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amispnrewatch · 3 years

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SPN 1x06 “Skin”

Okay, I’m gonna try to type while I watch this time instead of forgetting this blog exists until the episode is almost over.

You can tell the footage for the previously on segment was saved on a VHS copy instead of the original film that the show was shot with because even in the HD iTunes version I have it looks low quality as fuck. And jumpy in the way that brings me back to my teens watching the WB all the damn time.

I love this song. WTF is this song. Shazam says “Good Deal” by Mommy and Daddy. I… have no comment, except that it sounds like everything I was listening to in college at the time this shit was airing.

Aaaaand not!Dean turns around to face the SWAT team after obviously torturing some woman. THAT is a cold open.

I wanna know what that car is in the background. It’s pretty. Maybe a convertible Impala? They have similar grills. This is not at all important.

Also, I love that with these higher definition versions of the episodes you can see that Sam’s email is lawboy and whatever dot com and that people in the fandom have started calling him Law Boy. It’s hilarious.

DEAN: Well, what exactly do you tell ‘em? You know, about where you’ve been, what you’ve been doin’?

SAM: I tell ‘em I’m on a road trip with my big brother. I tell ‘em I needed some time off after Jess.

DEAN: Oh, so you lie to ‘em.

SAM: No. I just don’t tell ‘em….everything.

DEAN: Yeah, that’s called lying. I mean, hey, man, I get it, tellin’ the truth is far worse.

SAM: So, what am I supposed to do, just cut everybody out of my life? (DEAN shrugs.) You’re serious?

DEAN: Look, it sucks, but in a job like this, you can’t get close to people, period.

Aaaaand now I have Dean and Cassie feelings again and we haven’t even gotten to her episode yet.

SAM: No, man, I know Zack. He’s no killer.

DEAN: Well, maybe you know Zack as well as he knows you.

Aaaaaand now I have Dean and Lee feelings and we’re nowhere near Lee’s episode in season 15.

YOU JUST BLEW THROUGH A STOP SIGN DEAN WTF.

Little Becky. Oi with the reusing of names.

Of course Sam made friends with a bunch of rich kids while he was at college in a desperate attempt to try to be normal.

SAM: You know, maybe we could see the crime scene. Zack’s house.

DEAN: We could.

REBECCA: Why? I mean, what could you do?

SAM: Well, me, not much. But Dean’s a cop. (DEAN laughs.)

DEAN: Detective, actually.

I love that Dean was like “how dare you call me that.”

Okay, after a bit of research, I totally want to take a day trip to Bisbee, Arizona, but it’s already in the 90s here in the desert and it’s not even May so that trip is going to have to wait until… winter or something. There is no way in hell I’m going deeper into the desert when the weather gets hotter.

It’s a historic mining town tourist trap looking place now which is exactly the kind of shit I love.

SAM: Bec, look, I know Zack didn’t do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove that he’s innocent.

I mean, not technically, technically you would 1) NOT FUCK WITH A MURDER INVESTIGATION YOU’RE NOT LEGALLY INVOLVED IN BECAUSE ANYTHING YOU FIND WOULD BE INADMISSABLE IN COURT 2) find evidence to provide a reasonable doubt for the jury that he did commit the crime. You know, like a lawyer would need to do, Law Boy.

DEAN: I just don’t think this is our kind of problem.

When I made my husband watch this show with me (he’s seen it all at least once now over the years) this is the recurring thing that drove him crazy.

You guys can’t even go in through the back door? Or shut the front door behind you? Really?

REBECCA: (tearfully) Well, there’s no sign of a break-in. They say that Emily let her attacker in.

Yeah, that doesn’t even really mean that she knew her attacker. Just that it was someone she let her guard down around or got in some other way. See: The Son of Sam and Nightstalker, etc.

Love the pinup magnet on the fridge. I’d throw shade at that, but I have a pinup magnet on my fridge too so… pot kettle and all that.

Okay, both people in the next couple are gorgeous.

And oh wow those special effects changing eyes… wow.

This poor couple. I feel so bad for them in this episode.

How… how are the police gonna explain the way he was able to beat himself over the head with a bat??? I…

I love that 5:30 in the morning on TV is clearly like… 10 AM.

Okay, this is a really unrelated point, but the graffiti on the dumpster here reminds me of the Teen Wolf fandoms use of the name Void!Stiles when Stiles Stilinski was possessed by a Nogitsune… I just spent way too long digging through YouTube and my Tumblr tags from back when those episodes were airing looking for a few specific videos and couldn’t find them. The TL;DR reason I bring it up here is goofball, bi-coded main character guy getting possessed by an entity set on destroying the people he loves. SOUNDS LIKE THIS EPISODE AND A WHOLE LOT OF SPN RIGHT. I love that all these monster hunting shows call out to each other.

This scene haunts me years later and I don’t even WATCH Teen Wolf. I just watched the fandom on Tumblr collectively lose it’s shit then tripped down a Hale Pack fanfiction rabbit hole.

ANYWAY

Back to Supernatural, a show that also treated its fan base, cast, and characters like garbage! Huzzah!

DEAN: Well, there’s another way to go—down. (They look down and notice a manhole.)

I’m gonna be mature and ignore the double entendre there…

But I love that Dean thinks of the world in 3D. Which sounds like a dumb statement to make, but this is honestly a good example of that in action.

SAM: I bet this runs right by Zack’s house, too.

Really Sam, sewers run by houses? SO WEIRD. I WOULD HAVE NEVER GUESSED.

DEAN: You know, I just had a sick thought. When the shapeshifter changes shape—maybe it sheds.

SAM: That is sick. (DEAN puts the bloody pile back on the ground.)

Guys, there is a WHOLE ASS EAR in that pile of yuck you’re looking at. I think it’s pretty safe to assume the shapeshifter indeed sheds its skin like a snake. A much… gooier snake.

Sam’s friend is rightfully pissed at him for fucking with the crime scene.

This is before the pearl gripped guns?! Wow. I never noticed that before.

Also, this whole episode gives me feelings.

++++

Cool. Tumblr mobile ate a whole section of my notes on this when it crashed for NO APPARENT REASON. Love that.

It always boggles my mind that actors can trust the people they’re working with enough to let people “tie” ropes around their neck or put them in actually dangerous positions in a scene.

SHAPESHIFTER: He’s sure got issues with you. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad. You don’t think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?

SAM: Where is my brother? (The shapeshifter leans in close to SAM.)

SHAPESHIFTER: I am your brother. See, deep down, I’m just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I’m a freak. And sooner or later, everybody’s gonna leave me. (He backs away.)

SAM: What are you talkin’ about?

SHAPESHIFTER: You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothin’, just poof. Left me with your sorry ass. But, still, this life? It’s not without its perks. (He laughs.) I meet the nicest people. Like little Becky. You know, Dean would bang her if he had the chance. Let’s see what happens. (He smiles and covers SAM with a sheet.)

This exchange is just… so much. So many feelings. And I will forever (unless we magically get a fix-it fic mini season someday…) be SO MAD that none of this got resolved in that pointless, trash heap of a finale.

REBECCA: Okay, so, this thing—it can make itself look like anybody?

SHAPESHIFTER: That’s right. (She chuckles.)

REBECCA: Well, what is it, like a genetic freak? (The shapeshifter laughs.)

SHAPESHIFTER: Maybe. Evolution is about mutation, right? So, maybe this thing was born human but was different. Hideous and hated. Until he learned to become someone else. (REBECCA looks around, uncomfortable. The shapeshifter’s eyes glint silver, and he smiles.)

It always amazes me how much of this show is a pile of accidental queer allegories parading around in an ill-fitting toxic masculinity suit.

Vulcan mind meld! I love nerd!Dean. Also, I’m rewatching Star Trek: TOS with my husband, because that is what my life amounts to these days, rewatching comfort TV and flailing over the bits I love.

This post does a better job than I can do of pairing up screen caps with the dialogue of this next scene. SIX EPISODES IN. They’re dumping all of this character depth SIX EPISODES IN. FUCK THIS SHOW FOR NOT EMBRACING ITSELF.

Okay, I love that he screams back in her face after he threw the phone. It’s not something to laugh at because the situation is horrifying, but I can’t help laughing at it every time.

AND THE WAY THEY CUT THESE SCENES. Going from him winding his hand back to backslap her directly to him dropping the chains on the table to show how hard he must have hit her without actually making the actors hit each other. Good job editing department!

I… don’t understand the shifter’s motivation for killing people. If he can take over people’s identities without killing them, why kill them? Is it just because he’s a homicidal, rapist piece of shit? Cause that’s all it seems like.

How did the SWAT team even know she was being attacked? Why can the snipers aim no better than Storm Troopers?

Ugh, these kind of transformation body horror scenes are exactly why werewolf stories have never really appealed to me much. Like, I could do without watching your ribs move and teeth fall out, dude.

BUT.

THIS FUCKING SCENE.

I looked up the song that’s playing over shapeshifter!Dean being caught by the SWAT team and then going through the grotesque transformation. (And as far as I know, the iTunes version has the original music from the episodes.)

It’s a song called “Mary” by The Death Riders

Who's your mother, who's your mother here boy // Who's your mother, whos your mommy dear // Who's your father, who's your father here boy // Who's your father, who's your daddy dear

Silently screaming // Where everyone knows // Daddy's always watchin' // Where everywhere - everywhere I go

I don't wanna be a freak show pretty boy anymore // I don't wanna be a full time slave // I don't wanna be your midnight cowboy anymore // I just want to be Mary

This is… a fascinating choice. Here are the rest of the lyrics. The song as a whole has a weird incesty kinda vibe to it? Kinda like when SPN tries to straight-wash itself and misses the mark wildly. (Like Dean’s male siren episode.)

The midnight cowboy line reminded me of 12x11 and the bull riding scene with “Broomstick Cowboy” by Bobby Goldsboro playing over it

Dream on, little Broomstick Cowboy, // Dream while you can; // Of big green frogs, // And puppy dogs, // And castles in the sand.

For, all too soon you'll awaken; // Your toys will all be gone. // Your broomstick horse will ride away, // To find another home. // And you'll have grown into a man, // With cowboys of your own. // And then you'll have to go to war, // To try and save your home.

And then you'll have to learn to hate; // You'll have to learn to kill. // It's always been that way, my son; // I guess it always will.

Because, you know, why not add tons of feelings into the lyrics, right?

Props to the people who can embrace their rewatches and reclamations of the show with ease. Because every episode seems to remind me of how hollow and tragic Dean’s ending was and I just… struggle all over again.

Anyway, back to the episode so I can move on with my day.

REPORTER: An anonymous tip led police to a home in the Central West End, where a S.W.A.T team discovered a local woman bound and gagged. Her attacker, a white male, approximately twenty-four to thirty years of age, was discovered hiding in her home. (A sketch of DEAN appears on the screen.)

DEAN: Man! That’s not even a good picture. (SAM looks around cautiously.)

SAM: It’s good enough. (He walks away.)

DEAN: Man! (He follows SAM.)

(CUT TO: Alley. DEAN and SAM are walking. DEAN steps into a puddle.)

DEAN: Ugh, come on.

I love that we get two tiny little back-to-back vanity moments for Dean here. One commenting on the sketch artist rendition of him being broadcasted on the news and the other tripping in the puddle. There is literally someone running around the city trying to kill people while wearing Dean’s face, but Dean is still concerned with how he looks appears to others. He’s still concerned with keeping up his own performance. The shifter left him with just a t-shirt, so he doesn’t even have his usual comfort layers on and at any moment someone could spot him and call the police or try to kill him for assaulting Sam’s friend. His life is wildly out of control in that moment and the only thing he can try to focus on is his appearance (something semi-controllable) and finding the shifter before any of that other shit can happen.

One day I want to put together a like top 10 episodes focusing on / explaining each TFW character from the series. Like the kind of list you could show someone who’s never seen the show, but has OPINIONS about the characters (or who hasn’t seen the whole show and seen the growth they went through… you know, like the people responsible for the travesty of 15x20). This episode would be on that list. I’m not sure how I could manage to make a list of only 10 episodes to understand Dean Winchester by, but eh.

SAM: What are you gonna do to me?

SHAPESHIFTER: Oh, I’m not gonna do anything. Dean will, though.

SAM: They’ll never catch him.

SHAPESHIFTER: Oh, doesn’t matter. Murder in the first of his own brother? He’ll be hunted the rest of his life. (He picks up a sharp knife and examines it.)

Speaking of season 15 in general, this right here. This was Chuck’s villain story arc thesis statement. AND THEY DROPPED THE GODDAMN BALL WITH IT. I think that’s the thing that honestly pisses me off the most these days (about 5 1/2 months from when the finale aired) is that they tried making the whole thing a tragedy but did such an awful job with it that it just ended up like a deflating condom balloon at a dive bar concert. Disappointing and gross. The finale for season 14 set them up SO FUCKING WELL and it just… didn’t get there.

Becky’s parents are gonna be pissed at how torn up their house is after all this shit…

And you’re not shooting him when you first see him strangling Sam because…?????

I like that he took the necklace back. Also, is this kinda Dean death number .5 of the show? Like it wasn’t him but it was also kinda him. Eh.

At least they left the windshield on Baby this time. Reflections are better than tearing her apart.

#SPN 1x06 #amispnrewatch #reclaiming spn #performing!dean #lawboy #bi!dean #dean x cassie #dean x lee #stiles stilinski #void!stiles #teen wolf #dean deserved better

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narukoibito · 3 years

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Fic Recs: Amnesia

One of my favorite, angsty tropes! The thought of not remembering someone is as close to a character death without them dying. So, as the lover of angst, how can I resist this sinfully angsty trope?

I find it incredibly difficult to do this trope well. I prefer the focus to be on the emotional fallout, how our character cope, who are we if we don’t have our memories, how they can overcome, rebuild, and ultimately, will they fall in love with each other all over again.

Side note: @clarensjoy and I received requests for amnesia stories similar to “gone was any trace of you.” The truth is, I don’t think there are any other amnesia stories quite like it yet. Something more character-driven than plot-driven (which is rare in amnesia stories), something that illuminates the cracks and the strength of their relationship, something subtly heartbreaking and filled with yearning. I’m working on an amnesia!Ginny story (”when the smoke clears” is its WIP title) inspired by “gone was any trace of you,” but it’s nowhere near done (and I have no idea when it will be). Maybe someone else will write something like this, and I’ll update this list. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these other great amnesia stories.

Anything with an * is a WIP.

Mentioned already as part of my All-time Favorites:

gone was any trace of you by @annerbhp

I have read this story so, so many times, and I still get emotional every time. Amnesia is one of my favorite tropes, but it’s very difficult to get just right in my opinion. Annerb works her magic once again, even managing to make Harry jealous of himself (an absolute favorite trope of mine).

such a beautiful blank (but smooth it out) by Pocketfullof

I read this over ten years ago, when it was originally posted on LJ. It stayed with me all these years, and I was overjoyed to find it again. It fits the amnesia trope, but not in a conventional way. I love Ginny’s struggles with this, her loneliness, the exploration of the point of life, and the aching loneliness of missing someone who is right beside her.

Keeping Even the Broken Promises* by Summer Potter

Warning: Harry/Other is a part of this story. Four years after Harry wakes up with no memory, he begins a journey to discover what he left behind and the promises he inadvertently broke. Poor Harry who tries to piece his life together, both in figuring out who he is/was and then fixing past relationships. Ugh, there are so many parts where the author just rips my heart out and stomps all over it, but the love between Harry and Ginny can’t be broken, no matter what or who tries to get in the way.

Also, as I went through this story in order to rec it, I found myself rereading the angsty moments I’d bookmarked and started crying all over again. So if you want to be completely wrecked, this is for you.

Erased* by @brightlybound

An interesting spin on the amnesia trope! Ginny runs into Harry one day. Well, more like he throws her out of a pub. I wish I could say more without feeling like I’m giving the story away, but it’s a sad take on what could have transpired after the Chamber of Secrets. While the story isn’t long or finished, there are such amazing in-character moments and clear attraction that it seems longer than it is. Hope there’s more to come!

Damaged Goods* by AUnionJill

Warning: Rape. Not for the faint of heart, especially given where the story seems to be going. An utterly heartbreaking story where Ginny is kidnapped before her wedding. When she is returned, a year and a half later, her memory has been altered to remove all traces of what happened. My heart was destroyed, and I just want these characters to be okay and get justice. But one of the things that kept me invested is the Ginny’s fierce, undiminished fire despite everything. Praying this will be completed one day, but AUnionJill told me they’ve sketched it out and are working on the next chapter.

–––

Want more recommendations? Send me an ask or check out my:

All-time Favorite recs

Muggle AU / Coffee AU recs

Post-War Canon recs

Missed Moments recs

Pregnancy recs

Outsider Perspective recs

#fanfiction rec list #amnesia #one of my favorite tropes #prepare yourself for the angst #there's a lot #to my biggest fan #sorry they're mostly wips #but i hope you enjoy #and maybe i'll finish when the smoke clears one day #i have faith #just no clue when

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k7l4d4 · 3 years

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Midnight Striga: Fairy Tail/Owl House Cross Fic Episode 6 Part 5

Hello all, and welcome back to another exciting rendition of Midnight Striga! Everybody Clap Your Hands!!

Eda grumbled, shifting her weight as she hunkered through the crowds, King prowling along beside her. She despised the Night Market, as it was basically a physical embodiment of justification for Bonehead’s rule; hard to stand up against the person who’s keeping you and your family safe from scummy criminals selling shady and dangerous stuff, even by the standards of the Isles!! She snorted. If only those same people knew that Bonehead’s goons were perfectly aware of the Night Market and could shut it down and round up its proprietors whenever they liked, and kept it around BECAUSE it was a convenient, tangible justification.

“Ugh! This place smells like failure and backstabbing.” King complained, warily scanning the surroundings, a spell prepped and ready to deploy at a moment’s notice.

Eda huffed. “Yeah, but if this ‘Grimm Hammer’ guy has Curse-Suppression potions, I can’t afford to stay away.” And didn’t it burn that she had to deal with scum like this for her health? She liked Morton, he was a good kid, but DAMN if his habit of testing his products, particularly the dangerous ones, on himself wasn’t grating at times like this. At least when he did it before he still had something in stock for her to use until he got back in shape.

King nodded solemnly, by his standards at any rate. He glanced around, idly taking note of the various comers and goers wandering the market, all doing their best to stay at least partially inconspicuous; it was probably pointless, considering just how unique and diverse appearances could get on the Isles, but at least they were putting in the effort. ‘I wonder if this is how Lilith got that curse.’ King wondered, his temper boiling at the thought of Eda’s sister stabbing her in the back like that. Aloud, he said, “You think this guy will try and screw us over?”

Eda laughed bitterly. “Oh absolutely! But,” She added with a feral grin, “If he does, we can always wreck the place.” She and King cheered at the thought of destroying private property.

With a snort, Eda glanced over the directions Mort had given her, comparing it to the shop before her. It wasn’t anything really special, just a stand aiming to draw the eye and lighten suckers’ wallets, but it had the signs of wear and tear you only got from long-term use and dedication. The owner was probably a scumbag, true, but they were a scumbag with pride in their business and property. Raising an eye at King, and getting a raised eyebrow in return, the two headed inside. A tall figure landed onto the ground in a crouch behind them.

Odalia marched down the halls, burying her worry under maternal fury. This was absolutely unacceptable!! She could not believe Amity was acting so disgracefully, cutting her off like that! With a huff, she finally crossed into the room, primed and ready to start shouting, heedless of the damage her outburst would do to her daughter’s social standing, only to blink in numb surprise at the sight of the humans, Amity’s guard notwithstanding, now in the room. “Um, Mittens? What is going on?” She asked as diplomatically as she could.

Amity sighed, and what proceeded was another rapid-fire round of introductions between the group and Odalia. Odalia’s eyes sharpened at several key points, namely that Neon was an heiress, and had been granted guards as a result of her magic, important details. “So,” Odalia drawled, a calculating gleam in her eyes, “You mentioned that you gave predictions, Miss Nostrade?” She stated more than asked; as annoyed as she was at Amity’s antics (and it was definitely annoyance, absolutely nothing more), this was admittedly an opportune moment to gain a better look into Human Magic, particularly in an area of overlap such as Oracle magic and predictions.

“Yeah, it sounds super interesting!” Selena piped up, engaging in the conversation. “I LOVE Oracle Magic, so seeing how Humans do it is like Oracle Magic times two!” She cheered, scooching close.

“Okay, if you really want!” Neon agreed, oblivious to the sudden tensing of her guards. She quickly pulled out a sheet of paper and a cat-themed pen. “I just need your names, date of birth, and your blood type!” She hummed, a blissful grin on her face. Odalia and Selena blinked, but both complied, much to the interest of the others, save Luz who’d seen what was coming in action before. The group reared back, startled at the deep blue aura that surged up around Neon, her normally bright and clear eyes fading and turning glassy, like a doll. Her hand pulled back, a winged thing manifesting around it, intoning “Lovely Ghostwriter.” In a blur, Neon rapidly inscribed a series of poems upon the paper, her hand blurring across the page that they couldn’t make out the actual words she was writing down. Suddenly, her hand stopped, a total of eight stanzas composed before her on two seperate sheets, which she promptly handed over to the correct recipient. “And there you go!” She beamed.

“Wow, what do they say?” Skara asked, powering through the confusion and shock that had come over her at the sight of Neon’s spell.

“No idea!” Neon blithely replied, causing all the Witches to blink in shock, save Odalia and Selena, who were busy going over their poems.

Luz snorted at their surprise. “Yeah, Neon’s magic is totally involuntary after the activation point. She has no clue what she writes, isn’t aware that she was even writing until after the fact, and is physically incapable of reading whatever prediction she gives.” Luz clarified, admittedly relishing the looks of confusion she got in response.

“How does that even work!?” Amity asked, utterly bewildered. It was completely outside any known form of Oracle Magic, and she couldn’t help but notice the blanching faces of her mother and Selena.

Neon gave a pout, trying not to feel insulted at the slight at her skills. “Predictions are for the people, not for the predictor!” She childishly stated, huffing in displeasure.

They turned to Luz, a look screaming for an explanation upon their faces. “Hey, it makes as much sense to me as it does for you all.” She lightly protested. Seeing they weren’t convinced, she ultimately relented, clarifying, “I’m not sure why it turned out like that, but Neon is completely self-taught, but no one has ever said she’s not good at what she does.” She fixed them with a strong stare, almost daring them to question her. “Neon’s predictions always cover the month of when she gives them, offering insight as to what will happen later, with advice being given for dangerous or difficult moments coming up, and clarity as to what led to events that have already happened. And Neon’s predictions are always perfectly accurate to boot.” She sat back, letting that sink in.

Willow was the first to recover. “B-But that goes outside any known example of Oracle Magic!” She stammered, shock coloring her eyes. “Even the best Oracles have some level of failure or inaccuracy!”

Luz shrugged. “I don’t know what to say, but that’s never really applied to Neon.” The girl in question merely beamed in pride at that, puffing out her chest.

“Neon is the greatest! Ohohohohoho!” She cheerfully laughed, pulling one hand to her mouth in a look of haughty delight, only for Luz to playfully chop her on the head. “Ouchie!”

“Please don’t strike my charge again, Miss Noceda.” Kurapika sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, even as his fellow guards just snorted at the by-play between the two mages.

“Yeah, the lassy needs her brain intact, you know?” Basho called out, a cheerful smile on his face. He winced at the swift jab to his rib Baise gave him.

Baise snorted. “Maybe don’t insult our boss, idiot.” She drolly stated, arms crossed.

“I’ve honestly been wondering, but if you guys are guards for a mage, are you mages yourselves?” Gus asked, tone casual, if you discounted the notebook primed for writing held before him that is.

“Well, as a matter of fact, we are.” Kurapika cordially replied, showing the chains affixed to his hand, small steel rings linking a separate chain to each finger. “I myself employ Chain Magic, allowing me to manipulate and command my chains for a variety of effects.” He gave a mysterious grin. “Though, some of my best spells are unfortunately kept rather limited.”

“Huh, why is that?” Gus asked, furiously scrawling down the enigmatic blonde’s answer.

“Well, I won’t go into the specifics, but it is possible to augment one’s spells, particularly complex or unusual ones, by infusing them with limitations as to how and when you can use them, or giving them conditions as to when they can be activated.” Kurapika explained. “A solid example would be, say, creating a spell that would allow you to defeat a specific foe, and then altering the spell so it literally cannot be used on anyone but that foe. Doing so would make that spell all the more powerful and flexible to use, but only when it’s conditions are fulfilled.”

The Witches paused, staring in shock at Kurapika, whereas his fellow guards and Luz just looked at him in amusement. Luz shrugged. “He’s not wrong, but most mages don’t usually do that, unless their magic works best under specific circumstances to start with. It’s usually something found in more exotic forms of magic, or with people who are self-trained.” All the Witches carefully took note of that for later.

Willow cleared her throat. “And what about the rest of you?” She asked politely.

Tolico puffed out his chest, grinning. “Well my magic is almost ideal for bodyguard duties, and just for messing with people. Observe!” He cried, swinging his arm up, before clapping it against the ground. “Thankless Soldiers!” From the point of contact, a dark purple aura billowed up off the floor, flexing and morphing into the image of 12 dark figures in robes, standing at attention. “Now, you guys go outside and patrol the area, we don’t want any intruders, alright?” He stated, and the constructs moved out, silently and without issue.

“Wow! You can create soldiers to fight for you!?” Gus exclaimed, stars in his eyes.

“Yeah, but they’re fragile to any trained mage, can’t move very fast, and their only solid advantage is numbers.” Baise said, instantly taking the wind out of Tolico’s sails. Baise smirked at the pouting glare Tolico shot her. “As for myself… my magic isn’t something kiddies like you should learn about until you’re older.” She stated, the aimless leer on her face sending nervous shivers down the group’s collective spine.

“HA! My Haiku Magic allows me to compose poetry, and gain effects based on those poems by sacrificing them!” Basho proudly stated, crushing a tablet of paper in his fist, causing it to erupt in flames, to the awe of the crowd.

“My magic isn’t really anything special,” Squala stated bashfully, rubbing his head. “I can manipulate and command dogs, but not a whole lot else.”

“And I can create effects by playing my flute.” Melody added in a soft tone. The Witches pondered that briefly, but accepted it, not every form of magic was going to be out there and radically different from what they knew.

“W-What is this!?” Odalia whispered, drawing the group’s attention to her and Selena, who were both shuddering over the predictions Neon had given them. She whipped around, wild eyes staring at Neon, who cocked her head in confusion. She marched over, oblivious to the stares her actions were garnering from the group, and the level glares of Neon’s bodyguards, all prepped to intercept her. “Are you certain this is accurate!?” She demanded, almost rabid fear in her eyes, waving her prediction in emphasis.

“Hmm?” Neon made a questioning noise, uncomprehending? “What do you mean? Neon’s predictions are always right!” She huffed, confused and annoyed at the idea of her predictions being wrong. Didn’t this old lady know anything!? Whatever was written would happen, completely true! Silly old lady! ...Why was she still getting closer?

With a scowl, Odalia drew level with the childish girl, her temper and fear mixing into a recklessness-inducing cocktail. “Now listen here!” Odalia hissed, reaching out towards the girl, oblivious to the mounting anger of her guards, as well as the fear flickering in Neon’s eyes. “Do you have any idea-”

“Miss Blight.” Luz called out sharply, drawing the woman’s attention. Glancing around, she blanched at the scene; her daughter’s guests were staring at her in a mix of fear and disgust, while Amity and the Park girl were glaring at her in a mixture of disappointment and rage. Her daughter’s guard, the human girl, Luz, was watching her with a carefully blank face, idly flipping a glowing knife in between her hands. The Neon girl’s guards were preparing to attack her, she noted with dread, and when she turned her gaze back to Neon, she finally noticed the way she was trembling, along with the faint tears in her eyes. Flushing, Odalia quickly pulled away. “Oh my dear, I am so sorry, child! I-I have no idea what came over me-” Odalia hastily explained, twitching slightly.

“Save it.” Luz said flatly, subtly moving in between Neon and Odalia, and also between Odalia and Neon’s guards. “Don’t worry, people have reacted a lot worse to Neon’s predictions in the past, they just usually aren’t in the same room as her when they do so. I would recommend heading back to your husband for the night.” She ‘suggested,’ idly cocking her head to the still upset group surrounding them.

Odalia flushed, but didn’t argue. “I believe you are correct in that respect.” She gave a shaky bow. “I bid you all a good evening, and I hope the Conjuring goes well.” And with that, Odalia beat a hasty retreat, mind swirling over what to tell Alador.

Skara cleared her throat, wanting to dispel the tension in the air. “Well then! Unless I’m wrong, the Moon should be in position for the conjuring to start!” She said, forcing a note of cheer into her voice. The Witches grumbled, still tense after Odalia’s little scene, but no one argued, wanting to move on from the uncomfortable moment. Amity sent a worried glance towards Neon, who quickly waved it off after noticing the attention.

“Oh, go have fun! I’m fine!” She said, a shaky grin on her face. With a scowl, Amity relented, heading over to the others. Amity, Cat, Amelia, and Selena formed a circle of four, while Gus, Willow, Bo, and Skara formed another, each surrounding one of Amity’s old dolls. As they started chanting, the guards, Neon, and Luz watched on.

Kurapika turned an inquiring gaze towards Luz. “Do you know what’s going on?” He asked, a note of genuine curiosity in his voice.

Luz snorted. “Apparently, this is supposed to be a Lunar Ritual that animates an object through the magical power of the Moon.” She explained flatly, her blank face showing how good of an idea she considered that.

Tolico stared, his dumbfounded expression mirrored by his fellow guards. “Are… they insane?” He croaked out, even as Neon cocked her head, not understanding.

“From what I’ve seen, the Isles has a very loose understanding of safety and wellbeing, beyond healthcare.” Luz replied, staring off into the distance. She leaned up against the wall. “Plus, from what I can tell, the Ritual is pretty minor stuff, and some cultural drift has more or less shot it in the foot.”

Kurapika raised an eyebrow, perplexed. “Hmm? What do you mean by that?” He asked.

Luz jerked a thumb at the ceiling, a smirk on her face. “The Ritual works by calling the power of the moon into the target through its Light, or at least that’s my understanding of how it works.” She gestured around. “Kind of hard to draw light into a target when all but a fraction of it ends up colliding with a building first.” Her smirk shifted into a thoughtful expression. “Although, it would probably be a different story if the house was possessed or merged with an animate existence; then the spell would probably just use the house itself as the target instead.”

Kurapika gave a wry grin. “I imagine you won’t be telling them until after they fail, correct?” He asked rhetorically, Luz’s mischievous laugh being all the confirmation he needed.

Luz, growing serious, sidled up next to Neon. “Hey, NeNe, you feeling okay?” She asked softly.

“Huh? Of course I am, LuLu!! She just got a little m-mad is all.” Neon said in what she must’ve thought was a reassuring tone of voice, a few alarms starting to go off in the heads of her guards.

Luz arched an eyebrow. “Oh? But you flinched when she reached for you.” She said, slowly sliding closer.

“T-That’s because I’m not used to people t-trying to hurt me ‘cause of my predictions!” Neon blustered, eyes shifting back and forth.

Luz eyes glistened. “Neon, show me your arm.” She said softly.

“Nono! I don’t wanna!” She cried, yanking away from Luz. Her guards glanced between themselves. Technically, they were required to do something, but if their and Luz’s suspicions were correct…

“NeNe, please. I can’t help if you don’t let me.” Luz said in as kind but as firm a voice as she could manage, gently trying to coax Neon close, worried she might scare her.

Hesitantly, fearful tears in her eyes, Neon allowed Luz to creep closer, and slowly pull back her sleeve. Luz did her best to keep from hissing at the sight. Neon’s arm was coated in bruises, blotchy and smeared, running the length of it, with a few looking as if they were cuts! Luz had a sinking feeling that Neon had many, MANY more all across her body. The tears flowing now, Luz glanced up to Neon’s sorrow-filled face, the image of burning rage branded across her guards’ faces in the background. “How long has this been going on?” She said softly, trying to keep Neon calm.

“S-Since *Hic!* m-my-y 11th birthday.” Neon confused, hiccups breaking up her words as tears started spilling out. “I-I d-don’t know-w w-why he *Hic!* keeps getting m-m-mad! I try to b-be a g-good-d girl, b-but he k-keeps getting angry!” Neon cried, her tears staining hers and Luz’s shirts. “I-I just want P-papa to be happy, but I can’t! A-and he gets mad, and hurts me… is something wrong with me?” She asked, almost begged, as snot started bubbling up from her nose, her face covered in red blotches of tears.

“No.” Luz stated firmly, tightly pulling Neon into a fierce hug, pressing the sweet girl’s face into the crook of her neck, uncaring of the snot and tears that would end up staining the outfit. It didn’t matter nearly as much as the hurt girl in her arms. “You did NOTHING wrong. He’s your father, the man who’s supposed to raise you, to protect you, and he betrayed that. He’s the one with something wrong with him. Not you… never you.” With that, what little self-control Neon had kept vanished, and she pulled fully into Luz’s embrace, tears surging as she silently wailed into her friend’s clothing.

‘She feels… like Mama’s hugs.’ Neon thought to herself.

‘She feels… so fragile.’ Luz wondered at the feeling of the delicate girl clinging to her, previously in joy… but this time in sadness and heartbreak. Luz’s thoughts shifted into rage. ‘If I EVER see her bastard father again… he’s not walking away.’

As Neon cried, Luz turned to her guards, mindful of supporting Neon’s weight while she did so. “So… what’s the plan?” She asked, fully prepared to rip the group apart if they were even considering bringing Neon back to that man.

The guards exchanged glances, before nodding in unison. Kurapika stepped forward. “We are not letting Mr. Nostrade getting his hands back on Miss Neon.” He said gravely, his voice brooking no argument. “We all accepted this job knowing it would bring us into contact with unsavory individuals, and that we may end up being required to do rather horrible things. But we all have lines we will never cross; enabling an abuser is one of them.” He stated, the other guards nodding in agreement behind him.

“The fact that our contract states that we’re supposed to be protecting the lassy from anything wanting to harm her just adds extra incentive.” Basho said, giving a humorless laugh. “We never expected that meant keeping her safe from her own father!” His grin shifted, showing all teeth. “We let the little miss down, ignoring the signs. If that piece of trash even comes near her, he dies.”

“Good.” Luz said flatly, turning a tender look towards Neon, who peaked her head up. “Hey, NeNe? You mind answering a question?”

“Okay.” Neon said timidly, cuddling up against Luz’s side. “What do you want to know?”

“Well, why did you come to the Isles?” Luz broached.

“Because… I didn’t want Papa to find me. I wanted to go somewhere he could never take me back.” Neon said softly, glancing away. “I wanna live like a normal girl. I wanna have friends.” Tears started pricking her eyes again. “I want to wake up, and see sunshine.”

Luz gave a heartbroken smile, clutching the girl tighter. “Don’t worry, you will.” She pulled Neon tight again. “I swear it.” She whispered to herself.

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soundwavereporting · 4 years

Note

Is it alright if I requested deadceptor with “It’s a real shame nobody asked for your opinion" in the context of some rude bar patrons? (if not, feel free to use creative liberty if you'd prefer to) Thank you for accepting requests!

I’m still doing these! This one is long enough that I’m posting it as it’s own thing, rather than a part of that prompt-fill fic.

ao3 link in source!

93. “It’s a real shame nobody asked for your opinion" Deadceptor + rude bar patron

Astrotrain’s return was preceded by the biggest dust storm post-war Cybertron had ever seen, and uncomfortably dry winds continued to pummel Iacon with grit as Dead End worked.

He had already spent a good part of the morning scraping piles of sandy debris away from the front entrance to Maccadam’s before it opened. His engine hitched—some of the dust had found its way down his intake, and he had no doubt that the spaces between his plating and protoform were absolutely packed with dust.

Inside Maccadam’s, Perceptor was attempting to repair the jukebox. While Dead End had been in the back grabbing more subspace-filtered engex, Soundwave and the Tetrahexan had gotten into a fight the night before last, ending with the latter bot’s horns skewering the machine.

Until then, they had done a pretty good job enforcing the ‘no fighting’ rule—and Dead End was pleased to know that he proved an effective deterrent if Perceptor’s matter-of-fact reminder didn’t do the trick.

The door mostly cleared, Dead End stepped inside Maccadam’s. Perceptor was still working on the jukebox, which was now operational, but played only one song.

“Hey.”

“Hey yourself.”

Dead End crouched beside Perceptor. When he was certain the Autobot had registered his presence, Dead End reached out and placed a hand on Perceptor’s frame. It came away dusty, leaving a faint imprint on Perceptor’s armor.

“You ready to open?” Dead End asked.

“As soon as you are.” Perceptor replaced the jukebox panel and stood. “Soundwave has requested we hire him to curate the bar’s entertainment.”

“You’re not seriously considering saying yes?” The thought of Soundwave, ever-present, playing his obnoxious songs, watching knowingly as Dead End and Perceptor cleaned up after closing…Dead End grimaced. “Aren’t he and Hot Rod trying to take over Cybertron or something?”

“They are attempting to organize a new ruling body,” Perceptor said. “Which is why I told him no.”

“Good.” Dead End listened to Hot Rod slightly more than he listened to Soundwave, and to hear the bot speak—he was doing the equivalent of fighting a legion of Air Hammers armed with nothing more than acid pellets and witty banter. Dead End hadn’t participated in any of the protests that were taking place outside the newly rebuilt Imperium, but then, he had never been one for politics.

Politics were for bots like Soundwave and Hot Rod, who’d been sparked with either the charisma or the bolt-headed stubbornness to make a difference. It didn’t matter who won—if Optimus got his way or Hot Rod and Soundwave did, chances were, Dead End would still be here.

He wondered if Perceptor believed the same thing.

“Astrotrain messaged me earlier today,” Perceptor said. “He told me he had met someone who could track the Insecticons and was transporting him here.”

“I thought he was supposed to be keeping Megatron X prisoner,” Dead End muttered. “Not working as an multiversal space bus.”

Perceptor shrugged. “I am sure he will explain when he arrives.”

“Yeah.” There was already a line forming outside the bar—mostly the early afternoon regulars, but there were a few new bots. Probably here early because the dust storm had prevented them from working. Dead End gave the place a final once-over, then went to unlock the door. “He’ll probably dump the poor idiot into the Argon Sea.”

“Not if he does it to you first.”

“Ugh.” Dead End stepped aside to let in the dust-covered bots who’d been waiting outside, and immediately regretted bothering to clean the place last night.

He spent the next hour taking orders and helping Perceptor make the drinks—rather, watching Perceptor and his dexterous scientist hands make drinks so quickly and smoothly Dead End couldn’t do much but watch.

Just as the sun had begun to peek through the oppressive dust clouds, the door opened, and a stranger walked in.

Dead End would never admit it to anyone else—he barely admitted it to himself—but over the last few months, he had become attuned to Perceptor. He had begun to notice the other bot’s small, unconscious moments; the way his back straightened incrementally whenever a ranking Autobot walked into Maccadam’s, the tilt of his head whenever he was trying to figure something out.

Now, he was on edge. His grip on a bottle of subspace-filtered engex tightened, so much so that Dead End feared he might crush it.

He looked up.

The bot was dressed like a Senator—with a woven cloak, and head covering clearly based off of organic fashions, he looked more suited to an evening in the Grand Imperium than a Maccadam’s.

Almost instinctively, Dead End came to stand beside Perceptor. He was trying to loom, but considering he was shorter than Perceptor, Dead End wasn’t sure the effect was entirely accurate.

“I’m lookin’ for Optimus Prime.”

Dead End wondered if he had just imagined the blank spaces of Perceptor’s optics narrowing.

The stranger’s hand had been lingering on the holsters strapped to his waist, but without waiting for a reply, he lifted a hand—the universal gesture for ordering a drink, Dead End had learned.

“Don’t even think about it,” Perceptor said. Dead End looked down. The stranger’s free hand had been inching towards the revolver.

“Weapons are allowed in this joint, aren’t they?” He jerked his head in the direction of a group of heavily-armed bots who were no longer pretending not to stare. “Where’s Maccadam?”

“You looking for Maccadam or Optimus Prime?” Dead End snapped.

“I’m not talkin’ to you, ‘con.”

“Dead End is as welcome here as you are,” Perceptor said evenly, and slid the drink over the counter.

It sat untouched.

The stranger’s free hand twitched.

He shot three glasses before Dead End’s body caught up with his processor.

He sprang into action. Ignoring Perceptor’s shout, he vaulted over the counter to tackle the stranger, who stood unmoved by Dead End’s actions. What he did do was grab Dead End and slam him onto the nearest table. It cracked under the sudden pressure, and Dead End felt his spinal struts protest.

“I’m not asking again.”

Dead End kicked him in the face. The stranger stumbled back, giving him enough of an opening to sit up and rummage through his subspace for his weapon. A blast hit his hand—at this range, it wasn’t enough to destroy his hand completely, but it was enough to burn completely through his plating.

“Come here.”

He grabbed Dead End by the foot, dragging him out of the bar. Dead End struggled to orient himself, catching a glance of Perceptor reaching under the bar for his own rifle.

Dead End groaned as fresh grit and dust worked its way under his plating as he was tossed unceremoniously onto the ground.

“Optimus Prime. Where is he?”

“How should I know?” Dead End snarled. Pit. With the amount of dust getting into the circuitry, his hand would need more than some nanites. “You’ve got some nerve, coming into Maccadam’s and—”

“It’s a real shame I never asked for your opinion.” Dead End jerked his injured hand away as the stranger moved to grab it. “Talk. Or my next shot will be aimed at your spark.”

Dead End saw the impact of a shot hitting the bot’s shoulder. The stranger stumbled back, more surprised than injured, Dead End thought.

“I wouldn’t count on that.”

“Try me.”

“I have shot a hand off a Phase-Sixer,” Perceptor said. “Do you really want to question my competence with a weapon?”

The bot hesitated. The hole in his shoulder smoked.

“You win this one.” His optics narrowed. “But I’ll be back.”

“Don’t bother.”

Dead End didn’t look away until the bot was out of sight. He groaned and sat up.

“It appears to be superficial damage,” Perceptor said.

“Yeah, but it hurts.” Dead End gave in and deactivated the nerve sensors in his hands. He moved to get to his feet. Obligingly, Perceptor held out a hand. Dead End accepted, cradling his injured hand against his side. “You gonna help me fix it?”

“Of course.” Perceptor intertwined his fingers in Dead End’s. “I can’t have you capable of holding only one of my hands.”

Dead End snorted. “Who was that guy, anyway?”

“I am reasonably sure of his identity,” Perceptor said. “But I would like to confirm it independently. Shall we go back?”

Dead End smiled. “Yeah.”

#anon #asks #deadceptor #cyberverse spoilers #wild wheel #wildwheel #dead end #perceptor

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nautiscarader · 4 years

Text

Calm yo’ tits - a present fic for ZekkKiray

Rating: E, ladynoir/Adrinette (post-reveal), 9143 words (by notepad++ count, 8886 according to Ao3, so one of you is LYING)

Read on Ao3

contains breastfeeding, lactation and mooificated large breasts.

Now, if you look at the tags (and the word count), and you know me, you might be understandably confused and worried that I might have been possessed, hacked by a Russian bot, or simply gone mad. The last part is very likely, but it is not the reason of this fic's existence.

The fic you are about to read is a present for my buddy, ZekkKiray, a vastly superior fic writer, who on one occasion quoted my works as inspiration for his, which solves once and for all the age-old philosophical dilemma, proving that something can indeed come from nothing.

I knew, to some extent, what his favourite kinks are, which sadly, were not exactly compatible with mine. So I needed to find a fandom we both like, and where I wouldn't have to worry too much about silly things like logic or common sense.

Enter "Miraculous Ladybug".

To put it simply, this fic is a bit of crack, I tried working some elements from my personal headcanons, and it doesn't break, assuming you don't push it too hard. More importantly, though, it's a birthday crack. Happy birthday, pal!

Also, this takes place after S3 finale.

================================

Sitting tensely in her chaise-longue, Marinette eyed her tutor and a temporary enemy with a keen eye. She has taken many exams in her young adult life, but this one might have been the most important so far. She concentrated on the small, levitating creature that flew that past her head, and when Tikki revealed a card, Marinette instantly replied.

- Zaggu, gnu kwami, the hero is Ram-page, and has ability to shapeshift terrain. Strong, but not too agile. Best pair with Pegasus for optimum efficiency. - she spoke quickly. - Yes! That's the last one! - Tikki cheered, flying to nuzzle Marinette's cheek.

For the past few days, Marinette has been extensively trying to fill in the shoes of Master Fu, as the new Miraculous guardian, and she has passed her self-imposed exam with flying colours, guessing each and every Kwami Tikki has tested her with.

- Well, if there are any challenging akumas, you will surely be able to know how to dispose of them! - Tikki cheered. - I sure hope so. - Marinette smiled - But now I have to study for actual exams, Tikki.

Marinette walked to her desk, took her college textbooks and opened them, her other hand already deep in the bowl of fruit snacks she prepared beforehand, knowing of the revision session ahead of her.

- Don't you want to study with Adrien? - Tikki flew by her head - Last time you said he's helped you a lot. - I wish. - Marinette sighed dreamily at the sound of her boyfriend's name - And he did, but...

Her cheeks suddenly became slightly deeper shade of burgundy, and she shied away from her Kwami. The mere thought of her boyfriend made her instantly forget about her duties, both as a college student and as a protector of Paris. She let herself indulge in a fantasy of what could happen if the two were put together in her room, and were given a choice between studying for a very boring exam, or doing anything else... However, Marinette had to exert some self-control, and with her friend acting like a second moral compass flying next to her, she had to abandon of her daydream.

- You know, this is quite an important exam, I don't want to be easily distracted and-Adrien!

She let out a gasp when her phone buzzed, and she grabbed it to answer at once. Tikki smiled, watching as her friend melts in her chair at the sound of Adrien's voice. Something told her she's not gonna do any revisions today.

===================

In his dark lair, Hakwmoth was listening. With closed eyes, he concentrated his powers to filter out hundreds of voices, trying to find the loudest and angriest, speaking with pure rage and despair.

He heard squabbling teenagers and forgot about them at once.

He heard depressed, neglected workers and didn't give them a second chance.

He heard a man crying, pitiful and heartbroken, because of his beloved pigeo-NO, NOT HIM AGAIN, THIRD SODDING TIME THIS MONTH.

Gabriel sighed and closed the aperture overlooking Paris. Finding a good source for akuma was sometimes surprisingly difficult. So many voices, so many possible candidates. And yet, again and again, he has failed.

Gabriel stepped down into the staircase that brought him down to his office, and was not surprised to find Nathalie waiting for him.

- Anything new for me, Nathalie? - he corrected his glasses - Just one call from the office of Coco Marocco. They asked for a call-back... - Nathalie paused and dropped her formal attitude - Gabriel, is everything alright?

She gently put her hand on his shoulder, and his body twitched in an instinct to brush it off. But he restrained himself, paused and took another deep breath.

- It's sometimes so... difficult. To find a good one... - I know.

He looked back at her and gave her a rare smile, saying much more than he could have at the time.

- I'll make the call, thank you.

Nathalie left his office, never taking her eye from him as she closed the door. Gabriel sat in his chair, leaned back and dialled the number.

"Hi there! You have reached the office of Coco Marocco, the finest brand of clothing this side of the equator. For English, press One. Für Deutsch drücken Sie bitte..."

Gabriel sighed and let the voice machine continue its job.

"... for business inquiries, press 7".

Gabriel quickly pressed the number, and was welcomed with the same, lifeless, mechanical voice.

"To access your account, please input the number..."

Without thinking, Gabriel typed the eleven-digit number on the tone dial, and waited for the next step.

"We apologise. In order to access your account, you need to speak the numbers", the voicemail said.

A small vein twitched on Gabriel's forehead. He spoke each digit, loud and clear, hoping beyond hope it registered properly.

"We apologise, please say the number again."

It took him two more tries to reach the next step, and he finally heard the familiar waiting music. The second it stopped, he started speaking, but he was met with even more disappointing reality.

"Hi there! Thank you for your patience. Your call is incredibly important to us. Your number in the waiting queue is... FOURTEEN".

The mobile phone crashed and broke into dozens of pieces when Gabriel tossed it across the room, careful not to destroy the painting of his wife that hid the entrance to his observatory.

- Why does it have to be so difficult? - he grumbled - Bunch of incompetent buffoons, making the easiest of things so much more difficult-

And then, a sudden burst of inspiration, privileged only to visionaries of his calibre, has dawned on him. He quickly got up and dashed to the elevator, not noticing that the crash alerted Nathalie to peek into his room, as he was too eager to bring his plan into motion as soon as possible.

When he stepped into his lair, he was Hawkmoth again, and he knew exactly what to listen for.

=====================

The glorious weather outside taunted Nino to end his revisions early and go to the nearest park to bathe in the warm sunshine, but alas, he had to spend his day in the near-empty university library. Unable to concentrate, he took his phone and launched the app to check if the last paper has been graded, but was left with a disappointing, never-ending loading screen. He looked at the only other person in the room, sitting by the computer in the corner, and decided to break the ear-splitting silence.

- Hey dude, are the uni servers down, or something? - And when were they not? - the chubby student replied - The app constantly crashes, we can't even check anything, so I'm just loafing around.

Nino gave him - or rather his large neck - a curious look and decided to end the conversation swiftly.

- Well, at least tumblog works... - If only - his interlocutor replied, much to Nino's chagrin, without even taking his headset off - Ugh, why did they change the colour of the background again? - You okay, dude? - he looked at his freckled face, and the man gave him a contemptuous look. - Yeah. But you seem to be okay with using this sub-par version - he glanced at his phone.

Nino raised his eyebrow and glanced at his phone.

- What's wrong with that?

The man groaned.

- Ugh, where do I start? The app also never works, they haven't implemented half the features of the desktop version, they still show sponsored messages, I mean, not for me, I hacked them myself away, and the options, can you believe they dared to change the font, it's so unreadable now...

He took a sip of a drink he definitely shouldn't have been allowed to bring into the library.

- But the site is so full of idiots now, it's not even worth going there anymore. Can you believe there are people defending the new Flunkies game? They've added cut content DLCs now! All of them sheep, they will buy whatever you throw at them, and...

The guy continued to complain into what was now a Nino-shaped void, as he left quietly a minute earlier, slightly afraid that arrogance might be catching.

And he wouldn't be exactly wrong...

If Nino stayed, he would have noticed that the same window that finally tempted him to walk outside with its glorious view, became also a gateway for a dark-purple moth that landed on the student's headset, turning it into equally sinister shade.

Suddenly, the student's complaints, spoken into nothingness, fell on listening ears, and a voice spoke in his head.

- Anton, I am Hakwmoth. I have heard your eloquent delivery, and I must say, you are quite right. - I know I am - Anton replied, without missing a beat. - There are so many little things wrong with this world, and only you know how to fix them... - Yes, I wrote it all on my blog, but now they changed the tagging system, and they don't even filter by the- - The point is - Hakwmoth interrupted him - As all geniuses in history, you are underestimated. Like the Cassandra of the Greek myths, people do not believe you, despite you speaking the truth. But I can change that.

For the first time in rather long time, Anton listened, instead of talking.

- I can give you a platform to speak your wisdom, better than any social media would ever offer. I can give you the voice, and I can give you the chance to make others hear you... And to sway their views at once... - You-you can do that? - Anton asked excitedly, though remaining in his slumped pose. - Oh, yes. - Hakwmoth replied with an oily, greedy voice - All I need in return is for you to bring me Ladybug's and Chat Noir's Miraculi. They are wrong anyway, so they don't deserve them... Embrace my akuma, and rise-

Gabriel paused. He expected to feel something by now, but instead, he heard a quiet tapping.

- Are-are you typing? - Well, duh, someone is wrong on the Internet. - I was going to give you powers to do all of that a hundred times faster... - Gabriel spoke, unable to believe what he heard. - Okay, I'm done. - Anton spoke - What were you saying?

Stopping the urge to find a new herald of his will, Hakwmoth stomped in place and let the power flow through him and into his new apprentice, transforming his somewhat shaggy clothes into regal, red-and-golden attire. The chair he was sitting in merged into his body, becoming a golden, ornamented throne. And finally, the device around his head became a golden, conical-shaped object, perfectly suited for his new puppet, already fitting well in his hand.

- As I was saying... Rise, Echo Chamberlain, and correct the world, for only you know how. - I will! - the new villain spoke into his megaphone and flew out the library in his levitating chair, smashing the window to pieces.

========================

- Adrien!

Marinette jumped the last few stairs of her house and nearly tripped, but fortunately for her, she landed exactly where she wanted - in the arms of her boyfriend, meeting his lips a minute or so earlier than she planned. She smelled his trademark cologne, singed with his name, and she positively melted against his chest, blissfully forgetting about everything around her, until her mother's grunt brought her back to reality.

She jumped to her feet, fixed her hair and waved her parents goodbye, as the two walked outside for a stroll on the sunny day, with just a chance of studying in the park, in between kissing.

- How was the journey? - Marinette asked, eager to learn all about his latest business trip. - Well, nothing too out of the ordinary. I mean, for me. - he quickly added, afraid he sounded too immodest - I wish I could have brought you with me. - No biggie. I know how strict your father can be... - she leaned against his shoulder. - Hey, look, we should get some ice-cream!

Marinette eagerly pulled Adrien towards the famous André's ice-cream stand that now was parked underneath an old arch, and, predictably, has already amassed a small crowd, hungry for some cold refreshment. But as the two approached them, they heard an angry voice, dissonating with the rest.

- What do you mean you don't have chocolate chips? What kind of ice cream vendor are you? - a young woman was arguing with the poor ice-cream maker, who reacted to her anger with his usual jovial, kind behaviour. - Ah, but mademoiselle, I have other toppings, perfect for you! Brandied cherries! Candied walnuts! Peanut brittle! Or even... - he paused, before saying the next word with less enthusiasm in his voice - Sprinkles... - But I want my chocolate chips! - Excuse me. - Marinette gently addressed the angry woman - Don't you think you act a bit selfish? I'm certain André has been working so hard to bring us these phenomenal treats, it's not his fault he ran out of some of the ingredients... - Yeah - Adrien added quickly - And I think you will find some of these are as good as the one you crave, I can attest to that. - Plus, there are a lot of people waiting...

A shared murmur spread behind her, with people nodding, agreeing to Marinette and Adrien's polite reasoning. The woman sighed, and was about to accept the lesser version of her favourite dessert, but the next words she spoke left her mouth with a volume of hundreds of people.

- I WANT CHOCLOATE CHIPS!

Adrien and Marinette instinctively put their hands over the ears, and as they watched in horror, they might have just saved their sanity. Thre eyes of the people surrounding them glew with red tint, and the same people that a moment ago scoffed at the picky woman, now shouted with her.

- WE WANT CHOCLOATE CHIPS!

The two shared a concerned look, and they frantically looked around, knowing full-well it was a work of an akuma. Adrien spotted him first, a bizarre, red-and-gold man flying in his throne above their heads. They gave each other a nod and ran as far away from the crowd.

- André, run, it's an akuma! - Marinette cried, but it was too late.

The kind man now was roaring with them, demanding his own ice cream booth to give him chocolate chips, smashing it with his bare hands. Adrien and Marinette hid in an alleyway, and as soon as they could catch breath, their Kwami escaped their pockets, ready to transform them.

Two bright flashes of light later, Ladybug and Chat Noir escaped the same alleyway, following new source of cries and shouts. Ladybug shoot her yo-yo to climb onto the nearest rooftop, while Chat accompanied her onto his magical baton that propelled him into the air, so they could level with Hawkmoth's new puppet.

- You there! - Marinette shouted, gaining his attention - What are you doing to these innocent people? - And whatever it is, we are here to stop you!

The akumatised man laughed and rolled in the air in his throne.

- I am the Echo Chamberlain, and I have done nothing to them! I merely gave them the same voice I have. How dare these ice cream makers don't have the perfect ice-cream I want!

He grabbed his megaphone and spoke into it, emitting once more a deafening cry that reverberated amongst the buildings.

- People of Paris! Throw away your chains! Go to the barricades! And demand the ice-cream you want! Ha-ha-ha!

At once, the people beneath them, scared and cowering, stood up and rushed to the shops, big and small alike, chanting the same familiar phrase for their now-beloved condiment.

- You fool! - a sudden voice rang in Anton's head - I gave you the voice so you can get me Ladybug's and Chat Noir's Miraculi! - Oh, right. - he took his megaphone again - But before that, get me Ladybug and Chat Noir! They took all the chocolate chips!

Echo Chamberlain flew onto his throne, leaving Ladybug and Chat Noir with the horde of people, that now began surrounding them with his single command. The two thought that they were safe on the rooftop of the building, but the angry people began climbing each other, forming human ladders, and in matter of seconds, the two had to escape in the same way they got there to begin with.

- He's using some sort of mind control! - Ladybug spoke, when they landed on slightly taller building, though they've already heard the clatter of broken glass beneath them. - The akuma must be in his megaphone. - Chat added - Also, I never thought people like chocolate chips so much. - I don't think they do. I think he likes it, and so he makes other people like the same thing.

Ladybug took a cautious look down, spotting some people rushing away from the angry mob.

- And I think he needs to target like-minded people. Or at least those that share some form of opinion with him... - she pondered. - Great observation, but may I add one? Duck!

Chat Noir pressed Ladybug's head down as a carton full of ice-cream cones flew right through the space once occupied by her head. The two rushed to their feet again, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, escaping the swarm of zombiefied people.

- Maybe there will be fewer of them here... - Chat spoke, but he was immediately proven wrong by a sudden voice behind him. - Oh, do you think ice-cream toppings is the only thing that makes people angry?

Echo Chamberlain arose from behind the building, already aiming his megaphone at the ventilation shaft.

- How about... Mobile chargers! Don't you hate how they always get lost and get tangled?

The powerful sound wave reverberated throughout the building, and the small rooftop door quaked when a small mob of residents rushed to the top, with said chargers in their hands, ready to strangle the two. Ladybug tried sniping a few of them with precise shots of her yo-yo, but the crowd was too dense.

- My lady!

Chat Noir grabbed her and propelled themselves off the building, landing in the vicinity of the same park they were meant to not-study in. But as they landed, they were already surrounded by more hypnotised civilians, this time complaining en-masse about mosquitoes.

- There's too many of them! - Ladybug shouted, jumping onto the nearby lamp post and then onto the tree. - I mean, they aren't exactly wrong, mosquitoes are horrible... - Chat! - Ladybug scolded him - That's the problem, he is making these people aware of all those small, insignificant problems of their lives. - But everyone has those!

Chat Noir's statement suddenly sounded ominously, as the sea of multicoloured people of every race, size and age surrounded them. Each person beneath them complained about something, creating a powerful choir of cacophony.

- We need... we need something to calm them down all at once...

Marinette looked around, and suddenly, as she spotted André's destroyed ice-cream stand, she saw the bell he would rang to alert Parisians of his presence, and a smile appeared on her face.

- I know what to do! - she cheered - Follow me!

The two escaped the tree just as if it was bout to be uprooted, and the two traversed the Paris to land on an even more familiar balcony.

- Don't peek, I'm gonna change my clothes. - she gave him a quick peck as she opened the hatch door to her apartment. - I'd never think of doing that. - Chat grinned, prepared his baton and jumped to the ground to defend the Dupain-Cheng bakery from the horde of people.

Once she was inside, Marinette quickly opened her supplies cabinet. Under the multitude of sewing accessories lied the hidden, oval-shaped red-and-black object that once looked like an ancient music box. The new guardian took it and gently tapped the black spots on the Miraculous Box, and under her touch, the small drawers began opening, one by one, like petals of a flower, revealing the multitude of Miraculi inside. Each of the intricate jewels glowed with a magical light of its own, as if to invite Marinette to try them, but she already knew which one to pick.

She took a small, circular Miraculous and spoke its Kwami name, illuminating her room with calming, white light, as the small, furry creature appeared in front of her.

- There's no time to explain, I need your help. Tikki, unify!

=====================

Meanwhile, Chat was getting more and more surrounded, forcing him to jump higher and higher, hoping the crowd would follow him and not Ladybug, trying his might to defend himself with his baton from the hypnotised masses, chanting their many inconsequential complaints that made them so strong.

- The prequels suck! - The sequels suck too! - Everything sucks!

As the mob was about to grab Chat, suddenly, he felt a familiar grip around his torso and his stomach did a somersault when he was dragged upwards, away from the crowd, as Ladybug reeled him on her yo-yo as if he was a fish.

- Thanks Ladybug, your timing is impecca-

Words got stuck in Adrien's mouth as he turned his head to meet his rescuer. At first, he wasn't sure it was Ladybug, but he recognised her yo-yo and her charming smile, though they were the only familiar element of her looks that remained. Only half of her original red could be found on her new costume, and the tidy, trademark polka-dots merged into black blots against white-brown rest of her costume. But it was the accessories she was wearing that truly befuddled Chat and forced him to pursue his curiosity, even if he was to be proverbially killed for it.

- My lady...! - Adrien stopped mid-way, taking another long look at Marinette - You... Your choice of fighting style is always impawssible to predict, but... Really, a cow? - What?

Marinette looked at herself, turning in place, as if to check if she's made a mistake choosing a Kwami to merge with, but once she ascertained herself, she shot him with a stern look.

- I'm not a cow. - she spoke quickly - The Kwami, whose powers I'm borrowing, is a yak! From Tibet! - Er, my lady - Chat raised his hands in defence, trying not to stare too long at the horns that adorned her head now - With all the respect, half of your costume is white with black spots, you have a ring in your nose, and you wear a cowbell around your neck... - IT'S NOT A COWBELL! - Marinette stomped in place - It's a Tibetan singing bowl, used for meditation. The Kwami told me so. - And what was its name?

With some hesitation, Marinette looked at Chat, whose lips curled into a sly smile, somehow foreseeing the answer and using every ounce of his intelligence to prepare a comeback.

- Lhamuu... - she whispered. - Lha...MOO - Chat articulated, his smug grin becoming unbearable to look at. - Oh, shut up! - Marinette yelled - We have an Akuma to defeat. - You're right, we should get mooving.

The superheroes nodded and jumped once more into the crowd of people under the super-villain's control, a plan already forming in their heads.

===========

- What's this?

In his observatory, Hawkmoth looked through his puppet's eyes at a sight he most certainly didn't expect.

- Ladybug... is a cow. - he muttered, unable to believe his borrowed sight. - Actually, it's a yak, you can tell by the horns, they are quite common in Asia and- - Never mind that! - Hawkmoth interrupted him - Ladybug has acquired a new power! That means she's wearing two Miraculi! Get them at once! - Is it "Miraculi" or "Miraculouses"? Or does this word even have plural form? - Anton pondered - I think there was a thread on Ladyblog about it, and- - THEY CAN BE CALLED "CROISSANTS" FOR WHAT I CARE, JUST GRAB THE JEWELS! - On it.

==========

Anton's throne flew closer to the two superheroes, who kept fighting the overwhelming crowd of people. Though banking on disappointment from recent block-busters wasn't unreasonable, he decided to play on even more delicate strings. He took his megaphone and spoke one word that electrified the masses and angered them all.

- Don't you just hate... CAPTCHA?... yes, it's because of Ladybug and Chat Noir you have to solve those stupid riddles, finding fire hydrants and whatnot! Destroy them!

At once, the mass of people acting, ironically, like radio-controlled robots, roared with pure hatred and began swarming towards them climbing onto balconies, just so they can get to them. Chat took a step backwards, knowing the crowd there was equally dense. But just as he was about to secure Ladybug, she did something utterly unpredictable.

With grace and skill only she possessed, SHE jumped off the rooftop, right into the horde of people, ready to tear her apart.

- My lady!

From the rooftop, Chat watched as Ladybug landed on the plaza, and let the crowd of people encircle and approach her from every side. And though he was afraid, he also had faith in her, strengthen only by her charming smile and a wink she sent him, while the shouting mob surrounded her.

- It's time to use... The Bell of Clarity!

Marinette touched the bowl affixed to her neck, enveloping herself in a delicate, yellow light, grabbed what looked like a ring in her nose and swiftly pulled it, revealing it to have two small balls on each side, and twirled around, ending with a stylish, victorious pose. With her new weapon in hands, she reached it, and gently stroke the bowl with the metallic ring, letting its vibration travel towards their target.

A powerful sound wave surrounded her, spreading in all directions, engulfing more and more of space, finally reaching the ears of the hypnotised people. When the note rang in their minds, they stopped, appearing confused and disoriented, as they suddenly lost the connection to their master's words.

- No, no, get them, you idiots! - Echo Chamberlain shouted through his megaphone.

Marinette stroke the bowl a second time, producing a more melodious tune. The crowd of like-minded zombies became even less coordinated, much to the supervillain's anger. And when she gently began moving the ornamented metal ring across the bowl's edge, instead of producing a single note, it began singing, its soothing melody finally dispelling the charm put on the people.

- No! You have to listen to me! I am right! - Anton took his megaphone and began speaking into it again - The games now suck! The-there are micro-transactions everywhere! The-the toilet paper! It's never turned the right way around! There is product placement in movies!

But no matter how many annoying details about life - or rather lack of it - he spoke of, the crowd remained calm and peaceful, unified with the sound of Ladybug's bell, that spread across the city each time she hit it.

And just when he was about to think of some new annoyance, something hit him from behind him, and when he turned around, he saw Chat Noir, wrestling with him, his baton already locking his arms from reaching his tool of control.

- It's time to dethrone your highness! Now, Ladybug!

At once, Ladybug shoot the yo-yo, grabbing the megaphone, while Chat and Echo Chamberlain wobbled in the air, each trying to overpower the other. But as soon as Ladybug got her hands onto his prized tool of control, it was over. She broke it in half, releasing the purple akuma, she then gracefully caught with the same yo-yo.

- By bye, little butterfly... - she spoke to the purified Akuma, watching it, as it flew away. - Miraculous Ladybug!

A storm of light, radiating from her engulfed the city, repairing the damages caused by the entitled mobs. As for the Echo Chamberlain, he found himself in his regular, not-levitating chair, and only thanks to Chat Noir's strength he didn't hit the ground.

- I believe it was yours. - Ladybug handed him the headset. - Y-yeah... - Anton stuttered. - Uh, Ladybug, I... - That's okay, Anton. - she spoke calmly - We all get upset sometimes, and we all think we have all the answers. - But maybe it's better to walk outside every once in a while, and, say, have some ice cream? Regardless of toppings? - Chat Noir added, giving him equally warm smile. - Y-yeah...

The two watched as the man waddled away, pondering what his behaviour has done. Ladybug and Chat Noir looked at each other and bumped their fist with a cheerful "Pound it!".

- So, the Bell of Clarity, eh? - Chat Noir leaned against the wall, watching as his partner affixes her new accessory once more to her collar. - Jealous of my new toy, kitty? - Ladybug shot him with a mischievous grin - It has quite powerful properties, I should tell you about that some time, since I've been studying all the Kwamis and... - Nah, I was just pondering the name...

Marinette eyed him suspiciously, noticing the familiar smirk appearing on his face, about to turn into a full, unashamed grin, but when she did that, it was too late, as words already left his mouth.

- It's "Bell of Clarity"...or Clara-bell, if you will.

The Tibetan singing bowl made one last, long, pronounced note as Marinette struck Chat's head with it, putting an end to his jokes and another successful mission.

===========================

Another tune, this one of pure sorrow filled the air, as Hawkmoth roared in anger, his voice echoing in his evil lair atop the Agreste mansion.

- Preposterous! I have been defeated by a superheroine dressed like a cow! - I think she was a yak, Gabriel. - Nathalie added - SHE HAD A RING IN HER NOSE! - he yelled, slamming his fists against the floor, as he collapsed onto his knees - I HAVE A HEADACHE!

==================

Far away from Hawkmoth's prying eyes, as well as many security cameras they've learned to evade, two superheroes were celebrating another victory in a way that became almost a tradition for them. There was a time when Marinette would be utterly shocked at the mere thought of kissing in public, let alone exposing herself there, but the years of serving as a protector of Paris has changed her mind. At some point, she started treating entirety of Paris as her home, with every dark alleyway and rows of chimney that hid them from the rest of the world, and with that notion came the desire to express herself and her love in the open air. And it certainly helped that her boyfriend was a horny tomcat.

Though she would have preferred if Chat pushed her against her soft bed, she didn't mind the cold, sturdy surface of a building they were kissing against. With his relentless, but delicate caresses, there was no place on Earth where they wouldn't be feeling comfortable, and something told her she would be soon melting in his arms or underneath his body.

And Chat was especially meticulous today, as he wanted to make sure that he'd cover every millimetre of her new costume and find out if her new alter-ego changed something with her preferences regarding making love.

- Chat... - Marinette moaned and curled her toes, tightening her legs' grip around his body. - I've had you as a Ladybug...

Chat pressed her against the wall, his hand already on her crotch, and his fingers dug through the latex costume that parted underneath his gentle, yet steady caresses.

- ...then as a mouse...

She let out a short squeak, almost mimicking her timid, Multimouse persona, as he continued undressing her using his claws and teeth.

- Then as a Rena Rouge... do you remember that? - How-How could I forget? - Marinette gasped, her hands sliding up and down his slim, but muscular body - Especially since Alya was filming us...

Chat let out a deep purr of approval, letting his lips and tongue take action, as he leaned against the skin on her neck. And while he was busy peppering her skin with kisses, Marinette decided to continue diving into their memories, perhaps just so she won't have to moan in anticipation of her lover's next, carefully planned move.

- And-And do you remember when Mister Bug used Lady Noire's face? I've never thought he would be so rough... - Mhm, most certainly... - Chat purred, nibbling on her ear, both actions making Marinette's skin shiver - Turned out white goes very well with your the black mask... And, well, rest of the costume too... - Naughty kitten... - And now, I'm gonna be with you as a... - Chat paused, looking up at his lover - ...a yak. - It's fine, you can say I'm a cow. - Marinette rolled her eyes, leaning in for a kiss. - And how should I call you? - Figured you would kiss first and ask names second...

She spoke those words in somewhat croaky voice, after Chat's kiss successfully left her breathless. She tightened her grip on him and looked him in the eye, seeing the familiar, fiery spark of lust that could lead them on a predictable route.

- Yin Yak - she answered - That's the name of that-that superheroine... - Marinette paused, trying to silence herself from another surge of pleasure building up in her loins. - So, would you be Lady-yak? - Chat kissed her breasts through her costume, yearning to feel her costume splitting apart - Or Yin-bug? I have to say, I am purrplexed and confused...

Marinette cupped his face and brought his face millimetres away from hers, just so her next words could firmly root themselves into his mind.

- I will tell you how I want to be called. - she paused and without losing a bit answered - Yours.

With her words acting like a spell, Chat Noir smiled and in a single move tossed her into the air, and caught her with his arms again, letting her legs spread. And as he did so, a rip in her costume appeared, under Chat's most delicate of touches, as a final proof of Marinette's consent and her yearning for her lover. Marinette yelped when his fingers brushed the now-exposed skin underneath her partially-torn costume. In response, she yanked his bell and slid it down, finally laying her eyes on his naked, alluring body.

- It's so much easier for you... - Are you complaining about an incredibly minor inconvenience? - Chat paused - Be careful, or you're gonna get akumatised too...

They giggled and closed their eyes, preparing for a kiss, but as their lips were about to meet, Chat found that something began pushing them away. And when the two looked down, they couldn't help but gasp at the sudden development happening right in front of them.

- What the-?!

Both Adrien and Marinette stared at her chest, or more precisely, her breasts that sprung from beneath her costume, ripping it completely and showing properly how enlarged they've become. And neither of them could tell which one was more surprised of the sight that greeted them. Her usually perky, medium-sized breasts now felt like two balloons that became inflated the moment Chat parted the way of her costume, though despite their size they seemed to defy laws of physics, never truly succumbing to gravity. As if in disbelief, Chat gently cupped them, and only under his touch, Marinette could feel how much they have grown, and that they were in fact still parts of her caresses-starved body.

- They-they are huge! - Marinette gasped, stating the obvious. - Indeed they are... - Adrien licked his lips - I have to admit, I am enjoying your new superhero form more and more...

Marinette gasped when she felt Chat's breath around her nipple, even more sensitive than usual, as his lips closed around the nub, a lot bigger and more pronounced now. And while his tongue lapped around her areola, his left hand caressed her other breast, exploring the new, vast territory he was going to conquer.

As Marinette whimpered under Chat's caresses, he moved from left side of her enlarged bosom to the other, finally taking a dive between them, licking the alluring valley between the voluptuous,breasts on both sides of his face. He looked up, meeting Ladybug's widened eyes, seeing the mixture of pleasure and lingering shock in them. He gave her one final kiss, and asked sheepishly.

- My lady, I'm not doing anything wrong, am I? - Can you hear me complain? - Marinette smirked - I have no idea what happened, but keep your mouth busy, kitty.

She gently pushed his head back between her huge bosom that almost engulfed Chat's head. Suddenly, she felt his kisses everywhere across her sensitive skin, causing her to moan without any care. They were still hidden, at least partially, since she fully expected her breasts might now expand like a portable raft and take the entire space of the rooftop.

Of course, she knew why this happened. Though Chat was joking, her Kwami certainly had a few bovine traits, and her arousal must have accentuated those even more, just like Chat's claws could tear through her otherwise indestructible suit as if it was papier-mâché when his animalistic needs got over him.

As her kisses became more and more ravenous, her legs slowly gave up, and that gave Chat a chance to sneak his arms underneath her back and raise her leg up, just so his access to her dripping sex could be easier. With her left leg on his shoulder, his fingers continued the delicate dance against her pussy, while his tongue lapped at the skin around her nipples.

- Cha-Chat!

Marinette threw her head back, hoping her lover would bring her to her climax soon, and when Chat closed his lips around her nipple once more, just to contain his scream, she felt something new. An exhilarating, electrifying surge rushed through her, and at the same moment as Chat's eyes opened wide, while his fingering slowed down, though with his new discovery, she didn't exactly blame him.

Once he understood what was happening, Chat smiled and doubled his efforts, suckling on her teat, just so he could taste the delicious, sweet milk she began producing.

- My lady, you are... full of surprises... - he spoke, once he took a healthy gulp of her essence, watching as it dripped onto her large breasts.

To her bewilderment, when Chat brought his lips back to her nipple and continued suckling her milk, she felt the pleasure rising again, and with the newly found source of enjoyment, Marinette realised she couldn't think straight, especially when Chat resumed the moves of his hand again, spreading her folds.

But this time, as his muscular body came in contact with hers, it became obvious he was eager for more than simple finger play. He moved his hips in tune of her moans, sliding his exposed cock along her folds, eager to her her begging. And sure enough, once his name left her lips, he dived between her wet, soaking folds, just like his head dived into the valley of her breasts, equally leaking from anticipation.

Marinette let out another prolonged moan. Chat often made love to her this way, pressing her against walls, often just meters away from busy streets, but never before has her body changed. And now, to each of Chat's thrusts, her enlarged breasts reacted accordingly, bouncing up and down around Chat's face, though every once in a while her lover's thirst for her milk caused one of her mounds - or rather mountains - to remain in place, while he feasted on the liquid ambrosia she kept producing.

Adrien thought that he might have harder time keeping his lover up, and bouncing her with the extra baggage, but it turned out that the opposite was true. She felt lighter, giving him chance to exert a bit more pressure and dominance over his lover, much to her enjoyment. Ladybug dug her fingernails into Chat's shoulders, pushing him against the cushions of her bosom, letting his entire face stimulate her much larger and more sensitive area.

With each kiss Chat placed around her nipples came another deep thrust, reaching further and further into her yearning sex that coated his cock with her juices, only helping his cause of sliding as far as possible. And with that storm of sensation, it came as no surprise to Marinette that her mind slowly started going blank, and she began chanting Chat's name like a mantra, begging him to help her reach the peak he promised her, hearing only his grunts in return.

Their shared orgasm made their joined bodies shudder; at the same time, walls of Marinette's pussy contracted, desperate to contain Chat inside her, coating his crotch with more and more of her juices; then the torrential jets of his warm seed shot up her sex, right against her womb, filling her to the brim. And then, just when she thought she was finished, she felt a new form of warmth on her chest, when milk began spurted from her breasts, though the stream quickly found its way to Chat's mouth.

With each of Chat's final, weakening thrusts, the effects began anew, forcing her lover to switch suckling on her nipples, thirsty for her nectar, as if to use it to replenish his essence he kept flooding her with. But as their juices were leaking out, so was their strength, and even Chat's muscles had to give up at some point.

The two collapsed on the rooftop, still hidden by the shadows of the construction scaffolding, though at this point, Marinette truly didn't care if their love making has been heard, or observed by anyone; with her enormous breasts people might think it's some sort of stunt anyway. Her lips found Chat's and she tasted a new flavour, a sweet one that sent shivers down her spine, when she realised what it was, and she understood at once why Chat was so desperate to milk her.

The same flurry of kisses that drove her to her peak didn't stop, as Chat made sure to pepper her breasts with as many of those as possible, at the same time giving her ample time to recover from her equally explosive orgasm.

And as her mind, hazed by pleasure, slowly returned to reality, a new plan formed in her head, and with a quick, but difficult to pull off maneuver - a drawback of the new addition to her body - she rolled and pinned Chat to the ground, much to his surprise.

- My lady?

Chat's ears perked up when he saw her move along his naked body, leaving a trail of kisses as well as her milk along it. And when she reached her destination, she shot him with a mischievous, sly smirk that would have turn his legs to jelly if he wasn't downed already.

Her delicate fingers closed around his half-lips cock, bringing his sensitive tip to her mouth, and as her lips brushed his skin, it twitched satisfyingly in her hand, signalling he was ready again.

- You just lay there, kitty, and let me take care of you...

Marinette's soft, velvety voice, spiked with just a trace of lust worked its magic on Chat right away. Though Marinette might have been surprised by the sudden changes to her body, the superheroine adapted to them at once and decided to put them to good use. Her voluptuous, wobbly breasts engulfed Chat's hard cock, as Marinette proceeded to give her first tit-job of her life, given that now she had proper equipment for it.

As Chat got lost in her ample bosom, he threw his head back, filling the air around them with low purr of delight, followed by prolonged moan when Ladybug's mouth met with his cock's head upon her first bob. it was equally fascinating for Marinette to watch as Chat's length is enveloped by her breasts, and how she can now stimulate far more of him than when her mounds were small an perky.

She had to keep an eye on his legs that twitched with every few seconds in response to her caresses. Chat's claws closed around the nearest edges, after frantically trying to find one to push away his oncoming climax, and his slim, but muscular torso arched from time to time, in sync with Marinette pushing her massive breasts up and down.

To make things a bit varied, she slowed down her moves, replacing them with a bit of her tongue-work, much to Chat's delight. Marinette could distinguish her name being muttered by her lover, begging her to finish her love torture, but the superheroine had none of that. While she was certain Chat would love nothing more than jump to his knees and face-fuck her, she wanted to prolong his pleasure as much as she could, knowing full well of the building and boiling climax in his loins.

As her tongue ran around his head, Marinette had to steer away to taste her own body, still covered with traces of milk she was leaking, and when the same tongue returned to his tool, Chat moaned again, feeling the liquid she was mixing with his pre-cum, almost as if he could taste it again. Once more he was privileged to see how the once-shy superheroine pushed her limit of perversion with a kink neither of them expected to enjoy an hour earlier.

And it was that knowledge (combined with her dedication to bring Chat to climax, as she started bobbing her breasts up and down again), that drove Chat to his edge, turning his moans incomprehensible begging only Marinette could understand and reply to. She waited until Chat's eyes would meet her again, and spoke to him taking breaks from kissing his swollen tip ready to burst.

- You, kitty - she started - You like my milk... But I...

She pressed her hands against her breasts, wanting to completely envelop Chat's cock between her massive breasts.

- ...I prefer cream.

A loud, yet weak cry of defeat escaped Chat's lips at the same time as first rope of cum flew from his swollen tip, landing straight across Ladybug's face, forcing her to close her eyes momentarily, though she opened them a second later, just so she can marvel at Chat's virility.

Just as second rope of cum was about to decorate her face, Marinette opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue, inviting Chat to change his aim, though with his cock still engulfed by her breasts, she was much in control of the trajectory, and with some difficulties, she has managed to fill her mouth with the thick, sticky seed, getting the first sniff of the pungent and aggressive, but alluring taste and smell of her lover.

Three more streams of his cum landed in Marinette's lips, before her treatment has emptied Chat's balls, and the heroine could swallow the veritable pool of Chat's cream sitting in her mouth. She did it without breaking the eye contact with him, making sure he'd hear the guttural, gulping noises as his essence travelled down her throat, his warmth, taste and smell lingering far longer thanks to its consistency. He must have been saving for days...

But that wasn't complete end of Chat's climax; long after he stopped supplying Marinette with his seed, he withdrew from between the heavenly trap of her breasts, and another strands of his seed adorned them, prompting Marinette to perform action she wasn't able before, due to how much bigger and more supple her breasts have become. She pushed her breasts just up enough so she can lick off each and every drop of cum Chat left, as if it was the most delicious meal she wouldn't let go to waste. And the sight of expression on Chat's face was a reward already, aside of the familiar, musky aftertaste that reminded Marinette who has just marked her as his. Not to mention that as she squeezed her breast, Chat's essence mixed with her milk, adding a new taste of sweetness to his salty one.

Marinette revelled in the overwhelming storm of tastes that filled her mouth, and that indulgence gave Chat opportunity to counter-attack. Though he was pressed to the ground by her body and her breasts that now were a significant part of it, the superhero easily rolled her to her back, his head already back between her mounds, licking the milk that has managed to leak during his climax.

- I'd say that's a tie, my lady. - Of course you'd say that. - Marinette chuckled - You just want to get comfy and drink milk, and I just happen to have what you need...

In response, Chat let out a soft purr, as he nuzzled himself into Marinette's breasts, never taking eyes from his lover. Marinette reached and toyed with his untidy golden hair, and her charming smile managed to lure him from between her breasts for another long-needed kiss.

And just when she thought she would be given some time to relax, Chat Noir yanked her legs upwards, pressing them against her body, trapping her enlarged breasts between them, squishing them even more, which made them appear even larger.

- Sorry, Ladybug, but you are just too appetising to not ravish...

Marinette yelped when Chat's hard cock entered her again, and she felt Chat's delicious weight on top of her. She knew her new form would drag a very primal string in his masculine mind, and she did not object when he jumped to his feet and pushed her into a mating press, ready to engage in deeply animalistic form of love making.

His hips worked twice as hard than previously, wanting to reach as far into her throbbing, needy sex as possible, and while he was leaning over her, he was given once more chance to taste her delicious milk, each time he plunged himself inside her.

Ladybug's legs dangled above their heads, in sync of his ravenous thrusts, and as Marinette met his eyes, she had no doubts what drove him into his frenzied state. She knew that her kwami chose to make her look like a perfect mating partner, and that Chat was making sure there was enough milk for his kittens...

Their frantic bucking lasted shorter than they expected, but the same, wild thought they shared pushed them over the edge at the same time. Chat grabbed her thick thighs, buried his face between her breasts that erupted with milk, and in turn flooded her once more with his virile seed, bringing their shared fantasy to completion.

Chat collapsed on top of her, landing his head across Laybug's vast breasts, once more basking in their sweet glory. When their lips met again, they could both taste it, and the two lovers fell into a tight embrace.

The two were blissfully unaware that in the mean time the sun has gone down, but that only meant there will be less light for onlookers to catch them.

=====================

Standing by the kitchen counter, Marinette concentrated on making another batch of freshly baked sweets, so then they can be ready in an hour or so when the bakery opens. It was the quiet before the storm, but Marinette enjoyed those early morning hours... especially when she had someone to help her.

Adrien sneaked up behind his girlfriend, peppering her exposed neck with kisses, while his hands gently travelled up and down her waist, though once he saw what she's been making this whole time, his caresses stopped,and he let out a satisfying purr. On the counter lay several, hemispherical pastries, glazed in white marzipan, each adorned with a candied cherry on top, and the longer Adrien stared at them, the more he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

- Well, our adventure has certainly given you some inspiration, Marinette. Your original design? - I wish. - Marinette snickered - Those are called Saint Agatha's breasts, it's an old, Italian treat.

She handed him one, watching as his fingers dance on the shiny surface.

- It does remind me of what happened yesterday, though... - Adrien smiled, before taking a bite of the sugary coating. - I might have double-glazed them just like you did me.

Marinette brought her finger to his mouth to collect a small crumble of marzipan stuck to his lips, and predictably, her boyfriend wasn't just ravenous for sweets, as he quickly licked her finger clean too.

- Adrien! - Marinette pulled back and rushed to the sink - Warn me next time... - Okay, here's a warning..

Adrien chuckled, closing his arms around her belly once more. He sneaked his mouth to her neck, while his arms separated, each travelling closely to one of her erogenous zones. His left hand dived underneath her apron and tried getting into her panties, while the right one caressed her perky breasts, and as soon as his fingers began toying around her nipples, Marinette addressed something that has been on her mind.

- You miss them, don't you? - You know that I love you exactly the way you are... - Adrien answered tactfully - Don't lie, kitty - Marinette interrupted him. - You are, alas, only a man, therefore, I know you liked when my rack was three times the size of my current one. - Fine, if you want to, then I will say it - he kissed her neck - But just because I had more of you to love. Is it okay if I admit that I do slightly miss them? - If you'll keep finishing inside me, like yesterday, then I can assure you, you'll get them back very soon...

Marinette yelped, when his hands travelled back to her hips and spun her around in place, but once she met his face, she closed her arms behind his neck without missing a beat, just in time for his comeback.

- Is that a warning, or an invitation?

Adrien raised his brow, watching as her face reddened.

- Tell you what, I'm gonna finish in five minutes, and we might find out. - If you'll wear this apron then I will finish in five minutes... - Adrien!

#miraculust #mlnsfw #ladynoir #adrinette #lemon #nautiscaraderfics

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wematch · 4 years

Text

Avatar: The Legend of Neil

For many years, the four nations lived together in harmony.

Then, everything changed when a conspiracy to start a war began.

Only the avatar, master of all four elements, could stop it, but when the identity of the new avatar was found, he vanished.

Many years passed without anyone knowing where he was. Then he appeared in a farm in the Earth Kingdom, disguised as a firebender named Neil. And although his bending skills were weak when he got there, with practice he grew stronger every day that passed.

Now with a war looming by, Neil must find his own path into becoming the new avatar and bring balance to the world.

***

A huge thank you to @tntwme for being an amazing beta! <3

This fic was inspired by this amazing piece of art by @aymmidumps, go check it out! [here]

You can also read it from the start on [AO3]

Book 1: Air

Chapter 4: Truth

Neil returns to train with Kevin on the following day. He begins to follow Kevin’s instructions but when Kevin orders him to adjust his stance for the fifth time, Neil bites his lip to refrain himself from speaking; he bites his lip so hard that he can taste blood in his mouth. Feeling ridiculous, Neil looks around to try to calm down and he finds Andrew already watching him. Andrew arches his eyebrow and something snaps in Neil. Andrew is right, why is he letting Kevin waste his time with basic things that he already knows? Neil gets up and turns around to leave.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Kevin asks.

Neil spares him a glance and continues to walk away. “I’m done with this. I’m not a child.”

“How am I supposed to teach you if you can’t even master discipline itself?” Kevin shouts but Neil continues to walk. “I told you we’re going to start with the most basic exercises for me to determine where you stand,” Kevin continues and then after a moment he throws a fire punch at Neil.

Neil quickly turns around and blocks the attack. “You didn’t even test my knowledge at all,” Neil bites back. And he sees everyone stopping what they’re doing to watch them.

Kevin nods approvingly, “You know how to defend yourself but can you do anything else?”

Neil smirks. “Go on,” he challenges Kevin. He knows that he’s out of practice and he will not be anywhere near his level, but at least he can truly use fire and show Kevin that he knows something.

Kevin doesn’t hesitate and shoots several fire blasts. Neil blocks the first, redirects the second back to Kevin who easily blocks it, and the third one almost hits Neil sending him to the floor when he tries to block it.

Kevin creates a fire whip and twirls it around to make it bigger. Neil gets up in a jump and fire kicks towards Kevin, who easily blocks it with the whip. Kevin then attacks him with the fire whip and Neil is thrown onto the floor once again for trying to block it.

“That’s enough, Kevin,” Dan warns him.

Kevin looks in Dan’s direction. “He was the one that asked for this,” he replies but lets go of his fire. He takes a few steps closer to Neil. “You’re in terrible shape, you’re too slow and your bending has no strength behind it.”

Neil spits out the dirt from his mouth and sits up on the floor panting. “Will you bring me back into shape?”

Kevin nods with a serious face. “I will start designing a workout plan for you, and tomorrow--”

“Ugh, Kevin you take all the fun of things,” Allison interrupts him, which grants her an annoyed look from him. “And I believe I just won a bet. Everybody pay up, I told you that they would fight before the weekend.”

“Oh come on, this hardly counted as a fight,” Nicky whines. He looks at Neil and mouths “sorry.”

“Just pay up, and stop crying,” Allison mocks.

Neil isn’t entirely sure that he likes the idea of the others making bets about him. “You made a bet saying that we’re going to fight?”

“Not just that, she specifically said you’re going to snap from the ridiculous exercises,” Matt explains.

“They’re not ridiculous!” Kevin protests, “I started to train with those exercises too.”

Neil gets up feeling done for the night and begins to walk towards his camp. He’s tired and bruised so when he reaches the top of the hill he sits down beneath a tree, exhausted. A few moments later, Andrew appears. He doesn’t say a word, he just stares at Neil.

“That was pathetic,” Neil says, running a hand over his hair. His bending is so weak. He doesn't understand it, he hasn't been using it for a while but before he ran away he was always one of the strongest fire benders in his academy. Bending fire came as easy to him as breathing. Now though, his bending was still there but had no force. He was weak and he needed to fix it.

“Yes, it was,” Andrew agrees.

“Fuck off, Andrew.”

Andrew chooses to ignore him and sits down at a safe distance from him. He slightly tilts his head to the side, studying Neil like he was a puzzle yet to be solved. “Truth for a truth,” he tells him.

“What?”

“I’ll trade you, a truth for a truth.”

Neil stares at him for a moment. Not entirely sure as to what Andrew wants to gain from this. “Okay,” Neil agrees, ultimately because he can’t pass up an opportunity to know more about Andrew..

“Who are you running away from?”

Neil closes his fists, just thinking about the reason he’s here makes him feel on edge. “My father,” he answers. “Why are you here?”

“I made a deal with Kevin.”

“What kind of deal?”

“Not your turn,” Andrew points out. “What about your mother?”

“Dead,” he answers without looking away from Andrew. He's not sure why he's answering these questions with the truth but Andrew just accepts his response and doesn't ask for more details or tries to comfort him. He just listens and stores that information away, and for the first time Neil finds someone that he feels it's easy to talk to.

“To answer your question,” Andrew starts, “Kevin said he'd find us jobs if we helped him find this place,” Andrew pauses and looks at Neil’s arm. “Now, who burned you?”

Neil is taken back, he thought he had been careful covering his arm, always wearing long sleeves. But Andrew must have seen the scars at some point on the field. At the end of the morning the sun becomes so hot that Neil can’t help but roll up his sleeves a little. “My father,” Neil answers. “How long have you been staying here?”

“Since spring last year,” Andrew gets up, apparently done with their game and without a word he leaves.

Neil stares at his figure walking away. And begins to think again at the terrible display of his skills as a firebender. He needs to get back into shape and the only way he can do it is if he starts training more. And the only time he can do it is at night.

***

Weeks pass in a blur, during the afternoon he trains with Kevin and at night he continues to practice alone. Neil can feel himself becoming much stronger physically, no longer having to stop to catch his breath after a couple of minutes of hard training. He’s quick to learn everything that Kevin teaches him, so it doesn't take them long to start training more advanced levels of firebending.

Even though he's much better and he knows a lot more complex firebending stances, his bending still has no power behind it. Kevin says that he needs to find his source of power, that firebenders can channel their power from anger or hatred but most draw their power from its source: the sun. Neil tries and tries to feel the sun heating his skin, to focus on it and to try to channel that source of power to no use.

Neil goes back to the clearing after everyone leaves and continues practicing fire blasts. He sees no improvements, and he knows that Kevin is beginning to think he’s just weak. Neil doesn’t get it, he was so strong when he was younger. Firebending used to be so easy to learn back then. He was so good that his bending was the only thing that his father never complained about him. What would his father say if he saw how weak he was now? After all this time wasting his men to find an avatar that couldn’t even master one element. There would be no use for him, how could he destroy the other nations if he was like this? Lola would be so pissed for chasing after him for so long for nothing. And Nathan...Well, Nathan would make him wish he had died in the same fire that had killed his mother.

Neil begins to feel the panic rise in him. His mother is dead because of him and as long as he’s alive he'll always be running from Nathan, it’s just a matter of time until he gets caught. And as panic begins to settle he suddenly loses track of what he's doing. He's lifting away from the floor but he has no control of his actions. As the power of his fire grows and earth begins to crumble around him he realizes that he’s once again in the avatar state. Only once had he felt this kind of power inside of him, and it had been on his mother’s death. He tries to calm down. He can't let this control him. So much power and strength and he doesn't want anything to do with it. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes to focus, they have yet to catch him and he’s in no immediate danger. He continues to focus on his breathing and after a few moments he feels himself returning to the floor once again.

Neil gets on his knees, his breathing hard, and there’s tears in his eyes that he cleans with his sleeve. He takes a deep breath and looks around. He didn't even try to do anything with his power, but without even trying he had caused destruction all around him. The grass and plants around him are on fire and if he doesn't stop it now it will expand to the fields. He calls the fire to him and as he calms down his breathing so does the fire around him extinguish. He turns around thinking of forgetting that this ever happened, when he sees Wymack is watching him.

Neil freezes in his step. Wymack is stunned just staring at him and Neil takes a step back, immediately thinking about running away.

“Does anyone know?” Wymack asks.

“No,” Neil answers while scanning his surroundings for any more witnesses.

“I won't tell anyone, kid,” Wymack says when he notices Neil glancing around them. “You can stay.”

“I can't,” Neil starts feeling panic rise once again. Anyone could have just seen him. How could this happen? He couldn't even control it. He’s lucky that the area surrounding him is already half destroyed otherwise the others would surely notice the damage.

“That's your business Neil, I won't tell,” he reassures. “Have you started to learn the other elements?

Neil clenches his fists and shakes his head.

“I can teach you.”

Neil turns around and starts to walk away. “No, no one can know who I am.”

“No one has to,” Wymack tells him, “we can train at night.”

Neil listens but doesn’t stop walking. He packs his things, mounts his ostrich horse and starts to climb down the hill. He passes the farm and once he's about to pass the lake he suddenly comes to a halt.

At the far end of the lake where you can see far away into the open road is a figure sitting down on a massive rock formation. The moonlight is giving enough light that after a moment he recognizes who it is.

Neil's too far away and in between trees for Andrew to see him but after a moment Andrew tilts his head to the side and jumps to the floor. For a moment he just stands there in position, knees flexed, head bowed down. And then he turns towards Neil's direction and stares right at where he is.

Andrew catapults himself into the air. Neil is too stunned to do anything else besides stare at Andrew flying in his direction, in a such a controlled movement that makes him land only a few steps in front of Neil. The force of the impact makes the trees and vegetation around them sway for a moment.

Andrew pointedly looks up at the bag at Neil's back, “Running away?”

Neil blinks twice, wondering how on earth did Andrew spot him so far away. “I need to keep moving.”

“Because of your father?” Andrew asks. Neil tightens the grip on his bag and doesn't answer. “Do you want to stay?”

“I'm putting everyone at risk if I stay.”

“That's not what I asked.”

Neil should leave, anyone could have seen him in the avatar state. But seeing Andrew watching the horizon, Andrew who has been watching him and questioning everything he tells him has made him pause. He's tired of running and for the first time he wants to stay. He wants to keep practicing his firebending, he wants to keep listening to everyone’s stories at lunch and see them fight just for the fun of it. He wants to stay and learn airbending. If he wants to stop running from his father he needs to master all four elements. He redirects his ostrich horse away from Andrew without saying anything else.

***

Next day comes and Neil walks towards the farm as if nothing had happened the night before. He barely got any sleep, trying to figure out what to do, but he's here. He made the decision to stay. He grabs a fresh baked bread and an apple and starts to eat as he walks to where he finished working yesterday. He knows that Andrew is watching him but he refuses to look at him for now, choosing to focus on his work.

During lunch he searches for Wymack and finds him talking to Kevin at the front of the house, both studying a book. He wonders what the notebook contains that's making them so focused and it’s in that moment that Wymack spots him.

“Need something?” He asks and Kevin immediately closes the notebook.

“I need to speak to you.”

Wymack then looks at Kevin. “We can finish later.”

“I'll keep working on it inside,” Kevin replies and walks into the house.

Neil and Wymack both watch him enter. Then Wymack sighs, “That kid really doesn't take a break,” he comments. Neil looks at Wymack and he's slightly confused with the proud look the older man has.

Neil looks over his shoulder and talks only after Kevin closes the door to the house. “Will you train me?”

“Of course,” the airbender answers. “We can start later tonight but don't expect any special treatment.”

“I wasn't thinking about it,” he replies and goes back to his work. He never thought that he would learn a second element unless his father had caught him, but now he couldn’t wait to start.

When night sets and everyone goes to sleep, Neil goes to meet Wymack behind the barn.

“I have to be honest,” Wymack starts, running a hand over his beard, “I never thought I'd be the one training the avatar.”

“Where do we start?”

“Sit down,” Wymack tells him and sits on the floor in front of him. “Air is the element of freedom. The key to airbending is flexibility and finding and following the path of least resistance.”

“The best offense is a good defense,” Neil offers.

“Yes, that’s one way to put it,” Wymack nods approvingly. “Now, a good way to see this is to see how a leaf behaves in the wind.” He picks up a leaf and sends it away with a gush of wind. “Airbending is all about spiral movements,” he adds when the leaf begins to flutter down. “When you meet resistance, you must be able to switch direction at a moment's notice.” He sends another gush of air towards the leaf that makes it fly further away. They watch it for a moment longer as it resumes fluttering down to the floor. “You need to let your mind and spirit be free, and that is why I need you to meditate.”

"How do I do that?"

“Just close your eyes,” Wymack does it and after a moment’s hesitation Neil does the same. “Focus on your breathing. In and out. Don’t let your mind wander. When it does, just go back to focus on your breathing. Let's try it for a couple of minutes.”

Neil tries to focus on his breathing but he begins to try to understand what he will gain by just sitting around. He tries to focus again. And begins to wonder if he’s going to actually use airbending or if he’s going to be weaker than he already is with fire. “I don’t think I’m doing this right,” he says, beginning to feel frustrated after a couple of minutes.

“There’s nothing to do. Just let your mind relax from all the stress and away from your thoughts,” Wymack opens his eyes and adds, “You don’t have to close your eyes, I like to watch the sun rise while I meditate, I feel it can be quite relaxing."

Neil nods. “I’ll keep trying it.”

***

Days pass in a blur, Neil works on the farm, practices firebending with Kevin and some nights he meets Wymack to teach him airbending. The nights he doesn't train with them he practices by himself. He's currently sitting down on top of the hill trying to meditate and failing when Andrew joins him.

“What are you doing?” Andrew asks, startling Neil.

Neil uncrosses his legs and looks to the side at where Andrew is standing."Just thinking," he answers, Andrew doesn't look like he believes him but seems to let it pass. "Can I have a go?" After Andrew gives him a short nod, Neil continues, "What were you doing on that hill all those nights ago?”

"I couldn't sleep so I was watching our surroundings."

Neil nods understanding and looks ahead. He’s too familiar with having nightmares keeping him awake at night. Or waking him up and making him wish he never fell asleep in the first place. For a moment they just stay there, watching the sunset.

“Have you thought about running away again?” Andrew asks him.

“Why?”

“Just trying to figure you out.”

“I’d like to figure out whatever’s wrong with me too,” Neil confesses.

“Is that why you’re trying to meditate?” Neil blinks twice at Andrew and he adds, “It was obvious what you’re trying to do.”

“I was trying to meditate but I just don’t get it, it seems like my mind is incapable of stopping.”

“Does Wymack think it could help your bending?”

“My bending?”

“For the way it is.”

“You don’t think I’m just weak, like Kevin keeps saying?”

“No. I see the frustration written all over your face whenever you use your bending,” he pauses, “something changed that affected it. You need to figure out what it is.”

Neil stares at him for a moment too long. “I never really thought about it that way. Wymack wants me to meditate to help my breathing and--” Neil stops mid sentence, his mind running a mile a minute trying to process what Andrew just suggested. He thought his bending was weak because he hadn’t used it for so long but what if that wasn’t the problem? The thing that completely changed his life was discovering that he’s the new avatar. Of having all that power available to him. What if by being scared of all that power he has been resisting it. Maybe even suppressing his bending as much as possible.

“I think I’ve just figured out why my bending is weak," Neil informs him while he studies Andrew's profile, "but I’m not sure how to fix it.”

“Don’t look at me," Andrew says without turning his way, "it’s your problem, you deal with it.”

***

Airbending is frustrating, mostly because Wymack wants him to meditate to clear his mind every time they meet and Neil isn't a creature to stay quiet for too long. But bending air is all about movement so once he starts to bend air Neil finds learning it to be easy.

“I think that’s enough meditation for today,” Wymack watches Neil for a moment. “Meditation i’s something you master with time, but it will allow you to learn proper breathing technique. And that will be important in any type of bending you’ll learn.”

Neil nods. “What now?

“Now, I think it’s time for a new exercise,” he looks up and points to a tree to their side. “See that tree?” Neil nods. “I want you to climb it to the top.”

Neil looks at the pine tree that Wymack is pointing at. It must be more than 30 feet high.

Neil turns his attention back to Wymack with his eyebrows raised. So far Wymack has shown him proper foot placement and evasive maneuvers, but nothing that could help him with this. “And how do I do that?”

Wymack propels himself to the nearest tree branch that is taller than Neil. “You have to think as an airbender, we control the air that is all around us, so all you have to do is control the air for a smooth landing and redirect yourself to where you need to go,” the airbender lets himself fall and lands smoothly at Neil’s side. “Now, you try it from that same branch.”

Neil copies Wymack’s movements and when he lands next to the older man he begins to think that airbending is indeed quite liberating. “I think I got it,” Neil says, and turns once again to the tree. He propels himself higher this time and it allows him to jump a few branches up. He pauses for a moment, holding the tree’s trunk to gain balance and jumps again to the next one. On that branch only a small push of his feet is enough to send him further up and in no time he reaches the top branches where he still dares to land. He thinks that at that moment airbending truly seems the most freeing element.

Neil takes a moment to take in the view surrounding him. It’s dark but the light from the moon allows him to see the shape of the mountains on the horizon, the moon reflected on the lake and Wymack’s house further down. He then takes a deep breath and steps into the air and lets himself fall, using airbending to control the fall and pausing at several branches before reaching the ground.

Neil easily lands on his feet next to Wymack but the airbender isn’t even looking at him, he’s looking towards his left. Neil follows his gaze and finds Andrew staring back at him. He watches as Andrew tilts his head to the side studying him. Neil doesn’t move, he decides to wait for Andrew to take the first step. He may not know for how long Andrew has been watching him but one thing he does know: Andrew knows that he's the avatar.

#neil josten #andreil atla au #aftg #avatar #myfic #andrew minyard #andreil fic

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strangeflyboy · 5 years

Text

an unlikely romance

summary: poe dameron and a first order!female! pilot are enemies-turned-lovers, but with how committed he is to the resistance, he’d never think twice about dating the enemy, right?

a/n: i’d say that i’m back but i’ve already done that before. i just got inspired to write again, but it’s less than a week before school starts, which is unfortunate because i’ll probably end up busy with school and stop writing. anyways! here’s this for the time being!

a pilot of the first order and a pilot of the resistance???

never in a million years, right??

fIRST OF ALL

y/n’s story is very similar to finn’s

she was taken from her family at a young age, was trained her whole life, and taught the first order’s goals

they twisted their words and convinced her, as well as everyone else, that the resistance were the “bad” guys

she was taught hand-to-hand combat, as most were, but then was selected, along with a few others, to be a pilot

she, of course, was taught how to fly a tie fighter

and man, it took a fucking eternity of training

because the first order expects nothing but absolute perfection. they want their pilots to be exceptional, which is why very few end up being chosen as a pilot

the trainees were put through many tasks and challenges to prove their skills, and y/n was one of very few to pass. she was actually one of the best of her group, if not the best

sO this was y/n’s first real mission

she was gonna face the resistance pilots for the first time. all of her training led to this moment

she followed the rest of the squadron out into the black void of space, and it was nothing she ever imagined. it was terrifying

being the outstanding pilot she is, she managed to avoid all the attempts of being taken out, which whenever she was fired at it freaked her out

this is not what she wanted

she didn’t want to die, and she sure as hell couldn’t fire at the others because she didn’t want to kill anyone else, but she needed to in order to survive. that’s when y/n flew after the first x-wing in sight

guess what?

it was poe’s! ha

she fired her blasters at him a few times, and she would’ve succeeded in taking him out if he wasn’t already like the best pilot there is ok

basically two can play at that game and poe followed after y/n

she was like oH sHIT and flew away cause she’s a chicken, but poe was not gonna give up so easily because she’s part of the first order and needs to go, ya know?

he is ruthless

kidding he’s just very loyal to the resistance

they end up on some nearby planet with y/n still being chased by poe and somehow managing to dodge all of his blasts?? though there were some close calls

he was just like wtf why isn’t this person fighting back???

but y/n manages to pull an old switcheroo on him and hits him with a couple blasts, sending his x-wing plummeting to the deserted planet’s ground

she watched the whole thing and couldn’t believe what just happened

did she kill whoever was flying that x-wing?

she slowly landed on the ground near the crash and stepped outside of her tie fighter to observe the crash and see if that person was dead or not

she really hoped they weren’t

after taking her helmet off, there was no body among the rubble, she noticed, and just thought??? what??? where are they????

a droid popped out of nowhere, and before she could say anything, everything went black

oh my gOD this is so long and i’ve barely gotten anywhere

me from the future: just you wait :)

okay so y/n woke up in a chair with her black suit still on and was tied up, of course. she was in an small, empty room with someone standing at the doorway, who she assumed was like her guard. they were and informed everyone through his com that the “enemy” was awake

the room then filled with a few people: leia, rey, finn, bb-8, poe

the whole gang

leia was mainly the one asking questions, such as her name, backstory, affiliation with the first order, all of that

basically what i mentioned at the very beginning

y/n noticed that poe was bruised and had a patch of dried up blood near one of his temples

“so i’m assuming you’re the pilot of the x-wing i crashed. sorry about that but nice flying skills”

hahahaha i don’t even know

he kinda rolled his eyes and decided against responding

y/n begged them not to kill her, though they never planned on it, and explained how she never wanted to hurt/kill anyone even if they are the “bad” guys and that she wanted out of the first order anyways

they were all like whoa whoa whoa hold up we’re actually the good guys and explained the first order’s real shenanigans, not the false stuff y/n was told as a trainee

she was just baffled, but she reiterated that she didn’t want to be a part of the whole thing and that she was forced into this and that violence wasn’t her thing and never wanted to hurt anyone

“well, clearly”

everyone turned to poe and couldn’t believe this man’s attitude

he had a point because y/n stated how she never wanted to hurt anyone yet she almost killed poe? so it didn’t really add up in his mind

finn definitely believed her because her story was similar to his, and he explained that to poe but he was like bUt YoU nEvEr TrIeD kilLiNg Me

even after she gave them some top secret info about the first order, poe’s mind wasn’t changed.

though everyone else was cautious, they understood her situation, but he still couldn’t trust her

they agreed upon freeing her (poe was against it, obviously) but they would not allow her to leave their base because they didn’t entirely trust her. plus, she had pretty recent insight into the first order’s plans/strategies/technology/etc. and she wanted to help the actual good guys, but without having to kill anyone.

leia assured her that killing the bad guys isn’t really their thing but do it if absolutely necessary

y/n helped out around the base with small tasks and provided important details about the first order that they could use to try and stop them and slowly gained everyone else’s trust

except for poe’s

he is stubborn as HELL

he never really made snide remarks, just normally glared at y/n and gave her nasty looks

she definitely noticed and tried her best to ignore them. they didn’t anger her as much as they saddened her, but others told her that poe is just like that and he’ll warm up eventually

she believed they only said that to make her feel better because she noticed how happy and lively he was around basically everyone else, but one look at her and his whole demeanor changed. that broke her heart

y/n faked her way through it and would flash a small smile his way, which generally earned an eye roll from him

she tried to be friendly but he wasn’t buying any of it

attempts at convincing poe that y/n really wasn’t a bad person were made but unsuccessful

seufz / sigh

after about a month or two, y/n was still residing at the base, and she really liked it there. the atmosphere was a lot less... uptight and serious compared to the first order

minus poe’s bad attitude

one particular night, y/n was mindlessly wandering around the base for something to do. she never really explored the base before

she stumbled upon a huge room that held all of their starfighters. mainly x-wings, she noticed

this room particularly interested her because she was trained to be a pilot (duh) and during that time, she learned to really enjoy flying

very few people were in here. a couple mechanics, each working on an x-wing, and a familiar-looking, curly-haired fellow working on his x-wing with the droid she saw before being knocked out and “kidnapped” at his side

for some reason, she decided to walk up to this man, whose named she learned earlier on, and strike up a conversation

ugh i really wanna write this as a fic now and show the progression of their relationship a lot better but i always wanna turn my hcs into fics

her voice startled him slightly, but then he let out a groan of disgust when he realized the voice belonged to y/n

poe listened to every word that came from her lips while working on his x-wing, never once looking at her, but didn’t bother responding. he didn’t want to speak with her

y/n tried not to speak too much. she talked about flying, as that was a thing they had in common, and inquired about what he was working on

at that point, the frustration built up inside of him, and he turned around to face y/n for the first time

“why don’t you just leave? i bet you came out here to sabotage my x-wing so i crash again and actually die this time. hell, i wouldn’t be surprised if you planned on destroying all the x-wings just for the first fucking order!”

his voice grew louder and his face red from a mix of anger and frustration, and honestly, most of that wasn’t even due to y/n being there; it just seemed impossible to fix one part on his starfighter. he kept trying and trying with no positive results

y/n stood there, shocked. she couldn’t believe he thought that way about her and thought she would do something of the sort

“did it ever occur to you that i never attempted firing back at first? hm? i didn’t want to harm you in any way! but we both know that the chase never would’ve stopped until one of us was taken out, and i didn’t want to die just as much as you.”

i love writing tension/arguments wow

she raised her voice as much as poe did. she was sick and tired of him treating her like shit because of something she had no control over

after releasing her anger, sadness took its place, and that’s when the girl walked off to her quarters and called it a night

what she said was food for thought, and poe just kinda realized that oh shit she had a point and was filled with an immense amount of guilt especially because a lot of the frustration wasn’t even directed at her; he just happened to take it out on her

bb-8 beeped a few times, advising that he go after her and talk to her because the droid knew poe wasn’t that disgusted with the girl and didn’t mean to lash out at her, and assured him that it would try to fix his x-wing

so poe dropped his tools and followed y/n to her room, and to his surprise (or not), it was locked. he knocked and called her name but she just yelled for him to go away. he said he wanted to talk but that it needed to be face-to-face

the door opened and y/n’s eyes were red and her face was tear-stained

they sat on the edge of her bed, and y/n looked at her lap while poe looked at her. it pained him

he explained how he wasn’t upset with her but rather his x-wing, but that still wasn’t enough to her because he’s acted snotty to her ever since she arrived there a couple months ago

looking up at him, she told her story about how she really didn’t want to be a part of the first order yada yada yada we’ve already heard this

she finds out from him that he really is stubborn and has a bad habit of only thinking of himself, which is why he has acted so bitchy and spiteful towards her

they kinda just discussed the whole situation for awhile and ended up talking for about an hour or two and made up

poe thought that she seemed like a genuine person

��you know, you’re a really good pilot, and from the sounds of everyone around here, they practically worship you. i guess i just imagined we could be friends and we could fly together sometime...”

y/n softly chuckled, then sniffled. poe followed along with a chuckle and thought that flying together might be fun, as long as she promises to try not to kill him

they had a good laugh, and poe thought it was best to leave her alone for the night because he did enough damage already

with that, the new friendship began

god damn we’re only at the FRIENDSHIP????

i promise that there shouldn’t be much left cause i wanted to insert that one scene

me from the future: :))))

so this friendship

everyone was surprised to see poe and y/n talking the next day that rumors were spread about what happened

y/n was timid about talking to poe at the beginning of their friendship. poe noticed this, and because of that, most of their conversations were initiated by him

they didn’t speak to each other a whole lot at first. normally just when they bumped into each other while walking around the base

but because she was fascinated with flying and starfighters, y/n hung out in the hangar quite often and learned about x-wings, whether from poe or someone else. he happily talked to her about them, and that led to her repairing a few here and there, or at least helping someone else out

then came the “date”

poe invited y/n out flying one night

she never flew an x-wing before but figured it out quite easily

they flew away from the base to an isolated section of the planet

aka poe’s favorite spot

he was quite impressed with her skills, especially because from what she told him, it seemed that it was all fairly new to her still

once they landed at his spot, they sat on the grass and stared at the night sky. the stars shined brightly in the black sky, and the few moons that circled the planet added to it

the two talked for quite a bit before silence filled the space between them. they didn’t mind because they enjoyed each other’s company

y/n stared at the beautiful sky, and little did she know, poe stared at her with admiration in his eyes, though he didn’t even know he was looking at her like that

they both flew back to the base after quite a bit of time had passed and decided to sleep

but they did have a few more “dates” like this, and it really brought them closer. their relationship grew, that’s for sure

others noticed this and could sense something going on between them. both were asked about each other but didn’t admit their feelings

in fact, they never acknowledged their feelings for each other until......

this part is so fucking cliche but i literally can’t see any other way for this

the pilots were sent out on a mission that lasted like a day or two

y/n didn’t partake, though some encouraged, because it was said to be dangerous and she learned four months ago that fighting wasn’t her thing

there were other missions since y/n first arrived but those weren’t necessarily dangerous

something went wrong and y/n was freaking out because of poe. granted, she was friends with most of the pilots, but that particular boy meant a lot to her

some pilots were severely injured that death was a possibility, and others were just lightly injured

when things went south, poe couldn’t stop thinking about y/n. the thought of never getting to see her beautiful face or spend nights talking to her broke his heart. that alone motivated him to fight through it all

once the pilots made it back to base, the severely injured were taken care of immediately, and y/n was anxious to find poe, and he was anxious to find her

their eyes landed on each other at the same moment, and she ran into his arms. her arms wrapped around him and her face landed in his chest. his head rested on top of hers, and they were happy to see each other. thankfully, he wasn’t injured too horribly.

the amount of relief that washed over both of them is unimaginable. everything was now okay since they were in each other’s arms

their silent hug lasted for a few minutes before poe was pulled away to be checked out for any serious injuries and then needed to be cleaned up

later that night, poe found y/n in her room pacing back and forth, something clearly on her mind. but when she saw that he was back, the worry painted on her face washed away, and she gave him another hug, though this one didn’t last so long

they sat on the edge of her bed, similarly to the conversation they first had, but they both looked at their laps, not saying a word. they both had something to say but didn’t quite know how to express themselves

“poe, the thought of losing you terrifies me. i hurt so much earlier because of the possibility of losing you forever, and i just-” she looked from her lap to him, tears welling in her eyes, and was cut off when he leaned forward to connect his lips with hers

they slowly pulled away and stared into each other’s eyes with their faces only inches apart

“this mission made me realize how reckless i normally am. how much i don’t think about my actions. i would die for the resistance without thinking twice. i live for the resistance.. but also you. i can’t leave you. i just can’t. i want to come back from every mission alive so i can be with you. so i can spend every moment with you before going off on another possibly life-threatening mission.”

y/n was crying at this point. he pulled her into his chest and held her while she quietly sobbed.

after what felt like an eternity of crying, she wiped her tears and sniffled. still leaning into his chest, she asked with a shaky voice, “would you mind staying the night with me? please?”

of course he didn’t mind one bit. they shut the lights off and laid down on her bed under the covers. the room was lit from the moons shining outside. they faced each other and shared one more kiss, this one lasting longer than the first. she snuggled into his chest with his arms wrapped around her, holding her closely.

and that was the beginning of y/n and poe’s relationship

#poe dameron x reader #poe dameron imagine #poe x reader #poe imagine #star wars imagine #star wars x reader #star wars #poe dameron #headcanons #headcanon

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anistarrose · 5 years

Text

I’ve Been Working on a Unified Theory (Gravity Falls One Shot)

Summary: Stan stumbles across the evidence Dipper has been collecting throughout his search for the Author, and he isn’t pleased.

Word Count: ~1500

Warnings: brief mentions of death

Title is from Touch-Tone Telephone by Lemon Demon! An optional subtitle could be the next line, “If I make it through tonight, everybody's gonna hear me out.”

“Ugh, my stomach’s all rumbly and grumbly inside,” Mabel groaned as she flopped down in the grass in front of the Mystery Shack. “Do you think Grunkle Stan will let us order pizza?”

Her words went in one of Dipper’s ears and out the other as he buried his nose in the journal, squinting as he tried to make out the text in the one intact corner of a mostly torn-out page…

My assistant took…

to me beaming an…

his anxiety. H…

destroy bad…

“Mabel, we’ve got to get inside!” he gasped. “I have a magnifying glass in my room, I might be able to make out a couple more letters…”

Mabel sat straight up. “There’s a break in the case?”

“There sure is!” Dipper took off running for the Shack, stomach churning with the thrill of a new discovery. “I can’t believe I never noticed this…”

He threw open the door and barreled straight into Stan, who grunted with surprise as Dipper’s head struck him in the stomach. He recovered quickly, looking from Dipper, to Mabel, and then to the journal in Dipper’s hands, all while wearing a disapproving glare.

“There you two are. I’ve been meaning to have a chat with ya, you see?”

“Sorry, Grunkle Stan,” Dipper told him as he caught his breath, “but there’s something I really need to investigate as soon as I can! We can talk after —”

He started to head towards the stairs, but lighting fast, Stan blocked his way with reflexes that were just plain unfair for a man in his sixties to still have. He crossed his arms as his scowl intensified, and nodded in the direction of the Shack’s public wing.

“I want to see you in my office now — both of you, but especially Dipper.”

Mabel shot a Dipper a confused look, which he read loud and clear as: Do you know what we did?

He shrugged and shook his head. I’m as lost as you are.

Stan coughed, and tapped a non-existent watch on his wrist. “I said now, didn’t I? Not an hour from now?”

He stormed past the twins and began to walk towards his office, and Dipper supposed they had no choice but to follow him.

When they reached the office, Stan motioned for them to sit down, and from behind his desk pulled out a large, flat object, covered in newspaper articles and yellow string held in place by thumbtacks. At the top, two pieces of cardboard spelled out a titular question:

WHO IS THE AUTHOR?

“What the — hey, that’s mine! What were you doing in our room?”

“I was going,” Stan told him, “to fix the window you two keep hitting golf balls through, because — and I dunno if this is news to you or not — this is, after all, my house. But here I find this thing, straight out of an awful alien movie —”

“What’s the problem with it? Some of us are visual thinkers, okay? All I want is to investigate a few —”

“Dipper, what’s the one thing you promised me you’d stop doing this summer?”

Dipper sighed. “Go looking for trouble with the Journal.”

“This investigating —” Stan waved a hand at the board. “Is what I call looking for trouble.”

“Look, Grunkle Stan,” Dipper began, “I’m sorry about that promise, but… can’t you just trust me — trust both of us a little more? We’re going to be teenagers in barely a month, and we know how to look out for each other!”

Mabel nodded her agreement, and Dipper went on: “I know the Journal has some dangerous stuff in it, but even though it gets us into… dangerous situations sometimes, it gets us out of them, too!”

“Yeah, like with the zombies!” Mabel chimed in. “Sure, it kinda caused that problem, but also it fixed it!”

“Please, Grunkle Stan,” Dipper begged. “I’ll stop looking for monsters and artifacts and all the really dangerous stuff, but you’ve got to let us keep looking for the Author. We’re getting so close, and the Journal will keep us safe, I promise —”

“Did it keep the guy who wrote it safe?”

A hush fell over the room, like no one had quite been ready for what Stan had just blurted out — Stan himself included.

“What do you mean?” Mabel finally asked.

“I did skim through the thing, you know.” Stan crossed his arms and fixed his gaze below Dipper’s eyes, on the golden hand emblem splayed across the journal’s cover.

“I saw how it started, with a smart — maybe kinda eccentric, but a smart, mostly rational guy doing serious, smart-guy research. Drawing pictures of the new monsters he found, sleuthing out a mystery or two. Not too different from what you’re doing right now, really.”

He took a deep breath, still not meeting Dipper’s eyes.

“And I saw how the thing ended, too — rambling about secret codes and being watched and saving the world or losing his life in the process. Either he went off the deep end, or there really was someone after him… but either way, what happened wasn’t good, and now? Now, your Author’s gone.”

“He can’t be gone for good,” Dipper replied automatically. “He’s got to still be out there, and I’m going to find him —”

Stan raised a hand in the air, palm facing Dipper. “Stop. Just — stop.”

He was silent for a moment, before letting out a long, slow sign. “Dipper, I’m sorry. I know I sound like I’m mad at you — and I am, but that’s because I can’t bear to imagine you getting hurt. I don’t want whatever happened to — to this ‘Author’ happening to you.”

He turned towards the bulletin board and unpinned the paper at the center — the one showing the dark silhouette with the question mark, its head circled in bright blue ink for emphasis.

“This man set off just like you, trying to solve all the mysteries of this messed up town. And just like you, he was too curious to mind his own business — maybe he read too many detective stories as a kid, too. But at the end of the day —”

Stan slapped the silhouette down on his desk.

“He just ended up as another mystery himself. Just a case to be cracked, just a thumbtack on a bulletin board of conspiracies. Not a real person with a name, not a person with a family —”

Stan froze mid-rant, and then slowly lowered his arms to his sides.

“I just — what I’m trying to say is — Dipper, Mabel, I don’t want you kids to become mysteries this summer like the Author did. I want you to become teenagers. I just want you to not go missing, to not wind up dead, before you reach your birthday and head home — and if I’m being completely honest, some days? Like when the zombies attacked? I’ve been real scared that you weren’t gonna make it. That the unknown fate of Dipper and Mabel Pines was just gonna be a mystery that well-meaning nerds obsess over a couple decades down the line. And I — I dunno what I’d do with myself if I let that happen to you two.”

He finally met Dipper’s eyes. “I know you’re too stubborn to really let go of that journal and give up on finding the Author,” he said. “Trust me, I know. But can you at least try and learn from his mistakes?”

“I’ll be as careful as I can next time,” Dipper answered.

“I hope you mean it,” Stan told him, already having turned his back on his way out the door.

Dipper did mean it — mostly.

***

Stan was especially cautious on his way to the basement that night, triple-checking that the kids were asleep and that the gift shop was empty before he punched the code into the vending machine as should have been routine. He winced at the six-fingered handprints on the dusty walls of the passageway — how they’d survived thirty years undisturbed, he wasn’t sure — and contemplated just wiping them away once and for all, despite knowing he could never seriously bring himself to do it.

He can’t be gone for good. He’s got to still be out there, and I’m going to find him —

He sat down at his desk and retrieved the first two journals from his bookshelf — the ones that he’d checked with a blacklight a few nights ago, only to find warnings of cataclysmic destruction and a desperate plea to never to activate the portal again.

I know you’re too stubborn to really let go of that journal and give up on finding the Author.

The portal’s hum faint yet ominous like the distant roar of an impending storm, he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes.

“Stanley, you goddamn hypocrite.”

***

End notes:

When I listen to Touch-Tone Telephone, I tend to imagine the first “I’ve been working on a unified theory/If I make it through tonight everybody's gonna hear me out” as being from Ford’s POV while working on the Grand Unified Theory of Weirdness, and the second one as being sung by Dipper as he investigates Gravity Falls and tries to figure out what happened to the Author, so it was really only a matter of time until I used it as a fic title. Also, “I try and I try and I try to make you listen to me” always makes me think of Dipper and Stan’s conflicts over the supernatural and Dipper’s “looking for trouble,” which takes center stage in this fic.

Anyways, thanks for reading! Reblogs/feedback are appreciated as always!

#gravity falls #dipper pines #mabel pines #stanley pines #stanford pines #rosalia writes fic

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angelofthequeers · 5 years

Text

Little Devil part 3

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

Chat Noir’s puns are so horrible pls save me

And I didn’t expect this chapter to get so long, especially after I lost the first draft to the digital aether, so there’ll be a shorter fourth part to just wrap things up nicely and give the Adrinette I’m compelled to write. Hell, I might even write timestamps because I grew way too attached to what was supposed to just be a oneshot.

The fic idea came from @gale-of-the-nomads and Little Devil from @zoe-oneesama (in case you want a picture reference).

Part 2 | Part 4 | AO3 link here

Horrible

Nasty

No one even likes you. They only respect you because you’re Queen Bee

Everyone celebrated when you left

“I am Queen Bee!” Chloé argues, huddled in a ball with her hands over her ears. Nearby, Chat Noir is curled up, practically pulling his hair out. “If people respect Queen Bee, they respect me!”

But fighting the voices just seems to make them stronger. The little devils on Chloé’s shoulders cackle, completely bypassing the hands covering her ears, while Chat Noir’s groans sound distorted and far away, as though Chloé is underwater. The exposed skin on her thighs is starting to turn a splotchy red, like blood is beginning to pool and spread, and Chloé would probably be more concerned if she wasn’t dealing with nasty voices in her head.

You have no friends

No one can stand you

You make messes everywhere

“Stop! I can’t take it anymore!” Chloé cries. “I know I make messes!”

“You can fix your own messes, if that’s what you want.” Ladybug’s voice echoes through Chloé’s head. But she can’t. She can’t fix her messes. She’s a bitch, a nasty person, everyone knows that –

Wait.

Of course.

Little Devil’s power turns those who succumb to their dark thoughts. Alya probably hadn’t even thought that she had that dark side. But Chloé knows she’s a bitch, so why do these words hurt so much? Maybe it’s not positive thoughts that fights off these devils. Maybe it’s owning these thoughts.

“Yes, I have been horrible!” Chloé announces. “I know I’m a bitch and no one likes me! But I’m not going to let that be me anymore! I’m a hero and I’m going to prove it!”

For a moment, there’s silence. It feels like the world’s collectively holding its breath, like time itself has stopped…or maybe Chloé’s just being a drama queen. Either way, the devils on her shoulders let out tiny, inhuman shrieks and explode in poofs of red smoke, replaced by little pink angels that look so much like Tikki that Hawkmoth has to be denser than bricks at this point to not realise. The angels hover around Chloé’s face for a few seconds, flapping their little white wings, before zipping back towards Little Devil like she’s yanking them on strings. She waves her pitchfork and the angels mutate back into devils with little screams and another puff of red smoke.

“Chat Noir!” Chloé crawls over to Chat, who’s moaning pathetically with a face that’s already half red. Aware that she’s running against the clock, she gently slaps his face, her stomach lurching when his eyes crack open and the bright green is yellower than it should be. “Don’t fight the voices! Own them!”

“Can’t,” Chat Noir mumbles. A shiver wracks his body and the red creeps over his skin even more. “Useless…no one likes the real me…”

“Oh my god,” Chloé says. She shoots a look at Little Devil, who’s sitting on the railing again and surveying her chaotic domain with her black lips curved in a wicked little smile. Whether the akuma’s listening or not, Chloé has no idea, but now she has to choose her words carefully so that she doesn’t give away anything about Chat Noir being Adrien Agreste. “Okay. Listen up, you mangy cat, because I so didn’t sign up to play therapist. Tell me what they’re saying and then repeat what I say.”

For a moment, Chat Noir doesn’t say anything. But then he draws in a shaky breath and croaks, “I always mess up. Ladybug has to do all the work and I keep getting caught because…because Chat Noir is freedom.”

“Easy fix,” Chloé says. “You’ll just take Chat Noir more seriously when you’re in a fight. Come on, say it.”

“I’ll – I’ll take Chat Noir more seriously when I’m in a fight.” Chat Noir shudders again.

“Good. Next!”

“My – my father doesn’t love me.”

“That’s on him, not you. Come on.”

“That’s on him…not me…”

“Good. What else?”

“Ladybug doesn’t need me – she has other allies –”

“What did I tell you earlier? Say it. You. Are. Irreplaceable. To. Ladybug.”

Chat just shakes his head and curls in on himself, so Chloé gently slaps him again. “I’m not here to coddle you, fur ball! Say it!”

“I – I’m irreplaceable to Ladybug.”

“Again!”

“I’m irreplaceable to Ladybug.”

“Again!”

“I’m irreplaceable to Ladybug!” The red spreading across Chat Noir’s face immediately starts to recede, and he slumps on the ground with a gasp.

“Colour me impressed,” Little Devil says, looking back over at them while toying with the prongs of her pitchfork. “I never would have thought that Chloé Bourgeois could ever fight off an akuma rather than cause it.”

“I know I’m horrible,” Chloé says. “I don’t need a devil to tell me that. Get up, alley cat! Think up a plan!”

“Yeah, chaton, think up a plan,” Little Devil says in amusement.

“Me?” Chat Noir groans, stumbling to his feet. “Ladybug makes the plans, not me!”

“You literally just swore you’d take your superhero stuff more seriously,” Chloé says. “Come on, you’ve done this for longer than me. Think of something!”

“Uh…” Chat Noir scratches the back of his neck in a very Adrien-like manner, while both Little Devil and Chloé stare at him. Chloé can’t help but feel like Little Devil’s getting major kicks out of their dysfunctional team, which makes sense considering that she’s the real Ladybug and probably would’ve already taken the akuma down by now. “Lucky Charm?”

“Ugh. Fine. Lucky Charm!” Chloé throws her yo-yo up into the air and receives a ladybug-patterned smartphone in return.

“Uh, I don’t think you’ve got Marinette’s phone number,” Chat Noir says. Chloé just glowers and presses the unlock button to make the screen light up. The background is a selfie of Adrien and Marinette, with Adrien beaming at the camera and Marinette looking like she’s died and gone to Heaven from being squished to his side. Whether this is a photo that’s been taken on one of their phones or something that Marinette wishes had happened, Chloé has no idea. All she knows is that there needs to be a reason for it being on a phone rather than just a physical photograph.

“I could think of at least two possible plans I’d do in your position,” Little Devil says rather patronisingly. “What’s your plan, Chloé?”

At a loss, Chloé does the only thing she can think of: she tucks the phone away, because of course she gave her suit proper pockets, and then charges at Little Devil to grab the cravat. However, not only does Little Devil possess incredible skills from her experience as Ladybug, but she’s also got the enhancement that akumas give their victims. Maybe if it had only been one of the two, Chloé might have stood a chance. Instead, Little Devil just giggles and easily parries every single punch and kick that Chloé throws as though she can predict exactly what Chloé’s going to do. Which might just have something to do with the fact that Little Devil is the real Ladybug.

Great. Just great. Why does Chloé always get the hard stuff?

“You’ll never be a real hero, Chloé Bourgeois.” Little Devil slams Chloé into the ground and keeps her down with one heeled boot on her chest and pitchfork aimed at her throat. “You’ll never even be half the real Ladybug. At least, that’s what my little devils tell me.”

“Meowch,” Chat Noir says from behind Little Devil. Chloé catches sight of a few black sparks over Little Devil’s shoulder and realises that he’s most likely activated his Cataclysm. She just has to avoid letting Little Devil catch on. “That was tailtally uncalled for.”

“Chat Noir!” Chloé growls, realising that they’re severely outmatched. And she still can’t think of a plan for that stupid phone. “Get us out of here and stop with your stupid puns before I grab her pitchfork and kill you myself!”

Little Devil just laughs. “Your puns are awful, chaton.” She kneels on Chloé’s chest to grab the Ladybug Miraculous, her knee digging into the collarbone just below Chloé’s throat. The akuma gets one earring off and then reaches for the other, the magic beginning to dissipate from Chloé. Chloé growls and tries to lash out at Little Devil, but she’s firmly held in place by Little Devil’s knee and calf.

“Don’t you mean clawful, princess?”

There’s a cracking sound above them. Little Devil looks up and only has a split second to dive away from Chloé before the walkway ceiling starts crashing down, and Chloé would have been utter toast if Chat Noir hadn’t swooped in to grab her before a large chunk of stone can turn her gorgeous head into a smear on the ground.

“Cutting it a bit – aiiieee!” Chloé’s snarky comment is cut off by Chat Noir hurling her down into the infested courtyard. Fuming, she makes a wobbly landing and starts viciously cutting her way through the little devils, wondering if she should thank Chat Noir for throwing her where Little Devil wouldn’t think to look for her or kick him in the shins for throwing her into the lion’s den. Honestly, how does Ladybug put up with his harebrained schemes?

His harebrained scheme saved you when you charged in like an idiot, says a small voice. Chloé just rolls her eyes, punches the last of the devils away, then ducks into a doorway to watch the fight between Little Devil and Chat Noir. They’re sparring on the walkway perpendicular to the destroyed one, pretty much evenly matched, and it strikes Chloé just how inexperienced she is in comparison to Ladybug and Chat Noir. How…unexceptional.

“Shut up,” she mutters. “The last thing you need is for a devil to get you again.”

Chat Noir punches Little Devil in the face, sending her crashing into the wall. It occurs to Chloé that he could easily have thrown her across the courtyard if he chose, and she sighs and resists the urge to thump her head against the door. That fur ball is holding back to avoid hurting Marinette – Ladybug – even though she clearly doesn’t have a fraction of the same courtesy to extend to him.

The beeping of her earrings jolts Chloé back to earth, and she darts down the hall and into the first classroom she comes across, which is thankfully empty. She pulls the phone out and turns it all over, like this’ll somehow reveal some miraculous secret that she can use to take down Little Devil. Nothing. She brings up the lock screen photo of Adrien and Marinette. Nothing. How could Little Devil have formulated two plans when she hadn’t even seen the photo? Chloé silently curses Marinette for going and getting herself akumatised and leaving Chloé and Adrien to deal with the aftermath as a dysfunctional team. The more she works with Chat Noir, the more Chloé realises that she and Adrien just aren’t compatible as A Thing.

“Great,” Chloé grumbles, hoisting herself on a desk so she can sprawl dramatically. “I’ll just get Adrikins to call her and spin a whole sob story to distract her so I can grab the akuma. That’ll work. Great plan, Chloé.”

She pauses and frowns. Call her…what had Little Devil said in that bathroom? “Everyone has a little devil on their shoulder. I just need to make them listen.”

“Of course!” Chloé says to herself. Now she knows why she was given that phone and that picture of Adrien and Marinette, as fake as it might be. The picture itself doesn’t have to be real for her to realise what she needs to do. With one last beep, her transformation washes away, taking the phone with it, and Tikki lurches out of the earrings and wobbles in mid-air, panting.

“I hope you have a plan,” Tikki gasps. “And some cookies. I need to recharge.”

“Marinette’s probably got some in her purse,” Chloé says. “Come on, let’s go wandering around the dangerous school so you can get your sugar fix.”

Tikki shoots her probably the closest thing to a bitchface that the sweet kwami can muster, but Chloé’s not here to coddle. Instead, she gestures at Tikki to hide, which the kwami does by burrowing into her ponytail.

“Great, my hair is ruined,” Chloé whines as she slips out of the classroom and heads for the bathroom.

“Your hair is the least of our problems, Chloé,” Tikki says. “Do you have a plan?”

“I do. I just need Adrien to make it work.”

“I’m sure Chat Noir is recovering somewhere else –”

“No, not Chat Noir. Adrien. He’s the only one who’s got a chance of getting near her without her zapping us. Marinette wanted someone to listen, so she’s going to get someone to listen.”

Although Chloé can’t see the kwami’s face, she just knows that Tikki is beaming. She can literally feel the happy energy radiating off the damn thing. But she refuses to admit that she actually likes the feeling, instead banging the bathroom door open louder than necessary and making a beeline for Marinette’s dropped purse. Luckily, there are two cookies stashed in there, no doubt for Tikki, and the kwami chows down on them faster than humanly possible for something her size as compared to the cookies. Honestly Chloé kind of admires her determination to save Marinette. It kind of makes her miss Pollen, to be honest.

“I bet you’ll be glad to have Marinette back,” Chloé says, well aware that she’s displaying envy like some commoner. “I have to be the worst Ladybug you’ve ever had, right?”

“You’re not bad!” Tikki insists straight away. “You’re just inexperienced! In fact, you’ve got an advantage because you already know how Ladybug works!”

“You don’t have to lie to make me feel better,” Chloé says thickly, crossing her arms as though this can fight off the stinging in her eyes. “I already know that Marinette Dupain-Cheng is way more exceptional than I’ll ever be. Everyone likes her, she caught the attention of Gabriel Agreste and my maman, she’s got Adrikins crushing on her because she’s Ladybug, an amazing superhero…she even gets her own little kidney bean best friend. Me? I’m always second best. I don’t even get to keep my kwami.”

The look on Tikki’s little face makes it very clear that she noticed Chloé’s choice of words in saying kwami rather than Miraculous. But she doesn’t say anything, so Chloé concludes her rant.

“And now I have to step up and fill in for her and I can’t even do that properly. Marinette would’ve taken the akuma down ages ago.”

Tikki says nothing, simply frowning at Chloé while finishing off her snack. Chloé wants to look away but there’s something about the kwami’s piercing gaze that just won’t let her.

“What?” she snaps.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t compare yourself to Marinette,” Tikki says, floating closer to Chloé. “You’re Chloé Bourgeois, not Marinette Dupain-Cheng. You stepped up to be Ladybug when you could have accepted Little Devil’s offer to not interfere so that she’d leave you alone. You took responsibility for your father’s akumatisation and for ruining Marinette’s present for Mlle Bustier. You took on the mantle of Queen Bee to help fight Hawkmoth’s army.”

“Yeah but –”

“Those are all things that Chloé Bourgeois has done!” Tikki pokes Chloé in the nose. “Not Marinette! I love Marinette so much, and she’s done so many amazing things, but you’re doing great things too! You don’t have to be Marinette, Chloé.”

“Okay, okay, whatever,” Chloé says, if only to get Tikki to shut up. She can handle the social game of careful compliments or flattery to align oneself in certain circles or to gain an advantage. But having the embodiment of good luck and creation genuinely listing all her virtues is too much to handle, even if her soul does feel ten times lighter between that and overcoming the little devils earlier. “Let’s go save Marinette so you can get her back.”

As they leave, Chloé decides to be gracious and let Tikki rest a bit more, so she traverses the super dangerous halls as herself rather than Ladybug. She idly wonders if Tikki’s Ladybug good luck power rubs off on people when untransformed, because it only takes two tries to find the classroom that Adrien’s hiding out in. A tiny black cat floats near his head, stuffing an enormous wedge of Camembert cheese down his throat.

“Gross!” Chloé wrinkles her nose, while Tikki wriggles out of her hair to go and greet the black cat kwami. “Now I know why you always stink.”

“Plagg loves the stuff,” Adrien says with a sheepish laugh. “So, do you have a plan?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Chloé says rather smugly. “You really should work on your planning skills, Chat Noir.”

Adrien glowers at her but says nothing about that. Instead, he says, “Plagg, are you nearly done? We can’t let Marinette cause more damage than we can help.”

“Actually, I need Adrien Agreste for this plan to work,” Chloé says. “Marinette promised to spare Adrien, not Chat Noir. And really, what were you thinking, forgetting that she doesn’t know who Chat Noir is? She was ready to put you in the ground, Adrien.”

“I – I forgot.” Adrien looks down. “I just saw Marinette – my lady – hurting, and I –”

“– had to rush in to save her. This is exactly why Ladybug didn’t want you to tell each other who you are. That’s why Hawkmoth used my family against me on Heroes’ Day to distract me enough that Despair Bear and Dark Cupid got me. When you’re behind the mask, you’re not Adrien anymore!”

“What, like you’re not Chloé anymore when you’re Queen Bee?” Adrien retorts. Chloé smirks at Adrien finally biting back.

“And just how do you think I know what a bad idea it is?” she says. “But it’s not such a big deal if Hawkmoth knows who Queen Bee is. If he finds out who Chat Noir is, though?”

“Look, I appreciate that you care about me,” Adrien says. “But can we just go? What could you need me for that you can’t use Chat Noir for? You think Marinette will really just let me get close to her?”

“She told me to my face that she’d spare you,” Chloé says. “And I finally realised what that phone and picture meant.”

“I’ve never taken that picture with Marinette before in my life,” Adrien protests.

“That doesn’t matter. The picture was telling me that you’re the only one who can get close to her. Even though she spared me, there’s no way she’d trust me like she trusts you.”

“And the phone?”

“Marinette just wants someone to listen to her.” Chloé’s hands land on her hips so that she can look extra smug because she totally deserves it after coming up with this plan. “That’s why she was akumatised, right? None of our classmates would listen to her because of Liar Rossi.”

“Chloé,” Adrien chides.

“Oh, hush,” Chloé says. “She deserves it and you know it. I might be an utter bitch, but I never made Marinette cry and got her akumatised. Anyway, she told me when she got akumatised that everyone has a little devil on their shoulder and she’s just going to make them listen.”

“Of course!” Adrien’s face lights up. “I have to listen to her and let her talk. And you’ll grab the akuma, right?”

“No, I’ll just stand there and look pretty,” Chloé says snarkily.

“Sarcasm doesn’t work if it’s something you’d actually do,” Adrien says. Chloé rolls her eyes.

“Whatever, alley cat. You ready, Tikki?”

“Definitely!” Tikki says, a look of sheer determination on her tiny face.

“Spots on!”

Once she’s transformed, she scoops Adrien up so that he won’t fall behind, making sure that Plagg is safely hidden with him before she breaks into a sprint down the hall towards the courtyard. Little Devil is where Chat Noir had left her, perched on the undestroyed railing to watch the chaos with glee, and she smiles when Chloé uses her yo-yo to launch them up there and sets Adrien down.

“Welcome back, Ladybug,” Little Devil says. Chloé holds her yo-yo out like a shield in response, even though fighting is possibly the best way to totally ruin their plan. “I knew you’d be back after recharging. Ladybug just can’t leave the akuma alone, can she? It’s her job. I’m sure chaton will be along soon enough.” Her smile widens when she catches sight of Adrien and – wait, is that genuine joy? “Adrien!”

“Marinette.” Adrien’s mouth droops. “I’m so sorry I left you. I should have skipped class –”

“Oh, no, don’t be silly!” Little Devil giggles in a gross imitation of Marinette. “I don’t blame you at all. You came after me in the first place.”

“Because I care about you.” Adrien takes a cautious step towards Little Devil, hands up as unthreateningly as possible. “You’re one of my best friends, Marinette, and it’s totally uncool that everyone treated you like that. Especially Lila.”

“Lila? Pfft.” Little Devil smirks down at one of the devils in the courtyard, who’s in the centre and scratching at any other devils that come near it. Chloé wonders how she can even single out which devil the akuma is staring at before chalking it to enhanced senses. “Honestly, Lila was just an annoyance. She was never going to like me. You know what really hurt? Having everyone else turn on me like I was nothing to them!”

“Yeah, that was completely wrong,” Adrien agrees. He takes another careful step towards her, Chloé following ever so slowly behind so as not to alert her. “I’m on your side, Marinette. But this isn’t the way to fix things!”

“Isn’t it?” Little Devil tilts her head. “You know, maybe Ladybug and Chat Noir have been wrong all along. I felt so powerless…so unheard…but Hawkmoth fixed that! He let me make myself heard, let me make everyone hurt just like they made me!”

“Do you really think that hurting others is the way to fix it?” Adrien says. “Revenge, violence…it’s not the answer. You’re not the Marinette who smiles and brings pastries to class and cheers everyone up and goes out of her way to make me laugh when I’m having a bad day.”

“Being that Marinette got me hurt! Used!” Little Devil stomps the ground hard enough to leave a large crack, which Chloé eyes warily so that she can jump away with Adrien if it grows bigger. “Nobody listened to me! The girls ignored me when I insisted that they stop helping me get together with you because you liked Kagami and I respected your wishes, because who cares about Marinette’s voice? No, I’m just a shallow teenage girl who lets herself be defined by a boy! If that was the case then why wasn’t I mean to Kagami, huh? I respected Kagami because she respected you!”

Adrien looks like he’s going to faint on the spot. Chloé supposes that it’s one thing to hear that his friend is crushing on him from someone else and another thing entirely to hear it directly from his friend’s mouth. The fact that Marinette is the real Ladybug and he’s crushing hard on Ladybug probably isn’t helping either.

Little Devil puts on a simpering voice. “But Marinette Dupain-Cheng is boy-crazy and hates Chloé and Lila because she’s a jealous fangirl, not because they bullied me! I even stood up to Chloé for the class, but they conveniently forget that when Lila comes along with her lies that don’t even make sense – and that’s the worst part of it all, that they’re so ridiculous, like that napkin lie! Oh, unless I’m making a picnic where they get free food, then they’re so quick to jump and help out! Otherwise, it was Marinette this, Marinette help me, Marinette, Marinette, Marinette!”

Chloé and Adrien exchange startled looks as Little Devil screams, resulting in every single devil in the courtyard screaming in fresh pain as well. If Marinette’s been bottling all this up along with being Ladybug, it’s no wonder that when she snaps, she’s one of the most dangerous akumas that have been around. She’d downed both Ladybug and Chat Noir in one hit and if Marinette had been in Chloe’s place, it’s likely that she would have been blindsided by her dark side like Alya was.

Little Devil tilts her head as a purple outline appears over her face, and Adrien clenches his fists at the sight. Chloé, who’s edged even closer to Little Devil, glares at him to make sure he doesn’t stuff it all up.

“Patience, Hawkmoth,” Little Devil snaps. “I want Adrien to hear me first. Then I’ll take Ladybug’s Miraculous and go find Chat Noir.” Another short pause. “I only lost them last time because I underestimated Chat Noir, but he’s not even here! And Chloé is inexperienced!”

Oh, if only she knew.

“I do hear you, Marinette,” Adrien says as the purple mask fades. “And I’m sorry if I ever gave you the impression that I don’t. But…this isn’t you. You’re always so cute whenever I see you. You made me our friendship charm – see, I still have it!” He pulls a pink and green beaded charm out of his pocket. Super ugly, but whatever works, Chloé supposes. “I carry it around everywhere because it’s my good luck charm! You brighten up my day whenever I see you, because I know I can count on you to be sweet and amazing.”

“No one listens to me when I’m sweet and amazing!”

“Please, Marinette.” Adrien’s now so close to Little Devil that he could touch her with next to no effort if he wanted. “I’ll always listen to you. You know that, right? The problem is that you were expected to bottle up your feelings and smile for everyone else, because everybody saw you as untouchable Marinette. But that can change. We can find healthier ways to make people listen to you! But this?” Adrien gestures at the chaotic courtyard. “This isn’t healthy!”

Little Devil’s eyes bore into Adrien’s, the deep blue watery as she no doubt struggles to hold back the tide of emotions before they can overwhelm her. She lets out an otherworldly shriek, which every other little devil in the courtyard mirrors as though they’re feeling her pain, and she shoves Adrien into the wall, though not hard enough to hurt him since the gasp he lets out is more surprised than pained. Chloé tenses, ready to spring into action to save Adrien, but Little Devil just wails and clenches her fists on either side of Adrien’s head, her own head bowed. In response, Adrien carefully wraps his hands around her blood red upper arms, causing her to screech again and headbutt his chest with her forehead. He looks a little alarmed at how close her horns are to his throat, but thankfully he doesn’t move away and upset her even more.

Chloé seizes the opportunity to sneak up on the distressed akuma and slip the cravat from around her neck. With a swift tear, Chloé is holding two pieces of cloth, from which a glowing, purple-black butterfly emerges. Chloé’s lip curls at the sight. She’s very much familiar with these little things, as much as she wishes she wasn’t.

“Oooh, does that mean I get to say the thing?” she says, bouncing on the spot. “No more evildoing for you, little akuma! Time to de-evilise!” She uses her yo-yo to snatch the akuma out of the air so that it doesn’t fly off. “Gotcha!”

“Ladybug does it better,” Adrien says, his hands having moved from Little Demon’s arms to her back as he holds her in a hug. Chloé just pokes her tongue out, not that she’d do such a commoner thing around people who aren’t him, and she presses the yo-yo to release the purified akuma.

“Can I do the thing without a Lucky Charm?” Chloé says. Adrien shrugs.

“I’ve never seen it done without one.”

“Ugh. Lucky Charm!”

This time, Chloé is provided with a small hand mirror. Frowning, she turns it all around, trying to figure out what the power’s trying to tell her, but all she sees is her own reflection. Maybe it’s referencing what a vain bitch she is, although she prefers ‘confident’. Or maybe –

Oh. Little smart alec. It’s probably referencing that “be yourself!” speech that Tikki had given her, telling her that she’s good enough and right now, what the situation needs is her. Whatever. Okay, so it’s kind of poetic and sweet, but if she keeps staring at the mirror for much longer then Adrien’s going to grow suspicious. And now that she knows his Chat Noir side, she knows he’ll never stop pestering her.

“Miraculous Ladybug!” Chloé announces, tossing the mirror into the air gracefully. At least, she thinks it’s graceful. Which means it is. The mirror explodes in a swarm of ladybugs, which zoom around the school and fix all the damage that had been done while reverting all the devils back to their normal selves. Little Devil is encased in a purple-black aura and when it fades, Marinette is left in her place, blinking owlishly.

“I – what?” she says. “What am I – oh.” She droops. “I was akumatised. But how am I –?” She catches sight of Chloé and her eyes positively bulge out of their sockets. “Chloé?”

“Yes, yes, I saved your butt, I’m totally a hero,” Chloé says. “Come on, Adrikins, give her to me.”

“Adrien?” Marinette freezes, her brain only just realising whose arms she’s wrapped in, and her eyes follow the arms around her up to the face next to hers. She lets out an ear-piercing shriek and jumps away, stumbling over her own feet and nearly tripping if not for Chloé grabbing her. “I – oh no – I hurt did – I mean – did I Adrien – gah!”

Thankfully, Adrien takes pity on her and smiles, reaching out to slide an arm around her. Chloé doesn’t want to begin to imagine what’s going to happen when Marinette learns that Adrien knows about her crush.

“You didn’t hurt me at all, Marinette!” he says. “You actually refused to hurt me, so Chloé asked for my help because she wasn’t used to being Ladybug. You should go with Chloé so she can make sure you’re alright. I’ll save your seat up the back of the class so you don’t have to sit alone.”

Down in the courtyard, the commoners are looking up at them and gasps and whispers are flying around. Chloé sighs loudly. “Adrikins, please deal with them, would you? Tell them the story we agreed on. Also –” She holds out a fist. Grinning, Adrien fist-bumps her and they say, “Pound it!” together.

Chloé got to do it with both superheroes. And she knows who both of them are. She was one of them. Her life is now complete. She’s cooler than literally anyone else here, not that she wasn’t before.

With one last smile at Marinette, Adrien heads down the stairs to confront the masses, leaving Chloé free to drag Marinette down the hall.

“Official story to explain why there’s a different Ladybug when you got akumatised is that Ladybug got caught in her civilian form and gave the earrings to me, since she could trust me as Queen Bee,” Chloé says when they’re in yet another empty classroom. Story of her life today, honestly. “You’re welcome.”

“Thanks,” Marinette says faintly, no doubt still in shock from her evilised rampage. “But…I don’t understand why you’d help me, Chloé. Telling everyone off in the cafeteria is one thing but you – you hate me!”

“That was just to annoy Lila,” Chloé says. “And it’s more like I just didn’t even care about you after you stood up to Maman and threw that party. And now that I know you’re Ladybug –”

Marinette jumps and looks around wildly, as though expecting the entire student body to be huddled outside, ears pressed to the door and windows to eavesdrop. Chloé sighs loudly, then grimaces when the earrings beep.

“I’m literally wearing your earrings,” she says. “That I saw you throw away to keep from Hawkmoth. And Adrikins has the others under control, don’t worry. Spots off.”

As soon as the transformation falls and Tikki is free, she squeals Marinette’s name and darts over, nuzzling against her face. Marinette’s face lights up as she hugs Tikki back, and Chloé takes the opportunity to slip the earrings off and hold them out.

“Thank you, Chloé,” Marinette says sincerely, taking them back and reattaching them. “You were super brave to step up and be Ladybug.”

“Ugh, gag me,” Chloé says. “My outfit was way better than yours and I impressed Adrien, that’s all.”

But Marinette doesn’t look fooled for a second. Ugh, she’s actually being a decent person about this. But then her face falls and she looks down.

“I’m sorry you had to do that,” she says. “If I’d been able to control myself better –”

“Did I or did I not kick your butt about apologising for things that aren’t your fault?” Chloé snaps. “It’s Hawkmoth’s fault, not yours. You can’t help your emotions. Just like I made it easier for him to akumatise half the people he got to, but it’s his fault because he did the akumas. And you had every right to break, since you’re such a self-sacrificing idiot that you spend so much time putting everyone else before yourself.”

“I could have endangered everyone!” Marinette protests. “An akumatised Ladybug –”

“But you didn’t. You took the earrings off. Stop blaming yourself for feeling stuff, Dupain-Cheng, or I’ll have to take back my offer of friendship.”

“Friendship?” Marinette squints at Chloé. “Why would you want to be friends with me? Is it because I’m Ladybug? I know you’re one of her biggest fans.”

“Okay, one, I’m her biggest fan,” Chloé says. “No ‘one of’ about it. And two, I wouldn’t go making friends with Marinette Dupain-Cheng just because she’s Ladybug. In fact, it’s not even friendship. It’s an alliance and a truce because Lila’s a pain in both our butts. It’ll…” She scrambles for an excuse. “It’ll annoy Lila and everyone else, that’s all.”

Again, Marinette isn’t fooled. She just smiles and nuzzles Tikki again before freezing.

“What now?” Chloé sighs.

“Adrien!” Marinette shrieks.

“Oh please, if you’re going to go all lovestruck –”

“It’s not that!” Marinette tugs at her hair and tries to sit down on a seat, only to miss and crash to the floor. She jumps up, promptly banging her thigh on the desk, and gives up trying to be a functional human being. “You told him to tell everyone the story you’d agreed on!”

“Yep.”

“Which means – he knows you didn’t just stumble on Ladybug’s civilian form!”

“Uh huh.” Oh boy, this is just delicious to watch.

“And that means he’ll know that the real Ladybug was conveniently missing when I was akumatised!”

“That’s right.” Chloé starts examining her nails and she shoots a smirk at Tikki when Marinette’s not looking. Tikki tries to look disapproving but fails horribly, undoubtedly just as amused by Marinette’s freak-out as Chloé is.

“Adrien knows that I’m Ladybug!”

“That’s just scratching the surface,” Chloé says gleefully. “You should totally tell him that I told you to ask him about Camembert.”

“It is unfair if you don’t know,” Tikki says sagely.

“Camembert?” Marinette’s left eye twitches. “What does Camembert have to do with my secret identity? I’ll never be able to look him in the eye again! We’ll never get married and have a beautiful house and three children and a hamster named –”

“Kill me now,” Chloé complains loudly. “Honestly, I don’t think Adrien’s gonna hate you because you’re Ladybug. He loves Ladybug, remember?”

“But I got akumatised!” Marinette waves her hands in the air. “Even Ladybug’s not strong enough! He won’t respect me anymore and I won’t be able to face him and I don’t even remember what I said to him – please tell me I didn’t tell him I like him, oh my god –”

“Tikki, does Cataclysm work on a person or was Volpina just lying as usual?” Chloé sighs.

“Chloé, don’t be so mean,” Tikki scolds. “Marinette has a lot of feelings to work through. Speaking of which, you should probably get to class, Marinette. Adrien’s waiting for you!”

Chloé’s expecting Marinette to freak out even more at that, so it’s a surprise when she just takes deep gulps of air and lets out a squeak.

“Okay,” Marinette says in a high voice. “I can do this. It’s no big deal. He just…knows I’m Ladybug. Who got akumatised. And told him things I don’t remember.”

“Trust me, I don’t think he’ll be disappointed,” Chloé mutters, linking her arm with Marinette’s so she can tug the other girl out of the classroom. “And don’t get used to this touchy-feely stuff. This is just the best way to get back at everyone without being mean, since you’re so sickly sweet. Ugh.”

“Uh huh.” Marinette’s voice is still a little high.

Chloé’s naturally a little wary about walking into their classroom arm-in-arm with someone who’d been her sworn enemy just hours earlier, but it’s totally worth it to see the looks of utter shock on everyone’s face at seeing the two girls walk in together without trying to tear the other’s throat out.

“Marinette!” Mlle Bustier greets them at the door with a hand on Marinette’s shoulder and a warm smile for both of them. Honestly, Chloé’s got a real soft spot for their teacher, not that she’d dare admit it even under torture. “Are you feeling better? Will you be alright for class?”

Marinette looks around at their classmates, who are still staring at her. Up the back, Adrien’s waiting as promised, and he smiles and waves when she catches his eye. Chloé’s ready to gag at how Marinette will undoubtedly melt and die, but she’s pleasantly surprised to see Marinette just hold her head high and nod.

“I’ll be okay, Mlle Bustier,” Marinette says. “I’ve got Chloé and Adrien to support me now.”

Ugh, of course she’d still see Chloé as a friend even after Chloé insisted that this was a truce.

...Nah, who is Chloé kidding?

“Wonderful! Take your seats, girls. I won’t punish you for being late.”

“Yeah, for once it’s not Marinette’s fault that she’s late,” Chloé says as Marinette heads for the back of the room, determinedly not looking anyone in the eye. She wishes she could snap a picture of the look on Lila’s face at seeing Marinette sitting next to Adrien at the back. Honestly, the utter fury and outrage would be the finest piece of art at the Louvre if someone was to paint it. Hmm, maybe she should get on her daddy’s case about that.

“Chloé,” Mlle Bustier says quietly before Chloé can sit down. “You were very brave to step up and be Ladybug today when everyone needed you. You were exceptional.”

“Of course I couldn’t let everyone down when they relied on me,” Chloé scoffs, preening at the praise. But she still can’t help smiling as she takes her usual seat next to Sabrina, who tries to catch her eye but can’t quite do so. Honestly, Chloé’s going to officially forgive Sabrina that afternoon, because it hadn’t been Chloé who Sabrina had turned her back on by sucking up to Lila. But not just yet.

Just when everyone’s about to settle down and at least try to do their schoolwork –

“My tinnitus is gone! It’s a miracle!”

313 notes · View notes

sparklyaxolotlstudent · 5 years

Text

Karma Chameleon: The Finale.

AKA I can’t write drama to save my life. I’m sorry.

ENJOY!

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

“Ugh!” Adrien threw his bag at his bed, ignoring the protest coming from inside.

“Hey, watch it kid, I was taking a nap!” protested Plagg, floating out of the bag.

“I can’t believe them! Chloe provokes Lila into akumatization and somehow I’m the bad guy?”

Adrien kept ranting, pacing around his room. Plagg only occasionally nodded, while he ate his cheese. “Are you done?” He asked once Adrien had made a pause. Adrien glared at him.

“I really don’t need your sarcasm right now, you lazy cat.”

Adrien’s words felt icy, something Plagg was definitively not used to. But he knew this boy, and he also knew that he should have said something earlier. Uncharacteristically for Plagg, he placed his cheese in the plate, which surprised Adrien, and then floated directly to his face.”

“I’m sorry ” It was a simple statement, and Plagg had said it while putting his hands on what would be his hips, trying to look all business like.

“What?” Adrien was confused. He was expecting a scolding from Plagg, not an apology.

“I’m sorry I have let your attitude go unchecked for so long Adrien Agreste. I should know better than to let a human teenager become this entitled.”

“What? What are you talking about? Entitled? I’m not entitled.”

Plagg sighed. He really really didn’t like to play the stern father. Or any other figure of authority. He was destruction, for Tikki’s sake!

“Remember when you tried to manipulate me into introducing you to Master Fu?”

“Manipulate? I deserve to know the same things that Ladybug knows!”

“That might be true, but you did it while an Akuma was flooding the city. While people were drowning”

Adrien opened his mouth, but really couldn’t refute what Plagg had said. He hadn’t stopped to think in the implications when he had done that day; after all, he still got to meet Master Fu.

“Ladybug’s power fixed that” said Adrien weakly. Even he knew it was a lame excuse.

“They came back to life, yes, but the trauma of drowning didn’t magically go away.”

“But…”

“Adrien, for once, listen to me. I’m not finished, and I don’t know how much I can maintain being this serious”

Adrien closed his mouth. Plagg being serious was a bit scary.

“Being the Holder of the Miraculous of the Black Cat is a duty, yes, nothing says you can’t enjoy its perks, but what you have to do come before what you want to do. No whats, no buts, no ifs. You duty is to stop Hawk Moth first and foremost, to protect people, not to throw a temper tantrum because you didn’t got what you wanted.”

“But Ladybug…”

“Ladybug was told not to tell. It wasn’t her secret. Would you like if your friend… glasses boy told everyone stuff you have told him in private? She got to know him because very special circumstances forced her kwami to do it.”

“But…”

“And I understand your frustration, I really do, but there’s the other times you have acted like a brat while an Akuma was attacking and wreaking havoc on the city”

“What? I never”

“That Ice Cream Akuma? When you were acting all pissy at Ladybug because she didn’t go to a date she said she wasn’t going because she already had plans? Not to mention you also ditched your friends to make that dinner”

Adrien was silent. Plagg’s words were stinging him in the worst ways. He had acted like that and he didn’t even notice it at the time. “She would love me if she gave me the chance”

Plagg had to use all his will to not facepalm in the wall. That would surely destroy the whole manor.

“Adrien. While that might be true, and I’m not saying it is, that’s not your decision to make. Ladybug doesn’t owe you anything more than collaborate to defeat the Akumas, and maybe a bit of friendship, but that is all. I have had cats that weren’t even on friendly terms with their ladybugs and they still got the job done.”

“Oh, so now I’m the worst Black Cat ever!”

Plagg noted the bitter tone. He really hated being the serious one, and he would make Adrien pay for this in camembert.

“Adrien” Plagg sighed, and then forced himself into Adrien’s field of vision. “I love you with all my heart, and if you make me repeat this, I will deny it and make you suffer with 700 years of bad luck. You are one of the most unique Black Cats I have had in my care, you’re brave, nice and always put Ladybug’s safety before yours… not always a virtue, but we’ll work on that. That’s why you acting like you have been, is so… odd. You’re a good kid, PLEASE keep that.”

“Thanks” Adrien was barely audible. Having Plagg acting like this was freaking him out, but in a good way.

“Now now, no need to get all mushy… but I do have to ask. Why side with Lila of all people?”

Adrien wiped a tear. “I wasn’t siding with Lila”

“You basically disowned Chloe.”

“I just want everyone to get along! What Chloe did seriously messed Lila”

“Lila was trapped in her own web of lies. And Chloe has done much worse than what she did today”

“But she wasn’t doing anyone any harm!”

“Except for Marinette and the tomato kid. And the ladyblog’s credibility would have been destroyed.”

“People don’t change just because you confront them.” Said Adrien defensively. “I tried. I told Chloe a lot of times, way before I met you. She just kept being Chloe. I tried again and only managed to get her butler akumatized. And my father. He was like that way before mom… He never changed. I know people don’t change”

“Still, Lila might not have changed, but people would have stopped believing her lies. She would have been akumatized sooner, but still, you should have said something”

“If I had confronted Lila, everyone would have shunned me too!” yelled Adrien, a little too loud. Fortunately, everyone in the manor was busy with their own stuff.

“Oh… Oh!” Plagg’s face went from stern to a sad realization. He approached Adrien, tentatively. He was really bad at this mushy stuff and really wished that that pony kwami of friendship or the bear of love were here instead of him. He would even settle for the kwami of fluffiness. He wasn’t sure one existed, but with the internet the way it was, it was entirely possible for humans to have come with that one. “Adrien, it’s okay. You can’t control how people feel about you, and you shouldn’t worry about that.”

“You don’t get it. I have been lonely all my life. I only had Chloe as a friend!”

“I’m the anthropomorphic representation of destruction. I know how it feels for people to hate you. Every time sometimes decays, runs down, every house that falls, every thing that explodes? They blame it on me instead of what caused it. They love Tikki, even if she created Hydras, and Chimeras and all manners of monster, but then they blamed the destruction those monsters created on me.”

Adrien looked up to Plagg. He was still unsure at how to feel about having an open talk with him.

“I know you just see me as a lazy freeloader, and I don’t blame you. I do enjoy the easy life, but should know better than that. At the very least, I should be able to hear you out. I’m bad at this stuff, but I will try my best””

“People… people who matter will NOT abandon you. At least not voluntarily. So maybe your class mates would have turned on you like they turned on Marinette due to that Mop girl lies, but you know Chloe would have jumped at your defense. Marinette too. And that Tomato boy would have been on your side. And you honestly believe Glasses dude would have abandoned you?”

Adrien was speechless. He was barely able to shook his head “no, they wouldn’t”

“Friendship is about trusting, about support and supporting. Glass… Nino even got akumatized because your dad didn’t let you have a birthday party. How many people have been akumatized for someone else?”

Adrien wanted so badly to reply with ‘Miss Bustier’ but that was not the point that Plagg was trying to make.

“I know your schedule is really packed, but you should still make time for your friends to get some stress relief. And talk to Master Fu. He’s 180 years old, he will be able to listen! And probably be better than this silly dumb cat”

“You’re not dumb” Adrien approached Plagg and hugged him as best as he could.

“Just let’s not make this a periodical thing; you’re ruining my style.”

Adrien wiped a tear from his face and gave Plagg a small smile.

“That being said, you still should apologize to them… And to Ladybug too, for how you’ve been acting.”

Adrien was about to protest but knew Plagg was right. He did need the stress relief, but also needed to work on his attitude, especially his one sided crush on Ladybug. Maybe Kagami was right after all and he should change targets. Not Kagami herself, but maybe someone else. Maybe a good friend.

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

THE END

I won’t write Adrien apologizing because, again, I can’t write angst, and it would just be rehash of the apology that Alya and Nino gave to Marinette. Adrien might slip in future fics, but at least Plagg will be quick to call him out.

Chloe too. She’s still a sassy bitch, but she will try to use her bitchiness for the Greater Good. And Marc is a good influence on her. Speaking of Marc, I want to write him with some friends of his own class, even if I have to make a ton of OCs to achieve this. And the Trials of Marinette will continue until I make a chapter for each kwami or I run out of ideas, whichever happens first.

I’m also playing with the idea of Nathaniel knowing Marinette is Ladybug(His “get Ladybug” dialogue was ambigous like that)

And I really really REALLY want to write some dialogue for Juleka and Luka calling each other names like “buttface”, “purple booger” “Lezzy McGuire”, “Jonas Brother Reject” and other such things.

#miraculous ladybug #ml fic #ml fanfic #ml karma chameleon #adrien agreste #plagg

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sssrha · 5 years

Text

Complications || Naruto Fanfiction

Everyone is dead except for Team Seven, and Naruto considers time travel a viable option. So, of course, his teammates ruin it for him. [au, oocness, one-shot, crack-fic, dark humor, gen]

[You can also read it on AO3, FFN, and Wattpad]

Begin:

Today was not a good day for Sakura Haruno. Actually, most days haven’t been good for Sakura, nor for the rest of Team Seven. One couldn’t blame them, though, seeing as the whole world was kind of wiped out and they were probably the last humans left. Well, maybe some remote tribe off in the Land of Whatever was still thriving, but as for the rest of civilization—poof! Gone in an instant.

Try as she might, though, Sakura couldn’t really bring herself to care. True, she felt sad but it was kind of a detached sadness. Occasionally, she would look around the dark cave that she and her teammates had holed up in and think, Huh, I used to have a house.

As of right now, however, she was oddly fascinated by the little spider in front of her. It climbed up the wall, its legs somehow finding a grip on the slippery surface. Carefully, Sakura prodded it with a nearby stick, and the spider started to climb up the wall faster. Resilient, then. Determined. Sakura’s smile grew. He’s the perfect friend! Absolutely convinced that Sasuke would be as excited as she was, she yelled, “Ke, look who I found!”

Sasuke, who had been devouring the leg of some animal or another, looked up. He squinted, wiping some of the blood off his cheek. Maybe I should cook it next time. Nevertheless, he called back, “What is it, Ra?”

“A spider!” Sakura turned to look at him, smiling. “You know, To told you to not eat raw meat anymore,” she said offhandedly.

Sasuke scowled and took another large bite from the chunk of meat in his hands. “To’s paranoid, and I don’t care about the spider unless I can eat it.”

Sakura got a thoughtful look on her face. She took her stick up and once again prodded at the arachnid. “I mean, you could theoretically eat him. He’s not poisonous.”

Sasuke paused. He looked up and squinted at Sakura. “Really?”

“He probably wouldn’t fill you up very much…” She stared off into space, lost in her own head.

Sasuke, meanwhile, looked back down at the unfortunate creature that had wandered into the cave. It was a little larger than his abdomen; he could probably finish it in a few more minutes, and it definitely wouldn’t fill him. A spider might help. And so, Sasuke Uchiha stood up, walked right past a contemplating Sakura, grabbed the spider on the wall, and swallowed it whole.

For a moment, there was nothing but silence in the cave. Then, Sakura let out a horrified screech. “Ke, you ate him!”

Sasuke swallowed a second time, satisfied when the spider finally stopped trying to scurry back up his throat. Then, he gave Sakura a confused look. “You said I could eat it.”

“Theoretically!” Sakura snapped. “We had a friend, Ke, and you ate him!”

Sasuke scowled. “It was a spider and I was hungry.”

“You don’t just go around eating your friends!”

“I don’t,” Sasuke agreed. “I go around eating food!”

“Friends aren’t food!”

“My friends aren’t, I don’t know about your’s!”

“You don’t have any friends!”

“Neither do you!”

They both glared at each other, full of venom. Nearly in unison, they both pulled their arms back, hands fisted, ready to throw a punch, when a voice yelled, “Not again! I swear, you two will be the death of me!” Naruto Uzumaki stomped into the cave, his shirt missing and nearly every visible inch of skin caked in mud and blood. He stared at them, scowling. “I left for twenty minutes and you two are already ready to kill each other!”

Immediately, Sasuke and Sakura pulled back. Sakura hung her head in shame but Sasuke just looked away, not making eye contact. “I’m sorry, To,” they chorused, and Naruto sighed.

“Yeah, whatever, I guess I should have—” Naruto froze, eyes zeroing in on the bloody carcass in the middle of the cave. “Sasuke! I thought I told you not to eat raw meat! Either cook it or wait for me to cook it!”

“I could cook it,” Sakura said.

“Yeah, I don’t trust you with fire.” He turned back to Sasuke. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

Sasuke scowled. “I was hungry cooking it would take too long.”

“You’re always hungry. Sasuke, you could have gotten salmonella—is that what it’s called, Sakura?”

“Yeah,” she muttered. “It can be deadly.”

“See, Sasuke? You could have died!”

“I’m not going to die.”

“Says who?”

“No one.”

“Exactly—no one because everyone is dead!”

Sasuke waved his concern away, flushing a bit when he realized that his hand was still stained red. Clearing his throat, he said, “You’re exaggerating.”

“Exagger— Oh my god, Sasuke, you’re insufferable.” Sighing, he sat down on the floor. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is this!” He pulled something out of his pack and placed it on the floor, smiling. “It changes everything.”

Sakura examined it closely. Her eyes widened. “It’s a scroll!” she said, delighted. “I can keep all my friends in there now—”

“No,” Naruto interrupted, “you cannot. This is not a storage scroll, it contains a jutsu.”

“You mean it’s storing a jutsu?” Sasuke muttered.

Naruto ignored him. “The jutsu...is a time travel jutsu!” There is a bit of silence, and Naruto took that as a cue to continue. “We can go back and save everyone! Sai and Yamato and Kakashi—”

“Kaka-sensei’s fine,” Sakura interrupted.

Sasuke nodded, though Naruto noticed him eyeing the rotting carcass again. “Yeah, he’s over there, like always.”

Against his will, Naruto turned toward the corner of the cave. There sat a skeleton, propped up against the wall. Its legs were folded, in its arms was an orange book, and a hitai-ate was slanted over one of its eye sockets. More importantly, though, a rusty kunai was jammed into its rib cage. Naruto glanced at it, then glanced back at Sasuke and Sakura. Flatly, he said, “Oops. Sorry, easy mistake.”

Sasuke snorted. He turned to Sakura and muttered, “And he calls us the insane ones.”

“Yeah,” Sakura agreed. She turned to the skeleton and called out, “Hey, Kaka-sensei, how are you?” The skeleton’s head promptly tumbled off of its body and shattered into a hundred pieces. Naruto stared, wide-eyed, but Sakura just nodded. “See, he’s fine.”

“...I’m not having this conversation with you two. Look, let’s get back to the scroll. We could...we could save Itachi! That’s great!”

Sasuke tilted his head, considering. “How would we do that?”

“We could kill Danzo!”

“But wouldn’t that create another complicated slew of problems?”

“But we can survive them!”

“No, I really don’t think we could.”

Naruto scowled. “You just said that you weren’t going to die!”

“Don’t twist my words.”

“Sa— Ugh, whatever. Look, this scroll is a good thing. Let’s do it.”

“Do what?”

“Go back in time!”

“We could,” Sakura agreed, “but what if we cause some kind of rip in the space-time continuum?”

“That won’t happen.”

“How do you know?” Sasuke asked.

“I just...what’s the point of having a time-travel jutsu if it just destroys everything?”

“Then how come we didn’t know that it existed before?” Sasuke said. “If someone has a time-travel jutsu, then they could go back in time. They could sell it and make millions.”

“They might want to keep it a secret.”

“But wouldn’t they fix everything?”

“I...maybe they fixed things for themselves.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Sakura hummed. “What if we end up in each other’s bodies by accident? What if we end up in someone else’s body?” A pause. “What if we end up in the body of a sea slug?”

Naruto stared at her. “I...whoever made this probably—”

“And what would happen if we were shoved into the body of a dinosaur right before the meteor hit Earth?” Sasuke asked. “Because that would be bad. Do you know how to control how far back we go?”

“I’m sure—”

“What if,” Sasuke continued, “we ended up in one of our parents’ bodies while they’re having se—”

“Stop it!” Naruto snapped.

Sasuke shrugged. “It could happen.”

“But—”

“It could.”

“Ke,” Sakura said, “stop it. You’re ruining it for To!”

“I’m sorry, I’m just laying out all the possibilities.” He sighed and turned to Naruto. “Sorry, To, you can do the jutsu.”

Naruto, however, was just staring down at the scroll in his hand. “I don’t think I want to go back anymore…”

Sasuke shrugged. “Fair enough.” He grabbed the scroll out of Naruto’s hand and threw it to Sakura. “Here, use it for your friends.” Sakura squealed in delight. Naruto stared blankly as she opened it, scratched out the jutsu that was written on it, and started to draw a storage seal. After a few moments, Sasuke awkwardly patted him on the back. “Don’t feel too bad, To. It was doomed to fail.”

“...yeah.”

Realizing that he hadn’t really cheered him up, Sasuke sighed and rummaged through his pack. Finally, he pulled out a deck of cards and said, “You want to play Crazy Eights?”

Sakura’s head snapped up. “I do!”

Flatly, Naruto said, “I refuse to play cards with you two.”

Sakura smiled. “You can play with Kaka-sensei. You haven’t been talking to him much lately—I think he’s starting to get worried.”

Naruto stared at her, then looked back at Kakashi’s skeleton. Well, I could get some peace and quiet for once. “Give me the damn cards.”

And that is how Naruto found himself sitting in front of the headless skeleton of his dead Sensei. A bit too late, he realized that he forgot how to play Crazy Eights. Hey, Kurama, do you remember?

There was a low growl followed by a groggy No, and Naruto’s head was once again filled with loud snores. Normally, Naruto would kick and scream and do everything in his power to get the fox to wake up—and it would never work—but he didn’t really care at the moment and, quite frankly, he was tired of being the sane one. So, he looked up to where the skeleton’s skull would have been and asked, “You got any twos?”

.fin.

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tornrose24 · 7 years

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Only a Voice part 9 (A Moana fan fic AU loosely inspired by the Little Mermaid)

In which Moana finally meets Tamatoa. Also I posted ahead of time because it was Tamatoa tuesday.

Note that this can also be found on fan fiction.net under the name HolyMaiden24

There was a dark laugh as a cloaked figure stood behind the writer who was tied into a chair. Strings of pearls and rope were tied around her wrists to the rests and she stared at them in confusion. “See, I can’t take any chances with you like with your precious readers.” The figure reached out and rested his hand’s on the writer’s shoulders. “Consider yourself lucky I didn’t do anything worse.” “Uh...” The writer frowned at the ‘binds’ “I know this isn’t as bad as decapitation by the moon from Majora’s Mask but this is just awkward.” She cringed “Seriously, string of pearls for rope? Ugh, and then I keep forgetting that you’re a Disney character, which makes this a lot more weird.” The figure laughed. “In a good way sweetheart!” “What happened?!” The writer demanded. “I thought we had a truce! And I feel betrayed!” She frowned as a genuinely hurt look was on her face. “I mean, I thought we were becoming friends! And why do you call me ‘sweetheart’?” She asked. “In fact, why did I write out that you would call me ‘sweetheart’ that one time?” “Oh you mean the A/N version of me?” The figure laughed and the writer shot him a confused look. When he pointed, she turned around to see another version of Tamatoa in the human form she imagined him and he was also tied up in a similar (but more sparkly) manner. “I took care of him too.” He added. “Explain why there was a version of Maui’s little friend playing video games and also knew who I was.” The A/N Tamatoa asked her in an annoyed tone. “And can you explain WHY I’m a human?” The writer groaned. “Oh this’ll give me and the readers a headache with the reviews.”

“Well, off to pay a visit to the little human.” The cloaked figure laughed at the readers before looking at the writer. “By the way.... I realize you’ve been trying to restrain yourself from me despite allowing my other self to give away love to the readers. I understand why, you don’t want to be THAT kind of fan.” “No, I am not THAT kind of fan and I am aware that you aren’t MY kind of guy, even if I do like characters like you.” The writer snapped before she realized something. “Wait, what did I just say?” The figure laughed as he patted the writer’s head. “Oh you silly little human, I know you can’t resist me.” He then went off. “Have fun with the denial.” The writer just stared in dumbfounded disbelief before staring at the A/N Tamatoa. “He’s... kidding, right?”

My sadistic side really enjoyed this chapter. Now I’m not trying to make enter an angst phase in this story for the heck of it. Imagine being a teenager who is going through a really difficult time, in addition to having to deal with a lot of pressure of the difficulties of adulthood and that is the painful reality that is happening here. It was also interesting for me to do something new and explore the other sides of such issues within the family and how these events are effecting them, but of course this is a story where things are about to get MUCH worse. Speaking of which... As stated before, I wanted to keep the description of Tamatoa’s human form to a minimum, with the exception of a few key details. This is so that you, the reader, can envision your favorite humanized version since there are so many awesome ones out there to use (I know I have mine on tumblr and deviantart (also, its under the name tornrose24 if you need to take a quick look), but I’m curious to know which version you opted for in the reviews). Of course there was one thing I had to include in his description no matter what because I don’t think Motonui would be an easy place to maneuver around without it (especially without a walking stick). Yeah, sorry about that. So I did some alterations to some recognizable songs. The first song might be unfamiliar because I changed most the original lyrics but if you know the song Suppertime or its reprise from Little Shop of Horrors...well, you’ll see. (it’s one of the best broadway songs in my opinion, not to mention downright creepy). And in case a select few of you are wondering, no I didn’t use ‘Goodbye Moonmen’ from Rick and Morty or ‘Mermaid’ from Flight of the Concords as fitting as they would have been. Sorry. :(

Chapter 9: The lure of the Siren When night came there was a strange quietness upon Motonui. Even the sound of the ocean in the distance seemed to have dulled down to the point that its calm nature was missing. It was only if you were more aware of your surroundings that you would notice this, yet most of the villagers were in a hushed excitement for the visitors that would come tomorrow and the fun that the events would bring. Only a select few dreaded the day that was to come, yet one resident held a special kind of fear for her role. Grandma Tala finished her drink in silence before turning to see her granddaughter huddled under the protection of the tapa that depicted Maui in all his fierce glory. She had her head bowed and her arms were drawn into her body as her arms were around them in a tight grip to the point that she looked like an unmoving rock. Her injury was cleaned, treated, and bandaged up, but nothing could be done to fix the pain within the girl. Pua sat by Moana’s side and looked up at his human friend with sorrow and whined as he wished there could be a way to cheer her up but he didn’t know how. Tala sighed as she set the drink down. She would not let her son be anywhere near his daughter for the time being as there was too much anger and heartbreak for them to be in each other’s presence. Normally she would be more than happy for Moana to come spend a night with her, but this was not a happy visit. “I don’t think I can smile when I dance.” Moana finally spoke in a pained voice while she was still curled up. “I can’t think of a reason to. Not after what has happened.” Tala wished that she could posses all the knowledge of the world, for sometimes there was no true way to comfort someone so that they could be happy before the sun rose up the next morning. She knew that feeling when her husband died and it took awhile for her to smile again, but she knew that what Moana was going through was something entirely different. Her soul had almost been crushed completely when the boats were about to be destroyed by her father’s hand and she was going to lose a friend as a result. Worse yet, she had to experience the pains of not only growing up, but the heavy burdens she knew her future would bring in her role as a leader. “I saw you leave Motonui on that boat, but I did not say a word about it.” Tala finally spoke as she tried to find a way to help the girl. “I could not see you clearly but I could feel your happiness as if you were beside me. I had prayed that the gods would make that dream come true, and they did.” “But now its a tainted dream.” Moana looked up and revealed how utterly miserable she was as well as a slight redness in her eyes from crying. Even now it looked like she was trying to hold herself together. “I thought this would be the best day of my life, but when I remember what happens after I go back to the island, I’ll always remember how badly it ends. Even the best part of today had to be taken away from me by father.” Moana let out a small, bitter sigh. “I don’t think I’m meant to have happiness.” Moana confessed. “I’m always kept from the things I want more than anything and if I get one taste of it then I’m punished for it. If people try to help me, then they get punished. And now I am expected to play a part and smile and dance as if nothing happened.” She closed her eyes. “I feel like I’m suffocating because I want to be a leader for my people, but I don’t think I could be able to live up to their expectations. I don’t know if I’ll ever find a husband that I would like or if I’d even be able to have a child to continue the line when that day comes. I’m drowning and this time there is nothing that can pull me out or save me.” “I’m scared, Grandma.” Moana looked at her grandmother with quiet despair in her brown eyes. “I’m scared because I will always have to make sacrifices whether I want to or not. I can’t make my own choices because its like fate has something in store for me and I don’t know if I want it. I don’t know if I can wear a smile for a mask for the rest of my days.” Tala stared at Moana before she took a breath. “So you think you don’t have a choice in what you say?” When Moana shook her head, she continued. “Sometimes there is no telling what the world wants us to do or what fate has in store.” Tala told Moana. “We can’t change the past and we can’t always correctly predict the future. We can’t decide to be born into the life we find ourselves in, and the given circumstances limits our options, but we do have a choice. We can chose to stick in the same spot forever or we can get up and try to move on. You can make the most of what life offers, you can fight your way out, or you can let someone else decide your path. You can stay on this island or you can leave–” “I can’t!” Moana cried. “I can’t abandon my people and yet I–!” She gave up and sighed. “Not a lot of people in my life have ever considered what I want, especially considering who I’m destined to become. And yet, of all the people who gave me that freedom to have that one day to be out at sea was someone who could have easily taken it away from me. Someone who took a serious risk for my sake.” “Ah yes, the one who cannot speak.” Tala smiled knowingly. “But why would you think that way of the one who you tried to get away from through trickery and who you could not stand? I thought you regarded him as arrogant and–” “He is!” Moana confessed as she threw a hand out. “And he treated me like a bratty child when I acted like one! Yet–” She dropped her hand as she thought about her friend. “The more I spent time with him, the more I could really see him. Arrogant, smug, and a bit of a trickster, but...” She pondered over her words as well as the man on her mind. Had her opinion of him changed that much? “He went against father’s wishes to make my dream come true and I can’t think of too many people who would be willing to do that. It took me awhile to really know him, but I could see someone who could be fun, reliable, incredibly daring, adventurous, and determined. Someone who listened and who didn’t treat me like a Chief’s daughter, but as a regular girl, and was willing and patient enough to teach me all I wanted to know. There is more to him and I want to know more about him, like what he used to do. If I could have another day on the sea with him, I would take it in a heartbeat and not just because it would mean that I would have that day on the sea once more. And if it was in my power, I would do anything to pay him back for all he did. I’d even give him his voice back if I knew how to do it.” And in truth, she almost wished it were possible that he could stay in her life a little longer or at least that he could come back to visit her. If he was to leave her life forever, she doubted that she could ever forget him that easily. “And its all my fault that he’s going to be sent away.” Moana sighed. “For all he did, he gets banishment as repayment and I can’t do anything to stop it or say goodbye. I don’t think I even gave him a thank you hug in all the time I knew him.” Come to think of it, did she ever have a chance to do that? She verbally thanked him, but she never expressed it in the gesture that would have meant so much more and would tell him everything that she would not be able to say. Tala frowned as she thought some things over. “Would he be worth defying your father?” She finally asked. Moana looked up in confusion as Tala added “Some people and causes are worth defying all odds. Some sacrifices are worth making and no matter how large your foe may be, you can overcome them by being your true self as well as being true to yourself. Remember what I said about having a choice?” Moana was about to ask her grandmother what she really meant when they heard footsteps coming towards the fale. Afraid that it was her father, Moana hurried to one corner of the room while Tala got up with her cane and went to move the entrance aside. “May I speak with you alone?” It was her mother and she sounded desperate and lost. “Its about some things that happened today.” “I will in a second.” Tala nodded and walked to Moana where she knelt beside her. “Remember, if you really don’t feel up to dancing tomorrow, you can always claim illness at the last moment.” Tala whispered to Moana. “It works every time.” She then raised her voice as she got back up. “Would you like me to bring anything back? Some fruit perhaps?” Moana shook her head before turning to Pua. “I’d like to be alone for a bit, Pua.” She told him. “Could you go with Grandma?” Pua was reluctant to do so, partly because he didn’t want Moana to suffer alone, but also because he sensed that there was something wrong in the air. It was as if there was a strong force, like a large amount of mana that was compressed all together and stuffed into a coconut shell that could barely hold it in, but it wasn’t comforting and he had no idea what it was. “Please?” Pua reluctantly left Moana and followed Tala out of the fale as his concern for his friend won over his concern for the strangeness in the air. He hoped that Moana would have some time to clear her thoughts before they got back. Moana watched as Tala and Pua left and she could see a row of torches outside that illuminated the black darkness in their welcoming glow. When the entrance fell, she could see the lights from the torches through the tapas as well as the designs upon them. She turned to the tapa that she was originally under that depicted Maui–that intense gaze and those barred teeth made her think of her friend’s moment of anger from earlier–and she recalled her dream with the mysterious woman. So long as you are by the ocean or within it, it will protect you from a certain danger.” The words rang in her head but they only made her annoyed. “What good was being safe near the water when all it did was cause me trouble?” Moana asked the tapa of Maui before turning around to look at all the tapas. “What could can any of you be to me now?!” She demanded with a scowl as she walked around the room and shot accusing looks at the characters. “I can’t overcome my foe because he wishes to control my future! I can’t just abandon my people, no matter how much I want to leave! I’m not a hero like some of you and I don’t have the power like the rest! I can’t save my friend and I can’t save myself!” She felt like she was suffocating again, like she was choking on something unseen. “I know father will still try to burn down the boats.” She felt herself going into a panic. “I let our heritage be destroyed because of me! I let one person get in trouble because of me! I just can’t get out of the dance because of how much it means to me! I’m expected to do things that I don’t know if I can or not, I’ll always have to mask my real feelings–” She was drowning in her stress and she tried to swim back up in an angry outburst. “No one cares about what I want! Why would any of you start caring?!” She cried out to the characters. “Do any of you understand how I feel?! I can’t be the person–I don’t want to be–I–!” She didn’t know what she wanted anymore. “I don’t know what my true self is.” She stopped at the tapa of Tamatoa and collapsed under it. “I can’t–” She felt her tears coming. “I can’t–” She curled herself into a ball again and tried to calm herself as her head bowed into her knees. She was terrified and she wanted out. She didn’t want tomorrow to come and she wanted to defy all odds but she had no clue how. She couldn’t be true to herself and she had no idea who she was anymore. All she knew was that she was just a stupid, selfish little brat who couldn’t do anything right. Moana started to sob as her tears came flowing out while the ball of stress was still locked inside her body. The light from the torch outside illuminated the tapa Moana was in front of and it revealed all the sinister details that made up Tamatoa who was right above her. Yet an ominous shadow of a figure from outside walked forth and stopped in front of the tapa and covered up the character on it. The shadow blocked Moana from the light, trapping her in its darkness, and as she continued to sob, the shadow waited for a few seconds. “Hey little princess hello...” A smooth, yet deep sounding voice sang out from behind Moana. Moana ceased her crying as she took in the voice through her stress filled mind. “Wh-whose there?” She sniffed as she slowly raised her head and acknowledged that she was not alone. “You’re looking glum as can be...” She never heard such a voice before; it had a smooth, calming quality and yet there was an odd seductiveness about it that made you want to hear more. “Hello?” Moana’s voice rose in strength with her demanded as she began to forget her concerns. Who was outside the fale and singing as if it was for her and her alone? “You’re looking mighty sad.” The voice continued to croon and it was at this point that Moana finally got up, but the figure retreated away from the tapa as if he sensed what she was doing. “It’s so plain to me.” Moana wiped her tears off her face as she walked over to the entrance to the fale and opened it to see an almost human like figure in strange cape like garments of dark greens and browns that completely covered him from head to toe and slightly dragged upon the ground. He took one of the torches off the ground and proceeded to walk away from the fale with a strange staggering movement as if his steps varied between normal and uneven. “Well if you need a friend,” He continued singing as he went about his way “I got a hand to lend.” Curious as to who this strange singer was, Moana watched as he got farther away before she went over to also grab one of the torches. She watched as he headed his way on a side trail that lead somewhere near the mountains and forested area of the mountain in that strange walk of his. Could he be her friend? No, she was positive that couldn’t be what his actual voice sounded like (and she wasn’t sure if he did escape) but she felt compelled to follow this man who didn’t sound like any of the men from her village. No man she knew of possessed a voice that seductive or that unique. If truth be told, any distraction was a welcome to the girl and this was a very interesting one. “Come on, come on,” He sang as if he knew she was following him as he got further and further away into the darkness of the night with only a torch to guide him. “Come on, come on,” And follow him she did, away from her grandmother’s fale. “Come on, come on.” His singing continued to make Moana forget her troubles from earlier that day and her sadness turned to a burning curiosity. She wanted to know who this person was while at the same time she was drawn to his voice, which seemed to numb away her inner turmoil. “Poor unfortunate soul,” He sang another song. “In pain, in need. This one longing for their freedom, this one longing to escape, and do I help them? Yes indeed.” Moana was barely paying attention to his words as she continued following this strange figure farther and farther away from the village. It was easy to follow him due to his limping movements and his torch which he held as far away from him as possible, yet she was unaware as to where exactly he was going as they continued. Moana wanted more than anything to see the face of the one who possessed such a voice. She already had to go through many years wondering about the face of the voice she tried her hardest to remember. If her savior’s voice had been like a warm day with the sun at its highest point in the sky and was deep and full of life, then this voice had a strange playfulness about it and a smoldering quality, with a rich depth unlike that of the ocean. Eventually he changed his song again that practically radiated with confidence. “Well Tamatoa hasn’t always been this glam,” He crooned. “He was a drab little crab once. Now he knows he can be happy as a clam, because he’s beautiful, baby.” 

“Did your granny say, listen to your heart?” He continued as his voice picked up in volume. “Be who you are on the inside?” I need three words to tear her argument apart: your granny lied.” Moana became aware that they were now somewhere between the forests and the mountains as he continued in a more upbeat, show-offish manner. “I’d rather be shiny! Like a treasure from a sunken pirate wreck! Scrub the deck and make it look shiny! I will sparkle like a wealthy woman’s neck!” For a brief moment Moana was reminded of her friend’s earlier smug behavior and felt convinced that if this man wasn’t him then these two would probably get along. In that moment she felt a twinge of regret and she completely missed part of the man’s song. When she came back to reality, she only heard “-they chase anything that glitters! Beginners! Oh, and here they come, come, come, to the brightest thing that glitters!” At this point the man stopped at a small dead end of an area where the earth rose up to serve as walls, though one wall was low enough that you could see the tops of the nearby trees. There were some plants and a few boulders and rocks, yet there were a few torches already placed here and there to give the area equal illumination. It was here that the man hummed the rest of the song and he thrusted the torch in between a few boulders and Moana stopped a few feet away to see what he would do. He cracked his head to one side and took the odd garment off before quickly throwing it away as far as he could as if he hated it and he let out a deep sigh of relief. He made to roll his head for a moment but then he paused for a second when he seemed to be aware that someone had followed him. “Well, well, well,” He sang with a low, amused tone as he turned around to face Moana, who almost flinched in surprise and even backed away a few steps when she realized that he was now fully aware of the fact that she followed him. This man was not ordinary in appearance. His clothing was unusual in that the vibrant colors were impossible to create with any ordinary dyes, nor did they look natural. His adornments included strange looking objects and materials that flashed and shone in the light of the fire and he even wore them as accessories. His appearance was so peculiar and flashy, yet so other worldly, that Moana had no idea if she was standing before a warrior, a lord, or even one of the gods. When she looked down, she realized why the man walked so oddly–he was missing part of a leg on one side and he was wearing some sort of prosthetic unlike any she had ever seen as a replacement so that he could be able to walk like a normal two legged person. “What have we here?” Moana looked up when the stranger asked in an amused and eager tone of voice. His talking voice was slightly different than his singing voice as he had specific accent that was more prominent and made the emphasis on some of the words come out differently than what Moana was used to. “I thought I heard someone following me.” He flashed the girl a strange grin that revealed a set of crooked teeth as he walked over to her. “I didn’t expect that it would be the young princess of this island herself!” He then bowed before her in a dramatic flourish, his upper body bending low as far as he could and his free arm extending completely out to the side. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness!” “I–uh–” Moana felt a little unsure as to what was going on. “I’m not a princess.” She told him with a slight awkwardness. “I’m the Chief’s daughter–I’m afraid isn’t the same thing.” The stranger let out a strange scoffing sound. “Aw, it doesn’t matter.” He got up and rolled his eyes before walking towards her. “From what I know, the titles are all the same.” He then did something Moana didn’t expect when he got close enough– he reached out and took her free hand with an almost light as an air hold and extreme carefulness. It was as if he was barely touching her and was trying to avoid completely grabbing her hand as if doing so would break it and he lowered himself slightly to her level as his other arm went behind his back. “Enchante, mon princesse.” The stranger gave Moana a wide, yet oddly charming smile before he raised her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. It was such a sudden gesture that Moana had no idea how to react, yet she felt herself blushing at the contact of his lips against her hand. She couldn’t deny that there was a strangely charismatic nature about this man, despite his other oddities. “Was that too forward?” The stranger flatly asked with a frown after kissing her hand when he saw the blush, yet his eyes hinted at a pleasure towards her reaction. “You’ll have to forgive me.” The stranger continued as he lowered her hand from his face and he looked into her eyes. “I know that’s not the traditional greeting around these parts, but I’m a collector and I tend to pick up more than just treasures when I go out and about in the world. Its quite educational and some of the things I find are beyond your wildest imagination.” Moana heard his words but she was looking at his eyes–they were a beautiful shade of deep blue, like certain parts of the waters around Motonui, yet his left pupil was slightly larger than the right one. She wondered how that was possible (an injury or something he had since birth?) and she missed hearing the stranger brag about his career as a collector until he finally said: “Hey, babe?” The stranger’s unique eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Just pick one to look at.” “Sorry!” Moana shook her head with a cringe of embarrassment and focused on his face altogether. “You must get easily distracted a lot, don’t you?” He asked as he finally let go of her hand and he stood back up. “Granted I can’t blame you since I’m impressive looking to begin with and I know I got a nice set of eyes.” He let out a smug smile at this as he gestured to himself with a dramatic flourish. “I actually quite enjoy the staring, so I forgive you for stalking me.” “Wha–?! No, I–!” Moana didn’t know whether to be offended or not by his earlier words but she didn’t want to embarrass herself either, nor did she want to seem offensive (she did notice that he was missing a leg after all, in addition to the differences in his pupils). “I mean I did follow you,” She stammered “But that was only when I heard you singing and you were covered up and–and you are a great singer!” She quickly added before she could offend him. The man’s face dropped in confusion for a second. “Wait... you actually liked the singing.” “Yes.” Moana smiled a little after making that recovery as she moved her torch in her other hand. “I’ve never heard a voice like yours. I was feeling depressed about some things that happened but I forgotten all about them now, so thank you.” It was true, she did forget her troubles. The stranger stared at her in disbelief before he let out a smile that felt a lot more genuine then the others. “You mean it?” He laughed in delight. “Thanks, mon princesse! The last time I sang, I was told to shut up!” “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Moana frowned as she wondered how that happened. He was a great singer, so it couldn’t have been because he was terrible. “Yeah, well he got what he had coming to him!” The stranger’s following laugh was now more out of amusement but there was an odd thing about it that felt wrong and almost mean spirited. “Actually it was kind of ironic, now that I think about it!” His laughter died down for a moment and the humor in his eyes vanished. “You know its almost funny.” He mused as he suddenly became lost in thought. “There was a time when I thought my voice alone could make others see some sort of value in me. In fact it used to be my only favorite thing since it could make others happy.” His eyes became melancholic and he paused for a few moments to turn his head around to try to look at his back for some odd reason. “And then you find out that no matter what you do, all people care about is what’s outside and whether or not you’re–” He quickly shook his head and that smugness returned when he moved his head back to the confused girl. “But hey, why should others care about how you feel, right?” He closed his eyes as he cupped his chin with one hand. “Its not like it’s more important than politics, preparations, appearances, or why the sky is missing some stars at night.” The stranger opened his eyes and let go of his chin to wave his hand out. “Though I can see quite a lot above our heads right now.” He looked up for a second. “I wonder how they shine like that.” One part of what he said was oddly specific and yet it caught Moana’s attention all the same. “You know that Maui’s constellation is missing too?!” She asked. “Tell me,” She stepped forward. “What do you know about it? Why has it vanished?” “Oh?” The stranger seemed rather interested in her reaction. “So you hum–” He was about to say something but then hummed it instead before changing his words ”–you noticed that, didn’t you?!” His eyes then narrowed at Moana as his mouth turned into a smirk. “Question, O daughter of a Chief–well, its more like a personality question. Not one of the annoying kinds, like what your favorite color is!” He waved his hand but then he paused again. “Jewel tones.” He quickly threw it in as if he considered the answer but then he waved his hand again. “Anyway, its something more meaningful like...” His smirk deepened as his voice lowered to a strange, ominous tone as he leaned in towards Moana “What would you say if Maui turned his back on the human race and left them because they all took him for granted?” Moana stared in disbelief. What kind of question was that? “No,” She shook her head. “No he wouldn’t do that!” She denied this. “We appreciate all that he has done for us! We tell his stories and they inspire us even today! He wouldn’t just leave us like that!” That couldn’t be why the constellation vanished because Maui was said to genuinely care about the well being of humans. It just wasn’t a good enough of a reason. The stranger was taken aback by this but then he let out an odd snorting sound mixed with a laugh. He tried to hold it in yet he covered his hand as he snickered at Moana’s reaction and she thought she heard him mutter something behind it. “Oh sorry forgive me, something about that reminded me of something amusing that has to do with an old friend.” He shrugged and waved his hand again. “So despite all the less savory tales about him, you honestly believe that Maui is still a hero to you all? That he won’t get upset because one or two humans took advantage of his generosity over the years? You really think he is selfless enough to care about the feelings of at least one human if he goes missing, let alone if he actually does exist?” His words struck a small blow into Moana’s heart but the anger she held came back. “You probably know as much about him as you know about me!” The man stared at her and was taken aback by her outburst but then he shook his head as he threw his hands out when he shrugged. “Like I said, mon princesse–it was just a personality question.” “Of course I know enough to know that you were hiding a few secrets of your own and that you got in a lot of hot water with your daddy earlier today.” The stranger added as he walked around Moana, who was forced to turn around to follow him. “You are a little like me in a way–you can’t stand being like the others and being trapped and unable to do your own thing is suffocating you. You know that you were meant to shine and someone is trying to keep you in the dark. I know you have dreams and goals, mon princesse, but you can’t for reasons either beyond your control or because someone tells you not to do the things you want. And I’ve experienced enough to know that being selfless isn’t going to help you in the long run.” He gave her a sideways glance. “Trust me, I’ve been there and done that. I’ve been lied to before by someone close to me about how inner beauty can get you by in life. Unlike all your subjects and your family, I can give you a way to get off this island as far as you’d like to go.” “What do you mean?” Moana asked as something in her head was screaming that something wasn’t right. “Well, if you do everything exactly as I say, you can get off this island before tomorrow night.” The man shot her an incredibly wide eyed look and a mischievous grin–the effect didn’t make him look human and it started Moana for a moment. “You see, I can guarantee that the way things are going, you are going to be stuck here miserable and forever doing what everyone wants you to do instead of the other way around. Now if you are willing to ignore the ‘voice’–” His features relaxed back to normal when he used his fingers with one hand to make air quotations on that word “–in your heart and give in to being a little selfish, you can free yourself and get what you desire the most. And all my ideas and back up plans, mon princesse? Every one of them gets you right off the island.” “So what do you say?” He stopped and held a hand out to her. “Want to free yourself from all these people and get off for good?” Moana stared at the stranger before staring at the hand. She wanted so badly to get off the island after all that happened, yet this was all too good to be true. “Why exactly do you care about what I want?” She asked. “Why me, of all people? I don’t see how this benefits you.” “Hey, I recognize a real diamond in the rough when I see one.” The man told her. “You got out on a boat one time, but it wasn’t enough, was it? Don’t you want more of that? To be part of that world?” He gestured out to where the sea was. “Even if one can almost drown in it or if there are a bunch of storms and monsters down below, I can’t blame you. The ocean gave me a heck of a time when I tried to get here but its better out there, take it from me.” Moana hesitated and she was about to ask what the man wanted from her when she realized something. How exactly did he know about the boat and her dad being angry at her in the first place? How did this man get on the island without anyone being aware of him? Wouldn’t someone have told her and her grandmother? And how did he– He mentioned drowning. Moana paused and looked at his garments and at the strange objects he had that seemed to shine in the firelight. There were not many objects she knew of that could do that and fact some of these strange objects shone so well that the shine was almost a brilliant white. Something shiny hit her in the eye earlier today and it wasn’t the sun. The angle wasn’t correct and she wasn’t looking at it, so you would have needed something reflective to have the light bounce off. Then it hit her like a rock to the head. “You,” Moana gasped as she held a hand to her mouth in shock. The man raised an eyebrow at her and, despite her warning scream in her head, she let it out “You were the reason I–!” Then Moana realized that the man had deliberately lured her away from the village. He knew where to find her and he had something in mind when he got her away when she was all alone. In fact this area had been set up as if he was expecting her to come to him. She was beginning to be afraid. “I...I just remembered that my grandma will be looking for me.” Moana avoided the stranger’s gaze as she tried to walk backwards away from him. “In fact I think there might be some people out around this area tonight.” She lied with a straight face. “Maybe I could come by tomorrow instead.” She turned around and was about to walk away when she heard the man approach her and grab her free arm in a painful squeeze. “You know its very rude to walk out of a conversation that hasn’t ended yet, babe.” The man’s voice came out in a warning hiss before Moana turned around to face him. “Weren’t you taught better than that?” The stranger’s pleasantries faded and his eyes narrowed at Moana, who now realized that despite his impressive appearance there was something about this man that was wrong. She was just too distracted by her issues and his showiness to see it. She couldn’t put her finger on what was wrong with this man, but there was something hiding behind the grandiose surface and within his eyes. Her grandmother’s warning on how appearances could be deceiving could not have been more effective in any other situation. “You were the reason I was blinded on the boat today!” She trembled as she yelled out her accusation. “You caused that to happen and I almost died!” She narrowed her eyes at the man before her. “Did you tell my father about me being out on the sea too?!” She demanded. “Who are you and what do you really want with me?!” The look of embarrassed surprise in the man’s eyes was all Moana needed to know the answer. “Oh ho, aren’t you a clever one.” The stranger scowled as annoyance flashed in his eyes. Moana slowly stepped back as the man got closer to her as he kept his hold on her. “I’ve yet to meet your daddy, so no I wasn’t the reason why he found out, but he’s getting too curious for his own good at the moment. The thing is, you have no idea what you got yourself caught up in and I’m afraid I’m going to have to resort to a drastic measure.” He made as if to take something out of his clothes. Moana took no chances–she waved the torch between her and the man as hard as she could. The man recoiled in terror from the torch as fast as he could and almost stumbled backwards but by then she made a run for it. The man groaned in annoyance as he regained his balance before running after the teenager. “Why did I forget the bloody fire in her hands?!” It was almost as if the person who brought fire to the humans was still around her! Moana ran as fast as she could as she tried to figure out where she was and how close the village was with her fire in her hand. She might have a chance to outrun the stranger since he had a handicap (it was not the first time she took advantage of something like that), but she had no idea what it was that he really wanted with her and she didn’t want to take any chances. “GET BACK HERE!” The stranger yelled as she heard him coming. “I SWEAR IF YOU DON’T, I’LL MAKE THIS MUCH MORE DIFFICULT FOR YOU!” Moana chose not to respond back as she ran as fast as she could. Her injured leg was still recovering and was protesting against her actions, but she ignored the pain. A part of her wished there was someone by her side to help her, but she also felt confident that she could find the village. If she was close enough or else she could see it, then she would yell for help. At the same time, if she yelled for help, he would find her based off the sound of her voice. She once swore to never let herself be kidnapped again and to be ready if something happened, and now that was going to be put to the test. “I MEAN IT, YOU GET ONE CHANCE TO COME BACK!” He yelled again. The voice that was once so pleasant was now a cause of alarm and fear. “DON’T BLOW IT, BABE!” Where was she?! She thought she knew this island by heart and yet the darkness made it unfamiliar to her. Any moment the stranger could find her and already it seemed that her insides were starting to hurt from all the running! She knew that there was a freshwater pond and a waterfall close by if this pathway was familiar in the light of the torch. There was also a set of rocks she could hide behind over there if she was careful, but that meant that she would have to sacrifice her light. It was the only give away to her location and although she was afraid of doing it, she had no choice. The stranger sounded as if he were getting closer to her. She wished deep down that there was someone by her side and she wanted to scream but she couldn’t. Her heart was pounding and adrenaline was kicking in. She could barely even feel whatever she was stepping on underneath her as she ran for her life. Finally she found the small, narrow pathway that lead to the waterfall and she ran into it. When she finally saw the waterfall and the pond that turned into a stream that headed to her village, she glanced at the rocks, before hurling the torch into the waterfall. She quickly darted right to the rocks and crouched behind them where she was forced to wait. The darkness that she once feared could now become her greatest ally in this time of distress. “BABE!” The man sang. “WHERE ARE YOU BABE?!” Moana closed her eyes and covered her mouth as her body shook out of fear. Her breathing was already heavy from the hard work and it would be a give away to her hiding spot. Don’t find me, don’t find me, don’t find me. She pleaded. The footsteps slowed down and they got closer and closer to the waterfall. Moana held her breath. Her family and her friends raced though her mind as she feared what would happen if she was caught. The footsteps stopped. Moana pleaded to the gods to divert his attention away from this area. The steps then sounded as if they were retreating until there was a silence. Moana looked up to see that there was nothing out there; the sound of the waterfall cascading down into the pound was the only thing to break the silence. It seemed that the darkness was truly her ally for once in her life. With a huge sigh of relief, Moana got up from her hiding spot and held her face in her hands as she walked around the rocks. She would need to be extra careful getting out of here and she would have to alert the village about the stranger. She needed to get help and she needed to hide in a place where there was a lot of people. Moana took a few moments to calm herself down and she took a few deep breaths before she lowered her hands and opened her eyes to face the waterfall... and let out a strangled gasp of horror as her heart stopped. Staring right back at her was a large and incredibly monstrous face. She couldn’t make out what it was supposed to be, but it had intense colored markings of garish pink and dark blue on its face and somewhere illuminating the silhouette of its mountain of a head was a bright light blue glow. There was also pink and black colored antennas above its eyes–white eyes that were huge with a small dot of purple in each one and they were staring right at her. The water of the waterfall made the face ripple and distort a little, which only made the overall effect even more sinister. Moana took a few steps back before turning around as quickly as she could, only to come face to face with the stranger she had been trying to escape from. But now there was a big change in his appearance–the stranger also glowed in the darkness like the monster in the waterfall. All the peculiar adornments and accessories that he wore now glowed with that same light blue and he too also bore the blue and pink markings on his face. Even the whites of his eyes glowed as their blue color turned into the bright purple that belonged to the monster. Moana gasped in terror as she turned to try to get away before she found herself facing the monster in the waterfall again. She then hesitated as she stared up at the monstrous face and then realized that there was supposed to be a wall of earth and rocks behind the waterfall and there was nothing behind the stranger to cause that reflection. “What... what the...?” Moana gasped as her eyes widened while she tried to make sense of what was going on in her state of panic. The monster’s eyes narrowed at Moana and the purple of his eyes changed colors–one became light blue and the other became a garish pink. At the same time, his mouth grew into a big grin to reveal his white teeth which were as crooked as those of the one behind her. “Oh, babe, babe, babe.” The monster’s mouth moved, but the voice that spoke out belonged to that of the stranger. Moana turned around–her eyes wide with fear–as the man grinned and his eyes also changed like those of the monster’s. He took out a strange necklace with a purple shell with golden flecks that gave off a faint glow and he held a hand out to her. “You really shouldn’t have seen that.” In her panic, Moana made to run as fast as she could around the man, but he grabbed her when she was close enough and slammed her into one of the walls of earth that trapped her in this area with him. The strength behind the move was far more powerful than that of a normal human being and the force against the wall was enough to almost knock the air out of the young girl. While she was stunned, she fell to the ground and struggled to catch her breath as the man came and bent down to her level. Moana cried out as the stranger grabbed her neck with one hand, and forced her back up to her feet against the wall. Moana tried to scream but his hold was too tight to the point that he was almost chocking her; she tried to kick at him, but he kept his distance as if he expected it to happen. Instead she was forced to try to pull his arm away from her with her hands and she tugged as hard as she could, but it was futile. “I can’t believe you are the only thing in my way, but I can still use this to my advantage.” The stranger growled as he glared at Moana, who now tried to scratch at his hands while kicking at him. He then smirked as the hand that held onto the necklace flipped it in the air within the safety of his grasp before it was dangling down low between his fingers and thumb. “You humans with your embellishments to stories.” The stranger continued with a chuckle as he raised the necklace in front of Moana’s face. “Of course there are ways to make them real if you have the right possessions on hand.” “Wh–” Moana struggled to snarl at the man. “What are you doing?!” “Ever seen one so shiny?” The man sang as he waved his free hand and the shell of the necklace waved back and forth in front of Moana’s eyes. “Soak it in because it’s the last you’ll ever see.” Moana made to pull to the side, yet the man kept his hold and forced her off the wall and into a position that forced her to bend her knees as she furiously tried to pull his hand away as hard as she could. “Ces’t la vie, mon ami, I’m so shiny!” He sang in a dark cheerfulness as the glow of the shell grew and Moana tried her hardest to break free. “Now I’ll claim you so prepare your final plea, just for me.” He almost begged it as if it gave him pleasure. Against her will, Moana’s eyes were being drawn to the shell of the necklace that seemed to wave in time to the beat of the tempo of the stranger’s song. The more it glowed, the more she was drawn to it and her struggles were slowing down as the whites of the man’s eyes and the eyes themselves shifted from blue to pink and back again in a crazed manner and his grin widened. “You’ll never be quite as shiny,” He taunted Moana as her head began to throb and the browns of her eyes were slowly being taken over by a milky purple color. “You’ll wish you were nice and shiny!”

In back in the safety of the village, Sina slowly approached the fale of the man who could not speak with a basket of food in her hands. Tala followed her close behind with Pua by her feet and she could only let out a sigh and shake her head when she saw that there was already someone guarding the entrance to the fale with a club in their hands. “Maybe its better if I never tell them.” Sina quietly confessed to Tala as she looked down at the basket. “Maybe I’m not pregnant after all and it was a false alarm. Its not going to make things better.” She wanted so badly to tell Tui that she was positive that this was why her body was behaving so strangely lately (there had been so many signs and one of the women who helped deliver newborns that she confided in earlier was also convinced about this), but now it just felt too early to say. In fact, there could not have been a worst time for a feud to strike to prevent her from letting her family know. “It won’t unless you can help mend the bond between father and daughter.” Tala advised Sina. “If Moana chooses to stay with you tonight, please watch over her, will you?” Sina asked. Tala could only walk up to her daughter-in-law and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She carefully patted it before walking away. “Good night, Sina.” “Good night.” Sina responded with a weak smile before heading to the fale and Pua followed after her. When the guard looked up, she held the basket out to show why she was there and he nodded and parted to the side; Sina nervously went inside to see what her husband had done. The man had been tied to one of the central beams that held the fale up. A rope had been wrapped a few times around both his stomach and the beam he was pressed up against and his hands were tied at the wrists to the point that they allowed some comfortable movement, but they still kept them bound together. He had been forced to the ground in a sitting position and he was slumped over in a dejected manner to the point that his head hung low and his hair hid some of his face from view. Sina hated the sight and she wished that her husband hadn’t gone to this extent. She walked over and set the basket down close enough so that he could reach the food. “I’m sorry, I can’t find a good enough reason to excuse why my husband did the things he did.” Sina tried to apologize for something she knew she had no control over. He didn’t look up to indicate that he heard her, which made her lose more of her confidence. Even Pua tried to bump his head into the man’s leg, but he didn’t bother to notice Moana’s little friend. “I’ll see what I can do for you in the meantime.” Sina tried to say. “If it were in my power I–” There was no point in saying anything that could give him hope at the moment. She would give him an empty promise if she did. She sighed again and got up to turn around but stopped. She wanted to say something–anything–to cheer him up or give him closure, but she didn’t know what to say. It was only when she made it to the entrance and Pua followed her that the man finally looked up at Sina. She didn’t see the look of regret in his eyes before the light from outside vanished and he was stuck in the dark once more.

Sina later found her husband lost in thought as he looked at the strange golden brown object in his hands in their fale. She already knew the story behind it, but that wasn’t her concern. “You say that earning trust is important, but isn’t Moana’s trust in you as her father just as important?” Sina asked as she was determined to follow Tala’s advice. “You are afraid of losing her because of what happened in the past, but there are other ways to lose her forever. Could you imagine what would of happened if you did burn down those boats?” Tui turned his head to look at his wife, but he did not respond. “If I was in her position, I would have left the island and never came back.” Sina hardened her gaze. “I try to avoid picking sides and to help the two of you see the other’s views, but you went too far this time, Tui. Moana is also my daughter and I care about her happiness and well being. You cannot burn down those boats or else we could lose her for good.” Tui looked as if he wanted to answer but he could only force his eyes away from Sina, who was angry at this. At least her husband could be able to talk, so this was not excusable. “Can’t you at least let her say goodbye to her friend?!” Sina demanded. “I don’t want her to hate you Tui, but you have to at least make an effort to show that you aren’t the heartless father she thinks you are! What do you think will happen to her when he leaves the island?! What will happen if you choose to burn down the boats when the visitors leave?! What will happen to this family?! Do you think she would want to sleep in her own home with us ever again?!” “Eventually she will forget what happened, Sina.” Tui could only say. “Oh and like you didn’t forget your friend or your father?!” Sina yelled. It was at this point that Pua crawled away as far as he could from the argument. “Why would you bring them into this?!” He demanded. “We can’t forget the people who leave strong impressions on us!” Sina threw her hands out. “Especially those we were close to! So unless you try to find a way to fix this situation, you’ll be at risk of making Moana think that you were a horrible father to her when you were alive! She’s not going to have us in our lives forever!” Sina added. She had to stop herself from saying anything that could make the situation worse. She wanted to tell Tui that she wanted to be able to go to the other islands herself, that Moana might view the man who could not speak as a better father figure than Tui was when she looked back on those lost to her, that maybe his friend would not have appreciated how Tui was ‘honoring’ his memory. She needed to get through her husband’s stubbornness and make him see before her family was ruined forever. Sina glanced at the object in Tui’s hands. “You should return that back where it came from.” She advised with a scowl. “They say its bad luck to take something that belongs to the gods and I would not be surprised if that belonged to one of them.” “Its dark out and we won’t have time for that tomorrow.” Tui countered. “The owner lost it and they would have come for it if they knew it was missing.” “Then I guess you better not burn the boats.” Sina countered. “Because if you’re suspicion is correct, then we don’t know what will happen if the owner is not a friendly being.” Meanwhile a certain teenager was stumbling through the village as if lost in a trance. The moment she saw the Chief’s fale, she paused for a moment to take it in before she straightened herself up and headed towards it with more natural steps. Inside the fale, Pua sensed Moana approaching and he hurried out to greet her. The moment he finally located her coming towards the fale, he stopped and all he could do was stare in confusion. Sina sensed why Pua had left the fale and she stepped out to see her daughter looking at one of the many torches. “Moana?” Sina asked as she went to approach her daughter. Strangely enough, her daughter was dressed in an unusual skirt and top that was composed of a strange hue of magenta, with touches of blue and yellow. Even the clothing was somehow adorned with blue–green stones around her neck and what looked like rows of pearls upon the skirts. There was a string of pearls on top of her head like a crown and the only thing about her attire that did not change was the bandages around her injury. “Moana?” Sina asked again. Moana finally looked away from the fire and her eyes seemed to have a strange look in them like she was somewhere else. “Mother.” Moana nodded with a strange stiffness and a small smile. “Are you feeling well?” Sina was concerned and found herself holding her hands together. Was Moana still suffering and was this the result of it? She also wanted to know where Moana got that dress, but she was more concerned about Moana’s well being. Moana broke into a slightly wider smile as she straightened her back. “I’m perfectly fine.” Moana nodded and spoke in a strangely upbeat tone as if everything was perfectly natural, but there was still something about her that seemed restrained. “I just don’t think I can sleep here tonight. I think I’ll sleep at grandma’s instead.” Pua frowned from where he was as he looked over Moana. Something was wrong about her besides her outfit, which wasn’t exactly her style–there was a strange air about her that didn’t feel natural. He trotted over to her to see what it was. “I understand.” Sina nodded with a frown as she tried to hide her worries. “I know a lot has happened and I understand if you need to be away from your father for a bit.” Moana’s smile twisted for a second and she flinched at the mention of her father. Sina saw the intense flash of anger in her daughter’s eyes, but to her it felt perfectly understandable since she wasn’t happy at Tui herself right now. “I would like that very much.” Moana admitted. At this point, Pua approached his companion and when he tried to push against her leg, she didn’t acknowledge him by looking down or petting him like usual. “Well... I’ll see you in the morning.” Sina turned around and left, feeling horrible that she didn’t have any other way to fix the situation before tomorrow morning. And who knew what would happen tomorrow while each member of her family was supposed to act like everything was ok? Moana turned around and ignored Pua, who tried to paw at her leg with one of his feet. She went on and walked away without even looking down. Pua immediately regretted leaving her alone. He was offended that she didn’t notice him, but he could tell something was wrong because this behavior wasn’t like Moana. He knew something had happened when he left her alone and it had to do with that strange atmosphere from earlier. He had to be extra careful so that he could figure out what was going on and what had happened to her. And that meant that he could not afford to let any of the villagers put him in an enclosure with the other animals. Moana continued walking and when she passed by the fale of the man who could not speak, the person with a club moved in front of the entrance as if she was going to try to enter it. She only stopped to look at it for one second before glancing back at the fale where her father was. The mask broke as her forced smile darkened into an angry glare and her eyes narrowed at it. What he did today was unforgivable. She would not let him get away with what he had done. Did he want her to be the perfect daughter? Oh she would give him the perfect daughter tomorrow. She shot her angry look at the person in front of the fale and they almost stumbled backwards in surprise at how intense her gaze was. Satisfied, Moana continued on her way.

Somewhere not too far from the village, the stranger Moana encountered stood by one of the torches he stole as he examined his arm. It was a very human like appendage made of flesh and bone instead of a hard shell and when he took the princess’ hand to kiss it, it wasn’t a claw that was holding her hand and his sense of touch had been heightened to the point that he could actually feel her skin. He had taken a drastic measure in order to make sure that the human wouldn’t get in the way. Granted the ocean had been dead set on keeping him off this island and it was one heck of a struggle for him as it tried with all its might to drag him back into its hold until he finally managed to get completely on the island and away from it. He knew the ocean was going to give him trouble. It was partly why he couldn’t go after the girl when he had his earliest possible chance, because that entity seemed really invested in the current events and it wasn’t on Tamatoa’s side. Of course, he knew he couldn’t blend in the way he was, which was why he had the foresight to make a back up concoction that didn’t last as long as Maui’s was, nor did it have the ingredients that took the demi-god’s voice or tattoos away. He was not a magical being but he wasn’t kidding about how going out into the world would be educational because he picked up quite a lot in the vast ocean besides treasures. He lucked out in learning how to turn into a human, but he never had a real need for that until now. The moment he had taken the concoction, it was one of the most physically painful experiences of his life next to the loss of his leg. It was like he was being compressed and something was pushing against him, forcing certain body parts to retreat into himself and he had to bite down on one of the many trees to keep himself from screaming before it got too big for him. Even his insides changing was agonizing and especially when his posture was changed so that he would have to stand like a human. He wasn’t claustrophobic but he suddenly had a good idea what it was like when that happened and there had been a lot of cursing in addition to the screaming. He wasn’t sure if Maui got the better end of the same deal or not at this point. It took the once mighty crab a while to get used to the changes, including learning to move like a human, the change in perspective, and a whole lot of other things that were incredibly disorienting to him. Even learning how to readjust holding onto objects took some time and luckily he had enough while he was still observing and forced to hide in an (unflattering) set of rags to cover the splendor and shine of his human form from the unsuspecting mortals. Being in this form was interesting, but it wasn’t enjoyable if he couldn’t show it off, if he couldn’t see his proper reflection as it currently was, or if it had to come with immense pain with the initial change. Also he wasn’t able to get his missing leg back, which was a huge downside. He did grow a little fond of the human princess and he did appreciate her sincere compliment on his singing. It was disorienting in the fact that he didn’t have to do anything to force her to his eye level (and it had been years since he was large enough to be at eye level with a human) but he had been convinced that she seemed to like him and that he had impressed her by being himself. It was a blow to his ego that the only reason why she was comfortable around him at first was because he was a mortal like her at that point and it did prove his point that outer beauty was all that really mattered in this world. However it did make him wonder what the heck she was able to see in Maui if his body had been damaged by the spell, in addition to losing his voice. But somehow she figured out enough to force Tamatoa to take a drastic measure. It wasn’t a big loss because, from what he understood what was going on, he did her a huge favor that was also going to work in his benefit. As long as the princess was away from Maui, Tamatoa’s victory would come to pass and it looked like the stakes were raising much higher for the demi-god than ever before. He was even considering stopping by and gloating his victory over the voiceless man, just to add more salt to the wound. Tamatoa laughed as he took a fish that he stole from the village (it would help with swallowing down some of the concoction that he needed to take to continue hiding from the mortals and to stay away from the ocean) before he bit down on the once living creature and ripped it apart with his teeth to eat it raw. Its insides spilled out and some of it went down his chin before he wiped it away with the back of his hand (even as a human, the taste was still the same to him). It wasn’t fresh or still alive like he would have preferred, but beggars can’t be choosers. Tomorrow would be the final sunset and now it was a matter of waiting. In the meantime, Tamatoa now had a sure way to keep the princess away from the demi-god until it was too late for either of them to come to their aid.

Moana continued walking until she was near a torch that showed her that her grandmother’s fale was close by and it was here that she stopped. “So you want to get off the island, babe? Well the easiest way to do so is with this.” The voice of the stranger echoed in her head from before he left her to go off and vanish. Moana moved her hand so that she could reach for the back of the top that went with her new dress and pulled out a strange object that the stranger had given her. It was beautifully crafted with purple colored tones of some sort of material that felt like hardened tapa cloth and it had pearls spiraling around it, yet the top part was made out of purple coral that had been smoothed down so that it was safe to hold onto. “It doesn’t matter how you use it. There are many ways you can use it, but each one guarantees a one way trip out of here. Do whatever you like, but I do have one recommendation.” Moana grabbed the top end and pulled the object out of the beautiful sheath before she could hold it out to look at it. In her hands was a carefully crafted dagger made from the bone of an undersea animal that had been carefully sharpened to the point that lightly touching it would cut someone and the ends were jagged on one side. A bit of rope tied the topmost and blunt end of the blade onto the coral handle, and the blade itself it was long enough that it could cause serious injury if plunged deep enough into a person’s body. “At the very moment you stop dancing for everyone tomorrow–the moment you stop giving them the person they want to see–go ahead and go after the one person who held you back.” Moana turned away from the torch to face her family’s fale and glared at it. Without any light around, her eyes glowed with a faint purple which was the only clue to the fact that someone had casted a spell upon her. Compassion, love, forgiveness, guilt–they had been suppressed in the spell that was controlling her. Instead there was a numbness that dulled down her sorrow and stress, but there was a certain anger that had been amplified in the spell and was patiently waiting to erupt like a volcano. “Go ahead and kill your daddy, mon princesse.”

Now is the time to start being afraid since the nods to the original Little Mermaid are starting to become more obvious. I didn’t want to do the ‘hypnotized into marriage’ that was in the original Little Mermaid film because it didn’t fit with what I was going for (though I can imagine how Moana would react to both that and who she almost got hitched to if I did) though in some ways I see that this was a lot darker. And kind of ironic considering what’s happened to Moana (I do get some Te Ka vibes from this corrupted version of her). I admit that this... isn’t the first time I’ve had a character endure a similar fate/spell, or a strange character referring to the heroine as ‘princess’ a lot (looks at ‘Hyrule Warriors Warped’ for a second with a nervous laugh). Of course this is getting to the point where I can’t make Moana the damsel in distress forever. It feels wrong to me that I am doing this to her when she was able to save herself and Maui more than a few times in the movie. I wonder how many people thought that I would make Tamatoa be able to actually hypnotize Moana through voice alone. *laughs* Actually I wonder how many fans were won over by the act he was giving Moana (hand kissing and all) before the cracks in the disguise began to develop. I was kind of inspired by ‘Poor Unfortunate Soul’ by Serena Valentino for that one scene near the end where Tamatoa was observing his human form (there is a scene in the book where Ursula observes how Eric is first drawn to her human disguise under her spell). However I’m NOT going to make Tamatoa a sympathetic antagonist or someone who ‘needs to be fixed’ by someone. I don’t know his whole backstory and while I can only make a guess that it wasn’t a pleasant one, this is a guy who almost ate Moana in the original film and tore into Maui over his own insecurities. Plus I enjoy writing out a good antagonist when I get one. And with that, we enter the climax chapters of our story. Its a race against the final sunset at this point and while I need to do a little more research to make sure I get my facts right on a few things, I aim to give you guys something that feels unique as well as familiar.

“Thanks.” The writer rubbed her wrists and thanked A/N Tamatoa for helping her get free. “Your story self is weird as all heck, you know that?” She took out a special device and stared at two special buttons on her laptop that said ‘outtake’ and ‘fourth wall hammer.’ “Rgh, I want to use these and I had some good ideas, but I should wait a little longer!” The writer frowned in frustration. “Especially considering what might happen next. It won’t be as satisfying if I use them now.” “So,” A voice asked. “ARE you that kind of fan?” The writer turned in confusion to the A/N Tamatoa who grinned at her. “Do you want a little adoration from me? This chapter was updated on Valentine’s Day.” He reminded her. The writer felt herself panicking as a blush went to her face. “Uh... what?” She stammered. “Uh, no I don’t know if–look I admit that I can develop crushes on fictional characters like everyone else but I’m realistic enough to not fall under the delusions of–And I doubt I’d have a crush for you if you existed in real life, but–” “Oh gods, you stupid little idiot.” The A/N Tamatoa huffed as he knelt down beside the reader and grabbed her hand. “Here you go.” He took it and kissed the back of it. “Is that all?” He asked in a low and very suggestive voice. The writer’s blushing intensified before she collapsed back to the ground with a thud. “Wh... what is going on?” The writer continued to stammer in her state of confusion. “That happened. That actually happened. Why did that happen?! I thought I was above this!” She cried out. The A/N Tamatoa laughed as he turned back into his crab self. “Ok, seeing you act like that was worth it.” He turned to the readers with a grin. “Oh, would some of you readers like some appreciation from me too? Your adoration alone is good enough for Tamatoa.” “I’M GOING TO FIND MY REAL LIFE COUNTERPART AND KILL HER!” The writer screamed.

#disney's moana #moana #moana fanfiction #tamatoa #human tamatoa #tamatoa tuesday #maui #sina #tui #tala #pua #shiny #poor unfortunate soul

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