#its basically playing around her sparking timer

[ura-writes]

Trampolinist

Summary - You’re a player who jumps from server to server, often revisiting several and always trying to find access to new ones. When a victorious game of duos Skywars on Hypixel wins you an invitation to one of the most famous yet exclusive servers in the community, you find a world you never knew existed, allies you’re not certain you can trust, and enemies that may not be just that. Oh, yeah, and an anarchist piglin hybrid.

(c!technoblade/server jumper!reader)

Basic warnings: minor blood, swearing, light threats

A/N - hello! I decided to start this series as a result of a sporadic idea at midnight after quite an odd dream. Some information you might need:

A few select people can jump servers without using portals, and you (the reader) are one of them.

Some servers are public and some require invites. Hypixel and a lot of the other bigger servers are public, while SMPs such as the Dream SMP are private and require an invite.

Jumpers, as they are commonly referred to throughout the series, still require an invite to private servers, though some have figured out loopholes to this process and actively exploit it, earning the title of “Crashers”. You have figured it out but don’t use the ability.

The rating for this series is 14-15+, most likely including minor to graphic descriptions of blood/injuries, violence, swearing, minor manipulation and death.

There are select groups of people who hate Jumpers and actively try to perma-kill them or get them source-banned from servers, leaving them stuck in single player and isolation.

From the author:

This will be in second person.

There will be no use of Y/N or (Y/N) or anything along those lines. I understand some people use them as a descriptor, but in my opinion, it looks a bit messy/choppy.

Feel free to criticize, though don’t be super harsh.

Also gl free to point out spelling mistakes.

I love love LOVE feedback! Gimme it! Please! /lh /gen

Anyway, those are the basics that you need to know! For now, at least… hehe.

Enjoy the first part!

-ura

——

The familiar particles signalling a personal portal opening in the lobby sends a few people scattering, but most just move to the side, though there are a fair few that stay to watch the person step out of the rip in reality.

The person stumbles out, cursing the deities to high heaven, brushing dirt and sweat and even a bug off of their face, certainly looking a bit worse for wear.

This was certainly not what the audience was expecting. They were expecting a prim, proper or at least somewhat distinguished person to step out of the actively sparking spiral, as most Jumpers are that way, even just a bit.

Nope.

“What are you looking at?”

The people step back a bit, noticing the sword the person clutches in their hand.

That person is you.

“Fuck off, would you? You probably see Jumpers on the daily! Fuckin’ annoying.” you grumble, sheathing the sword at your side. “Fuck… is this Hypixel?”

With a cursory sweep of the attire of the people surrounding you and buildings towering over everyone, you determine that yes, it is, in fact, Hypixel.

Of course, that may have also been the big-ass sign in the sky with the server’s name on it. That too.

With a sigh and a wave of your hand, you pull your inventory up. The typical “please place your personal belongings in a safe place before playing a match, otherwise they may be wiped.” message pops up when you do. You huff, wave your fingers to dismiss the text. Not like you’ve been here a hundred thousand times or anything like that.

The Netherite blade at your side, your armor and any sentimental belongings you have on you go straight into your enderchest, categorized in one of the shulker boxes designated specifically for this purpose.

As you walk along, trying to sort your inventory out (fortunately the server provides a free repair and replace to anyone’s clothing, as yours are beaten pretty much beyond self-help), deciding what match you might want to play, the crowd that was surrounding you quickly scurries off with a few screams.

A quick glance upwards catches your gaze on a red and white nametag.

Huh. Don’t see those often.

Whispers of the name you can’t quite see from where you stand rapidly reach your ears, ringing with slight familiarity.

Dream.

Odd. The masked man doesn’t often come onto public servers, mainly sticking to his own private server, named after him. The Dream SMP. How egotistical.

Without another glance towards the fan-people, you select a game idly. The blue text pops up in front of you, confirming your want to play the match.

Skywars Duos.

Before you know it, you’re whisked off to the arena, a bit dizzy from your landing, but fine nonetheless. The timer for the start slowly counts down, ticking slowly as people pop into existence with increasing frequency.

A presence behind you alerts you to your teammate. You nod at them just as the beeping of the final ten seconds counts down.

After a few repeated sessions, most being losses, you decide on one more match before you head to a tavern for the night, preferably one with a view.

This time you’re the second one to arrive. And for once, you take a longer look at your teammate.

He’s the guy everyone was freaking out about a few hours earlier… what was his name again? Dr-something. Or was it a Tr-something? Ah, who knows. It doesn’t matter as long as he’s good. You don’t bother to look at his nametag; he’s probably just some hotshot who thinks he’s all that.

“Not going to freak out?” he asks you. You snort at the question, shaking your head with a glance at the timer.

“Just here to kick ass.”

“Fair enough,” he replies. “You any good?”

A laugh from you echoes as the beeping of the countdown starts.

“We’ll see.”

The barrier below you drops, sending you hurtling to the floating island below. You quickly hit the ground, rolling into a crouch while your teammate raids the chest beside you, tossing a few bits of armor and a stone axe as well as a golden apple, which you catch and nod gratefully.

The hood on his head drops when another player attempts to take him out of the game. He ducks, barely avoiding the glimmer of the enchanted sword, sweeping her legs out from under her. The enemy player narrowly rolls out of the way with her shield being knocked out of her hands into the dark blue void below the floating island.

She curses loudly as his axe lands beside her head, kicking it to the side.

In that moment, you shove her hard off of the crumbling stone, jabbing your axe in her shoulder for final measure. Her falling figure flashes red with the loss of hearts, and eventually, she disintegrates into dust, the announcement of her tag being eliminated in the chat making you smirk.

“Well, you are good.”

You send him a smirk and collect the spoils of your kill, mostly a few potions and the iron blade, tossing a few of the former to your teammate and splashing a speed potion on yourself.

With practiced movements you begin to build to the middle islands, your teammate throwing the occasional snowball at any approaching enemy players, even knocking one off their bridge. The message of their death rings in the chat, being the fifth elimination.

The chests there contain better loot, even a diamond sword and chestplate, a strength II potion and a Power I bow with fifteen arrows. You take the bow and chestplate (with permission from your teammate, who gladly takes the sword and potion) and book it to the center chests, almost laughing at the amount of snowballs and arrows lying there.

“Well, I’m not complaining,” you muse.

You hear a yell of your tag, quickly spinning around to block the swing of an enchanted axe, their teammate quickly turning to gang up on you after finishing off another person.

Great. You’re fighting two people now.

Swing, duck, dodge, swipe, duck, swipe, block—shit, you got stabbed! Two hearts disappear from your health bar, sending a flurry of curses flying from your lips.

But luckily, your teammate is fast enough to eliminate the weaker of the two.

The tables turn.

The clash of blades, splash of potions and grunts of pain quickly move to the edge of the center island. It’s two verses one now, and the three of you are the last competitors in the match.

Block the swing, return the blow, duck, block, dodge—

A sudden stab in your shoulder alerts you to an arrow stuck in the skin there, slowly depleting your health.

It’s merely a distraction.

The enemy player barrels into you, sending you stumbling backwards right at the edge of crumbling gravel.

Poison becomes your downfall.

The smack of another half heart.

As one last resort, you grip onto the block with one hand, the other dangling with your bow into the void. Gritting your teeth, you do your damndest to drag yourself up, the poison wreaking havoc through your body and strength.

Shit. I’m not going to survive this, am I?

The one-handed grip on your bow tightens, nocked arrow slipping between your dirt-covered fingers.

You make a decision.

Just as the enemy player comes over, smirking but low on health, you let go of the block, drawing your arrow back as you fall into the void.

The broadhead meets its mark just in time, signalling a victory with a dragon appearing underneath you right before you hit the death line. A sigh of relief escapes your lips; you direct the dragon upwards with a rush of gratefulness soaring through your body. Respawning isn’t a pleasant process.

Twenty or so seconds later, you appear back in the lobby with your teammate at your side. The lobby is nearly empty, only a few people milling around, most having traveled elsewhere or checked into a tavern or hotel.

“You’re good. We could use you on our side.”

“ ‘We’?”

Two other figures appear out of seemingly nowhere, one wearing white-rimmed black sunglasses with a blue hoodie, the other a bandana and a white hoodie with flames on the front of it.

Your fingers twitch at your sides, calling up a portal in your mind, ready to dash through it at the slightest hint of a threat. Sparks form by your palms, their signature color drawing the leader’s attention.

“Calm down. I have no interest in killing you.”

“Doesn’t seem like it,” you retort. “Three versus one isn’t exactly fair y’know.” The sparks grow brighter; though they are primarily used to call up portals, they can deal quite a blow to anyone who forcefully comes into contact with them.

Dream (you now read off his nametag, getting sick of referring to him by random aliases) extends a hand in front of his body. Something hovers in it, glowing a soft white and reading something you can’t quite make out.

“It’s not going to kill you.”

Bandanna laughs at that.

“Reassuring,” you snap, taking a closer look at it.

Invitation: Dream SMP

Active?: Yes

Expires: Never

Taken aback, you sputter out a few jumbled sentences before asking why they’d invite you of all people. Sure, you may be okay at Skywars, but that doesn’t warrant an invitation to literally the most exclusive server in the network.

“Uh—what?”

You take a quick glance at the two others, noting their tags are red and white as well, reading Sapnap and Georgenotfound.

“You don’t have to accept.” Dream steps forward to set the glowing orb in your hands. “Just know that we picked you for a very good reason.

How… interesting.

“Is it ‘cause I’m an inactive Crasher?”

The three stiffen at the moniker used for the infamous Jumpers, the ones who figure out ways around the system, the lines of fate that make up the different servers, finding loopholes that not even the best Mender can. They exploit them, gaining almost god-like abilities on the server only to wreak absolute anarchy on the infrastructure until the admin can step in, if they haven’t been eliminated from the system or perma-killed already.

From what little you know about the Dream SMP, you know the admin is a god of sorts, mostly staying out of the way but occasionally fixing matters that need it. Otherwise they stay… wherever gods stay.

“No,” George pipes up. You note his accent, odd and slightly out of place, but not unpleasant. “You being a Jumper does help, however.”

You’ve heard of elusive servers where Jumpers have access to a lot of power and near-unlimited resources, though no one can quite figure out why. Those servers are typically entirely anarchy.

“Yeah, sure.” But you clutch the invitation closer to your person anyway. It glows a bit brighter at the increased contact.

“Think on it.”

Those words echo through your mind throughout the rest of the night, in your bed, subconsciously in your dreams and into the next morning.

It’s no easy decision. You know you’ll be dragged into all sorts of politics, conflict and battles unlike the Skywars ones you usually find yourself dealing with.

Your hand grips the glowing ball a bit tighter, reading the same three statements engraved on it repeatedly until the words are branded into your mind.

And then it disappears.

“Invitation accepted.”

#mcyt x reader #reader insert #xreader #x reader #mcyt x you #technoblade x reader #dreamwastaken x reader #Trampolinist: Series

[littlelittlebear]

HEROOO idk if my last ask got sent, but may i ask for a 🥀 from marvel and hp golden trio and marauders? no pressure, ofc. love ya <3

my name is miliane but i go by liane. (she/her). i’m a 5’4, ravenclaw, bisexual, brown eyes, brown hair, morena skin, who loves anything art-related, astronomy, reading books, binge watching, music, styling my clothes (i’m stuck between kidcore, y2k, cottagecore and indie) and eating food (more than necessary). i’m a sarcastic twat who’s often misunderstood bc it’s basically my mother tongue, but i’m a nice person. INFP-T. and when it comes to relationships, i would love a guy who’s gonna be willing to put up with my impulsive bs sometimes lol, like sneaking out in the middle of the night to eat at the kitchens, watch movies together and dance like we’re the only ones left. he wouldn’t force anything out of me til he and i know that i’m ready. and i would rlly love if he would give me one or two of his hoodies, and he would spray them with his cologne bc he knows that i love the way he smells, and maybe sneak in a small note for me to read in the pockets. i love forehead and nose kisses, i’m a goner for those. pet names are one of my weaknesses, (love, lovely, darling, babe, baby)— and i’m yours. i’m not much of an affectionate person as i didn’t have much of it during my childhood, so simple handholding and hugs would make me a bit flustered and awkward but very much appreciated. (PFT- i just copy and paste this whenever i see a ship post <3)

(imma just do marvel if thats kk with you cuz these end up being pretty long xD)

i ship you with... BUCKY BARNES

- for he too, is a sarcastic twat

- the two of you met at the avenger tower obvi and you kind of hit it off right away

- there weren’t any immediate romantic sparks- y’all were just friends for a while and were completely oblivious to everyone shipping you two

- you discovered that you had rrrrrromantic [rolls r] feelings for each other on different occasions with bucky falling first

- anyways, reading together has always been an unspoken ritual between you two- y’all do it everyday

- but this one time there was just this refrigerator wife montage-esque moment when he looked up at you with a book in your hands as the sun hit the back of your head like a halo looking angelic as hell (lol irony, funny), but that wasn’t what made him fall

- you looked at him like you’d always be there for him, no matter what. it was a look of safety and comfort and promises of unconditional love- something he’s always craved and needed his entire life

- THE BOY IS GONE FOR YOU

- you had noticed a change since that day, bucky would always call you doll before, as he does with everyone, but lately he’s called you... darling? 

- it’s new, but you aren’t complaining

- you fell for him one night a couple days after bucky had

- it was maybe 3 am, probably later, and god you would kill for pancakes right now

- nothing was open, so you opted to make one yourself- but obviously you didn’t wanna do it alone

- you sneaked into bucky’s bed, greeted with a “hey there love”

- the nickname SHOCKED you but you brushed it off and explained your dilemma

- and because this boy is absolutely whipped for you, he complies 

- so, its now 5 am and you and your soon-to-be-bae have two, now empty plates that once held pancakes and bacon

- and thats when it hits you; this boy would do anything for you. 

- it’s always been there, you just never fully realised it. with every mission he always covers you, with every avenger-arguement he always risks his own neck to defend you, with every stupid impulse you have- from getting a tattoo at 2 am on a wednesday, to vandalising your favorite street corner- he’s always there. always. 

- you don’t need much else.

- you tilt his head down to face you and softly kiss his lips, wrapping your arms around his neck

- he doesn’t hesitate to kiss you back

- now, its edging closer to 7 am and the two of you had migrated from the kitchen to the couch and smoochin

- unfortunately for y’all, you don’t seem to hear the entire gang walk into the living room- smiling like a bunch of smug idiots as wilson and clint begrudgingly pass around a couple fives to a very happy tony, wanda, and natasha as everyone else just rolls there eyes 

- it takes yall five minutes. FIVE MINUTES. to notice them 

- “jesus are you guys going to come up for air??” asked steve, probably

- you two JOLT and immediately break away and fumble for an explanation 

- “we’ve been seeing you two play tonsil hockey for the last *checks timer* six minutes, you don’t have to explain,” chuckles natasha, as they all start to walk away from the attraction that is your new found bond with bucky, but of course you aren’t spared from a patented tony one liner;

- “JUST USE PROTECTION!! WE DON’T NEED A TINY LIANE-BUCKY MUTANT RUNNING AROUND HERE!!”

~fin~ 

(sorry this took so long btw)

#hero's 100 follower sleepover #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader

[onf-headcanons]

ONF MEMBERS AS YOUR SIBLING (MK & U version)

n 

OMG I AM VERY VERY LOOKING FORWARD TO WRITE THIS PART!!!!!

Either you are related from Yuto or Minkyun side and either one of them later joined the family. Confusing? OK example you are Yuto’s sibling by blood and then later Minkyun joined. Or in reversed, Yuto joined later.

1. You are the youngest sibling (could be in terms age when the family comes together or you being born later OR stand in of Yuto’s youngest sister)

2. You are the middle sibling, being either Yuto’s elder blood sibling or Minkyun’s younger sibling but is older than Yuto.

3. Or you are the eldest (Good luck if you do lol there will be a lot of face palming), and alot of  “Yuto, I thought you are on my side????”

Any scenario that is suitable to your own imagination. Also there will be some repeated ideas from first universe because i would like to keep characterization consistency.

Btw this pair of sibling would be one of the noisiest.

My recommendation, you are the middle sibling. But you can totally imagine that your are younger ones. I will try to elaborate both, I hope i won’t confuse you guys🙈

Also age recommendations, Minkyun born in 1995 while Yuto is 1999, so if you are the middle sibling, your birth year is at between.  I would prefer as 1997 or 1998. Preferable that 1997 born if you are Yuto’s sibling, while 1998 born if you are Minkyun’s. 

 If you are the youngest, either you are same age as Yuto but later birthdate or the 3rd child that born after your parents marriage, in this case, 2 years younger than Yuto and 6 years younger than Minkyun.

Heads up I mentioned in the Hyojin & E-tion household, 3 households in this universe are very close to each other.So, apologies in advance and by all means there is not explicit favoritism (I did wrote about household interacting for previous universes). It just convenient and i felt we can use it this way.  Also, Minseok is Yuto’s classmate.

General headcanons

Yuto family moved to Korea when he is still a toddler. So he speaks Korean outside and Japanese back home. Because his family speaks in Kansai dialect, Yuto picks up that dialect automatically

Of course it could be Yuto’s family moved to Korea when he is at middle school age as well, it can be flexible.

Minkyun struggling to learn Japanese but then give up. But it never stops him to randomly drops in weird Japanese when he is hyper, and then leaving Yuto （and you）facepalming because Minkyun used it wrongly

Actually even though mature but super sensitive brothers. Well in very different ways. But should you live with them long enough, you pick up that intuitively 

I dont think this family will have alot of fight because both are sensitive in nature and deeply scare to hurt each other. So this family is all about giving out mental security to family members as well.

(its very different from MInseok Yuto household, because them 2 are in same age, so there is less factor to consider, while Yuto would have to put in Minkyun being a hyung when he started to get used to Minkyun’s existence. And Minkyun will sometimes, not in a bad way, being to passionately and freeminded hoping the younger one to open up more)

I mean, Yuto is defo the tsundere one while Minkyun radiates big puppy energy for this pair chemistry.

Loud

Bonus, Yuto never knew Minkyun can be that clingy lol XD

Minkyun never knew Yuto can be such a fan towards his weird antics XD He thought Yuto wont get his joke due to cultural differences, but turns out Yuto loves it (well cause mostly is body gag/ mom gaegu, like you see what Minkyun did during his birthday’s mini game heaven in 2020, that suddenly motor engine starting? Ya that is total epic lol )

Its super harmonious? like this family combi does not shy away on expressing hey i need help and family members super volunteer to help out if needed. (not that i mean other family does not help out each other, but this one is particularly doing it with super high tendency)

Due to Japanese background, Yuto might try to settle things on his own, but Minkyun will break that mindset stereotype and helps him out (like why you think it is a hassle for me? Ask for help if needed that is what family is here for.)

Minkyun playing guitar while singing and that is how your family know if he is at home or not.

Yeap in this universe Minkyun is a songwriter while Yuto is a dance coach and dancer (later when they all grow up, BTW i am thinking that Yuto and Minseok runs a dance academy later on.)

Minkyun is also part time sponsor/volunteer at pet shelter. In the end you and Yuto also are familiar faces at the spot. 

Also, hanging out being little part timers at Baskin Robbins lol

OH IF WANNA TRULY LINK EVERYTHING FOR UNIVERSE 3, BASKIN ROBBINS being the main meetup/setup point.  Jaeyoung is Minkyun’s friend so he would always drop by to have ice cream. While Changyoon could be doing a part time job there before and while occasionally drop by when he is nearby. 

welp they all live in the neighbourhood/same city in this universe so they all coincidentally bump at each other very often.

Either Yuto joining a school dance club or a dance academy  so there is where he met Minseok. (Who is a really curious kid who also look up to Yuto and Yuto also look up to him, cos dance talents)

(for this part I wont be talking about how Minkyun snuggling cat snacks cos its repeating what I wrote.)

 Scenario 1

If you are related with Yuto and Minkyun is the new join

Could you be are extroverted and you kind off help Yuto to get close to Minkyun

You and Yuto would find this new brother fascinating. He looks quiet at the beginning but later he will prove you both wrong

But when Minkyun is his serious mode, you will feel strange towards that too, because how can he has such large gap

i thinking its super cute and funny that if you and Yuto both gets intimidated at Minkyun’s height lol

It will be fun if Yuto has a denial stage aka hard time opening up to accept it because he is cautious, but you just bluntly accept it and joins Minkyun. It shows difference between personality of related blood siblings lol

IF actually you and your blood brother are introvertedly fun, Minkyun’s existence will be the key to spark both of your dork traits. It is a assuring factor for your parents that you 3 hang out very well.

its not like your family never heard Yuto laughed, but ever since Yuto and Minkyun opened up and gets close, Yuto is laughing alot.

you and Yuto both asking MInkyun for help when you two could understand some Koreans. But since Minkyun fools around 50:50, you two ends up googling or just straight up asking your friends

But if it is homework/grammar wise, Minkyun will really really explain it to you.

Minkyun also get close towards Yuto’s classmate, Minseok. I think a few times, you did not join, but the boys went out to roam the streets to feed stray cats/animals.

Bonus if in this hc, and you are younger than Yuto, and you have a crush on Minseok. Minkyun picks it up and would wanna help out but you told him to keep still XD

you three gonna be game buddies for sure lol

Scenario 2

If you are related with Minkyun and Yuto is the new joined / OR my preference, Yuto being the home stay student, and your family ends up unofficially adopts a Japanese sibling since Yuto continues his homestay contract with your family.

You and Minkyun thought Yuto is a bit distant in the beginning, and you three overwork your brains on trying too hard not to do something impolite towards each other culture.

But you and Minkyun would be surprise at how Yuto is so adapted to Korean culture later on.

Could be you are similarly shy like Yuto and need time to open up. This time Minkyun will be the one to open up first and slowly helps you.

Minkyun would suggest 3 of you to hang out at pet shelter. It does help.s

hould it is the homestay hc, I do see your family and Yuto’s family going along very well. Occasionally showing up to greet Yuto’s family during Skype session.

As Minkyun is the one who gave up, you are the one who would pick Japanese up later on. It gave Minkyun a shock when you and Yuto casually switching Japanese and Korean (with you amateur Japanese, but its already enough to give Minkyun a fright)

He might pout a bit, thinking/semi blaming himself a bit for not putting more effort to try to manifest the tool get close with Yuto. But then will throw the worry aside because its not really that important. Because he understands that its not like he and Yuto could not communicate anyways.

if it is the student hc, This could be when you and Minkyun are still high shcool-ers/ middle school-ers. And your school opens for foreigns students.

Minkyun being a bit worried because of he is 95er and Yuto a 99er. But when one day he sees Minseok come to visit, he goes: “ OMG thank goodness, I was so worried that he could not get along with classmate.”

Yuto just sidelining his hyung lol like chill dude, I interacts just fine ok. Don’t worry. 

(maybe Minseok comes to pass homework for Yuto because Yuto was sick and Minseok know the address.)

Similar to above, should you are Minkyun’s younger sibling, he can picks up that you have a crush on Minseok too.

Scenario 3

If you are the child that born later from your parents marriage

Them both flustered when they first meet the baby you.

Idk why for this hcs, I felt that age gap will be wider, as Yuto and Minkyun’s parents come together when them both are more older than other hcs. My age range idea is Yuto is about 10 or 13 while Minkyun is 14 or 17.

So, also I do think them both had a fight with parents, especially the mom because of her decision to get pregnant at older age. But quickly reconciled, they are just worried, no bad intentions. 

Because they are more grown compared to other hcs for this scenario, they help out on babysitting even more and even practical.

Minkyun basically is just like a young flustered dad while Yuto is the calmer one. But sometimes when the baby you throws a tantrum because you specifically wanted mommy, cues in both  Minkyun and Yuto flustered.

Also, Minkyun being funny but you are unbothered, 3 seconds later, it was Yuto who could not hold in and burst out laughter. 

You might be the one who pick up the language. And because you master both language, maybe later on your career pick would be interpreter

Rather than Yuto gets confused with language, you are the one who gets confused with language  in the beginning lol

It only got better when Yuto decided that you should speak Japanese with him and Korean with Minkyun in the household.

Minkyun is gonna let his baby young sibling ride him, and he will do his iconic either elephant or horse voice imitations.

(super funny bonus, if you are scared of that when you are a baby, but it got better later on.)

A/N I will stop here because I dont wanna write repetitive stuffs

#onf #onf headcanon #onf headcanons #onf imagine #onf imagines #onf scenarios #onf scenario #sibling!au #sibling!onf #mk #u #onf mk #onf u #mizuguchi yuto #park minkyun

[degenerate-perturbation]

Chapters: 21/32 Fandom: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, Dragon Age II Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Female Amell/Female Surana Characters: Female Amell, Female Surana, Anders, Velanna, Nathaniel Howe, Oghren (Dragon Age), Justice (Dragon Age), Sigrun (Dragon Age), Varric Tethras, Isabela (Dragon Age), Male Hawke (Dragon Age) Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Self-Harm, Blood Magic, Prostitution, Drowning, Wilderness Survival Series: Part 2 of void and light, blood and spirit Summary: Amell and Surana are out of the Circle, and are now free to build a life together. But when the prison doors fly open, what do you have in common with the one shackled next to you, save for the chains that bound you both?

All around Yvanne the enormous cypress thrummed with life. If there was a world beyond the belly of the hollow tree, she didn’t quite believe it.  

“I don’t understand,” she said.

“Of course you don’t understand,” her great grandmother said kindly. Distant bells seemed to ring with every one of her words. All of a sudden Yvanne wasn’t sure if the old woman’s lips were actually moving when she spoke to her. “Who could possibly expect you to?”

“Why did you bring me here? That spirit I saw—was that you?”

“In a way,” the old woman allowed. “But I did not bring you here. You brought yourself.”

“But you called me. You told me to come home.”

“Is that what you heard?” She smiled. “Oh, my daughter.”

That stung. “Stop it,” Yvanne growled. “You don’t even know me.”

“Not as well as I’d like. But we have met, in the world beneath the world.”

“You’ve been spying on me,” Yvanne realized. “Through the Fade. Just what gave you the right?”

The old woman’s bright eyes flashed. “Precisely the same thing that gives you to look in on those you wish to see.”

“That’s—that’s not the same,” Yvanne faltered. “I didn’t want to look. I tried not to look. I couldn’t control it.”

“But you’d like to. And so you are here.”

“No, I’m here because you called me. I’m here because I had just settled into a perfectly contented life when all of a sudden I became tormented by these voices—your voice.”

Yvanne could load quite a lot of furious accusation into a short phrase spoken softly, but the old woman remained unmoved. “Believe me, my daughter, I do not have the power to bring about what you experienced. If you heard my voice, it was as a trickle in a torrent. You have begun to awaken as a spirit mage.” 

“And just what in the void does that mean?”

In tones of infinite patience: “For years you have hobbled yourself; now you are beginning to walk freely for the first time. Of course you were overwhelmed. Anyone would be. Nobody here in Dairsmuid awakens in their third decade of life, without the benefit of any guidance whatsoever.” In tones of bottomless sorrow: “You have been done a great disservice.”

Yvanne stood for a while, feeling all the hot air leak out of her.

“So can you help me?” she said, defeated. “Or not?”

“Of course I can. And I will. If you choose it. But how far you walk along the path is always up to you.”

Something sat uncomfortably in Yvanne’s stomach. “Alright, fine. Can you at least answer me this?” she said wearily. “Where is my mother?”

The old woman cast her eyes down. “That I do not know. She never came here.”

An unspoken hope died in her chest. “My father, then? My sisters?”

“Three of your sisters live,” the old woman said. “In one way or another. But of all who I called, only you returned.”

All she did not say fell upon Yvanne like a mountain. She dropped her head. “I see.”

“Oh, my daughter. I am sorry.” She sounded like she meant it. 

More questions sprung to her lips. When did my father die? And how? Which of her four sisters lived? And how? But as soon as they occurred to her, she thought better of them. She didn’t want to know. Of course she didn’t. If she’d wanted to know, she would have seen it in the Fade. It was a cruel thing to know about herself. 

“Why me, then?”

“You are the one who answered.”

“No. Why call at all? My father never spoke of his home. We have nothing to do with each other, blood relatives or not. What do you want with me?”

“Is it so wrong for an old woman to wish to see her lost daughter?” The old woman’s eyes closed. She said no more for many long moments. “I apologize. I am tired now. I must walk in the Fade for a time.”

“What? But I’ve only just arrived!”

“We will speak again. For now you will go with Itai; he will be your companion today.”

“Now hold on, I—” Yvanne began to protest, but the old woman was already asleep, having slipped into dreams in the space of a few breaths. She was alone. But she did not feel alone. If anything she felt like an intruder. The tree keeping her great-grandmother alive thrummed steadily, like a heartbeat.

“Yvanne?”

She turned to face a young man with wide cheekbones and a halo of black curls. “How did you know my name? Or that I was here?”

He gave her a polite, puzzled smile. “Buya called me, of course. I’ve finished my training for today, so I can show you around.” He was younger than her. Was he even twenty? “I’m Itai—I think we might be cousins.”  He crossed his right arm over his chest and tilted his chin down in greeting.

She stiffened. “Well, maybe we’re cousins, but you don’t know me, and I’m only staying here for as long as it takes me to get this—this problem under control, so don’t get too comfortable. There’s no need for all this…this…”

Itai shrugged. “Well, you’re going to have to wait at least a few hours anyway before she wakes up, so you might as well see the city, right?” 

—

On her way to the great cypress, Yvanne had paid no attention to her surroundings at all. A compulsion to reach the tree where her ancestor dwelled had consumed her, and only now had it loosened its hold on her. Now she was finally seeing the city with clear eyes.

Dairsmuid was a city built upon the water. Wooden planks, shiny and smooth from the thousands of feet that walked upon them, were its streets, but so was the water; everywhere were gondoliers carrying goods by canoe, chatting with each other as they passed. Some of the buildings were built in the trees themselves, and what trees they were; they flared at their twisted, knotty bases. Some grew fused together, making masses large enough to support homes. Circling steps were bolted to many of them, and cables ran between the boughs, sending packages and messages zipping overhead.

Itai introduced Yvanne to more distant cousins and uncles and aunts than she could possibly keep track of, men and women of all ages. Each one greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and a quick embrace, too swiftly and with too much assurance for her to protest.

And not a single one of them batted an eye at all the magic.

Magic didn’t seem to exactly be common in Dairsmuid, but every once in a while she would spot a shopkeeper levitating his wares, or a gondolier lighting a lantern with a snap of his fingers. Everywhere she saw spirits, mostly formless wisps, but larger, more distinct spirits, too. Children chased them like chickens, earning scoldings from their parents when they were caught. She watched, rapt, one group of mage children play a game of spark-shooting with each other. As she watched something cracked open deep inside her, and suddenly she wanted to cry.

“Alright, there?” said Itai. She snapped out of it, drawing her eyes away from a scene where one child chased a wisp right over the edge and into the water, where he was fished out by an irritated gondolier. She just barely managed to nod.

Itai kept rambling as he took her around, away from the center of the city—”Dairsmuid’s mostly on the water now, but old timers will tell you how the sea used to be much further out“—past rows of fishermen hauling in oysters and crayfish—”They’re best with lemon sauce,”—inland towards residential areas that were raised over mud and peat rather than standing water. They went past shrines to Andraste laid with offerings of fire-lilies—”What? Of course we worship Andraste! What a strange question,”—past spirit-lanterns nestled in the branches of the cypresses—”They’re always lit, so nobody falls off the platform. And if someone does, the spirits signal the night watchman to come over and fish them out…it’s usually just the drunks, though.”

Yvanne found herself liking Itai quite a lot. Until—

“And my Templar training isn’t so bad, usually, but master has us getting up so early, and usually at night I find myself thinking of so many things and unable to sleep—”

She stopped in her tracks. It took him a few seconds to notice, and he turned, puzzled.

“Your what training?”

“Templar training,” he repeated. “Are you alright? You look like you ate something curdled.”

“I didn’t realize Dairsmuid had Templars.” She did not try to keep the hiss out of her voice. Including my own family.

He stared at her, uncomprehending. “Sorry, I don’t get it. What’s the problem?”

How in Thedas was she to respond to that? “So was that why they picked you to give me the tour? Were you supposed to keep an eye on me and cut me down in case I turned out to be dangerous after all? I knew I was right to be suspicious—”

“Hold on!” Itai was laughing. Actually laughing! “I think you’re confused. In Dairsmuid, Templar is a ceremonial role. We don’t take lyrium or anything like the westerners. I’m not even being taught to fight with this thing—” He tapped the ornate weapon belted to his hip. “It’s all just rituals and basic forms.” 

“Then—” She stumbled. “Then what’s the point?”

He shrugged. “Tradition? Got to be a Circle at Dairsmuid, with Templars. So we have them. We’re supposed to keep the Seers safe, but the Seers don’t really need protection, so it’s pretty boring. Once I finish training, I’m probably going to be a fisherman like my da. Look, the sword’s ceremonial—it’s not even sharp.”

She must have still been staring. He smiled, embarrassed. “Sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I don’t really know much about western Circles.”

Maker, but this place was weird.

“I can’t believe the Chantry lets this place exist,” Yvanne said just as the silence was growing awkward..

“Well, Rivain’s pretty far from Orlais.” He shrugged. “We do things our own way. Really, the Qunari up north are a much bigger problem, but Dairsmuid’s not anywhere near Kont-Arr. Anyway, the Seers wouldn’t let anything happen.”

“Just what is a Seer? Exactly?”

Itai looked at her like she’d just asked the color of the sky. “Huh? But you’re a Seer. Aren’t you?”

She shook her head.

“You know—a woman who communes with the spirits. You call them mages out west, right?”

“But plenty of men are mages,” said Yvanne. “What do you do with the boys who are born with magic?”

Itai snorted, laughing.“Nobody’s born with magic. Spirits pick who they want to talk to. And sure, boys can talk to spirits, but they can’t be Seers.”

“Why not?”

“They just can’t.” He scratched his head. “Look, I don’t really know. Why don’t you ask Maita? She’s not a Seer yet, but she will be. Come on, you’ll like her. I have to get home and help da clean today’s catch, anyway, so I’ll leave you with her, if that’s alright.”

Three girls sat laughing and weaving reed baskets as Itai and Yvanne approached. One of them stood in anticipation, her eyes widening in delight. All three girls wore bright brass jewelry, but one—the Seer?—wore the most; bangles on her wrists and ankles, and a headdress of overlapping discs that glittered and clinked with her tiniest movement. 

“Is this her?” she demanded of Itai, and didn’t wait for an answer. “Oh, it is! Oh, welcome! We are also so glad you have come.” She jangled as she wrapped Yvanne in a tight, loud embrace. “Ambuya told us you had come.”

“But how—”

“Oh, but your hair!” Maita gasped. Never had Yvanne heard anyone sound so heartbroken over hair. She glanced over her shoulder to plead wordlessly with Itai, but he was already grinning, waving goodbye, and backing away, the traitor. “You poor thing, you must have been through so much.” 

Yvanne suddenly became aware of her body, sharply and unpleasantly. She hadn’t looked at herself in so long that she had forgotten that others could still see her. Maker, she didn’t even want to think about how she probably smelled She self-consciously tucked a piece of it behind her ear. Unending months of neglect and salt had caused it to dread up into unsalvageable masses.

“You must let me fix it for you. Oh, I love to do braids, but–may I?” She reached out to touch Yvanne’s hair. She struggled not to flinch. “No, I don’t think there’s enough left to do braids. How about knots? Or twists? I do the best twists; ask anyone.” She turned to her two friends, clinking, for confirmation. Both nodded earnestly.

Nobody had done Yvanne’s hair since she was nine years old. Loriel had been useless at it and nobody else had come close to earning the right. “I—Okay.”

“Yes! Wonderful! Please, do come in. You must have some of my beads. I’m getting married soon, so I won’t get to wear them, and I don’t even have any sisters to give them to. Only brothers–it makes me so sad!”. Then an expression came over her face. “Wait! You aren’t married, are you? I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have assumed…”

Yvanne felt the absence of the ring upon her finger, and answered, truthfully, “No, I’m not married.”

Maita’s animated expression returned. “Oh, good! Then you can have the beads. Come, come!”

She tugged her inside, enticing her friends to come join her in solving Yvanne’s hair problem. She was altogether reminded of Leliana. Yvanne slipped out of her grasp. “Look, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but—we’ve only just met.”

Maita gave her a confused smile. “But of course we’ve met. In the world beneath the world.”

Again that phrase.

“Maita, you’re shaming her,” one of the others said, rolling her eyes. “She has no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh,” Maita said, suddenly embarrassed. “Oh, no, you really don’t, do you?”

If Yvanne had not spent the past years being humbled over and over again, she might have taken offense. As it was, she only shrugged.

Maita covered her face in shame. “I’m so sorry—I assumed, since you were training with Ambuya—we were all so jealous when we heard…”

“Sorry,” she muttered. “I’m afraid I only look Rivaini. I’m not a part of any of this. I’m certainly not a Seer.”

“But you are a Seer,” Maita said encouragingly. “Or you will be.”

She crossed her arms, doubtful. “She said I was only beginning to learn. That I was already late.”

“It doesn’t matter. You’ll learn. You’re her blood, after all.”

“Isn’t half of Dairsmuid her blood? I’ve lost track of how many cousins I’ve met today.”

Maita laughed. She had a musical laugh. “Perhaps not so much as half! Our Buya had many sons, but even those who are not her blood are still her family; she is buya to all of us.”

Yvanne, who had been assuming that ‘Buya’ was the old woman’s name, made a small adjustment.

Dairsmuid had a public bathhouse, and she was in luck—today was the women’s day to use it. The next several hours went to matters of hair and beads and other things so trivial that Yvanne had nearly forgotten they existed. Was there really still a world of moisturizing hair cream and scents and jewelry? She had liked such things, once, because in the Circle they had been—if not forbidden, then strictly discouraged, and difficult to get a hold of. The habit had stayed with her as the Vigil’s keeper, and she had yet to be cured of it. It was so ridiculous. It was so nice.

Somewhere in this process she told the story of her travels. She hadn’t meant to—she’d thought it far too painful—but somehow it all came out. She started with hiding in Highever—she left out that she had ever been a Grey Warden—and by the time she got to the part with the pirates her hair was done. It had been long all her life, and was twisted close to her head and bound with bells and beads. She looked both like and unlike Isabela, like and unlike her old self. She had never felt so light; she couldn’t stop tilting her head back and forth and feeling the absence of the weight. It was strange, but not—bad. No, not bad at all.

By then it was time for the evening meal was upon them, and Maita’s mother—a stout woman who had clearly never taken no for an answer in her life—was insisting. Yvanne ate with Maita and her mother and her younger brothers who stared at her with curious eyes the size of dinner plates. Maita’s mother, it turned out, was not from Dairsmuid, but from a village on the eastern coast. 

“—I came here to be with my girl, of course. She wanted to learn here in the capital, and I was not about to let her go alone,” she said proudly.

Yvanne slept there on a palette by the smouldering hearth, sick with imagining what it would be like to have a mother like that.

As the days passed and her great-grandmother did not summon her, she was folded into Maita’s family almost without noticing. Maita had three younger brothers who Yvanne somehow fell into the watching of—boys of six, ten, and twelve, who begged her to show them how to make lightning. She helped with the chores, kept the boys busy. She even learned a few words of the local Rivaini dialect. On the last day of the week, she helped decorate the household shrine to Andraste with marsh-lillies and necklaces of carved wooden beads. The prayers spoken over the shrine were not entirely unlike the Chant, but not entirely like it, either.

Finally came market day, so Yvanne saw the Dairsmuid market. Maita tugged her along as she did her family’s shopping, informing her of what fruits were in season and asking frequent questions about what things were like in Ferelden. 

“Oh, I used to love the star-reader,” Maita sighed, pointing out a woman’s nondescript stall. “Of course, it is not Seeing, but that’s what made it special. My friends and I used to giggle for hours over the fates the stars had in store for us. The men we would marry, how many children we would have…” She trailed off, then finished cheerfully, “But I’ll be getting married soon.”

Yvanne could not help but notice that no husband-to-be was in evidence.

Maita clinked loudly as she laughed. “I haven’t met him yet, of course! He lives in a village far away from here, one that needs a Seer. Once I have passed the ritual, I’ll be ready to serve. I’m told he’s very kind. Is it bad that I hope he’s handsome, too?” She giggled behind her hand. “But you aren’t married! Do you want to consult the star-reader? Don’t you ever wonder what your husband will be like?

“Hm,” said Yvanne. “No, thank you.”

Soon after Maita encountered a friend of hers, and fell inextricably into an animated conversation that Yvanne couldn’t follow at all. Slighted, and resentful that she felt so, she wandered away. She could hear in the middle distance bell-like music. The source of it turned out to be a Vashoth woman sitting cross-legged, producing the tune from an instrument Yvanne had no name for, a wooden box lined with metal rods that produced unearthly music under the Vashoth’s careful fingers. Too soon, the song ended, and she lifted her hornless head to smile in thanks at the crowd. 

Only then did Yvanne notice the scars around her lips.

“Did you mean to buy something?” the Vashoth asked suddenly. Yvanne forced herself not to stare.

“I have no money,” she stammered, then added, “Sorry.”

The saarebaas sized her up, and smiled. As she did, her scars instantly became the most noticeable thing about her. “Oh, I see. You’re new; one of Buya’s girls, aren’t you? I am called Amarna.”

“So I’m told,” Yvanne said stiffly

“You’re a bit old to start training.”

“I’ve had training.”

The saarebas laughed shrugging. “Mm. Well, it was probably better than the training I got.”

Yvanne’s eyes flicked to the woman’s scars again. 

Amarna snorted good-naturedly. “Admiring these?” she said, touching her lips.

“I wasn’t—”

The former saarebas laughed. “Go ahead and look, I’m not ashamed.”

Yvanne wanted to apologize, but now she worried that it would only make it worse. Luckily the awkwardness was broken by a little Vashoth girl in pigtails, no more than eight years old, and already as high as Yvanne’s shoulder.

“Look what my friend showed me how to do!” the little girl said breathlessly to—presumably—her mother, ignoring Yvanne entirely. She extended her pudgy, little-girl hands palms up. Fireballs bloomed there, first, red, then yellow, then green and blue. Yvanne startled backwards and nearly knocked over a rack of fishing spears. “Are you proud of me?”

“Very good!” her mother beamed as Yvanne desperately tried to stabilize the rack of spears. “Indeed I am proud of you. But do you remember the rules?”

The girl let the fireballs dissipate. “No fire without my tutors watching,” she said ruefully, rolling her eyes. 

“That’s right. Now go play.”

Only then did the little girl notice Yvanne and mutter a shy ‘hello’ before running off again.

“Sorry for her,” said the saarebas. “She’s always trying things she’s not quite ready for yet.”

“That…must be difficult.”

“I can’t even tell you how many times she’s hurt herself!” She shook her head. “But if she makes no mistakes, she’ll never learn.” 

Yvanne had been that age when she’d first discover her magic. She never would have dreamed of showing her father. She’d hidden it. Had prayed for the Maker to take it away. “I’m surprised you don’t worry.”

“Of course I worry! What mother doesn’t? But she has good teachers here. I’ll never be much of a mage, but the Seers take care of her. And if she’ll receive some scars for her own foolishness, she will never have scars like mine.” She said it in well-rehearsed tones, like this was a speech she had been obliged to recite too many times.

Yvanne remembered Cheddar, and what had happened to her sarebaaset. But no, she daren’t ask. Instead she said, “What kind of instrument is that?”

And like so Maita found her some minutes later, profusely apologizing for leaving her alone, exchanging pleasantries with Amarna, and finally dragged her away.

“I’m sorry I didn’t warn you,” she said in hushed tones. “I forget that most people outside Rivain aren’t used to the freed saarebas. Quite a lot of them live here.”

That night Yvanne could not get to sleep beneath the unfamiliar ceiling. She thought of Amarna’s little daughter whose magic would only ever earn her a gentle admonition, and envy rose in her gorge like poison. What she would have given to have grown up here in Dairsmuid. What might she have become if her father had brought her here instead of to Ferelden? Why hadn’t he? Why hadn’t he loved her enough to bring her here? All those years in Kinloch, the wretched thing that place made her—

She thought of Amarna’s scars, and thought—yes, it could have been worse. But it could have been better, too.

Yes, she was here now, but what good did that do her? It didn’t make up for it. Nothing ever would. Dairsmuid was not her home. If she had ever had one, it had been Vigil’s Keep.

That home was lost to her. Perhaps did not exist at all. Just like her mother and her father and her sisters. Everything was lost, lost—all that remained was here. A wave of nauseous longing rolled over her like the evening tide, and she went to sleep no less conflicted and confused.

—

She dreamt again of Loriel, buried deep within her tower of stone.  Her hair was longer now than it had ever been, neatly parted in the center. Somehow in their time apart it had stopped frizzing, and fell to her back in elegant feathers. Were there new lines on her face? How old was she now?

She was writing busily in a blank parchment manuscript, occasionally consulting a tome at her elbow. She scribbled for hours, only occasionally pausing to sip water or stand up to stretch. All these little gestures, so familiar, so utterly strange.

Who was she? Who was she?

“I never even knew you, did I?” Yvanne said to her, knowing she wouldn’t be heard. “Not that you were any better. You never knew me either, did you? I don’t think I ever felt more alone than when I was with you.”

And Loriel kept scratching away, oblivious. It was starting to make her angry.

“You know,” she said, “If it hadn’t been for all that fucking blood magic, maybe you could have heard me say all these things. Maybe you could have heard me at all. I was too much a coward to say what I meant to your face, and now you’ll never know how I really felt. You selfish fucking bitch.”

And then—

—Loriel looked up.

Her forehead wrinkled in that burningly familiar way. Her mouth began to form the shape of the word, who—?

The dream collapsed.

—

Yvaanne woke in the middle of the night, knowing that she was summoned to Dairsmuid’s great tree. She received no message; only a conviction that she was wanted, and an intuitive understanding of where to go. She walked there, barefoot, the ancient half-drowned forest singing all around her.

Buya was exactly where she had been, awake and bright eyed. “I am sorry to have woken you. Did I interrupt your dreaming?”

She shook her head. “I did not want that dream.”

“I see.” The old woman’s lips still did not move when she spoke. “Have you decided, then, if you will stay and learn from me?” 

“I…”

A heaviness lay on her heart. After a week in Dairsmuid, she had never missed the Vigil more. She missed her high grey walls, her fluttering banners, the smell of smelting iron in the air. She missed the training, the drinking games, the knowledge that everyone around her knew her name, that people would care if she was gone.

But here in Dairsmuid, everyone somehow knew her name. They would care if she was gone. So they didn’t know her, so what? Nobody had ever known her. 

Dairsmuid was here. Dairsmuid was now. And was love not born of base familiarity? Was love anything besides mere exposure, mere proximity? 

“Great-grandmother, I want to stay,” she said. “But…”

Ambuya waited, patient.

“But there’s someone I still love. Far from here.”

“Ah,” the old woman said. “I see. I will not pretend I am not disappointed, but it was good to lay my mortal eyes on you, my daughter.”

Yvanne shook her head, and knelt. Then she looked up, her eyes streaming. “And I never want to see or think about her, ever again. Please, grandmother—I am yours. Please, teach me.”

Ambuya smiled, reached out, and placed a hand on Yvanne’s bowed head. She was resolved; she would become a part of this. She would be one of many, and she would make this life a good one if it killed her.

#dragon age #amell #surana #femslash #rivain #dairsmuid #please read my wizard lesbian fanfiction

[thanksjro]

Last Stand of the Wreckers, Issue #4: This Series is Awash With Lippy Sons of Guns

Issue #4 starts off with an uncomfortably handsome Prowl. I mean honestly, look at this asshole, he’s simply too pretty.

I don’t think Roche has ever drawn the guy ugly, but this is on another level.

We’re in a flashback sequence here, as we start to gain an understanding of just why exactly Ironfist got put on the Wreckers in the first place. Back when he was working at Kimia, Ironfist got a call from Prowl. Seems Prowl’s read his work, and is impressed by the sheer amount of effort he’s put into it. They chat a bit about it, but no call with Prowl is ever casual, and he asks Ironfist if he’s ever been interested in actually being a Wrecker. Which, of course he has, but he’d never exactly been cut out for that kind of work, especially after his Accident™. Prowl has a little push in that area, because he’s Prowl, and makes a deal; Ironfist joins the Wreckers as a weapon expert, and in exchange he does something for Prowl.

We won’t find out what exactly Ironfist’s agreed to do until later, as we jump back to the present, where the Guzzle and Kup are about to lay the smackdown on some unsuspecting Decepticons.

With how many cameras are currently trained on you guys, I can’t say you really have the time for wisecracks, old-timer.

That big vault door behind them leads to the cell of one of the most notorious Autobots ever to grace the galaxy- Grimlock. This is the “help” Springer requested they find, meaning that he’s a sort of last resort, which tells you just how much of a powerhouse the guy is. Volatile, sure, but a powerhouse regardless.

Too bad the cell’s empty.

Snare steps in to explain just why that is, having snuck up on our Big Gulp duo.

Well I’m sure that won’t be a plot point later on.

Of course, Guzzle doesn’t really feel inclined to believe a word of what this Getaway kitbash says, and starts threatening to shoot him. Snare however, has even more secrets to tell.

Perceptor and pals have finally discovered just what the hell it is that they’ve been looking for all this time. Aequitas is a supercomputer, and a massive one at that. They’re here to download its memory files. Topspin is less than pleased with this whole thing.

Ironfist agrees- there’s no way they’re going to be able to get all the data in Aequitas downloaded before the Decepticons get through to them and tear them to pieces. Verity, however, is more concerned about the size of the computer itself.

A large part of Aequitas is made up of something called a culpability drive, which breaks down factors like motivation and accountability into a streamlined equation so it can do something completely ridiculous: calculate guilt. Yes, someone had the bright idea to break down guilt into a binary system, without any “human” element involved. Because that couldn’t possibly backfire.

Then the narrative catches up to Topspin, and Ironfist and Verity get put on babysitting duty while he deals with his phantom pain. Pyro’s made to help Perceptor with booting up the computer.

Over with Springer, he and Impactor have a little heart-to-heart, while Twin Twist is passed out with a shadow over his face, probably waiting for the horrific reveal of what the dentist’s done to him. Springer feels really bad about Impactor having been sent to Garrus-9; he’d figured that after the trial, Impactor had been sent to rehab, or at least a prison that wasn’t quite as torturey.

Impactor points out that Springer’s testimony at Aequitas was pretty damning, and I’m starting to wonder why Springer didn’t see this coming. Unless they somehow managed to move that massive friggin’ supercomputer in the last few years, Impactor’s trial happened on Garrus-9. Kind of seems like a foregone conclusion that anyone who got put through the Aequitas wringer would end up staying if found guilty.

Impactor still doesn’t think that what he did was wrong, and the only reason they stop verbally duking it out is because Twin Twist does his dramatic face reveal and the dentist comes back in to finish off those fillings.

Funny, they had a similar setup at my old orthodontist’s.

As the dentist prepares to turn what’s left of Twin Twist’s face into the “Lust” scene from Se7en, we get back to the real point of this whole miniseries: fanwanking. Ironfist is telling Verity about the Decepticon’s answer to the Wreckers- Squadron X.

This group is made up entirely of characters who only existed in the Marvel UK comics, and even then only barely. This is convenient on multiple levels; it allows the Wreckers to have an antithesis to their own group that won’t disrupt any of the ongoing storylines outside of Last Stand of the Wreckers. Nobody’s really vying to use the guy who beat up a piano and then got thrown out of a bar, now are they?

It also allows you to use an already-established character that still has plenty of wiggle room for story application. No point in trying to make a new set of characters when we’ve got a bin full of nobodies off in the corner. Especially when we’re only going to have these guys around for a few minutes.

But we’ll get to that later.

Back to Ironfist’s story…

Oh hey Whirl.

Springer’s in a bit of a pickle- his lower half is trapped under a busted barricade, and Squadron X is closing in. Impactor has no intention of leaving Springer behind, so it’s time to get crazy. Springer tells Impactor to blast a hole through his TORSO so he can surprise-attack the approaching enemy. Impactor does so, reluctantly.

Please note that the emphasis is not mine, but the narrative’s.

That’s just a cool panel.

Once all that’s over and done with, Squadron X are all put into inhibitor harnesses to keep them from trying anything funny while in custody. But oh ho, what’s this? They’ve escaped! And they’ve ripped Sandstorm’s arm off! Surely, this must be dealt with, and who better suited for the job than the dude who’s been obsessed with taking these guys out for years now? Impactor gets to work.

And thus the day is saved, thanks to the Wreckers! Yaaay!

With Ironfist’s story concluded, Perceptor takes the time to mention that they’ve got a problem. Turns out Aequitas has some state-of-the-art security measures going on- in order to even turn the thing on, someone’s got to feed the thing their spark. You know, a robot soul. This thing runs on souls, and the donator has to be a willing participant otherwise it won’t work.

Well that’s awful convenient for you, now ain’t it, Percy?

I’m assuming they just never turned the thing off during the trials, otherwise they would have run out of juice very quickly.

So it’s slim pickings in terms of sparks. Perceptor’s playing IT, Topspin’s whole spark situation is a consent minefield, and Verity’s soul is the normal, human, intangible kind. And now we get to the part of our story that’s a little sad.

Pyro and Ironfist aren’t popular. They’ve never been in the spotlight. They aren’t important. They were brought on the Wreckers to die, plain and simple, because it’s a game of numbers, and their numbers are miles below the likes of Springer and Kup.

Pyro isn’t on-board with this at all, saying that this isn’t how it’s supposed to go down for him.

Say what you will about his delusions of grandeur, but this is a guy who knows what he wants.

While Pyro’s dreaming big, Topspin’s having a really bad time in the background. That vicarious perception’s hitting real hard right now.

Ironfist plays the child in a bitter divorce between Pyro and Verity as they argue over who the hell should die so the plot can keep moving. Ironfist has a lot to say, a lot that he really should say, but he doesn’t. He’s not proud of himself, or the things he’s done as a weapons’ expert. After reflecting on his life- a life that hasn’t been profoundly wondrous or meaningful- he concedes to being the one to die.

But that doesn’t happen, because Topspin takes matters into his own hands and puts the goddamn dog to sleep. The dog in this case being himself and Twin Twist. Aequitas thanks him for his donation, sucks out his spark, and over in the torture chamber Twin Twist explodes.

With the twins(?) dead, Aequitas is online, and not a moment too soon, because those Decepticons are starting to bring the door down. Perceptor hands a headphone jack to Ironfist, tells him to plug it into his brain, and to get ready for the hurt, because they’re about to download the entirety of this supercomputer into his head.

Back with Impactor, he’s about to get his cornea scratched, when Guzzle and Kup come to save the day, following Snare’s guidance.

I just want to say, Guzzle wins the Worst Crotch award. It’s simply awful.

So Kup and Guzzle free Springer and Impactor, just in time for Springer to revenge-stab the dentist with the torture stick. Too bad he’s already shot Snare.

Play… makes you free... in the prison that’s been turned into basically a death camp. Is… are we really doing the Holocaust parallels again? God, I hope I’m reading too much into that, I really do.

We finally find out what the prize for winning the Pit fights is: you can either fight Overlord, or kill yourself. Not much of a prize, if you ask me.

Speaking of the Blue Terror, he’s on his way over. Snare asks that Impactor just kill him, because there’s no way he’s going to risk being found out by Overlord that he was being sneaky. Impactor obliges, crushing his brain module between his fingers.

Then Overlord quite literally explodes into the room.

Back over in the Aequitas chamber, Ironfist’s just finished with his upload, and he’s shaken by what he now knows. The Decepticons have nearly broken down the door at this point, and there’s only one way to save themselves- they have to detonate the prisoners’ deterrence chips. This, of course, includes Impactor. Perceptor’s all for it, but Pyro’s wholly against the idea. Verity tries to put in her vote, but humans don’t have rights in the eyes of Wrecker law, so it all comes down to Ironfist.

You heard the man, let’s kill the purple guy.

#transformers #jro #last stand of the wreckers #issue 4 #maccadam #Hannzreads #text post #long post #comic script writing #wreckers trilogy

[cryysiswritesthings]

A Summer of Lifetimes | Week 1: Heat Wave

Fandom: Inuyasha Rating: PG Warning: N/A Prompt: Heat Wave 

Festival/Tanabata | Heat Wave | Fireworks | First Kiss | Star Gazing | Hugs from Behind |  Free Week - Destiny | Free Week - Reunion

Find it on: Tumblr |AO3

Collections: Sparks Fly in July Tumblr Tags: #kogkag #inuyasha #a summer of lifetimes #sparks fly in july #kogkag event 2020 #prompt: heat wave

Salty air and a cool ocean breeze. The perfect thing to battle all of the unbearable heat.

"Kagome, come on!"

Turning towards her friends, Kagome's smile was bright as she ran after them.

The sand was hot under her feet, but she ignored it and instead helped Sango put up the tent canopy. Yuka made sure the fitted sheet they'd brought with them was caught on each corner, creating the perfect square to help keep off most of the sand. Eri was setting out their towels and other belongings, and Ayumi set both of their coolers on the sheet. Working together, the five girls had their space set up in just a few minutes, and they couldn't suppress a cheer at their success.

"This is gonna be great! Now we just have to get a picture, and then we can hit water!"

While Yuka and Eri ran off to find someone willing to help them, Kagome dug in her beach bag to find her tripod and camera. With her degree in photography, the girls all agreed to use their phones when they wanted quick pics for social media, but for all the good stuff they used her camera.

It looked like the two girls had found someone, so she hurried to finish setting up the tripod. She wasn't planning on using it a lot today, but it never hurt to have around just in case.

"Guys, we found someone!" Eri called, dragging some poor kid behind her. He couldn't have been more than 14, and judging by the blush on his face, had probably only agreed because he thought Yuka was pretty.

Kagome shared a quick look with Sango, and the two struggled not to laugh. Leave it to Eri to get all the attention.

"Thanks so much, we appreciate it!" Ayumi bounced to her feet, her sunny smile sending the poor boy into a nervous stutter. Deciding to have some sympathy for the kid, Kagome picked up her phone and set it to camera mode before handing it to him. The red head smiled, fiddling with the controls a bit while the five of them got into position.

"Okay, we're ready!" Ayumi's cheer was infectious, and the girls all huddled close, a tangle of limbs, dark hair and excited smiles.

The boy looked a little confused, not sure if they were serious or not, but he'd snapped a few candid shots while they were setting up. If this was how they wanted to stand though... "Are you sure?"

"Yep! Go ahead and snap it!"

Shaking his head but not about to argue, he gave them another moment to settle. "Say beach day!"

"Beach day!"

Their laughter at his silly joke made the picture perfect, and he took a few more candid shots as the girls untangled themselves. More than one managed to fall over in the sand, and he held the phone out to its owner as she came over.

"I took some other pictures of you guys too. I-is that okay?"

"You did?" Curious, Kagome flipped through the photos and laughed. "These are amazing! Thank you so much."

The red head flushed at the praise, preening at the attention. "No problem! If you guys want me to take anymore, my grandma and I are right over there." He pointed out their spot on the beach, waving at the old woman excitedly. 

Laughing, Kagome waved hello as well and turned back to the boy. "I'll definitely keep it in mind. What's your name?"

"My name's Shippo!"

"Pleasure to meet you, Shippo. I'm Kagome, and these are my friends Eri, Yuka, Sango, and Ayumi," she told him, pointing to each of her friends as she named them. "We'll be here for a while today, so if you want to come play we'd be happy to have you."

The younger boy couldn't have looked more excited if he tried. "Really? You mean it?"

"Absolutely!"

"That's awesome!" The old woman called his name, dragging Shippo's attention away. "I have to go now, but I'll find you later, okay?"

"We'll be waiting." Kagome waved goodbye as he ran off, and finally looked back to her own friends who were fiddling with her camera. "Hey! Be nice to my equipment!"

"We are, don't worry!" Yuka looked up from over Sango's shoulder. "Sango's the only one whose touched it."

Only mildly reassured, Kagome went to reclaim her camera. Sango had taken the same basic photography classes as her, so she at least knew what she was doing. That wouldn't stop the others from messing with things though.

The athletic woman grinned at her, placing the camera in its spot on the stand. “I got everything set up for you. We said we wanted to try some of those jump shots, right?”

A chorus of ‘yes yes yes’ answered her question, and Kagome shook her head at Sango’s delighted laugh. The things she did for these girls, honestly. 

“Fine, get over there while I double check.” The four scurried away, and Kagome took a moment to check the lighting and set the timer. Once the flash started, it would take a series of shots, letting her choose the best of the bunch.

It didn’t take long to get the pictures they wanted, and at Kagome’s word the four of them took off like a shot to the water. Laughing under breath, the photographer searched up and down the shore. This beach was known for its waves, and if she was lucky, she might be able to take some shots of someone trying to surf.

It looked like there were some surfers a ways down, so she made sure to yell out to her friends where she’d be going. The last thing she needed was them scouring the beach for her and potentially screwing up a shot.

That’s not really fair though, Kagome thought to herself, heading towards her goal. I’d be upset with them too if they just up and disappeared without telling me.

Ever since Ayumi’s scare at the club a few months ago, all of them had gotten into the habit of checking in on each other in public. Out here on the beach, where anyone in the distance looked like just another spec of sand, it was doubly important.

Shaking her head loose of those disturbing thoughts, Kagome came to a stop when she reached a nice, unobtrusive distance. She wanted to take a few practice shots to correct the settings on her camera. Then when they came ashore after she’d gotten a few, she’d ask them about using the images in her gallery if they came out well enough.

The glaring sun gave enough light that she didn’t need her flash, but it did make her wish she’d remembered to grab her sun hat. She’d put on some sunscreen as soon as she and the others had gotten out of the car though, so at least there was that. Now she just had to hope she didn’t sweat it all off.

The coming of a larger swell set the small group of surfers cheering, each egging the other on. But it was the one with long black hair who swam forward, so he was who she focused her camera on.

He moved like he was born for it. He had no trouble catching his balance on the board, grin wide as his hand reached out to break a path through the wall of water. He matched the highs and lows of the wave until it broke, and his back smacked the surface of the water when he finally came to a stop.

Kagome winced in sympathy, but she laughed along with the others. She’d heard that smack from here, there was no way it hadn’t hurt. But he’d done it to himself, so it was really his own fault.

The surfer came spluttering up for air, and as the next wave rose, another took his place. 

She wasn’t really sure how long she’d sat there for, taking more and more pictures as time went on. So focused on whichever surfer happened to be catching the wave at the time, she didn’t notice the attention the group of men had started giving her. They playfully shoved at each other, attempting to convince one of their own to start a conversation with the bikini clad photographer.

But again, the one to take the lead was the long haired male, swimming to shore and heading in her direction. Kagome flipped through the images on her camera, deleting a few shots that had come out blurrier than intended. She had no idea she was even being approached until a shadow blocked her light.

Looking up in surprise, she felt a bright flush heat her cheeks. Her favorite of the bunch so far, he was a good head taller than she was, dark hair tied in a high pony tail and eyes as blue as the sky behind him. She couldn’t tell if the warm color of his skin was natural, or if so much time in the sun had left him permanently dark.

“So,” even his voice reminded her of the beach, waves lapping at wet sand, “are you gonna introduce yourself, or just keep taking pictures and leave us hanging?”

Blustering, she jumped up to stand, only just catching herself from falling face first in the sand. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to be rude! I was only taking some candid shots on the beach when I saw you and your friends--”

“Whoa, easy,” he laughed, the hand not holding up his board raising defensively. “I’m not complaining, neither are the others. We just didn’t know what exactly you were doing. Well,” was she seeing things, or had he just blushed? “Aside from taking pictures, I mean. You’d been at it for a while, so I thought I’d come see what was up.” He seemed to regain his composure, because he smirked. “My name’s Kouga.”

“Kagome,” she returned easily, feeling playful and at ease even as she eyed him suspiciously. “Do you always let people you don’t know take pictures of you?”

Kouga, as she now knew him, grinned. “As long as they’re as pretty as you, I’ve got no reason to complain.”

Her laugh was bright and surprised. “That has got to be one of the worst pick up lines I’ve ever heard.”

“Stick around for a while, I’ve got plenty more.”

While she snickered, he took the moment to clear his throat. “So, did you want to?”

Not bothering to hide her amused smile, she quirked a brow. “Did I want to what?”

“Stick around for a while.” He tilted his head briefly, using it to point in the direction of his friends who were coming back to the shore. “We’re gonna take a break, have a few beers. You can come sit with us if you want? Show off the pictures you took.”

Looking behind her, Kagome found her group of friends in the far distance. They were still out in the water, and it looked like Shippo had joined in on their fun. He was splashing Sango in the face with water, and she was using the other girls as laughing bodyguards. They looked like they were having fun. She should probably be getting back to them.

But…

Kouga’s eyes, the same color as the sky, flashed in her mind. Something told her this wasn’t an opportunity to let go of.

Turning back to the taller male, she smiled. “Sure. Why not?”

His answering grin outshone the sun.

#kogkag #inuyasha #a summer of lifetimes #sparks fly in july #kogkag event 2020 #prompt: heat wave

[crystalelemental]

Okay, beat Wily Beast and Weakest Creature.  God I am out of practice, but my Cheese Arts are stronger than ever.  In part thanks to the game’s mechanics.

Overall, I kinda like it?  I dunno, I don’t like the resource collection system much.  I prefer just...points.  Just let me score dictate my lives, alright?  That works really nicely.  I do appreciate that, unlike UFOs, you don’t need a perfect match of three, and that the little spirits don’t just leave if you take a while getting to them.  So that’s a big fix.

One minor annoyance that, once understood, actually made the game beatable for me, was the hidden spirits.  See, each mid-stage boss?  They can drop an additional spirit thing that, if collected, will release a ton of extra spirits, including life pieces and bombs.  So you can get up to two extra lives just by collecting all six.  I had to look up conditions for them.  I accidentally got the chicken one from Kutaka when I played Otter spirit, turns out you have to be in Raging Otter mode.  Related: raging otter is one hell of a statement.

My clear was actually with Wolf Marisa.  Yeah.  I’m kinda surprised too.  But the speed at which she takes down bosses really made the difference.  Eagle Reimu trivialized stages, but Wolf Marisa trivializes bosses.  Otter gives you more bombs, so like...it embodies cheese.  That’s actually why I went with it first.  But my issue is, I found I often wanted stronger shot types more than stronger bombs.  Bombs are finite and don’t last as long.  Sure, Master Spark can basically take out a boss with Otter, but it’s...not as reliable overall as a stronger unfocused or focused shot type, I think.

Now, characters and bosses!  Eika’s cute, but doesn’t exactly do much.  I have no strong opinions.  Her mid-boss fight is kind of obnoxious, though.  You only get the jellyfish spirit if you don’t kill any of the spirits around her.  Which is really hard when you have a wide shot type.  Unfocused Marisa has a pretty narrow laser, so that’s how I had to do it.  Overall, pretty forgettable right now.

Urumi’s...alright?  Probably my least favorite this game?  Like Eika, she doesn’t really do much, at least not in the routes I’ve played.  Also her cow spirit is a pain.  You have to be right up close to her.  Which is nice because it’s basically Icicle Fall, in that you’re completely safe, as long as you dodge around the one bullet she fires down the middle at you.  It’s not hard, but I don’t like playing aggressive by being right up next to a boss and having to react quickly.

Kutaka’s great.  I don’t know why, I just like her a lot.  She’s a helper.  She’s just here because Eiki told her to test you and make sure you’re ready, and she’s just really nice about it.  Her spells aren’t too bad, though I have trouble with the first.  Random bullet patterns are my weakness.  Anyway, her midboss spirit needs you to be in Raging Otter mode.  So 3 otter spirits and two of anything else.  It’s a bit tricky to set up, and it’s worse because unless you’re playing Otter, you need to pick up the last spirit during her card.  See, you can go into Raging mode for any animal, but the timer is much shorter for anything you’re not playing as.  I tried to start the match with it as Wolf Marisa, and it didn’t work.

Yachie!  Here’s a potentially novel take, I don’t much care for Yachie!  I think she’s fine as overall, but I have no particular feelings toward her whatsoever.  Maybe it’s because I don’t like the mob boss aspect, and personally align more with Keiki’s philosophy of things.  Anyway, she’s an absolute pain in my ass.  Why are all your cooldowns Border of Particle and Wave?  Who allowed you?  Also her spells are visually super cool, but an absolute bitch in the ass to play.  I hate her first one, I can’t figure out where the geometry is going and bomb it every single time.  The swirly fire one is the only one I could reasonably capture if it didn’t go on for so long.  And the one with the circles.  Honestly, that’s the coolest one conceptually, and I see how you’re supposed to do it.  But no thanks.  I’m not about that life.  Also her mid-boss spirit feels impossible.  “Quickly graze 10 bullets before you finish her off.”  Listen buddy.  I’m not good at Touhou.  I want to be as far removed from bullets as humanly possible.

Mayumi!  I actually like Mayumi, she’s a cutie.  I just think there’s something funny about her being the main guard, being really friendly toward you until the beast spirit reveals themselves, and making it a point to specifically state that this is the first emergency they’ve ever had.  I don’t know why, something about the whole scenario just tickles me.  Like, you’re a guard, who’s entire point is to defend this place, but you’re surprised that there’s any attempt to fight back? I dunno.  Her spells are cool but really tough.  Apparently Eagle Marisa, when you get Raging Eagle mode, just makes an entire joke out of this boss, since you break all her ally soldiers.  Her mid-boss spirit’s also really easy to get.  Have 4 spirits bouncing around the field when you beat her.  Really reasonable.

Keiki!  My absolute favorite of this game.  Listen, I get that this is supposed to be a struggle in which neither side is right.  The beasts are harsh and use humans as resources for their own ends, and Keiki treats humans like cogs in a machine who are protected but without purpose.  Neither is supposed to be a good choice.  Which is fitting, I guess, since...Hell.  Kinda funny that the savior they prayed for showed up only to make their lives miserable in a different way.  But even so, I like Keiki’s ideology more.  I dunno, I’ve never once been the type to think rules of nature is a good game plan.  We live in a society, society should aim to improve the situation for everyone involved.  Keiki’s methods aren’t great, and causes its own form of issue, but it’s at least an attempt at improvement, you know?  Anyway, I like her spells.  Most of them, anyway.  I feel like Keiki’s spells are either super easy, or super tough.  Like the first one is a really easy pattern to move through, but then the second is like “Here’s this fucking disaster of a bullet spread, good luck getting through this shit, also bombing and dying doesn’t erase the bullets and neither does losing beast mode so don’t hold still after getting hit or you’ll just die anyway.”  And it’s like...completely unreadable.  I have no idea how to beat that card.  I do like the last two cards.  Not because they’re especially fun or interesting, but because you start to cheat.  At this point, your spirit says that backup is coming, and it’s really easy to bomb when you’re in a tight spot, collect five of the many spirits around the field to protect yourself, and repeat that as needed.  I actually went into this section with no lives left and managed to clear it.  It’s a neat ide for the fight that’s playing out, and it does feel like you were the spearhead but the bosses behind you are sending support when it’s showtime.  Also the midboss of this stage is another impossible one.  You can release beast mode yourself as if it were a bomb.  If you do that, and you take out Mayumi with it, you get the extra spirit.  Hard as shit, if you ask me.

Overall, the game’s fine.  I actually think I’d rank it lower than Ten Desires, if you can believe that.  With beast spirits, all the crazy powerup stuff your character does, the bullets, and the usual blocks falling around, the screen is an absolute mess.  I swear to you, about half my deaths were because something exploded and I lost visual on where stuff was, or there was an animal spirit powerup right near me and I went for it only to find out a stray bullet as overlapped with it.  The game is a mess, visually, but it’s honestly not that hard at all?  Beast Mode acting as a free auto-bomb with side powerup benefits is really nice, and like I mentioned at the start, some aspects of the game are completely invalidated depending on which mode/character combo you choose.  But I feel like...by Stage 4...I had kinda stopped trying.  I wasn’t willing to engage with most of the cards, I’d either bomb or rely on Beast Mode to carry my ass.  Which I don’t think is quite as fun, but it’s almost required of you.  Generic enemies have a lot more health than usual, and I feel like boss patterns are trickier than average, so you’re kinda reliant on these boosts.  Admittedly, I’m also terrified of the Extra stage.  If this is anything like TD, they throw you the curveball there, where you don’t get shit for resources and have to actually get good after cheesing your way through the game.  Maybe another day.  I don’t have it in me right now.

#touhou #wily beast and weakest creature

[angels17324]

The Violet Paladin (Keith x Reader) Ch. 7

Word Count: 2286 Update Schedule: Every Monday [Masterlist] [Prev] A/n: Hey guys I opened my Ask Me Anything so feel free to ask me questions about this, myself or anything you’d like to know. Also today I’m taking my real estate exam so probably by the time this posts from the queue I should be done and hopefully passed anyways onto the story! 

It was the following morning and everyone was in the infirmary we were all just staring at Lance who was still in the pod.

"I can't tell if he looks healthy or not," Hunk quizzically said.

"I think he's breathing weird," Pidge said with her nose pressed up against the glass.

"Oh come on!" Keith complained wanting to open the pod.

"Not yet, just a few more ticks," Allura slapped his hand away.

"What the heck is a 'tick' anyway?" I questioned I've heard them say it a few times but still hadn't figured out what exactly it meant.

"A time slice," She replied.

"You mean like a second?" Shiro asked.

"What's a 'second'?"

"Like this," Pidge pulled out a timer showing seconds.

"I think ticks are bigger, Coran do you have a ticker?" Allura asked.

"Right here, Princess," He pulled out a 'ticker' everyone gathered closer to watch.

"I think ticks are slower," Hunk commented.

"We have to start them at the same time," Pidge and Coran started the two timers.

"I think we're winning!" Hunk shouted excitedly.

"Winning what? The intergalactic time measuring competition?" Keith questioned.

"Yes," Hunk replied.

"Are you guys having a Clock party?" Lance asked.

"Awe Lance- Wait, Lance you're okay!" Hunk hugged the Cuban boy.

"What happened?" He asked.

"We can tell you all about it while you get something to eat," Allura placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Talking? Eating? Are you asking me out on a date?" He asked her.

"Yep."

"Classic."

"There he is."

"He's okay." Everyone sighed.

After he got dressed and at some food, he seemed a lot better.

"Wow. Thanks, everyone," He smiled then turned to Keith. "Sounds like the mice did more than you did," I sighed here they go again.

"I punched Sendak!" Keith shouted.

"Yeah, after I had emerged from a coma and shot his arm off," Lance said.

"We had a bonding moment. I cradled you in my arms!" Keith shouted.

"Nope! Don't remember didn't happen."

"Even I was there Lance. It happened," I interjected.

"Now, I do remember you being next to me," He said flirtily.

"So he does remember he just refuses to admit that you two were actually nice to each other." I glanced at Keith.

"So, what about Sendak?" Lance asked.

"He's in a cryo-pod we're keeping him here in the castle," Allura informed him.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Lance asked.

"He's too dangerous to be roaming free," Allura told him. "Besides we might be about to get some useful information about Zarkon,"

"So what's our plan now?" He asked.

"We have to get back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people!" Hunk demanded.

"Wow. You are really hung up on this lady," Lance commented.

"No! It's not that," he explained how they'd been under Zarkons rule for a long time, and how he had destroyed their home. "This is what being a paladin is all about, it's time to man up!" He seemed to have ignited a spark in everyone.

"Well let's go, time to defend the universe," everyone began to walk out.

"Wait," Pidge called out to everyone. "I have something to say first," we all turned to look at the young teen. "I need to come clean about this, and I'm afraid it might change your view of me. Just so there are no secrets between us anymore. I can't 'Man up' because I'm a girl... I mean I can 'man up' because its a figure of speech and you don't actually have to be a man," Lance seemed to be the only one in shock.

"Wha... You're a girl?! How?!" Lance shouted.

"I've known for some time but I'm glad you came clean," Allura said.

"Yeah, I figured," Hunk said.

"Yeah me too," Keith smiled a bit.

"Wait, we were supposed to think you were a boy?" Coran asked.

"Pidge, owning who you are is going to make you a better paladin,"

Lance turned to me since I had been quiet thus far. "Aren't you shocked?" He asked.

"Nope, I've known Pidge for her whole life basically. There's no secret she could keep from me even if she wanted and vise versa."

"I'm glad to finally have that off my chest. Now let's launch this Castle-ship!" She ran out of the room.

"Wait, Pidge is a girl. And the castle is a ship? How long have I been out?" Lance asked.

"Amazing how much you can miss in the span of a day," I chuckled to myself before joining the others. After getting into my paladin gear everyone was in the control room and walked to the respective seats. I didn't really listen to the launch as I was too focused on wanting to understand everything on the screen in front of me. I glanced up to see that Keith turned his head away from me as soon as our eyes met. Strange...

Soon after everyone got up and gathered together while Hunk started talking about the plan for the Balmera.

"So, when we get there, what do you think? Do we just start blasting? Or do we land and have some sort of public address system, like, 'Attention Galra this is Voltron turn yourselves in'? No, wait, Blasting right?" He looked at everyone.

"Calm down Hunk," I tried to smile at him.

"Yes, Hunk Blasting," Keith said.

"It's our first big rescue mission he's just excited," Shiro commented.

"Excited to see his new girlfriend~!" Pidge teased.

"She's not my girlfriend," He defended, now he knew how Pidge and I felt. "She's just a rock I happen to admire very much."

I was about to join in on the teasing but an alarm started to go off.

"Are we being attacked?" Shiro asked Coran.

"No, it seems to be a distress signal,"

"It's coming from a nearby moon," Allura informed us. "Apparently a ship has lost power,"

"I wonder who it is?" Pidge inquired.

"Well they're just gonna have to wait, Shay has first priority, they're just gonna have to wait,"

"The Paladin code says we need to help all those in need," Allura told him

"Wow, this is so cool. It's like we're space cops on space patrol. Hey, Coran, do we have a siren we could turn on?" Lance asked.

"No, but I can record you making a siren noise and broadcast that to them,"

"Perfect!" He cupped his hands over his mouth.

"No, Not doing that," Shiro thankfully stopped him. Soon after we landed and everyone except Coran left to help the other ship.

We were met with three people a guy, a girl, and a robot. "You don't know how happy we are to see some friendly faces. People aren't exactly willing to jump in to help someone on the run from the Galra," the guy said. "I'm Rolo, that's Nyma, and that's our cyber unit, Beezer." Looking behind me I saw both Lance's and Pidge's eyes light up as they leaped to greet the two.

"So was your ship damaged in battle?" Shiro asked Rolo.

"Yeah, and parts aren't exactly easy to come by we barely made it here," He explained

"Well, you won't be fighting alone anymore. You'll have the paladins of Voltron by your side," Allura told him, he glanced back at Pidge and Lance who were both still obsessing over the other two.

"I don't think he's heard of us," Shiro said.

"Well, it has been ten thousand years," Keith said.

"No, I think it's more of those two don't exactly instill a whole lot of confidence for us," I pointed at Pidge and Lance.

"Well, let's start working on that ship. I'm sure we all got places to be," Hunk hurried us along.

"Sure," Rolo smiled. He opened the side of the ship, "our whole flaxum assembly is shot. I don't know what extra parts you carry in your rig,"

"I'm sure we can get you back up and running," Allura assured him. Rolo printed a list off of Beezer and handed it to Hunk before wanting to join and help find the parts.

"I don't think so," Hunk put an arm up.

"Hunk, don't be rude," Allura scolded him.

"Yeah Hunk, there are ladies present,"

"I don't know about you guys but the last time we let our guard down the castle was nearly destroyed and Lance you almost died,"

"He's right," I said.

"Sorry about that Rolo," Shiro apologize.

"No, I get it you gotta look out for your own," He said. Hunk returned to the ship and while we waited we listened to Rolo tell us about his life.

"Okay, I got the parts... you know to get your ship running," Hunk said, but Allura asked Rolo another questioned.

"This sector belongs to a nasty general named Sendak," he explained.

"We've met," Keith said with disgust.

"Hey, I think you guys are keeping Rolo from working," Hunk pleaded again.

"Alright," Rolo got up and started looking through the parts, I turned to Keith when Shiro walked over to Hunk.

"Guess you don't know how to help either." He said.

"I was my team's engineer but I'm pretty sure anything I do know is out the window," He just chuckled. I smiled and glanced around, "Hey where-" I watched the blue lion leave the castle. "Nevermind..." You sighed.

"Lance..." Keith groaned.

"I'm gonna go save Beezer before Pidge gets any crazier," I got up to walk to the youngest member it was a slight struggle but I managed to pull her off the poor robot. "Come on Pidge," She pouted.

"I'm just playing with Beezer," I chuckled before Rolo called out to Beezer to co-pilot.

"Well, he sure seemed to want out of here in a hurry," Everyone sat around waiting.

"How many ticks have they been gone for?" Pidge asked, probably wanting to see Beezer again. Lance has been gone a while too, now that I think about it.

"I don't know," Shiro said.

"Guys! Help!" I heard Lance shout.

"Lance?" Everyone put on their helmets "Lance? Where are you?" Shiro asked.

"Chained to a tree... and Nyma and Rolo just stole the blue lion." He said.

"Where are they?" Shiro asked.

"...Space," He said sheepishly.

"I KNEW IT!" Hunk shouted the whole way to our lions all we heard was Hunk complaining about how he knew it.

"Okay, we get it!" Everyone shouted. we flew after Rolo and Nyma as quickly as possible. Finally, we caught up to them but they flew into an asteroid belt.

"We'll never get through that," I said.

"Maybe I can smash through." Hunk tried... it didn't work...

"Keith, you and red should be able to make it through,"

"Right," Keith flew in after them.

"See you on the other side," Pidge said as the rest of us flew around, after a few minutes we were able to stop and corner Rolo taking back the blue lion.

"Hey, Lance, I got your lion back!" Keith said I could feel him smirking through the speakers.

"That's great but can you untie me?!" He shouted.

"Huh? What was that? You're cutting out," Keith laughed, I smiled it's nice to see everyone really is getting closer.

After towing Rolo, Nyma, and Beezer back to the moon the whole group stood in front of them.

"Well now your ship really doesn't work so you'll just have to wait here for rescue," Keith told them.

"Thank you for sparing us." Rolo looked down.

"Now that these guys have been dealt with let's get to the Balmera and save Shay and her family," Hunk said... again for the god knows how many times today, I really wanted to meet Shay now to know what girl got him this crazy.

"You may not believe this but I really do hope you stop Zarkon. It was a lifetime of fighting the Galra that lead me to where I am today." Rolo looked up at everyone. We went back to the castle.

"Hey Allura," I called out to the Altean.

"Yes, (Y/n)?" She asked.

"Can I talk to you alone for a minute?" I asked.

"Of course." The two of you waited for the others to leave. "So what's up?"

"Well, normally, I would have gone to Pidge to talk about this but one, I don't think she'd really know how to help and two, I feel like it'd be weird asking a younger friend for help in this matter."

"Go on what is it?"

"Well, I have these feelings... and I don't know how to really explain them. I just know that after actually getting to know him I've never felt like this for anyone else before,"

"Wait do you perhaps like someone?" She asked with a gleam in her eyes.

"Maybe I shouldn't talk about it..."

"No, please tell me, I want to help." She said.

"Alright... fine, I guess I do like him... more than a friend..."

"Who is it?" She asked.

"Uhm..."

"It's not Hunk is it?"

"Oh, no, he's a big teddy bear, plus I really want to meet this Shay girl." I smiled.

"Lance...?" She asked.

"No." You deadpanned.

"Then that leaves Shiro or Keith." I guess I must have made a face before she guesses. "It's Keith!" I covered her mouth quickly.

"Could you be any louder?" I asked sarcastically. "Please don't say anything," I asked her.

"I promise," she smiled. "You two might be good together too,"

"Well, let's go rescue Hunk's lady," I smiled.

Third person POV

Unknown to the two girls, a certain Cuban boy overheard the last half of the conversation. He smirked ever so lightly determined to tease his two friends... and maybe help them get together.

[Next] 

Tag List~ (As a reminder this is still open lol)  @somebodytouchedmysaeran @ittie-bittie-tittie

#keith kogane #the violet paladin #keith x reader #aliens #voltron #lance mcclain #vld #reader insert #romance #takashi shirogane #hunk #katie holt #blue lion #red lion #yellow lion #green lion #black lion #violet lion #allura #coran #angels1732

[heartofhryule]

Breath of the Wild: Captured Memories - Chapter 5

First and foremost; SPOILER WARNINGS. If you have not played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, or completed the Captured Memories Quest and want to stay un-spoiler-ed for it, DO NOT READ.

So I am writing these as I play through BotW for the first time - which means they probably won’t be ‘one-a-day’ consistent as its taking me forEVER to get to all of them, AND they probably won't be in any respectable order - just what I get to as I find them. My intent is to find them all, and summarize once I have found and have a story for each of the 18 memories required to get the bonus ending for the game. Once that's done, I will wrap it all up with a final chapter after I beat the game.

I will post them as I can though! Promise! I also plan to include links to the cutscene for you to watch at the bottom, if so desired - at least for the ones I can find. Any other warnings that become necessary, I will add for content as I go. For now, enjoy!

Chapter 5 - Hyrule Castle

It had seemed like a good idea a week ago.

Now, the closer he got to the Castle, to the corruption of Calamity Ganon, the more Link was regretting his choices. There were more guardians that any one place should ever have - flying, ground, stationary, mobile… it was a nightmare.

Zelda. Her name was Zelda. He knew that now. He’d heard the name before, Impa, King Rhoam’s spirit… but once Mipha said it, he knew it. Zelda - the name sparked those feelings in his chest, those ones that he didn’t have to understand to feel their power. Zelda - it was the name of the voice who’d awakened him; Her voice.

Now, here he was, soaked to the bone from swimming up waterfalls and trying his damnedest to scale a castle wall… silently. It was proving difficult. But above him, there was a parapet, that led to a small tower room… where he had stood, listening to Zelda - Princess Zelda, he had to remind himself - listening to her talk about the defenses they had in place against Calamity Ganon, should he return. He didn’t remember words, but wanted to. They were interrupted by something, but he couldn’t recall that either.. And he knew if he could make it to that spot, he would remember. He needed to - something had changed that day. Something important.

That was, of course, if he could make it without dying.

Which wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Reaching the top of the parapet, he ducked into the ruined room he vaguely remembered having been there, dodging the targeting of at least three Guardians to do so - only to find the Ganon blight eyeball blinking at him in a way he was becoming used to - upsetting as that was. With one arrow, he dispacted it. Unfortunately, he was now on a timer. This stuff had some kind of sentience - some tie back to the Calamity. Soon, more Guardians would come. He had to hurry.

Stepping silently out to the path, crouching to avoid being seen over the parapet wall, he pulled out the Sheikah Slate to confirm, and as the picture loaded before him, he was taken by the memory he sought.

***

The day was beautiful around them, breezy but not too cold. Zelda strode in front of him watching as in the courtyard below, the Sheikah and workers were tweaking and perfecting control over the Guardians.

He watched at the joy filled her smile, and it warmed his heart. Despite their rocky start, Link had come to care deeply for Princess Zelda in their time together. She was smart, funny, beautiful - always beautiful, but more so when she smiled like that.

“Incredible…” she said reverently, eyes focused on the work below her. “We’re at a point now, where we can actually control them. At the current rate, we’ll soon know all we need to know about the Guardians and Divine Beasts.” Turning from her vigil, she looked at him, and even in the memory his heart leapt a touch. Much of their time together had been spent travelling, Zelda in her breeches and riding boots. But just now, she was the picture of royalty in her blue and white regalia… but no less the scholar he knew her to be. It made him smile.

“And,” she added brightly, “should Ganon ever show itself again, we will be well positioned to defend ourselves!” Link smiled, his lips parting as he was about to compliment her for her hand in the gathering of that information to bring this to fruition, when a voice interjected.

“What are you doing out here, Zelda?” King Rhoam’s gruff voice demanded from the other side of the parapet. Link dropped to one knee and lowered his eyes as was expected of him, but his intuition told him something was wrong. The King loved his daughter, but in Link’s opinion, he was too harsh on her. Treated her… poorly. Like an object.

Zelda spun to meet her father’s gaze in surprise, her hands falling to her sides before clenching to stand her ground. “I… I was assessing the results of the experiments with the Guardians. These pieces of Ancient Technology could be quite useful against the--”

“I know that,” the King interrupted in irritation. “They are essential to Hyrule’s future and our research demands that we keep a close eye on them. However, as the PRincess you currently have a crucial, unfulfilled responsibility to your kingdom.” Though he did not dare look up to the King, Link’s eyes cut up from where he knelt to watch the Princess. This was not the first time he’d witnessed something like this between them. The harder the King pushed, the further it pushed Zelda away, from both her father and her destiny. It wasn’t right.

“I will ask you once more,” The King said, giving his daughter a cold look, “When will you stop treating this as some sort of childish game?”

Zelda stepped forward, her tone nearly pleading with her father as she said, “I’m doing everything I can. I���ll have you know, that I just recently returned from the Spring of Courage and offered every ounce of my prayers to the Goddess--”

“And now you are here wasting your time,” Rhoam snapped. “You need to be dedicating every moment of your time to your training. You must be single-minded in unlocking the power that will seal Calamity Ganon away!”

“I already am!” Zelda swore, her voice soft and desperate. “Don’t you see--There’s nothing more I can do!” She looked to her father, Link clenching his teeth and fists against saying anything. It was not his place to speak here, and certainly not to correct a King. Zelda was telling the truth, and while the Knight wasn’t entirely sure what was expected of his ward, he knew she had been trying very hard to unlock “the power” as she called it, and assure safety for Hyrule’s future.

“My hope… My hope is that, you’ll allow me to contribute here in whatever way I can!” she pleaded with her father. But the King shook his head, cutting her off.

“No more excuses, Zelda! Stop running away from your duty.” He paused briefly, as if he might actually be hesitant for what he was about to say, but it did not stop him. “As the King, I forbid you to have anything to do with these machines from this moment on… and command you to focus on your training.”

The soft, broken noise Zelda made was barely audible above the wind - only Link could hear it for his proximity to her, as the King turned to face the courtyard below. “You you know how the gossip mongers refer to you? Thy are out there at this moment, whispering amongst themselves… That you are the heir to a throne of nothing… nothing but failure.”

Teeth grinding together, Link knew this was hurting Zelda. It hurt him for her to even hear. The King’s words were cruel, true or not - it was not what she needed. How could the King not see this? “It is woven into your destiny that you prove them wrong,” the King added slightly less gruff, “Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Zelda said simply, hands clasped in front of her, and head bowed in shame. “I understand.” As the King accepted her acquiescence and strode back into the castle, the wind carried away Zelda’s tears. Once he again, could, Link stood. Reaching a hand out, he ever so gently touched the back of her arm in comfort, and for a moment, he saw her face crumble.

But quickly, her royal demeanor was restored. “We leave tonight.”

Swallowing his anger at the King for the moment, Link forced his voice to be gentle - Mipha was better at these things. “That’s not a good idea, your highness. The monsters will be out in force.”

“I cannot be in this castle… his castle… any longer than I have to be.”

“Yes, Princess. But tonight-”

“I am your Princess,” she said spinning around and jabbing a finger into his chest. “You do as I command!”

Link sighed internally. She had to get it out somewhere, and he was basically the only person around most of the time, in addition to the fact that he was a reminder of what she’d yet to achieve… and her father’s commandments. Setting his jaw he shook his head. “That may be, highness, but I am in charge of your safety, and I have final say when it comes to that. You know it, I know it, and I highly doubt either of us want to go ask the king for clarity on the matter.”

She snorted and backpedaled from him a step, turning to storm back towards her chambers. “You would like that, wouldn’t you? Just to make sure I do the bidding of all of my jailers!”

Frowning, Link followed her. “I… said that i wouldn’t want that. We’re on the same side when it comes to talking to the king.”

“You follow his commands, you’re a Knight! Why wouldn’t you want to speak with him?” she demanded, throwing things about now that they were in her room in the tower, as she made an emotional attempt to pack.

“Because I despise the way he talks to you. Treats you. Like a thing, a weapon, or a tool to be honed and nothing more,” Link said, crossing his arms and leaning back against her wall to give her room for her tantrum. In his mind, she had every right to be angry, and very little to do about it. She could throw things. That was fine.

But at his words, she stopped and looked at him. Behind her eyes something passed - something had changed for her days ago. But he didn’t know what. She sighed, and sat down hard on the edge of her bed, staring at the floor. “I’m sorry, Link. I’m not mad at you. Forgive me.”

“Already did, Princess,” he promised as the memory began to fade.

***

Coming to, he stood on the parapet looking out over the blighted and wartorn courtyard that had once been home to the guardians meant to protect them. To protect Her. Looking up to the rest of the castle, there had been so much fear, anger, misunderstanding… The King pushing Zelda without an ounce of outward empathy, the foolishness to assume that ancient technology could be controlled against an ancient being. Hubris, naivety, careless is what they had been.

No wonder they’d failed.

But then there was Zelda - her clear, green eyes and sharp mind. She was here. Somewhere - Ganon was mostly contained, whether by her spirit, or by her living self he didn’t know. What he did know is that he was confused. The feeling tied to this memory were different than the ones before. Before there had been resentment of her cold nature and inability to accept him. Then later patience, compassion, even fondness. This last memory though, it was far stronger, far more powerful a feeling - one he was not yet comfortable giving a name.

There were too many gaps. Too much information he lacked to allow that feeling to be named yet. He needed to go, needed to find more answers, face more Trials - become stronger. Hero or not, if what he was starting to recall was true, then he was going to save Zelda, even if it was the last thing he did.

She was here, and that thought sent a lurching thrill through his heart. But there was no way for him to go further without meeting certain death. Not yet. It pained him to go, to abandon here here with this nightmare for any longer than necessary… but being ready, freeing the Divine Beasts was necessary.

“I’m here, Princess,” he said softly to the wind. “And I will be back soon. Sooner than you think. I will save you, I promise.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyAwbgW7tCc

#breath of the wild #botw #bote fic #botw fanfic #botw fanfiction #zelink #linkxzelda #zeldaxlink #legend of zelda #loz #loz breath of the wild #loz botw #captured memories #mipha #daruk #ganon #calamity ganon #hyrule #hyrule castle #rivali #urbosa

[excrucian]

Nameless Nobilis Session Four

In Which Our Party Decides Hiring Excrucians As Security Is A Good Idea.

Previously | Contents | First

Preparing for a party is quite hard work, and so our gang of protagonists had quite a list of things to do!

Lindsel, the Mistress of Lies and what Aureus thought was his father’s new mistress, was trying to keep our heroes on track. She asked them if they wanted to invite any family or friends.

Aureus wanted to make this party into an open event on Facebook. He had a plan to place a portal in a random warehouse, invite a whole lot of mortals and just have them chill at the party. He began to make arrangements for this, to Lindsel’s facepalming.

Luka had no real family of which to speak of, as they were a wanderer.

Tilde didn’t really consider Mattie’s family to be her own family, but after a bit of convincing Tilde left on her own to go see her old family. Thus, she was absent for a chunk of what transpired next.

Nobody knew where the birb was, but well, the birb couldn’t have much family, right?

As for the Lizard, the closest thing it had to a family was the Excrucian who saved it from smugglers. The Lizard was very eager to invite this friend, which made Lindsel’s jaw drop open.

The Lizard insisted on contacting the Excrucian, so when Lindsel left, the entire party decided on going along for the ride. It was determined that contacting this particular Enemy of the World could be achieved by ringing a certain magical phone number. This was how the Lizard contacted its friend all these years, which raised a few questions about lizards and cell phones.

The call wasn’t answered, but that was okay. A few minutes later, a finely dressed person in wonderful gothic getup and long pink hair showed up.

This was Licelte Rossmalt, who it was claimed slew this dead chancel and brought destruction to a group of smugglers many years ago. Pleasantries were exchanged, and Licelte was asked if they had been here before. They looked around before responding with an effusive yes.

For, you see, Licelte bore the Test of Light and Illumination that cracked open people’s flaws.

Aureus suddenly had a brilliant idea. Okay, so, a lot of people would be attending this party, right?

Lindsel had explained earlier that a lot of Nobles would want to schmaltz up to the son of The First Fallen. This Familia was already set to make waves in the Nobilis society. Thus, it was important that everyone be on their best behaviour.

Aureus was thinking that any party like this would need to have security, right? Bouncers to keep out the riff and the raff.

What if they hired the enemies of the world as bouncers? It would make their Familia look so badass, having Excrucians standing at the doors in their snazzy gothic uniforms and their dark, dark eyes. Other Nobles would be so amazed, and if anyone caused any trouble, they’d just be excruciated out of reality!

The rest of the Familia thought this was an excellent idea, and asked Licelte if they were interested.

Licelte was quite fond of the lizard child that they basically adopted, so they agreed, as long as the Familia would help them find something that could weather their test.

Aureus also asked – would there be any other Excrucians that would be interested in some honest work? Licelte said that they would ask around, dropping names like Coriander Hasp who was pretty handy with a gun.

And so security was sorted out! But our team wanted to chat to Tahom to make sure they were okay with this.

Tahom said that they weren’t that okay with it because Excrucians were bad news, but they had to admit that it was totally sick. As the conversation continued, Aureus basically “you’re not my real dad”-d poor Tahom and called them useless, so Tahom tore open a hole to the World Ash and escaped through there to sulk for a bit.

Next, the Familia needed to find a present for Lucifer – Lindsel strongly hinted at this, saying that it would be a lovely surprise and it was probably just expected of the Familia to pay tribute. Aureus strongly disagreed, saying that a macaroni drawing would please Lucifer just as well – and in all honesty, it probably would.

But before our Heroes could do anything – disaster struck! Aureus suddenly felt a tingling in the force! No, it was just the Estate of Appearances complaining loudly. Apparently, something was wrong in Tokyo!

So off the Party went to Tokyo, where they noticed something grievous. Tokyo is such a metropolitan and cosmopolitan and fashionable place… usually.

But it seemed like the entire city had rolled out of the wrong side of the bed and decided that it’d just go in its pajamas today.

This was horrifying. Absolutely horrifying. The Familia rushed to the most fashionable district, Harajuku, and saw that… nobody was fashionable! What a disaster! But they couldn’t see anything wrong.

So they slipped from Prosaic Reality to Mythic Reality, where all things had spirits… and saw a protest.

Fashion spirits, which looked like invisible people wearing wonderful clothes, were parading up and down the streets holding signs and chanting. They were surrounding a giant businessman whose head was in the clouds and who was distracted by his tablet. This must be the Spirit of Tokyo.

Also, small bits of black cloud were clustering around Luka. These were miasmas spirits of minor sorrow, who represented the disappointment that people experienced when they came to Japan and Tokyo and found out that it wasn’t actually an anime wonderland of hopes and dreams… and was actually like any other city in the world because it’s full of normal people and not anime people. They were sad, they said, because Tokyo wasn’t being fashionable and there was no disconnect between what people saw and thought about the place. They couldn’t fulfil their duty! Luka patted them and comforted them.

The Familia asked around and found out that this was a bit of a vague, not very thought out protest. The fashion spirits wanted more break times, more time with their fashion families! And they were mad at the Spirit of Tokyo because he didn’t listen to their pleas. The Noble of Fashion hadn’t come to see them in a long time – he used to, but now he was busy on some other world called Dionyl and he just wasn’t doing his job!

Aureus immediately began shooting off Persona miracles to make himself the centre of attention. He promised all the fashion spirits that he would personally take their complaints to the Spirit of Tokyo, but first they had to lift him up to the giant’s height.

So in a rush, the fashion spirits began to climb on each other much like the scene of the zombies surmounting the wall in World War Z, and Aureus was buoyed up. But the pile of fashion spirits came only to halfway the giant’s size!

The Lizard Emulated its own property of “Evolution transform” to embiggen itself, so Aureus stood on top of this mighty growing lizard and shot even higher. The fashion spirits began to buckle a bit under the weight of a Surprisingly Large Lizard.

But even this was not tall enough to speak to the Spirit of Tokyo! So Aureus miracle’d into existence the appearance of a mighty, giant Aureus in order to speak to the Spirit.

The Spirit turned and was a bit surprised to see a giant ghostly appearance standing atop a giant lizard standing atop of a horde of fashion spirits. He politely asked what was going on, to which Aureus went off on an impassioned speech about the plight of the fashion spirits. The Spirit of Tokyo was more concerned about how his economy and cultural health was doing, but after a while he accepted that how Tokyo was seen was also important. He knelt down to talk to the fashion spirits, and the fashion spirits were pleased.

Success!

The lizard-spirit-illusion pile was dismantled. After talking to a few more spirits, it was revealed that this protest was sparked by a beautiful woman with fangs and a classy smile. Curses, it must have been Vanessa Amaranthine, the Baroness of Paranormal Romance!

Aureus knew that he had a rival, now. And he knew how to deal with it.

He had to seduce the lady of Paranormal Romance.

He was the son of Satan, the ultimate bad boy. She must love the tropes of Paranormal Romance, so playing into those must make her happy!

But wait, they hadn’t gotten a suitable present for Lucifer yet!

So our heroes, still in Tokyo, went to buy a shitty anime watch from a stall. The Lizard invoked the miracle of Evolution, and the Familia watched in horror as anime watch spirits began to fight and breed amongst themselves until there was only one left – the Ultimate Shitty Anime Watch. Any quality of it being a Disappointment was removed by Luka, and then an Appearance of an expensive Rolex was placed upon it.

The anime that the watch portrayed was The Devil Is A Part Timer. Lucifer would admire the shiny watch, look past the appearance and then he would shed a tear as he remembered watching animes with his beloved son.

Truly, the perfect present.

As to what Tilde was up to…

#nameless nobilis game #nobilis

[askmissthunder]

*sigh* 

Might as well get on with it. This is gonna be long one, folks.

It all started when up-and-coming crime boss, Alonzo Fortunato put a hit out on me.

You see, his grandfather, Vincent "The Hammer" Fortunato used to scuffle with my Nan back in her Miss Thunder days. He was the crime king of Ocean City and every time Nan would bust whatever scheme or heist he was planning, he'd use his money and influence to get away scot-free.

Eventually, his luck caught up with him in the end as my grandparents (Miss Thunder and the Recluse) dismantled most of his operations, taking away his grip on the gangs and dirty cops. Fortunato fled the country rather than face justice for his crimes but luckily for him, World War II reared its head, taking away my grandparents' attention away from him.

That's where Alonzo comes in. He's basically grown up to hate Miss Thunder due to her "disgracing their family". So, he came to America and basically started a one-man takeover of the organized crime in Ocean City. Although, he's on the up-and-up in the public eye as a business man, in private, he's making deals and busting heads to grab whatever bit of power he can get.

I wasn't aware of the hit until Talon did some sneaking around on my behalf after The Buzzards and El Toro teamed up to try and take me down (Which was very odd because I knew for a fact that El Toro's gang was in an almost constant power battle with the Buzzards for territory). While she didn't find out who had actually set up the hit, it definitely explained why everyone was gunning for me out of the blue.

A few other small fry gangs popped up to claim the bounty but I put them down just as fast as they came. Until one day, while out on patrol, I saw a white van driving very erratically, going over sidewalks and sending pedestrians scrambling for cover. I assumed it had to be either some sort of malfunction or the driver was drunk or stoned out of their mind.

The van made its way to the warehouse district where I landed right in front of it, snatching it up in the air. The tires were still spinning in high speed as if the driver was slamming his foot down on the gas.

"Okay, squire!", I scolded in my best Miss Thunder Cockney accent, "You're not goin' anywhere so just ease on down!"

The engine only revved louder and louder above my head.

"Oi! Knock it off! Playtime's over!"

I slowly rolled and positioned the van where I could peer into the driver's side. There was no one there. Instead, on the head rest, was a metallic box with the words "FRONT TOWARD ENEMY" and a large digital timer ticking down.

0:04...

0:03...

0:02...

Before I could chuck the van in the air, it exploded in my face with a deafening bang, rattling buildings and shattering nearby windows. Any oncoming traffic stopped dead in its tracks as both drivers and pedestrians ran for their lives

Of course, I had to be told this after it was all said and done, as all I could hear was a high pitched ringing and smoke completely obscured my vision as I coughed up whatever debris went down my throat.  Other than that, I was only mildly singed.

I could barely comprehend what was going on as I staggered out onto the road. Before I could catch my bearings, I immediately felt a stinging jolt slam onto my back, making me stumble slightly.

Thanks to the ringing, I could only just barely hear a deep male voice laugh as if it were a block away.

"Damn, Red! You were right! She is a tough one!"

A female voice replied, "I told you, Woodsman. I still think we should have charged extra for any additional labor."

The male replied, "Nah, nothing wrong with a little more exercise. Besides, it'd be no fun if every superhero we gutted went down without a fight. What do you think, Wolf?"

A noise that sounded like a cross between an animal growl and a jet turbine charging up responded.

"Heh heh! My thoughts exactly!", the male replied.

As the wind started picking up, clearing some of the smoke, I could see my attackers as they sauntered in my direction, a trio of shadows coming into focus.

The female, "Red", was short and lean, wearing a black skintight jumpsuit covered by a long red hooded cloak. Her lower face was covered by what looked like a samurai mask as crimson as her cloak. She carried in her arms a large wicker basket.

The male, "Woodsman", was much taller and burly with a thick beard and a bandana covering his scalp. He wore a bulletproof vest under his dark sleeveless trench coat. His arms seemed to be mechanical as they were bright silver and far larger that any average human arms. He leaned a massive two-handed axe over his shoulders, the blade crackling with blue energy, smiling wickedly as his mirrored sunglasses hid his eyes.

The last, who I presume had to be "Wolf", looked like a massive robot werewolf, nearly as tall as me, its metallic skin shone brightly in the sun. It dragged its claws along the pavement, leaving a long trail of sparks as it walked, staring at me with intense red eyes.

I tried my best to stand steady and look tough but all I could sputter out was:

"Who *Cough cough* are *wheeze* you jerks?"

Red's eyes narrowed , "We are the Red Riding Gang and, on behalf of our, let's say, 'benefactor', we're here to put you down, Fatty."

I spat out whatever grime was in my mouth and smirked, "Other bad'uns have been trying that for a few weeks now."

Woodsman grinned, "We're not like the other guys. The riff-raff here don't hold a candle to a trio of Professional Hero Killers."

" 'Hero Killers', eh? Then why haven't I heard of you?"

"Oh, everyone will soon enough, once we deliver your head to our boss.", Red replied, waving me off and turning towards their robotic companion. "Wolf, if you don't mind?"

The metallic monstrosity got down on all fours, his front claws digging into the pavement as it opened its mouth, letting out a blast of sonic energy right at me. Let me tell you, it was agonizing. Imagine having two rock show speakers being played at full volume right next to your ears, playing every conceivable sound you can imagine. I presume I let out a scream but it was lost in the cacophony of sound.

Despite the noise, I could still concentrate enough to see but even that didn't last long as I saw a shimmer of light creep up near me. I realized it was Red's cloak (using some sort of stealth technology like the alien in that Schwarzenegger movie) as it opened up, revealing herself as she pulled out two metal balls from her basket and threw them in my face, exploding in a bright flash.

So now, along with not being able to hear, I couldn't see, leaving me completely disoriented as I could feel something hot strike me across the face, knocking me down to my knees.

The deafening blast had finally stopped but all I could hear was a high pitched "EEEEEEEEE". My vision was slowly returning but I could really see where blurry shapes in a landscape of muted colors. I couldn't get my bearings as I felt two more blows of what I assumed was Woodsman's axe. While it didn't cut me, the energy surrounding the weapon gave it quite a wallop as I stumbled on all fours.

Struggling to get a grip on the situation after the hitting stopped, I tried my hardest to focus my vision. I instantly regretted it as I could make out Woodsman and Red both carrying a massive bazooka-like weapon. It looked like something out of a Sci-Fi movie or like a weapon an Image Comics character would wield.  But I knew I didn't have long before they used it on me as I could see a bright red light emanate from deep within the barrel.

Between the sonic blast, the flashbang grenades and the blows to the head, getting back up on my feet felt like I was trying to swim through quicksand. I looked behind me and saw some dock workers scrambling for cover. My protective instincts kicked in as I could faintly hear myself scream, "EVERYONE, GET BAC-"

The words died in my mouth as my world became nothing but red light and intense searing heat.

Time seemed like it stretched on forever as I could feel my body float through the air. My vision came and went as opening my eyes felt like it took every ounce of energy I had but I could see that the blast had rocketed me into the air, soaring between the skyscrapers. My mind was trying desperately to get my body to move or try to stop my descent but I just felt numb and sluggish.  It wasn't long before I saw the Sand Dune Colosseum approaching closer and closer.

"Oh no....", I remember vaguely thinking, "This is gonna hurt...."

I didn't have too long to dwell on that thought as I smashed through the ceiling with a terrible crash and blacked out completely. I'm not sure for how long but what was probably only minutes felt like hours.

It was the feeling of water gently splashing against my face that stirred me. While the loud "EEEEEE" was still buzzing in my ears, it had died down enough that I could hear men yelling and running off in the distance, more than likely frightened by the enormous butterball of a woman crashing down on them.

I cracked my eyes open slightly (it was far too bright to take in all at once) and saw that I had landed in the middle of the showers in a locker room, laying on my side. I must have caused quite a bit of collateral damage as I not only created a giant hole in the ceiling but had knocked out one of the shower heads, spraying a powerful stream of water like Niagara Falls against the opposite wall.

Despite all that, I could hear a small voice above the din. "Miss Thunder?"

My eyes following the voice's location, I gave a small gasp as I realized it was Eli crouching down beside me. I had forgotten that the OCW (Eli's wrestling stable) had a show that weekend and were using the Colosseum's facilities.

"Miss Thunder? Are you okay?", he asked again.

I had once asked Eli if he knew anything about the local superhero population on the East Coast, particularly the Ocean City Three (or the OC3 for short), made up of Red Rabbit, Talon and Miss Thunder. He had told me no but he assumed I must've been a fan of Miss Thunder since I had so many clipped newspaper articles about her on my fridge.

I had blushed and said, "Well, there's not many heroes that are fat, or.... at all, really, so it's pretty refreshing to see someone like her Fighting the Good Fight."

My mind snapping back to the present in the showers, I groaned and tried my best to sit up. "Ohhh....I'll be fine, guv'nor. I just need to get me bearings again."

"Here. Let me help you.", he said as he helped me sit up against the shower wall.

Eli then let out a strange startled gasp as he jumped back away from me, his eyes suddenly boring in right on me like a cat spotting a mouse.

Confused by the sudden shift in his demeanor, I rubbed the side of my sore face, trying to lighten the tension. "I hope I'm not bleedin'. That'd be a first."

He then uttered a word that hit me like a punch to the gut.

"P...Penny?"

The world seemed to freeze around me.  Touching my face, I was utterly mortified to feel that the left side of my mask had been torched off during the blast.

He walked back towards the wall behind him, his eyes never leaving me as he spoke my name again, this time with a more accusatory tone to it. His breathing was becoming more and more rapid as if he were having some sort of panic attack.

"P-Penny, wha...what is this? What the hell is this?!"

My eyes must've gone as wide as dinner plates as I scrambled to my feet as best as I could, yanking my scarf over my mouth. What ever fatigue I felt before left me in an instant as panic surged through my body.   "I...I...I'm sorry, I gotta go!"

I hear him call out my name again but I don't face him. Instead, I leap out of the hole in the ceiling and hightailed it out of there. Not my most inspiring moment but you have to understand, I was scared out of my wits and had a literal "Fight or Flight" moment. I chose to fly (or jump, in this case).

It was as my aching, sore body was on autopilot, running on pure adrenaline and fear as I leapt to the first place I thought of: Red Rabbit's flat.

Red Rabbit, being from a rather well-off family, owns a large loft apartment complete with a balcony and double doors large enough to accommodate my super wide frame. Thankfully, she was doing some homework on the balcony when I arrived, calling her name tearfully.

"Oh my God!", she exclaimed, seeing my torn, dirty and singed costume, "Penny, what happened?!"

I could barely speak as I landed, my words turning into loud blubbering as I buried my face onto her outdoor sofa. I could feel her dainty hands on my shoulder as she knelt down beside me.

"Calm down, Pen.", she said softly, "Just breathe and tell me what happened."

It probably took half an hour because I was so distraught but I spilled my guts about everything that happened earlier. The van bomb, the Red Riding Gang, getting my arse kicked, the laser cannon, crashing through the Colosseum's roof  and Eli finding out about my identity.

"Oh...oh, Cassie...", I sniffled, "I fucked up. I fucked up so bad."

"Babe, it's okay", she says with that familiar sisterly voice, "It'll be fine but.... well, you really need to sort this out."

"How? You weren't there, Cass. You didn't see the look in his eyes. All that hurt, that....anger."

"Well, you can't hide from Eli forever. You owe it to him, as his girlfriend, to explain yourself. "

"B...but...what if he....if he..."

She sat up straight on the sofa and sighed, "If, and that's only an IF, worse comes to worse, you come right back over here and we'll order from all the pizza joints in town. Hell, we'll get every flavor of ice cream to go along with it and stuff ourselves silly."

I let out an amused snort. The levity I always hear in her voice always tends to brighten up the darkest of situations.

Rabbit went ahead and called Eli for me, arranging a meeting between the two of us in an hour, atop the Colosseum. We shared a hug before I took off, dreading what would probably be one of the toughest conversations I've ever had in my life.

The sun had already set by the time I arrived, the city lights popping on one by one. Looking over the roof's edge, I could see the hole I made when I crashed. Even though most buildings have insurance in the case of superpowered collateral damage, when this is all said and done, I need to apologize to the building owners for the mess I made.

I couldn't dwell too long about the hole as a distinct male voice spoke up from behind me.        

"Penny."

I heard none of the usual warmth or humor in that voice. I took a deep breath, peeled off what was left of  my ruined mask and turned around.

There was Eli, his arms crossed with a sour look on his face. It was his eyes that really struck me. A million emotions must have been going through his head as his eyes ranged from angry to sad to confused.

After what felt like an eternity of awkward silence, I finally spoke up.

"Hey..."

Eli sneered and let out a sharp "ruff" as he started pacing back and forth. I stood my ground and watched as he stomped towards the edge of the building, peering out into the city skyline, as if he didn't even want to face me.

"How long?", he asked sternly.

I wanted to speak but I could feel an all-too familiar wave of anxiety and dread overwhelm me. My mind felt like a complete blank as if whatever explanation I had conjured up for the last hour or so had vanished, leaving me alone with my very angry, maybe-soon-to-be-ex boyfriend. All I could muster was a bunch of half-hearted "Ummm"s and "Uhhhh"s.

"How long have you been like this?!", he asked again loudly.

I could feel hot tears stream down my face as I could barely squeak out, "S...S...Since I came to O...Ocean City...".

He whipped around and "ruffed" again. Despite his anger, his eyes were also filled with tears.

"So all that stuff about needing the wheelchair, having some sort of 'condition'? That was all a lie? Huh?!"

I could only nod as I practically whispered. "Yes. Yes, I lied to you. I didn't want you to find out about...."

I gestured to my costume, "...this".

He growled out in a low voice, "Why? Did you think I was too stupid to understand? Did you think I couldn't handle it?"

I choked out, "No! God, no! Eli, I...I...I didn't want you to get hurt."

"BY LYING TO ME?!", he bellowed. "By making me think you were some...helpless girl that needed some idiot to take care of her? Why?! Did you enjoy making me think that you actually cared about me? By making me worry about how you were, if you needed help? But no! Apparently, you're that...that Miss Thunder hero! The same girl that can punch cars and leap into the sky! You were fine this whole time! I used to get worried sick when I would think about you being all alone in your apartment, too big to take care of yourself! But nope! Looks like you can move around fine this whole fucking time! What the hell is the matter with you?! Is that all I am to you?! Just some...some servant boy?!"

Hearing him of all people yell at me was the final straw to an already shitty day as I fell to my knees and sobbed, burying my face in my hands. How could I have been so stupid? So utterly fucking stupid?

The world around me seemed to fade away, the lights dimmed, the sounds of traffic disappeared. All that was left was Eli's angry voice and my own thoughts screaming at me a barrage of insults and putdowns. It felt like every negative thought I ever had was coming at me at once.

You're a disgrace....

Stupid fat whore...

He'll never love you....

Everybody would be better off without you...

I felt as if I would be overwhelmed in those thoughts like sinking in a mudhole before I finally found my voice again. I shouted out the only thing that came to my mind, "I did it to protect you! They'll kill you if they find out about you!"

He stopped in his tracks, "Wha...what do you mean?"

"In...in the comics I read, every time the hero's friends or family find out about their secret identity, the bad guy will...kidnap them or torture them or...kill them. I didn't want that to happen to you! I didn't want for you to get mixed up with me being Miss Thunder! You've had enough bad things go on in your life, I didn't want to add more! I...I don't want you to end up like Gwen Stacy....".

After taking a moment to catch my breath, I blurted out, "Eli...you...you're one of the best things that ever happened to me.  I....I thought for so long that....I was just gonna end up all alone. That no one would ever want me or love me. But then...you came into my life. You deserve some sort of medal, Eli. I mean, who would want to be the boyfriend of a giant blob? Some....stupid freak?"

The world was slowly creeping back to my senses but all I could focus on was the short, tanned-skin boy in front of me.

"Eli...you have every right to be mad. Absolutely every right. I've should've told you right from the start. You were brave enough to tell me about being part dog, I should've been brave enough to tell you I was Miss Thunder. But...but I'm not. I'm...I'm just a coward..."

I hung my head and wept bitterly, fully expecting Eli to walk away. Walk away from the hot mess in front of him and get some stability back in his life. But to my surprise, he trotted up to me and placed his hand under my cheek.

"Penny...", he said, the tears flowing down his face as well, "It...it's okay."

I looked him right in the eyes as he let out a deep sigh, "I get it. I...I guess I understand why you would hide...this...from me. I guess it would be hard to explain."

I shook my head and muttered. "No....please don't..."

Deep down, I didn't want him to forgive me.  Scream at me, hit me, hate me but don't forgive me. I felt as if I didn't deserve it. Not after all this time together.

"Hey, hey. Hear me out first.", he whispered. "Penny, I escaped from a lab that put me through some rough shit on a regular basis, I survived in the streets alone for over a year, I fight guys twice my size in a packed stadium for a living."

His face slowly formed a smile, "Tell me. Do you honestly think some jerkoff in a silly costume is gonna scare me? That they, of all people, are gonna put down the Black Dog?"

I tried to smile back but I guess my emotions got the better of me as I only wept harder as I wrapped my arms around him.

"I...I'm sorry, Eli! I'm sorry! I'm sorry..."

He quietly shushed me as he stroked my hair, "It's okay, Penny. I forgive you."

Eli gave me a smooch on my forehead as our gazes locked, our eyes red from all the tears.

"Can...can we make a promise with each other, though?", he asked timidly.

I sniffled, "Anything, E."

"Can we promise not to keep...secrets from each other anymore?"

I nodded eagerly as I squeezed him tighter, "I promise."

Eli let out a surprised "Oof!" before I realized I was embracing him too hard.

"Oh! Sorry!", I squealed, immediately releasing him. He didn't look too angry though as he gave a short laugh.

"So I wasn't imagining it. You ARE stronger than you look!", he grinned, shaking some feeling back into his arms.

After spending a few moments to try and calm ourselves, Eli cracked his knuckles and asked, "Now then, who were the people that threw you into the locker room and how hard do I kick their asses?"

"No.", I said sternly as I wiped my nose and rose back up to my feet, towering over Eli, "How hard do WE kick their arses?"      

I led Eli, now donning his Black Dog outfit, to the scene of the attack. The place was surrounded by cops and emergency crews, sifting through the debris. Not wanting to deal with the police at the moment, Eli and I hung back in a nearby alleyway.  We were both disturbed to see that the entire warehouse block behind me during the laser blast was utterly demolished, only scorched earth left in its wake.

"Penny", Eli questioned in a solemn whisper, "You got hit by whatever did that?"

"Yup.", I answered, my skin still felt a bit tingly from the laser's heat.

Immediately, Eli dropped down on his hands and knees and started sniffing the ground.

"Wha-what are you doing?", I asked, trying to sort out his strange actions.

"Tracking.", he said almost monotonely.

After a few minutes, he perked his head up. "You said these guys looked like robot people, right?"

"Well, cyborgs, technically but yes. Why? You got something?"

*Sniff Sniff*

"Oil..."

*Sniff!*

"Metal shavings......"

*SNIFF*

"Claymore mine explosive powder!"

He shot up to his feet and pointed east, further into the warehouse district. "That way!"

I scooped him up in my arms and leaped into the air. Although he clung to me tightly, Eli looked rather amused by the experience. "Wow!", he yelled over the wind, "Is this how you get around as Miss Thunder?"

I nodded, "Fun, isn't it?"

He grinned, "Go higher!"

Leaping on top of a tall construction crane, I dug my heels in and went soaring across the night sky.  Although Eli would've enjoyed spending all night leaping over the city, he knew we still had a task to to do first as he gave a loud *SNIFF* and pointed at a dim-looking warehouse coming below us.

"There!", he shouted.

I landed as gracefully as I could atop the building across the street. Eli hopped down from my arms and started sniffing rapidly, his nose pointing directly at the warehouse.

"They're in there for sure!", he growled, his tail wagging in anticipation, "I can smell explosives and gun powder!"

"Excellent!", I exclaimed, patting Eli on the back.

"What now? How do we get in there?"

I crossed my arms and closed my eyes, trying to think of a good strategy for us to not only catch the Red Riding Gang with their trousers down but leave without any further injuries. The last thing I want is for Eli to get hurt in his first superhero outing. It wasn't long before an idea popped in my head.

"Come here, E. I think I've got something..."

After a good long while of plotting, we both crept across the street and peered through one of the dirty windows. Although it was dimly lit, we could make out Red and Woodsman drinking beer and watching a small TV, their backs to us. Their tall RoboWolf companion was facing the back entrance, standing as still as a statue.

We both gave a curt nod to each other as Eli scurried around the back while I jumped to the top of the neighboring building. From up there, I could keep an eye on things as Eli threw one small pebble after another at the back door.

I assumed Wolf must've heard the racket as I could hear loud stomping from inside. As the door swung open, Eli spun around and shook his bum at the robot.

"Yoo-hoo!", he taunted, sticking his tongue out and gave his bottom a smack.

Wolf must've not liked that as it gave a growl like a truck backfiring and leaped after Eli, who made a mad dash towards the nearby alleyway. I was impressed by Eli's deft maneuvering through the alley as he ran on all fours, leaping over trash cans and using the fire escape to swing like an acrobat.

Just as Wolf was beginning to close the gap between them, I made my move. Timing it just right, I stepped over the edge of the building and landed right on top of Wolf, completely crushing them under my near half-ton frame.  It was a bit messier than I intended as I got drenched with oil and pieces of metal went everywhere, making a frightfully loud crash.

When the dust cleared, Eli and I gave each other a thumbs up before I grabbed him and leaped to the top of the warehouse. He then put his ear to the roof to use his doggy hearing to listen inside.

"There's a male voice saying, 'What the fuck was that?!' ", he dictated, "Now a female is saying, 'You stay put! I'll go check it out!' ".

"Perfect.", I whispered as I readied myself for the next part of the plan.

I stood by the edge of the roof, looking out towards the city lights. Now it was my turn to act as bait as I kept still for what felt like almost ten minutes, no doubt enough time for Red to discover Wolf's crushed body.  I slowly turned around and scanned the rooftop for that familiar shimmer. While I saw nothing out of the ordinary, Eli stepped out of the shadows and started to slowly creep on his tip-toes in my direction.

"Blimey! It sure is a miracle I survived that laser blast!", I said out loud, trying to wipe off some of the oil on my legs. "That Red Riding Gang is pretty tough, alright! Maybe I should just let them take me in for the bounty!"

Eli stood still for a moment and tapped his finger in the air. "The "air" between us suddenly became distorted.   "You know, you really shouldn't wear perfume when you're on the job.", he whispered.

Grabbing a hold of the invisible cyborg in front of him, he bent over backwards and performed a German Suplex on Red, slamming her hard on the ground. (You can thank Eli for telling me some of his wrestling moves)

She groaned as her cloak's stealth mode wore off but Eli wasn't finished with her as he yanked her up by her arm and swung her in an Irish whip in my direction. She bounced off my belly and staggered back only to be clotheslined in the face by Eli, knocking off her lower samurai mask.  If she wasn't a murderous killer-for-hire, I'd say Red had an actually pretty face.

Not giving her a chance to regain her composure, Eli sprung on top of her, sitting on her back and twisted her leg back in a rather painful angle.

"Ahh! Get the fuck off of me!", she yelled, wriggling like a captured animal.

"No!", Eli shouted back, "Not until you stop trying to kill Miss Thunder!"

"Screw you, asswipe! We're not going to lose out on our payday, you little shi-OW OW OW!", Red hollered as Eli twisted her leg further.

After what felt like an eternity of Eli twisting and Red writhing in pain, she finally shrieked out , "FINE! FINE! THE HIT'S OFF! WE WON'T KILL MISS THUNDER!! LET GO OF ME, PLEASE!!!"

Eli finally released her as she rolled on her back, rubbing her sore leg, wincing loudly. "Goddamn! You almost broke my leg, you jerk!"

"You got off easy.", Eli growled.

Red turned towards me and smirked, "You know it doesn't matter if we don't kill you! Everyone wants a piece of that slimeball Fortunato's money and they'll just keep on coming and coming for you!"

"So! It's Alonzo Fortunato who put out the hit, I see!", I stated with a smile.

The color drained from Red's face as she realized what she had just admitted.  I knelt down and patted her face. "Thank you for that information. Now, Eli, if you would do the honors?"

Eli then pulled her up to her feet and kicked her hard in the stomach. But as she knelt over, Eli spun around (his back to her), grabbed her head and dropped to his bum on the ground, slamming her face into his shoulder, knocking her out cold.

"Whoa-ho-ho!", I exclaimed, "What move was that?"

He smiled, "Some move I saw from a wrestler down South. I don't know what it's called but I like it!"

"All right, Mr. Black Dog. We're not done yet. There's still one last thorn in my side..."              

Hopping back to the ground and sticking to the shadows, we could already hear Woodsman starting to get a bit...well, paranoid.

"Red?! Wolf?! What the hell are you guys doing out there?!", he called out in the middle of the warehouse floor, clutching his axe tightly, "You assholes better not be fucking with me!"

He spun in a slow circle, his eyes wide with fear as sweat drenched his brow. "For God's sake, give me a some sort of sign!"

I did as he asked and slid Wolf's head, ripped clean from its shoulders, across the floor behind him.  He yelped with a jump, cursing up a storm. "Ah, fuck me! Oh shit shit shit!"

Panting loudly, he dropped the axe and went immediately for the laser cannon.  It was a bit too unwieldy for him to handle alone but he still managed to heft it up on his shoulders. I could see that same red light start to glow from within the barrel.

"You fat bloated tramp! I know it's you! Get the fuck out here! Get out here or, I swear to God, I'll blow this whole fucking neighborhood up!"

The cannon was now starting to hum with a unsettling drone. "YOU HEAR ME, YOU LITTLE SHIT?! BELIEVE ME, I'LL DO IT!"

Channeling my best Frank Miller Batman, I whispered behind his ear, "I believe you."

As Woodsman spun around, his face came immediately in contact with both my and Eli's fists, rocketing him across the warehouse and through the brick wall, landing in a heap on the road outside. It was a punch that would've made Sal Buscema proud.

We then tied up Red and Woodsman on top of the scrap pile that was now Wolf and watched as the police picked them up from atop the roof. Seeing the paddy wagon drive down the street, I gave a sigh of relief that had been building up for hours now and laid down on my back, gazing up at the night sky.

Eli followed suit but his eyes were only on me. He cleared his throat, "So....."

While the immediate threat was taken care of, the fact that Eli now knew I was Miss Thunder was still a big elephant in the room.

I rolled on my side to face him. I know we cleared the air between us earlier but what now? How do we go forward with our relationship as Eli is now one of the very few people that knows my secret identity?

"This is what you do when you're not at school? Or hanging out with me and your friends?", he asked quietly. It was hard to read his face. Was he still a little upset?

"Umm...yeah. I'm...I'm Miss Thunder when you're not around. Wha...what do you think?", I replied, stammering.

"You mean you fight bad guys and get to save people? Like in your comics?"

I nodded, "Yeah. Just like the comics."

A smile slowly crept onto his face. "I think that's pretty damn cool."

"R...Really?", I said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Hearing him say that felt like a huge weight had fallen off my chest and I wasn't quite sure how to mentally process it.

"Mmm-hmm", he nodded back, his smile growing by the second. He scooted closer to me and tried his best to wrap his arms around me. "I guess I'm a lucky guy."

"How so?"

" 'Cause not only do I get to date the prettiest girl in the world, I get to date the raddest superhero too."

I couldn't hide my tears any longer as my face started to blush.

"Oh, Eli..."

I pulled him in closer as our lips met, the city lights shining down on the two of us.

As we parted, Eli cleared his throat again, looking a bit nervous. "What's the matter, E?", I asked, puzzled by his expression.

"Do...do you think we could go....jumping around the city again? That...that was really fun."

I couldn't help but laugh as I sat up. I pointed towards my back and motioned with my head. "Hop on."

He grinned as he climbed on, piggyback style, as I rose to my feet.

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

With that, I bounded high amongst the sparkling Ocean City skyline.

#Feel so much better now #guess we better change the OC3 to the OC4 #ask miss thunder #I love you Eli #oh you want to type something? #go right ahead #I love u 2 Penny #Aww sweetie...