Gyro had the feeling Graves could snap his spine just by holding him tightly under one massively muscled arm- and mentally. Fenton had tried to talk to him a few times, but had given up when Graves had given such short and vague answers that had left even Gyro impressed with how cryptic he could be. He wasn't easily approachable, and had been known to snap at people who annoyed him too much.

Which was why Gyro was utterly shocked to see this soft side of him.

In the late hours of the night, Gyro and Graves were the only ones left at the lab. Gyro had burned his hand badly while trying to weld together a new chestplate for the Gizmoduck armor, the old one had been too badly cracked in Fenton's last battle. The duck had made it out okay, but now Gyro had to completely reconstruct the chestplate.

Now, here he was, sitting in his office chair hissing in pain as Graves gently held his hand, using tweezers to pull off the melted feathers on Gyro's fingers so he could properly clean and bandage the burn underneath.

As much as his hand hurt, Gyro could still feel how gentle the raptor was being with him. He'd expected Graves to have a harsh touch, rough with years of work as a saboteur, but his hands were some of the softest Gyro had ever felt.

Though soft they were huge and strong, fingers longer than even Gyro's long slim fingers and about twice as wide. Gyro could feel the power in them, and something about that felt alluring.

"I said I didn't need your help," Gyro growled as Graves pulled the last melted feather free. He inspected Gyro's fingers again, making sure it was truly the last one.

"No, but if Mr. McDuck finds out you were hurt on my watch then I'll be out of the job," Graves shot back. His low voice was soft in the quiet darkness of the lab. It rumbled quietly out of him like the purr of a giant cat or far-away thunder. "I need this right now."

"You don't have a way of controlling lab accidents, and he knows that." Gyro experimentally tried to pull his hand free, but Graves' forefinger and thumb tightened around his wrist, and it was enough to keep his hand there. "He can't blame you for this."

"I still don't want to take any chances." Graves said. He rubbed some kind of ointment onto the burns, pressing as softly as he could. Gyro bit his lip against a whimper, the cool salve felt overwhelmingly cold against the angry burns. "I'll bandage these and then get some ice, and then you should go home and rest."

"It isn't your place to tell me what to do!" Gyro snapped defensively as Graves pulled out the gauze.

"I'm aware," Graves said patiently. "But it is advice I think you should follow. You'll only hurt yourself more if you continue with your hand like this."

Gyro knew he was right, so he decided not to answer.

After everything was bandaged, Graves stood from where he'd been kneeling in front of Gyro's chair. He lifted Gyro's injured hand with him, as carefully as he could, and pressed the tenderest of kisses to the inventor's knuckles.

Gyro's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in incredulity, and he was about to tell the raptor off before Graves caught his eye and gave him a smile and a wink. With that he let go of Gyro's hand, turning on his heel to retrieve the ice.

Gyro watched him go, and was glad that the falcon's back was turned so he couldn't see Gyro's blush.

#did I seriously spend like three paragraphs describing graves' hands #THIS WAS FUN ACTUALLY #SSDLFKJDS #Gyro Gearloose #Falcon Graves #Gravesloose #ducktales #ducktales 2017 #dt17 #duckverse #wacky writes #thanks for the ask! #anon ask

[jenakuns]

Starship launch woot woot 3am discussion

Yeah so uh holy shit. That was definitely a launch that happened. It's such a weird program; extreme by most metrics that it's kinda hard to think about. The main thing that appears to be catching people up here is RUD vs explosion. I mean, RUD been used for a while now and is sort of a tongue in cheek joke, but I could understand why this being the first exposure could catch people.

There's also this post which is cosmically funny. All the complaining about Blue Origin no orbit has come back to bite the SpaceX stans because jokes on them; people are now confusing the two and saying SpaceX no orbit lol. Cheers @greetings-inferiors you gave us a good laugh.

But that's tumblrs reaction, what's mine? Idk, I laughed a fair bit. Schedules were always shot to hell, so I'm not too fussed in that regard. The rocket itself doesn't matter at this stage; it's the OLM damage, which I suppose separates this other launch failures. I still think H3 failure really reduced my expectations of first launches outcomes. If a country that's been doing launches for 30 years can't successfully launch a fairly conservative evolution of an existing rocket; then all bets are off for everyone else.

It's always nice to have a reset of expectations for the entire program so that means when things happen they can be appreciated rather than trodden over. (cough cough Falcon 9)

Launch wise, it was incredibly scuffed. 3 engines out from the get go which resulted in an extended burn at OLM to gain sufficient TTW resulting in that fat crater. The engines out also resulted in a slide that is scuffed and scary for a vehicle of Starship size. But the flight continued. Then more engines out, an hydraulic power unit explosion, some more engines, and oh yeah the tiles. (I don't care about the tiles). And yet the vehicle still flew. It's showed robustness in the scuffed of situations of it's own creation. When you roll around with B9 and the reliability enhancements, it actually is fairly interesting. They took engine explosions or at least flame outs in their stride, but you know; don't have them in the first place am I right.

The question is now when next flight and that really determines the value of this one. Because it's always the next product™. But presumably the Raptor ops and propellant management will be good outcomes. Also not to use HPU, but that was already a learned lesson. This failure just feels unusual because of the scale I suppose.* (I mean it's automatically notable because Musk rocket failure, but that's beside the point). Like we've had RS-1, ZQ-2, Terran 1, LauncherOne, H3 and Vega failures recently; what's different. Well, entirely different classes. But still, nowhere near media circuses. *+the damage to the ground infrastructure.

To summarize, the vehicles job was to gain experience on the performance of the many subsystems that make up this vehicle. Like autogenous pressurization on a vehicle of this scale as it handles many Raptors (failures) is no small feat. The next 2 Starships have given up heat shields and payloads, because they're also now exclusively marked as flight test vehicles as well. There was a lot of things that went wrong, but it still gave a fair bit of insight into the vehicle for SpaceX. And if that was just it; it would be fine because the next vehicle would be rolling to pad in a couple months. But this happened.

And that means a fair bit of work in repairing, upgrading and potential legal issues to grind out, which will cause delays in its own right. This is what pushes the needle in the direction of not worth it. But shit has happened and will continue to happen; the program will just move on.

Ooo forgot; no new HLS renders; fuckin bullshit world we live in.

#spacobs #starship #spacex

[moonflower1605]

Chapter - 28

(Percy's POV)

Standing behind us was a guy looking like a raptor in a leisure suit. He was at least seven feet tall, no hair. He had gray, leathery skin, thick-lidded eyes, & a cold, reptilian smile. He moved toward us slowly, but I got the feeling he could move fast if he had to. His suit might've come from the Lotus Casino. It belonged back in the seventies, big-time. The shirt was silk paisley, unbuttoned halfway down his hairless chest. The lapels on his jacket were wide as landing strips. The silver chains around his neck-I couldn't even count.

"I'm Crusty," he said, with a yellow smile. I resisted the urge to say, Yes, you are.

"Sorry to barge in," Nora said. "We're just, browsing."

"You mean hiding from those no-good kids," he said. "I get lot of people here thanks to them. Say, you wanna look at a water bed?"

I was about to say, 'No thanks', but he put a huge paw on Nora's shoulder & steered her into the showroom. There were all the water beds you could imagine: different wood, different patterns of sheets; queen-size, king-size, emperor-of-the-universe-size.

"This is my most popular model." Crusty spread his hands proudly over a bed covered with black satin sheets, with built-in Lava Lamps on the headboard. The mattress vibrated, so it looked like oil-flavored Jell-O.

"Million-hand massage," Crusty told us. "Go on, try it out. Shoot, take a nap. I don't care. No business, anyway."

"Um," I said, "I don't think..."

"Million-hand massage!" Grover cried, & dove in. "Oh, you guys! This is cool."

"Hm..." Crusty stroked his chin. "Almost."

"Almost what?" I asked.

He came over to me & told me to try another model, so I did. He looked at Annabeth. "Do me a favor & try this one, honey. Might fit."

Annabeth said, "But what-"

He patted her reassuringly on the shoulder & led her over to the Safari Deluxe model with teakwood lions carved into the frame & a leopard-patterned comforter. When she didn't lie down, Crusty pushed her.

"Hey!" she protested.

Crusty snapped his fingers. "Ergo!"

Ropes sprang from the side of the bed, around Annabeth, holding her to the mattress. Grover & I tried to get up, but ropes sprang from our beds, & tied us down.

"N-not c-c-cool!" Grover yelled, his voice vibrating from the million-hand massage. "N-not c-cool a-at all!"

The giant looked at Annabeth, then turned toward me & grinned. "Almost, darn it."

Nora tried to step away, but his hand shot out & clamped around the back of her neck.

"Whoa, pretty girl. Don't worry. We'll find you one in a sec."

"Let my friends go." she said.

"Oh, sure I will. But gotta make em fit, first."

"What do you mean?"

"All the beds are exactly six feet, see? Your friends are too short. Got to make them fit."

Annabeth, Grover & I kept struggling.

"Can't stand imperfect measurements," he muttered. "Ergo!"

A new set of ropes came from the top & bottom of the beds, wrapping around our ankles, then around our armpits. The ropes tightened, pulling us from both ends.

"Don't worry," Crusty told Nora, "These are stretching jobs. Maybe three extra inches on their spines. They might even live. Now why don't we find a bed you like, huh?"

"Nora!" Grover yelled.

"Your name's not Crusty, is it?" she asked.

"Legally, it's Procrustes," he admitted.

"The Stretcher," she said. I remembered the story: the giant who'd tried to kill Theseus with excess hospitality on his way to Athens.

"Yeah," the salesman said. "But who can pronounce Procrustes? Bad for business. Now 'Crusty,' anybody can say that."

"You're right. It's got a good ring to it." His eyes lit up when she said it. "You think so?"

"Oh, absolutely," she said. "The workmanship on these? Fabulous!"

He grinned hugely, but his fingers didn't loosen on her neck. "I tell my customers that. Every time. Nobody bothers to look at it. How many Lava Lamp headboards have you seen?"

"Not many."

"That's right!"

"Nora!" Annabeth yells. "What're you doing?"

"Ignore her," she told him. "She's impossible."

The giant laughed. "All my customers are. Never six feet exactly. So inconsiderate. And then they complain about the fitting."

"What'd you do if it's more than six feet?"

"Oh, happens all the time. It's a simple fix."

He let go of her neck, but before she could react, he reached behind a nearby sales desk & brought out a huge double-bladed brass axe. He said, "I just center the subject & lop off whatever hangs over on either end."

"Ah," she said, her face paled. "Sensible."

"I'm so glad to come across a beautiful & intelligent customer!"

"So, Crusty.." she glanced at the sales tag on the valentine-Honeymoon Special. "Does this really have stabilizers to stop wave motion?"

"Absolutely. Try it out."

"Yeah, maybe I will. But would it work even for a big guy like you? No waves at all?"

"Guaranteed."

"No way!" she exclaimed.

"Way."

"Show me."

He sat down eagerly on the bed, patted the mattress. "No waves. See?"

Nora snapped her fingers. "Ergo."

Ropes lashed around Crusty & flattened him against the mattress.

"Hey!" he yelled.

"Center him just right," she said.

The ropes readjusted themselves at her command. Crusty's whole head stuck out the top. His feet stuck out the bottom.

"No!" he said. "Wait! This is just a demo."

Her sword appeared in her hand. "A few simple adjustments..." she muttered.

"You drive a hard bargain," he told her. "I'll give a thirty percent off on select models."

"I'll start with the top." She raised her sword.

"No money down! No interest for six months!"

She swung the sword. Crusty stopped making offers. She cut the ropes on the other beds.

We got to our feet, groaning, wincing & cursing Nora a lot (Mostly Annabeth).

"You guys look taller," She said.

"Very funny," Annabeth said. "Be faster next time."

I look at the bulletin board behind Crusty's sales desk. There was an advertisement for Hermes Delivery Service, & another for the All-New Compendium of L.A. Area Monsters.

Under that, a bright orange flier for DOA Recording Studios, offering commissions for heroes' souls. 'We are always looking for new talent!' DOA's address was with a map.

"We should get out of here." Nora told us.

"Give us a minute," Grover complained. "We were almost stretched to death."

"Then you're ready for the Underworld," I said. "It's only a block from here."

Link to the next chapter is here.

Link to the prev chapter is here.

Comment, like & share.

Take care my lovely readers.❤

Alice signing off.

XOXO.

#percy jackson #x reader #percy jackson x reader

[askthechronoverse]

Chapter Four: Truth from a Thousand Lies

Last Chapter •||• Next Chapter

The party went on into the night, but Rex was able to sneak away to lie on his bed in the quiet. His door creaked open. 

"Yeah, don't knock or anythin' to make sure I'm awake." He sat up and saw Puppycorn's silhouette from the doorway. "Oh. Hey, kid. Need somethin'?" The puppy jumped onto the bed, sitting across from his friend.

"I forget you were sleepin' up here now and went to the lab."

"Should be easier to see me now, huh? Didja just wanna hang out, kid?"

"Yeah. You're always up at night, so I knew ya'd be up right now." Puppycorn pulled a cupcake from nowhere and handed it to Rex. "Saved you a cupcake." 

"Thanks." He put the confectionery on his bedside table. "Did your sister finally get tired and stop the party?"

"Yeah. I think everyone else is asleep now." Puppycorn nodded.

"You should probably sleep too. It's late and take it from me: sleep is important." 

"But you said you can't sleep because of your nightmares."

"Exactly, kid. It's not fun to get no sleep. We can hang out in the morning. Go to sleep."

"Can you tell me a story first?" Puppycorn was stalling, but Rex didn't mind.

"Sure. Once, there was a kid who didn't fit in with the other kids. They thought he was weird, but he just wanted to fit in so bad, he blended with the crowd. One day, he met a strange girl who he quickly fell in love with, but it ended with him being thrown into a world he knew nothin' about and being told to save the world. On the way, he met a spaceman, a pirate, a wizard, a superhero who was kind of a jerk, and a magical princess. He really didn't fit in with them either, but they ended up saving the world together." Rex heard a small noise and saw Puppycorn was asleep. He didn't know where the pup's room was, so he grabbed a blanket and pillow and tried to sleep on the floor.

This worked for about an hour. Then Rex awoke to a loud bang coming from outside. Groggily, he poked his head out the window and saw a figure in a dark cloak shooting off fireworks in the garden. He headed down there slowly, eventually getting to the source of the noise.

"What in the name of the Man Upstairs and his two little brats are you supposed to be?" Rex's voice was a low rumble. The figure jumped at the sound of another person's voice. This person was made of basic geometric shapes like the other people of the Unikingdom, but those shapes were more humanlike than the others. A snotty smirk was painted on his round yellow face. 

"I'm Master Frown! Who are you supposed to be, an unsafe construction worker?" 

"Damn it. You sound like a teenager. I hate teenagers." Rex rubbed his neck. "Look. I'm gonna be nice here. Nicer than I normally am. I'm gonna let you leave with all of your teeth in your mouth." 

"You're a tough guy, huh?" Master Frown lit another firework. Rex's eyes narrowed.

"I'm gonna assume from the dark clothes that you're trying to be a bad guy. Been there, done that, made a scrapbook out of the pictures my raptors took on the way. What's the angle?"

"Well, I'm a Doom Lord. My job is to spread misery and make people frown." Master Frown stopped what he was doing. "Who are you?"

"Not important right now. What is important is that you woke me up at three in the morning to shoot off fireworks. Why?"

"I'm trying to make the whole kingdom miserable by keeping them awake!" The Doom Lord laughed.

"Yeah. No. Not happening. You're gonna cut that crap out." Rex yawned. 

"The fact you're miserable means it's working. I'm not gonna stop now!" Master Frown was about to set off a bottle rocket, but Rex grabbed his arm.

"Let me tell you a bit about me. Like I said, I did the whole villain thing. I was in a way bigger weight class than you. You woke up the one person who is running on an hour's sleep and has a much looser set of morals than the rest of this candy colored kingdom. I am more than happy to Master Breaker Punch you into the stone age. One more chance, hot shot. You wanna pick this up at a reasonable hour or do I need to make up a one liner about you flying into the stratosphere?" Rex held an intimidating aura despite his hair sticking out at odder angles than normal. Master Frown stared directly at Rex and, after a moment, lit the bottle rocket.

"You're one of Unikitty's friends. I doubt you'll actually do it." He taunted. Rex gave the Doom Lord a look that would turn Medusa into stone.

"Guess I'll punch your ticket back home." Rex yawned, scratched the back of his neck and threw a punch at Master Frown's stomach. The force behind the punch was so powerful, it sent the Doom Lord flying towards the shapes that made up Frowntown in the horizon line. "Have a nice trip. Hope it's one way." He headed back into the castle, grumbling to himself about teenagers and fireworks.

Rex's next semi-conscious memory was looking up and seeing he was flanked by Hawkodile and Unikitty. "Not now. 'M tired." He threw the blanket over his head, only for it to be ripped off him by Hawkodile. 

"Rex, did you meet Master Frown last night?" Unikitty's voice was gentle, more than normal. "Dark cloak? Gloomy like you are?" 

"Hm. Yeah." He buried his head in his pillow. "He's a stupid teenager. Told him to stop setting off fireworks. Didn't listen." Unikitty and Hawkodile looked at each other. 

"He was setting off fireworks? That's not too bad. Right?" Unikitty looked down at her now asleep friend with disappointment. "We need to teach him not to hit people he doesn't like."

"Hey." Hawkodile tapped Rex's back with his clawed feet. "Did he say why he was settin' off fireworks?"

"Hmph. Somethin' about makin' people miserable? 'M tired. Talk later." Rex snatched the blanket off of Hawkodile's gloved hands and tried to fall asleep. Hawkodile and Unikitty quietly snuck out of Rex's room, followed by a drowsy Puppycorn, who passed them after a short hello. 

"I'm just gonna say this out loud. Your buddy punched Master Frown back to Frowntown. Without wakin' anybody up." Hawkodile seemed impressed by the pure strength on display in that situation. "That's some punch." 

"I think the first thing we need to do is teach Rex to try and talk things out. He used to be really good at that." 

"As long as he ain't punchin' you or our other friends, let him fight Master Frown once in a while. We see that guy at least twice a day." Hawkodile turned his head to the now closed bedroom door. 

"But we don't know if he just punched without trying to talk Master Frown down! He can't just go right to punching as the first thing he does!" Unikitty protested, also putting her attention on the door. "Especially if he doesn't hold back. Master Frown could have been seriously hurt!" The door creaked open. Rex leaned on the doorframe, face barely visible though his long messy hair. 

"The little twerp should be fine, if that's what you're talkin' about so loudly. Like I said, I told him to cut the crap. He wanted to test how far he could push me and I'm sure ya know the rest." Rex said this quickly, trying to get the conversation over with so he could catch up on lost sleep. "Is that kid gonna be a problem every night? 'Cuz I need to sleep."

"He's a problem all the time, bro. That's all he does. Ya haven't seen it because ya kept to yourself." Hawkodile glossed over the fact that Rex was kept in a secure lab for the past few months and didn't have to deal with Master Frown. 

"As long as you tried to use your words, it's fine! We don't just punch people here if we have a problem!" Hawkodile opened his mouth to say something and Unikitty jabbed him with her elbow. "Alrighty?

"Yeah, alright. Can't guarantee I won't Master Break the kid if I see him again at two in the morning, but I'll tryta play nice." Rex pushed his bangs out of his eyes. "I'm gonna take a nap an-" Richard floated past the man, pressing a list in his hand. "Nope. Looks like I got chores. Don't remember settin' off a glitter bomb off in the foyer, but I do crazy things on zero sleep." He retreated back into his room and came out with his hair somewhat tamed. He walked past Unikitty and Hawkodile, his focus on the list. 

"We should probably do something about Rex's sleeping problem. I'll add that to the list." Unikitty conjured a sparkly notebook with a hand drawn picture of a grumpy Rex on the cover. She opened it, showing a list written in a very pretty, very curly handwriting. She added "cure his lack of sleep" below "add glitter to vest".  

"He didn't do the glitter bomb thing. You did. He was being sarcastic." Hawkodile stated pointedly. 

"But he's actually doing the chores! He must be tired if he doesn't want to play!" She headed over to Rex, who had Master Built a coffee maker and was making himself a cup of coffee. "You don't actually have to do the chores, you know!" Rex grabbed the brewed cup and gulped some of the hot liquid down. 

"Not what the floating ghost brick said, Princess." He looked at the cup and turned to find some sugar. "Back on the Rexcelsior, my raptors and I had a chore wheel. Ya live in a place, ya gotta pull your weight." He dumped a lot of sugar into the cup and took another sip. He nodded, content at the ratio of coffee to sugar. 

"I thought you were the kind of guy who didn't care about anything." 

"I don't. Caring about crap and keeping a clean ship with a happy crew are two different things. I was good to the raptors, so they were loyal to me. Compromise, Princess. Compromise and not being a total slob." He finished his coffee and put the cup in the sink. "It shouldn't take too long to finish Rick's list, anyway. I have a feelin' the brick's goin' easy on me." The caffeine and sugar seemed to stabilize Rex's overall demeanor. "You can join me, if ya want." He looked at the list. "Looks like most of it is out in the garden." He smiled, the harsh features of his face softening. 

"Ugh. That's so boring!" The princess stuck out her tongue.

"Suit yourself." Puppycorn bounced into the room and jumped on Rex. "Hey, kid. Ya wanna help me with some things I gotta do?" The pup nodded excitedly. "Come on, then. We gotta do some boring stuff first, but I could use the company." The two left to the foyer to clean Unikitty's mess. Unikitty was about to say something about chores, but the two already left. It wasn't long before she heard laughter from the foyer and the cat flew off to see what the joke was, assuming they blew off the chores after all.

It was a little disappointing her assumption was incorrect. Rex was cleaning the floor with a mop, all of the furniture having been moved to the only corner outside of the glitter blast radius. Puppycorn wasn't doing too much himself, but he was listening to Rex tell a story about his raptors with a dustcloth in his mouth. Unikitty looked closer at the scene and she could have sworn Rex was a different person if she didn't know better. He was happier, full of positivity as he spoke animatedly about something he obviously cared deeply about. She could even see the ghostly presence of sparkle matter that seemed to vanish in the early morning light. 

"Hey, sis! Ya gotta listen to this! It's sooo funny!" Puppycorn whipped around to address Unikitty, the cloth spraying glitter around. 

"Okay! Whatcha got?" She sat on the glitter infested couch and leaned on the backboard.

"All I said was sayin' was to not give a raptor bubblegum. Tried to have them chew it to look cool, but gettin' gum out of raptor scales ain't easy." Rex went back to mopping. "Didn't wanna keep puttin' myself in a sticky situation so I stopped." This got Puppycorn laughing, glitter going everywhere from within the folds of the cloth. Unikitty's eyes lit up, filled with large hearts and stars. Rex was telling jokes! That's not something a grumpy person did at all! Yes, his material needed work and he was telling them while doing boring chores, but still! Rex and Puppycorn went back to cleaning, the man telling the little dog more jokes throughout the process. Unikitty saw the glint of a piece of sparkle matter in the glitter laden mop water and picked it up. It was more visible than the ones she saw coming off Rex before, radiating with pure happiness. She looked up to the man mopping then back to the sparkle matter. 

"Can I have that, Unikitty?" Doctor Fox walked over to her, holding sparkle matter of varying degrees of visibility. "It's the clearest one I've seen from him today." Unikitty handed her the sparkle matter. 

"Is he OK? I don't remember people like him having sparkle matter."

"He appears to be stable, and I mean that in a time related way. My experiment was a bigger success than I thought!" Doctor Fox grinned, brimming with excitement. "I had noticed some time irregularities after the Battle for Syspocalypstar, but I couldn't figure out why. I was attempting deep analysis on the time space continuum the night Rex showed up. I believe he is the key to stabilizing the timeline, the very thing I was trying to work on that night!"

"But why does he have sparkle matter?"

"That may have been his exposure to this world and my science. This could be what's keeping him to the timeline as a paradox. He's still a version of your friend from Bricksburg, but just different enough to not break the timeline." Doctor Fox shrugged. "It's still too early to be certain of this, but it's a solid theory." 

"Why are some of them invisible?"

"His body probably isn't used to the magic flowing through it yet. You said that Master Building is something more spiritual than what we have here. I will hypothesize that the more he stays in the Unikingdom, the more his body will be able to more easily handle the magic of this world." 

"Will that hurt him?"

"It doesn't appear to be hurting him, Unikitty. He appears to be thriving, in fact. That could be more due to the fact he is not trapped in a cage and not suppressing deep rooted feelings of anger and resentment, but I would need to study him more to confirm." Doctor Fox gestured widely at the man, who had finished cleaning by now and was moving the furniture back with Puppycorn. He and the pup were chatting away happily, ignorant to the side conversation. 

"So the change is helping him?"

"That's my theory. By being exposed to both the magic of the Unikingdom and the support of positive people, he may become closer to who he was before his trauma than who he was when he tried to end the world." This made Unikitty grin. "I would also recommend having him keep being honest with his feelings. This may be difficult for him. He appears to prefer suppressing his pain. I believe you know a lot about that, Unikitty." 

"I know nothing about that at all!" Unikitty laughed nervously. She did try to keep her anger deep inside. Could Rex, when he was becoming the monster who ended the world, had chosen to emulate that trait? The thought made her turn blue. She watched the man leave for the garden with her brother. He looked happy, but was he still hurting? Was he a walking time bomb of sadness and insecurity? Would showing him that they cared about him and wouldn't leave him really help the pain stop? She summoned and  opened her notebook again. 'Cure his lack of sleep'. "Hey, what causes a person to not sleep?" 

"There are lots of reasons for a person to have insomnia. Nightmares, physical pain, diodes stuck to your head. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Doc. Asking for a friend." She excused herself and went out into the garden, where Rex was weeding an overgrown plot of land. Her brother dug in the dirt beside him, a counterpart to Rex's careful weeding.

"Kid! You're gettin' dirt all over!" He got up and dusted himself off, taking off his vest and forcibly sleeveless dress shirt to show he was wearing a white tank top under all the layers. He knelt back down and began weeding again. She could see he had made himself physically strong from the shadows on the back of the tank top. He made himself strong one way, but became weaker emotionally for it. She moved closer to where he put his shirt and vest, picking up the vest. The green R was the only bright color on the thing. She sniffed it and stuck her tongue out in disgust. It smelled weird, like sweat and dryer lint.

"Princess, put the vest down." Rex didn't look up from the weeding. "It's my trademark look." She put it down and Puppycorn gasped, in awe at Rex's perceived clairvoyance. 

"It's so dark." She stated with a frown to the green R.

"Yeah. My ex told me to be tough. Dark colors make you look tough." There was a level of disgust in his tone of voice. "Even Hawkodile wears dark shades, Princess." 

"I'm blue! Does that make me tough, Rex?" Puppycorn didn't stop digging.

"No, but you don't have to be." He gave a sad smile. "You are the best Puppycorn you can be."

"Rex. You don't have to be tough anymore, either. You know that, right?" Unikitty picked his vest back up. 

"Vest down, Princess. It's who I built myself to be. I was built to be tough, to survive." He still didn't look up from the weeding, but his demeanor changed to something more somber. "I can't be anything else."

"You were something else. You were kind and caring and-!"

"Princess. Enough." Rex got up, back still turned from the cat. "Come on, Puppycorn. I gotta go into town and get some seeds. Let's go." He grabbed his vest and threw it on as he walked away, Puppycorn trailing behind. Unikitty flew after the two, not stopping until they stopped at a stall in the marketplace with a farmer duck selling seeds.

"Can we grow pizza, Rex?" Puppycorn bobbed next to the man, who was looking at the seeds. 

"Nah, little buddy. Ya can't grow pizza. But we can get some later." He pointed to a large sack of tomato seeds and the duck nodded. 

"Hey! Rex!" Unikitty shouted from behind them. 

"Ya heard somethin', kid?" Rex slung the sack over his shoulder and rolled his eyes. "Let's get that pizza before we head back. Can't believe it's noon already." 

"I know you can hear me! You aren't that hard of hearing!" People were starting to turn their attention to Unikitty, who was still yelling.

"Princess. You're making a scene." Rex didn't turn to her, his voice flat and forceful. He let Puppycorn lead the way to the pizza shop, Unikitty following behind. 

"We gettin' a whole pizza for ourselves?" Puppycorn wagged his tail, not sure why Rex was ignoring his sister, but was too happy hanging out with his friend to ask. 

"We can share with your sister if she wants to share with me and not someone light-years away from here." He still didn't turn around, choosing to look at the menu instead.

"Light years?"

"It's a measure of distance out in space."  This got a nod from Puppycorn. "Well, Princess?" Unikitty's ears went back.

"Yeah. I want to share with you guys." She sounded eager to join them. 

"Alright. Because I can't be anyone but myself. No matter how hard you push." He placed the order and turned to the window for a moment. He looked at his tracker and noticed it was flashing. "That's new. Must be updatin' its location data or somethin'."

"Rex? You'd tell me if you were mad at me, right?" Unikitty shifted awkwardly. Before Rex could say anything, he heard a shout from outside and turned around to see Master Frown and a being that was a half rounded rectangle. He rolled his eyes again.

"Not you again." Rex shook his head.

"You! Oh, I was hoping to see you!" Master Frown rushed over to Rex and smirked. "I'm gonna make you pay for what you did last night!" 

"Nah. But if lunch is on you today, we can call the whole thing even." He leaned on the counter casually.

"No! You punched me all the way back to Frowntown! I'm not gonna buy you lunch, I'll gonna make you pay!"

"Look, I only have enough for me and the prince and princess here. I'm between jobs right now. Next time, don't shoot fireworks outside my window at a time when most people sleep and I'll probably be more generous." He looked back at the pizza, noticing the chef was gone. 

"Aw! We aren't getting pizza?" The grey shape moaned. 

"No, Brock! Not now!" Master Frown turned to his friend for a moment, then back to Rex. "I'm getting revenge." Rex laughed, but the laugh held something sinister behind it.

"Cute. Ya saw how I play. Think ya can come up to my level, Doom Lord?" Puppycorn tapped Rex's shoulder, but avoided eye contact with the man as he did. The pizza was burning. "Wait. Was that it?" He asked as the chef put the small fire the burning pizza created out. 

"Yes! Now you have to wait for another one!" Master Frown laughed with a weird level of wickedness for what felt like a prank to Rex. 

"Wow. The bar for revenge in this town is low." A new pizza was swapped in for the old one. "Are all Doom Lords like you, or are ya the intern?" 

"You did the thing, bro. Let's just go." Brock groaned. "We can get pizza back in Frowntown." 

"Fine! But I won't rest until you're miserable!" Brock was dragging Master Frown.

"Good luck! Nothin' ya can do that I have not already done ta myself!" Rex shouted after the two. He shook his head. "Man." He looked over to Puppycorn and shrugged. "Sorry if I scaredja, kid. Still got a chip on my shoulder about last night." The pup looked down. 

"Is that how you spoke to Master Frown last night?" Unikitty shot Rex a glare that made him feel like he was about to get grounded. 

"Probably? He's a bad guy, right? What's the harm?" 

"You look like a bully and you scared Puppycorn! That's the harm!" She took the pizza from the chef. 

"Did you forget that part in the beginning? Where I was totally chill? Also, I was a bully before. I know better than to take anyone's crap." Rex folded his arms. 

"Rex. We don't do that here."

"Fine. I'll try to keep my cool next time. Changing a reaction to annoying people like that just won't be easy, that's all."

"I will say I'm proud of you for not punching him this time. You used your words, but don't try to be scary next time, OK?" Unikitty pat Rex's head. "And you apologized to Puppycorn, so it's all good here!"  She floated to a table, her brother following behind. Rex shoved his hands in his pocket and took a seat with them, putting the bag of seeds down beside him. He leaned back in his chair and just let Unikitty and Puppycorn talk. After some time of silence from the man, he got up. 

"I'm going back to the castle." He grabbed his seeds and began to head for the door. Puppycorn rushed after him. 

"Don't forget about me, bro!" It seemed Rex's uglier side was water under the bridge at this point. Rex gave the pup a silent nod and the two walked off, leaving Unikitty alone. She trotted off to looked around the kingdom for some fun. It didn't take her long to catch up with Master Frown and Brock.

"Hey, Unikitty!" Brock waved her over. Master Frown was busy literally taking candy from a baby.

"Heeeey, Brock!" She skipped over. "So, sorry about my friend. Rex is new to the Unikingdom and-" She was stopped by Master Frown.

"Wait. Rex? Like, Rex Dangervest? The guy who destroyed the whole universe? That's him?" 

"Yep! He's a bit of a grump, but he's trying his be-"

"He wasn't just talking big! That guy's a major league villain! Easily full Doom Lord material! Why's he hanging out with you, Unidork?" There was a weird admiration in his tone for someone who got his butt kicked by the guy. 

"It's actually super complicated. He's just doing the best he can." Unikitty gave the crying kid a large lollipop.

"I gotta get the guy to give me some tips now that I got my revenge on him for the punch. I'd say I didn't recognize the guy, but no one knew what the guy looked like. Not even the other Doom Lords. We just knew the name. Rex Dangervest." Master Frown was star struck. 

"No, you aren't. Rex doesn't do that anymore. Like I said, he's doing his best now. He's not a bad guy."

"He did have major bad guy vibes in the pizza place, Unikitty." Brock pointed out. 

"I'm helping him be better! You'll see!" She frowned sharply. "He doesn't want to be bad, so don't talk to him about that."

"I'll talk to him about it anyway. Looks like that'll really set you off!" Master Frown rushed off.

"Good luck with helping your friend, Unikitty!"  Brock ran after his friend. Unikitty finished her walk, then headed home as the sun started to sink low in the sky. 

When she floated into the castle grounds, a dirt smeared Rex was leaving. Puppycorn was not with him this time. "Hey, Rex. Where's Puppycorn?"

"He's in the castle helpin' Rick with dinner." She noticed Rex wasn't wearing his vest, just his white undershirt. 

"Where are ya going?" 

"I don't have fur, Princess. I have to wear people clothes and I only have one outfit. I haveta find at least some fabric to make somethin'."  He didn't look at her as he spoke. It was unclear if it was out of guilt or disappointment.

"I wanna come with you. Can I?" She paused a moment to think about what Rex just said. "Wait. Fabric? Do you make your own clothes? You don't have to do that, you know. We have a laundromat in town." 

"Then it probably won't be hard to find somethin' to wear." There was a slight twitch of his right eye when Unikitty mentioned the laundromat. "Don't you have princess things to do?" 

"My "princess thing" right now is to help you shop for clothes! I insist!" She clearly wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Fine. Come on." His tone was apathetic. He started to head toward town, still not looking at Unikitty. This was alarming to the cat. He was so happy earlier today. His changes in mood were causing her mental whiplash. Her mind briefly went to the Happy Horn, one of Doctor Fox's inventions that would totally help keep him happy, but she decided to leave that as a last resort. The two traveled in silence to the marketplace. As they moved, Unikitty tried to float next to her former friend. He didn't do anything to move away, but he still wouldn't talk to her. She noticed in the dying sunlight that Rex's tank top had the logo she'd seen on the suit of a 80's spaceman friend of theirs. It was faded, possibly intentionally so. 

"I like your shirt." She felt it was her duty to kill the awkward silence somehow. 

"Yeah." After a moment of the silence returning, he spoke again. "I miss him."

"Miss who?" A quick second passed and a lightbulb lit up over her horn. "Oh! Right! I do have contact with the others. Maybe we could go visit him."

"Nah. I'd have to explain myself all over again and he'd probably want nothin' ta do with me after that." They approached the marketplace and Unikitty frowned a little at those words. 

"Rex, you don't know that. He's probably the second nicest guy I know." Rex didn't respond to this. He just made a beeline for the stall with the most clothing and sifted through the clothes. Unikitty sat to the left of him, watching him. He seemed to push away anything that could make him really happy and that wasn't right. It was like he wanted to stay unhappy. That wasn't going to fly with her. "What do you plan to do, then? Stay here and mope?"

"I prefer the term 'brood'. But I'm not ready to face them. Any of them." Especially not his past self. Unikitty sighed. Her task was going to be harder than she thought. When Rex's attention was back to the clothes, she got her notebook out and added 'Get Rex to meet Benny' on the list. She wasn't sure what she could say to Rex right now so she let him be while she thought of something. 

"Rex, are you OK? Like really OK?" He responded unusually quick.

"Define 'really okay', Princess." He sounded tired, just like he did before breakfast. 

"Are you… feeling okay? You seem closed off." 

"You don't know me well enough to know that." He put some clothes in a pile. "If you think you do, try to remember who you're actually talkin' to."

"Then let me get to know you! You get along with everyone else in the castle but me and Hawkodile!"

"Hawkodile and I are similar. If he wants ta know me, he'll know me. I think we just have a bro-understanding right now."

"What about me? I've been trying to get to know you!" She whined, desperately seeking answers.

"You also seem to think I'm someone you've been friends with for a long time or that, if you work hard enough, you can suddenly make me become that person. I'm not stupid, Princess. Hawkodile is your bodyguard. Bodyguards don't just talk things out. They fight if the need arises." He gathered the clothes he'd picked. "The sooner you realize I'm not the blissfully ignorant construction worker you met back in Cloud Cuckoo Land, the sooner you can actually be helpful to me." He turned his back to her. "Maybe you need to give me space until you do. I know you're bad at doing that, but hey. Maybe third time really is the charm." He walked away with the things he'd chosen, leaving Unikitty to sit in the quiet of the early evening. 

When Unikitty returned, everyone was sitting in the kitchen, getting ready for dinner. Everyone but Rex. The rest of the group didn't seem to note the absence, though. "Hey, guys!" She was able to keep her positive vibes, but there was an uneasiness to it. Her friends said their hellos, Richard getting an extra plate ready, which Puppycorn grabbed and ran out of the room with. When the puppy returned, the group had finished getting their food and sat around the table to eat. Everything felt normal for a while, the friends each talking about the events of the day like nothing changed. Unikitty decided to put aside any uneasy feelings and let her positivity return. After dinner, the friends went their separate ways, except for Richard and Unikitty, the former of the two starting to clean up. Before Puppycorn left, Richard stopped him.

"Please let Rex know he will need to clean his own dishes this time." The puppy nodded and rushed off to play. Richard floated back to the sink and began his work.

"Where is Rex, anyway?" Unikitty spoke, breaking the brick's concentration. 

"He chose to eat in his room tonight." The caretaker went back to cleaning the dishes.

"And you let him?"

"I didn't see a reason to stop him."

"Did he seem… unhappy?"

"He looked like he had a lot on his mind, Princess. If you think he's unhappy, talk to him."

"He told me to give him some space."

"Then I would recommend doing that. He's being honest about what he needs." Richard started the process of putting what he just washed away. 

"But he's so sad. I think he was only happy for a few hours today. That's no good at all!" She huffed.

"I would talk to him, but he did ask to be left alone."

"He asked me to leave him alone! Not you!" Unikitty wasn't ready to let this go.

"Princess, he asked Puppycorn to leave him alone tonight as well. He doesn't want to be bothered."  Unikitty's horn shot off some symbols of her frustration. Unikitty opened her mouth to talk, but the sound of a guitar sounded somewhere in the castle. The chosen song was only familiar to the person playing, but it didn't seem unpleasant. Unikitty left the kitchen towards the source of the noise: Rex's room. She tried to open the door, but it was locked. She pressed her ear to the door and could just catch the words: break on through to the other side. They were sung, the voice familiar and pleasant. This was a stark contrast to the man's normal stereotypically tough voice. 

"He's got some sick skills." Unikitty jumped, seeing Hawkodile behind her. 

"Hey, Hawkodile. You heard that, too?"

"The whole castle heard it. He's got a super loud amp in there." Hawkodile leaned his back against the door. "Somethin' on your mind?"

"Yeah. If you were sad and wanted to be left alone, what could a well intentioned friend do to cheer you up?" Rex said he and Hawkodile were similar. Time to test that. 

"If this is about Dangervest and you, I ain't getting in the middle." Hawkodile stated, arms now folded. "He's got too much baggage." 

"No no! I just… want to understand you better!" Hawkodile shook his head. He knew that was a lie, but he humored her.

"If I were like your friend in there, a well intentioned friend would be one that listens to me. Really listens." He pulled away from the door. "Did 'I' tell ya anything else?"

"You said… I thought you were something you weren't. That I needed to see you for who you are." Her voice was slow, thinking things through as she spoke.

"Then there's the problem. If you don't see me as me, that's a real issue. Or, maybe I should say 'see Dangervest as Dangervest'."

"But that's not the real him. He's not a bad guy." She turned blue, sounding conflicted.

"Look, like I said: the guy has baggage. That baggage probably changed him. Baggage does that." He started to leave. "Ya got this." He left and the music died down. The soft click of a lock opening could be heard, then nothing. Slowly, Unikitty opened Rex's door. She looked into the dark room, a small frown on her face. 

The room was ransacked. All of the furniture was broken and the pieces thrown around the room, save for the bed where the culprit was hiding under the cover of a pastel blanket. Leaning against the wall was a Master Built guitar and amp made from pieces of the broken furniture. She picked up his empty dinner plate, which was on the floor by the door and tried to walk closer into the warzone of a room.

"Princess. I told you to leave me alone. What do I need to do to drill that into your head?" The voice coming from under the covers was cold, annoyed by the lack of respect. 

"I… just wanted to get your plate and wash it for you, Rex." She held the plate up. "I'll just… be going now."

"Tell Rick I'll clean up tomorrow. Good night, Princess." His tone remained frigid, which turned Unikitty azure to match. She turned around and left the room, closing the door gently behind her.

#the newspaper isn't antiquated •||• written works

[glassandmetalwings]

Sometimes bravery is little things, like taking on new challenges in video games.

#I'm finally doing stat boost challenges in JWA #even though the creatures are levels 16-18 and my strongest is 21 #and I can't just one shot them all with raptor #and every so often I remind myself that I actually beat Okami #when younger me was too scared to even get past the cursed trees whose fruit you had to hit back at them #and now I'm looking go play HD remakes of LoZ games #and I feel so behind the ball but at least I'm trying and seeing progress #like I grew up convinced that if you don't win first try you're a failure #and I'm still in awe and envy of my friends who seem to go fearlessly into what feel like hopeless challenges in games #and learning it's okay to lose and just try again and it's okay is a huge endeavor #but I'm trying #and I'm proud I'm trying #sorry this probably sounds really stupid #wings does things

[eugenesmorphine]

Livin’ The Brotherhood // A Generation Kill Fanfic

AN: The lovely, lovely chapter three. I hope you readers enjoy. I don’t know if I want to add my taglist onto this. I might but I might not. If anyone wants to be tagged on future chapters, which there will be plenty of coming, just let me know. Enjoy the chapter :)

  Chapter 3: The Conquering Heroes

The Humvees bounced and rocked slightly as the tires rolled over the bridge on into the city. Running over rocks and small boulders. Ray popped open a bottle of Ripped Fuel and dumped maybe about six pills into his mouth. Swallowing them almost instantly. Brad looked over at him from watching his sector, sighing heavily.

 "Careful with the Ripped Fuel," he warned, going back to watch his sector. Ray huffed, using one hand to steer and the other grab a water bottle  unscrewing the cap off with his teeth. Wright sat in the back, watching the man, a bewildered look on his face.

 "Fuck man. I'm on thirty hours no sleep. Beat the record I made in high school when I was on the debate team," Ray spit out his words so fast it was hard to even understand him. Kyra scoffed while the scribe just gave him a questioning look.

 "Wait, a minute," he started having Ray turn to look at him. "You were on the debate team?" Ray nodded, looking back the road. The Comms were beeping on and off.

 "Yeah, I was really really fucking good, but all the other guys on the team thought I was high all of the time," Kyra rolled her eyes in annoyance. She was just tired, sore, and kind of hungry. And Ray and his hyped up antics weren't really helping.

 "Shut up Ray," both Kyra and Brad said at the same time. She huffed and looked out the window. "Brad, I'm going to sit on the top of the Humvee next to Walt. I can't watch a sector with the Reporter in the way," before Brad could even respond she was climbing up besides Walt and sitting pretty much behind the turret shield. Ray glanced back at Wright and just looked back at the road. Brad just pressed his lips together into a thin line.

 "Shit," Ray cursed as the line of Humvees drove through the town. the tires rolling straight through a mixture of blood from the dead Iraqis and some dead Marines that littered the area mixed with gas and engine fluid from the blown up and shot up trucks all around. "Fucking tranny fluid from the Amtrac." Ray just looked at the bodies and the puddles of the red and black mixed liquids. Trombley looked out his window, almost amazed or in awe at the god awful sights he was seeing. Kyra and Walt just tried not to look. Just trying to keep an eye on the surroundings. Making sure no Hajis were trying to shoot at them.

 "Keep your eyes on the road Ray," Brad piped up. Glancing at Trombley, slightly disturbed at the look of almost amusement on his face. "It's nothing Trombley," he just turned to look at the Sergeant. The look of aggravation etched onto his features as he glared slightly. A sigh left the Sergeant's lips as he turned his head back to his weapon.

 Soon, after Baptista stopped speaking Portuguese over the Comms, complaining about some of the Marine antics higher ups pull, and watching friendlies light up more Iraqis while the groups drove through, all the vehicles came to a stop. "Hey Sarge! Why we stopped?" Kyra called from the top of the Humvee. Sticking her head down to look at the man in the passenger seat. Wright chuckled seeing the woman practically upside down. He glanced back at her. Captain America was already heard on the Comms, freaking out for the Marines to be at a stop.

 "Orders. Raptors  cas-evacting a Marine from the RCT." Brad replied, looking back at the female. Who just nodded and pulled herself back up onto the top of the Humvee. All they could now here was Captain America shouting on the Comms. Ray groaned out in annoyance, while the three others within the Humvee showed on their faces that they clearly felt the same.

 "I am so sick of Captain America spazzing out on our Comms," Ray spoke, holding the bridge of his nose. And with that, almost immediately, the infamous Captain was back on the Communication line. Yelling about the same shit he had been yelling about every other time he was on the Comms. That the Marines could be ambushed easily in this position. Which everyone already knew, and already knew they could do nothing about it. So everyone was just stuck listening the a god awful platoon leader.

The sound of AK47 fire could be heard. Causing everyone to jump and get at the ready. Though, Ray just huffed. "It's Captain America, he has a motherfucking AK. And think there isn't any returning fire, and there is only one AK," Ray spoke looking around at all the uneasy Marines within the Humvee. Soon, they were back on the move and out of the town. Kyra hopped back down between the Marines in the back and Ray drove throughout the lasting of the town and they were right back on the road.

 "Sergeant, I didn't get to shoot," Trombley whined. Kyra looked at him and raised a brow while Ray just scoffed and chuckled sarcasticlly.

 "That fucking sucks, Trombely. Your recruiting officer tell you that you get to shoot people?" He asked, wanting to drill into the Marine seated behind his seat.

 "Fucking, yeah he did," James huffed as he held his weapon close to him.

 "Trombley asked about shooting people. I asked about pussy. The guy told me I'd get to go to Thailand, get all different kind of strange," Kyra just made a slight disgusted face at his talk. I mean, she was a woman, and Ray talking about all different kinds of pussy he would get or wants to get can get a little gross. "What did you ask about, Brad? Oh I know, Brad probably saw that TV commercial- the one with the knight who fucks up the dragon then turns into the Marine Dress blues with a sword. That fucking dress-blue commercial, man, that got so many fucking guys. Now look at us! Trombley hasn't killed anybody. I am a half a world away from good Thai pussy and Colbert is out here rolling around Fuck butt, Iraq. Hunting for dragons in a Mopp suit that smells like four days of piss and balls sweat," Wright was left in total awe by Corporal Person's long rant. Kyra was left giggling in  that back, a hand clapped over her lips to silence them. Brad sat looking out his window, a small grin on his face. Oh, but Ray wasn't exactly done yet. "You should have rolled into battle with a sword, Brad. That would've fucking rocked. Say, Kyra, what made you join the Marines?" he asked, glancing behind at the girl with a small smile.

 "My ex-boyfriend was a Marine. Reservist to be exact. He told me I should join the Marines. That way I could get good benefits and we could see each other more often. Although, when I told him I wanted to go active duty and go recon, he bitched and moaned. Then went and fucked my best friend when I was in basic training. Fucking reservist," She spoke, chuckling slightly. Brad turned and looked at her.

 "You dated a reservist, and then listened to him when telling you to join the Marines?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Kyra's cheeks reddened slightly whilst she nodded. Brad chuckled and turned back around. "Double negative there then Corporal," she just stayed silent.

 "We almost got married too, he proposed before I went to Boot Camp. He sent me letters throughout the time, telling me how much he missed me and how excited he was to get married. Then, when graduation came, he never showed up. I thought he might've missed his flight," she started. Everyone silently listening, it was really the first time Kyra ever talked about something having to do with her life before she joined the Marines. Or anything about her in general. She began fiddling with her M16 as she spoke. Unloading the clip then slamming it back in. Anger flooded her body just thinking about the man. "That was until I took my weeks leave, went home, and when I took a cab back to my own apartment that he moved into after he didn't pick up the phone. I walked into my house after seeing my best friend since Kindergarten's car parked in my driveway. I of course thought nothing of it until I walked into my house and didn't see either of them. Until I walked to my bedroom door and opened it. They were in the middle of fucking. Doggy style," she chuckled sadly. Brad looked back at her, along with Ray. Their eyes held remorse. When it came to any other person when they talked about a Dear John or cheating story, they could probably give a rat's ass. But the men cared about the female Marine a little more than any other of the Marines. It was hard for them to explain.

  The female continued fiddling with her rifle as she continued speaking. "I remember the look of pure and utter shocks on their faces. I was in my Blues and I remember just standing there. I wasn't sad at first. I wasn't angry. Just shocked. He immediately jumped up, dick out while the bitch covered herself in my blankets. Laying in my bed still. I just looked at him and then back at her. I ripped her fucking extensions right out of her fucking head. Broke her nose to. She ran out of my house, wearing his USMC shirt while he was trying to apologize. I grabbed a bottle of whine and dumped it all over his Dress Blues and then threw his TV out of a window. Kicked his ass out the next day. Five years out the window. I had been with him since the eighth grade. Now I was twenty and had nothing but the Marines. And look! Went to recon school, and now I'm here! With a battalion of my favorite people," everyone had a slight shocked expression on their faces. It was like all that was a joke to her. That it wasn't a huge dent in her life like it would be to most people. That is what kind shocked them the most. Like most men, they assumed women were much more emotional. Especially about relationships and their drama. But nope, not Kyra.

   Ray just mouthed 'holy shit' to himself. Brad looked back at her, she had a smile on her face. "Learned to never date a reservist again," was all she said before putting her magazine clip back into her weapon, a loud click was all that was heard in the Humvee. Wright just sat there, looking at her, scribbling into his notebook.

 "Damn girl, now I know never mess with you. I need my extensions!" Ray chimed, trying to make her feel better. She glanced up at him and smiled a little wider.

 "I don't need your pity men! That shit happened like four, five years ago! Now I'm like four years in the Corps, when I get back I'm getting ranked to Sergeant," she reassured.  "I'm moving up in the world besides dating some reservist Private," she laughed slightly. Brad turned to her.

 "When did you get told you were being promoted to Sergeant, Corporal?" asked the Sergeant. She grinned and leaned back against Walt's legs.

 "LT pulled me aside. He asked if I wanted to be promoted in fucking Iraq. But that would mean I would be put in some other battalion or some dumb shit like that. And I didn't want that. I want to stay in this battalion, in this team until I either die in this shit or after this war ends. What would I do without my boys?" She shrugged.

 "Oorah!" called Walt from the turret. Kyra looked up at him and laughed. Brad smiled and turned back to watch the road in front of him. A warm feeling filling his chest which he tried to ignore. But just the thought of the female having the choice to leave the battalion so easily and it would actually help her. Though, she decided to stay to be with her closest friends she had ever had, just made that warm feeling grow.

///

  After a quick pit stop for higher in Command and team leaders to discuss some mapping and that was it. Right back on the Iraqi roads. Sometimes bodies and destroyed military and or Iraqi cars lined the sides of the paved roadways. Their bodies torn up from bullets from all different types of guns. Everyone stayed frosty, knowing that RPG teams could be anywhere at the looks of it.

 Time passed listening to Ray's rants about how tired, hungry, horny, whatever he is. His rants can go for a long ass time if someone was to let him talk that much. But most people are smarter than that. Quickly, as the line of vehicles drove down the road, bodies and destroyed vehicles became more common and close together. Though, these ones were different this time.

 "Oh, get some! Look at that truck," Trombley exclaimed. Sounding like a rather excited child seeing the destroyed and on fire military truck and Iraqi cars and vans as they racked up the roads. Some holding burning carcasses of whatever or whoever sat within it. "Oh, it's like a Halloween fun house."

 Kyra kept an eye on the dead bodies that were scattered over the ground, and soon most of us came to realize that most of the bodies, if not all, were civilians. So many women and children with bullet holes torn straight through them. They didn't even have a chance. No weapons of any kind were to be seen. The female in the Humvee pressed her lips together and sighed slightly. What has this war became.

  Her grip on her M16 tightened as her gaze went from her left to her right. And coming into view was the body of dead Iraqi girl. She couldn't have been more than seven. Her eyes widened as the image came closer, clearer to see. Her legs had been blown off. Blood all around her. Kyra just immediately looked away after her breath hitched, whilst everyone else within the Humvee kept looking, and Wright took a picture. His eyes not leaving the girl's lifeless body as the vehicle drove past. A look of confusion, disgust, and utter shock rested on his face. The reporter stared blankly in front of him, his mouth slightly agape. Probably wondering what the absolute fuck did he get himself in now.

 "Well, well, well! Who's the sicko in the Humvee now? The psycho ass Jarheads? Or the fucking Liberal media looking for a little exploitation?" Ray just didn't know when to shut his mouth did he?

 "She's dead, there isn't anything we can do," Brad sighed. Everyone stayed silent. Well except Brad who was being harsh on him for the fact for taking a photo of the dead girl. It was hard to tell if he was joking or not. Maybe even both. Kyra just shook her head and kept her head down. Trying her best to shake out that mental picture. While Ray was ranting, and Wright and Trombley were busy staring out their windows. Brad took a moment to look in the small rear view mirror at the female in the back seat. He sighed slightly as he returned to his sector.

 "Stay frosty, Marines."

///

"All Hitman Two Victors, this is Hitman Two. Be advised the report of an enemy gas attack was again in error," LT called on the comms. Kyra grunted as she didn't listen to whatever Brad responded to on the rest of the comms with our Lieutenant. She pulled off her gas mask and pulled down the hood of her Mopp suit. Throwing her head back with a heavy and loud sigh. Pulling off the rest of her gas protectent gear along with the rest of the men within the Humvee.

 "This fucking sucks. How many fucking gas attack errors can the Marines fucking make?" Kyra hissed. Leaning backwards as Ray turned to look at her. Holding up his one white glove on his hand. His gas mask resting on top of his head.

 "Hello everybody, I'm Michael Jackson," She raised a brow and shook her head, laughing slightly at Ray's attempt with the high voice and as he spit dip all over himself. You know, the usual. Ray turned his focus to the road in front of him. The reporter huffed from his seat as he had a slightly troubling time pulling his gloves off.

 "This is fucking miserable," the civilian grumbled, puffing out his cheeks and blowing air out.  Kyra shook her head slightly and looked down, placing her Kevlar back on top of her head and clicking on the chin strap. Ray whipped around quickly to face the reporter.

  "Yeah, but we get to invade a whole fucking country dude," he responded in a more 'matter of fact' tone. The female in the middle just scoffed. Still not gripping the fact that all these guys wanted to kill, destroy, and just be in a war like this. She pressed her lips together and just kept looking forward.

 "At this point, I sometimes I wish Saddam would gas us already, it'll make the all shit with these Mopp suits worth it," huffed Brad as he lifted his gas mask off and pulled off his gloves. Quickly picking up his gun and watching his sector. Kyra chuckled and nodded as she continued pulling off her gloves. The sweat on her hands causing the fabric to stick to her skin almost like a suction cup.

 "It would justify the invasion," added Wright, who just sighed. Ray just scoffed and spit some of his dip filled spit out onto his lap once again.

 "There's no doubt Saddam's got chemicals. It's just you liberal dick sucks who try to pick everything apart," he hissed, not even needing to turn around to know that Wright lowered and shook his head slightly in defeat.

 Brad's attention was quickly grasped from the men and woman's short conversation's within his vehicle when a pair of men were spotted about nine hundred meters out. He quickly lifted up his M4A1 Carbine and looked down his sights. Peering out into the desert. The female in the backseat noticed the man's actions and looked out into the same direction she was. But, as it is with her glasses that go along with her poor eye sight, she couldn't see jack shit.

 "Foot mobiles. Two-O'clock," spoke the Sergeant, his view still glued onto the moving, confirmed Iraqis out such a ways away. In which the Corporal in the seat besides him quit his antics and quickly jumped on the Comms to inform the higher ups of their Sergeant's finds. Whilst Rolling Stone began with his questions. Though, he didn't get far since Kyra raised her hand in telling him to stop speaking. He quickly got the idea and clamped his mouth shut, looking at the woman as she squinted to see the two very blurry objects that moved probably a good couple thousand feet away.

 "Shut up, Reporter. I'm trying to focus," she spoke as she proceeded to lean over Wright. Honestly, with being the only female surrounded by seventy plus males, it was understandable to grow comfortable and used to just doing whatever with the guys. But, sometimes she forgot where she was, or who someone was, like Evan Wright, who actually isn't a Marine she knew for years. So when the woman just leaned over him, planting a hand on his knee, he leaned back, cheeks reddening and his hands retracting as Kyra leaned to look out the window. Trombley looked over and laughed.

 Shortly after, Brad along with Lieutenant Fick called the line of Humvees to a halt. Every Marine scrambling out of their Vehicles, grabbing their weapons to look out into the desert. Waiting for their orders as Sergeant Colbert and Lieutenant Fick observed what was assumed to be an RPG team. Wright looked over to the female Corporal, a questioning look on his face.

 "Uh, Corporal Bisset, why aren't they shooting at them yet? Isn't that an RPG team? They could fire any minute!" the woman chuckled, a toothpick between her teeth as she chewed on it. Looking over at him with her arms crossed.

 "Sometimes, War Scribe, I forget you are just a civilian," shaking her head she paused for a second. "US Marines have to be given permission to engage unless told other wise. And our screwed up leaders keep switching things up. Mr. Brad Colbert wasn't a hundred percent sure it was an RPG team. If anything those could be civilians just checking us out, as you see a lot of Iraqis are happy to liberated by us. Or they could be an RPG team trying to blow all us into pieces like a goddamn firework. One thing many learn fast is that once you fire a bullet, you can't take it back. A lot of things nowadays can lead to being a war crime, and the United States Military can't have that on their precious conscience."

 Wright just stood there, kind of understanding her words, but also not. There was a lot happening in a short time, and for someone non-military, it was a lot. The Reporter just nodded, looking back in front of him.  Kyra went and walked up besides the Sergeant and Lieutenant. Squinting her eyes, trying to see what they were looking at, pretty much ignoring their entire conversation. Through the slight blur, she could see some sort of tube and heads bobbing.

 "Hey, I know my eye sight is shit, but I'm pretty sure I see an RPG tube and two heads bobbing," she spoke. Looking up at the two taller men. Brad took his eye out of his weapon's sights and looked down at her. Fick looked around Brad to stare at her. The Sergeant looked back down his sights for a second then looked at the Lieutenant.

 "I see them too, but I'm not hundred percent sure that there is an RPG tube," Fick nodded and stared out into the desert. Observing the Iraqis in meters and meters away. "But I'm sure they're putting optics on us."

  The Officer turned towards the parked Humvees and panned around for a moment. "Pappy, Reyes, get the M-40 and punch out that berm," he called out. And like lightening, the sniper team grabbed their M-40 and ran out. Laying on their stomachs and getting into position.

 "Hell yeah!" The female whispered excitedly. One of her best friends was getting some, that was enough to make her happy. Brad glanced down at her out of the corner of his eye, a small smirk curling on the side of his lips. Quickly focusing himself back on the RPG team through his gun's sights.

 Not even five minutes after being cleared to engage, the two Iraqis were down. And they were indeed an RPG team. Rudy and Pappy stood up and Kyra jogged over to them whilst everyone was collecting themselves to get back in the Humvees.

 "That shit was awesome! I wish my vision wasn't so fucked up so I could get a better view," she cheered, reaching to pat her friend's shoulders. Rudy smiled down at her and chuckled. Pappy was busy taking the rifle back to the Humvee, leaving the Sergeant to scoop up his scope.

"You know my dear Kyra, I would keep a look out for Iceman's eye. He is been staring a lot recently," he stood up and looked down at the female. Who just raised an eyebrow and made a retorting face. "Don't look to fast, but he is doing it right now, and I don't even think he realizes he is doing it."

 The Corporal's head slowly turned around, and sure as hell, her eyes met with Sergeant Colbert's. She smiled and waved playfully. His view just darted to the side. And she could've bet everything that she saw his cheek flush with red. But, she thought maybe it was her eyes playing tricks on her. She turned back to her good pal Rudy who just gave a shit eating grin, with an 'I Told You So' look before walking back to his Humvee. Leaving the woman standing there, confused as all hell. Kyra shook her head and let out a heavy sigh, turning around and walking towards her Humvee.

///

 Like usual, the Battalion was right back onto the road. The dusty, dirt back roads of Iraq now. Passing through some small villas while many cheered for the American Marines that drove past them. Holding up crying and screaming babies swaddled up in blankets, yelling broken English. They were grateful for the American's, it was a small moral booster for some Marines, and the rest could give a shit.

 Brad's Humvee were the lead of the pack of Humvees and trucks behind them. The Battalion commander had given them the order to take a small dirt road to the left. Which, being the good, hard working Marines that follower orders they were, they took the sketchy road. Seeming quite odd that instead of staying on the main road they were turning off onto a separate dirt road that was surrounded by overgrown grass. But, Encino man was in charge for all of these men and singular woman, he was put in charge for a reason. Right?

 "I smell of goddamn Charms," Colbert's voice boomed within the moving box of metal. Glancing behind him at Trombley. Who had turned his face and spit out the small piece of candy out of his mouth and somewhere onto the Iraqi soil somewhere. Wright took the time to scoop out the Charm sitting in his mouth and throw it out of his window. Kyra sat back and chuckled. Leaning against Walt's legs. A slight smirk on her lips.

 "Sorry, Sergeant. I had one left," Trombley said, leaning against the window. Pouting. The Sergeant just turned back and watched out his sector. All was quiet for a few seconds before  the Marine sitting behind the drivers seat spoke up once more. "You know what sucks?" Kyra and the Reporter was grasped by the question. Turning their heads to peer over at the seemingly bewildered Marine. "All those dead bodies we seen today, and I didn't get to shoot any of them," Wright just made a face of confusion, disgust, and the utter idea of creeped out. The female besides him just pressed her lips together and shook her head slightly. Looking back out to the dirt road in front of her.

 "I see foot-mobiles. 12 o'clock, 100 meters," Ray called. Trombley piped up, gripping his fire arm, ready to kill. Per usual. Corporal Bisset leaned herself forward, between the driver and passenger seat just to get a better view. About three Iraqi women stood, one with a basket, filling it with what seemed to be some reeds. "Damn!" The driver exclaimed, popping off his chin strap of his helmet and tossing it to the side. Quickly slipping his gold-rimmed pimp sunglasses onto his face with a huge smirk on his face. "Brad, they're fucking hotties! I didn't know Hajis could be hotties. I thought they were all camel-faced hags!" Kyra let out a laugh, her hand flying to her mouth while Brad chuckled. Her eyes traveled to the women. She was astonished of the bright colors of their traditional clothing, they were in fact beautiful. The entire culture was beautiful to the woman. It was so complex and everything had so much meaning. Compared to what the rest of the men thought about this country and the people along with their culture, it was much different. Even within all the chaos, it was a beautiful country and culture in her eyes.

 Hey! As-Salamu Alaykum ladies," Ray called out to the giggling Iraqi ladies, who were using their head scarves to cover their blushing and smiling faces as the scrawny Marine laid onto the horn. The reporter smiled as we drove by. "Damn, homie. Better than when I was in my band!" he exclaimed happily.

 "'Cause they haven't heard you play," Sergeant Colbert responded. A smile on his face as his eyes returned to his sector.

 Kyra sat, still staring at the vibrant and beautiful colors of their Iraqi women's clothing. "Those clothes are beautiful. It makes me wish sometimes that I wasn't wearing the same sweaty ass mopp suit and utilities everyday," she spoke. Ray chuckled and kept his eyes on the road.

 "They are just colorful pajamas, Kyra. They were the same shit everyday. I'm surprised they aren't making those girls cover their faces like the rest of their people," the driver scoffed. Kyra just rolled her eyes and sat back against Walt's legs. Sighing heavily while she crossed her arms.

 "Is there a need for you to be so negative all the time, Ray?" She huffed, though with a small smile on her lips. Ray just spit his dip and looked into the rear view mirror, right at the female Marine.

 "I wouldn't say negative. I would like to say constructive criticism from a white American that just so happens to be invading and liberating their country. Besides, I'm only stating facts!" Kyra rolled her eyes at the response and just shook her head once more. Focusing back on the dirt road in front her.

///

  It was all going fine, no problems just yet. No Iraqis shooting at the Marines. Smooth sailing for what seemed to be close to an hour. That was until the dirt road in front of us randomly came to a stop. There was no bridge. Just grass.

 Sergeant Colbert climbed out of the Humvee mumbling, 'Mother fucker' beneath his breath as he took in the surroundings and the brand new problem. They were just never ending weren't they?

 The Marines left within the Sergeant's Humvee were just as upset. Now understanding that with this fuck up, they were put into the back of the damn operation. Once again under the mistake of the officers in charge. Ray was definitely voicing his opinion on the matter, as like any time.

 "Once again, thanks to fucking Captain Encino Man, were are now in deeper shit than we already were. I can't believe this fucking shit, man. It is hot as balls, I am swimming in sweat in a Mopp suit that smells like a fucking rotting corpse. Haven't even been able to properly shoot and kill some Haji fucks. And now here we are, sitting in some shit box Humvee, in the middle of East Bum-Fuck, at a dead end road," he rambled on and on.

 You couldn't really tell, but Corporal Bisset was getting more and more agitated by the minute. Sure, everything that was pouring out of Ray's mouth was true. And she would definitely agree with him in the moment. But as Ray rambled, her focus was on something else. Her eyes stayed focused on her platoon commander and team leader who both stood in the front of the Humvee. Looking back every so often to stare at the Captain who was supposed to be fixing his mistake.

 Kyra overheard the talk on Comms and the conversation between Brad and Fick.

 "Just figuring out we're lost," the Lieutenant started, sighing heavily. Brad looked down at his superior, pursing his lips and huffing.

 "I could've told him that a half an hour ago," he responded, agitation laced heavily in his voice. The two looked behind them, looking at the Captain and the Gunny staring down at a map laid down on the hood of their vehicle. Brad scoffed as the two looked back at each other. That is when Encino Man hopped onto his radio.

"We're gonna backtrack. Hitman Three will be on point. Colbert's team took a wring turn at the bridge."

  Hearing those words come from their commander, just itched Kyra the wrong way. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, her eyebrows narrowed. How could a Commander be so childish? Blaming his mistakes on the ones below him. Especially to Sergeant Colbert. Who is the best team leader and one of the best damn Marine within the Company and everyone knew it. If it was actually possible, steam would be shooting out of the female's ears.

 Ray noticed the woman's sudden shift in emotions. He knew that Kyra was usually the bubbly and happy one of the group. And seeing her as mad as she looked, the face of someone that wanted to commit a murder and fucking know she could get away with it.

 "Uh, hey Smiles. You good back there?" he asked, trying his best not to anger the female Marine even more. He was trying to choose life. Kyra just huffed heavily and looked up at him.

 "I'll be good when fucking Encino Man gets his dick out from between his legs, grows a fucking pair, and become a man like he is supposed be. Leading all of us. And admit his own mistakes and correct them and stop being such a dumb fucking leader," she hissed. Ray's eyes widened and turned around fully in the seat to get a better look at the ball of anger that sat in the middle seat.

 At the corner of her eye, Kyra noticed the reporter scribbling down into his little notebook. Her head snapped to look at him. Wright's head quickly bounced upwards, looking back at Kyra. Their eyes meeting. And once he saw the look of pure anger in her eyes, he knew he fucked up.

 "Keep scribbling in the stupid fucking notebook, Wright, and I'll just accidentally let off a round into your leg. Sending you right home and fucking up your stupid little report," she hissed. In which Wright shut the notebook closed quickly, and taking a large gulp. Nodding at her words.

 Kyra just huffed and turned away. Climbing over Trombley to get out of the Humvee. Once she was out, the three looked around at each other. Very shocked and confused at what had just happened. "What the hell just happened?" Ray muttered to Trombley.

 The female Marine walked towards Brad and stood besides him. The height difference was clear between the two. She chewed at the skin attached to her bottom lip. Not looking up at him and just looking out at the tall grass instead of the road she pictured of them driving on. "You don't have to put up with this shit, Brad," she said. Taking a moment to spit before looking back at him. "This is all bullshit," she added. Brad looked down at the fireball of a woman. A small smile coming to his lips as he shook his head. Turning around to look at the convoy of vehicles.

 "Corporal, you'll know one day that after a while, you just tend to ignore it. The entire military is bullshit. This war is bullshit. We are all bullshit," he started. Looking back down at her with that same stupid, shit eating grin. "This entire world is bullshit, Kyra. And that's why us Marines are here. To try to fix all the bullshit with even more bullshit," he finished. Earning a dry laugh from the smaller woman. She looked up at him with a look of light in her eyes.

 "You know Brad, after all this shit, I'm going to marry you," was all she said. Smiling up at him before patting his arm and turning around to walk back to their Humvee. Of course, Brad being the person he was, assumed she was joking. But he also hoped she wasn't. Yet Kyra wasn't joking.

  She meant what she said. She knew everything within life was bullshit. But she could see that Brad wasn't. He was real. And she was attached to it.

#generation kill #brad colbert fanfic #brad colbert #gen kill #generation kill fanfic #generation kill imagine #ray person #walt hasser #hbo #hbo war #hbowar

[benka79]

After Dark (We see the light)

Buddie Meta 911 503

Hello friends. Okay I told you this is gonna be a short meta bc we had just a little from Buddie at the end but it was very, very rich in visuals and body language.

Whispers: I just dissected the lockers buddie scene... 😏🔥

Just a few words about the kidnapping

I know we don't wanna talk about this ¡I don't wanna talk about this) but it was the main topic in this episode so I need to say a few words...

First of all, it was a very ugly and boring and weird way to show us this "storyline" as they described in the promo.

But let's rescue some interesting points:

-Another good neighbor helping by recording with her cellphone what was happening with Harry and his raptor. Again, neighbors saving lives just like they did in episode 502.

- Another hint to the idea that "no one is safe".

- Harry's kidnapping as a Foreshadow of Eddie being hostage in 507.

- The whole episode and the whole kidnapping process happened in the darkness. (Visual symbolism as I pointed in my previous meta here.)

- When Athena confronts Jeffrey she also makes a reference to darkness and light, and the firefam appeared illuminating the place. This is a reference about how the family they choose, the people they love, it's always there to support you and help you in bad moments too.

- When the woman asks Michael if Athena was his wife, he answers "Ex-wife", as a premonition of Eddiana break up at the end of the episode.

- The 118 unity assists a 911 call in which a man said his friend had been shot. This was a blatant reference to 413 and 414. The difference was the brachial artery.

- When the firefam goes to find Harry, we had a brief Buddie moment, again working together.

- Harry doesn't want to talk about his traumatic experience. (I talked about this in the previous metas with two characters with talking difficulties, as a Foreshadow for Harry.

- Maddie and her depression is taking relevance now that she thinks she is dangerous for her daughter. Imagine the pain she is handling thinking about this? I can't even...

The Light is Here

Time for some Buddie meta now.

First scene: the Lockers.

Buck sees Eddie coming out and smiles. This smile could mean a lot of things. But because this is a buddie meta, that smile is from someone that didn't expect find his crush still there. A nice surprise to see him again. Even when they were so many days together, you always celebrate the fact that you can have a little more of your crush, right?

Buck says he thought Eddie would be the first leaving because he had a little person waiting for him: Christopher.

The important thing here was the way Buck is talking to Eddie.

Look at him. He is smiling the whole time, eyes focused on Eddie. It reminded me that time in the kitchen. The fondness and the devotion towards Eddie are loud here. The longing, even when Buck implies "Hey Christopher is waiting for you, someone is waiting for you, that's awesome" it felt as is he wished he had that too.

But the smile, the soft gaze and even the voice he uses, is screaming Buck's yearn for Eddie.

Then we had Eddie avoiding Buck's gaze again.

Eddie had been thinking the way to break up with Ana. The seriousness in his face told us he had been thinking about it a lot. But even when he tried to find the word, he couldn't. He only stares at Buck to deliver a strong message.

When he mentions the name of Ana, sending Buck the idea of him breaking up right now, once he gets home.

The hidden message to Buck here is "Look, I'm following your advice, okay? I'm breaking up with her. I don't love her. And is happening now."

Then Eddie leaves and Buck's reaction is... priceless...

Buck is speechless. He can't believe it. First of all, because Eddie is following his advice. Eddie is not like Abby. Eddie is breaking up with her to release her. Eddie is honest. But then, he blinks nervously. Eddie breaking up with Ana means Eddie will be single again.

Remember season 4 opens with Buck saying "I don't tell people how I feel", who was these people? Well, his parents and Eddie. He even bought a book "5 languages of love" to learn how to express his feelings for Eddie. But Eddie started to date Ana, and every hint of being with him vanished. And that's why the sarcastic "What's Ana love language?" Full of Jealousy.

Now, Eddie is gonna be single again. And you can't tell me that reaction from Buck watching Eddie leave is not expressing exactly this: HOPE.

Even Athen mentions HOPE IN THE DARK in this episode.

Second scene: Honey, I'm Home

Suddenly, when the black out ends, we witnesses a continuum of parallels with people coming back home and family waiting for them. The first one is Hen, in video-call with her son. The kid is waiting for her after 5 days.

Then Athena's kids. Then Eddie having breakfast with Christopher and Ana...

And then we have Buck. And the contrast is HUGE. The writers made it blatant to show us BUCK IS ALONE. Even when he's dating Taylor, he is alone. Because Taylor is married with her job, and again, Buck is put to a side.

The irony in Buck's quote: "Honey, I'm home." Is representing his loneliness. His girlfriend is not what Buck wants for him. Buck wants to be seen (just like Norman) he wants to have what that old married gay couple had THAT'S LOVE. Buck wants his own beautiful love story. He wants a person who waits for him at home. That's why the yearn in his voice while he was talking with Eddie in the lockers. Maybe because he was imagining what wonderful would be to come back home together with Eddie and Christopher waiting for them.

This is the preamble to Buck/Taylor future break up. As I wrote in this spec post here.

So, Eddie already has the family he wants with Buck, but he doesn't know it yet, and Buck wants to have a lover who sees him for real. That person is Eddie, but he's not his lover, but his best friend. Well, not his lover yet.

Third scene: "I guess is your mess now."

Okay, we finally are in the Eddiana break up. I really felt sorry for her. Really. She was nervous at first, we can say it because her body language and the verbiage. Her body moved from side to side, trying to clean up the mess in the kitchen.

She knew what was going on. So she was the one saying it first. Eddie just added some few words about Christopher loving her, but the girl knew everything. That's why the talk was quick. There were no more words to say. She chose Spanish to say goodbye to him, because it was one of the things that they had in common, like a mechanism of defense. Then she says he is a great father. This is very important, because she knows Eddie was trying hard to fall in love with her because of Christopher.

But what caught my attention was Ana saying: "I guess it's your mess now" talking about the kitchen, but symbolizing the huge mess that will be Eddie from now on. And the mess is in the kitchen. The place in which Eddie and Buck flirted. The place in which Eddie looked at Buck so fondly as he interacted with Christopher.

That kitchen yells buddie. And it's a mess now. Because what is about to come my friends, is Eddie slowly realizing he is in love with Buck. Let's wait an see.

To Conclude:

Several storylines on the horizon, as the producers said. So we had Harry handling his post kidnapping trauma, maybe not talking about it.

Maddie and Chim story, with Maddie's depression and the seek of Maddie.

Buck's inner desire of being seen vs his relationship with a absent girlfriend.

Eddie rediscovering his sexuality through the realization of his own romantic feelings for Eddie, maybe will be expressed by a lot of Jealousy towards Taylor and some little fights over there. And Buck completely oblivious about Eddie's feelings.

Buenos Aires, October 6th 2021 9:21 AM

#buddie #buddie meta #503 #503 meta #5.03 #5x03 #911 #911 meta #evan buck buckley #eddie diaz #ana flores #taylor kelly #athena grant #harry grant #maddie buckley #chimney han

[kitkat1003]

Transcendental Meeting

They'd asked to see, to come in his head and meet this weird, convoluted time traveler that was Emmet and also not Emmet. Emmet wasn't exactly thrilled, and neither was Rex, but it wasn't too much to ask. After all, Emmet had had peoppe in his head before, and he can't imagine it would be difficult to have them in his head again.

Lucy headed the ritual this time, and Emmet tried to ignore the tight pull from both his and Rex's metaphorical hearts as he remembered that Vitruvius was so terribly, awfully gone. Instead, he focused on clearing his head, shutting his eyes.

When he, Lucy, Batman, Unikitty, Benny, and Metalbeard appeared inside his own mind, he could tell Lucy was surprised by the change. It is definitely fuller now, a multitude and dark blues and bright oranges filtering through the constantly shifting space, as well as the numbers and their corresponding parts that float around aimlessly.

In the center of it all, a large ship, identical to the one Rex had had before he...no longer had his own body. They can hear the sound of video games and someone shouting, and Emmet smiles with a sort of fond familiarity that has Lucy grinning.

He leads them to the door, hidden behind a plethora of sensors, and opens it, gesturing for them to follow him inside.

Instead of the makings of a spaceship, the interior is large house mixed with an apocalypse survival bunker. There is a gun rack and a homely kitchen, side by side, an odd juxtaposition of Emmet's and Rex's tastes that seems to work.

Rex is sitting in front of the largest tv screen they've ever seen, and Emmet stops them a few feet away from the chair, walking over by himself and tapping Rex on the shoulder.

Rex inclines his head-Emmet is the. only one allowed to sneak up on him like that and not get punched

"What, they finally show up to see the glory that is me?" Immediately, all save for Lucy are taken aback by the voice, bravado and ego and cockiness all turned up to eleven and shoved into a single sound. Lucy just smiles and shakes her head as Emmet nods, and Rex gets up, pausing the game and taking the few steps and one turn to face the people he knows so well, yet not at all.

Their appearance takes his breath away.

He doesn't front when Emmet is with his friends. As is, Rex secludes himself to being seen by GCBC and Lucy only, because he's too good-too nervous-to be seen by anyone else.

Rex's appearance is a shock to the four as well, eyebrows shot to the ceiling. Of all things that would have been thought to be a part of Emmet, Rex is not one of them.

"The heck happened to you?" Batman's gruff, blunt voice cuts through the silence, and Rex twitches, ever so slightly. The mindscape darkens for a moment, and Emmet and Lucy make the same face-the "Oh my God Batman don't say that Why did you say that" face.

"I grew up-yknow, trained some raptors, created a time machine spaceship, got tough, typical easy stuff. You wouldn't get it," His words are barbed wire behind the self aggrandizing, and Emmet's eyes dart back to Batman, pleading with him not to engage.

But the Dark Knight's ego won't be challenged.

"Oh yeah, it's not as if I pioneered that-besides, I doubt any part of Emmet is grown up," Emmet flinches, and Unikitty jabs Batman with her horn. "Hey!" Batman shouts, rubbing the spot where he was hit. Unikitty glares at him.

"I suggest ye back down. Wouldn't want the wee lass to go into a rage on ye, would ye?" Metalbeard speaks up, and Batman crosses his arms and relents.

"Whatever," he mutters.

Rex face is locked in a smile-one that never means anything good. He's either plotting revenge or holding back tears, and at this point Emmet isn't sure what's worse.

"How'd you meet Emmet, Rex? Emmet said you two used to be two separate people?" Benny asks to try and lighten the mood, and Rex crosses his arms.

"Saved his life," he grins, and Emmet rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, and then made me mess up a whole lot," he replies, eyes silently asking the question if he's allowed to tell. Rex shrugs, and Emmet takes that as a concession, summoning some couches for everyone to sit on.

He regales the tale-how he arrived at the wedding, what Rex did to manipulate him, etc. He can see their like of Rex wane as he continues, but Rex just leans back in the armchair he made and grins, arms behind his head.

When Emmet is finished, Unikitty jumps up, glaring at Rex. Her fur is slowly changing from pink to red.

"You ruined everything! Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi could've been killed because of you!" She shouts, and Rex shrugs sort of helplessly.

"Eh, I could've fixed it. It worked out fine, because I'm so great," he pats Emmets shoulder and winks, but no one is amused. Rex just shrugs again.

"You could've gotten us all put in storage!" Benny jumps up with his arms crossed. Lucy and Emmet hold their hands up, mouths opening to placate.

"What were ye thinking!" Metalbeard's cry suts them off, and Rex's hand crushes the can of soda in it.

The crunch makes the room lapse into silence.

"What was I thinking?" And Rex's voice is ice, sending a chill down everyone's spine. "What. Was I thinking?"

The roar shocks everyone, and the crushing stomp that accompanies it shatters the floor of the ship house, chairs dissolving with the shockwave Rex's foot creates. Rex's voice is loud, pained, and all that braggadocio lost as something broken and vulnerable and Emmet in a way that makes Lucy's heart ache.

The four, plus Lucy, all wince as they see the broken man Rex is, the trembling fists, the shadow of a man that used to be Emmet.

How long, they have to wonder. How long did Rex lay under in the dryar system alone, before he snapped? How long did he wait for them, still believing they'd come to save him, before his hope broke?

How must it have felt for his only friends, which he had given his fragile, naive, sweet, innocent, kind heart to, to have abandoned him, snapped his trust in half, and forced him to change?

"So...I decided," Rex finally starts up again, taking in a deep breath.

The final resounding scream has the whole ship dissolving, the dark blue colors in the landscape surrounding them smothering the bright orange as Rex continues to shake and shudder and take in heaving breaths.

Eventually, Eemet steps forward, placing a hand on Rex's shoulder, and when Rex turns to face him Emmet pulls him into a hug.

Rex shakes and grips Emmet like a lifeline, and Emmet nods at the five with something old and sad in his eyes, and suddenly they're back in Emmet and Lucy's home.

Emmet smiles sadly at them, something akin to disappointment in his eyes that burns into their souls when he catches their gaze.

"I'm gonna head to my room to talk to Rex. See ya later, alligator," with that, he turns on his heel and walks away.

Lucy stares at the four dejected master builders and sighs.

The four head home in silence.

----------

In the mind space, the pieces of the home they'd thought of together is already starting to rebuild, and Emmet finds Rex sitting and watching it coalesce.

"Sorry," he says. "I should've told them what jad happened before," he sits down next to Rex, and Rex looks so tired.

"It's okay-I needed to say that anyway, I think. Catharsis or whatever," Rex mutters, and Emmet's heart soars.

"You've been reading the therapy books I make in here!" He exclaims excitedly, and Rex chuckles.

"I got bored, what can I say," he shrugs, though his expression turns more somber. He goes silent, staring off into the distance.

"Rex?" Emmet tries, patting him on the shoulder.

"I don't know why they didn't come back for me," his voice shakes. "I don't-what did I do wrong?"

Emmet hugs Rex tightly, thinking of the empty despair that had clenched around his heart when hope was lost, when he thought he'd be left beneath the dryar system forever. Imagines sitting in that despair for months.

"Nothing. You didn't do anything wrong, okay?" He says, because Rex is him, and has Emmet done anything wrong to deserve that? To warrant that degree of suffering?

He leans his head on Rex's shoulder, and whispers again-you didn't do anything wrong, to Rex and to himself.

Maybe one day at least one of them could believe that was true.

#kitkat1003 #the lego movie 2 spoilers #the lego movie 2 #the lego movie #emmet brickowski #rex dangervest

[jinxisgaming]

Chapter 2

Ark x rdr2 cross over fanfic

(Just pretend the yuty the giant white chicken and spino isn't there)

John pov

Once the gates opened up to the base, it was huge, with some houses of different sizes on the left and a stable on the right as we came in and some other buildings in the distance and two other gate on the other two openings "nice place you have caitie" i said with wonder looking around as we came by some other odd creatures "that blue lizard with the light blue feathers there is a raptor named well blue, the four legged cream coloured one there is an iguanodon name bessy shes a sweetheart, you already know about silver and rose" caitie said patting rose on the neck "I'll introduce you to the horses in a moment, we need to get you two some clothes before nightfall" caitie pointed out and halted the rose and climed off with arthur following and i did the same and she gestures us to follow "that wooden building with the fences is the sheep pen, the glass building is the greenhouse; its were we grow our food and crops and lastly this stone builing is the forge, this is were your clothes will be" caitie mentioned and we followed her inside to see a big room full of technology I've never witness before and i saw two men working "these two here are Derek and sam, derek is from the year 1515 and sam is from 2009, you guys these two here are Arthur morgan and john marston who are friends of mine" caitie said pointing to us and derek a heavily bearded ginger haired man waved excitedly at us and sam a short brown haired man only gave a nod.

Caitie rummage through the crait until she pulled out two hide looking clothing "this is hide armor, you will need this for now until we get chatlin armor" she said as me and arthur took the armor and went in to a room. We got changed and i looked over at Arthur "still hard to believe were we are, these... what are they called 'dinos' running about and finding out that jack isn't a 15 year old but a 19 year old boy and i need to know if Abigail is here on this place, just want to believe this is some massed up dream" i said and Arthur patted my shoulder "i know, its just going to take time getting used to this place, especially after hearing about jack being older that you or i remeber, but if you don't freak out it will all be good" arthur ressured me.

we walked out of the building together as caitie was waiting there for us "took you guys long enough, come on the others are waiting in the cafeteria" caitie mentioned and gestures us to follow, "while you are here I'll teach you how to ride these creatures starting easyest to the larger creatures, so you can get use to them" caitie said "we already know how to ride" Arthur said and caitie turned towards us "yeah, but do you know how to ride a raptor, do you know how to ride a rex, do you know how to ride a flyer mount such as a argent which is a giant ass vulture?" Caitie said and continued walking towards the cafeteria which was one of the bigger buildings amongst the houses and we walked in "am i drunk or are my eyes not workin', because I'm see two men back from the dead" i heard an overly excited irish accent and saw sean sitting with Pearson as they got up to great us "good to see you two again" Pearson said patting arthurs shoulder "I'll be back in a minute" caitie said as we sat down with Pearson and sean "so, what was the last thing you two remember?" I asked "well, the last thing i remeber was being in rhodes until i blacked out, thought i got kidnapped but Pearson filled me in on what really happened, can't imagine getting shot in the head like that, though it is the only thing that would shut me up" sean said chuckling as Pearson straightened up "well that last that i remeber, it had been at least seven years after the gang split and we went our separate ways and i worked in a shop in rhodes, i was at home, then i fell asleep and then i woke up here, had the same reaction as sean for a while before caitie found me screaming and running from raptors" Pearson said, we all talked catching up and me and arthur telling them storys about life and they laught when i mentioned i became a rancher but stopped once caitie cleared her throat "john, heres jack" she said as a man came up besides her "hey, father...its nice to see you again".

----------

Thats it untill the next chapter, thank you for reading also sorry that this is short but i heard about the tumblr staff flipped off fan fic writers by doing a 100 paragraph thing

#red dead redemption #red dead redemption 2 #rdr #rdr 2 #ark survival evolved #cross over #ark survival evolved x red dead redemption #red dead #red dead 2 #ark #fanfiction

[ecoamerica]

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

#ACLA24 #ACLA24Leaders #youtube #youtube video #climate leaders #climate solutions #climate action #climate and environment #climate #climate change #climate and health #climate blog #climate justice #climate news #weather and climate #environmental news #environment #environmental awareness #environment and health #environmental #environmental issues #environmental justice #environment protection #environmental health #Youtube

[the-firebird69]

Monster truck - Wikipedia

As I said earlier we like to get into your recent circuit and we found out it's no longer a racing circuit that they disqualified all the competition that never came up to them and started fights with everybody and these idiots around him are the only ones in the monster truck arena and it's suck at it and it shows blow they take minutes to line up for a jump is sit there for an hour talking on the phone or something before they go over it and sending threats out because they suck I want people to think to jump went fine cuz of threats when they don't lose it's just sat there like 10 minutes I got out kissed up to the sky and sit I'm out of here and start doing yay this is this you want anything for entertainment instead on the microphone all night your entertainment of your boss you left screw you f****** cow don't do it if you're not going to do it so

.. that's if you should do it and say of course you're going to do it yourself blaming down the audience said crying so didn't do anything there as a Corky's not doing it anyways today wow that's weird because of what they're doing is lame there's no monster truck racing circuit it's all bottles up into a few organizations it don't really race so we're going to record at races and much bigger stadiums is the same as hell

To go around in the hockey rinks and stuff and football stadiums then these little idiotic clown shows no races really to speak of similar challenge them to races publicly for their idiotic abuse

Went around today and sample audiences all over the world of these things they said to go in here and they travel on they Punch cards they drive up and down the stain and say hurry for me

No wonder why and corky comes up and he says what do you people doing here since we're doing our job what are you doing here since I came here to meet them to see why they're stopping to talk to you cuz you're nobody's when you said you're worse than a nobody he's going on wrecking everything that ever was something to stop racing and stop performing that's just really really really blase. And Tony Allen threw a bird said how come I have to answer these questions every time you ask him is that I'm not the one here being grilled you are we said no we're asking questions as I said I don't have any time for this I threw them down that's all started saying that I'll send you reaches over to one of us how to do this many dollars if you do this to him and he meant you and all sudden I see the sandwich out smashing right in the face so if you say that insulting s*** to me again you're dead of course his face is all bloody he ran off crying came back with people with shotguns we grabbed him and shot his guys dead trampled them flat too if you come back you're going to be like them so we went and got machines we took all the machines drove off of them killed all those people hung him upside down in this big coliseum where they haven't monster truck thing came out had one in the truck bed and said if you come back and do that again we're going to keep doing this to you I said you killed one guy I said it's a representative sister hanging around waiting for you to notice what happened to them somehow he has an intuition to look upwards and they're all hanging from the raptors 300,000 men all dead and they're bleeding he said how did you do all that so quickly he said we're asking the questions here stupid so you can't ask it we hit him this is done so can't figure it out change stuff like that means you be quiet or are you going to enjoy them and you don't and we hit you and you join them smiles and says it's that better feeling than him especially we can't stand when they said what is your involvement with this show and race he said nothing what are you talking to us for he said no reason to send you trying to assault us and harness and kidnappers and our son we told you not to or just kill you and you keep doing it so we're going to chase down every last one of you and exterminate your race because you're stupid look back and said finally hit him and we killed him we're going after him with a vengeance I know he says or does any of the stuff that they do to us and ridiculous I'm not going to let it happen I'm starting our own monster truck race circuit be very happy to embarrass too afraid to race pieces of s*** who should have been able to beat but let walk all over them by doing things like that ruining the race

Thor Freya

[mrsquill]

this is a depressing prompt but would you write a little something on owen being mauled to death and claire just cradling him in her arms sobbing cause there's nothing she can do about it ;_; (i saw the tags on one of your posts and i just can't get over this thought cause it's heartbreaking and i secretly love angst) p.s. i love your writing so much! :)

Hi, love! Thankyou so much. This has been floating around my head for a while - it’s far from perfect, and I’ll probably rewrite it someday because it deserves so much more justice. But here’s what I have. Sorry in advance. Please, everybody, don’t read if you don’t want to. This was damn hard for me to write.

The blood was warm and sticky, flooding through her fingers as bile rose in her throat. “Owen.. I can’t - I can’t stop it,” a sob tore through Claire as she pressed at his chest with a scrap of her shirt, the material soaked through within seconds. “I know,” Owen’s voice was weak but his grip on her was strong, his hand on her arm. They were alone; stranded in the middle of the jungle on Isla Nublar, Owen’s radio smashed to pieces beside them. They shouldn’t have come back to the island. He knew, she knew it; but there was no way one was returning without the other.

“Tell me what to do, Owen. Please. I can’t lose you,” Claire cried, the tears streaming thick and fast down her cheeks. She was leaning over him as he lie on his back, the two of them ambushed with no prior warning by a dinosaur they hadn’t even know to exist. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” Owen hummed, pulling her close to him. It was a recon mission gone very wrong; Masrani Global keen to assess the damage from the incident, Claire’s contract tying her hands. Owen refused to let her go without him. He’d insisted that he and Claire go alone to retrieve Blue; that he knew her habits and didn’t want to crowd her. They were armed, of course, but unprepared by the beast that had stalked them through the trees, twice the size of a raptor.

Owen had flung himself in front of her, taking the brunt of the impact with the animal swiping him across the chest with its claws, before Claire had seen it off by firing shots blindly at its head, the shock compelling her. “Can you stand? Please, just try. We can walk -” Claire stammered now, trying to collect herself, tearing off more of her shirt to stem the blood streaming from the gashes on his chest. Owen was pale; his face ashen, eyes closed as he winced in agony. “No can do. I need you to listen to me carefully, Claire. You need to return to base before it comes back, warn the others,” he said through laboured breaths. “You can’t die here. You can’t leave me,” Claire whimpered, frantically searching her pockets for anything that would help in her attempt to stop the blood pouring.

“Look at me, baby. Claire. Look at me,” Owen said gravely, the urgency in his voice compelling her to tear her eyes away from her search. She cupped his face in her hands; his nose almost touching hers, her tears flowing unbidden as she shook against him. “It ain’t gonna work, I’ve seen this before. I don’t think I have much time left,” Owen managed, his chest heaving. Claire squeezed her eyes shut, lip trembling, unable to process his words. “You have to leave me here. Get to base, tell them what we saw. Shit was goin’ down in that lab that nobody knew about, and it ain’t safe to be here,” he muttered, squeezing her shoulders with the little strength he had left.

“I’m sorry, Owen,” Claire choked out a whisper, her throat closing with emotion. “We shouldn’t have come back,” she sobbed, and Owen soothed her, urging her to look at him. “Like hell was I lettin’ you wander round here alone. We both know it’s better to do this kinda thing as a team,” he managed to smile, but Claire only cried harder, fistfuls of his shirt beneath her hands. “We needed more time. There was so much we were going to do, so much we were going to see..” Claire wept. “You’ll do it all. I know you will. I’ll be right there with you, I promise,” Owen whispered, pressing his lips to her forehead as she convulsed into his chest.

“I need you to know that I love you, Claire. Did since the first day I saw ya. We just got a little stuck.. I was an ass,” he chuckled breathlessly, his voice losing strength with every word. “No, no, no,” Claire sobbed, cradling him in her arms. “I can’t say goodbye to you, Owen,” she whispered. She wanted to die; feeling herself fall to pieces, the only man she’d ever loved taking his last breaths in her arms, his blood spilled over her body. “I knew I had to have you. And it was my greatest honour, Claire. It really was,” Owen’s voice cracked; and she saw his tears as he held her gaze.

“I love you,” she managed; and Owen smiled, fleetingly, before the light left his eyes, his chest ceased to heave, and he was still. Claire screamed; birds taking off in the trees above as her heart threatened to burst through her chest. He was gone; Owen Grady had left her, died for her. She was hysterical, gripping his body tightly, refusing to let go. It couldn’t be real - it had to be a nightmare. She’d wake up in the little apartment they’d found, a slice of heaven in San Diego, Owen’s warmth wrapped round her as he told her it was just a dream. He’d gotten under her skin, become a part of her life so fast and yet she couldn’t let go; Claire refused, knowing she’d wait an eternity until she woke, safe in his arms.

No absolution came. Claire had lost all sense of rationality until his words echoed in her head. She had to move. If the animal came back, she was defenceless, and his death would have been in vain. Claire laid Owen flat on the earth, her trembling fingers pushing through his hair. Words failed her as she pressed a last kiss to his forehead. Owen Grady had been her saviour, in every sense of the word. She whispered a goodbye and got to her feet, his last words giving her strength. Claire knew he was with her, and knew he always would be.

#clawen #otp: for survival