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theglitterypages · 3 years

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Title: Brat

Pairings: levi x fem! Reader

Summary: Instead of Titans, vampires are the one causing horrors in towns, Survey Corps are the vampire slayers who stayed out every night to protect the town together with the Garrison. You accidentally stayed past curfew because you missed your bus. (Time setting in modern times)

Warnings: None

Word count: 2000+

Typographical and grammatical errors ahead!

*****

The sky is already dark, the pale crescent moon shone like a silvery claw in the night sky. The wind was howling as you walk alone, it's not ideal and it's not comfortable to be alone in the streets. You look around you, you couldn't help but shiver as your eyes settled at the big ass trees. It's damn scary.

You can already see your Mother's angry face as she waits for you at home. It's already past curfew, not everyone is brave enough to stay outside their houses at this time of the night, not when there are vampires lurking all over the town.

You silently prayed that the Garrison deployed troops to patrol in this part of the street and if you're lucky enough you hope that the Survey Corps are also around to kill vampires since they're the ones expert in doing so.

The cold wind slapped your face and you shivered, you hugged yourself and held the strap of your sling bag tightly, you still failed to sight any uniformed men around, they're probably late in patrolling again or they already left. Either way, you're in big trouble now.

“Need someone to accompany you, little kitten?” says a deep bloodcurdling voice. Your blood ran cold as you stopped dead on your tracks, you couldn't see where the hell was that voice came from but it's damn near. ”You are a fool to stay outside. Wanting to get eaten aren't you?” that was when a man wearing a black shirt appeared out of the dark part of the street.

“I can already smell your blood from where I stood, I wonder if they taste as delicious as you look.”

You took a step back, both knees trembling as the man slowly close your distance. Given that the man is a vampire—you can see his fangs, you're much slower than him, you focused on your peripheral vision, if you'd run towards the woods, it would be more dangerous, other vampires are probably in there waiting for their preys.

You cussed mentally, before running as fast as you could while you scream at the top pf your lungs, hoping that somebody would hear you. You occasionally look back to see the vampire smiling at you coldly, he's enjoying the chase, purposely running after you in a slow manner so you would get tired and give up but there's no way you'd willingly let him suck off every ounce of your blood.

As you kept on running away from the hideous vampire you suddenly bumped into someone, you gasped in horror, thinking that it was another vampire but you saw a short man wearing a Survey Corps uniform with a light gray button up shirt underneath it along with a white ascot.

He's hot not gonna lie.

“You're a stupid bastard for choosing to hunt while the Survey Corps is around.”

When you looked back at the vampire you can already see the terrified look in his eyes, slowly stepping back from you and the man. “Petra, take this girl somewhere safe. We'll be questioning her later for staying outside at this time of the night.” a short woman with blonde hair and brown eyes appeared, wearing the same uniform that the man wears. She offered her hand to you and you gladly took it so you could stand up, wanting to get away from the danger.

The woman took you somewhere far enough from the short man and the vampire but still near enough to hear whatever they are talking about. “Is it okay that you left him there?" You asked the woman named Petra, she laughed at your question as she shrugged her shoulders. “I would be more scared of that Vampire's fate. Captain Levi's not an easy guy, he has killed hundreds of vampires.” your mouth gaped open at the way she spoke so fondly of the man, you deduced that she's crushing hard on him but who wouldn't? He's looking like a full course meal, he'd probably be arrested for killing all the ladies because of that face.

But that wasn't your business, your eyes went back to the man and the vampire, the vampire was obviously frightened yet he still stood in front of Levi who was calmly holding his swords in both his hands, his green hooded cloak danced with the wind.

Levi smirked at the vampire, “You're not gonna piss your pants right now, are you?” he stepped forward and looked at the vampire with his dull gray eyes, “Don't you even dare think of running.” after that, the vampire already ran away while Levi chased him with ease, his outstanding skills in using vertical maneuvering equipment evidently shows as he chased down the vampire.

When he landed in front of the vampire, he gave him a cold smirk, “What makes you think that you can escape from me?” the vampire charged himself towards Levi but Levi swiftly avoided his blow, he kicked his knees and stepped on his back. “You will see where your boastfulness would bring you, Ackerman.” Levi flipped the vampire over and pointed his sword at his heart, his foot firmly pressed against his stomach, making him incapable of moving.

“Shut up and die.”

He struck his sword on the vampire's heart, killing him instantly, it only took seconds for him to turn into ashes, Levi boredly placed his sword back to its place as he quielty walked away from the scene heading back to where you are.

Your knees quivered when he stopped in front of you, you are short yourself and he's still an inch taller than you, despite of the not so big height difference you couldn't help but be intimidated as his dull gray eyes pierced onto your soul. “Captain, we should interrogate her at the nearest headquarters, Commander Erwin would—” Levi raised his hand to stopped Petra from talking, “There's no need for that. This brat's parents are probably looking for her now.” he said in a monotone.

“Captain Levi!”

Your head snapped towards the direction of the voices you heard, you see four men running as they shout Levi's name over and over but as they got closer you've come to recognize one of them. “Eren?!” you shouted when he finally stopped in front of you. “Y/N?! What are you doing in here?! You're the one attacked by a vampire?!” he shouted as he held both of your shoulders, shaking you violently.

Eren is a friend of yours, you met him because of his parents, you two knew each other since you were kids. “Are you okay?! Did that vampire do anything bad to you?” he looked at you from head to foot before shaking you again.

Before you could even scold him, Levi's hand flew to the back of his head. Eren winced as he rubbed the sore spot, staring at his Captain with wide eyes.

“The vampire wasn't even able to touch her loud brat, you're the one making so much damage. She'd probably lose more of her brain cells because of how violent you shook her.” Levi deadpanned.

Eren blinked twice as he pouted, you suddenly felt Levi held your elbow and turned you so you could face him. “Before we let you go, what the fuck are you doing outside? You could've been one of the corpse we'd take at the town's morgue.” You frowned at him as you removed his hand on your elbow, “I was at the school library, I missed the last bus. I got no choice but to walk.” Levi crossed his arms over his chest as he narrowed his eyes at you.

Gunther slowly pulled back Petra away from you and Levi, “He looks so pissed.” Eren whispered worriedly as he stood beside Eld. Oluo snickered beside Eren before leaning in to whisper, “He always look like that, kid. Get used to it.” Eren gulped and his eyes settled at you and Levi once more.

“Are you even thinking? Troops are dying everyday to save this town and here you are, roaming the streets past curfew as if offering yourself to the vampires. What kind of stupidity is this?”

You crossed your arms over your chest, imitating his pose as you raise your chin up. “Look, I'm thankful that you saved my life but you better watch your mouth, Shorty." Gunther, Eld, Oluo, Eren and Petra coughed to surpress their laughter. They never heard anyone talk back to their captain the way you do and it was very amusing.

“Did you just call me, Shorty?” he tilted his head looking at you from head to toe before smirking deviously, “You're not the one to talk.” he insulted back, his grey eyes staring into yours.

You gasped. “Are we done now, shorty? My Mom's probably looking for me now. I have no time for your childish shits.” the man is hot but he's getting on your nerves, those gray eyes are mesmerizing but he's too much to handle.

Levi was amused, it was the very first time that someone bravely insulted him back, as much as his pride was hurt at the shorty comment he commends you for entertaining him. It was fun to have someone shot back insults at him, his comrades are always afraid to talk back to him but you, you're different, very different.

“Did somebody ever told you that you're such a brat?”

“Did somebody ever told you that you're a dick?”

Eren stepped in between the two of you, he slowly pushed you away from Levi as he whispered at you, “I'll take you home, we have to get away from here as soon as possible.” you grimaced, “What? He insulted me first!” you complained but Eren shook his head at you, telling you to stop talking.

He's not really ready to face Levi's wrath, not when he just got kicked by his captain few days ago, it was painful as fuck.

He knew Levi wouldn't dare hit a girl but no shit Sherlock the heated argument between the two of you might escalate more and he doesn't know how it would end but he's sure it wouldn't end really well.

“Captain, I'll be meeting you at the headquarters, I just gotta take Y/N home.” Eren smiled awkwardly.

Levi shook his head firmly as he took a step forward to pull Eren away from you. “You have to stay with them, Eren. You know exactly why, I'll take her home.” Eren's eyes widened as he hold onto Levi's arms. “Captain, my friend was just joking about everything she said.” Levi's eyes settled on Eren's hands that are clutched onto his sleeve.

“If I saw that there's a dirt in my sleeve because of your filthy hand, you'll sleep at the basement.”

Eren immediately let go of Levi's sleeves. He's afraid for what might happen if Levi would be the one to accompany you to your home but he's more afraid of his own fate, you're a strong independent woman, he's damn sure you can handle yourself.

“Wait right here. Watch out for vampires.” Levi ordered.

You stared up at him as his bangs got blown by the wind, he looks so good with that undercut, those gray eyes are attractive too but you also noticed the dark circles around it, he's probably sleep deprived, given that he works in the Survey corps. Poor little beaitiful thing, wait, what? “What, brat? You gonna stay here staring at me or we'll get going so you could go home?” you snapped out of your thoughts and rolled your eyes.

“Ugh. Fine, bye Eren.” you waved at your friend and he waved back with an awkward smile. “Bless you, Y/N.” Petra couldn't help but stare at you and Levi with genuine shock written all over her face, why Levi is insisting to take you home? He's not the type to do such thing.

“Captain we could—” before she could suggest that she'll walk you home herself, Levi already talked over her. “Save it, Petra. Stay here and wait for me to get back.” he commanded before he gently pushed you so you could start walking.

The first few minutes of walking with Levi was filled by awful silence but he was the first one to talk.

“Just so you know, once we spotted you roaming the streets past curfew again, I'll bring you to Erwin.”

“This is the first time I stayed out past curfew. Not doing it again.” you snickered and Levi let out a low chuckle.

“You better keep your words, brat.” he whispered as he raked his fingers in his jet black hair, as the two of you walk in silence again, you couldn't help but observe him in your peripheral view.

Levi is quite short but his physique is well developed, the man has the charm to make every girls crazy just by the way he walks like he owns the streets, he's attractive only if he's not so sassy.

You snorted at the thought and Levi's gaze landed at you, “Still cursing me in your head?" He smirked, triggering you to talk back to him but you chose not to, you were too preoccupied because of his scent, he smells like fresh soap with a calming aroma of manliness.

Sweet Lord, he smells so damn good.

Levi noticed how your cheeks slowly turned to crimson red, he doesn't have any idea why but he assumed that you're red because you're so pissed because of him. He found himself staring at you for so long, as you walk with your head slightly down, your hair freely sway with the cold breeze, its vanilla scent tickles his nostrils and he almost cussed underneath his breath as he inhaled your feminine scent.

“Ahm, Captain...we're already here in front of our house.”

Levi jerked out of his thoughts and he stared at the house in front of him. “Hmm, you should go inside.” he told you as he pointed the brown metal gate of your house, you awkwardly held onto the strap of your sling bag, shifting your weight from foot to foot as you stared at Levi.

“Well, ahm. Sorry for acting like a brat earlier and thank you for saving me.” you told him in a low voice as you looked down trying to hide the blush creeping in your cheeks.

Levi found it adorable, he clicked his tongue as he clasped his hands together. “It's fine, go inside your house, brat. You better be home before curfew on the next days and don't spend much time with Eren.” you looked up at him, confused why you were being told not to spend too much time with your best friend.

“He's my best friend.”

“Just follow my orders, he doesn't need a distraction in our duties.”

Levi wouldn't be able to say that Eren is now a vampire, it's a classfied information and it shall stay within the members of the Survey Corps but he has to warn you, Eren is unstable every time he'll turn into a vampire, they're still looking for ways to turn him back to normal.

“Fine. I gotta go inside, thank you.” you gave him a small smile and Levi somehow froze in his position but he managed to nod at you as he turned his back, ready to walk away but you called after him.

“Levi!”

When Levi looked back, you were already standing in front of him, his lips inches away from yours, he breathed heavily but you didn't notice. You just fished something out of your pocket, you took Levi's hand and placed a pack of wet wipes in his hand.

“There's a dirt on your sleeve. You better wipe it, it looks filthy.” You winked before running towards the gate of your house, opening it silently as you walked to the main door calling out your Mother's name while Levi was stucked from where he stood.

His eyes was fixated on the pack of wet wipes and slowly, he smiled at the sight of it but his smile quickly faded when his gaze landed on his sleeves, it was indeed dirty, Eren's dirty hands left a mark on it.

“Fuck it, Eren.” he growled.

#levi x reader #levi ackerman fanfiction #captain levi #levi aot #attack on titan #levi attack on titan #levi x y/n #levi ackerman #levi x you #fanfic #aot fanfiction #aot x you #aot x y/n #eren yaegar #survey corps

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thanksjro · 3 years

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More Than Meets the Eye #32 - Nobody’s Ever Actually Dead in Comic Books

Our band of merry guys-who-weren’t-on-the-Lost-Light-in-issue-#1 approach the shattered husk of the Lost Light, in a gruesome scene that is only slightly marred by the graphic design.

Font doesn’t really suggest danger, does it? Here, for comparison, is something I slapped together in fifteen minutes (including recreation of background) using a font I got off a free font site.

Now, one could say that my version is rather derivative, flat, and arguably cliche, but you know what else it is? Appropriate for the fucking mood of having found a destroyed, hemorrhaging ship after everyone you knew disappeared.

I’m available, IDW! Hit me up.

Theorizing that this is the ship that the Coffin Rodimus came from- remember that? It was a few issues ago- the gang flies in for a closer look. The ship blood is actually something called quantum foam, which allows for quantum space travel to happen. It’s not supposed to be outside of the quantum quills, but the ship’s pretty junked up, so it is.

Because the ship is so very full of holes, the gang can set down for repairs pretty easy. They land in Swerve’s, finding it in less-than-pristine condition. They also find evidence of Crosscut having gotten creative, as a poster for the play he was working on is hung up in the room. Considering he was still writing it when he disappeared, this might seem a bit odd. But then you remember that this is a ship from the future, and it stops being so odd.

Because this is a future ship, with evidence that Crosscut did some stuff, it stands to reason that, at some point, everyone is going to come back from being disappeared.

Just to die.

Which is a bummer, but one crisis at a time.

Megatron disembarks the Rod Pod, with Ravage following, and everyone is just a touch put off by the duo. Everyone but Nautica, who proceeds to commit a microaggression.

Nautica, that’s Soundwave’s father you’re petting like a common animal.

Ravage, angered by this over-familiarity, swats at her. Skids questions letting an active Decepticon roam around, but Megatron brushes off these concerns, saying that finding any still-living crew members is more important. With that, the search begins.

The gang splits up to look for clues, despite Riptide thinking this is a horrible idea. They’re on the clock for this one- the quantum foam is liable to explode if it touches anything, and there’s an awful lot of the stuff floating around right now.

Nightbeat and Nautica leave the rest of the group to their own work, seeing as Nautica has the most appropriate alt-mode for traversing the gaps in the ship.

Man, that’s pretty cool. Wish Nautica hadn’t been regulated to being “girl best friend” for her character arcs, I would have loved to see her do some neat stuff for her own development. Guess that’s what happens when you get introduced as main cast late, and have to compete with all the faves who had dozens of issues to be established and who also don’t have to deal with the whole “token girl character” thing.

The rest of the gang- Megatron, Ravage, Riptide, Skids, and Getaway- start looking in the area they’re already in. Seems a little lopsided, but whatever.

Ravage finds someone almost immediately, identifying Ultra Magnus through smell alone. Only, it isn’t just Ultra Magnus.

The Magnus armor lays not terribly far away, having had its hands cut off to prevent the recall signal from being activated before being gut-murdered.

Gut-murdered wiTH A FUSION CANNON, MEGATRON

Of course, Megatron was forced to destroy his fusion canon after it was decided he would be joining the Lost Light, but you can buy these things off the black market like it’s nothing. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Brainstorm had a few stashed in his lab.

As it currently stands, nobody can trust the guy who has a storied past of killing Autobots, on a future ship where the only folks who could stop him are dead. Megatron, at least, has the good sense to not argue this fact, and suggests that the boys lock both Ravage and himself up until they suss out exactly what happened.

Meanwhile, over with Nautica and Nightbeat, we run through all the weird shit that’s happened in the last day or so.

Nautica, you’ve been on this ship for months now. How did you miss the fact that the only couple within 800 miles got annihilated by way of Phase Sixer? I feel like that attack might have come up at some point.

Since they’re on the subject of spouses, Nightbeat asks Nautica if she’s married, or if she has friends. Though noting that such a direct line of questioning might get him slapped with someone else, Nautica reveals that she is single, though she does have a best friend. Nightbeat is also single, probably because he pulls shit like this.

While this conversation is going on, Nautica uses her Sonic Screwdriver wrench to open a door with the literal push of a button. Brainstorm tricked out her wrench so hard it turned into a magic wand, which is good, because they’re going to need all the help they can get now that space is literally warping around them thanks to the quantum foam.

Nautica kicks something on the elevator, and that something turns out to be Brainstorm’s mysterious briefcase. Too bad Swerve is gone, he was so invested in what it contained. Luckily, Nightbeat is just as interested.

Back over on the other side of the ship, it seems as though Megatron kept his word about not resisting, as both he and Ravage have been locked in a cabinet. Wonder how that’s going for them.

Oh, better than I expected.

Ravage is fucking pissed that Megatron joined the Autobots, thereby turning his back on everyone who supported his cause during the last four million years. Despite this grievous betrayal though, the Decepticons haven’t stopped moving. Turns out, Galvatron’s in charge now.

But only if Autobot Megatron isn’t some sort of ploy.

It’s at this point that we learn just why Ravage is here to begin with- to see if Megatron’s truly given up the Decepticons, and if he has, to murder him. But first he’d like to know why this is happening.

Megatron views himself as a monster, having perpetuated a war that ended the lives of billions, destroyed the Cybertronian way of life, ostracized his race from the rest of the universe, and killing just to have something to do. He doesn’t like feeling this way about himself, so he decided to walk away from that life by joining the other team.

Don’t think it’s quite that easy to do, but okay.

Ravage isn’t so sure that this change of heart is going to stick, still convinced that Megatron will snap back to his old self with just a bit more time. Problem is, Megatron may not have a ton of that resource left.

Didn’t they build that body in like an hour so you wouldn’t die? Yeah, no wonder it feels as ill-fitting as a twenty-dollar suit. Thing’s probably made out of pig iron and duct tape.

The lights come on before further self-reflection can be done, and the duo realize that they’ve had guests this whole time.

Someone put the kettle on.

Obviously some fucked up shit happened on this ship. Megatron isn’t so sure that it’s him who did these dirty deeds, however, as he reaches into Ratchet’s mouth and pulls out his brain. Which feels like something that doesn’t really absolve one of guilt, but okay.

Also, ew.

Back with Nautica and Nightbeat, things are getting weird.

Now, this sequence might seem confusing at first blush, but this is because the laws of reality are collapsing around them. Going by clues in the background, we can find the proper, linear progression of time, and thus is conversation. This is what is actually happening:

With the mystery of Brainstorm’s briefcase eluding us once again, we move on to see more graphic aftermaths of violence. Poor Tailgate has been nailed to the wall with a chunk of a metal beam that’s almost as big as he is. The mood lighting for this scene is gorgeous, but I’ve hit my limit for exposing y’all to gore for this issue, so you’ll just have to trust me on this one. Then they find something even more interesting.

Who’s ready for Under Cold Blue Stars… 2!

Back over on the opposite side of the ship, Riptide’s found something nasty. It’s a bunch of dead bodies!

Including, uh, Pipes.

Who already died a while ago.

Hm.

All the bodies in this room are in their alts, and it looks like they’ve all been shot and drilled into, for some reason. Skids brings up that he had a friend who could identify the placement of any robot’s brain module just by knowing what they turned into. Then he reaches into a corpse to see what the drill-hole’s all about. It makes him sick, though maybe not for the reason you might think. He gets on the phone with Nightbeat, who’s called to tell them that they’ve found Overlord.

Still locked in his weird body harness.

And decapitated.

Megatron is on the other line, calling because he’s figured out the same thing Skids has. Someone paid a visit to this ship. Someone nasty.

The gang regroups, and Nautica gets the basics on the DJD, because I guess nobody’s mentioned them even in passing in the last six months, either.

God, what do they even talk about on this ship? Certainly not their feelings.

The reason that one room was filled with alt-modes was because of Tarn’s addiction to transforming; t-cogs are easier to remove when they’ve been used recently.

We get a quick 4/5ths-page gore-fest, then it’s back to making it all about Megatron.

Maybe you should have thought about that before you FUCKING DEFECTED, YOU POOL NOODLE.

Nightbeat’s beginning to put two and two together. There’s an Overlord in the basement. That shouldn’t be, because Overlord got exploded by Chromedome when he mercy-killed Rewind. Something is off about the past of this ship.

Before he can establish his MTMTE everybody-lives-but-then-dies AU though, the quantum foam fucks with the ship. These sons of guns need to get the hell out of here, pronto.

Oh god, what now?

Ravage smells someone inside the Magnus armor, someone who isn’t a part of the usual nesting doll lineup. Megatron reaches into the Crackerjack box and pulls out one hell of a prize.

HE LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES

Chromedome would be so thrilled, if he still existed.

#transformers #jro #MTMTE #slaughterhouse #issue 32 #maccadam #Hannzreads #incoming analysis #text post #long post #comic script writing

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featherfur · 3 years

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Big Knife Meet Little Blind Ch.2

Xue Yang meets A-Qing before he meets Xiao Xingchen and decides he needs a disciple. Somehow he ends up with a kid, a heart, and an absolute mess of a cultivation world.

Warnings: Gore, Blood, Murder, Questionable Child Rearing, Xue Yang and A-Qing's potty mouth, Xue Yang isn't a good person and needs to get there, will eventually be SongXiaoXue

Read me on Ao3,

Read Chapter 1

Xue Yang returned home much more relaxed and even entertained the idea of taking his next day off to travel down to Yunmeng with A-Qing to let her try osmanthus cakes. She’d probably enjoy the river boats and he could afford a trip there and back if he annoyed Jin Guangyao into paying him early.

“A-Qing, are you still crying like a baby?” He called cheerfully towards the shack, kicking open the door and blinking when he found it completely empty.

The hearth was still cold and the soup from last night was gone so A-Qing had returned after he sent her off. The blankets for their bed were still made like A-Qing insisted on doing every morning, even the hidden pouch of money was still tucked in the jar of seasonings on the top shelf. Yet A-Qing was nowhere to be found.

Where the hell had the brat gone?

Had she run off because he scared her? If she could get over a fierce corpse devouring and murdering humans she shouldn’t be such a coward just because he got pissed and stabbed someone. It wasn’t like he was going to stab her. If he did that then he’d have to go through the trouble of finding another disciple and he liked his.

“A-Qing!” He shouted, mentally convincing himself that he wasn’t worried at all. After all, he could always get another brat right?

A second later the door swung open and he spun, Jiangzai already before him. Luckily for him, A-Qing was still much too small for his stab to be in her general area.

She collided with him forcefully and he was about to reprimand her when he realized she was clutching onto him.

“Eh? Why are you crying brat? Did you think I wasn’t coming back?” He snapped even as he sheathed Jiangzai and crouched down so he could look her over. She was fine beyond a few scratches and he rolled his eyes at her dramatics, he really should have killed her and grabbed an older brat. They didn’t cry nearly as much.

“Yang-ge, someone tried to break the door! They wanted to kill me.. They kept yelling for you. You weren’t here.” A-Qing sobbed, the irritation that rose in Xue Yang at her obnoxious crying was immediately flooded with the fury that anyone would dare scare his A-Qing. “You didn’t come home… I-I-I hid… I hid where you told me too. Then I heard you.”

Well atleast, some of his words had gotten through her thick skull.

“Who was it?” He barked, groaning when she just kept crying. He smacked her cheek and she blinked blearily up at him.

“Answer me brat, who was it?”

She shook her head, trying to tug herself closer to his chest and he pushed her back with a disgusted noise. She was covered in snot and tears and he didn’t want to have to wash his clothes so soon. It was disgusting and he liked to play with corpses.

She just snuffled loudly despite his glare and hold on her shoulders, still reaching out to him.

“I don’t know, I promise I don’t know.” She swore, grabbing hold of his forearms with a vice-like grip. It would have been impressive if she wasn’t so damn annoying.

Xue Yang stared at her, wondering if he could smack her again to make her shut up but she just blinked her white eyes at him with unwavering trust. An unfamiliar feeling built in his chest and he released his grip on her shoulders.

She rocketed into his chest with a fresh wave of sobbing, clinging onto him with a strength that surprised him. He fell back onto his ass, crossing his legs under him as A-Qing curled in his lap.

He pulled Jiangzai out as a precaution, wondering if A-Qing would panic like before. To his pleasant surprise, as soon as the blade was resting on his knee in easy reach she finally started to calm.

Her small fingers were tangled in his robes and he reached up to pat them in a move of comfort that completely surprised himself. Then again, he didn’t like breaking his own toys so treating them properly was the best way to make sure they survived. Even if he was confused by his own actions, A-Qing had started to calm and her obnoxious crying had finally ceased so Xue Yang counted it as a win.

Still, a steady wave of anger was still sliding through him. Someone had tried to break into his house and scared what was his. Even if her own clumsiness was what caused her scratches, she wouldn’t have had to run if it wasn’t for those bastards. They owed him.

Xue Yang was going to get even, tonight. He’d had a really bad day and it was time to make it someone else’s problem.

He waited for A-Qing to fall asleep before he moved back to his feet, keeping one arm under her so she could rest against his shoulder. With a child on his right and Jiangzai on his left he stepped out of the house and started to make his way around the house.

There were indeed footprints that weren’t from him, two sets in fact leading back to the local village. They weren’t familiar to him, but that just meant it wasn’t anyone from the Jin sect. There were plenty of others who wanted him dead or beaten black and blue.

He returned to the house to drop A-Qing off but she woke the moment he put her down.

“Yang-ge, are you leaving again?” She asked, her bottom lip wobbling and he poked her cheek to startle her.

“Don’t start that crying shit, got it? Yes I am, stay here.”

Rather than listening she just bolted forward to hold onto his leg instead.

“Yang-ge don’t leave me, take me with you.”

Xue Yang kicked her off, waving Jiangzai between them to keep her from trying again. Yet she still just wobbled back up to her feet with that stubborn streak that made him take her in the first place.

The temptation to give her a reason to fear Jiangzai was almost irresistible, a few more cuts wouldn’t do anything other than scare her after all. Xue Yang was good at swordsmanship, a few slices like paper cuts would be perfect for getting her to remember her place. He flicked the sword up with a twist of his wrist and was about to slice down across the reaching hand.

“You’re… going to kill them… right?” She said and Xue Yang paused long enough for her to grab his robes again and reach up towards Jiangzai. “Like earlier.”

“No, not like earlier. I’m going to kill them myself. Now let go or I’ll kill you first.” Xue Yang warned with a growl but she barely even blinked.

“Take me with you.”

That made him lower the sword with curiosity, tilting his head down at the dirty little brat he’d stuck in his house. There was a sudden panic in his mind, like when he’d come home to find A-Qing missing, at the idea of her being anywhere near murderers. She was tiny! He could kill her with a half kick to the head and she wanted to go with him?

“Why?”

“You left and it was scary.” She said simply, letting go of his robes to hold her arms up to him. “Take me with you.”

“Little Blind,” He said ignoring her scowl, “you do know I’m going to kill. Like the man before. You cried like a little bitch not even twelve hours ago.”

He remembered that she was roughly five when she just blinked up at him and waved her hands. Right. She’d watched last time.

The panic started to drain quickly and he shrugged.

Whatever. If she died then fuck her, he’d burn her corpse or bring her back for his experiments. Oh that was an idea.

He hummed to himself as he bent just enough to swipe her legs out from under her with his arm and leave her perched on his hip and elbow.

If she died she could make a wonderful little subject to see about finally recreating a conscious corpse like the Ghost General. It really was too bad that he was completely loyal to Wei Wuxian, Xue Yang could have used a babysitter.

“If you start crying I’ll leave you in the chest cavity after I break it open.” Xue Yang threatened her and she just gave him that same confused blink. He scoffed and grabbed a cloak to toss over her and made his way out.

He was going to have to fix her poor vocabulary soon. She was great at playing a beggar for a kid, but she really missed the point of his threats and that wasn’t going to stand.

“Do you remember what the bastards sounded like? The ones who came looking for me,” Xue Yang added irritably when she continued her blinking habit. That jogged her memory and she nodded, looking out towards the approaching town.

Night had already started to fall and the last rays of light were quickly disappearing as lanterns were lit instead. Xue Yang grumbled to himself as he realized the footprints would soon be invisible but he couldn’t risk putting A-Qing down for a fire talisman or to sheathe Jiangzai even for a few seconds.

“He… He sounded like the… the…” A-Qing pouted as she tried to remember and Xue Yang suddenly understood why people found kid’s cute. If she wasn’t so annoying, A-Qing would be adorable for a little stray, she was just like a cat that never shut up.

“The pig man!” A-Qing finally declared happily, smiling at Xue Yang and lost the adorable look when Xue Yang just felt annoyed instead.

“I thought you said you didn’t know who they were.”

“I don’t. One of them sound like the pig man… He wasn't the pig man.”

Xue Yang jerked his arm to make her squeal in fear of being dropped. Then he realized what it was that she was saying.

“You mean he has the same accent as the butcher?”

Right, Xue Yang thought as she blinked blankly at him, she’s five she doesn’t know what accent means.

“You have the ugliest face.” He finally told her, grumbling when her thin fingers shoved into his cheek.

“Yang-ge don’t be mean to A-Qing.” She admonished like it was bath day and not a trip to kill a man.

“Okay brat, I get it, keep your hands off my face or I’ll bite them off.” He snapped his teeth in her direction and she retracted her hands quickly with puffy cheeks and pouty lips. The second time wasn’t nearly as adorable but when she reached to wrap her arms around his neck again he let her without question.

Honestly he was waiting for her to fall asleep on his shoulder so he just evened out his footsteps and made his way through the back alley’s to the butchershop.

“Don’t make any noise unless I tell you too.” He warned, waiting until she nodded that she understood before he finally stepped behind the shop itself.

The candlelight wasn’t very bright so Xue Yang slipped closer, peering through the window at the small group. At first he only recognized the butcher himself, then he realized he did know the other two.

They weren’t anyone important but a few years ago Xue Yang had gutted their sister for smacking him, he hadn’t realized he’d been seen at all. They must have been hunting him since then and only just now caught up after he got stuck long-term in this damned town. He would have to clean that up eventually anyways.

Talk about two birds with one stone, he thought to himself and turned to lower A-Qing to the ground.

“Are you going to help me? Or do you just wanna watch?” He whispered and she shrank down against the wall of the house before reaching out to pat the hilt of Jiangzai. “Good girl, wait right here for Yang-ge.”

He straightened with a grin, patting her once on the head before sliding open the door silently and strolling through.

“Hello you two, I heard you were looking for me.” He chirped excitedly, holding up the well-known blade. “Really, you could have just left a note.”

“You.” One snarled.

“Xue Yang.” The other said and Xue Yang rolled his eyes, chuckling at their posturing.

“Don’t dirty my name, I’m rather fond of it.” He hummed, almost seeming to glide over the floor towards them as they stumbled back. “Actually, let me correct myself. You should have just left a note. Then I’d maybe be able to bring myself to be a bit merciful, Jin Guangyao’s been teaching me all about it.”

“Will you just- Shut up!” The butcher’s voice joined the mess and Xue Yang glanced at the knife he was wielding.

A loud laugh bubbled up as he saw it, swinging Jiangzai to point at the taller one.

“You really think you can do anything to me?” In response the knife came flying at his head and he sighed softly. A simple lean was all that was needed to leave the blade well out of range of his head and it struck the wall behind him instead.

“Now, I need a volunteer.” He said with another step forward. “See, my kid’s still new to all of this but she needs to learn, so who wants to help me teach her the different arteries to cut? The other two I’ll kill a little faster.”

“You killed our sister, after we kill you we’ll get your little brat and return the favor.” The youngest brother yelled in outrage, brandishing his own sword. It wavered in the air almost shaking as much as his owner was.

The smile disappeared from Xue Yang’s face and he flashed forward. With two strokes blood spurted from the two others’ throats. He left only the youngest to cower with a scream that was silenced a moment later when Xue Yang’s fingers grabbed his tongue and with a single slice was tossed behind him. The wail was easily stuffed out with a handful of the bastard’s own robes, forcing them down his throat until he choked and gagged.

“Found my volunteer.” Xue Yang pulled him to his knees by his hair, waiting impatiently for the neighbors knocking to cease. When no one answered they dispersed with mumbles about rowdy visitors and summoning the guards to complain.

Xue Yang dragged the man through the bloody mess on the floor, glancing back at the corpses with a mournful air.

If only I hadn’t brought A-Qing, then I’d have two new subjects to play with.

He hummed as he stood in the middle of the room, realizing that this was one of those moments that Jin Guangyao had told him about. Ones where Xue Yang should have planned better before jumping into slaughter.

He wanted to take his time and teach A-Qing a thing or two, but the bastard crying on the floor had warned everyone. If Xue Yang brought him back home to teach, then he’d have to deal with the smell of blood in his house and the potential of Jin disciples finding the body.

Jin Guangyao should be proud, Xue Yang thought proudly as he dropped the man on the ground and promptly sat on his stomach, I’m thinking it through and everything.

“A-Qing, come here.” He called, waving her forward and holding his arms open to tempt her even further. As expected, she bolted into his arms without a care for the carnage around her.

“Good girl, now, I’m going to show you this trick.”

A-Qing flinched slightly when the man they were sitting on wailed against the robe. Then she scowled and leaned over him to smack his cheek like Xue Yang did to her earlier. This one was much harsher than Xue Yang had been but it still managed to make the man freeze.

“Good girl,” Xue Yang cheered, the vicious mood from earlier seeming to dissipate as he squeezed her cheek. “Very good, now, listen to Yang-ge.”

A-Qing nodded her head rapidly as Xue Yang moved over the struggling man to trace a nail over his carotid artery with a rather proper explanation of death by exsanguination if he said so himself. He followed the man’s neck down to his windpipe, explaining how to slice it properly. The man still writhed so Xue Yang clamped down on his throat, squeezing it until the body spasmed and stopped moving.

“And that is choking. Don’t worry about that right now, you’re too tiny to do it.” Xue Yang said, tilting his head to listen to the slow moving footsteps of whatever the villagers had managed to gather for a guard to check. He sighed, resigning himself to bringing her to one of his experiments later and scooting her off to stand.

He twirled Jiangzai, humming to himself as he felt its blood lust, and held it against the unconscious man’s neck.

“Well? Do you remember what I just taught you?”

A-Qing glanced back and forth between the two of them with visible hesitation. Xue Yang supposed this could be a little fast, she’d only seen her first murder earlier in the day after all.

I’ll read those damn child raising books when I get home, maybe I should wait until she’s atleast six before committing human murder. Jin Guangyao said that was harder for most people to do.

Even as he planned to kill the man himself, A-Qing’s hand moved to Xue Yang’s and held the hilt of Jiangzai. She pushed carefully until the sword was just over the artery just like Xue Yang had taught her, then she plunged it forward.

Her white eyes were glowing with fascination as blood bubbled around the wound and, when Xue Yang pulled out, the way it sprayed before Xue Yang covered her from it with his black sleeve. Still, she moved to peek over his arm when it finally stopped spurting over them. She blinked in her curious way at the corpse then scowled over at Xue Yang.

“Your robe is all dirty. It’s bath day.” She said seriously, just like Xue Yang would say when he came home to find her filthy.

Xue Yang was in such a good mood he could only scoop her up as he sheathed Jiangzai and laugh as he skipped to the door. He paused midway through and bounced back to grab the purse on the butcher and the package before bolting as the acting guards started to bang on the door.

“Oops.” He hummed, looking around the alley before kicking off to land on the roof next door. Perhaps he didn’t think things through like he thought he did.

Whatever, He slipped the purse into his robe and started back towards home. He jumped on three more houses before deciding that was good enough and leaping to the ground to walk the rest of the way.

“Yang-ge?” A-Qing said sleepily against his shoulder. “Can I go to work with you again?”

“Sure, kid, I’ll bring you again later.” He hummed to himself, cheerfully waving the package of whatever he’d stolen through the air. He debated on chucking it against a tree just to see its contents but A-Qing’s sleepy snuffles distracted him instead.

She’d done so well already, this disciple shit really was working out a lot better than he thought it would. He was surprised she hadn’t even sobbed but then again, he hadn’t cried after his first kill either and he was only two years older than her then.

He glanced down at her as she promptly passed out, completely comfortable and safe in the arms of a murderer.

So this is why people have kids, they’re actually kind of cute when they listen.

He would have to figure out something about leaving her alone in case other enemies showed up, but maybe if he dug at the Ghost General enough he would finally get that ghost babysitter.

He almost turned to head towards the experimentation compound but a single glance at A-Qing’s sleeping form made him turn back towards home.

That can wait until tomorrow, A-Qing needs more sleep than me.

#mdzs #the untamed #Xue yang #a qing #xiao xingchen #song lan #xuexiao #songxiaoxue #songxiao #songxue #fanfic #canon divergence #cw: murder #cw: character death #cw: gore #cw: blood

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alfredosauce50 · 3 years

Text

What makes me human [Cyberpunk! America x reader] 16

Wordcount: 4, 869 Rating: M for strong language, moderate sexual references, violence, and gore The reader is referred to as she/her. "God knows. Maybe you have a greater purpose to serve. Why else did he make you?" Chapter synopsis: And you never considered yourself trigger-happy. But the shots have been fired. They're dead before you can interrogate them. Allen is eager to convince you it was the right thing to do, but even he can't deny the horrors that will follow. The war rages on. Alfred stays ignorant for the meantime, and you revel in his bliss of it. You share one last peaceful night with him before the fearful unknown.

16 - Nothing breaks like a heart

The reader is referred to as she/her.

An ear-splitting bang echoed in the pool room. Blood and small chunks of flesh landed on the tiled floor in a splat. Tearing his hand away with a shaky gasp, he held the wrist and hunched over to writhe in agony. "Ergh... Fuck!" He spluttered, feeling a violent tremble seize his wounded hand. "Fuck, fuck, fuck..."

He lifted his head to glare at you with the utmost betrayal. "What the hell did you do that for?!"

A sizely hole formed in his palm. The exposed flesh was still oozing out blood like a full sponge, dripping onto the ground in generous puddles. A whole section of his bone was missing. And you did it. You shot Alfred. You paled in horror for a few moments, but as he panted before you with tears streaming down his red and enflamed face, it became apparent that your guilt was unfounded.

"What I did that for? You aren't Alfred!" You exasperated, raising the gun shakily to point it between his fearful eyes. "You're a clone!"

A sour flavor was left in your mouth as you spat out the word. His origins were no mystery.

Nobody else could have been responsible or capable of such a heinous crime. To grow an abomination from whatever DNA was left in their lab. You only imagined them to be created for one purpose, and one purpose only. To torment, kill, and replace Alfred. As the thoughts raced through your head, you tightened your finger around the trigger—"Wait, wait! Don't shoot!" He begged, throwing his arms up.

"I know you're freaking out right now, but I have no idea what's going on either!"

Gritting your teeth at his excuse, you were determined to not let it get to you. But it was easier said than done. "Shut up! Don't think for a second you can fool me!" Despite the cutting conviction of your voice, you took on a terrified expression at the thought of shooting him. "I'm gonna do it. You're nothing but a freak of nature! And you'll never... Never..."

As you trailed off, you realized you indeed couldn't pull the trigger.

Not when the barrel was aimed at a face that looked just like Alfred's.

It was contorted with so much fear and despair, pleading silently for you to not hurt him. The fact that he was a spitting image of him made it even harder. How he moved, talked, acted—seeing it chipped away your resolve, leaving you all but paralyzed. The gun was left juddering furiously in your hands in light clacks, holding him hostage at the moment before death.

"Please. Please don't do it." He whispered, bringing his hands down to shield himself. "You gotta help me, (F/N). I don't know how, but I woke up in this body. That's... That's all that happened."

How painfully familiar it sounded.

I woke up in this body.

The similarities were so uncanny, it was cruel. Giving your head a quick shake, your lips quivered as you uttered this.

"You're lying. You're not real."

Creases formed between his brows. "I'm not lying! And I am real! I'll prove it to you, I swear! We went through so much shit together, like uh—" He pointed at you and laughed nervously as he sifted through the scanty archives of his memories. "—I kidnapped you. Ha! See? I know something! That's how we met! And you hated my guts at first."

You swallowed thickly as uncertainty slowly overwhelmed you. If he could remember that, he had to be real, right? No. You had to fend off the feeling. "That's not good enough!" Your finger stayed on the trigger, and the barrel, on him.

He tensed up as panic caught him in a chokehold. "Okay, okay! Well, er..." His heart was pounding harder and harder with every second he failed to say something. "... Oh! Remember the time I nearly got murdered by a cult leader? He had a whole kabuki mask get-up and everything—just like, like Professor Callaghan from Big Hero 6. You know that movie right?"

You sucked in a sharp breath. The title didn't ring any bells, but what he said had you second-guessing yourself. Was he not lying after all? Lowering the gun at that, your motion was slowed by slight hesitance. "... How... How do you know those things?" You asked faintly. "What are you?"

Before he could formulate an answer, footsteps thudded down the hall. Your thoughts came to a complete standstill.

Then, you heard a voice.

"(F/N)!" They shouted. Was it Allen? Your heart sank when you realized you couldn’t tell—it sounded too similar to Alfred. Or were you just imagining things? The sheer amount of panic was too incapacitating that you couldn't think.

So you did the unthinkable.

Raising the gun once more, you fired a shot into his abdomen.

The second you let the bullet fly, you regretted it.

Both your ears rang as the next few moments occurred in silence. And they would unfold in painstakingly slow motion. Dropping the gun to the ground in a soundless clatter, you watched him stumble back a few steps with his eyes popping out of his skull. Blood was spreading around the flaps of his kimono from a new hole in his chest. But the gore couldn't compare to his look of betrayal.

Of a heartbreak so deep, it destroyed you.

"Oh my God..." You raised both hands to your mouth. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed on the ground in a bloody heap. "I just—I just killed—" Tears streamed relentlessly down to your chin as you stood frozen.

"(F/N)! I heard gunshots. What the fuck happened?!" Allen appeared in the doorway. His loud voice derailed your train of thoughts, forcing you to turn to the man. When you did, your heart clenched at the realization you made a mistake. It wasn't him. Alfred was never down the hall, and you panicked.

He never even had a chance to explain himself.

When Allen caught sight of the corpse by your feet, he dug his hands through his hair. Terror ran deep in his expression as he processed what he was seeing. "Shit, (F/N)." His nose scrunched up in shock. Never did he imagine the day would come where you would take someone's life. At least, not so soon.

But it arrived as an unwelcome surprise, unexpected and uninvited. "Did you kill that guy?"

You nodded profusely as a sob racked your body.

He scrambled over and shielded you from the grotesque scene. "Hey, hey, hey! Don’t feel bad! I’ve killed loads of people too, so welcome to the club!" The man rambled frantically, rubbing away your tears with his fingers. But who was he to tell you these things when he felt his own tears come?

"I’m sure he deserved it, and you were just protecting yourself, so don’t worry!" Allen forced a wide, manic smile.

His efforts to console you were in vain as you cried even harder. Pulling you into his chest, he rested his chin on your head that trembled to your coughs. "I'm so sorry..." Allen screwed his eyes shut and squeezed you tighter. "... I’m sorry I left you by yourself. This is my fault, not yours. It's my fault."

The string of apologies he spewed out was on your behalf, but he meant them with every fiber of his being. He had failed to protect the single most valuable thing to him.

And the blatant lie he forced you to accept was the last resort to preserve it. But it was time that stopped. "No, I killed him." You asserted shakily. He had nothing to do with this, and his eagerness to shoulder the blame only rubbed more salt into the wound. If you let him have his way, you would never live it down.

Without removing yourself from the hug, you pointed at the motionless body with your head turned away. "Look at him. I could never lie."

Allen lingered his gaze on you before obliging, albeit reluctantly. Nearing the corpse cautiously, he kicked its chest to roll it over. It revealed the dead man’s face in all its glory. Alfred’s face.

"..."

What the fuck.

When he thought he couldn’t be any more disgusted by the tyranny of technology, he was proved wrong yet again. This was clearly your father’s doing. And it was a declaration of war. But perhaps, it was just the continuation of the one that never ended.

Arthur was completely shit-faced downstairs. Slamming his beer mug down on the counter after he downed the whole thing, he gasped.

"Bwah! That hits the spot." His cheeks and ears were redder than a tomato, a stark contrast to his companion who was stone-cold sober.

Alfred raised a brow. "Sure looks like it. Dude, you gotta lay off the booze. You’re gonna regret it first thing tomorrow." Once he sighed that out, he rested his cheek on his hand. Then, he glowered at the hallway where you and Allen disappeared to.

"How long does it take to piss? They’ve been gone for ages. Twenty minutes? Thirty minutes? I don’t fucking know," The mechanic let out a low chuckle and slapped him on the back. The force made his torso bounce, much to his annoyance. "What’s your deal?"

The other hummed mischievously. "I was just thinking about what you said." Arthur squinted almost suggestively, causing Alfred to do the same, but only out of being appalled. "Maybe... Maybe they aren’t pissing. Since they’re gone for so long at the bathrooms at that—so maybe, urgh... They’re doing the nasty together." The Brit practically howled with laughter, having figured he was probably right.

It was a plausible assumption. As he humored the suggestion Alfred heated up more severely than his intoxicated friend. You having sex with Allen? His chest whirred and nostrils flared. He'd never been this enraged before, but behind the mask of anger was a deep hurt and toxic kind of jealousy.

"Shut up! You’re drunk and slurring your words. You have no idea what you’re talking about."

Arthur snorted. "Sorry to break it to you, brother. But the only time I’m this honest is when I’m drunk, so."

Alfred’s eyes went round. Without a moment’s hesitation, he shot out of his stool and made a beeline to the hall. Before he could make it far, he bumped right into the very subjects of his conversation. Much to his relief, they were in no state that indicated they did anything sexual by nature; you were in his arms and fast asleep. Not that he was happy about it. "Woah. She's out like a light."

"Yeah, so keep your voice down." The other grumbled, bouncing you lightly. "I think it's about time we head home. How drunk is he?"

The blonde blinked. He wasn't expecting him to catch on so quickly. "Off his ass. He's red as."

Allen clicked his tongue and brushed past him. "Called it." Alfred would have dismissed it as something he always did. But since he was carrying you, it made him feel like an extra. So when the man walked off, he followed with a scowl. "Can you get a cab? I'm gonna sit in the corner for a bit."

And sit in the corner he did, laying your body across his lap so you could rest. Alfred narrowed his eyes into a dark glare, lingering on the sight as the club music pounded away in his ears. And he told him to keep his voice down? "Yeah, I'll call you a damn cab."

You pretended to be asleep the whole ride back to Arthur's. It was easy with Allen's shoulder at a perfect height for your face to bury in. For half an hour, you were stuck in that position. There, you listened to the symphony of a trip home from the club: the automated voice of the taxi A.I and the drunken warbles of an intoxicated friend. Without seeing it, you could feel Alfred watching you for the whole duration of the ordeal.

Fortunately, you could escape any interaction with him as Allen carried you to the bathroom upon arriving.

"Oi, where are you taking her?"

The redhead kicked the door open. "What does it look like?"

"Shouldn't you wake her up, at least?"

"Yeah, yeah. Quit breathing down my neck, already."

"Dude—"

The door locked. Setting you down on your feet, you held onto his arms to regain your balance. Once you did, you glanced up at him with the utmost panic. "I can't face him." Digging two hands through your hair, you let out a shaky gasp—"Oh my god, I don't know what to do! I shot him, Allen. I fucking shot him! What's he gonna think of me when he finds out?"

He sighed and gripped your shoulders firmly. With his brows furrowed in a stern expression, he corrected you. "You didn't shoot him. You shot another version of him." Allen couldn't stress that enough. But there were many things he needed to shed a light on in this emergency bathroom meeting. "And it was kinda my fault that happened. If I was there, I woulda' shot him for you."

"That's not the point, here! And it's never gonna be your fault. It's mine, and mine alone. End of story." You swiped a hand across his face for emphasis. While he groaned in dismay, a brief pause followed as you regained your breath.

At least an hour had passed, but you still couldn't wrap your head around it.

"I can't believe I did that. I don't even know how I could! I panicked. I thought Alfred was coming down the hall, but—"

"—but it was me. Doll-" Allen exasperated, dragging out the pet name. "-you can't blame yourself for what you did. Shit happens. And who says what you did was wrong, huh? You probably just saved us all from a bloodbath. And you know that!" Rocking you gently back and forth to shake some sense into you, he leaned in to peer into your wide eyes staring into space.

"That's why you shot him. You did the right thing."

As he blurted that out, the memory replayed in your head again and again like a broken record. Intrusive thoughts were a bitch. And there was one particular detail of the event that you would never forget. "Was it the right thing to do, though?" You murmured, lowering your doubtful gaze to the tiled floor. The betrayal in his eyes was so genuine, you came to regret everything you've done.

"What if he was real like he said?"

You were asking some hard-hitting questions, that was for sure. Everything else was shrouded in a fog of uncertainty.

"Well, it wouldn't matter if he was real. Cuz' he's dead."

Allen's expression morphed into a dark glower.

"But if he was still alive, there'd be two of him, and not for long. They'd kill each other, for sure. I mean, if I found out there was a second-rate version of me farting around out there, I'd kill that poser for sport. Hunt him down like game." Lifting up your chin so you'd look at him, he flashed a grin.

"So don't feel bad. You killed him and saved Alfred the trouble."

Softening your gaze at that, you pulled him into another hug. Allen was always amazing at comforting you in the direst of situations.

"... Maybe you're right."

He chuckled and patted your back. "I'm always right."

But there was still one concern he could never address.

If your father made a clone of Alfred, a real and legitimate copy, there was no saying he could make another. Hell, you even expected him to. He could keep churning him out so long as he had his DNA. The only way to end this threat was quick to cross your mind, but you didn't want to think about it.

You would have to kill your father.

Allen figured. But today suffered enough bloodshed.

Before he left the bathroom for you to use, he held onto your cheek.

Flickering his striking scarlet eyes over your troubled expression, he caught you in a quiet gaze. You could easily translate the untold fondness he watched you with. We can still run away together.

He pulled away slowly, reluctantly. Then, the door closed behind him, leaving you alone with your thoughts. It never crossed your mind the first time he brought it up earlier tonight, but you finally understood what he really meant by running away. Allen wanted to share his life with you. Heat flurried in your chest as you considered the idea.

Tears threatened to return once you realized how much you wanted to do it, just not with him. The desire was there, but it happened to be stronger for someone else.

Alfred had been waiting outside with his back against the wall, arms crossed with a frown. It only deepened when Allen walked out.

"What're you lookin' at?" The redhead mumbled.

"... Nothing. Just wondering why you two spend so much time in the bathroom together." Alfred pointed out, glancing down at the cigarette between his fingers. He would have been jumping for joy if it weren't for wanting to look serious. "What were you doing with her in the penthouse?"

The other felt a spell of irritation hit him. It was always jealousy with this one, wasn't it? But he couldn't be a hypocrite. "None a'ya business, bub." He hummed, slotting the cancer stick in between his teeth. A sly smirk widened his lips as he saw the blonde tense up. "You saw how tired she was. So don't even think about it."

Don't even think about it, he'd said. How come everything coming out of his mouth sounded like a euphemism for sex? Don't keep her up with stupid conversations would've sounded better. Alfred huffed and stormed back to the guest room. Or was it just his mind that was in the gutter? He blamed Arthur for even bringing it up.

Hanging his clothes on a chair, he curled up under the covers. His chest was whirring again, and the discomfort was akin to something you've gone through before. Separation anxiety. When you did show up ten minutes later, he rolled over to the door to watch your form. Hearing the fabric shuffle in your direction made your heart skip in panic.

He was awake.

"Arthur's puking his guts out, so if you hear coughing, it's him."

Hopefully, some light-hearted banter could keep you from acting up. But that was easier said than done.

The blanket lifted briefly so you could get under it. Once you got comfortable, he didn't hesitate to pull you in by the waist to spoon you. Ever since he saw you sleep in the club, and on Allen no less, he'd been dying to do this. "... I tried telling him." He murmured into your ear. "But I've slept through worse. You flop and roll a lot."

The feeling of his breath on your neck and the sound of his husky voice made your heart ache. Every night was spent like this, warm and snug in his arms, but tonight was different. Inside, you were still agonizing over what you had done to him, even if it wasn't exactly him. So to feel his chest rise against your back, then his legs rub against yours, you just couldn't take it—it was all too much.

Rolling over to him, you caught his neck in your arms and pulled it down for a tight squeeze. What you uttered next captured your deepest and most inexplicable desire. To truly be alone with him.

"I can't take it here anymore." You muttered furiously, hugging him around his neck to start crushing him.

He let out a shaky breath at the sudden pressure.

"Hey, hey, calm down. What's wrong?"

"I can't calm down. I need to talk to you. Alone." Sitting up at that, you pulled him along. It came especially easy as he stood up, eager to understand your spontaneity. "And in someplace that's not here. There's just... Too many people. Four is too many."

Alfred lit up, but his growing smile did his emotions no justice. He was ecstatic. Things were always simpler when it was just the two of you. Maybe you were finally getting sick of these cramped living conditions, the scrutiny. At least, he knew he was. So it was almost as if you read his mind. "Okaay. Are we going on a midnight adventure?" He piped.

But then again, you always seemed to be walking on the same wavelength as him.

He followed you around the room like a puppy as you collected some things—your jacket, then Alfred's phone to shoot Allen a text. We're off to the nearest no-tell motel to talk. We'll be back in the morning. Setting the device onto the desk, you threw him his belongings. His gun and trusty coil of tools. Catching them wordlessly, he shot you a quizzical look. "Well, aren't you mysterious? Where are we going?"

Little did he know, your decision to leave the house for the night had only so much to do with random selfish impulses. From the outside, it looked exactly like that. Up and going without a care in the world, without care for Allen, and becoming unreachable for the next several hours. But after what happened, you just needed time to recalibrate.

"Where we always used to go." You threw your jacket on. Dragging him out into the hall, he caught a brief glimpse of Arthur passed out over the toilet before he found himself in the garage.

Handing him his key, you opened the car door next to the driver's seat. "We have to be quick before Allen tries to stop us."

The said man was sitting on the roof when he heard the rumbling of the garage door. Immediately after the sound stopped, a car sped out of it with an aggressive vroom and disappeared into the night. Narrowing his eyes at the rear window, he stood up and tossed his cigarette over the edge. Where the hell were you going this late at night? And with Alfred, no less?

He could feel hot jealousy prick him all over again. But it was warped with a harrowing kind of sadness. No matter what he did or what he said, he couldn't seem to get in between you two. Allen sat back down and lit up another cigarette. Giving that a few puffs, he surrounded his head in a cloud of grey smoke. Maybe he did know you for too long.

For eight years, he'd been a brotherly figure in your life. Now, he was afraid that was all he was ever going to be.

~~~

Parking the car in the courtyard after the most thrilling joyride, you pulled Alfred into the reception to book a room. Given his inhumane strength, your efforts to drag him down the hall were to no avail. Peering down at you with a warm smile, his face contorted with an amused look as you tugged at his arm as hard as you could. "Easy there, tiger. This is a motel, not a five-star hotel."

Between two walls littered with cracks was a dimly lit interior. Everything smelt like vomit, piss, and alcohol to boot, and yet, you were bounding beside him in excitement. "I know! But doesn't this feel nostalgic? We lived in these places for ages." You exasperated, scanning a keycard to unlock the door.

Alfred didn't think he was a sentimental person, but hearing you reminisce the past so fondly was enough to change his smile into a bittersweet one. "I guess." He couldn’t remember everything like you, but for now, he could pretend he did. "Motels are economic and discrete, so where was a better place to go?"

Once you both got inside, he felt your hand let go of his. For a moment, he felt just the smallest dash of loneliness—it was the emptiness of not feeling you somewhere where you should have been. Fortunately, it faded when you gleamed at him while you explored the room with child-like curiosity.

"I think I did a pretty good job at converting you." Alfred mused.

You flopped onto the bed to lie on your back. "Converting me to what?"

The mattress dipped to your right, so you rolled over to face him. "To a commoner. Or maybe something lower than that." He grinned devilishly. And for that comment, he would earn a strong shove on his chest. Despite nearly falling off the edge, he merely scooted back in. "I've never seen someone this happy staying in a dump like this."

"Don't give yourself too much credit. I just miss it." Pausing briefly at that, a small smile spread to your lips when you saw his, wide and as endearing as ever. If there was one thing you wanted to see before you died, it was this. Alfred's warm smile. As you lingered on the thought, you realized you were completely smitten with him.

But most importantly, at peace.

This was exactly why you even dragged him here in the first place. For some quality alone time, backtracking, and a good, long talk without interruptions. "I'd know all about dumps." You murmured, reaching out to play with a lock of his sandy blonde hair. "Zao and I tend to find our best friends in them."

He chuckled airily. "Is this me?"

"... Well, sure. But I was talking about Allen."

Things got dark pretty fast.

You both laughed it off. He didn't have great memories of motels, but laying here with you reminded him of what you said about them. A lot of good things happened in these tiny rooms, apparently. And they were what you two talked about until three AM in the morning, standing together out on the balcony. From here, the heart of the city could be seen, from the aerial roads of spinners in the distance to the endless hills of skyscrapers and blinking lights.

"I was thinking," Alfred murmured quietly, turning his head to you. The right side of his face reflected the glow of the city. But it couldn't quite compare to the hope that lit up his eyes, as subtle as it was. "Is everything finally over?"

You turned to him, gaze softened. For just tonight, you would let him bask in his ignorance. And yourself, in his hold. "Not yet." You whispered. The feeling of his hand on your waist was a feeling you could get used to. Reaching out to his other one on the railing, you guided it to your side so he could hold you properly.

Alfred squeezed you eagerly, pressing closer to your body.

Taking his face into your hands, you gave him one last gesture of untold affection. It was a culmination of raw emotion free from your own better judgment. A means to communicate without talking.

You pressed your forehead against his and closed your eyes.

At that very space in time, a singular thought occurred to both of you—I wish this moment would last forever.

"But we'll make it... Just like we always do."

What would you do if I killed you?

Nothing, because I'd be dead.

What if you survived? Or left behind a soul?

Then I'll come back and find you.

The club was still pounding away, much like the headache in his skull. Sucking in a sharp breath, he suffered the worst wake-up call in his short life—he was still bleeding, and in terrible pain. He shakily felt around his wound while hyperventilating on the ground. How he hadn't kicked the bucket yet was beyond him.

"Get your ass up already. I know you're not dead." A man growled in disdain, giving the body on the ground a light kick.

"Gh—!" He let out a pained gasp and clung onto the ground for dear life. It had been years since he felt this alive—ironically, it was when he was inches away from death.

His perpetrator had their dark eyes fixated on him like a stain on the floor. Their pupils were as red as the blood his victim bathed in. But they always had a strong stomach for gore. "What am I gonna say when the owner finds out I'm the reason you even got in here? You're bleeding into the pool." They murmured, raising his leg to keep tormenting the other like a new hobby.

With a few more kicks, the body rolled onto its back.

"Ugh... Fuck... How am I not dead?" He coughed in agony.

The other shrugged, flicking their ponytail over their shoulder. "God knows. Maybe you have a greater purpose to serve." As cryptic as that sounded, it was nothing but the truth. He had more to his life than dying in a nightclub. Dying could be a part of it, but this couldn't be the location to do it, nor could it be by your hand—the closest kin to his creator.

"Why else did he make you?"

14 notes · View notes

hawks-is-kinda-chicken-little · 4 years

Text

Voicemail: Part 3

Hawks x reader

A/n: I swear I am alive, I'm just getting my shit together for college. Anyways have my half-assed attempt at a story plot. I stopped here because I'm going through sad hours and that was really going to affect the rest of the story if I continued, I mean it still might be i’m not sure. No clue how gently I feel like being to everyone's feelings for the last chapter (don’t worry I make myself suffer too).

Part 1

Part 2

-Part 3-

Part 4

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

“Not alive at least. They never come back alive.”

Hawks may not have been in the facility anymore, but he could still hear the words through the speaker. After all feathers weren’t the only thing he inherited from the avian species. In-fact, a lot of predatory bird-like qualities were passed down to him, none of which were proving to be any aid.

Endeavor exited the facility talking to some of the other heroes who were caring for the two children. He looked towards the clouds watching the desperate hero who was barely able to flap his wings in a steady momentum to keep him airborne. Twitching here and there causing his flow to stutter. Feathers puffed up clearly agitated, but some others sharpened to a dangerous level. It was truly a pitiful sight. From the looks of it, Hawks was nowhere near ready to calm down. Hands were shaking while switching from clenching to unclenching, desperately wanting to hold on to something. Nail marks were indented in the palms of his gloves. Anxiety and agony evidently overriding every morsel of reason that survived up to this point. His eyes never stopped searching, gaze switching from place to place as light-speed. Endeavor could practically taste the burning red rage sourly seething through Hawks every movement. But, nothing Endeavor could say would bring Hawks from his agitated state. He had to let it fly its course. Only then would Endeavor be able to pull him back to one of the agencies where they could recuperate.

Lucky for the heroes, they had detained all the henchmen left to guard the facility. They might be able to strangle some information out of them. But, it was kinda strange that the main man would leave them there knowing that the heroes were en-route. However, as Rumi noted, leaving those men there perfectly diverted their attention from the escaping vehicle. A smart move on the abductors part.

The League was pretty pissed about the whole shebang. Torturing the earlier captured men in a more gruesome manner out of pure rage. In doing so, one of them squeaked about some sort of airport. Oh, now those two were in even deeper shit. Dabi was nice enough to inform Hawks about this new information though. Calling him over for a nice group beating.

“That’s all I know swea- ack”

Smack!

Blood splattered the ground, painting over old splotches littering the place.

Crack!

One of many bones to be shattered but the blunt head of the bat.

“I’ll ask this one for time- What fucking airport?”

Silence.

Crack!

“Hawks, the guys’ gonna be dead before you get an answer, or at least a feasible one,” Dabi grunted.

“Fucking hell,” Hawks cursed, slinging the blood dripping bat to the side of the room with an echoing thud as the wood teetered from end to end until it settled. Hands shooting to clench his golden locks in an iron grip. He squatted to the floor, head hanging low, trying to fight the urges of a predator whose prey sits before them utterly helpless.

A scarred hand grabbed Hawks’ shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. Hawks shifted his head slightly, just enough so that he could eye Dabi's own eyes from the side. So many emotions swirled within those baby blue pools of fire. Remorse, agitation, worry, and so much more, all together forming a dangerous poison. A poison which would make poor souls scream in agony for death. Something Keigo would be glad to provide.

Now the two might now get along most of the time, but when facing a common goal, they are not a pair to be trifled with.

The men in the chairs started struggles in the ropes that tied them to the splintering chair. Pulling hopelessly with all their might, but to no avail. Dabi and Hawks shifted their eyes to the bastards in front of them.

The hand, not on Hawks’ shoulder, was raised to the man's face level, resting inches away. Smoke began flaring from Dabi’s scared palm, small blue flames flickered around the heel as it heated up. The heat alone was enough to singe the man’s facial hair. Terror welled in the man’s expression as the hand was brought closer, making him whimper.

“Let's try this again.”

Horrid fumes of burnt flesh swirled throughout the air. The man was a tough one to crack, Dabi knew he would come around, he just needed a little encouragement. They got the information they wanted him. Hawks had pity on the bastard, taking a feather, slitting his throat with one quick slash. The other man could do nothing but watch as his comrade bleed out.

“Don’t worry pal, my boss has plans for you.”

No matter how much he tried to scream all that would come out was muffled sludge blocked by the gag. Dabi, patted his ashy hand on the man’s head before walking towards the door with Hawks following on his heels. The man’s thrashing only increased as he door slammed closed, leaving him with the freshly fried corpse of the other one.

“What’s the plan from here?” Dabi asked.

“If they wanted to sneak on the plane unnoticed, they would have to do it at night, when no one else could potentially spot them.”

“It's a private jet though.”

“Yes, but the guys said it was being held with other private jets.”

“Whatever, your dumbass logic gives me a headache sometimes.”

Twice popped out around the corner where they were talking.

“Please don’t screw each other in the lobby.”

“Twice, what the hell. I would rather set myself on fire.”

Hawks gave Dabi an offended glare. Dabi in return rolled his eyes, walking away from Hawks.

“Just hurry up. Go get your boy scout in line and save her already”

“Who said I was doing this as a hero?”

Dabi halted, back facing Hawks. A smirk tugged at the corners of his charred lips as his eyes darkened.

“You don’t have the balls to fly that far from the nest bud. Your stupid heroes commission the only things you truly value in society.”

Hawks glared, but held his tongue. Dabi glared back with just as much hatred taking a couple of steps back towards the winged hero.

“That damned heroes commission seems to be the only thing you seem to stay faithful to.”

“What the Hell does that mean?” Hawks squawked.

“It means you are more likely to leave her for the vultures before ignoring your duties to those shitholes. Oh, wait a second, that's exactly what you did.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“Really now? So let me get this straight, you didn’t push her away, become a complete asshole to her because of them. Hawks at the end of the day all that matters in that brainwashed head of yours is that shitty organisation.”

“Shut up.”

“Fine, let's pretend that it wasn’t the commission pulling the strings. In that case, you are a really shitty person. I mean, you ARE the reason they're in this mess to begin with.” Hawks’ blood ran cold, Dabi gave an exasperated chuckle “What makes you think she even wants YOUR help?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Oh how you harm me with your words.” Dabi mocked

“Who’s fucking side are you on? Where the hell is this coming from?”

“Let’s be clear about one thing, birdbrain, just because I want her safe doesn’t mean i’m on your side. You fucked up. And that guilt is only because you feel responsible for her kidnapping, it isn’t because you’re disgusted with all the shit you put her through. So listen when I say-”

“No, you listen here, asshole. Do you honestly think I can't see the damage I did? I am not making an excuse for my behavior, looking back I can see how fucked up I was towards her. I was blessed with an angel, I had never in my life been genuinely cared about. I had never been so committed to someone, so attached to another person. Someone who felt the exact way as I did. It was terrifying.” Hawks paused face falling downwards, scrunching up to fight away the tears building up. “I didn’t have the balls to face her as time went on, so I did what I did best, I put up a front and moved forward. Avoiding our relationship, avoiding her, just because I was scared of commitment. I never bothered to think about the effects it might have had on her. I’m a real douche for doing it and I know it.”

“Shame what it took for you to figure that out.”

There was nothing sympathetic in Dabi’s tone, no, it was as sour as biting into a ripe bitter melon. Hawks said nothing, he was right after all.

“Go home Keigo. You're not welcome here right now.”

Dabi watched as Hawks turned and walked to the door. Waiting till he was about to close the door on his way out to let out one final stab.

“Oh and Keigo,” Hawks paused “when she’s safe, hope she realizes you’re not worth it.”

SLAM!

Dabi was pretty sure Hawks broke some of the hinges when he shut it behind him.

“Bastard,” He muttered, clearly not into Hawks’ delinquent behavior. Dabi stomped off to the bar to talk to the others about what to do next.

What the actual fuck, Hawks thought as he took off into the dusk set skies. Yes, he knows he screwed this up, Dabi didn’t need to rub it in anymore.

Taking out his phone, Hawks shot a text to Rumi informing her of the newly found information. It was always kind of surprising that no other hero ever questioned where all his exclusive information came from, but oh well. Hawks went straight for the place, not giving anyone time to regroup and set out a plan. It didn’t do much good last time and he wasn’t willing to risk it again. He had an hour or so before the moon set in place, if he was lucky he would make it there before anyone else did.

Wings soared through the clouds as he scanned the area below, searching for the facility. His sights locked onto a large gated perimeter, surrounding multiple runways connected to a couple of buildings housing the aircrafts. It was one of the many private airports in Tokyo, a place where the rich kept their collection of aircrafts. Hawks descended to a large window in the center of the middle building in the facility. The place seemed to be more of a showcase then anything, some of the jets looked like there were fresh out of manufacturing.

The place looked empty, no sign of any life in the facility. If it wasn’t for his abnormal vision he would be able to see anything in the pitch black room. No gates or doors were open, no runway lights shined behind him, no unusual vehicles were in sight. So either he beat everyone here, or he’s got the wrong place.

He was about to take back off into the sky when he spotted a jet that matched the description the man gave him. A sleek black metal covering, twelve square windows spaced evenly on each side of the jet’s middle, matte silver nose, blood red paint rimming the edges of the wings. It was big enough to carry a small army. The jet seemed a little out of place next to all the smaller, more compact aircraft.

It was clear the jet had yet to be tampered with. They must be waiting till the moon was at its highest to hide their escape. If that was the case they would be there for another hour or so meaning Hawks could have a look around the place. Maybe sabotage the plane enough that it might not function properly.

Using a feather Hawks carves out a circle into the glass, just big enough that he could fight through and not get stuck. The tricky part was putting the glass back into place so that the bastards weren’t suspicious of the giant whole in the window. But, he managed to do it with only a couple of close calls.

Though he was alone, Hawks still had to be careful nonetheless. Fingers felt around the side of his goggles in search of the night vision button. However, a glowing group of infrared blobs that only grew bigger by the second appeared in his sights. With great haste Hawks hide in the cramped empty space behind one of the two stairwells one either side of the balcony of the window. The tight squeeze forced his wings to fold into uncomfortable positions against the base of his back.

It stopped right outside the giant corridors leading out to the building runway. While his the blurriness of the image made it hard to fully make out he counted seven or nine of the now van sized blobs. The one in the middle was to first to make any sort of move, a panel sliding to the side as figures exited the vehicle. Others to the right and left followed suit. All filing out into the open, crowding to the center one. Though all the bodies it was he could barely make out a body hauled out onto the ground next to boxes gathered for the other vans. His attention was so zeroed in on the limp body that he didn’t notice the dozen or so figures heading for the corridor.

CREEEEAAAAK!!

The heavy metal scraped against the asphalt as it was forcefully pried open by the figures. They didn’t fully peel the doors back though, only enough so that a couple of men could head in. About six men entered the dark area, flashlights swinging around in search of anything intruder. Hawks scrunched farther into the wall, missing the beams of the one of them by millimetres allowing him to go unnoticed by the men. The continued their inspection, not very thoroughly Hawks noted, until they each gave a thumbs up signally to the others nothing was out of place.

“All clear,” One of them yelled out behind.

All six men then approach the designated aircraft. Hawks wanted to bang his head on the wall from his own stupidity, since he chose the staircase opposite of the plane.

He let out a quiet hiss of frustration; “dammit.”

Biting the inside of his cheek he started trying to devise a plan. Maybe, just maybe, he could sneak some feathers inside to take them out. So he did just that, sending one feather for each man and one extra just in case.

The men had clearly let their guard drop as they focused on their tasks. He had no problem maneuvering the feathers around them as they worked. Two men were in the cockpit, two in the carriage, one taking storage in the backroom, and the last of the six was making his way to the single bathroom of the aircraft.

The man made his way to the bathroom, stripping off his pants before pulling out a phone and doing some unspeakable things that made Hawks want to vomit in his tiny corner. The poor guy had no clue that he was going to be the first to go, Hawks literally caught the bastard with his pants down. A mental note was made to just leave the dagger in his chest, after everything he just witnessed with that feather there was no way he wanted it back in his plumage.

One down, five to go and next up was the storage guy. A feather hovered right above the back of the guy as he checked off boxes on his clipboard. Moving forward, but still sticking to the wall in order to give the feather a better angle to slash his neck. However, the bright colors contrasted with the white wall, catching the attention of the man.

“What the fuc-”

Swish

It sliced through the air, not giving the man any time to process the situation. Hands instinctively flew to his throat in a pathetic attempt to stop the life escaping him. Bright red blood seeped through the cracks between his fingers, leaking down his front as he wobbled on his feet. The harsh thud of a body crashing to the floor never sounded through the air as the feather slipped down the back of his shirt to guide him quietly to the ground. Once he was laid out noiselessly on the now red stained ground the feather took off to regroup.

They all stayed as flat as paper against the slick interior of the plane, making sure never to be in the line of sight. Three feathers arrived at their next destination, the passenger section. The two men were just goofing off. Neglecting their assigned duties in favor of gossiping like highschool girls. Hawks could help the twitching of his upper lip, sharp canines baring each time the muscles spasmed. Sexist comments were slurred back and forth between them as they talked about his dove. Feral instincts screamed at him torture them till they were pleading for death. But, he needed to keep his composure or else risk getting caught and that was not something he could really afford right now.

The feathers slithered down the aisle when the assholes turned their backs to one another. One feather took off to lock the cockpit hatch from the outside, making the two on the inside unable to interrupt Hawks. Both the men were facing the side wall of the aircraft making it easy to string two feathers into position to swoop up and dispose of them just like like the now rotting corpse in the storage compartment.

Swish

Hawks really wished he could have prolonged their suffering, but he had more important matters to worry about, unlike those sexist bastards. Oh well, he would just have to be sure to spit on their corpses later.

The last two in the cockpit worked to get the carrier up and running. Hawks could hear them from the two feathers locking inside with them as they ran their diagnostics. Just as the feathers were about to capture their lives the roaring of an engine coming to life sounded throughout the facility. Blinding bright headlights buzzed on pointing to the corridors as if asking to be let out.

CREEEEAAAAK

Hawks peered over the corner of the wall hiding him, he saw more men pulling the door fully apart to make way for the giant aircraft. With all the new lighting Hawks had to turn off the night vision mode on his goggles so he could see. Through the orange tint of his lenses he could spot [y/n]’s limp body laying on her side facing him through the legs of the surrounding guards. Her whole body looked as though they just threw her to the asphalt from the van door. A grimy brown sack covered her head that hung to the floor slightly supported by the shoulder on the ground unnaturally scrunched up by her neck. He could see the raw skin surrounding the bonds tightly wired around her bare wrists. What really unnerved him was the slow unsteady half-rise of her chest every so often. He doesn’t know if it was due to the bag covering her airway or the utterly traumatized state of her body, but it wasn’t hard to tell her lungs were starting to give way. There was no way in Hell she would make it through the plane ride. She needed medical attention and she needed it fast.

The shifting of wheels brought Hawks out of his panic as the aircraft propellers spun around in place, making the plane go forward ever so slightly. It stopped one it was centered with the doors in the front of the facility. If he slashed his feathers upon them it would surely arm the onlookers. Eyes once again shifted to the body of his dove.

Helpless. He couldn’t make a move without stirring up their attention. And if they threatened her, there wasn’t even a sliver of a chance he would make it in time.

TING

The sound echoed out from his pocket. The phone vibrated letting out another sound to alert him of a notification.

Hawks’ heart dropped to the ground as everything around him moved in slow motion. Heads took their time spinning in his direction when in reality they snapped his way in milliseconds.

He didn’t have time to look at his phone as bullets flew his way. Faster than ever, he took to the air, dodging the oncoming hellfire. Since all was turning to shit, the two cockpit feathers slashed the hell out of the men inside with zero mercy whatsoever. Using some spare feathers he sent them lashing at the tires preventing their second escape. He’d rather be plucked for everything he was worth before letting them get away again, especially not when they were so close.

His earpiece rang to life as he wound through the air.

“What the fuck is happening” a harsh feminine voice that sounded like Rumi screamed from the other side.

“Shit hit the fan, send help.”

That was all he could say before getting nailed in the right shoulder. Wings stuttered in shock, but adrenaline pushed them to keep flapping.

“Hawks!” She called.

He could barely hear her through the blazing bullets piercing through the air.

“Heading….. Minutes…… Endeavor…… Way.”

Static cut out sentences leaving him with only a couple of words from the other line. He didn’t have time to decode the meaning though.

In the midst of frantic maneuvering a blast of fire hit the window behind him sending him flying forward as a bullet lodged itself in his right thigh.

“Friendly fire!” He screamed behind him.

Now shit was really hitting the fan, Hawks thought to himself as he looped through the new hole created by none other than Endeavor. He made his way to the top of the building, the roof partially deflecting some of the ammunition flying at light speed. A new wave of confidence gassed his system with the brigade of heroes quickly approaching from behind.

“I know I annoy you, but do ya really need to fry me right now?”

Endeavor only grunted as he landed next to the winged hero, Rumi was soon to join them. The bullets had ceased to pierce the air for a moment, Hawks could hear the head guy yelling at his underlines like an abusive dog owner. Naturally they tried to retreat to their vehicles, but found the tires were lacerated enough that they were rendered useless. The yell turned into hushed whispers.

All heroes crowded up onto the roof, hastily devising a plan that would hopefully let them safely extract the beaten girl. Time was ticking fast as two beautiful lives were draining from the mother's body every wasted second. They needed to make a move and they needed to do it now.

“Fuck plans”

“Hawks don’t be rash”

Endeavor could get fucked by fire for all Hawks cared. He was going in sending flocks of lethal feathers to shred them while he used the remaining feathers to take to the sky.

It only escalated from there on. Quirks were activated from both ends, but the heroes had to be careful, they may have the upper hand power wise, but the enemies had a hostage. Hawks could see his dove start to stir among all the commotion, but his attention was quickly redirected as a first sent him flying into a wall.

In the midst of the battle one of the lackey’s managed to discreetly snag [y/n] and a couple of the packages into a small aircraft. All which were messily tossed into the back of the cargo compartment before jumping in the control seat. All engines were a go and it was off to the runway from there, splattering some of his comrades into the pavement on the way. Hawks wasn’t having it though, redirecting all of the feathers slashing around to chase the jet as it wobbled in the sky.

“Your feathers are going to do jackshit, GO!” Rumi encouraged, no longer holding back.

That was all he needed to hear, as he darted to the air, targeting with pinpoint accuracy. The door of the storage holder on the side of the jet cracked open. Opening more and more as the pilot tried to steady the plane in the sky. The jet lagged in the sky as it swerved to the side making package after package plummet out. Hawks was tailing the jet, but the pilot kept taking sharp turns to try and lose him.

Hawks spotted [y/n’s body starting to slip to the edge of the open door. One final turn from the unsteady jet was all it took to send her descending into the air. Hawks immediately dove after her, wings tucking flat to increase his speed, arms stretching out towards her, hands ready to snatch her at the first given chance.

The ground was approaching uncomfortable fast. [Y/n] was just out of his reach, fingertips brushing against her own.

His wings gave one last flutter against his back, pushing him just far enough to reach her forearm. Hawks latch his hand onto her arm hauling her into his arms before spreading his scarlet wings in an attempt to catch in the air. A hiss passed his lips as the opposing velocity strained the muscles at the base of his wings.

Just before the hit the ground Hawks caught his bearings, letting them at least land somewhat safely. He stumbled on the turf, the hand that wasn’t holding [y/n] shot out to the ground where he keeled making sure to not fall over onto her. They landed a mile or so from the gates of the airport.

BOOM!

Hawks watched as sparks erupted from an explosion a little ways from them. Looks like the poor bastard couldn’t fly after all.

His breath was heaving, the adrenaline of the situation still pumping through his body. Lifting his hand from the ground he untied the rope holding the sack over her head, pulling it off, freeing her beaten face. Scarce breaths passed through her cracked lips.

Hawks was quick to let the rest know he had her. Endeavor let out a sigh of relief through the otherside of the line. Rumi yelled with happiness. When asking about her condition, he was hesitant to say anything, only saying that he was rushing her to urgent care immediately.

Weakly she stirred in his arms, whimpering as her bound wrist rubbed the harsh unforgiving rope peeling her already raw skin. Hawks plucked a feather, slashing her wrist and ankle constraints, finally setting her aching limbs free. Tears welled in his eyes, partly because she was now in his arms once again and partly because she was suffering in his arms.

“Shhhhh, baby bird, I’m gonna get you some help okay?”

He couldn’t tell if she heard him, but he wasn’t going to bother waiting for a reply. Wings spread behind him once more, screaming at him from pure agonizing torture they had already suffered. Limbs burned, fire setting every vein ablaze with even the slightest of moments.

All it took once one more heart wrenching soft cry passing her lips to get the adrenaline rushing again. No wound or pain could hold him down as he flapped his wings aggressively through the thin air. He kept staggering up to the clouds and low to the ground. It was definitely not his smoothest flight, but it was doing the job. She was held securely in a tight embrace against his chest. One of his hands gently caressed her cheek with the thumb in an attempt to pass her his wordless love.

Some of the feathers started to give from those once giant eyes. Every feather lost was another piece of [y/n] drifting to the light of eternal rest. She was a rose that was slowly shedding its abused petals, wilting from the mortal world.

Hawks could see the hospital in his sights, in his moment of overwhelming relief he almost hit the ground, but luckily he was able to bring them both up just in time.

White doors slammed over as a body crashed onto the hospital lobby tile. The receptionist rushed over to the counter spotting the hero, wings clings around his front to cushion their landing. Looking at the lady in scrubs he lifted one of his wings revealing the beaten woman he cradled to his chest. The lady screamed for help as doctors and nurses flooded the room. A stretcher was brought in as [y/n] was carted into one of the back rooms, nurses flocking the stretcher trying to assess her state.

A separate stretcher was brought in for him. A light smile graced his face as he watched them take care of her while they hauled him onto the cart. One of the nurses was trying to ask him questions, but he paid them no mind, only watching his dove.

The smile quickly faded as he saw more doctors dash to her room, panicked expressions present on each of their faces. He tried to stay awake, he tried to hear what was going on, but the last thing he heard was a doctor yelling one word that echoed in his ears even as he lost touch with reality.

“CLEAR!”

Then everything went black.

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

Also I want to thank you all for reading this, it makes me so happy. I literally cried at all the love you all gave the first chapter. I wish I was kidding I actually cried.

TAGS:

@assassinslittlesister @anxiousgoddest @moonpawss @regularkacchan @austriasmariazelle @murkyrosewrite @hawksexual @imuziawi

#bnha fanfiction #my hero academia #hawks x reader #bnha keigo takami #boku no hero academia #mha #hawks #keigo takami

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arr-jim-lad · 4 years

Note

Can you go into how you think Dios insane and how his mind works. I have trouble putting my thoughts into words but reading other people's opinions helps and not a lot of people talk about dios insanity even tho i find it very interesting

Sure thing!!! You know I love to talk about DIO lmao(NOTE: This will include spoilers for Stone Ocean later on)

In part 1, human Dio’s goal appears to be proving a point to his dead father as well as himself. He always wants more, to achieve more, to prove he’s capable of more. He does that by pursuing superiority in many fields; he proves academic excellence by finishing law school at the top of his class, he proves he’s a talented sportsman by being one of his school’s star rugby players, and he actively, since the moment he joined the Joestar family, wants to prove that he’s superior to Jonathan and therefore a better heir and a better son.

It’s also important to mention the flaws he sees in himself here; his anger. I went into this before here but to summarize it; Dio has an anger problem and he not only knows it - it’s his most despised thing about himself.

That’s all simple stuff at the start, as it’s just trying to prove he’s better than others, and that’s easy to understand.

Then he becomes a vampire and a power trip REALLY hits him. Now he doesn’t have to pretend that he’s a gentleman anymore because literally no one can do shit to him. That law he studied? Fuck that, he can break it now all he wants, because it doesn’t apply to him anymore. The law is written for mere humans, and he’s not one of them anymore. He can do whatever he wants and he will do that - as flamboyantly and dramatically as possible. The Joestar fortune he was after in his earlier days? Fuck that too, he’s an immortal vampire with superpowers now, he can just take whatever money he wants.

Now Dio is free to be himself in every sense, and he stops pursuing power in a sneaky, deceitful way, but just. Straight up terrorizing anyone who steps in his path. Now EVERYONE gets to know about his wish for power, not just Jonathan.

And what’s even better - NO ONE is a problem anymore. NO ONE can hurt him. You know what this means for Dio? That he doesn’t have to get angry and frustrated anymore, because no one is able to push him that far.

….Except for Jonathan Joestar, who just won’t leave him alone

Jonathan keeps coming back and it low key pisses Dio off, but on the other hand, he also has major respect for him because of that. In his life of power and bliss, Jonathan manages to be the ONLY thing to disturb him

So Phantom Blood ending happens, Dio is bodyless, and in a mixture of necessity and respect, he takes Jonathan’s body. I notice people often seem to think that he took his body because he wanted it from the get go or something, but that’s not accurate. Initially it was for revenge, because Jonathan was the one who caused him to have to behead himself, and in SDC DIO even clearly says he NEEDED to take that body in order to survive - it was originally revenge and survivalism, but seeing Jonathan’s final actions also added immense respect to that. That body means a lot of different things to DIO.

Anyway now we get to the good part.So Dio is underwater all alone with a corpse for about 100 years. I went into more into this once before but to TL;DR that post; that kind of situation Does Bad Shit To You.

By the time DIO arose from that coffin, the insanity REALLY took hold of him. Because, in that coffin, he got to THINK. He got to do a LOT of thinking. All alone. He got to think about what matters to him.

And once he did all that thinking, he found his goal.It was not riches or power, but lack of anger: Inner peace.

Throughout SDC and Stone Ocean, that’s his ultimate goal.Now, how he goes about to obtain that is… hm.

In Stone Ocean, we are introduced to DIO’s diary, in which he essentially wrote down a highly complex, highly convoluted ritual of obtaining peace of mind, or as he likes to call it like the dramatic bitch that he is: Heaven.

I’ve seen people say that he apparently doesn’t show any philosophical interest in that kinda thing in SDC to which I say, do you even pay attention?

Think about DIO throughout SDC - what do we actually see him do before the final battle? He’s reading, he’s studying, he’s relaxing, he DOESN’T WANT TO BE BOTHERED.

He isn’t even the one sending out his assassins at first - the Tarot enemies are all Enya’s employees, she dragged those homicidal maniacs together. It’s only after all of them are defeated that DIO sends out HIS followers, the Glory Gods.

DIO wants his minions to take care of this because it’s low key stressing him out and he Doesn’t Need This Shit Right Now. He’s SO CLOSE to doing his ritual, Pucci is waiting for himin America, they have PLANS, and now these Joestar bastards are in Egypt?? What the fuck??? Can they like, not??? Is there any respect left for the ‘Do Not Disturb’ signs you hang on the door handles??

Basically, SDC catches DIO at a really bad time because he’s just in the middle of something big and it all just comes in to crash his plans, but there’s a lot about him that can be discerned from the final battle, and that is one of my favourite aspects of him, which is also very closely tied to his idea of Heaven; KNOWLEDGE.

DIO was really REALLY confident at the start of the battle, because he was convinced he had more knowledge about the Joestar group than they did about him, and knowledge was supposed to be his greatest weapon.

You can tell how paranoid and stressed out he becomes once Jotaro breaks that idea of him Knowing More and starts moving in stopped time. One of my favourite scenes in the final battle has got to be the ‘Is Jotaro Really Dead?’ scene, in which DIO acts like a paranoid wild animal, he acts like a cat who has his sights on something, but is not 100% sure if it’s safe to come close.

This paranoia is a HUGE factor of why he wants Heaven, aka Peace of Mind, and he is fully aware that he has this issue.

Another one of my favourite moments happens to revolve around his paranoia, that being the moment in Stone Ocean which shows us that it’s preventing him from fully trusting even those who are the most devoted to him, such as Pucci;

What we’re looking at here is DIO speaking to someone who is essentially the closest thing he EVER had to a friend, someone he admits he feels truly relaxed with, and yet even with this man he’s unable to shake off the paranoia he feels.

DIO really doesn’t know true inner peace, even in a situation that he himself described as being one that’s making him feel at ease.

Now we finally get into some bigger Stone Ocean spoilers regarding the stand of the main enemy of that part, Pucci - the same stand that DIO tried to obtain.

Here’s basically what the ritual-obtained stand, Made in Heaven, does;

It speeds up the time of entire universe to bring it back to a point where it started the spin, with everyone still alive just as they were (except the people who the stand user kills), but this time everyone has a vague idea/knowledge of what will happen next, because everyone essentially witnessed the future.

Now, assuming that DIO’s Made in Heaven would do the same thing as Pucci’s did, here’s what this tells us about DIO:

He is SO PARANOID that the thing that gives him the most anxiety and unrest, the thing he wants to get rid of, is the same that all of us take for granted:Not knowing what will happen next.

DIO wants to obtain peace of mind by getting rid of that ‘problem’ of an unknown future and making EVERYONE know what’s inevitably coming next, but he’d be the only one who would be able to change it. That’s his ideal world.

DIO’s insanity was born from his wish to achieve peace of mind.He wants to get rid of his anger and paranoia, but his idea of the solution to those feelings is absolutely demented and unfathomably convoluted.

Basically… it’s something that only be thought up by a megalomaniac vampire who was left deep underwater for 100 years in a claustrophobic coffin with only the corpse of the only man he ever respected to keep him company.

#jjba meta #dio brando #jojo meta #jojo's bizarre adventure #stardust crusaders #stone ocean #jjba #jojo #Anonymous

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hereliesbitches--me · 3 years

Text

Sometimes I get this crackhead idea of rosie explaining the story of where each of her kids came from. Like this girl probably has the most emotional roller coaster story for a life that you jist don't know whats gonna happen next . Like

Malakaid, the first:

" So while I didn't actually birth him. Funny story with that. I was suppose to have a son previously but I had a bad car accident, had a still born, and honestly kinda lost my mind for a while dealing with it. If you couldn't already tell about me, I deal with grief violently. So like I get put on temporary suspension cuz I accidentally had like a police brutality case against me. im losing my mind in my house, then my partner calls me up on this lead on a lab bust i told him to investigate . Me, desperately trying to alleviate the nothingness, go to the spot because I know the scientist and hate him so I'm gonna ruin his shit again. And you know what I find? A wholeass baby boy and the corpse of a dead lady that looks like her stomach got eaten out.

Ya know what my first instinct is? I have baby fever and an empty nursery, I'm gonna take this baby and no one is gonna stop me. Why? Because its not like the government is gonna take care of him. Hes much safer with me and Rocky , and I'm a grieving mother. You dint say no to a grieving mother. Poor rocky thought I stole the baby but im good at persuasion and he lets me keep him! I liked the name malakaid and it stuck. Sure, he doesn't cry , grows really fast, and stares ominously at everything, but isn't that like the perfect baby? I was in love the moment I held him. My baby fever was finally sated."

Mia, the second:

" Oh, ahaha, now that was is like super funny. It goes hand in hand with the whole mess with malakaid. So, remember that scientist i said i was gonna fuck his shit up in his lab? Yeah, well turns out he made malakaid. And he's pretty pissed i robbed his creation again. No, I will not elaborate on that. So, anyways, he was making this kind of zombie virus and decided as vengeance hes gonna stick me with the prototype as incentive to give him back my son. It backfired on him because at first it worked great on me.

I suddenly got stronger, faster, my teeth and nails were like reinforced metal. All was fine and dandy, until I started had this ungodly craving for meat and started throwing up blood all over the place. I hate hospitals but uh, nobody knows whats wrong with me and I'm a danger to society with this unknown uncontrolled illness.

How does this have anything to do with Mia? Well, you learn a lot of funny things while you're in a hospital with sickness. Running a whole lot of test to know whats going on. Turns out one of the initial side effects of whats in my system made me reeeeally frisky.. who would've thought this broken body of mine could actually hold something in it? But im dying, there's no point in thinking about that. The thing is gonna die with me too , and Rocky didn't want any kids in the first place. Malakaid was enough. So I dont say anything. It'll be easier on Rocky that way.

As I'm getting worse, treatment only minimally holding back whatever this bug is, my mind is going to. That scientist Toruga is promising he has the solution if only I give up my son, but ya know what I got to say? Eat shit and die. Over my dead body, literally. So I accept that I'm gonna die.. you know who doesn't wanna die? Turns out, angels are immune to the illness, so by extension so was the baby. Im dying slowly, but the bun in the oven is going just fine.. needless to say, Rocky isn't happy that I kept this from him. I'm gonna die and hes gonna be stuck with two kids.. not exactly proud with my reaction. Ya know, talk about dramatic throwing myself off a roof right? Luckily rocky is always there to catch me. Talk some sense into me. Make peace with what might be the end.

Its kind of scary, you know? I've died before, but its like this time there wasn't gonna be anyone to bring me back to stop me.. then boom, we have the answer. Become an angel, cure the illness, and I live. With a lot of physical therapy and a wheel chair, eventually Mia is born. And I never thought I could love her as much as I did when I looked at her round potato face. I masterfully evade death yet again , and I got my hand full with two"

Thursday:

" Hes.. complicated. All this death, it feels like one thing goes wrong after the other. I've lost my rocky, in struggling with my team, and my two each need special attention. I've got so many people gunning for my head, I've got a reputation to withhold as the unbreakable.. but some people are clever enough to find the loophole. It felt like I was human again, being weak and vulnerable. And all the new scars I get from being overdosed a couple of times. Not a great time at all. I make it out but at what cost? A lot of controversy i couldn't deal with. Lot of secrets. But in the end I have this ball of dough, and it takes me a while to warm up to him. Who would've thought he would be the sweetest of my bunch, after everything he came from? Life works in funny ways. You never know what you'll be handed. "

#:ooc:#from this moment forward i shall ramble about out of context content of my own ocs #and no one shall stop me #my dash is quiet rip if u have to see this #tw: pregnancy #tw: suicide #really just mentions it vaguely but to be safe

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jovialecho · 3 years

Text

Comeuppance

Rahzel decides to hit Troy up, telling him to head to the bar tonight rather than Sunday. He asks why it even matters what day, bringing up how eager and impatient Rahzel is to collect a soul.

“You might not even win the games.”

So sure of himself. It makes Rahzel’s blood boil and his eyes roll involuntarily. He urges the other to meet him at the corner of it anyway, and with enough fussing, Troy teleports over.

“Tonight,” The demon starts, walking over to Troy, grabbing his shoulder. “because tomorrow, they ain’t stay open as late. Drinks ain’t up and handed out as late either.”

Troy peels Rahzel’s hand off him, shaking his head. “We came to play, not get drunk. Stupid shit happens when you drink-”

“When I drink???” Rahzel guffaws and puts his hand on Troy’s shoulder again, leading him to the building, “Don’t be acting all innocent. You just as dumb when you blitzed.”

The other doesn’t bother with taking the hand off, walking past the double doors, immediately greeted with laughter and music. The pair head off to the new gaming side.

“Ah sick.” Rahzel latches onto an air hockey table, grinning wide. He looks up at Troy when he follows close by him.

“Been a hot fuckin’ minute since i done played this-” Troy finishes his sentence for him. “-Since the one in your room quit worker? Yeah. Funny how that one doesn’t work anymore. I don’t think we should play this one. I don’t think I’m for seeing the rage you’re always talking about.”

Rahzel watches Troy slip towards the nearest billiards table, instead.

“So we immediately going in, no drinks? No funny shit? No games for the fuck of it?” He watches Troy as he pays for the balls and places them into the rack. It doesn’t take long at all for him to get bored, “Aight, well. I’m gonna go get us some sodas or something, dude, just get the game set up.”

As Rahzel heads to the bar, he listens to passing conversations from the other few people in the booths. He heads for the barkeep, listening out the snacks and drinks he wants, taking a seat so he can wait for them.

His phone vibrates in his pocket, so he pulls it out to have a quick look, turning his head to see if Troy was texting from the pool table. Nope. Once in his device, he opens the texts, seeing it’s from...Rudy. Great. His favorite guy! What overrated nonsense is he going to spill? Deep breath, Rahzel. Alright, he’s ready for the headache.

With another roll of his eyes, Rahzel pockets his phone and collects the food he paid for, making his way back towards Troy, though now he finds himself looking around for anyone paying him any attention. Luckily, nobody has the guts to look his way, so he carries on, ready to try to win a soul, MAYBE fair and square.

~~~~~

From one game to 4, Rahzel found himself on the losing end far too many times to accept. He’s never been one to swallow his pride in anything, let alone gambling, or games in general.

Yet, as he leans against the bar, scowling, he can’t help but find a hint of amusement in the fact Troy bested him more times than not at a game Rahzel had to help him be better at. Maybe the kid his destined for something great-- Yes, Rahzel picks that up just from playing pool, because that’s definitely a useful life skill.

A hand on his shoulder pulls him out of his grouchy headspace and he turns his attention back to Troy. He’s surprised to see he isn’t smiling.

“What’s up? You won? Ain’t that enough?”

Troy pats him on the back, “As long as you aren’t going to hole up in your room for a week because of it, sure. It’s enough. I’m sure you’ll find someone better to make your first deal with. ...Maybe I’ll even change my mind down the road. Who knows, man. Just figure out what you’re best at offering first before making a mess with your words.”

Rahzel downs the last of his rum and coke before slipping off the barstool.

“Let’s go get some ice cream or something.” He walks right for the doors, ignoring whatever logic Troy decides to spew his way.

“Rahzel there’s no place open!” The brunette follows the lanky troll out of the bar, doing his best to keep up with the pace, “Dude. No place! There is noooo place!”

Rahzel stretches, groaning, “There’s ALWAYS a place, dude. Don’t worry. We going on a motherfuckin journey, dogg.”

Before he gets much further, a voice stops him. He looks ahead of himself to see a familiar face. Oh, it’s that biker again. Time for eye roll number 4 tonight...or was it 5. Rahzel puts his arms down and sighs, hearing Troy stop behind him.

He notices there are three others behind the familiar biker and he scoffs. Is this really happening?

“’ey. What’s good, man? You still pissed about that shit I TRIED to fix?”

The only response he gets at first is a scowl before the bearded biker takes a step forward, the others following in a synchronized fashion. Ew. It’s a posse.

“Yeah, I am. But this is strictly business, mostly.”

Rahzel puts a hand on his hip, raising an eyebrow to emphasize how little he cared, but also prompted him to continue, “Aight?”

He’s quick to notice any movement the biker makes and sees him pull out a handgun. Two of his lackeys follow suit, three guns aimed directly at him.

The demon can’t help but let out a laugh, both of surprise and fresh amusement. The lost deal completely forgotten now.

“Holy shit you really ain’t smart at ALL.” Rahzel can’t tell if he’s goading them or not at this point, though he surely is annoyed but what he perceives as an inconvenience more than anything else at this point.

“You’re gonna shoot me? You do. All four of ya are dead. You don’t know what the fuck ya dealing with, dude.

The lackey in the back starts to look between everyone, seemingly uncertain about what’s transpiring in front of him.

“Even one of ya own ain’t solid on this shit. Grow the fuck up.” Rahzel takes a step forward to further show his lack of concern for his own safety. “You ain’t big. You ain’t tough. You full of shit if you think you can take me on with a gun. I’ll get the fuck back up and find ya ass and rip you a new asshole. Ugly ass bitches you think-”

The leader aims, getting heated faster than Rahzel anticipated.

“I bet you goddamn drunk as shit, too. Put your gun down motherfucker. You’ll regret this shit, for sure.” Casually he reaches for the gun, only to have it immediately discharge into his arm. The sound startles him more than the actual bullet in his arm. “Gh-!”

Troy pushes himself in front of Rahzel, arms up.

“Stop! Stop! We don’t have to do this. Whoa-”

Rahzel reaches for Troy’s shoulder, hissing. “Troy st-”

The next gunshot makes Rahzel’s ears ring worse than before, but his focus is on how Troy’s head jerks back, and it’s immediately obvious where the shot landed as blood, not his own color, lands on his shirt. As if time itself slowed down, Rahzel watches as Troy drops to the ground like a ragdoll, partially falling against him.

He doesn’t breathe in that moment, the reality not quite setting in. It all happened too fast. What the Hell is even actually happening. Shot. Troy. Troy’s been shot. Rahzel glances down some, seeing the bullet hole in Troy’s forehead.

Dead? Killed.

A hue of purple colors his vision as he looks upward at the group, the lackey on the right looking the most guilty. Yet, his attention falls on the leader as his gun raises again, no remorse on his face.

Rahzel’s mouth opens and all that comes out is screaming. From being frozen in place to suddenly lunging forward, nobody suspected the guy to just fling himself right at the biker. He knocks him to his back, growling and screaming at him, another gunshot hitting him in the chest, then another. He doesn’t let that stop him as he spits out honks and drool at the same instance, face diving right into the biker’s throat. The tendons and cords don’t stand a chance against his teeth and he sinks in, ripping out flesh, muscle. A mess of red cascades down his face and chin.

It’s immediately spat back out, and another shot, though ignored again, is sent into Rahzel’s back. He stops himself from going back in for another bite, letting the shell of a man bleed out slowly, or suffocate on blood. A quick turn sends him in the direction of the next two. He gives zero fucks with how scared they look, he’s off his shit. All he can think about is Troy. How dead he is.

The demon’s running leaves the two to back away, still taking aim and firing, missing only a few times, though it doesn’t seem to slow Rahzel down at all.

“HOOOONK!”

With a quick burst of flashstepping, he ends up right in front of the two, still running. His hands grab at both of their faces,throwing them down into the asphalt at the same time.

A few more bullets are sent into him, his neck catches one for dinner later. All the pain is set aside as he kneels down with the lackeys’ heads in his hands. Simultaneously, he lifts and bashes the back of their heads into the pavement, listening to their muffled pleas and threats. He keeps going, unable to parse the difference of the bashing with the heartbeat in his ears.

Dead. Dead. He wants them all just as dead as--

He drops the two when there is no more sign of life left in them. Rahzel stands up slowly, bringing the two guns from the corpses with him as he searches for the last one. Down the street, he can see him running away, and Rahzel also notices a crowd gathering around to observe this spectacle.

He doesn’t give a fuck. He takes off running, using his flashstepping until he’s close enough to stop and aim, using a gun for the first time in either lives he recalls. He closes one eye and starts shooting, missing once with one gun and finally hitting the guy in the back with the second gun. He tosses the useless hunks of metal away, making his way over to the squirming lackey.

His hearing is coming back and he listens to the pleading and crying through the faded ringing in his ears.

“I didn’t want a- FFuuck I DIdn’T WANT ANY PART OF THIS! Please don’t. I don’t wanna die. Not like this. Not this young.”

Rahzel kneels and turns the man on his back, reveling in his scream of pain. With his claws he swipes his hand across his throat, successfully slitting it, but not enough blood comes out, so he does it once more, before standing up and hobbling over towards the pile that is Troy.

He has to be careful- He could still be- He sees Troy’s eyes open and his chest tightens.

Fuck.

He kneels, the pain starting to make its way past the numbing rage. He gently closes Troy’s eyes, noticing how bad his own hand is shaking. No, no. no. He scoops him up slowly, taking him in his arms bridal style.

No.

No, no.

He can’t decide which pain is worse, the ones in his body or the one in his heart.

Heart. He decides it’s his heart as his eyes well up with tears. The dead weight in his arms only amplifies the pain.

Distant sounds of sirens pulls his eyes off Troy for a moment. The crowd outside has grown larger, shocked faces staring at him. At what he's done. What about what they did?

Rahzel stumbles away towards an alleyway, but he doesn't fall. He can't. There's no way he can drop Troy. He has to take him home.

Troy.

He never got his soul. It's gone.

Rahzel drops to his knees, sobbing in both anger and despair, lungs fighting against this action thanks to the new holes in them.

"FF-Hhhghk!"

He gurgles on the blood coming up from his lungs, looking down at Troy again. "Mh.."

His captchalogue modus opens and he looks up at it. Troy would fit perfectly in the free slot. He looks from the slot down to Troy’s face, past the blood. He has to go in there.

Just for a while, okay?

He’s captchalogued in an instant, leaving Rahzel freedom to pull out the portable transportalizer, his vision darkening at the corners of his eyes. His focus fades in and out as he slaps the button to the last location on the device. He’s sent into another world, another universe and spat out right in front of his cave’s entrance.

Dropping to his knees in the sand, Rahzel looks around at the familiar territory, then up towards the house, Simon’s house. He crawls that way, every movement causing him to wheeze and ache. Sand sticks to his pants thanks to the collection of blood on his clothes. His lungs, filled with blood instead of air, makes it hard to really breathe, doesn’t it?

“Ghk..kkh.”

As his vision continues to darken, Rahzel becomes more frantic to get to the house. He can’t pass out, not now- No, this isn’t passing out. He knows the difference and this is most certainly dying. No way can he die on this fucking sandy hill. Pathetic. Though, seeing how he’s crying and bleeding everywhere on his way up, it’s hard not to be seen as pathetic.

C’mon Rahzel, you’re only thirty feet from the door. Twenty. Ten.

He uses the doorknob to push himself to his feet, wheezing again from the sheer effort. With his fading strength, he slaps his palm against the door repeatedly, moving to lean on the frame instead of the doorknob. Wouldn’t want to just fall right into someone, right?

Rahzel’s legs feel like rubber as he keeps himself standing for as long as he can. His ears twitch as he hears the doorknob turn. When he sees Simon, he notices the face journey she has as she looks him over. He heaves out another cry, shuddering weakly as he brings himself to stand up straighter.

His voice, hoarse and scratching from the bullet that tore into his throat as well as from the blood making its way up it, comes out barely above a whisper, and he can only push out one word, his consciousness fading in and out.

“M.. mom..?”

Everything goes black for him as he falls forward almost right on top of Simon.

Good job dropping dead in front of your mom, asshole.

#action #Action Post #death #gore #cutemoniic #(for mention)#((ART BY CICIDRAWS!! COMMISSION HIM MAYBE?))

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interestray · 3 years

Text

it’s always a good moment when I see a critical role episode with so many things happening that my adhd can’t help but develop a mind of its own, so now that my hyper-fixations have stopped beating the shit out of me theres a couple things I wanna bring up most of it theory stuff and the rest personal things. btw its a long post be warned.

SPOILER ALERT- I’m talking about ep 117 of critical role and its a doozy.

I’ve doing my recent posts in a different format and I’m liking it so I’m gonna use it here. btw I gonna mention some ship stuff I want to make clear I have no hate for any ships mentioned but unless I say I like the ship just assume I’m indifferent.

1. I gonna say I called it because even if I’m wrong about about future stuff I was right that it’s not just Lucien in that body, even if Lucien is completely right about molly as the group knew him is gone forever Molly (which I don’t believe at all) is still a fragment of lucien’s soul. now past that I do think molly as a conscious being is still in there and trying to connect with his friends. why? because theres this weird disconnect with how lucien acts communicating with the m9 from a far vs in person, in person it seems like he had his guard way up but when they scry or message him the barrier is lowered a bit I think when his guard isn’t up Molly bleeds into his actions and mind more. I personally see Lucien at being 130% whole because Molly grew into his own thing.

2. regarding my predictions for this episode I’m gonna give myself 2 points (with 1 of the points being made up of half points) I was hoping for flirting and I think we definitely got some version of flirting between Lucien and Caleb so I get a half point for that, not gonna lie I was a little freaked out (in a good way) how fast Lucien zeroed in on Caleb, I hope if things don’t go pear shaped we get to see those two interact more.

3. Personal thing I really wanted to smack Fjord and Veth for most of the episode like they both had moments of being rational (fjord more so) but for the most part i just want to slap them.

4. it was kind of hilarious to see how freaked out Lucien was of the m9, like there was a little of the bad kind of freaked out feeling I think it was mostly like how Ludinus felt meeting Jester. like poor Lucien he’s just doing his thing and suddenly this group of puppies imprints on him and follows him around poor guy. Seems like Lucien has so distrust towards the tomb takers with the whole ‘we are one’ thing, it seemed to be a recent development. I’ve seen people talk about whether the tomb takers/Cree will backstab Lucien I think it’s possible.

5. I think some members of the m9 have realized Caleb’s not doing ok, most likely from the corpse scene and him talking over Beau (bad caleb bad). what they do with this info is gonna be interesting I personally think Cad should talk with him in private maybe have yasha there as well (also hugs please someone hug the sad wizard man him and Yasha both need it).

6. personal thing I don’t understand jester x Fjord as a possible canon ship at this point in the story like i got it in early campaign but I think they’ve both grown and changed to the point where a relationship between the two would end quickly after starting (whether in tears or not). the only times I like seeing their romantic interactions is when Laura and Travis bleed through and at that point its nots really jester and fjord. again no hate you do you I just don’t understand the appeal.

7. I’ve not watched campaign 1 for a few reasons yet but I’ve done research on some of the bigger events one of which was Percy’s resurrection where Taliesin watched how everyone was acting to decide whether to come back or not. I think Cad’s whole talk about what the rest of the m9′s goals towards Molly/Lucien is first Taliesin’s way of deciding whether Molly will be a npc after this arc or if he picks up playing him again (this all of course depending on whether the m9′s stupid actions don’t get Lucien killed), second I think this is Cad’s way of deciding whether his “debt” is payed and if it’s time for him to leave. To be clear I don’t think this was the final decision I think it was the first step to see whether anyone could say they want their friend back and we had two (almost 3) say yeah they do so I think it was a good start.

8. I can totally see Lucien kidnapping some of the m9. this sounds weird but stick with me, it looks like the tomb takers as a whole have a few important spots missing in their mission like they (probably) have a blood cleric in Cree the goliath and halfing seems more strength based I’m not sure about the human and Lucien is filling spot of a little bit of everything. Lucien has already pointed out Caleb as being curious and smart so I think out of the party is Lucien steals any of them it will be Caleb, if not Caleb tho I think Yasha could also be one that gets his attention (especially if Lucien ever sees them fight) I don’t he would kidnap anyone unprompted but if they go through with their stupid plan I’m sure he’ll want payback.

9. I get a full point for crying at both the Yasha clover scene and Molly’s card about Caleb.

10. So my best friend is also a fan of critical role but he always works Thursday’s so he’s behind on actively watching the shows, but I can watch them so I take notes of all the funny, interesting, and weird shit that happens then I call when he gets off work to tell him everything that happened then we talk about what we think will happen next. why does this matter? because before the molly reveal when we first heard about them going to aore (I don’t know how to spell the ruin place) I said I had a feeling Essek would probably show up and run into the m9. well I was right so i’m supper happy, hearing floaty bois voice was awesome I hope Essek and Lucien meet at some point (hopefully not while trying to kill each other that would be sad).

11. Caleb’s eighth floor is so interesting like I hope we get to see all the rooms at some point, I think the room we saw this episode was his room at the asylum (mostly from it’s disarray and how drab it was) as for who he was talking to? I’ve seen a lot of people says its Essek or Astrid (I can smell the incoming discourse) I think it’s neither, it’s probably the simplest answer himself or more specificly Bren. I think he was talking to the Bren that spent years in that bed and chair wasting away.

12. wtf do you mean the big snow worm has a double reason for hunting the party Matt?! (I have no clue what that means).

13. the m9′s decision to try and get to A2 before Lucien and take whatever is there is such a shit idea, why did he kill Vess because she was a traitor she betrayed him what are they m9 about to do betray him even after the warning about straying from the path (which btw I think was molly warning them). If they actually go through with this plan I hope Cad is right on Lucien getting amused at them instead of fucking pissed. good news is that even if they get there before Lucien they could still salvage the thing with Lucien by saying they wanted unbiased answers. I get they’re grieving and in a bunch of pain but use the common sense I know you have and learn more about whats happening before fucking it all up. (also I get half a point from Lucien kicking Vess’s body)

14. I will say I mostly loved this episode (except for the ending) but them talking about possibly scattering Lucien to get Molly back no matter how brief did unsettle me a lot. no matter my feelings about Molly this is Lucien’s body when he was scattered molly did have the right to the body so I don't think any of his actions were wrong or bad but now that Lucien is whole again his bodily autonomy should not be violated just for a unsure chance Molly would come back. As it is Lucien seemed already uneasy and annoyed with stuff molly did (ex-tattoos).

15. I originally wasn’t gonna put this point but I think I should. when Taliesin said “he thought they would be on the other side of this” I think most people thought it was in reference to how it seems like Lucien is evil (I still don’t think he is) but what if he meant Molly’s arc. think of it wouldn’t it make sense for Molly’s arc to focus on his past coming back to meet him what if they always intended for Lucien to become whole again and it was suppose to be Lucien’s thoughts/feelings bleeding into molly’s. but Molly died so instead we’re getting the inverse Lucien has to come to terms with his past as Molly and the people Molly left behind coming into his life. I think it would be a good arc him learning that you can’t run from or ignore the past no matter how much you want to it can and will come bite you in the ass. would also make sense why Lucien and Molly both have that attitude towards their pasts (you know other than being pieces of the same person).

#critical role #Mollymauk #cr lucien #I already had an idea for Lucien kidnaps/saves Caleb story it's only grown now #I hope Yasha and Caleb get a hug soon #lets the introverts cuddle and cry together #Lucien and Caleb need a ship name #Don't look at me I'm terrible at naming things #so happy to see floaty hot boi again #he sounded happy to hear from them #Matt and Taliesin both had faces that I have deemed untrustworthy this episode #ray's interests #keep forgetting that one

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ishgard · 4 years

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Title: Gifts & Curses Chapter 1: Nothing if Not Consistent Words: 2,545 Rating: T/PG-13 AO3 Link A/N: I opened one of those RP prompts ages ago that said something like 'Gaius gets cursed and Ahru can heal him', and then at like 4am falling asleep it burst wide open. One day I might go back, tweak it up, and fit it in to the grander story at large, but for now it’s just a stand-alone, for fun, deal.

________

Curses were tricky things, suffice it to say. They didn’t work in the ways one expected, or in ways that were obvious. Other times the cursemaker may not have been practiced in the art of it, bringing forth spite-driven but clumsy results.

As it stood, it was difficult to say one way or the other what Gaius Baelsar’s particular case was, but the effects had been wearing on him for days.

“I’m not sure, it’s not like anything I’ve ever seen before…” Yulania frowned, leaning back and folding her arms over her chest. She was still reluctant to help the ex-legatus, but she’d come at Ahru’s behest just the same.

Moving almost in unison with her, Arsh instead leaned forward, tilting his head this and that as he looked Gaius over, scratching his chin.

“That’s because it scarcely resembles anything it ought to. A mess is what it is. Someone slapping together whatever bits of knowledge they could assemble…” He restrained a chuckle -barely- and shrugged. “I’d be surprised if they themselves didn’t suffer for the casting of such a foolish attempt.”

In a small, dim-lit storage room in Ala Mhigo, Gaius sat in silence, gaze cast low to the ground before him, head sunk between his shoulders. He’d always thought himself a decently sensible man - arguable to some, he could reason, when he’d been blinded by grand ideals and the promise of power.

Such was neither here nor there though; whatever this curse, it weighed on him. Hushed whispers and babbling played at the back of his mind, barely audible - only to be crashed by a sudden scream, or angry shouts. Countless voices, all in unison, sometimes dulling to silence, as if to offer him some mild hope of reprieve only, of course, to come barreling over his senses again in a rush.

Sleep was impossible, his performance in battle suffered, and though he held himself together best he could, he could no longer deny the threads were growing thin.

“Can’t say I’m too surprised, there’s no small few who would love to see the Black Wolf hang - or worse.” Yulania sighed and shook her head. While she wasn’t so comfortable with their new ‘ally’, capital punishment didn’t sit right with her either.

“Think you could… I dunno, trace the aetherial patterns or some shit?” Ahru waved a hand at the air. "Track down who might have done it?" She may have been better at the aetherial arts than she’d ever been in her life, but hells if she knew how to deal with any of this. At best she could muddle her way through more basic healing, and instinct had often guided her well, but it had been clear from the moment Gaius had come to her this was well beyond anything she could pull off.

Yulania scrunched up her nose. “You really think the Elementals are going to give me a hand with this?”

“Pff, of course not. I just figured you might have some handy witch-y tricks up your billowing sleeves.” She didn’t give a piss about the Elementals, Yul was one of the most gifted healers she knew, and that wasn’t because of them. Catching her meaning, Yulania’s cheeks gave a faint pink glow, though she hid it with a frown and shake of her head.

“Unfortunately, it’s such a mess, I’d be afraid to apply any of my usual remedies. Fixing one thing could cause something else to worsen.”

Together they both looked to Arshadaya, who was now crouched down in front of Gaius, waving his hand not five ilms from his face. Gaius, however, didn’t seem to notice, his eyes wide and glazed over, mouth agape. The lines of his face were writ in horror, as if he were seeing some fearsome, terrible thing beyond Arsh’s palm and wiggling digits.

Ahru reached over and smacked Arsh’s hand back - even that did not draw the man out of his stupor, however.

“Gaius.” Bodily shoving Arsh out of the way she instead clapped her hands on either of his shoulders, trying to bring his gaze to hers. She’d seen him go like this once before already, and nothing had worked to bring him out of it then, yet still she could not help but try. There was little use in trying to wrap her mind around whatever their relationship was at this point, but she didn’t enjoy the idea of any she counted among her allies suffering.

“Another part of another stitched-together hex,” Arsh shrugged dismissively. “I don’t think wiggling him around will snap him out of it.”

“Your pointless commentary is not why I asked you here,” she grumbled back. He knew that, he knew everything, and she was oh so certain he knew how to fix this, but it was ever his wont to play so frustratingly coy.

“Yet it’s all I’m capable of offering.” Feigning a crestfallen pout, he dramatically shrugged his hands out to either side of him. Now that she knew better, these little gestures of his at times reminded her of Emet-Selch. But she quickly shoved that thought away, as she was becoming accustomed to doing every time the dead Ascian surfaced from the deep to haunt her.

“Oh, come now, that can’t be true.” Yulania was the first to speak up, as exasperated with the Ascians usual antics as Ahru herself was. No matter how accustomed to it they may have been. “According to Ahru, Emet-Selch could snap his fingers and pluck souls from the lifestream. You’ve practically done the same with her. Surely a tangled up little curse can’t pose such a problem.”

“Ah, but it can. And I’d like to remind you I very nearly died saving our darling Ahru. Emet-Selch was nothing short of prodigious in his abilities to see and understand the movements of the lifestream, and I but a paltry babe suckling at the teet by compare.”

“Imagery I could do without,” Ahru muttered. Her hands remained on Gaius’s shoulders, her eyes on his - still swimming in mute, abject fear. What nightmare of his own making must he have been seeing this time? Unable to scream, same as the dead bodies in his wake. Such was as much as he’d conveyed to her the last time this had occurred. That he’d found himself trapped in the corpses of those who had suffered for his ego, watching with lifeless eyes as even greater atrocities ensued. Their fears and horrors became his, but their anger and resentment wrapped gnarled fists around his throat and strangled him.

“Unfortunately, messy as this curse is, it’s effective. Patchwork bits of one hex and another strewn into his very soul, all twisted and knotted together with one great thread of hatred and murderous spite. Removing one could cause upheaval of another, but worse still is the very potential to unravel his very being.”

It was, at times, difficult to grasp just what Arshadaya really felt on a matter. One sentence or word weighed with amusement and curiosity, another with pity. Such was the case now, but Ahru knew the truth to be simple enough. He was fascinated, but not without sympathy.

“So… it’ll keep going like this…”

“Until it kills him, yes. Perhaps he will go mad and take his own life. Perhaps he will act rashly, or from exhaustion, and get himself killed. Or perhaps the shock will soon grow too much for his withered old heart.”

“Arshadaya, please…” Yulania’s voice was soft and small, the barest rustle of leaves on a spring breeze. “There’s no need to elaborate on what we already know just because you relish the chance to talk more.”

Again, Arshadaya shrugged, but his flippant demeanor slowly began to slip away, like a mask discarded. Instead he watched Ahru’s face in profile, the way it furrowed and stared deep into the Garlean’s gazeless eyes. Her fingers were sunk deep into the folds of his coat, making the subtlest of movements as if she hoped to massage away the tension even while knowing it would do no good.

“It’s not really a problem, is it?” The moment the words were out of his mouth she was snapped back to the present, face an amusing blend somewhere between a ‘glower’ and aghast. This did not dissuade or give him pause. “By the laws of mortals, this is a just fate, is it not? To suffer all he has made others suffer, to bear every fear and scar upon his soul. In fact, I daresay it’s better than what any judicial system might be able to fathom up. Beheadings are much too quick.”

With each word her face scrunched up more and more, but so too did her obvious annoyance. Alas, it would seem he’d become much to predictable to his favorite little mortal.

“Can we please skip the part where I have to justify my desire to help people?”

“Even old enemies who’ve done so very, very, many terrible things?” He spoke as if he were talking to a puppy, the sarcasm dripping. What fool mortal could possibly have had more blood on his hands than an Ascian, after all?

Ahru turned partway to him now, drawing her hands back from Gaius’s shoulders to fold them across her chest. She was good at nailing this particular expression, half pleading pout, half stubborn glare. But then, it did precisely encapsulate two of her most prevalent emotions; long-suffering exhaustion and willful defiance. She was not so gifted in the Echo that they could share thoughts, but he could hear her loud and clear. ’Do not make me work more than is necessary for information you could just as easily provide me freely.’

“Fine, deprive me of my fun,” Arsh pouted right back at her, though his he would argue was far more heartfelt. “I could, possibly, fix him up if you are truly so adamant about it, but it will require ample payment. Sacrifice, you might even say.”

Had the current situation not already been sobering enough, Ahru and Yulania both tensed, listening with rapt attention. ‘Sacrifice’ was no small word to them, who had buried the bodies of countless comrades, and something neither of them took lightly. Arshadaya, however, simply grinned at them both, shaking his head.

“Ahru, my darling, you’ll have to take him home with you. To Hyr’asra, and your mother.”

Immediately Ahru blanched, eyes wide and mouth agape, not looking all too different now from Gaius.

“You… have to be joking.” There was no emotion to her words, she wasn’t processing much in the way of thoughts let alone emotions, and the thoughts that did get by simply came out like some automated recording on old Allag tech.

Yulania arched a brow. While she was well aware Ahru’s relation with her mother and birthplace were not particularly great, she didn’t realize it was quite so bad as to warrant such a flabbergasted response.

“Mm, as I recall, the Hiraeth don’t take too kindly to outsiders…” Instead Yul grappled for the easy, obvious answer - or question, rather, which she posed to Arshadaya. “So, wouldn’t it be difficult taking a Garlean there?”

“Oh, that’s not the problem.” Arsh moved over to Gaius now running a finger over the crease in the mans brow as if he were naught more than a statue to bear his intrigue. “Ahru can, technically get away with almost whatever she wants-” at that, Ahru nearly choked on a sudden, bitter laugh. “…The problem is she’s been avoiding it so long she hasn’t the faintest clue how to face going back.”

“Yeah, and marching in for the sole purpose of healing an ex-legatus isn’t exactly going to sit well with the uma’taja.” Ahru piped in, her words betraying her reluctance. But even as unwilling as she was, the greater reluctance was saying no to the suggestion if it might really help.

“I mean… will they punish you at all?” Yulania muddled over what they were telling her, unable to pick apart what from what. Arshadaya, conveniently, was more than willing now to be silent and pin any answers on Ahru, his golden gaze locked on her. Ahru simply shook her head.

“It… really doesn’t matter one way or the other.”

“Well that doesn’t sound promising.”

“The worst punishment she’ll endure is her mothers disappointment and dissatisfaction,” Arsh offered.

“No, I’m sure they could do a lot worse.” Ahru rolled her eyes, but she was already coming to her decision. Arsh joked of payment and sacrifices, but as far as she could see it was only her own stubborn pride at stake. “Will you really be able to help him if I take him there?” She frowned, squinting at Gaius. “You said… mother could?”

“Maybe. First I’d try the ruins. We may be able to fix him there, where the aether is strong and pure. But if nothing else,” he grinned - vicious and cruel. “They could always sing it out of him.”

Ahru shivered. The phrase, however, was perhaps comically lost on Yulania - and for the better.

“Are they… bad at singing?” She hazarded, voice small and uncertain like a mouse. To that, Arshadaya laughed.

“The worst,” he answered, clapping her on the shoulder in a way that did nothing to alleviate her unease. “But if we’re going to do this, I should go on ahead and prepare.”

This time he did not wait for assurances or firm glares. A dark portal opened for him, and he was gone, leaving the women and nigh-catatonic legatus behind. Yulania sighed, looking to her friend for some sort of assurance that there was not some worser fate awaiting her. As did, unfortunately, seem to often be the case.

Frustratingly, Ahru simply smiled back at her. That same, tired smile she’d seen countless times before when, inevitably, she rallied herself off to some great battle despite however much she needed the rest. The same one she used to ‘jokingly’ breath the words ‘No rest for the weary.’

“Ahru… You really don’t have to do this.”

“Hah, I do too. I’d do the same for you, or Regi. Any of you.”

Face scrunched up, she fixed her friend with a most ungrateful and quizzical look. “I do hope Regi and I place a little higher than Gaius, Ahru.”

She laughed outright at that, genuine and hearty, and it seemed to liven her up. “Without a doubt, but the sentiment remains the same. So I have a painfully awkward family reunion waiting for me? Not much of a price to pay if it means saving someone.”

Sighing, Yul was near to agreeing, but stopped herself short seeing the apologetic grin now unfolding across Ahru’s features. “…What?”

“Besides~” she sang, “you’ll have the much more arduous task here, letting the others know what’s going on. Should probably start with Valdeaulin.”

“Oh, he'll be pissed, don’t you dare saddle me with-”

“You’re a gem, Yul. I couldn’t do this without you!” Before she could utter another word of protest, Ahru had seized her by the shoulders and given her a kiss on the nose. “Look after him a moment while I grab my things!”

And then she was darting out the storeroom door, leaving her blinking and grumbling to herself.

“You’re as bad as the Ascian…”

#ishgard writes #(let us find the answer together)#eventually #ahru hiraeth #gaius baelsar #yulania borael #arshadaya idaeus #-shrugs a lot-#i'm not 100% happy with it but I Made Progress and that's what matters... (???0 #cross-posted to ao3 solely cuz i know what a bitch my tumblr layout is #'yume why don't you change your tumblr layout'#listen.#[crickets chirp]#exactly.#i don't have a good reason #no betas we die like rabid hounds #anyway this was more me hammering out exposition and getting it out of the way in my head #which is a great sales pitch i know X'D

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moiralovestowrite · 3 years

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A Titan’s Gamble Chapter 5

The curiosity from Ryan had not ceased as the group flew to the Tower. The anger had dissolved into something else entirely. A thought rang through the Titan’s head as he began to connect the dots. Ages ago, at least a solid hundred years, a warning was issued. A monster born from the Darkness had come, it was hiding somewhere and the Vanguard had sent out every Guardian they could to find it. Ryan had been one of them, searching every planet he could hoping to find this dark creature. But it wasn’t some animal, no. It was a human. It was HER! After months of searching, sleepless nights and anger being taken out on his fellow guardian’s, Ryan had given up. How had he not realized it was a person, not a creature? Drifter glared at Ryan, watching as the Titan figured everything out. The man was more than ready to take the Young Wolf out if he had to. Sure, the fate of the universe and hell, his own life rested on the Titan’s shoulders but nothing was going to hurt his second in command, not on his watch. Moira was completely unbothered however. She had proven that she wasn’t a threat. She helped Ryan out and risked her own life for him, would he really turn on her now after what they had been through with the Rider? She didn’t think the man would, not with his kind of ethics. The Drifter’s hand was firmly on his hand cannon tucked into his belt. His protective form stood between the Titan and Moira as they finally arrived at the Tower. “What the-” Drifter’s voice was soft as his eyes gazed upon the gruesome view. Flame’s spewed from the top of the Tower, growing higher and higher as ships burst forth, attempting to get away, escape. People were pushing each other out of the way, attempting to reach some sort of safe haven from whatever was chasing them. Exo parts laid scattered upon the ground while blood splattered next to them. The group couldn’t believe what they were seeing. No. This couldn’t be real. “Holy Shit.” Moira breathed out. Her mind was scrambling for answers as she turned to look at her boss, the man who she thought knew everything. Drifter was speechless for the first time in his life. Ryan had already made his way for the airlock. This was his City, his damn home and if anyone thought they could destroy it, they would have to answer to him. Drifter looked at Moira, worry in his eyes. The two needed to get down there and fast. If something got his machines, who knew what kind of trouble it could cause? Moira returned his look and gently placed a hand upon his chest. “Let’s go.” She whispered before the two turned and ran for the airlock after Ryan.

The Tower’s heat was almost unbearable from the roaring fire. Blood had been splattered all over the walls and screaming echoed through the rooms. It was almost as bad as when the Cabal attacked. Specs of Darkness were floating through the air as the Tower’s flags burnt to a crisp. Ghosts were flying all over the place, trying to help their guardians and protect the people. Hunter’s and Warlock’s corpses littered the ground while Titan’s were nowhere to be seen. Ryan’s feet could barely keep him up as he gazed upon the horrid scene in front of him. What had happened?! Dammit, why did he leave the tower?! “RYAN!” Shaxx cried out, running towards the City’s hero. “Thank the Traveler you’re here! We need to evacuate the citizens!” Without even bothering to think, the Titan nodded, following Shaxx’s lead. The two ran through the buildings and the Last City grabbing every lightless civilian they could. Tess, one of the Awoken who ran the Eververse stand, was shaking as she carefully helped the two bring children to the evacuation point at the lower part of the Tower. “What happened?!” Ryan yelled out as he reached the hanger, helping people one by one onto the evacuation ship. “Zavala. He’s gone-gone mad.” Shaxx’s heart hurt as he spoke, getting the last child upon the ship before turning to meet the Titan’s gaze. “We need every Guardian out of here now, he has this device. A weapon! He shot the Titan’s with it, It’s almost like they’ve been Taken! He attempted to use it on Ikora but it only cut through her body, He claims she has to use hers on the Warlock’s so that no one else will be lost, it doesn’t make sense! The man is spewing nonsense!” Ryan’s eyes widened as he took in Shaxx’s words, this was all a bad dream, it had to be! A weapon that could take Guardian’s? Drifter was the only man who would know about this kind of thing, he had to find him. Holliday quickly climbed onto the ship and looked at the two Titan’s. The blonde prayed that they had a plan, any kind of plan. Zavala meant the world to Holliday, if she lost him...no, they would figure it out. She just had to believe. “Ya’ll need to hurry! I’m taking them to the farm! Ya better be there or I’ll be pissed!” The woman stated before the ships dock closed and it took off towards salvation.

Moira was shoving everything into large black garbage bags, chucking them onto the transporter in the middle of Drifter’s room. The Tower was filled with screams and blood, she needed to get everything out NOW! The Drifter had told her he needed to search Zavala’s office, he had an idea of what happened but he had to be completely sure. As she practically threw everything onto the transport pad, beaming it upon the Derelict, she heard the sounds of stomping feet making it her way. The woman’s body tensed as she held her breath and placed herself in the dark corner of the room. She just needed to get the bank out of there and they would be home free. Her eye’s widened as she saw what was making the noise. It was Titan’s! Their eyes were all pitch black and their movement’s were almost Taken like. She could practically taste the Darkness leeching off of their bodies. Her hands slapped over her mouth as she attempted to not make a noise, praying that the zombie like creature’s hadn’t seen her. But it was too late for that. They were like blood hounds. Two large male Titan’s stepped into the room, their eyes locking on Moira’s form. Their mouths didn’t move and their eyes remained unblinking. She quickly began to raise her fist in hopes that she could freeze them in place and run but the Titan’s were strangely faster than ever before. One of the men grabbed her by the wrist’s shoving her form into the metal bookshelf causing her to cry out in pain. Her eyes watered before she began kicking her feet and screaming. “LET GO OF ME YOU BASTARD!” She cried out, attempting to wiggle out of her captures hands. Suddenly the Titan let go of one of her wrist’s and slammed it upon her neck, beginning to choke the woman. Moira’s eyes widened as she attempted to break away, gasping for air as the Titan squeezed her neck like a squeaky toy. Suddenly a loud gun blast echoed through the room and both Titan’s fell to the ground in a matter of seconds. Blood dripped from between their eyes but strangely no Ghost’s came to their rescue. Moira’s form dropped as she covered her neck, coughing and gasping as she took in as much air as she could. Drifter’s blue eyes were hard and cold as he glared down at the dead creatures on the floor. “B-Boss!” Moira cried out as Drifter placed his hands on the woman’s waist, helping her to her feet. “The bank...” She breathed, attempting to gesture to the machine. Drifter nodded, checking the woman over before he rushed over to the bank, beginning to unscrew it from the floor. “They’re like zombies, what are they?” The woman asked, beginning to dismantled the top of the machine. “It ain’t looking good kid, I got no sweet clue how big blue got his damn hands on it but we gotta hurry! Go get that Titan, Ryan!” Moira’s brown eyes looked at her boss with fear. “I can’t leave you!” She cried out, dropping to Drifter’s side as she gazed upon her hero. “You gotta, this all rides on you kid, if ya can’t help him, we can kiss all of this goodbye.” The brunette swallowed hard and nodded. She had to do it didn’t she. With a deep breath, Moira grabbed onto Drifter’s face and turned the man’s head to face hers. “Please! Be safe.” The woman begged before she smashed her lips against her bosses. Drifter’s eyes filled with joy, panic, confusion, happiness. So many emotion’s hit him all at once but it vanished quickly. Moira ripped her form away from the man and ran out of the room, searching for the Titan. Drifter could only watch as the only thing he loved left. If he couldn’t pull this off they were all as good as dead. Still, Drifter had been waiting for this moment for over a hundred years. The two had always seemed to play chicken, unable to tell the other how they felt. If one attempted, something would always get in the way. This was the best kiss he had ever had. A smile grew on the rouge’s lips as a new kind of determination filled his body. It was go time.

“SHAXX!” Ryan’s pained voice screamed through the air as the master of the Crucible fell to the ground, shaking and twitching. “There you are Ryan.” Zavala had cornered the two. In the Vanguard’s hand was a weapon bleeding with Darkness, you could hear it whispering your deepest darkest thoughts and secrets to you. Suddenly Shaxx’s body halted movement. It was clear the man was fighting whatever was trying to take over his form but he couldn’t stop it. It was like every little bit of who Shaxx was had leaked out and vanished. The awoken’s lips curled into a smile as he watched Shaxx slowly begin to stand up like a monster, his movements were not his own. “S-Shaxx?” Ryan called out to his friend once more, praying for a response but the man was silent for the first time in his life. “Will you join me Ryan? Or do I have to shoot you as well.” The Vanguard’s voice was twisted and grey, completely corrupted with Darkness. Suddenly a giant ice staff rammed it’s way through the Vanguard’s stomach causing Zavala to throw up blood all over Ryan’s form. Shaking, the Vanguard dropped to the floor. Shaxx turned, ready to attack whatever had hurt Zavala but was quickly encased in ice. “RYAN!” Moira cried out, grabbing the hurt Titan by the hand. She pulled Ryan to his feet and began to drag him back to the Drifter’s room in the tower. “We Have To Go!” She cried, as Ryan’s eyes stared blankly ahead. He couldn’t wrap his brain around what was happening, it was all going so fast. What was that gun, why did it have the word “Titan” carved into it and why did Zavala have another one on his belt with the word “Warlock”? “Come ON!” Moira screamed, causing Ryan to snap out of it and run. “Ryan!” Zavala called out, struggling to his feet.

The two reached the Drifter just in time, the man had just finished dismantling the machine and had propped it on the transporter. “Get on!” Drifter shouted, grabbing the two by the arms and pulling them along side him on the pad. “We gotta get out of here, where were the people being taken?!” Drifter looked Ryan in the eye, demanding locations faster than Ryan could think. “The EDZ, The farm!” With a nod Drifter hit a button on the pad. Zavala’s form appeared in the doorway, his weapon pointed straight at Ryan’s stomach. “NO!” The Vanguard cried out as he fired a bullet. The black darkness shot through Ryan’s form. “RYAN!” Moira screamed, grabbing onto the Titan as Drifter gripped onto Ryan’s arm. “SHIT!” The older man snarled as The transport fired and the group vanished.

#destiny 2 #destiny ikora #destiny 2 guardian #destiny gambit #the drifter #zavala #ikora ray #A Titan’s Gamble

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Ares and Athena through the years - Ch. 11

Chapter Eleven: The Trojan War, pt. 03

(A/N: The end of the Iliad with some comic relief and lots of heartbreak at the end, because that's how the Iliad works. This isn't the last chapter about the Trojan War, but the next one will be. This is just the last part of the Iliad.)

Book Nineteen:

The next morning saw Thetis giving her son a freshly forged armour of such splendour, that Akhilleus was the only one who could even look at it directly.

As he marched the camp up and down, the other leaders came to the assembly, even though Agamemnon, Diomedes and Odysseus were severely injured and could hardly walk.

Akhilleus announced the end of his strike, much to the delight of the Achaean army.

He and Agamemnon finally talked things out and buried their old grudges.

“Right!”, Akhilleus exclaimed, “Enough talking! Let's go into battle already!”

“Not so fast!”, Odysseus (the resident braincell-owner) objected. “Our troops are exhausted and many of us are wounded. We need all the energy we can get. So there is one more thing we have to do first!”

“And what would that be?”, Akhilleus snarled impatiently.

“Have breakfast”, Odysseus deadpanned.

“OH COME ON!!!”

“No.”

Book Twenty:

On Olympos Zeus had made his ex-wife Thémis gather all the gods (literally all of them – even the Naiades and Dryades¹). Tiredly they dragged themselves out of bed and into the assembly hall.

Poseidon was the first to speak.

“Sooooo”, he drawled, “What are you plotting now, Astrapaios²?”

Zeus was lounging on his throne like a boss.

“Oh, you know what I want, Ennosigaios³! I won't wish for Akhilleus to conquer the city just yet, but he will, if we're not careful. And this is why I hereby decree, that the prohibition is lifted! You may interfere with the battle as much as you please!”

Suddenly everyone was wide awake and those who had taken a side in the war went to ready themselves for a battle royal – uh, I mean battle divine.

Of the Olympians, Dionysos (one of the few gods who had refused to get involved at all) was the last to leave the room. He used the opportunity to question his father.

“Dad, if you don't mind …”

“Ask away!”

“Why exactly did you change your mind again?”

Zeus chuckled at his son's perceptiveness.

“For the reason I stated earlier of course. Well, that and because I want to amuse myself by sitting here in my neutrality and watching this divine spectacle.”

“… Can I sit with you?”

“Sure, my son! Bring wine, this is going to be good!”

The gods joined the war and wasted no time in making things more interesting … for them!

Eris was having a blast with this spectacle.

Zeus was setting the mood above with thunder and rain.

Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and the queen of earthquakes happened.

“WHAT THE FUCK???”, he heard Hades' voice shriek from below, “POSEIDON, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING??? IF THE GROUND BREAKS OPEN AND FALLS DOWN IT WILL REVEAL THE UNDERWORLD AND BURY EVERYTHING BENEATH!!!”

Poseidon laughed sheepishly and yelled back down: “SORRY, BRO!”

Maybe I overdid it with that earthquake …

Some distance away, Apollon had convinced Aineías, that fighting Akhilleus would be a brilliant idea.

Poseidon didn't notice until Hera pat his shoulder and said to him and Athena: “Uh, we have a little problem back there” - and pointed to where Aineías and Akhilleus were about to duke it out.

“Don't worry, sister”, he replied, “We're stronger than them. If any of Troy's gods comes close to Akhilleus, that's nothing we can't take care of.”

Still, the gods of the Achaeans didn't want to engage in a bloodbath, before agreeing on a strategy.

On the battlefield, Aineías and Akhilleus ran into each other and started with a verbal duel, before lunging at each other. Poseidon quickly assessed, that the son of Thetis was outclassing the son of Aphrodite.

“Alright, here I come!”, he sighed, “Apollon won't save him, but the youngster is fated to live.”

Then he threw himself into the maddening throng and momentarily blinded Akhilleus, before he could decapitate the disarmed Trojan. Grabbing the mortal by the arms, Poseidon took to flight and carried him away to safety.

“Okay!”, he snapped at him, once they were back on the ground, “First off: Are you fucking insane?! Trying to take on Akhilleus, who is favoured by the gods and far stronger than you? He will send you to Hades, before your time is up! Secondly: as long as he is alive, you stay away from battle, you dumbass son of an even more dumbass goddess!”

With that, the Lord of the Sea left Aineías behind to wonder what the heck had just happened.

Akhilleus on the other hand just shrugged it off and went back to slaughtering Trojans en masse.

Apollon had warned Hektor not to go against the deranged demigod, but when the Trojan prince saw one of his brothers get killed by that very man, he forgot the warning and attacked him.

Akhilleus immediately recognised the slayer of his dear soulmate and charged with a battle cry.

But Apollon, always having the best timing, stepped in and saved the Trojan.

Again.

This is getting old.

Book Twenty-One:

The Trojans were fleeing in panic from the deranged and bloodthirsty demigod.

But Hera conjured a thick fog, making it impossible for them to see.

Those who didn't get lost in the fog where cornered and driven into the holy waters of the river Xanthos (or Skamandros, as the mortals called him). They jumped or fell into the quick waters, struggling and screaming for help. Akhilleus in his blood rush jumped after them and slaughtered the Trojans, who were already drowning, dyeing the waters red with blood.

That pissed off the river god, because no one liked having their waters defiled with gore and corpses. Politely requesting Akhilleus to stop dumping corpses into his river didn't help, so Xanthos lost his temper and promptly left his riverbed to make the demigod stop.

Only when this colossal mass of water rose before him, was Akhilleus seized by fear and he made a run for it across the field. But the river always caught up to him, because he was still just a demigod and Xanthos a full god and gods just were stronger than mortals (unless you were Herakles).

Athena and Poseidon came to his rescue, before he could die a most unheroic death by drowning. They warned him to go back to the battlefield, kill Hektor and return to the Achaean camp, then they left to mind their own business.

But the river wasn't done yet; it joined forces with another river, both hell-bent on drowning Akhilleus.

This was seen by Hera, who turned to Hephaistos. “My son, I thought you would take care of the river god? What are you waiting for? Show him your destructive flames. I will release the winds to fuel them. Do not stop, until I ask you to.”

Hephaistos, powerful fire god that he was, raised his arms and unleashed his divine fire above the river (never mind, that it was still raining). Hera released the north and south wind.

The unearthly fire storm, hotter than the surface of the sun⁴, spread across the heath, consumed the bodies of the dead and made the rivers writhe in agony from being boiled alive.

Xanthos soon begged for mercy, but Hephaistos was only following his mother's orders, so the river turned to Hera and begged her to control her son.

Now the Queen of the Skies finally showed the mercy asked of her and told her son to stop.

Hephaistos rolled his eyes, but called his fire back.

Xanthos returned to his river bed, recovered from the torment and he stuck his head out of the water to glare at the fire god. “And here I thought you were not an arsehole!”

The divine blacksmith laughed: “Oh, you're wrong! I'm less of an arsehole than the other Olympians, but I still can be a prick!”

Hera chuckled in amusement.

On his throne on Olympos, Zeus was having the time of his life, because now the gods were charging at each other at last.

“Ohhh, now they're getting started! This is going to be priceless! Where are the wine, cookies and my camera?”

Hebe and Dionysos brought him both and then sat with him to enjoy the show.

In the meantime, Athena had finally turned to Ares.

“'Sup, arsehole”, she greeted him.

“'Sup, fellow arsehole”, he retorted. Then he had his sword out. “Don't think I have forgot how you let that fucker Diomedes pierce with a spear! Now it's time for payback!”

I thought he already had- oh, never mind.

He attacked first and they duked it out for a while, before he threw his spear at the impenetrable Aigis she was wearing on her chest. Athena leapt back, grabbed a stone and hit her opponent at the back of his neck with it.

Knocked out, he collapsed.

“Hah!”, she yelled in triumph. “I'm the one who gets the payback! That's for abandoning your mother and me in favour of supporting the Trojans! Well, that and the fucking prohibition you put into our father's head. What's that with you always forgetting what everyone has realised a long time ago: that I am stronger than you and always will be!”

“Ares!”

Athena whirled around to see the goddess of love running to her lover's aid.

Aphrodite grabbed Ares' arm and began to drag him to safety.

“Are you just letting her do that?”, Hera spat at Athena.

The goddess of wisdom rolled her eyes. “Alright, I'm on it!”

Strode up to Aphrodite, who was struggling under Ares' weight and hit her on the chest, knocking her out as well. There they lay, with the bright-eyed goddess standing above them.

“This is what happens to the allies of Troy and everyone who gets in my way!”, she snarled.

Aphrodite came to herself and glared up. “You're full of shit, Athena.”

The war goddess shrugged. “Look around, Aphrodite. Everyone here is full of shit. Especially you.”

At the same time, Poseidon was facing Apollon.

The sea god taunted his nephew: “What is stopping you, Sunny Boy, now that the others are at each other's throats?”

Apollon sighed: “Can you please not call me 'Sunny Boy'? That's Ares' shtick. Also-”

“Whatever, Sunny Boy. Where is the fun in going home without a single scratch? Let's duke it out! But first tell me: why are you supporting the Trojans? Don't you remember how they treated us? When Zeus stripped us of our immortality for a year, we had to serve Laomedon for a pittance! I built this mighty wall around Troy, while you herded his cattle. And when the year was finally over, he denied us pay and threatened to bind us, cut our ears off and sell us off as slaves! And you're helping the Trojans, after all of this? Explain!”

But Apollon remained calm.

“Does it really matter? Let's leave the mortals to their devices. I don't want to fight you over them, uncle. You're way out of my league, it would be madness.”

But Artemis grabbed him by the shoulder, outraged. “So you're chickening out?! You just give up and let him win?! If so, then don't ever let us hear you brag, that you could take on Poseidon!”

But Apollon just arched an eyebrow. “I'm not 'chickening out'. I just know, when to quit – unlike someone I know.”

As if on cue, Hera confronted Artemis: “You little brat! If you have the spine to make me or Poseidon your enemy, you're dumber than I thought! I will show you, just how outclassed you really are!”

Then she seized the goddess of the hunt by both wrists with one hand, tore her quiver and arrows off her shoulder with the other and smacked the shit out of her with it. When Hera was done with her, Artemis was running back to Olympos crying, leaving her bow and arrows on the battlefield.

Hermes saw this and let his opponent Leto take the win. The Titanis of motherhood gratefully gathered up the weapons of her daughter from the floor and returned to Olympos to console her.

Apollon blinked after them. “What the Tartaros did just happen?”

Poseidon laughed heartily: “Just because my sister is the goddess of marriage doesn't mean she can't kick arse! Or where do you think Ares got his temper from?”

The Earthshaker looked to the sky and knew that Zeus was shaking with laughter.

On the battlefield Akhilleus was still massacring Trojans left and right.

The king Priamos saw this from the top of the wall and ordered for the gates to be opened, so his people could save themselves.

Apollon came onto the field through the gates and held his hand over them, while they scrambled to the sweet safety of their city. He took the shape of a Trojan Akhilleus had been about to kill and allowed to chase him across the field, away from the gates of Troy. That bought the Trojans the time they needed to escape the wrath of Thetis' son.

All of them, except for Hektor; he didn't make it in time, before the gates closed.

The greatest warrior of the Trojans was shut outside.

Book Twenty-Two:

Apollon led Akhilleus away from Troy, before finally turning around.

“Hey, arsehole! Guess who!” And dropped his disguise.

Then he proceeded to mock the raging demigod, who was out of breath after chasing him for kilometres: “While you ran after me like a moron, thinking that you stand a chance against me, the Trojans have barricaded themselves inside their city! They are out of your reach and you will never defeat me, Apollon!”

“You … you deceived me!”, Akhilleus gasped, “So is … the most lethal of the gods … the protector of Troy … otherwise I would have killed them all! But damn you! If it was in my power, I would give you payback!”

Apollon gritted his teeth: “But you can't, mortal.”

Akhilleus screamed in fury and dashed back to Troy with swift feet.

Hektor was waiting in front of the walls of Troy to challenge vengeful Akhilleus and face his imminent demise.

On top of the walls, his aged father was weeping over the cruelty of fate: that he would have to see his sons and many of his people die, his city sacked, his daughters ravaged, his grandchildren and himself murdered, his daughters-in-law sold into slavery.

But no matter how much Priamos beseeched him, Hektor didn't yield and stayed where he was, even though he was terrified. Yet as soon as he saw Akhilleus clearly, bloodthirsty and deranged like Ares himself, his flight instinct kicked in and he ran for his life. Only Apollon's assistance prevented the son of Thetis from catching up to Hektor.

While Akhilleus chased the slayer of Patroklos around the city walls three times in a row, the gods were watching from above.

Zeus shook his head. “I don't like seeing him being chased around his own city like that. And it's really a shame, that he should die already. He always honoured us gods beyond measure. Should I save this noble man or-”

“No!”, Athena protested at once, “His time is up, he must die! We can't randomly spare mortals, just because we favour them. Do whatever you want, but none of us will approve.”

“… Do what you must, but do it quickly.”

On Olympos, in the Room of Fate, the Scales of Fate weighed the lot of Hektor against Akhilleus.

That of Hektor sank, that of Akhilleus rose up.

Apollon, as the god of prophecy, sensed the shift and reluctantly left Hektor to face his doom.

Athena on the other hand joined the angry Akhilleus.

“Today the Achaeans will gain a most glorious victory! We shall slay Hektor! He is destined to die by our hands and not even Apollon's pleas to Zeus will save him now. Now hold up and catch your breath, while I persuade him to face you in battle.”

She caught up to Hektor in the shape of one of his brothers and did exactly that.

So the Trojan prince whirled around to face the son of Peleus.

They had a short dispute. Hektor entreated his opponent to agree, that the loser be returned to his people to receive a proper burial.

But Akhilleus refused: “FUCK YOUR PROPOSAL! YOU WILL PAY FOR THE DEATH OF PATROKLOS AND ALL OF MY FRIENDS WHOM YOU KILLED!!!”

“OH SHUT UP, ARSEHOLE! YOU AND YOUR COMRADES KILLED MOST OF MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS TOO! AND ONCE YOU TAKE OVER OUR CITY, YOU WILL RAVAGE IT, MASSACRE THE CIVILIANS, VIOLATE AND ENSLAVE OUR WOMEN AND KILL OUR CHILDREN!!! I AM DOING WHATEVER I CAN TO PROTECT THEM!!! YOU DON'T GET TO JUDGE ME!!!”, Hektor roared in outrage.⁵

Then they threw their spears at each other.

Hektor dodged that of Akhilleus, but his own weapon flew far off, guided by Athena's hand. When he turned to whom he had thought to be his dear brother to ask for a new spear, but found him gone.

The Trojan prince realised, that he had been tricked by Athena and that the gods had decided his doom a long time ago.

“Well, fuck this shit”, he muttered, pulled his sword to face his last battle.

Their fight was short and brutal.

At long last, Akhilleus managed to stab him in the throat.

But he had narrowly missed the windpipe and so Hektor was able to rattle a few last words.

“If you have … an ounce of honour … return my corpse … to my parents … so I can be buried.”

“No.”

“Thought as much … but know this … you're – ugh! – angering the gods … you will die … by Apollon's and Paris' arrows …”

Then the greatest defender of Troy died.

For a while Akhilleus stood silently above him.

Then he finally replied to the dead man: “I know. And I don't care.”

And proceeded to outrage his vanquished enemy's corpse by tying it to his chariot and dragging it around his city several times.

While on the walls above, his grieving parents, his sorrow-stricken wife Andromákhe and the people of Troy were weeping to the Heavens.

Book Twenty-Three:

Akhilleus held funeral games for Patroklos and, after much more mourning, finally delivered him to the pyre.

Hektor's dishonoured corpse on the other hand he left to the dogs.

The dogs that would not go near it; the presence of the goddess Aphrodite, who guarded it night and day, kept them away. She and Apollon preserved his corpse, so that neither the scorching sun, nor being hauled around by Akhilleus could damage it.

The burned remains of Patroklos were put to rest in a golden urn – one that his ghost had asked Akhilleus to put them in and mix them with his own, once the son of Thetis would die.

Book Twenty-Four:

All the while Apollon had protected Hektor's corpse from being mutilated, while Akhilleus didn't stop treating it like that of a common criminal.

Day after day he and the other gods who were supporting Troy begged Zeus to send Hermes to steal away the body. And every time Poseidon, Hera and Athena had been against it, unyielding in their old grudges.

After a week, the god of light finally had enough.

“How much longer”, he confronted the other gods, “do you want to allow Akhilleus to abuse the body of Hektor in such a foul manner?! Does none of you have a heart?! Has he ever failed to give you the best possible sacrifices?! Instead of returned his body to his people to receive the funeral he deserves, you choose being butt-hurt about the stupidity of that wuss Paris and that's why you help that sociopath Akhilleus, who doesn't have an ounce of propriety, shame or even respect in his chest! Many others are mourning their loved ones and he acts like he's the only one! As honourable as his parents are, they failed to raise a decent human being!“

Hera jumped up and pointed a finger at him: “Stop going on about Hektor, like he has ever been Akhilleus' equal! One was only a full mortal, while the other is the son of Thetis, whom I raised and married to Peleus, who we all were fond of!”

“That doesn't change the fact, that Akhilleus is a fucking arsehole!”, Apollon snapped.

“Or that he wouldn't know honour, if it spat in his face!”, Artemis agreed.

“Or that he's a whiny mother's boy”, Ares added.

Hera flushed with rage. “How dare you!”, she exclaimed, “All of you have been at the wedding of his parents! You ate, drank, danced and made music-”

“So?”, Ares said coldly, “Akhilleus is not his parents. We are not obliged to him, nor to Thetis and Peleus and definitely not to you. Hektor respected us gods and other humans more than he does.”

Hera's eyes narrowed. “That's it! I will-”

“ENOUGH!!!”, Zeus thundered and everyone fell silent.

Angrily he turned to Hera: “I've had enough of your attitude! No one here is putting Hektor and Akhilleus on the same level! And all things considered, Hektor was beloved by us. He always knew what kind of sacrifices I and all of you wished for, never failed to honour us and only gave us the best of the best. Still, stealing the body is not an option either. Bring me Thetis. She shall persuade her son to give Hektor's body up to his father.”

After Thetis had been welcomed by the gods, Zeus cut to the chase: “Let your son know, that we're angered by his behaviour. He is to return the body of Hektor to the Trojans for ransom – this is my will. He knows what happens to mortals, who do not follow it.”

Thetis nodded and returned to her son to inform him of Zeus' decree.

Later that evening Iris descended to the earth again, this time to tell Priamos, that Zeus was doing him one last favour: the returning of his son's body.

So Priamos packed rich gifts as ransom and went, but not before making a sacrifice of Zeus and venting his bitterness about how the cruelty of Ares had robbed and would keep robbing him of his loved ones.

As Zeus saw the elderly man and his aged herald cross the bloodstained plain in the darkness, he was overcome by pity. He waved Hermes over and fondly ruffled the messenger's hair.

The second youngest Olympian endured it, as always.

“My beloved son, who holds mankind dearest, guides them and listens to them. Go and escort Priamos to the Achaean ships, but make sure that no one sees him, before he stands in front of the son of Peleus.”

Hermes put on his winged sandals and staff and landed on the coast near the ships in the guise of a young soldier from Akhilleus' troops. With his staff, he lulled the Achaeans to sleep, before going to find Priamos.

As he came into the king's field of view, he could tell that the old man was frightened.

But Hermes gently took the old man's hands and asked kindly: “Who are you, sir? What are you and your companion there doing out here in the middle of the night and with so much treasure? Don't you know how dangerous that is?”

“You're right, young man”, Priamos replied, “But one god must have at least some mercy with me. It must be a good omen, that we meet you here; I can see your wisdom as well as your beauty – you must have blessed parents.”

That I do, Hermes thought fondly, but kept his focus.

“That's true. But do answer my question. Are you trying to hide them, or are you all fleeing your city in panic, because you lost your best fighter – your son Hektor, the greatest of your warriors?”

Priamos tilted his head. “How do you know about my son? Who are you?”

“One of the soldiers of Akhilleus”, Hermes fibbed, “I often saw your son on the field of glory, even when we weren't allowed to fight, because our lord wouldn't let us.”

“Really!”, the king cried hopefully, “Tell me, what happened to my son's body? Is it still intact at the ships? Akhilleus didn't … he didn't … did he …?”

“It's still intact”, the Messenger soothed him. “Nothing of the outrage it suffered by Akhilleus could damage it – if it wasn't for the wounds, one could think he's sleeping! The gods care for him even in death.”

He couldn't help but feel horrible for the sorrow-stricken old man, who nearly burst into tears at these news and who really deserved better than all this woe.

Deciding to make it quick, before the mortal's suffering could get to him, Hermes guided Priamos to Akhilleus' tent.

Once there, he revealed himself: “Now I can tell you, that I am the god Hermes. My father sent me to guide and protect you. I must stay outside, because I don't want the trouble of being seen. But listen to me: when you go in there, clasp the knees of Peleus' son and beseech him in the name of his own dear parents, if you want him to hear you.”

Akhilleus gaped in amazement, as none other than Priamos came before him.

The long-suffering king of Troy fell onto his knees in front of his greatest enemy, clasping the knees and kissing the hands of the man, who had slain his children.

After reminding him of his father Peleus, who was waiting for his son to come home, Priamos ended his plea: “Fifty sons I had, before you Achaeans came and I got to keep none of them! Most were felled by cruel Ares. And the one son I could count on, the defender of my city and its inhabitants – oh Hektor, my child! – fell by your hand. I'm here to ransom him with rich gifts. Respect the gods and think of your father. Even more than him I have a right to your mercy, because I did what no other father in the world could ever bring himself to do: I kissed the hand of the man who murdered my son.”

The sight of this old man's infinite grief and the memory of his own father, who too would never see him again, did something to Akhilleus.

There was no more wrath in him, only sadness and grief.

That and something new.

Something he had never felt before: Compassion.

Hektor's body was ransomed and returned to his people.

Even on Olympos the gods could hear the crying of the Trojans for their prince.

The people, who mourned their greatest hero.

His parents, who lost their dearest son.

His remaining siblings, who lost the brother they had looked up to.

His widow, who hadn't been able to be at her husband's side, while he was dying.

Helena, who had been taken here against her will and was now mourning the only man besides Priamos, who had treated her with kindness, the only friend she'd had here.

The Trojans keened and bewailed Hektor for ten days.

On the eleventh day he was brought to the pyre.

The smoke rose high and with it carried prayers and weeping.

---

1) Naiades: river nymphs; Dryades: tree nymphs.

2) Astrapaios: "Lord of Lightning", one of Zeus' epithets.

3) Ennosigaios: "Shaker of the Earth", one of Poseidon's epithets.

4) The surface of the sun is appr. 5000°C hot.

5) In the Iliad Hektor doesn't actually respond to Akhilleus' refusal like that, but I thought that this was important to point out.

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blackcatanna · 4 years

Text

Kinky TB Adventures (probably) with Okita Part 1: Kyoto Winds

Finally playing another Hakuoki route because I spent 10 hours travelling yesterday and I deserve some imaginary romance, damn it! Choosing Okita because he seems fun and I hate that he disappears from the story pretty early on in most routes and then dies off screen :'(

WARNING: I wrote a lot :)

Intro:

I don't know why but Kodo's evil old man face made me laugh so much during the intro.

Playing the prologue because it has a hearty chunk of Okita in it and it's been a while since I played the game.

Chizuru talking about the invisible wall between herself and other people is relatable af :')

"I'm not sure if I belong here... No. No, that's all in my head." < < < ME. Hello imposter syndrome, my old friend :')

I now feel like a li'l bitch for complaining about my journey yesterday when Chizuru WALKED nearly 500KM from Edo to Kyoto X_X

I'm loving this old timey film effect on the Kodo flashback.

I feel like Kodo's actions and motivations change depending on the route so I'm not going to try too hard to wrap my head around them here.

I love that "Ronin" is basically shorthand for "Evil Douchebag Thug" in this game X_X

Yukimura: "Be careful, father! Kyoto is a dangerous place!" Also Yukimura: "I have nothing to fear because I look like a BOY :) " Selfless but foolish X_X Although, you could argue that being reckless is selfish because it disregards your loved ones' feelings, should you get hurt.

At least the game gives these ronin names :') although... they don't have eyes. I think I'd rather have eyes, if I had to choose.

"I could still hear the ronin cursing loudly" I just have an image of these three guys running through the streets of Kyoto yelling, "FUCK. SHIT. PISS. ASS."

This game invested a lot in blood effects and sounds and I respect and appreciate that.

"He died with the first blow" Silver linings?

"They were... broken" :'(

Awe, the furies look so happy to see me :') JK, this scene is appropriately chilling. They do have big smiles, though.

More blood splashes and visceral blood descriptions :')

Okita, your sadism is showing.

Or maybe he knows that Saito doesn't like killing his comrades and that's why he wanted to kill them first :O :O :O

"if you just sat back and let them kill the kid, you could have saved us some trouble." -_- I enjoy Okita's banter but I have a feeling that it's going to be a bit one sided because Chizuru doesn't do back talk X_X

WAIT A FUCKING SECOND, WHY IS OKITA NOT BLINKING?!??

Oh here we go. Let's take a moment to worship Hijikata. I still think that Saito and Okita are better looking but sure, let's take a break to gush about "smooth, dark hair" in the moonlight and "the wistfulness of flower petals" "as if the cherry trees were blooming out of season" X_X ick.

HEY. CHIZURU. REMEMBER WHO RESCUED YOU. IT WASN'T THIS FUCKER.

OH GOD, IT CONTINUES, "His voice was cold and quiet, like a blade of ice. Blue-white moonlight lit his slender face.." blah blah ick.

OH, WE'RE STILL NOT DONE?!? "But it wasn't the sword making my breath catch. It was his eyes. They were fierce and hard, but somewhere behind them... I could catch a glimpse of... something else." Blah blah, troubled, mercy, blah

"Run, and I will kill you. Do you understand?" SPLOOSH (yes, I have been watching Archer)

I was sort of joking about being aroused by threats of violence but swords are definitely sexier than... whatever that whole flowery passage was...

Okita still is not blinking O_O

Hijikata telling Okita to shut up is a mood. Sorry, Okita.

Okay, NOW Okita's blinking. Guess all it took was Hijikata suggesting that they're going to kill me for a change. Apparently, only Okita's allowed to threaten to murder me X_X

Side note: if anyone reads this and is wondering if I'm aware that I switch between "You", "Me" and "Chizuru" then yes, I am and no, I don't care.

Apparently, Okita blinking was a fluke. Maybe he only blinks when he is pushed off stride or, like, flustered or surprised?

Also, I don't tend to think of Okita as being especially tall but he's taller than Hijikata!

"So we should just kill people now?" Um... you don't do that?

"What?! Come on, you can't be serious" HE SAID, BLINKING AND THUS BACKING UP MY THEORY.

"Almost as if I was being... drawn into their world..." Oh dear! We wouldn't want that to happen, that's not why we bought the game at all! :P

"A world where there is nothing strange in carrying on a normal conversation in the dead of night with corpses for company." Edgy. Although, I hope that this conversation is far from normal O_O

"As you wish." Hijikata is Saito's Princess Buttercup. I'm not jealous.

WHOA. I was just musing about death as usual and now Okita's RIGHT UP IN MY FACE.

"We did save you, didn't we?" WELL, TECHNICALLY, Saito saved me. You suggested letting the furies KILL ME.

"I didn't realise right away he was speaking to me." How? He's taking up the entire screen?

"Thank you very much." Fair. "I apologise for not thanking you earlier." Okay, calm down. It's not like they gave you a chance to speak in between death threats.

"The man called Hajime also looked confused. His eyes were wide and he had an expression I couldn't place." Then allow me: STARTLED ERMINE. Hijikata's is DISGRUNTLED HORSE and Okita's is SMUG LYNX. Aka: how three different animals react to the discovery that their prey is a girl. I know that horses don't hunt prey. However, they do have to deal with it when their animal subordinates unwittingly capture it.

"He broke out in laughter again, so much so that he was forced to wipe a few tears from his eyes" I'M SO GLAD THAT YOU'RE HAVING SUCH A JOLLY TIME, YOU ASS.

Now that he's figured out that I'm a girl, he's suddenly keen to introduce himself :P

"The one you should be thanking for saving you is Hajime Saito" CORRECT.

Is he deliberately trying to let him kill me by giving out as much info as possible? O_o

"His fingers like iron cables around my arm." Kinky.

"The cause of my horror wasn't the gruesome end that awaited me, but something else entirely." Hanging out with these crazy fuckers.

Chapter 1:

Damn, I wrote a lot more than I had expected for the prologue X_X

"My limbs were tightly bound in tight knots" I wouldn't be surprised if Okita was a shibari expert...

"This is no way to treat a guest of ours" Obviously, Inou-bae is trying to be kind but this feels like something a supervillain would say after their minions bring you to their lair X_X

"he smiled at me and winked" get this man a route! Actually, wait, how old is Chizuru... OKAY, FORGET I SAID THAT. NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO FLIRT WITH THIS 16 YEAR OLD GIRL. Although, maybe a dad route? No romance, just familial love. He's a better dad than Kodo. NO DADDY KINKS ALLOWED.

Apparently, Harada and Nagakura being "lively" is supposed to reassure me?!

Ah, Okita and his hilarious jokes about invading my personal space.

I'm so glad that Saito doesn't let him get away with this nonsense <3

And now we're sticking up for Saito and calling out Okita's bs <3

"the smile lingered through his bright eyes" Oo-er

"He looked more like a boy than a man." Says you!

The baka trio look so done X_X

"Their faces were still blessed with youth" Phew. Looks like we'll have some eye candy while we're brutally executed.

A STICK?!? THEY'RE CALLING ME A STICK?! HAVE THEY NOT SEEN THE ANIME INTRO?! CHIZURU HAS TITS!!!

"The hell I will, boy!" Calm down, Kratos.

"You could be taken for interrogating" not if you assholes don't make such a song and dance about me witnessing your shady activities! How would anybody know to interrogate me in the first place?!

"Let's just kill the kid" How about no!!!

"I was just kidding." WERE YOU, or did you just change your tune because daddy Kondou told you off? -_- I don't think Saito's buying your shit.

"Hehe." XD best response!

Side note, how am I the first person to witness the furies in action?! They run around the streets, chopping people up and there are already rumours about the Shinsengumi committing brutal crimes.

Also, how often do they sentence men to death? There are a lot of men in the fury corps and I bet that some choose death or try and run for it and die in the process.

"I think that Souji has a point" BOO, HARADA!

"Uh-oh. Well, this is going to make it even harder for us to simply let you go..." He's doing the not blinking thing again! Maybe that's because his prey is in his sights... O_O Also, thanks a lot, Heisuke X_X

"A man should always be ready to face death. You should make your peace with yours." Okay, first of all, I look like a child to you! Secondly, bit sexist! Not all men choose the path of the warrior. Thirdly, AS IF, I'm just going to lay down and accept my POINTLESS murder just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. No, Nagakura, I am NOT okay with being MURDERED. How dare you imply that I'm a coward for not wanting to die for this BULLSHIT.

Not sure if I mentioned this last time but Sano's casual suicide comments remind me of being at uni :')

"there's something I want to look into." Is it my stuff? Are you going to go through my stuff now? X_X

"I... I'm sorry." I forgive you, Heisuke! As for everyone else who's acting like this is all my fault and you've done nothing wrong, fuck you. Y'all shouldn't be doing evil science in the first place, especially if you're then going to try and justify MURDERING everyone who glimpses the evulz.

This whole bit reminds me of a DnD party where everyone's arguing over whether or not to kill someone. This is definitely more like a DnD argument than your average movie argument X_X

"All right, Saito, take care of the kid." 😍 Yes, Saito, take care of me :D NOT IN A MURDERY WAY O_O

Time to RUN THE FUCK AWAY. Maybe, if they hadn't acted like murdering assholes, I wouldn't be doing this but they don't seem to give a fuck about me so AWAY I GO.

"I knew it was rude, but I had no choice but to try and open the sliding door with my toe." Priorities X_X They kidnapped you, tied you up and threatened to kill you countless times. Honey, you stick it to those fuckers with your shady toe opening.

WE DIDN'T EVEN MAKE IT OUT OF THE ROOM!!!

"Sorry," No your not -_- "but now we've got to kill you." No you don't!

"Then you may do whatever you like with me." Um, why is this the Okita romance option? XD Don't say those words to that sadist, who knows what he wants to do to you! O_O

"We aren't going to eat you or anything." ...Damn X_X I hope that your stance changes if we get married.

"Heh. Never seen such an innocent girl like you." Ugh. As if. Running around dressed as a boy. Can't be that innocent. Certainly not if he read my last comment :P . Anyway, YOU SOUND CREEPY, TALKING LIKE THAT XD

"All right, all right. Now, tell your big brother... Why were you cross-dressing around Kyoto?" THA FUCK DID YOU JUST CALL YOURSELF?!?? And MIND YOUR DAMN BUSINESS XD DON'T KINK SHAME ME!

"Well, 'she' claims to be a girl, but it's not like we have any actual proof, right?" Um, I'M not the one who said that I'm a girl and I DON'T LIKE WHERE THIS IS GOING. I WILL FIGHT YOU FUCKERS IF YOU COME NEAR ME >:(

"My apologies, but I took the liberty of checking through your belongings." I wouldn't mind, except NOT ONCE did they give me a chance to explain myself or plead my case. He could have just asked whatever he wanted to know and then checked my bags to verify it X_X

"Hey now," HEY NOW, NOW, sing this corrosion to me... No? I'll be quiet :(

"So, you've been withholding information from us?" YOU BARELY GAVE ME A CHANCE TO SPEAK, YOU DICK!

Welp, they've agreed not to kill me and yet Okita's still taking it upon himself to threaten me with death while fixing me with his unblinking, predatory stare X_X

"Gee, didn't take long for you to change your tune once you knew she was a girl, eh Shin?" TRUTH

"Having a lady here at headquarters is sure to brighten things up." Joke's on you: I'm a goth ;P

"you can't just pawn her off on someone else." Okita, nooooooo! Don't make me work for this grumpy bitch!

"I hope you you'll take good care of her." Wink wink, nudge nudge. What's the matter, Hijikata senpai? Am I not pretty enough for you? :'(

"You sons of BITCHES." HEY. HIJIKATA. NO NEED TO INSULT THEIR INNOCENT MOTHERS. Just call them straight up bitches :)

"The Shinsengumi keeping a woman here... If such rumours were to spread, tongues would begin to wag." Yeah, yeah, so we might as well just all fuck. People are going to say we're doing it, regardless, so let's get this over with...

Or I could keep pretending to be a man. That could also work.

"You're gonna get a room, and you're gonna stay in it." FUCK YOU

"I could have sworn we decided she was going to be someone's page" O_O FUCK YOU EVEN MORE, OKITA.

So... lonely... must... find... friends...

Okita and Saito friends :D

When I first played this game, I was really keen to find my "father" but now that I know what he's like, it's hard to muster quite the same level of enthusiasm X_X

"Draw your blade, unless it is merely decoration." Spicy! I'm glad that Yukimura is not so easily goaded into fighting.

"I'm not lying." You tell him, girl!

Saito and Okita's stunned faces when you suggest that you might accidentally hurt Saito are priceless! X_X I guess this shows that you take this seriously, though.

"Excuse me... You don't have to laugh..." XD Is this almost sassy?

Surprise, Okita likes it when I do what he says despite understandable reservations XD

Saito looks way too happy to be doing this XD was this just a chance for him to show off? :P

IS HE LAUGHING AT ME?!? XD RUDE!

WHA THA FUCK. I think that it was a glitch but there were suddenly about seven Saitos on screen. Maybe that's what it feels like when you're fighting him.

Woah, it happened again, only this time there were two and one was squashed.

I'm fine with there being more Saitos.

Aaaaand he's holding a sword at my throat... Sploosh? Shut up, swords are sexy. I probably watched too many period and fantasy films as a child...

"In the blink of an eye, his face was only inches from mine," O RLY? 😏 WAIT, I'm supposed to be playing Okita's route X_X Must... stop getting distracted...

"Your master should be proud." SAY IT AGAIN 😍

"I then noticed how wildly my heart was beating." Though not from fear, right? ;)

"You all right?" Kind words? FROM OKITA?!?

"polite applause" FROM OKITA!?!

"If you want, we'll keep you company." Yes, Okita, obviously I want that :D

First sign of madness: talking to your own head!

Okita could look less smug about catching me talking to myself -_-

"I wanted to scream, but before I could open my mouth, Saito stepped out from behind the door." X_X Well, they did say they'd keep me company.

"I think that's enough fraternising, Souji." Wait a second...

"I figured if I left the two of you alone, it would be longer before I saw either of you," ... Why does that sound slightly risqué? -_- I feel like this scene changes slightly depending on your affection levels...

-_- The only reason Heisuke is short is because Nagakura's stunted his growth by constantly stealing his food.

"How are we to deal with accepting such insanity?" MOOD.

Wait, does Okita subsist entirely on sake?! O_O

"Try not to worry about eating too much or being a freeloader or something. Just eat your little heart out, okay?" Surprisingly wholesome content from Okita :')

Takeda! <3 My douchey doppelganger!

"your adorable page" -_- Watch it, "big brother"

"I'm not having any of your insolence today." Hijikata temporarily transforming into a villainous English aristocrat.

And after aaaaallll that, I'm just going to stay behind to spend some quality time with Okita, probably X_X

"Huh!? Why? You're finally getting the chance to search for Kodo." GOOD POINT. However, gotta get that dick, amirite?

"Perhaps, I should have gone..." YUP. PROBABLY.

"Are you regretting it? If you are, then you should've just gone with them." TRUTH.

"He smiled wryly before continuing while touching my chin." WEEEEOOOOA WEEEEEOOOOA PHYSICAL CONTACT ALARM. WE HAVE INITIATED PHYSICAL CONTACT. IT WAS WORTH STAYING BEHIND AFTER ALL!

"You don't regret it at all? Not even if you knew that Hajime and I went out of our way to convince Hijikata?" Aw, y'all did that for me? Yeah, this is a terrible decision X_X Except for the part with the chin touching. I guess stalking you overrides all logic?

"I was surprised. Saito did make that promise" and what? You thought he was a liar? Girl.

"It was actually Hajime that convinced Hijikata." Not sure if Okita's being modest but this is making it reeeeally hard for me to stop myself fangirling over Saito. Again.

"When I see Saito later, I need to apologise and give my thanks to him." YOU BETTER. >:(

Did he just call me useless (in a battle)? XD I mean, he's not wrong... As we will no doubt soon find out...

Wait, wait... He just said that if I'm in danger, I will become a nuisance and he'll FRICKIN' STAB ME. WHAT?! DOESN'T THAT MAKE YOU THE GREATEST DANGER, OKITA!??

Chapter 2:

Did we ever apologise to Saito? X_X

"Please allow me to continue looking for my father!" Where was this enthusiasm earlier -_-

"If you want that risk, feel free to join us." Ooooooh, scary.

"Remember that you're here to keep me company" Um, excuse me!?

Burn down the city and kidnap the Emperor while everyone else is "losing their shit." This seems like the plan of crazy people o_O

"Would you care to join us." Kondou's making this raid sound like a dinner party X_X

Chizuru getting distracted by the more "elegant" night uniforms while preparing for the raid is a Big Mood.

Am I going crazy or does this game normally give me more choices here? Am I being paranoid or is it now shipping me with Okita? Can't I normally choose to go with Hijikata or stay behind?

"Giving the enemy a good, loud warning that he's about to kick the tar out of them. That's Kondou for you..." Okita kind of has a point X_X

"They sauntered towards the inn" Quite the image.

Oh shit! Okita's fighting Kazama O_O

"Okita was battling a ronin." Damn, you're lucky that Kazama can't read minds X_X

"Thanks for the dance, chump." -_- Kazama's such a dick.

"You're our enemy, so you've gotta die." Okita's philosophy is simple and elegant.

"His sword moved in large, crude arcs, while Okita fought with skill and finesse." Wow, SUPER glad that Kazama can't read minds O_O

EXECUTE PLAN: HURL BOWL AT KAZAMA.

IT'S SUPER EFFECTIVE: OKITA SENPAI NOTICED ME.

Wait... WHAT WAS THAT "WET CRUNCH" WHEN KAZAMA KICKED OKITA'S CHEST!??!? O_O IS THIS HOW HE GETS TB?!? O_O

"Wet, tearing coughs." OH FUCK O_O

"I like watching children squirm." WTF, Kazama. BEGONE, THOT.

:'O Injured Okita is trying to put himself between me and that crazy bitch <3

Oh damn, he is coughing e blood :'O

"What a fool" UUUURRRRGGGGH KAZAMA IS THE WORST. SOME PEOPLE CARE ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE, KAZAMA. AND SOME PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO PUT THEMSELVES IN DANGER BECAUSE THEY CARE ABOUT MORE THAN THEIR OWN SELFISH NEEDS.

"I... I can still fight..." NO.

"You always said you'd kill me if I got in your way..." OOOOOOOOOOOH! HERE WE GO! THE FAÇADE BEGINS TO SHOW CRACKS *munches popcorn*

Iba... y u no mention our shared childhood?

ISHIDA POWDERED MEDICINE.

Nagakura says that it's delicious... I wonder if it tastes like cough medicine. Cough medicine is delicious. And addictive...

"I would never have thought that Toudou or Okita would return from a fight injured..." Why, Inoue? Are skilled and strong warriors invincible?

"The injured are a burden, so we shall remain here and guard the compound like obedient soldiers." O_O Ouch, Sanan!

Wait, I don't get a choice to go with them?! I KNEW IT. THIS GAME KNOOOOOWS! I'm too far down the Okita path to turn back now, I guess.

"Um... " Chizuru is me trying to make small talk.

Weird isn't necessarily a bad thing, Chizuru! Take it as a compliment!

I feel bad for not realising how badly injured he got during the raid during my other playthroughs X_X

I thought that I'd somehow missed the scene with the children because this playthrough's taking so long because I'm making so many fricking notes X_X Turns out, I have a lot more to say when you actually get to spend time with the chosen boi.

"Oh, don't worry. I didn't kidnap them or anything." ... GOOD!????

"I was bored" Hey, I get lonesome too! Why can't you come play with me? D:

"They take care of me." Pretty cute. :3

"You wanna come play with us?" Duh!

"No" GURL

He really does look like a happy cat when he smiles!

Wow, these children have a lot of attitude.

"It's a place for men to do, um, work." Yes, just normal human work. Nothing funny going on here.

"They're catching bad guys and keeping Kyoto safe" "No, they're not. They're just killing people." These kids are SAVAGE :')

"Can't deny that" ... Way to back me up, Souji...

"I probably hear him talk about death everyday." Wait, really? What exactly does he have to say about death?

"The Shinsengumi are a bunch a weirdos." :') And that makes them extremely lovable!

Last time, I tried defending the Shinsengumi and Okita ended up terrorising a child so LET'S PICK THE OTHER OPTION AND SEE IF THERE'S LESS CRAZY...

"Don't tell me you're taking this seriously?" CHILDREN ARE THE FUTURE, OKITA!

"They all look like bad guys." Why? Because they're hot?

"I didn't know what I was supposed to do..." Uh, maybe tell this childries not to judge a book by its cover? Idk, maybe try and suggest that the world is not so black and white? Definitely don't mention the bloodlust.

"Grinning like an idiot." You're just jealous of his happiness, you cynical-ass child

"He's a wuss." UM, pretty sure he's the most powerful member of the Shinsengumi so stfu :P

"He grabbed the child" Oh dear... Here we go...

Okita! Use your words to teach the children a lesson! Not whatever this fucked up shit is X_X

Ah, ruling with fear! :') When has that ever backfired?

"I'll tell them I'm sorry. Then I'll tell them how awesome Kondou is." GUD. >:(

Uuuuugh, I'm so so tired and I've written so much CRAP so I will SLEEP and play the next bit tomorrow! :D

#hakuoki #hakuouki #okita #okita souji #SALT #kyoto winds

16 notes · View notes

viinchester · 4 years

Text

Prompts

How/What to request

Please comment or send an ask with the number of the prompt(s) you want + the character + more details you want to be included. I'm feeling really creative right now, so I might be able to do some of your requests.

1. "Did you bring us here to die?" - "Obviously." - "I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not."

2. "You.. You are-.." - "Beautiful? A genius? Immensely talented?" - "Dangerous."

3. "All that blood looks good on you, it really brings out your eyes."

4. "You keep on pointing that gun at me and blabber about how much you've been wanting to kill me. I'm beginning to doubt your commitment."

5. "Remove your hand or I will rip your arm off and beat you to death with it."

6. "I don't care if you're panicking - just do it quietly."

7. "How long have you been standing there?" - "Longer than you'd like."

8. "Keep your morals away from me."

9. "When did you become so smart?" - "Since I stopped listening to you."

10. "I remember kissing you.. Why do I remember kissing you?"

11. "I was just kind of hoping that you'd.. y'know.. fall in love with me."

12. "Well, that didn't end the way I expected it to, but at least nobody important died."

13. "You're going to have to tell people you're leaving eventually." - "Yeah, but how should I do it? Shall I shout it from the rooftops or send a mass e-mail?"

14. "I have never been so insulted!" - "You don't listen much then, do you?"

15. "What are you doing?" - "… Eating." - "We're being held hostage and you decide to raid the kitchen!?" - ".. They didn't say the fridge was off limits."

16. "Come over here and make me."

17. "I have a name and it's not sweetheart."

18. "I wouldn't miss you. Nobody would." - "..." - "No, wait! I didn't-" - "Fuck off, I hate you."

19. "I really wish you were never born." - "Well, me neither. But.. life be like that sometime." - ".. You're an idiot, you know that?"

20. "I'm dying and you can't do anything about it, so please just hold me. I don't want to die here alone.."

21. "You're bleeding! Where's your friend!?" - "Left me to die to save their own ass. Guess you were right, I really am not worth it."

22. "Did you really think I cared about you?"

23. "This is what I get from trusting you.. Everybody told me to stay away from you, but I ignored them.." - "Yeah, that was really stupid. You should've known better. And for the record: I don't regret anything."

24. "You lied to me! Everything you ever did.. It was all just a game to you!" - "You found out? What a shame.. I kind of enjoyed playing with you."

25. "This is a joke, right? Right!?"

26. "What are you doing?" - "Just what's long over due."

27. "I'm a monster." - "You know you're not."

28. "Listen, I believe there's good inside of you somewhere.. Just.. Just put that knife down, okay?"

29. "Sometimes you need to make your sarcasm more clear."

30. "Oh crap. That's your »I did something bad«-face."

31. "This never happened. Understood?"

32. "Can't you be happy for me for just five minutes?"

33. "You don't give a damn about me!" - "Frankly, I do give a damn about you, my dear."

34. "Innocent until proven guilty, my friend."

35. "You did what!?"

36. "I know I'm very drunk, but I want to kiss you so bad.." - "Excuse you?"

37. "Are you done?" - "Depends."

38. "I should hate you, but all I feel is love!" - "Well, I have that effect on people."

39. "I didn't do it." - "Then why are you laughing?" - "Because whoever did it is a genius."

40. "Was it really necessary to hit me with the corpse's leg?" - "Necessary? No. Hilarious? Yes."

41. "Oh, you're still alive." - "Don't sound so disappointed, I might begin to think you don't like me."

42. "Hold on, you died!" - "Yeah well, it didn't really stick."

43. "I think I'm having a feeling. How do I make it stop?"

44. "This is a beautiful place." - "What a shame you came from so far away to destroy it, right?" - "Not really."

45. "I don't like how that ended. Let's pretend it never happened." - ".. Life doesn't work like that." - "It does now."

46. "I didn't-.. I didn't mean to! This wasn't what I wanted!"

47. "Do you feel any remorse for what you did to them? For what you did to me?"

48. "Please, you have to let me make this right!"

49. "How long are you going to keep on blackmailing me?"

50. "This is going to sound controversial, but I think that went well."

51. "You know, you're adorable when you're mad." - "I could literally kill you."

52. "Well, this is a nice change of scenery." - "It's a prison cell." - "I was being sarcastic."

53. "Run! Run away as long as you got the chance!" - "Run away from what!?" - "From me!"

54. "Rumour has it, I make you nervous."

55. "I can't focus with your damn hand in my- ah.. Oh…"

56. "How are you mad at me, when I'm the one with the broken arm!?"

57. "Well, shit. I'll need a fucking lawyer."

58. "Are you enjoying the party?" - "Party? This isn't a party." - "Not until somebody almost dies."

59. "FUCK! You scared the shit out of me!"

60. "Don't. Move."

61. "You're bleeding on my carpet."

62. "Excuse me, but whoever stood you up is an idiot and a jerk."

63. "Call me that one more time and you'll see what happens."

64. "It's pitch black in here and I can still see you're blushing."

65. "Am I supposed to be scared of you?"

66. "Murder is kinda against the law, you know?"

67. "Bend over."

68. "Beg for it."

69. "I'll make sure you never see them again."

70. "If you relaxed, it wouldn't hurt so much."

71. "There you are. Did you really think you were gonna escape?"

72. "I love you, I love you so much and I'll make sure you feel the same." - "You-.. You are insane.."

73. "Let me out of here! You're a fucking psychopath! I won't ever bend to your will!" - "Now, why did you have to make me mad by saying something so inconsiderate?"

74. "See, now was that so bad?" - "We're in the hospital, you idiot!" - "Yeah, but we could be dead instead, so I consider us lucky."

75. "How do you even sleep at night?" - "Oh, just like a baby."

76. "It'd be a shame if I had to damage that beautiful face.."

77. "Stop struggling. It doesn't have to be painful."

78. "I killed my own blood. What do you think I could do to you?"

79. Person A is wrapped in christmas lights, their body bound tightly to the chair they're sitting on. Person B comes in and grins. "Oh boy, I must've been good this year."

80. "Why don't you ever listen to my orders!?" - "I don't like being told what to do."

81. "I'll go easy on you."

82. "You don't look like a professional criminal.." - "Oh sorry, let me just.. grab my Ted-Bundy-Mask and put on some bloody gloves."

83. "You don't have to stay. I understand."

84. "You don't have to fight me."

85. "Watch me."

86. "You make a sound and it's game over."

87. "I'm like 75% sure this isn't going to kill us."

88. "Uhm, I don't think kidnapping is legal.. So if you could just let me go, that would be great."

89. "Please, I'm begging you.. I will do anything!" - "Anything, you say?"

90. "Cooperate with me and nobody will get hurt."

91. "Shoot him/her. Or I shoot you."

92. "I'm not going to kill you, Y/N. You will kill yourself."

93. "Your life is completely in my hands, so don't test my boundaries."

94. "Why are you crying?"

95. "I could help you, but it will cost you."

96. "Oh, you mean you need.. this antidote?"

97. "Go ahead and pray. See what good that does for you."

98. "What did you do to them!?"

99. "If we get caught, I'm blaming you."

100. "Complain all you want, but hurry and help me hide the body while you're at it!"

101. Person A to Person B: "There's no way in hell I'm doing that!" *Five seconds later* Person B to Person A while watching them do it: "You were saying?"

102. "They don't make a card saying »Sorry for almost bleeding out on your two thousand dollar couch and completely ruining it«, so I got you this instead."

103. "I didn't ask you, because I knew you were going to deny. And I don't need your fucking permission to do anything!"

104. "I am the only thing standing between you and all those people out there wanting to kill you, so I strongly suggest you stop pissing me off."

105. "Why is everbody running around like the city's on fire? What did I miss?"

106. "Alright, so I'll do this ridiculous thing you asked me to do, but in exchange you'll have to come to family-dinner with me and pretend to be my boyfriend/girlfriend, because I've kinda been lying to my family about being in a relationship to get them off my back and now they want to meet my partner."

107. "That's a terrible thing to carve into a tree."

108. "This is definitely not as charming as you might think."

109. "But that wasn't the fucking question, was it?"

110. "You take me instead! Do you hear me? Give her/him/them back and take me instead!"

111. "You know I hear you talking, but I still don't have my coffee."

112. "Take one more step and I'll snap her pretty little neck."

113. "This is real. You're real, I'm real.. I need you to come back to reality with me."

114. "You shouldn't have seen that."

115. "Whatever you do, don't make a sound."

116. "I'd rather be spitting blood."

117. "You can't have her and it's killing you inside."

118. "I could hear you screaming, are you alright?"

119. "I was made to destroy. Not to fix or repare, but to break."

120. "I know how this goes. First, you buy me a drink, then you tell me how pretty I look and at the end of the night, you'll ask for my number."

121. "I'm drunk and I hate everything.. Wait, lemme correct myself, I hate everything but you."

122. "Put the gun down, please. You're starting to scare me.."

123. "I'm right here. I've been here all along. Please, just.. see me."

124. "Stop looking at me with pity in your eyes. Stop it. Stop fucking looking at me like that!"

125. "You took adventage of me when all I did was help you. Others would've left a long time ago, but I kept on believing in you. But you only ever saw me as an opportunity to get what you wanted.."

126. "You really don't know how to talk to women, do you?" - "There was no need to until now!"

127. "You already know how this will end. It always ends with my blood on your hands. I've come to terms with it, you should get used to the idea too. After all, you can't change destiny."

128. "If you want to keep me away, then tell me a lie that will hurt me so deep I'll never want to see you again." - "I love you."

129. "Go ahead, underestimate me. That will be fun."

16 notes · View notes

quinzelade · 5 years

Text

Making One’s Bones (chpt 5)

Chapter List

Porter Gage is in a pickle. Nuka-World needed a new boss and some woman just killed her way to the top. But a pre-war Mafia boss on the theme park's throne? Well...at least she'll have experience.

Zoology

Safari Adventure opened Gage to a world of opportunities—namely watching a loincloth-clad man beating the shit out of a giant lizard with a metal pipe.

Points for effort, Gage thought as he crouched next to Bossanova and whispered, “What is that?” He’d heard rumours of the creatures lurking in Safari Adventure, but never seen them himself. Not that many people came back from Safari Adventure.

Bossanova squinted at it. “Looks like an alligator crossed with a deathclaw.”

“The fuck is an alligator?” Gage hissed, irritated by the incredulous look she was giving him.

“Pre-war reptile.” She bounced the flat of her sword against her shoulder and smirked. “I think we should call it a gatorclaw.”

Gage pinched the bridge of his nose, deciding to save his sanity. “Alright, fine. Gateclaw—”

“Gatorclaw.”

“—Gatorclaw then!” he snapped.

There was a crash as Loincloth went hurtling straight past them and landed on a rusted trash can.

The whatever-the-fuck-it-was—gatorclaw, whatever—paused, turning its elongated snout towards them, making a noise like an aggressive drainpipe. Panting and dragging one of its immense legs, it shuffled towards Gage, its small yellow eyes fixed on him. He stood up and took an involuntary step back.

“Hey!” Bossanova yelled, circling it, banging her sword against the gates and attracting its attention. It turned its big head towards her and snarled. Gage pulled a grenade out, primed it, and rolled it carefully to the gatorclaw’s feet. It looked down as the grenade bumped gently against its toes, and both Gage and Bossanova retreated.

The explosion rocked the ground, sending meat and pieces of paving slab everywhere. Bossanova poked her head out from the wall she’d taken refuge behind, and grinned. “Nice.”

Gage gave her a thumbs up, getting to his feet, and then whipped around as Loincloth came back into view, trailing his piece of pipe behind him. Gage pointed his gun at the stranger, his finger on the trigger.

A warm, dry hand fell on his arm. “Wait, Gage,” Bossanova stepped past him, staring at Loincloth with a wry smile on her face.

“Lady!” the man said, smiling broadly. “Cito see you kill monster! You friend?”

“Well,” Bossanova replied, still smiling, “I think you did most of the killing. But yes, friend.”

The man called Cito giggled at this. Gage rolled his eye. He sounded like a fucking idiot. Gage glared at Cito, and then said to Bossanova, “He can’t even string two words together. Why we bothering with him?”

Cito lowered his head. “Cito sorry Cito not talk so good. Cito family not talk. Cito not talk to man or lady in long time.”

Gage snorted. “Let me guess. You were raised by apes.”

Bossanova shot him a warning look, but Cito piped up, “Cito not know ‘ape.’ Cito only know ‘family.’”

“Oh my God.”

“Gage.” Bossanova let her glare linger on him for a few uncomfortable seconds, and then hitched her smile back into place as she spoke to Cito. “Cito, what are those things?” She gestured to the dead lizard. “Some kind of deathclaw?”

I thought you were calling them gatorclaws, Gage thought irritably.

“Death? Claws?” Cito’s brow furrowed. “Cito not know. Cito only know ‘death’ bad and monster bad.”

Gage was relieved to see a flicker of annoyance cross Bossanova’s face, but she quickly quashed it. “Are there any more?”

“Many more monster. No stop.”

“This is gonna be more trouble than it’s worth, boss,” Gage muttered. “Don’t get involved with sheep.”

“He fended that thing off with just a pole,” Bossanova hissed back. “You’re suggesting we clear this place out alone?”

“Cito kill monster,” Cito went on, oblivious to the hushed conversation between his new ‘friends.’ “New monster come. Cito kill monster again. New monster come again.Monsters not stop.” His face screwed up in frustration. “Monsters hurt Cito and Cito family. Help Cito stop monsters?”

Gage stared pointedly at Bossanova. “I knew this would be a pain in the ass.”

“Cito not doctor,” Cito piped up. “Maybe find medicine for ass while help Cito?”

Bossanova snorted with laughter, and even Gage felt the corners of his mouth twitch.

“Sure, friend,” Bossanova replied, still grinning. “Lead the way.”

Cito beamed at her. “Cito happy have strong friend. Follow!” He lumbered off, pipe in hand, leaving Gage and Bossanova to run after him. Cito bounded through an alleyway and into an open cage, but as Gage stepped inside, there was movement to his right, concealed by his eyepatch.

Gage saw teeth. Then his world spun as something slammed into him, sending him flying. His rifle skidded across the ground, and Gage scrambled for it, glancing over his shoulder in time to watch a towering gatorclaw rip Bossanova off her feet. It lifted her up to its open maw.

Gage lost all thought of his gun. With a strangled yell, he charged, pulling out the knife strapped to his thigh and plunging it into the thing’s eye. It dropped the boss as it roared in pain, trampling blindly. Bossanova rolled out of the way of its tail, which was smashing into the bars of the cage, bending them.

Gage laughed as adrenaline coursed through him, and picked up his rifle. He could smell the blood in the air, hear the universal sound of pain. God, he fucking loved it.

The more the gatorclaw tried to get the knife out, the deeper it went. Gage’s racing heart spurred him on, a high like no other, and he emptied a clip into the screaming animal.

Bullets, however, only seemed to piss it off. The remaining eye settled on him.

“Shit.”

It lunged, swinging for Gage’s head. Its speed took him by surprise, and Gage felt a rush of air as its thick, stubby claws streaked past. He dodged and rolled out of its way as it went for him, aiming potshots with every miss. “Pick on someone else, you fuck!” Gage bellowed.

Bossanova sprinted around it, raising her sword high. “Leave him!” She drove the sword into its back, but the blade bounced off harmlessly.

It turned and swiped at her, its arcing tail nearly taking Gage’s head off. Bossanova dodged the blow with ease. Then the tail whipped around again, slamming her into the nearby wall. She slid to the ground, dazed.

“Boss, move!”

The gatorclaw pounced. Bossanova shifted her weight to the side, thrusting her blade up as its jaws came down. The hilt hit the wall, burying the sword deep into the creature’s throat.

It reared up, gurgling, and Gage sprinted past it, seizing Bossanova’s arm. “Come on,” he hissed, shooting a look at the thrashing gatorclaw as he dragged her up. “It still ain’t fucking dead. We need to go!”

She nodded, her eyes unfocused. The gatorclaw snapped around, spraying blood from its gushing throat, and Gage threw his hand out, pushing the boss behind him. Just a few minutes, it would die. The sharp, yellow gaze said otherwise.

“Fuck this.” Gage centred its big, ugly face down his sights.

Clang.

Cito came from nowhere, bringing the big steel pipe down onto the gatorclaw’s head. It tried to snap at him, but the protruding sword pinned its jaw in place.

“Loincloth, kill it!” Gage bellowed, shoving the boss back again as she tried to rejoin the fight.

Cito leapt onto its back, slamming it with the pipe again and again, while the gatorclaw writhed and slashed. There was a sickening crack, and it fell with a tremendous crash. Its skull was split in two.

Cito jumped lightly off the corpse as if nothing had happened, and beamed at them. “Strong friends. Follow Cito. Cito have medicine.” He shot Gage a worried look. “Not ass medicine.”

Gage ignored him, directing his attention to Bossanova. Slowly, she got up and walked unsteadily to the gatorclaw, placing her foot on its neck. Then she seized the hilt of her sword and pulled it free with a slick, wet noise. She wiped the blood off the now slightly bent blade, and then staggered, her eyes unfocused again. Bossanova sank to her knees, cradling the sword and muttering, “No, no, no no…”

“Boss?” Gage said uncertainly. Any sign of weakness could be a death sentence. Bossanova ignored him, turning the sword over in her hands and pushing on the damaged blade, as if trying to straighten it.

“Boss.”

Her head snapped up to look at him. She glanced down at the sword, bit her lip, and then met his eye again. She gave a short nod and got to her feet, looking determined.

Gage settled. “You,” he said to Cito, gesturing with his weapon. “Get us out of the open. Now.”

Cito frowned, but nodded.

Bossanova limped over to Gage, producing the knife he’d jammed in the gatorclaw’s eye. She twirled it through her fingers, offering the handle to him, and he chuckled as he took it. She clapped him on the shoulder. “Good work, Gage. Thank you.”

Gage halted, blinking at her as she followed Cito. Slowly, he reached up and touched the spot where she’d laid her hand. It burned, and he gripped it tight, confused. Gratitude was a lie to placate the gullible. But this seemed…

“Gage?”

Gage looked up to see Bossanova waiting for him, a small frown on her face.

“What?” he snapped.

She raised an eyebrow. “Fine. Stand around and get eaten by the gatorclaws.”

Gage let out a heavy sigh. “Are we really naming them that?”

“Got anything better?”

He didn’t, but he’d rather take on a feral ghoul naked than admit it. Instead, he settled for glowering at her.

Bossanova smiled sweetly and then laughed. “Thought not.” She jammed her thumb in the direction of Cito. “Cito says we’re going to meet his family.”

Gage groaned. “Fucking wonderful.”

They followed Cito around the corner, revealing a large, flat-roofed building with little peaked glass windows on the top, the words ‘Primate House’ in wonky white letters of the double doors.

To the right of those battered doors was...well. Gage squinted at the statue, wondering if his remaining eye was failing him. It looked like a cross between a hairy deathclaw—which he hoped didn’t actually exist, lest Bossanova christen it with something equally stupid as gatorclaw —and a deformed yao guai. As he drew closer, a memory stirred in the back of his mind, and he remembered his mother sitting with a book, teaching him how to read. It was a book about animals—one of the pages showed a creature very similar to this statue. A gorilla, it had said.

Gage stopped in his tracks. He hadn’t thought about his mother in decades.

“Gage?” The boss looked over her shoulder at him, concerned. She’d made it all the way to the front door of the Primate House, her fingers resting on the handle.

He shook his head. “Comin’,” he muttered, jogging to catch up and bowing his head to avoid her shrewd stare. He thought she might say something, but after a few seconds she turned from him, opening the door for Cito, then following him inside. After a pause, so did Gage.

The smell was overwhelming. It was worse than himself—worse than anything the Disciples could cook up. It was even worse than Pus Pouch Pete, and that was saying something.

Gage immediately regretted remembering the sight of Pete’s face. When his retching finally subsided, he heard Cito proudly pronounce, “Family!”

Gage turned his attention into the gloom where Cito was indicating. The light filtering through the cracked ceiling illuminated several gigantic, half-rotting, hairy monstrosities ambling around the enclosure. Gage jumped back with a yell and the beasts scattered, baring gleaming white fangs, eyes glinting in the darkness.

Cito jumped in front of Gage, extending his hands out towards the creatures howling in fright and territorial rage. “Friends!” he bellowed, his voice just audible over the noise. They fell silent at once, their dark, beady gaze fixed on Cito. Then they relaxed, shuffling away as if nothing had happened.

Gage remained pressing to the door, his fingers digging into the wood. He was no coward, but he hadn’t been expecting this. The creatures looked similar to the statue out front, except they were...gaunter. He could see patches of raw skin where the fur had fallen away, blisters spattering the peeling flesh, and remembered that the Pack even had one of the damn things in his cages. The things disgusted him.

The boss didn’t seem much keener, but her revulsion less so than his, probably because she was near enough a corpse herself. “Gorillas,” she said from the blue, confirming Gage’s suspicions. “They must have been ghoulified when the bombs fell.” Bossanova considered them for a moment, then grinned. “Ghoulrillas.”

Gage didn’t have the stomach to argue.

Cito gestured for Bossanova to follow, leading her around and introducing her to members of his ‘family.’ Gage stayed where he was, hand inching towards his sidearm. He didn’t trust them, and the second one caused trouble, they’d all be fucking dead.

But the ghoulrillas remained placid, watching Bossanova with mild interest as she tailed Cito, her feet squelching in the shit-strewn floor. By the time Cito started introducing her to a smaller ghoulrilla called ‘Chris’, Gage relaxed. So long as they didn’t do anything stupid, the flea-bitten furballs would remain docile.

The conversation between Cito and Bossanova—if it could even be called that—turned to a holotape left by some asshole who’d died outside the Primate House, and how they had to go to ‘the triangle house’ for the gatorclaws.

Gage stopped listening. All he needed to know was where to point his gun, and Bossanova could update him on that later. Deciding to see if there was anything worth stealing in this place (though he doubted it), Gage strode off, eyeing the ghoulrillas and waiting for their reaction. They gave none, so he continued on into a side room, where an old mattress lay in the corner next to a faintly glowing bush. The bush lit up a crate besides it. If there was anywhere in this place that had loot, it was sure to be the crate.

Deciding the shit on the floor wouldn’t make much difference to his already filthy boots, Gage strode over to the crate— squelch squelch squelch —and crouched down to inspect it. On top of the crate was a small collection of toys, some Nuka World memorabilia, a white Nuka Cola (also glowing), and a letter.

Gage glanced back at Cito through the next room, blinking. He could write? Or read? But who would send the idiot a letter?

For one fleeting moment, Gage’s imagination went into overdrive, and he saw the ghoulrillas leaving out instructions for Cito with a shit-tipped finger. Then he shook his head, dragging himself back into the realms of sense and reason.

Still, he had to know what the letter said now. Double-checking Cito wasn’t watching, he picked up the paper and cola, holding the glowing bottle close to the words.

“If you're reading this note, then you've met Marcosito. His father, Marcos, was killed in a Super Mutant attack on our settlement, and I'm afraid my own wounds will be taking me as well. I don't have much time, and I'm terrified to send him out into this world alone, but I don't have any choice. I'm begging you to please take him in and see that he gets the food and shelter he'll need in order to survive. Tell our little Cito that his parents love him, and that if he's looking for us, we'll always be inside his heart.

Cito's Mother,

Imelda”

Gage blinked, scanning over it again. He frowned and looked up. Cito was surrounded by ghoulrillas, who were now picking bits out of his hair and eating it. He wondered if Cito had ever read the contents of the letter.

“We’ll always be inside his heart.”

Snorting, Gage crumpled up the note and tossed it over his shoulder. After all the effort of Cito’s parents, the ones to take care of him couldn’t read. Stupid bastard wouldn’t understand, even if Gage told him. The note meant nothing, achieved nothing.

Gage knocked the rest of the junk off the crate and opened it, using the bottle as a light to see inside. It was empty. Gage clicked his tongue in disappointment, then studied the Nuka Cola, wondering whether to keep hold of it.

After a beat, he set it back down. Anything glowing probably wasn’t worth putting in his body.

“Gage?”

Gage turned so fast he near fell over, hoping Cito hadn’t spotted him. Even from across the room he could see the boss glaring, as if she knew exactly what he’d been doing.

Cito, at least, was not paying attention, picking crap from the smaller ghoulrilla’s fur while it scratched its ass with great gusto.

“You ready to go?” Bossanova said pointedly.

“Yeah,” Gage said, getting to his feet. “Comin’, boss.”

“God fucking damn it!”

Pain shot up Gage’s arm as he slammed his fist into the whirring terminal and he turned away, pretending his hand wasn’t throbbing. Frustration burned and crawled under his skin like fire ants. Hours and hours they’d been fighting, following that fucking idiot ape man to the ‘triangle house’ which turned out to be a building called the ‘Welcome Center.’ Tired and bleeding, they’d staggered in, hoping to find the answers, only to be met with another goddamn gatorclaw.

The monster lay in a heap at the foot of the stairs, the combined efforts of Gage, Bossanova, Cito, and the ghoulrilla called Chris finally bringing it down. But it had been a hard battle, the day’s fighting taking its toll on them. And to top it all off, despite the various terminals inside the foyer indicating the steel door at the back of the room led to a loot-filled facility right beneath their feet, they couldn’t crack through the terminal keeping the door sealed shut.

All in all, Cito’s trip had been a fiasco. Gage stalked away, shaking his head as he clenched his fist, and headed back towards the helpdesk, where Bossanova stood. She was messing around with another terminal, trying to play the holotape Cito gave her inside the Primate House. Suddenly it crackled to life and Bossanova gave a cry of triumph.

The tape began to play.

“This is...Doctor Darren McDermot, last known survivor...at the Safari Adventure... Replication Facility. This is my final recording. I've done something horrible...the thing I created...the thing I called the gatorclaw…”

Bossanova caught Gage’s eye, and her gloating expression made him want to shoot himself in the head right there and then.

“...they must be destroyed. They can't be...tamed, they can't be controlled...their sheer ferocity is like nothing I've ever seen. And now...the Nuka-Gen Rep...Replicator is out of control. It's producing them at an...alarming rate…”

Gage stopped listening. This was not good. This was not good at all. The ones they’d faced were bad enough, but a whole park of them? His eyes drifted back to the sealed door, and he groaned. “They’re gonna be below us, aren’t they?”

Bossanova nodded.

The gatorclaws were coming from here. And if they weren’t stopped, nevermind Safari adventure, the whole park could be overrun.

“I’m guessing you had no luck?” Bossanova said, smartly stepping around the bleeding Cito, who was applying a thick, foul-smelling salve to his ghoulrilla companion. They’d taken the brunt of the gatorclaw attacks in the fight to get to the Welcome Center. Bossanova ignored them, her eyes fixed on Gage.

“No luck,” Gage repeated, forcing the words out through gritted teeth. His fingers were still tingling a little. “Needs some sort of passcode. I can’t do shit with computers.”

“Neither can I.” She glanced hopefully over her shoulder at Cito, who was now smearing the salve on the ghoulrilla’s wound with his tongue, and promptly returned her attention to Gage. “Seems we have no choice but to find the passcode.”

Gage allowed himself an inward chuckle, and then said, “The old messages mention the ‘Angry Anaconda.’ Like a ride or something.”

“Then that’s where we’ll go. Cito!”

Cito looked up sharply, mid-lick.

“We’re heading out to the Angry Anaconda. Can you lead the way?”

“Friend go to big metal snake?” Cito’s brow furrowed. Then his expression brightened, and he nodded vigorously. “Cito know! Lady follow Cito!”

“How about we go back to the Primate House for the night? Let ‘em heal up first,” Gage called out, earning himself an incredulous look from Bossanova. He shrugged, ignoring the heat in his cheeks. “They ain’t no good to us dead.”

“True.” She grinned at him. “And there was me thinking you cared.”

Gage snorted, but didn’t bother to retort. Cito looked from him to Bossanova, and then resumed licking the ghoulrilla.

Gage’s first thought when he’d met Cito had been something along the lines of shoot him and move on. After all, they’d only have to do it later to finish clearing out the park for the gangs. Bossanova’s insistence at talking the matter through pissed him off. But when she’d convinced Cito to bring Chris along for the ride, she’d addressed Gage’s scowls with a wink and the muttered words, “Cannon fodder.”

Gage wasn’t entirely sure what a cannon was, but her tone said it all. Meat shields.

He didn’t know how he felt about this. Not sacrificing Cito and his family—that was smart—but things were taking so much longer because of it. If Gage didn’t know any better, he’d say she was averse to violence, and far too keen to put others first. That made him extremely uncomfortable.

Bossanova watched them for a moment, her expression caught between revulsion and a smile, and then walked back over to the terminal at the central helpdesk, crouching down in front of it. She tapped her way through the keyboard for a minute, and then pulled another holotape from her pocket.

Gage frowned. “What’s that?”

“A little something I borrowed from Mags.”

The image of Bossanova’s hand darting out to snatch something from a desk in Mags’ quarters shot through Gage’s mind. His entire body went rigid as Bossanova continued to mess around with the terminal.

“You…” Gage’s voice shook, and Bossanova looked up at him. “You stole from Mags?”

“I did,” she replied, returning her attention to the computer.

“You coulda got us killed!”

Bossanova shrugged. “But I didn’t. So stop worrying.”

Gage studied her, his thoughts racing as his temper rose. He wasn’t against stealing as a general rule, but stealing from her own when she was supposed to be making a good first impression was an automatic death sentence. After all his warnings, she had stolen from Mags.

For a split second, he wondered if she was worse than Colter. Because despite her experience and clear leadership qualities, she was willing to throw everything away for a reckless urge.

“Boss,” he said, struggling to keep his tone light, “you need to be careful how you handle this shit. If you—”

Bossanova looked at him coldly. “Are you telling me how to do my job?”

“I’m telling you how not to get your fucking head blown off!”

The room fell silent. Gage could feel the eyes of Cito and the ghoulrilla on him, but he didn’t care. He glared at Bossanova, his hands tight around his gun.

“Noted,” she said, scowling at him before dropping her gaze back to the computer screen.

Gage saw red. Letting his gun hang from the strap around his neck, he strode across the room and slammed his fists onto the desk so hard the computer rattled. In a flash, Bossanova pressed a knife to his throat. Gage froze, and Bossanova leaned forward, unclipping his gun from its strap and removing it.

“Back off. Now,” she hissed.

Gage didn’t move. Instead, he met her eye as his hand slowly drifted to the pistol at his hip and said, “Boss, I get it. You were in charge, back in the day. You know how pre-war gangs work. Well this—” He made a vague gesture to the surroundings with his other hand, but stopped quickly as Bossanova pushed the knife harder to his throat. “—this ain’t like your gangs. Nisha, Mags, William, Mason—they will kill you the second they see weakness, and if you’re too damn arrogant to listen to my advice—”

“Then I’ll be the next Colter?” she replied sharply.

Gage opened his mouth to argue, and then closed it. Finally, he gave a slight shake of his head, wincing as the knife sliced into his skin. “No. You ain’t like Colter. You want to make this work as much as I do. But the other gangs won’t care about that if you steal from them. Sure, you gotta be the biggest, baddest motherfucker in the park—but you also gotta be on their side.”

He gripped at his pistol and tried to carefully unholster it. Bossanova’s eyes flicked down, and she smirked.

“Going to shoot me, Gage?”

Fuck.

“Depends if you’re going to stab me.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Then you should,” Gage said, feeling irritable again. Any raider worth their salt would have finished him off by now.

Bossanova raised a non-existent eyebrow. “I can get nasty if you prefer. But then how would you learn?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Bossanova gave him a long, searching look. Finally, she lowered her knife. Gage stepped back, touching the spot where the blade had been. His fingers came away red. His own fault, he knew, but it pissed him off all the same.

“When I deal with people, I deal with them permanently,” Bossanova said, wiping the knife on her pants and slipping it back into a sheath hidden under the many folds of her clothing. As she did so, Gage spied a strange gun with a disc shaped barrel tucked just out of sight. Then it disappeared behind the fabric again as Bossanova said, “But if you’re quick to pull the trigger, people will be just as quick with you.”

“What, so you don’t like teaching people a lesson?” Gage snapped. “How the hell did you run a gang?”

Bossanova rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I said,” she retorted, equally sharp. “The point is, if you go around killing everyone at the drop of a hat, when it’s your turn to be punished, you’ll be shown a similar amount of mercy.”

“Sounds like you’re afraid of doing dirty work.” He knew he was being petty, but the bitch just tried to cut his throat, and then not gone through with it. Grateful as he was to still have his head, he was starting to have doubts about her. She had no grit.

Bossanova sighed heavily, looking as angry as he felt. “You’re the one who dragged me into this mess without checking my credentials.” She threw him a nasty look. “I know how to be cruel—how to enforce. Broken bones, cuts...blow torches were always a favourite.” Her tone was amicable, as if she was talking about cooking eggs again. “You don’t become the boss without putting the fear of God in others.”

She paused. “By the time I reached the top, I had a reputation—didn’t need to torture anymore. I only killed when people broke the rules. They used to call me the Docile Don.” She laughed to herself, her gaze unfocused.

Gage frowned. “Sounds more like an insult.”

Bossanova’s eyes snapped back to his. “Oh, it was. The disrespect was addressed thoroughly, but in all honesty, I didn’t mind. I let the tales of horror mingle with my supposed ‘meekness.’ They never saw me coming.” Bossanova stared off into the distance, as if basking in a happy memory. “There is nothing like ending a man’s life with a smile.”

“Why not just shoot them and get it over with?”

“I already told you why,” Bossanova snapped. “At the Grille, remember?”

Gage cast his mind back, and vaguely recalled what she was talking about. Ah, yes. He remembered. “You had to do things subtle-like, because of the city guards?”

“They outnumbered us, so we outsmarted them instead. It was a game, in a way. We got on with our business and they tried to stop us. But they never could. Not completely.”

Gage shivered. The thought of being outgunned like that was a nightmare come true. And being unable to just shoot a rival in the face…?

Well, it explained Bossanova’s caution, at least. Gage felt his anger reducing to a simmer, flickering moodily in the base of his stomach. “Things ain’t like that now. You need to show your strength, keep everyone in line. If you don’t step up, the gangs will underestimate you. And then…”

“I aim to be underestimated. Because it’s the last thing they’ll do.” She held up his gun and tossed it to him. He caught it, understanding her meaning.

Don’t fuck with me again.

Gage sighed. He’d be dead before the end of the week.

Bossanova went back to tapping through the terminal, her posture tense. He stared at her, trying to think of something to fill the billowing silence.

“I thought you didn’t use guns,” he said finally, remembering the strange-shaped firearm concealed on her person.

Bossanova looked up. “What?”

“That gun you have. The one with the disc barrel. I saw it when you put your knife away.”

She frowned for a moment, and then her expression cleared. “Oh, this?” Her hand slipped under her clothes, and she produced the device. When Gage nodded, she continued. “I don’t normally use guns, no. But this one is for emergencies.”

“Emergencies? It’s a gun, not a bomb.”

“I know. But it’s a special gun, for when I’m truly desperate.”

Gage considered asking what was so spectacular about her stupid gun, but she closed the conversation by stowing it away again and returning to the terminal. He couldn’t even muster the energy to be annoyed with her. So long as she didn’t use it on him, or got him caught in the crossfire, he didn’t give a fuck.

After a minute or so, Bossanova picked up the holotape off the desk and inserted it into the terminal port. A few seconds later, the terminal crackled to life as a recording began to play.

“Mother, it's Mags. Thank you so much for your tape. It kept William, Lizzie and I very entertained during our time in the holding cell. We found the part about refusing us our inheritance particularly amusing. Because that money is ours. Years we spent under your thumb. Trying to be the perfect little dolls you always wanted. Both have the scars to prove it. So if you think we didn't earn every cap that's due to us, then you're even dumber than I thought. We're coming for those caps. And there's nothing you can do to stop us.”

The tape rolled in silence for a few seconds longer, and then cut out. Gage stared at her, startled to see she looked pleased by this. “Mags has daddy issues. So what?”

“So,” Bossanova said, ejecting the tape and turning it over in her hands, grinning broadly, “if their parents are still alive, and we deliver them to Mags and William…”

Gage blinked. Then he felt a grin spread across his own face. “They’ll be in our pockets.”

Bossanova nodded, pleased at his quickness on the uptake. “Precisely. This is deep...personal. And nothing is so sweet as settling a personal grudge.”

Gage studied her, wondering. He’d never been stupid enough to throw everything away for vengeance, but unless she’d made more in the wasteland, all her enemies would be long dead by now. Why then was there such bitterness in her voice? “Sounds like you’re talkin’ from experience, boss.”

Bossanova’s hand moved to touch the scarf around her neck. She paused, letting her arm drop away, and then nodded.

“Was it worth it?”

“Yes,” she said, without hesitation.

Gage resisted pulling a face. Two hundred years should be enough to get over whatever went on. Personally, he didn’t see the point in holding onto shit. Shut up, move on. He thought about Mags and the money she was owed. Would he be quite so apathetic if it was his inheritance? Gage looked back at Bossanova. It had to be caps. He couldn’t see anything else keeping her so angry after all this time.

“Hey, boss?” Gage said, before he could stop himself.

“Yes?” she looked at him, as if anticipating his next question.

“Uh.” Gage hesitated, noting how tense Bossanova suddenly was. Every muscle in her body seemed to be contracted, her knuckles white as she clutched her arms. “Well...can’t help but notice you keep grabbing at your neck there, boss. And your sword. What happened?”

Bossanova bit her lip, her fingers now digging into her skin, and bowed her head. Her discomfort was infectious, and he was starting to regret asking at all.

“Forget it,” he muttered, turning away from her. Before he could take a step, though, she spoke.

“I...lost someone.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper. “He gave me this sword just before he died.”

Gage’s head snapped towards her. “What?”

“I was betrayed,” she continued, louder now, but with a definite tremor. “By those I thought I could trust.” Her breathing was growing harsher by the second, and if she’d had nails, Gage bet she would have drawn blood from her palms. Her eyes were distant, searching past him for something no longer there. “I made some...decisions. Bad ones. Nicky advised against it, said it would cause too much trouble. I didn’t listen to him, and when it all went wrong…” She pulled down the scarf around her neck, revealing a long, wicked scar. “I survived. Nicky didn’t.”

Gage didn’t know what to say. He wanted to shake her, tell her to get a fucking grip. The guy was dead, and by the sounds of it, centuries ago. What was the issue?

Probably fucking him, Gage thought idly.

He kept his distance as, slowly, Bossanova clawed herself back into control. She breathed deeply through her nose cavity and out through her mouth, her eyes sliding shut. When they opened again, Gage saw nothing behind them. She let go of her arms, red marks pressed into her stripped skin. “Remember what I said? I know you’ll keep me alive as long as I work to your benefit. But there are other kinds of trust...if you want it.”

Gage looked at her, from her grief-stricken face to her barely contained shakes. No, he wasn’t sure he wanted it at all. This was the leader he’d landed himself with: a shitty, pitiful wreck, blubbering over some long-dead fuckhead who couldn’t even protect his own boss?

Deciding the smart choice was simply not to answer, Gage strode across the room, pretending to reload his gun. He just didn’t get her. One minute she was putting Nisha in her place, threatening to cut off Mags’ nose in front of William, and taking down gatorclaws without getting herself killed, the next she was crying over this Nicky.

Gage stared at an old poster without reading it. If he was honest with himself, her emotional outburst didn’t trouble him, so much as the fact it resided comfortably next to her bloodthirsty nature. He’d met a couple of people like her in the past. All of them were unstable, and all of them had grown increasingly reckless, until chems or sheer stupidity led to their deaths.

If Bossanova was telling the truth, she was over two-hundred years old. Gage had never met anyone like her.

“Are you ready to move out? I want to get back to the Primate House before dark.”

He turned to her. It was as if their conversation had never happened. She looked ready to kill, her weapon gripped in her hand, her eyes sharp with steely indifference. Against his better judgement, Gage felt himself relax. So long as she was like this, things were fine.

“Yeah, boss. Let’s go.”

#porter gage #nuka world #fallout #fallout 4 #Making One's Bones #mob

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