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andrewmoocow · 5 years

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Fooly Falls 2 Ride on Shooting Star chapter 5: Ex-Partners in Crime (originally posted on May 30, 2019)

AN: And now the end is near. And so we face, the final curtain. My fans, I'll say it clear. I'll finish this tale, of course I am certain. I've wrote this sequel, I improved the source with my own flair. But after all of this, the climax is getting there. WKUHH ERBV, ZLWK GLVFRUG XQZDQWHG WZR ROG IULHQGV, ZLWK SDVWV IRUHYHU KDXQWHG RQH PDQ, DQ DQVZHU PDGH KLP GDXQWHG GHVWLQB OHIW WR EH DQVZHUHG, DQG WKHB'UH JRQQD EH HAKDXVWHG

In the style of an old black and white film, an assembly of giant irons stood perfectly single file before the setting sun. Gwen quietly watched before turning away and picked a bottle up off the ground. She then discovered a dejected worker sitting in front of a campfire with his hardhat the only splash of color. Gwen examined the sight before her when she also discovered the outline of a skeleton beneath her feet, where she placed the bottle in the center of its chest. Just then the girl dropped to her side in pain, discovering a small disk stuck in her foot that she gave to the skeleton to serve as an eye. As a nearby engine roared, steam from a structure decorated with irons covered the monochrome land like a sandstorm, sweeping her up along the way. When Gwen opened her eyes, she laid in a colorful body of water with her beanie in hand. Then the world suddenly turned greyscale as she excitedly ran along the shoreline while the Medical Mechanica factory continued to stand upright.

-- Ian whistled a familiar tune while tuning up a large computer monitor nestled within Ford's study. "Ride on shooting star. Yabba dabba doo, somethi-ing." he quietly sang while making a few final touches and dismounted from his maintenance creeper. "Okay, main screen turn on?" "Yeah, main screen turn on." Dipper answered turning to a certain someone tied up and fast asleep in a chair. "Rise and shine old friend." he announced placing a freshly cooked chicken leg under Haruko's nose, and the delicious scent wafting into it finally woke her up. "W-what happened?" she asked slowly beginning to wake up. "Last thing I remember was working on something before there was this napkin that covered me and-hey!" "There's no escaping this Raharu. You will give us the answers on your past that we've been searching for!" Ford declared dramatically stepping out of the shadows. "And perhaps some clues on what you're planning this time. Kanda?" "Will do." Tsukata replied hooking the Vespa Woman up to the machine with a helmet resembling a strainer and the monitor finally activated. "This was originally built to defend minds from the dream demon known as Bill Cipher, but now it's been rebuilt to simply read them and view the memories within." "This could be it everyone, our biggest breakthrough!" Dipper cackled joyously as it began booting up. "You okay there Dipper? You've slowly grown more unhinged." Ian asked nervously placing a hand on the older man's shoulder before he was slapped away. "I'm not going unhinged, I'm just excited to finally see through her lies once and for all!" Dipper continued lighting up a fifth cigarette. "So much so that I've literally cut my smokes in half!" "Yeah, he's officially snapped." Kanda commented taking a puff of his own cigarette and sitting down next to Haruko. "Oy, a bunch of losers the lot of you." Haruhara japed with a grin. "You've all become conspiracy theorists who'd resort to kidnapping an expecting mother just to prove a point. And since when did you take up smoking?" "Since I failed to quit." the agent muttered. "And I've been doing it to help me calm down." Dipper added taking a break from his mini-celebration. "Augh, my back." Haruko groaned struggling to reach for her back. "Must be the ropes getting a bit too tight, or you're just getting old." Kanda commented. "Naw, can't really age." the woman responded. "I've been 19 for what feels like ages now." "How many years exactly?" Ford asked writing in a new journal. "Hell if I know, probably ever since I met you-know-who." Haruko answered. "The summer I turned seventeen, was when I took up smoking for the first time." Kanda explained. "Sort of the same with me, only I took up smoking to deal with becoming a father." Dipper replied just as Project Mentem started acting up. "Oh my God, it's finally time!" "Can't believe it took one conversation for it to get started." Ian remarked pounding at the machine. "Well, let's get cracking." After a few moments of static, a full image revealed itself as a slightly younger looking Haruko dressed in drab work-clothes with a familiar iron in the background. "Wait a minute, is that-" Dipper exclaimed while his eyes widened. "Yep. Haruha Raharu, ex-factory worker." Raharu groaned in resignation over her past. "And it was back when Medical Mechanica had control over my planet too." As the younger Vespa Woman continued trudging about her day, Ford lost interest. "Let's just skip to the interesting stuff." the scientist declared fast-fowarding through the memory until it stopped at Haruha rocking out on some equipment as a makeshift drumkit. "Now that's the little devil we know!" "Hey, keep it down in there Haruha!" a strict, snarly voice cried out to her barging into the room. He was a tall, robust figure with a thick mustache, very long nose and a comically large cigar in his mouth. "Ah, good ol' Heinzenberg. A real J. Jonah he was, really miss when he would scream like crazy at everyone." Haruko reminisced on her former boss. "Either stop those abominable sounds or I'll do it for you!" Heinzenberg screamed pulling out a laser blaster and firing, but his rebellious employee swiftly escaped. "Try and catch me brushface!" "Wow, seems like everyone hated your guts." Dipper remarked as the fight between Haruha & Heinzenberg tore the workplace apart, to the ire of everybody else. When the dust settled, the area was in shambles and Heinzenberg was completely furious. "HAAAAAAA-RUUUUUUU-HAAAAAARAAAAA! YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUU'REEEEEEE FIIIIIIIIIREEEEEEDDDDD!" "Was he really that loud?" Ford asked as the Haruha on the screen was dragged away by security robots. "Yep, to the point where one had to add extra letters to whatever he was screaming." Haruko cackled before her smirk turned into a frown as Kanda fast-fowarded to the biker's home life, where she was being harshly scolded by a man presumed to be her father. "Do you realize what you've done Haruha?!" "Abusive parent, correct?" Ian interviewed their captive. "Oh you better believe it. The old man was a completely irredeemable piece of shit who loved drinking more than his own family." Raharu declared morosely, turning away from that ugly part of her past. "And as for my mom, pretty sure she got killed by him in a drunken rage. But who knows, I barely knew her." "Your slacking off and playing that infernal music nearly got us all in trouble!" Mr. Raharu drunkenly shouted after smacking his daughter across the face. "Either behave like every other girl on this godforsaken planet or never show your face around me again!" Just then, the cruddy former apartment home of Haruha started rumbling and a loud voice bellowed "SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT! I WANT TO SEE WHAT YOU GOT!" The ceiling began falling to pieces little by little, all capped off with a steel girder losing its support and falling right over Haruko's father. "WHAT THE FU-" was all he could scream before the girder reduced him to a puddle of red. "The Cromulons!" Ford exclaimed fast-fowarding to Haruko on stage before the giant planet-sized heads gazing down on her. "PLANET WASPRUS, SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!" the Cromulon boomed. "So what, do they go around screaming at planets?" Kanda asked. "And what do they want to be shown?" "The Cromulons are a race of giant floating heads who force the inhabitants of planets to perform in their own musical contest show." Haruko answered. "My planet frowned upon any form of creativity, but I just loved sticking it to the man." "Aw shitballs you guys, we gotta run!" the belches of a middle aged man sounded as he and his two companions, a stonefaced bird person and a catlike creature, ran for the hills to a hijacked cargo ship. "Hey, the old gang!" Haruko chirped excitedly. "Wait, the what?" Ian asked staring at the screen. "Those my boy, were the Flesh Curtains." Ford stated putting a hand on the eldest Ramirez's shoulder. "A band consisting of Rick Sanchez, an old frenemy of mine; and his two weird comrades Birdperson and Squanchy." "And it's not just them. Look." Birdperson announced pointing upward to a giant red phoenix that warped itself over Wasprus. "IT SEEMS WE HAVE A SPECIAL GUEST DISQUALIFIER!" the Cromulon boomed. "LEGENDARY PIRATE KING ATOMSK, SHOW US WHAT YOU GOT!" While Rick and his posse urged the younger Haruko to not give in, she was utterly mesmerized by Atomsk's might as she slowly stepped towards him. "Don't do it babe, that's Atomsk! His power will seriously screw with your head!" Rick warned, but Haruha didn't listen and reached out to the giant bird while her hair turned into its trademark pink. A large chain wrapped around the Pirate King's neck attached to the girl's wrist and she pulled it with all her might, eventually breaking it in two. Just as Atomsk screeched, Raharu was dragged away by Birdperson and raced to the cargo ship, escaping the doomed Wasprus in the nick of time when it completely exploded. "Welp, there goes that gig." Rick groaned in defeat taking a chug out of a flask. "How's our extra cargo doing?" "Still out squanch from Atomsk." the cat-person stated checking for a pulse just as their passenger came to. "Oh geez, what happened?" Haruha moaned rubbing her head when she took notice of the old man, the bird and the cat surrounding her. "Where am I, and who are all of you?!" "Well I can assure you miss, I am not a man in a suit that will teach you the alphabet." Birdperson answered. "You may call me Birdperson. These two are my bandmates Squanchy and Rick." "Okay, we played the name game. But where's my planet?!" Raharu shouted grabbing the two animal-like creatures by their collarbones. "Well funny story babe, might wanna squanch around and see what happened." Squanchy suggested trying to break free and the future Vespa Woman took his suggestion, gazing out the back window to find what was left of her home planet. "My home's all gone." Haruha muttered shedding a few tears, but those tears were soon replaced with a celebratory manic grin. "I'M FREE!" "Whoa now, aren't you the least bit torn up about everyone you ever loved there now pretty much dead?" Squanchy stated. "I don't care, cause no one felt that about me either!" the Flesh Curtains' passenger whooped. "No more shitty dad, no more boring job, and no more stifling of creativity!" "Hell yeah, now you're speaking my language!" Rick replied merrily. "Hey, didn't get your name lass. What do they call you?" he asked putting a microphone to the girl's mouth. "I'm Haruha Raharu." she introduced herself. "Hm, doesn't roll off the tongue as much." the drunken traveler commented. "You ever tried picking up a name like the ones in the comics like Peter Parker, Reed Richards, Billy Batson or Fred Flintstone?" "I don't believe that last one came from a comic." Birdperson tried to correct his bandmate until he was shushed. "I got a great one! How about Haruko Haruhara?" Sanchez announced pretending to knight the girl with what would become her famous Rickenbacker bass. "I like it, really does sound like those old comics!" the newly renamed Vespa Woman exclaimed. "So where to?" "Wherever the hell we want to!" Squanchy answered pointing onward before the fond memory paused itself. "Ah, the old gang. We were kinda like the Fab Four back then. Rick was Paul, Birdperson was Lennon, Squanchy was Ringo and yours truly was George." Haruko thought back to happier times with a smile. "The four of us were unstoppable! Traveling the multiverse, playing gigs, sticking it to the man, making crossovers and just having fun regardless!" Haruko managed to sneak her foot out of one of her boots to fiddle with Project Mentem and fast-forwarded through many events during her travels with Rick. In particular were running from an angry mob of robots resembling ones & zeros in a city within a computer, holding a concert for tons of excited colorful fans with gemstones on their bodies, playing with a golden snail that had a phone attached to its shell which led to an entire island being destroyed, defacing a money bin and all other sorts of mischief. "But then everything went horribly wrong when we planned what I call 'The Mechanica Mission'." she stated sadly stopping at the four nomads looking over current plans. "-ere's what we're gonna do. Haruko will infiltrate the Brotherhood and rise through their ranks so she can allow us to find Atomsk." Rick explained. "Afterwards, Squanchy will break into the Medical Mechanica factory where our contact has stated he's being held in while Birdperson & I form a distraction." "So even being a first-class space patrol officer was part of your scheme as well?!" Ford exclaimed. "To be honest, I don't know what I expected." "Don't wanna delve too much into it but in a nutshell, everything went to shit." Haruko regaled forwarding faster to a standoff between her and Rick in front of a Medical Mechanica factory with armies of insectoid aliens & Medical Machines on either side, their bandmates hovering nearby on another hijacked ship and Atomsk appearing out of a giant wormhole. "So all this time, we were just being used so that you can have sex with Atomsk?!" Rick screamed as he felt betrayed by his partner. "Pretty sure his pecker is way too big to fit in your hive! And I'm really going to regret those puns!" "But wasn't there ever a time in your life where you sought after ultimate power?!" the Vespa Woman responded sadistically. "Bitch, I've been possessed by those types before! But did I use those to turn on those I legitimately care for!" the alcoholic nihilist shouted preparing to attack with his guitar. "It's no use Rick, get back here before the portal reaches maximum instability!" Birdperson cautioned his bandmate. "I'll be back in a bit you guys, gotta settle the score first." Sanchez snarled mounting what would become Haruko's Vespa scooter and charging at her with battle cry and bass. Raharu would do the same and then, the video faded to snow leaving the four men utterly flabbergasted. "So it all makes sense now." Kanda declared shutting it off. "Or at least, as much sense as a person like Haruko can make it." "Other dimensions? Wait til the others hear about this!" Ian added excitedly. "Maybe I could pitch this to whatever big Hollywood director hasn't had their reputation ruined." "At least we finally got our answers Dipper." Ford said to his greatnephew, but he received no answer. "Dipper?" Dipper on the other hand stared emptily at the blank screen contemplating over everything they just watched. Her home planet, that crazy man, the multiverse, Medical Mechanica, Atomsk. In the time he knew Haruko, her past was a total enigma with the exception of how she was a space cop gone rogue, but even that was all a sham. He began lightly snickering while clutching his head. "Ha." he flatly laughed. "Ha ha ha. Ffnk, ahoo. Ahoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo." Dipper's sanity began tumbling down even faster before his chuckling turned into full-blown insane cackling. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" "Dipper, stop laughing and answer me!" Stanford demanded his now completely insane apprentice. "IT WAS ALL A LIE! IT WAS ALL A LIE!" Dipper screamed merrily continuing his mad chortling and smashing the screen. "YOU ARE TEARING ME APART LISA!" "Uh, has anyone seen Haruko?" Ian asked pointing out the empty stool spinning in a circle. "It seems Dipper's little episode here has given her an opportunity to flee." Ford observed on the verge of coming to a shocking conclusion. "But where could she be off t-Oh no." Just as fast as he made his realization, Ford bolted out of his study and went up the elevator to follow the lying motorist. "Where's he off to?" Kanda asked Ian. "Stan is holding a little wake for Jinyu," the eldest Ramirez son answered. "And I don't want to know what Haruko will be up to."

A small drum accompanied a confused rabbi singing for Julia Jinyu in front of the equally unaware attendees who are staring at Stanley and wondering among themselves why they're attending a funeral for someone who was basically unknown to them. "We have no idea who the deceased is, but I can promise she will rest in peace. May He take good care of this woman, and continue to watch over us all." the rabbi chanted before clearing his throat, switching his Jewish dialect for a growling Midwestern accent. "All right Pines, pay up!" he shouted holding out his hand and expecting cash. "Haven't got all day, have a wedding in Alabama to preside over." "Who's the lucky underage victim and their offender?" Stan asked fishing a wad of thousands out of his wheelchair. "Don't want to get anyone here mad, but it's a juicy one!" the rabbi replied with a smug grin. After snatching his bills from the old man's hand, he wordlessly allowed the audience to give their condolences before leaving. First came Senator Gideon Gleeful. Although he and Stanley made amends, there was still a friendly contempt between the two. "So how's that conspiracy against President Kitaki going?" the con-artist asked his old enemy. "Moving along quite nicely Pines. Already got the Fundshausers on my side." Gideon replied turning to Grenda & Marius with a wink and a grin. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm probably going to being voting for you." Stan admitted. "The less we need of that old hag trying to ban the possibility of intergalactic travel, the better!" Next came Masurao. "Hey I know you! You're that guy from Little Asia!" the great-uncle exclaimed. "I am sorry for your loss sir, but I'm on borrowed time." Masurao apologized before scurrying outside. "What's his deal?" "So the damn thing stood up? And it's also getting foggy." Masurao stated spying on the upright iron from below with Eyepatch. "It'll go away when the sun reaches its peak." Eyepatch responded. "Did we really need to make a pitstop at the Shack on our way there?" "Even if it doesn't have a fraction of the power it once had." his partner remarked gazing upon Canti's head while Aiko spied on the two men without their knowledge. "Don't worry, just forget about it." Eyepatch assured him before they departed in a pickup truck carrying the Medical Machine's remains while the funeral continued on as normal. Eventually the two made it to an orbit elevator area in Portland where a doglike man waited for them. "Hey champ, you training hard for tomorrow?!" Eyepatch greeted the worker with a fistbump. "Oh you know, just trying to save my money." the other man replied. "Feel free to just head on in, warehouse should be up ahead." "Good on the money sport. It's important to make plans for the future y'know." Eyepatch complimented, which warranted a grumble from Masurao. When the worker tried to pick up Canti's head, it suddenly turned on for a split second. "Hey, watch how you're handling that thing Mutt!" Masurao ordered. "It's like, vintage!" "Yeah, this is pretty heavy. My bad." Mutt quickly apologized. "That thing's a piece of junk anyways champ. Hakuna matata as they always say!" Eyepatch casually stated which earned him an earful from his younger companion. "Are you insane?! Do you have any idea how much that-" "I totes got it sir." Mutt assured them. "You know, I had a hard time throwing away my first cellphone! Sentimental value is sometimes worth the most." "You don't understand at all!" Masurao continued shouting before the other two men laughed. -- Back at Jinyu's funeral in Gravity Falls, Arnold grimly faced the wall while Juan & Jorge tried to apologize. "Please, you gotta forgive us Arnie!" the twins cried bowing to the floor in shame. "We'll do anything to make it up to you! Would you like to come with us to that new amusement park opening up?" "I'd rather go with someone who won't deliberately leave me to die just because of their manliness obsession." Arnold glowered not ever taking his eyes off the wall. "But if we bring girls with us, we'll get a hefty discount! Like 99% I heard! Aiko asked me to come with her!" Juan tried appealing to their sullen friend, but he still received no answer even as Gwen entered the room. "Fine, be a jerkass for pretty much barely any rhyme or reason for all we care!" Suddenly, Haruko abruptly barged into the living room riding on her scooter and wearing Jinyu's shades, interrupting the funeral and enraging Stan. She slammed her hands on the coffin to speak to the audience. "So listen up everybody, cause I have an important announcement to make! Kay?" Haruko declared. "I am, um, gonna get married!" she announced switching into a wedding dress to everyone's bewildered cheering. "And everyone is invited! Yes I mean everyone!" "I congratulate you on your marriage madame, but this is a place of mourning. Please save your speech til after the wake." one of Gideon's bodyguards with long hair stated. "Do we have visual on crazy pregnant biker that just interrupted a funeral?" "Noted. Prepare for detainment." his black jerry-curled partner replied swapping the burger he was eating for a cattle prod. "Oh wait wait wait, you can't inflict violence on an expecting mother & housewife like that!" Haruko exclaimed turning into a homemaker with a creepy baby doll on her back. "Now let me tell you all the tale of how my husband and I, fell. In. Love." "So my hubby and I met at an amusement park in Portland, and I was there during sunset." the so-called mother narrated through children's crayon drawings. "Clumsy ol' me was about to get hit by a roller coaster when HE swept in to save me like I was a damsel in distress! It was MY HUBBY!" The final drawing depicted Haruko kissing a humanoid red bird which struck a chord in Gwen, as if she had seen him before. "So remember everyone, amusement parks are a paradise!" the Vespa Woman preached. "Forget this sobstory, let's go have so-" "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-RUUUUUUUUU-KOOOOOOOOOOO!" Stan screamed as loud as his nearly eight decade old lungs could cut his former friend off. "Oh hey, didn't see you there Stanley! Thought this was your funeral." Haruko remarked finally realizing who the funeral was for. "Oh, for Jinyu? You guys barely even chatted!" "Don't play coy with me Haruko! You know I'm being serious since I'm not calling you Raharu!" Stan screamed while Soos & Mabel tried to hold him back. "This will be the chapter where I'll get payback for what you've done to my family all those years ago!" "Okay I just started caring, what?" a plaid-shirted man with some grey in his brown hair & goatee asked. "The rest of you get on outta here! This is between me and her!" Stan commanded and the funeral attendees ran outside just as the coffin was opened by Sammy Determined, a tanned, geeky young man with large glasses and a beauty mark on his chin. "I've been stuck in this coffin pretending to be a dead body for like half an hour. Can I go home now?" "You're excused Sam." Stan politely accepted and Sammy raced out the door within half the blink of an eye. "Anyway, I challenge you to a little standoff sweetheart! You and me, Gravity Falls pool, be there or be half of a square!" The grunkle was just about to leave when he made a mechanical arm appear to grab Arnold. "And you're coming with me Arnold, since you're just as much of a victim here." "Help me." Arnold whimpered as he was taken outside just as Ford and Tsukata burst into the living room. "Oh lord, I'm too late!" he shouted racing around the area for any sign of his brother. "I knew this would happen, I just knew." he groaned pinching the bridge of his nose when Gwen spoke up. "What would happen Greatkle Ford?" "I just knew Raharu would purposefully cut off this funeral to get Stanley's goat." Stanford answered. "Though I'm pretty sure she's lying about being pregnant." "Hey, have you seen Dipper anywhere? Haven't seen him since you kidnapped Haruko." Mabel asked for her brother while the Vespa Woman flipped him off behind her. "We just did some digging through her mind and what we found just...broke him." Kanda answered mournfully. "Who do you think is still available right now?" "Mom and Tyrone are. They're having a mother-son day in watching bad movies." Gwen answered. "Well what are you waiting for dudette? Call 'em!" Soos urged the girl. "Hey Gwennie, wouldn't you rather go to the amusement park instead? You're the one that I wanted to go." Haruko tried to make her change her mind. "I'm not going miss." Gwen quietly said picking up her phone. "GWEN-NIE!" -- "Ha ha ha ha, now I look like an even bigger idiot!" Tyrone & Wendy monotonously cackled in unison in response to the horrible costume worn by the leading man of "Invasion of The Bear-Eating Man Family" while Tyrone knitted a new sweater for Stan. "Wow, Joel Nelson clearly had no idea what made good costuming!" he laughed. "Still slightly better than the outfit he made Michelle Hodgson wear." Wendy replied. "Or lack thereof." Just then, the phone rang. "I got it!" Tyrone shouted racing to the phone, but his mother was also focused on answering which resulted in a play-fight that her son quickly won. "Pines cabin, Tyrone speaking!" Tyrone said. "Ty, thank goodness I can reach you." Gwen sighed in relief. "Listen, has Dad come home recently?" "He's holed himself up in our room a couple minutes ago after getting a can of Willy-Nilly's Coffee beans and a knife." Wendy answered. "I'm getting really worried for him. Tyrone honey, can you go up to check on your father?" "Will do Mommy!" Tyrone accepted with a salute and merrily made his way upstairs, but his cheerfulness quickly turned into dread the further he got. When he opened the door to his parents' room, there Dipper was emptily gazing at an old Petra the Pterodactyl video while munching on raw coffee beans and squeezing a Petra plush and his son's beloved stuffed pig Waddles II in his arms. "I'm asking you for a survey Nilly, do you like Willy-Nilly's Coffee?" Dipper asked through Petra to Waddles II. "No, no I don't." Waddles II replied before Petra suddenly held a knife in its tiny three-fingered hand. "Well survey says everyone does. Because anyone who doesn't gets shanked." Petra revealed about to stab the pig before Tyrone performed a diving save on his pig. "NOOOO!" "T-T-Tyrone? What are you doing?!" Dipper shouted even more neurotically than usual. "No, I wanna know what are you doing! You tried to stab Waddles daddy!" Tyrone cried hugging his father worriedly. "I'm so sorry sport, I've just been going through some things lately." the older male responded hugging him back. "Just some...revelations making me go cuckoo for cocoa." "Like what?" his son asked. "Well for example, Raharu actually came from another dimension where she met this scientist who behaved an awful lot like Stan." Mason explained. "They went on adventures across the multiverse together, playing music and causing borderline madness. Eventually they formed a plan to steal the Pirate King Atomsk from Medical Mechanica but that went south and then everything after that was just white noise." "Wow, that sounds even cooler than what you did with her Dad!" Tyrone exclaimed in awe. "Cool, kinda. Healthy, no way in Hell." Dipper concluded putting a hand on his youngest's shoulder. "We gotta find and stop her at once. Where's your sister and cousin?" "Arnold got taken by Greatkle Stan to participate in his little feud with Haruko and I'm not sure what's up with Gwen, but I really hope everything will turn out okay!" Arnold declared with optimism, blissfully unaware of the oncoming chaos while a faint knock on the door was heard. -- "I won't let you involve my family in your schemes anymore!" Stan shouted to Haruko from the other side of the empty swimming pool. "And I don't want to be involved here!" Arnold cried begging to be let go. "Please Stan, Pacifica will kick your ass hard when she hears about this!" "Oh? You think I'm the bad guy for getting your family all tangled up in my schemes, pyon?" Haruko playfully mocked standing on the other side with her red jacket over a blue one-piece. "For a wannabe white knight, you sure are quite the hypocrite." "Arnie, bass." Stanley commanded his great-great nephew as he pushed a button on the armrest of his wheelchair that transformed it into a miniature exoskeleton to help him walk properly. "Wait, since when could you do that?!" Arnold exclaimed in shock while unveiling a certain Jazzmaster for his great-great uncle to use. "There are tons of things about my wheels that you never knew about, and some you'll never know about." Stan stated taking the guitar and slinging it over his shoulder with both hands. "Well what're you waiting for? Come at me!" "Okay. Let's do this." Haruko chummily declared just as her former friend angrily charged, but she quickly blocked the bass with just her feet. "I know you're super old, but you really got no talent nya." she groaned in disappointment. The wasp continued blocking all of Stan's attempts to land a hit and when it seemed like he was finally about to score one, instead came being kicked into the pool shed. "You learned how to fight with your back, right? Cause it seems like time has made you forget!" Stan was just about ready to surrender until he spotted Arnold nervously sitting on a deck chair and got an idea. "Tag me out kid! Tag me out!" he called for the boy while reaching out his hand. "Wait, you're serious? You want me to fight her?" Arnold said curiously. "Well, this could be a chance for me to be manly without a certain duo threatening my life." The pair high-fived and Arnold picked up the Jazzmaster to use. "I'm the boss, I'm the boss, I'm the boss, I'm the boss!" he quietly chanted to himself while charging forward and preparing a mighty swing, but Haruko then swiftly dodged it. "Whatever you wanna do blondie, you gotta do it with strength!" she announced sticking a perfect landing. Arnold however remained resolute and began muttering "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!" "This is where Stan wanted to fight Raharu!" Ford explained to Gwen & Tyrone while the three arrived at the pool but instead of seeing the other grunkle fight her, it was instead Arnold taking off his sweatervest and trying to swing again. "Use your hips, arms relaxed, chin tucked in." Haruha instructed her opponent after yet another nimble avoidance, but Arnold simply didn't listen and escaped from her grasp. "You're no good m'boy, no good at all!" "JUST STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!" Arnold howled rigorously trying one last time to smack her, but was knocked down with a small tap and a declaration of "Oint." "Stan, do you have any idea what in God's name you're doing to Arnold?!" Ford hissed from the other side of the chain fence to his brother. "Don't go accusing me, the kid's just as much a victim as the rest of us!" Stan replied with a holler. "Okay, maybe I am partially to blame." "Go get'er cuz, show her what we've taught you!" Tyrone cheered for his cousin before he suddenly realized that he cheered a bit too late. "Oh right, you're down for the count. Sorry!" "If strength was measured by the hits one took, then you wouldn't be considered such a loser." Haruko said to Arnold while her bracelet began tingling once again. "To be honest, I thought you'd be better given your heritage. That's why you were taught all those things, to increase your manliness I heard. But I guess all those were for nothing because you know just about as much." As Gwen watched, something in her began trembling and her hat glowed faintly. "That's where you're wrong Raharu. You don't know anything either." Arnold argued bravely to her confusion. "The truth is, I'm completely unsatisfied!" This angered Haruko before she decided to remove her jacket right on top of the boy, which finally made Gwen go berserk. The force given off by her beanie blasted the door away and rapidly sucked Arnold inside her head. "Wait, what's going on!?" "He was right. Pacifica's gonna put all of us in the morgue." Stan regarded fearfully realizing his huge mistake when the absorption concluded leaving everyone shocked. All that was left was a bizarre black cutout with Arnold's Northwest ring on the finger. "Uh, my bad! Things will probably get worse than usual this time around." Haruko sheepishly apologized before mounting on her Vespa and preparing to take off. "I'll be waiting. She zoomed off leaving the four Pines and what was left of Arnold at the pool. "Hey, get back here you bitchy bassist! We still haven't settled our score yet!" Stan cursed angrily shaking his fists at the clouds. Gwen in comparison was utterly heartbroken by what she did to her cousin. "Oh I am so sorry about what happened to Arnold little lady." Ford said trying to comfort her. "You know, this reminds me of my Backupsmore days. Our school just won a cross-country event and we decided to celebrate by tearing everything apart. You should've seen the pool! They flipped the bitch!" "Where were you during that time?" Tyrone asked. "My roommate and I didn't want to take any part in the riot for safety reasons, so we went out for Italian." his genius great-grunkle answered. "I only wanted to lighten the mood after what happened just now, but I'm not sure how it'll work." -- Across town, business was booming at the amusement park with dozens of excited visitors of all ages stampeding through the entrance, most of them being couples. The Ramirez children were among these couples most notably Leia & Ezra, leaving Ian to watch over Juan, Jorge and Abby. "Does anyone have an idea on where Imelda is?" Ian asked his younger siblings while taking a bite out of some confectionery treats from the food stands. "She said that she got a part-time job here but hasn't come back." "While I'm just as concerned for Mel, all I want to know is WHERE IS AIKO?!" Juan cried out furiously typing on his phone. Elsewhere in the park, Tonkichi quietly observed two men fighting for the love of a girl and accidentally getting caught in each other before a red force took over their heads. "Excuse me sir, how much longer will this test ride go on?" Imelda asked Tonkichi. "Oh not too much longer." the theme park owner assured the seven-year-old. "All you gotta do is just stay right there my girl." As for Masurao, he was currently examining the park's webpage with Eyepatch. "Wait, hold on. Not that one." his senior citizen superior stated. "What? I thought it was Mr. Dodo." Masurao replied. "Don't you forget that we're dealing with super top secret stuff here, so that means we must activate the hidden communication mode." Eyepatch advised the younger male. "Go to the shopping section and push the little kiwi strap." "Which one?" Masurao exclaimed trying to find that strap. "The fluffy one right down there." On Eyepatch's commands, Masurao clicked on the image of a kiwi that led the two to a dining menu page. "Are you sure? The link went to a menu." he muttered in confusion. "Now just push She's So Chicky Wings." When he clicked on the menu item, it then guided to an article on one of the rides. "The Icarus Fall is the world's third-fastest falling ride?" "Wait wait wait, go back up!" Eyepatch shouted. "That's gotta be it, the falling one!" he added excitedly. "Uh, they're all falling." Masurao responded not knowing what his boss just said. "The one with the little emu!" "But which one?" "The one with the fluffy wings!" "You have to be more specific!" "THERE!" With a smack of his cane, Eyepatch made Masurao tap the emu which made Tonkichi appear on a video screen in his dodo costume. "Hello there, it's Mr. Dodo!" he merrily greeted them. "It's me." Masurao stoically greeted. "Don't be so sorry. Sometimes a kid will come calling me." the receiver grimly replied when another child greeted him. "Hi Mr. Dodo!" "Hey kid!" Tonkichi waved his wing at the passing child before returning to his teammates. "And any updates from Kanda?" "Nothing yet, though he has promised." Masurao answered. "But we did see the recently installed viking ship. We'll also have to deal with Immigration matters, but I don't want to rush you too much." "And what of the flower pot? Is it complete yet?" Tonkichi continued asking. "Uh sure. It can be activated at any time." Masurao muttered nervously. "The plant is online, alright!" Eyepatch declared, but their partner was too busy trying to greet a pair of girls who didn't want to be near him. "Can you please focus on your real job and see the data I sent you?" the younger redhead groaned incredulously. "This is a real job too!" Tonkichi argued. "Don't you know that this park helps fun-" "Do you think we can make do without that pot?" Eyepatch asked his colleague as the latter closed the video on Tonkichi and Aiko overheard their conversation. "I doubt it." Masurao groaned in defeat. "If you can't activate the flower pot, any backup plans we come up with will be useless!" "Shut up, I know that!" Aiko's father exclaimed while his daughter went upstairs to look for money she made off her dating service in a jack-o-lantern situated in her closet. "Aiko." Masurao called for his daughter while she frantically closed the closet door. "What is it?" the girl asked and her dad just looked down for a moment. -- "So which one of us do you think Pacifica will kill first?" Stan asked while Tyrone helped put his wheelchair back together, Gwen examined the balloon that was once her cousin and Ford collected some leftover pool water that he put into a beaker. "Personally, I'm betting on you poindexter since you started all this by bringing Gwen here." "I started this?!" Ford shouted angrily. "You're the one who's fostered this animosity with Raharu for literally twenty years ever since she first left us!" Still fuming, the scientist examined the beaker he had just used along with four others containing radioactive waste, soy sauce, machine oil and a strand of pink hair. "And what are you up to?" Stan asked gazing at the beakers. "Just been experimenting on some substances to make a superhuman formula. Just got some pool water from here, soy sauce from Little Asia, radioactive sludge from Scuttlebutt Island, machine oil and some of Raharu's hair." "How is that going to do anything of substance you nerd?" Stanley hissed. "Well, other than probably give you a killer stomachache." "It's still highly experimental brother, so maybe there is a chance of a killer stomachache." Stanford agreed before the two great-grunkles gazed at Gwen holding the balloon in her arms. "S-so thirsty." a familiar voice croaked through Arnold's ring. "W-water." "Great Caesar's ghost, he's alive!" Tyrone exclaimed while his big sister took the balloon to the pool showers. "Hey, put on a smile sis! Arnold's still out there!" he tried to cheer her up when the showers seemingly activated on command. "I don't want to remember what happened this morning." Gwen monologued reminiscing to earlier that day in manga form. -- "Oh good morning Gwennie!" Wendy greeted her daughter coming down the stairs. "Check it out, Jinyu left us so many clean & unbroken plates." Gwen however wasn't interested. "Something the matter my little pecan pie?" her mother asked. "I'm just back to my normal self, that's all." "No, you seem eerily different." Wendy said concernedly just as her daughter stepped outside and she realized something. "I've...changed?" Gwen stuttered going back inside to find her mom packing some small boxes. "What are you doing?" she asked. "Just...have fun at the Shack little dude. And tell Stan I send my condolences." Wendy said trying to dodge the question. "And also tell Arnold his aunt says hey!" "Seriously mom, why are you packing? Are we going to move?!" Gwen shouted suddenly getting angry. "I thought Dad wanted to stay here to catalogue all the weird crap going on here and hang with Aunt Mabel!" Wendy frowned to herself over her daughter's feelings before turning back to her. "I think it's time we try something different. Y'know, I always wanted to live in Portland." That was when Gwen's beanie beeping began to coincide with her bursting into tears. -- Returning to the present, the shower stopped and the balloon began to inflate in Gwen's arms. "Hey, is this about losing Jinyu, Greatkle Stan getting mad at Haruko, or losing Arnold?" Tyrone tried to console the older girl. "I'm here for you if you wanna shoulder to cry on." The balloon reached its maximum size and drifted to the ceiling above the kids. Taking a poolstick, Gwen grabbed it and took it outside where it was properly able to ascend. And then, as her beanie began blinking once again, she made a miniature crater beneath her feet which horrified her present family. "Find, the others, now." Ford muttered. -- "Hi, I'm Mr. Dodo!" Tonkichi greeted the happy couples in his mascot costume, but none were paying attention. "Looks like everyone's having a great time, am I right? Hey! Boys and girls!" he exclaimed while a group of employees armed with firearms assembled behind him. "You're all just little brats who still don't have all your hair down there! Sorry, but you're all pretty much useless!" The employees then aimed their weapons at the unknowing parkgoers on command. "FIRE!" Tonkichi ordered. "Sorry, wrong voice." he realized clearing his throat and switching to a deeper voice. "FIRE!" The weapons launched a series of red beams that tagged everyone and making the same red force appear in their heads. "THIS IS WHY I DON'T TRUST THEME PARKS!" Ezra screamed in pain as he and Leia became victims as well. "If I don't make it out of here alive, I want you to know Leia that I really do love you, and I'm basically a tsundere!" "Ha, called it!" Leia chuckled before she went back to screaming and gazed terrified at her brother. "Ian, get the kids away and we'll all catch up later! You four are the only single ones here!" she shouted to Ian. "Right! Juan, Jorge, Abby, come with me!" "But where do we find them? Where do we find Mommy and Daddy?!" Abby cried as Jorge took her arm. "Not sure, but they're probably just as lost as all the other couples here are!" Juan exclaimed racing off. The energy collected from the visitors soon filled up all the big rides at the park and caused them to lift themselves out of their supports. "They started already?!" Masurao shouted watching the chaos from afar. "I have to warn the Pines." Tsukata declared gazing through his binoculars. The attractions gathered around the big castle at the center, including the viking ship that Imelda was trapped on, and formed into a giant robot. "Captain, I don't think we'll make it!" one of the employees shouted. "We've got to do it! No matter the cost, we'll show them all!" Tonkichi declared bravely as the castle bot faced the upright Medical Mechanica iron. "They may smooth out our brains, but they'll never smooth out our freedom! START THE ATTAAAAACK!" The castle robot launched everything it got at the giant iron, but nothing worked and the factory in turn blasted a giant laser that instantly burnt the opposing machine to cinders. -- Far above Earth, Arnold's inflated husk drifted out of the atmosphere and towards an Immigration Control Center satellite storing lost items. A mechanical hand snatched the balloon and tossed it down the chute to be scanned & later dumped into the old Gravity Falls junkyard which attracted the attention of a familiar-looking robot dog. "Well I'll be. Aren't you just the cutest little thing?" Older Man McGucket greeted the little mutt. "Hey I know you! You're that spindly johnny who followed the kids around!" The genius hillbilly scooped up some of the trash from the box it was dumped in, including Arnold's remains, and put it in a dog bowl for the canine machine to eat. "Eat up now little feller!" -- Back at the amusement park, Haruko was spectating the whole battle when she felt her stomach return to its normal size. "So they're still doin' it, huh?" she mumbled getting back to her entertainment when she saw a few familiar faces. "For the record, we already knew something was up long before you warned us!" Ford shouted to Kanda when he spotted Haruko. "Raharu! Can't believe I'm saying this, but we got a problem!" Along with the Stans, Tyrone, Dipper, Mabel, Wendy, Ian, Leia, Juan & Jorge, Abby, Ezra, Soos, Melody, a very angry Pacifica preparing to use a broken bottle as a shiv and Kanda was a now cybernetic Gwen glaring furiously at the Vespa Woman. "Lookin' good Gwennie!" Haruko complimented with a wolf whistle and a nosebleed. "You're really killing it!" Gwen didn't reply with her words, but instead with a gold battering ram launching from her robot arm. "Just so we can all reach a compromise, all of you are to blame for this!" Pacifica shouted tranquilly. "Whoa, hold on all y'all!" Haruko exclaimed avoiding the younger girl by jumping on the roller coaster tracks. "Stop it, I didn't do nothing wrong!" "BULL-FUDGING-SHIT RAHARU!" Stan cursed as Gwen followed his former partner preparing to use the other Mustang to help his great-great niece. "All I did was give you all a little nudge, reignited some old passions, helped you with your dreams, s'all!" "Give him back! Give Arnold back!" Gwen screamed continuously attempting to hit her. "Wah-ho! Guess the Pines still have quite a lot of fight in them!" Haruko exclaimed before she found Dipper, Mabel and Pacifica right behind her. "Give me back my son or else." Pacifica hissed arming herself with Jinyu's Jazzmaster. Before anyone of them could fight, Haruhara surfed away further up the coaster rails. "In the end, you're no different from the rest of us!" Gwen snarled leaping away from her family to give pursuit. "It's all because you're in love with that weird bird, right? You're just another girl stupidly in love!" "See, like I kept telling you Raharu! You can't force someone to love you!" Dipper agreed with his daughter. "Oh quit parroting Mason or I'll shove crackers down your throat to shut you up!" Haruko shouted to the Pines father before she noticed her bracelet starting to react to something amiss. "Huh?" "Uh, dudes!" Soos exclaimed gazing up at the reddening sky. "Is the multiverse going all kaput or am I thinking of some other cataclysmic event?" he asked cuing the others to look up as well. "No. Way." Ford & Kanda boomed in shock. Soon everybody important to the story gazed up at the sky and Haruko realized just who it was. "It's Atomsk." -- AT LAST, IT IS DONE! I started kinda late on this chapter, but it was all worth it to finally beat my deadline. What will become of the Pines family and friends? Will Haruko finally control Atomsk? Why does McGucket recognize that oddly familiar dog? Join us next time for the final chapter of Fooly Falls 2: Ride on Shooting Star and be sure to read my other works for more!

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romantlcdemon · 7 years

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I Know I’m Wrong, But I Can’t Help Believing

Aizawa Shouta/Present Mic (Yamada Hizashi) ; TRAITOR AU ; Traitor!Present Mic

Link: Read it on AO3

Word count: 3630

Summary:

“Yamada Hizashi.” “Huh?” “That will be your name for the entirety of this operation. You best get accustomed to it.”

He was born a villain. He was given both a mission and a new identity. This fic follows the life of “Yamada Hizashi” leading up to his exposure as the traitor of UA.

30 years ago.

He doesn’t remember the start of it. Not that it really mattered. His parents had been villains, good ones too.

25 years ago.

He grew up knowing villains the way other kids knew heros. Indoctrination is a funny thing, always a double-edged sword. Of course, villains did tend to be more disagreeable people than heros, and internal conflicts were common-- but his parents didn’t neglect him. They protected him well. He lived a good childhood, and grew into a bubbly personality with an enthusiasm that seemed untameable.

22 years ago.

His parents died. He had no extended family, and was instead taken in by the villain organization that his parents had belonged to for years. He learned toughness. He learned what it meant to survive.

15 years ago. Mission start.

“Yamada Hizashi.” “Huh?” “That will be your name for the entirety of this operation. You best get accustomed to it.” “Ah… Yes sir…” He stood in an office, facing opposite of the voice that addressed him from behind computer screen static. There was a slight echo in the tall, cold, room, and each sentence was echoed faintly back to him, as if the building itself was some kind of comic book villain’s assistant, nodding and grinning feverishly and repeating every word out its boss’s mouth. Well. Every place has its charm. Just a week prior he’d been alerted of the new mission he would be undertaking, and in the days since he hadn’t gone ten minutes without hearing a new comment on the topic. “Damn lucky kid. You realize how easy you’re gettin’ off with this? While we’re out bustin’ our asses--” “Shut up, shithead. You wouldn’t be able to last a day on undercover work. Constantly gettin’ asked questions you don’t know the answer to, comin’ up with lies on the spot. This kid here, he’s clever. He’s savin’ our asses doin’ this.” “Why’s someone this young being sent on a mission as dangerous as this, though…? How can we trust that he won’t crack under the pressure? He’s not very experienced, you know.” “No, no, it’s because he’s this young that he’s doing this. Haven’t you heard? They’re gonna enroll him in UA. We’re growing an artificial hero from the ground up. What is it those whackjob teachers call them… Eggs? We’re hatching a hero egg. It’s genius, really.” Although the constant talk was annoying, he couldn’t deny that it was all perfectly true. He’d never had a say in the matter from the start. He was the only one under the age of sixteen in the organization, and transferring someone in as a second-year already put them in the position of an outlier, so that was key. His quirk was combat-oriented and he was talented in controlling it-- again, key, because admitting someone upon basis of recommendation would have increased the complexity of the mission tenfold. Now, he received one final comment. “Today you have been made a vital piece of a master plan. You have been entrusted with a great deal of responsibility, but I have faith that you will deliver. Do not prove me wrong.” “Yes, sir.” He bowed his head and turned to exit the room, but was stopped when the voice sounded again. “What is your name, again?” He paused and took a deep breath. “Yamada… Yamada Hizashi.”

14 years ago. First goal: Admittance to UA. Complete.

He poked the mass of dark hair that rested on the desk beside him with the eraser end of his pencil. “Psst.” Five seconds of silence. “Psst.” Five more. “Psssssttt--” “What in God’s name do you want?” A single bloodshot eye glared at him from behind thick locks. “No no, it’s not God’s name that I want, I was wondering what yours is.” He flashed a beaming smile to rival that of a toothpaste model. The glare intensified before returning its focus back to the desk, and he almost thought he wouldn’t receive an answer when a muted grumble reached his ears. “Aizawa Shouta. I’m going back to sleep now.” “Wahh, cool name!! I’m Yamada Hizashi!!"

13 years ago. Second goal: Fit in. Be amiable with members of your class. Complete.

“THE VOICE HERO! PRESENT MIC!!!” He didn’t hesitate a second before scrawling those words in all capital letters on the hand-held blackboard in front of him. He added a few stars around the borders then sat back and stared at it contentedly before stealing a glance at his (self proclaimed) friend next to him. When he saw Aizawa’s board as blank as his expression, Yamada’s jaw dropped in shock. “You still haven’t decided on a name?!!” Not bothering to look back at him, Aizawa droned, “I’m not planning on appearing in any media, so it doesn’t really matter to me.” “All right… Then, how about…” Mic pensively tapped his chin with the end of his pencil, the eraser bouncing off his skin. “ERASERHEAD!!” “Fine, fine, whatever…” Mic scooted his chair over and leaned in close as he watched Aizawa draw the letters with surprisingly neat handwriting. “Ooh… Does this make us matching? I mean. Not really matching, but, we’ll both have hero names that I thought up, so that’s matching in a way, isn’t it?” He turned his head to look at Aizawa, only to realize he was nearly nose-to-nose with his classmate, and for a moment, they stared wide-eyed at each other with equal expressions of surprise. The moment was short-lived, and Aizawa’s surprise quickly shifted to annoyance. He clenched his teeth and hissed, “Do you mind?” Mic couldn’t stop two short giggles from escaping his mouth. “No, I don’t mind, but I’ll back up for your sake anyways.” He returned to his desk, but not without a wink.

12 years ago. Third goal: Become a hero. Complete.

“ERASER!!” He puffed out his chest and pointed his index finger at Aizawa with incredible mock conviction, striking a pose in his new leather jacket and tight vinyl pants, his other hand still toying with the large speaker system now wrapped uncomfortably snug around his neck. “How do I look?! As a pro hero. Wonderful, dashing, right?!” Aizawa, his attention on the paperwork in front of him which would officialize his status as a pro hero, mumbled the reply “No different from always.” The room went silent save for the scratch of Aizawa’s pen against paper, and Mic’s hand fell to his side. Noticing the change in atmosphere, Aizawa paused and looked up to see a faint pink decorating Mic’s cheeks. “Wh-- I meant-- like an idiot. No different from always, you still look like a dunce. Not dashing in the least,” Aizawa hurriedly returned his eyes to the paper, ignoring the way Mic’s eyebrows had raised, and that dumb smile that had just begun to form on his lips, the same smile he always had when Aizawa gave him a compliment, intentional or not. That smile was making an appearance more and more often, lately. Aizawa feigned a cough and brought his arm up to his face, covering the blush that had begun to appear.

10 years ago. Fourth goal: Attain a staff position at UA. Complete.

“SHOUTA!!” He yelled as the apartment door opened, and promptly rushed in, shoving a hand-sized card in Aizawa’s face. “What…” “LOOK AT IT!!” He furiously shook the card, it’s surface tapping against Aizawa’s nose. “How the hell am I supposed to look at anything when you’re waving it like that?” He snatched the card out of his hands, and walked to the kitchen, where he sat on a stool and placed the card on the counter, inspecting it. UA STAFF TEACHER HERO DEPARTMENT PRESENT MIC Aizawa’s eyes widened, and he ran the tip of his finger over the UA insignia printed in the top corner. “When did you…” “Last month!! There was an opening! And I was one of the first applicants, and I got accepted last week, but I wanted to keep it a surprise, and today I finally got the ID…” Aizawa turned and looked at Mic. At his proud smile and eager posture, the way his gloved hands were clenched into excited fists at his side. He couldn’t see his eyes behind his sunglasses, but he knew the way they were crinkling at the corners, bright green irises seemingly sparkling. Mic looked at him too, and saw the way he didn’t blink when those tired eyes scanned him. It was something he’d noticed he’d do when he saw a cute cat too, or when he stared at his favorite painting in the art museum on the other side of the city. It was a beautiful way to look at things. Mic wondered if what he saw was the same thing he did when he looked in the mirror-- a fake, a rat, a villain. He hoped he never saw it. “What?” “H-..Huh?” Mic shook his head, coming back to reality. “Your face got awful serious all the sudden.” Aizawa blinked, his eyebrows lowered. The room was silent for a moment. “Got the shits again?” Mic’s mouth dropped open, then screwed up into a twisted cringe. “THAT WAS TWO WEEKS AGO!! AND IT WAS BECAUSE OF THAT DAMN TAKEOUT!! I TOLD YOU THAT RESTAURANT WAS SKETCHY, I DON’T KNOW WHY YOU LIKE IT SO MUCH!!”

5 years ago. Strike one: Become emotionally involved. Complete.

“Eraserhead, huh…? Congratulations.” Mic twirled the ring around in his hand, rubbing the engraving on the inside. /Always./ He took a pensive breath, slipping the ring on to his finger only to take it off again and resume fidgeting. “... Yeah. Thank you.” The ceremony had been beautiful, outdoors, with just enough breeze from the ocean to take the edge off the summer sun shining bright and golden overhead. Clean white suits, flower petals on the grass. Mic had organized the wedding in its aesthetics, on the condition that Aizawa organized the guest list. Mic had held those rough and scarred hands in his, looked into his dark brown eyes and told him, “I will love you forever.” In that moment, the words were endlessly sincere. Mic’s eyes saw nothing but him, his head thought of nothing but him. A blissful tunnel vision, now torn apart by the accomplice sitting on the worn couch in front of him. Torn, because the man, sneering crookedly and tapping his cigarette over an ashtray, was not congratulating him on his marriage. He was congratulating him on ensnaring himself inextricably deeper into his mission, into his very own lies and tricks and illusions. The way his glossy eyes squinted in the low light spelled a phrase unsaid: “Good fucking luck.”

1 year ago. Strike two: Stray from the objective. Complete.

“Mic.” “Mic.” “M--” Mic jumped, blinking rapidly. A low groan escaped his throat, which was throbbing, raw and sore. He tried to move his hand, and was met with a sharp pain shooting up his arm. Where was he? “Oh thank god…” Midnight sighed deeply, letting go a breath she’d been holding. “I told you he’d be fine. What, did you think I’d lie to you? You think I’m new to this?” Recovery girl replied in a tone of disbelief, quietly shaking her head. Oh. So that’s where he was. That’s what all the blurry white was-- the ceiling of the UA infirmary. He tried moving his hand again, only to have someone else’s cover it, and gently hold it in place. “No, Hizashi. Not yet.” A voice, deep and soft, murmured beside him. Mic turned his head, and found that a stiff, scratchy material restricted the movement of his neck. A brace. “You knocked yourself out pretty good, Mister. I don’t know what you were expecting taking on a villain twice your size all on your own. He was a monster. Not that you’d remember after that bump on your head, though.” It’s true, Mic didn’t remember fighting him. But he remembered the events before. The words that had reached his ears through the grapevine, that his organization would soon be sending an attack to breach the walls of UA. The cold, dense feeling in his gut, the anxiety shaking his fingers for days before he glanced out the window and saw a familiar face walking on the street below him. How had his legs run that fast? His mind had been left three steps behind. Perhaps his sense of pain had, too. The face he’d recognized was that of one of the most powerful grunts he knew, with a muscle manipulation quirk that gave him incredible mass and strength. Mic was no longer confused as to why a bone-deep ache was currently radiating through his entire body. The pain didn’t matter so much after he blinked again, though, when he saw Aizawa’s face mere inches away from his own, his eyebrows knit together in concern, the corners of his mouth curling upwards slowly as Mic met his eyes. “You’re a real idiot, you know.” No kidding. He’d just sent a member of his own association to the slammer. In a dark twist of irony, he’d committed a betrayal within a betrayal and deliberately shut down another mission-- and by extension, compromised his as well. This wasn’t pretty. Well, the situation wasn’t. Aizawa was.

1 month ago. Strike three (You’re out.): Reveal mission. Complete.

“Traitor…” he muttered, inaudible at first. “There’s gotta be a traitor in our midst.” Why did he say that? Why? Even now, he can’t answer that question with confidence. The knowledge of what he was doing, of who he was, was a constant storm above him, raining and pouring. Increasingly each day seemed like monsoon season, and the waters had now reached dangerous levels-- perhaps this was a cry for help. But what help? There’s no lifeguard to pull him out of this one. This guilt isn’t a swimming pool, it’s an ocean. That day the water made a crack in the dam, and before he could register the words coming out, he was defending the hypothesis that would mean the termination of his mission. Maybe that’s what he wanted. Even then, though, he’d had some silly illusion in his head that there was a possible future in which that termination wasn’t something ugly and blood-soaked. That it would just be over, and he could go back home and hang up his jacket and leave the memories outside the door. He would walk down the hall and into the living room and see his Prince Charming laying on the couch with his eyes closed, a hand absentmindedly petting the cat who lay on his belly. Just like that, they’d live happily ever after. But in truth, he knew that he was no star-crossed pure protagonist. He was a villain. And there are no happy endings waiting for him.

1 week ago.

He knew it was coming, and soon. He never returned the looks, but he felt the stares on his back, everywhere he went. He didn’t hear their voices, but he knew the words they spoke when they turned away, what all the topics of the recent meetings had been about, and why his attendance had not been requested. It was inevitable, and perhaps that knowledge was what hurt the most, despite the fact that he’d known it from the start. All things come to an end, for better or for worse. For better or for worse, he still came home that night and smiled with the same toothy grin he’d flashed when they first met eyes all those years ago. The air felt just as heavy in his home as it did everywhere else, but he ignored it, the same way one ignores the pain of a wound as they utter their last words. “I love you, Shouta…” The man in his arms did not reply, but Mic didn’t mind. He knew they both understood the state of the present, and the path of the future. But now, in this moment, all that mattered is that he could still feel his warmth, his thick hair, and scarred skin. His heart beating, strong and unfaltering. It reassured Mic. Even when he was gone, as long as that heart kept beating… That would be okay. Mic would be okay with that. “Do you know that? I love you so much.”

1 day ago.

He left everything that day. Ungraded papers, happy birthday cards. Birth certificate, forged. His UA student uniform, that he still kept in a box in the closet. The speaker system he’d spent a whole year building and installing in every room, so the music never got far away. The leather jackets he’d been collecting since he was seventeen. Two rings on the nightstand. What did he care? Why would he miss it? All those documents, cards, certificates and records were all written with that fucking fake name. But somewhere along the way, it had started to feel real. Not when his teacher had called it out and he had answered, not when he had wrote it a thousand times and repeated it a thousand more. It was when Aizawa Shouta said his name that it sounded real. Maybe it was because he’d wantedthat name to be his. Something like, ‘If that’s the name he’s calling, then that’s me.’ It was all too real. A mask that became part of his skin. And now he had to rip it off. “... Hizashi…?” Aizawa rubbed his face, and his eyes cracked open to look at the face of the man kneeling by his bedside. He smiled and gently shook his head, placing a hand on Aizawa’s cheek. With his thumb he lightly brushed the corner of Aizawa’s lips, and looked into those deep brown eyes, glazed over with sleepiness. It was 3am. When Aizawa woke up in the morning, this memory should seem like a dream. He wished so desperately that every memory could seem that way, that he could wake up tomorrow with no clear recollection, only the faint notion that /perhaps/ something had occurred in those days past, but nothing of great consequence, that all of this would fade into nothing and he would continue on his way unaffected by the rest. For Aizawa, at least this moment would be a dream. For him, the memory would be burned like a brand in his mind.

10 minutes ago. Mission end.

“Yamada Hizashi.” “Yes.” “That has been your name for… how long, was it?” “Fifteen years, sir.” “Ah… Truly a long time. And you held out quite well.” The voice was momentarily muddled by television static. The warped light of the screen manipulated the shadows of the room, and the pupils of his eyes, unprotected by sunglasses, shrunk and dilated in alternation to adjust. “Excuse me.” The static settled. “Now… You have made mistakes. You are more aware of that than even I am.” The voice paused. If it was to gauge a reaction, then there was nothing to find, because he didn’t flinch, didn’t shudder, didn’t clench his fists. Green eyes stared unblinkingly forward, waiting for him to continue. “However, I don’t think any punishment will be necessary. The work you have completed has allowed great advances in our organization. Advances that you have seen yourself…” The image of Aizawa’s scar flashed behind his eyes. “... and some you have yet to see. I understand you have not come with much, today. And readjusting will not be easy. But I assure you, living in reality has its perks as well.”

Now.

“Good afternoon, Present M--” “That’s not my name.” Kurogiri paused, and looked at him for a moment from his place behind the counter. His dark face betrayed no emotion, as usual, but it was clear what was going through his mind. He took a seat on the barstool at the end, put his elbows on the counter, and put his head in his hands. “You’re wearing your hair down today.” Kurogiri remarked as he resumed his task polishing glassware. “Mic was the one who put his hair up.” He didn’t move his eyes from the counter. Even without looking, he was aware of the gaze he was receiving. Boy, had he gotten good at feeling stares. “Perhaps it would be best to cut it.” He didn’t respond for a while, just silently ran his fingers through his hair. It was soft, that’s what Aizawa would always say. That had been his excuse for petting it and playing with it, as if he were more a cat than the one they already had. His fingers twitched and paused. “Don’t wanna use my quirk anymore either.” He felt the stare shifting. “Try as you might, that may be unavoidable. Your role now is the symbol of UA’s internal weakness. One way or another, you’ll be made to stand at the front lines. And regardless of your unique status, missions will continue to be assigned, and you will be expected to complete them, just like the rest of us.” He switched to rubbing the bridge of his nose. He felt his breath hissing against his palms. “What you did wasn’t easy, and we commend you for that. But it is over now.” A drink was set in front of him, and the glass hit the counter with a ‘clink’. “Today marks the start of something new.” His arm swung out and struck the drink, and the glass hit the floor with a shattering symphony, cascading cracks and snaps bouncing their echos off the hard brick walls. The sound of something that was, in the past, a beautiful and carefully crafted object, transforming into its present form, ugly and dangerous. Scattered across the floor, the broken glass caught the light and sparkled, as if offering a knowing wink. “Someone new.”

#fic #boku no hero academia #posted on request #bnha #present mic #yamada hizashi #my hero academia #mha

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