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wil-is-done · 2 years

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When You’re A Mystery Kid - Chapter 22B: I Am Danny Phantom - Part 2

Summary: The Mystery Kids meets the half-ghost hero of Amity Park.

Word Count: 10.956

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a repost.

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters featured here.

By the time they arrived, everything was in chaos.

People running and screaming in terror. Cars crashed and overturned. Street vendor stands demolished, their wares scattered on the asphalt road. Roadside buildings wrecked, their windows shattered and some even missing chunks of their walls. It was all a shocking sight to take in for Norman. However, the most shocking sight of all was of the seeming culprits behind the chaos.

Ghosts.

They had to be ghosts. Norman had no doubts about it. About two dozen of them, all floating, all wreathed in an otherworldly, green glow. They tossed objects about with reckless abandon and fired strange blasts of energy from their hands in random directions, all seemingly with the intent of causing as much destruction as possible. The violence they engaged in left Norman at a loss for words. He had never seen ghosts indulge themselves in such mindless destruction before in his life. Although, Norman noted with suspicion that the ghosts all seemed to posses blank, glowing red eyes. That cannot be a coincidence.

Norman glanced about at his friends, who looked just as appalled by the destruction as he was. He gritted his teeth; how would they be able to face off against enemies they couldn’t even see?

“Flying, red-eyed green men, huh? That’s new.”

Norman whipped his head towards Raz, who had stated that so casually. “You can see them?!”

Raz gave him an incredulous look. “Of course we can. Why wouldn’t- wait…” Realization slowly dawned upon Raz’s face. “No way…”

“They’re ghosts.” Norman said grimly. “No doubt about it. They’re all ghosts.”

The Mystery Kids looked at each other for a moment, looking appropriately surprised and confused. Norman spotted Neil vigorously rubbing his eyes before looking back at the direction where the ghosts were.

“Uh, right, since when was that a thing we can do?” Wybie asked.

“Well, as far as I know, when a ghost is powerful enough, they can choose to make themselves be seen.” Norman explained. “Like Aggie. Everyone can see Aggie.”

Coraline breathed out a long sigh. “So, what you’re saying is, we’re going up against two dozen ghosts who might be as powerful as Aggie?”

“No. I mean, hopefully not?” Norman shrugged sheepishly.

Mabel, who had so far kept her eye on the ghosts with her head cocked to the side, turned to look at him. “Welp, you’re the master of all things ghostly. What do we do?”

Norman turned his gaze towards the still-rampaging ghosts, considering the question. “I’ll try to talk to them. You guys stay back for now.” He eventually replied. “Ghosts don’t get this… destructive for no reason. I need to at least find out why.”

Judging from the frowns on their faces, his friends seemed to have doubts about Norman’s plan, but eventually they all nodded, agreeing with him, even if reluctantly. “Be careful, Norman.” Neil said, which Norman replied with a reassuring smile.

Taking a deep breath, Norman stepped forward into the chaos. He scanned the area, quickly spotting a pair of ghosts nearest to him. One was lanky and gaunt-faced, while the other one was relatively bulkier and more muscular, and they were both occupied with reducing an overturned car into nothing but scrap metal. Norman was careful in approaching them, making sure none of the other ghost would notice him talking to them. Deciding he was close enough, Norman drew in another deep breath, before he called out to them.

“Hey! Hi! Excuse me!”

They both paused, giving each other a look, before they slowly turned to face Norman. Their blank, red-eyed glares made Norman stumble over his words for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure again.

“Listen, I don’t know what happened to you and your friends, or what the city did to you that led you to start destroying it, but all of this?” Norman gestured to the chaos around him. “This won’t make anything better. I know it feels good, right now. It even feels right, to do all of this. But it’s not going to help. If you keep doing this, you’re just going to feel worse!”

The ghosts’ expression stayed neutral. They simply glanced at each other again, but otherwise they appeared to be listening in. That prompted Norman to continue with increased gusto.

“If you guys really want to make things right, make yourselves really feel better, my friends and I can help. Whatever it is, I promise you, we will help you get through it. If you can just talk to your other friends and get them to calm down and listen, then we can-”

Norman was cut off when the lanky ghost suddenly ripped out one of the tires of the overturned car and tossed it at him. Before he could react, he suddenly felt his legs leaving the ground as he floated back by several feet, the tire striking the spot where he once stood. Once he regained his footing, he looked over his shoulder, spotting Raz with an arm outstretched pulsing with psychic energy.

Norman was about to thank him when a voice rang clear through the chaos.

“Trying to appeal to their sense of humanity, child? How charming.”

The source of the voice, stepping into the center of all the chaos, revealed itself to be nothing more than a man. His most striking feature, Norman noticed, was his extremely pale white skin, almost like the color of chalk, as well as his decidedly sinister red eyes. He was bald, Norman could tell, covered up somewhat by a small, black bowler hat. He wore a flowing, dark gray coat that was rather intricately designed, but it also with obvious signs of wear and tear. A prim and proper bowtie circled his neck, and his black boots appeared to be polished to perfection. The man watched Norman, as well the rest of the Mystery Kids, with apparent amusement.

“They lost any shred of humanity they had when they passed.”

Norman backed away from the man, rejoining the gathering of his friends. Whoever the man was, he was definitely the leader of this group of ghosts. As for how, Norman still had no idea.

Raz was the first of them to bite back. “You don’t look very human yourself. Who are you supposed to be, Nosferatu?”

The man simply grinned. He snapped his fingers, and almost immediately, every ghost in the vicinity stopped their rampage, all of them falling in line behind the man.

“My name is Frederich Isak Showenhower.”

He lifted his bowler hat and performed a deep, practiced bow.

“But you may know me as Freakshow.”

Norman’s heard of that name from somewhere, though he has trouble recalling from where exactly. Judging from how both Raz and Dipper’s eyes lit up, they definitely knew more about the man than Norman did.

“Nope.” Raz shrugged with deliberate nonchalance. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”

To Norman’s surprise, the amused smile on Freakshow’s face gave way to an annoyed frown. “Seriously? Ringmaster of the infamous Circus Gothica? Ever heard of it?”

“Nope.”

“We’re banned from twenty different states!”

“Nuh uh.”

Freakshow let out a long, suffering sigh. “Well, you don’t look like the type I cater to anyway.” He suddenly pointed over to Coraline, the smile back on his face. “Now, you! You surely must have heard of me?”

“Uh, no? Why the hell would I?” Norman had no idea if Coraline was being genuine or if she was just helping Raz in trying to annoy the man. Either way, it seemed to be working. “What’s it even supposed to be, anyway? Some sort of… satanic cult?”

Freakshow stomped a foot down indignantly. “It’s a circus! It’s in the name, you little-!” he sighed, his shoulders slumping, before he quickly regained his composure. “I shouldn’t even bother with people like you. Run along and cower, like the rest of the pathetic masses.” He turned his gaze upwards, looking strangely expectant. “My prize shall be here shortly.”

Raz took a step forward, hands pulsing with psychic energy. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re not exactly normal ourselves, and we’re not going anywhere, baldy.”

Lili stepped forward as well. “For committing acts of wanton destruction, you and your accomplices are hereby under arrest. We can do this the easy way, or the I-burn-your-ass-off way.” She smiled. “Please choose the latter.”

Freakshow laughed out loud. “Arrest me? Who do you think you are?” he sneered.

“The Mystery Kids.” Coraline joined Raz and Lili, placing herself between the two. She held her new psychic baton in her hand.

Freakshow rolled his eyes. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

“No.” Coraline pressed the button on the baton. The six-inch long rod immediately extended to about twenty five inches, ending on a rounded tip pulsing with purple, psychic energy. She held the weapon at the ready. “But it’s about to be.”

Freakshow’s eyes narrowed. “Cute.”

He snapped his fingers, and immediately a pair of ghosts broke off from the group behind Freakshow. They flew over to a nearby ruined food cart, together lifting them into the air before launching it towards the Mystery Kids. Coraline took a step back while Raz and Lili both extended a hand outwards, a barrier starting to form around the group. However, before the cart could impact the barrier, there was a flash of green, and the cart was suddenly blasted to the side.

“No one told me the circus is back in town!”

Norman had to suppress a gasp. He had only heard that voice once before, on a news broadcast, but he recognized it all the same.

A figure landed in front of the Mystery Kids, putting itself between them and Freakshow and his ghosts. Norman’s jaw dropped. Even just from looking at the figure from behind, the white hair and the black bodysuit meant that the figure could only be one person and one person only.

“Danny Phantom!” Freakshow grinned. “Apologies for not calling ahead. I thought you might like the surprise.”

“Surprised, yes. Like, not really.” Danny retorted. “I especially don’t like how you’re not in prison.”

Freakshow waved a hand dismissively. “Prison life didn’t suit me. Terrible crowd, as well. Had to move on.”

“Well, the warden just called. The inmates want an encore.”

“Tell him I’m booked. I’ve got a show to do, right here, right now.”

“His schedule’s flexible. In fact, once we’re done here, I can probably give you a ride there.”

“Oh, this show won’t end the way you’d expect.”

Lili covered her face with a hand, wheezing out a low, “Oh my god.”

“Hey!” Coraline shouted, drawing all attention to her. “You guys seriously gonna talk all day?”

Freakshow responded by shooting a glare at Coraline, while Danny looked surprisingly embarrassed by the situation. “Er, right.” Danny cleared his throat, looking over his shoulder to address the Mystery Kids. “You guys should clear the area. You do not want to get caught in the crossfire.”

Both Coraline and Lili narrowed their eyes at him, but Raz was quick to speak up with a friendly smile. “Danny, if it’s all the same to you, we’re here to help you kick baldy’s ass.” Raz’s words prompted Danny to turn around, dumbfounded. “Big fan, by the way.” Raz quickly added.

It took a few moments for Danny to find his voice. “Alright, thanks, but I got this. I appreciate the offer to help, but I can’t afford to worry about you guys while fighting them at the same time. No offense.”

Raz was about to say something in reply before Coraline cut him off. “Hero, in case you didn’t notice, I’m carrying around this fancy power stick.” She gestured to the baton in her hand. “And then there’s goggles over here with his magic glowing hands.” She used the baton to point to Raz, specifically to his hands that pulsed with psychic energy. “Trust me when I say that we can handle ourselves.”

Danny’s eyes darted towards Coraline’s baton, then to Raz’s hands, then his eyes scanned the entire group, seemingly taking in their appearances for the first time. “Okay… I have to admit, those are pretty weird. You guys are pretty weird.” he stated. “But, still, you won’t be much help. Freakshow’s got ghosts. Only a ghost can harm another ghost.”

“You know, y’all should listen to him!” A foreign voice suddenly called out. Norman, along with the rest of his friends, turned their heads towards the source of the voice, quickly spotting a pair of teenagers peeking out of some nearby wreckage. One was male, with dark skin, and sporting glasses and a hat that he wore backwards, and the other was a female, dark-haired, with a clothing ensemble that was almost all black. It became clear the one that spoke up was the male. “He really knows his stuff!” He called out again.

Now it was Coraline’s turn to look dumbfounded. “And who are you supposed to be?” she called back.

“They’re my friends.” Danny replied. “Follow them. They’ll take you somewhere safe.”

Raz spoke with concern. “Danny, we’re not going to leave you to fight twenty of them on your own. You’re worried for us, but we’re worried for you too!”

“I’ve been through worse. Trust me.” Danny actually placed a reassuring hand on Raz’s shoulder. “I’m Danny goddamn Phantom.”

Raz took a second to gaze on Danny’s hand upon his shoulder in disbelief, before he looked up in awe to meet Danny’s gaze. Norman looked on quietly from the back, almost jealous of the fact that Danny Phantom himself touched Raz. However, the moment was broken when Raz suddenly shouted out, “Behind you!”

Danny spun in place, arm raised to create a green barrier in front of him. The green ray of energy that sped towards him struck the barrier, dispersing harmlessly against it. Across from where Danny and the Mystery Kids stood, a ghost had stepped forward with an arm outstretched, while Freakshow looked visibly irritated by the current circumstance.

“Finished?” He hissed through gritted teeth. “You know, I planned on saving this for the big finale, but since you so rudely decided to ignore me…”

Putting on a wicked grin, Freakshow slowly reached into the insides of his coat. With that same deliberate manner, he pulled out what appeared to be some sort of staff, colored red and tipped with a bat-shaped effigy, studded with a pair of green gems that acted as the bat’s eyes. Resting above the bat effigy was a crystal ball that displayed a constant swirl of crimson-colored energy.

“Remember this?” He practically purred at Danny. “You’re quite enamored with this, if I recall correctly.”

Just seeing the object for what it was, Norman could tell that it was a rather powerful supernatural artifact, and the fact that it was held in the hands of Freakshow already put him on edge. However, to see Danny Phantom suddenly physically reel back and raise his arms to shield his now-panicked face, Norman’s level of alarm rose significantly.

“How did you get that back?!” Danny cried out.

Freakshow let out a low chuckle. “A good performer never reveals the secret to his act. That’s the magic of the circus, you see. Keeps you guessing.”

Out of the corner of Norman’s eye, he spotted Danny’s two friends rushing out of cover to stand by Danny’s side. The boy seemed to be helping Danny shield his face, while the girl put herself between Danny and Freakshow.

Coraline eyed Danny’s demeanor warily. “Gonna guess that magic staff is bad news?” She asked

“Very.” The dark-haired girl replied, shooting Coraline a grim look.

Freakshow took a few steps forward, his ghostly entourage following closely behind him.

“Come now, Danny. You made for such a useful addition to my collection of oddities two years ago, imagine how useful you would be to me now.”

Freakshow licked his lips, a manic grin on his face. A chill ran down Norman’s spine.

“Come on. Show your true colors once again. Cross over to the dark side.”

With his face still shielded, Danny yelled out a reply. “Never again, you shriveled marshmallow!”

“Oh, you will. You will.” Freakshow stated. “Minions,” he pointed at Danny with his staff, “bring him to me.”

All at once, Freakshow’s minions surged forward past him. Some of them had their hands glowing with some sort of green energy, while others picked up whatever debris they could and brandished them as weapons. With the encroaching ghosts only moments away from being upon them, Coraline and Raz looked at each other, and without saying a word, both of them came to a grim realization; there’s only one option left for them to take.

“Fall back!”

“Retreat!”

Norman was among the last to turn tail and run. He wanted another chance to at least try to talk to the ghosts, but a panicking Neil running back to him to tug him and yell in his ear finally convinced him to join the others in escaping. A rain of green energy rays and debris soon consumed the spot where he once stood.

Raz, Lili, and Danny stayed at the back of the group, with Raz and Lili summoning a psychic barrier to shield them while Danny blindly shot green energy rays behind him to at least try to slow down the ghosts. Norman grimly noted that, while the psychic barrier held up just fine against the debris, the green energy rays went past the barrier like it wasn’t even there, nearly striking the Mystery Kids as they fled. Another grim observation Norman made was that, as Raz and Lili fired a few quick psi-blasts at the ghosts, all of their shots simply passed through harmlessly.

Danny was right; among them, he really is the only one that could face the ghosts.

Although, Norman had to wonder… could his lightning affect the ghosts?

Norman quickly shook off that thought. There’s something off about those ghosts, and he wasn’t going to subject them to the lightning without knowing more first.

Both Raz and Lili seemed to be quick to catch on that psi-blasting the ghosts would be a waste of effort. In the rush of the chase, Norman heard Raz bark out an order of, “Lil, time to vanish!”

Raz and Lili dropped their barriers at the same time, swiftly following up by summoning a dome of psychic energy that surrounded both the Mystery Kids and Danny and his friends. The advance of the ghosts came to an abrupt halt, all of them looking around in confusion. Far behind the ghosts, even Freakshow’s eyes went wide in surprise. Norman and the rest of the Mystery Kids, familiar with this particular psychic ability, kept their voices down and slowed to a stop, while silently signaling Danny and his friends to do the same.

Coraline made her way to the front of the group and pointed to a nearby alleyway between two buildings. “In there. Hurry.” She whispered.

The group dived into the alleyway as fast as they could while being as silent as possible. Behind them, Norman could hear the voice of Freakshow shouting out, “Find him! Bring my prize to me!”

A few tense seconds passed of them hearing ghosts zipping out in different directions before they all collectively allowed themselves to breathe out a sigh of relief. The dome around them dissipated a moment later, accompanied by the sound of Raz and Lili panting in exertion. Beads of sweat were already forming on their foreheads.

“Okay, first things first,” Coraline started, putting herself at the center of attention, “what exactly is the deal with tall, pale, and crazy back there?”

Raz was the first to answer. “I heard some stuff about him and his ‘circus’. All of them are bad. Gets involved in lots of shady stuff.”

Dipper’s answer came next. “He’s obsessed with ghosts and anything involving them. He even wrote a book about them.” He sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. “I’m… pretty sure I own a copy.”

“Good to know you’re supporting your local supervillain.” Lili retorted, which prompted Dipper to avert his gaze.

Coraline’s eyes turned towards Danny and his friends, the three of them currently leaning against the wall. “Danny, from what I heard back there, you had beef with that guy before?” She asked.

“I did.” Danny nodded. “Two times. Both of them are pretty close calls.”

Raz joined in with a question. “Anything you can tell us about him?”

“Besides the fact that he’s evil and a creep, there’s not much to tell about him. What’s important here is that staff.” Danny leaned forward. “It allows him to control ghosts to do whatever he wants them to do.” He put a hand on his chest. “That includes me. You can see the problem here.”

Norman blinked. “You mean those ghosts are being forced into doing this?”

Danny replied with a nod. Norman felt his hands clench into fists before he could control himself, that familiar spark of energy already threatening to leak out. He drew in a deep breath, the energy subsiding, for now. If the lightning had to come out today, at least now he knew who to use on.

“Except, that staff was supposed to be destroyed!” One of Danny’s friends, the dark-haired girl, exclaimed. “Shattered into a million pieces! It’s literally impossible for him to get his hands on it again.”

Danny scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, that’s the big question mark.”

Coraline and Raz shared a look, before Coraline asked, “Anything else?”

“Nothing that I know of. Without that staff, he’s just a regular guy.”

“Hold up, sorry to interrupt this, but,” Danny’s other friend, the boy with the glasses, cut in, “who are you guys exactly?”

Raz offered him a friendly smile. “We’re friends.”

“Allies.” Coraline was quick to say. “Let’s start with allies.”

Raz paused for a moment to shoot Coraline a sour look, before he continued on. “Bottom line is, we want to kick Freakshow’s ass just as much as you do.”

“If you’ll let us, we can do it together.” Coraline finished.

A few seconds passed in silence as Danny considered the suggestion. He looked to his friends; first, to the boy with the glasses, who simply offered a shrug, then to the dark-haired girl, who gave him a hesitant nod. Finally, Danny looked at Coraline and Raz, and said, “Alright. For this one time, let’s see how it goes.”

Raz clapped his hands together. “Nice!” he announced with a grin. “Okay, quick rundown, I’m Raz, and this is Coraline.”

“Not Caroline. Coraline.”

“She’s Lili, and there’s Wybie, Dipper, Mabel, Neil, and that’s Norman.”

As Danny’s gaze landed on him, Norman could only muster an awkward, sheepish little wave as a reply. Danny raised an eyebrow at that for a moment, before his attention returned to Coraline and Raz.

“Pleased to meet you all. I’m… well, you already know I am. These two are my friends. Sam,” Danny first gestured to the dark-haired girl, “and Tucker.” He then gestured to the boy with the glasses. “They don’t have powers, but they are very capable. You can take my word for it.”

Tucker took this opportunity to speak. “Y’know, if you want us to work together, you better have a good plan. This many people in the playing field? It could get messy.”

Raz looked towards Coraline for an answer, and Coraline in turn spent the next few seconds gazing at the entrance of the alley, at the chaos still occurring beyond it, the gears visibly turning in her head. While still focusing on the alley’s entrance, she finally asked, “Danny, how do you feel about being bait?”

Danny gave her a nervous look. “Generally? Not cool with it. What do you have in mind?”

“You’re the only one that can do anything to those ghosts.” As she turned towards Danny, a smile had started to form on her face. “At the same time, Freakshow only cares about you. He doesn’t give a damn about the rest of us. We can use that.”

“If you can draw all those ghosts away, the rest of us can sneak over to him and take his staff. Kick his pasty ass too while we’re at it.” Coraline explained. “Of course, if those ghosts overwhelm you and Freakshow gets to you, then it’s game over. So, we need to make sure you don’t get too much attention.” She shifted her gaze towards Raz and Lili. “You two lovebirds up for that?”

Raz crossed his arms in rather smug manner. “Be Danny’s bodyguard for the day? Hell yeah.” Lili didn’t say anything, but she did put on quite a confident smile.

Coraline opened her mouth to continue, only to be interrupted by the sound of a rather loud scream, which was accompanied by the distinctive sounds made by those green energy rays. It caught everyone’s attention, and the alley settled into silence for a few moments.

Wybie was the first to speak again. “Jonesy, I don’t think everyone made it out in time.”

Coraline closed her eyes for only half a second, quickly regaining her composure. “Mabel and Neil, you’re on evacuation duty.”

Mabel brandished her grappling hook with a grin, while Neil performed a salute. “Consider those people saved, captain!” He announced.

“Now, for the two of you,” Coraline pointed at both Sam and Tucker, “which one of you is good with people?”

Tucker raised his hand. “That would be me.”

“Relatively speaking.” Sam added with a smirk.

“Tucker, you help out Mabel and Neil.” Coraline had to fight back a chuckle. “Good luck.”

Both Mabel and Neil were at Tucker’s side in an instant. “Nice to meet you! I hope we can work together well!” Neil said as he enthusiastically shook Tucker’s hand.

“Love the backwards hat, by the way.” Mabel pointed at Tucker’s hat with her grappling hook, which made him flinch slightly. “Very nineties.”

“Everyone else, you’re with me. We sneak around, catch Freakshow off-guard, and make him pay for all of this.” Coraline accentuated the sentence with a swing of her baton. “Sam, you live here, so can I count on you to lead the way?” She asked.

Sam nodded, though somewhat hesitantly. “I think I can manage.”

“Alright.” Coraline took one last look at the group around her, all wearing expressions of confidence and determination. “You all have your part to play in this.” Her lips quirked into a determined smile. “Let’s save the day. The hunt…”

“… is on!”

Danny, Sam, and Tucker looked appropriately surprised by the Mystery Kids suddenly shouting that out, and Norman couldn’t blame them.

The surprise didn’t last long. “Come on, we can come out at the other side of this alley.” Sam was already running deeper into the alley, motioning for the others to follow her. “Hopefully Freakshow or his minions won’t see us.”

Coraline, Wybie, and Dipper quickly ran after Sam. Norman was about to join them, when he suddenly felt a firm hand grip his shoulder, stopping him. He looked over his shoulder to see Raz, who had taken his goggles off for the moment, staring at him dead in the eye with a look of hardened, yet faltering resolve.

“Norman…” Raz began, but Norman could tell he was at a loss for words, “Listen, I know you’d rather not do… your thing, and I would never force you, but-”

It wasn’t hard to figure out what Raz was trying to say. “I know.” Norman cut in. He smiled, and he hoped that was enough to comfort Raz. “If it comes down to it, I won’t hesitate.”

Raz’s face brightened significantly, much to Norman’s relief. Raz patted his shoulder and gave him a determined smile, which Norman reciprocated in kind, before the two broke off to join their respective groups. Before he turned the corner, Norman sneaked in one last look at the group at the alley’s entrance. Raz chatted excitedly with Danny as soon as he joined them.

“So, not to sound incapable or anything, but do you got anything up your sleeve that might help us help you?” Raz asked.

Danny seemed to appreciate Raz’s enthusiasm. “A few.” He replied with a coy smile. He then shut his eyes tight, his body surrounded by a green glow, before there was a sudden flash of light, and out from thin air, four exact duplicates of Danny came into existence.

Raz’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit!”

Norman had to agree. Holy shit, indeed.

Danny and his duplicates wasted no time to fly out of the alley. A quick nudge from Lili knocked Raz out of his shock, the two of them swiftly summoning spheres of psychic energy under their legs and hurrying after Danny. Mabel, Neil, and Tucker were the last to leave, darting out of the alley with their heads ducked.

The sound of Dipper calling out his name made Norman realize just how far he had gotten from his own group, and he sprinted after them.

The street at the other end of the alley was not as damaged as the street they were on, but some parts still made Norman cringe. Just as Sam hoped, only a few of Freakshow’s ghosts lingered here, and even those few quickly left as Norman heard Freakshow bellowing out an order to ‘bring my prize’ to him. So far, the plan seemed to be going according to plan. Coraline signaled everyone to just start sprinting once the last ghost left. It took them less than a minute to get from the alley to the end of the street. Sam stopped before the corner of the street and pressed herself against the wall, everyone behind her following her example. She cautiously peeked around the corner.

“Freakshow’s at the end of the next street, in the middle of the intersection.” Sam stated. “Looks like the distraction’s working.”

Coraline stepped forward to join Sam in peeking around the corner. Dipper also stepped forward, but Norman put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. Dipper turned to give him a questioning look, which Norman replied with a shake of his head. Norman had known Dipper long enough to know that he couldn’t bear to be out of the loop, but for this one time, satisfying Dipper’s curiosity wasn’t worth the risk of being discovered. Dipper, to Norman’s relief, seemed to understand, reluctantly stepping back to where he was.

A few seconds passed before Coraline signaled them to join her.

“See that diner?” She pointed towards a rather ruined diner, situated about two thirds of the way down the street. “We can hunker down in there. Move out, cover to cover, two at a time. Dipper, Norman, you go first.”

Norman was caught off-guard when Dipper suddenly wrapped his hand around Norman’s own. His heart started beating faster, and it’s not just from the anticipation of having to sneak forward.

“Wait for it…” Coraline held up a hand, keeping a close eye on the next street. “Go.”

Norman and Dipper darted out into the street, going from cover to cover just like Coraline said. Luckily, there was an abundant amount of them, most of them being ruined cars and chunks of destroyed buildings. They didn’t stop at each cover for very long, only a few seconds at a time, mostly because Dipper would impatiently tug them forward before long. A battle must surely be brewing just up ahead, judging from the sounds of energy blasts and of Freakshow bellowing out orders. What little that Norman could spot in the rush - most of it being flashes of light and vague figures zipping around in the sky - pretty much confirmed it. Eventually, even with Dipper rather recklessly leading the way, they managed to slip into the diner undetected.

The inside of the diner was devoid of people - thank god for that - and just as ruined as the outside. Shards of glass and plates scattered on the ground mixed with bits of food, some of the booths have scorch marks on them, and the jukebox even had a chair jammed into it. Dipper hastily cleared up a section of the floor from the debris, before taking off his backpack and setting it against the counter. Norman looked back to the corner where they came from, spotting Wybie and Sam had started making their way over, with Coraline staying back presumably to watch over them. Norman shifted his attention to the other end of the street, getting his first good look of the battle.

Freakshow was indeed standing in the middle of the street, surrounded by three of his ghost minions, all of whom held a car door in their hands as some sort of makeshift shield. Those shields were put to good use to protect Freakshow from blasts of psychic energy, courtesy of Raz and Lili. The psychic duo ran circles around Freakshow, never staying in one place for too long thanks to the psychic sphere under their feet, taking shots at every opportunity. Three more ghosts hounded after Raz and Lili, peppering green energy rays in their direction. Raz opted to dodge the blasts coming his way, while Lili chose to levitate pieces of rubble around her to block the blasts. Freakshow glared at the two psychics, before turning his attention to the sky. Norman followed his gaze upwards.

Up in the sky, Danny and his duplicates were engaged in an all-out battle against the rest of Freakshow’s minions. Norman spotted Danny - or possibly one of his duplicates - getting caught in a hold from behind by one of the ghosts, while another ghost prepared an energy ray to unleash on him. However, that ghost was interrupted when another Danny swooped in to deliver an uppercut, followed by a green energy ray at point blank to blast the ghost away. The Danny caught in a hold managed to break free, spinning around to deliver a roundhouse kick to the ghost behind him. Not even a second later, that Danny was suddenly struck by an energy ray from a different ghost minion. Back and forth the aerial battle went, with either side not gaining a significant advantage over the other. Norman had to admit, Danny seemed to be faring quite well, despite the fact that he was outnumbered.

As exciting as it was to see the hero fight live, Norman tore his eyes away from the spectacle to look for his other friends. He smiled in relief upon spotting them. At the back of the battlefield, Mabel beckoned a group of people out of a ruined shop, directing them to away from the chaos. Nearby, Neil and Tucker worked together to help a couple crawl out of their overturned car, ushering them to safety. With all of Freakshow’s minions preoccupied with fighting against Danny, Raz, and Lili, their task could be done without much trouble.

“Is there five of him?” Hearing Coraline’s voice next to him nearly startled Norman. Looking around, it seemed that Wybie, Sam, and now Coraline managed to sneak across without a problem. Coraline had joined him in observing the battle without him realizing it, currently looking up at the sky.

Norman nodded. “Yeah.”

Coraline chuckled in disbelief. “Okay, that’s actually pretty cool.”

“What now, Jonesy?” Wybie asked. “I mean, I’m guessing walking over to him and beating him over with you magic stick is out of the question, with that shield trio he’s got around him.”

“I’ve got it covered.”

Dipper’s simple statement made him the center of attention. He sat on the floor, one of the journals open before him, and was in the process of taking out several vials filled with strange-looking powders and liquids out of his backpack.

“You setting up a science lab?” Sam asked, incredulous.

“Kind of.” Dipper lifted the journal, showing off the number ‘2’ on the cover. “Remember this?” He set the journal on the ground again, continuing to take items out of his backpack as he talked. “Each journal has a… theme, almost. Each one focuses on different subjects. The third one was more about creatures and occurrences. This one focuses on spells, runes, and items.” He paused to look up at the others. “Dangerous ones. Ones that you can use to harm people.”

“So, obviously, this is the one that Gideon managed to get his hands on.” Dipper chuckled dryly. “At least we can be grateful that he wasn’t smart enough to figure out even a third of what this journal has in store.”

Coraline eyed him rather warily. “And you did?”

“A bit.” Dipper shrugged. “I only really started when this whole protect-the-world thing began, so I still don’t know a whole lot. But, what I managed to figure out is already pretty nasty. Like what I’m about to make right now.”

“Before you ask,” Dipper flipped through the pages of the journal, stopping at a particular page titled ‘Weaver’s Wrap’, “it’s a snare. A magic snare. With the right ingredients, the proper patterns, and the magic words, this thing can wrap around and squeeze until there’s nothing left.”

Norman’s eyes widened at that revelation. Coraline, Wybie, and Sam had pretty much the same reaction.

“That’s- isn’t that a little extreme?” Wybie asked.

Dipper waved an arm dismissively. “Ah, it takes half a second for me to dispel it. My plan is to use this to immobilize him so we can restrain him in some other way. Like… with Mabel’s grappling hook, probably. Yeah, the grappling hook would do.” He fished out a scrap of white fabric and set it down on the floor before him, before looking up expectantly. “A little help would be nice.”

Coraline eventually shrugged. “Fine. We’re going with Dipper’s evil snare of death. Norman, Wybie.” Coraline gestured towards Dipper.

Norman sat down next to Dipper. Wybie joined them, the apprehension clear in his eyes. Together, they followed Dipper’s orders, even though it soon became clear that Dipper was doing most of the heavy work. Coraline and Sam returned to the window to keep watch outside, though Norman noticed Sam’s eyes flitting between the outside and Dipper’s work, her eyes alight with interest.

Dipper first poured out three pinches of dark-red powder onto the scrap of white fabric, muttering something under his breath that Norman couldn’t make out with each pinch. He then carefully arranged the powder into the shape of a circle with a horizontal line across it. Next, he picked up a vial of blue liquid as well as a pipette, using the pipette to let out a drop of liquid at eight different points around the circle, once again muttering something under his breath with each drop. After that, he held up a vial filled with some sort of gel-like black substance, and smeared the substance on the tip of his pinky finger. Dipper used the black substance to connect the circle to the drops until, Norman realized, the shape on the fabric roughly looked like the shape of a spider. Dipper leaned in towards the fabric, cupping his hand around his mouth, and whispered something loud enough that Norman could make it out this time.

“Rachni tenaci mortis peterparkrus Frederich Isak Showenhower mirabile serket.”

Dipper leaned back as all the ingredients seemed to seep into the fabric, leaving behind a purple-colored spider symbol on it. Dipper gingerly picked it up between his fingers.

He grinned. “It’s ready.”

Wybie eyed the scrap of fabric nervously, and with good reason. At this point, Norman had to admit, the symbol did give off an aura that, at best, made him feel uncomfortable.

“Still doesn’t explain how we’re gonna get past the shield trio, though.”

Dipper’s lips quirked into a knowing smile. “Those ghosts won’t be an issue. Trust me.”

Dipper hastily shoved his journal and all of the vials back into his backpack, slinging the bag onto his back as he rose to his feet. “I need to find Mabel. This plan won’t work without her grappling hook.” Dipper was already making his way to the diner’s exit. He paused at the doorway to look at Coraline. “Unless…”

“We are not killing him.” Coraline stated with a glare.

Dipper shrugged. “Your call.” Without another word, Dipper darted out into the street. He took his time, going from cover to cover, but Norman still watched with bated breath as Dipper got dangerously close with the battle still brewing in the middle of the intersection. Thankfully, so far neither Freakshow nor his minions seemed to have noticed Dipper’s approach.

Dipper was just about to round the corner to the right, when Norman heard Coraline grimly state, “I think that ghost saw him.”

She pointed at one of the ghosts that’s been chasing after Raz and Lili, who had come to a sudden stop, his line of sight seemingly corresponding with Dipper’s position. Her suspicion was confirmed when that ghost prepared an energy ray and aimed it at Dipper’s direction. Dipper, completely oblivious to the ghost, darted out of cover once again, and at the same time, the ghost released his energy ray. At that moment, it took every ounce of self-restraint in Norman’s body to not scream out Dipper’s name.

A pulse of orange psychic energy suddenly exploded behind Dipper, blasting him forwards by a few feet, the energy ray striking the ground where Dipper once was. His landing was rough, nearly face-first, and he skidded to a stop a few feet later.

Raz stood nearby, a hand outstretched in Dipper’s direction. “Sorry about that!” He yelled out, before a volley of energy rays forced him to keep moving again. “Start running, Dipper!”

Dipper recovered from the tumble quickly enough. However, instead of rising to his feet and running the other way, Dipper scrambled to his knees, his head frantically whipping back and forth. Only upon noticing that a ghost was approaching did he get his feet under him to sprint out of Norman’s line of sight.

Dipper’s odd behavior confused Norman, until he came to a realization. “I think Dipper dropped the snare.”

Coraline must have noticed it too. “Dipper, you goddamn-!” She let out a wordless growl, quickly addressing everyone else. “We need to get that snare. Wybes, Norman, sneak in and find it. Sam and I’ll cover you.”

Norman nodded. “Got it.”

“Can do, Jonesy.”

“And how are we supposed to do that?”

Coraline twirled the psychic baton in her hand. “Ever played baseball?”

“Like… once?” Sam replied rather hesitantly.

Norman could tell Coraline had to hold back from rolling her eyes. “Just follow my lead.” Taking Sam by the hand, the two made their way out of the diner, pausing for a moment in the doorway to address Norman and Wybie. “When I give you the signal, run like hell.”

The two were out the door before either Norman or Wybie could properly reply. Norman watched them as they took cover behind a smoking wreck of what used to be a car. Sam picked up a brick from among the debris, while Coraline peeked her head out over the wreck. She then took a few steps back, settled into a stance while brandishing her baton with both hands, before giving Sam a nod. Sam threw the brick into the air, and Coraline swung her baton with all her might. The brick sailed through the air towards Freakshow. It actually managed to slip past the ghosts shielding Freakshow, and he had to physically dodge it after noticing at the last second. Coraline and Sam didn’t waste any time, two more bricks already streaking towards Freakshow, though this time both were able to be blocked.

Freakshow glared down at Coraline and Sam, pointing his staff in their direction. Immediately, one of the ghosts that had been pursuing Raz and Lili changed course, now flying towards Coraline and Sam. Coraline had time to send a nod at Norman and Wybie - the signal - before both her and Sam bolted in the other direction, the ghost in hot pursuit.

Norman and Wybie practically scrambled out of the diner’s exit. They stuck to going from cover to cover when they could, but it was an otherwise mad dash to get to where Dipper dropped the snare as fast as they could. Norman considered it a miracle when, as far as he knew, they reached the spot undetected. He had to pause for a moment - the dash left him quite winded - but Wybie was already tossing over bits of debris left and right in an effort to find it.

“God, how are we supposed to find that thing?!” Wybie exclaimed as his eyes scanned the ground. “It’s so tiny!”

Norman looked around the debris-strewn field. Wybie was right; finding that scrap of fabric in the middle of this chaos just with their eyesight was borderline impossible. They needed something more.

“It felt weird.” Norman pointed out after a moment of thought. “Right? It felt… off.”

Norman clenched his eyes shut, focusing hard. With his world gone dark, he felt his presence grew. He didn’t have a lot of practice with this particular ability of his, so it felt unstable and took longer than he would’ve liked, but eventually he spotted that uncomfortable aura again. His eyes snapped open, his head whipping to his left. Wybie followed his gaze. Nearby - roughly twenty-thirty feet away from them - slightly wedged under a pile of rubble, was the scrap of fabric they were looking for. Wybie immediately sprinted towards it.

“Get out of the way!”

That shout came from Lili, rolling towards them on her psychic sphere, a pair of metal sheets levitating behind her, shielding her from a barrage of energy rays that came from a pursuing ghost. Wybie doubled the speed of his sprint, while Norman quickly dived into cover. Wybie rejoined him behind the cover a moment later, just as Lili sped by, some of the stray energy rays whizzing past above their heads.

Norman gave Wybie a frantic, expectant look. Wybie looked down at his clenched fist, before he slowly opened it, revealing the scrap of fabric inside. Norman sighed in relief.

“Alright, how do we use this?” Wybie asked, and Norman’s relief dissipated instantly. “Do we just… throw it? What if we throw it and nothing happens?”

Norman looked around at his surroundings desperately. “We need Dipper.”

Not a moment later, he felt Wybie rapidly tapping his shoulder, before he pointed over to a pile of rubble quite a ways away from the battlefield. Timidly peeking over that pile of rubble were a pair of heads that Norman instantly recognized as Mabel and Dipper. They appeared to be desperately searching the field themselves. Norman waved at them, while Wybie lifted the fabric in his hands just enough so that the twins could see it. Dipper spotted them first, his eyes lighting up. Mabel sent them a thumbs up when she did the same a moment later.

How do we use this? Norman mouthed.

Norman was initially worried he didn’t mouth it clear enough, but Dipper looked like he understood it well enough. He rose out of his cover, both hands cupped around his mouth. There was a moment of hesitation, but Dipper quickly shook his head, before he shouted out loud.

“Etavitca!”

Dipper’s voice rang clear across the street. The dark purple spider symbol on the fabric began to glow. Norman and Wybie shared a look for half a second.

“Throw it now!”

Wybie did, but it was a panicked throw, more out of him not wanting to hold the fabric for any longer. In Norman’s humble opinion, Wybie could have done better.

However, the strength of the throw didn’t seem to matter, as the scrap of fabric came to a sudden dead stop in midair. The glow of the symbol intensified until it consumed the entirety of the piece of fabric. The fabric then unfurled to become a sizable spread of netting that emitted a dark purple glow, before it sped off towards Freakshow at an incredible speed. One of the ghosts shielding Freakshow put himself in the path of the snare, but the snare simply passed through both the makeshift shield he held and the ghost himself like they were nothing. Freakshow was absolutely not prepared, the snare wrapping itself around him extremely tight, leaving his arms trapped against his chest. Peculiarly, the snare somehow completely missed the staff, leaving it untangled from the mess of dark purple netting that encircled Freakshow, though the villain still had an iron grip on it. Freakshow’s expression immediately contorted into one of intense pain, his mouth gaping open in a silent scream.

“Yes!” Came Dipper’s incredibly ecstatic shout, his voice even cracking slightly. “Get the staff! Somebody get the staff!”

Lili was quick to respond. A pink-ish glow surrounded the staff, and Norman could see Freakshow visibly struggling to maintain his grip on it. The ghosts that once shielded Freakshow have now begun an attempt - a rather futile one - to free the villain from the snare. He only managed to hold on to the staff for a few more seconds before it slipped out of his grasp. However, right at that very moment, a ghost shot an energy ray straight at Lili. Acting out of pure reflex, Lili tossed the staff into the air, before rolling out of the way of the ray.

Freakshow’s eyes darted upwards. “Minions!” He managed to choke out. “My staff! Bring back my staff!”

The ghosts who had been trying to free Freakshow immediately chased after the staff. Likewise, up in the sky, the ghosts who had been battling Danny all initiated a nose dive straight towards the staff. Danny was quick to catch on, him and all of his duplicates diving after the ghosts. It was a close race, but the numbers that the ghosts had gave them an advantage, as most of them did everything they could to slow down Danny and his duplicates, leaving the others free to pursue the staff. At the last possible second, just as one of the ghosts was only a moment way from catching the staff, one Danny fired off a desperate green energy ray. The ray found its mark, sending the staff plummeting back towards the ground.

Norman’s eyes widened once he realized where the staff was headed.

He rose to his feet, climbed on top of the cover he once hid behind, and raised his hand, his palm open. The staff landed perfectly in his hand.

Every ghost in the vicinity immediately ceased whatever activities they were doing. They stared ahead blankly; arms limp at their sides, almost as if they entered a dormant state. Freakshow managed to send a glare at Norman, even through the pain he must be experiencing. Norman climbed down from the cover, walking at a steady pace towards Freakshow.

Somewhere from behind Norman, Dipper uttered out the word, “Etavitcaed.”

The snare that entangled Freakshow lost its purple glow, and with it, its tight hold on the villain. Freakshow dropped to his knees, coughing and drawing in ragged, desperate breaths. The sight almost made Norman pity him. Almost.

Amazingly, Freakshow forced himself to rise to his feet, before limping towards Norman with a glare. “That staff… is mine.” He growled.

Norman spotted the distinctive claw of Mabel’s grappling hook sailing above his head to nail Freakshow right between his eyes. As he stumbled back from the impact, the claw became enveloped in an orange glow, before it proceeded to circle the villain a few times, leaving him entangled once again, this time by the trailing cable of the grappling hook. Losing his balance, Freakshow fell on his back, letting out a groan in pain.

Norman walked up to the villain, his gaze meeting Freakshow’s.

“You think that ghosts are not human. That they’re less than human.”

He let that familiar energy flow, all the way to his fingertips.

“I don’t know what made you think that way, but you’re wrong. They’re just as human as the rest of us.”

Freakshow gave him an expression of defiance.

“You naïve child. They are nothing but monsters.”

Norman’s grip on the staff tightened.

“Monster?”

Sparks flowed freely out of the hand that held the staff. The defiant look on Freakshow’s face was gone.

“They were not the ones that abused the confused and distressed souls of people who passed away. If there’s any monster here, it’s you.”

Electric lines danced up and down the staff; it started with one, but then it became a dozen, then three dozen, then five dozen, until the staff was enveloped by it. The handle started to splinter. Cracks formed on the crystal ball. Freakshow’s eyes went wide with fear.

“You’re the fucking monster.”

With one last surge of energy, the staff was shattered into pieces. The crack of thunder could be heard from miles away.

Norman took a few steps back. He breathed in and out deeply, the energy receding from his hands. Freakshow still stared at him with wide eyes.

Within the next minute, Norman managed to reassure all the ghosts, who had broken free of the staff’s control, that Freakshow would pay for everything that he had done. They all dispersed, going off on their own without much fanfare. The Mystery Kids, along with the addition of Danny, Sam, and Tucker, all reconvened, forming a circle around Freakshow. The subdued villain, at this point, had shaken out of his fear-induced paralysis, and now looked up at the gathered group rather sheepishly.

“I… surrender?”

Lili landed a kick on his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. The next kick was aimed at his head, and that knocked him out cold.

“I know you said it’s not a habit, but it’s really becoming a habit, Lil.” Raz remarked.

“Oh, like you wouldn’t do it.” Lili bit back.

Raz chuckled lightly, before he turned his attention to Danny. “You okay, Danny?”

For the most part, Danny looked relieved, though Norman didn’t miss the fact that, ever since they had gathered here, Danny had stolen wary glances at Norman whenever he thought Norman wasn’t looking. “Oh, yeah, I’m good.” He answered. “Thanks for the assist. That fight would’ve been a lot harder on my own.”

“Oh, it was nothing, really.” Raz shrugged dismissively. “All in a day’s work for us heroes.”

“Right.” Danny looked around at every member of the Mystery Kids. A rather awkward silence settled for a moment. “So… I guess this is where we part ways?”

Coraline was quick to chime in. “Not exactly.”

“See, Danny, kicking this guy’s ass was fun and all, but it’s not the main reason why we’re here.” Raz explained. “We’re mainly here to talk to you.”

Danny looked surprised for a moment, and then he looked curious. “You know what, after seeing what you guys can do… I’m intrigued.” He said. “Go ahead. I’m listening.”

“Well…” Raz glanced around at their surroundings. In what was only seconds ago an empty battlefield, a crowd had begun to gather around them. Some people even had their phones out already.

“First things first, let’s go to someplace more private, yeah?”

“Oh. Yeah, sure. Do you wanna head to my place, or-?”

“Just follow us.”

The next ten minutes they spent convincing the local police department that, yes, they have the authority to arrest Freakshow - Raz got to flash the new badge around after all, much to his delight - and that the containment facility the Psychonauts had would be far more secure than anything the local police had in their disposal.

“No offense.” Raz added hastily at the end of his explanation.

With a bound and unconscious criminal in tow, they spent the next twenty minutes walking back to where the Mystery Kids had parked their jet. The walk was rather awkward. It was mostly silent, with Danny, Tucker, and Sam - especially Sam - occasionally asking a question. Raz’s answer was always for them to just wait, looking far too pleased to be acting so cryptic. Coraline did approach Norman at one point during the walk.

“Damn, Norman, you were fucking pissed back there. What’s up with that?” She asked.

“I think it’s okay to be angry for the right reason.” Norman replied simply.

When they arrived, the Mystery Kids let Danny, Sam, and Tucker - especially Tucker - to have five minutes to freak out over the fact that they owned a jet. They also used that time to secure Freakshow with some proper restraints, as well as order Agent Danvers to keep a very close eye on him while they have a chat with Danny. They all then sat in a loose circle just outside of the jet, where Raz and Coraline spent the next ten minutes giving Danny and his friends a rough idea of who they were and what they do.

Tucker listened with rapt attention, visibly reacting with awe in some parts. Sam’s reaction was more guarded, but Norman could tell she was warily intrigued. Danny listened in closely as well, though he still stole glances at Norman once in a while. Once Raz and Coraline finished their explanation, a minute passed by in silence, as the three processed the information.

“So…” Danny began, “you guys are like… the Power Rangers?”

Coraline nearly visibly cringed at the comparison. “More like the Avengers.”

“Actually, if we’re going with comparisons, our closest counterpart would be the Teen Titans.” Wybie quickly pointed out. “Just saying.”

“And… you call yourselves the… Mystery Kids?”

Raz smiled proudly. “That’s the name.”

Danny nodded, looking thoughtful for a moment. “Sorry, but, that name is… really generic.”

“Hey, speak for yourself.” Coraline retorted. “Your superhero name is only a few letters off from your real name. It’s honestly a miracle no one managed to figure it out.”

“Excuse me; we’re talking about the coolness of the name here.” Tucker spoke up. “The name ‘Danny Phantom’ is inherently cool.”

Raz shrugged quite awkwardly. “Coraline, to be fair, we didn’t exactly put a lot of effort into the name. It was, like, the third name we came up with.”

“And you’re backed by the government?” Sam asked, her arms crossed, her eyes narrowed.

“Not the government. The Psychonauts is an international organization that doesn’t belong to a single country.” Raz explained. “And we’re not ‘backed’ by them. We’re more like… partners.”

Norman could tell Sam had the most suspicions out of the three of them. “Sorry, let me tell you what’s happening from our perspective.” She said. “You guys showed up out of nowhere, you say that you are ‘partners’ with a secret organization of spies that doesn’t abide to any country, and you seriously expect Danny to just join up with you?”

Raz sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Alright, I admit, this whole thing looks a little bit shady, but I promise you, we are nothing like that. We just want to save people and solve mysteries.”

“Danny, come on, you’ve felt firsthand how easy it was to take down Freakshow when we’re all working together.” Raz gestured to everyone with a friendly smile. “Imagine that, but for every fight from now on.”

Danny looked to his left at Tucker, who simply offered him a small shrug, and then to his right at Sam, who gave him a slow head shake. He turned his attention back to Raz. “I’ve already got my own team, right here. We’ve been doing well enough on our own.”

Raz opened his mouth to respond, but Coraline beat him to it. “It won’t be enough.” She said. “Not for long.”

“Are you threatening us?” Sam retorted after a moment.

“I’m warning you.” Coraline met Danny’s gaze. “If you think the Disasteroid is as big as it’s gonna get, think again. Supernatural events are on the rise, and it’s not stopping. Hell, the eight of us have already stopped something bigger than the Disasteroid. Something that you don’t even know about.”

Danny’s brows furrowed in confusion. Both Sam and Tucker looked at each other, bewilderment clear on their expressions. Coraline continued on. “Trust us. We’re better off united than we are separated.”

Raz looked at Coraline with wide eyes, before he scratched his head nervously. “That’s a grim way to put it, but she’s not wrong.” He cleared his throat for a moment. “Of course, if you really don’t want to join, then we’re not going to force you into it.”

“We’re just telling you upfront that not joining is a very, very bad idea. For everyone involved.” Coraline added.

Danny let out a dry, humorless chuckle. “Raz, it really sounds like you’re threatening us.”

Norman decided now to speak up. “We’re not. We’re just desperate.” He stated simply. Looking around at the other members of the Mystery Kids, they all shifted in place nervously. “Sure, we’ve been chosen by this big, powerful organization to protect the planet, but we’re still just eight kids.”

After a moment of consideration, Norman decided it’s in everyone’s best interest for him to say the unspoken truth, as much it pained him to say it.

“We are… kind of scared.”

A minutes passed by in silence. Coraline spent that time absentmindedly tugging at her hair. Raz stared down at the ground, his fingers fiddling with the creases of his gloves. Danny and Tucker seemed slightly put off by the sudden shift, but they appeared sympathetic. Sam tried to put on a show of indifference, but Norman didn’t miss the glint of concern in her eyes.

“That’s why we want you to join us.” Norman spoke, breaking the silence. “You’re Danny Phantom. We need you.”

Danny sighed deeply. “Listen, I… if it means leaving my friends behind, I’m not joining any other team. Sorry.”

“Oh my god, why didn’t you lead with that?” Coraline suddenly snapped. “Fine. They’re in.”

Danny blinked. “What?”

“What?” Raz parroted.

Coraline turned towards Raz. “You saw it; they handled themselves pretty well back there. We are looking for new members anyway, so why not?” She shifted her attention to Danny. “Will you join us now?”

“I… uh…” Danny quickly glanced at Sam and Tucker, who looked just as surprised as he was. “Um… see, my sister is kinda part of the team too, so-”

“Great. She’s in.”

Sam chimed in. “Wait, just like that?”

“If his sister is part of your team, then I doubt she can’t handle herself.” Coraline pointed out.

“I, uh… I also have a… cousin.”

Coraline shrugged. “Your cousin’s in.”

“And… um, there’s this other girl, she-”

“Danny, let me save you the trouble.” Coraline cut in. “Everyone that’s a part of your team? Consider them a part of ours.”

“Aren’t you guys supposed to be elite?” Tucker asked, no doubt incredulous of the sudden invitation.

“‘Elite’ sure is a word that Raz used to describe us.” Coraline stared pointedly at Raz. “But, just like what Norman said, we really are kind of desperate.”

Danny spent the next few seconds massaging the side of his head. “God, I… if my entire team can join, that’s good, but I’m gonna have to talk this out with the others. I can’t make this decision on my own.”

“Hey, man, if you need more time to figure this out, we can give you that.” The friendly smile has returned to Raz’s face. “You don’t have to have an answer right this second.”

“Just soon. Preferably.” Coraline quickly added.

The circle soon dispersed after that. Raz approached Danny by himself and gave him a phone number to call whenever he and his friends have reached a decision. With a final salute, Raz jogged back to the jet. The rest of the Mystery Kids, one by one, boarded the jet. Norman was the last one to board, and as he walked up the steps, he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder.

Norman looked back to find himself face to face with Danny.

“Hey, uh, Norman, right?” Danny smiled, and it was an awkward one. To Danny’s credit, there was an effort to make it not look awkward. For anyone else, it might’ve worked, but not to Norman.

“So, I just wanted to say, great work with Freakshow back there. What you did was… it was interesting, very interesting. Just, all around, such a-”

“I noticed, you know. You stealing looks at me when you think I’m not looking.”

Danny froze, his mouth still gaping open. Norman continued calmly.

“Whatever you’re worried about, you can save yourself the stress. No matter what happens, we’re still on the same side.”

Norman continued his climb to the top of the stairs. Before the door closed, he managed to utter out a farewell.

“Until next time, Danny.”

In hindsight, I’m glad I split this into two parts, because fuck me this chapter is long.

A lot of things happening in this two-parter. We get a look of the world at large. Obviously, the meeting between the MK and Danny is the main attraction here. We also get Coraline’s new weapon, Dipper dabbling in some actual magic, and last but certainly not least, a glimpse of the state of Norman’s powers post-Weirdmageddon.

Now, some things to clarify regarding the canon of Danny Phantom; Danny and Sam aren’t in a relationship yet, Dani was adopted by the Fentons, Tucker is not the mayor of Amity Park, and Vlad was not swept away by the Disasteroid. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Thank you so much for reading this incredibly long chapter all the way to the end, and I hope you have a good day today!

#mystery kids #paranorman #danny phantom #psychonauts #gravity falls #coraline #norman babcock #danny fenton #neil downe #sam manson #tucker foley #razputin aquato #lili zanotto #dipper pines #mabel pines #coraline jones #wybie lovat #When You're A Mystery Kid

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deer-in-headlights-stare · 2 years

Text

the zombie wip intro is finally done!

Transcript under the cut (also in alt text).

First slide:

zombie wip, a comic sans intro made by me, flower

that isn’t actually the title don’t worry

dystopian sci-fi! post-apocalyptic nonsense!

betrayal! revenge! zombies! also queer, disabled and nd rep!

Second slide:

what is this plot you speak of?

corrupt governments

past secrets threatening to reveal everything

a revenge plot

four kids travel outside their utopian society for the first time

each with different reasons for leaving

after stumbling upon decade-old secrets about the outside world (and promptly running away)

they decide to travel together (its for safety okay?)

zombies! Frightening and terrifying yet oddly beautiful!

more secret agendas ;)

Third slide:

these guys (gender neutral)

[Image ID: A picrew of a pale person with long pink hair. She is wearing a black shirt that reads DON’T PANIC in rainbow gradient letters over a white turtleneck. She looks anxious. The aromantic and lesbian flags are behind her. A watermark reading “PotatoLord” is the top left corner. /End Image ID]

Liz, she/her, 19

arospec lesbian

plus size

was just trying to grieve her mother and now has 4 children

[Image ID: A picrew of a person with light brown skin and short, choppy brown hair. She is wearing a black shirt with a skull on it that is mostly hidden by a black jacket. She has a choker with spikes on it, with paperclip earrings (?). Her eyes are wide and she is smiling. The omnisexual flag is behind her. A watermark reading “PotatoLord” is in the top left corner. /End Image ID.]

Cricket, she/her, 17

autistic

father is bad but she doesn’t realize it yet

mixed!! (half white/half latine)

luce calls her “bug” bc of her name

Fourth slide:

these guys (gender neutral) 2#

[Image ID: A picrew of a pale person with short blond hair. They are wearing a gray striped shirt. They have bags under their eyes and look tired and annoyed. The nonbinary flag is behind them. A watermark reading “PotatoLord” is in the top left corner. /End Image ID.]

Luce, they/she, 17

very tired of everyones bullshit

fueled by coffee, revenge and carefully concealed rage

probably dating cricket

spd haver

[Image ID: A picrew of a dark-skinned person with black hair in a ponytail. He is wearing a bright blue button-up shirt with oranges on it. A red wheelchair can be seen behind him. He is winking and smiling. The pansexual flag is behind him. A watermark reading “PotatoLord” is in the top left corner. /End Image ID.]

Ari, he/him, 15

he protec, he attac, he just wants his sister to come back

parents also suck but he doesn’t realize that (yet)

also has fibromyalgia

Fifth slide:

these guys (gender neutral) 3#

this is last one i promise

[Image ID: A picrew of a pale person with shoulder-length black hair, bangs framing their face. They are wearing a black vest (?) over a white turtleneck, with small, silver hoop earrings. They are grinning. The genderfluid flag is behind them. Has the same watermark as the others. /End Image ID.]

Raz, fluid pronouns, 19

Liz’s queerplatonic partner

mad scientist*

just along for the ride

*does not follow lab safety rules

[Image ID: A picrew of a person with brown skin, very short curly black hair. He is wearing a yellow sweater with blue sleeves and red collar. He has a slightly annoyed expression on his face and is sucking on a pink lollipop. The trans flag is behind him. Same watermark as the other picrews. /End Image ID.]

Ace, he/him, 16

transhet

tried to kidnap the team (very badly) now he won’t leave

resident zombie expert

between the two picrews is the words, “both are mixed bc i’m mixed and i said so.”

Sixth slide:

we’ve also got…

plant based body horror

a cat, because i have no self control

no romance anywhere

zombies and flowers (this makes sense, i promise)

found family

a vehicle with personality

be gay, do crime

bonding moments <3

anyway, thanks for reading!!

#comic sans wip intro #writblr #writeblr #wip introduction #wip intro #its very short but it took me a while and im proud of it!#queued

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razputin-vodello-au-archive · 11 months

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I got a funny scenario: the floating alien plush incident. XD

Mirtala bounced up and down, excitedly tugging on Razputin's shirt. "Is he coming? Is he coming?"

Raz pushed a giggling Mirtala a bit out of sight, struggling to maintain himself from giggling. "Mirtala, what did I tell was the number one essential rule of pulling off a successful prank?"

Mirtala giggled, folding her hands behind her back. "Being extra sneaky." She answered, swaying her hips from side to side.

Raz grinned widely. "Precisamente." He responded in Portuguese, prompting Mirtala to tilt her head in a confused manner. Raz chuckled at her reaction and just shrugged. He suddenly had an eye on their quarry. He quickly ducked behind the tree, pulling Mirtala with him. He planted a finger on her lips, signaling her to be quiet. Not an easy feat, since the young Aquato girl had trouble keeping herself from giggles bubbling up.

Raz peered from behind the tree and grinned as he saw Dion walk out of his tent and to the table for breakfast. His grin grew so wide and full of wickedness, the sight of it would've made Lizzie proud. He held out his hand. "Target acquired. Young Miss Aquato, would you be so kind to provide me with the object of our malicious intent?"

"Huh?"

"Give me the plush, please."

"Oh! Okay."

With a wicked grin mirroring her older brother's, Mirtala pushed the medium-sized, alien bug-like plush in Raz's hands, jumping up and down excitedly.

Raz knelt down and peered behind the tree again. Dion hadn't seen them at all, being to occupied with eating his cereal, his back turned to them. Raz turned to Mirtala, stars of mischief sparkling in his eyes. "Watch this..." He mouthed, and an orange glow surrounded the soft plush. He let it float out of his hands and towards their prey.

As the plush made his way towards Dion, it passed Donatella, who raised her eyebrows at this peculiar display of floating inanimate objects. She turned towards the location where she assumed it had started, and saw Raz and Mirtala silently giggling behind the tree. She turned her eldest son, and back to the youngest children. It didn't take long for her to realize what was going to happen.

But she didn't say anything, She just shook her head with a sigh and made her way to the table as well, an amused glint in her eyes. Sometimes, kids just needed to be kids.

The plush floated closer and closer towards Dion, who still hadn't noticed a single thing. When it had reached its destination - just a couple of inches away from the back of Dion head, Raz made the plush stop, letting it hover in place for a while.

In the meantime, Augustus had noticed the two pranksters as well, and was watching the coming event with a amused smirk plastered on his lips. He turned to his wife with a silent chuckle, jerking his head towards the action. Donatella just shook her head again, and took another sip of her coffee.

Behind the tree, Mirtala tapped Razputin's arm, bringing her voice down to a whisper. "Do it, do it."

Raz grinned and gave the levitating plushie a soft push, making grace against Dion's head. The latter just swatted his hand at it, thinking a bug had come to bother him during his breakfast - which wasn't entirely wrong, but kept eating his cereal without turning towards the disturbance.

Raz rolled his eyes and gave the plush another, more forceful push. It collided with Dion's head, who gave out a yelp and turned around with an angry expression, only to come face-to-face with the red bulbous eyes of the bug staring him directly in his eyes. Dion let out a startled cry and flew backwards, loosing his footing, sliding of his seat, accidentally knocking his bowl of cereal over and dousing him in milk and soggy cereal flakes. And, as insult to injury, the bowl landed right on top of his head, gifting him with a plastic hat.

Raz and Mirtala both burst out in laughter, with the latter hugging the former to celebrate a prank successfully executed with even better results than anticipated.

Which maybe they should've postponed until they've had removed themselves from the scene of the crime, because it only took a few seconds of confusion for Dion to locate the perpetrators who had made him douse himself with his breakfast.

"Raz! Tala! Just wait until I get my hands on you!" dion shouted, scrambling up to start his pursuit.

Raz gulped. "Oh-oh! RUN!" He snapped his fingers, telekinetically hoisting his young sister unto his shoulders, levitating himself off the ground and took of as fast as he could, all the while with Mirtala laughing as hard as she could.

Mirtala looked behind her with a giggle and squealed in delight as she saw Dion chasing after them. She tapped Razputin's shoulder. "Faster, Raz! Faster! He's gaining on us!"

"I like to see him try." Raz responded with a laugh. He had lived in this area half of his life, and knew every short-cut in and out of the Questionable area, and to the Quarry where the Motherlobe was build. It didn't take him long to give Dion the slip, and reach the lake that stood between them and the Motherlobe.

Raz grinned as he sped towards the lake, and he felt how Mirtala's grip tightened. "Hang on, Tala!"

"What are gonna- AAH!" Mirtala let out a startled shout as Raz jumped into the lake. But instead of plunging down into the watery deep, instead a pillar of water rose from it, lifting up Raz and Mirtala as they sped across the lake towards the Motherlobe.

Mirtala whooped in delight, raising her arms in the air, as she felt the air rush across her ears. It only took a few moments for Raz to reach the safety of solid ground. Raz snapped his fingers again, and a giggling Mirtala floated off his shoulders.

The moment her feet touched the ground, she started to jump up and down, cheering happily. "That was so much fun!"

Raz let out a breath, bending over to rest his arms on his knees, eventually looking up at Mirtala to present her with a wide grin. "Yeah, it was."

"Did you see how mad Dion was?"

"I noticed."

"He's gonna get us, you know." Mirtala noted. "It's not that far to get here."

Raz grinned and flicked a finger against Mirtala's tiara. "Don't worry, we'll go to Frazie and Norma, ask for their 'protection'. I'm sure that Frazie can appreciate pulling a prank on Dion, and Norma won't miss an opportunity to act like a big sister." He held out his hand, offering it to Mirtala. "As for Dion, I'll just ask Lizzie to keep him away from us until he cools down."

"Can't she freeze him and make him cool down faster?" Mirtala asked innocently, slipping her hand into Raz's.

Raz chuckled. "Unless you want him to direct his anger to her, instead of us."

"That can work."

Raz laughed as he guided Mirtala inside the Motherlobe. "I guess you can look at it that way."

#psychonauts #psychonauts 2 #razputin vodello au #razputin vodello #razputin aquato #mirtala aquato #dion aquato #lizzie natividad #norma natividad #fanfiction prompt

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sxrrandomfanfics · 1 year

Text

Genesis Album: A Trick of the Tail & Corresponding Psychonauts Characters

I am going back to my musical love and singing again now that my headphones are fixed. So I was listening to "A Trick of the Tail" and putting characters from my current Hyperfixation onto them

Dance on a Volcano - Lili Zanotto Now, Dance on a Volcano is the first song on the album and I'm not just choosing this song because of "volcano" in the name. This 15/8 time song is about trying to persue a single goal and leaving others behind with your own talents. I feel that it feels like Lili's rejection of Psychonauts as dangers of the profession aren't quite on her mind but she leaves other peers behind and seems to not have a true link. A great match to her as the song demands "you better start doing it right!"

Entangled - Caligosto Loboto Entangled using dreamlike imagery and a floaty, dissociating, swaying melody to the slow tempo is a great match to how Loboto is acting, not entirely there, especially in Rhombus of Ruin. Plus, Entangled itself is a song about a person who is getting ready for a surgery. Using those two ideas and reflecting on Loboto's past makes this match very well. And then imagining that the different verses are where we see Loboto's family to his actions against the campers, and against Truman and Raz in Rhombus makes the song work very well with his story. Plus the line: "With your consent I can experiment further still" being repeated in the chorus is chillingly attached to him.

Squonk - Morceau Oleander A story about a creature who is so sad that it can't stop crying, yet doesn't want others to see it cry... coupled with the idea that there's a secondary story of a son trying to make his father proud by catching the beast... I'd say this has Oleander's story written all over it. With Oleander trying his best to make his family proud (getting into the military) after everything that he'd been through with a trauma. The line "all the king's horses and all the king's men could never put a smile on that face" is supposed to reflect the beast that the son wants to capture, but simultaneously, I see it fitting Morry, especially after PN1's storyline of him being the villain.

Mad Man Moon - Helmut Fullbear A kind of reflection of "Dance on a Volcano"'s energy, Mad Man Moon is a slow reflective song about leaving home that swells into a high energy while the narrator sings about what he misses and how those who have something want the opposite while he is trapped somewhere he can no longer escape unlike the home. It really gives me the vibes of Psi-King's Sensorium with the reflection always kind of being there but also the high energy and colors swelling up into a crescendo and climax before reeling back into the slower beginning. Couple that with the idea of how Mad Man Moon contrasts those living in deserts wanting rainstorms while those who live in rain want the sun. Just the sensory overwhelming me and being far from home reminds me of Helmut.

Robbery, Assault and Battery - The Noodler Do we know anything about this character? No, but he's a villain named multiple times and is featured in the TPT comics, apparently. And because of that, with how Robbery, Assault and Battery is a celebration of a villainous act, I think this is the character that fits it best, taking joy in the actions.

Ripples - Ford Cruller This song is a reflection of lost time, using the idea of a woman reflecting back in the water and it just fits so well. Truly the lyrics about losing time fits well with the lyrics: "Sail away, away/Ripples never come back/Gone to the other side/Sail away, away." It's so fixated on the moment in time of just realizing how much time you've lost feels like how Ford must have been for so long.

A Trick of the Tail - Razputin Aquato Not only is it the song the album is named after this song, but the first part really fits Raz. However... not the rest of the song. I always imagine that this is more of how the Aquato family believed that this would happen if Raz ran and found out the psychics were as bad as they thought. A more reflection of a character through another character's perception. It fits the least but still...

Los Endos - Lucrecia Mux Los Endos is a medley of... Dance on a Volcano and Squonk, with the ending parts having the whispered lyrics of - "There's an angel standing in the sun./ There's an angel standing in the sun, Free to get back home." Which I suppose fit Lucrecia Mux (pre-transformation and post with the two songs attached without Entangled between them).

#a trick of the tail #genesis band #song/character analysis #psychonauts

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who-is-shades · 8 months

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raz dnd 15

before we even started we argued if spaghetti are a dish or the noodle. send ask to chara and frisk blog please xD

last time, wheatley shared feelings and senna didnt handle it well!

android 'well that went well' thanks buddy. wheatley is making pathetic noises behind a tree hes so upset. 'you'll just make fun of me!' 'your not wrong, but tell me anyway.' 'i told them how i feel please dont make fun of me right now do that later.'

zen sighs and goes after senna. parsley and teya are still blue screening lol. he barely finds her curled under a tree, head in lap. he tries to get her attention. 'you good dog?' she muffled tells him to leave her alone.

zen sits by her patiently. sennas crying slowly dies down, lots of sniffling. she rubs her eyes and apologizes for running off. he says its fine and it was a lot from wheatley.

meanwhile parsley goes to talk to wheatley. 'you alright?' 'i feel better now that-' he points to android lol. parsley squints at android 'you feel better because android talked to you?' wheatley nods lol. parsley keeps squinting at him. 'do we mean the same person?' 'i want to be friends with all of you. as im sure you can tell.' but he retracts in on himself. he apologizes for violating their boundaries since people dont get so attached so fast. parsley feels awkward. 'its fine?' hes so awkward lol. parsley says nice talking to ya and he walks away lol. SP is so sad 'family broke?'

back to zen and senna! zen says 'it mustve been a lot knowing how much you mean to wheatley. i know you didnt react very well to it but i want your thoughts on it.' senna sighs. 'its not natural, not to organics. i know he wasnt lying, and that scares me the most.' 'it scares you how much he cares about you. do you feel you dont deserve it?'

senna looks at zen surprised, then looks down ashamed. 'i dont think wheatley fully understands whats happening here.' 'you can try, hes very willing to listen.' senna buries her face in her hands. 'i feel like were taking advantage of his...naivetity. he might feel compelled to be our 'friends' because of his loneliness.' 'that invalidates how he feels. he sees you as friends, being alone doesnt make his feelings anymore valid than someone you've known for longer. perhaps in time we will see how he feels later with compansionship once hes in the network. for now, dont disregard it so quickly. give him the chance, if for his sake not yours.'

senna sighs and stands up 'i know, its not fair to him.' 'what will you do now?' 'i must speak to him. its important to speak to him about. hes worth speaking to.' 'hopefully we can be friends as well!' senna snorts at this, cheering up a little.

meanwhile, wheatley and SP are pacing lol. zen and senna run into teya! she came looking for senna awww. he says teya is a good friend. senna looks so guilty and looks down she feels so bad sksksk. teya walks back with us. they get back to the path pog. parsley is patting SP on the head nice.

android asks senns if shes done with her little fit. teya sends a message to senna but she doesnt respond. wheatley hits android telling him not to be mean to senna. wheatley looks at senna but then looks away. 'h-hello, are you feeling better?' senna chews on her lip, thinking. wheatley steps back. senna takes a deep breath and steps forward. 'you and i need to talk.' she motions for him to follow and they step from the group a little.

wheatley looks so scared. 'im not angry and it was very sweet of you to share your feelings with us.' wheatley nods. 'i dont think you love me, not truly. love for me takes time, patience, work.' wheatley is stimming oh no. senna begins pacing. 'i am uncomfortable with how you feel. we havent known each other very long.' wheatley shrinks a little so senna walks forward and softens her tone. 'i do wanna be your friend, i promise. i wanna work on that with you.' senna opens for a hug and he does. 'if your ever unsure where our friendship is, im willing to connect to the network and you can feel my true feelings.' wheatley says she doesnt have to reciprotrate but she says she wants too one day.

SP trungles over and hugs senna's leg. senna smiles softly and pats them on the head. wheatley picks up SP and they go rejoin the group. (wheatley is taking the worse mental options about this oh no)

something glowing blue is coming toward us from the forest! battle positions! its spingledorf! or something that looks like him? see-through and glowing blue? he looks exhausted and asks for our assistance. senna pokes him but it goes through him. a projection! he says hes stuck oh no. he goes from super old to super young then back to normal. 'that artifact i went looking for? doesnt like me very much.' android groans and doesnt want us helping him cause crazy shit happens. lead the way spingledorf!

in a clearing is an old ruined temple. big square pyramid temple with an hourglass on top. 'i disabled the traps dont worry.' in the opening theres a bunch of broken traps lol. goddamn indianna jones. parsley teases wheatley with a dead snake. then he throws one at teya.

we get to the central chamber. a giant hourglass surrounded by giant stone rings. spingledorfs body floating next to it, glowing blue. a stasis? before spingledorf can say anything, parsley walks up and tries to smash it. it glows brightly and parsley starts floating. dumbass. spingledorf needs us to get near it as well. teya's like okie dokie. parsley is still conscious lol. teya starts glowing and floating.

zen shrugs, grabs android, and drags him into it! wheatley noticably steps back, hesistant. spingledorf assures him its safe, depending on where we end up. senna and wheatley hop in. the artifact emits an expanding field and the world changes around us. we drop to the ground.

its a burning town! people impaled on spikes! the symbol from the fish villiage! senna is gritting her teeth hard unhappily. then the world warps. its another burning place! someplace teya recognizes! firbolgs running! then scene change! suddenly in a nice wheat field. a bunch of old rusted constructs. wheatley makes a loud noise and runs forward a little. 'this is where i woke up!'

spingledorf is out of statis too hes just exhausted but normal. 'the artifact is currently looking through our personal historys for somewhere to hide. it had trouble with me since im not from here.' it cuts out of the field and now its a magical forest. the feywilds. a castle. parsley goes 'ah shit.' we see parsleys mother come out! before parsley can act the world changes again. it shines bright enough to blind us then disappears.

were in a BIG kingdom. wheatley is established to some sort of connection? just people talking not like the network. wheatley is making concerned noises. 'um hello, who is this?' someones talking to him! the city is pretty advanced. sci-fi meets medieval. bunch of constructs that look like wheatley! wheatley grabs the nearest person and just starts dragging them out of the street. its parsley. 'i dont think you should use my name here' oh no wheatley. 'follow me.'

spingledorf says this isnt wheatleys history, this is someone elses, cause he wouldnt be here if it was. time for a head count! android is gone oh no this is his history. spingledorf says nothing we do here will affect the future its in a seperate bubble. but the person whos missing will be doing their normal role as they were here and they probably wont remember. we gotta find the artifact. android wont know or remember us. wheatley says hes probably beyond our reach, cause he wasnt made here.

we hear a voice 'who are you?' oh fuck baby android. hes wearing robes. 'are you new to the city?' teya used hidden step to hide lol. senna stammers for a moment then says 'y-yes i am.' 'welcome to the holy city of the god of constructs!' senna is bewildered and shakes his hand. parsley also greets android and tries to get his name. android still knows fey trickery lol and says no. but he does tell us his name anyway. Gen. Short for Genesis.

senna side eyes zen who just shrugs. he wasnt here for this. he looks at the both of us and is surprised to see zen. 'ah another one to add to the family!' oh no! BIG HUG AAAA!!! 'theres only a handful of us right now but its good to have another to the family. and your so advanced!' zen is so awkward. gen likes the additional arms lol. senna and wheatley are blue screening lol. teya pops out, hiding behind senna a little lol. 'oh i didnt notice you! pleased to meet all of you! what are your names?' senna introduces herself and teya. wheatley manages to say his name is wheatley and says he chose the name himself.

android gives wheatley a questioning look and asks his designation. oh no. wheatley stutters he had a malfunction and cant remember anything. 'you should seek out repairs immediately, why are you out here?' 'i am a support unit, to aid my unit mates by casting spells to help their offensive abilities.' 'ah your one of THOSE units arent you?' he says he knows they need these units thanks to THEM but he doesnt like it. 'i am right here sir.' 'dont call me sir im not one of your commanders.' android says to take wheatley for repairs and to give us the tour.

SP rolls up and hugs androids leg. 'its been too long since ive had repairs.' The City Of Novis. spingledorf whispers to us that we can still die here, so behave. wheatley gives parsley a stern glare. android also tells us to behave or else security will interfere. senna asks him to tell her the history of the city.

he doesnt know much before his god took it, but it is very advanced and technological. god took a liking to the people here and decided to guide them and teach them. they made robots like wheatley, not android. theres a great church where the organics worship the god. its nice for him to watch their achievements. he was ecastatic to see them make robots. he doesnt consider them alive though. wheatley angrily shouts that hes RIGHT here. parsley comments hes an asshole.

he says they only mimic. wheatley is vibrating in rage. senna stands defensively in front of wheatley. teya switches subjects and says god must be happy to have made android. senna grabs wheatleys hand. 'so what is your god like?' android of course starts gushing. wheatley speaks up he wants to get repaired soon. we see robots like wheatley just doing various jobs. and some humans!

as we pass we hear conversations. a construct is badly damaged and is being going to be fucking scrapped. 'understood i will shut down immediately.' wheatley has a thousand yard stare. his eye has a new pattern. its fuzzy. teya sends a message to wheatley reminding him this isnt real. senna has a super fake smile plastered on. 'does it matter?' says wheatley.

android points out a big bulky robot like wheatley saying its an enforcer. 'unregistered personal detected. identify yourselves immediately.' android says they are with him. it stands down and goes back into patrol mode. yep dont cause trouble. spingledorf reminds us its not an illusion. wheatley is still watching the enforcer.

we get to a massive building. he wants to just leave wheatley here. wheatley says he was escorting us and wants to stay with us. android says he should just explain his objective, unit. wheatley says his memory got messed up. 'i cant believe they let a damaged unit escort them, but fine.' bunch of humans repairing robots and stuff.

android approaches and says wheatley needs repairs. he says wheatleys design is unusual. newer. cant believe its already damaged. HE SHUT HIM OFF! senna is gripping the wrists of teya and parsley. he hooks something into wheatleys head. 'wow thats a lot of corrupted memory wtf has it been through.' android shrugs and says it was escorting us. the human asks if we registered yet. android says were with him so its fine.

teya says he came to us this way. 'who was his handler?' hes only been around for 9 days now and id prefer if he wasnt altered too much.' parsley speaks up 'we brought him to be repaired. and its classified information.' senna speaks up and appears elegantly noble. parsley and teya are her underlings and that the info IS classified. accepted good. 'what are these time stamps?' so much is wrong. most is corrupted beyond repair. 'i would prefer you did not. any changes could make him less useful to me.' 'so your his handler?' teya speaks up that shes keeping it on the downlow. 'im surprised the military isnt on the field but whatever.'

he fixed what he could without a reset and offers to fix the eye. senna goes and inspects all the eyes. senna scoffs and says none of them are good enough. one has circuits goddamn. senna looks over at zen but he shrugs but a small thumbs up. we take the circuit eye. all done! he offers to clean it but senna says itll get dirty again anyway.

turned on! now we go on our way. teya tries to ask about artifacts but parsley elbows her in the ribs. too hard. teya gets shoved way back but senna catches her. the guy says parsley is really strong. 'handlers will you please act more professional.' wheatley is so done with us. senna gives parsley a death stare 'i will see you in my office later.'

he notices SP. parsley says its a classified experiment. wheatley says its a prototype and picks up SP. senna says he cant look at it as its not for public use. parsley tries to get the guys name goddammit. android steps in 'stop causing trouble.' senna messages wheatley what happaned.

as we walk we see cafe's and stuff. android asks why we lied, why are we here. wheatley says he didnt wanna be reset. teya says he shouldnt have to know. android says if were here to harm his god itll be a problem. wheatley pulls out his token and shows it to android. he knows his god touched it somehow but isnt sure what it is. wheatley says god gave them to us. parsley says were on a mission from god but were not supposed to talk about it. teya says were not here for a fight, we just wanna go home.

he tosses the token back to wheatley and just looks pissed. he says he would know about it. now hes circling us. parsley says we have to finish our mission first and its top secret. wheatley asks android to connect him in. oh god. but theres no connection here. welp were fucked. he pulls out a device to speak to his god. wheatley clicks his own token. it makes a ping and a projection. its a man in a lab coat. oh god robot god it works here wtf.

'who is this how did you get this connection, this isnt registered.' 'will you allow us to explain?' android is baffled. 'ill give you a chance to explain.' teya says he will know us just not yet. yep from the future, on a mission from him. wheatley keeps speaking. us champions. to fight a threat. controlling robots. he stops him. 'wait, zorbolt? your accusing the king of these crimes?' king?! wheatley says he has no memory of a king. WHEATLEY DISAPPEARS!

hes standing before robot god! parsley presses his token but no response. teya holds her crystal and faces android.

robot god asks if wheatley is speaking the truth. yep. wheatley says he doesnt remember this place at all and we got sent here by an artifact and we have to find it so we can go back home. if we dont go back then zorbolt will win and hes turning robots against him. he grabs wheatleys hand. way more intense energy. the will of god as he looks through his being. he finally lets go 'so what you say is true.' he hasnt seen the artifact but will have gen help us. wheatley thanks him and he gets a fond look awwwww. HE HUGS WHEATLEY AWWWW. and asks him to forgive android.

wheatley is back yay! senna asks if hes ok and he says he feels a little better. he turns to android and says 'well?' androids device ping and god tells him to help us. hes told its complicated and to just help for now. wheatley tells android he can believe what he wants, just dont say it to his face.

android says were gonna ask the king for help. spingledorf says it has a giant hourglass and a bunch of disks. he also says he wanted the device to help teya. and to help stabilize that rift. going back there made him realize how much he missed them awww. he will reward us for the trouble when were done.

were heading toward a big castle. a big ass antenna. android gets pinged by another robot. it says the king ordered an assault on another kingdom! the army was defensive only! against the noble ember?! we head toward the castle.

parsley turns to senna and squints at her but shes right behind android. teya and zen try to make wheatley go forward. hes freaking out. 'you cant stop this it already happaned.' he says he needs to stop her? zen tells him whoever it was they died long ago. he looks off into the distance and starts walking.

we barge into the throne room. the king looks like cave johnson lol. android yells at zorbolt. teya whispers to parsley if killing him now counts. 'oh you mean zorbolt not android.' guys please.

zorbolt is caught offguard a moment and says he has to expand his kingdom if he wants to combat the noble ember. android says the robots were for defending novis only. 'why shouldnt i dammit?! we need to take the fight to them!' 'you wont be using the constructs god showed you how to make to kill innocents!' 'the winners decide who the innocents are.'

android is pinged again. its god and hes pissed. parsley: is that god? holy shit. god yells at zorbolt. he yells back. 'im done working under you! im the damn king and we dont need you anymore! our robots are better!' parsley thinks their exes. his strange crown pulses and he commands his royal units to seize us!

android immediately manages to kill a bunch of them?! he points a sword at the king. 'how dare you defy our god?!' roll initiative!

teya sets a robot on fire. the king says their fire resistant and he calls us idiots. senna witchbolts the same robot. no effect? darn immune to lightning too. he pulls out the fucking artifact goddammit. spingledorf says he can totally use it but parsley makes him shut up. zen punches the same robot. we made raz lower the ac cause he didnt fucking see it before jesus. only one hits. parsley enters a rage and uses wild magic! whenever something hits him they take psychic damage, then he chucks a javelin into its head. missed. then sword.

the king keeps trying to make the artifact work. a blue beam goes out and hits teya and she looks smaller and alive. oh god is she a kid?! senna gets shocking bolted dammit. but they miss lol. teya is under attack! frick. wheatley casts sanctuary on teya. teya is back under attack dammit. missed tho! the king orders whoever built the robots to miss to be executed. he also asks why wheatley and SP are defective. wheatley yells he will never be one of his again. the crown pulses again dammit. wheatley resists whatever the crown was trying to do to him. 'fuck you!' yeah get his ass wheatley! spingledorf splashes acid on a robot pog.

teya does big psychic damage nice then she turns invisible. senna uses frost but its resistance. zen hits once and gives them some dents. the king crowns again dammit. wheatley resists again fuck yeah. he fiddles the artifact again and hits senna but she looks the same. elves live a long time lol. android yells at the king to cease. the king orders the assault goddamn. parsley reckless attacks cool. hit one.

spingledorf gets multiattacked but he reacts and uses multishield. android charges the king and shoots the crown! all the constructs in the castle seem to break free. the robot android is stabbing is afraid and says it doesnt wanna die. the robots we were fighting stop and drop. 'its going...dark.' android is in disbelief. senna is covering her mouth shes so sad. his regret. android is freaking out. the crown kept them alive. now android is fucking enraged. no wonder he hates organics. 'why give them feelings only to supress them?!' he wanted them to think but not freely. 'you damn organics.' oh no its starting.

wheatley picks up one of the robots greatswords and starts screaming and charges at the king! the artifact blasts at wheatley but parsley flies in to block it! failed! wheatley is rusting away FUCK. he keeps moving forward. 'this is for chell!' bits are falling off as he keeps trying to get at him. android cuts the kings hand off, refusing to let him kill another robot. a giant hand comes from the sky and all the constructs stop moving.

wheatley....also shuts off. if we get the artifact, it will be undone. but...the king vows revenge. he pushes a button and disappears. theres a big boom. theres a big army with the noble ember symbol. their assaulting the city. people screaming in the streets.

spingledorf grabs the artifact. wheatley is back to normal but hes still off. senna scoops him up, horrified. were back to the temple. android is there shocked. wheatley finally comes online. wheatley asks if we killed him, even if it didnt matter. senna lies and says yes. android is having a moment and grabs wheatley and asks if hes ok. wheatley tackles him in a hug and sobs. android apologizes to him for the words he said. then he realizes where and when he is and cuts all of that off.

senna kneels down by wheatley, unsure how to help. wheatley suddenly clicks his token. he lost connection with android and zen. wheatley is just sobbing and tries to explain, to ask about his friend. 'slow down wheatley.' zen walks over and brings wheatley into the network. god is very confused and ashamed.

'so you saw.' wheatley finally breaks down. his handler. his friends. all gone. god says he had to or more would have died. hes also frustrated that zorbolt somehow survived. the place were going is the old ruins of that kingdom. 'i hate that place.' wheatley says he will kill him with his own bare hands, then hes coming home.

god apologizes for lying to us. senna barely restrains her sobs and shakes her head. teya nods in understanding. he asks if we will continue the quest. parsley says someone needs to kill the bastard, might as well be us. teya says consider him dead. senna gives a hearthy thump on the front of her armor. 'take care of him' wheatley and gen. wheatley asks android if he wants him to forget his name. he doesnt wanna be called by that old name anymore. 'were all dead anyway.' yowch. zen goes to comfort android. he tells him to forgive himself. he asks us to be kind to him. then hes gone.

parsley says he will go set up camp and walks out, kinda awkward. spingledorf puts the artifact away and says they can use his magic mansion if needed. wheatley is hesistant. turned down now hes sad. wheatley totally distrusts him sad! he leaves in the doors. teya goes to fuck off in the woods. senna says a prayer for the long departed.

elder your time is come now I am filled with sorrow weary eyes need resting heart has become grey and slow in waking sleep is freedom

we sing, rejoice we tell the tales we laugh and cry we love one more day

#senna #dnd #dnd adventures

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itsthemysterykids · 1 year

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The Mystery Kids are woken up in the middle of the night by a series of loud bangs in the shack. Investigating, they see a lot of holes in the walls and floor and enter the kitchen in time to see Coraline smash a spider with a sledgehammer. "Gotcha you little." She sees the others staring at her and she hides the hammer behind her back with a nervous giggle.

Dipper is the first to shoot up, eyes wide when he heard the third crash. The first two, he thought were just his imagination, but three times? Something’s definitely going on. Grabbing the bat Grunkle Stan gave him in case of emergencies from under his pillow, Dipper gets out of bed and sees he’s not the only one. Lili’s hand is surrounded with fire, Mabel has her batter-powered glue gun, Wybie has a wrench, Raz grabs a crowbar from the closet with his telekinesis, Norman reaches for one of Mabel’s golf clubs, and Neil… Neil grabs a boot.

Sending each other quick nods, they inch their way toward the door. Raz opens it with his telekinesis, and each kid readies their weapon in case someone jumps at them. Seeing it’s clear, they make their way down the hall and each kid flinches when they hear another crash.

“Sounds like it’s coming from downstairs,” Norman points out, his voice just above a whisper.

Dipper nods and leads the group down the hall where they start to see splintering holes in the walls and floor.

“What were they looking for?” Mabel wonders to herself and loads a stick of glue into her glue gun.

Slowly, the Mystery Kids make their way down the stairs wand into the living room, which has definitely seen some better days. The furniture is wrecked, more holes are in the walls than upstairs, and even the tv it trashed. Neil silently cries at the loss. Then there’s another crash… Coming right from the kitchen.

“Got you now, you bastard,” Lili mutters, more angry at some intruder for disturbing her sleep than breaking in.

They all stalk toward the door and when Raz opens it with his telekinesis, their weapons are slowly lowered when they find something… Unexpected is the word. Coraline, who Wybie is now just noticing is missing from the group- he blames it on his lack of sleep, thank you very much- is chasing around a small spider with a sledgehammer. Each time she misses, it only causes more damage to the kitchen.

“I GOT YOU KNOW, YOU BASTARD!”

“Ahem.”

Face now a bright shade of red, she slowly turns to see the Mystery Kids standing at the doorway with unreadable expressions. The only ones she can make out are Lili’s annoyance and Wybie’s exhaustion. With a nervous chuckle, she hides the sledgehammer behind her back.

“So… What’s up?”

“…” It’s eerily silent when Wybie walks over to her. The two stare each other down for a moment when Wybie holds out his hand, and Coraline gives him the sledgehammer. “… We talked about this after you nearly set your room on fire.”

“There was a tarantula-“

“I know there was a tarantula,” he groans. “That thing was harmless. Hardly ever bites humans.” He points to the spider. “That? Barely a snack for a lizard.” Swinging the sledgehammer over his shoulder, he heads out of the kitchen. “… And go to bed, please!”

#coraline #mystery kids #paranorman #gravity falls #psychonauts #the mystery kids #ask stuff #answered ask

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abbatoirablaze · 2 years

Text

Bunk Mates, Chapter 16

Word Count: 3.8k

Warnings: manipulation, mean pranks, hazing, smut, unprotected sex, fighting/arguing, mentions of an accident, mentions of a character getting punched.

Alex's POV

"Aww shit, hide your mirrors, here comes the C team," I heard Granny yell, “man they’re all a bunch of jerks.”

Tad chuckled and Shorty joined in, "oh A shift. They are slobs."

"Hey, I'm with one of those slobs," I said, jokingly elbowing shorty. The guys laughed and we met up with A shift, face to face, “nice words, please!”

"Those guys are the worst," Lucy groaned, "no offense Ike."

"Look who it is," Tad smiled as we stopped right in front of them, "It's the little guys."

"Hey uhh, any chance you guys heard about my vacation day last week?" Shorty asked. The guys shrugged him off with 'nopes,' as Shorty began flexing, "cap said I could chalk it up to FLEX TIME."

"I actually went to a bar this weekend" Ike said, "and curled it."

"Was it a candy bar?"

The guys began joking about A shift, and I looked at Ike, "I did really like their wine bar though."

"Oh, it was great," he smiled, thinking about our date night where we’d gone to a nice little wine bar that had just opened up, "and those entrees…perfect pairing choices, baby."

"Amazing choice yourself," you teased, “you picked out the food…I just matched it.”

"Really?" Andy asked, "where was it?"

"The one downtown that just opened. You really need to try it."

"Hey guys," Delilah said, coming up, "uhh captain, you forgot your bag."

"Nope, no Delilah, I didn't. I just didn't feel like carrying it."

"That's your job," JD said, knocking it out of her grasp. We all began razzing Delilah, kicking the bag around, “come on probie, get it.”

"Come on guys," Ike said, "Alex, really?"

"Gotta raz the probie," I said with a shrug. We all began laughing again, and Ike gave me a look, which I really felt guilty for. JD wrapped an arm around me, “hey we all doing breakfast.”

"Don't look back, sweetie," he said confidently as we walked away towards our cars, “I’ll make sure we get extra chocolate chips in our pancakes.”

Shorty tossed the rubber axe back to cap, and he tossed it off to Delilah. I heard her yell something about 'breakfast being on her.'

"Think she'll really buy breakfast?" I asked.

"Shorty shrugged, "who knows...but we're gonna make McConkey feel bad about messing with her. You don’t fuck people around like that. She loved her old station."

"Yeah, it was kinda shitty," I agreed. "How far you think we can take it?"

"Oh, I'm making her get a tattoo," Delilah said, joining up with us, "she pulled me away from my dream life."

"I'm sorry about that."

"No," she said, getting into my car as we loaded up, "don't be. I'm so glad you were open with me about that. I get that chief apologized, but for Lucy to just hide behind her dad like that. That's really shady."

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't really hang around her that much either," I admitted, "but that's just because I get along with guys way more."

"Speaking about guys," she sighed, as we got into my car, "sorry about hitting on Ike when I first got to the station."

"It's okay," I said waving her off, "I know Ike's a catch. We talked about it the very first night he found that post it note. We have a very understanding relationship. That's why I talked to you about it."

"I'm really glad though that you really took me under your wing," she began, "you guys have all been so amazing to me. It almost makes being ripped away from station 27 worth it. And meeting your brother..."

"Oh god, I don't want to hear about you and my brother banging," I laughed, shaking my head, "I know you two are dating...but I do not want the details."

"Well thank you," she laughed, "Dave is great."

"I got you, Delilah. Honestly, I’m just happy you have him reigned in. He seems happy with you," I replied, "now let's get some breakfast. We gotta be back at the station in two hours to get working on the PSA's."

"You're gonna have to be meaner to your boyfriend," Tad said as we took a break. I looked at Delilah, JD, and Shorty. All three of them nodded, "you constantly being a white light for the A shift to be nice is making it hard to believe that you wouldn't make us be nice to Delilah."

"I don't want to upset Ike."

"I'm sure if you explained it to him afterwards, he'd be fine with it," Delilah said, taking my hands in her own, "You know I wouldn't ask this if it didn't matter. But everyone on all three shifts knows how Lucy had me pulled here, and they all know how unfair it was...please. Just this one time."

"Okay," I sighed, "but only because we're getting back at Lucy."

A knock on the bunk room door interrupted us from our thoughts. It was Andy, "hey, we're gonna get started again."

"We're gonna get started again," I said in a mocking tone, "I'm Mya-wahhh-ni and I just barge in because I'm A-shift."

He looked shocked. "Well, that was really rude, I was just letting you know that we're ready to talk ideas again."

"We're ready to talk again," Shorty said as if he were a robot, "I'm an A shifter."

"Guys we probably shouldn't keep them wa-"

"Delilah did anyone say you could talk?" Tad asked, "Shorty? Jan Damme? Alex?"

Andy looked uncomfortable and backed out. Delilah ran up to me and hugged me once she had seen that he was gone, "thank you so much Alex."

"We got your back," I smiled, "you're a C shifter. Right guys?"

The guys nodded and joined in on our little family hug.

"We really should get back to the conference room though," JD announced. I agreed with him as we headed back in, “I want to get these things done so we can relax.”

"What about spaying and neutering your cats?" Ike asked.

We all began shaking our heads and gave it the thumbs down.

"Hey, hey, breast cancer awareness!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Ugh," Tad commented. JD began to fake throwing up, “No.”

"Delilah where are the skittles?" I asked. She hurriedly poured some in a bowl and put them in front of Shorty, "You really want to do a PSA on that?"

"What's wrong with breast cancer awareness?" she asked, "you're a woman."

"I don't want to hear about sick people!" I groaned, "that's disgusting."

"Alex!"

I looked at my boyfriend. He looked confused.

"What Ike?" I asked, "you want to hear about some diseased woman's breasts?"

"I got it!" Tad commented, "tapestries on lamps."

JD and I fist bumped, "that's a great idea cap."

"What does that even mean?"

"Come on," he said, gesturing to me, "like you and your girl haven't done that before? "

"What?"

"Sometimes my love making goes on so long that the curtains have caught on fire."

"I've seen him do it!" JD smiled.

"You watched him do that?" Ike asked disgustedly.

"Delilah, what is this?" Shorty asked, "you know I don't eat the green apple ones?"

"And I only eat the green apple!" I groaned, "What are you doing?"

"Delilah," JD yelled, "Come on."

The two men pushed the bowl past JD and into my seat. I backed away from it as if it were diseased, "fix it."

"They're making him angry!" JD commented, "come on. Get it out of here. "

"Don't pick them out," I groaned, "oh my god, Delilah, you're touching them. Now they all need washed."

"Alright guys we're losing focus here," Granny said, trying to bring the conversation back to something salvageable, "how about a PSA video on the new trend of fisting? "

"HARD PASS!"

"Who made you the director?" Ike asked.

"I guess I just did," Tad announced, "first of all. I'm the captain."

"Oh, I know."

"No no no," he laughed, " I could make you pick lint out of my belly button if I wanted to. Second, Granny's little body cam videos don't inspire much confidence."

"Guys honestly," Ike said, pointing at him, "Granny's our guy so he's going to direct."

"We're doing public service announcements," Tad commanded, "not fisting porn."

"You know what," Granny said in a low voice, "I'm directing. That's the end of it."

Cap began to laugh and turned to him, "I guess there's only gonna be one way we solve this."

"Bays. Five minutes."

"Oh, it's on."

The guys began clearing out, and I followed, Delilah close behind me. We went straight to the bathroom. The guys said they'd meet us downstairs. Once behind closed doors, Delilah hugged me, "oh my god you were so good in there. Lucy looked like she really thinks you guys make my life hell."

"I'm glad I could help you out."

"You really are amazing, Alex...thank you."

"No problem," I sighed, "I'm gonna be a second. Can you tell the guys?"

"Yeah," she nodded. She hurried out of the bathroom. As I was standing there, looking at myself in the mirror, I heard the door slam behind me. I could see Ike looking very upset with me in the reflection.

"Yeah," he said in a low tone as he stared me down, "if I was treating someone like that, I'd have a hard time looking at myself too."

"Ike-"

"No." he said as I turned around. He held his hand out as if to signal that I shouldn't come up to him, "no. Who was that woman in the conference room, Alex? That's not you. I've never seen that side of you."

"It's not wh-"

"I'm not done," he said, cutting me off, "when we met, I thought you were the most amazing woman ever. You stuck up for me when I was upset, because Lucy was playing that prank on me. But you are so much meaner to Delilah than she ever was to me. Is that why you didn't take the open spot on the A shift? Cap and Chief both told me about how they tried to get you to come to our shift, but you said no. Is this why? Because that is the real you? Is all of this an act?"

"Ike, will you let me explain?"

"What is there to explain?" he asked, "you're being so mean to that woman. Is it because I told you how she gave me her number when she first got here? Are you jealous of her or something? I don't get it."

"Ike it's a prank...a poorly planned one, but a prank that Delilah wanted to do," I all but yelled. I walked past him, locked the door, and then took a few steps towards him. I put my hands on his chest. He tensed up. I looked him dead in the eye, "Ike. Delilah wanted to prank Lucy for fucking her over. She's become one of my best friends. Hell, I even set her up with Davey last month. But when we found out that we were going to be doing the PSA's with you guys, she broke down."

"What?"

"Delilah was upset, and she told us," I sighed, "Lucy had her uprooted from 27 because she wanted another girl on A shift. She has a half hour drive every shift. She hardly gets to see her mom. Her house that she bought this year was literally right next to her old station. Lucy really fucked her over and all because she was bored. Delilah just wanted to be a good firefighter. She was hurt that Lucy never apologized to her and acted like nothing was her fault. So, she asked us to help prank her. We didn't even question it. We said yes."

"Well, what's the prank?"

"I don't know," I admitted, "she just wants us to pretend to be mean to her so that Lucy feels bad. She may try to trick her into getting a tattoo...but they asked me to live up to the classical c-shift stereotype that you guys have of us."

"Alex," he sighed, wrapping his arms around me, "why didn't you tell me?"

"They asked me not to, Ike." I replied. He pulled me to his chest and rested his head on top of my own, “Delilah wanted it to be a secret until it was done…and I just-I felt so bad for how Lucy treated her…it reminded me of that day when she had you nearly in tears over that Dalmatian story…but she took it way too far with Delilah…I just…I couldn’t let her get away with it.”

"I'm not mad at you," he said after a moment, "but we can't have any secrets from one another moving on...you're my girlfriend...and I'm your boyfriend. I want a future with you...so any time you're taking part in a prank or vice versa, can we let one another know?"

I nodded against his chest.

Ike’s POV

"Ugh," Lucy groaned, "you're still gonna go talk to your girlfriend?"

"Yeah," I said slowly, "why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know if you noticed but your girlfriend is being kind of mean," Andy said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "she's being really mean to Delilah. And all of us."

"Yeah!" Lucy agreed.

I shook my head. I didn't want to give the prank away, "she's different around me, guys. Maybe the C shift is making her act like that."

"All I'm saying is, if a group of guys is making your girlfriend be a completely different person, then maybe you need to take a look at that relationship, because she's faking it somewhere," Lucy said quickly, "I wouldn't act any different around you guys if I had a boyfriend."

I didn’t respond. And soon enough, things tapered off as we hit the bunk room. Tad, Jan Damme, and Shorty were all getting changed.

"Did you need something?"

Lucy and Andy grabbed their uniforms and turned to me, "you coming?"

"In a minute."

They both looked at me hesitantly but walked away. I walked up to the door, closed, and locked it.

"What are you doing?" Jan Damme asked.

"You know, don't you?" Tad asked, eyeing me up and down.

"Yeah," I admitted, “I do.”

"Alex!"

The bathroom door opened, and Alex came out, still in her bikini. Shorty cocked his head to the side, "did you really tell him?"

"He's my boyfriend," she said guiltily. I smiled at how innocent she was acting, but the guys weren't buying it. She sighed, "I had to tell him after we pulled that stunt in the conference room. We almost fought."

"So, you knew during the game?"

I nodded.

Tad smiled, "you're alright Crystal."

"You guys mind if I steal my girlfriend away while you guys break for lunch?"

"Why certainly," Jan Damme smiled, bowing as he and the other gentlemen left the room. I looked at Alex. She bit her lip and took a few light steps towards me.

"Well, you look dapper."

"Yeah?"

She nodded. I put my hands on her hips, and pulled her body towards mine so that the gap between us was gone, "is it bad that I think you look extremely sexy all dressed up like that?"

"Oh really?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Well do you know how sexy I think you look in a bikini in the middle of the fire station?"

"Maybe you should tell me," she giggled. Her hand slid under the suit jacket and undid it. Her fingers played with the buttons as she pulled me in for a kiss. My hands slid lower on her waist, then down to her ass. She moaned as I grabbed it.

"Ike," she whispered, breaking away from our kiss, "the door?"

I nodded, going back to the door, and locking it. Then she rushed me. Our lips reattached in a flash, and before I could recognize it, my jacket and waistcoat were on the floor. She had unbuttoned my button up, and that was quickly sliding off my shoulders. I pulled off her bikini bottoms, and lifted her off the ground, pushing her between myself and the door.

Her legs wrapped around me, as we both fought for my pants to come off. Her hair cascaded around the both of us, and I was wrapped up in her scent. She began moving away from my lips, and down to my neck. I moaned and braced myself against the wall as she found the sensitive spot right on my collarbone. "Alex."

I felt her thighs shift, and her hands pushed my pants down. I stepped out of them and made my way to our bed. Our breathing heavy. I felt a pressure on my hips as I laid us down on the bed.

"You look so beautiful."

I tucked her hair behind her ears and kissed her passionately as I lined myself up with her entrance. When she deepened the kiss, I entered her. I felt her tightening up around me and that was enough to force me to close my eyes.

Fuck.

"Fuck!"

She playfully bit my lip, and I thrusted deeply into her. She let go and moaned, my name a single syllable off her lips. I continued my pace, going as deep as I could, until I felt the all too familiar tightening in my lower stomach.

"Don't stop," she begged as my thrusts became more erratic. I could hear it in her pleas, she was right on the edge, same as me, "Ike."

"Alex," moaned, letting go. I gave one final, heavy thrust, and I felt her clenching down on me. She was milking me for everything I was worth. She threw her head back against the mattress and rode her orgasm out. I smiled, watching her euphoric high. As I pulled out, I rolled into the bed next to her. She cuddled up against my chest, and absentmindedly began drawing out random patterns.

I gave a contented sigh, stroking her hair.

"I love you so fucking much," she whispered, kissing my chest. She yawned and cozied up to me, "so fucking much."

Alex’s POV

"Alright, we need to talk."

I looked at chief McConkey and Captain Penisi, "what's up guys?"

"We're transferring you."

"What?" I asked.

"We're transferring you," Captain Penisi repeated. He looked at chief, "did I stutter the first time, or mumble or something?"

"Where am I getting transferred to?"

"Oh," Terry laughed, "you aren't leaving the station. We lost two guys, so now we have less people than both B and C shift. We need to even it out and we don't have it in the budget to hire a new person until next year."

"Okay?" I asked, "so why me?"

"You have the least seniority," Chief McConkey said quickly, "aside from Delilah, but that's still a sore situation. So, it's been a long time coming, but you're going to be on the A shift as of August the first. That gives you a few more weeks with C shift to tie up any loose ends and get adjusted."

"Can't I petition this or something?" I asked, "I don't want to leave the C shift."

"Oh, come on," Captain Penisi smiled, "we're great on the A shift. It's perfect for you. And you'll get to spend more time with Ike. He's been telling us lately that he's sad he doesn't get to spend as much time with you."

"We live together," I laughed, "I doubt he says that. If anything, he probably complains about the fact that there is more room than his apartment and he can't find his keys."

"Okay I made that up," Eddie admitted, "But it will come with a pay raise."

"I don't care about a pay raise."

"Well, you're also going to be in a different position," Chief McConkey sighed, "that was the real reason I needed to meet up with you and discuss this. You'll still technically be a firefighter, but Olson is the straw that's breaking the camels back. You know how I've been having you help out Captains Penisi and Tad with their paperwork and filing?"

"Yeah?"

"That's because Olson is planning on retiring. He's going to be finished and we need to replace him. You'll essentially be a firefighter and an office administrator. And if I'm being honest, you're the only one at the station on any of the shifts that I actually trust to be doing this job."

"Really Terry?" Captain Penisi asked, "after I agreed to come in and help you talk to her!"

"I've already informed Tad. While he is upset about the situation he does understand and is letting you go."

"Well, it sounds like none of us really have a choice."

"Your kind of don't, "Captain Penisi shrugged, "but hey, welcome to A shift kiddo."

"Oh my god, Ike, are you okay?"

"Yeah," he laughed, putting his bag down in the entryway. I leapt onto him, wrapping my arms around him, "why wouldn't I be?"

"I just, I heard that there was an accident, but no one was telling us what happened," I gasped, pulling him even closer, "I was worried you got hurt."

"Babe, I'm fine." He pulled away from me but stopped laughing when he looked in my eyes. I had been worrying all day about it, "hey, hey...I'm okay. See? Still in one piece."

"I was just worried. You didn't answer your phone at all."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," he sighed, "we were waiting to see what was going on with Lucy. She got decked by some guy in the throat. So while Granny took her, cap kept me and Andy busy with chores. You're right though, I should have answered so you knew I was okay. Are you alright?"

I nodded, and he shook his head, wrapping his arms around me again. I felt him kissing the top of my head, "you don't seem like you are alright. You seem really shaken up."

"I mean I know that we are firefighters, and accidents happen," I admitted, "but I guess I didn't really think about an accident happening to either one of us...so yeah, when I heard someone from the A shift was hurt, I guess it made me scared...really scared."

"Like I said," he laughed, "I'm fine."

"Yeah, yeah yeah," I laughed, jokingly pushing him away from me. I turned to walk away, and felt his arms slip around my waist. We both walked to the living room before he pulled me onto the couch. We snuggled up, and Creatine nipped at our feet before jumping up too.

Ike laid light kisses along the back of my neck and shoulders. I lifted his hands up to my face and kissed the backs of them, "I'm glad you are okay."

"Nothing can take me out," he chuckled, "you're stuck with me, Boykins."

Chapter 17

#tacoma fd #trutv #firefighters #ike crystal #andy mywani #granville #terry mcconky #lucy mcconky #lucy mconky #eddie penisi

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ashes-and-static · 2 months

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He landed delicately, heel-toe-heel-toe, precise in his movements in a way only a lifelong acrobat could be. A pair of shaskas manifested in his hands - psychic manifestations like the hands he'd created during his brief stint at Whispering Rocks Summer Camp, but decidedly sharper.

The two intruders that had drawn his ire froze under his goggled gaze, letting him take in their unmasked faces.

Recognizing them, he released his psychic blades, allowing himself to relax into a slouch. "Agents Nein and Vodello. I'm surprised it took you this long to find us," he rumbled, a touch of telekinesis sweeping his goggles back up his forehead.

"Razputin?!" Sasha's voice was a crack of lightning across his ears.

---

Many agents across the entire Psychonauts organization would tell you they knew, or knew of, the rising star of the most recent graduates. Lightning quick, a wisecrack, confident almost to the brink of arrogance- the descriptors went on and on, describing a star agent who often tried to carry the entire world with a smile. "Such a shame," they would whisper, shaking their heads. "Burned himself out."

Agents Nein and Vodello would tell a different tale. They'd been allowed behind the curtains, privy to the backstage of the grand performance that had been their favorite pupil's day-to-day. If asked in confidence, they'd reveal that the arrogance was an act, meant to put people at ease. The jokes were honest enough, but born out of anxiety rather than simple observation; the reality behind the smoke and mirrors was an anxious, traumatized boy who felt that everything he did had to be beyond scrutiny. Above reproach.

"He was always trying to make up for the fact that what he did was, well. His doing, instead of someone who he felt deserved the recognition." Agent Vodello would say, a soft frown gracing her face.

"Crippling anxiety. He never really grew out of it, even when we tried to impress on him that perfection was not expected, even in critical missions. Even when he accepted that the rest of us were only human, were allowed to make mistakes, he always held himself to a higher standard. To an impossible standard, even. I cannot tell you how many times I tried to bring that standard down, even to the point of offering to do for him what he did for many others and do a walkthrough of his mindscape." Agent Nein would cough, before shaking his head. "He always made excuses to keep me out of his mind, and that is not a boundary I was willing to risk crossing."

The agent who knew that rising star best, though... she vanished alongside him. Grand Head Zanotto would not speak on the disappearance of his daughter and his star junior agent; Second Head Forsythe would also refuse comment, beyond saying "Where our agents are, and what their status is, is known to those who need to know."

---

Razputin Aquato regarded his two former-mentors warily, his thumbs hooked in his belt-loops. Behind the two superstar agents, the Pelican was settled and quiet - they'd landed with the intent to stay, it seemed.

"Razputin, darling, have you been here this entire time?" Milla asked, glancing at the landscape behind him. "Everyone has been in a tizzy for the past two years, you vanished so suddenly!"

"Here and there." Raz answered noncommittally, "Helping with the traveling circus during peak season, doing stuff during the off-season. Keeping safe."

He felt more than heard the vegetation behind him ripple. Lili was listening in, curious if she needed to intervene. "Forgive my... lack of hospitality, agents, but you really shouldn't be here. This place is hard to find for a reason, I'd really rather not deal with Deluginaries flooding this place, in a literal or figurative sense. If you insist on staying, I'm afraid you're gonna be stuck here a while."

Teleportation was... slippery, to grasp. The sense of being here, then gone, was more like a magic trick than even his other psychic abilities. With a turn, a blink, Raz stepped from the beach where the Pelican was landed to the facility that the former residents of Thorney Towers, as well as his friends from Whispering Rock, had helped him build. Lilli met him, as he stepped off the main teleportation pad, and he hugged her tightly in greeting.

"Are they gonna stay or go, do you think?" Lili asked, eyeing him once he pulled away.

"Stay, probably. They're both of them curious to a fault, and this is as good a time as any to bring them into the proverbial fold." Raz shrugged. "Hollis has been hinting for months that they've been really worried about us, and the kids would probably benefit from having some of their heroes around; god knows I did." Turning slightly, he lifted his chin so he could project his voice better. Hey, someone get a couple guest rooms ready, would ya?"

"Whatever you say, Professor X," Phoebe replied.

"I really wish she wouldn't call me that. I'm not running a school." Raz lamented.

"You kind of are, nerdbrain." Lili teased. "You're a mix of Professor X and Batman, maybe. You legalese your way into scooping up 'mutant' kids left and right and give them a new home with the best support you can give them."

"...alright, I can't really argue with that. But it's Hollis and your dad

#speaking #psychonauts fanfic #post psychonauts 2 #weird little au that i don't have a name for

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razzle-zazzle · 6 months

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Whumptober Day 20: people don't change people, time does

Found Family

4390 Words; Pooter Pile AU

TW for child abuse, attempted murder, unethical experimentation, blood mention

AO3 ver

“Gisu!”

Gisu looked up at the sound of the door slamming open. Dion let his leg fall back to the floor, his arms securely wrapped around the book he was carrying. Gisu felt a trickle of amusement as Dion stalked over to her, slamming the book on the desk.

It had only been two days since Raz ran off. Dion had come to surprisingly quickly after being thrown like that—maybe it was an acrobat thing. But he had had the worst headache, so it was nice to see him moving with his usual energy, again.

It’d be even nicer if Raz hadn’t run off, but still.

“I know where Raz went!” Dion exclaimed. “Is trying to go. Whatever. But I know where it is!” He flipped the book open, revealing it to be a photo album. Gisu got only a moment to glance at what she assumed were Dion’s baby pictures before he flipped to the page he wanted. “There.” He pointed at the picture of the family all assembled before the Aquatodome—it must have been a few years old, because Gisu couldn’t see Queepie anywhere, but she could see a much younger Mirtala held aloft in Donatella’s arms.

“Cute photo.” Gisu commented, totally not focusing on the massive grin on younger-photo-Dion’s face. “What makes you think Raz is going there?”

Dion pointed at the photo—at the background of the photo, Gisu realized, his finger tapping the mountain dominating the landscape. “When Raz hit me with his… psychic thingy, I think…” He trailed off, searching for the words. “Psychic bullshit involves mind stuff, right? Like thoughts and feelings.”

“Yeah…” Gisu nodded.

“And I’ve been seeing the same fucking mountain since he hit me,” Dion continued, “Which means it’s probably, like, an afterthought of it.”

“After-effect,” Gisu corrected.

“Yeah, that.” Dion agreed. His hands moved as he spoke and paced around, and it was utterly fascinating, even as his words kept coming out stream-of-consciousness style. “So I keep seeing this mountain, and it’s so familiar, like an itch in the back of my mind, yanno? So I start digging through our old albums, because I swear I’ve seen this mountain somewhere before, and I know it’s important, so I kept searching and—”

“And then you found it?” Gisu asked, trying not to let too much fondness creep into her voice. A little bit is okay, but it’s too early to be getting sappy.

“Yeah!” Dion nodded emphatically, once again by the desk and tapping the photo. “It doesn’t look exactly the same but I know that that’s the one. That’s the mountain that Raz is going to.” He looked at Gisu with so much intensity that she thought he might burst, and said, “I keep feeling like I need to go there.”

Gisu leaned back in her chair. “Do you?”

“Yes!” Dion threw his hands in the air. “No? I don’t know!” He paced a small half-circle, “But that’s where Raz is. Is going. I’m sure of it!” He turned to Gisu once again. “I don’t know what to do about this.” He admitted. “I don’t know who I’m supposed to tell.”

“Well, I think—” Gisu stretched, getting out of her chair. “—that what happens next is obvious.”

“Really?’ Dion lit up. “I knew you’d know what to do! You’re really smart like that.” His face flushed, and Gisu had to take a moment to fight off the butterflies in her stomach and the heat on her own face.

“Yeah.” She smirked, grabbing Dion’s wrist. She started pulling him back towards the door.

“We’re going on a field trip!”

+=+=+=+=+

Three huffed as he leaped up over a boulder, his levball making the jump easier than climbing up by hand. Even still, this was exhausting.

But it needed to be done. He only had a little bit further to go, anyway—it had taken him a week just to get this far, and the sun had long set behind him, and he couldn’t waste anymore time.

Really, though, did Ms. Naumann have to build her lab halfway up a mountain? Three had his levball to help, but this was ridiculous.

Still, there was nothing Three could do. He just had to get there, and make everything right. So he’d do it, even if it was tiring.

He had to.

+=+=+=+=+

“I think we made pretty good time!’ Gisu chirped. And really, they kind of did. Five days to make a trip spanning across a few states—thank god for comprehensive bus routes. And her levboard. Couldn’t forget how important her baby was to this whole operation.

“I’m still not sure how you convinced me to go along with this.” Dion muttered, staring up at the mountain looming before them, the sunlight behind him casting his face in shadow. “Or why we’re doing this alone.”

“Because it’s faster that way.” Gisu offered, already setting up her board. Sure, they could have a nice little hike up the trails, but they were here on a mission. Raz had a two-day headstart—they couldn’t waste time. “C’mon.” She held out her hand, and Dion took it. Grumbling under his breath but joining her on the levboard regardless. “Let’s go find Pooter.”

+=+=+=+=+

Three crawled through the vents as quietly as he could. Benefit of the lab being half-underground, he supposed—the vents themselves were surrounded by solid rock, making them more than capable of supporting his weight.

So he crawled along, his mental link with Four helping him navigate to the bunks without issue. It took a while, and he had to wiggle a bit to get through some of the tighter turns, but he made it.

The room the clones all slept in was halfway into a natural cavern, of sorts, with a large open space above the beams holding up the lights. Three telekinetically undid the screws on the vent cover, and quietly removed the panel, holding it in the air to keep it from clattering on the ground. He crawled out onto the bunk bed directly below it, the top cot softening the impact. Once he was clear, he replaced the vent cover, but set the screws to the side—this would be his exit.

“Three?” Four’s voice cut through the room—the lights were off, right now, but Three could already feel his brother’s mental presence beginning to surge.

“Four!” Three practically lunged for his brother, his arms wrapping around Four’s shoulders with all the strength he had. I missed you I’m so happy to see you again I missed you I missed you I missed you

“Three!” Four returned the hug, pulses of missed-you and ribbons of golden elation flowing through their connection. I missed you I’m so glad you’re safe I missed you I missed you I missed you

Eventually, Three pulled back. His face crumpled, his eyes stung, and he slammed his face back into the crook of his brother’s neck. “I missed you.” He murmured, his thoughts echoing the notion.

“I missed you too.” Four returned, echoing back the same. He pulled back. “You gotta be quick,” he started. “Ms. Naumann’s been acting really weird lately.”

Three took a breath. Right. No more tears—mission now, sad later. “Weird how?”

Four winced. “Like she’s scared of something.” He mumbled. “I think…” He tried again, “She told me to call you back in a few days. I think… I think she’s going to terminate us.”

Three’s blood ran cold. The world pressed in on him, crushing weight squeezing all the air from his lungs—

Three scowled. “That’s not going to happen.” He declared. “We’re going to get Six and Raz and we’re going to get out of here.” He was done being scared of Ms. Naumann. She was wrong. She was wrong and Three felt none of the respect he’d had for her. She was wrong.

Four nodded. “It’s this way—” he started—

Something fell from the beams above to the floor beside them with a thud and a grunt, making Three and Four flinch back in surprise. The figure uncurled, groaning as it stood—

“Wh—how did you get here?” Three whisper-shouted. “Why are you here?!” Of all the—for the sake of—really? Of all the people who could have somehow followed him, it was Dion?

“Raz.” Dion started, “You have ten seconds to explain—” He stopped short, his eyes darting between Three and Four.

“Why are there two of you?” Dion’s voice went up a few notches, grating against Three’s ears. He was looking back and forth between the two of them, confusion leaching off of him in waves.

Three put his hands up in a placating gesture. “Look, Dion, I promise I’ll explain everything later.” He said, trying to ignore the way Four was starting to vibrate next to him. “When we have time.” He promised. “But I need you to not mess everything up right now—”

“Uh uh.” Dion interrupted, hands on his hips. “No way. I’m not doing anything until you explain yourself.”

“We don’t have time—” Three insisted, gritting his teeth. Why couldn’t he have been followed by someone with sense, like Frazie? Frazie was cool.

“I’m not hearing an explanation.” Dion hissed. “So I’ll ask again: What the fuck is going on here?!” he demanded—

“I find myself wondering the exact same thing.”

Three froze. Dion’s eyes were wide as he stared at the doorway behind Three. Oh no. Oh no.

Three turned around slowly, like the air around him was suddenly full of glue. Oh no no no.

None other than Ms. Naumann stood there, her lips pressed into a thin line. All of Three’s resolve dissolved under her gaze, like a wadded up napkin being tossed into the trash. Oh no.

“And who are you?” Ms. Naumann turned her attention to Dion, who looked as much like a deer in headlights as Three and Four felt.

“...very confused.” Dion admitted.

Ms. Naumann raised a hand to the bridge of her nose. “Right.” She sighed. Her hand moved to her temple, her look of resignation turning to one of concentration.

Three yelped in surprise as an arm wrapped around him, lifting into the air in a single burst of motion. Ms. Naumann shot a psi-blast, and Dion ducked under it to slide out the open door behind her, not once losing momentum even as he leapt up into a run, Three and Four tucked against his sides.

“Which way do I go?” Dion demanded, as Ms. Naumann’s footsteps echoed behind them.

“Left!” Four shouted, even as Three’s head spun trying to remember the layout. Dion skidded to a near-halt at the next intersection, deftly using his shed momentum to pivot into a turn to the left. “I still want an explanation!” He nearly screeched, following Four’s directions to duck to the right.

“Later!” Three reminded him. He squirmed in Dion’s arm until he was facing backwards, watching as Ms. Naumann came up behind them. “She’s gaining!” He shouted, and Dion picked up the pace.

“Do something then!” Dion made another turn, his grip on Three and Four tightening to keep them from slipping free.

Right! Three concentrated, lining up his shot—

Ms. Naumann’s eyes widened in surprise as Three fired. She ducked to the side, and the shot only grazed her—but she ended up stopping entirely, so Three still allowed himself a moment of silent victory. He was useful! Another shot brought down a light fixture, blocking her path. Even more useful!

Dion slid to a halt, the sudden stop jarring to Three. He squirmed, trying to see what had brought them to a halt—

“How do I open this?” Dion demanded, and Three managed to turn around entirely. They were blocked by a door—the playroom door, it looked like.

“Get me to that keypad.” Four said, and Dion moved to hold him up in front of it. Four tapped in the code—

Four hissed and pulled back his hand. “Dammit.” He muttered. “She changed it again.”

“Language.” Dion snapped. Three stuck out his tongue. Who was Dion to decide if his brother could swear? “Hurry up,” Dion added. “I don’t like how quiet it is right now.”

“I’m trying.” Four shot back, trying another code. Another angry beep as the pad flashed red. “Ugh, she changes them way too often.” He grumbled, moving to try another one.

Probably because someone’s just a little too clever. Three suggested, trying to squirm out of Dion’s grip. Four ignored his comment in favor of focusing on the keypad.

“Uh uh.” Dion adjusted his hold on Three. “You’re not going anywhere until we’re out of this mess.”

Three crossed him arms. He really wished it was Frazie who had followed him. How did Dion even find him?

“How did you even find me? You were out on the floor when I left.” Three poked Dion’s side.

“You’re the one who practically showed me where you were going.” Dion muttered, like it was somehow Three’s fault that he’d shown up to mess everything up.

Which… maybe it was, now that Three thought about it. He hadn’t even touched Dion when he’d sent him flying—if it was a burst of unfocused psychic power, then it probably ended up pushing Three’s thoughts into Dion’s head. Whoops.

Four hissed at another failed attempt. Dion tapped his foot against the floor impatiently. Footsteps echoed down the hall. Three gasped. “Ms. Naumann!”

“Okay, time to go!” Dion decided, pulling away from the door.

“Wh—no!” Four shouted. “Six is in there!”

“We’re not leaving him behind!” Three added, “Him or Raz!”

Dion froze. “What—”

The world tilted, and Three fell to the floor. He had only a moment to catch his breath before a telekinetic grasp grabbed ahold of him, too, lifting him up into the air to join a struggling Dion and Four.

“That’s enough of that.” Ms. Naumann declared, already turning on her heel. The hands followed after her, dragging the three of them along through the air.

“Well.” Four muttered, “shit.”

+=+=+=+=+

Well, shit. Gisu scooted further into the shadows. She and Dion had only found Raz—though apparently he was going by Three?—by chance, and then Dion had fallen down into the room the moment he spotted his brother. Who was greeting a second Raz.

And now this lady had showed up, and Dion had grabbed both Razzes and ran. Gisu had no idea how far he’d get, but she didn’t want to get caught, either.

Something that the Not-Razzes had mentioned caught in her mind, and she regarded the door carefully. Six and Raz? Did that mean that there were more Pooters here?

Well, it was as good a lead as any. Gisu levitated down to the floor, and poked her head out the still-open door.

The hallway was empty. Probably.

Carefully, Gisu crept out, holding her board tight against her side. If she concentrated, she could faintly feel Dion’s mind a ways away, frustration ebbing in and out of his mental signal. She wasn’t good enough with telepathy to hold a full conversation with him, though—she was too used to the person on the other end being psychic. Adam could probably hold a connection with seven people all on his own, and Morris was also pretty good at long-range communication—

But Adam and Morris weren’t here. Just Gisu and Dion.

Gisu huffed, casting her mind out further. She didn’t want to alert the scientist lady to her presence, but there had to be something she could use—

Aha! Her mind caught on something. On another mind—

…which reached back. Who are you? They demanded, their presence like waves crashing against Gisu’s mind.

Trying to help. Gisu responded, raising a hand to her temple to track down the other mind.

Like you could help me, the voice scoffed. Okay, rude. You just want Raz, anyway.

Yeah, that was what Gisu was confused about. Why are there so many of you?

The other end was quiet, for a moment, then—there used to be one more. But he’s gone now. A deep sense of melancholy washed over Gisu like waves washing over the sand. For a moment, she almost felt like sand, slowly being pulled into the depths of the anguish bit by bit.

Gisu shook her head to snap herself out of it. I’m sorry. She responded, that sucks.

Tell me something I don’t know. The other mind snarked. But really, why are you here?

Gisu concentrated on everything that had happened in the past several days. The birthday, the breakdown, Not-Raz running off, her and Dion’s chase to reach the mountain before him… as far as explanations went, it was probably really cluttered, a mix of feelings and memories and desires all packaged up into a bundle, with a lot of the needed context missing. But it was what Gisu had to work with.

… The other end was silent for a moment. Then—

A schematic—no, a layout appeared in Gisu’s mind, with a path highlighted in bright blue. Go here, it seemed to say, without saying anything at all.

Gisu followed the path, keeping an eye out for any wandering scientists. How she managed to get around without getting caught, she had no idea—

But she was doing it, which was good. She could worry about the potential implications of being able to seemingly run rampant later.

She came up on a metal door with a keypad to the side. It was flashing, the tiny screen above it saying something about failed attempts. But Gisu only grinned and pulled out her mini-screwdrivers—time to get to work. Pry off the cover, then the pad itself to get at the wires… snip those two wires and join them together…

The door slid open a few moments later. “Ha!” Gisu put away her tools, “Am I good, or am I good?” That was easy. Almost too easy, but Gisu was too busy riding the high of her success to care.

The room she stepped into was larger than the first one, with a small swingset installed at the other end. Mats covered the floor, there was a balance beam—

And there, sitting next to a slide and curled up under the steps, were two more Razzes, regarding Gisu with mild suspicion.

“Okay, which one of you is Pooter?” Gisu twirled her board in her hands, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

The Raz under the slide pointed at himself. “I’m the original.” He said, his voice scratchy and tired-sounding.

“Six.” The other said, leaning against the red plastic.

“Right.” Gisu nodded. She had no idea what that meant—she could guess, though—but that wasn’t important. What was important was getting Dion and the other two and getting out of here. She slapped her palms together. “Time for us to blow this joint!” She declared.

“You mean it?” Raz asked, staring at Gisu with wide eyes. “We’re getting out of here?”

Gisu nodded. “Yeah!” She frowned. “Well, not without Dion,” She amended, “Or the other two.”

Raz blinked. “Dion’s here?” He stood up. “He’s not—he’s not still mad at me for running away, right? I can kind of see what the other mes see, but…” He trailed off, staring at the floor.

“He asked me to help troubleshoot his apology.” Gisu said flatly. “And I’m still missing a lot of the context here, by the way.”

“Oh.” Raz’ mouth worked, for a moment, as he looked for the words. “I ran away,” he started, “And I made it to Whispering Rock…” He contemplated, for a moment, before skipping ahead, “The other me and me swapped places at the Rhombus of Ruin.” He said.

“Oh.” Gisu clutched her board a little tighter. That was—oh. Suddenly, the exhaustion smeared under his eyes looked even more sad and pathetic, like a wet kitten alone in a box after all of the other kittens had been taken. Oh, this poor kid.

These poor kids, Gisu realized, looking at Six. She had heard Not-Raz respond to Three, and he’d called the other Four…

She had never heard anything about a One, Two, or Five.

“Well, this is your lucky day,” she decided, “Because you’re getting out of here. All of you.” Raz perked up at her statement. Good.

“It’s too late.” Six stated. “Three and Four got caught. They’re probably already on their way to being terminated.” He scoffed. “I’ll probably be next.”

Gisu swallowed. That… didn’t sound good. “We’ve still got to do something,” She urged.

Raz nodded, turning to Six. “Don’t you want to see the ocean?” He asked, “Because this might be your one chance.”

Six stared at Raz for a long moment. He scowled. “That’s not fair.” He muttered, standing up to join Gisu and Raz. “You can’t just use my weakness against me.” Still, he was no longer sitting next to the slide, so Gisu counted that as a win.

“C’mon,” She urged. “Let’s go kick that lady’s—”

“Ms. Naumann.” Six interjected.

“Okay.” Gisu started again. “Let’s go kick Ms. Naumann’s butt!”

+=+=+=+=+

Three had never been in this room before. There was a large glass tube—that Three and Four were immediately dumped into—and a control panel that took up most of the space, making the whole place feel cramped. Dion was set down in the only open space on the floor, hands cuffed behind him, and the door wasn’t able to slide shut with him sitting so close to it. He wasn’t conscious—Ms. Naumann had used a burst of mental pressure to knock him out when she drew blood. Three looked away from the bandage in the crook of his arm.

Three had never been in this room before. He could guess at what it was, though. His hands pressed against the glass while his heart threatened to pound right out of his chest—

Twin screams lighting up the shared headspace, hurt hurt hurt hurt hurt hurt HURT—

“Please.” Three tried. Four leaned against him, his weight and his mind a steadying presence, but he may as well have been trying to steady a wobbling tower of cards on a rocking boat in the middle of a storm.

Okay, so that metaphor was wordy. Three was allowed to be wordy, he felt, when there was death looming over him.

“I can see this project isn’t working out.” Ms. Naumann muttered. “Perhaps I’ll have to put it on pause… or maybe taking up a second project will give me some much-needed variety.” She regarded Three and Four for a long moment, her cool gaze betraying not even a hint of the anger that Three could feel leaching off of her.

“You did well.” She said, reaching for the panel. “But I see you’ve been let loose for too long.” Her words sounded too practiced to be sincere, even though she would have only had to say anything. “I will make this as painless as possi—”

“Hey.”

As one, Three, Four, and Ms. Naumann turned their attention to the open doorway, where Dion was still unconscious to the side. Standing next to him was none other than Six, regarding Ms. Naumann with a blank expression.

Ms. Naumann returned to the control panel. “Return to the playroom, Subject Six.” She ordered. “This isn’t a place for clones.”

“No.” Six said, staring her down.

Ms. Naumann paused, turning to look at Six directly. “No?”

“No.” Six repeated, raising his hands.

Ms. Naumann’s voice cut off with a gasp as she fell to the floor, her whole body trembling. Six’ brow furrowed as he stepped forwards, his hands outstretched. “You’re an awful mother.” He declared. “And we don’t like you!” He swept his arms to the side, and Ms. Naumann slammed against the wall with a wheeze. Six’ arms dropped. Ms. Naumann fell to the floor.

“Dion!” And then Raz was in the room, standing next to Dion and fussing—

“Let’s get you out of there.” And there was Gisu, since when was Gisu here, staring at the control panel for a moment before slamming her fist down on one of the buttons.

Three flinched—

The tube opened up. Oh. Oh, thank god.

Three and Four wasted no time in making their way out of there, standing next to Gisu. The room was getting really crowded, now, there was barely any room for anyone to move around—

“You.” Ms. Naumann was already pushing herself up. “You insolen—”

A pair of shiny metal handcuffs thwacked off of her head, clattering to the floor. Three turned back to see Dion standing, muttering curses under his breath as he rubbed at the base of his thumb. “And stay down.” He added.

Ms. Naumann did not stay down. She hissed, and before Gisu or Six could do anything to stop her, she spoke. “Initiate System Shutdown, voice code 4-18-4-25-4.”

Alarms started blaring. Ms. Naumann disappeared with a pop, leaving them all crowded in that tiny room.

“Time to get out of here!” Gisu declared. Raz launched himself at Dion, who scooped up Four and Three in his arms once again. Gisu threw down her board, grabbed Six, and hopped on—Dion hopped on next. “Which way?”

“Down that hall, then take a right!” Four instructed, as Gisu’s levboard rocketed off down the halls. “Now left!” Three had to grab Dion’s vest to avoid falling off as Gisu turned—this was so much worse than when Dion had been running. But with the countdown blaring over their heads, Three didn’t have it in himself to say anything.

“And out that door!” Four pointed. But the door was closed!

Gisu raised her hand and pointed with two fingers. Lightning blasted out down the hall, hitting the door just moments before her levboard got there—

Her board flew out into open air, leaving the smoke from the blasted door behind them. The hidden lab rumbled, the whole mountain seeming to shake—

The whole world spun, Three tumbling right out of Dion’s grip as the board was flung forwards. He tumbled through the air and into the undergrowth, rolling across the ground before coming to a stop.

The sky was a brilliant shade of orange above him. Morning already?

Fuck, he was exhausted. The world was still spinning, a bit, and he could hear everyone shouting or groaning as they picked themselves up. Four was okay, though, and Raz was out—that was all that mattered.

With a tired groan, Three let his eyes slip closed.

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