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scentedcandlecryptid · 3 years

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I had a dream about rottmnt and pirates of the caribbean (hey at least I’m consistent with my nonsense)

More specifically, I had a dream that I was reading a fanfiction about rottmnt and pirates of the caribbean. (Well- it was rottmnt in a pirate universe, I’m pretty sure that there was only one fully pirates of the caribbean character, and he was just a mix of the two comic relief from the original black pearl crew. The ones I can’t remember the names of rn, but they’ve shown up in every movie so far, and one of them looses an eye constantly)

I don’t remember all the specifics, but I remember being really enthralled by the plot.

It followed Leo mostly, he was swashbuckling and always one step ahead of everyone else. He sailed alone on his own ship on a search for treasure.

He made deals with other pirates to gain maps and insider information (and to get out of sticky situations). However, Leo was also hiding from another pirate crew. They had basically taken over the seas and was the only one who knew where the treasure was.

Now, while Leo mostly used his wit to convince others to do the dirty work, and gain info on things, his greatest success he figured out all by himself. There was a letter that his father gave him before he died. As well as the letter goodbye, it contained a map and a poem. Leo had followed the map, thinking that it would lead him to this great treasure, but instead it lead him to a giant cliff, no treasure in sight.

Leo was thoroughly disheartened, because this was his final lead to find that treasure. He looks at the poem that came with the map and is further depressed because it says something along the lines of “when you’re out of options, the waves will always welcome” So it seems like his father is telling him from beyond the grave to end it. But then he has an idea, what if the treasure is underwater and that’s why he can’t see it? He takes the dive.

Now, there isn’t any treasure, but he finds an Pirate haven. A bar with multiple floors, gin, and a rule against fights. The only way to get in is through an underwater cave. Leo nearly drowns trying to get in. There are pirates there that Leo has never met before, and with new faces comes new information.

Among those new faces he meets that comic relief character I mentioned earlier and Mikey.

They get along fabulously and they become great friends (I’m pretty sure the four turtle bros are brothers in this too, but they just don’t know it. Maybe that’s the treasure Leo’s father wanted him to find)

Insert miscellaneous adventure I don’t remember here for bonding purposes.

Eventually, the haven is attacked by that evil pirate crew that took over the seas. (Its not Leo’s fault, I checked) and the whole place is ransacked. That comic relief guy lost his glass eye (it’s on the second floor) nearly everyone is killed, and the whole bar is gutted for anything valuable.

Only Leo, Mikey, and that one guy make it out alive. They go their separate ways after that for whatever reason but now Leo wants revenge on this other pirate crew.

Insert other miscellaneous adventure here for timeline purposes

Leo eventually meets up with comic relief, and offers to get his eye back in return for a ship and help taking down the evil pirate crew (oh yeah, forgot to mention, comic relief guy is a captain in this). He agrees, and Leo sets out back to the secret underwater cave.

Now, while Leo was doing all that, Mikey was having an adventure of his own, at some point he met Raph, who was also a captain of a ship. Mikey was sure to tell Raph all about Leo. I truly can’t remember what their adventure was, but I remember that it ended with them fighting the Evil pirate crew very close by to the secret cave.

Something I neglected to mention, is that while the turtle bros didn’t have mystic weapons they did have mystic powers. Leo’s was that he could teleport under very specific circumstances that I don’t remember (it’s probably drowning) and he can know with certainty where something is, if he’s been to that place before. That’s how he knew where the eye was.

So Leo gets to the cliff where the cave is, and immediately jumps into the, now nearly frozen water (it’s night, and it’s winter) Mikey and Raph see this, and promptly freak out because of aforementioned nearly frozen water (also Raph doesn’t know about the secret cave, and mikey knows that it’s closed off) so they rush off to save Leo.

When they get there, Leo is pretty much unconscious in the water and his pulse is very slow, he isn’t really breathing. Mikey and Raph understandably freak out. And they do so for several moments before they’re surrounded by a glowing blue light, and the three are teleported inside the secret cave, to the second floor, right next to the eye. Mikey and Raph freak our further (raph finds out about the secret cave) but somehow Leo wakes up, they hug, Leo properly meets Raph, and he gets the eye.

All seems to be going well, until the ceiling collapses and the whole place starts filling with water. The theee nearly make it out still breathing, and see that the reason for the cave in was because the Evil Crew shot a cannon at the cliff trying to lure them out.

It’s finally time for the final showdown.

Now, before I continue, I’d like to point out how built up Donnie had been at this point in the story. He was the final missing brother, he had been alluded too in ever single arc, and the author made it clear that THIS was it. In the next chapter Donnie would finally show up. But they did so in way, that none of the readers knew in what role he would show up in. Would he save the brothers? Was he on the Evil crew? Was he pirate? Was he maGiC? Did he know where or what the treasure was??

And then I woke up.

FUCKING WHAT?!??!??!????!???

You have no idea how much it KILLS me that I don’t know how it ended. For the first few moments when I woke up, I thought the story was real and I thought “oh, I should go read that to see how it ends” but it’s not and I’m so sad.

I want to see the conclusion!!!! Do they find the treasure??? What’s Donnie’s deal???? Do they defeat the Evil Crew????? Why did Leo even care to get the eye back, was it important????? Did Leo’s father know the other brothers???? Are they brothers at all????

If you managed to make it this far, you’re probably invested as well, and I’d just like to say, I understand your pain of not getting to see how it ends. I’m sorry.

Also, sorry for the long post, I wanted y’all to share my pain.

#rottmnt #leonardo #donatello #tmnt #Rapheal #michelangelo #rottmnt raph #rottmnt mikey #rottmnt leo #rottmnt donnie #rise of the tmnt #saverottmnt #rottmnt fanfiction #sorta #fanfiction ideas #dream #pirates

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chest-mimic · 6 years

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Long text post about putting Neo back in RWBY for a story arc

Been thinking about RWBY recently because of BB:CTB, and just some ways I would write the series. One thought came into my head that I figured was unlikely enough to actually happen to be worth sharing.

What if Neo was Jaune's sister?

As best as I can remember, there's nothing on screen that happens to make it impossible. The only times they would have met (during the tournament), Neo is in disguise. We know for a fact Jaune has seven sisters, and Neo's last name is currently unknown. She doesn't come up in conversation much, and team JNPR isn't involved in the Roman/White Fang stuff. And it's not out there to think any time Ruby or Yang mentioned Neo, the connection just doesn't click. Maybe she's got hair dye or dresses unlike what Jaune would have known. Hell, maybe Jaune did know and kept his mouth shut. Point is, it's possible with a little effort. And if the series can muddy how aura works, some rando on the internet can work with a contrivance.

So, fun fan theory with circumstantial evidence. What could someone actually do with this detail? The first thought I had was it provides a possible way for Jaune to have gotten through the vetting system, AND gives us a reason for Ozpin to have missed it, all in one go. With Blake, it's implied Ozpin let her in because her background and credentials were enough that he could trust her, and at worst he'd keep his eye on a potential spy. Jaune doesn't have the kind of history that would appeal to Ozpin's weird brand of preparation. And as funny as that Dumb RWBY comic is (http://eunnieverse.tumblr.com/post/123075118473/i-dont-care-what-his-transcripts-say-that), it's more likely that Jaune would have needed the help of someone with a reputation.

We know Cinder has ties to Lionheart, one of Ozpin's most trusted allies, early enough to pass as one of his students. So Neo slipping in a nonverbal "hey give my bro a letter of recommendation" (or convincing Roman to ask for it) with some implied violence thrown in isn't out of the question. Had Cinder found out, just pretend Jaune is a potential pawn with delicious blackmail attached. Leo writes something convincing about how grades aren't everything, Jaune is in with the knowledge that his recommendation had a moral cost, Team Kill All Humans has a potential mole that they never end up needing to use, and Ozpin is none the wiser. The series wouldn't need this specific of an explanation for what amounts to a bureaucratic loophole, but who looks at Jaune in volume 1 pinned to a tree and goes "yup that's super hero potential right there".

Incidentally, it could also provide a reason Tyrian singles out Jaune as an interesting person. He can't be a maiden and he's not a wizard (at least we all hope), but family of an ex-coworker in his line of work is worth keeping tabs on.

Okay, enough retcon work on logistics. Where could the series actually go with this? First and foremost, Neo has to show up for it to mean anything. Last we saw Neo, she was "gently" floating down from the sky in the middle of a Grimm attack. But any genre savvy supervillain knows that not seeing the body means they may as well be perfectly fine. In addition, Ozpin's initiation for the first year students is to launch them off of a cliff into the forest. Weird as it is, if he's expecting total newbies to survive the fall, why can't Neo?

With Roman gone, there's not much reason for Neo to stick with Cinder's group. The White Fang stopped working with our big bad, Neo isn't a faunus and can't expect any protection under Adam the Edgehog. Plus, she has no reason to actually go after Ruby or Yang. It's not like they're hard to find, and even if they were, Ruby's going off to pick a fight with Salem, the lady who is so scary Raven is afraid to openly confront her. Considering Neo's reaction to even seeing Raven, we can get a sense of scale for how strong she thinks Salem is. If revenge was a motive, from Neo's perspective Ruby's pretty much doing it for her. So Neo, surviving a brush with death and having a hand in the potential end of mankind, goes home to take a nap.

Team Ruby's friends, following the road to plot, wind up getting near Jaune's hometown. Because it was so conveniently on the way. How convenient. The writers can play it off as wanting to show how a non-huntsman supported town thrives. And since this is RWBY, the answer is probably big guns taped to things that probably aren't guns, so yay more anime guns. But now in the hands of a population with no idea that Huntsmen can be made bullet proof (recall Jaune had to be told what Aura is and how it worked after initiation began). Yeah, World of Remnant covered that, but that's a conversation for another day. Point is, we the audience get to see it in action.

The team exploring town eventually would get to Ruby and Yang finding Neo. Or maybe the whole team. I'm trying to keep this from being straight up fanfiction, but since this is a post about justifying a bit of fanservice, let's just say a rematch occurs because they can't escape from crossing fate. Jaune steps in before a winner is confirmed to point out they're fighting his sister, to which Ruby or Yang rebuts with a reference to the attempted murder.

Now the meat of the potential conflict. Ruby and Jaune stand on opposite ends of a very serious accusation. Ruby has to deal with the fact that one of her friends is related to someone who tried to kill her and her family, Jaune has to accept that his sister is part of the reason Beacon fell, and neither one is going to turn on their family for no reason. Any of what happens next depends on what kind of person Neo is.

Yang already had her lesson in forgiveness in V5, but Ruby hasn't been in the same boat. Weiss's reason for leaving the team was very different than Blake's, and Ruby seemed initially more open to forgiving what Blake had done. Having Jaune defend her assailant would be a betrayal of Ruby's trust, but she's fully capable of understanding wanting to protect your sibling.

The group travelling all have different ideas about dealing with dangerous opponents, but have all been more or less following Ozpin. Yet the limits of Ozpin's knowledge are vague, and whether he's willing to take that chance on someone who is okay at best is unlikely after Lionheart. Neo being relateded to Jaune could give Ruby an important moment of leadership by deciding if the two can be trusted. This might even lead to usurping Ozpin and Qrow's choices as the de facto correct path, or casting out Jaune and Neo as potential threats they can't risk having around. Depending on how it's done, it can even tie back to how Jaune's forgery making or breaking the final decision.

There's more I could write on the topic, but it's already pretty long and I just want to get across a couple possible writing choices that could be made with one additional character background detail. There's flaws in my proposal, like why would Neo have aura unlocked and not Jaune, but a decent writer could fill those holes with good character defining or world building moments. I like RWBY, flaws and all, but I'd love to see more use of side characters instead of just making a new one every time the writers needed more conflict. Maybe I'm making assumptions about characters that I shouldn't be making for this proposal to even work. But if the alternative is getting more new characters established for two scenes then never seen again, then what's wrong with a little bit of fanservice.

Tl;dr give us more Neo.

#RWBY #neopolitian (rwby)#ruby rose #jaune arc #writing experiment

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theskyexists · 3 years

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Revolution of the Daleks

im actually really happy with this, Yaz not being able to let go. Ryan and Graham having practice. i could wish a million things had happened with Ryan (!) and Graham before but this is as good as it’s gonna get from this point

i like the way they’re trying to imitate the Doctor explicitly

‘this is hard, innit?”

‘have you had work done?’ ‘you can talk!’ (that sounded so Nine and Jack!!! hahahaa) edit: it was litearlly Ten and Jack

reference!

DOCTOR AND JACK HUG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Leo......is a very cynical representation of an amoral scientist.

How the hell is Trump-analogue the sane one here lolololol. but he’s dumb enough to leave incinerating the thing to Leo.

what an idiot - opening the casing. im not really into how the narrative is basically like: trump is right about stupid scientists! hah...

the banter between jack and the doctor is so good? imitation of the original product clearly but still GOOD

love how the Doctor instantly goes - i need to go see the fam

she was in space jail for decades (she doesn’t mention the decades)

THAT MOMENT OF MATERIALISATION WAS SO GOOD

noooooooooooooooo OUCH - ouch! YAZ!

‘im sorreh’

SHE DOESN’T MENTION HOW SHE’S BEEN LOCKED IN PRISON FOR FUCKING DECADES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my god Doctor. give them some perspective PLEASE

Jack’s ‘whoops’ is hilarious if you consider his history with teh Doctor

Ryan - god i love Ryan.

Actually didn’t like Graham’s response to Jack. narratively, homophobic

absolutely despise the orange lettering

this episode really goes to show that Chibnall thinks structurally extremely slowly. he picks threads up from ages ago. and then he does do something decent with it. does this mean that the longer he keeps on the better it will get?

i think it’s pretty fuckin hilariously sad though that the companions are once again relegated to couriers - they note that they can’t do stuff on their own (even though the season finale last time gave them ‘Doctor-like’ sequences even if they never managed to impact the story of the Doctor herself - so i guess we’ve gone backwards in this arc) and then they CAN’T do stuff on their own and the Doctor comes in

it’s not the Doctor OR the companions Chibs. and if these companions are just incapable - make that a point! that would be a wonderful contrast to Clara

Woah Jack fuckin infodump

aahahhaa

i do love Yaz’s response. this seems to build up to some final DESERVED - i need to know MORE doctor - now.

‘oh she’s good’ - that’s such a RTD thing to say. chibs just directly copy-pasting a lot here. this is acceptable if he can give it new meaning. inverse meaning

why even drop two people off - whats the Doctor gonna do - nothing?

i actually like the new dalek design very much. oh confront Robertsen? i still can’t get used to the explicit task division set-up - even if this time it was used for characterisation

i - adore. this talk between Jack and Yaz. because it’s Yaz accessing so much shit from the Doctor’s past suddenly. and then it becomes extra clear that Jack’s and the Doctor’s connection was kinda romantic in whatever way - and it’s directly paralleled with Yaz. that romantic tragic attachment - doomed to hurt. (i.e. my fav)

god mandip gill is yeeting this out of the park. I LOVE IT. i love these lines. ‘we’re the lucky ones yaz’ - graham also told her something like this in demons of the punjab.

‘the joy, is worth the pain’ - is it? Jack thinks so - still! my god.that’s so tragic - so beautiful. so much rtd feel here.

jezus chibnall - fuckin sonic gun even???? ‘thanks, that’s it??’ hahahahaha. ok you did good. nobody’s ever impressed at it. LOL DAMN YAZ

‘they’re growing daleks’ - this secondary reveal doesn’t matter bc no reveal would have been a genuine reveal anyway

the new prime minister givin her speech and the doctor explaining daleks should have had snappier editing - specifically the music should not have gone back to simple british empire horns or whatever- but should have had an undertone of dalek in there

really! ALIEN REFERENCES! MY GOD CHIBNALL!!! everybody was thinking it but you did it.... i guess it’s done now. sexual politics wise i’d say Robertsen might have been a much better choice.

guns and explosives will solve everything!!!!!! oh chibnall

i love this lil talk between Ryan and teh Doctor - because it goes to show that the Doctor actually really cared. it would be fitting if they all left now actually lol - that would be nice and dramatic. Jodie is doing great on the acting here - i can FEEL the warning messages in her brains going AAAAAAAAAAA im losing this one!!!!

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Ryan - oh finally - finally this is coming out. calling her out, ‘how do you feel about that’‘ - the counsellor

‘things change, all the time, and they should, cos they have to’ - oh ffffff and ryan inverts things on her. oh i would have loved that if they’d done the extensive groundwork for it. now it just feels like a final death knell - the Doctor paternalised in classic Doctor words by her pseudo-son (but not really bc we never got it for real). couldn’t chibnall have left that for a dude actor ....

i love Jodie’s acting here my GOD. the mouth, the thin lips. The Doctor’s thinking - ah ive lost him - he doesn’t need me at all. ‘always’ this is Ryan’s motif actually. Yaz said the same thing about him.

LOL and Leo reveals himself only when the bombs have been planted and the Doctor’s arrived

lol ok that’s a pretty grisly reveal chibs, BUT would have been cooler if Yaz somehow found out herself and not through villain exposition. Robertsen really is VERY good comic relief here ‘this is a pr disaster’

that was actually a GOOD use of the Doctor going hmmm what’s wrong here and Yaz going well maybe this

ok but because chibnall has such dumb and obvious twists all the time it makes the Doctor always look dumb for slowly stumbling through a self-deprecating explanation. the least authoritative doctor ever my god.... like she could feel the shock to her system coming and that’s why she was born so un-self-assured. hate that shit. not what i wanted

the recon dalek used ultra viiolet light to teleport. lol. but then the Doctor is too late to stop it. hmm a bit uh..........idk conflicted about all the poc getting exterminated at the border...is this irony???

so how is the Dalek electrocuting Leo with nothing but a shitty slime body? also don’t like that. especially because Robertsen is getting away scot free again probably

‘no weapons’ (what about the bombs - couldn’t jack have interjected with knowledge on that shit - before the daleks teleported mysteriously????) ‘no time to think’ - Doctor i thought it was established that you could think at 3000 miles per fraction of a second.

forget it. forget it forget it forget it. chibnall and I will never agree on this. if the Doctor hits rock bottom here - then it better be a companion that picks her back up. nope, she gets back up herself. best job they’ve done so far on that i admit but then they cut immediately to a leisurely discussion as people are getting gunned the fuck down in the streets.

ah, shes inviting the original fleet to destroy these daleks which are ‘corrupted’

why..................did they explain the whole plan before it happened. WHY. OH WHY! is Chibnall so structurally BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!

this would have WORKED as a GOOD twist if he’d made it an actual fucking TWIST. please chibs....let me at the scripts....please....

the stakes are also not well-established because none of the companions said: oh shit but we could barely get rid of ONE, now there’s thousands!

‘they shouldn’t know im here’ *materialises TARDIS right in front of hundreds of Daleks*

this whole scene between the two sets of Daleks would have been great if we hadn’t been spoiled

is................Robertsen gonna pay for his arrogance - ignoring the Doctor? or is the Doctor’s ineffective ‘get back here’ going to be the last we see of this. Betraying the Doctor?

Chibs if you dont make this guy pay i will give up

Ryan stepping up to save Earth. hmmhm.

Jack: w-wait are you okay with this?

Jack she’s been sending these idiots in without supervision for no reason for ages. she just did it with Yaz?? but its a nice era-contrast - even if the meaning is muddled

So i guess Jack’s just got hundreds of bombs on him? at all times?

who the fuck doctors the script

why............did Chibnall regress Graham’s and Ryan’s relationship into awkwardness in their final episode. that’s just plain sad.

inversely, NOW would have been good to know the second plan because then we would have known why the Daleks knowing about the Doctor is bad SPECIFICALLY

‘even if we blow up the ship, theres still SAS daleks marauding through earth’s skies’ she says, like she wasn’t supposed to have a plan to stop them ??????

‘right’ she said, walked off, and then didn’t think of a plan

‘orrr.... you’re gonna have to trust me on this one Yaz’

this is such a TERRIBLE and unsubtle and stupid way to segue into discussing the Doctor’s problems with disappearing

WHY IS CHIBNALL HAVING THEM SAVE ROBERTSEN - fuck this! FUCK THIS!

wow - that’s really shit of the Doctor - just telling a TARDIS to destroy itself completely......

really chibnall.....really you’re gonna let this man get away LIKE THIS. I’m done. i’m done. im sorry but this is not something to just PLAY with. letting a Trump guy get the better of the female Doctor not once, but twice? this makes me so sad. and im done. it’s just insult after insult. he just doesn’t GET it. this is too close to my heart. this is not a GAME. this is supposed to be a fucking POWER FANTASY - and he can’t even fucking make it that. he can’t discuss the problems with power because he can’t even FATHOM the Doctor as a power fantasy in this form. fuck. this.

‘can you believe that’ - ‘yeah i can’

thanks - thanks for this political hopelessness on top of the real shit Chibnall. that’s not what Doctor Who is about - that’s the starting point - not the fucking end state

i know it’s supposed to be related to Ryan and how it’s quite subtly about making the world a better place politically bc it’s going to hell - and Robertsen is definitely coming back because chibnall just does that shit

but

if he wanted to do that he should have had Ryan and Robertsen have a confrontation this episode

a hug. a HUG. my god. so what was the absence of hugs all about then? now im grumpy about THAT. fck

this is good acting, good lines, good normal ending to Graham’s time in the TARDIS, it ties in just a little bit with his family arc. but it’s not particularly coherent - guess that;s life ?

‘it’s ok to be sad’ - cut to black. that was good

so the conclusion is that all they needed to be like the Doctor is a little gadget. this is deeply incoherent but it appeals to me anyway. and i dont really understand how Robertsen features into protecting the planet from aliens then

what is this weird Ryan speech lol. Tosin did incredibly good on making that seem halfway organic.

ok so Grace appearing made me tear up lol

#my stuff #vidi #dw

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higuchimon · 4 years

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[fanfic] Rewards of Losing: Chapter 17

Himura Akane loved cats. She always had. From the time she was a little girl, her family always had at least two, and they’d loved her as well. Coming to Duel Academia had been difficult in more than one way, not the least of which how cats simply weren’t allowed. Most of the time it didn’t seem necessary – it was an island, after all, perhaps the teachers just didn’t want to risk kittens drowning. So she adjusted.

But when their teachers started to tell the tale of how the XYZ dimension had terrifying cats of enormous size that were the next thing to demons – and not the sort of demons that came in a deck – and could talk and stole the bonds between Healer and Firestarter – that was when she began to reconsider. Cats weren’t like that, in her experience.

She’d said nothing. She knew very well how bad it was to step out of line. Some of her friends did that and then vanished without a trace. A few rumors said that at least one of them ended up in Yuuri-sama’s private garden, eaten by his horrible man-eating plants. That, she definitely believed. She would believe any nightmare tale that had to do with Yuuri.

I knew they couldn't be true. She watched the beautiful cat – or Cat – as it walked next to her. She wanted to bury her hands in that glorious black fur but she kept them to herself. This Cat could talk. It was as intelligent as she was – maybe more so, because it hadn’t been born in Fusion dimension where it wouldn’t be wanted.

Not it. Him. Kei. She repeated the name to herself softly, too soft to be heard.

Kei tilted his head up to look at her, ears twitching. “Yes?”

Akane blushed a deep crimson red. “Oh! I didn’t mean anything – just trying to-” She fidgeted, eyes casting downward. “I’m trying to remind myself that you’re – real.”

Kei didn’t look built to smile but the way his ears twitched more and the tilt of his tail told her that he wanted to. “I’m very real.”

She nodded, drawing a breath. “All right. I’ll take you to Fusion. But what do you want to do there?”

“I’m searching for my Firestarter. He’s in the Fusion dimension.”

Akane worried at her lower lip. “Did he get captured?” That was pretty horrible, but she knew that it could happen. The Professor and their teachers made it plain that any XYZ duelist who turned out to be skilled enough should be brought there as soon as possible. She’d never seen anyone that good, but most of her companions had been intent on carding whoever they saw without mercy right away. They never even tried to test an opponent’s strength in battle.

“Something like that. Are you familiar with the name Marufuji Ryou?”

Akane’s eyes rounded and her fingers tightened. “You mean – Yuuri-sama's Firestarter to be? The one he’s been courting all this time?”

Kei’s tail lashed. “That’s the one. He’s my Firestarter – though not quite yet. It’s complicated.”

It had to be. Akane hadn’t ever seen Marufuji Ryou face to face, but she’d heard a lot of stories about how powerful he was and how only someone like Yuuri could possibly partner to him. She had to believe it; she wasn’t a Firestarter or Healer herself. She didn’t know any better.

“He’s in danger of some kind. I can’t say exactly how but I feel it.” Kei nudged his head against her hand. “Will you trust me?”

“Yes.” Akane replied without hesitation. She’d always been a little sorry for Marufuji-san. What would it be like to be partnered to Yuuri-sama forever? He was considered the best and brightest and greatest of them all, even with how cruel and sadistic he could be.

Perhaps because of how cruel and sadistic he often was.

She raised up her Duel Disk and made sure to stay in contact with Kei. Her fellow soldiers would remain here, under watch from the plants Kei commanded to capture them in the first place.

In between one second and the next, everything around them shifted, and when the world cleared up again, they stood in one of the courtyards of Duel Academia. Kei looked around, shoulders raised, whiskers twitching, drawing in a deep breath.

“A strange place,” he murmured after a few moments. “No Cats anywhere.”

“No. There aren’t any cats of any kind allowed here.” She shook her head and worried at her lip again. “Kei, are you going to need my help? I need to go talk to someone.”

Kei sniffed again, turning to one side. “I can manage to find him. But I’ll need you to get us back home.”

“What if he doesn’t want to go with you?” Akane asked without thinking. The way that Kei looked up at her made her wish that she hadn’t and she started to apologize before he shook his head.

“Then I’ll need to go home alone. But go. I can find you.” He nudged her gently. “I have your scent now.”

Akane thought that should sound a lot more terrifying than it did. Instead, she hurried away, hoping that she could find Tenjoin Asuka before it was too late. And she devoutly hoped that it wasn’t already.

Kei paced along carefully, sliding through all the shadows, ears and nose alert for the slightest trace that would lead him to Ryou. The part of him that was a Healer also reached for Ryou; without the bond it wasn’t as strong, but the closer he got to his Healer, the more aware he was of it.

So he moved carefully, keeping away from all eyes as best that he could. It looked to be late afternoon here, just as it had been in XYZ, so there were plenty of shadows for him to take refuge in. Being the shade he was, it wasn’t that hard for him to hide. All he had to do was close his eyes and it wasn’t likely anyone would check any closer.

He was careful the farther he moved along. He didn’t yet have a specific place to find Ryou, but the closer he got, the more certain he was that he was in the right trail.

The plants and trees here didn’t seem inimical to him. They were as willing to protect him as they would be any other Healer – they’d never been told not to help, because the Fusion leaders hadn’t ever thought that someone would come looking for one of their own.

Kei raised his head and sniffed the breeze. Most of the scents he found were those of the trees, bushes, flowers, and other blossoming foliage but he also caught the aroma of humans. Healers and Firestarters and none of the above – and one of them seemed a bit more familiar than it should have.

Slowly his tail twitched as he focused, attempting to track where that one came from. It dawned on him that it was getting closer and closer. Kei leaped into the concealing arms of the nearest tree, letting the leaves fold over him, and watched to see who would come by. There was only one person here that he would have sworn he recognized the scent of – Ryou – and he knew this person wasn’t Ryou.

So why did they remind him of Ryou? Kei’s claws dug into the tree branch as he watched. If someone had done something to hurt Ryou – well, Yuuri probably had. But this wasn’t Yuuri either. He knew that scent as well.

Underneath him there finally walked – someone. Kei breathed in carefully. Yes, this was the one who smelled faintly like Ryou. Not too much; he hadn’t spent time around Ryou recently. He was also a Healer, not a Firestarter with the crisp autumn scent of a nascent Frostflame. His coloring was vaguely similar, lighter shades of blue,

Kei made up his mind in a heartbeat. He leaped out of the tree, landing in front of the stranger.

“Who are you and why do you smell like my Firestarter?” Kei asked, staring at the young man’s large gray eyes. The Fusion soldier stared back at him, eyes going round as he stumbled back.

“Y- you-” He shook his head, trying to move. “You're one of those talking Cats! The Professor told us about you!” The words tumbled out over themselves. “You steal the bonds between Healers and Firestarters! You’re evil!”

Kei sighed and flexed his claws. If he had the chance, he wouldn’t mind finding some way to turn Akaba Leo into mulch. Now wasn’t the time for that pleasure, though.

“Yes, I am a Healer Cat. My name is Kei. But we do not steal bonds. We form our own between ourselves and our chosen ones.” Again his tail flicked ever so carefully. He didn’t want to scare this one if he could avoid it. “And my chosen is Marufuji Ryou.”

The Healer had taken almost half a dozen steps backward before he finished talking. Now he stopped, staring harder at Kei.

“You – you know my big brother?” His eyes somehow got larger. Kei wasn’t certain of how he managed that.

Kei settled down and wrapped his tail around his front paws. “Yes. We met while he was in my dimension and I’ve come to find him here. We have – matters to discuss.”

The Healer blinked, slowly rubbing the back of his head. “But he’s not here. He would have told me if he were coming home.”

“I wouldn’t be so certain. I have reason to believe that he didn’t come willingly.” Truth to tell, Kei wasn’t certain about that. But he would work out the details once he actually saw Ryou and could find out what happened. He brought his own gaze up to meet the Healer’s again. “You say you are brothers?”

That got a nod. “I’m Marufuji Shou – I’m supposed to join the Obelisk Force Healer Corps once I finish my education. That’s what they keep telling me – I don’t think I’m good enough, though.”

“Really.” Kei let sarcasm drip over every syllable of the word. “I can think of much better ways to use your talent than hurting others. You are a Healer. A powerful one, too.”

Shou shook his head without hesitation. “No, I’m not. I’m – I’m just about mid-level, that’s all. And I have to work for that.” Again he took a bit of a step backwards. “I have to go. I’m supposed to go work on Yuuri-sama’s Garden.”

Kei rose up to his feet. Of course! If he could find that – and now here was a way to do so. “Then we’re going to go there together.”

Shou’s mouth and eyes were now perfect circles of shock and fear. “We are?” He squeaked.

“Yes. If I don’t find Ryou there I’ll search elsewhere, but it’s a place fro me to begin.” He moved forward enough to nudge Shou with his head. Shou yelped a little, then stared down.

“You – you are a Healer, too,” he murmured, one hand reaching out. Kei allowed him to touch. Shou’s hand buried itself in his fur and he sighed quietly. “You really are a Healer Cat.”

“Of course I am. Now, can we move along? I want to find Ryou before Yuuri does whatever he has planned.”

Shou fidgeted as he started to move forward again. “What does he have planned? I mean – my brother is going to be his Firestarter. They’re courting. It’s – it’s what they both want.”

Kei strolled alongside of him. “I don’t believe it is. But it’s for Ryou to decide.”

Shou pressed his lips together, then made an attempt at a subject change. “I haven’t been on the front lines. What is it like there? Have you been?”

If he’d been human and thus capable of it, Kei would have surely facepalmed. Instead, he shook his head. “Do you think it’s something grand and glorious? That your army is doing what’s right?”

“Of course they are.” Shou blinked at him as they walked along. “Professor’s told us about how we're going to make the worlds into a much better place.”

“Really.” Oh, this was just wonderful. An entire world of people who’d been fed that same foulness. Kei didn’t have the patience to deal with them all but he’d handle this one. “What is so glorious about invading a world with no warning, having sent people to get rid of their best chances to defend themselves, and turning everyone into cards regardless of if they fought back or not?”

Shou looked as if he were about to protest. Kei regarded him calmly and the words never came. Shou said nothing else, just hurried along towards the area that Kei guessed was Yuuri’s Garden. Just coming closer to it set his hackles rising.

If there had ever been a doubt in his mind, said doubt would be dispelled now. Yuuri was a Dark Healer. Those weren’t common in Heartland, but they did appear on occasion. Those who used their powers to hurt others, who took the most twisted and depraved pleasures in what they could do. Not even being bonded to a Firestarter could always settle them. Sometimes it did, but those were often the Dark Healers who hadn’t been Dark for very long. The longer it stretched out, the less likely it was they would ever recover.

Kei approached with cautious tread, breathing in deeply, tail lashing his flanks.

“He’s here,” Kei murmured. “His scent’s all over this place. Ask the plants if you don’t believe me.”

Shou worried at his lip, then closed his eyes. Kei could feel him communing with the plants in his own way, then his eyes flashed open and he started to run towards the Garden’s opening.

“Big brother!”

Ryou wasn’t sure of how long he’d been asleep. Something woke him up; something that he wasn’t sure of. A sensation, nothing more. Was it Yuuri? Had Yuuri returned? He sat up and carefully rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, trying to get his thoughts in order.

He knew that here, in the heart of Yuuri’s Garden, he was safe and protected. Few were they who would dare to enter it without permission and if anyone did, Yuuri would happily mulch them. Or he would burn them – if his flames ever came back.

Sometimes he wondered if they ever would. That great empty gap inside of himself seemed infinite, edged all around with ice in a way that he didn’t like. If he probed at it too deeply, he suspected he would see something that he didn’t like.

“Big brother!” The cry split the air, thinned only by distance, but still familiar. Ryou stumbled to his feet, looking towards the door. A heartbeat later, Shou appeared there, disheveled and staring at him in absolute shock. Then he threw himself forward and wrapped his arms around Ryou’s waist, trembling.

At first Ryou wasn’t sure of what to think. Neither of them had really gone in for much touching, but feeling Shou there, a strong and trained Healer, settled something that felt out of balance inside of him. It wasn't the sense of bonding, but something similar that had been between them since their powers respectively manifested.

“Shou – what are you doing here? Is Yuuri-sama with you?” He probably was. Why else would Shou even be here?

Shou lifted his head up and Ryou blinked to see tears shining in his eyes. Nothing had happened for tears, at least not that he could remember. Should he remember?

“No, he’s not. And if we are fortunate, then we won’t see him at all.” Another voice spoke. It sent chills all the way down Ryou’s spine and his mouth dried up even as he looked to the door where the voice came from.

There stood a large cat, perhaps the size of a panther, with gray eyes similar to Shou’s. Slowly the creature padded forward, eyes not departing from Ryou, nostrils flaring. He couldn’t be sure how it had spoken but it had. That voice thrummed all through him.

“Big brother, are you all right?” Shou asked. “What did he do to you?”

Ryou wasn’t at all sure of what Shou meant by that. Slowly he shook his head. “What are you talking about?”

“I can feel it,” Shou murmured, still clinging to him. “There’s something wrong.”

“Oh, that.” Ryou shrugged. “It’s part Firedamp and part something else Yuuri-sama’s working on to help restructure my memories.”

The Cat hissed, claws flexing. “He gave you Firedamp? And he’s doing what to your memories?”

Ryou’s eyes shifted from the Cat to Shou and back again. Both of them still seemed upset by this. The deepest part of his mind – a part that hadn’t twitched much in the days since he’d first awakened here – stirred, upset as well. Perhaps he could explain it to them.

“Helping me. I became too involved in the XYZ dimension and he is helping me. I won’t remember any of it when he’s done.” Ryou wanted to sound proud of what Yuuri’s efforts. But he knew he didn’t – though he didn’t know why. He frowned, staring at the Cat. “Do – do I know you?” The longer he stared at the Cat, the more he wanted to call it by name and ask why it was there. It shouldn’t be – it was too dangerous – it shouldn’t be here, in Fusion.

His head began to throb and his breath stuttered in his lungs as his vision blurred. He shook his head, closing his eyes, stumbling back until he fell back onto the bed, pushing Shou away as he did. Where was Yuuri-sama? Why was he here on his own? Why couldn’t he feel his flames

His head spun faster and faster with each second, until he could not have stood up if he’d wanted to, and he didn’t even try. Something was wrong and he had no idea of how to deal with any of it.

A single word worked its way out of his lips. “Kei…”

To Be Continued

Notes: We’re almost to one of what I consider the most dramatic parts! Remember I’ve been hinting all this time about how a Firestarter’s power can invert and become ice? Almost there!

#fanfic #higuchimon writes #ygobb2020 #ygo gx #ygo zexal #ygo arc-v #marufuji ryou #Mizael #yuuri (arc-v)#chapters: rewards of losing #au: healer firestarter

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spectrumscribe · 7 years

Text

The Tower.

aka the writer needing a better ending to The Heart of Evil for themself and donatello both, bc the canon one sucked.

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“This is the end for you,” Donnie says, voice tone dropping to a level Leo has never heard from his brother before. And before Leo can react further, cry out again to remind him who their father raised them to be-

Donnie’s naginata blade slices through Don Vizioso’s neck flesh, and sends an arc of red spraying into the air.

There’s a split second pause, every other fighter in the room freezing as the Don gurgles and thrashes. Then, as the enormous man slides sideways, free of Donnie’s hold, the other two men unfreeze. The twin gangsters run from the room, cries of horror following their retreat.

And Leo is left alone, staring at his brother and the blood dripping from Donnie’s blade.

Don Vizioso is growing weak, paling as the gaping hole in his neck reddens and widens. His limbs flail frantically, hands pressing uselessly against the slash in his flesh. Blood streams onto the floor, and it turns the area closest to the Don scarlet.

It’s another few beats of silence from Donnie and Leo, before the man’s chest finally stops rising and falling. Then there’s nothing but stillness, and though Leo has seen many things, the sight before him horrifies him more than almost all of them.

Leo swallows thickly, and his swords droop towards the ground as he straightens slowly. Donnie is standing sentry like, staring down at the man he’s just killed. The only sign he’s not stone is his heavy breathing.

Then, Donnie bends, prying the canister from Vizioso’s limp hand. Leo watches his brother carefully examine it for breaks, and then sees him nod satisfactorily. Donnie then whips his staff to the side, and the worst of the blood flies off. Spattering on the floor, with most of the spots disappearing into the pool of red from Vizioso.

Donnie sheathes his naginata blade, as though it’s not still stained bright red, and slings his staff back across his shell. When he turns around to face Leo, Leo isn’t sure what to make of the blank, emotionless look his brother has.

“How could you,” Leo finally manages to say, deeply horrified by his brother and the deed he’s done. “Donnie, how could you?”

“How could I what?” Donnie says, and while his tone is different now, Leo can still hear hints of the one from before. The one he’d used as he’d killed. Donnie tilts his head, and he glances back at the dead man on the floor. “How could I solve a real and serious threat to our lives?”

“How could you kill him?!” Leo exclaims. “We didn’t need to, we could have-”

“Could have what, Leo?” Donnie asks sharply, and Leo’s mouth snaps shut at the sudden change in his brother. Donnie never reacted like this to anyone, to anything, and certainly not to Leo.

Leo rallies despite his pause, and does his best not to look at the corpse on the floor. The smell of iron and salt is making him feel sick as it fills the air. “We could have sent him to jail, given him over to the police and been done with this. We could have done that, and kept him alive.”

“Sure, we could have sent him to jail,” Donnie says, eyes narrowed. The light is affecting his irises, and the red of his eyes seems shades darker than they usually are. “But how long would he have stayed there, Leo? What guarantee do we have he wouldn’t have gotten right back out, and come back to try killing us again?”

Leo darts a glance, unwillingly, at the Don’s pale face. His neck gapes in the weak light of the room, and Leo’s stomach turns. He forces his eyes back to Donnie, and scowls at his brother. “The legal system would have taken care of things.”

“Leo, no they wouldn’t have,” Donnie says, voice low. He turns the canister in his hands, staring down at the shriveled flesh inside it. “Don Vizioso was second only to the Foot. Second only to the Shredder, in terms of political power. He wouldn’t have been in jail for more than a few weeks, a few months if we were lucky. Criminals don’t just give up and disappear like they do in stories, Leo. And our country’s law system is corrupt enough to let them do pretty much whatever they want, for the right price.”

Leo’s grip on his swords tighten again, and he narrows his eyes at Donnie. How dare his brother do this? How dare he go against everything their father taught them? “Our father wouldn’t have wanted this, Donnie,” Leo says, and he sees the slight twitch to Donnie’s posture. “This goes against everything he believed in. Everything we’ve lived by our whole lives.”

“And look where that got us, where it got him,” Donnie snaps, hands tightening around the canister. His dark red irises flick up to bore into Leo’s blue ones, and there’s an anger there that Leo’s never seen in his brother before.

“Our father is dead for following the bushido code, Leo,” Donnie continues, shoulders straightening as he draws himself up to his full height. “He died because he couldn’t ever do what needed doing, and I don’t plan to let us keep making those mistakes.”

Leo’s lips curl back at his brother’s insult to their father. How dare he? “Do you hear yourself Donnie? Have you completely forgotten who you are?”

“And who is that?” Donnie asks, voice tight. “Who am I, Leo?”

Leo draws himself up like Donnie has, and finds himself not even reaching his brother’s nose. There’s a room between them, but Donnie looms, and for a split second, Leo sees what their enemies probably always see when they look at his brother.

Something inhuman. Something deadly.

“You’re not this,” Leo says, firm and commanding. “Our father taught you better than to be someone like this.”

Donnie looks at Leo for a long moment, and then says, “Then I guess you don’t know me very well at all, Leo.”

Leo’s grip on his swords make them shake, and he’s caught between outrage and horror as Donnie calmly crosses the room to the windows. Donnie pulls the blinds apart enough to see the outside world, and neon green light flashes over his scales as he does. It illuminates his eyes in a way that looks wrong, and the look Donnie turns on Leo only makes the feeling of wrongness persist.

“Do you know why I killed him, Leo?” Donnie asks suddenly, before Leo can manage to say anything to his previous statement. “You said earlier you didn’t know what was between me and him.”

Leo glowers at his brother, and can only respond with a tight, “No, I don’t know why, Donnie.”

Donnie doesn’t seem fazed by Leo’s ground out words, and turns back towards the continuing fire fight outside. “Because, he tried to kill me. And I know lots of people have, but that time was different,” Donnie’s eyes narrow again, and darken further. “And you didn’t even know, did you? That he tied me up and planned to vivisect me right in front of Mondo. Who, might I remind you, is much younger than us both. He tried to kill me, and he wanted to make a show of it.”

“So?” Leo asks. He’s unwilling to step away from the doorway, which he’s half guarding still, and unwilling to step towards his brother. He’s not sure exactly why, but something holds him back. “Lots of people have done that to us. Lots of times, too. Why do you care so much about that one time?”

“I don’t know,” Donnie replies, still calm and eerie. “Maybe it was just the straw that broke the camel’s back, or maybe because it was something like a wakeup call.” Donnie turns his head back towards Leo, and doesn’t give away any emotions in his expression. “Don Vizioso wasn’t just the second strongest crime boss in New York. He was also the one who hated mutants the most, and was willing to do anything to see us dead. The world isn’t like the stories our father told us, the bad guys won’t spare us because we spare them. We have to grow up some time, and make decisions about how we’re going to keep surviving in a world that wants us gone.

“Do you know what’s happening out there?” Donnie asks, nodding his head towards the flickering, flashing bursts of light from outside. “A war. A war being fought with weapons specifically designed to kill mutants. And this man? He spent a lot of time and resources creating those weapons, and I doubt he would have tucked them away to gather dust. There wasn’t any other way I could ensure he wouldn’t ever get the chance again to use those against us. Don’t fault me for keeping our family safe, Leo.”

Leo can’t believe his ears. He can’t believe that after all this time, after everything they’ve lost, his brother is throwing aside everything their father taught them. Leo squares his shoulders, intent on channeling the tone and power of his position as their Sensei. “This is wrong. What you did was wrong, Donnie. There’s no way around that you just killed someone, and that we could have let him live.”

“Maybe it’s wrong,” Donnie says, thoughtful and still eerie. “But not everything is as black and white as your cartoons make it, Leo. Morality isn’t as simple as Sensei taught us. A ninja does what they have to, to keep their clan safe and protected. What I just did made sure that Don Vizioso’s power and reach wouldn’t ever hurt us again, and I’m sorry, but I don’t feel bad for killing him. Not if it means we get to live another day without someone pointing a gun at our heads.”

Leo is at a loss, because he hears in Donnie’s voice that he means those things. Donnie, who has always been kind, and giving, and the last person to give up hope for a better solution. Not this… cold person, standing with blood on his hands, and not caring at all.

“This is wrong,” Leo says again, and though he tries, he can’t muster the same conviction he’d had a moment ago. He’s supposed to be his brother’s master, but Leo can feel that he’s lost control of Donnie completely. And that maybe, he never had that control to begin with.

“Maybe,” Donnie says, stepping away from the window, and moving towards the door. As he passes Leo, cradling the dead heart of the man that’d taken their father from them, Donnie gives Leo a look. It’s an even, steady look, and too dark to be one Leo recognizes.

“Maybe it was wrong,” Donnie says, still looking Leo dead in the eye. “But we can’t always be the heroes, Leo.”

And Leo looks up- up, because Donnie towers over him- and can’t say anything as his brother keeps walking. Donnie leaves the room, exiting out into the halls of the hotel, and then Leo is alone.

He doesn’t want to, but he looks back at Vizioso one last time. The man’s death pale face shines in the flashing lights from outside, and Leo can barely tear his gaze from the exposed insides of his throat. The size of the gash, how it yawns and goes nearly to the spine, shows how little Donnie had been holding back. How much he’d really wanted the human dead.

Leo shudders, feeling lost and out of his depth, and goes to follow his brother. Donnie’s words echo in his mind, and Leo wishes he knew what his father would have said in response.

(sequel to this fic)

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