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clanwarrior-tumbly · 2 years

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Can you do Illinois x reader where the reader sacrifices themselves for him somehow through a trap with water or something, and stops breathing. Illinois absolutely loses his shit and keeps trying to resuscitate them, and just when he’s about to fall into despair, a breath comes from the reader, and Illinois just shatters, and collapses against them, sobbing into their chest. Illinois then kisses them and confesses feelings.

"Man, we actually gotta go underwater for this?”

“It appears so.” Illinois looked down into the entry point.

The pool of water appeared awfully dark and murky, but then again you can’t always expect crystal-clear blue water in an underground lake.

“This is the final test. A “test of sacrifice”...I’m pretty sure it means oxygen.”

“I hope so. Looks like we just gotta swim through a small maze to reach the lever at the bottom.” You traced the symbols on the rocky walls, brushing your hand to clear the dirt. “Then these walls in front of us should open to reveal the treasure room....there’s just one problem.”

“And what would that be, partner?” He raised an eyebrow.

“It says only one person can go...or else some ancient sensors will go off and unleash a barrage of piranhas.” A hidden drawing revealed two stick figures getting torn up by a bunch of fish, red paint splattered around it.

You had no idea how the trap could tell, but you didn’t wanna take any chances.

Hearing Illinois sigh, you turned back around to see him remove his hat and bag, handing both over to you. “Well at least one of us can keep our stuff dry. Now you just stand there and look pretty and/or handsome while I-”

"I’ll go.”

He blinked in surprise. “Really? You volunteer this time? I’m flattered.”

“Hey, it’s only fair I try this one. I’m not the best swimmer, but I could definitely cool down a little.”

The adventurer smiled warmly, amused by your quips. That’s what he liked about you--how you were just so calm and eager to explore the caverns despite the many dangers you both ran into. Your greatest strength was staying levelheaded. It was his, too.

Though something in the back of his mind told him that letting you go ahead was a bad idea.

But if he were to stop you and insist he went, then it would seem like he was getting attached to you. He didn’t want that.

Oh no.

Part of the “job” came with keeping his emotions at a distance. He might’ve felt something for you back in the other cavern where you first met, and a lot of those feelings may still linger to this day...yet he told himself (and you numerous times) that he has no plans to fall in love.

Besides, you’ve made some good choices that saved you both from serious peril. So why should he worry? If you wanted to dive in instead of him, maybe that’s the best path forward.

You removed your own bag, passing it to him. “Now you just stand there and look pretty, alright?”

“With pleasure.” He winked, taking your bag before he watched you make your way back to the pool. “Be careful.”

“Always.” Taking a deep breath, you dove in and disappeared from sight.

Illinois just waited...and waited...and waited...and waited...

He tapped his foot, adjusted his hat, and checked the bags at least a dozen times--if not more.

Yet nothing happened to the walls in front of him.

You were taking an awfully long time, and he had doubts that an ancient water trap like this would have air pockets anywhere.

But you sounded so confident in your decision. If you thought you could handle this, surely you would’ve reached the lever by now, right?

Suddenly he began to wonder if he should’ve spoken up, growing more anxious with every passing second as he stared at the pool. He wanted to jump in after you, but knew that would only get you two killed.

Though what if you couldn’t find your way?

What if you ended up like-

He didn’t get to finish the thought, as there was a brief rumble before the walls finally split open, revealing the rest of the lake and a small bridge leading to a beautiful golden archway.

The treasure room.

"My god..so it was real, after all.” He chuckled to himself, taking a few steps forward onto the bridge. “[Y/n], you-”

But he froze, his smile fading as he realized something that made his heart plummet:

You were still underwater.

“Shit..!!”

Dropping the bags and his hat, he immediately dove into the lake. It didn’t take long for him to find you, but much to his horror..he found you unconscious, just floating lifelessly.

And that’s the moment he knew what the “Test of Sacrifice” really meant.

‘No, no, no..not another one, please!!!’

Frantically he pulled you to the surface, laying you flat on your back as he began to resuscitate you.

In all his years of losing associates, he’s never actually had the chance to save one. They were either lost forever or died instantly, with him being powerless to help. It was like a goddamn curse that followed him for eternity.

But he could save you. He had a chance.

However you remained motionless and unresponsive despite all his efforts. ‘Please, whatever higher god’s out there...give me a break..just this once.’ He begged, yet his silent prayers were left unanswered.

After a few minutes he slowly took his hands away, feeling himself getting choked up as he stared down at you, thinking he was too late.

God, why did this keep happening to him?

Why did he put himself through this?

So much heartache and despair--things he swore he’ll never endure again for as long as he lived--was tearing him apart inside. And he wanted it out.

He wanted to scream until his lungs hurt, punch the ground until he bled and broke every bone in his hand...anything to numb the emotional pain.

The pain of being unable to love anyone because they get taken away from him eventually.

This whole time he was lying to himself and you. He hated it. He hated every stupid joke or pickup line he threw your way to distract himself from his own feelings. His true feelings.

He loved you so much. But now he’ll never get the chance to-

All of the sudden, you sprung back to life with a gasp and a series of coughs, turning your head briefly as more water spilled out. You couldn’t form words, trying to focus on not choking.

The whole time, Illinois was shocked..and beyond relieved.

He did it. You were alive!

He didn’t have to leave you or build any makeshift graves.

Once you recuperated, you looked to see a teary-eyed Illinois hovering over you, not fully registering how absolutely shattered he was right now. You smiled weakly as he wordlessly helped you sit up.

“Well..that was-”

Hearing your voice finally broke him.

He collapsed into your arms, shaking as he buried his face into your chest, unable to hold back the storm of emotions that were swelling inside of him.

At first you didn’t even know he was crying and thought he was just hugging you, though as you held him close, you could start to hear quiet muffled sobbing and “I thought you were gone” over and over again. Like a broken record.

You were in disbelief that Illinois--the man who constantly brushed off people’s deaths like it was nothing--was sobbing so much over almost losing you.

This entire time, you thought you were just..like the rest of them. A friend. A mere acquaintance, with him joking that you shouldn’t be clinging to him so much.

Now, though? He was a total mess, clinging to you for dear life.

You’d tease him for his hypocrisy, but of course..this wasn’t the appropriate moment. So you kept holding him, rubbing his back gently so he knew you were still here.

Neither of you knew how long you stayed like this, though you gave him all the time he needed to calm down. And soon his sobs did subside, but he was still holding onto you, nuzzling your chest as he quietly sniffled.

At this point you were a bit flustered. “You okay, Illy?”

“..y-yeah..” He mumbled, sitting up and gazing at you with puffy, exhausted eyes. “[Y/n], you....”

Yet he trailed off and looked down at his lap, wondering what excuse he could give this time. You probably thought he was sending mixed signals about his feelings towards you.

But he didn’t want to do that anymore.

He wanted you to know the truth, before he goes back to being the flirtatious Illinois who’s scared to fall in love.

You heard him mutter something like “ah screw it” before he suddenly leaned forward to...kiss you?

This took you by complete surprise as he pulled away seconds later, flushed by his impulse actions. He never thought he could make the first move himself, though he looked into your eyes again, hands reaching for yours.

“I’m a..terrible liar, [y/n]. I-I’m the one who’s afraid to fall in love. I thought could just shake those feelings off after our first meeting but...they stayed. They always stayed. A-And..when you sacrificed yourself for me, I realized how...truly important you are to me..to my life. I’d miss you and your smile and...I...” He sighed, annoyed with himself. “Wh-What I’m trying to say is....I....I lo...goddamn it, this is hard..”

“Don’t worry, I know.”

You cupped the side of his face, gently raising his head up to meet yours. He blinked with astonishment as you drew him into the kiss this time--a longer and tender one. Just in case he had any remaining doubts about himself or you.

After pulling away for the second time, Illinois felt his heart throbbing with so much love. “Since when did you become such a good kisser?” He chuckled.

“Since right now.”

All he did was laugh softly as he brought you closer, not shying away from being affectionate as he rested his forehead against yours.

The treasure could wait.

You were the most precious thing to him right now.

#clanask #anonymous #iplier egos x reader #ahwm illinois x reader #illinois x reader #hurt/comfort

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evanvanness · 3 months

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Aranet4 review: I love it

When the world first began to open up post-pandemic, lots of friends at conferences brought along the Aranet4, which is a CO2 monitor.

This is it, for scale, it's about as big as a table coaster:

The idea was that a CO2 monitor is a good proxy for whether you're at risk of Covid contagion. If there's lots of CO2 in the air, it means you're likely in a poorly ventilated place and your risk of infection goes up exponentially.

I was never particularly COVID19 paranoid (but never got it either!), so I didn't buy the CO2 sensor until a few weeks ago.

Now I'd probably say that the aranet4 is my best purchase for $150 in awhile.

What if CO2 makes you dumber, not just at risk for sickness?

Aranet points to a 2015 study by academics at Harvard, SUNY-Upstate, and Syracuse University showing significant cognitive decline with elevated CO2 levels.

This graphic is from Aranet:

Digging into the details: the methodology is that they took 24 workers over a 6 day period and tracked how they did using standardized computer tests. 3 of those days were at ~500 ppm, 2 days were at ~1000ppm, and one day was at ~1400ppm.

Here is a screenshot in the study of the visualization of those days (Green+=500, Green=1000, Conventional=1400)

Or if you want more detail:

Interesting to see the raw data and note how higher CO2 affects specific things more than others.

Having read through the study, I think Aranet's description of "1000-1400 ppm brain cognitive function decreases by 15%" is not particularly well supported in terms of science, but in terms of a marketing claim it is...well, reasonable. Sometimes you gotta extrapolate.

===

C02 levels are roughly determined by amount of space, number of people and ventilation.

So what have I learned and why do I like the aranet4?

Open a window in the car.

Our family vehicle is a fullsize SUV, so it's a bit bigger than a compact car or a sedan. It doesn't matter, you could drive a Suburban and you still need to circulate air if the whole family is in the car.

I'm convinced that much of the kids arguments can be traced to high CO2 levels, because it only takes 5 minutes until you're at ~1400 if you have the windows closed. If you're on a long drive, you can get up to quite high levels.

How many times do you remember someone saying "it's time for some fresh air" and opening a window when you were a kid? And then usually the situation calmed down?

CO2 levels even get elevated after 15 minutes with just 2 people.

Open a window now and then. Refresh the air. It doesn't take much to change your air quality.

2. Gas range on = high CO2 in the whole house

As I'm writing this, the monitor spiked from below 1000 to 1350. My wife turned the gas range on, and my monitor picked it up even though I wasn't particularly close to the kitchen.

3. Lots of people = over 1000. Lots of people and poor ventilation = 3000.

As the graphic above indicates, outside you're generally in the 450-500 range. As soon as you go inside in most modern buildings, you're talking 800-1000, even if you're more or less by yourself.

If there's lots of people and indoors, you're over 1000, even if it's a massive meeting hall with huge vaulted ceilings.

This was ~40 minutes into a ~40 person meeting in a ~1000 sq ft room.

4. It takes a long time for all the rooms in my house take to reach an equilibrium measurement after I leave a window open.

I don't know anything about fluid dynamics apparently, but I figured it would happen relatively quickly. It doesn't. The room with the open window changes quite fast, but other rooms take a long time.

I've had a lot of fun in my few weeks with this CO2 monitor, running small-scale experiments (hey, what if I turn the bathroom fan on and leave the CO2 monitor two rooms away?). I feel like I've learned some important lessons and awareness that will stick with me, even if I lost the monitor tomorrow.

Easily worth the $150 for me, if I make better decisions as a result of having fresher air, then it will be an incredible return on investment.

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darkacademicfrom2021 · 3 years

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The Dark Team (part 5)

<<Previous part Masterlist Next part>>

Join the taglist in here (Taglist: @lucywrites02, @louieboo87)

“You gotta be kidding”, scoffed Bucky, entering the tiny hotel room. Loki, hiding his face between his hands, muttered something among the lines of “so hideous my own mother would throw up”.

“Sorry Bucks, that’s all I could get if you’re staying that far away from the last Hydra base you had contact with. Take turns to sleep or something and don’t fuck up too much”, said Tony from the other side of the line.

“It’s fine”, you said, throwing your bags on the side of one of the two individual beds. “I won’t sleep tonight, I have to figure this out. You guys try to get some rest and I’ll sleep after”.

“After what?”.

“I don’t know, after Christmas, Odinson. What are we talking about?”.

“Wow, mean”.

“I’ll take the one near the window, it’d be easier to throw myself off it in case you two want to keep doing that”, said Bucky.

Loki laid down on the other bed without taking his coat off, adopting a mummy-like position. He kept his eyes open. Incredibly creepy, you thought. Bucky took off his jacket and shoes and jumped on the bed, getting absorbed by it. You know, like a normal person would.

“Ahh, this mattress is gonna do wonders to my back ache”.

“Old man”, you laughed from the floor. You distributed different laptops with information, a pile of papers and files you knew you needed to have on paper, a huge map full of points marked, and a cup of coffee none of them realized you had made in the first place. Bucky muttered to himself "how the fuck..." but you paid no mind.

The sky darkened faster than you imagined, and the only lights in the room were the bright screens in front of you. Your phone started ringing and you glanced at the sleepy boys. Both looked completely passed out. You made your way to the balcony, closed the door behind you, and finally answered.

“Hey Pete”.

“Dude, you won’t believe this”.

“Probably not”.

“I had a dream that I think it wasn’t a dream. I think it was a memory”.

“Mhm”.

“It’s about Mr. Loki”.

“Alright”.

“Can you at least pretend you care?”.

“I care, bro. Don’t stress it. It’s just… Sorry, I’m really tired. Been fighting all day with that asshole. And the only time he didn’t get all snarky on me was when I was on the verge of sweet and peaceful death”.

“You… you were what”.

“Anyways, what was that dream about?”.

“I’m telling you, it was a memory. And it was from Mr. Loki, and I think it has to do with…”.

“Hold it. I can’t take you seriously if you call him Mr. Loki. It’s like I called you Mr. Peter. It’s absurd”.

“He has no last name”.

“Odinson”.

“That’s not a last name, that’s who he’s son of”.

“I don’t know how Mythology works, alright? Wait, so you think we collectively forgot something about him? As in the Mandela Effect?”.

“Didn’t he have mind powers? I’m telling you, I think he is actually up to something. Don’t you think it’s a little suspicious that us from all…”, he kept conspiring, but an all-too-familiar voice interrupted his ramblings.

“Hello, midgardian. It’s about time. Do you have the plan already?”.

“Yes”.

“Good. Rest and we’ll do it after”.

“Do you mind?”, you pointed at his bed.

“Not at all”.

You cut the call with Peter after saying goodbye and went to Loki’s bed. As you laid your head on the pillow, you felt the warmth still in there. It was sort of comforting, in an unusual way. It even smelled a bit like him, though you weren’t sure how you already knew the scent. Your eyelids fell heavy as soon as you allowed them to, and you passed out for at least four hours. When you woke up, the morning was barely starting to lighten up the city, and Loki and Bucky were having a staring contest. Or something like that.

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were about to make out”.

“Eugh, gross”, said Loki, rolling his eyes.

“Hah, you pulled your eyes away first. I win”.

“Oh, was that the purpose of this? I was just gazing at your dreamy and soft blue eyes, Barnes”.

“I can cut the air with your sexual tension", you said, chuckling.

“The only thing that will be getting cut is your neck. With my knives”.

“Oh, come on, sweetheart”, mocked Bucky, totally getting into the rol. Loki got up with a tiny smile. Deep down, he was enjoying the friendly chattery.

You began explaining the development of the mission. It was quite easy actually. You needed a stick; that pendrive was always on a Hydra worker, and there were three possible individuals. You were three. It was almost as if it was made for the Dark Team.

The first part of the plan was directed by Bucky. He had to kidnap the first suspect and make him think he was the terrifying Winter Soldier. In that fear, he’d take some information out without having to actually harm him physically (or maybe just a little, you know, the whole abduction part).

The second part should be done at the same time than the first one, and this one belonged to the God of Lies. Loki had to pretend to be the man Bucky had kidnapped, and make small talk, little conversations with his coworkers to get a general idea of where the stick could be. Take out information in the most unnoticed way he could.

The third part had to be synchronized in half of the second one. Loki had to pull the third suspect away from his office, whatever the reason. You’d infiltrate in the office and go through his stuff. You studied and analyzed his personality briefly through his social media; he wasn’t the kind of guy to keep something important like that on himself. He had to have it locked away somewhere safe. Preferably on a Hydra base, because what’s safer than that? Who could possibly break in?

“Whichever finds the stick first, lets the other teammates know and we all leave as fast as we can. It’s a matter of minutes until the alarm goes off after that pendrive is out of the building; it has a sensor”, you finished.

“Sounds good”.

“And if something goes wrong?”.

“I have a plan B, C and D for the possible outcomes. Don’t worry”. You handed them earbuds and clipped barely visible microphones to their clothes. “Don’t lose this, otherwise we have no means to communicate. And remember we’re a team, and we behave like such. Every modification to the original plan goes through the other two, understood?”.

“Clear as water”.

“Let’s get working, then”.

#loki #loki x reader #loki laufeyson #loki x gender neutral reader #loki x y/n #loki odinson #loki mcu #loki fanfic #loki headcanon #loki fic

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ithinkhesgaybutwesavedmufasa · 4 years

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Addicted To You

Part VI: Hold On Loosely

Summary/Author’s Note: ITS BEEN SO LONG. I MISSED FRANKIE SO MUCH. also. Holy shit, I love you guys. Part I -- has been my first fic to reach 500+ notes and that is just bananas to me and also wild that it was Frankie that did it. He deserves all of the love.

So, for those who have seen the movie know what is about to happen. But it might not be in the way you think. We get a little bit more Reader and Pope interaction and someone mentioned wondering about her relationship with Benny and I was like Oh perfect timing for this then...Enjoy. Gif credit to @pascalplease

Pairing: Frankie Morales x Pope’s Sister!Reader Word Count: 4.1k Warnings/Rating: R/18+ Language, TOM (yeah he moved up), No one fucking listening to Frankie, Frustration, Intense situations, FUCKING murder, pining/longing, getting slightly turned on by Frankie piloting again--don’t lie we all do it, Frankie distress, blood/injuries

Part I * Part II * Part III * Part IV * Part V (bold means smut**)

[MASTERLIST]

“What’s my name?!” he yelled over the wind of the helicopter behind him.

“I-I don’t know,” She hugged her own body, clutching the duffel bag to her chest and looked at him with uncertainty. The wind blew her dark hair around her face and she made it a point to put herself between her younger brother and the man in front of her.

“Your buddy back there--” he swung his arm around and pointed. “What’s his name?” She shook her head and he raised an eyebrow. “I can just go ask him!”

“I said I don’t know!”

“Now,” he touched her arm and she had to fight not to shrug him off. He dipped his head and his tone was condescending. “When you two finally had sex--and you rolled over and said, ‘what’s your real name’--what’d he say?”

“That never happened!” She shrugged him off then and snarled at him. “He told me you served together...and that you were honest.”

“Why’d he say that?” Tom leaned back in mild surprise.

“Because I asked if he trusted you.”

“Why?”

“I was worried about you cheating him…”

The chopper had landed on the Peruvian border just like Pope had promised. They had dropped off the informant and her brother and although you couldn’t hear what was being said, you could tell by Tom’s dramatic body language and the disgust on her face that it wasn’t a pleasant conversation. Your brother handed her their cut of the money and touched her face tenderly as she held onto his arm and they said their goodbyes.

Tom stormed back onto the helicopter and sat down, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. You couldn’t help but think that he reminded you more and more of a child throwing a tantrum instead of a hardened military veteran leading a mission. It was as if he knew you were staring because he opened his eyes and looked at you. You averted your gaze quickly.

Pope cleared the threshold of the copter and took Benny’s seat as the younger man went up to take his shift with Frankie in the cockpit. Your brother put his headset on and opened his arm so you could lean against him and hug his side.

“You liked her, didn’t you?” you asked him, looking up with your head on his chest.

“I’m just glad she’s safe.” He said vaguely and you knew not to push the subject. He rubbed his hand up and down over your arm as if to warm you up and you let out a sigh of contentment.

“She’s lying,” Tom’s voice crackled through the coms on the headsets and both you and Pope looked at him.

“No, she’s not.” Pope said firmly and glared at the other man.

“You know what we should have done?” Tom let his thought remain unfinished and you felt your brother tense under your arms. Your stomach dropped as you realized what Tom meant. Before either of you could say anything, Will spoke up, always the voice of reason.

“That’s one you wouldn’t come back from, brother,” he said. He was leaning back against a few of the duffel bags with his arm propped up to keep his side un-strained.

The four of you were quiet for a long time, each mulling over Tom’s words in your own way as the chopper whirred around you rhythmically. The dark sky was crystal clear and you watched as the city below you slowly started to disappear and give way to the dark tops of the trees.

“You still doing okay?” Pope asked and you nodded.

“I’m exhausted,” you said, trying your best to stifle a yawn with his shirt. “But I’m worried if I sleep I’m going to wake back up in that mansion.” It was the first time you had admitted it out loud, but, however ridiculous, it was the truth. Every time you closed your eyes, it was as if you were back in that room, tied to that chair. The darkness that enveloped you wasn’t from sleep, it was the goddamn blindfold being put back over your eyes and it made your heart start racing as panic built in your chest.

“Hey,” Pope said, dipping his head to look at you. “You know I was going to find you no matter what, right?” He gave you another squeeze. “I wasn’t leaving this fucking jungle without my little sister.”

You released a heavy breath and laid your head back against your shoulder, smiling slightly and forcing your mind to remember that you really were safe. Before you could start to drift off, you opened your eyes and leaned back enough to look at him. “If I promise to try and sleep, will you go check on Frankie?”

Pope chuckled and rolled his eyes before succumbing to your request. “Yes. You rest and I will go check on Fish.” As he got up, he shrugged his jacket from his shoulders and tossed it over you before moving towards the cockpit.

"The weight drags when we get into higher altitudes so I want to keep it under 5,000 feet until we hit the Andes. We'll hit the ocean in four hours." Frankie's voice came through the com on your headset and you suddenly felt better. Tom's voice came through confirming that they had heard him and understood.

Four hours. Four hours and you would be headed home. After everything, it seemed like such a small amount of time and with Frankie at the helm, there was nothing to worry about.

When you woke up, it was because you were shivering. The main hull of the helicopter had dropped a considerable amount as it flew through the night and started to rise in altitude the closer it got to the Andes. Your brother was still gone but his jacket was pooled in your lap where it had slipped down off your chest. Both of the Miller brothers were sleeping peacefully and you were glad that Will had finally managed to get comfortable.

You sat up and slipped your headset back on so you could hear what they were saying. Standing up and stepping into the cockpit, the view out of the front of the aircraft was breathtaking. The mountains were huge, rocky crags that were covered in bright, white snow that reflected the sun off of its smooth surface.

"I'm gonna try and head for the two peaks I saw on the map. If we can aim for that valley it will be easier," Frankie said.

"Roger," Tom replied and both men looked up as you stepped over the threshold and put your hand on Frankie's shoulder.

"Hey, you," he said quietly, giving a small smile as you gave his arm a squeeze.

"It's beautiful," you said, clearing the sleep from your voice and nodding ahead of you. There was a clear divide between the lush, green trees on the mountains below and the drastic change in altitude that allowed for the snow to accumulate.

"It is," Frankie nodded, reaching forward and flipping up a small switch before putting both hands back on the joy stick. "You finally rest?"

"A little," you said. You pulled your headset down to rest on the base of your neck so you could lean forward and kiss his cheek gently. He kept his eyes ahead but the action made him smile, making the small lines at the edge of his eyes crinkle.

"Can you cut the domestic bullshit please?" Tom said, gruffly. "How steep do you think that is?" He pointed to the nearest peak and Frankie looked at him sternly.

"It's about 11,000 feet. We can't make that. I gotta find another way." Frankie shook his head and readjusted his grip on the controls.

"That's the quickest way to the ocean from here. You should go for it."

Both you and the man to your left looked at Tom in surprise and annoyance. Who was he to call the shots like this? This wasn't a matter of choice, this was a matter of if something was possible or not. You put your hand on Frankie's shoulder as the helicopter started to rise up the side of the mountain.

Frankie dipped his head to look up through the windshield, glancing down at all of the controls and watching as the lights started to flash in warning. You looked over your shoulder as Pope came up to stand behind you and watch what was happening.

"Alright, baby," Frankie said softly, talking to the aircraft. "Alright, baby, come on now."

He caressed the controls like he had caressed you. His fingers were familiar with them, what made them tick, and how best to move each dial and joystick. Frankie had always flown with a meticulous care that never failed to impress you--it was his favorite thing in the world. His heart lived in the sky and you loved that about him. A loud and rapid beeping drew you from your thoughts as the control panel started blinking red and orange.

"We're redlining man," Pope spoke up behind you as he pointed to the sensors.

"It's close though," Frankie grit his teeth and cursed under his breath. "It's too much weight. It's too much fucking weight. We're never going to make it."

"What does that mean?" Tom asked, sternly.

"It means we're losing fucking money."

"You wanna leave 50 million dollars in the middle of the jungle?"

"You wanna get to the ocean?" Frankie snapped finally, his voice not leaving any room for argument from Tom. The other man glared at him for a moment before looking over his shoulder to address Pope.

"Alright, go do it."

The idea that Tom controlled what he imagined to be the fate of the money, but in reality it was all of your lives, was complete insanity to you--especially because he seemed to be so flippant about the importance of the latter. You looked over your shoulder as your brother lowered the hatch on the back of the aircraft and a bitterly cold wind filled the cabin. The Miller brothers started shoving duffel bags filled with money out into a free fall down to the snow covered landscape of the Andes.

The immediate beeping of the control panel quieted down and Frankie gave an approving nod. “That's feeling better.” He dipped his head lower, leaning forward in his chair as if the movement would help the craft in its painfully slow ascend over the mountains. “Come on. Come on.”

You held your breath as Frankie crested you over the top of the mountain and, just like he promised, there was the ocean. The sun glittered off the water as it rose in the sky and you felt a sense of relief that was comparable to how you felt when Frankie had cut you loose from your bindings in the mansion. Both times he had brought you a sense of safety that made your heart stutter against your ribs. Then the beeping came back. The aircraft paused for a brief moment before it dropped into a free fall.

Your ass hit the metal floor hard and your stomach twisted into knots like you were on a roller coaster. Santiago’s arm wrapped around your waist and hauled you up against him as the copter shook and the metal screamed, alarms going off from multiple places on the dashboard.

“What the fuck are you doing Catfish!?” Will yelled as he gripped the handle above his head and put a hand over the bullet wound on his side.

Frankie’s voice came through the headset, calmer than he most likely felt. ”One of the gear boxes is blown--I don't want to go into a spin.” You all continued to fall in the air down the side of the mountain and his voice became strained as he gripped the joystick and tried to balance it out. “We might be in trouble here. I'm losing altitude--we should land. We should land now.”

“Crash land here we all die!” Tom yelled, looking at his pilot with wide eyes.

“I'm trying to get her back to flat--”

“Prepare for a hard landing!” Tom barked behind at the rest of you.

Frankie flew back down over the canopy of the jungle, the snow giving way to the lush green of the treetops as he tried to maneuver towards the village that you all had seen during your first initial climb. Benny leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes as he gripped the handle closest to him. You could feel your brother’s heart hammering against your back, but on the outside he remained calm for the sake of the rest of his crew.

“I can't land this with the drop bag under us. We should lose the money and maybe we don't die.” Frankie turned and looked at Tom. The man glared at him but remained quiet. The fact that now, looking certain death in the eyes, Tom decided to shut his mouth, pissed you off. And apparently, it did Frankie as well because without Tom’s permission he looked over his shoulder and yelled over his mic on his headset. “LOSE THE MONEY OR WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!”

“Fuck this,” you mumbled as you pulled Santiago’s arm from around you and scrambled to your feet.

You had been on flights with Frankie enough times that you knew what the external load release looked like. It was the only fucking leaver on the wall, after all. You leaned over Benny and grabbed the red handle and yanked it down. The cargo doors in the floor opened slowly but the canvas net bag full of duffel bags stayed securely attached to the bottom of the helicopter.

“Frankie! It’s not working!” You called out to him and he glanced back at you again.

“There's a manual override on the cargo hook!” His voice was full of worry as he told you to stop. “Let Benny do it--fuck!”

He cursed, watching as you ignored him and leaned over the open door to find the manual override. The wind from the blades and the altitude whipped your hair against your face and you grabbed onto the rope, feeling for a trigger mechanism of some kind. You cursed as black smoke billowed from the top of the aircraft and obscured your vision. The giant metal release was on the other side of the net and was way out of your reach.

“Spot me!” You turned and yelled at Benny as he fell to his knees beside you and you ripped off your headset.

Benny nodded and helped you lower yourself through the hatch and onto the rope. He gripped your arm as you extended your leg and landed a firm kick with your booth onto the latch. When the bag fell, the helicopter gave a jolt as the weight shifted and Benny toppled through the hatch with you. You screamed as you heard Pope call your name and you looked up to see that the only thing that connected you to the copter was Benny’s grip.

“Benny!” Will lunged for his brother and grabbed him by the back of the shirt. The ground was coming closer and closer as Frankie tried to level out the craft and land it in the middle of the field.

“I can’t hold us both!” Benny yelled back at the blond. “We gotta jump!”

“No!” Pope reached through the hole in the floor but Benny was right. He didn’t give them any time to argue as he let go of the edge of the hatch and the both of you dropped the last twenty or so feet to the ground.

You hit the ground so hard it knocked the wind from your chest. Bits of dirt flew into your mouth as you gasped and covered your face with your arm. As the helicopter touched down, dirt and debris whipped around in the air and you squinted to try and see through it all. The blade on the tail caught the dirt and the whole craft jerked sideways as huge chunks of metal flew directly toward you and Benny.

“Get down!” He grabbed you and shoved you back down onto the ground covering you with his body as it continued to spin and jerk. The metal groaned, the blades squealed and all you could think of was if Frankie was still in control of it or if you were all just holding your breath and waiting for it to be over.

Black smoke and chunks of upturned earth continued to fly long after the craft came to a stop but the blades still slowly continued to turn. Benny moved his body off of yours and helped you stand as you both took off running towards the wreckage.

“Santi!” You screamed at the top of your lungs.

“Here!” Your brother called back as Will popped the door open and they both started to climb up out of the sideways craft. “We’re fine!”

“Fish!” Benny yelled as he got to the front and your heart stopped. Both Frankie and Tom were not moving as fast as Pope and Will. The glass of the windshield was shattered, but still hanging in the frame and Benny quickly raised his knee and kicked it free in giant sheets.

Tom crawled out onto the grass and coughed, fresh blood coming from an abrasion on his eyebrow. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Help Fish.”

As soon as Tom was out of the way, Benny got down and leaned in, grabbing the other man by the forearms and hauling him out onto the ground.

“Frankie,” you breathed, running the rest of the way to him. Benny moved to the side as you approached and you threw yours arms around him tightly.

Frankie squeezed you tightly, before leaning back to hold you at arm's length. He dipped his head to look you in the eyes as he gripped your upper arms and shook you slightly. “What you thinking--what the fuck were you thinking?!”

You watched as blood slowly dripped down a fresh, large gash on Frankie’s upper cheek, but he didn’t pay any attention to it. He couldn’t look away from you. His eyes were wild and his chest was heaving and even though his words were harsh, his tone didn’t hold any anger--it held fear. Your eyes burned and your chest felt tight, and the moment he saw it reflected on your face, his resolve crumbled and he pulled you back against his chest.

“You scared the shit out of me, baby,” He confessed as he pressed his lips to the top of your head and shut his eyes tightly. “Fuck.” He shook his head and looked up at the man standing behind you. “Thanks, Ben.”

Benny nodded as he helped Will jump from the door of the helicopter and Pope crawled out behind him, with his rifle clutched in his hand. He started tossing gear down to the ground and they passed around backpacks and guns. Frankie let you go reluctantly as Pope hopped down to the ground and handed him a new bulletproof vest.

“They’re gettin’ into the fucking net,” Tom cursed and the rest of you looked up to watch as people from the nearby village had flooded the site where the bag had dropped. Sure enough, they were using tools and machetes to rip through the thick ropes of the drop net and get into the duffel bags.

”What’s the plan here?” Pope said, propping his rifle on his arm and looking around.

“We’re getting that money back over the mountain and to the ocean,” Tom said, fastening his vest and grabbing his own weapon. “Benny, cover us from that treeline there.” He pointed to the right. “Fish, I want you at that vantage point over there.” He pointed to the left and then continued. “That’s cocaine they’re growing, so they could have guns already trained on us from those watchtowers over there.”

“We got working coms?” Will asked and Tom shook his head.

“No, we’ll use hand signals. Pope and I will get out there and look as peaceful as we can--we’ll signal when we think it's secure.” Tom looked to each of them to make sure they understood before nodding once. “Move out.”

As they all started to move in their assigned directions, Frankie moved his rifle to one hand, so he could take yours with his other. “You’re coming with me.”

You didn’t argue, not wanting to leave his side regardless. You desperately wanted to inspect the cut on his face, but you knew while he was tasked with watching the back of Pope and Tom, Frankie wouldn’t dare think about himself. You could ask, but he wouldn’t let you, so what was the point? He moved you both up the hill and squatted low into the tall grasses of the field, pressing his right eye to his scope for a minute to make sure he had a shot lined up if he needed it.

As you both watched the retreating forms of Tom and Pope walk towards the farmers, Frankie glanced at you. “Are you hurt?”

“Scratches mainly,” you shook your head and looked down at your palms and arms. “That’s it. You’re bleeding, though.” You nodded towards his face.

“I’m fine,” he said stubbornly, like you knew he would. “Don’t do anything like that again.” His voice was flat and you fought the urge to snap back at him. The adrenaline had been high for you both, the last thing you needed was to fight with the man you currently needed most.

“We both are going to do what it takes to get home--”

“You don’t have to prove to anyone that you’re a badass--”

“Don’t pull that macho bullshit with me--”

The two of you glared at one another and then his face broke into a small grin. He rolled his eyes and mumbled something about you being stubborn before looking back through his scope. You knew he was just worried. Was it reckless to do what you did on the drop net? Absolutely. But this entire trip had been nothing but the five of them risking their lives for you, and you were tired. Tired of being the reason that everyone you cared about in this fucking jungle was in constant danger. So, when Frankie told you to be smart, it was because he just wanted you home. He just wanted you safe.

You stayed quiet as you both watched the scene unfold in the field below. Both Tom and Pope were talking with their hands, gesturing, and speaking quickly. Hearing what was being said wasn’t necessary, their body language was more than enough, this talk wasn’t going in their favor.

“Pope, what's he reaching for? Is that a weapon?” Frankie spoke with his gun against his shoulder as he used the hand that wasn’t on the trigger to press the button on his radio.

No response.

“Pope, do you cop-”

“Frankie,” you touched his shoulder as you remembered the coms were dead from the crash.

Frankie leaned back and glanced at you before looking to his radio and cursing quietly. Pope had his arms out in a defensive position, speaking quickly over Tom who had his hand on his gun. This was bad. This was very bad. Frankie adjusted his grip on the rifle and his body went still. Tom pulled his gun and it was as if everything before you happened in slow motion.

The villagers yelled and Tom used his handgun to fire into the chest of the one nearest to him. Then again and again. Blood blossomed to life through their clothing and they dropped to the ground. The second one of them took another step forward, Frankie pulled the trigger, doing what he was trained to do--protect those on your squad.

His rifle echoed and ricocheted back on his shoulder and the man who had stepped towards Pope dropped just like the three before him. You watched as the other men gave the order for the villagers to get back and the screaming continued. Benny ran down the mountain and Frankie stood but you didn’t move. You were frozen in place as you saw Tom raise his gun at the unarmed man, now struggling to breathe, on the ground. You may not have liked him to begin with, but now you knew--Tom was going to get all of you killed.

Perm Tag List Part 1:

@rae-gar-targaryen @zeldasayer @winters-buck @gooddaykate @jigglemiwa @seawhisperer @halefirewarrior @ripleyafterdark @phoenixhalliwell @thebakerstboyskeeper @honestlystop @lackofhonor @readsalot73 @cryptkeepersoul @skdubbs @cahooter @synystersilenceinblacknwhite @googiebeankat @dinohaze @saltywintersoldat @huliabitch @silver-lined-solitude @tainted-gay-ghost @roxypeanut @hayley-the-comet @domino-oh-damn @maybege @corvueros @pettyprocrastination @qveenbvtch @hopplessdreamer @ @apples-of-february @pocket-of-anxiety @marie-is-in-the-dark @agentpike @pascalplease @cosmicbug379 @your-pixels-are-showing @gamingaquarius @blushingwueen @crimsonandwhiteprincess @bluemoon-glen @river-soul @robbinholland @nerdypinupcrystal @fleetwoodmactshirt @jaime1110 @fioccodineveautunnale @fantasticcopeaglepasta @kid-from-new-zealand

#Frankie Morales #frankie morales x reader #Frankie morales x you #Triple Frontier #pedro pascal #pedro character fic #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal x you #addicted to you

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five-rivers · 3 years

Text

Glowsticks

Sneaking in before midnight on Halloween~

This is another continuation of Exhumed.

McGee had talked to several people about the strangely popular gravestone. What he had learned made him feel sick. Literally. He wanted to throw up. First, the person buried there was the kid that had been found in the park. Second, the locals had made him into a cult figure practically overnight.

Or, at least, a tourist trap figure. These people had no shame.

On the other hand… Didn’t they say that Daily person was in charge of cults? Did Amity Park have a cult problem on top of everything else that was going on? Was the cult the problem, the root problem? If there even was an actual cult…

Cults were dangerous and took vicious advantage of legal loopholes. Maybe he should call the FBI. They were the ones that were supposed to deal with cults.

He took a deep breath, pulling himself together. No. This was his case. His job. He didn’t know that there was a cult involved, not yet. Besides, it didn’t matter if they were religious so long as they were breaking the law. Yeah.

“Are you okay?”

McGee almost jumped out of his skin, his hand twitching towards his firearm before he realized that the person who snuck up on him was a kid. The kid from earlier, to be precise.

The boy’s eyes narrowed. “Were you about to pull a gun on me?” he asked.

“No,” said McGee.

The boy blinked, suspicion still evident on his face. “You’ve got to be more careful with guns,” he said. “There’s no reason to go for one just because someone surprised you.”

McGee didn’t grace that with a response. “What are you doing here, anyway? Weren’t you across town, earlier?”

“Yeah. So were you,” said the boy. Danny. His name was Danny Fenton. “Why are you here?”

“I asked first.”

“You shouldn’t ask questions you aren’t willing to answer yourself.”

What the hell was up with this kid? “I’m just trying to get a better feel for the town.”

“Hm,” said Danny. “I help out here at the cemetery, sometimes. Got to lay all those ghosts to rest, you know?”

“Don’t you think that’s a little much?” snapped McGee. “Death isn’t supposed to be a roadside attraction.”

“Oh, don’t worry. We take death very seriously around here,” assured Danny. “But seriously. I do help out. The caretaker lets me take that stuff away when it gets to be too much.” He nodded at the blank headstone and all the offerings around it. “Mom likes the flowers. Jazz is making a collage of some of the cards. You know. Stuff like that.” He shrugged, angling himself away from McGee. “Someone left a tiny copy of the Tempest once. In one of those teeny tiny books. Post. It had that one passage from Ariel’s Song decorated. It was nice. I liked it.”

“What?”

“Ariel’s Song. Full fathom five thy father lies;/Of his bones are coral made;/Those are pearls that were his eyes;/Nothing of him that doth fade,/But doth suffer a sea-change/Into something rich and strange. Shakespeare. I think it’s supposed to be a commentary on ghosts, but the guy in the play isn’t actually dead, people just think he is. So, I’m not really sure how to take it. You’re a detective, right? What do you think?”

McGee stared at the teenager. The kid who was buried there was his age. “This isn’t a joke,” said McGee. “A person is dead.”

Danny tilted his head. “I’m not joking?”

“How are you even connected to all of this?” McGee waved his hand, frustrated.

“I just told you how I’m connected to the cemetery. If you mean the town… Well, I do live here.”

“Why do Patterson and Collins know you?”

“I know everyone,” said Danny. He started backing away. “You should go get something to eat soon, if you don’t want to be late.” He turned and disappeared in the crowd.

What the hell.

McGee did not go to get food. He went back to the station. He had some questions to ask Cameron Daily, and he got the impression that the man was the kind of person to practically live at work.

When he opened the door, though, he had to stop.

“What is this?” he asked, loudly.

“Glowsticks,” said one of the secretaries. “You have seen them before, right?”

“Yes, but why?”

As much as the police department had been infested with Christmas decorations before, it was now covered with glowsticks of all varieties.

The secretary shrugged. “You’ll find out. And, no, this isn’t hazing.” She broke a new glowstick with a snap.

“Right,” said McGee. “Where’s Daily?”

“Cameron Daily is in the computer bay,” said the secretary, pointing.

“Thanks,” grunted McGee, once again wondering why there was a separate computer bay when everyone had their own desks, computers, and, in some cases, additional laptops.

Screw it, he might as well ask.

“Hey, Daily.”

“Mm?”

“Why’s there a separate computer bay?”

“Oh, it’s shielded,” said Daily.

“Shielded.”

“Yep. No signals, and the Fentons did some pretty neat stuff to the walls. Bunch of, ehm, nasty hackers. We learned our lesson, eventually.”

“The Fentons.”

“Yeah. And Foley did the firewalls.”

“They’re the ones who did the computer filing system.”

“Uhuh. Kids are geniuses. The parents aren’t too shoddy, either.”

“The—” No. There was no way. “Are they the same Fentons that hunt ghosts?”

“Yeah. You wouldn’t think it to look at them, but apparently they live off of their patents. Made a bunch of fiddly little things that every other mass production factory in the country uses. Also, they own a toilet paper company. Not my favorite brand, but it isn’t the worst, honestly. Kind of wish we’d buy it here, but, no, we get that gross single ply. I swear, that stuff should be classified as a crime against humanity.”

“You let the ghost hunters deal with your computer security.”

“Oh, I know that tone. You met them, huh?”

“Just the kid.”

Daily looked up at McGee over the computer. “What?”

“I only met the kid. Danny.”

Slowly, Daily uncurled from his hunch in front of the computer. The man was taller than McGee thought.

“Then what’s your issue? Danny’s a good kid.”

A good kid whose parents were allowed to run roughshod over the town, who was allowed to steal from graveyards, and knew all of the police officers. For some reason.

“I heard you’re in charge of monitoring the cult?”

Daily snorted. “You make it sound like there’s just one.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, after all the ghosts, most religions had to modernize, you know?”

Oh, god, this was part of the tourist trap. Or the tourist trap was part of this. Did they recruit from people who actually believed this nonsense?

“There’s more than one cult?”

“Yep.”

“Sounds like quite a job.”

“Eh. I’m mostly just keeping track of their online activity.”

“So, how are the Fentons involved?”

“They aren’t. They’re pretty areligious, overall. Danny’s been almost kidnapped a few times, though.”

“What?”

“Kidnapped. By a cult.”

“Cults. Gotta remember the plural, man. Cults.” Daily was hunching again. “But, hey, if you’re interested in the subject, I can give you a thorough run-through of this new group that started up last week. Their philosophy is wild. I can’t even tell you—”

“Hey. You’re early,” said Patterson, leaning through the door, her braid swinging. “Great. Have you eaten?”

“Yes,” lied McGee.

“Get better at lying,” said Patterson. “Come on, let’s go.”

Patterson and Collins weren’t the only ones there. In fact, there were more people in the station than there had been that morning. All with glowsticks. Said glowsticks were being loaded into unmarked cars while office staff and police officers whispered back and forth.

“Did you get the green stuff?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. Gave me more than enough.” Glowing green milk jugs were loaded into a car. The car McGee would be riding in with Collins and Patterson.

‘Green stuff.’ Was this some kind of bizarre drug smuggling ring? McGee had fallen behind in drug slang, if so. ‘Green stuff.’ Were they lacing it with glowstick fluid?

Never before had he felt so lost on a case. Amity Park was messed up.

“You’ve got the howlers hooked up?” asked Collins.

“I asked Daily to do it this morning.”

“But did he do it?”

“I mean, it looks like it. Are the howlers really that important?”

McGee had no idea what was going on.

The cars all started off in a group. Their car was the last to leave and soon peeled off to trundle slowly down back roads.

“You probably have questions,” said Collins.

“You could say that,” said McGee.

“You’ve been a good sport about them,” observed Collins.

“So,” said McGee, drawing out the word. “What is this about?”

Patterson swallowed a laugh. “Ever hear of the Men in Black?”

“Look, I’m humoring the ghosts. Conspiracy theories are where I draw the line.”

“Keep telling yourself that. Maybe it’ll stick. Anyway, here in Amity Park, we deal with their less intelligent cousins. The Guys in White!”

“That’s not their actual name,” said Collins, glancing back over his shoulder. “But, well, their appearance fits.”

“Alright, let’s say I believe you. What does this have to do with the jugs of glowstick fluid in the trunk?”

“Oh, that’s not glowstick fluid,” said Patterson. “It’s waste from the reactor that powers the town.”

“Don’t worry,” said Collins, hastily, the car swerving somewhat. “It’s completely harmless! Not radioactive at all!”

“That’s not what—” started Patterson.

“You absolutely will not get cancer from it!”

McGee raised a hand. “You have nuclear reactor fluid in the trunk?”

“It isn’t nuclear reaction fluid,” protested Patterson. “It’s—"

“Back on track,” interrupted Collins.

“Yeah. Anyway. It’ll trip the Guys in White’s sensors—”

“Eventually,” Collins grumbled.

“—so we can lead them on a chase.”

“And… why do we want to do this?”

“Because it’s a quiet month,” said Patterson. “Don’t want the Guys to get antsy.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means what it means. You’ll see in January.”

McGee looked between his two ‘partners.’ “Are you trying to get me to quit?”

“Because you’re a spy for the county?” asked Patterson. “Oh, no, never.”

Before McGee could process that statement, the car’s radio crackled to life.

“We’ve got a class-3 northbound on Orion at 35 miles per hour. Ectosignature suggests an amorphiform ghost—”

“Hah!” shouted Patterson. “That’s us! Punch it!” She twisted the dial on the radio as Collins slammed his foot into the accelerator. “Bogey to Redrum! We’ve got followers!”

“Copy, Bogey, this is Redrum. We need a few more minutes to set up. Can you stay out of sight?”

“The hell?”

The radio crackled. “Forgot you had the new guy! Don’t shake him up too much, okay? Over.”

“Copy. Collins you catch that?”

“Yeah, don’t worry, I’m taking Pan and Laurel. The holiday tour.”

“Ooh, good choice.” Patterson held up the radio again. “Yeah, we can manage. Over.”

Collins went faster. For the next several minutes McGee occupied himself with not throwing up. He succeeded. Barely.

“Bogey, this Cam,” said the voice of Daily, “followers are gaining. They’re on Brassica, just passing High Street. Triggered the speed cameras. Over.”

“How many and what type? Over.”

“Three gliders. Don’t think they’ve spotted you yet, though. Over.”

Gliders? Who did these people think they were kidding?

“Copy, over,” said Patterson. “Not like those guys care about speeders, though,” she muttered. McGee could barely hear her over the beating of his own heart.

“Sharp right, brace yourselves,” said Collins, split seconds before matching action to words.

“Redrum to bogey, we’re moving out now, over.”

“Copy. We’re on our way. Over. Head to the park, Collins.”

“Gotcha.”

It didn’t seem possible, but Collins somehow pushed the car to go even faster. Then, just as quickly as the whole ridiculous thing had begun, the car skidded to a halt in a parking lot. Seeing his chance, McGee clawed at the door handle and dragged himself out onto the pavement.

Collins and Patterson, meanwhile, were pulling the almost-certainly-toxic waste out of the trunk and launching it into the glowstick-filled woods with—

“Is that a bazooka?” demanded McGee, so far past his wit’s end that he couldn’t even see it anymore.

“Nah, just a modified T-shirt canon,” said Patterson, stowing the object away again. “Fentonworks special.”

“I don’t believe you,” said McGee.

Three – Three things – McGee did not want to call them gliders – raced overhead, jets roaring and wind whistling. They came to a stop approximately where the ‘reactor waste’ had fallen.

“What the hell?” whispered McGee, passionately.

“Come on,” said Collins. “Time for us to go.”

“Yeah, better to spectate from afar,” agreed Patterson.

“I agree,” said a third voice.

“Oh, Danny,” said Patterson. “Didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”

The boy walked into McGee’s field of view and glanced down at him before shrugging. “Couldn’t sleep.” He looked up, at the park. “Thanks for this.”

“Had to get them to blow this month’s budget somehow,” said Collins. “But, really, we should all go before the fireworks start.”

Danny sighed. “Hope they don’t blow up the fountain again. It just got fixed.”

“Same,” said Patterson.

“Well, see you later.”

“Yep, we’ve got that wellness check tomorrow,” said Collins. “You don’t have any excuse to forget, this time.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said the teen, waving over his shoulder as he walked straight into the dark.

“What,” said McGee.

“That’s just Danny for you,” said Collins. “Great kid. Super creepy.”

“Yeah.”

“How’d he even know we’re here?” asked McGee, trying to keep his voice even.

“He did give us that eeeeehhhhhhh—reactor waste,” said Patterson. “Come on, get up, we’ve got to—”

A small explosion sounded from the park.

“Seriously. I don’t want to have to pick you up.”

“I’d wind up doing most of the lifting,” grumbled Collins, who was sliding into the driver’s seat.

Patterson put her hands on her hips. “Excuse you?”

There was another, larger explosion. McGee climbed back into the car.

As they drove, he realized that no one had made fun of his name. Not even once.

Amity Park was weird.

#danny phantom #ectober #ectober 2020 #ectober week #ectober week 2020 #day 6

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steve0discusses · 3 years

Text

S4 Ep38: Awkward Hugs Episode

Remember how excited I was about the good storyboarder? Well this episode has the opposite of that. It looks a lot like they hit some sort of crunch and this entire episode got shipped to Singapore so that some other animation studio could deal with their problems. It’s got some jank.

And like listen, animation is hard, there’s a billion moving plates, there’s a lot of office politics and deadlines, this season in particular is very long and complicated, and I don’t know exactly what happened this episode, but it just...wow it’s a lot funny poorly animated moments and I was here for it.

So first off, Dartz died! I didn’t even cap it because it happened so quickly. He was standing there, a portal opened up, and then the Great Leviathan kind of munched him up in 3 frames of animation, and then dissolved away back into the portal. It was card shenanigans anyway, and I don’t go over card games here--just trust me he played cards, he lost, he died.

Once Dartz died, this happened, in the one place Roland thought he was safe.

Roland has spent a good amount of this time debating whether or not to go inside and now he’s got a situation. Is it safer in Soul Hut than...whatever this is?

I wouldn’t know either.

So he just decides to uh...look directly at it while everyone else deals with orb hell.

The three knights of Atlantis decide to revive the respective owners of their cards.

So Pegasus just has to sit back, relax, and find some other unsuspecting orb person to share his fanfiction deep cuts with.

PS, that was not an exaggeration on the lazy PowerPoint spiral-in transition--this episode was a marvel of “Oh crap we ran out of time!” last-ditch effort animation and I approve.

(read more under the cut)

And if you thought they were done being orbs now that we’re on a physical mortal plane--nah.

This is the closest Pharoah and Yugi have ever gotten to a physical hug. Just throwing it out there that this is the only time they’ve touched in any way as two separate entities. Also--I like that this is the same way Yugi holds his necklace when he’s talking to Pharaoh. Cute little parallel there.

And as I mentioned, there were a lot of people just hugging it out as if it’s the last episode of the season. First off, one of the most huggy people on this show, which I’m still surprised is the Kaibas.

(he did legitimately pretend to be asleep by the way, because as he was spiraling out of hell he was like “whaoooahahhh”)

So I guess if Mokuba, Tristan, and Tea woke up without being orbs first, then that really does mean they never died 2 episodes ago.

Fine. This is fine. I’ll append my headcanon.

...so Dartz really was just so tired of them that he decided to make them take a nap, huh? That Mokuba was so annoying he was just like “I’m turning them off ok? Not like OFF off, not killing them or anything, that would be rude--I just don’t like small one.”

Meanwhile Tea has a Yugi appreciation moment where she’s reunited with her very confusing relationship. Which is how she likes it best. Undefined in nearly every sort of way. A relationship made entirely out of subtext.

(and honestly, relationships made entirely out of subtext is like 75% of the teen dating experience, which I may have mentioned before, but I do not remember if I have because 2020 has wiped my memory of just so many things.)

I vocally, out-loud, went “Ahhhh!” at the screen because I FORGOT how big his eyes are. They are so wild usually, but with the animation B-team at the helm, I was just not ready for the eyes to return. Yugi’s eyes are just...an abomination in every way and I forget when I see them consistently. I get used to them, I get over it...But when I go an entire season without these hell eyes staring directly at me every five seconds, then it’s like I’ve seen them for the first time.

I’m glad he’s back but man his eyes.

Those eyes.

Anyway, on for some more awkward hugs. First off, Yugi’s visceral reaction to his pretty-much-a-wife-at-this-point giving him a...hug?

(she’s kneeling, by the way. Bro mentioned that it looks like she picked him up and held him entirely by the neck--that would have been great, and I would never doubt Tea’s strength, but she had the decency not to do that.)

And then to Yugi’s just overall confusion to whatever Joey Wheeler defines as a hug.

I am 5 feet 0 inches tall, much like Yugi, and can confirm that yes, some people do hug me like this.

This type of hug should be illegal, it’s very disorienting.

Then, Yugi got to do what he does best.

The FIRST THING he does from coming back from death is immediately hold back information. Mm. Yugi at his finest.

At the point that you’d assume that someone in this room would indicate that maybe this hell vortex is like...a situation...Roland comes in the room screaming for Kaiba to come outside and tell him what the hell to do with his life.

So they go outside and the city of Atlantis is popping out of the sea and flying directly into the air--which...sure, it doesn’t really go in the air usually...but I’ll take it.

And in case you’re like...wait, I thought Atlantis was in California, not in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, don’t worry, it’ll get even more confusing later on.

Also, this happened.

Most of the human race freakin died so like...not sure what we should be concerned about here. Gotta get that one last guy in Florida to board up his house, I guess.

I like that Tea is contractually obligated to beg Yugi to stay behind so she doesn’t have to live without him when...it’s like...Tea, your relationship is already a big ass question mark, and Yugi actually dying did not even mean you were living without him. He’s been around this whole season as Pharaoh, my dude. You have the only boyfriend who will not only never officially date you but will also officially never go away.

So like...earlier in the season it was mentioned that Florida had the pieces of Atlantis shoved in a museum so like...is Atlantis off of Florida now? Because the Battle of Atlantis was in the Bay Area, and Dartz lives in San Francisco, and they went on a helicopter and flew out to the sea so...

We GOTTA be in the Pacific, right?

Anyway, it could be that they’re worried it’ll hit the East Coast of Japan--which, yes--it would. That would also be way more pertinent to our cast of people who live in Japan, it’s just that if you’re doing a show in English that takes place in the USA and you say the “East Coast” it only means New York.

I don’t think the translation team got the memo, it was a very weird line.

Tea wishes Yugi luck instead of Pharaoh for once, and Yugi was like “I don’t know why you want to talk to me instead of the version of me with the fine ass.” and his confusion was kind of cute, but they didn’t actually go into any more deets than this.

Valon and Mai were almost making out with each other’s dead body like ten episodes ago, so maybe the team felt like they had enough practice to maybe almost approach something happening with their flagship couple? Almost.

But also...Yugi just has no idea that a few days ago Tea was trying to get Pharaoh to talk to her on a Caltrain by talking about wearing little swimsuits on a Florida beach date, and then Pharaoh got so upset he went to the tiny area between trains and started sobbing while punching a wall. Yugi doesn’t know this. I don’t think anyone will ever tell him.

And like...will anyone tell Yugi that Pharaoh woke up in Tea’s bed? Like no one, right? Like no one even knows that happened? The irony of how cautious Yugi is with this relationship after Pharaoh was just slicing and dicing for this entire season is great. It’s also probably unintentional, but I can still laugh at it.

Anyway, inside soul hut, Yugi got a little lost, and then his puzzle started glowing and brought him to the Macguffins from last season. Would have been really inconvenient if these got doused in the sea, honestly, and I don’t think the Ishtars would have appreciated it.

Also, this puzzle sensor would have been really, really useful in S2.

Meanwhile, I think Seto and Joey just stared at this glowy gate of hell thing being all “Do you know what this is, Kaiba? I was dead” and Kaiba being all “Hell if I know, I was also dead, I don’t know what this thing is.” And Joey being like “Well Yugi doesn’t know what it is, he was also dead.” and Kaiba being like “The only one of us alive was the dead guy who lives in Yugi’s imagination?”

And then Joey being like “Also, where the hell are we?”

So, frustrated that this obvious trap was simply too confounding, Dartz decides to explain to our dumb as hell cast what a “door” is.

Where we can then admire the sights of Atlantis! Which is mostly brick buildings and giant gates with snakes on them.

Also it would just be COVERED in dead fish but we’re gonna skip that and save it for what would be an extremely ill-fated Netflix live-action series that they will probably eventually make of Season 4. Netflix can’t help itself, you know it can’t. This is a spicy series. It would be terrible in gritty live action. Make it happen, Netflix.

I feel like the artist was trying desperately to fix Joey’s bangs and I feel that on an emotional level. We all want to fix Joey’s bangs. Why did they stop at Joey?

They find Dartz in some weird Gazebo which...OK. It was a whole lot of weird concept art that I didn’t cap because it’s like...nothing is terrifying about a Gazebo...

I straight up don’t understand Atlantis culture.

So, Dartz decided that he could just...use himself to raise the Great Leviathan. He had only one more soul he needed, and he was just as powerful as Yami--so lets just do it, lets just raise the snake!

MAN I just realized what a euphemism this season is.

Good job, Dartz.

Course this is how he spun his story to us, but he seemed pretty surprised when the Great Leviathan gobbled him up in the first 10 minutes of the episode.

But this is the story Dartz is sticking to. He, himself, will raise the Leviathan, himself, and he is very happy with his decision that he made all by himself. I mean, Dartz has been alive for 10,000 years, and maybe he got bored of immortality.

Dartz could have done this from day 1.

What’s up, Sephiroth? Nice little uh final fantasy thing we’re doing with this lizard’s face. I really can’t unsee these uneven man boobs (like what is that angle?) but it’s fine. Dartz doesn’t need hands or...legs...he’s a dragon now, like he can just bite stuff and fly around and stuff. Can’t be that bad.

But for reals, what is the dragon’s angle here?

what is it gonna DO?

Like after everyone’s dead. Is it just gonna...float around? Fly around outer space? Enjoy the sunrise?

Like what do dragons...DO?

Anyway, I’m sure we’ll never get the answer on why the Leviathan wanted to leave the core of the Earth so stinkin bad, but maybe--just maybe--this season might actually end next episode? Maybe?

Will I actually finish this season in 2020! I might! Y’all I MIGHT!

And for anyone reading these for the first time, here’s a link to read these in chrono order

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voltrontranscript · 3 years

Text

VLD S1E1: The Rise of Voltron

Season 1 Episode 1: The Rise of Voltron

Transcript by @dragonofyang

Summary: Out on the edge of the solar system on Kerberos, Shiro, Sam, and Matt are extracting ice cores from Kerberos’ surface when they’re abducted by a mysterious alien race. One year later, cadets Lance, Pidge, and Hunk pick up alien radio chatter that leads them to find the missing pilot Shiro when he crash lands back on Earth, and they meet Keith, who was attempting to rescue him at the same time. Together, Shiro, Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and Keith find the Blue Lion, one of five alien spaceships shaped like lions that forms the mysterious Voltron, and they fly to Arus, their next mission is to find and pilot the other four missing Lions of Voltron with the help of Princess Allura and her advisor Coran of the planet Altea to defeat Emperor Zarkon.

[Google Doc]

Sam: Easy, son. This ice is delicate.

Matt: Amazing. Isn’t this exciting, Shiro?

Shiro: You guys get a little more excited about ice samples than I do.

Sam: This is history in the making. Not only have we traveled farther than any human ever has, but this ice could hold microscopic clues about the existence of life outside Earth.

Matt: Think of it, Dad. We could use those clues to become the first people to meet aliens.

Sam: My life’s work would be complete. What is that? Seismic activity?

Shiro: We should get back to the ship.

Sam: What? What is that? It can’t be.

Shiro: Run. Come on, run!

Unnamed Galra Commander: Emperor Zarkon, we were scouting System X-9-Y as ordered when we found these primitive scientists. I don’t think they know anything useful.

Zarkon: Take them back to the main fleet for interrogation. The Druids will find out what they know.

Shiro: Please, we come from a peaceful planet! We mean you no harm! We’re unarmed!

[Scene change to an unmarked hallway lined with holding cells in the Galra ship.]

Male: Look, they brought in another one.

Female: Who is it?

Second Male: Over there. It’s another one.

Shiro: Huh?

[Scene change back to Kerberos, labeled “One Year Later”.]

Lance: Galaxy Garrison flight log 5-11-14. Begin descent to Kerberos for rescue mission.

Hunk: Lance, can you keep this thing straight?

Lance: Relax, Hunk. I’m just getting a feel for the stick. I mean, it’s not like I did this! Or this!

Hunk: Okay, unless you wanna wipe beef stroganoff out of all the little nooks and crannies in this thing, you’d better knock it off, man!

Pidge: We’ve picked up a distress beacon!

Lance: Alright, look alive, team. Pidge, track coordinates.

Pidge: Copy.

Hunk: Knock it off, Lance! Please!

Lance: Well, this one’s on you, buddy, we’ve got a hydraulic stabilizer out.

Hunk: Oh, no.

Lance: Oh, no. Fix now, puke later.

Pidge: I lost contact. The shaking is interfering with our sensors.

Lance: Come on, Hunk!

Hunk: It’s not responding.

Lance: Oh, never mind, fellas. Thar she blows. Preparing for approach on visual.

Pidge: I don’t think that’s advisable with our current mechanical and gastrointestinal issues.

Hunk: Agreed.

Lance: Stop worrying. This baby can take it, can’t you, champ? See? She was--she was nodding. She was nodding. Pidge, hail down to them and let them know their ride is here.

Pidge: Attention, lunar vessel--[screams]

Lance: What are you doing? Buckle your belt. And Hunk, stop that shaking!

Hunk: I’m try--oh, no.

Pidge: Attention, lunar vessel, this is Galaxy Garrison Rescue Craft One Victor Six Three Tango. Coming in for landing and extraction, against crew recommendations.

Lance: No time for your mutinous comments now, Pidge. They’re going under and we’re going in.

Pidge: Look out for that overhang!

Lance: No worries, my first year in flight school, you know what they called me? They called me “The Tailor” because of how I thread the needle. Come around, come around! Come on, come on!

Hunk: We lost a wing!

Lance: Oh, man.

Computer: Simulation failed.

Pidge: Nice work, Tailor.

Iverson: Roll out, donkeys! Well, let’s see if we can’t use this complete failure as a lesson for the rest of you students. Can anyone point out the mistakes these three so-called cadets made in the simulator?

Student 1: The engineer puked in the main gearbox.

Iverson: Yes. As everyone knows, vomit is not an approved lubricant for engine systems. What else?

Student 2: The comms spec removed his safety harness.

Student 3: The pilot crashed!

Iverson: Correct. And worst of all, the whole jump, they’re arguing with each other. Heck, if you’re gonna be this bad individually, you’d better at least be able to work as a team! Galaxy Garrison exists to turn young cadets like you into the next generation of elite astroexplorers, but these kinds of mental mistakes are exactly what cost the lives of the men on the Kerberos mission.

Pidge: That’s not true, sir!

Iverson: What did you say?

Lance: Sorry, sir. I think he may have hit his head when he fell out of his chair. But point taken.

Iverson: I hope I don’t need to remind you that the only reason you’re here is that the best pilot in your class had a discipline issue and flunked out. Don’t follow in his footsteps. Next!

[Scene change to outside the Galaxy Garrison compound.]

Iverson: Lights out in five! Everyone back to their dorms, now.

Hunk: We shouldn’t be doing this.

Lance: You heard Commander Iverson. We need to bond as a team. We’re gonna grab Pidge, hit the town, loosen up, meet some nice girls and--

Hunk: I-I’m just saying this here, right now, on the record. This is a bad idea.

Lance: You know, for someone in a space exploration program, you don’t have much of a sense of adventure.

Hunk: All of your little “adventures” end up with me in the principal’s office. Oh, man.

Guard: L-5 north all clear.

Hunk: I’m fine.

Lance: Where is he going?

[Scene change to the roof of the Galaxy Garrison.]

Lance: You come up here to rock out?

Pidge: Oh, Lance, Hunk. No, um, just looking at the stars.

Lance: Where’d you get this stuff? It doesn’t look like Garrison tech.

Pidge: I built it.

Hunk: You built all of this?

Pidge: Stop it! With this thing, I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system.

Lance: That right? All the way to Kerberos? You go ballistic every time the instructors bring it up. What’s your deal?

Pidge: Second warning, Hunk.

Lance: Look, Pidge, if we’re going to bond as a team, we can’t have any secrets.

Pidge: Fine. The world as you know it is about to change. The Kerberos mission wasn’t lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake. Stop touching my equipment! So, I’ve been scanning the system and picking up alien radio chatter.

Hunk: Whoa, what? Aliens?

Lance: Okay. So, you’re insane. Got it.

Pidge: I’m serious. They keep repeating one word: “Voltron.” And tonight, it’s going crazier than I have ever heard it.

Lance: How crazy?

Iverson, over PA: Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner. Repeat: all students are to remain in barracks until further notice.

Hunk: What’s going on? Is that a meteor? A very, very big meteor?

Pidge: It’s a ship.

Lance: Holy crow! I can’t believe what I’m seeing! That’s not one of ours.

Pidge: No. It’s one of theirs.

Hunk: So, wait, there really are aliens out there?

Pidge: We’ve gotta see that ship!

Lance: Hunk, come on!

Hunk: Oh, this is the worst team-building exercise ever.

[Scene change to the cliffs where the mystery space ship landed.]

Lance: Whoa! What the heck is that thing? And who the heck is she?

Pidge: Lance!

Lance: Ow! Right, alien ship. Man, we’ll never get past all those guards to get a look.

Hunk: Aw, man. Yeah, yeah, I guess there’s nothing to do but head back to the barracks, right?

Pidge: Wait, they set up a camera in there and I grabbed its feed. Look!

Shiro: Hey! What are you doing?

Iverson: Calm down, Shiro. We just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests.

Shiro: You have to listen to me! They destroy worlds! Aliens are coming!

Lance: That’s Shiro, the pilot of the Kerberos mission! That guy’s my hero!

Hunk: Guess he’s not dead in space, after all.

Pidge: But where’s the rest of the crew?

Iverson: Do you know how long you’ve been gone?

Shiro: I don’t know. Months? Years? Look, there’s no time. Aliens are coming here for a weapon. They’re probably on their way. They’ll destroy us. We have to find Voltron.

Pidge: Voltron!

Man: Sir, take a look at this. It appears his arm has been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic.

Iverson: Put him under until we know what that thing can do.

Shiro: No, no, no! Don’t put me under! No! There’s no time!

Pidge: They didn’t ask about the rest of the crew.

Lance: What are they doing? The guy’s a legend. They’re not even gonna listen to him?

Pidge: We have to get him out.

Hunk: Uh, I hate to be the voice of reason here, always, but weren’t we just watching on TV because there was no way to get past the guards?

Lance: That was before we were properly motivated. We’ve just gotta think. Could we tunnel in?

Pidge: Maybe we could get some hazmat suits and sneak in like med techs.

Hunk: Or we dress up like cooks, head back to the dorms, sneak into the commissary, little late-night snack.

Lance: No. What we need is a distraction.

Hunk: Is that the aliens? Is that the aliens? Are they here? They got here so quick!

Pidge: No. Those explosions were a distraction for him. The Garrison’s headed toward the blast, and he’s sneaking in from the other side.

Lance: No way! Oh, he is not going to beat us in there! That guy’s always trying to one-up me!

Hunk: Who is it?

Lance: Keith!

Pidge: Who?

Hunk: Are you sure?

Lance: Oh, I’d recognize that mullet anywhere!

Pidge: Who’s Keith?

Man: These readings are off the chart. Hey!

Keith: Shiro?

Lance: Nope. No, you--no, no, no. No, you don’t. I’m saving Shiro.

Keith: Who are you?

Lance: Who am I? Uh, the name’s Lance. We were in the same class at the Garrison.

Keith: Really, are you an engineer?

Lance: No, I’m a pilot! We were, like, rivals. You know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck.

Keith: Oh, wait, I remember you. You’re a cargo pilot.

Lance: Well, not anymore. I’m fighter class now, thanks to you washing out.

Keith: Well, congratulations.

Hunk: Oh, man. They’re coming back and they do not look happy. We gotta go. Uh, do you mind if we catch a ride with you?

Pidge: Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?

Keith: No.

Pidge: Why am I holding this guy?

Hunk: Hey, we did all fit.

Lance: Can’t this thing go any faster?

Keith: We could toss out some non-essential weight.

Lance: Oh, right! Okay, so that was an insult. I get it.

Keith: Big man, lean left!

All: Whoa!

Hunk: Aw, man! Mr. Harris just wiped out Professor Montgomery! No, no, he’s fine.

Keith: Big man, lean right!

Hunk: Guys? Is that a cliff up ahead?

Lance: Oh, no, no, no!

Keith: Yup.

Pidge: No, no, no!

Lance: What are you doing? You’re going to kill us all!

Keith: Shut up and trust me!

[Scene change to outside Keith’s home.]

Keith: It’s good to have you back.

Shiro: It’s good to be back.

Keith: So what happened out there? Where were you?

Shiro: I wish I could tell you. My head’s still pretty scrambled. I was on an alien ship, somehow I escaped. It’s all a blur. How did you know to come save me when I crashed?

Keith: You should come see this.

[Scene change to inside Keith’s home.]

Shiro: What have you been working on?

Keith: I can’t explain it, really. After getting booted from the Garrison, I was kinda lost and found myself drawn out to this place. It’s like something… some energy was telling me to search.

Shiro: For what?

Keith: Well, I didn’t know at the time… until I stumbled across this area. It’s an outcropping of giant boulders with caves covered in these ancient markings. Each tells a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share clues leading to some event, some arrival happening last night. Then, you showed up.

Shiro: I should thank you all for getting me out. Lance, right?

Pidge: The nervous guy’s Hunk. I’m Pidge. So, did anyone else from your crew make it out?

Shiro: I’m not sure. I remember the mission and being captured. After that, it’s just bits and pieces.

Hunk: Yeah, sorry to interrupt, but back to the aliens. Where are they now? Are they coming? Are they coming for all of us? Like, where are they at this very moment?

Shiro: I can’t really put it together. I remember the word “Voltron.” It’s some kind of weapon they’re looking for, but I don’t know why. Whatever it is, I think we need to find it before they do.

Hunk: Well, last night, I was rummaging through Pidge’s stuff, and I found this picture. Look, it’s his girlfriend.

Pidge: Hey, give me that! What were you doing in my stuff?

Hunk: I was looking for a candy bar. But, then, I started reading his diary--

Pidge: What?!

Hunk: --and I noticed that the repeating series of numbers the aliens are searching for looks a lot like a Fraunhofer line.

Keith: Frown who?

Hunk: It’s a number describing the emission spectrum of an element, only, this element doesn’t exist on EArth. I thought it might be this Voltron, and I think I can build a machine to look for it, kinda like a Voltron Geiger counter.

Lance: Hunk, you big gassy genius!

Hunk: It’s pretty fascinating, really. The wavelength looks like this.

Keith: Give me that.

[Scene change to the canyons leading to Blue Lion’s hiding place.]

Lance: Okay, I admit it. This is super freaky.

Hunk: I’m getting a reading. Whoa. Whoa.

Shiro: What are these?

Keith: These are the lion carvings I was telling you about. They’re everywhere around here.

Lance: Hmm. Whoa. Whoa!

All: What?

Keith: They’ve never done that before.

Lance: They are everywhere.

Pidge: Is this it? Is this the Voltron?

Shiro: It must be.

Keith: This is what’s been causing all of this crazy energy out here. Looks like there’s a forcefield around it.

Lance: Does anyone else get the feeling this is staring at them?

Shiro: No.

Lance: Yeah. The eyes are totally following me.

Keith: I wonder how we get through this.

Lance: Maybe you just have to knock. Whoa. Uh, did everyone just see that?

Hunk: Voltron is a robot. Voltron is a huge, huge awesome robot!

Pidge: And this thing is only one part of it! I wonder where the rest of them are.

Shiro: This is what they’re looking for.

Keith: Incredible.

Lance: Hmm. Mmm… hmm… Here we go. Uh? Huh.

Pidge: Whoa.

Hunk: Whoa.

Lance: Alright! Very nice!

Hunk: Okay, guys, I feel the need to point out, just so that we’re all, you know, aware. We are in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now.

Lance: Whoa. Did you guys just hear that?

Keith: Hear what?

Lance: I think it’s talking to me. Hmm… Um… Okay, got it. Now, let’s try this.

Keith: You are the worst pilot ever!

Iverson: What in the Sam Hill is that?

Garrison Officer: It appears to be a flying blue lion, sir.

Lance: Isn’t this awesome?

Hunk: Make it stop. Make it stop.

Lance: I’m not making it do anything. It’s like it’s on autopilot.

Keith: Where are you going?!

Lance: I just said it’s on autopilot! It says there’s an alien ship approaching Earth. I think we’re supposed to stop it.

Pidge: What did it say, exactly?

Lance: Well, it’s not like it’s saying words. More like feeding ideas into my brain, kind of.

Hunk: Well, if this thing is the weapon they’re coming for, why don’t we just, I don’t know, give it to them? Maybe they’ll leave us alone. Sorry, lion, nothing personal.

Shiro: You don’t understand. These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There’s no bargaining with them. They won’t stop until everything’s dead.

Hunk: Oh. Never mind, then.

[Cut to space.]

Hunk: Uh… Holy crow! Is that really an alien ship?

Shiro: They found me.

Pidge: We’ve got to get it out of here!

Lance: Hang on! Alright, okay! I think I know what to do!

Pidge: Be careful, man. This isn’t a simulator.

Lance: Well, that’s good. I always wreck a simulator. Let’s try this.

Shiro: Nice job, Lance!

Lance: Okay, I think it’s time to get these guys away from our planet.

Unnamed Galra Commander: Lord Zarkon, the escaped prisoner and his people found the lion. It attacked us and is heading out of the system.

Zarkon: Follow that lion and alert all ships in the area to intercept. Capturing that lion is your first and only priority.

Unnamed Galra Commander: Yes, Your Majesty. Full power after the lion!

Hunk: Oh, no!

Pidge: They’re gaining on us!

Lance: It’s weird. They’re not trying to shoot us. They’re just chasing.

Hunk: Okay, seriously, now we think having aliens follow us is good? I am not on board with this new direction, guys.

Keith: Where are we?

Shiro: Edge of the solar system. There’s Kerberos.

Pidge: It takes months for our ships to get out this far. We got out here in five seconds.

Hunk: What is that?

Lance: Uh, this may seem crazy, but I think the lion wants us to go through there.

Pidge: Where does it go?

Lance: I-I don’t know. Shiro, you’re the senior officer here. What should we do?

Shiro: Whatever’s happening, the lion knows more than we do. I say we trust it, but we’re a team now. We should decide together.

Lance: Alright. Guess we’re all ditching class tomorrow.

Lance: Whoa. That was…

Hunk: So sorry.

Pidge: I’m just surprised it took this long.

Shiro: I don’t recognize any of these constellations. We must be a long, long way from Earth.

Lance: The lion seems to want to go to this planet. I think… I think it’s going home.

Lance: Guys, personal space. Hunk, your breath is killing me.

Hunk: Um, is it just me or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious wormhole? Why are we listening to a robotic lion anyway?

Lance: Got us away from that alien warship, didn’t it?

Keith: I don’t know if you noticed, but we’re in an alien warship.

Lance: Oh, are you scared?

Keith: With you at the helm? Terrified.

Shiro: Alright, knock it off. No one’s happy to be in this situation, but we’re here now. If we want to get through this, we’ve got to do it together.

Pidge: So, what do we do?

Shiro: First, we find out where we’re headed. Lance?

Lance: I don’t know. I’m sorry. The lion’s not talking to me anymore. Wait! Wait, wait wait! Shh! Listen. I think I hear something.

Keith: I’m hearing it, too.

Hunk: It’s uh--it’s kind of a--a high-pitched squeal?

All: [exclaim in disgust] Come on, Lance!

Lance: But seriously, there’s a castle up ahead.

All: Wow.

Shiro: Keep your guard up.

Pidge: Something wrong?

Shiro: My crew was captured by aliens once. I’m not gonna let it happen again.

Hunk: Oh, no! No! I knew it was going to eat us! No! Oh, the door is open. Guess I was wrong about you.

Hunk: Hello?

Pidge: From the size of the lion, I expected these steps to be bigger.

Computer: Hold for identity scan.

Pidge: What?

Shiro: Why are we here? What do you want with us?

Lance: Whoa!

Pidge: Whoa. I guess we’re going that way.

Hunk: Hello? Hello? Hello?

Lance: Where are we?

Pidge: It’s some kind of control room.

Hunk: Are these guys… dead?

Allura: Father!

Lance: Woah! Hello.

Allura: Who are you? Where am I?

Lance: My name’s Lance, and you’re right here in my arms.

Allura: Your ears…

Lance: Yeah?

Allura: They’re hideous. What’s wrong with them?

Lance: Nothing’s wrong with them! They heard exactly what you said about them!

Allura: Who are you? Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my castle?

Lance: A giant blue lion brought us here. That’s all we know!

Allura: How do you have the Blue Lion? What happened to its paladin? What are you all doing here? Unless… How long has it been?

Shiro: We don’t know what you’re talking about. Why don’t you tell us who you are? Maybe we can help.

Allura: I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea. I’ve got to find out where we are and how long we’ve been asleep.

Pidge: Okay, that’s how that works.

Coran: Enemy combatants! Quiznak! You’re lucky I have a case of the ol’ “sleep chamber knees”. Otherwise I’d grab your head like this, wrap you up like so, one, two, three! Sleepytime!

Lance: Well, before you did that I’d--[grunts repeatedly] like that.

Coran: Oh, really? Well how could you do that when I’ve already come at you with this? Ha, ha, ha, hey!

Hunk: Man, these guys are good.

Allura: It can’t be.

Coran: What is it?

Allura: We’ve been asleep for ten thousand years.

[Transition to a flashback, ten thousand years ago.]

Alfor: Zarkon.

Zarkon: Your fleet has been destroyed, Alfor. I will be there shortly to claim Voltron.

Allura: Father, we must form Voltron and fight before it’s too late!

Alfor: It’s already too late. We must send the lions away. We can’t risk them falling into Zarkon’s hands.

Allura: We can’t give up hope!

Alfor: I’m sorry, daughter. If all goes well, I will see you again soon.

Allura: Father…

Alfor: I love you.

[Transition back to the present.]

Allura: Planet Altea and all of the planets in our solar system have been destroyed. Coran, Father is gone. Our entire civilization… Zarkon.

Shiro: Zarkon?

Allura: He was the king of the Galra. A vile creature and enemy to all free people.

Shiro: I remember now… I was his prisoner.

Allura: He’s still alive? Impossible!

Shiro: I can’t explain it, but it’s true. He’s searching for a super-weapon called Voltron.

Allura: He’s searching for it because he knows it’s the only thing that can defeat him, and that’s exactly why we must find it before he does.

[Cut to an unspecified location full of floating purple crystals.]

Haggar: Ah…

[Cut to an unspecified location on Zarkon’s command ship.]

Haggar: The Blue Lion has returned, and now I feel a resurgence of Altean energy.

Zarkon: Alfor’s daughter lives? How?

Haggar: I know not, but it is time to reclaim what is rightfully ours.

Zarkon: Yes. I shall wipe that foul race from the universe forever and take back Voltron. Contact my commanders.

[Cut to a Galra cruiser in deep space.]

Male voice: Emperor Zarkon requests an audience.

Zarkon: Commander Sendak, the Princess of Altea is alive and hiding in your sector. We believe she alone holds the whereabouts of the remaining lions. Your battle fleet is the closest to her location. Retrieve her and the lions. With them all, the Galra Empire will be unstoppable.

Sendak: I fight for the empire. I conquer in the name of Galra. No foe has ever stood in my way and none ever will. Vrepit Sa! Set a course for Arus.

[Cut to the Castle of Lions.]

Coran: Princess, you must eat. It’s been ten thousand years.

Allura: I’m not hungry.

Lance: Man, ten thousand years? That's like one thousand plus ten.

Keith: That’s times ten.

Lance: Whatever, dropout.

Hunk: I haven’t eaten since breakfast and I’m starving.

Pidge: Yeah, but you’ve thrown up, like, five times.

Shiro: I can’t believe your civilization created such advanced technology ten thousand years ago. It must have been an incredible place.

Coran: Yes, it was… but now it is gone and we’re the last Alteans alive.

Allura: Looks like we’re not the last, after all.

Coran: A Galra battleship has set its tracker to us!

Allura: How did they find us?

Lance: I’m not sure, but I bet it’s Keith’s fault.

Keith: Say whatever you’ve gotta say to make yourself feel better. After getting us stuck on the other side of a wormhole!

Lance: I’ll stick you in a wormhole!

Shiro: Stow it, cadets! This is no time to place blame, it’s time to work as a team. How long before they arrive?

Coran: At their speed? Oh, well, uh, carry the two… I’d say probably a couple of days.

Allura: Good. Let them come. By the time they get here, you five will have reformed Voltron, and together, we will destroy Zarkon’s empire.

Hunk: Sorry. Food goo.

Shiro: Princess, there are five of these lions. How are we going to find the rest?

[Transition to the bridge of the Castle of Lions.]

Coran: King Alfor connected the lions to Allura’s life force. She alone is the key to the lions’ whereabouts.

All: Whoa.

Pidge: These are coordinates. The Black Lion looks like it’s in the same location as the Blue Lion.

Coran: Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage!

Allura: Very observant. That’s because the Black Lion is in the castle.

Coran: To keep the Black Lion out of Zarkon’s hands, King Alfor locked it in the castle. It can only be freed if the other four lions are present.

Allura: As you have found, the lions choose their pilots. It is a mystical bond and cannot be forced. The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his lion. Together, they form something greater than science can explain. The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times, someone whose men will follow without hesitation. That is why, Shiro, you will pilot the Black Lion. The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion. The Blue Lion--

Lance: Whoa, hold up, let me guess. Takes the most handsome slash best pilot of the bunch?

Allura: The Yellow Lion is caring and kind. Its pilot is one who puts the needs of others above his own. His heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together. The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It’s faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. Its pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts than skill alone. Keith, you will fly the Red Lion.

Lance: What? This guy?

Allura: Unfortunately, I cannot locate the Red Lion’s coordinates yet. There must be something wrong with the castle. After ten thousand years, it might need some work.

Coran: Don’t worry, we’ll find it soon. They don’t call me “The Coranic” for nothing. It’s because it sounds like “mechanic.” So… Coranic, mechanic. It’s not--it doesn’t sound… exactly like it. It’s similar.

Allura: Once all the lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known, the Defender of the Universe.

Lance: Awesome.

Pidge: Oh…

Hunk: Wait. Okay, we’re going to be in there and flying lions. Got that part. How do lions turn into legs? Also, is this going to be a long trip? Because I have to pee. Do you people pee?

Shiro: We don’t have much time. Pidge and I will go after the Green Lion. Lance, you take Hunk and get the yellow one. Keith, you stay here. If you locate that Red Lion, go get it.

Allura: In the meantime, I’ll get this castle’s defenses ready. They’ll be sorely needed.

Coran: I’ll ready a pod and load the coordinates so that you can reach the Green Lion.

[Transition to the launch of the lion and the pod.]

Coran: We can only keep the wormholes that lead to the other lions open for two of your Earth hours, so you’ll have to be quick about your work. The good news is that according to my readings, both planets are relatively peaceful. So, if you do get stuck, they could be relaxing places to live out the rest of your lives. Enjoy the trip!

Lance: Wait! What? No!

Hunk: I did not receive the memo on this.

[Scene change to a lush green planet where Shiro and Pidge land.]

Pidge: Look! It’s just a… whatever that thing is. I… uh, I think he wants us to get in his canoe.

Shiro: Then, I guess we should go.

Pidge: Huh.

Shiro: I’ve been locked up by aliens for a year. This is nothing.

Pidge: I wonder if Hunk and Lance are having as good a time as us.

[Cut to a sandy planet, where Hunk and Lance are not having as good a time.]

Hunk: Oh, no! No, no, no! Oh! Oh, no! I thought Coran said these planets were peaceful!

Lance: Maybe “peaceful” means something else in Altean!

Hunk: According to the coordinates, we’re right on top of the Yellow Lion. It’s below there, where they’re mining for the ore. They don’t even know the lion is there. Or maybe they just got here and they’re digging for the lion? What do you think, Lance?

Lance: Who cares? Just go get it! I’m dropping you down there.

Hunk: Me? Down there? No. No, no, no.

Lance: Yes, I’ll cover you.

Hunk, You know, what if the Yellow Lion doesn’t work? W-What if--what if I can’t get in the mine? What if I start crying? It’s too late. I’m already crying!

Lance: Sorry, no time for questions.

Hunk: Oh, yeah, sure, just drop me off in an alien planet. That’s cool, man. It’s only occupied by mean purple aliens that want to kill me, but whatever. Just ignore them and go connect with a big, yellow, mechanical cat. Easy-peasy. Yeah. That all makes a ton of sense to me. Cool.

Hunk: Okay, I’m in a giant hole. Now what, Hunk? Huh? Whoa. Pretty. How am I gonna get through that? Hmm? Hmm...

[Cut to Blue Lion on the surface, then Hunk drilling through the rock, and back to Blue as Lance fights the Galra fighters.]

Lance: Oh, no! Hunk!

[Scene change to Shiro and Pidge on the river with the alien.]

Pidge: I know the princess said this is supposed to be my lion, but what if she’s wrong? I mean, she’s probably not wrong. She’s a princess, but I’m not a pilot, even though I’ve always wanted to be a pilot. I mean, I read all the fighter manuals, but never got to fly the simulator, but, hey, I can’t be all that worse than Lance. He crashed all the time, but what if I get in there and it doesn’t respond? What if I get in there and it’s too big and my feet don’t touch the pedals? What if there aren’t even pedals?

Shiro: You’re rambling. Listen, our commander on the Kerberos mission is the smartest man I ever met and he always said, “If you get too worried about what could go wrong, you might miss a chance to do something great.”

Shiro: Go. Be great.

Pidge: Woo-hoo-hoo!

[Cut to Blue Lion on the sandy planet.]

Lance: Hunk, come on! Please, buddy! Oh, no, no, no, no, no! Going down! We’re going down! Oh, no.

Hunk: You okay, Lance?

Lance: Hunk! I thought you were dead! You jumped in front of all those shots to save my life!

Hunk: Well, actually, I was trying to get out of the way. Thankfully, what this thing lacks in speed, it more than makes up for in armor. Man, can it take a beating! Ooh. We’ve got incoming!

Allura: Paladins, please hurry back. I can’t hold the wormhole much longer.

Lance: Let’s get out of here!

Hunk: Ugh, not this again.

Lance: Quit screwing around, Hunk! The wormhole is closing!

[Cut to the bridge of the Castle of Lions.]

Allura: You made it.

Lance: Yeah, just barely. That was a nightmare. I almost puked out there. I felt like Hunk!

Hunk: Think how I felt. I am Hunk.

Pidge: Yeah, we had a tough time, too.

Shiro: Did we find the Red Lion yet?

Coran: Allura just located it. There’s a bit of good news and bad news. The good news is the Red Lion is nearby. The bad news is it’s on-board the Galra ship now orbiting Arus. But wait, good news again. We’re Arus!

Shiro: They’re here already?

Coran: Yes. Guess my calculations were a bit off. Finger counting is--it’s more of an art than a science. Hmm?

Sendak: Princess Allura, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire. I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the Known Universe. I am here to confiscate the lions. Turn them over to me, or I will destroy your planet.

Shiro: Alright, let’s not panic.

Hunk: Not panic? The scary purple alien thing is driving his battleship toward us. We only have four lions.

Pidge: Technically, only three working lions.

Hunk: That’s right, thank you, Pidge. Three working lions a-and a castle that’s, like, ten thousand years old.

Coran: Actually, it’s ten thousand and six hundred years old. You see, it was built by my grandfather--

Hunk: Thanks, Coran. Thank you for that. See? Now is the perfect time to panic!

Allura: Wait! This castle has a particle barrier we can activate.

Lance: Girl, you’ve already activated my par--

Shiro: Lance!

Coran: The particle barrier won’t hold Sendak’s ion cannon forever. The Galra technology must have advanced since we fought them last.

Hunk: Panic now?

Shiro: No, we’ve just got to figure out our plan of action, and figure it out quickly.

Lance: I say we pop through a wormhole and live to fight another day.

Hunk: I second that, yes. I mean, we tried to find all the lions, right? We gave it the ol’ college try. Couldn’t do it. We only have three. We can’t form Voltron. I mean, I guess we could form a snake. Or a worm! To go through that hole, Lance, that you were talking about.

Lance: Then, it’s settled. Allura, you ride with me. One of you take the old guy.

Pidge: We can’t just abandon Arus. The Galra will keep destroying planets and capturing prisoners until we stop them.

Hunk: Okay. If we run, then maybe Sendak will follow us and leave this planet alone, like when we left Earth. We form the snake-worm thingamagjig and we--[hisses] out of here.

Keith: Sendak could destroy the planet, then come after us anyway. Staying is our only option.

Lance: Here's an option: shut your quiznak.

Keith: I don’t think you’re using that word correctly.

Lance: What do you know, Mullet?

Keith: We’re staying.

Lance: Leaving!

Pidge: Staying!

Hunk: Snake!

Shiro: Guys, stop! Princess Allura, these are your lions. You’ve dealt with the Galra Empire before. You know what we’re facing better than any of us. What do you think is the best course of action?

Allura: I… I don’t know.

Coran: Perhaps your father can help.

Allura: My father?

[Transition to the computer room that hosts Alfor’s AI.]

Allura: Coran, what is this?

Coran: King Alfor knew that there was a chance he might never see you again. So his memories, his very being, were stored in this computer for you.

Allura: Father! Father, it is so good to see you.

Alfor: Allura, my only child, how I’ve missed your face.

Allura: I’m so frightened. A Galra ship is set to attack, and I don’t know what to do. Please, Father, I need your help.

Alfor: I would do anything to take this burden from you.

Allura: I don’t know if we should run to preserve what we have or stay and risk everything. I want to fight, but the paladins of old are gone. I know what you would do.

Alfor: I scattered the Lions of Voltron to keep them out of Zarkon’s hands. You urged me to keep them and fight, but, for the greater good of protecting the universe, I chose to hide them.

Allura: I think I understand.

Alfor: No, daughter, you were right. I made a terrible mistake, one that cost the universe countless lives. Forming Voltron is the only way to stop Zarkon. You must be willing to sacrifice everything to assemble the lions and correct my error.

[Scene change to Allura entering the bridge once more, looking determined in her flight suit.]

Allura: You five paladins were brought here for a reason. The Voltron Lions are meant to be piloted by you and you alone. We must fight, and keep fighting until we defeat Zarkon. It is our destiny. Voltron is the universe’s only hope. We are the universe’s only hope.

Shiro: We’re with you, Princess.

[Cut to the armory of the castle.]

Allura: Your suits of armor.

Lance: Cool!

Shiro: Outstanding.

Keith: Nice.

Pidge: Oh, neat!

Hunk: Hmm…

Coran: Princess, are you sure about this? They aren’t exactly the best and brightest the universe has to offer.

Allura: No, but they’re all we’ve got.

Shiro: Boys, it’s time to suit up!

Allura: The bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron. It takes a distinct shape for each paladin.

Lance: Whoo! Aw, you got a cute little bayard.

Pidge: Yeah, it is pretty cute.

Allura: Shiro, I’m afraid your bayard was lost with its paladin.

Shiro: I guess I’ll just have to make do.

[Cut to the bridge.]

Allura: You’ll need to retrieve the Red Lion from Sendak’s ship.

Keith: That’s a pretty big ship. How are we gonna know where the Red Lion is?

Pidge: Well, it’s not a matter of “we.” It’s a matter of “you.”

Hunk: Pidge is right. Once we get you in, you’ll be able to feel its presence and, like, track it down.

Lance: Yeah. You know how you felt that crazy energy while we were in the desert?

Keith: Yeah. You made fun of me for that.

Lance: And I’m proud of that, but turns out it’s exactly like that mumbo-jumbo.

Allura: Keith, the Red Lion is extremely temperamental. You’ll have to earn its respect.

Shiro: Alright. Here’s our plan of attack. The Galra Empire knows about the Blue and Yellow Lion, but they don’t know we have the Green Lion, too.

[Cut to outer space.]

Shiro: Hunk, Lance, you’ll act as a decoy by pretending to give yourselves up.

Lance: Attention, Galra ship. Do not fire. We’re surrendering our lions. Hope this works.

Shiro: While Sendak is distracted, Keith, Pidge, and I will sneak onto the ship in the Green Lion. Keith and I will find the Red Lion while Pidge guards our exit. Hunk, Lance, find some way to take down that ion cannon.

Lance: Pidge, what’s your ETA?

Pidge: We’re in.

Sendak: Activate tractor beam.

Hunk: What’s that thing?

Lance: I think that’s our signal to get out of here!

Sendak: They lied to us. Launch fighters!

Lance: Hunk, you dismantle the ion cannon while I take these jerks on a space ride.

Hunk: Ten-four!

[Cut to inside the Galra ship.]

Shiro: I’ve been here before. After I was taken by the Galra cruiser off Kerberos, they brought us here.

Pidge: So, that means your other crewmembers, they might be held captive here. We… We’ve gotta rescue them.

Shiro: Pidge, we don’t have time. We have to get the Red Lion and get back to Arus.

Pidge: But we can’t just leave prisoners here!

Shiro: Look, no one understands that more than me, but in war, we have to make hard choices. Now, let’s get moving.

Pidge: No! Commander Holt is my father. He and my brother were the ones on the Kerberos mission with you.

Shiro: Commander Holt is your father?

Pidge: Yes. I’ve been searching everywhere for him and my brother and I’m not going to give up looking when I’m this close. I won’t!

Shiro: I’m coming with you.

Keith: What?

Shiro: I remember where the prisoners are held. Keith, you go find the Red Lion.

Keith: By myself?

Shiro: Minor change of plans. You’ll be fine. Just remember, patience yields focus, so--run!

Keith: Great. Now which way?

[Cut to Yellow Lion flying outside the Galra ship.]

Hunk: What the quiznak? What is that? A forcefield?

[Cut to the castle on Arus.]

Allura: Particle barrier up!

Coran: Is that what’s supposed to happen? Oh, the barrier crystals are out of alignment.

Allura: We have to fix it immediately. Without the particle barrier, we’ll be defenseless.

Coran: We’re both too big. What can we do?

Allura: The mice!

Coran: How do they know how to do this?

Allura: I can hear them talking to me. I think our minds are connected. It must be from sharing the sleep pod for ten thousand years. Thank you, friends. Coran, what are you doing?

Coran: I’m trying to get them to make me a sandwich.

[Cut to Keith on the Galra ship.]

Keith: You’ve gotta be kidding me! Patience yields focus. Gotcha.

[Cut to Pidge and Shiro on the Galra ship.]

Shiro: That thing saw us. We should get out of here.

Pidge: Wait, I think this might come in handy. Now I’ll just reset the controls… and it’s working for us! I’m gonna call you Rover. Follow me! Open up.

Shiro: Excellent, Pidge.

Pidge: Dad?

Shiro: Don’t be afraid. We’re here to help you escape.

Prisoner: It’s you… It’s you, the Champion. If anyone can get us out of here, he can.

Shiro: Wh… what did you call me?

Pidge: We don’t have much time. Let’s get to the escape pods.

Shiro: Let’s go. Come on!

[Cut to Lance in Blue Lion.]

Lance: Whoa-ho-ho! Yeah, buddy! This is way more fun without Hunk’s barfing!

[Cut to Keith in a hangar where Red is floating inside a shield.]

Keith: Bingo. Let’s get out of here. Open up. It’s me. Keith. Your buddy. It’s me! Keith, your--I am your paladin! I’m bonding with you! Hey! Come on! We’re connected! You’re not getting this lion! Good kitty. Let’s roll.

[Cut to Shiro and Pidge by an escape pod with the prisoners.]

Pidge: Hurry!

Drone: Halt!

Pidge, distorted: Shiro, what’s wrong?

Prisoner: Thank you, Shiro.

Shiro: Wait! How do you…?

Pidge: Shiro, that was amazing! Where did you learn to fight with that?

Shiro: No idea.

[Cut to Yellow Lion.]

Hunk: Come on, just break, you stupid thing! Score one for Hunk! You guys made it!

Pidge: Kitty Rose has left the stage!

Lance: Let’s get the heck out of here!

Hunk: I hope I stopped that cannon. I could barely make a dent in it.

Haxus: They stole the Red Lion!

Sendak: After them! Either we get those lions or we blow this whole planet to cosmic dust! Fire the ion cannon.

Haxus: Sir, the ion cannon has been damaged.

Sendak: Then send the drones to fix it!

[Cut to the Black Lion’s hangar in the Castle of Lions, then to the bridge.]

Allura: Oh…

Coran: Oh, quiznak!

Allura: Sendak is entering the Arusian atmosphere. We need Voltron now!

[Cut to the bridge of Sendak’s ship.]

Haxus: The ion cannon is back online!

Sendak: Fire!

[Cut to Hunk inside Yellow Lion.]

Hunk: Man, those Galra guys repair things fast.

Coran: The barrier gets weaker with every blast. Once that shield goes down, the castle will be defenseless.

Allura: I can give you cover with the castle defenses for a while, but you have to form Voltron now or we’ll all be destroyed!

Hunk: Jeez, no pressure.

Shiro: Listen up, Team Voltron! The only way to succeed is to give it all you’ve got! This looks bad, but we can do this! Are you with me?

Hunk: I’m nodding. Is everyone else nodding?

Keith, Lance, Pidge: Yes.

Shiro: Let’s do this!

Lance: Uh, how?

Keith: Good question. Does anyone have any ideas of how to form Voltron?

Hunk: I don’t see a “combine into giant robot” button anywhere on my dashboard.

Pidge: This is insane! Can’t they just ceasefire for one minute so we can figure this out? Is that too much to ask?

Keith: We’ve gotta do something!

Hunk: Combine!

Keith: Hey!

Hunk: Okay, that didn’t work.

Allura: Quickly, Paladins! Our energy levels are getting low!

Shiro: Maybe if we fly in formation, we’ll just combine. Take off on my cue. One, two, three, Voltron!

Keith: Here we go!

Lance: Come on, come on!

Shiro: Nothing’s happening.

Lance: Hey, wait, wait, wait. I feel something!

Hunk: I do, too. I feel it. It’s like we’re all being pulled in the same direction!

Shiro: Uh, guys, I think I know why. Look up.

Lance: What the cheese?

Pidge: Sendak’s ship is sucking us in like a black hole!

[Cut to Sendak on the bridge of his ship.]

Sendak: Send a report to Emperor Zarkon: “The day is ours.”

[Cut to the castle, then to Shiro in Black.]

Shiro: Oh, no!

Hunk: I don’t care what you say, Shiro. I’m panicking now!

Pidge: It can’t end here!

Lance: This is it!

Keith: It’s been an honor flying with you boys.

Hunk: Oh, no!

Shiro: No! We can do this. We have to believe in ourselves. We can’t give up. We are the universe’s only hope. Everyone is relying on us. We can’t fail! We won’t fail! If we work together, we’ll win together!

All: Yeah!

[Cut to Sendak on his bridge.]

Sendak: Voltron!

[Cut to Voltron outside the Galra ship.]

Keith: I can’t believe it!

Pidge: We formed Voltron!

Hunk: I’m a leg!

Lance: How are we doing this?

Shiro: I don’t know, but let’s get that cannon!

[Scene change to outside the Castle of Lions at sunset, after their victory.]

Allura: Good work, Paladins!

Lance: Thanks, pretty lady.

Shiro: We did it.

Keith: Heck yeah, we did.

Shiro: How did we do it?

Hunk: I was just, like, screaming the whole time. Maybe that did it.

Shiro: We’re not gonna stop searching until we find your brother and father. Wherever they are, I know they’d be proud of you.

Allura: We won the battle, but the war has only just begun. I’m afraid Zarkon will not stop until he gets these lions.

Coran: Good thing you paladins know what you’re doing, because you’re going to have to form Voltron again and again.

Hunk: Totally. Wait, what?

Lance: We barely survived forming Voltron this one time.

Coran: And you only had to fight one ship. Wait until you have to fight a whole fleet of them! It’s not going to be easy being the Defenders of the Universe.

Shiro: Defenders of the Universe, huh? That’s got a nice ring to it.

End.

#vld #voltron #voltron legendary defender #transcript #shiro #allura #hunk #pidge #lance #keith #coran #sendak #haxus #sam holt #matt holt #alfor #zarkon #commander iverson

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dragonstoravens · 4 years

Text

Babylon Vol. 1: Thawing, Camaraderie, It Grows On You

[ID: a blue patterned banner with text reading “BABYLON.” End ID.]

(Considering the length of chapters 2, 3, and 4 compared to 1, Kit and I have decided to post them together. They go together in terms of plot as well, so it works best this way. Enjoy!)

READ ON WATTPAD HERE, HERE, AND HERE!

2. Thawing

[Unknown] Here are the blueprints for that idea I was talking about, with some existing externals for reference. Hopefully they can be of some use. T. Jericho.

That message had been sitting at the top of Trinity’s holoscreen for a couple of days now. It wasn’t as if he’d expected a response from this one-time mechanic whose friends most likely wanted him dead or maimed, but perhaps it spoke to the sad state of his social life that his work messages were overflowing with unread correspondence while his most recent personal message besides this one consisted of a single “here” from his sister a week ago. Trinity sighed, and switched over to his eyecam. Might as well get something done.

“Aw damn, missed one.” Azure glanced at her once-neglected messaging screen. Messages from Crim, Indigo, a few video links from Smalls and Perry, Turq asking about when ship-wide family dinner was so he could bake biscuits and an unusual number she hadn't seen before. She squinted at the unfamiliar sequence of numbers, trying to think who she had given her access number to that she didn’t remember. She opened the message and found herself grateful that businessmen were so formal to start with. It was eye-dude, following up on some small talk they’d had about her ideas for external monitors for people who were weird about doctor’s visits.

She glanced at the externals he sent and found herself typing wherever her console had space, recording a stream of consciousness. She hadn’t intended to treat his chatbox like a memo application on a personal holopad, but that’s exactly what she did. She thought out loud, drawing conclusions and asking questions all in the same long, uninterrupted paragraph, and hit send thinking it was a save button. Her thoughts were done, and she had already moved to begin work on a prototype, now that she had it all written out.

She was a little embarrassed and sent an apology a few moments later, once she realized what she’d done.

[Azure] sorry about the essay. lots to think on, not a lot of paper this side of a spaceship. thanks for the schematics.

[Azure] have a nice day!

She didn’t bother to sign it, seeing as he already knew who she was. He sent it first, after all.

Trinity was left with a note to self to disconnect messaging from his eye functions, technical words flickering in and out of his vision like sunspots, and a low level headache that somehow felt like a portent of things to come. One thing seemed certain, despite the little information he had to go on-- he was going to be hearing from Azure again. Often.

3. Camaraderie

Azure snickered as she sent the image off. It was a rare image of Trinity off of some trashy tabloid site, that she had edited to highlight the triangle he crook of his arm made with his body. The filename was “jericho_illuminati.img”, and she was proud of how shitty and outdated the joke was.

[Azure] So when were you going to tell me you decided the fate of galaxy politics centuries in advance?

And now it was a matter of time before his exasperated response.

[Jericho] You know it’s not polite to make fun of my boss.

It had only taken him a minute to answer. She’d caught him at a good time, then. Her smile widened.

[Azure] Consider, your boss is terrible. The worst.

She thought back to calling him a ladder climber upon their first meeting, and found herself grateful he didn’t think she was an asshole for being honest. It was nice to talk to someone above the books, who wasn’t on the run for whatever reason. The ship got lonely, with how closed off people were about some things. His companionship was becoming more valuable by the day.

[Jericho] Interesting opinion. But do you know what else is the worst?

Trinity followed this message with a picture of a model from the same tabloid, one they put on the same spread as Trinity, but with what looked like cargo pants shakily drawn over the swimsuit. The hair was scribbled over in bright red. It looked ridiculous.

[Jericho] Observe.

She smirked, muttering to herself.

[Azure] Asshole. My hair ain’t even that shade of red, and I’d never be caught dead in cargo pants.

[Jericho] It’s not as if I’ve seen you recently to confirm that. I’ll stick with the artist’s interpretation.

There was a beat, his icon indicating that he was still typing.

[Jericho] Heh. Azzhole.

[Azure] VERY original. Did you get that one from my brother when we were eight, or are you just very creative?

She found herself giggling quietly in her lab. It was so nice to just goof off. Turq poked his head in to make sure she hadn’t lost her mind. She waved him off.

[Azure] I gotta get back to actually working. Send me more stupid closeups from your eye, I wanna see how well the zoom extension is holding up in terms of image quality. Get real up close to something, I wanna see electrons.

[Jericho] Nerd. I will.

She was halfway through a message to call him an even bigger nerd, but decided that progress on the little pet project that his eye had become mattered a little more.

[Azure] The more unsuspecting the subject, the funnier

[Jericho] I’ll keep it in mind. Go do your work, I’m busy.

And with that, the blip marking him as active in the chat disappeared from the screen. She stuck her tongue out at it. That was one way to force her to get back to work, but she didn’t have to like it.

4. It Grows On You

“-I’m just sayin’, I think reroutin’ the sensors through a shorter path would make the energy consumption so much lower, it’d be worth the time cost to adjust.” Azzy was leaning on one arm of her chair, one leg over the back and the other leg over the opposite arm, looking up at a screen with some soundwaves wiggling around on it. Normally she’d have moved it to a vidcall, but Trinity had said he was busy, and like hell was she going to be TOO much of a distraction. He had shit to do, and technically so did she, but what was a half hour of downtime in the grand scheme of things when you lived at work?

“Yes, but if we’re thinking on a universal manufacturing scale, that’s adjustments in every prototype that would have to be done the exact same way. In the long term, the mechanic can’t oversee everything herself. Delegating is a bigger time cost than a simple design change.” Trinity was clearly in business mode, vague typing noises audible from his end even as he spoke.

“But you’re sacrificin’ a lot of power that way on the prototype itself. I thought the whole point was to be the best around.” She laughed and sat up a little bit, headset long discarded in favor of turning on her room’s soundproofing so she could hear more clearly. He didn’t say anything for a moment, his focus clearly on whatever it was he was working on and not her attempts to goad him into banter. “You always this overly focused on whatever the hell? Or are you usin’ it as an excuse to half ignore me? Bein’ a hotshot sounds like a lotta work if it’s the first one.” The word ‘hotshot’ stuck to her for some reason, and she changed his name in her messages. No one needed to know.

Taglist (ask to be added or removed!): @glitterandstarshine @rainbowcoloreddays @the-starlight-chills @erased-in-stone @charlottedotexe

General: @elywritesbydarkness @residentofthedisc @humour-and-hyperfocus @skyfirewrites

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #spilled ink #wip: babylon #babylon #chapter update #trinity

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charles-among-us · 4 years

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Story was written by Ellis Skylar on Quotev {Mentions of Death} I'm a Valiant Hero?▼ "Stop running away from me!!" The Toppat mook I was chasing sneered. "Stop chasing us then, Charlie," he taunted. "Why would a cat chase a mouse with a teleporter?" "Oh no you don't!" I drew my pistol and picked up speed. "You're not getting away from me again! Victory is mine this time, Toppats!" The mooks shot at me a few times, forcing me to dodge (and therefore slowing me down). This gave them them time to call on their teleporter and blip away just as I caught up. Aw, crud. Sighing, I glanced up at the sky-then froze for a second. Was that my imagination, or did I just see... "Henry?" My old friend smiled and nodded. I grinned and practically ran over, stumbling slightly in the snow. "Henry, I heard you died!" Henry shrugged in response, then motioned to the bar behind him. "Why don't we get caught up? I'll try and explain everything." "Hey, anything to get outta this cold!" Henry laughed a bit and led the way inside. I couldn't bouncing a little as we went. Henry and Charles, back together! The troublesome duo, as the general liked to call us. Or...He did. Back before Henry was...Well... Henry whistling snapped me out of my thoughts before they could go any farther. He held up two fingers when the bartender looked over before turning to look at me expectantly. I got the hint pretty quickly. "The Toppat Clan's been causing a bunch of problems for me lately," I started. "Yeah, ever since they got that orbital station set up, they've been suuuper strong." Henry tilted his head slightly, giving me a sympathetic look, though I'd stopped paying attention. I think I have another plan. "Now that I think about it...You and I made a pretty good team in the past." I put my hand on his shoulder. "I bet we could take 'em out. It's starting to get personal." Now Henry looked a little taken aback. I guess I looked angrier than intended, but it was true. They even know my last name now for crying out loud! I pulled my hand off him and tried to lighten up. "Well? Whaddya say? You wanna help me take 'em out for good?" There was no hesitation. Henry gave me an evil grin and a thumbs up, making me break into a smile. I missed that look! "Awesome!" I stood up and grabbed his arm, pulling him along. "Follow me, I have a way we can get into space!" The drive to the main base was quiet...Quieter than usual. Henry didn't usually say much-he could go through missions without saying anything at all, if you can believe it-but this was...Different. Sadder. Like he was holding something back. I'm not about to let my friend be blue on our first mission back together! "What's up, Henry?" I lightly punched his shoulder. "You look like you wanna say something." Henry started to speak, then seemed to change his mind and shake his head. I gave him another playful punch. "Come on..." He gave me a glare. I went to slug him again before he shoved my hand away, making me laugh. "Okay, okay, I won't push anymore." He gave me a thankful smile and looked out the passenger side window. I watched him for a moment before turning back to the road. It just crossed my mind that it was never really said how he died. "Escaping the Complex" is all they said about it. What happened between the last time I saw him and now? "Henry?" He flinched a bit and looked at me. I gave him a little smile. "It's good to be by your side again." He's staring out the windows again. Well-window, I should say. It's more like a dome instead of a window, too. "Secret government prototype," I called back to him. "Whaddya think?" He gave me an excited grin in response. I don't blame him-it's not often you get to take a ride in a perfect replica of a UFO. I'd be elated too if I was in his position. But I'm in an even better position. I'm flying the thing! The urge to go into hyperspeed is overwhelming but I can't risk drawing attention to myself. Not with no backup plan, at least. A satellite-looking spaceship finally came into view, making me slow down my UFO. "There it is," I said aloud. "How do you want me to bring you in?" I heard rustling noises as Henry did something in the seats behind me. I couldn't help starting to wriggle. "Ahahaw, this is so exciting! It's just like last time!" Someone tapped me on the shoulder, making me look up. Henry shook his head. I pulled my headset back a little. "What, you can't think of anything?" He shook his head again. I spotted a big green ball of something and had an idea. I pushed him back towards the seats and flew the UFO over to the ball a little faster than I probably should have. It's a ball of trash. 'Perfect.' I dug around in the area behind my chair for a moment and whistled to get Henry's attention. He looked over at the same time I finally freed the space suit tucked away. "Put on this space suit and hide inside the ball of trash!" Henry looked at me like I was nuts. "What?! It's a good idea, trust me." He shook his head rapidly. I tossed the suit at him. He rolled his eyes and finally put it on, then gave me the thumbs up to open the hatch. I watched the green ball of gunk (now with Henry in it) float over to the space station undeterred. None of the Toppat's sensors even gave it a passing glance. I waited until I saw the figure of a person on the station before cheering. "YES! See?! I told you it was a good idea! The Toppats have no clue you're there now." "I'm gonna stick back here though so they don't detect me," I went on, leaning back and popping my feet up on the UFO dashboard. "Should still be able to help you get inside from here though." I watched the figure of Henry from afar, then my eyes drifted back towards the button for hyperspeed and my fingers started getting twitchy. It's so enticing. I've always wanted to help out by ramming something with a vehicle, it sounds like so much fun... But I shouldn't. I really shouldn't. Besides, who knows how much gas it could use? If we get stuck with no way to get home it's all my fault. But this is just a prototype and barely has any gas anyways. So I should save it. But it'd be so much fun. But I'll get in trouble. But I think Henry's stuck. "Y'know what? Naw." I pulled my feet off the dashboard and dusted off the dirt left behind. "This calls for some bold action. I'm the bold action maaaaaaan~!" I slammed my hand on the hyperspeed button and held on tight. The UFO shot off so fast I almost missed the space station. Luckily for me, I had a target. Unluckily for Henry, it was him. I hope I didn't hit him too hard. We smashed into the core, if the robotic voice that started talking is anything to go by. I dropped to the floor harsher than intended and coughed to get smoke out of my lungs before looking up. "I've always wanted to do that." Henry rolled his eyes slightly and we both stood up, my friend pulling off his spacesuit as he did so. (It looks like it's padding took most of the ramming damage. Phew!) I fixed my headset to avoid looking him in the eye. "Anyways, should probably find a way off this spaceship before it explodes..." I led the way down the first hallway I saw. Henry and I were stopped immediately by a door that was half open and half closed. I pressed the button on the number pad next to it and got an "ERROR" message on the screen. "Looks like the door's jammed. This is the only way through." I stepped back to let Henry have a look at the keypad and flinched when I backed into one of the hallway vents. I knelt down and found it opened easily. 'Aha!' "Hey! Henry!" I waved to get my friend's attention. "I bet this vent leads somewhere...On the other side." Henry brightened up and joined me again. I took the lead again and started crawling. An explosion happened not even halfway through and made me grind my teeth. "Oh man. We're running out of time." For some reason, this was enough to make Henry speak up. "Charles?" "Yeah, buddy?" "I, um..." Henry coughed a little. "Sorry. I wanted to ask you something." "Ask as much as you want, as long as you keep moving." "What happened to the, er...The diamond and the ruby? After people thought I was dead?" I shrugged, then remembered that he couldn't see me with how dark it was. "I dunno. I think the diamond was returned and the ruby auctioned off." "Aw, mother..." "Yeah. Sorry." He was quiet for a bit. I saw the other end start coming up and was about to relay this to him when he spoke up again. "I'm sorry." That caught me off guard. "What?" He didn't answer. I decided to drop the subject and ask him about it later on. A group of Toppat mooks ran by the opening when we arrived, making us have to wait for a second. There was a body out in the hall when I checked the coast after they passed, but that was it. Another muffled boom made me shiver. "We've really gotta move!" Henry took the lead this time, running down the hall and following the arrows guiding us to the escape pods. The question of his apology came back to mind. "What're you apologizing for?" He gave me a curious look. "You know, in the vents! You said you were sorry! For what?" "Oh." He flinched a little at the question. "For...A lot. I keep betraying your trust and you keep coming back to help." "Aw, hey, it's noth-" "Why do you come back?" I shrugged. "Usually it's timing, usually it's coincidence, usually it's a bit of both. I never regret running into you again, though. Even if you're a 'wanted criminal'...I like you." That got him to smile. I grinned back and we dropped the conversation in favour of running for our lives. We eventually came across the escape pods' hallway just as a few members of the Toppat Clan rushed inside one of the three pods left. The other two were one marked "LUXERY" and one with a cracked window. Henry went for the one with the broken window, for some reason. After he karate-chopped the stuck open button, we were in. I slumped into the bench across from him. "Ah...Well that was intense." Henry nodded in agreement. I crossed my arms behind my head and settled in. "I can't wait to go ho-" Someone suddenly grabbed the front of Henry's shirt and yanked him out of the pod. I followed the two out, shoved the Toppat mook off Henry and pushed him inside before the escape pod door closed. The mook almost went for the door opening button again before I grabbed him and pinned him to the door. "Don't worry about me!" I shouted to Henry. "I'll find another way!" The pod zipped off before he could respond. The Toppat mook nailed me in the gut to make me let go and watched in despair as his escape sailed away. "NO!" He screamed. "That's my way home!! Now I'm stuck here!!" "You and me both, pal!" I snapped. "We both could've come out of this alive had you not tried to kill my friend!" "I'll kill YOU INSTEAD!!" He jumped on me with that, trying to get me on the ground. I'm not a trained fighter but I'm proud to say I stayed on my feet and even nailed him a few times before the gravity of his situation sank in and he broke down crying. I pushed him off me and rested against the wall for a moment when I realized Henry must be panicking. Smacking my headphones to see if that would make them work again, I turned them on. "H-Henry? You there?" "I'm here," he said, his voice shaking. "Man, that roughed me up." I slid down the wall to sit down as I spoke. "Got 'em, though. Gotta be another escape pod around here somewhere..." The ship started shaking as the alarm blaring stuttered. I knew I wasn't going to make it but I gotta try to save face. "We did it though," I repeated. "We got 'em. It was the perfect plan." "Might even say it was the greate-"

#henry stickmin #completing the mission #charles calvin #puffballsunited #valiant hero #Novocaine art

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lunafeather · 4 years

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9 for the kiss prompts?

Hey I don’t know if you saw that I posted my response to this on AO3 (I was taking a break from tumblr at the time!), so I totally forgot to answer this ask and shit, I hope you saw it on AO3.... I’ll post it here, too, just to be safe haha

9. Fuck You Kiss

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

It becomes a routine:

Put the kids to bed, stay up prepping their lunches for the next day, entertain Dean until he finally collapses onto their air mattress, then sneak out when he’s dead asleep.

She usually drives to Boland Bubbles in silence, her mind whirring, picturing the numbers in her head and rearranging them in a way that’s believable, but profitable, in a way that her husband won’t catch on -- not for a long while, anyway.

The parking lot is empty as she pulls in, the building ominously dark. She knows its dumb, but she wedges her keys between her fingers anyway as she leaves her car and treks to the employee side entrance and lets herself in. The motion sensor lights flicker on as she makes her way down the hallway, peeking into the warehouse to make sure it all looks kosher, doing the same with the break room and then the mood room, her eyes sweeping through the one pink tinted light they leave on for good luck, and she’s just about to turn away --

She screams when she notices the shadow looming in the corner of the room, hands in its pockets, seemingly staring into the hot tub they always have filled for customers to test out before buying.

Rio meanders closer, into the light, and Beth should have known it was him, of course it’s him, it’s always him. Still, she presses her palm to her chest, against the harsh thudding of her heart.

His eyes track the movement with interest.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she hisses.

He smirks, that dumb, handsome, terrible and infuriating smirk. “That any way to greet your boss?”

Beth rolls her eyes and stalks away, not waiting for him. He won’t answer her, and he’ll eventually follow her to the office planted in the center of the show room. She doesn’t have the time nor the patience to entertain him.

He appears in the doorway a few minutes later, leaning his hip against the frame, and she has to resist the urge to look up from the papers in front of her to properly take him in -- but she can see him in her peripheral, sees the black beanie tugged low over his ears, the charcoal grey button up shrouded by the black coat with the one white button hole, the loose black jeans and the black and white sneakers.

He’s found a color scheme he likes and stuck with it, and she can respect that -- her brain chooses to focus on this thought instead of the overwhelming surge of want that flows through her, the frustration prickling at her skin -- frustration with everything that’s happened between them, frustration with this business not being hers, not really , frustration with how fucking beautiful he is. He’s taken to sporting a full beard lately, trimming it instead of shaving, and it drives her to distraction when they’re in the same room together, many times Rio just staring at her while she tries to fight the blush at the memory of that beard against her thighs, of her fingernails running through it.

The worst part is that she’s convinced he knows exactly what it does to her.

All of this lust, all of this attraction, had been a lot easier to keep at bay when she was convinced he was going to kill her at any moment, reap his revenge with three matching holes -- his and hers -- blasted in her body, and when she was consumed with the desperation for survival, convinced she needed to get rid of him first to save herself.

This stalemate of theirs makes it too easy to slip.

So she ignores him.

She can feel him smiling at her.

Still, she’s the first to break the silence.

“How did you get in?”

Rio shrugs, doesn’t answer.

She didn’t really expect one anyway.

“You worried about bein’ all alone in this big warehouse in the middle of the night, baby?”

He smiles when she glares at him.

“Maybe if you told me how you got in, I’d be able to keep the place more secure.”

His eyes are dark, framed by those thick, long lashes. “Nah, where’s the fun in that?” he murmurs.

They stare at each other for a moment.

“Well, if you didn’t need anything, I’ve got some work to --”

“Why you keep coming here at this hour anyway, Elizabeth?”

Her brows furrow. “How did you --”

He tilts his head, gives her a look.

“Are you still having me followed?” she splutters.

He shrugs again, faux nonchalant, sticking his lower lip out and then pursing his lips.

“I thought we moved past that.”

“Oh, what, you think I’m s’posed to trust you, after everything?”

Beth tips her chin in defiance. “I mean, I did bring you this idea--”

A bark of laughter, devoid of amusement. “Nah, sweetheart, that’s not how it works and you know it.”

Her mouth settles into a hard line, and she lets her expression go blank. “Fine. But if that’s all --”

“You never answered my question.”

She can’t help it, she squawks, indignant. “I’m sorry, when the hell have you ever answered --”

“Why you keep comin’ here in the middle of the night?”

“Will you let me speak?” She’s not proud of losing her temper, never likes to let her emotions slip around him, especially not now, so she balls her hands into fists in her lap and tries to channel her anger into them.

Rio watches her, waits for her to say something else, but she doesn’t have anything else, was mostly annoyed at him cutting her off. His eyebrows hit his hairline.

“Oh, that it?” He takes three long, slow steps towards her, his fingers sliding along the edge of her desk -- well, Dean’s desk, but just for now, just until she can wiggle her way in -- stopping at the corner and leaning over it, hands splayed. “Cause I thought maybe you were gonna tell me why you sneakin’ around your business, fudgin’ numbers. Why your husband still thinks he runnin’ the game and callin’ the shots.”

Beth swallows. “I told you, it’s going to take some time for me to convince him to let me handle the books. He can’t know you’re involved, or he’ll --”

“He’ll what?” Rio sneers. “Go runnin’ to the cops, the FBI? He still refusin’ to see you’re the one who bossed up and pays the bills, huh? Guess what, darlin’, I shot him once, nothin’ stoppin’ me from doing it again.”

She’s not sure what reaction he’s expecting, but she has a feeling that her cool indifference isn’t it. He squints at her.

“If you let me take care of him, it won’t come to that.”

“I ain’t got time for you to try to pussy whip your dumbass husband --”

“Excuse me?”

“You should be pullin’ in way more cash than you are, so I’ma need you to stop gaggin’ on Dean’s dick and get your shit together --”

She’s up and in his face before she realizes what she’s doing, jabbing her finger into his chest. “How dare you!”

Rio snatches her hand and holds it away from them both. “Don’t.”

His voice is rough, a warning, but she doesn’t catch it, blinded by her fury.

“You don’t know anything about my marriage, about what I’ve had to do, what I’ve had to sacrifice!” Flailing wildly, she yanks her hand from his and goes onto her toes to get onto his eye level, waving her hand in his face and prodding him again.

“Elizabeth,” he growls.

“I will not let you degrade me, or treat me like --”

And then his mouth is on hers, effectively shutting her up. The kiss is rough, angry, desperate and filthy -- Rio’s hands cup her ass and lift her onto the desk, then slide up her back to mold her body against his, her breasts wedged against his chest and spilling out over her v-neck sweater. Beth wails into his mouth and clings to his shoulders as he steps between her thighs. He ravages her mouth, alternating rubbing his tongue against hers and sucking on it. She sinks her teeth into his lower lip hard enough that she thinks she tastes blood, and he groans and twists his fingers into her hair to yank her head back and expose her throat.

“You think about my tongue in your mouth when you kiss him, mama?” he says against her skin, sucking a hickey below her ear.

She scratches her fingernails against his scalp, helpless in his arms and writhing against him. One of his palms lowers to her ass to hold her in place, not allowing her to seek out any friction.

“You close your eyes and pretend its my cock fillin’ you up, makin’ you beg?”

Beth moans as his voice vibrates against her ear, pleasure singing down her neck and across her shoulders, threading through her spine and pooling at her tailbone. He grinds his hips into hers, and she can feel how turned on he is.

“He can’t make you come like I can, huh, baby? Gotta wait til he’s passed out and touch yourself, but your fingers aren’t enough, are they? Can’t reach inside you the way mine can.”

Those fingers clench in her hair, forcing her eyes open to meet his stare, his eyes dark fathomless, drawing her in and smothering her. She tries to lean forward, to kiss him again, but he keeps her still.

“He ain’t me,” he growls. The words tumble out from his lowest register, like he pried them from deep within himself, from a place he never lets see light, dripping with possessiveness and pride, and maybe even hurt.

She shakes her head. “He’s not you.”

Almost like he doesn’t want to hear it, like he’s already said too much, revealed too much, he crushes his mouth to hers again, and this kiss feels like a punishment and a plea. Beth lets it consume her.

And just like that, he’s releasing her, both of them panting as he steps back, putting some space between them and looking at her like she’s hexxed him, woven a spell to lure him, tempt him. And then the mask is back in place.

“You got a week to get your husband in line,” he says as he wipes their spit from his chin with his sleeve. He turns to leave, but stops in the doorway and looks over his shoulder. “And you better get a gun if you gonna be spending this much time here alone. Need to protect yourself.”

She arches an eyebrow at the implication under those words, that she needs to protect herself from him.

Beth’s got a feeling that his intentions are a little less murderous and a lot more carnal.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll empty the clip this time?”

His responding grin is slow, feral, like he’d been hoping she’d say that.

“Nah.”

And then he’s gone.

#Brio #NBC Good Girls #I still have like 10 kisses to do so I won't link the prompt list #sorry for taking so long to answer this!#I wrote this on the 9th then forgot I should have answered the ask haha #my fic #Luna writes #inyoursheets #ask answer

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snappedsky · 4 years

Text

Fanatics 73.6

The Battalion begin their retaliation.

*Links to next and previous chapters in reblog*

Government of Doom Part 6

Dib, Gaz, Devi, and Tenna each sit quietly in their cells. There’s not much else they can do. Shouting and pounding on the door just wastes energy they need to conserve. They don’t know how long they’re gonna be stuck here.

But they do know that they just need to be patient. One of their friends will escape and come for them. All four of them believe this with all their hearts. They just need to wait.

A distant boom is heard from somewhere in the facility, almost like an explosion. A collective smile spreads across their faces.

They just need to be patient.

Meanwhile, outside the facility, the Epic has arrived carrying Johnny, Skoodge, Mimi, and the Night Terrors. They all stare out the windows as they slowly approach.

“That is the human air force facility known as Area 51,” Mimi states.

“How cliché,” Nny sneers.

“We’ve been noticed,” Skoodge warns as a bunch of guards start pointing at them. “Don’t worry; their weapons are useless against the Epic. Just be ready to fight when we land.”

“No problem,” Reverend Meat smirks, cracking his knuckles.

Skoodge lands the vehicle within the surrounding gates, next to the largest building. As he does so, the many armed guards begin firing. The bullets ping harmlessly against the Epic, not even scratching the paint.

“It might be harder to leave than we thought,” Eff remarks as the guards give no break in their gunfire.

“I’ll handle them,” Mimi declares, “open a window.”

Everyone ducks out of the way as Johnny rolls down the passenger window. Immediately, Mimi flies out and charges the guards. One by one, she quickly knocks them over the heads with her large arm. Once they’ve all fallen, unconscious and groaning, Nny and the others safely exit the Epic.

“Couldn’t you have like blown them up or something?” D-boy asks.

“I refuse to use my weapons against such unworthy scum,” Mimi replies.

“Fair enough,” he shrugs.

“Let’s go,” Johnny orders, “we need to find out where they’re holding Squee.”

“And Zim and everyone else,” Skoodge adds.

“Yeah, whatever.”

They enter the biggest building to find a seemingly normal aircraft hangar, full of jets and planes.

“My sensors indicate an enormous space below us,” Mimi states.

“Hm, if I was a hidden base, where would I be?” Sickness muses as everyone looks around.

“The robot just said: beneath us,” Nny replies, “Skoodge, blast a hole through the ground.”

“Oh, okay,” he nods and aims his spider legs at the floor. They fire a large laser, blowing a hole straight through the ground to a large, open space a few feet down.

“Cool,” Eff comments and jumps in. “Geronimo!”

One by one, the others follow and land in a large, brightly lit, white hallway. Before they’re able to fully examine their surroundings, the lights suddenly turn red and a loud alarm goes off.

“Think we did that?” Sickness asks.

“I mean, we did just blow a huge hole through their ceiling,” D-boy points out.

“Where do we go?” Nny asks.

“Why don’t we ask them?” Eff suggests and points at a group of four armed guards coming down the hall.

“Good idea,” Reverend Meat grins.

The guards seem surprised to see Johnny and the others, but before they can react, Sickness is on them like a purple blur. She grabs the guns of the front two, pointing them to the ceiling as she leaps up and kicks the two in the back in their faces. At the same time, Eff and D-boy flip down the hall and grab the first two guards, throwing them to the floor.

“You better answer our questions or I can’t guarantee your survival,” Eff warns as he pins his target. “Where are your prisoners?”

Rewinding to a few minutes earlier, the Director returns to Squee’s room, humming leisurely.

“Uh, s-sir,” Doctor Theresa stammers with surprise. “Y-you’re back.”

“Yes, seems Doctor Mackey was worried by some empty threats from that ali-what!” he exclaims as he gets a look at the absolute destruction of the room. “What happened? Where’s the boy?”

“He-he escaped!” Theresa exclaims, trembling on the floor. “I’ve never seen anything like it! He-he just…manifested an explosion out of thin air!”

“That’s what that was?” the Director questions, “I thought one of the scientists just had a mishap. Well, where did he go?”

“I-I don’t know,” she admits, “he asked where we were keeping his stuff but before I could tell him, he ran out. I think he may have heard you coming.”

“I didn’t see him in the hall,” he muses, “but he does have speed superior to any human. Ah, curses. I should’ve known these kids would cause problems. No matter.”

He grabs his smartphone from his pocket and taps the screen a couple times. Immediately, all the lights in the facility turn red and an alarm sounds.

“I’m issuing a red alert. He won’t escape,” the Director declares as he pockets the phone. “Why don’t you head home for the day, Doctor. You’ve had enough excitement.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” Theresa nods before scurrying away. He leaves after her and looks up and down the hall.

“Now where did he scamper off to?” he muses before walking away.

Meanwhile, in the room just across the hall, Squee stands up against the door, listening to everything outside until the alarm sounds.

Sighing heavily, he rubs his head. “That was close. Good thing they didn’t take my rocket wheelies.”

He looks up and flinches, finally getting a look at the room.

Lining both side walls are six beds, each with a person strapped to them. Along with being hooked up to IVs, they’re all attached to the same charging device that Squee just escaped, their screams and moans muffled by cloths bound over their mouths.

“Oh my god!” Squee exclaims with horror. “What is this, his-his demented charging station?!”

He hurries over to the closest bed on his left where a seemingly normal, young woman is trapped. He quickly shuts off the charging machine and removes the probes from her head, as well as the cloth from her mouth and the bounds on the bed. She gasps with shock and relief before panting and looking at him with tired eyes. “Wh-who-?”

Squee doesn’t stick around to chat and gets to work freeing everyone else. They’re all so drained and exhausted, too much so to even get out of bed once they’re free.

Once he’s finished, Squee returns to the head of the room and looks around at everybody. They all look like normal enough humans of varying ages, but he can sense differently.

“Woo, okay,” Squee sighs, “I wonder if there are others. I can’t just leave them.”

“Wh-who are you?” the first woman asks as she struggles to sit up.

“Uh I’m Squee,” he replies, “how long have you all been here?”

“I don’t even know,” she groans as she holds her head. “You were hooked up to a charging station too, right? How did you escape?”

“How did you know?” Squee asks.

She silently points to her temples. Squee touches his and immediately winces and hisses in pain. “ow-ow! What-?”

He looks at his reflection in the metal side of a charging station and spots a burn mark the shape of the probes on both of his temples. “Aw, man! I didn’t even notice. Dammit, that hurts.” “Did you cause that explosion we heard?” a young man asks.

“Uh yeah,” Squee replies.

“Are you witch?” another woman asks, “I don’t sense any magic from you.”

“No, no. Just a normal human with…uh abnormal powers?”

“A human?” another man questions, “that can’t be right. Only witches, vampires, and werewolves have the energy that deranged director is looking for, like all of us.”

“I guess I’m just a very rare exception,” Squee shrugs, “but listen, you all just stay here okay? I’ll come back for you once it’s safe.”

“You’re going back out there?” the first woman exclaims, “don’t you hear the alarms? Every guard in the facility is looking for you!”

“Well, I can’t stay here,” he points out, “I gotta find my friends and my stuff. And I think I know how to do both.”

He cracks the door open to peek out. Once he’s sure the hallway is empty, he steps out, takes a deep breath, and shouts, “Shmeeeeeeee!”

All the prisoners stare at him, bewildered as he ducks back inside. “There, that should do it.”

“What was that?” one of the boys asks.

“Don’t worry about it,” Squee replies, “okay. While he’s coming for me, I’ll look through these rooms and make sure there are no more charging stations. Stay here, okay?”

Before anyone can argue, Squee slips out of the room. He takes a quick look up and down the hall before choosing the next door and going inside. He’s immediately greeted by the exact same sight: twelve prisoners, bound and gagged, having their brains sucked.

“Aw, jeez,” Squee groans and gets to work.

Rewinding a few more minutes, the twin scientists Stark and Lark have changed up their examination of Pepito. Now he’s lying on his chest while they prod the small bumps on his shoulder blades.

“Curious,” Stark comments, “do you suppose they’re wings?”

“I don’t know what else they could be,” Lark replies, “I would very much like to see them.”

“Yes, I as well. Perhaps we can dig them out.”

“Brilliant idea.”

Lark retrieves a scalpel from his cart and attempts to slice Pepito’s back, but the blade barely causes a paper cut.

“Hm, his skin is much tougher than a human’s,” he remarks.

“To be expected,” Stark states.

“Indeed. This will require heavier equipment.”

While he goes over to a large cabinet on the other side of the lab, Pepito moans exhaustedly on the metal table. He can’t take much more of this. Can they actually ‘dig out’ his wings? That sounds super painful. What is he gonna do?

Suddenly, a faint boom is heard through the walls.

“What was that?” Lark asks.

“Perhaps one of the other scientists had a mishap,” Stark suggests.

“Hmph, probably that dimwit Stanley.”

“Yes, he is a moron with chemicals.”

While the twins are rather calm from just hearing an explosion, Pepito knows better. His eyes widen with realization before narrowing angrily.

“What…am I doing…?” he snarls.

“Hm?” Stark questions.

“Did he say something?” Lark asks as he walks over with a large, mechanical meat cutter.

“What am I doing, playing prisoner?” Pepito growls, “waiting like a damsel in distress for someone to rescue me? I am the Antichrist. I am Pepito Diablo! I will not be your torture doll anymore!”

“Wha-!” the twins gasp as black energy swirls angrily from between Pepito’s chains. Before they can react, a huge force explodes from his body, blowing them into the wall. Groaning painfully, they look up and immediately tremble in terror.

Standing on the table, free of silver chains, is a monster cloaked in black shadows. All they can make out are the large wings, the horns from his head, the spikes from his shoulders, the long tail, the hooves, and how absolutely massive he is, buff and over 7 feet tall.

Then the shadows dissipate to reveal a tired teenager, doubled over on his knees and panting heavily, with burn marks wrapping around his torso and arms.

“Get the holy water,” Lark whispers to his brother.

Stark starts to crawl over to a nearby table holding vials of clear liquid, when a black blast of energy hits the wall just beside him.

“Not so fast,” Pepito growls, pointing at them as he raises his head. They whimper and cower against the wall.

“Don’t worry,” he grunts as he steps off the table. “I know you guys aren’t fighters. You’re just scientists, doing your job- a job you really like. So I won’t kill you. But you’re not getting away scot-free. Now…”

They tremble beneath his glare as he bares his fangs. “Where the hell is my stuff.”

Meanwhile, in a small room on another floor, a pair of workers go through the belongings that were acquired from the Battalion. They’ve already documented the electric guitar, large hammer, and strange metal bracelet they haven’t figured out how to work. But what’s taking the longest is all the stuff in the bag of Squee C.

“Another bomb,” the worker, Anna, says apathetically while her partner, Vince, writes it down. “Another bomb. Another notebook. Another pen.”

“Jesus,” Vince snaps impatiently. “How much shit did this kid carry?”

“Oh, this is new,” she gasps as she removes something soft. “A…ratty teddy bear. Gross.”

She stares at the bear’s smiling face as she holds it upside down by its leg. Then suddenly, the smile disappears and it glares back.

Anna doesn’t even have time to scream before Shmee punches her in the jaw. Vince shouts in surprise, dropping his clipboard beside her unconscious body. Then he falls next to her when Shmee kicks him in the face.

“Neither of you are lookers either,” he comments as he lands on the table. He takes a quick look around at the kids’ property scattered on the surrounding tables and exclaims in exasperation. “Look at this mess! I guess I can’t leave all their stuff here. But how am I supposed to carry it all?”

He glances at Squee’s half-empty bag and sighs with annoyance.

Working swiftly, Shmee shoves all of Squee’s stuff back into his bag, along with Dib’s bracelet. He also sticks Pepito’s guitar and Gaz’s Warhammer into it as well as he can. Then he picks it up and holds it over his head before leaving the room, kicking the door down with reckless abandon.

As he looks up and down the hall, the lights turn red and an alarm starts ringing.

“Hm,” Shmee muses before choosing a direction. “Hang on, Squee. I’m coming.”

#invader zim #invader zim fanfiction #johnny the homicidal maniac #johnny the homicidal maniac fanfiction #iz jthm crossover #myart #myocs

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heavenly-hero-mourningstar · 4 years

Text

Taiyuu High Entrance Exam: Grigori Vai Quirk: Animate

@taiyuu-high-oct

Vai knew they were in for a rough ride from the second they saw the building.

They had wondered for quite some time why the entrance exam was being held at a secondary location instead of on school grounds, but looking up at the massive warehouse (carbon steel frame– melting point of 2,500° F; Fiberglass roofing– melting point of 2,075° F), the answer became clear.

Hundreds of applicants stand outside, slowly filing into an atrium of sorts (concrete floor– ‘melts’ at around 1,000°F) where a dark-haired woman in a grassy bodysuit awaits them, leaning casually against a two-story tall, cast-iron door. Vai manages to push their way into one of the less crowded corners just as the woman speaks.

“Welcome, hero wannabes!” she shouts, not bothering with a microphone. The crowd hushes and from Vai’s position at the back, they can just barely make out the woman– Pro-hero Lacca-daisy, principal of Taiyuu High –move away from the door with a grin. “As you can see, we’re a bit overwhelmed with the sheer number of applicants this year, but this test was a bitch to set up as it is, so no whining about the extra competition, ‘kay?”

Several applicants shift and grumble, but the principal pays them no mind.

“This here,” she stops to pound twice against the metal door. “is your first challenge on the road to becoming heroes, and let me tell you, it ain’t an easy one. You’re gonna be placed in a maze with a bunch of enemies and your goal is to wrack up as many points as you can by grabbing ‘flags’ we’ve scattered throughout. Bigger flags are worth more points, but there’s no limit to how many you can grab at once, so try an’ be strategic about which flags you choose. Once you’ve collected your flags, you’re going to bring them back here where the door will automatically log your points. There are two other ‘safe zones’ like this in the maze, but you’ll have to find those for yourselves. You follow so far?”

There’s a murmur of agreement throughout the atrium, but once again, Lacca-daisy doesn’t particularly seem to care.

“As for the enemies, there’s two types you gotta worry about. Type one: faculty. They’re all wearing masks and have been warned about using their quirks, but don’t think that makes ‘em any weaker. With or without their quirks, these guys will still kick your ass if you get too cocky.” she says, giving the crowd a meaningful look. “Then there’s type two: robots. You’re welcome to go all out on these guys and they come in a variety of shapes and sizes just to spice things up. Neither enemy will actively try to hurt you but they will slow you down, and if you’re not careful, steal your flags.

Last rule and if you break this one, you will be disqualified regardless of how many points you get, no sabotage. You steal from another contestant, set traps, slow them down– I don’t care how, you’re out of the running. Any questions?”

A smattering of hands raise and Lacca-daisy grins. “No? Nobody? Then get going!”

The door slams open, startling most of the crowd and sending the first of the applicants into action. Sat at the back of the crowded room, Vai immediately curls in on themself as the room empties around them.

‘Shit,’ they think. ‘Already off to a bad start.’

They stand and begin sprinting after the others, straight past a smiling Lacca-daisy and into the maze. Walls sprout up around them, each one reaching two stories before meeting the roof. Vai takes the first left and keeps going straight, trying to get away from the throngs of hero-hopefuls.

CLICK.

“Shit!” The lights go out. From around the corner, Vai can see a purple spotlight, and ahead another hundred feet is a pulsing green and blue one. It’s just barely light enough to maneuver, but it’s certainly disorienting, and more importantly…

“I’m glowing. Ffffffffff–” The soft white light of their skin and hair sends halos onto the walls and within moments, they can hear the mechanical whir, thump of a robot heading straight for them. “The one freaking day I don’t bring a hoodie,” they lament, dashing further down the corridor before ducking just below the pulsing light. They put their hand to the wall, testing for it’s malleability before cursing again. The walls are a carbon alloy, clearly created to withstand the barrage of quirks about to be thrown at them.

I could probably use it anyway, but I have no idea how long this test is, and if I overdo it…

The bot comes into view– a tall, gangly thing with reinforced arms and a clear weak spot in its neck. It scans for Vai, but hidden low under the blues and greens of the pulsing light, it isn’t immediately apparent that they’re there until a pale hand suddenly grabs the bot by its leg.

It tries to step back, but suddenly the teen is wrapped around it like a koala hanging for dear life and forcing their quirk through it faster than they can think. It raises its arm to beat them off when a loud pop! sounds and the whole thing twists, taking head and arm and legs with it.

The metal melts and bends and twists before re-converging on something resembling a twisted giraffe.

Vai slumps to the ground, staring up at their creation with dull eyes.

“Why did I make a giraffe? Could’ve made a lion, but no. I made a giraffe.” The creature in question cocks it’s matte metal head (steel, thank gods) and Vai groans again. “I know, I have no one to blame but myself.”

Looking up as they are, Vai sees the moment the blue light glints against the ceiling and–

“Okay, sweetie. Lift me as high as your spindly little neck can,” they grin. The creature complies, and Vai silently dubs him Jeff because why not. Once Jeff has lifted them as high as he can (about 17ft), they press flush against the closest wall and activate their quirk again, forcefully shaping handholds into the wall until they can reach the ceiling.

“Fiberglass roofing,” the teen grins. “Lightweight with a melting point of 2,075° F.”

Minutes later, soaring eighteen feet in the air on a freshly made pair of fiberglass bat wings and followed closely by an overzealous Jeff, Vai finds the first of their ‘flags’ rather quickly. Not having been given any guidelines on what exactly the flags were, they were surprised to find a variety of objects ranging from small disks to a full sized crash test dummy, all with the Taiyuu logo printed across them in incandescent paint.

“Jeff, take the dummy. I’ll grab as many of the smaller ones as I can,” they say.

“Oh, will you now?”

Vai spins in the air, shocked to find a rather well-muscled man in all black standing at the end of the alcove. “Shit.”

The man pauses, and Vai can suddenly feel the disappointed frown materialize beneath his mask. “You know this is a school entrance exam, right? You shouldn’t curse.”

Vai blushes red. “Shit, you’re right. Wait. Sorry, shit!” Vai buries their face in their hands, letting out a long groan. “I suck at this.”

They look up just in time to see the man running toward them, a bo staff having appeared in his hands. Jeff leaps in front of his creator just in time for the staff to come down with a loud and reverberating CLANG as Vai grabs as many of the small disks as they can before taking to the air and releasing Jeff, dropping him in all his 450 pound robotic glory directly onto the man in black.

Flying off as fast as they can, because Jeff’s robot form may be heavy but there is no way a trained pro is going to let that stop them, Vai shouts a quick, “Sorry!” and speeds back toward the first Safe Room. By the time they arrive, there are at least three dozen other applicants crowding the door, all clutching a variety of neon painted Taiyuu-themed objects. Luckily, their altitude makes it slightly easier to push past the squalling throng, but after dropping the disks and making their way back out, Vai still feels shaken in a way that has nothing to do with the crowd.

So many people want this…

They push through the middle this time, landing and curling their wings around their glowing form as best they can. They can feel the beginnings of some pretty bad bruises forming under the Fiberglass harness of their wings. Note to self: get an actual harness for next time.

“Attention, applicants! Time is now half over. I repeat; you better hurry your asses up!”

“She’s allowed to curse…” Vai grouches, turning in on what looked like another flag deposit. “Shit! This one’s cleaned out already.”

BANG!

Vai spins around, turning the corner to find a section of floor blown to pieces and two applicants nursing minor scrapes and burns.

“There’s traps now, too?” one of them shrieks, crystal growths in her skin flashing red in anger. “What the actual Hell?”

“Ah! I think I broke my ankle!” the other cries. Shaggy black hair obscures his eyes, but Vai is pretty sure there are tears dripping down his cheeks.

Vai pales. If I had landed any sooner, that would’ve been me… I’ve gotta keep flying.

“Do you need help getting back to the Safe Room? It’ll be slow, but I could probably fly you there?” they offer. Both applicants look at them like they’ve grown a second head.

“What, and quit while there’s still time left?” the crystal girl says. “Not a chance.” Beside them, the dark-haired boy nods along.

“We’re going to be the best hero duo the world has ever seen! We can’t do that if only one of us gets in!”

Vai nods in understanding, but feels sick even as the boy shakily gets to his feet, his friend helping him continue into the maze. They peel up their own shirt and gently prod at the darkening bruises digging into their hips and ribs.

Everyone wants this…. I can’t afford not to give it my all.

Taking off once again, they quickly scour the maze for more flags, but only find several more deposits, a disk someone must’ve dropped, and the second of the three Safe Rooms. That along with quite a few broken robots and several more injured teens– a girl who could stick to walls even warns them that certain walls have laser sensors in them too.

“Just a few more points,” they incant. “I can’t give up now.”

Suddenly, something hits them from behind with enough force to send them straight into the wall. Vai collapses to the ground in a heap, ribs burning like the sun. Another robot stands behind them, this time with tank treads and a gun.

Vai tries to stand, but the pain flares brighter and they collapse back to the ground. “No…Please, fuck, no.”

The robot advances, leveling the gun with Vai’s tear-stained face and for a brief second, they remember Lacca-daisey’s words.

“Neither enemy will actively try to hurt you but they will slow you down, and if you’re not careful, steal your flags.”

If they give up that last disk, the bot might leave them alone. If they don’t fight, just surrender and let it keep them here…

But that would mean giving up. That would mean saying ‘hopefully this is enough’ and letting fate decide, and fate, as Vai knows from personal experience, is an idiot.

They wrap their arms around their middle, feeling where a rib has popped out of place and is pressing horribly against the abused skin under their make-shift harness. The robot stills as they close their eyes, taking it as a sign of defeat, and Vai forces their quirk through their own body, superheating and popping the rib back into place with a pained shriek. It hurts– it hurts so goddamn bad they think for a second they might’ve lost consciousness, but when they open their eyes, the robot is still there, the gun is still leveled at their face, and Vai still doesn’t have enough points.

They stand, ignoring the sharp jabs of pain, and launch themself at the robot with all the force they can muster, sending the last of their energy into the bot in the vague hopes of it being enough. The treaded robot trembles beneath their hands, the gun click– click– click– clicking until Vai realizes with a start that the clicking has turned to a roar. They look up at the mane of their creation and give a watery smile.

“I made a lion.”

The buzzer sounds three minutes later and Vai has barely managed to scrape together another two disks and a plastic dog before collapsing in the second Safe Room they found, their lion falling to sheet metal as the last of their adrenaline-borne energy runs out. Eventually, several black-clad faculty members come to get them, one of them checking over their rib and asking what on Earth they did to it that the entire thing seems to be twisted like a barbers pole. The lights come on and someone heals them– properly this time –and Vai goes home limping, covered in sweat, and positively beaming.

They did their best, and fate will have nothing to do with it.

#bnha #bnha oc #taiyuu oct #audition #mha #tw injury #tw cursing #so for medical reasons I wasn't able to do this in full color in time #and my wonderful father wound up helping me shade my lion and add the gradients #thank you dad!

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mikaa-mina · 4 years

Text

At Garden’s Edge- Ch 9: Oh, how does it go again? That “O” moment?

Chapter 9- Oh, how does it go again? That ‘O’ moment?

It goes like this:

"How?" Crowley looked disbelievingly at the dead plant and Aziraphale nearly picked it back up to shield it defensively against himself. He didn't though, because as bad as he felt about it he could tell at this point Crowley wasn't really mocking him. Even if she had to fight the corners of her mouth from turning up in some kind of morbid delight. Aziraphale sniffed in an air of offense, "really dear, no need to make such a production out of it. I really feel quite bad enough as it is. Crowley looked up from her fluttering around the pot, her head still tilted down but her eyes peering up over the edges of her damnable persistent sunglasses, an eyebrow cooked challengingly. Aziraphale, for all that he had discreetly tried and hoped to see them, hadn't yet. So he was caught off guard by the brilliant shade of light brown almost honey yellow that they were and the unique almost dripping of her pupils. He was mesmerized. Crowley scoffed, rolled her eyes, then stood straight up, fixing her glasses as she went. Aziraphale, himself, smothered the burst of disappointment that had flared when those golden eyes had been shuttered away again. "So. What happened with this one then." Aziraphale hesitated, unconsciously reached for his ring and then twisted it back and forth as he worried the words in his mouth. "Well, you see, I had to leave town for a week and I thought what with it only needing watering once a week that it would be fine. So I watered it and left but when I came back it was rather... well, rather like this, I suppose." Crowley laughed. That short bark of a laugh, delight reading in every line of her body and oh how Aziraphale wished he could see how Crowley's eyes lit up in laughter too. Did they sparkle with mischief, did the edges crinkle in delight, did- "Maybe it's not you, maybe your shop is cursed and it was never you killing them all along!" He startled, “now don't you insult my shop, dear girl! I'll have you know it's a very lovely shop and not at all, not at all cursed!" Aziraphale hardly recognized that he was the very picture of affront. Hands on his hips, a disparaging frown mingled with a pout taking over his face, and eyebrows downturned. He hardly realized this because he was too busy being struck silent by this brand new smile blooming on Crowley's face. It seemed to have an edge of self satisfaction, of delight, but overwhelmingly it seemed, and Aziraphale could hardly believe he was thinking this, heart fluttering and all, but overwhelmingly it seemed fond. Aziraphale's heart skipped a beat, feeling a tad odd in his chest, as a returning smile burst through his annoyance and giving in to it with a huff he said, "alright, alright," a pause as he debated before relenting again, how could he not with that strange and new smile on Crowley's face, "I might... have forgotten to water it before I left." He was rewarded with another short laugh, the edges a bit softer for the interference of that new smile still on her face, before Crowley turned around to pick up a pot from behind the front counter. Like she'd picked it out ahead of time for Aziraphale. Like she'd placed it aside, saved it. Like it was put behind the counter so there was no chance anyone else could mistakenly buy it. For him.

Crowley turned and settled a, surely beautiful but Aziraphale was too distracted by Crowley's face so he wasn't sure, couldn't be sure, beautiful plant on the counter between them.

Aziraphale’s heart seemed a bit light.

It goes like this:

They’re arguing over plant care and the apparent lack thereof.

“Really. You ought to just set an alarm at this point to remind you to water them.”

“I’d never hear it all the way in the shop.”

“Er. What?”

“My alarm clock. It’s all the way in the bedroom so I don’t know how you expect me to be able to hear it out in the shop.”

“No. No! The alarms on your phone Aziraphale!”

Aziraphale blinked. “My phone? Oh!” And as he pulls his phone from his pocket, the linty mostly forgotten thing that it is, Crowley starts making the most amusing if confusing noises.

“Is… Is that a- a- oh my God it’s not even the smart version is it? I didn’t even know they still made those!”

And Crowley’s face is so delightedly surprised, such a charming thing, that Aziraphale can hardly put together the affront at his incredulous tone of voice. He, with some difficulty, pursed his lips and haughtily flipped open his cellular phone. “I find,” he started, trying terribly hard not to crack into a grin at Crowley’s antics, “that it works just fine, thank you. It’s plenty smart as it is.”

And then Aziraphale couldn’t hold the laugh back any longer because Crowley’s face broke into the largest grin as he threw his head back, cackling with delight.

It goes like this:

Aziraphale pursed his lips in what was decidedly not a pout, as that would be terribly childish, and primly said "there's really no need for all that." Crowley only grinned, eyebrow cooked, and drawled "no, no, I really rather think there is." Aziraphale huffed. Crowley's grin grew as he gestured widely with his hands at the poor thing on the counter that Aziraphale had brought in, "I mean, it's practically an anniversary. The tenth dead plant." "Oh really Crowley, must you? Really?" Crowley practically glowed with delight, his grin bright and sparkling with fiendish delight. "Really."

It goes like this:

Crowley’s got his sleeves rolled up, hands deep in the dark soil, a broken sort of humming coming from under his breath, and his hair pulled back in a low tail while fine wisps of fire red strands stick to his forehead and fall forward into his face.

There’s a twist of his hand and Aziraphale, who can’t quite remember when he came in to the shop, spies the airbrush soft edges of a colorful tattoo on the inside of that wrist. It looks like smudges of blues and purples but really he only got the faintest glimpse of it before Crowley turned his hand away again, long boney fingers exactingly gentle with curling roots and green stems.

He’s so interested in seeing the rest of that tattoo, so distracted by bared forearms and wisps of escaped hair, that Aziraphale quite forgot what he had come in to say.

He doesn’t remember when Crowley catches sight of him and turns his head to grin at him, in fact, he feels as though it’s even worse. He’s forgotten the entire day. Instead it’s filled with that smile and those forearms and the wonders about a tattoo that Crowley’s already rolling his sleeves over as he comes to greet Aziraphale.

His chest is tight and light and he’s just realized that at some point a silly smile had stolen across his face without hardly a say-so.

It goes like this:

It was a perfectly normal day. Not blindingly cheerful and not dreadfully stormy. The kind of weather that no one commented on and that was terrible for those bad conversation starters about the weather.

Aziraphale himself was having a normal, neutral, day. It wasn’t grand but it wasn’t terrible either. It simply was. He was a bit excited, but that was normal too, afterall, he was on his way to Garden’s Edge to see Crowley for his lunch break. He’d found after too many days hunched over his desk, his eyesight blurring and his steady hand beginning to shake from all the fine repair detail, that getting out once in a while was beneficial on many fronts. For one, it helped to look at things further away than two feet, for another, bantering with Crowley often led to snips and laughter.

The point was, the point was (dolphins) that it was a perfectly normal day and thus Aziraphale wasn’t expecting anything other than a normal day to continue to happen.

It happens like this:

Aziraphale’s distracted by thoughts of crepes when he arrives at the shop. He enters in, distracted, still thinking of what bakery might be best to inquire about some sweet crepes when he heard Crowley’s new motion sensor do a doorbell chime sound. (He still has no idea what was so inadequate about the normal kind attached to a door but when he asked Crowley had only given him an odd look before changing the subject. A sore spot, clearly. Though of what was a mystery.)

The sound was a bright chime and at it Crowley’s head popped up from where he was looking down at a plant with a customer. At the sight of Aziraphale, a bright smile bloomed across his face, and he sounded so downright joyful when he called out Aziraphale’s name in greeting that his heart skipped.

“H-hello dear.”

“One sec, I just gotta-” he turned back to the quietly bemused customer and finished up their order. The customer looked between the two of them a few times, not that oblivious Crowley noticed what with his ducking behind the counter for something, before giving a grin and a wink to Aziraphale who’s insides trilled oddly. Then the customer’s gone and Crowley’s popping back up from behind the counter with a triumphant “a Ha!” and a squarish object wrapped in brown paper.

Hopping over the counter, instead of walking around it like a sensible person, Crowley trotted up to Aziraphale, practically thrumming with nerves. He rocked on his heels, jiggled his knee, and his smile kept twitching larger.

“Look what I just found!”

And with that he shoved the parcel, clearly a book- Aziraphale would know the heft and weight of a book anywhere-, into Aziraphale’s hands and impatiently gestured for him to tear into it.

“For me?”

“No one else here, is there?”

“Oh hush you.” but his heart was soaring. A gift, a book, for him. Goodness.

He carefully peeled back the paper and then froze. Staring up at him, impossibly, was a leather bound, silver edged copy of Elbaffeni by Lien Nemiag.

“You… found this?” Reverently he traced his finger across the engraved title.

“Yeah, yup, sure did. Found it in my attic.”

Which is absolutely a lie because 1. Crowley doesn’t have an attic, and 2. Good Lord this book was hard to find. It was hardly expensive, not many collected it, but it was the third book in the series his grandmother had read to him as a child. He’d been looking for this one, it was the only one he was still missing from his collection, and Crowley must have heard him complaining about it one day. Must have heard him say he was missing it, and then went and looked for it.

His chest tightened and his eyes felt a bit hot. He eased open the cover, eyes taking in the patterned end-covers before carefully turning to the copyright page. A third edition. Good Lord this man.

“Do you… not like it? ‘Cause I could get- I mean find- I mean-”

He looked up at Crowley, sweet Crowley who was chewing on his lip, anxiously peering at him, hands shoved deep in his pockets to stop their fidgeting, and subtly rocking back and forth on his heels. And oh, his heart just thrummed in his chest like a humming bird, light and quick, and utterly in-

Oh.

Before he could think it through he was pulling Crowley, sweet thoughtful Crowley, into a hug. “Oh my dear boy, I love it. Thank you ever so much for finding this for me.”

Crowley went stiff at first before practically melting into the hug, long arms wrapping carefully around Aziraphale as if disbelieving of the contact. And oh perhaps Crowley was more of a tactile person than he had originally thought. He seemed to melt into this like a long awaited reward. His breath tickled Aziraphale’s skin when he said “’course, glad you like it. Was hoping I remembered the right one.”

Aziraphale raised an eyebrow with a slow growing grin, “oh? I thought you said you found it in your attic?”

Crowley stiffened, “Uh.” and wasn’t he just as lovely when he sounded a touch panicked.

“Perhaps I should take a look around your attic,” Aziraphale mused relentlessly as Crowley started to stutter out excuses, “see what other gems you have hidden away and forgotten about.”

“I- it, nghhh it’s, uhhh-under construction.”

Both eyebrows raised at that and it was hard to keep the laugh from his voice when he repeated, “construction?”

“I mean- renovation!”

“Your attic’s under renovation.”

“...yes. Yeah. Yup. Sure is. Just, uhhh, started the other day. That’s when I found the book.”

“Hm. Well, perhaps I could help you with it.”

Crowley choked, “help me?”

“Yes, two pairs of hands make the quick work and all that. I can help with your renovations.”

“I- guh- that’s, uh, very niccce of you but, I don’t really, I mean, the attic’sss-”

Aziraphale pulled back, a fond smile taking over his whole face at Crowley’s lisp slipping out and at the poor boy’s stutterings. “I’m teasing dear.”

Crowley stopped, looked up at him, and expressed his displeasure at this with what he would call a glare and what Aziraphale called a pout. “Basstard...” But it was fond and secretly pleased.

Aziraphale’s new revelation nearly tripped his tongue into saying ‘your bastard’ but he caught it just in time. Oh dear. A new set of problems to keep an eye out for. Of which, would Crowley even-

Stop. Think about that later, first-

“Let’s grab lunch.”

“Yeah, sure, just let me close up shop.”

Aziraphale waited until he had done so and, as Crowley was locking up, said, “as thanks, lunch is on me.”

Crowley’s hand slipped and the key fell from the lock to clatter to the ground. He dove for it with a curse before saying “you don’t have to do that Aziraphale, like I said I just found it-”

Oh dear. Simply couldn’t be seen doing a nice thing just for the sake of doing it still.

“-yes yes, in the attic. But that you gave it to me at all is still a gift and thus, lunch is on me.”

“But-”

“No buts dear!” well, except perhaps his since it was ever so lovely and oh my, moving on! “I shan’t hear of it!”

Crowley stared at him before locking the door with a disbelieving echo of “shan’t” before turning and giving in, “oh fine. I can’t believe you use the word shan’t in normal conversation. You sound like a relic.”

“Or a history professor.”

“Heard that one before, eh?”

Aziraphale smiled as they made their way down to Knead to Know. “Oh, only all the time.”

Crowley hummed, hands shoved into his pockets, hips doing that strange sway they always did when he walked, and said, “well. I’ll just have to come up with some new ones.”

Aziraphale exaggerated a sigh. “From gifts to insults, whatever shall I do with you?”

Crowley grinned at him.

#Good Omens #Ineffable Husbands #Crowley #Aziraphale #Good Omens fanfiction #Good Omens fic #gomens fic #just ineffable #fluff #soft #At Garden's Edge #my writing #multi chapter fic #multi chapter story #Beta read by Tarek_giverofcookies #also on Archive of Our Own

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steve0discusses · 4 years

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Yugioh Episode 30 Season 4: The Dead Joey Shuffle

Lets ignore everything happening on planet Earth right now and talk about old ass anime, shall we? Yes, my sky turned a horrible end of the world yellow/orange color for an entire day because of a LOT of fire in my state. But thankfully, the winds have changed, the sky is blue...and I can write about Yugioh again.

Last we left off, Tristan, Tea, and Yami stumbled across two fresh corpses. Now, when Joey died a season or two ago (I honestly can’t remember when), we had my favorite storyboarder at the helm just sweeping emotion all over the field and the intense weeping for Joey Wheeler lasted for like 30 minutes. Yugi freaked out in the puzzle headspace for like half an episode and nearly gave up playing cards again, Yami punched a wall and then put a duel disk on Joey’s arm like a funerary send off to the afterlife, Tea started losing her mind and begged Yugi to drop out of the tourney so Yugi wouldn’t die, and Pharaoh was like “yo Tea, Yugi can’t talk right now can we do this later????” And then Tristan, out of nowhere, just started shaking Joey and screaming at him to wake up (and I think he punched him in the face and it got censored? Yo that episode is wild.) Joey got plugged to some Kaiba Corp med bay that had like 2 dozen weird sensors attached to his chest and feet to keep him alive. Serenity was like hyperventilating in the back, just a LOT of stuff was happening all at once.

But this time, with an ordinary animation team, these three kids are so distracted by the other corpse, that they only cry just a little bit before being like “woah what?”

And like this is their second time. Maybe they’ve gotten used to Joey being dead? Maybe they got it all out of their system and are now a lot more accustomed to the fact that they all must die. Several times.

Confronted with this Agatha Christie brand debacle, Tristan makes an incredible reach that is also completely correct. Like this is such an amazing incredible reach.

Hire Tristan as your detective, hot damn. There are like 7.8 billion Orichalcos-possessed people on this planet right now trying to kill Joey Wheeler and Tristan actually called the right one.

Yami never tells us who he blames, but it’s OK, because the show immediately cuts over to Dartz’ silicon valley fortress to tell us without telling us. So while this animation team isn’t as insanely extra as our previous animation teams, they still know how to edit their cuts to work alongside their dialogue just fine.

(read more under the cut)

Lets take a little while to just take this in. Someone took a while to make it, so rather than look at it for half a second before it passes--please lets count the number of floating streets in this scene.

So before when I talked about the history of San Francisco, I mentioned the old Embarcadero, which was a double decker street wrapped around the peninsula. (we still see parts of this double decker set up on parts of the highway to this day.) But what if--they actually have no idea that the Embarcadero was a thing before it fell down in an earthquake?

What if they just...wanted San Francisco to be vaguely cyberpunk in this universe and that floating freeway was supposed to be futuristic and not just an 80′s throwback?

Because there’s 3 streets stacked on top of eachother right here and yo there is no where in the city built like this. This is a Gotham situation where the poors live on the lower levels and the rich just kind of hang out on the top. We have too many Earthquakes in reality to ever support this setup but Yugioh...wow. They went for it.

Also, our art deco architecture isn’t quite in this style as Dartz’ mansion. Mind you, this isn’t full deco, and the structure has more of an ancient world vibe. But...while San Fransisco does have a lot of deco, it’s just different (sorry you’re not really here for the architecture but youknow, I’m an artist so I do think a lot about why concept artists may have gone where they went)

++++++++++RANT ABOUT SF DECO VS COMIC BOOK DECO FEEL FREE TO SKIP++++++++++++++

So I’m not going to dare say this is a mistake on the Yugioh team by any means, since Deco is Deco and who knows when Dartz built that building. But like I’ve seen the SF skyline many times in this show and it’s got some funky shapes in it that are just sooo off to me. They keep drawing a more Futurist New York. Truth is, we don’t have that many skyscrapers in SF.

Most of the pictures you see of scaling buildings are of this one area around the financial district--everything else is...pretty short. So in those photos they very carefully crop out all the really squat as hell buildings on either side of it, to give the impression that our city is super tall, much like a dating app.

And, as far as Art Deco Gotham-esque skyscrapers go, we got ones like this guy:

Where at a glance it’s like...that’s barely deco (and barely that impressive. This is 1/3 the height of the Empire State building.) Compared to a lot of cities in America, our skyscrapers aren’t as...clearly deco from far away? We don’t have the huge ass humps and long ass gilded lines of the Empire State building or the Chrysler building. You only really get those details when you zoom in.

Our other skyscrapers are kinda understated or modern in comparison. And the reason why we just don’t have many deco skyscrapers is because...our ground ain’t good for building skyscrapers at all, so it took us kind of a while to build up.

Like we got this tower that we built recently (the first skyscraper they built in SF in a good while) and they decided to name it the “The Millennium Tower” which...I know...good job, team, clearly you wanted to get cursed. Well the tower started leaning about 3 or 4 years ago, like well over a foot from it’s original spot, it’s just tilting and sinking away, and people are freaking out because it’s surrounded by other tall buildings so they’re like “damn it we’re gonna dominoes.” The people in charge were like “well...we don’t know why it’s leaning...but I’m sure it’s fine” and it’s like “the ground. It was the ground...you dumbasses” not to mention that it’s clearly cursed by at least one angry Egyptian Ghost but...what do you do?

I would absolutely watch the Yugioh spinoff season about the Millennium Tower and the SF tycoons that got possessed by a ghost and have to play card games to keep their tower from squishing all of San Francisco. Yo you should hire me, Yugioh, I got IDEAS.

Man...Yugioh predicting the future, how did they call the ill fate of The Millennium Tower????

But anyway, most skyscrapers in SF are kind of boring because they have to be sturdy as hell. But, they have some neat modern shapes (like the Transamerica Pyramid--in the shape of A PYRAMID that hasn’t shown it’s face once this entire Egyptian influenced anime)

I mean, come on Yugioh, it’s right there.

Also the hell is this weird UFO on this picture I lifted off of google?

Like I think it’s 4 jets?

I may have lifted this from an alien website, so forgive me, q-anon for lifting your image, I’m trying to talk about architecture in my Yugioh blog.

In fact the only building I (and google) can think of that is both really tall and deco-ey is this one:

And it’s a Marriot hotel built in the late 80′s. And honestly, it looks way more 1980′s Las Vegas than it does Deco. (It honestly looks like photobashing but made real, this is a weird building.)

And I could be wrong and overlooking a very important structure, but most of the city’s really cool art deco buildings are in the form of theaters, libraries, churches, schools, and houses--which are only a few stories tall. They’re gorgeous buildings with cool and different silhouettes, it’s just not very big.

Like I believe this is an old high school?

also a lot of our “art deco” has no idea if it’s victorian, deco, or art noveau so they’ll just hit all of it to see what sticks. It’s a lot more eclectic than other places where Deco is typically more...straight-lined. I kinda hate defining art styles as masculine or feminine but honestly it’s the quickest way to really hit home the difference between a Bruce Timm art deco that you’d see in a comic book, (which is very New York inspired) and what we have in San Fransisco which is really decorative and decadent.

The Yugioh SF just has no curvy nonsense and that really sticks out to me.

Ornate swirls get shoved Everywhere. Willy nilly. Just everywhere randomly. And it sits next to other structures that are modern and simplistic. It’s very San Francisco to have this old world next to new world.

And it makes sense. SF is the other side of the continent from New York, and about as far West as you can go from the movement going on in Europe. So...we made our own take and tl;dr the art deco in our city doesn’t look like Gotham at all.

And, while it’s not as grand or dark or iconic, it’s a good thing. It’s what helps make San Fransisco look really unique compared to other American cities--the fact that we're...short and eclectic. Our district with the skyscrapers is where it’s kinda boring, actually--the good stuff is when you get away from that. Where every little building has a spunky wild personality.

But in a show like this you gotta make it seem more grand and less homely so--they scaled up the buildings a lot more than we really have and homogenized all the stylings into one (and they axed every Victorian swirl because they don’t want to draw that). They really just turned SF into comic book New York--especially since I’ve only seen like...one steep hill since we got here.

It’s fine, and it makes complete sense why they did it, (I’m more confused as to why most of California is a Nevada desert so I can easily forgive a San Francisco without the right Deco) it’s just a very different energy.

and honestly...it’s an energy influenced by the tone of the show. Everything has a very dark blue-gray palate, and it’s because it’s literally the end of the world, Joey has died, everyone is sad...maybe it would be out of place to have a building that looks like it sparks joy? The harsh and cold lines do add to the gravity of the situation.

Maybe I would have done the same thing? In the end, the legibility of your story matters more than the accuracy of your story--especially when it comes to TV. Which is somewhat a controversial statement, and there’s exceptions when it comes to cultural stuff. But while the culture of San Fransisco was erased (a culture that they did draw in the beginning of the season! they did show alcatraz, a trolly, and the golden gate!), it is at a point in the show where...all of humanity is being erased anyway. Could also be symbolic? Maybe?

+++++++++++++END OF THE ART DECO RANT+++++++++++++

So anyway, stepping away from lovely buildings and into this gross ass abandoned park, Yami decides he’s gotta get himself to this gaudy ass Batman building ASAP.

He can ride a horse but he absolutely will not ride a motorcycle. Or touch Joey Wheeler’s dead body.

Which is wild because apparently there’s a Yugioh spinoff where all they do is ride motorcycles??? But from what I heard, Yami is not in it. Which is the most wild thing.

So uh...you know how much I love art details, lets take a long look at this one.

AH no.

Nope nope nope nope.

I hate this logo. It looks like an emperor penguin’s eyebrow thingies. Like a face with just four huge eyebrows.

Not sure why we randomly have a new logo. It’s nearly the end of the season, we’ve already shown the Orichalcos logo so many times. Was this episode made earlier in development than the rest? Is that why there were like - I dunno, put this random logo here... Maybe we’ll figure out the rest of the logo later?

I don’t know. This weird logo feels so out of place.

And then because I’m thinking about buildings...maybe it’s influenced by our Shell building?

Maybe? Or not? Just saying you got a round thing with radial lines hovering over a trellis...the possibility is there that they were inspired but had to edit it down for animation? Eh, I’m reaching desperately for anything that looks like San Francisco at this point.

Anyways, the front door of this building is an elevator (????) and in a somewhat confusing set of cuts, out of this elevator comes the murderer herself.

And she’s dead.

SO HAPPY I didn’t have to watch that card game but like...c’mon. There’s no way Mai would lose to Raphael.

Maybe that’s why they couldn’t show it? Because she’s the only person on this show who uses a themed deck with cards that actually sync with eachother? (outside of Pegasus’ toon deck and Grandpa’s voltron deck ((sorry it’s name isn’t voltron, I’ve forgotten the name of the robot that you build out of other cards. Exodus? Exodysseus?

It’s Exodia isn't it? Wtv. 2020′s been a real long one, all y’all.)) )

(don’t ask where the smoke came from, we don’t know. Maybe Yami felt like making it to be more aesthetic. It is a fun visual tic to the show.)

So Yami goes into this elevator instead of anticipating that this is obviously a trap. Like most would just decide to take the stairs instead, but Yami loves falling for a good obvious trap every once and a while (or, in the case of this season--each and every single time a trap is placed in front of him) and so this takes him directly to the fightclub roof of yore.

Ah. We started this season on fightclub roof, in like...2010 or whenever I started this season. Feels like forever ago. How long has the year of 2020 been? 20 years of my life? 40 years of my life? Was I in fact never born before 2020 started? I honestly don’t remember anymore who I was before this year happened. Probably because I inhaled just a hell ton of wildfire smoke and now my brain is a bunch of jelly beans rattling around in a jar.

Anyway, Raphael just hands Yami (by hands I mean throws aggressively) Joey’s dragon card.

A little unsure why he’d do this since...this is the weapon to destroy Dartz. Why are you giving it back to the Pharaoh? But apparently, Raphael did that to prove that he is the murderer of Mai, who murdered Joey and...youknow...the stuff that we know but would be pretty difficult for the people in this show to follow.

Mai’s voice actor seeing “Mumbo-Jumbo” and being like “Well if I’m doing this, I’m going to commit.“

WE ARE NEVER DUELING DARTZ.

I refuse that a duel with Dartz, in fact, ever happens in this season.

Kind of surprised whenever I see there’s still people left. SF is basically abandoned in comparison.

Thing is...that’s just SF on a holiday weekend.

And then, because Tristan’s in the middle of the street, the rest of the party has to try and run him over.

It is really funny to me that Seto went out of his way to ditch these people so MANY times, but keeps ending up around them again and again, and each time in a wildly different vehicle, each and every time it’s when these guys need a lift...he’s very quickly turning into the group’s soccer mom. Should’ve gotten a minivan.

And then this happens?

I’ll just leave this here:

I’m sure that fanfic writers everywhere rejoiced when Seto reached out a hand to catch Joey’s face from hitting the pavement. In all this was a bizarre animation and now that I’ve figured out my blender settings for the new update, I can finally cap little segments again.

Just don’t you dare flag me, tumblr. Hopefully segments less than 10 seconds long are fine.

Like there was this part where they had to just drag around Joey’s corpse over this rail, and it was Mokuba and Tristan just prying him up there like he were a potato sack and like...

...Joey’s gonna wake up with so many rail-shaped bruises! They do not treat him gently!

Then back on fightclub roof, Raphael made me do a bit of a double take when he accidentally implied the existence of another bean within that Pharaoh bean.

And no, Bakura did not show up at this point.

I would LOVE IT if Pharaoh biffed it a second time and Bakura suddenly took the reigns and was like “Oi loves! that was bloody easy!” but I...have a feeling that this team didn’t actually watch the episodes where Bakura is just vibing in that puzzle piece.

If this never comes back to bite Pharaoh in the ass...

It might never come back guys...I don’t know. How do these writers have this much self control to ignore Bakura for like a full season. How do you do it? I can’t hold a plot twist in for even like 5 seconds. How....how do you do it?

Anyways, now that Seto has Tea who has a map, they walk up to the entrance (I honestly forgot if they drove or walked because knowing this show, Seto would absolutely ignore the car. Either way, the Ferrari isn’t necessary anymore. Written right out of the script. Cars are hard to draw. Get rid of it)

You know, Mokuba’s seen an awful lot of corpses for a kid! Like 20ish corpses if you count the 2 times the Big 5 biffed it. Really should have left him with Rebecca! Youknow, the other kid the same age as him!

But it’s fine, we gotta train Mokuba to suppress that trauma deep, deep down like a proper Kaiba.

Youknow when I started this series I was like “I don’t get why everyone talks about the Kaibas so much, these two seem kinda like whatever” but now I’m on like S4 and like...I’m SO concerned about the Kaibas. With Yugi...whatever...he’s gonna be fine, but the Kaibas? Oh boy. Either one of them could go completely evil and I’d buy it.

And probably root for them.

And I know they won’t go full tilt, I’m pretty sure--but like...they COULD. I can’t say that about the rest of the cast.

Everyone’s made it!

Even joey’s weird coma/dead body for some reason!

Lol also I love this random sci-fi tech water tower next to Tea. What is that?

My drought senses are screaming, is that a huge ass water tower the size of a 4 story building next to Tea? Chances are, it’s got a jet in it or something because this is Yugioh, but...man. At least it doesn’t look like one of those rusty New York rooftop water towers. This show just completely not getting what SF looks like.

Whatever, he can resurrect the leviathan, maybe Dartz can make water?

Youknow, all you have to do to make California worship you forever is make rain. Screw this lizard nonsense. The man can power water. What’s he doing with this stupid snake?

But youknow, Yugioh just never really figures out how to harness the weather. They CAN and they do it all the time. But, do they use it for their benefit? Like freakin never.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I went on a looong rant about SF but maybe I’m just sick of my own house? Been a lot of fire and quarantine over here. It’s been messing with my head a fair amount so thanks for bearing with me and my weird ass update schedule (remember when I used to be productive? Was that just a dream I once had?)

But if you just got here, here’s a link to read these recaps in order, from the beginning way back in S1.

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

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