#then they kill the bad guy together. and then they probably un-magic the rose so its just a normal rose now | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aforrestofstuff · 4 years

Note

Okay! I have a burning question for you, my dude. Music is my life, and I wanna know what kind of music the OPM casts listen to. Thanks, my guy!

I had a feeling this would be inevitable lol. I don’t really know a whole lot about music or genres or anything like that so I’m just gonna give you a rundown of each character individually and some song recs along with that just to smooth things out a little. Thanks for your ask, by the way! ❤️ Now my playlists will be put to good use.

A Brief Rundown of the Major OPM Characters’ Music Tastes:

Blast: hc that he doesn’t even have ears since he never fucking LISTENS

Terrible Tornado: Stuff that makes her feel powerful. Loud vocals and good instrumentals. Also, she’s a little angsty since she’s saltier than the gotdamn Pacific almost all of the time. (Recs: Florence and the Machine - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, Susanne Sundfør - Delirious, Florence and the Machine - What Kind of Man, Kali Uchis - Dead to Me, Let’s Eat Grandma - Falling Into Me)

Fubuki: some of that real classy shit. Slow songs that are nice to just have a cup of tea with. Nothing too meaty or fast-paced, she enjoys taking a moment to breathe every once and a while since life gets pretty hectic when you’re managing a gang of some 30 hooligans. (Recs: Wes - Midnight Low, any song from Lana Del Rey’s entire discography lol, Florence and the Machine - Grace, The Marìas - I Don’t Know You, Yellow House - Ain’t Gonna Call, Feng Suave - Toking, Dozing)

Silverfang: Stuff from his time. I hc that he was a bit of a party animal back in his prime so he’s gotta have those grooves. Disco to the extremo. Also, another hc: Garou absolutely hates his music. He would play it during training and Garou would contemplate homicide. (Recs: Frankie Valli - Grease, The Edgar Winter Group - Free Ride, KC and the Sunshine Band - I’m Your Boogie Man, Matthew Wilder - Break My Stride, The Main Ingredient - Everybody Plays the Fool, Andrea True Connection - More, More, More)

Bomb: save as Silverfang, although I hc that Bomb was a little more of a nerd growing up. Still, he never missed out on a good party. (Additional Recs: KC and the Sunshine Band - Get Down Tonight, The Trammps - Disco Inferno, Tierra - Together, Cornelius Bros and Sister Rose - Too Late to Turn Back Now)

Atomic Samurai: Old shit. Shit older than Silverfang. He’s really not that old, but his soul is fucking ancient and he’s got that classic “grrr music these days sucks” kind of shithead attitude. (Recs: Jim Croce - Time in a Bottle, Dion - Runaround Sue, The Carpenters - The End of the World, The Band - The Weight)

Child Emperor: Upbeat synth. Stuff to listen to while he’s working on his machines and whatnot. Probably has meaty beats to keep him in tune with what he’s doing, like working around a clock. Probably some groovy citypop in there too. (Recs: Taeko Ohnuki - 4:00 AM, Junko Ohashi - Telephone Number, Tatsuro Yamashita - Magic Ways, Hiroyuki Sawano - NEXUS, Superfly - Kakusei, Mariya Takeuchi - Plastic Love)

Metal Knight: Intrumentals that Disney villains listen to. Deep, dark shit that makes you feel sad. He probably feeds off of negative emotion. What a toolbag. (Recs: Lucas King - Sociopath, Abel Korzeniowski- Table for Two, Max Richter - Never Goodbye, Max Richter - She Remembers, Evelyn Stein - Quiet Resource, Mac Quayle - Adagio in G Minor)

King: video game soundtracks, obviously. Might be some electro funk in there too, as a treat. (Recs: Metal Gear Solid 3 OST - Snake Eater, Mick Gordon - Rip and Tear, Xenoblade Chronicles OST - Main Theme, Persona 5 OST - Last Surprise, Daft Punk - Verdis Quo, Toby Fox - Hopes and Dreams, Disasterpeace - Prologue, iamthekidyouknowwhatimean - Run, Darren Korb - Old Friends)

Zombieman: Dad Music. Old rock that makes you wanna rail some lines of white thunder and dance on top of a car. He’d be reluctant to try out new stuff but does so nevertheless. Just a little bit of weird alternative here and there. (Recs: Poison - Unskinny Bop, Mötley Crüe - Dr. Feelgood, Black Sabbath - War Pigs, Def Leppard - Animal, CRX - Walls, MGMT - Little Dark Age, Pink Floyd - Money, Queens of the Stone Age - Villains of Circumstance)

Drive Knight: Dark synth, obviously. Need I say more? (Recs: El Tigr3 - She Swallowed Burning Coals, Trevor Something - Enjoy the Silence, Greg Drombrowski - Devour, GUNSHIP - Woken Furies, GUNSHIP - Thrasher, Carpenter Brut - Invasion A.D., Kavinsky - Nightcall)

Pig God: this guy probably just listens to ASMR of people eating food lol.

Superalloy Darkshine: Upbeat stuff that’s good for exercise; loving those new jams along with some of the old. He’s got a pretty groovy style. (Diane Ross - Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, Saint Motel - Puzzle Pieces, CRUISR - All Over, Barry White - Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up, Sade - Kiss of Life)

Watchdog Man: 10 hour loop of wolves howling on a summer night.

Flashy Flash: classical. Some nice instrumentals to listen to while training. Stuff that preferably doesn’t have any or very little lyrics so it’s not too busy on his ears while he’s fantasizing about killing someone. (Recs: Vaughn Williams - The Lark Ascending, Debussy - Rêverie, Grieg - Peace of the Woods, André Laplante - Une Barque sur L’Ocean)

Metal Bat: Modern alternative. A little bit harder than say, Mumen and Kama, but not as hard as Zombieman or Death Gatling. He’s that middle ground where he’s still got some real bangers, but Zenko can listen as well. He’ll play this stuff loudly as he’s doing chores and working out, no headphones ever. It gets pretty annoying. (Recs: Foals - Exits, The Blue Stones - Black Holes, Solid Ground, CRX - Broken Bones, Jungle - Happy Man, The Strokes - Reptilia, We Are Trees - Girlfriend)

Genos: synth. But not just any synth, some heavy, fast-paced synth that’s just like him: speedy, relentless, and powerful. He listens to shit that’ll make you wanna get up and start killing Terminators. Probably. There’s some other synths in the mix too because we love a three-dimensional king. (Recs: Carpenter Brut - Division Ruine, The Protomen - I Still Believe, Carpenter Brut - Leather Teeth, Gunship - Tech Noir, TWRP - Phantom Racer, Le Castle Vania - Red Circle)

Tanktop Master: Dad music but the type of dad music that makes you think your dad was a sappy nerd back in the day. Long tracks that are good for workouts. (Tears for Fears - Woman in Chains, Pink Floyd - Us and Them, Duran Duran - Ordinary World, Billy Idol - Eyes without a Face, A Flock of Seagulls - I Ran, The Alan Parsons Project - Eye in the Sky, Tears for Fears - Sowing the Seeds of Love)

Puri-Puri Prisoner: Pop. Dance music. He doesn’t really get to listen to a lot of music in prison, so he holds on to whatever he can and savors every second of it. (Coldplay - Talk, Bruno Mars - Runaway Baby, Lady Gaga - Bad Romance, Flo Milli - Beef Flomix, Doja Cat - Say So)

Mumen Rider: Hes a lighthearted, soft boy. Likes some fluffy indie tunes. It helps to motivate him when working out or doing hero stuff. He might need to cry every once in a while though, so there’s some sad songs in the mix too. (Recs: Varsity - The Dogs Only Listen to Him, The The - This is the Day, Amarante - Don’t Look Back, Alvvays - Saved by a Waif, The Monkees - As We Go Along, Acid Ghost - Hide my Face, Mogwai - Take Me Somewhere Nice)

Sonic: same as Flash. He’s a little more hip with the times however, so he’s got some more groovy, electronic instrumentals to listen to in addition to some elegant stuff and isn’t opposed to having a little bit of lyrics sprinkled in there as well. In fact, he’s not opposed to uppity pop either. He thinks dancing is frivolous but he secretly does it when he thinks nobody is looking. (Additional Recs: Odesza - Bloom, Pretty Lights - One Day They’ll Know [Odesza Remix], BØRNS - Electric Love, Hembree - Culture, The Cinematic Orchestra - Arrival of the Birds)

Garou: same as Metal Bat. Bang let him have a little MP3 player during his time at the dojo and has since collected a few songs on there. They’re very near and dear to his heart since it’s one of the few good things that came from his absolute disaster of a childhood. (Additional Recs: Foals - Inhaler, CRX - Slow Down, Deep Sea Arcade - Close to Me, Gorillaz - Empire Ants, The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger, Glass Animals - Take A Slice)

Death Gatling: Shit your old Vietnam-vet grandpa would blast on the back of his F150. He gives me self-righteous asshole vibes, if I’m honest. Like, don’t get me wrong, I like Death Gatling, but he seems like the type of trailer park-dwelling sewer rat to carry a revolver into a Walmart for “self defense” and that’s probably the type of music he listens to, too. (Recs: Megadeth - Trust, Megadeth - Angry Again, Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son, Glen Campbell - Southern Nights, Mötley Crüe - Kickstart My Heart, Quiet Riot - Cum on Feel the Noize)

One-Shotter: I hard hc that he had an emo phase he never quite grew out of. He doesn’t quite listen to emo anymore but he’s still into that alternative shit. Homeboy also likes some slow tunes every once and a while because he’s an emotional dude who’s not afraid of a good cry. (Recs: Anything from Blink-182, Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know?, MGMT - When You Die, Mazzy Star - Fade Into You, Cigarettes After Sex - Dreaming of You, Yon Ort - Other Matter)

Lightning Max: Same as Genos but without the terminator-killing. Fast-paced stuff because he’s a fast lightning dude. A little more upbeat because he’s not as much as an edgelord as Genos, however. (Additional Recs: Carpenter Brut - Hang’em All, The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize, Worn Tin - Sensitivity, B.E.R. - The Night Begins to Shine, Martin Hall - Different Kind of Love)

Stinger: he’s all about that FUNK! Stuff that gets him moving! Stuff that makes him wanna dance! (Recs: Daft Punk - Doin’ it Right, TWRP - Body Image, Wild Cherry - Play that Funky Music, Chemise - She Can’t Love You, Saga - Wind Him Up, Saga - On the Loose, TWRP - All Night Forever)

Okamaitachi: they give me electro vibes! New, modern shit that’s good to dance to or to just sit down and have a listen! Also, some shit that’ll probably play in a coming-of-age teen movie or something. They don’t really vibe with heavy music and that’s alright, babey! Keeping it light and bouncy. (Recs: Tei Shi - Bassically, Varsity - Must Be Nice, Class Actress - Weekend, CHVRCHES - Richard Pryor, Alvvays - Marry Me, Archie, Sobs - Telltale Signs, Goth Babe - Sometimes, ALASKALASKA - Meateater)

Iaian: Nice, low tunes that are good for meditation and to be used for background noise during training sessions. He never really sits down to listen to music, it’s always in the background of something else he’s doing so he prefers to have some soft beats that don’t really interfere with his senses. Tunes so quiet, he sometimes uses them as lullabies; especially since the trauma of losing his arm has since made it hard to sleep. (Recs: Boy Scouts - Saddest Boy, Susanne Sundfør - Mantra, Vashiti Bunyan - If I Were the Same but Different, Starman Jr. - Blue Fairy, Patrick Watson - Je te Laisserai des Mots, Sibylle Baier - I Lost Something in the Hills)

Bushidrill: same as Atomic Samurai just without the shitty attitude. He’s happy to listen to some newer stuff, he just doesn’t like it and that’s okay, baby! Probably some classy shit your wise old grandpa would listen to. (Recs: Dean Martin - Volare, Dion - The Wanderer, Peppino Gagliardi - Che Vuole Questra Musica Stasera, anything from Luis Miguel lol, Franco Micalizzi - Sadness Theme)

Amai Mask: probably just listens to his own music like a putz. If not, he’s listening to the sound equivalent of glittering diamonds. He’s probably got this shit playing at the end of a long day while he’s chilling in a hot bath or something. (Recs: Fergie - Glamorous, Rita Ora - Hot Right Now, Lana Del Rey - Freak, Lana Del Rey - Art Deco, Tame Impala - Feels Like We Only Go Backwards)

Saitama: He doesn’t listen to music much anymore, sadly. He did, however, have a killer motivational mix to get him through his vigorous training prior to becoming a hero. (Recs: Paul Engemann - Push it to the Limit, Journey - Don’t Stop Believin’, College & Electric Youth - A Real Hero, Joe Esposito - You’re the Best Around, Survivor - Eye of the Tiger, The Bee Gees - Nights on Broadway)

Here’s the playlist with all of these songs in order (mostly):

It’s on YouTube because I’m allergic to Spotify. I’ve got a doctor’s note. Also, all of my other playlists are on my little profile thingy so if you want to listen to my pile then go right ahead.

Thanks for your ask, my dude! ❤️ this took up ALL of my energy lol but it was fun.

103 notes · View notes

sparklyjojos · 4 years

Text

CARNIVAL DAY recaps [8/13]

Today’s recap: Ghostly investigations, the Ultra Evil Really Bad Guys in an awkward Mexican standoff with Slightly Less Bad Guys, and XX’s thoughts on writing.

FORTY-FIVE

14 Jun 1997 — 20 Jun 1997

CONTINENTAL DRIFT

The writer detective XX wrote a few stories (including the seppuku detective one) that would be put together in one book. The work would be published under the name “Seiryoin Ryusui” and—on Yasha’s request—called 19box in memory of Juku, whose DOLL nickname was Jukebox. [19box or Juke Box is an actual book by Seiryoin that indeed contains the seppuku detective story.]

On June 6th, Yuiga Dokuson fled JDC leaving a confession about being the Billion Killer. It’s now been three weeks since his escape and still no new confirmed Billion Killer cases have happened. The Crime Olympics still continue, but at least everyone knows they will be over in two months.

All stories influence people, for better or for worse, and the story with the biggest, sharpest impact is the news. Then again, even entertainment has a major impact on people. The pen is mightier than the sword; the story is the strongest weapon. [Insert a horrible pun about how kakuheiki, “written weapon”, is as strong as kakuheiki, “nuclear weapon”.]

(...when Hikimiya Yuuya had been working with the AI Desert Colosseum in February, he found an unbelievable secret file.

Below is Hikimiya Yuuya’s testimony. [Originally in first person.])

Once Hikimiya got out of shock upon seeing the different numbers of daily deaths, he instantly went to the hospital to talk with Frau D (or at least went there as fast as he could in a wheelchair). Frau D only told him to show the file to DOLL’s leader Madame Alpha to get answers.

Madame said she hadn’t seen this particular file before, but she had known all along that the UN numbers were faked. Good thing Hikimiya didn’t tell anyone else about it—if he did, he’d probably be disappeared on his way back to DOLL. He accidentally got mixed into a matter bigger than just the UN; a shadow organization was at play here, and one misspoken sentence could possibly doom the human race.

Madame then told Hikimiya what her Zero Reasoning actually was. The Japanese word for “zero”, rei, happens to sound exactly like the word for “soul”. Madame’s ability was seeing and talking to ghosts. The difficult part of her reasoning was discerning whether or not the ghosts were telling her the truth.

Other people would find it hard to believe, but Madame knew best that the souls who helped her solve cases were certainly real. She purposefully stayed away from other people, as anyone being too close to her for a long time would also start seeing ghosts, including those who had died in less than pretty manners. Several people even landed in the hospital from shock.

The ability wasn’t perfect. Madame would have a problem talking to souls who spoke different languages. The world of ghosts was also pretty complicated and consisted of more than just nice, well-behaved souls (but it’d take too long to explain everything now). Thanks to her powers, Madame knew better than anyone how drastically the known history changed throughout the ages, true events replaced with fake stories so different from what the souls told her about their times. She was also aware that knowing the truth was not always a good thing.

Using her ability as a sort of a soul information network, Madame was able to learn many things about the Crime Olympics.

They say that Christopher Columbus kept two journals out of fear of being deemed insane by his crewmates: a fake one that everyone else could read freely, and a secret one talking about his true goals. The death count data files similarly used two kinds of information. The true one (what Hikimiya found) allowed the UN to grasp the real situation, and the fake one (the official stats) were displayed to the common man.

To explain why that was necessary, Madame told Hikimiya about the Cosmic Bomb—the Moon. The Bomb was set to fall on August 10th, but it wasn’t impossible that the enemy would drop it earlier if they felt threatened. It was in the world’s best interest to not interfere too much in their plans—to make them think four million people really died each day—before a good way to counter the Cosmic Bomb was established.

As for how Frau D got his hands on secret data, Madame thought the reason was very simple: Frau D was one of RISE’s Dogs, probably responsible for leaking info from DOLL.

Right after this conversation, Hikimiya returned to the hospital for more answers. Frau D stated that Madame was smart enough to understand how to stay alive by keeping quiet. He confirmed that he was a Dog. However, the secret file was not meant for RISE at all, but for Hikimiya. That’s why the password was YUYA, and why the report was addressed to “Desert Colosseum”—once Hikimiya inherited the AI, he would become the next “Desert Colosseum”. The signature D meant Frau D and referred to his identity as a Dog (all of them are designated as D-[numbers], for example Frau is D-159837).

Hikimiya felt like there was something strange about Frau D’s demeanor during that conversation, and only realized a few days later—after the Crystal Nightmare—that the S-detective knew he would be killed soon.

But that wasn’t the last Hikimiya heard from Frau D, as Madame passed him a message from his soul. It was strange hearing Frau D so unusually serious (even if the words came from Madame’s mouth).

Frau D wanted to apologize. The whole “I love you” thing was just another one of his jokes, and he chose Hikimiya solely on the basis of his skills and ability to become the next Desert Colosseum. Thanks to Madame, he was never afraid of death. Aside from RISE, he also belonged to the suicidal sect of DICE, who were the ones to kill him in the end. “Desert Colosseum” was still indispensable to RISE—and that meant they would rely on whatever data Hikimiya would send them in the future.

After relaying the message, Madame commented that Frau D was actually a really serious man; you don’t become an S-detective by acting like a clown. She could speak with him easily so soon after his death, but making contact would get progressively harder with time, so Hikimiya should better become “Desert Colosseum” as soon as possible while he could still get ghostly tips.

It was the first time Hikimiya truly felt respect for Frau D. Though now that he thought about it, maybe even earlier he felt a sort of a strange, begrudging affinity.

On the day Frau D died, news came about Juku, Ronely Queen and Ushiwaka Gigolo. Juku’s death was especially hard on Hikimiya, considering they had worked as partners in the past. Then Firannu Meirunesia died a week later.

Hikimiya of course wanted to talk with the dead detectives, but Madame was so busy with all the cases she had no time to spare, and calling specific souls was hard—her work was mostly just waiting until someone with the right information came to her. Asked about Ryuuguu Jounosuke, she said that she’s sorry, but from what she could see he really was dead. At least she was able to assure Hikimiya that Otohime was still alive, held prisoner by RISE together with Amagi Hyouma and Tsukumo Nemu.

The day Frau D was killed, Hikimiya found a new entry in the database that belonged to a fake F-detective, “Flower Design”. [At least I think that’s the right romanization for that]. Frau must have made that fake detective so Hikimiya could hide behind the identity and obtain information safely. It was hard to work a double job as both “Hikimiya Yuuya” and “Flower Design” behind the scenes, but the exhausting training under Frau turned out to have been a blessing in disguise.

Hikimiya analyzed the death count reports (which by this point reached early March) and found that while in the big picture the number of deaths rose steadily, it actually came in waves. Doing some statistical magic, Hikimiya realized that the death rate usually fell a bit during weekdays, but then rose significantly on each Sunday—right after the Billion Killer cases. Step back, two steps forward… It’s like the Billion Killer served as a periodic impulse that kept the Crime Olympics going. The Crystal Nightmare caused an especially high rise in victims, too.

Hikimiya made some calculations. The numbers were at first much lower than the proclaimed “four million deaths a day”, but if the growth continued, it would lead to a bigger overall number of deaths.

Constant four million a day would give 1,4 billion total deaths in an entire year.

But if the numbers continued to rise, the final figure would instead be 3,7 billion, more than half the world’s population—assuming the Cosmic Bomb wouldn’t kill everyone else.

FORTY-SIX

21 Jun 1997 — 27 Jun 1997

MOHENJO-DARO

(It was once thought that alchemy could produce homunculi in bottles.

Black Rook is a human obtained through cloning, a three years younger identical twin of Ryuuguu Jounosuke, with whom he shared this name. Yearning for an identity of his own, Black called himself Ryuuou.

RISE had the cloning technology long before his birth, but didn’t see a reason to use it, as getting normal imposters was much easier. They say that everyone has at least three perfect look-alikes in the world—RISE had no problem finding those three with their omnipresent reach.

The truth is that the original Jounosuke was supposed to become Black Rook at first, but RISE made a critical mistake while raising him. In the end, the clone achieved what the original couldn’t and became Black Rook.

Below is Black Rook’s testimony. [Originally in first person. As expected, he might be… biased.])

From what Black heard, his older brother had travelled all over the world with their parents as a young child in order to naturally pick up native accents of many languages. He was successful at this goal, but in the process he became so used to the outside world that he couldn’t stand the dim closed spaces of the Sanctuary (which was back then still under construction), even showing signs of serious childhood claustrophobia. He was constantly upset and kept crying no matter how long RISE tried getting him used to his new life. Childhood claustrophobia sometimes vanished with age, but there was no guarantee it would happen.

In the face of this, the Doctor decided to start anew and cloned the boy, and so Black was born. To avoid past mistakes, RISE made sure he got used to the Sanctuary since birth, the fortress transporting him to all those different countries and essentially becoming his home. Staying in the Sanctuary instead of with foreigners led to him not quite reaching the language mastery of his brother, but the difference was marginal and didn’t really matter.

When RS became the leader of RISE in 1987, Black formally inherited the position of the Sanctuary’s Master from his father Kintarou. Similarly, Endou Naoto became the next Doctor / White Rook after his father Naomasa.

RISE continued to fight their long battle. Black didn’t really understand if there was an objective good or wrong, but he knew for sure that the Beasts wanted to destroy the human race, and RISE’s Gods wanted it to continue in whatever shape. A battle between good and evil.

Their greatest enemy was a secret group called Akutou 666 Rengou (lit. “the 666 villains union”), known in short as Akuren. It was much older than RISE and had been threatening humanity for thousands of years.

Akuren was a worldwide information network created by the 666 most evil people of the world, all their names written down on a secret Luck Black List. Aside from the top 666, there were also two lower “replacement groups”, each also counting 666 members, so 1998 in all. Those who died or were arrested would be erased from the list, though one could always get on it again later. Note that the first group members were too skilled to be eliminated from the list unless they died.

All the historical villains one may have heard of—like Nero, Catherine de’ Medici, Ivan the Terrible, Rasputin, Aleister Crowley, even Hitler—all reached no higher than the second group of Akuren. Those in the first group are all untraceable and take care to erase their pasts, only their horrible impact on the world hinting at their existence, their true nature that of pure evil beyond imagination (Black doesn’t even want to think about the stories he heard).

Akuren categorizes all people on Earth into thirteen tiers of evil, starting from 1 (those unwittingly doing everyday evil), going through those who commit crimes as part of a company policy or “usual” criminals (4-5), through famous organized crime (6), through those with political power (7), through country elites with even more influence (8), through secret organizations ruling those elites (9), through the evil that controls the history of humanity (10), the first group of Akuren (11), the few members of Akuren that have transcended the concept of pure evil (12), and the “ultimate organization of extreme pure evil” (13).

Upstanding citizens are classified as tier 1 (it’s impossible to be lower, as every single human eventually hurts another human, if only by existing). Tier 10 would include Akuren’s first group and half of the second group, together 999 people. Tier 11 would apply only to the first group; they’re so strong that an S-detective could maybe manage one or two of them at once, but not several, and certainly not 666. Tier 12 are those from the first group that aim for even more evil and want to throw the world into darkness. Tier 13 is so secret that even RISE can’t get any information about it, more suspecting their presence than knowing for sure.

The members of every group of Akuren are numbered from 001 to 666, with those numbers moving if someone falls off the list. Number 001 is always the person who stayed in a group the longest, while those from lower groups will enter a higher group starting from 666. Groups two and three have to provide information for the network, but those who already rose to group one are privileged and can simply get data without having to give any in exchange.

Akuren attempted to wipe out the human race many times before, their crimes usually showing as wars on the surface. The Persian Wars, the Peloponnesian War, Alexander the Great’s conquest, the Seven Years’ War, the Hundred Years’ War, various Prussia wars, the Russo-Japanese War, both World Wars, the Cold War…

After WWII, the 12th tier of evil first showed itself, possibly with the 13th one right behind them, and the most serious plan to destroy humanity (including themselves) had been in progress ever since. Their twisted reasoning is basically, “everyone has to die one day, and when I die, the world may as well not exist for me, so why not bring everyone else down with me while we’re at it”.

The current Crime Olympics were conceived as yet another of Akuren’s plans to destroy humanity. RISE was created to gain control over this plan in order to prevent the ultimate tragedy and limit the damage as much as possible. Of course on the surface they still had to act like they’re cooperating with Akuren, and so had to put the Crime Olympics into motion like they were supposed to.

Akuren acted like they didn’t notice their true enemy, but considering the quality of their information network, they had to already know about RISE’s goals. However, RISE was too useful to get rid of it so quickly. Fifty years of preparations passed in a pretend cooperation between the two organizations. RISE has three trump cards in their deck: Alive, the Billion Killer, and the Cosmic Bomb.

RISE’s true goal was purging evil at the root for the sake of humanity’s survival. If they left Akuren alive, it would just lead to another attempt at total destruction in the future. RISE had already succeeded at using the Crime Olympics to kill the lesser ranks of evil in droves, even though it cost a lot of other lives and the true malicious elites were still staying safely hidden. If RISE didn’t kill off those elites before August 10th, the Cosmic Bomb would fall.

Those “worst of the worst” were called Pure Ultimate Beasts. The purest evil often wore the masks of saints; they truly were beasts disguised as humans, creatures that would kill with a smile. The first group of Akuren was too careful to be easily led into a trap, so RISE had to start with eliminating the lower groups and make their way up.

All the above was a very rushed explanation, but the gist of it is that humanity is in a horrible spot. If they don’t do anything, the Cosmic Bomb will fall; if they try to fight openly, perhaps the Bomb will just fall faster. The fate of humanity is in the hands of RISE—of Black Rook.

...but Black feels a bit weird those days, like something is very wrong with him. Perhaps it’s just a lingering symptom of Alive... or perhaps he’d been caught into Akuren’s trap? Something feels wrong. With the Sanctuary, with RISE and with himself. Something is strange. He’s supposed to stop the Cosmic Bomb, and has been for sure making preparations, but now he can’t remember how to do it, as if he simply forgot something so important. He can’t remember… What the hell happened to him? What the hell is going on? It’s like he’s not himself.

Has he also been brainwashed…?

[End of testimony.]

Writer detective XX continues to write. He feels a strange compulsion to do it, a sense of mission, almost like someone is forcing him to write. Sometimes he wonders if he hasn’t been brainwashed.

FORTY-SEVEN

28 Jun 1997 — 04 Jul 1997

HONG KONG

Writing as “Seiryoin Ryusui” is weird to XX, like wearing someone else’s clothes. He’s been feeling like he isn’t truly himself. But if it’s so weird to him, why does he simultaneously have the compulsion to not just continue writing, but to write as “Seiryoin Ryusui” specifically? Nothing else changed. It’s just that whenever he works as “Seiryoin”, he ceases to be himself. Almost like someone else is guiding his hands, like he’s only the first reader instead of the writer.

Inugami Yasha wants XX to write a book about the Crime Olympic as soon as possible. Yasha’s plan is to use the power of stories positively, to light up at least some of the darkness surrounding them.

No one is faster to rise to fame in mass media than the worst criminals caught red-handed. “Seiryoin Ryusui” wasn’t that popular, but his name is still spread around because of the Cosmic Jokers case, so releasing a book under the same name will gather the world’s attention. This will possibly allow them to lure out the actual mysterious “Seiryoin Ryusui”. The book will be technically fiction, just like Cosmic and Joker, but will give readers enough clues that maybe someone solves the still unfinished mysteries, or gets to the actual truth behind something that has been considered solved.

To be honest, XX hates the writing style in Cosmic and Joker. It just seems bad and unbalanced to him. Strong J Outa the editor thinks it’s because XX has a similar writing style, so reading “Seiryoin” feels to him like reading his own old works, which is rarely a good experience for a writer. The important thing is keeping that unbalanced style while writing about the Crime Olympics.

Languages, just like anything else created by people, aren’t perfect. No matter how much one tries, a recording of events will never be perfect specifically because of the nature of words. Even non-fiction is fiction in the end. Words on their own aren’t the truth, but the moment someone encounters someone else’s words, they may read out the truth between the lines—which is what Yasha hopes for by releasing the Crime Olympics book.

(By the way, it’s been a month since Dokuson disappeared, and not a single Billion Killer case has happened in the meanwhile. There were giant cases happening at 1 PM local time on Saturdays, true, but no symbolic skull has been found.)

XX still can’t get rid of his strange feelings. It’s almost like there’s someone else within him, “the true writer”, perhaps even “the true culprit”. Strong J Outa dismisses these worries and says that in a sense, the mystery writer is always the real culprit manipulating the characters. A mystery novel is not as much a showdown between a detective and a murderer, as a showdown between the writer and the reader. The challenge is not just solving a mystery, but also solving the writer’s intent put in his work.

The idea of the writer as the culprit is sort of a taboo that everyone knows about, but that isn’t really relevant inside mystery novels by design. All fiction is real as far as the world within that fiction is concerned. There’s no reason to escape into delusions about a writer making all this happen; instead XX should focus on writing and fighting crime this way.

19box is set to be finally released on July 5th.

(And in the latest news...)

On June 14th, the entire island of Tasmania suddenly moves towards mainland Australia and smashes into it, resulting in 100,000 dead or injured and several small islands sinking. Right afterwards Tasmania returns to its proper place. How all this happened is a mystery.

On June 21st, about a hundred tourists visiting Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan are found naked and dead. The cause of death is unknown, but the incident is thought to have been influenced by the Carnival Dice cult.

On June 28th, all the power lines of Hong Kong are suddenly cut, leading to a complete power outage. Massive fires start in the aftermath. Giant playing cards are found around the place, so the group F4C is suspected. The situation becomes so bad it leads to political shifts and Hong Kong being completely returned to China.

On July 5th, a mysterious continent surfaces from the depths of the Pacific, so unimaginably huge that it takes half the ocean’s area. The continent’s sudden movement causes kilometer-tall tsunamis to rush towards other lands. It’s only a matter of time until the record waves reach the shores and destroy anything in their path.

Japan has twelve hours to prepare for the wave.

[>>>NEXT PART>>>]

#sparkly reads carnival day #maijo and jdc stuff

2 notes · View notes

schrijverr · 5 years

Text

Not the same everywhere

!Endgame spoilers!

After endgame, Peter gets brought into the spider-verse of Peter B. where he meets the other Spider-people. Their plan to get to know this new Spider-man get thrown out of the window when Peter realizes that one person isn’t dead here.

I wrote this to cope, don’t @ me.

Ships: none

Warnings: canon-death mentions, sadness, angst

~~~~~~~~~

Peter was on patrol and it was a normal day, as normal as a day could be after Thanos, when he suddenly got sucked into some weird portal. He got spit out in a room with six people looking down on him, all in various spider themed outfits. He scrambled backwards and demanded: “Tell me your names.”

An older guy, who looked weirdly similar said: “Calm down, I’m Peter B. Parker or Spider-man, as are you I assume.”

“How, how do you know that?” Peter asked, very confused.

“You’re in an alternate dimension, we are all from different universes and there we are all the only Spider-person. Most have the same background stories, or similar ones. You must have gotten sucked into my universe when we traveled here.”

“Alternate universes, neat.” Peter said while taking this all in.

“You seem a bit too chill for all this.” a black boy said, he was around Peters age and he wore a jacket over a black Spider-costume.

Peter shrugged: “I’ve seen weirder. Alternate universes are easier to believe after time travel and coming back from the dead.”

He stood up and brushed himself off. Then a pig in a Spider-costume with a voice that sounded scarily like John Mulaney said: “You died!”

“Now, I have to admit that’s kind of weird.” Peter said.

A girl with a shaved side said: “You’ll get used to it. Are you going to take your mask off?”

He eyed them all a bit, but then decided it was safe, his Spider-senses told him that. He pulled of his mask and the girl gasped, as did the old man.

“Another Peter.” the other Peter said.

“Uhm, I guess so…” Peter replied.

“He needs a nickname!” an anime-like girl exclaimed.

“Why exactly?” Peter asked.

“We have two Peters here, it gets confusing. That’s Noir and we call him Peter B.” the boy said, “I’m Miles, by the way. That’s Peni and that’s Gwen.”

The anime girl did a peace sign by the name Peni and the shaved-side-girl saluted him by the name Gwen. Peter nodded and said: “Uhm, some call me,” tears appeared in his eyes and he chocked a bit before breathing deeply and continuing: “Someone called me Baby Stark.”

He thought back to his smiling mentors face when the older man realized that it fit and he could sing it on the tune of Baby Shark to annoy Peter. He was pulled out of his thoughts by Peter B. who asked: “Stark, as in Iron Man?”

Peter nodded, then a realization dawned on him. He quickly grabbed Peter B.s arm and shook him violently as he asked: “Is he still alive? Or has Thanos already happened, or doesn’t that happen in this universe? Did the Accords happen? Are the Avengers still together? Brief me, quick.”

It was quiet for a moment, all the spider people looked at Peter B. who was gathering his thoughts after the onslaught of questions. He rubbed his face and said: “Yes, he’s still alive, but who the fuck is Thanos? What are the Accords? And why would you think the Avengers would break up?”

Peters face lit up, it was somewhat magical for the others. He let Peter B. go and looked out the window, in the skyline stood the Avengers Tower, big and proud, Logo lighting up the sky. Peter breathed: “He’s still here.”

Then he flung himself out the window while putting on his mask. Behind him the Spider-people quickly pulled on masks and followed him, yelling to come back and slow down, but he didn’t care. Within seconds he was at the Tower, following a familiar route into the labs.

There he was, well, not he per se, but someone who was basically him. It was so familiar it hurt. The way ACDC basted through the room, how he bobbed along with the music, tinkering while scolding DUMM-E. Peter couldn’t help the tears that flowed down his face. He cried out: “Mr. Stark!” before shamelessly pulling his Mentor into a hug.

He sobbed into this Tonys chest while the other man awkwardly stood there. He patted his head and asked: “Uhm, Spider-man? Are you okay? You shrunk a little. JARVIS, scan him.”

“No problem, sir.” a British voice came from the ceiling.

There where some lights before JARVIS said: “He’s not the Spider-man I’ve scanned before, sir.”

The other Spider-people chose that moment to enter the lab. They halted when they saw the sobbing boy hugging Iron Man, who was looking very confused, but unable to push the kid off. He saw them and said: “What the fuck is going on?”

“Ah, yes, about that. Uhm, you see, alternate universes, I believe he knows his worlds Tony Stark/Iron Man.” Peter B. said.

Tonys eyebrows rose high on his forehead and he looked down to the other Spider-man again. “What’s his name?” he asked the others.

“Peter.” a boy in a black costume said.

Tony nodded, then he focused back on the kid. The sobs seemed to be dying down and he was now just holding on. Tony gently said: “Hey, Peter, that’s your name right? Peter?” he could feel the boy nod and he went on: “I’m let to believe that you know me in another universe, is that right.” the boy hiccuped wetly, but nodded into his chest again. “Okay, so, uhm, I don’t really know you, but, uhm, do you, do you want to tell me why you’re crying?”

The boy let go and pulled of his mask as he stared to the ground. He wiped his tears away quickly, then he apologized: “Sorry, that must have been really weird, I know you don’t really like hugs, they hurt your chest, Arc-Reactor and all that, at least where the Arc-Reactor used to be.”

Tony laughed: “He’s still there.”

“Not in my universe, you got it removed in a hospital right after the Mandarin attack, when Pepper got her mutation reversed.” Peter said.

Tonys eyes went wide as he processed the information. Peter apologized again: “Sorry, probably didn’t want me to dump all kinds of information on you about a person you aren’t, but are. It’s kind of strange.”

“No, no, it’s okay, I just never really, you know, thought about removing it and I guess here never was a Mandarin attack or a Pepper mutation. What could she do?” Tony reassured the teen and pushed him to keep talking.

He was curious what he in other universes was doing, God, this was weird. He didn’t even know this kid, but he did feel a pull of familiarity that he couldn’t place. Peter started talking again: “There wasn’t a lot of footage but the news said she could shoot fire and was heat resistant. It was pretty cool. I didn’t know you yet, I met you when the Accords happened, but they didn’t happen here, which is good, we need all the Avengers together to beat Thanos.” The boy gasped and exclaimed: “I can help you stop Thanos!”

“Thanos?” Tony asked.

“Yeah, he mentioned him before, I guess he’s a powerful villain.” Peter B. said.

“He’s inevitable in my universe, the greatest threat to the all the galaxies there are. He wiped out half of all living things with the snap of his fingers. You’re luck he hasn’t happened… yet.” Peter thought for a second while the rest just stood there is baffled silence. The he said: “Did Loki attack New York already? With the Chitauri, those weird aliens?”

“Aliens!” Miles and Gwen exclaimed at the same time.

“Yeah, they’re pretty strange, they came out of a portal in the sky and they had these big flying animal things and then Iron Man flew through the portal in the sky with a Nuke and killed them all.” Peter explained enthusiastically, “It was awesome, but I wasn’t Spider-man yet, I was a kid, but I watched from my window.”

Tony looked like he was seriously questioning his life choices, whether it was them in this universe or Peters they didn’t know. Tony was the one who answered: “No, that didn’t happen. Why is that important? Just explain everything clearly without cliff hangers and vagueness.”

“It’s a pretty long story, and not a happy one all the times, so we might be here a while and it might not even happen here. God, I hope it doesn’t happen here.” his eyes looked haunted for a second, but he shook it off.

“It might happen in one of our universes, it’s always handy to know who to look out for, just in case.” Gwen said, “We shared our villains and they are scarily similar.”

Miles nodded: “Yeah, we have time. Tell the story.”

“Okay, just prepare yourself.” Peter said, then he took a breath and started talking: “So, it started with the attack on New York, the Avengers were formed and it was the first time we interacted with an Infinity Stone, those become important later on. There are six and sort of what the universe relies on or is made or, I don’t know. I was dead when that was all discussed.”

Tony chocked a bit on is spit when Peter said that, but the boy ignored it and went on: “After that I was dandy with the Avengers until Ultron happened. A lot of people died and countries became wary of what could happen if the Avengers stayed unchecked, so 117 countries made the Accords in the UN. In those they would check enhanced individuals and they could stop the Avengers from interfering. Mr. Stark was willing to sign, Steve wasn’t, because they were planning to lock Bucky up for safety reasons and he’s Mister Righteous, so he doesn’t care for 117 countries, because he apparently knows better.”

Bitterness was apparent in Peters voice, which took them all by surprise. “That’s Captain America, you know that right?” Peter B. asked. “Yeah, in my universe he fucked up bad, but still people love and forgive him, cause he’s “Captain America” it sickening from time to time. Anyway, there is this fight and Steve and everyone who was on his side were declared war criminals and go into hiding, they banged you up pretty good, Mr. Stark. It isn’t pretty and there was an un-mendable rift now, which can never be fixed.” Peter tells them.

Tony doesn’t know what to do with that information. His teammates could never leave him, he knows them. That’s that universe, not his. He tries to shake it off, but it doesn’t stop him from looking into his teammates actions later.

Peter goes on: “Flash forward three, relatively peaceful years and it happens. A giant donut space ship appears in the sky to take Doctor Strange, who has the Time Stone. Mr. Stark and me sneak on to save him. We meet the Guardians of the Galaxy after we do and crash land on the home planet of Thanos. It is entirely ruined, but the Grape himself shows up.”

“Grape?”

“When you see him it makes sense. Anyway, we fight him and it does not go as planned. In the end Doctor Strange gives up the Time Stone in exchange for your life. Then Thanos portals himself away and it is quiet for a while. We’re gathering ourselves when it happens. First it’s the Guardians who turn into dust, then Doctor Strange and finally me. You get left behind in space with only Nebula, an alien and a broken space ship.”

The room is dead silent as they watch the boy blink away his trauma. Dying isn’t something you get over easily. He finally shakes it off and talks again, this time his voice a bit shakier: “I’m only told what happens next, but everything is in chaos for the next five years. Thanos gets killed early on, but he destroys the Infinity Stones, so they can’t turn it back. Then Scott Lang appears, Ant-man. He’s been in the quantum realm for five years, but it felt like five hours. You, Tony, invent time travel and you all go back to get the Infinity Stones from the past. Black Widow doesn’t make it back.”

A flash of grieve passes over Tonys face for a friend he hasn’t lost, but he could imagine the pain. He glosses over the fact that he invented time travel. The world needed it and he was there, it seemed like something he would be willing to try, if it worked great.

Peter is still talking: “After that you build you own gauntlet and the Bruce Banner brings everyone back, but Thanos arrived from the past with a big army. There’s a fight, a big one. And you are about to lose when all the dusted heroes return and join the fray. That isn’t enough. You take on Thanos alone and you steal the Stones back and use them to dust away Thanos’ armies, but it, it, it.”

The kid starts crying again and most can fill in the blank, Tony doesn’t make it and the kid probably watched him die. Through the tears Peter whispers: “You were like a dad to me. The third dad I lost. I was there, but, but I couldn’t, I couldn’t safe you.”

The broken look on the boys face broke them all. Tony pulled him into a hug. He didn’t care that he didn’t technically know the kid or that he didn’t like hugs all that much, something inside him screamed at him to protect this child.

“I’m sorry.” Peter whispered, “You deserved to grow old with Pepper and to watch Morgan grow up. She still loves you 300.”

Tony didn’t really know what that meant, but he squeezed Peter tighter. Right at that moment Peter glitched. “What happened?” Tony asked, he hadn’t noticed that the others glitched too.

Peni answered: “We’re glitching, because our atoms don’t like being in another universe for too long. It’s safe for a few days, but we shouldn’t stay too long.”

Peters eyes went wide and frantic, he grabbed Tony and said: “I don’t want to go, please. Mr. Stark don’t make me go.”

“Peter, it isn’t safe to stay, you need to go back.” Peter B. said.

Peter just shook his head, he had found a Tony and he wasn’t about to let go. Peni said: “I’ll give you a Goober, yeah. It can help you jump universes, so you can come back again.”

“Exactly,” the deep voice of Noir said, “You are one of us.”

The others nodded. Miles smirked: “We Spider-people got to stick together.”

That got some groans and eyeroll, but no one really hated it, especially after the giggle Peter let out.

Tony put his hand on Peter shoulder and said: “I hope you come. You can always swing by here.”

Tony smirked at his joke and Peter tried to smile back, but the lines blurred as he thought to his Mr. Stark, who had made the exact same joke, with the same look on his face. So he just nodded and with a broken voice he whispered: “I’d like that.”

They said there goodbyes and one by one different Spider-people jumped through the portals. Peni explained the Goober to Peter then left. Only Peter and Tony were left. Peter opened his portal and said: “Thank you, Tony. Please tell Thor to go for the head when he meets Thanos.”

Then he saluted and fell backwards through the portal. It wasn’t Mr. Stark, but damn if it was close.

59 notes · View notes

splendidlyimperfect · 5 years

Text

sin & sorcery chapter 13

Natsu and Gray find themselves flung through a portal into a world they don't recognize - a magic-less, dystopian version of Earthland called Edolas. With their magic gone and a dire need to get home, they find themselves in an alliance with some (un)familar faces. As they work with the rebellion of underground mages to take down Faust and the city of Imperium, they realize that if they do get home, they might not return quite the same.

sin & sorcery - chapter 13

Chapter Summary: Earthland-Natsu and Gray help the Resistance try to rebuild, and make a surprising discovery. Edolas-Gray makes a difficult decision.

Rating: Explicit Pairings: Natsu/Gray, Edolas Natsu/Edolas Gray, Edolas Gray/Edolas Sting/Edolas Rogue Tags: AU-Cyberpunk, Dystopia, Edolas Arc, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Torture, PTSD, Drug Use, Prostitution, Magic Tech Warnings: Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, PTSD, Drug Addiction Read on Ao3

The thin sun rose over the courtyard of Acropolis, doing little to disperse the chilly fog that clung to the pieces of concrete that still littered the area. Natsu yawned and huddled closer to Gray, who was gripping his coffee cup tightly between his hands. The steam curled up through Gray’s hair and over his head, dissipating in the early morning air. A chill crept under Natsu’s jacket and he shivered.

“Don’t chew your nails.” Gray reached out and grabbed Natsu’s hand, pulling it away from his mouth. Natsu huffed and Gray looked over at him. “You okay?”

“Mn,” Natsu replied. The last week had been hectic, and being in the courtyard only reminded him of burning all those bodies, and the way the scent of scorched flesh had clung to him long after he’d scrubbed his skin raw in the shower. Gajeel was now leading a team to clear the rubble and reshape the courtyard, but it was all still a mess and a reminder of everything they’d failed to do.

“C’mere.” Gray wrapped an arm around Natsu and rested their heads together, then kissed Natsu’s temple. With everything that had been going on in the past two weeks, they only time they’d had to themselves were their few hours of restless sleep at night, curled up on the hard mattress in the officer’s quarters and holding each other through their nightmares.

“You ready to head out?” Natsu lifted his head when Laxus stepped in front of them, holding out two fist-sized white patches. A flaming phoenix was emblazoned on the center of each of them – their new symbol of governance. Of hope.

“They look good.” Gray took one of the badges and ran his fingers over the emblem. Freed had designed it after the Resistance leaders had come up with the symbol, and it now permanently adorned the breast of the white jacket Sting wore. “Hopefully people won’t try to kill us on sight.”

“That’s what the secret knives are for,” Laxus said conspiratorially, raising an eyebrow before moving on to the next group.

Natsu fixed the badge to the breast of his jacket, frowning at Laxus’ retreating back. “Was he… do we have secret knives?” he asked. Gray shrugged.

“He probably does,” Gray said, gesturing at Rogue, who was making his way toward them. “Secret knives,” Gray clarified when Rogue looked puzzled. “I’m assuming you-“

“Sixteen.” Rogue’s face was impossible to read, and Natsu didn’t know if he should laugh or be terrified. “That way you can protect yourself no matter what position you’re in.”

A hint of a smile tugged at Rogue’s lip, but his gaze dropped to the spot just over Natsu’s left shoulder. Natsu hesitated, thinking of Rogue in Undertown – Rogue, who probably had kept sixteen knives on him, and who had used them to stab dozens of men, who had either raped or tried to rape him. And there were hundreds more than he hadn’t stabbed, but likely wished he had.

“You okay?” Gray asked gently, and Rogue shook his head, blinking away memories.

“Y-yes.” He rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, it’s…” Rogue tipped his head back, looking up at the sky. The sky was still dim, with gray clouds scudding across the dark water beyond the port. “Still getting used to this,” he said, smiling. “Seeing the sky, sleeping somewhere safe. Not…” He trailed his fingers over a nearly-faded bruise on his wrist.

“We’re, uh… headed to Sycca,” Natsu said, glancing at the datapad that Freed had given him earlier. He made a face at the idea of riding on the maglev. “You staying here with Sting?”

Rogue glanced over at Sting, who was on the steps to the Acropolis, deep in conversation with Erza. Sting looked good, Natsu thought. He barely resembled the hard-faced man Natsu had met months ago in the Resistance hideout – he looked like a leader, here.

“You two off?” Edo-Natsu appeared, bumping Rogue’s shoulder and giving him an uncertain smile. Natsu hadn’t missed the awkward tension between them over the past week, and had tried to stay out of it. Rogue gave Edo-Natsu a gentle smile, squeezing his arm and then heading over toward Sting.

“How’s Gray?” Natsu asked, taking in Edo-Natsu’s haggard appearance. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a week – he probably hadn’t.

“Not… great,” Edo-Natsu admitted, running a hand over his face. He sighed at both the boy’s concerned expressions. “He’s okay. Still throwing up everything he eats, in a lot of pain, fever’s up and down. He’s coming out of it, though, he knows where he is now. That… Sin…”

“There was a lot of awful shit down there,” Gray sad sadly, eyes flicking over to Rogue’s retreating figure. “Nobody here knows anything about the withdrawal?”

“Nothing helpful,” Natsu said, shaking his head. “There’s none of the drug left here, so we couldn’t take him off it gradually. And nobody’s going back to Undertown anytime soon. The Zeurocol stims helped a bit with the pain – if you find any more that might help.” Natsu nodded and tapped the name into the datapad.

“We’ll see what we can find,” Gray said, reaching out and grasping Edo-Natsu’s arm. “We’ll come find you when we get back.”

“Thanks.” Edo-Natsu smiled, genuine beneath the exhaustion and worry. “Well… good luck, I guess.” He squeezed Gray’s forearm affectionately, then nodded toward the gates that led out toward the maglev station. “Go make us proud.”

Natsu spent the entire train ride trying his best not to be sick.

The maglev rails ran across the water, spanning the distance between Imperium and Sycca. The trains moved faster than any vehicle Natsu had been on before, and the world outside the windows blurred past as he rested his head on Gray’s lap, grateful for the sensation of cool fingers on the back of his neck.

When they finally arrived in Sycca and stepped off the train, they both froze in shock. “Holy shit,” Gray whispered.

The riots had destroyed the city. Entire city blocks were burnt down, rickety black skeletons of twisted metal the only things left that were once apartment blocks and shops. Several tents were set up outside the maglev station, providing emergency prepacks and wear to the citizens, who were lined up in snaking rows that wove between the city blocks.

“You guys here to help?” Natsu turned at the sound of Lucy’s voice and he felt a strange pang of homesickness. Even though it wasn’t his Lucy, he couldn’t help the wistful feeling. He shoved it away, trying to focus on the present.

“Hey, Lucy,” he said, giving her a timid wave and stepping away from the maglev platform. She was wearing her usual outfit, but the phoenix emblem was attached to her jacket.

“You’re part of Epsilon Squad,” she said, gesturing for Gray to hold out their datapad. She tapped it a few times and brought up a map. “Your area – Upper Eastside – is pretty close to the shield generator. It got hit bad by the fighting, but it’s a pretty scanty area so not many of the folks have come forward.”

“Scanty?” Natsu asked.

“Poor,” Lucy replied shortly. Then she looked up at Natsu, her face softening. “Nothing like Undertown, though. It doesn’t get that bad up here.” He nodded. “Right now you’re just doing recon. Asking questions, seeing what you can do. You can take some of the emergency stock packs and medkits, but we’re gonna send another squad later this week with what they properly need.”

Gray picked up one of the small, black packs and handed it to Natsu, then hefted another one over his shoulder. “Should we expect…?” He trailed off, hand traveling to the gun holstered at his hip. Lucy shrugged.

“Can’t hurt to be prepared,” she said, eyes already on the next group of volunteers. “Stay sharp, and good luck.”

The streets of Upper Eastside were narrow and dark – not much sunlight filtered down to the ground. Buildings stretched up into the sky, most of them blackened and burned, with twisted metal poking out from shattered bricks and cement. It was clear that this hadn’t been a good part of town, even before the battle.

Natsu was both surprised and relieved that they were met with gratitude and friendliness. As soon as they entered the area they were approached by citizens, and by the time the early evening rolled around, Gray’s datapad was filled with notes, and the stock packs and medkits they’d brought were gone.

“Fuck, I’m exhausted,” Natsu said, slumping down on what used to be a fountain, but was now a vaguely-circular-shaped pile of rubble. He pulled a nutribar from his pack and began to eat it, making a face at the bland taste. The sun was starting to set, but the smoke that still lingered in the sky muted the colors and made the fading light thin.

“Lexa, come back here!” A little girl came barreling down the street and ran straight up to Natsu, crashing into his legs and tumbling to the ground. She couldn’t have been more than four or five, with a dirty face and blonde hair pulled back into pigtails, and she stared up at him with an intensity that didn’t match her age.

Natsu reached out to help her up, and when he touched her, he froze. Something about her was different.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he said slowly, tilting his head and staring at her curiously.

“I’m so sorry, sir.” A tired-looking young woman caught up to the little girl, reaching out a hand to drag her away. Natsu shook his head, looking up at the woman and smiling.

“It’s okay,” Gray said, gesturing at the emblem on his jacket. “I’m Gray and this is Natsu, we came to help here. What’s your name?”

The woman looked at Gray warily, then replied, “Annabeth.” She looked down at her daughter. “I’m so sorry, she…”

Natsu let the woman talk to Gray as he focused again on the little girl. “What’s your name, darling?” he asked quietly.

She looked up at Annabeth, who gave her a hesitant nod. “Lexa,” the girl said quietly. Her eyes dropped from Natsu’s face to the phoenix emblem on his jacket. “That’s pretty.”

“It’s a phoenix,” he explained, still trying to figure out what was different about her. There was an energy around her, something sparking and thrumming that he could feel in his fingertips. “It’s a special kind of bird. It means hope.”

“Are we in trouble?” Annabeth asked. Natsu looked up at her terrified expression and realization hit him.

“She has magic, doesn’t she?” Natsu asked.

Gray looked down sharply, and Lexa backed away from Natsu, face dropping into something closed off and afraid. Annabeth dropped to her knees, wrapping her arms around her daughter.

“Please don’t take her,” Annabeth begged.

“It’s okay,” Natsu reassured her quickly, crouching down on the ground in front of them. “It’s okay, Faust- he’s gone, it’s…” He looked up at Gray, whose expression was wary. “It’s not – nobody’s gonna get in trouble. Look.”

Gray knelt down beside them, holding out a hand and forming a small flower of ice in his palm. Lexa’s eyes widened and she leaned forward, touching it hesitantly. Her mother let out a sigh of relief, eyes flicking forth between Gray and Natsu.

“She’s… we’ve been hiding it for so long,” she whispered, stroking Lexa’s hair. Lexa huddled back against her, looking uncertain but staring up at Natsu. “He would have taken her, he would have-“

“He’s gone now,” Natsu reassured her, glancing over at Gray. They hadn’t even considered that there were still those outside the guilds who had been hiding magical abilities. “It’s safe. Nobody’s going to take her.”

“You too?” Lexa’s voice was curious as she looked at the ice flower, then up at Natsu. He smiled and held his hand out as well, summoning the smallest, most non-threatening flame he could make. Lexa backed up a bit, but the expression on her face quickly transformed from fear to curiosity.

“What kind of magic can you do?” Natsu asked gently. Lexa looked up at her mom again, eyes wide and uncertain.

“Can I show them, mama?” she asked. Annabeth’s eyes flicked back and forth between Gray and Natsu, then her face softened and she nodded. Lexa slowly held her hands out in front of her. At first, nothing happened. Then the air in front of her began to shimmer, like looking through campfire smoke.

“Not too fax, Lexa,” Annabeth warned. Lexa pouted, then squinted over to the other side of the ruined fountain. The air there began to shimmer as well, and Lexa grinned at them proudly.

“Door!” she said excitedly. She picked up a rock, tossing it through the blurred space in front of her. It disappeared, then clattered to the ground on the other side of the fountain. “Me, too?”

Natsu looked over at Gray uncertainly as Lexa grabbed his hand, pulling up and tugging him toward the shimmering field. He braced himself as he walked through it, feeling a chill run up his arms, and then-

-then they were on the other side of the fountain, and he felt slightly out of breath. Lexa jumped up and down excitedly, squeezing his hand.

“Holy shit,” Natsu whispered, looking back over at Gray, whose expression of tentative excitement mirrored his own. “Holy shit, she can make portals.”

“New mages?” Sting’s voice was crackly through the datapad, but Gray could hear the excitement in his voice. “Of course there would be, the kids… gods, I can’t believe we didn’t think about it. How many have you found?”

“Eight, so far,” Gray replied. He looked over to where Natsu was holding a toddler on his hip and grinning at her. They were settled in a cleared-out room that used to be a warehouse before the riots claimed it. Several sets of parents milled around with their children, and Gray could see flashes of magic from the corner of his eye.

“So you want… should we open the guilds again?” Sting’s eyes were wide and excited, ignoring the fatigue that colored the rest of his features. “Start accepting new mages?”

“I don’t know about the other guilds,” Gray replied, rubbing his face. “But… we could try to set up Fairy Tail again. Here, in Sycca, maybe? Nobody from here would send their kids to Imperium.”

“Good point.” Sting thought for a moment, tapping his fingers on his desk. They had set up an office for him in Acropolis, and Gray was impressed by how official everything seemed. He wouldn’t have been surprised if, when the elections finally came around, the people voted for Sting to remain in power.

“We can see what we have to work with here,” Gray said. “We can- I mean, we’re not experts or anything, but Natsu and I can control our magic. We could teach the kids. Some of the others could come back too, if they wanted.”

“I know Laxus and Freed aren’t keen on staying here,” Sting replied, turning to the vidscreen beside him and pulling up several files. “Lucy and Levy might, not sure about Gajeel. There’s a handful more from the other guilds, but…”

“Yeah,” Gray said, looking around the room again. The eight families had come forward eagerly after Annabeth had told them about the potential new guild, and Gray imagined more would show up in the days to come. He sighed, wishing Makarov were here.

“You okay?” Sting asked. Gray turned back to the datapad, hesitating before answering.

“One of the kids… she can make portals.”

Sting’s face transformed slowly into an expression of tentative hope and excitement. “That’s incredible! She could- if she worked with Freed, with his runes, and the tech… some of the mages used to interface with it, we could-“

“We’re trying not to get our hopes up,” Gray said quietly, looking over at Natsu again. He was smiling, but it didn’t quite meet his eyes. Ever since their fight in the courtyard, Natsu’s anger and frustration had been softer and more subdued, but it was clear that he was still grieving. “She’s only four, I mean, it’s impressive, but…”

“I understand,” Sting said. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’ll talk to Erza, see about setting something up for you in Sycca – an old hotel or something, if the families want to stay. We’ll figure it out.”

“Thanks,” Gray said, looking down as one of the children grabbed his pant leg and stared up at him expectantly. “I gotta go, but we’ll talk soon. We’re sending someone back with those stims for Gray, hopefully they’ll help.”

Gray could tell that Sting was trying to keep his emotions in check, but the frustration and sadness that appeared on his face at the mention of Edo-Gray were obvious. Gray wished he hadn’t said anything.

“Thanks,” Sting said softly. “He’s… a bit better. I’ll make sure they get to him.”

There was an awkward silence, then Gray gave Sting a tired smile. “Talk soon?”

“Talk soon,” Sting agreed, and then the transmission ended, leaving Gray with a room full of magic and no idea what to do with it.

Gray hadn’t gone this long without Sin since he’d started it three years ago. Twelve agonizing days had passed, and the world around him moved on while he shivered and shook and threw up. Every part of him ached, and for the first few days he’d been certain he was going to die. Now, he kind of wished he had.

“Hey, love.” Natsu’s face appeared in his field of vision and Gray blinked slowly, swallowing against the nausea that was always present. “You know where you are?” Gentle fingers stroked Gray’s back and he shivered at the touch.

“Yeah,” he mumbled. An icy hand touched his forehead and he groaned, wrapping his arms around himself. Wasn’t Natsu supposed to be warm? Cool fingers brushed Gray’s sweaty bangs out of his face. ”C-cold.”

“You’re burning up again,” Natsu murmured softly. Gray shivered, feeling his jaw seize up from the tension. When he opened his eyes again, the room was still spinning. “C’mon, let’s get you back in the shower.”

Gray didn’t have the strength to argue. He let Natsu pull back the blankets and tug him to his feet, then guide him across the room and into the ensuite until he was sitting on the floor of the shower. There was a hiss as the water started up and he flinched as cold droplets began to hit his skin.

“N-need... warm,” he mumbled, pulling his knees to his chest and pressing his forehead to them. Natsu sat down next to him, bare skin pressed together, and he wrapped his arm around Gray, pulling him close.

“You’ve got a fever,” Natsu said, maneuvering Gray under the stream of cool water and running fingers through Gray’s hair. “You’ve gotta cool down or we’ll need to get Wendy to come back.”

“N-no,” Gray argued, shaking his head. He immediately regretted it – blood pounded between his ears and the room shook violently. “Frak, gods, I n-need... I c-can't...” Sharp pain shot up his arms and he realized that he was digging his fingernails into his skin.

“Stop that,” Natsu said gently, pulling Gray’s hands into his lap. “You’re gonna be okay.”

Gray tipped his head sideways and looked at Natsu. His hair was plastered to his scalp and water dripped down his face, but his gaze remained on Gray, strong and steady. The look on his face was one of pure trust – complete faith that Gray could do this, could get better.

Was that enough to make it true?

“I wanna... w-wanna go home with you,” Gray mumbled, reaching out and touching Natsu’s cheek. Another violent spasm had him pulling away in pain, but Natsu reached up and grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly. “Gnghhh, it h-hurts.”

“I know, love,” Natsu said gently, kissing Gray’s knuckles and shifting closer to him. Gray’s jaw clenched again and he groaned, pain spiking through his head and nausea slamming through him. He gasped, turning away from Natsu and retching. There was nothing in his stomach for him to throw up, and bile burned the back of his throat.

“Gods...” he gasped, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and shaking violently. “I’m so... gods, I’m so s-stupid." He pulled himself tighter into the ball, shaking as the cold water slammed against his skin, burning like sparks up and down his arms. “I h-hate this.”

“I know,” Natsu said softly, brushing Gray’s hair out of his face and kissing his forehead. “But you can do it. I believe in you.”

The conviction in his voice made Gray’s chest tighten painfully. Natsu believed in him.

Maybe he could believe in himself, too.

Natsu sat on the bed, flipping through files and reports on his datapad. Other-Gray had been sending him updates on the new guild – a few days ago, Laxus and Freed had returned to Sycca to start rebuilding a place for the new mages to stay. The idea of a new generation of magic-users made Natsu feel light. The sickness had burned away, and new saplings were growing from the remains of the dead things left behind.

A ping at the door made him look up from the datapad. Gray stood in the doorway of their room, arms crossed over his chest. He looked exhausted, but healthy. The Sin had finally made its way out of his system after three long weeks, and just yesterday he’d managed to keep down a meal without throwing it up.

Gray stepped into the room and the door slid closed behind him. He moved over to the bed, then reached out his hand to pull Natsu to his feet.

“I’m coming with you.” Gray said softly. Natsu’s breath caught in his throat as he searched Gray’s face – Gray’s eyes were clear, no trace of confusion or uncertainty. This wasn’t the drugs talking, or the fever. This was Gray – his Gray.

“You…” Natsu trailed off and ran a hand over Gray’s cheek, fingers tracing the shape of his scar. He brushed his thumb over Gray’s lips and Gray turned his head, pressing a kiss in Natsu’s palm.

“I know we can- we can’t go back,” Gray said, voice breaking. “It’s never gonna be the same. But… I love you, and I can’t… I can’t lose you again. You’re my heart.” Gray brought his hand up to grip the ring on the chain around his neck, and Natsu wiped at the tears that were already slipping from Gray’s eyes.

“What about… Sting?” Natsu whispered, chest aching. “And Rogue…”

Gray squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. He swallowed a few times, fighting to get the words out, and Natsu’s heart ached. He never wanted this. He didn’t want Gray to have to choose.

“I can’t…” Gray took a shaky breath. “I still love them. I can’t stop.” Natsu’s chest tightened and he gripped Gray’s hand tighter. “They’re always gonna be… I can’t forget them. And maybe that means you and I won’t- won’t work, but I… I have to try.” Gray rubbed his eyes. “I need… to say goodbye to them.”

A soft sob broke out of his throat and Natsu felt guilty weighing heavy in his chest. He pulled Gray into a tight embrace, kissing his head.

“I’m so sorry,” he breathed. “I don’t want… I didn’t mean for you to lose…” His voice left him and all he could do was cry softly against Gray.

“I know,” Gray whispered. “I know, I’m - it’s not your fault. It’s me, and this, and I just... frak, I’m so tired. Of everything, the- the fighting, and the killing and… and the nightmares.” He clutched Natsu’s shirt tightly. “I have to stay away from... I can’t be like this anymore, I have to be better. I have to be.” He shook his head against Natsu’s chest. “I missed you every godsdamned day, and I can’t throw that away.”

“I love you,” Natsu said shakily. “I was so lonely. I missed you so much, I watched... I watched you die and it hurt so badly. I thought I was gonna die too.” The tears were dripping down his cheeks now, soaking into Gray’s hair, and his breaths were coming in sharp gasps. “I’m so sorry. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Gray tipped his head up and pulled Natsu into a gentle kiss. Natsu made a soft noise against Gray’s lips, leaning in and running his hand up Gray’s arm. Each press of their lips said so many things – whispers of sorrow, screams of regret, cries of guilt. They broke apart after a minute and Gray shivered, resting his forehead against Natsu’s.

“I just...” he hesitated, taking Natsu’s hand and playing with the ring on his finger. “I need... I need to say goodbye. Is that okay?”

Natsu knew that Gray meant with more than just words and it made his chest ache, but he nodded anyway. “Of course, love,” he whispered. “Take all the time you need.”

“You’re going with him.” Rogue’s voice was soft and Gray couldn’t meet his eyes, keeping his gaze trained on the floor. A heavy silence hung in the air between them until Sting reached out and took Gray’s arm, gently pulling him into the bedroom. The door whooshed shut behind them and Gray sat down heavily on the bed.

“I can’t...” he started but he choked on the words, dropping his head into his hands. He couldn’t do this. How could he say goodbye? How could he leave them, leave the people who’d seen him broken and put him back together? “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Sting said roughly, crouching down in front of Gray. He ran his hands up Gray’s thighs as Rogue sat down on the bed, running his hand down Gray’s back. “We understand. You’ve missed him for a long time.”

“But I love you,” Gray sobbed, wrapping his arms around his stomach. “I can’t stop and I’m s-sorry, I c-can't – you s-saved my life and I c-can't...” he took a shaky breath. “I’ll miss you so much.”

“We’ll miss you too,” Rogue said quietly, and Gray could hear the pain in his voice. Hundreds of memories flashed through Gray’s mind – soft kisses, familiar touches, gentle words, loving hands. Rogue’s touch had been the first one that hadn’t hurt him in two years. They had given him so much and loved even the broken pieces.

“Mi bedaŭras min,” Gray sobbed, turning and burying his face on Rogue’s shoulder. “I don’t know if I can live without you.” Everything hurt and his chest ached, but he kept picturing pink hair and gentle hands and Natsu’s lopsided smile. He couldn’t lose that. He couldn’t lose this. Everything was falling apart.

“You can,” Sting said, reaching up to touch Gray’s cheek. “And you’re not losing us. We’ll still be here.”

“It’s...” Gray swallowed, pulling back from Rogue and reaching up to trail a gentle finger down his cheek. “I’m...”

Rogue pulled him closer, hesitating and staring into Gray’s eyes for permission before pressing their lips together. Gray let out a soft moan, bringing his hand to the back of Rogue’s neck and tugging him in closer. He hadn’t kissed Rogue in weeks, but the sensation of his lips was so familiar, imprinted into Gray’s body. He could never forget this – would never forget this.

Sting moved up onto the bed behind Gray and his lips brushed the back of Gray’s neck. Gray sighed, reaching back and running a hand through Sting’s hair. Rogue’s fingers were on Gray’s cheeks, and he felt Sting’s hand drift down his side to caress his stomach.

“Is this okay?” Sting asked, words whispered against Gray’s skin. “Is he-”

“I said I needed to say goodbye,” Gray said, voice breaking. “I can’t...”

Sting tipped Gray’s head back and kissed him, rough and steady like Gray was used to, and Gray turned and gripped his shoulders, trying to breathe. Rogue’s hands were in Gray’s hair and on his hips and he shivered, biting Sting’s lip and then tipping his head to the side while Sting trailed gentle kisses down his neck.

“C’mere,” Sting said roughly, tugging Gray until he was straddling Sting’s thighs while Sting pressed kisses along his collarbone. Gray moaned softly, dragging his fingers through Sting’s hair and leaning back against Rogue, who had moved to stand behind him. Rogue's chest was warm against Gray’s back, and Gray could feel a steady heartbeat through his thin shirt.

Gray’s breath came in short gasps as Sting brought his hands up under Gray’s shirt, drifting them over his chest as he placed soft, open-mouthed kisses up the side of Gray’s neck. Rogue’s hands were on his hips now and Gray rocked forward out of instinct, moaning softly at Sting’s fingers pressing over the scars on his back. It felt so good, so familiar, so-

-no. He closed his eyes and saw Natsu’s soft eyes and sweet smile, and he pulled back.

“Frak, I... I can’t.” He swallowed heavily and rested his forehead against Sting’s, feeling the tears come again. “I want... I can’t.”

“It’s okay,” Sting whispered, bringing his hands up over Gray’s shirt and running them up and down his back. “We understand. We're gonna miss you so much, but... you need to go. It’s better for you. He’ll take care of you, things... you’ll be okay.”

“What if I can’t be?” Gray’s voice broke and he collapsed forward onto Sting’s chest, shoulders shaking. Sting made a soft noise and shifted until they were lying on the bed, Gray tucked under Sting’s chin, while Rogue curled up behind Gray with an arm around him. “What if I... if we go and th-then I’m just... I'm too b-broken and h-he'll...”

“And he’ll love you,” Rogue said gently, kissing Gray’s neck. “It’s going to be hard, but you both know that. He loves you so much, karulino.”

“It hurts,” Gray whimpered, pulling tighter in on himself. “You’re... part of me and it hurts.”

“I know it does, amataj,” Sting whispered, holding Gray tightly and looking over at Rogue with heartbroken eyes. “I know it does.”

Gray’s chest ached as he stood next to Natsu at the maglev platform. The wind whipped around them and he crossed his arms over his stomach, glad they’d found a place to wait that was far away from the other passengers. He felt sick and scared an on the edge of tears.

“It’s okay,” Natsu whispered, touching Gray’s lower back gently. Gray couldn’t help flinching at the touch and he flushed, embarrassed. “We can wait, we don’t have to go now.”

“Yes, we do.” Gray looked up at the tracks that spanned the ocean to the mainland. The sky was gray again, clouds obscuring the faint light of the sun, and Gray was glad for it. It felt a little like Undertown again – dark and cramped and familiar.

There was a familiar whirring sound as the maglev pulled into the station, and Gray’s feet felt frozen to the ground. Gods, it hurt, he couldn’t leave.

He had to leave.

“I’ll wait for you in there, okay?” Natsu said softly, then turned to hug Sting and Rogue, who had come up behind them. They both pulled Natsu into tight embraces, pressing kisses to his cheek before letting him go.

“I’m-“

“Don’t say you’re sorry,” Rogue said gently, eyes wet with tears. “Just – take care of him. He needs you.”

Natsu nodded, then gave the two of them one final look filled with both hope and regret, before he turned and boarded the train. Gray stood still, facing the doors of the maglev and holding himself tightly. He couldn’t fight the tears anymore and they left hot trails down his cheeks.

“C’mere,” Sting said softly, touching Gray’s elbow. Gray turned and let Sting pull him into his arms, trembling against Sting’s chest. Sting ran his hand over Gray’s hair, pulling Gray’s head to rest on his shoulder.

“We’ll still talk,” Rogue said, joining the embrace and kissing Gray’s cheek. “Maybe come visit, once things calm down here. This isn’t goodbye.”

Gray tried to reply but his throat was thick with tears and he couldn’t say anything. What was there to say?

He reached up to trace his finger over the phoenix on Sting’s jacket, trying to pull hope from the symbol. Everything was burning to ash, but beautiful things grew from destruction. Natsu believed in him, and maybe with his love, Gray could be more than a disaster.

Gray inhaled shakily, taking in everything he could from the embrace – the feel of Sting’s rough fingers on the back of his neck, the scent of soap that lingered in Rogue’s hair, the way he fit so neatly in their arms. He pulled himself reluctantly out of the embrace, then kissed them both, hoping that the gesture conveyed everything he couldn’t say.

An awkward cough interrupted them and Gray looked over to see Gajeel standing next to them, looking uncomfortable.

“I, uh, wanted to do somethin’ for you before you left.” Gajeel’s voice was rough and he shifted from foot to foot, hands in his pockets. He looked up at Gray and gestured to the chain around his neck that held his ring. “Can I, uh… can I see it?”

Gray frowned, bringing his hand up to the chain and gripping the ring tightly. He knew Gajeel well enough to trust that he wouldn’t do anything dangerous, but wariness kept him hesitant.

“I’m not gonna- just-“

“Here.” Gray finally found his voice and pulled the chain over his head, reaching out hesitantly and placing it in Gajeel’s hand. Gajeel looked at it carefully, then looked at Gray’s hand. He touched the metal and it began to shift, slowly shrinking in size.

“Try it.” Gajeel handed the ring back to Gray and Gray stared at it before slipping it onto his finger. It fit perfectly, and the weight of it there after so many years made his chest hurt.

“Dankon,” he whispered, not meeting Gajeel’s eyes. He wasn’t sure if Gajeel knew what this meant to him, but he knew that if he made eye contact now, Gray would fall apart. “Thank you.”

“Yeah,” Gajeel replied gruffly. “See ya, I guess.” Then he turned around and stalked back toward Acropolis, hands shoved in his pockets.

Gray stood for a moment, stunned, before stepping back from Sting and Rogue and looking at the ground between them. He swallowed heavily, running his finger over the ring – the ring that fit him again, that he could wear to show that he loved the man waiting for him on the train.

What did he have to show his love for Sting and Rogue? Did he have to keep that hidden? Or was that love written on all his scars they’d helped to heal?

“Go,” Rogue whispered, and Gray finally looked up, meeting their eyes and almost wishing he hadn’t. The air was tense with grief and everything hurt. Gray took another step backward, wanting to touch them one last time but knowing he couldn’t.

“Adiaŭo,” he whispered. “Mi ĉiam amos vin. I’ll always love you.”

Then, before they could reply, Gray turned and walked away, focusing on Natsu’s smiling face through the window, and the heavy weight of the silver ring on his finger.

#fairy tail #ftfanfic #ftlgbtales #ftlgbtfics #gratsu #grayxstingxrogue #edolas #cyberpunk #dystopia #angst #hurt/comfort #torture #ptsd #drug addiction #heavy angst

17 notes · View notes

tydy-the-megnet · 6 years

Text

A Homey Side of the Camp

I wanted to write Marris. It ended up being mostly gen though. And I’m not even too happy with it…

Eh, whatever. I’m sure somebody will enjoy it, right?

“Alright, Campers!” David spoke loudly and cheerfully as he always did, grabbing the attention of every kid in the mess hall as they dutifully carried their trays toward the washer, “Today is Gwen’s day off, so we won’t be bothering her!” The jovial counselor hopped in place, betraying his own excitement.

Max scowled, just thinking of what David would have them do without Gwen there.

“Instead, we’ll be hiking into the forest to see all the different trees!”

Max groaned and slumped forward, leaning his check onto his fist, “Figures you would come up with this, you tree fucker.”

The grumpy boy ignored the chiding response.

…

The campers trekked through the forest, following their overenthusiastic counselor, and cursing the day that derived them of Gwen – the only protection they had from activities like this.

And it didn’t help that David was stopping every five seconds to lecture them for twenty-five minutes on each and every tree they saw. It was all little facts and trivia and almost seemed like he was trying to lose his interest, Max thought, as he looked away.

One thing did catch his attention. The scream-rustle-thud that sounded decided unlike Conifers 101.

Max turned around, eyes darting to where David stood – he was gone. What the fuck?

“Where did he go?” Space Kid asked, scratching his bowl.

“He fell into the bushes…” Neil responded, digging through the shrubbery. Jolting back, the boy pulled some bright cloth from the branches. It was a small, yellow shirt – David’s, which they all knew he wore as an ascot. The worst part, Max noticed, was that it was splattered with red.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Max swore, looking upward.

...

“Great, he probably got eaten by a bear or something.” Max griped as the campers headed back the way they came.

“Perhapth it was a wood troll. They can be particularly nefariuth creaturth.” Nerris replied, “And their CR is too high for David’s current level.”

“Yeah, but bears are real.”

“Aw man, I wanna wrestle a bear!” Stars danced in Nikki’s eyes as she skipped a few steps ahead of the others.

“Nikki! We need to stick together!” It was Neil who spoke next, attempting to keep them safe. “Any one of us could be next.” Nikki stopped, allowing the others to catch up.

Conversation between the campers continued in a similar pattern until they reached the main campgrounds again. They went immediately to the counselor cabin, knocking urgently on the door.

There was no answer. Neil stepped forward, knocking again, and the door swung open with an eerie creak. The room was lit only by the open window, a soft breeze rustling the drawn curtains and letting in the occasional beam. There also were words etched in the wall beside it.

newg ame xam pers

“… The fuck? Is that Latin? Is this that fucking cultist!?”

“It doesn’t look like Latin.” Neil said uncertainly, examining the carvings.

Max glared at the offending words as his fellow campers started to panic. What he failed to understand was why someone would come all the way to this dump just to kill people off.

Psychopaths were weird like that.

“Would you guys shut the fuck up already? Let’s go get the try the Quartermaster. If anyone can stop some crazy serial killer, it’d be him.”

“Yesh! The elder one will surely hold the key to thith mythtery!” Nerris cheered, and the others shakily cheered back.

Max sighed, and the group began to exit the counselor’s room. Max was the first out, pausing when he heard a whooshing – “Oh my got they got Space Kid!” Nurf’s voice rang out clearly in the night, and everyone turned quickly toward Gwen’s window, where only the astro-enthusiast’s helmet remained. The glass bowl was spinning slowly, rattling on the floor as it slowed.

Loud rasps and scratches came from just outside, and Max ran around the corner to try and spot the culprit.

All he saw was the faint swish of a cloaked figured barreling into the woods.

“T-they’re picking us off one by one!” Neil wailed, sinking to his knees.

“Jesus, this guy’s good. How did none of us see him?”

…

Quartermaster had given them some creepy spiel about pesky dryads and left to search. That had been expected, but it meant they were left alone, and now Max and the others were stuck in the mess hall out of fear, or at least concern.

“Maybe the camp will get shut down after this,” Max muttered idly, reclining on a table.

Nikki gasped, “Oh no! You think it would! We can’t let that happen!” She grabbed Neil and a frying pan and charged out the door, shouting, “Onward to the hunt!”

Max watched the door that the pair had burst through. He was slowly becoming more and more done with the situation. “Ugh, come on. I guess we should go look for them. But if we get brutally murdered by whatever fucking thing there is out there, I swear to fucking god—” the boy groaned.

“We should shplit up, for efficiency.”

Max stared disbelievingly as everyone accepted the idea without question. It’s like they were trying to fall into every horror movie trope in existence.

People moved around him, pairing off – Ered with Dolph, Harrison with Nurf – leaving only Max, Nerris, and Preston.

“This is stupid,” Max griped, “We should just leave. Our counselors are dead. We should go into town and call the cops, not search the camp for some rabid psycho-cryptid or whatever.” The boy pulled David’s bloodstained shirt from his hoodie and murmured, “Or we’re gonna die.”

“Relax, Max,” Nerris said, bounding a few feet forward, “I’ll protect uth with some magic wards.”

“This is Act Three! The climax is approaching!” his other partner insisted – how had he gotten stuck with these two again? – “The heroes can’t leave now!”

Nerris nodded, “No self-respecting adventurer would leave in the middle of a quetht! … Unless there’s a sidequetht that must be completed…”

Max drowned his tone in sarcasm and attempted to roll his eyes at both of them, “Well maybe—”

He was interrupted by the sounds of several things breaking. Something darted out of the bushes with a familiar feral snarl. Max barely caught sight of glinting teeth before the thing leapt onto Preston. The thespian’s cries of terror and pain were drowned out by loud growls and a distinct ripping was heard. Red sprayed everywhere, and Max was right in the splash zone.

A couple of limbs were left behind as Preston’s gurgling body was dragged through the underbrush, leaving two horrified campers gawking at the gory aftermath.

“… Fuck.”

…

The pair had been running through the woods for at least ten minutes, trying to get away from the mess. Ragged and rattled, the duo burst out into a small clearing, tumbling together out of the vegetation. They stumbled to their feet, holding each other upright.

“That… Was… Horrifying…” Max stared at the ground, still in shock. Nerris started nudging him, but the touches barely registered. Nerris’ voice was distant – “Max… Max…” the lispy whisper begged his attention.

He looked up to see Nerris’ face staring wide-eyed into the area. Slowly, he followed his gaze to see a tall – maybe ten-foot – figure ambling toward them slowly. Behind the figure was a pile of bodies with ashen faces.

Nikki, Neil, David – they were all there – Nurf, Harrison, even Preston… The figure stumbled slightly, and began muttering… Max grasped Nerris’ arm, nearly paralyzed and mind hurtling through several scenarios.

Quartermaster’s body was absent. That was a plus.

The tall cloaked being’s mumbles became clearer as it approached. A rasping whisper assaulted their ears, “Camp Campbell is the place… For you… And…”

Gwen! She was not there either. She probably had gone to the cops, like a sensible—

Wait.

The thing shuffled closer, and Max’s grip loosened. He took a single step forward, ignoring Nerris’ gasp and frantic grab.

Gwen was one of the first to be discovered missing, with those weird words in her room – Newg something.

That song… “Arsony and dying… Hurt and torture—dying…”

It was David’s song with the lyrics switched out…

The figure was right beside him now, raising a too-thin arm. Max glared at it.

He had been stuck with Preston – the actor – and Nerris – the roleplayer.

“Holy shit. Am I being punked?”

The figure stopped, and a grumbling came from its stomach. Its arm descended, and a broomstick fell from the sleeve.

It lowered its hood, revealing Gwen, smirking at him from whatever perch she had.

David perked up from his spot in the bloody pile, “We thought you’d like a murder mystery camp night!”

“What?”

Gwen lowered herself slowly, and took off the cloth, revealing Quartermaster underneath. “It was Nerris’ idea.”

“We do a lot of activitieth for all our campth. This time we wanted to do one for you…” Nerris rubbed her arm as she looked away.

Nikki ran up to him from where the others were untangling themselves, “Yeah! So, we all decided to put you through a horror movie!”

Max’s eyebrows rose as they all started talking at him, excitedly telling him which parts their ideas were. They all looked so happy to have done something for him...

The camp sucked. But the campers weren’t that bad.

#camp camp #max #nerris #marris #sort of #fanfiction #cc max #cc nerris #cc preston #cc nikki #cc neil #cc gwen #cc david #others

33 notes · View notes

yashuved · 7 years

Text

How To Make Your Dragon

First thing’s first: Dear United States of America, how the hell are you still tolerating Nazis in your country? The world defeated Nazism over 70 years ago, and you played a big part in that. The birthplace of Nazism is more intolerant to it than you. Everyone in the world knows it, condemns it and vehemently opposes it. Everyone but you, it seems.

The World hopes that for your own sake, you use your sense, just the common one in this case will be good for a start.

On to happier things…

Last weekend I watched one of the greatest comedians in the world perform live. Jerry Seinfeld graced our shores with a one night only stand-up act and me and the wife were lucky enough to be a part of it.

He has been doing stand-up shows for 40 years now and he is still the best. He doesn’t do sex. He doesn’t do race. He doesn’t do accents. He doesn’t do impressions. He doesn’t do politics (he didn’t mention Donald Trump at all!).

90 minutes of non-stop gut wrenching laughter was all about observational humour. Much like his sitcom Seinfeld, which aired 20 years ago, the stand-up act is much about nothing. It just looks at people’s lives, as it goes by each day. The writing is so tight, the performance is so nuanced that you can almost see how much work must’ve gone behind it. He knows how to time the punch lines, he knows exactly when to pause, when to raise and lower his pitch. He knows how to draw the audience in and then take them on a journey.

There is so much class about everything that goes on about the show. Right from the moment you enter the arena. You walk in and there’s Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York blasting on the sound system. You hear that and you know, you’re in for something special. The set decor is simple, yet elegant. Everyone, from the announcer, to the opening act, to Seinfeld himself are dressed in very stylish suits - jacket, tie et al.

Best of all, there is no fanfare before Jerry’s entrance. No DJ spinning some gangsta shit or some band announcing his entrance. Hell, even the announcer doesn’t do anything at that moment. The lights go out and Jerry just walks on to the stage.

It was a dream, I never thought would come true. If I could, I would do it all over again. And if you ever get a chance, Do. Not. Miss. It!

Now, on to this week’s GOT. There are spoilers from S7, E6. If you haven’t watched it, you know what to do…

The penultimate episode came with big expectations. This series has been so huge - so many characters, places, houses, lineages, story lines, relations, alliances, enmities and deaths. So many deaths, and bringing-back-from-the-deads.

Now it is nearing towards an end. We know it, the writers know it and they need to do bring it all together in pure GOT style, in GRRM style.

But I am not sure what is their approach for this though. Are they bringing it as the fans want it? or as they want it, as George RR Martin would want it? GRRM is involved in it, no doubt. But the plot seems to distance itself from GRRM’s style.

My gripe is not with the writing per se. It is with the plotting of the episode, the narrative style and structure. GOT has taken TV to a new level and in doing so, continuously built and delivered on new expectations. And this is working against them a little bit at this point.

Here are some of my observations/questions/WTFs…My 2 Cents

- Tyrion started off well on his attempt to get Dany to cool down on the people burning part. He was starting to get through to Dany when out of the blue, he started talking about succession! WTF man? She’s right - first get me on the throne and then we can talk about who will succeed me! Plus, what about my ships that Euron Grejoy stole/burnt? What about my important allies that are captured/dead/presumed dead? It was an awkward dialogue between the two with no logical conclusion in sight. The only thing it showed was that tensions between Tyrion and Dany increased further, which was evident when Dany left for North against Tyrion’s advice.

- Speaking of North, what’s up with Arya and Sansa? Haven’t they lost enough to be fighting now? Sure, sister jealousy and whatnot but they cannot make it this easy for Littlefinger. Arya, for all her new wisdom should’ve sensed that. They argue about the moment when Ned was beheaded. Both were there. For her to insinuate that Sansa was there, and not affected by it all is a bad jab at the viewers! Yes, a lot of this is setup for the finale and the next season but come on guys, please set it up a bit better. They teased the audience with the unsheathed Valyrian dagger and then did nothing with it! And where was Three Eyed Raven 2.0? Ya, we know he doesn’t care about any of this now but he can clear the air out. He can now see what happened. So see, clear the air.

- Moving further up North, North of the Wall, the first 10 min or so felt like The Fellowship of The Rings. Unknown companions on a quest to save the world from evil. But it was weird to see that at this stage of the series they were trying to build rapport between the characters.

- There was a nice tongue-in-cheek moment between Jon and Beric (Dondarrion). Beric tells Jon he doesn’t look like his father at all. Kinda true for the show. However, in the books, Jon Snow was more Stark looking than any of his half-siblings. However, we the viewers know that Jon is Rhaegar and Lyanna’s son so from that POV, yes, he doesn’t look like his father at all!! Would Beric know something or was that an unintentional coincidence?

- How convenient was it for a small party of un-dead to be wandering separate from the main group? Just what they wanted, right. And how easy was it for them to capture an un-dead. But we all knew it was not going to end there. That confrontation between the living and the dead was so very one sided. There was no way out of it. But we have Gendry, the character who returned after four seasons to get a quick exit yet again! We also have a frozen lake. It’s not that frozen - BTW; we can buy you some time until the message reaches Dany. You just hold tight and don’t do anything stupid. Enter, The Hound, throwing rocks in a lake like a bored kid on a family picnic. The rest was an unconvincing fight sequence. But then what to do until the dragons show up? How silly would it look that the dragons show up and the two groups are just sitting quietly :D

- Why did Dany take all three of them up North? Drogon has already shown his power. Plus, it was not an attack. It was a rescue mission. Yes, I know it was necessary for a major, probably the biggest plot twist of the series. But that too came too easily. Are we to believe that the Night King has a spear more powerful than the scorpion and an arm more powerful than the scorpion? Lets say the former has magic involved. But the force with which the spear pierces Viserion was unreal. This means in battle, the dragons are essentially useless against the Night King!

- Waddup, Uncle Benjen! Where did you come up from, yo? That was the most convenient placement for a Jon getaway. He just came there, out of nowhere to get Jon to escape and then he just gets himself killed! I guess the actor was just bored and the writers didn’t know what more to do with him.

- There is an undead Dragon now. How strong is the Night King’s army now? Think about it - GRRM’s original title - A Song of Ice and Fire seems to refer more and more to a final showdown between dragons - two (until now) spitting fire and the one spitting snow! Obviously, the Night King will ride it into the battle. Does this mean they now have the weapon to bring the Wall down? Hell, as such they don’t need to bring it down anymore, they can just fly over!

Look, I am still excited and committed to the show. I even got a HBO subscription. The fans are very invested with the characters and want to know how it all ends. Jon and Dany obviously have a thing for each other. Even though I noticed that she withdrew her hand three times when Jon held it, I also saw the look on her face when Jon asked them to leave him in the North.

We have picked our sides and we have spirited debates around the lunch room, with the Non-GOTs looking at us with blank looks! But as per my last post, we want entertainment. Game of Thrones delivers entertainment at a certain standard. While it is known for its violence and sex, it is admired for its characters, the plots and the politics. We want to see a final showdown. But we want to see it done with finesse and with justified motivations for actions as per the characters. They have kept Tyrion, Varys and Littlefinger in the background for most of this season. Remember when they ruled the plot-lines in the earlier seasons. It was so much fun to watch!

Since S4, E2 - The Lion and the Rose, GRRM has not written a single episode. He is currently busy writing the books (apparently), which are already way behind schedule. But that would mean an even more reduced input from him in the writing process of the episodes.

Maybe there is a need for bit of an impetus from the man himself - a bit of course correction, if you will.

Maybe he needs to…

2 notes · View notes