#Jǐngtì especially

[realfuurikuuri]

Don’t Look Away

MMHOPH Missing Arm! AU fic

WC: 2,954

Angsty as fuck 

Oneshot

AN: This was a little thing I did using @spookylovesboba MissingArm! AU. It's been a while since I last wrote fanfic(like two years) but this was pretty fun. There wasn’t much to go on The AU gave a lot of room to invert the themes of the original source, which was pretty fun. If I had to place this anywehre on the hypothetical timeline it’d be before he finds the new arm so things aren’t too bloody. The story is a oneshot. I might do more; I might not. Depends on how I’m feeling. I could ramble about this for a lot longer, which I probably will in the tags, anywyas enjoy the fic.

Mao Mao polished Geraldine, holding the sword in his right hand, holding the handle with his tail. Every so often he would turn towards the silent monster alarm before he went back to pointlessly polishing his sword. Badgerclops and Adorabat were out getting… Ice cream, was it? He wasn’t paying much attention when they left. Maybe he should have joined them and actually done something with his day. The monster alarm wasn’t giving him anything to do. 

Ring! Ring! Ring! 

Or maybe it was. He grabbed his sword and headed out the door and headed back in when he realized that it wasn’t the monster alarm. The ringing was coming from the backroom. Covered in dust, hidden in the shadows, was the home phone. Mao Mao slowly walked up to the phone, mind already racing with the unfortunate possibilities. Was it going to be one of his sisters? Probably not, he never gave them his number. Was it going to be his father? Definitely not, Mao Mao almost found the idea of him finally calling commercial. Almost. 

Mao Mao reached for the phone,” hello?” 

“Is this… sheriff, Mao Mao?” 

The voice on the other end was faked, although there was something to it he could almost recognize. 

“Who is this,” Mao Mao asked. 

“Your reckoning. I am here to destroy everything you hold dear! I am here to make sure you get what's coming to you! I am-” 

“-Going to stay out of the mayo,” Mao Mao interrupted. “Dammit Pinky, quit prank calling the sheriff's department!” 

Mao Mao slammed the phone back down without even letting him finish. “Need to have the number changed again,” he said to himself. 

He sheathed his sword and headed for the door. He might as well explore the town. It was better than getting prank called by Pinky. 

* * * 

“He just hung up on me. The ass just hung up on me!” The stranger threw the phone on the ground, growling in frustration. “Can’t even let me threaten him right. Prick won’t let me do anything!” 

“Hey, that was our phone.” 

“Shut it!” The Stranger snapped, voice echoing throughout the Sky Pirates ship. 

Orangusnake didn’t know what to think of this man. Kid more like. He couldn’t have been much older than 16 maybe 17. He was a cat with mostly white fur, save for a patch of black here and there. He was a little taller than the sheriff and even sounded like the sheriff. The only thing the kid had that Mao Mao didn’t was both arms. If he closed his eyes he could easily imagine it was an extremely vulgar version of Mao Mao. 

“So whadda we do now, boss,” Ratarang asked. 

“Well, -uh, first we’ll…” 

“You’ll shut the hell up and let me do my thing,” the stranger said. 

“Hey! You can’t just come to MY ship. And start disrespecting MY crew.” 

“I can when I’ve already beat the crap out of you and tied you up.” 

“You haven’t even beat us up!” 

“Do you want me to?” 

Orangusnake was about to tell him to try it, but the kid’s eyes reminded him of Mao Mao on a bad day. 

“Fine! But you said you could get rid of the blasted sheriff for us, so you better do it.”

“Don’t throw a bitch-fit, I have a plan.”

* * * 

Mao Mao arrived in the town on foot because Badgerclops had to take the aerocycle. He walked through the streets making sure everything was under control. Occasionally he called out their names, but he got no response. It was quit. Too quiet. The town wasn’t on fire, Pigguns hasn’t tried to run him over, and there was no trail of mayo from Pinky. Something was horribly wrong. Did it only affect the sweetie pies? Was it the Sky Pirates? A monster? Did whatever happen also effect the King? Mao Mao gritted his teeth and began to run to the castle. 

He ran as fast as he could up the castle steps. He could hear chatter get louder and louder until he finally kicked down the door. 

“My door,” the king exclaimed, but Mao Mao ignored him. He had to take a minute to wonder what exactly he was seeing. 

The entire kingdom was caught in a net with a misshapen piano hanging above them like it was some sort of cartoon. The group Horde Gaggle Headache of sweetie pies all began to speak at once. 

“Quiet!” 

The headache finally fell silent letting Mao Mao think. He pointed his sword at the King. 

“Speak,” he said. 

“Sheriff, get me out of this mess these… ruffians are disgusting.” 

“What happened? Why you are in a net?” 

“Oh, help me! Help me! Help Me! Help me! The pink… thing is getting closer!” 

Mao Mao was tempted to let the King sit there and deal with Pinky however, he did sign his paychecks, so he had to do something. He took a few steps back before he began to run towards the net, pushing it with his one arm as the Piano began to fall. One swing with Geraldine and the leaf was in two pieces? What? Was Tanya behind this? Was she the one that kidnapped the sweetie pies? Did she do all of that just to mess with him? Why?

Mao Mao was moving towards the net when he noticed that the leaf wasn’t green. It was red. A nice fall red. 

“Sheriff! SHERIFF!” 

The King’s screams snapped him out the daze. He walked over to the net and grabbed the king by the collar. 

“Who did this,” he asked. 

“Who? I don’t know, just let me out-”

“Who did this,” he asked again.

“I said I don’t know, now get me-”  

“What did he look like?” 

“Oh, I don’t know. A black and white cat, maybe. A lot like you, actually.” 

Mao Mao let go of the king with a huff. He turned to the door and began to walk to the door.

“Don’t forget about me. Sheriff? Sheriff? Cut me loose...Please,” the King asked, Mao Mao’s mind too busy to hear; his mind buzzed with thoughts and old memories. 

* * * 

“So, uh, care to tell me what exactly is going on?” 

The Stranger looked up at his captives. One was a rather large badger with an eyepatch and a little blue bat. He knew the bear was Badgerclops although he didn’t know the small one. He expected it would take more than a half-assed ice-cream stand to catch them, but it seemed to work.

“What’s going on is that you'll both sit there quietly and wait for him to show up.” 

“Whose he,” the blue one asked. 

“I don’t know, maybe I would if someone would tell me what’s going on!” 

Orangusnake slunk up to the captives with a wicked smile. “What’s going on is-” 

“Nobody shutting the hell up. That’s what's going on,” The Stranger mumbled. 

“Okay, why are you so rude? I let you into my ship! Then you start yelling at everybody! What do you want?”

“First off, you don’t ‘let’ me be anywhere. I can do what I want and you certainly can’t stop me. Secondly, I’m not rude you all are just insufferable. Lastly, what I want is to finally give Mao Mao what he deserves.” 

“And what is that?” 

The Stranger just smiled and took out more leaves. A flick of the wrist and a puff of smoke turned them into poorly made dolls of Mao Mao, Badgerclops, the blue one and himself. 

“What are those?” 

“The important people.” 

“We aren’t I there,” Orangusnake said. 

“Dude, I literally just said it's the important people.” 

“That… that hurts.” 

The Stranger rolled his eyes going back to his dolls. “First, I kidnap you two. Already done that. Then he shows up and we beat him up. Once he’s all nice and bruised we bury him alive. Let’s see how he likes being locked up without anyone to help him.” 

The Stranger let out a cackling laugh. 

“You’re a lot like your dad you know that,” Badgerclops said. 

The laughter suddenly stopped. “What would you know?” 

“I mean, you’re Jǐngtì Mao, right? Mao Mao’s son?” 

Everyone turned to the Stranger. He squinted his eyes, pushing a finger into Badgerclops’ face. “Okay, its Jǐngtì Keys actually.” 

The blue thing’s eyes lit up like stars. “Oh my gosh! You're Mao Mao’s Kid! WhatshelikeWhereyou’vebeenIsn’thethecoolestwhoseyourmom- wait, if you’re Mao Mao’s kid then why’d you kidnap us?” 

“Well, you see… Blue thing. Mao Mao is… awful. So, I’m going to make use of the only way he taught me to deal with my problems: bury it deep deep down and hope it never comes back up.” 

“That doesn’t sound very heroic.” 

“Well, you see that would be a problem if I was a hero, fortunately, I’m not so I don’t have to worry about shit.” 

“If Mao Mao’s your dad then who's your mom,” Orangusnake asked. 

“Tanya Keys.” 

“Who.” 

“What do you mean who she was here like last week.” 

“Never met her.” 

“Really? Tanuki. Did the stuff with the leaves. I mean you should’ve met her, she’s a bounty hunter.” 

“These guys don’t have bounties on their heads,” Badgerclops added from the back. 

Jǐngtì turned to the pirates then back to Badgerclops. “Aren’t they pirates.” 

“Sky Pirates,” Orangusnake added from the back. 

“Yeah, but they suck so we never really placed bounties.” 

“We’re right here.” 

“Damn, I thought they were strong because mom didn’t catch them.” 

“Nope. They’re bottom of the barrel.”

“We’re still right here.” 

“Why do I even have these guys then?” 

Everyone turned when they heard a loud bang. “Open up Jǐngtì! I know you’re here.” 

“They may not be fighters, but I suppose they can be cannon fodder.” 

* * * 

Mao Mao kept knocking on the hull of the Sky Pirates ship. His one good hand was starting to hurt when the door finally opened a tad. Jǐngtì poked his head over the door, his face covered with the purple bandanna. 

“Son.” 

“You.” 

“It’s been a while.”

“Four years and 156 days. Believe me, I’ve been counting.” 

“How are you even out of jail?” 

“Mom paid bail.” 

“All of it?”

“What do you think she was so desperate for bounties?” 

Mao Mao sighed and scratched his ears. “If you stop know we can have this kidnapping stuff all blow over, so just get down here.” 

“You can’t make me.” 

���Yes, I can.” 

“There’s just one of you and six, maybe seven if you count the snake-monkey as two different people.” 

“You mean the Sky Pirates?” 

“Yeah.” 

Mao Mao raised an eyebrow.”Really? You’re just scraping up wood chips. I beat them once a week, twice if I need to blow off some steam.” 

“See! That’s the shit I can’t stand. You pretend to be better than everyone else when you’re just as awful!” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I make one mistake and you just throw me into jail. You didn't even try to help me. You complain about your dad when you’re not better.” 

Mao Mao didn’t know words could hit that hard. He felt all the wind leave his lungs and pain in his chest. He clenched his fist and closed his eyes before looking up again. “You can’t just do things without consequences. You can’t just do wrongs and expect no justice.” 

“You’re right,” Jǐngtì said,” so let me fucking bury you alive.” 

“Please get down here. And stop cursing, Adorabat’s only six.” 

“The blue thing?” 

Mao Mao nodded.

Jǐngtì turned over his shoulder then back to his father, looking him dead in the eyes. “Shit, ass, fuck, motherfucker, bitch-” 

Jǐngtì certainly inherited his obstinance. He climbed up and swung the back of his blade at Jǐngtì. He dodged the attack, stepping forward to bring down his knife. Mao Mao stuck his sword in the floor, freeing his hand to catch Jǐngtì’s wrist. 

“-cock, fucker, and motherfucker.”

“You said motherfucker twice.” 

“Well, I am fighting you so I guess it was on my mind.”

Jǐngtì pulled a bomb from his bag forcing Mao Mao to jump back. When the fuse burned out the bomb just turned back into a leaf.

“Pirates!” Jǐngtì called out.

Mao Mao was forced to let go and quickly step out of the way of Rammaraffe, he was pushed back by an egg-bomb from boss-hostrich, a small head-tilt was enough to dodge Ratarang. Orangusnake let out a battle cry, leaping forward with battleax brandished. He couldn’t win like this. He dashed underneath Orangusnake, and reached for Geraldine. When the sword was nearly in his grasp it was pulled away. 

“How does it feel to be disarmed again,” Jǐngtì asked. 

“You’re like really mean, you know that?” 

Jǐngtì gave Badgerclops the side-eye before transforming with a  large puff of smoke. “Meh meh meh meh meh, that’s what you sound like,” he said. 

“Hurtful, but why’d you turn into modern art?” 

Jǐngtì raised an eyebrow,” what do you mean modern art I’m supposed to be you.” 

“That’s supposed to be… me?” 

Badgerclops laughed. He laughed and laughed as Jǐngtì’s frustration grew and grew until he exploded in a puff of smoke. “You know what! I don’t see you doing magic! You don’t get to criticize me for doing mine!” 

Mao Mao pinched the bridge of his nose.“ Badgerclops, quit arguing with an actual child and free yourself. Also, hand my sword while you’re at it.” 

“Can’t tied up.” 

“Quit being lazy. You know that’s not even a rope. It's just a leaf.” 

Badgerclops rolled his eyes and stood up, popping the rope around with a puff of smoke. He pointed his arm right at Jǐngtì. “You’re both very demanding you know that?” 

“I suppose I’ll just try burying him alive another time.” 

Jǐngtì pushed Badgerclops arm up. A single misfire blasted a hole right through the Sky Pirate’s ship. He grabbed Adorabat without hesitation, jumping off Badgerclop’s face to start climbing towards the exit. Mao Mao called his son’s name, quickly following after. They climbed to the top of the airship. Jǐngtì held Adorabt in one arm. The wind howled in their ears. 

“That’s enough, Jǐngtì.” 

“Enough of what?” 

“Enough of all this. You have to stop.” 

“Why? Why should I?” 

“Because you literally held an entire kingdom hostage. You teamed up with the Sky Pirates. You’re just becoming a villain.” 

“Like father like son, I guess.” 

“Jǐngtì just… just stop before this goes too far.” 

Mao Mao walked forward while Jǐngtì kept walking back. 

“Before I too far? I already thought I did go too far back in Queens Putland.” 

“You stole from the monarch and stole their crown! You can’t just do that and expect nothing of it!” 

“So, I guess it's justified to leave me in jail without even trying to post bail. I guess it’s fine to just up and move on with your life like you didn't spend 13 whole fucking years with them! Instead, you fuck off and replace me with… this!” 

He shook Adorabat around like a ragdoll. “Careful!” Mao Mao shouted as he took a tentative step forward. 

“Listen I get it I… am a hypocrite, certainly not the best father, but that's no excuse to do any of this.” 

“Shut up! Just shut up!” Jǐngtì reached into his pouch throwing leaf after leaf. 

Some turned into bikes, others into furniture, pianos and anything heavy. It didn’t slow Mao Maod down; he just cut them down one after the other. The final thing he threw was also the largest. A massive boulder that belonged at the slope of a mountain hurled through the air. Mao Mao simply raised his hand, simply grabbing onto it so tightly that it popped.

“Are you done?” 

“No, I’m not done! I never will be until you finally get your shit together! Put action to your words, and try, for once in your life, to do something right!” 

It happened in an instant. A step back when nothing was there. Jǐngtì fell back, too surprised to even scream. 

Mao Mao lunged forward grabbing onto his wrist.

To his horror, Jǐngtì seemed genuinely surprised. “Why?” 

“Does a man have to give a reason to protect his own children?”

The look in Jǐngtì’s eyes gave him hope. Hope that maybe mistakes can be fixed, or at least worked past. He helped Jǐngtì to his feet and placed his hand on his shoulder. Jǐngtì refused to look him in the eye, but he didn’t shrug it off. 

Without warning, he threw down one of Adorabat’s bombs. A cloud of smoke filled the air. When the smoke cleared he was holding Adorabat and Jǐngtì was nowhere to be seen. 

“Mao Mao,” Adorabat said. 

“Hm?” 

“What was that?” 

Mao Mao took a deep breath as he searched for the right way to phrase it. “Adorabat, we all have to deal with the consequences of our actions. You can’t just forget about them, lest we start to hurt the people we’re close to.” 

“Did you forget him, Mao Mao?” 

“You know what? I never could. I never even wanted to. I hope he knows that.” 

A loud crash shook the ship. Badgerclops helicoptered out through a brand new, much larger, hole with his arm cannon at full charge. “Alright daddy issues, that’s enough.” He waved his cannon around, searching for his target. 

“What?” 

“No not you. Jǐngtì,” Badgerclops said. 

“You can put the arm cannon down now. He’s long gone.” He knew Jǐngtì wasn’t. He taught him that disappearing trick, after all. 

“Oh. Well then let's get the aerocycle and go. I have no idea where it's parked.”

“But I didn’t ride the aerocycle here.”

Badgerclops groaned and they shared a laugh as they walked back home

#mmhoph #mao mao heroes of pure heart #mao mao #adorabat #Jǐngtì #Badgerclops #spookylovesboba #armlessAU! #fan child #fan character #fanfic #writing #Time for my ramblings: #There honestly wasn't much to go on #I had to make up a lot of stuff and extrapolate a lot #Jǐngtì especially #I decided to give him Armless Mao's innability to handle emotions #with cannon Tanya's inhabitions #and a teenagers vulgarity #Mao had a lot more to go on #He's less physically violent #but the issues are still there #Might actually post this on Ao3 later #long post is long #rambling in the tags

[realfuurikuuri]

Chapters: 10/? Fandom: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Series: Part 1 of Mao Mao: The Hero Without an Arm Summary:

MissingArm!AU: When escaping the cave, it wasn't his tail that got crushed. In exchange for his innocence, he gained a sordid past. The Pure Heart Valley seemed like a good place to escape. To start a new life with a new family to forge a new identity. However, when the past rears its ugly head Mao Mao's forced to step up or be put down.

AN:  I'm back with a late chapter, but to make up for that it's longer than usual. Yay! Again, I'm not very good at predicting how long all of this will be. With this whole Corona thing, I've found enough time to actually get this out in between everything. I hope this chapter at least puts you guys under quarantine and everyone not under quarantine at ease. As always follow @spookylovesboba whenever you can find her and enjoy the chapter.

Badgerclops blinked a few times, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the sun before he realized he was just tired. He watched the blue smudge, which he guessed was Adorabat walking up the steps. She waved at him so Badgerclops waved back, or she tripped and fell, he couldn’t tell. He started the aerocycle’s motor, flying back because he had it in reverse, and flying the right way when he fixed it. He wanted to go back home, get some sleep, check on Jǐngtì, but he figured he should probably pick up supplies while he’s in town.

The early morning air was cool, but it was slowly warming up. He checked on the blob since he was heading that way. It was still in the taped barrier. Looking at it he had to wonder if it had gotten bigger. He couldn’t be sure. He hadn’t slept since… before he went camping. He was nearing his third day without sleep and by god, it was starting to show. His mind was covered in a thick haze that made his head burn. His vision was cloudy, considering his eye was prosthetic, couldn’t have been good.

The supplies shop wasn’t too far from the fountain square. He was surprised to find Penny and Benny running it. (He could swear they did deliveries) who handed him a receipt written in crayon. He wasn't sure if that was legal; Mao Mao was the one who knew the laws, not him. Badgerclops stood off to the side watching the three-foot fools try to tie the stack to the back of the aerocycle. He made sure to give them some gummy worms as payment before taking off again. He was sure that was illegal, but who's going to arrest him?

Badgerclops went in low when he saw HQ. Too low, in fact. Badgerclops jumped off at the last second, watching the aerocycle carve a ditch across the front lawn. He stumbled towards HQ to poke his head inside. The noise hadn’t woken Jǐngtì. He was peacefully asleep. He almost envied the little bastard. He couldn’t envy anyone who called Mao Mao their dad. Much like his father he would be a great help with fixing everything. Badgerclops tapped his chin, considering waking him up before he relented with a sigh. Let him sleep , he told himself.

Badgerclops stepped back outside to examine the aerocycle. The supplies on the back weren’t damaged, but the aerocycle certainly wouldn’t be flying. A real crock of shit considering he had to pick up Adorabat in like… six hours? Would six hours of sleep be enough? Would he even have that much free time? He had to fix the house and even worse, he forgot to buy furniture!

Badgerclops harrumphed as he sat down to order it all, using his arm instead of a computer as he should’ve from the start. He went for 2-hour delivery even though it was $40 extra, mostly because he wanted to see if they’d actually do it, before he took the supplies off the Aerocycle. The stack was heavy and tall, making it hard to walk and even harder to see.

Getting it through the door was easy considering he didn’t have a door, or a doorframe, or the walls surrounding it. That didn't stop him from tripping over his own feet, landing with a loud and undignified scream. He could feel the weak house foundations begin to shake.

Badgerclops lied there, waiting for the shaking to stop or the floor to give in.

By some miracle the house settled back down. The floor only gave a disturbing groan when he forced the supplies off. He peeked over at Jǐngtì who was still asleep. Kid could probably sleep through an earthquake , Badgerclops thought to himself, stopping just short of mumbling it out loud. Knowing his luck that probably would wake him up.

Badgerclops’ luck held out more than he thought when he sorted the supplies to find it all in one piece. He sorted the plywood, slicing it into boards with a laser so he could fix the floor. It was tedious and tiring, especially when he had to stop to nail down the boards every so often. When he finished he overlooked his work. It looked fine, until he realised that he cut the new boards too large.

It was fine. It was fine. It was fine. Fuck, no it wasn’t! This was going to bother him all the time if he didn’t fix it .

Badgerclops pulled up every board he just placed to cut them again before placing them back down. He looked over his work again, even breaking out a ruler to make sure he got it right.

Next he had to fix the door. He cut around the broken edges of the wood, using the leftover planks to seal the massive hole. He then set up the door frame and door. He probably should have done the wiring for the doorframe later because he shocked himself time and time again trying to set it up.

That was enough for now , Badgerclops told himself as he sat down. Fatigue had given him a headache that drummed inside his skull. He wanted to just lie down on his new floors and fall into a coma, but he knew himself too well.

If he stopped now he wouldn’t get this done in time. He pried himself out the chair, painfully leaning over to get the polish, varnish, and felt-block to buff the damage out of the wood. He dragged himself to a part of the wall, right next to the kitchen’s entrance, that had three large gashes running across it. He squirted the polish and began rubbing it down. The damage didn’t go away. Badgerclops rubbed again, this time putting a little bit of elbow grease. The damage still didn’t go away. Badgerclops rubbed with all his might. Until the felt-block was snatched out of his hands by Jǐngtì.

Fuck! He didn’t even know he was awake. Jǐngtì glared at him, waving around the felt-block. “You forgot to take off the plastic,” he said.

Sure enough, the felt-block was still wrapped in the thin cellophane packaging. Whoops. Badgerclops reached for it;  Jǐngtì threw the package aside. “What are you doing,” he asked.

“Just trying to buff some chips in the wall.”

“Those look like scratches.”

You know, now that he actually paid attention they did look like claw marks. Badgerclops took out the golden finger and held it to the scratches.

“You think this made the marks?”

“No. That didn’t make the scratches. The finger doesn’t fit. The point enlarges to quickly and metal would leave much finer impressions in the wood.”

“Where’d you learn to spot tracks.”

“From my mom. She’s a bounty hunter, isn’t she?”

“Fair point, but who made those marks then?”

Jǐngtì unsheathed his claws and held it to the marks,” I don’t know. Mao Mao certainly didn’t make these. They don’t match cat claws.”

“Wait, so does that mean Mao Mao got into a fight with a third person?”

“I suppose?”

“Then who was that third person?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you’ll get an idea after going the fuck to sleep.”

With that Jǐngtì hobbled off and went back to sleep. Badgerclops might as well follow his lead. He went to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

* * *

Badgerclops woke up the sound of his alarm? No, it was the doorbell. At least he knew it worked. Jǐngtì was still asleep, or maybe he wasn’t. He liked faking it alot apparently. He probably was awake. Whoever was at the door spammed the doorbell like they were pretending they were Mao Mao if he hated doorbells. Badgerclops got up, stretched and went for the door. The door took a bit of effort to open. Huh, going to need to fix that , he noted to himself.

On the other side of the door was Penny and Benny. Aw shit . He totally forgot about the 2-hour delivery, considering their furrowed brows, their clenched fist, and the hellish fursy in their eyes Badgerclops probably had them waiting quite some time. At least they waited.

“We waited four hours ,” the pink one screamed at him.

“And I don’t regret it, now where’s the furniture I bought?”

They unloaded the furniture off the truck. Badgerclops expected it to be in pieces like an IKEA puzzle, but it was all in one piece. Good, saved time. Badgerclops went to wake Jǐngtì up, but the bedspread was empty. He kept an eye out but didn’t look for him. Jǐngtì was bound to show up sooner or later. He was directing the duo as they set down the furniture when he felt a hand brush up against his back. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

Jǐngtì gave Badgerclops little more than a glance as he toppled over. He was too busy sorting through a bunch of candy and knick-knacks in his hands.

“You’re just like your dad. Too sneaky for your own good.”

“Don’t compare me to him.”

Badgerclops quickly changed the subject. “Where’d you disappear to?”

“Just took those two’s wallets and went through the truck,” he said flatly,” look at these goobers. They didn’t have any cash, just... this .”

He showed Badgerclops the random crap he stole. Sure enough, the gummy worms he gave them were mixed in.

“You shouldn’t steal.”

“I’m not going to stop.”

“That doesn’t mean stealing is okay, even if Penny and Benny are... odd. I didn’t know they ran the supply store and the delivery service, but I’m not going to judge them for it.”

“They don’t run both shops,” Jǐngtì said. “The ones who run that shop are Lenny and Jenny, their twins or something.”

“What? They don’t have twins.

“Are you sure? How many times have you seen those two doing different jobs? It's all different people. Like nurse Joy. A bunch of different people who look alike.”

Badgerclops felt the need to disagree yet he couldn’t find any counterargument. The valley having a large litter of twins wouldn’t even be that bizzare.

“Huh, Badgerclops slowly nodded,” I didn't know that.”

Jǐngtì raised an eyebrow. “Did you know I also wrote gullible on the ceiling?”

“I’m not gonna fall for that.”

“So you’re too smart for that, but not enough to realize that dozens identical twin duos doesn’t make any sense?”

“Do you just make things up to mess with people?”

“Yes. Was that not clear?”

They continued the conversation until Penny and Benny walked up to them and held out their hands. Badgerclops didn’t know what they wanted, so he took a guess and gave them a high five. That wasn’t the answer. Their brows furrowed and he could see veins popping on the yellow one’s neck. Gross.

“So, what do you want little guys-”

Badgerclops was immediately taken aback when they screamed,” we want to get paid.”

“Alright, alright. Geez just take my gummy worms and go.”

They did take the gummy worms, but they did not leave.

“This isn't enough,” the pink one said.

He handed them some more gummy worms, but they still didn’t leave. “This still isn’t enough,” the yellow one said.

“Well, how much do you want?”

“Enough to cover the 2-hour delivery and then four hours waiting so six hours.”

“Doesn’t feel like six hours-” Badgerclops stopped, realizing that he forgot again.

He turned back outside to the aerocycle. “Right, haven’t fixed it yet,” he groaned, looking for an alternative.

Penny and Benny’s truck was looking rather fine.

“Hey, Jǐngtì. Hold those two down for a bit,” he shouted over his shoulder,” I gotta pick up Adorabat.”

Amazingly enough, the doors were unlocked. It's been a while since he drove something with wheels. He’d have to manage.  First came the ignition, and he doesn’t have the keys. He was about to find some other way when Jǐngtì tossed him the keys.

“Didn’t you say that stealing is wrong,” the kid snidely asked.

Badgerclops started the engine, “do as I say not as I do,” he called out as he headed into town.

* * *

Badgerclops managed to arrive early by his standards. Adorabat wasn’t the only one waiting on the school steps, at least. Badgerclops honked the horn to get her attention. She started looking for the noise when he kept honking the horn. Badgerclops had to lean out the window and wave at her to get her attention.

“How was school,” he asked.

“Skewl was fine.”

He never understood why she pronounced ‘school’ like that. Was it a regional Pure Heart Valley dialect?

“Where’d you Penny and Benny’s truck,” she asked.

“I borrowed it,” he lied, driving off.

On the way, he passed by the blob again. This time he was sure it had gotten larger. More concerning, it had taken more sweetipies hostage. He’d have to deal with that sooner rather than later.

“Is Jǐngtì still home,” she asked abruptly.

“He likes disappearing, but he should still be there. Why do you ask?”

“He kinda scares me.”

Badgerclops would disagree if he didn’t understand why.  Jǐngtì had kidnapped Adorabat. Kidnapping makes a horrible first impression. He would have thought that was obvious if he and Tanya hadn’t done it. He guessed that was one thing he had in common with his mother. He would ask if Mao Mao scared her, but he decided that was a question for Ol’ Blue or someone better at parenting.

* * *

Badgerclops drove back to HQ. Jǐngtì had tied up Penny and Benny were sitting on them to keep them from leaving, although it looks like the sweetipies had given up trying to resist. He let the sweetipies go at Badgerclops’ behest, cutting the rope only to have it turn into a leaf. They quickly got in their truck and left. Badgerclops wasn’t eager to stop them if it means he didn’t have to pay. Almost assuredly not legal, but Badgerclops wasn’t going to arrest himself, now was he?

He had to commend the kid's work ethic. He finished getting all the furniture in himself without being told. Or maybe he just wanted to sleep in an actual bed tonight. Badgerclops ordered pizza before finally getting the TV working. The pizza arrived, and the three of them stayed up late into the night. He put her and Jǐngtì to bed before putting the final touches on the repairs.

He was done before dawn, but having a working TV was reason enough to stay up till dawn. Creeaak . Badgerclops turned his head to find Jǐngtì silently sneaking out.

“Where you going,” he asked.

“Probably back to the Sky Pirates.”

“You can stay if you want.”

“Nah, you have to pick Mao Mao today, don’t you?”

That was today, wasn’t it?

“Well, you’re always welcome to come over.”

“Yeah, well… uh, next time my dad isn’t here I wouldn’t mind spending the night again.”

“I’ll be sure to do that. Oh! Before you go,” Badgerclops quickly got up and gave the kid a hug. It wouldn't have been so awkward if Jǐngtì didn’t go freakishly stiff. “Woah, you good, little dude?”

“Yeah, just didn’t expect that.”

They said quick goodbyes as Jǐngtì left. With a few hours to spare Badgerclops figured he might as well get some sleep.

* * *

He meant to pick Mao Mao up at 10 in the morning, instead, he brought him back at noon. It would've been later if Adorabat didn’t beat against his stomach like a drum to wake him up. He carried Mao Mao inside because the fool refused to use his crutches. He looked over HQ with a weird look in his eyes and a flicker of the ear.

“You good,” Badgerclops asked.

“Yeah, just put me down for a second.”

Badgerclops obliged, but he still had Mao Mao lean on him for support.

“Things... look different,” mumbled Mao Mao/

“ I had to buy some new furniture and stuff-”

“Mao Mao!” Bagderclops was interrupted by Adorabat flying in from the kitchen. She slammed right into Mao Mao’s chest for a hug; wouldv’e knocked him off his feet if Badgerclops wasn’t there.

“I’m glad you're back,” she said.

“It’s good to be back,” he said, accepting her embrace.

#fanfic #MMHOPH #Mao Mao #Badgerclops #Adorabat

[realfuurikuuri]

MissingArm!AU Chapter 4

The Key to My Heart is the Juice From a Blood Red Apple

Prepare for a long chapter, ya'll. TanyaMao angst is long arduous and deliciously painful. This took a minute to get out, especially when I've been so busy, but it was a lot of fun to write. The character drama here is strong, which is a change of pace for me. I enjoy the amount of show vs. tell I included in here. I feel like it really brings out the best in the characters. The song recommendation here is Stolen Dance - Milky Chance. Enjoy the chapter. AU made by @spookylovesboba

WC: 2,536

AO3 Link: 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21199634/chapters/50655644

Mao Mao was in the dojo, working to get his fingers under a rock. It was smooth and round; weighed a little over two hundred pounds. It was one of six that he had. When he finally got his fingers underneath the rock he made sure to lift with his arm, instead of his legs. Mao Mao lifted it up and placed it on the pedestal. Three down, three to go. He was lifting the fourth when he heard the door open. Did Bagderclops and Adorabat finally get back? Mao Mao got Badgerclops to agree to be a chaperone. He certainly wasn’t going to let them visit an active volcano without supervision. 

“Badgerclops,” he said in between breaths,” you got groceries, right?” 

“I don’t know. You’re going to have to ask him, Mittens.” 

Mao Mao’s hand slipped. He fell back with the rock weighing down on his chest. “God- Fuck!” He gasped. 

Tanya watched him move the stone. The confident, sly smirk was gone. Replaced by a regretful straight line.

“How’ve you been? Up to anything new,” she asked. 

“Oh, nothing new. Just strength training, Atlas stones,” he said pointing to the rocks. 

Things got terribly quiet. Mao Mao could hear his bonsai trees shaking in the breeze. 

“So, I heard Jǐngtì stopped by,” she said. 

“Uh, yeah he did. D- do you mind if we do this inside...and not sober.” 

“Yeah, sure.”

Mao Mao led Tanya to the kitchen. The change of setting didn't get rid of the awkwardness between them. Mao Mao knew that Tanya would show up eventually. She wasn’t like him. She couldn’t -wouldn’t- be satisfied with doing this over the phone. He’d already prepared and practiced bits and pieces of conversation to make things lighter but found them all fleeting now. Mao Mao stood on the chair and his tippy toes to reach the top shelf. 

“Why hide it up there?” 

“Adorabat is only like six or seven years old.” 

“Did your new boyfriend convince you to try and be a better parent?” 

Mao Mao brushed away the snide remark as best he could. If anyone had the right to say shit like that it was Jǐngtì; his mother a close second. 

“What do you want? We got beer, a bottle of vodka, some wine I don’t remember buying and hard cider.” 

“Cider.” 

“You feeling nostalgic, too?” 

She didn’t say anything. 

They sat across from each other in silence. Tanya had barely touched her glass while Mao Mao was already on his second mug. 

“How’ve you been,” she asked. 

“Fine, I guess. I got sued the other day.” 

“Really?” 

“I won the case, so it doesn’t really matter.”

“What happened to the other guy.” 

“He’s already out of prison. The kingdom’s laws don’t really make sense, to be honest.” 

“So, Jǐngtì was here, right?” 

Fuck.

“Yeah, he was,” he said. 

Fuck. 

“What the hell happened?” 

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Mao Mao took a deep breath, searching for a way to explain last week’s events. “He-” 

Mao Mao was interrupted by a knock on the door. That was all good with him. He needed all the time he could get.

“I’ll get it.” 

Mao Mao didn’t know who was at the door. It was just Benny and Penny with an Amazon package Badgerclops ordered. Mao Mao threw the package on to the couch and went back to the kitchen. 

He took one big gulp of cider to finish his third mug. “What was I saying?” 

“You were telling me what Jǐngtì was doing here.” 

“Oh, uh-, he was… trying to get back at me.”

“You’re going to have to be more specific.” 

“He… tied up a bunch of sweetipies and kidnapped Badgerclops and Adorabat.”

Tanya took her first sip.

“What did he want?” 

“He-”

There was a knock at the door.

Tanya took a deep breath and rubbed her temples. Mao Mao got up to answer it. It was Badgerclops with Adorabat sitting on his shoulder. Adorabat was fine, although Badgerclops’ fur was singed at the edges

“You will not believe the day I had. Chubbums made the volcano erupt! I almost died! And I’m pretty sure we displaced thousands of woodland creatures. It was quite the day.” 

“I’m certain it was,” Mao Mao said. 

Adorabat held her nose. “Your breath smells like apple juice and hospitals.”

Mao Mao wondered what she meant until he remembered the cider. Was it already on his breath?

“You good?" Badgerclops asked. “You don’t really drink unless-” 

Badgerclops grew quiet when he saw Tanya in the other room. A series of expressions passed on Badgerclops’ face. First was a surprise, then confusion, finally landing on an adult’s smirk. 

“I can just take her into town if you’re… reliving the past.” 

“What? No. That's-” 

“Tanya,” Adorabat exclaimed, interrupting Mao Mao and flying over without hesitation. 

Fantastic. 

* * *

Adorabat quickly struck a conversation with Tanya. Adorabat did have a charm to her. The smile Adorabat put on Tanya’s face was genuine, which was something Mao Mao hadn’t done in years.

She was telling Tanya what happened on the field trip. He would have assumed she was exaggerating things if Badgerclops didn’t have burns to prove it. “-and then we used the areocycle to- hang on! I want to show you a painting I made.” Adorabat zipped away into the other room as quickly as she came.

Tanya watched her go with a distant stare.

An awkward silence filled the air. 

  “She’s a good kid,” she said. 

“Yeah,” Mao Mao said. 

“Mao Mao, I can’t find it.” 

“Don’t worry, I’m coming,” he said, thankful to finally be away from the terrible awkwardness. 

* * * 

Badgerclops and Tanya were left in the kitchen. Tanya tapped her finger against the table still staring off into space, while Badgerclops searched for the burn ointment. Bagderclops didn’t really know what to think of Tanya. All he knew about her was what Mao Mao would tell him until she kidnapped him. He gave glowing reviews of her. He said she was kind, sweet, and attractive. Badgerclops wasn’t sure he agreed with all of that. 

“So, what brings you here,” he asked Tanya. 

“Huh? Oh, I was just… asking Mao Mao about some things.” 

He made note that she didn’t call him mittens. 

“About Jǐngtì, right?” 

She stiffened a little bit. “Yeah. Yeah, I was.” 

“How’d he happen?” 

“What?” 

“You know,” Badgerclops said,” how’d you and Mao Mao split up.”

“He didn’t tell you?” 

“No, he did. It’s just that he’s…” 

“-Overdramatic?” 

“You said it not me, but yeah.” 

Tanya sighed,” we were young when it happened. Not even adults yet, teenagers. We’d already been traveling together for a while, and when he turned 18 we celebrated and got drunk.” 

“Mao Mao drank underage?” 

“I wish. We were at a place where the drinking age was 18, so he decided it was okay. I certainly wasn’t going to let him celebrate his birthday sober. Anyway, we got to drinking… and then to kissing and then… well, you can guess what happened.” 

“I’m surprised two teenagers decided to keep a child.” 

Tanya had started to drink. First, it was just a few sips of cider and now she getting a refill. 

"Teenagers are fucking dumb. We overestimated ourselves. We both had incomes and a stable relationship. So like, what the hell? Why not try and raise a kid?” 

Her story was consistent with the one Mao Mao told him. 

“How was rasing Jǐngtì,” he asked. 

She stiffened, looking out to the distance, stuck in memories. “What are you doing asking me all this? Jealous of your boyfriend's ex and child showing up out of nowhere?” 

Badgerclops first thought was of how rude that comment was, then it changed to boyfriend. 

“Sorry,” she groaned,” I’ve just… had too much to drink.” 

“We’re not dating,” Badgerclops said. 

“Really? You’re not dating?” 

“No, we’re not.” 

“You’re just two dudes living together -raising a child together- five feet apart cause they’re not gay?” 

“Exactly.” 

At least that’s what he thought. It's not that Badgerclops was against the idea. Mao Mao was cute it's just that Mao Mao has never really expressed any interest in it. Not just towards boys, towards romance at all. He assumed Mao Mao was asexual until he started talking about Tanya when he got drunk. He thought it was just drunken bullshit. It was only when Badgerclops mentioned the drunken rambling to a sober Mao Mao did he realize how true it was.

He could recall the day easily. It was before the aerocycle. They were washing up in a river trying to blow off massive hangovers. Badgerclops made an innocent joke -something about the drunken ramblings being a virgin’s fantasy- when Mao Mao suddenly stopped. Despite still standing in the river Mao Mao just stood there for a few minutes, trapped on a trip down memory lane, until he slowly came back to reality. Badgerclops still felt like shit for that. 

“Found it!” Adorabat quickly flew back into the kitchen, carrying a piece of paper. Here! Look!” 

Whatever was on the paper shook Tanya a great bit. The smile stiffened, her eyes got a little wider, her hands began to tremble. “It’s-, it's great,” she choked out. 

Badgerclops placed a hand on Adorabat’s shoulder. “Hey let’s go play some games, okay?” 

“Sure.” 

Badgerclops made sure to turn the volume up, so Adorabat wouldn't overhear anything. He knew that picture. It was a simple drawing of herself, Badgerclops, Mao Mao, and Tanya. They were all holding hands, smiling, a happy little rainbow danced in the background. They were a family. Something Tanya wanted, but couldn’t have. It was incredibly rude to show that to Tanya; one of those things that make you cringe when you look back on it. How old would Adorabat be when she realized how cruel that was?

* * * 

       Tanya watched Mao Mao sit down out of the corner of her eye. He tapped his fingers against the table, searching for someplace to look before settling on his empty mug. Tanya wanted to say something, to ask him everything, but where to begin? Start with their missing son? How their child is slowly going even further off the deep end? Or maybe the new family he started after leaving his old one a broken wreck?

Tanya wanted to say she hated this man. She wanted to say she hated how he whined in that sultry voice, that she hated the myriad of gross scars of his well-toned body, that she hated the adorable way he second-guessed every decision he made, yet here she was happy to just be speaking to him. 

“Why’d you leave?” 

Mao Mao looked up.

“Why’d you leave,” Tanya asked again. 

“I -I -I,” Mao Mao stuttered,” I-... don’t know.” 

“Look, Mittens I-” 

Sssaaaavvve my bacon! I’m really in a jam! 

Everyone turned to the bizarre alarm as it rang out. Tanya sighed and gestured for Mao Mao to go. 

He got up and then sat back down. “Go ahead. I’ll catch up later.” 

Tanya felt a bit of rosy red on her cheeks. Just maybe he learned to put family over that stupid obsession of his. 

Badgerclops considered it for a minute before saying okay and taking Adorabat with him. She could hear the roar of the aerocycle as they left. 

Tanya stared at Mao Mao; he stared back. 

“You should have just gone,” she said. 

“You wanted to ask me something. I’ll answer it and then go. I still have a job to do.” 

The words felt like a sledgehammer to the skull.

Tanya put her face in her hands and laughed. “I wanted to ask what kind of dumb, desperate slut falls for a walking, talking napoleon complex with daddy issues that can’t put family over his stupid fucking obsession?” 

“I don’t know,” he said. 

“What do you know? Do you at least know where our- where my -son is?” 

“I don’t know,” he said again. 

Tanya pointed at the door. “Just go. Just… go,” she said. 

She heard the scape as Mao Mao pushed out his chair, his steps against the hardwood floor, the front door creak as it opened, and the soft click as it closed. 

* * *

The king hid behind his throne while Badgerclops examined the bones. They were littered all over the floor… a pattern? Or was he just seeing things? If it was a pattern, what did it mean?

“Badgerclops,” Adorabat asked. 

“Hm?” 

“What’s with Mao Mao and Tanya?” 

Oof. Why did she have to be such an observant child? 

“It’s...adult things.” 

“What’s adult things?” 

“You’ll understand when you’re older.” 

“But, I wanna understand now.” 

“Well… it’s like Tanya and Mao Mao we’re friends.” 

“I thought they were already friends.” 

“Like… best friends. They used to be best friends-” 

“What about Jǐngtì?” 

“Okay… uh, think of their relationship as a lot like what we have now. Tanya had the same role as me, and Jǐngtì had the same role as you. They were a happy little group.”  

“Then what happened?” 

“Something… just did. Jǐngtì did something, Tanya and Mao Mao got into a fight and they … split apart.” 

Adorabat looked down at the ground. “Does that mean we’ll split apart, too?”

Badgerclops decided to leave the adult conversations to that cat bastard. 

“Why’s Adorabat sad?” 

Badgerclops jumped back with an effeminate shriek. “Holy shit, dude! I am ‘this’ close to putting a bell on your ass.” 

Mao Mao didn’t even bother to tell Badgerclops to watch his language. He kept his head down preventing Badgerclops from seeing his face. Not that he needed too. The slumped shoulders, low voice, haggard movements told Badgerclops that Mao Mao was miserably drunk and miserably sad. 

“You feeling alright,” Badgerclops asked. 

“I’m fine,” Mao Mao said, kicking the bones. “These aren’t the King’s I hope.” 

“Nah, they’re just bones. I’m thinking they might be a pattern or something.” 

Mao Mao thought for a second before running up a pillar to the mezzanine. He rarely climbed, having one arm made it hard. Mao Mao began to slowly scan his eyes, his lips moving quietly while he did it. Was he reading something? 

“Hey, whatcha see up there?” 

Mao Mao didn’t answer. Badgerclops watched Mao Mao's expression change. He became tense and rigid, teeth ground against each other, his brow furrowed, eyes scowled, and veins popped on his forehead. He was practically foaming at the mouth. He ignored Badgerclops completely, leaping out the window full of piss and vinegar. 

“Um, is he okay,” the king asked from the peanut gallery. 

Not once in that man’s entire life has he ever been okay. Badgerclops didn’t say that. "Don’t worry. Things should be fine,” he lied. 

Badgerclops turned his hand into a helicopter to get to the mezzanine. Adorabat flying up to land on his shoulder soon after. He turned his attention to the bones. Up here they spelled something out. “Beware the monster - Bao Bao”. 

“Adorabat go get Tanya,” he said. 

“Wha-” 

“Go get Tanya,” he repeated more forcefully. 

Adorabat finally got the message. She flew out the window, towards home. Badgerclops turned his attention to the kingdom. He needed to find Mao Mao before he ended up killing someone.

#fanfic #Mao Mao #Tanya Keys #Adorabat #King Snugglemane #Badgerclops #MMHOPH #please read the other chapters and show your support. #on Ao3 or here #Feedback is much appreciated