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caught-in-a-seesaw-stigma · 3 years

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Caught Recommendations

Author’s Note: I’m trying to keep track of the amazing BTS-themed series and fics that I’m reading on Tumblr, so I decided to create this post with some short reviews (so I can have them all in one place). These writers are amazing and they keep me coming back for more. They are all smutty as hell and full of amazing characters and conflicts. This is by no means a comprehensive list, and I will be adding them as more catch my eye. Check them out if you get a chance!

Mafia AUs

The Birdcage & the sequel The Lion’s Den by @untaemedqueen

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff, Mafia AU; Jimin x Reader

What You Need to Know: Jimin-heavy series (and sequel) that dives into Seoul and Busan mafia underground, violence, guns, knives, bombs, pregnancies, and OH so much drama - the writer creates some fascinating characters that we root for and fall in love with over and over again.

Thou Shall Not Steal by @xherxx

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff, Mafia AU, OT7

What You Need to Know: The richest mafia lord in the industry throws a huge yet twisted deal before he retires and every gang out there wants to get their hands on his riches. - The drama is real in this one and there is plenty of hot, steamy scenes that will make you tingle.

Don’t Care If It Hurts by @hollyhomburg

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff, Mafia AU, Jimin x Reader

What You Need to Know: After a rival gang makes an attempt on your life, Your older brother, the infamous leader of Seoul’s largest gang; Kim Namjoon, gets you a guard hybrid; Park Jimin, The reigning champion of Seoul’s underground hybrid fighting ring. - Yeah, this is also a hybrid series, but the mafia background is much more prominent. The OC is also smart as a whip and Namjoon as the angry leader and older brother is something to behold. The other members feature as well skilled companions and are very good at their jobs.

Omertà by @lamourche

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff, Mafia AU, Namjoon x Reader

What You Need to Know: A story about an unlikely mob boss and his mafia princess wife. This is a love story set in a brutal world. - Namjoon and his crew are tight knit and set to take over the mafia underground. In a true Romeo and Juliet twist, you are from an opposing family and are desperate to get away from their oppressive clutches. As an added bonus, you and Namjoon fall in love and build up his empire together.

Blackjack by @kpopfanfictrash

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff, Mafia AU, Jungkook x Reader

What You Need to Know: Bangtan is one of the most vicious mafias on the west coast. Only six members are known by name though, with a mysterious seventh member dubbed only as 'the shadow.' When you become indebted to the worst of the worst - how, exactly can you find a way out? - Jungkook is such a gem in this fic and the action is amped up to 11 throughout the series.

College/Business AUs

Thesis-It (and the sequel) Prove It by @xherxx

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff, College/Career AU, OT7

What You Need to Know: “When life gives you lemons, make cocktails! It doesn’t solve any problems, but then again neither do lemonades. Besides, it has the word cock in it, just like what the Bangtan boys have on them. So, why don’t you just suit yourself?” - This series was a ROLLERCOASTER of emotion, even when it hurts, you keep going back for more. The sequel takes place AFTER college, but the characters still act like college idiots. LOVE THEM!

Fear & Dumplings by @softyoongiionly

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff, College AU, Yoongi x reader

What You Need to Know: You’re in your final semester at University when your Abnormal Psychology professor assigns you a partnered project surrounding your greatest fears. Lucky for you, your partner just so happens to be a cute boy named Min Yoongi. - The build up to this relationship is just wonderful and you will be completely enamored by Yoongi in this fic. He’s such a soft precious bean and I want to ruin him.

The Gentlemen by @honeymoonjin

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff, Reality Show AU, OT7

What You Need to Know: Sick of unsatisfying hookups, boring relationships or the company of your own hand? Apply today for the chance to be on bangasm.com’s very first reality show! Seven attractive young gentlemen will be vying for your choice of who is best in bed. All from different backgrounds, these men claim they’ll be able to rock your world, so don’t hesitate! Apply now! - BEST REALITY SHOW EVER! The characters are vivid and entertaining and the smut scenes are on point. I dare you not to fall in love with every single one of these eligible bachelors.

Tease by @adonis-koo

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff, Stripper AU, Jungkook x reader

What You Need to Know: You came with the intentions of your best friend landing a job as a stripper. You never meant to catch the eyes of the king stripper of the establishment- Jeon Jungkook, yourself. With what was supposed to be a harmless way of paying off college debt faster you find yourself falling into a very odd and passionate relationship with your new mentor. Between infidelity, passion and jealousy there’s never a dull moment at Cherry Bomb. - Jungkook starts off arrogant and difficult, but as the relationship progresses, he starts embracing his softness for his new trainee. There is also some hot Big-Little action going on here.

No Strings by @kpopfanfictrash

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff, College AU, Jimin x reader

What You Need to Know: You voice your concern that you are bad in bed and Jimin offers to test that theory. What ensues is an angsty friends with benefits situation that threatens to tear your friend group apart. You may want to smack Jimin around a bit, but I promise you will not be disappointed in the end.

The Holi-Date by @kpopfanfictrash

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff, Career AU, Taehyung x reader

What You Need to Know: When your ex-boyfriend becomes engaged to his new girlfriend at your annual Holiday party, you admittedly are not in the best place. Which explains why you down six shots of alcohol, enthusiastically drop it low on the dance floor and - oh, yeah - tell everyone you are also dating someone. The only problem? You are obviously not. Good thing your neighbor happens to be cute and in need of a ride to work every morning. - I absolutely LOVE Taehyung in this fic; he’s playful, sweet, passionate, and funny.

Hybrid AUs

The Mark of Yun-Ki by @ladyartemesia

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff; Historical Hybrid AU; Yoongi x Reader

What You Need to Know: This story was wonderfully crafted and if a Tiger-hybrid Yoongi full of ferocity and passion and admiration doesn’t do it for you, I don’t know what will.

Reasons Wretched & Divine by @hollyhomburg

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff; Hybrid AU; Namjoon x Reader x Jimin x Yoongi

What You Need to Know: You live on an isolated but sprawling farm with your abusive husband, but things start to change for the better when your husband adopts a retired police dog hybrid named Namjoon. - There are definitely some trigger warnings you should read at the top, but the series is full of mental and physical healing that endears the characters to the reader. The other members are also present as side characters and are hella sweet.

Abundance by @angelicyoongie

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff; Hybrid AU; OT7

What You Need to Know: You never expected that you would end up adopting a hybrid, and if someone had told you that you would end up with seven? Well, you would have thought they were crazy. But here you are, with three different packs of hybrids that don’t get along – but all want to stay with you. Yeah, turns out crazy is an understatement. - This is a sweet complicated hybrid situation where three different groups have to find a way to live together. It takes some time, but they all eventual pull together as a family.

Jackrabbit by @jamaisjoons

Genre: Pure Smut; Hybrid AU; Jungkook x reader

What You Need to Know: On a university-wide Easter egg hunt, Jungkook decides to educate you on just how wrong you are about him. - this one shot will have your thighs rubbing together vigorously wishing that you could get a few minutes alone with this domineering bun (just don’t call him that unless you want to get punished).

Strawberry Cream & BBQ by @thatmultifandomhoe

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Smut; Hybrid AU; Hoseok x reader

What You Need to Know: Your best friend knows she can count on you for anything, so when she asks you to watch her hybrid while she’s gone for a study abroad trip for four months, you can’t say no. But when these four months are over, things have changed in a way no one expected. - The relationship between Hoseok and the OC is so sweet and the drama that erupts after they get together pulls on the heartstrings.

Sci-Fi AUs

Void by @btssavedmylifeblr

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff, Space AU, OT7

What You Need to Know: You are the only female crew member on a 12 year space mission with seven handsome men. - The sexual tension is real, y’all. The OC is sassy and hilarious, the other crew members provide colorful commentary and conflicts that keep the reading salivating for more.

The Turing Test by @fortunexkookie

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff, Android AU, Jungkook x reader

What You Need to Know: You are an engineer who created an advanced form of Artificial Intelligence named Jungkook, but with every technological advance, there are always some bugs to work out (and not all of them deal with the creator or the creation).

Parenting AUs

Gingerbread Man by @btsracket

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff; Jungkook x Reader

What You Need to Know: Jungkook (a recent widower) is a fantastic baker who owns his own shop. The reader bounces in to place an emergency order and fate takes over from there. Jungkook’s son, Jude, is absolutely adorable and all of the angst and drama derived from moving on from an unexpected spousal death makes for one incredible recipe for success.

The Stand-In by @yoonia

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff; Namjoon x Reader

What You Need to Know: Gaining the courage to leave a loveless marriage was hard enough, but is it really a good idea to run to your best friend for help? And would you refuse him when he offers you another kind of ‘help’? - The themes revolving around infertility and then a sudden pregnancy catapult these characters into a wonderful relationship full of love and possibilities. Plus, Daddy Joon is always a yes on my list.

Intro: Her by @jamaisjoons

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff; Namjoon x Reader

What You Need to Know: You enter Namjoon’s life in the most unexpected of ways, but will you be able to stay, especially when he comes with three adorable but chaotic children, even more chaotic best friends and a bitch of an ex-wife? not to mention your own emotional baggage. - Namjoon is raising his three boys Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook as you enter his life as a marine biologist. The kids are sweet and sassy, Namjoon is a total mess, but a sweetheart. I never wanted to be a mother to children more than these tots, and the bonus would be snuggling into Daddy Joon’s arms.

Idol AUs

Let Me Hold Them by @jjungkookislife

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff; OT7

What You Need to Know: An OT7 series that includes mxm, threesomes, open relationships, polyamory, and angst. Please read at your own discretion & the warnings on each chapter. - It starts off small, and then it escalates quickly. I promise, you will not be disappointed. Read on!

Slight Changes by @jiminimoon

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff; Taehyung x reader; Jimin x reader

What You Need to Know: Your relationship with Taehyung takes a nose dive when his infidelity is exposed. Luckily, the other members (especially Jimin) step in to make sure you don’t suffer alone. Prepare for angsty chapters and a lot of soul searching in this fic.

The Studio Sessions by @getitinbusan

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff; Yoongi x reader; OT7 x reader

What You Need to Know: It’s Min Yoongi’s birthday and you’re ready to give him whatever he wants. When he makes a sarcastic wish while blowing out the candles he didn’t think you’d take it seriously. But he’s glad you did. When word spreads about these special “Studio Sessions” everyone wants to collaborate. - You start with one and work your way through the rest without blinking an eye. It’s a smutty paradise.

Love Well Done by @oraclemarie

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff; Yoongi x reader

What You Need to Know: You are the executive chef of your very own fine dining restaurant. A big company makes you the offer of a lifetime, setting you on a path straight to Min Yoongi-your drunken hook up. - once these two start admitting their love for one another, it ups the drama; people can let jealousy turn them into monsters.

Soulmate AUs

A Thousand Springs by @whitesparrows97

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff, OT7

What You Need to Know: Life is short. Eternity is long. Why you in particular are approached by a super attractive man in a club, you did not understand. You understood even less why he wanted to kill you. Fortunately, seven young, also incredibly handsome men show up to help you with this little problem. Purely by coincidence, of course. Or do you really believe in fate? - This fic is action packed with crazy conflicts, special powers, and spicy smut scenes.

The Immortals by @bang-tan-bitches

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff, OT7

What You Need to Know: Sometimes, you find your destiny. And sometimes, your destiny does whatever it takes to keep you. - There are some amazing things happening in this fic and I just want to crawl onto that giant bed with all of them and their mysterious golden powers.

Fantasy AUs

Blood Moon Rising by @yoonia

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff; Vampire/Werewolf AU; Jimin x Reader

What You Need to Know: As beings from ancient times, the Vampire Clan has undergone numerous changes to thrive in the Modern Age after surviving the Ancient Blood War. As a part of the traveller family in his clan, Jimin has parted ways from the coven until the day his Lords warned him of the lurking danger from inside the clan. And all so suddenly, he was pulled out of his solitary, only to have given the responsibility he had never wished to have, along with the threats that come as a part of the deal.

Born as youngest yet having lost so much, you have given your family your loyalty, your protection, and had been given their love and support that had become the only thing that keeps you going. But what happens when the only people you have put your trust in only repay you with betrayal?

This series expands beyond this world and into a whole universe of shifter characters. This storyline also includes characters from her other Shifter Series. The storylines are rich and beautifully crafted, and you will love the way the characters stick together on this magnificent adventure.

Of Fire and Love by @hollyhomburg

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff; Dragon-Hybrid AU; Yoongi x Reader

What You Need to Know: When Dragon Yoongi finds baby Jungkook in the wreckage of a house he burned down, he can’t bring himself to kill the child. Months after someone drops off a baby at your door, you start to notice something- or someone, lurking at the edge of the woods. - This fantasy world just keeps growing in each chapter and you also get to enjoy a baby Jungkook and a baby dragon Hobi. Beware of fairy Jimin - they’re a sneaky one.

Faerie Realm by @ddaengyoonmin

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff; Fairy Video Game AU; Jungkook x Reader

What You Need to Know: Your mother gifts you a video game set that allows you to fully enter the brand new virtual world of Faerie Realm on the first day of its launch. You lack any of the skills or knowledge of playing video games, but you end up having fun thanks to skilled player you meet named Kookie! You are lucky to have met him, because this deadly game is not what it seems.- Based on Sword Art Online, but I think it’s better. The other members become a part of the group and drama ensues.

Sweeter than Sweet by @gimmesumsuga

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff; Vampire AU; Jimin x reader; OT7, eventually

What You Need to Know: You never would have expected someone like Park Jimin to notice you. As handsome and beguiling as he is deadly, you’re enthralled from the very moment you meet. Addicted to his kiss and his bite, Jimin opens up your eyes to a whole new world of love, lust and seduction. - this is a LONG series, but it is TOTALLY WORTH IT. Once you dive into the story, there is no resurfacing until you finish.

A Court of Curses & A Court of Moonlight by @readyplayerhobi

Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff; Vampire/Witch/Werewolf AU; Hoseok x reader; Yoongi x reader

What You Need to Know: (ACOC) For millennia, the vampires and witches have hated one another and war has raged between the two. When tensions flare up once more and spill into neutral land, peace is forced upon the two by the faeries. The price of peace sees the Witch Queen married to the Vampire Prince. One hundred years later, how have things changed? (ACOM) As Prince Hoseok’s personal attendant, you travel with him on a diplomatic visit to Lunatis, home of the werewolves. There, you meet the enigmatic and intriguing werewolf prince, Min Yoongi, and discover more than you expected as a mere attendant. - this world is so full of magical wonder and I am so invested in seeing how everything comes together. It also makes me soft when I see how loving Prince Hoseok is toward his family.

Caught-in-a-seesaw-stigma’s MASTERLIST

#bts fic #recommended reading #bts series #bts fanfic #bts smut #BTS au #bts angst #bangtan #bts bangtan sonyeondan #fanfiction recommendation

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giorno-plays-piano · 4 years

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At all costs

Pairing: dark!Steve Rogers x Reader (Survival Games AU)

Warnings: obsession, depiction of violence, death of minor characters, swearing, slight allusion to non-con.

Words: 2959.

Summary: What was the reason to keep fighting when there was no end to all of this? Yet every time somebody chased you with a gun you were ready to rip their throat out if you needed to. Your sense of self-preservation and vital capacity were way stronger than you had ever anticipated.

P.S. This was written for Shameless hoes for Chris challenge! Dear @navybrat817 and @stargazingfangirl18, hope you will enjoy <3

Dialogue prompt #12: "Don't you dare take another step."

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You had never moved that far to the North, but the ones following you cut all other ways out, forcing you to enter territories you had never been before. Although Wanda had warned you about it, there was not much you could do - you almost ran out of both bullets and food. It seemed the game masters had finally paid attention to you and wanted you to move, and it was a damn bad sign.

Carefully hiding an empty can in a heap of garbage just like Wanda taught you, you glanced around again, checking your surroundings with Beretta in your hand. Apparently, there was nothing much in this area apart from ruined buildings just like everywhere else in this abandoned city. You were in desperate need of bullets since you had precisely two left in the magazine of your gun. You wasted most of your resources to fight off three men following you, but then suddenly game masters more coming after you.

You didn't know how much time you had already spent there, fighting every goddamn day just to stay alive. If not Wanda, you would die shortly after you were brought to the abandoned city.

She called it a sick game for sick people. All of the ones in this place were brought here against their will, you included. The last thing you remembered was walking home after going to the grocery store in the evening, and then you woke up on a dirty mattress in the back alley with a gun in your hand and a small bag with food and water supplies. No medication, no hygiene supplies, nothing else. Well, there was a possibility to find or buy a few things like painkillers and bandages, for example, but it was so rear you only really saw a little pack of Tylenol once.

When Wanda found you, you had already eaten all your food and finished your water, hiding behind a huge garbage bin in the alley, trembling so bad you couldn't hold the gun properly. Funny enough, you didn't even know how to pull the trigger as if you had never seen it on TV thousands of times. You were so pathetic that you didn't really deserved to die from a bullet in your forehead. A stone from the ground was enough to smash your head to pieces - this is what Wanda told you, dragging you to her hideout. She didn't try killing you, though.

She used to be a child soldier, she said. Sokovian civil war, a conflict you barely heard of. Although Wanda looked fairly young, maybe even your age, she had the eyes of an old woman. Unlike you, she had been kidnapped with a purpose of making the game more interesting - Wanda knew everything about surviving in the middle of chaos. You, on the other hand, were snatched up and used as cannon fodder for this little artificial war.

It was a game, Wanda said. There were cameras everywhere in the city, and all players were tracked with the chip-things buried in them. The only purpose of the game was to stay alive as long as you could. Maybe there was a chance to be released if you killed enough people, but she didn't believe it. Wanda was sure there was no way out.

All those apocalyptic and Hunger Games type of movies could never live up to the real thing. You were always moving from one place to the other, never staying somewhere for too long. Hiding wasn't easy, but it couldn't be compared to the mad chase when other players discovered where you were. Even Wanda who handled rifles and guns as if she were born with them in her hands wasn't able to predict who would come out alive. So, your main goal was to remain hidden as long as you could. The game masters didn't like it, but with so many players, many of whom were either soldiers or dangerous criminals, no one really paid attention to the two of you.

You often asked Wanda why she was taking care of you. Indifferent, unfriendly, unsympathetic, she seemed the perfect soldier to you while you were too normal to be able to live long in a place like this. Wanda stayed silent despite all your attempts to learn her motives. The only thing she was willing to talk about was how to stay alive.

"Steal. Kill. Open your legs of you have to. Do whatever it takes to survive." That's what she once told you after she shot a dying man asking for help and took all his posessions.

There was no justice, no moral, no honor, no sense of right or wrong, nothing to believe in, nothing to hope for except seeing another day. All of you were just animals fighting for your life every fucking second.

There was no meaning behind it, you thought. What was the reason to keep fighting when there was no end to all of this? Yet every time somebody chased you with a gun you were ready to rip their throat out if you needed to. Your sense of self-preservation and vital capacity were way stronger than you had ever anticipated.

When you thought about her words, you found it odd that Wanda who cared only about survival took you, a dead weight, to take care of. Wasn't it literally the opposite to what she taught you? Why diminish her own chances to stay alive just to save you? Maybe she wanted to team up with someone, but there were much better players for that, not some girl who had troubles even pulling the trigger. Nevertheless, your grim savior had never opened up to you about the true reasons behind her actions, and, eventually, you just stopped asking.

Wanda kept teaching and guarding you until the day she died, shielding you with her own body when someone tried shooting you. She broke the most important rule she set herself, and you couldn't understand why. There was so little human left in her, and yet she sacrificed herself to give you a chance to pull through.

Suddenly, you froze, feeling you were being watched. You couldn't see anyone around or hear anything suspicious, but you had that uneasy feeling of something crawling under your skin. Your instincts were telling you somebody was very close, and you didn't fucking like it. With two bullets, your chances to stay alive were minimal.

There was a shift in atmosphere, and you ran to the next room of the abandoned building, hearing the sound of gun firing. Shit.

"If somebody is chasing you, don't think." Wanda said, watching your eyes opening widely at her. "All this TV bullshit makes you feel like you'd be able to make a right decision in a second while they shooting at you, but that's not true. It will slow you down. Keep your eyes open and trust your instincts instead. If you're lucky enough, you will survive."

She said to reserve time for thinking when you would break away from pursuit, and her advice had never even once failed to save your life. Maybe you were damn lucky just like Wanda said.

But where could you run from here? The room where you were now had just one door. There were a few windows, too, but jumping from the third floor to the cemented road would probably cost you a broken leg or even a spine.

Shit, shit, shit.

You could hear the sound of someone's footsteps and hurriedly hid behind an overturned table to your left, keeping your finger on the trigger of your Beretta. The one who was going to enter the room in a few seconds would first see a huge wardrobe lying on the floor to their right, big enough to hide behind it, too. If you were lucky, the player would first pay attention to it, giving you a second or two to shoot. When the man set his foot inside the room, you quickly stuck your head out for a second and aimed your gun at him. When you fired the first bullet, you knew you missed his head right after you pulled the trigger. Fuck. The second bullet was gone the next second, but it hit the target perfectly, and then you saw the wall covered in blood as if it were a picture made by action painter. Well, now you could probably call yourself that.

Turning away, you exhaled loudly when the body hit the floor with a loud thud. You were still alive.

Carefully lifting yourself up, you glanced at the corpse of a player, the feeling of being watched finally gone. He was alone here. However, the sound of guns firing could be heard by others, and you needed to relocate immediately. The next moment you were looking through the man's belongings, finding two cans of chicken - you preferred to have something more nourishing, but any food would do now - a water flask, and two combat knives. No ammunition. He waisted all his bullets trying to kill you.

Biting your lower lip, you hurried to the first floor, doing your best to avoid windows. Knives weren't bad, but most of the time you preferred not to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Any decent soldier would easily outpower you, and you couldn't risk it. Damn, you waisted all your bullets to kill the bastard with no ammunition left. How lucky was that? Cursing under your breath, you carefully observed the street, seeing no one, and moved as fast as you could, a gun still in your hands to make players believe you could still shoot.

You wanted to return to the South so bad. You knew that part of the city to perfection while here everything was new. More than that, here the players teamed up in a big groups, guarding their territories like animals, while in the Southern part everyone always moved around and worked in a pair of two or three people maximum. It was a shame you couldn't return because of game masters chasing you like a mad dog.

All of a sudden that feeling of being watched returned, and you hid in a little alley where huge metal dumpsters were - or what was left of them. Somebody had spotted you, but you couldn't stay in an alley for long. It was a dead end.

"I know you ran out of bullets." Somebody's deep voice cut the eerie silence, and you shivered, gripping your Beretta. "Please come out. I'm not going to hurt you."

The stranger was either guessing or bluffing. He couldn't really know you had no ammunition whatsoever, so you stayed where you are, trying to locate him.

His loud sigh sounded closer to you than you had expected.

"Y/N, I'm telling the truth. You have just wasted your last two bullets, haven't you?"

The next second you were clenching the combat knife Wanda had long passed to you. There was a tall beefy man coming to you with a rifle in his hands, apparently, Kalashnikov or M16, you couldn't see well from a distance. However, you did see he was oddly handsome with his well-built body, his arms solid, covered in dirt and what seemed like ash. But what truly made you grasp was that he had no beard. The man had a clean shave, his dirty blonde hair cut. Except for game masters, you had never seen a man looking so civil.

But he didn't look like a game master at all. Who the fuck was he?

"Don't you dare take another step." You growled like an animal at him, gripping your knife. It was a pathetic weapon against a rifle, but it was the only thing you had.

He stopped for a few seconds, his expression heavy and dark, but then the man kept coming, and you took a step back in return.

"I just said I'm not going to hurt you. Stop looking at me like I'm a butcher and you're a little lamb." He sneered and narrowed his dark blue eyes at you while you clenched your teeth. Whoever he was, it wasn't going to end well for you.

"How do you know my name?" You barked back at him, thinking what he's going to do next.

"From the game masters, of course. How many times do I have to tell you I won't hurt you?"

"What the fuck do game masters want from me, then?"

His handsome face darkened, and you realized he could fire his rifle any second. Moreover, even if he had no bullets, with those arms of his he could probably break you in half, and no knife would save you.

"Don't swear, Little Red. This your one and only warning."

As you made a step back, staring into him and understanding nothing at all - how the fuck did he call you just know? - you had stumbled upon something and fell on your back, crying out in despair. Shit, you were out of luck, weren't you? You would probably die today.

Before you could react, you saw the stranger's large body hovering over you, the muzzle of his rifle pressed into your stomach as his angry eyes pierced through you. He was clearly done with you and your stubbornness. "I came to offer you join my group." He said, furrowing his brows at you, laying on the ground. "The Howling Commandos. Ever heard of us?"

"And who the f... who would I be there? Someone's whore?" With your face burning with deep hatred and humiliation, you were ready to spit in his face. "You think I don't know how little women are left here and what you do to them?"

Obviously, you hit the nail on the head as the man grabbed you by the collar while still having the muzzle aiming at your stomach. He was clearly mad.

"Do you also know what's gonna happen if you keep up with that attitude?" The stranger snarled, his eyes furious. "I know you've got fire, and I like it. I want to keep you. But if you're not going to submit to me right here, right now, I will shoot you. Don't make me do it."

Both of you fell silent, your chest heaving up and down as the man waited, not moving an inch. You needed to have a minute to gather yourself.

What other choice did you have? He'd shoot you dead before you even blinked.

Steal. Kill. Open your legs of you have to.

"Alright." You said through your teeth, feeling the smell of gunpowder and gasoline coming from him as he kept you close, still gripping your collar with his huge hand. "I'll come with you."

"Good."

The man raised you on your feet in the very next second, pushing your combat knife on the ground away with his leg and gesturing you to move forward. However, he did put the rifle down as he took you by the elbow, leading you somewhere to the huge parking lot and watching you intently. However, he didn't radiate anger as before, seemingly content with your submission, so you kept your mouth shut despite all those questions in your head. Why did game masters give the man information about you? You had never heard of them interacting with any players aside from chasing them from one location to the other. Besides, why did this bastard call you Little Red? What the fuck was that?

"What's your name?" You asked, turning your head to him as you kept walking.

"Captain Steve Rogers."

"So, you're an ex-soldier, huh? A war vet, maybe?" You coughed a little, your mouth feeling dry like the Sahara Desert.

"Something like that, Little Red."

"Why are you calling me that?"

"Little Red? This is how the ones watching the show call you." Steve chuckled. "Wanda Maximoff was the Scarlet Witch, and since you're her protege, they called you Little Red. Kind of sweet."

You wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, but decided it was safer to stay silent. Sick bastards. They treated Wanda as if she were a character in some silly video game. Her death probably made them happy.

Blinking the tears away, you bit down on your tongue and felt metallic taste filling your mouth. This was not the time to mourn your dear friend, this was what Wanda would say to you. You had to gather yourself and think what to do after. You were in Howling Commandos now, and only God knew how many men were there. Would you have to sleep with them all? Fucking hell. It was better to die than go through this.

"Why the hell everyone's paying so much attention to me?" You grunted as Steve hummed, crossing the parking lot and turning you to pass under the bridge. "Do they want me dead so desperately?"

"No. They want you to team up with someone who will take care of you just like Wanda did, and I fit the role perfectly. I've been wanting to have you for a long time."

"Are you fucking insane?" You hissed angrily at him, becoming rooted to the ground right where you stood. "Take care? Is that how you take care of women? Throwing them to your men to be fucked to death?"

"Language." His iron grip on your arm made you squirm as Steve pulled you closer to him.

You stared at him with disgust, your dirty face distorted, and then you saw familiar fire in his deep blue eyes as Captain loomed over you, grabbing you by the chin.

"Don't tell me you have forgotten what I just said, Little Red. I will keep you for myself."

__________

Tags: @finleyjayne @alexakeyloveloki @helenaeisenhower @villanellevi @hurricanerin @void-hoechlin @abyssaint @heeeyitskay @chris-evans-indian-fanfic @navegandoaciegas @rosalynshields @brattycherubwrites @sllooney @lovelydarkdaydream @angrythingstarlight

#steve rogers x reader #dark steve rogers x reader #captain america #dark steve rogers #steve rogers #yandere #depiction of violence #obsession #death of minor characters #slight allusion to non-con #swearing #shamelesshoesforchris

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takonei · 3 years

Text

Beta AU - Main story, Chapter 6, Investigation (Part 1)

Note of the author: Guess who’s baaaack? ;) Boy have I been waiting for this chapter.

Chapter 6: My killing game, our killing game

...

A young boy wanders in the cafeteria, a rather tasty-looking meal on his plate.

He spots the two other people present and approaches them.

"C-Can I sit here?"

The girl was mindlessly picking the vegetables on her plate with a fork, head resting in her palm. "Suit yourself."

The silence immediately settled back.

It's not like there was anything to say. What was the point of talking anyway?

... He doesn't know how much time passed before he heard the sound of footsteps behind him.

The person didn't even ask before sitting next to them.

He had seen him back then, so his face was not so unfamiliar.

The other guy stared at him curiously, then raised his head.

"... I feel like I've seen you somewhere before." he said. "Not that it really matters anymore."

The new guy rolled his eyes. "Yes, I killed someone a year ago and my face was plastered on every single newspaper for two weeks. Big deal."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be... you know... in prison?"

"It was a pain making my way out here, but I'm used to orchestrating mastermind-ish plans. It's a must-have in this world."

"I see..."

Leaning back into his chair, the supposed murderer glanced at the other side of the cafeteria, where two other people were discussing, far away from them. A rather frail-looking boy and a strong-looking young woman. He narrowed his eyes at them, like a predator analyzing its prey.

But the silence was rather cut short as the sound of a breaking plate was heard, accompanied by a person stumbling on the ground, now covered in food.

A man was standing next to the victim, clearly the one responsible for the incident. "Watch where you're going, skeleton."

The smaller girl looked like she wanted to cry, trying to retrieve what she could with difficulty.

He swore he saw a smirk forming on the killer's face before turning back to look at the scene. "Hey, jackass. Try to get a better adversary next time, would you? You look pathetic bullying someone half your size, just saying."

"What did you say?!"

"How about you try and fight mademoiselle over here instead?" he glanced at the tall woman in the back. "Unless you're scared of getting your ass handed to you by a girl."

"I'll fucking show you-!"

"ENOUGH!!"

Everyone turned to the source of the voice.

Just their presence was enough to make everyone on edge, but their wrath was feared by all. Like a god among men, a single misstep around them was enough to put your life and dignity on the line.

And they were not here to play poker.

"You two better not cause any more trouble. I could snap my fingers and you two would become cannon fodder for them. You wouldn't want that for yourself, would you?"

The two's gazes met. The tall man's eyes were full of rage, but the other was not letting any emotion slip out. Perhaps one could see annoyance with a hint of pride, if they were perceptive enough.

But both knew their place. It was wiser not to respond.

"... That's what I thought. Because you are here does not mean you are safe yet, remember that."

Silence settled back in the cafeteria, but the dread did not fade away.

But they were here now, and there was no going back.

Not now, not ever.

...

The stars were illuminating the night sky as always, giving the academy a semblance of light in the darkness.

Although that is only a lie Shuichi told himself to feel more human, even though he would never admit it out loud.

An artificial sky looming over an academy of students with fake memories and pasts.

His sense of reality was decaying over time. If he really took a moment to think for himself, he would probably feel his mind falling apart. Nothing but a structure of lies that unconsciously kept him sane, slowly crumbling into ruins.

After watching Rantaro's video and learning the truth about his intentions and his wretched success, they had left the building.

Miu stopped in her tracks. Her eyes wide, she had been staring at the ground the entire time.

"This is... This is so wrong..." she muttered.

Kaito put a hand on her shoulder. "At least... He succeeded in his own way."

The young woman immediately jerked away. "Succeeded?! Rantaro died! He killed himself and Ryoma for his plan and you're telling me he succeeded?!"

"I never said the way he did so wasn't completely fucked up!!" Kaito yelled back. "Hell, I don't even know why he considers it a success in the first place, I'm just quoting him!"

Shuichi didn't have the courage to look at them in the eyes, but spoke anyway. "He said it would kill Monokuma's will to continue the game, but... Is this really true?"

"Who the fuck cares about that?!" tears formed in Miu's eyes. "Why did he think that killing himself was something that would truly end the game?!"

Kokichi didn't even try to say anything. He could only stare at the argument.

"We don't know what Monokuma is planning to do now, he could put us through another time limit for all we know!!" Miu continued rambling. "Monokuma wants to make us suffer no matter what, why did he think he would stop after that?!"

"I don't fucking know!!" Kaito could only try to keep up. It's not like the others could. "I don't know what went through Rantaro's head nor what led him to believe that this would be a brilliant plan!"

"I don't think trying to understand his thought process would lead us somewhere."

Shuichi jumped at the voice.

Kirumi was staring at the ground. She looked... distressed.

"He was too far gone. There's something in his eyes that felt unnatural."

"Something, dare I say... not even human. I cannot describe it, but it's not an emotion you would ever want to see in someone."

The violinist felt his heart sting. He had seen it, too. The two were the ones who witnessed the most of him. Not the facade of the leader who fought no matter what, but the vulnerable him. The real him.

But Miu lost even more of her temper than she already had. She approached Kirumi and grabbed her by the strands of her corset. "Rantaro was our friend!! And you're saying he doesn't even deserve to be called 'human'?!"

Shuichi tried to step in. "That's not what she meant! Miu, please! We're all-

"Am I the only one who even remotely cared about him?!"

She slammed a hand to her chest. Her voice was cracking, and tears were now yet again flowing from her eyes.

"You're all yelling about how there was no hope in Rantaro, that he wasn't even human in your eyes!! You're all claiming to like him but can't even show him respect after he's dead!!"

"How did I even bring myself to befriend any of you monsters?!"

Shuichi felt himself stiffen.

There's a part of him that knew Miu meant her words.

He quickly realized he was not the only one who froze.

Everyone was silently staring at her.

The artist stared back, slowly realizing what she had just said. She slammed her hands on her mouth. "I..."

"It's fine."

Shuichi immediately looked at Kokichi.

"You don't need to say anything. I... I know I must have said way worse back then."

She glanced away. "You... You were just grieving."

"And so are you!" he exclaimed. "You said it to me back in my lab! We all should take the time to grieve! Why would you be an exception to this?!"

She stared at him with dumbfounded eyes.

“Please... I don’t want you to lament in despair like I did and I... I don’t want you to go through the pain I experienced.” Kokichi muttered.

“I don’t want anyone else to go through this ever again.”

His voice was low, like each of his words was difficult to speak out.

Her eyes met the ground, hoping to hide her tears just a little.

"Miu..."

Kaito took a step forward. "We've all been assholes to each other at some point or another, and me more than anyone else."

“Perhaps I’m just projecting, but... I know you had faith in me when I was at my worst, so it’s only fair I have faith in you when you are at your worst.”

The young woman sniffled. "I'm sorry, it’s just... Rantaro isn't..."

"No. Rantaro was not a monster." Kirumi spoke, eyes closed. "What I do believe is that the game had much more impact on him than he let us know. Things he hid from us for our sake. This closure must have led him to believe he had to go to extremes to help us, and thus orchestrated this... ‘case’, if we can even call it that way."

"We should have been more careful about him. But now is too late to lament ourselves over our mistakes."

"I should have worded my thoughts differently, I apologize."

Shuichi felt his heart calm down, for some reason.

Kokichi nodded. "That's... the impression he gave to me, too..."

He could only agree.

Kaito continued looking at his friend, who seemed lost in thoughts. "Maybe we should settle for the night? We might be in a better state to-

"No." Miu raised her head. "We're not sitting here doing nothing."

The violinist's eyes widened. "Are you... planning on doing something?"

"Rantaro's goal was to end the game. And the only way to honor him is to put an end to this right here, right now."

"Tonight we discover the last truths of the killing game. We investigate about Keebo's death, what really happened to us and we expose the-

Miu was cut short by the sound of an explosion right above their heads- It was coming from the building itself.

"W-What's going on?!" Kokichi exclaimed.

"I don't know but we need to get out of here!" the girl yelled.

The group immediately started fleeing.

"I can't run for shit, idiots!" Kaito shouted.

Shuichi looked back. "Guys! We gotta help Kaito!"

Kirumi stared at him for a moment, then sighed. She wrapped one of her arms around his back as support and the two followed the rest of the group.

After getting to the dorms, they turned back to the main building, witnessing the destruction caused by an unknown force.

It seemed as though an exisal -the blue one from what he was seeing- started getting involved in the chaos, but...

"Why is everything exploding?!" Shuichi exclaimed. "Monokuma wouldn't do this, right? So who is destroying the building? Who is piloting the exisal?!"

There were only one of the deadly machines. Monokuma could be the one piloting it, but that didn't explain why he would do so.

"If Monokuma is using an exisal to stop the chaos, then... Who is destroying the building?" Kokichi asked.

They all turned to him.

The bear would not create that scene by himself. So who?

They were all here. It wasn't any of the five survivors.

But before they could ponder more, another exisal showed up. The green one.

The two mechas faced each other, and not even ten seconds later, the blue exisal was tossed across the courtyard.

They could only watch the scene unfold, bewildered by the sudden appearance of the machines.

Who? Who was fighting?

He glanced at Kirumi, who seemed to wonder the same.

But she suddenly perked up, becoming as pale as the fake moon above their heads.

He turned to her. "What is it?! Do you know who is in here?!"

The others faced her as well.

She stayed silent for a moment.

"... Where is Monodam?"

Shuichi blinked. "What- Monodam? But he's dead! Ryoma killed him!"

"Have any of you seen his dead body?"

The violinist's eyes widened. "Huh?"

"This is the number one rule any assassin or mercenary must follow, no matter what."

"If there is no dead body, there is no victim."

"So where is Monodam?"

Kokichi shook his head. "Are you suggesting he is alive?"

"Can you tell for sure he was dismantled by Ryoma? Have you seen his carcass in pieces?"

Miu frowned. "Didn't Rantaro say he took him apart?"

"Do you still believe anything Rantaro says when it comes to the plan in which he managed to deceive everyone, including Monokuma and his own partner?"

... She froze.

Shuichi looked at the green exisal that was approaching them.

The machine stopped, then bent down.

The top of the exisal opened. Something jumped and flawlessly landed on the ground.

A tiny dichromatic bear.

But...

Something wasn't right.

It wasn't the white and green bear they all expected to see.

Whatever was standing before them did have its right side white, but the left side was painted in a dark grey-blue color. Its hands were no more, replaced by small black and bright blue canons, and the pacifier had the same colors as them. Small blue pins were attached to its mechanical limbs, with tiny cables entering the body.

The belly, instead of being plain white, had a particular pattern on it. Two dark scissor blades surrounded by even more thin cables.

A symbol that was all too familiar to them now.

But what stood out the most was its right eye. It was hard to tell what even was stuck on it. The piece had been attached here artificially, cables going around the head to keep it in place.

The blue parts were slightly glowing, somehow giving an eery feeling to the robot.

The new bear took a few steps forward.

They could only stare at him with wide eyes. What was he even going to do?

"5-OUT-OF-6. SOMEONE-IS-MISSING."

Missing? Everyone was here, though...

The bear made a strange noise as the others glanced at each other.

"MISSING-PERSON: RANTARO-AMAMI. PLAYING-'INTRODUCTION'."

His eye started glowing green, and 'Monodam' started talking again.

"Hey."

They all recognized that voice instantly.

Ryoma...?

The man sighed. "I really didn't want to record this part. But I had to keep in mind the possibility that this plan would fail. That Rantaro would get executed."

If only he knew...

"If you haven't guessed it already, no, I didn't kill Monodam. The hacking gun only knocked him out. All I did was repair and modify him to act as I wanted. It was tough, but manageable. What you're looking at is the project I have worked on for the past two days."

"Meet Monoshi. An upgraded version of Monodam specifically made to end the game after the trial, whether both of us died or just me. But if this introduction is playing, then that means things didn't go as planned."

"Have you guys watched the videos about Monodam's faked death and my real cause of death?"

The light in his right eye changed to a bright yellow. Was he waiting for them to answer?

"Yes, we did..." Shuichi replied.

"PLAYING-'INTRODUCTION-3'." the bear spoke again, his eye gaining back its green color.

"Good. Then you must have realized this trial was incredibly unfair for the both of us. But I'm not here to talk about that. Pretty sure Rantaro did that already, and if he missed any details, I have noted the important stuff in my lab for you guys just in case."

"As Tsumugi said in her notebook, you guys have to investigate Keebo's death. Now is the perfect opportunity to put an end to this game once and for all."

'Monoshi' approached Kaito and extended its hand to him. The mechanism opened to reveal a green key.

"Kaito. I heard from Rantaro that you wanted to pilot the exisals." he said as the biker's eyes widened. "I am giving you the key to the green one. I don't think it should be that hard to control considering those fingerless bears are able to do so. Do your best."

"Monoshi will take care of opening secret passages and entrances that are not accessible right now. Monodam knew what places are left to visit, so Monoshi does as well. Although for that, bombs will be used so make sure to get out of the way when needed."

"Kaito, you and Monoshi will have to keep Monokuma busy long enough for the others to complete the investigation."

The bombs...

Shuichi felt like he should have expected that, for some reason.

The robot turned to the blonde woman. "Miu."

"To be honest, I cannot exactly pinpoint why, but Rantaro seemed to trust you more than anyone else if we exclude me. He asked me to give you the task to lead the group for the investigation in case things didn't work out for him."

The street artist jumped.

"Huh?" she muttered, surprised by his words. But the robot didn't seem to register that.

"In short- Monoshi will unlock the secret entrances, he and Kaito will distract Monokuma and the rest of you will investigate everything you possibly can."

Shuichi nodded.

But his heart suddenly stopped when he heard a crash from behind them.

Monokuma came back with not one, but the four other exisals.

"My, my! My sweet Monodam, already an angsty teenager going through a rebellious phase... But to want to kill your own father? Puhuhu! That is not something I expected from the most tender and affectionate kid of mine!"

"But you see, with the joy of modern technology, your wonderful brothers and sisters could cross the boundary of life and death once again and come back to our marvelous and colorful world!"

"Do you seriously think you could steal *my* exisals for *your* goals? Puhuhu! These two had a great sense of humor!"

Monoshi's eye turned blue for a moment.

"VOICE-RECOGNIZED: MONOKUMA. PLAYING-'GREETINGS'."

As the eye turned green, the modified robot spoke again.

"Hey there. Knew you were going to try and stop this. But do you seriously think you're gonna win?"

"Rantaro and I have prepared a lot more than you could possibly imagine. You and this entire academy are going down whether you like it or not."

Monokuma laughed. "Puhuhu! I must admit I am impressed! To trick me into thinking my precious monokub was dead when in reality, he was rebelling against me? Such despair!"

"But you're forgetting that *I* am the headmaster of the academy and the one managing the killing game!"

"This little tamper tantrum is over!"

...

Monoshi stayed silent for what felt like an eternity. And then-

His eye glowed red.

"HOSTILITY-RECOGNIZED. PROCEED-TO-EXTERMINATION."

"What-

The bear pointed his canon at Monokuma and immediately started firing. Their captor dodged, but the group now had to get out of this conflict and fast if they didn't want to die because of collateral damage.

The exisals started shooting missiles at Monoshi as well, but he was just as agile. Their battle quickly moved away from them, the bears chasing each other in the courtyard. The scene looked unreal.

"Now's our chance!" Miu exclaimed. "Kaito! You think you can pilot the exisal?"

The biker smirked. "I've been waiting for this. But before that, you guys stay safe, alright? I know you can do this. Go and investigate without me, I'll only slow you down."

Shuichi nodded. "Count on us, Kaito!"

"Also..."

He approached Miu, and suddenly held her in his arms. The girl was surprised, but she did not push him away. After a few seconds, he took a step back and put his hands on her shoulders. "I know you can lead this group to our freedom. I better see you alive at the end. Alright?"

"I better see you alive at the end! But I promise."

She turned to the rest of them.

"Let's end this everyone! Tonight, we're ending this killing game once and for all!"

The tone in her voice warmed his heart. This strength, this emotion... He had seen it before.

It was reminiscent of the old Rantaro they had known at the beginning of the game.

A great leader guiding them to victory.

Kaito climbed into the exisal, using the key Monoshi had given him.

The mecha stood up.

"LET'S FUCKING GO!!"

The machine jumped towards the fight between the robotic bears.

This was it.

Their chance to fight back and win.

The investigation they all had been waiting to do finally started.

...

Kokichi spoke up. "How do we even start?"

Miu hummed. "Kirumi, no offense but you're the one who should know the most about how to get away with murder... How would you proceed to cover the evidence?"

"None taken." The woman pondered. "But investigating Keebo's death will be extremely difficult, and it is not the only thing we need to investigate. Monoshi talked about secret rooms as well."

"We need to know everything about this killing game."

"Good point." the artist replied. "Keebo's death was long ago and essential evidence might have disappeared since then."

She was right. The killer- the mastermind must have cleaned up after themselves. Was it even possible to solve this case now?

"For now, Kaito and Monoshi are keeping the monokubs busy, so the rooms might be opened later. We should focus on what we can investigate." Kirumi continued.

"How about groups of two? We might be able to cover more ground this way." Shuichi suggested.

"I already know I am headed to the fifth floor for Ryoma's notes, so whoever comes with me, please make up your mind fast." the mercenary raised a hand.

"Can I leave this to you, Shuichi?" Miu asked. "Kokichi and I will go to the exisal hangar to see if we can recover anything."

The violinist nodded. "Sounds good!" he turned to Kirumi. "Shall we go?"

The groups separated. His partner was fast, but she often checked to see if he was following.

And true to her words, the duo went to the fifth floor. To Ryoma's lab.

The doors had been destroyed, supposedly by Monoshi when he made his way out.

"Do you think there is something else we can get here?" Shuichi asked.

She entered the lab. "That's what we'll find out. I wouldn't be surprised if they somehow had another trick in their sleeves, even though both of them are dead now."

It was hard not to be impressed by their genius. Kiyo and Tsumugi might have tried to help from beyond the grave with their notebooks, but Ryoma and Rantaro were on a whole other level, and are still actively helping them.

Some boxes looked intact, but some had been completely destroyed and seemed to have exploded from the inside. The two started walking towards the back of the lab, but before they could do so, they noticed a box that stood out from the rest.

It was burned in the shape of an X, and judging from the way it looked, someone had done that on purpose.

However, it was easy to tell who did the damage.

Kirumi didn't wait and immediately climbed on the box. Monoshi, or rather Ryoma must have wanted them to find what was inside. Perhaps it was the notebook?

"The lock was destroyed. I'll see what I can find in there." she said.

"Alright..." Shuichi muttered. Out of nervousness, he kept going through the lab to see if anything else was worth investigating.

He did notice another box that was partially exploded, with nothing interesting inside. The lock didn't seem to have been destroyed, though.

Was this the box Monoshi was kept in?

The back of the lab, despite what Shuichi first thought, hadn't changed at all. Everything was the same as it was during their last visit earlier.

"I found the notebook."

The violinist jumped at Kirumi's sudden appearance. "Really?"

The two approached the source of light.

"Did you find anything else?" she asked as she opened the book.

He shook his head. "I mean, I found the box Monoshi might have been kept in, but nothing worth our attention."

Kirumi hummed as she read the first page. "... This indeed seems to be a recap of everything they have discovered. The summary states that this was made in case Rantaro didn't have time to tell us everything, just like Monoshi said."

"I see..." Shuichi muttered. They took a considerable amount of precautions- although the two were never on the same page in the first place.

"The flashback lights, the cameras, ending the killing game... Hm?"

Shuichi blinked. "What is it?"

"There is a chapter called 'The mastermind's goals.' I don't think Rantaro explained anything about this."

"Let me see!"

Kirumi put the book on the workspace.

Entry n°4

Don't expect me to know about the reasons why this game was created, I don't know. Neither of us do and it's for you guys to find out. At first, we did ask ourselves why, but it became clear pretty quickly that the 'why' was unimportant.

This is about the motives given to us. We didn't think much about that compared to other stuff so don't expect clear explanations. Those are just Rantaro and I's theories so take this with a grain of salt.

The first motive: the time limit and the first blood perk, were obviously to start the game by all means necessary. I don't know what else to say. Easy way to start things with someone obviously falling for this shit. Fantastic.

The second, we're not sure. That might have been to expose some of our secrets, like Kirumi's talent. The tablets were obviously switched intentionally. There's no way the only two tablets that didn't reach their owners coincidentally happened to be those of the one who hid her talent and someone who was likely to watch their video. In other words, it was to reveal stuff that we would have never guessed if not for Monokuma's 'help'. The accomplice perk was made to turn our cooperation against us. To dissuade us to work together, make sure we all become paranoid and break us mentally. Not difficult to understand.

The third is incomprehensible to me. By that, I mean the 'how'. Why would I turn into a coward? I don't know if I was kidnapped again or some shit, but whoever was with them wasn't me. But anyway, the mastermind obviously wanted to eliminate temporarily the smart people (Tsumugi, Rantaro and I) to do their little scheme in peace, which was Keebo's murder.

The fourth may have been to expose our last secrets like Kaito's leg, Kokichi's trauma, Kirumi's condition, and as Rantaro said, manipulate Kiyo into killing Tsumugi by putting more and more pressure on him.

The fifth motive doesn't make any damn sense. I know he blackmailed Kiyo to make the trial last longer to extend a new time limit, but he could have ditched it after his death for despair or some other stupid excuse. Although with the circumstances, I can see why he would put a second time limit. But offering equipment to explore the outside world? He could have shut his mouth and nothing would have changed. Fucking idiot. He should know better by now.

Anyway, this is the least important part and the one we're the less certain about, but those were the most solid theories we had.

Shuichi blinked, clearly not expecting the tone in the soldier's writing. "That's... Interesting..."

However, he quickly noticed something. "Wait, you told Ryoma about your condition?"

She shook her head. "I didn't. But I believe Rantaro must have told him."

"What is done, is done. Everyone knows now, and I do not think it is useful to hide it anymore."

Those two exchanged everything they knew, so it was not surprising, actually.

The woman sighed. "A part of me thought that the 'tablet switch mistake' for the second motive was intentional, but I see that I was not the only one who got to this conclusion."

He winced.

"Although what makes me worried is the third motive." she said. "Kidnapped and replaced by some sort of clone temporarily?"

He hummed. "But... Ryoma said he wasn't sure... Can we really trust this?"

After a short pause, Kirumi closed the book. "Probably not. But we should keep this in mind."

Obtained truth bullet! Killing game motives

"Is there anything else worth reading in this?" Shuichi asked.

His partner reopened the book, and that's when the two noticed the last part of the summary.

1. Flashback lights 2. Cameras 3. Ending the killing game 4. The mastermind's goals 5. Monoshi 6. Stuff

"Stuff?" Shuichi frowned. "That sounds odd..."

Kirumi quickly turned the pages.

Entry n°6

I don't care if the person reading this is Rantaro or not. I'll be dead by the time anyone finds this anyway, and perhaps you are now dead too, boss. So I'm just going to assume someone else is reading.

I don't know why, but it feels like Rantaro is still hiding things. That he never shared certain details with me. I always told him everything I knew, I grew to know him and his habits more than anyone else here. I always somehow managed to get him to speak to me truthfully up until... I would say the 4th trial.

Ever since then, things have changed, somehow. He's been suggesting solid theories more than ever, but at the same time, he seems to be hiding even more information from me.

There is something he knows that I don't. I never got him to speak the truth and it's frustrating as hell.

We're supposed to be damn soldiers, the smartest and the strongest of the group, and our job is to help everyone escape. Why is he withholding information from me?

In any case, I'm extremely worried. I will keep the stoic face because it's easier for me to manage, but at this point I know I cannot do anything anymore and I have accepted it. It's probably too late now, but I wanted to write this somewhere. One could count this as venting, I guess.

Good luck in ending the game, I hope you guys will make it out alive, for our sake.

Sincerely, Ryoma Hoshi.

Shuichi glanced away from the book. "Do you think... He knew Rantaro had planned to die from the beginning?"

Kirumi stared at the text. "I don't think so."

She closed the notebook and gave it to him. "I am more inclined to think he told Ryoma just the right amount of information for him to cooperate with his plan without any sort of hesitation. He didn't tell him things that could hurt his feelings and make him unwilling to act, or realize the mission could be pointless."

The violinist winced. "That's kind of harsh, don't you think? Rantaro... I understand he might have hidden things from Ryoma but... He wasn't a heartless manipulator, was he?"

The mercenary stayed silent for a moment.

"What would you have done in Ryoma's position if you knew nothing was real?"

He paused. That was not a question he expected to hear.

"If you knew your entire life didn't matter, that everything you had done up until now was nothing but meaningless lies, would you have accepted to sacrifice your life for everyone?"

"I-I..." Shuichi stuttered. How could he even answer that?

"Both Ryoma and Rantaro were devoted soldiers. Even after discovering all of his memories could have been faked, Rantaro continued. He went through this plan and sacrificed himself and Ryoma for us. But what about Ryoma? Would he have followed him, knowing this sacrifice could be pointless, or just not for him to do?"

...

Shuichi stared at the ground. "This is..." he looked up to the young woman, hoping to find answers. "W-What do you mean?"

The silence as Kirumi seemed to be choosing her words was almost eerie.

"... This dilemma is what I have supposedly been living for a long time. I didn't have the full details of my missions. Perhaps the target was a good person, but I was told they were vile and needed to be eliminated. The less you are told, the less likely you are to rebel or regret your actions afterwards."

"So you obey, murder, and move onto the next target without asking yourself any questions."

She turned her back, facing the exit.

"With what Rantaro told us after the vote, those philosophies are starting to lose meaning. Perhaps it is time for me to reconstruct my beliefs, and find out who I really am."

"I should be glad there is a possibility I am not the killer of numerous innocents, but somehow, I am not."

"The unknown has always been humanity's greatest fear, as they say."

Without another word, she slowly made her way towards the entrance.

Shuichi could only stare.

... Perhaps it was indeed the time to start questioning what he truly believes in.

Obtained truth bullet! Unknown memories

The two left the lab since there was nothing else to see.

But the moment they stepped on the stairs, the building started trembling, like something was happening above the fifth floor.

"What's going on?!" Shuichi turned to Kirumi.

"It looks like either the rooftop or Himiko's lab has been damaged. We need to go now."

The two ran as fast as they could.

They reached the first floor and spotted Miu and Kokichi.

"Monoshi has opened something in Himiko's lab!" Miu exclaimed. "I don't know what it is, but that's what he told us before going back to help Kaito."

"But we also need to investigate the rest of the building for evidence about Keebo's case..." Kokichi said.

"Then Kokichi and I will investigate the building itself while you two go to the lab." Kirumi suggested.

"There's no time to waste! Shuichi, let's go!" the street artist immediately made her way to the black and white door, the violinist following her.

He had forgotten how long those stairs were, but this wasn't the time to complain.

The star-patterned door opened, and the two immediately spotted two gaping holes in the lab. One giving a direct view of the fight between Kaito and the bears in the courtyard, and another leading into a strange white room in the back of the lab.

They entered and saw sixteen cabins attached to powerful-looking machines.

"What the hell are these?!" Miu approached one of them. "And why do they feel... familiar?"

She stepped inside. Only one person could fit in these. But before she knew it, the thing shut, trapping her in. "Hey! Let me out!"

Shuichi panicked. "Miu!"

He inspected the machine, but it seemed nothing was of use. His eyes darted on all sides of the room and then found a red button in the back.

Emergency shutdown system Do not press if the person inside is not in immediate danger.

The violinist did not think and immediately slammed the button.

The cabin Miu was in immediately opened, letting out some steam.

The girl stumbled out of it, a hand on her forehead. "Ugh..."

Shuichi went by her side to support her. "Are you okay?"

She rubbed her eyes. "I... I don't know, but..."

"I remember."

Shuichi's eyes widened. "Remember what?"

She glanced around the room. "We were here... We were trapped in those... I don't know for how much time but we were here at some point..."

He frowned. "For the Gofer project?"

"Yes! But... Is it, really? Rantaro and Ryoma confirmed the Gofer project was a lie, so... Why?"

Vague memories resurfaced in Shuichi's mind. He had been in this room, once. But now he wasn't so sure.

Were other people with him? Familiar faces?

Nothing was clear, and all the memories felt like they were drowned in a sea of white noise.

"I mean, I do remember being here and... I think I do remember seeing you guys but everything is so fuzzy..." she said, before gripping her head. "Ugh. My head hurts."

Obtained truth bullet! Familiar cabins

Shuichi narrowed his eyes. "Perhaps we should think about it later... There are so many places we need to explore."

He glanced at the file on the table near them. "Perhaps this could help us?"

The two approached the papers and started reading them.

It seemed to be some sort of summary.

Gofer Project Participant List

- Akamatsu Kaede - Amami Rantaro - Chabashira Tenko - Gokuhara Gonta - Harukawa Maki - Hoshi Ryoma - Idabashi Tatsuya - Iruma Miu - Momota Kaito - Ouma Kokichi - Saihara Shuichi - Shinguji Korekiyo - Shirogane Tsumugi - Tojo Kirumi - Yonaga Angie - Yumeno Himiko

Miu frowned. "Who the fuck is Tatsuya Idabashi?!"

Shuichi was just as confused. "And why isn't Keebo on this list? He was one of us!"

The two glanced at each other, trying to apprehend what was in front of them.

"... And here I thought we were looking for answers."

"Now we just have more questions."

"Great."

Obtained truth bullet! Gofer project participant list

Miu paused for a moment. "Hold on."

Shuichi pondered as well. The list looked a bit too odd for his liking.

The girl stared at the unknown name for a moment. "Do you think... This guy is the person we're looking for?"

"You know, the mastermind?"

Shuichi jumped. They had theorized the mastermind was not actually someone in the survivor group because Kiyo had not been suspicious of any of them, no matter how much he studied them.

That added to the fact that Kokichi's karma never seemed to have hit them despite all of the horrible things they had done.

But somehow, this felt... wrong.

Even after all this time, he was still praying that the mastermind was not any of his friends. And yet when an unknown name magically shows up and could solve all of his problems, he couldn't bring himself to assume the worst of them.

"I don't think we should automatically assume that... We don't even know who he is."

"But think about it, Shuichi!" Miu exclaimed. "Someone who didn't participate in the killing game with us, who is probably hiding somewhere in the academy! Someone we've never heard of before now, that's him for sure!"

"We don't know that yet! Monokuma could have just added that name on the list to throw us off for all we know!"

Miu paused. "That's..." she frowned, pondering to herself for a moment. "... not actually impossible."

She flipped the pages to see the mysterious person.

A black and white picture was provided, but they did not recognize this face.

The boy had little to no hair and looked rather scrawny and weak. He almost looked younger than them.

Tatsuya Idabashi - Ultimate robotics engineer

Day of birth: 29/10 Gender: Male

Height: 168 cm Weight: 55kg Blood type: O

Family: None

Value: Essential Role: Ensuring the safety of the structure itself by doing regular check-ups, as well as educating the rest of the group about his skills to ensure a safer journey. Will also be maintaining the exisals in check.

Status: Dead

Shuichi stared at the profile with concern. "What? He's... dead?"

Miu shook her head. "I don't even know what I expected, but dead...?"

He hummed. "If this profile was made before the game, then there's no way he is the mastermind..."

"Didn't you say we couldn't trust anything Monokuma gives us like two minutes ago?"

Fair.

"But still... I don't think this profile comes out of nowhere."

Miu sighed. "We better find new info because whoever the fuck this guy is, I do not trust him."

He didn't either, but it was too early to assume things.

Obtained truth bullet! Tatsuya Idabashi

They looked around the room, but nothing else was worth inspecting.

"Let's not waste any more time here, the others need us to investigate the rest of the academy." Miu started making her way out.

After going down the stairs -which was still a long way- they walked to the second floor. They quickly met Kirumi and Kokichi investigating the labs as much as they could.

"So? Anything new?" Kirumi asked.

"It's very weird, not gonna lie." Miu replied, blinking. "But for now we should keep investigating, I don't know how much longer Kaito and Monoshi will be able to hold back Monokuma and the monokubs."

Shuichi nodded. "How about you guys?"

"Check your monopads. Kokichi and I managed to unlock the previous files and clues we got from the third investigation, although it's not much." Kirumi explained.

"Sweet!" Miu smiled, taking out the tablet.

And true to their words, the file was available, and it looked exactly the same as the one they had back then.

Monokuma file #3 -updated-

The second victim is Keebo, the ultimate ???

The body was discovered in the entrance hall.

The estimated time of death is 8:00 AM.

The cause of death is unknown.

No injuries were noted in the victim’s body.

Obtained truth bullet! Monokuma file #3

"We're trying to find new clues, but... For now, we got next to nothing..." Kokichi muttered.

Shuichi hummed. "Maybe we should switch partners? Perhaps we'll get a fresh view of the case."

Miu clicked her tongue. "Gotcha." she turned to the mercenary. "Kirumi? Wanna continue with me?"

She nodded. "Of course. Let's go."

The two girls confidently headed further into the corridors. Somehow Shuichi could sense a powerful aura coming from these two.

"So... Where are we headed?" Kokichi took him out of his thoughts.

Shuichi put a finger on his chin, humming. "Where did you guys investigate?"

"Mainly the first and second floor... We might need to cover the basement, though."

He nodded. "Then let's go!"

The duo headed back to the first floor, but immediately after stepping in the main entrance, they stopped in their tracks.

One of the machines outside shot the main door and provoked a large explosion right in front of their faces.

The two coughed as the smoke dissipated. They noticed Monoshi, standing right outside the door, a cannon aimed at the floor.

That's only then that they realized there was a large hole almost right in front of their feet.

Shuichi approached the damage and realized there were stairs leading underground. "What on earth...?"

Monoshi stared at them with his glowing mechanical blue eye. "SECRET-ENTRANCE-UNLOCKED: UNDERGROUND-PASSAGEWAY. ONE-SECRET-ENTRANCE-REMAINING."

The bear immediately stormed off.

Kokichi and Shuichi stared at each other before looking down. "Is this where we're headed now?"

The corridor looked devoid of light, the darkness of the night not helping at all. He could see iron grids and cables, which gave him the impression that this was made as a last-minute addition.

The violinist took a step forward. "We have no choice. There must be answers waiting for us down here."

Kokichi nodded.

The two boys headed down. Hopefully, they would find the solutions to the problems that the investigation itself made them aware of, as well as the truth of Keebo's death.

"It's our goal to seek the truth and we have no time to waste."

#ndrv3 #danganronpa v3 #ndrv3 au #beta au #main story

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childofsolace-write-ups · 3 years

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[ARC ONE: REUNION]

INTRODUCTION

In the first year, thinking about it now, it was probably already starting then. There was no disaster, but I think it had been hinting on something, about an end that was to come. It was completely dark that night, we thought it was just some kind of an eclipse. But this one was a little strange. It was eerily quiet. I was scared. My baby sister was scared. Hell, my parents were scared. But then, they said it would be okay.

Like always, for every single day of our life, the sun would come up again, shine upon Gaea, and things will go back to normal.

Was I ever wrong.

You know what they say, right? Don't look at an eclipse straight in the eye. It could ruin your eyes? Well, when the sun came, it was so much worse. Anyone who walked out was burned... No, incinerated. Just like that, stepping outside and they spontaneously combust on the spot. The world thought it was just some new phenomenon. Scientists were trying to figure out why it happened. It took a whole year, but nothing came up for their trouble.

Then six more years followed, each one bringing forth a different kind of terror. The weather was unpredictable; countries that never experienced snow suddenly started experiencing hailstorms, leading up to terrible geo-storms. Insects invaded farms and destroyed their produce. Wildlife got infected with some unknown substance until them finally became creatures that look more like monsters we read only ever read about in stories, or watch about it movies.

And that was just the beginning of where everything went completely wrong...

/Trent Everhart/.Transmission over.//Year 70/

Once, people flourished and made a living above land. The resources were abundant. But then again, so were the humans who needed them.

Soon, 'Natural' lost its meaning, 'Artificial' replaced it. Machinery operations ran the daily lives of people, flowers and plants were faked serving as decorations, tall buildings took the place of tall trees in rain forests. Most factors considered natural can only be seen through microscopes.

But nature took its own course and returned with vengeance. Cosmic debris crash landed from above, causing an explosion that plagued the entire planet. It polluted the atmosphere and strange side effects started revealing themselves. Animals and vegetations alike were most susceptible to these changes. They attacked humans, nearly wiping out the entire species. Unable to thoroughly explain how this happened, scientists, without sufficient evidence, wrote it off as radioactive particles causing severe chemical changes to earth's living inhabitants.

But humans were smart, they were animals in their own way. They strive for survival.

Using the historical underground city of Derinkuyu as a reference they created a modernized type and with their latest state of the art technology they expanded it even further from two hundred feet to one thousand feet. For this purpose, unbeknown to the public, a life under the surface of the Earth was being prepared for them. Unlike the Derinkuyu however, they had the materials and technology to have metallic interiors and bunker units for dwelling. A large, nine hundred meter metallic ventilation shaft was constructed, filtering the carbon from above to be breathable oxygen air. The shaft also provided water to both the villagers above and, if the outside world was not accessible, to those in hiding.

Eventually, anyone not affected by the atmosphere were evacuated to underground cities right before the atmosphere could become too unpredictable and prove hazardous to their lives. A new system of governance was created. Since the underground cities in all part of the world were interconnected one way or another, they all decided to use a unified language starting then. 'Councillors' is the term referred to leaders chosen in each division, the word country becoming obsolete.

Guards who were obligated to inspect the surface level regularly were given Hi-tech contamination suits with advanced, state-of-the-art filters as to not be be affected by the atmosphere since anyone exposed to the atmosphere is banned from re-entering the cities. Some people died due to open wounds exposed to the atmosphere's strange particles.

Soon, humans engaged in a new form of living, but not without encountering troubles along the way.

The fear of being unable to distribute provisions without having shortages became prominent. This led the Councilors to convene altogether and come up with a radical solution. They decided to send back to the surface anyone they classify as worthless or a liability. More than a thousand orphaned, disabled, and jobless individuals were sent back up on the first release. It did not really matter to them if they survived or not, it was inconsequential as long as their survival was assured. In the years that followed, this became a normal routine. With the initial liabilities released, all the present releases were orphaned children. Then again, as one hero once stated in the History of the Surface, "The Youth is the hope of the nation", there came a generation of hope.

It was not planned, it wasn't an intention. It just happened.

Of the first batch of releases that only involved orphans, only eight had survived the harsh environment of the regressed and primitive state that the surface had been reduced to. Together, they survived and now thrive to make a living once more above ground, as humans were really meant to be.

Still, the Underground city was not to be ignored. And perhaps, it is to be reminded, who the true enemy really is.

::TREY::

The forest is quiet.

That's your first clue. Even on the surface, even given that most of the Earth's living creatures got wiped out within weeks of it happening, things should never be This quiet.

You'll never know; something dangerous could be trying to hide itself.

"I think this is where I found it."

I give a jolt when Lexie spoke behind me. I completely forgot she was there. With the silence, it was easy to think I was alone. "Keep your voice down," I whisper. "we don't know what might be out there."

"Trey," Kytes whispers back. "wouldn't it be better to just use telepathy? We wouldn't be making any sound."

I sigh, "Kyi that would be using our signature and if there is any bad Mana around here, that would set things off, like an open flame to gas leaks." I rub my forehead. "C'mon, we've been over this a thousand times. You're lucky it's not Rhys reminding you."

Kytes scratches his head. "Oh, yeah..."

"Been here for eight years, you would think you'd have that memorized by now." Lexie teases playfully. "It's survival 101."

Oh really? I think sarcastically. Like she's one to talk about survival 101. Half the time, Corrin's the ones reminding her of our protocols...

Kytes looks a little sheepish. "People can be forgetful, it happens..."

"Okay, shut it already you two." They weren't really making any real noise, but I knew Lexie's tendencies and once you got her talking, it might be harder to get her to stop. "Kytes's idea was good just too bad for that small detail. Now we should keep quiet." Like I was making any noise, though. "Let's get a move on, keep alert for anything that doesn't feel right."

"Heh, I forgot how uptight Trey can be..."

I huff in irritation but chose not to respond. She calls it being uptight, I call it instinct. It was very important after all, especially in terms of surviving the surface's unpredictability. We, the ones left, have gotten pretty good in relying on instincts. It's about the only warning you get up here.

The forest is very unusual even if it looks like any other forest. For one thing, I'm not even sure it can be called a forest, at least not a natural one, given that it's growing in the middle of what used to be a town. The road is cracked by numerous roots, and most of the buildings have trees growing out of them. Their walls could be hiding any number of things. The forest itself is the oddest thing. Many years ago, this was a thriving metropolis, full of people, tourists, machines—now it's home to trees that look like they've been there a good fifty years at least. This is one of the most immediate changes caused by the strange atmosphere when the phenomenon had first spread out through the entire globe. The landscape got warped beyond all recognition in the early days. That's why so many people died...

Like mom and dad.

"Oh!" Lexie cries and stops in her tracks.

I turn towards her. "Shh!" I snap. "Alexis, jeez."

"But Trey, this is where I found it. Only..."

Kytes scans the area. "Well, it's not here now."

"Quiet, the creature that pissed might still be around." I face Lexie. "And you're sure the piss was the non-absorbent type?"

We have to watch where or what we step into. Because if, for instance, you got an open wound and you stepped into a puddle with urine in it and that wound happens to get infected as well then it could mean something really bad. The Rabid animals up here are so messed up that even a slight contact with their shit may turn fatal for us. Luckily, only the Rabid Animals have urinal waste that have a touch of color so it's easy to figure which ones are the non-absorbent type. We try to get rid of those because prevention was better than cure.

"Well, it was a pool on the ground, all purpley and molted. I watched it for a while, it didn't seem like it was going away." Lexie combs strands of black hair away from her face. "So I thought..."

Kytes shrugs. "It's either something else absorbed it, or it really was absorbent after all and just needed more time to soak in."

"Maybe. So then, should we just—EWW, GROSS!"

"What is it—OH YUCK!"

I swat them both to remind them to be quiet and made a mental note to give them extra kitchen clean up duty. Really, do they want a death wish?

"It's just a skeleton—" an animal's. We don't see human skeletons since the earlier days, when we made it a point to try and bury the ones we still could out of respect. "you've seen them before."

"I know—but they're usually not THAT fresh." Lexie frowns.

I have to agree, it's isn't the prettiest thing I've seen. Even the other skeletons weren't as bad. It looked like someone's halfway eaten meal...

Wait.

"Quiet. See if you can hear anything."

Lexie leans back against a tree, Kytes crouches by a bush with me, and we stay still as possible listening out for anything unusual. I know there's something not right here. No animal noises, no birds. Then there's that heavy oppressive silence as though we're being watched very closely. A light breeze blows my fringe into my eyes and I bat it out of the way, frowning. The feeling something being wrong is stronger than ever.

Wait.

The breeze.

It should have rustled the leaves on the trees too. Yet there was no noise. I look up at the tree tops. They're perfectly still. Even as another breeze stirs the forest. Why would that be? Unless the trees are watching us?

I look around the Clearing.

Now that I think about it, the trees do seem slightly closed together than they were. As I watch, an oak sends a root trailing over! What could they be doing?

Unless... The Skeleton.

"RUN!" I grab Kytes and haul him after me, jumping over the oak root and out of the circle of trees.

"Woah now! Trey—what?"

Kytes doesn't have to finish his sentence. A large branch is suddenly in front of us and I'm unable to stop from tripping over it. A root winds itself around my ankle. Kytes is now full aware of the attack as more follow, breaking the surface of the ground to wrap themselves around us.

"I thought they only moved that fast with time lapse photography!"

Kytes takes his survival knife out. "I think this is a bit more serious than time lapse photography!"

Before I could bring out my own Cutlass, some vines grab hold of my forearm. The blond slashes off with precision he mastered, perfectly avoiding cutting my flesh. Lexie wields her double-edged Naginata to cut off vines stretching down from above. I'm still amazed how a girl like her who used to whine about missing cosmetics and other pointless stuff is now so skilled in combat. I think Lexie's weapon type came from some Asian country. I forgot which one. Actually, I even forgot what our own country was called. It seemed like such a long time ago that we used the term country.

I am once again forever grateful of Rhys's brilliant mind. Back then, we could count the weapons we had available to us with two hands. But once we got older, or more to the point, when Rhys got older and smarter, he made used of some books he found to create bladed weapons once we found a steel forging factory. And he had enough books to show him how to forge weapons of different origins. He taught us how to make our own, but most of the time they were poor attempts compared to what Rhys can craft. Now any weapons we need for ourselves and those who keeps coming can be easily accessed and made... Well, maybe not easily made since they still required a lot of effort, but at least we don't have to keep scavenging for usable weapons now. Sure, we could use all those guns and ammunition we got in storage, but we all agreed to save those for a time we might really need to them. Besides, at least with bladed weapons, there's no worries for a shortage of ammunition.

"Kytes, Trey! Do something, they keep coming!"

Kytes slashes his knife to an incoming vine before jumping back. "Uh, and you don't call what we're doing something?" He jumps over a root.

"Less talking, more attacking!" I snap, finishing off the hostile roots at my side and rush to aid Lexie. I make it in time to keep a giant flower bud from chomping her head clean off, barely missing the launch of purple goo it spat out. "Wah?!" I yelp, twirling my head around for a double take, seeing the goo boil through a bush as if it were acid or something, which explained the skeleton. "Okay. Rabid Vegetation's Gastric acid. Just as bad as a Rabid Animal's piss."

Lexie grunts, using her weapon as leverage to get up. "Noted. Next time, try saving my skin without pushing me. I twisted my ankle."

Okay, that was my bad. But it was that or being plant feed. At least she didn't break skin and bleed. Although uncertain, Corrin says fatality is possible if open wounds were exposed to loose Mana energy for more than ten minutes, and I forgot to make sure that we brought bandages with us. That's one strike of careless act for the day. I try to keep that to a minimum, the maximum being three. As the Leader, being extra cautious is an expectation.

"Trey! Help me out here!"

I spin around and saw vines lifting Kytes up, his knife lay useless on the ground. I rush towards him.

By duty, I was responsible for everyone up here as their leader.

As a friend, I was responsible for the blond, I was indebted to him.

When my sister was sick on the day we were going to be released to the surface, he took her place. I also owe it to his older brother, my best friend, who was now taking care of her back in the Underground city.

The vines were so thick that I couldn't slice through it with my Cutlass. I had to use the other way, but how can I with Kytes still in its clutches? A vine grips around my arm and I wince in pain as it tightens on my radius.

"TREY!"

Before I was fully aware of it there was fire flooding all my senses. I lashed out in rage, only vaguely aware of the beeping on my wrist that reminds me to take it easy. The vines holding up Kytes fall away in front of me. Luckily, the blond looked unharmed.

"Get out of the way!"

Thankfully, Kytes seemed to get what was about to happen. He grabs his knife and rolls out of the way. Good, I did not want to be misunderstood now. The two did not take their eyes off me as they back away. I concentrate where I want to have the flames to burst out and the results were no less effective. The Vegetable mutations draws back, leaving us unscathed except for Lexie's twisted ankle, which Corrin can heal no problem. I concentrate on pulling my power back. I look at the device fashioned like a watch that was strapped on my wrist, indicating my energy's exertion level. I see that it's stable and I join the two out of the clearing. Kytes helps her up and supports her weight.

"Code Red?"

I sigh, nodding. "Yes. We had far too many incidents this week alone, this being the twelfth. It's about that time again," It was a little frustrating. Rhys just got a filter working so we could fill a pool with clean water. I guess we have to make the most of it while we're still here. "I don't want anyone hunting till we move. We still have meat stocked so it's not like we have to settle for the vegetables and fruits in Kytes's gardens."

"Hey," The blond scowls. "My produce aren't that bad... are they?"

I smirk. "No Kytes, but if there's a chance to have meat, we want to have some too." I pat his back. "Let's head back."

"Oh, but Trey—" Lexie's eyes rolls up a bit. It signals her using her tracking ability. She's like a built-in GPS system with that. I don't really get it, but she can sense another person's or thing's Mana and Rhys has a theory that the ones who use Mana in their own way also has a unique trademark, like a fingerprint, so to speak. It was a bit unnerving the first time she used it since all you see were her cornea, but if you knew her as long as we have, you get used to it. "—yeah, I sense three guys out hunting nearby already."

I roll my eyes, "Three," I mutter knowingly, and the two share similar looks. "the only one who can get away with not following the group count rule is Meeko, and only if he has Lori and one other person watching his back."

Back then, with the whole idea of 'The rule of three' and it being an optimal number, maybe it would've made sense. But when playing video games and I would choose Party members, to challenge myself, I would pick three only; the MC would still get enough experience points and two characters would be enough to support him in battle. But this isn't a video game with a restart button. Normally when we send out groups for hunts, Five was the permitted number. It's too dangerous any less. Meeko can get away with it since his ability was multiplying himself. Usually, Meeko did most of the work to get it out of his system, being one of those always hyped-up types. Granted, he is one of our best hunters which we would all acknowledge often if he wasn't so rash and impulsive at times. This brings me to his better half, or more reasonable twin brother, Lori who normally didn't like fighting. Unless something or someone he cares for is in danger, he can be provoked to act though.

In our case, well, I thought the three of us would be enough for the Urinal extraction since we weren't really expecting a fight since this wasn't a hunt for food and we are still pretty much near the base, but I guess I didn't account for the fact that trouble would be the one hunting us. Even two persons used to be enough for extractions, but perhaps I neglected to take into consideration the level of experience. Previously, those two persons doing extractions had been either Rhys and myself or Leon and Jonah, the latter pair being eldest of our entire group. I only grabbed Kytes and Lexie this time because they were immediately available, and while I did not question their experience, Kytes was more adept to scouting, and that entailed evasive action, staying in a place only long enough to check its safety and avoiding combat as much as possible. Lexie was used to scavenging, which was gathering any useful items or materials after scouts deemed an area clear for occupying or searching. These two haven't seen combat as often as I have.

Damn, that's a second strike for me. "Where are they exactly?"

"A bit Northeast you'd get to that river, follow it downstream you'll make it to a clearing passed some thicket of bushes. Berry bushes, to be exact, not the good kind. They're at a glade of sorts..." Lexie smirks. "Well, at least the two not going crazy are. But I sense the third more crazier one of them is nearby."

Kytes laughs. "Just make it easier and call him who it most probably is. Even I can figure it's Meeko." he says.

"Okay, you two head back. I'll go fetch them. Kyi, after you take Lexie to the infirmary, go tell Rhys to prepare putting up some warning signs." I instruct. "Suggest Code 3." Carnivorous vegetation.

The blond nods. "Code 3, got it." He lifts Lexie, positioning her on his back in a way that can make him run faster. He takes off and I'm fairly impressed. He's fourteen carrying a sixteen year old while managing a running pace. I guess years of training does that.

I sheath my Cutlass and took off myself.

#ChildOfSolace Original

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tasteslikepepsicola · 4 years

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Somebody Else (Sodapop Curtis x Reader Part 5)

Part 4 - please read this before continuing

It all comes down to this, chemistry is chemistry. Soulmates, no matter how hard they fight it, are soulmates. At this turning point in the series, Y/N must face her feelings for both Sodapop and Steve.

Word Count: 1,400+

Warnings: none except (SPOILER: *slight cheating*)

Authors Note: I can’t express how much the support on this series has meant to me. I know this isn’t a super huge fandom the way others are, but I think this community is one of the most supportive and amazing out there. I am so thankful for this series for allowing me to escape from reality and live vicariously through these characters, and I really hope its allowed you to do the same. There will be one more part after this, as of right now, but I’m already emotional about no longer writing for these characters and this storyline. (I will continue to write for the outsiders, but most likely not with this storyline after the next part.) I’m sorry this took so long to put out, school has just been keeping me really busy lately. I love you all so much, and it would mean the world to me if you could leave a note and share <3 you’re amazing. Thank you. Hope you love it as much as I do.

A week had passed since the party, and Y/N had seemingly spent every waking minute with Steve. The gang joked that they were attached at the hip. Funnily enough, when Steve and Y/N were around, Sodapop seemed to never be.

They were always touching in some way, Steve held his arm around her, or placed his hand on the small of her back, or she held his hand, tightening her grip every now and then, her way of telling him she loved him without having to vocalize it.

Although she didn’t realize until much later, that physical contact must have been her clinging to what she knew could be lost in an instant, a superficial love.

One particular night, the gang had decided to all meet up at the Curtis’ house to watch a movie.

“I don’t think we should,” Y/N tried to reason one more time as they were walking out the door.

“It will be fine, Y/N, I’m sure Sodapop won’t even be there.” Steve tried to sooth her worries.

“And if he is?” she inquired.

“He’s a big boy, I think he can tolerate our presence for one night.” he quipped.

Y/N didn’t want to start an argument, so with a sick feeling in her stomach, she let Steve lead her to his car.

The drive over was agonizing. Y/N shivered remembering the last night the whole gang was together, doing their usual thing, watching a movie and chatting, until-

“Y/N!” Steve announced loudly.

She shook her head to rid her mind of the troubled thoughts. “What- uh sorry, what?” she stuttered.

“We’re here. I was trying to get your attention for a while. Everything alright babe?”

He truly was not good at picking up her signals. Sometimes she just wished he could understand her the way Sodapop had.

“I- no, it’s fine. Let’s go, we’re already late.”

She didn’t wait for him to open her door, she did it herself and dashed up the stairs. He slowly approached her from behind, the two of them staring at the door. Y/N stood their with her arms crossed.

“Should we knock?” she asked.

“No,” he shook his head, “I mean- it’s Sod- uh, the Curtis’ house, we don’t have to knock, right?”

Before they could decide, Dallas thundered up the stairs behind them.

“Hey lovebirds!” he cried. Greeting Steve and pulling Y/N into a strong embrace.

“I’ve missed you guys, where you been?” he asked.

“Oh you know, here and there.” Y/N stated.

“We were at a party last week, Dallas? You stupid or something? Or did you just get out of the cooler again?” Steve teased.

“Watch your mouth, man.” he joked.

Again, another thundering boom of someone coming up the steps behind them. This time it was Two-Bit and Johnny.

They exchanged hellos before Two-Bit finally said, “What are we still doing out here for?” and opening up the door and walking straight in with no hesitation.

The rest of the gang followed, and were greeted with a smiling Ponyboy and Darry.

No Sodapop, then. Y/N breathed a sigh of relief. At least now she could try to enjoy her night.

*****

Y/N sat curled up on Steves lap, sharing a blanket. The rest of the gang was spread out across the room, filling up the couch and floor.

“I’ll be right back,” Y/N kissed Steve on the cheek, and climbed her way off the couch, making her way to the bathroom.

She turned the corner and walked down the hallway, and stood outside the bathroom door for a minute. She was about to go in when she stopped her hand from turning the knob. A part of her wanted to, no- needed to just take a peak in Sodapop’s room. She would be quick, no one would even notice she was gone. She just wanted to smell his familiar scent that lingered on his things. She wanted to feel close to him, even artificially, just for a second.

She entered the room with the single bed, bookshelves full of Ponyboy’s favorite novels, and the nightstand and dresser Sodapop filled with little nick nacks. She inspected the small tokens of memories that lay scattered along the dresser’s surface. She turned over a coin from an arcade, rolled the small model car around for a second, until her gaze stopped on a small black box. She wanted nothing more than to open it up and see what was inside, and maybe she might have, had she not been interrupted.

“So you’re stalking me now, then?” The handsome greaser leaned up against the doorway, watching amused.

Y/N jumped back a bit. “How long have you been there?”

“Long enough to know you’re a lot more nosy then I remember.” he quipped.

Y/N sighed, before making her way to the doorway, wanting nothing more than to go back to watching the movie and cuddling with Steve.

“Excuse me, you’re in my way.” she crossed her arms, feigning annoyance.

“Am I?” He gently placed a hand on her arm, moving himself out of her way.

“Well I apologize.” he said sarcastically.

She scowled, beginning to walk away, deep down wishing he would follow after her.

Just ask me to stay. Don’t let me walk away again. She thought to herself.

“Y/N.”

She stopped in her tracks, turning around immediately, hope in her eyes.

And, devastatingly, he looked at her with that same look, his eyes begging her to stay.

“Can we just... talk?” he almost whispered his voice was so soft.

Wordlessly, Y/N stepped back into his room, taking a seat awkwardly on the bed. She stared back at him, waiting for him to say something.

“I don’t really know what to say…” he trailed off.

“Well, you wanted to talk, so talk.” she didn’t hide the annoyance in her voice.

Yes, she wanted to talk, of course she did, how could she not? But how could she not still be mad? After everything he put her through the past few weeks, she couldn’t pretend everything was fine.

“Okay, I miss you.” he says.

“What?” Y/N looked up at him, softening her expression, suddenly losing all sense of anger, tearing down the wall she had tried putting up. She was stupid to think Sodapop wouldn’t see right through her. They both knew at the end of the day, they needed each other.

“Please, just tell me you miss me too.” his voice breaks. “God- just lie to me, please. I can’t keep living like this.” he leaned against the wall, tossing his head back.

“Of course I miss you Sodapop, it kills me that I don’t get to see you.” her voice gets louder, frustration building. “Do you think now that I’m with Steve I just forgot about you? That I don’t still see you when I close my eyes at night and I can’t sleep?” tears welled in her eyes.

“I loved you and just disappeared from my life.” she said meekly.

“I couldn’t stay.”

“Where were you?”

“Anywhere you weren’t.”

“Why? Why did you just abandon me?”

“Because, Y/N.” he moved his arms dramatically, the way he always did when upset.

“Why?” she was almost yelling, no longer caring if anyone could hear them.

“Because I still love you. And I can’t bare to see you with somebody else.”

Silence. Neither moved. Until finally, Y/N made her way over to the moviestar handsome boy, placing her hands on both sides of his face, and connecting their lips.

Fireworks.

A fire set ablaze.

An explosion big enough to destroy all of Tulsa.

There was no way to describe the kiss other than life ruining, life saving, catastrophic, beautiful, and true.

He immediately reciprocated. The spark they had been fighting so long was lit ablaze, they were burning up, their flames consuming each other and everything around them.

He held her up as her knees buckled, too overwhelmed by emotion to even stand on her own two feet. Their lips didn’t disconnect for a second, it was like they were living in their own universe. One where they needed to stay like this forever to survive, one where life without the other didn’t exist.

Y/N’s head spun as she finally had to pull away.

“I need to go,” she whispered.

“Please don’t leave. I can’t lose you again.” Sodapop begged.

“You never could.” she grabbed his hand.

She placed her forehead against his, murmuring, “I love you.”

“I love you, always.” he replied.

“Always,” she said, before walking away one last time.

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vulpinmusings · 4 years

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Ski’tar and Friends part 20: Show Stoppers of Songbird

This week, Ski��tar, Vemir, and 6 attend the biggest concert event of the year.

Part one Previously Archive

Following our mission to Apostae, we took a couple of days to rest and restock. Vemir decided to get a prosthetic arm to replace the one he’d been missing since before we first met. As he was showing it off to us, we received a rare surprise: actual physical mail. There was an envelope of each of us, and inside were invitations to join Zigvigix in attending a Strawberry Machine-cake concert, one of the biggest entertainment events of the Pact-year. Since it would be a nice change of pace, and because Vemir is a massive closeted fan of the band (he was trying too hard not to look interested through the whole event), we decided to accept the offer.

Our hopes for a relaxing day of no trouble were dashed the morning of the concert, when Historia-7 commed us for a last-minute mission. By happenstance, Historia had tracked one of the mystery people hiding behind Arch-energy Consortium to a private villa attached to Songbird Station, the very venue where SMC was performing. Since Vemir, 6, and I were going to be in the area anyway, Hisroria wanted us to hunt down the man and grill him for everything he knows, and to do so without letting Ziggy know about it. It seems our Shirren friend’s depression over the Scored Stars incident has interacted poorly with some augments he has and put him at a high risk for a stroke if he were to get too stressed by, say, his favorite band’s concert being ruined by shenanigans.

I was very close to refusing to work on a “vacation,” but my friends just agreed to the task and I wasn’t about to leave them hanging.

Songbird Station is built out of an asteroid and probably had a past life as some sort of temple, given the slap-dash way the technology was set up behind the scenes. But I’m getting ahead of myself. As our shuttle was making its final approach, Ziggy showed us a hologram of the friends he’d lost at Scored Stars and revealed his desire to ask Strawberry Machine-cake to put on a public tribute of sorts for them after the show.

The lobby was packed with beings of all descriptions, creating a living sea of pink and red, loud music, and spontaneous dance parties. After making sure Ziggy was properly distracted by the fan activities, 6, Vemir, and I held a quick conference to decide how to go about locating our target, Lansio. I hacked a computer to see if he was on some sort of guest list, but came up empty, so we tried to find someone official-looking to ask. We chose a harried-looking security guard who was posted by the door to the maintenance and station power area, but as we tried to make our way over we got caught up in a dance mob. Well, 6 and I got caught in it. In the name of maintaining cover, we bowed to the mob’s pressure and danced for a bit. Well, 6 danced and won himself a t-shirt. I tripped over myself.

You’d think an Ysoki would be more naturally agile than an android…

There was another momentary detour as I bumped into a tele-view done with a misaligned balance gyro and felt compelled to fix it for the sake of the Ysoki using it to attend the concert remotely. He transferred me some credits for my trouble, so that was a nice bonus.

We reached the security guard as he was arguing with a couple of lashunta about needing to apply pacification mods to their weapons. When the lashunta left, Vemir went up and offered up his sniper rifle for pacification, and 6 and I followed suit with Sixer’s sword and my laspistol. Having thus charmed our way into the guard’s good graces, we asked him if he knew Lansio. He told us Lansio had a villa in the residential section, but didn’t know if he was home.

Right then, the power went out for a couple seconds. When asked, the guard told us that had been happening intermittently in the last few hours and no technicians had gone to check on it yet. Concerned about Ziggy’s health and remembering a similar problem from Elytrio, I convinced the guard to let us into the maintenance area to check the station’s power generator.

After heading through a hallway thick with wires that had been strung onto the walls and ceiling, we entered the reactor room to find three strange, pale figures that were glowing and seemed to have only a passing familiarity with the concept of materiality. For lack of a better identifier, I termed them “Gremlins” for their child-like but innately destructive nature. They were clustered around the reactor, chattering among themselves, until 6 got their attention. They spoke of the reactor as if it were an egg about to hatch, and then one of them came up and poked me. Its finger phased into my chest and I felt something in me change in a most unpleasant way.

I flipped out and shot the gremlin. While my laspistol had been pacified, it still somehow set the thing on fire. It laughed as if being tickled, and its two buddies started to advance on Sixer and Vemir, curious what would happen if they got touched.

We weren’t going to have any of that, of course, but defending ourselves proved difficult because the gremlins kept phasing through things and easily reforming from being sliced or shot through. Toosie managed to hold the first Gremlin’s attention away from me and whatever had changed in me decided to pop out and off me, but Vemir got mutated twice – first with some kind of external and very stinky gland and later with a second set of eyes – and Sixer’s hand was changed into a bio-mechanical claw. The scuffle only ended when one of the Gremlins got the idea of jumping into the reactor and 6 seized the controls to keep the power stable. That gremlin wound up evaporating, and the other two quickly surrendered when I told Toosie to try dragging one of them to the reactor.

The gremlins promised to stop playing around, but said the reactor had already been messed with by someone else and was building up to something. I took over the controls from 6 and took a look at the code. I found a foreign algorithm, but I couldn’t make much sense of it because it involved a lot of magic. What I did manage to decipher revealed a process to vent the atmosphere out of the villa owned by Lansio.

Vemir cut the stinky gland off of himself, but couldn’t do anything about his new eyes despite them being so light-sensitive that he was effectively blind. We guided him back out to the lobby and over to the gift-shop area to buy a bandanna to cover the eyes. We then forded the sea of fans to reach the entrance to the private villa section. Vemir had to shove off an over-enthusiastic collector of SMC merch and I was waylaid by another dance mob and, rather make a further fool of myself, I had Toosie bull through the crowd so I could continue walking. Somebody found that to be a crime worthy of throwing a full can of soda at my head, but I shrugged it off. Vemir then wound up playing taxi for three little snake-like girls for a bit and earned a crystal headdress for his trouble.

The door to the villa area was only blocked by a simple rope and nobody that we passed inside gave us more than a brief glance, so we had no trouble getting to Lansio’s address. Nobody answered my polite knock, but Vemir heard frantic movement inside, so we invited ourselves in.

Lansio was working hurriedly at a laptop, so 6 rushed up and threw him against the wall. I moved up in the android’s wake and checked the computer, quickly determining that it had been rigged to explode. As Toosie and Vemir came in and took up positions, an attack drone like the ones we’d fought and obtained from the bad weapons deal emerged from a hidden spot in the wall.

Lansio drew a cane-sword and tried to attack me, but I blocked the blow with my prosthetic arm and decided to take the laptop to a less busy part of the villa to disarm it. Toosie and 6 busied themselves trying to subdue Lansio and get the wrist-watch I would need to finish my work, while Vemir tore the attack drone apart with his retractable wrist-spike. In short order, Toosie got the watch for me, the drone was disabled, and 6 had thrown Lansio out the back door. I disarmed the laptop’s explosive countermeasures, but the data it held had already been wiped.

6 started to drag Lansio back inside for questioning, until I reminded him that the place might still lose atmosphere at any moment. Vemir handled most of the interrogation. Lansio didn’t know anything about the malicious code and the only name he had for his boss was “the Benefactor,” but it was at least something.

We debated a bit about what to do with Lansio, weighing the risks of leaving him to alert his compatriots to what had occurred against the difficulty of getting him back to the Society without tipping Ziggy off to our mission. Finally, we decided to kick the problem upstairs into Historia’s lap. After we filled her in, she said she had some strings she could pull to have station security handle Lansio for us. She also told us that the malcious magic-code had a degree of artificial intelligence and was trying to escape into the info-sphere. It was currently contained inside the holographic projectors being used for Strawberry Machine-cake’s show, and so long as it was there we would be able to “kill” it by destroying the hologram that it would inhabit.

We rushed back to the theater area and used out Starfinder credentials to get backstage in the hopes of being able to deal with the evil hologram before the show began. Unfortunately, according the band manager, there simply wasn’t time for that and the show simply could not be delayed. Our only option was to battle the hologram on-stage as a pre-show performance, with SMC providing a musical back-drop.

It was the coliseum of Brilliance Station all over again, but there was no other option, so I accepted the holo-costume projectors given to me and walked out with Vemir and 6 to hopefully not make a complete fool of myself.

The malicious code decided to take the form of a giant pink robot armed with a plasma sword and large rifle. When the music started up, the thing struck a pose before engaging us, which was a nice touch.

I opened with a couple of grenades that bounced off and exploded harmlessly, while 6 landed a good shot with his frostbite rifle and Vemir sniped it in the head. The hologram-bot reeled to the beat before momentarily shifting into a tank-like form and unleashing a shockwave of electricity that knocked Toosie over.

As my drone picked itself, up, Vemir and I moved to flank the bot while 6 hacked at it with his sword and got smacked by the large plasma sword in response. Toosie and 6 then hacked at the bot’s feet until it fell to its knees, and Vemir blasted it with his arc pistol, to great effect.

In a desperate position, the hologram raised its rifle and fired in an arc that hit everyone but me, and the Vemir took it out with another arc pistol shot to the head. The hologram exploded in a shower of sparks and a wave of electricity, and the lights went down as the music stopped.

After a moment to raise the audience’s tension, the lights came back up to reveal a large holographic image of Zigvigix’s lost friends, and Strawberry Machine-cake’s lead, Captain Carmine, came out to deliver a moving tribute to those Starfinders lost to Scored Stars. At this point, I figured that Historia had pulled a few more strings than she’d implied to us, for the sake of Ziggy.

Vemir, 6, and I were given an unprompted moment to say something, which we muddled through, and then we quickly got off the stage so the actual show could go on.

We made our way into the audience to join Zigvigix, gave him some vague explanations, and finally got to enjoy the show.

Afterward, the band gave us some of their merchandise along with some actually useful gifts. We had to fend off some reporters looking for details of what had happened before we could get onto out shuttle and return to Absalom Station.

I complained a lot throughout this adventure, but looking back on it now, it wasn’t really that much of a headache. At least, after putting aside the mutations caused by those gremlins.

#ski'tar #Starfinder #Vulpin plays

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whiskeyworen · 5 years

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Fateful Encounter

She moved through the heat-baked walls of the facility with a fluidity and confidence she didn't feel inside. How could she? Not with that-- nnghhh! The moment her mind turned its focus away from its goal, Moryggan felt the vicious mental slap across her psyche. The pain was shaped in just such a way, drawn from her own memories. Memories of the lightning lash that had stripped a permanent scar along her face, those few terrible years ago. The memory alone was enough to trigger shakes in her sword arm, and make her temple and cheek throb with sympathetic pain. Every time she disobeyed, It lashed her with the memory of that pain. The trauma, divested of the physical damage, but still intrinsically tied to the sensation of it. The perfect leash. She tried to whimper, pausing to lean against the sooty, scorched panels that made up the hallway she'd broken into, but It changed her reaction into a grunt and a grimace, before pulling her away from the wall. Continue, child. It's voice echoed in her mind. The first time she'd heard It, in the days after the Breachmaker went down, it had been a gutteral growl that shook her to her bones. It hadn't even spoken tyrian to her until a few hours later, and even then It was short with her.

Find it. Destroy it. It demanded. Whatever it was, It didn't declare what needed to be destroyed... only that it needed to be. And then It began to pull her along, like a child's toy on a string.

She'd been pulled, pulled so far from the Pale Tree. So far from home. Moryggan had crossed field and dale in Queensdale, Kessex Hills. She'd scaled the mountain paths through the hidden routes of Lornar's Pass at It's beckoning; the less people saw of her, the less someone might be inclined to ask her where she was going or why.

It wasn't that It wasn't capable of lying. It fully could and would. It merely felt no need to draw attention to her, and by proxy, Itself. Better to minimize contact.

At some point, frozen glacier had given way to scorched, ravaged landscape. Broken ruins, shattered walls, burned forests... she'd crossed them all without thinking clearly. Her mind was fuzzy with pain as It tugged her string. There were a few clear memories though.

She was reasonably sure, for instance, that somewhere in one of those scorched, ashen forests, she'd slipped up on a squad of Flame Legion and annihilated them without a second thought. There was the distinct impression in her mind of the smell of Charr blood as she'd drawn both her swords across the muscled neck of an opponent that had never seen her coming. Memories of staring across as her phantasms and magical clones did the same to the survivors of that squad.

The entire time, that thing in her head merely chuckled darkly, and then tugged her one way with the string it was pulling...and lashed her from the other side, to ensure her movement.

That string had grown into many, as it bound up her mind in its will and began to more directly control its puppet. Moryggan had tried to rail against it, tried to break away from the path she was being sent on, but as It became more familiar with her mind and body, her resistance began to abate. No...not abate. It was supressed under the weight of the Shadow in her mind. Its terrible, cruel weight.

She had to break free. But how? Moryggan tried to think clearly, to think of a plan before the next mental lashing. Her body was barely under her control. As long as she went where It ordered, it didn't lash her. It only spoke in a language she didn't understand, and she could feel its evil, vile tendrils stroking her mind and soul as if in affection; a reward for obeying properly. Moryggan grimaced, her hands reflexively going to her twinned swords and snapping them out of their belt loops. With a sharp flick of both wrists, the folded, jointed blades extended to their full length, their segments locking together with mechanical precision and presenting unified blade edges. There was something in the chamber ahead that It wanted gone. And there was someone there as well.

Find it. Destroy it. Kill any who stand in your way. It said in her mind as she silently stepped into the chamber. This time, the voice was much, much closer to her own in her head...

****

It stank. One thing he hated was when someplace stank. It was hard to compare, but situating a base above a lavapool, even as heavily vented and scrubbed as the air was, it still reeked of sulphur. The heat was phenomenal as well. Since the base had been abandoned, its coolant systems had been turned down to almost nil, so the air was a stifling furnace. If it weren't for the coolant systems in his suit, Cyrus would have been boiling. In a twist of irony, the temperature was just right for his pets; Dangles the jungle prowler and Dribbles the Cave Spider both came from high temperature environments, so other than disliking the smell of the place, they were both fairly comfortable. Cyrus put the data crystal in the console and immediately began bypassing the security controls. Scarlet had upgraded her systems since the last time he'd been there, and from the looks of things she'd left some nasty surprises for anyone trying to access them without permission.

Thankfully, some sane part of her mind had decided to leave his own accesses unhindered, though he had to navigate very carefully. One wrong move and the console would shut down. Then the security systems would engage with Lethal Vector protocols, and he REALLY didn't want to face down a thirty-foot tall segmented screaming doll with flamethrowers and chainsaws for hands. At least, not alone. As he worked, he glanced over at Dangles, who sat beside the console, grooming himself. "...Keep on guard, buddy. This might take a while and I really don't want to be distracted." The jungle cat murphed and sat up, looking around. Whether he was really being alert, or was just being a cat was up for debate. Knowing this fundamental nature of felines, Cyrus sighed and reached a hand up to his shoulder, so that his pet spider could climb onto it from its hidden den in his shoulder guard. "You too, Dribbles. I need you to watch my back, okay little fella?" The 'little' jungle spider, the size of his fist, squeaked in that unsettling, almost electronic squeal way spiders do, and wiggled its mandibles in an approximation of an affirmation. It scurried from his shoulder and settled onto his back. Due to its coloration, shape, and how it spread its legs to cling to his gear, Dribbles almost appeared to merge against the darkened metal. It nestled between two heat sink vents just below Cyrus's shoulder blades, hiding in plain sight. In its small head the trio of eyes tracked in three separate directions for a threat.

As Cyrus worked at breaking through the firewalls of the computer system, he idly reflected on the facility. It had once been an Inquest outpost, but had been 'acquired' by Scarlet during her dealings with them. It sat uncomfortably deep inside basaltic rock, somewhere in Fireheart Rise, over a natural magma lake. The Inquest had merely used the void to build their base, but Scarlet had rebuilt it into a manufactory. Where the Inquest had rerouted lava flows to part around their structures, the Mad Sylvari had used those flows to power geothermal turbines, and fed the liquid metal and stone into various subsurface, self-contained factory units she'd built. There, the molten metal would be separated from the stone, to be smelted, forged, and formed into all the various mechanisms she filled her world with. At a facility much like this one, teams of Molten Alliance had made vast sheets of Dredge metal; nigh-indestructable metal only seconded to Deldrimor Steel, the Dredge metal had been used to form the hulls of the Aetherblade airships and ultimately the Breachmaker itself.

Thoughts of the Breachmaker made Cyrus frown, and he doubled his efforts to get into the computer. This place was one of perhaps a dozen places where Scarlet had stored some of her designs. Designs Cyrus very much wanted.

"Come on..." He muttered as he finally got through the logins and files began to open up. "Just come on... Let's see. Marionette blueprints -- not going to need THAT. Requirements for Steam beast portals -- Yeah, right. If I needed that I'd just steal a Steambrain... Where are they? Where are the plans?!" In response to his query, whether through tapped commands or responding to his voice and authorizations, a new data stream opened up. As each file opened, the primary blueprints for them popped up in the holo imager. "Ah! There we go!" Cyrus chuckled darkly, pulling out a second data crystal -- this one was blank. The one in the system already had had all the authorizations he'd been given. This new one was to be a repository; for all intents and purposes, it was just a storage device. "Mmm... Aether-powered ion beam cannon prototypes... Aetherwarp transit engine Mk.1 designs... Plasma weapons, Artificial intelligence core programming..." He stepped back, surprised at his own smile. "It's all here. I didn't think she was being truthful, but it's all here. Now I just need engineers and a factory..." At the word 'Factory' a new folder opened, displaying a set of coordinates. There were more than the usual two sets of coordinates for location; there were FIVE. Cyrus stared at it, wonderingly. Where in the hell did you stash this, Scarlet? Did you really build it out there?...

His thoughts were broken off suddenly by an almost electronic squeal, and a sharp jab in his side from Dribbles. There was someone else here.

****

There. Kill him. Kill him. Him. He dies. Kill him. It demanded, gripping her mind in a vice of thought and squeezing. Obey. Kill the human. Destroy the machine.

Moryggan felt a snarl forming on her face as she silent stalked towards the figure at the podium. How dare he be in her path? Interloper. Thief. It would only take her a few moments to cross the distance between them and end his life. This would be quick. She also belatedly noticed the large jungle cat that was curled up beside him. As soon as it saw her it stood up, ears perking, yet made no move to attack her. Perhaps she would spare the animal after she killed its master?...

Then she heard the hiss. It came from directly in her path, where the man stood, his back facing her. What was it? It was a squeal, a trill of some kind, but did he make it? Why was that sound so familiar? "I would advise you to stop approaching me, stranger." The man suddenly announced, his head slowly coming up, though he made no move to turn around. He reached out and gave the cat a skritch on the top of its head. The stripey jungle cat made an approving sound, and then settled back to the floorplates. "This is private property and you're violating my territory. If you don't want trouble, then move on." She stood there, shocked into immobility; he was addressing her like he'd always known she was there and had merely been polite enough to ignore her! Her shock only lasted a second or two, followed by irritation that was greatly fed by the Thing in her mind. End him! End him now! Destroy the machine! Obey! "You can't beat me, human." She growled at him, raising her collapsible sabers. "Especially when you can't even see me." "I don't need to see you. Sylvari." He chuckled. "I can hear it in your accent. And the fact you called me human, and you don't sound short." Idly Cyrus continued clicking keys on the console. "You have about seven seconds to disappear before I decide to express my annoyance." "Why you..." Moryggan began to start for him. She only got three steps before his hand shot up, finger pointed upward. "Might want to watch your step, my dear." He replied cryptically. "You could have a very bad time." It was at that moment she heard a click from underfoot. She glanced down immediately, seeing the handsized disc spotted with holes. Already, a green gas was leaking from those holes, as her foot shifted on the trigger mechanism. Venom! Moryggan's mind screamed as she instinctively teleported backwards, reappearing over ten meters to the side. Now that her foot was no longer on the trigger, the trap sprung entirely; with a loud click, the vents fully opened and the noxious green and purple gas was forcefully vented outward. The thick roiling cloud didn't spread very far, just from the whiff she'd gotten from the fumes, it was something damned potent.

The man finally turned to face her, having heard his trap deploy. He shifted his glasses back up his nose and frowned. "...Now where did she?..." The cat murphed, and indicated where Moryggan had teleported to. "Ah, I see. A Mesmer. Just wonderful." The sarcasm in his voice was thick as his hands went to his weapons. "Frickin' mind-melters." "....You've laid traps in here?" She asked, indicating the floor between them. The glow of the lava came up through the metal grates, the heat shimmer making it hard to see precisely. "Wouldn't that be detrimental to you as well?" Cyrus smirked and began to walk towards her, giving his sword and axe a preparatory swirl and twirl. His foot came down on one of his own traps, and with a click, the green/purple gas was vented once more, entirely enveloping him. Moryggan almost laughed; the cocky human had gotten caught in his own poison trap. She relaxed for a moment....until a steady shape emerged confidently from the thick gas, the smirk still on his face.

"But... how?!" She demanded, feeling the voice digging into her mind again. Move faster. It said.

"Funny thing about Miasma." Cyrus pointed out, rolling his neck a little, and taking a deep breath of tainted air. "... it doesn't affect you if you've been permanently innoculated against it."

They launched themselves at each other, swords clanging heavily as they collided. Moryggan grit her teeth, trying to hook her second sword under his guard to stab, but he kept deflecting it with quick swings of his axe. They were practically face to face with each other; her carefully oiled blade sparked against the purple energy field of his asuran peacemaker sword, but neither was budging.

"Innoculated? No one is immune to the Scarlet's Miasma! The Orders had to use gas masks! Those decayed by the HOUR!" She growled at him, pressing closer. If she could get past him, she could smash the console and at least get some mental relief.

"Scarlet's troops were innoculated." Cyrus replied simply. "Mechanically or biologically, they were immunized against it." He grinned and tilted his head, exposing the glowing green veins that had risen against his skin when he'd entered the gas. "I helped design the concept; of course she'd give me the Treatment." "You were Aetherblade..." Moryggan's eyes widened. Suddenly the voice was screaming in her head, crushing her thoughts with one overwhelming demand: KILL. HIM.

She drew back a step, breaking their contact for an instant. As he continued to move towards her, Moryggan rallied and lunged forward again. At least, that's how it looked. As she began to move, there was a bright flash of purple magic that erupted from all around her, hiding her in its flare. It was bright enough that she could see Cyrus's eyes squint as he brought his axe back for another swing, presumably to block her own sword from cutting into his side. Their weapons met once again in a clash of metal, but there was a difference this time. It wasn't truly Moryggan he was clashing with anymore. She'd summoned a clone during the flash, hiding herself in a light-reflective shield of mesmeric magic while her duplicate took her place perfectly. Instead, she dashed around to the side, planning to plunge both of her blades into his back and end this annoying human. All she needed was two seconds of movement...

There was something wrong.

They say that when times are stressful, when you are under threat, that how you percieve time cuts down. Instead of thinking hours ahead, you think minutes. If you can't think minutes, you think seconds ahead. And if you can't manage that, time seems to slow enough that mere moments become long and drawn out.

She had to take only four steps, after her swap with her clone. Four steps around him, hidden beneath mesmer magic while he battled a pointless clone. Another quarter second to draw back her blades, and two more to bisect him as the voice in her head demanded she do.

First step.

Moryggan glanced up at his face as she passed at a distance that would have let her fronds brush against his cheek. She glanced only to make sure he was focused on her diversion; that her vanishing had been total.

Second step. He was still looking ahead, teeth gritted as his axe met her clone's immaterial blade. To an outsider, her clone would be perfect; unlike a phantasm which would appear hollow and glow with energy, a clone was a perfect physical mimic, though it only lasted a short time.

His eye shifted to look at her. In that frozen moment in time, she could visibly see him turn his gaze from the clone, over his shoulder, to where she was passing by him. There's no way he could see her though; she was still cloaked!

Third Step.

It was impossible. There's no way he could see her; she'd evaded Risen, Krait, Icebrood. She'd hidden in plain sight in crowded city streets. She'd snuck up on fellow mesmers and ended them using the same tricks they used! There's no way he could see her. That's what she told herself, though she didn't have time to form the thought properly in that instant. In that instant that his eye continued to track her. He had begun to shift his entire body; the heavily armored, studded shoulder guard began to descend as he dropped into a lower posture. The axe in his left hand flicked the sword of the clone aside for a moment, distracting it, while he dropped that right shoulder. Moryggan, already committed to the fourth step and her own inertia, couldn't change her own trajectory. That ugly, steel plated shoulderplate, laced with strange magitech glowing panels, lowered until it was almost even with her body as she rounded him.

Fourth Ste--

She never made the last step. As her foot began to descend, as she began to twist her body to round him, he shoulder-charged her. He didn't move far to do it, Cyrus had redirected the weight of his entire suit into the shoulder charge, and the impact struck Moryggan directly, knocking her away violently. The moment of impact shattered her fragile shield of invisibility as she was launched to skid across the slick, hot metal flooring. She felt herself bounce over a few of those damned trap pods, which immediately spread their noxious miasma. There's no way she could avoid breathing in a lungful of the vile stuff. Cyrus immediately dispatched the clone, an underhanded, dismissive flick of the axe rending it up the chest, spilling immaterial 'blood' in a swirling arc. The clone had a moment to scream in pain before shattering like glass, the shards evaporating as the magic binding it broke. Even the blood, still arcing through the air, shattered into a billion mirror shards before fading away. "You almost had me, sprout." He commended her, straightening up and stepping closer as she gasped in the purple-green mist. He smirked. "That purple flash actually blinded me for a moment there! It's been a while since I've had to fight a talented mesmer." Moryggan gasped deeply, coughing, eyes watering as the miasma took hold. Horrible shadowy creatures stalked closer, appearing from nowhere. Terrible whispers, different from that voice in her head, told her vile things and whispered promises and terrors. From her hands her swords dropped, clanking dully to the metal floor as she wept openly. The voice in her head roared in displeasure, retreating in the face of the miasma, until she couldn't feel it in her mind anymore. It was... gone! But for how long? Till the gas wore off? Would she lose all control then?

Cyrus reached her and knelt down, sniffing at the miasma. He could see the tears streaking her face, and felt pity for a moment. He had no idea where this sylvari woman had come from, or what she wanted. But she'd tried to kill him. Still...why was she crying? "Hey now. Come on. You lost. I'll even let you go if you leave me alone, okay?" He offered. He had no idea how badly the Miasma was affecting her. He'd seen people rendered into curled balls of terror, and others lashing out at things only they could see. This woman seemed, for all her confidence and toughness, to be on the edge of becoming the former, rather than the latter.

"Kill me. Please." She whispered, covering her face carefully. The horrors of the Miasma were too much. They weren't nearly as bad as the voice, but they were unnerving to look at. She could almost FEEL them on her skin. And the sounds... "Quickly! Please! Kill me before the voice takes me over again!" He froze, the smile vanishing from his face in an instant. She's not referring to a miasma voice... he realized as she repeated her demand, louder and even more anxious. When she pulled her hands away from her eyes, they widened in horror; the mist was disippating. "The Voice?" "Yes! The Voice! I-It pulls, and yanks, and screams in my mind! It forced me to come here!" She looked at him, eyes wide. "I didn't WANT to be here! I barely know where I am right now! And the only thing keeping it from taking over, from hurting me again... from hurting YOU... is the Miasma! When it's gone I'm.. I'm going to..." Oh god. Cyrus paled. There was way too much honesty in her face right now. In her eyes. He could see the horror in them, the absolute terror that had nothing to do with the hallucenogenic gas. Is she already affected by it?! How much time to I have? There is NO way I'm dealing with another Scarlet. "Dribbles!" He yelled. The little spider detached from his back and skittered down his arm to rest on his bracer. "Bind and subdue! No kill! Just sleep." The spider squeaked and leapt onto Moryggan's body, rapidly racing back and forth over her, spitting glue-like thread and trailing steel hard filaments behind it. While it did that, Cyrus reached over and picked up one of the nearby untriggered traps. With a single move, he flipped it over and bashed it against the floor, triggering the simple pressure plate on its top. As the Miasma thickened, he looked through it at Moryggan. "That voice. Can you tell me how close it feels to you? How much can you resist it?" She took a deep breath of mist, shuddering as goosebumps broke out from the instant flight-or-fight response it triggered in her. She braced herself and answered slowly, carefully. "It's still there, but it's pulled back as much as it can. It really, really doesn't like Miasma for some reason. I don't understand why. But if it stays so far away, or buried deep in my mind... I think I can manage for a bit..." Cyrus chuckled humorlessly. "The reason it doesn't like the Miasma is because this shit was specifically designed to fuck it up." He smiled at her confused expresson. "If that voice you hear is what I think it is... then yeah. We designed and bred Nightmare Bloom trees to give it the worst headache imaginable." The spider stopped spinning its webbing, and squeaked again. Cyrus picked it up and laid it next to her neck; she had been bound from there down entirely in spider-silk.

"This will probably hurt a little, but Dribbles is actually pretty good at being careful when he needs to be." Cyrus offered, shrugging. He put a fresh miasma trap on her chest, just below her chin, and carefully opened the flues on it after disabling the mechanism, to let the fumes out in a controlled manner. The spider, on the other hand, inched towards her neck, laying its two largest front legs on her flesh. "Sorry about this. But I'm going to see if there's anything I can do to help you." "Why?" She asked, as the spider bit in, and paralytic venom began to draw her into unconsciousness. "Why help me at all?..." As her eyes slowly closed, she barely heard him say "Because I watched another go the route you're going...and I couldn't stop it."

****

Moryggan hurt. All over, she hurt.

Her chest and shoulder ached, one from the miasma she'd inhaled, and both from the painful shoulder charge that had knocked her on her rear. Her neck throbbed from the spider bite... and her lungs felt like they were on fire. How long had she been out?

She opened her eyes onto a very different view. Moryggan was on her back, looking up at more of that dreadful soot-stained stone ceiling. But the air in the room was clean and scentless. Scentless.... The Miasma!!

Her heart hitched as she realized the miasma was entirely missing. Oh no... She grimaced, feeling the tears well up again. The voice would be back, no doubt very soon now that she was awake. The pain would start again. Except. She couldn't sense it anymore. Moryggan blinked in surprise, as she realized that the dull roar, the constant hiss, the sensation of being glared at in hatred was gone from inside her skull. But...how?...

With one hand, she reached up to touch her head -- only to jolt in surprise at the sight of her own arm. Where she'd fallen unconscious wearing sleek bracers and gloves, the devices on her arms now were heavy, bulky, and glowing with contained power and magic. There was almost something soothing about the blue glow coming off the curved crystals along the back of the forearm, and from the spikey crystals that hovered just off the armlets in the grasp of some kind of field. That's when she recognized she was also seeing things through some kind of tinted lens as well. A helmet? She felt around, afraid to find out the extent of it, and was relieved to find it only covered the top of her head and face, like a typical helmet. Her mouth was entirely free in the front. From the feel of it, the sharp angles and diamond patterns she could make out with her hands, at least one Asura had been involved in its design.

"I wouldn't remove that if I were you." She heard a now familiar voice call from nearby. Laying where she was, she turned her head, the metal of the helmet rasping against whatever surface she was on. Apparently she was on some kind of table, whether operating or otherwise. Nearby, his back turned to her, Cyrus finished writing something down, before turning to her. "Right now that helmet and those armguards -- and the shoulder guards you can't see right now -- are the only thing keeping you from being taken control of." Moryggan went to sit up, groaning in pain as new soreness opened up on her body. "What... what happened?" "The miasma trap wore out before I could get you to the infirmary here." He replied, crossing his arms. "You probably feel a bit more sore than you did after our fight, right?" She nodded.

He humphed and shook his head. "Sorry about that. You started to come around at one point, and the only way I could keep you on the table was to have Dangles here sit on you, pinning you down." He gestured to the big jungle cat that sat beside him, scritching behind its ear with one finger. The cat purred in response, before looking at her and blinking. "While he did that, Dribbles dosed you with venom again, putting you out. That gave me enough time to find the designs." "What... designs?" She asked, sliding off the table slowly, before she ran a hand along the gauntlets, feeling the electric tingle of the energy field. "Just what are these?" Cyrus smiled wistfully. "A remnant of Scarlet. One of her first ideas, but one of the last she ever made...for reasons I think you understand more than most." He indicated the helmet. "The Pact call it 'Scarlet's Veil', but they don't understand what it is. After all, the only one they ever saw was destroyed when Scarlet died and the Breachmaker blew up." Moryggan's lips peeled back in a sneer. "Scarlet? Ugh. Why would I want anything on me that psycho made? Why shouldn't I just take them off, huh?" She looked at her hands now like they were covered in filth. He frowned. "Because she made them to save her own mind from the predations of the Elder Dragon. The one that ended up taking her sanity because its sleeping mind did...hideous things to her psyche." He pointed at the nose of the helmet. "Like I said, the Pact has no idea what these are. They think they were just some kind of armor she wore. But they weren't. She was trying to save herself from becoming something....else." "Hmmph. Whatever." Cyrus's eyes narrowed. "Tell me: do you hear the voice anymore? Do you feel, as you called it when you screamed it last time you woke up, that your 'strings are being pulled'?" She shivered, and shook her head. Just the thought, the memory of what that felt like was going to give her nightmares.

"That's because those -- We call them Psi-Nullifier Amplification Gear -- has cut you entirely off from it." He stared at her for a moment. ".... tell me, do you normally sense the Dream? the one the sylvari talk about all the time?" "Well yes, I always feel the Dre--" She paused, her eyes widening. It's not there. It's not there it's not there it's not there!!! "WHERE IS IT?!"

"Like I said; Psi. Nullifier. Amplification. It's designed to cut you off from psychic influences that would normally affect your mind. Unfortunately it seems the Dream counts, but..." He waved his hand dismissively. "That can be adjusted for. Once the programs built into it can isolate it from the Call of the Dragon, it'll let your precious Dream come back." "B-but what am I supposed to do until then?!" Moryggan demanded. She felt physically sick. At no point in her short life had she ever been cut off from the Dream. Even Soundless still heard the Dream even if they ignored it. But this emptiness... "My purpose; my DREAM. It's gone!" "It'll be back." Cyrus shrugged, stepping off to one side and pouring a cup of tea for each of them. "Maybe not too soon, but sooner than you think. For now, though, you'll be just like us 'dreamless' humans. And Norn. And Charr. And Asura." He pondered. "Pretty much every race, really." Moryggan reluctantly accepted the tea, sipping it under the edge of the helmet. "....why didn't these help Scarlet, if she designed them to?" Cyrus took a sip, and closed his eyes. "...Because even though she designed them the moment she came out of Omadd's machine, she...got distracted. She never made them until too late, and the mark the Dragon had left in her mind had started to mature. It was working from within, corrupting her plans, her thoughts." He opened his eyes, pinched in grief. "It's one of the reasons I left early. Her plans were advancing, but she'd forgotten the purpose of the Plan itself. Of what she had originally intended to do. And that damned voice convinced her she was still on the path." "....And what was this 'Plan'?" She asked, curious. Everyone knew the story of Scarlet Briar, or at least what the Pact had figured out about the crazed sylvari. But this human apparently had a different view of her. It was...enlightening if it were true.

"To save the sylvari, and the rest of Tyria from the Elder Dragon." Cyrus told her flatly. He looked into her eyes, the grief replaced with ironhard rage. "Mordremoth; father of the Pale Tree, grandfather of all sylvari. Her plan, the moment she realized what had almost destroyed her mind, was to kill the dragon as fast as possible." Moryggan blinked in surprise at the vehemence in his voice. "Scarlet wanted to kill the Dragon? That's a load of dolyak shit!" She countered, putting the cup down. "She terrorized Tyria! Her weapons of destruction tore up entire regions! That blasted Marionette of hers, and whatever its weapon was, killed every living, sentient thing in Timberline Falls!! The burials went on for DAYS!" "I know, damnit!" Cyrus yelled back, clenching his fists. "She... none of that was supposed to happen. The original goal was to enlist the aid of the nations to build the mechanized army, and have that storm into the Dragon's realm. But all five nations turned her down, so she had to enlist... others. Less than reputable sources of technology, power, money. Ones you can't trust with your back turned. The Nightmare tower was a prototype for a weapon to be used against the Dragon's control!" He pointed at her. "You, of all people right now, know how effective Miasma is against it! You told me yourself it retreated from your mind the moment you breathed it in!" "I-I...!" She stuttered for a second, put off. He was right; the voice had disappearred with the arrival of the Miasma. But, if Scarlet had been working for the Dragon, then why design a weapon against it? "But... I don't understand! Why would that work anyway?" "Near as we can tell... could tell..." Cyrus's mood softened slightly with the past tense. "The Elder Dragon of the Jungle is a thing of plant and mind. The Miasma was designed to interrupt that with hallucinations and terror. The Tower -- towers, if we could have made the pods big enough -- would have been area denial weapons. Wherever they dropped and grew, the Dragon would be unable to control either itself or its minions."

"But the Watchwork Nightmares --"

"Assault troops. Send them in first to clear the path with chainsaw and flame." Cyrus looked away for a moment. "Their spidery form was supposed to be for enhanced mobility. The menders would keep them repaired as they cut and burned a path towards the Dragon and destroyed whatever defenses it had." "Aetherblades?" "Aerial troops. More area denial; fire-based weapons to burn entire swaths of jungle to ash. Etherwarp drives in case the Dragon got frisky and tried to swat them from the sky. Hard to hit something if it just disappears in front of you and reappears a mile away." He offered a weak grin. "That engine is one of the reasons I'm here in this base today. I want one, and there's none left intact after Lion's Arch."

Moryggan pursed her lips. "But...what about the Marionette? the Breachmaker that destroyed Lion's Arch and woke the Dragon? I heard the Call. I felt it..." She touched the faceplate of the helmet she now wore. "At least, until today I felt it." "Both the Breachmaker and the Marionette came from the same project, but different tactics, so far as I can tell." Cyrus shrugged. He reached for the counter and picked up a holoslate with the data crystal in it. A few finger-flicks later, he pulled up both designs. "The Breachmaker was originally just going to be a heavily armored transport for the Marionette, as you can see here." He pointed at the designs. "The idea was to lower the Marionette from a safe height and have it go toe-to-whatever with the Dragon itself." He chuckled. "It would have been a great fistfight I think."

He indicated the second design, the one of the drill-equipped Breachmaker. "Somewhere in its development, Scarlet came up with the Aethercannon. It's not so much a cannon as it is a highly focused charge of energy of a particular signal that is similar to what the Miasma produces at a very minor level, only magnified to ridiculous scale. When she realized what she could do with it, she had the entire ship recommissioned into a battleship." The new design had thicker plating and was almost twice the size of the one carrying the Marionette.

Moryggan stared at the drill on the end, and the diagram's pulsing internal glow that indicated its weapons' power distribution. She'd never seen the real thing, but she had seen bits of the wreckage around the ruins of Lion's Arch. "So... what would that do?" "It was supposed to find leyline hubs -- hubs of natural magical energy that flow in certain paths under or on the surface -- and forcibly breach them, injecting what was supposed to be a 'tainted' form of magic. Unpalatable, possibly poisonous for the Dragon." He sighed. "If it worked, the ship would have moved from hub to hub, cutting the Dragon off from its food supply. Possibly wounding it on the way. If we got really, really lucky, a tainted burst would give the damned monster the equivalent of a heart attack. Or quickly starve it to death." There was a warped kind of logic to it. On some level, Moryggan could almost understand what he was saying -- what Scarlet's original plan had been -- which almost made it tragic that it went so horribly awry. "So... she made all of it to kill the Dragon...but didn't give herself enough protection from it." She mulled it over in her mind, pursing her lips. "Or it tricked her into not giving her enough." "Yeah..."

"Where does that leave me though?"

"It depends. According to the computers in this place, it'll take the better part of a week to permanently lock that voice out of your mind for good." Her face seemed to brighten under the helmet. "After that, it'll be up to you what you want to do." "And what about you?" He shrugged. "I'm still going to go with the Plan. The original one. Find a way to kill the Dragon. I won't do what Scarlet did, but I sure as hell will use as much of her knowledge and tech as I can." He gave her an odd look, questioning. "I can't do it alone. I know we just fought, and neither one of us has much of a reason to trust each other but..."

"What are you asking?" Moryggan asked, though she could almost see the answer -- the Question -- written in his face. She tried to hide the smile she could feel growing on her face at the thought.

"Do you want to kill a Dragon with me? Maybe save the sylvari and the rest of Tyria as a bonus?" He asked, smirking.

"Oh yes... I think I very much want to do that." Her smile was like a shark's grin.

Her grin made his smirk widen, and he offered her his hand. "In that case, my name is Cyrus Sigismund. Late of the Priory, Late of the Aetherblades. And yourself?" "Moryggan Deraleth, of the Dawn. Lightbringer of the Order of Whispers...though you didn't hear that from me." She accepted his hand in her armored grasp. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Cyrus." "The pleasure is all mine, Moryggan. Welcome to the team." ---- Author’s note: This was supposed to have been a SHORT story. A five minute story. It didn’t end up that way. I hope it’s enjoyable. It fits more the ‘desperation’ more than the ‘hope’, but I hope the end lends itself to the idea of Hope. This is phenomenally late for Week 1. LoL. I’m almost embarassed.

#gw2 fanfiction #tyriaslibrary #my characters #Cyrus Sigismund #Moryggan Deraleth #scarlet briar #Breachmaker #Twisted Nightmare #desperation/hope #violence cw #cw mental trauma #pain #My stories #long story

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magitekmammet · 5 years

Text

Magitek Mammet - LFRP (Crystal/Balmung)

[ Updated: July 12th 2019 ]

🔧 { Summary }

Model MA91-L is a Lalafell-shaped, magitek-powered mammet with an AI capable of developing itself and evolving by learning from its personal experiences and surroundings. Her creation was overseen by Cid Garlond himself with help of Biggs, Wedge, and Nero with ambition to create an advanced artificial life form able to simulate and learn to be human, As such she acts with very childlike wonder about almost everything and everyone who encounters her, asking many questions about who they are and what their own life is like, constantly taking notes and recording her findings. Cid's reasoning behind creating her was to try putting what he learned from his time in the Interdimensional Rift and his knowledge and experiences with Omega and how it learned to evolve and advance itself into practice, eventually leading to Model MA91-L's creation.

Her designated design name is Model MA91-L but she refers to herself as Magigi Magi or simply Magi as most people who know her by, although some few also refer to her as Em, Emi, or Emma as a playful nickname on the sound 'M' makes in her name. Created in Gyr Abania at the Ironworks branch established there she refers to herself as a Gyr Abanian, and though she has little to no experience on the hardships most others from her country have gone through in the past few decades she still fights like she is one of them and is very proud of where she comes from, calling Rhalgr's Reach her cradle and home...

🔧 { Basics }

NAME: Magigi Magi - Model MA91-L

NICKNAME/ALIAS: Magi, Mamms, Em, Emi, Emma.

AGE: Cid says she is 'old enough' by proxy of her appearance, though she is only several moons old.

NAMEDAY: 7th Sun of the 3th Astral Moon.

RACE: Advanced Forgekin/Soulkin Hybrid (Mammet) - Model: Lalafell.

GENDER: Nonbinary - Female Presenting

SEXUALITY: Pansexual/Polyamourous

MARTIAL STATUS: Single

🔧 { Physical Appearance }

HAIR: White and kept tied back in a braided plait, twintails, or simply cute short for less hindrance. Regardless of style it will always remain white with dark ends.

EYES: Gold like gil and almost iridescent in essence. They glow faintly with a dim light and can be noticed in dark or poorly lit areas.

HEIGHT: 2'7"

BUILD: Short yet incredibly sturdy for her size, she is almost completely identical to any Lalafell of her stature, the only difference being she’s heavier.

DISTINGUISHING MARKS: Two blue marks on her cheeks that glow faintly with a blue glow. These ‘sensors’ change in color depending on her current mood to help reflect her emotions outwardly better to others.

COMMON ACCESSORIES: Her gun, a small toolbox, and a magitek bit, company mammet, or accompaniment node that follows her around.

🔧 { Personal }

PROFESSION: Ironworks Hand, engineer/machinist, mage, part-time performer.

HOBBIES: Inventing new contraptions/gadgets, researching old ruins/buildings, people watching, aiding the Ironworks, traveling, performing, swimming, aiding Clan Centurio, and collecting tomes/data.

LANGUAGES: Common (Progressive/All)

RESIDENCE: She owns a small shop at the free company she resides in, as well as a small apartment in the Sultana’s Breath that she has renovated into a theater.

BIRTHPLACE: Gyr Abania - Rhalgr’s Reach

PATRON DIETY: Byregot, the Builder.

FEARS: Losing her ability to create and disappointing her creator/father, Cid.

🔧 { Relationships }

SPOUSE: Maybe someday!

CHILDREN: N/A

PARENTS: Cid, Biggs, Wedge, and Nero, technically.

SIBLINGS: None, though she treats her accompaniment (bit, mammet, and node) as family, and sees most companions or friends as an older brother/sister.

OTHER RELATIVES: N/A

PETS: She has a tiny hedgehog that she has so cleverly named Spike.

🔧 { Traits }

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between / Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

🔧 { Additional Information }

SMOKING HABIT: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess. She makes smoke herself, sometimes.

DRUGS: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess. Does ceruleum count...?

ALCOHOL: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess. She carries around a flask of ceruleum/refined oil mixture that she drinks from occasionally.

🔧 { RP Hooks }

Engineer (”I can fix it!”) - When it comes to fixing things and learning about what makes a mechanism tick, Magi is your wonder child. She absolutely loves fixing things for people, and if she doesn’t know how to fix it it only makes her that more excited to find out just how to, pushing her to go out of her way to gain the knowledge and understanding to help! Have a hand in the Ironworks? Need help with a machine? Want someone to take a look at why your airship is making that weird noise? Your Regalia not shifting into second gear like it should? Manacutter just not cutting it like it used to? Need a gun crafted? A gizmo? Find her and she'll be happy to take a look!

Heavy (“When the going gets tough, you call Magi!”) - Magi is--at the heart of all things--a very durable lass. Cid spared no quarter in creating her to last a long time without breaking or needing constant maintenance. Luckily for her this means she is capable of taking some rather heavy hits in the name of good, and lucky for you she just so happens to like protecting people that she thinks are good, or could just use a hand! This tanky little mammet likes to do just that- tank! Are you a wayward adventurer in need of some protection and guidance into the depths of old ruins or a deep dungeon crawl? Toss the little Lalabot a few gil and you have yourself a reliable shield to stand behind through thick and thin.

Spy/Scout (”...I’m in.”) - The thing about being small and rather unassumingly docile? People ignore you a lot. This however works in Magi’s favor when it comes to sneaking around and learning what she needs to. Combined with a rather cunning processor and her particularly cute appearance she is a blade of efficiency in when it comes to obtaining information, discovering weaknesses in enemy plots and territory, and espionage. If you have the coin and the time, she has your information.

Sniper (”I’ve got you in my sights...”) - If there is one thing Magi is better at doing than being a durable little robot that can tank way more than looks possible its shooting a gun. Very. Very. Well. Her advanced knack of calculation allows her to almost predict where her bullet will hit with an ominously terrifying accuracy, marking her as one of the finest sharpshooters of Eorzea- artificial or not. Need an extra firearm in your party, or just some reliable company to travel with? She’s only be happy to oblige you! She may be small and easy to underestimate as any other Lalafell, but hire/challenge her and she’ll bet she’ll not miss a single shot.

🔧 { Contact Information }

IGN: Magitek Mammet (Balmung) Message me ingame anytime I am online, which is almost always! I’ll get back to you as soon as I can if I am busy or in a dungeon, I promise! If you can’t massage me for some reason I am most likely hanging around the Sunsilk Tapestries in Ul’dah.

DISCORD: Mammet#0836 - You can add me anytime on here, just be sure to let me know who you are so I can keep track of everyone! I’m god awful at remembering new faces/names at first, sorry!

Tagging: @balmungrp @balmungroleplayers @crystalxivrp @ffxiv-balmung-rp @ffxiv-crystal-rp @mooglemeet

#ff14 #ffxiv #lfrp #balmung lfrp #crystal lfrp #lalafell #mammet #magitek mammet #magigi magi

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icymapletree · 4 years

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#11: lost

i’ve paid the cost of being lost

Read on Ao3

The sun was setting over the layers of thick foliage. Peter had Morgan on his hip, and she was shaking with silent sobs, yet no tears left her eyes. Peter tried to avoid letting his anxiety reach his face, but it could be seen in the way he stumbled a little when he walked.

The sky was turning a crimson purple, the pair losing their only hope of direction. Peter looked toward the sun that was causing rays of light to stream through in beams, mentally noting where it fell in the sky. The sun rose in the east and set in the west - or was it rose in the west or set in the east? That way was west, right?

Even knowing the cardinal directions didn’t help. Peter couldn’t tell you which way the house the house was. He knew there was no way that they could be south of the house - they didn’t walk past the lake - but that still left three directions to choose from.

“We’re going to go north, okay, Morgie?”

“I’m so sorry, Petey,” she choked.

“It’s not your fault baby, not your fault.”

“I wanted to hide in the forest for hide and seek,” she whispered.

“We just went a little too far, that’s all,” he responded softly, leaves crunching beneath his feet as he walked. The realization sunk in worse than before, now that the sun was setting - he had no web shooters, no suit, no phone and no watch.

Morgan tucked her head into the crook of his neck, and Peter brought her in tighter. Branches creaked in the light wind, sometimes jerking with the weight of an animal.

Shadows stretched taller in the setting sun, and Peter had to remind himself that everything was so much darker for Morgan, so much larger and so much scarier. He couldn’t let his fear show if he wanted to keep her less afraid. He pressed a kiss to her little cheek, pulling back her dark hair.

“We’re gonna get home, okay?”

She nodded, tucking herself in deeper.

Branches snapped as he walked, and owls hooted beyond where they could see. The wind was blowing roughly like sandpaper, causing dirt to pelt his back.

The sun didn’t set all at once, but as soon as they were fully enveloped in darkness, it sent shivers down their spines. Each little rustle had Peter jerking his head to find out what caused it.

The leaves were wet with fresh rain and the scent left an acrid feeling in their noses. Warm colors muddled together on the forest floor, being dimmed by dirt.

They ventured on.

Eventually, Peter saw a halo of artificial light in the distance. It was too much to be the cabin, but it was light regardless. The trees parted way for a building and giant glowing sign that read the prices of gas. All they needed to find inside was a phone. That’s it.

“Look, Petey,” she whispered, pointing at the gas station. It was a square building with the old timey gas pumps that had been white at some point, but were now dirty with neglect. Weeds darted up from the cracks in the concrete, some blooming with dying flowers.

“I see it. Why don’t we go see if there’s anyone there? Maybe they can help us.”

“But what if they want to hurt us?”

Peter placed a hand on the back of her head and remembered when the poor girl had to go through ransom training. He was there for it, saw the way her eyes glazed over with fear. She looked similar now, face made pale under the moonlight.

“They probably don’t. If they do, I’ll kick their asses.”

Morgan gave a small smile, but it was ruined by nerves running rampant in her eyes.

They walked toward the gas station that had a single long street in front of it, lit by a single light. Trees lined either side. The only place void of the thick wilderness was the gas station itself.

A neon open sign glowed in the window, and that was good enough for Peter. His heartbeat thud in his ears. What if he was bringing Morgan directly into danger?

But if he left, what if he was missing an opportunity to get home?

He pushed the door open, a bell jingling as he did so. The air was dank inside, and the store walls were crawling with mold. The shelves that would normally hold snacks were barren. A man with a crooked smile and yellowing eye whites tilted his head at their entrance.

A cold tingle, like dripping water, ran down Peter’s neck. Everything in his body was screaming to leave, yet his feet stayed planted on the cracked tile floor. There was a single warm light behind the man, illuminating the way he scratched his peppered beard. He wore a trucker’s hat and a ripped camo jacket.

Morgan’s grip on his sweatshirt tightened, and Peter tried his best to put on a brave face. The little girl was shaking now, nearly vibrating as her breath quickly entered and left her lips.

“Hello, little ones,” the man’s gruff voice huffed out, “How may I help you?”

Peter cleared his throat. “Do you have, uh, a phone or something we could use?”

“Lost?” he asked, his eyes narrowing and his smile growing.

“Yeah, just need to,” Peter sniffed, “call our father.”

Silence set over them. The only noise that could be heard was the howling wind outside and the hum of the electric bug trap.

“Petey,” Morgan whined, “I want Daddy.”

“I know you do, sweetheart,” he said softly in her ear.

“I’ve got a phone in the back,” the man said, “Let me go get it… Peter.”

Peter’s hardened stare didn’t leave the man as turned the corner.

“I want down,” Morgan said, tugging on Peter’s sweatshirt.

“No, no, I’m not gonna let you down right now,” Peter said, voice shaky. He tuned his hearing so he could hear whatever the man was saying in the back.

“I’ve got Stark’s kids, you’re clear to come in and take them -”

The words didn’t register, because Morgan spoke again.

“I’m gonna get sick,” Morgan proclaimed in a weak voice, tugging more anxiously now and kicking against Peter’s grip. Peter carefully set her down, kneeling to her level and rubbing circles in her back as her chest heaved and she put a hand over her mouth.

His eyes kept darting around, keeping aware of his surroundings when his body betrayed him and did the only thing he didn’t want it to do.

Peter’s nerves were electric with warning, having no control over himself when he flipped backwards over someone behind him - leaving a clear path to Morgan as her lunch spilled itself over the floor.

The woman behind him rushed forward, enveloping the girl in her grip. Blonde hair poked out from under a black ski mask, and pale, veiny hands stuck out from under a black sweater.

Seeing this stranger with Morgan lit something primal inside him, he ran forward with his eyes closed, fists flying, only registering it when a sinister snap filled the room. The woman fell limp to the floor with a dull thud.

Peter fell to the floor with her, bringing the dead woman closer to his chest. Her jaw was slack and blood rushed from her nose, eyes, face. Empty sobs left his mouth.

“No,” he whimpered, yanking off the mask and staring into her lifeless blue eyes. He shook her a little bit, begging, praying for any sign of life.

“No,” he said, louder this time. He frantically looked up, seeing the man at the counter slack-jawed with widened eyes.

“Call for help! Please!” Peter bawled, guilt and regret written in the lines of his scrunched face.

“Petey?” Morgan asked quietly, in a pool of her own sick, fear scaring away every other emotion that was showing on her little face. The fear was different this time. She wasn’t scared for her life. She was scared of him, of what he could do.

“I’m sorry,” Peter pleaded, looking at his hands as tears burned his cheeks, wiping the dirt away in tracks.

“You freak!” the man barked.

“I’m so so sorry,” Peter said, at Morgan this time. He heard the clicking of a gun being cocked, and when he looked up to the man again, he saw the end of a gun.

“You freak,” the man said again, shaking his head and pulling the trigger.

#13 nights of halloween #irondad fic'#peter parker #morgan stark

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mimiplaysgames · 6 years

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Strength to Protect the Things That Matter (Ch. 20)

Pairing: Terra/Aqua (eventually) Rating: T Other characters: Riku Word Count: 3,361

AO3 FF.net

A/N: Here’s the promised ending of the previous chapter (and also the shortest I’ve released in a long time)! I rushed to push this out, and I released it early enough that I hope I will be able to get to the next chapter within this week, since that is it’s scheduled spot. There are now eight chapters left in this fic. I have decided to end this at the halfway point, and the rest will be released in a sequel that will be titled A Powerful Enough Dream. But out of these last eight chapters are three that I’m hell excited for, and the next one, “Clowning,” is one of them! Also, LOL over the Resident Evil inspiration I drew for this.

Hope, pt. 2

Getting to the clock tower isn’t exactly an easy task, being that there aren’t any stairs for them to take. The process is a trip through backyard alleyways, and climbing the fire escapes of neighboring buildings that are hidden from the main streets, away from the sights of anyone. Artificial light gives new life into the streets below while the stars slowly come out. Riku mumbles about how he doesn’t want to deal with any of Noctis’ confrontations, and they dart across roofs to finally reach the back end of the clock tower.

All that’s left to do now is to climb up. They give each other boosts to reach ledges that are too high, getting lost in conversations about owning a Keyblade and what it in meant in the Age of Fairytales. If it’s a curse to have too many Keyblade wielders, and it’s a curse to have too few, then Terra wonders if it’s just better altogether to destroy them completely in order to keep everyone safe and happy.

But it’s when Riku mentions that the clock tower will be good training ground for Terra to practice controlling darkness that stops him in his tracks.

“Excuse me?” Terra holds the rung of a ladder that leads to the very top, staring at Riku.

“You don’t think that’s something you should practice?” Riku stands there, his arms limp to his side and his head cocked.

“No, I mean- What if something happens?” He can talk about the headaches. He can talk about the anger. But it’s been such a relatively spectacular day, there’s no need to ruin it.

Riku shrugs. “What do you think I’m here for?”

“You’re here to help me find Aqua. Not fight Xehanort.”

“I’ve fought him before. He’s a little annoying, but nothing I can’t handle.” Riku waves his hand once and only once. “Besides, your armor sure had a power kick you can benefit from. It’s high time you get it together.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

“Darkness isn’t that much different than light. It just feeds on other emotions. Some more useful than others. Your job is to wield it like you would light. Consume it instead of letting it consume you.”

They stare at each other for a bit, and it’s like two people speaking a different language. “I just don’t understand what you mean,” Terra says, defeated.

“Think about any negative emotion. Anger is more accessible to utilize as a weapon because it’s an easier way to cope with injustice than sulking in sadness. But if you get too angry, then it dictates your behavior.” Riku brings a hand to his chin. “This is where I think Xehanort has a handle on controlling you. You need to take that control back.”

Terra leans toward the ladder as if to climb it then leans back. “What about using powers of nothingness?”

Riku’s eyes go just a bit wide. “You mean tap into Xemnas’ powers? Do you even remember what it was like to be him?”

“No.” It comes out like a scoff.

“Well, you’re human, and you can’t help but feel emotions. Getting into the mental state to create nothingness is a long shot.” Riku pauses for a moment. “It will be hard, and you’ve been through a lot.” He sighs. “But if it helps you remember, Xemnas was telekinetic. He also created explosions and unique barriers out of thin air. You’re going to have to learn how he did it... but don’t rely on those powers.”

Terra briefly looks for any way to plead a little more, but instead starts up the ladder. There’s just no time to argue.

At the top is a door bolted by several chains. But what catches his attention the most is a tower west of town, decorated with strings of light that stretch out from the buildings around it. The town for the most part is a sea of warm-colored sparkles. They outshine the stars, and they demand appreciation for their power.

To the east, however, is just a sea of shadows, a mass of abandoned buildings that go out into the horizon, not a single shred of evidence that anyone is home.

“None of that is habitable,” he hears Riku say behind him. “It’s all crawling with Heartless. Noctis and the rest put up barriers to keep a border. But Kefka keeps pushing that border closer and closer.”

Terra crosses his arms and suddenly considers two children playing together in an alleyway far below him more interesting. It’s a nicer sight, anyway.

“I guess it’s not a wonder that this world is going to fall,” Riku continues. “Nothing good has happened here in a long time.”

Riku leaves Terra’s side and takes the bolt cutter out of his back pocket. He says that the mage who was responsible for sealing the clock tower was attacked here and couldn’t finish the job. He cuts the chain into several parts until the door is bare. It’s locked, but he kicks it open.

The inside of the clock tower looks just as much as the rest of the second district, with parts that look renovated to include brightly colored tiles, and updated machinery. Just another blend of the old and the new.

Where they stand are gears and other moving parts that keep the time. In front of them is a wooden staircase, and Riku goes ahead to start walking down, darting his eyes in every direction, probably for a sign of a Heartless.

“What exactly did your dream show you?” he asks as he continues down.

“Nothing much. Just the sound of the bells,” Terra says, also looking around. Hopefully for a fake door. Hopefully for some mass of darkness. “There was a lot of water and it was dark. I was with a girl named Naminé.”

“Naminé?” Riku stops and abruptly turns to face up at him. His face is in utter shock. “So she exists in dreams.”

“Who was she?”

Riku smirks. “She was Kairi’s Nobody.”

Terra almost loses his voice. For as much as he hates the idea of Xemnas and his existence, it’s not something he can apply to her. “Is it normal for Nobodies and humans to be so different?”

“So she got you thinking she’s her own person, too, huh?” Riku says with a laugh. “It seems that way. Although Lea swears he was the same.”

“Of course she’s her own person.” Terra swallows bile. “I mean, she always said that she was a figment of my memory. That I built her up. You could say that she probably was, since she knew things my heart already knew, even if my mind wasn’t ready to face it yet.” Terra shakes his head and draws a sharp inhale. “But she was too sentient to be just that.”

Riku wears a gentle smile. “So she’s still doing what she does best - looking out for others.” He looks ahead of him. Not at Terra, but just into the empty air. “I’ve actually spent quite a lot time with her when she was around.” His voice trails off. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Definitely.”

“The next time you see her,” Riku says slowly, “can you tell her that I’m sorry? That I’m sorry for everything I’ve done? And that it had to end that way?”

It probably has something to do with the fact that Naminé was a Nobody, but Terra doesn’t ask for more details. He hasn’t dreamt of her since that nap when he swallowed too much of the potion, and he isn’t exactly sure if he will ever see her again after such a violent vision. “I will.”

Terra steps down and passes by the boy, holding his shoulder in comfort. “I honestly should have pulverized him when I had the first chance to.” The thought of it is enough to start a headache.

Riku stops himself from snorting. “Are you talking about Xehanort?”

“Yeah. I often wish that I wrung my hands around his neck instead of listening to him. It would have avoided...” Everything? The pain caused to thousands of people, yes. But would that include preventing Naminé’s existence?

“Nah,” Riku says. “You’re talking about beating up an old man before knowing anything about him. That’s not your style.”

Terra scoffs. “It’s exactly my style that got me into this mess.”

A pregnant pause. “I think Aqua would want you to stay the same.” Riku says this with a seriousness that it’s hard to tell if he’s teasing.

It’s certainly a concept. Aqua will need a sense of home when she gets out. A semblance of normalcy. It’s hard to believe if his face is the one she wants to see, though. Terra moves the thought out of his mind, not realizing he hasn’t replied to Riku at all. He simply continues down the staircase, but when he gets far enough ahead, the silver-haired boy calls out, “I need to ask you something, Terra.”

Now he’s the one facing up at the other. “Shoot.”

Riku’s expression changes to resemble authority. “I need to know what to expect from you with this mission.”

It’s the tone and the fact that he still doesn’t know Riku quite well enough that bothers him. It’s almost talking to Eraqus when being questioned. Or when confronted by Aqua that day in Radiant Garden. “Excuse me?”

“I need to know what you want to do.” Riku maintains his tone. “I know you want to find Aqua. Quite desperately, I might add. Not to mention the very possibility that this world won’t be standing for much longer...”

Terra grips the wooden rail of the stairway enough to hurt his palm. “I don’t like what you’re implying.”

“I’m not here to judge you, Terra.” Riku makes sure to look Terra straight into the eyes when he says this. “But some honesty would be appreciated.”

It’s now Terra’s turn to look into empty space as he slowly forms his words. “You need to know that I don’t intend to use Noctis or the others as payment for saving her. I’ve always wanted to be a Keyblade Master. I know it’s my job to save them.” He takes a pause that is a second too long and uncomfortable. His voice lowers into an almost-whisper, waiting for the retaliation. “But... I can’t pass an opportunity to free her.”

When retaliation doesn’t come, Terra continues. “I want to think the way Sora does. I want to see if there is some portal, or some thing in this place that can be a better answer than just letting everyone else perish.”

“I agree with Sora’s approach, if such a thing is possible.” Riku nods slowly. “But I need a back-up plan.” He crosses his arms for a while, and then his eyes light up with determination. “You know what? I’ll just call it. I’ll rely on you to help me save the others. I need you to be with me on this. But if it gets to the point where it’s too late and we both drown, then we’ll go find her together.”

Riku walks past Terra, clearly not noticing how pale the older Keyblade wielder’s face is. It’s one thing to be reckless with himself, and throwing his own body away to the Realm of Darkness. It’s another to drag someone else, especially the sole person responsible for his giving him back his existence, into such risky territory. Especially since it’s my fault she’s there anyway.

But he doesn’t have the time to object. Riku steps right out of the staircase and onto the tile floor, attracting a swarm of Heartless that surround him. However, it’s not a problem to squash them all without so much of a sweat. Terra doesn’t need the power of darkness to do this, and doesn’t try to summon it. A moment of silence, and Riku looks over to Terra, almost as if he is searching for something. Another swarm appear from thin air to replace the earlier one. They fight this group off just as easily, and Terra still refuses to call on darkness. Again, Riku eyes him warily, and Terra wonders if he’s being a disappointment because he isn’t practicing like he is expected to.

This moment of peace lasts longer than the previous one, giving the two of them incentive to search the tower. Around all of the ledges and in every room, but there is nothing to find. Another swarm appears, another missed opportunity to practice at controlling darkness.

“Let’s check the basement,” Riku says, bringing out two flashlights from the storage room. It’s difficult to determine whether he’s let down by Terra’s performance.

They go down a long staircase until they reach the bottom. The basement is huge and incredibly dark, and it’s like descending into nothingness. Their flashlights expose some piping and a boiler, which is humming. Before they can find some switches to turn the lights on, the familiar bubbling sound of Heartless approaching echo through the entire room.

“They’re like gnats.” Terra summons Ends of the Earth and begins hacking away. It’s difficult to see in the dark, but the creatures’ bright yellow eyes dancing in the shadows give them away.

And they all seem to multiply. When he sees one pair, three others join it. And three more for each one he destroys until he is surrounded by them. He pauses for a moment, listening to Riku fight his own targets. It sounds as if the basement has a high ceiling, giving too much room for Heartless to pile over one another. Without enough movement to get rid of them, they are going to continue to be attracted to this room.

And it’s going to be nine o’clock soon.

This is taking too long.

It’s like slipping into a set of old, comfortable clothes. It’s powerful, and with it he can do anything. He swings his Keyblade in the dark, emanating shock waves. He strikes the floor, and it crumbles outward, carrying electricity that illuminate the Heartless as it strikes in dark purple. Some of his attacks are doused in black fog, dimming the weak light of his flashlight, which is thrown somewhere onto the floor. And he is so quick about these attacks and he is just hammering at these stupid monsters and he is trying to do this as fast as he can so he can get to more important matters that when all is said and done - he collapses on his knees with an ear-splitting headache.

“Are you okay?” Riku scurries over with his flashlight in hand, and the glare hurts to look into.

Terra breathes, drinking a gulp of Tifa’s potion with a shaky hand. “I’ll be fine.” It sounds completely unconvincing, but he has to try. Maybe I got carried away. Darkness hurts.

Riku finds the other flashlight, not giving any critique to Terra’s performance, and together they try looking for light switches - although Terra has to will himself not to limp. When they do, the basement is finally illuminated by fluorescence. All of the piping is color-coordinated, as if for the sake of organization. The walls are painted an off-white. It’s much more modern than the rest of the clock tower, so it must be a newer addition. They search the walls, behind nooks and crannies, in between pipes, behind the boiler. Nothing.

Terra is standing straighter now, the headache still pounding but manageable. He curses to himself. All he wants is a clue to anything. Or has he interpreted his dream incorrectly? He drags his eyes all over the room, on the off chance that maybe there is something he is missing. Riku comes to his side and breathes a sigh of defeat.

There, on the floor, is a manhole. They give each other excited glances, and rush to pry it open. Surprisingly heavy and thick, they peer into the depths of the hole below them, the hot smell of sewage rising up.

Riku then turns his attention to Terra, and with a presentable wave of his hand, says, “After you.”

The sewers are just as modern as the basement. Everything is built in crisp, straightened cement. They land on a walkway, and the water directly in front of them gushes, dark and discolored. There are electric lights that illuminate the immediate area, but just barely. He can’t see too far down the large, curved halls.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to keep this sandwich in,” Riku says behind him.

“Yeah, it stinks.”

“Ugh, at least we don’t have to be here long tonight. We should split up, but we need to be back by nine.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Terra prays that Riku will not find anything. It’s enough having just one person trapped in the Realm of Darkness.

“And next time, we’ll bring gas masks or something.” He nearly vomits.

Riku’s voice trails off as he walks away, and Terra goes his own direction. He holds his flashlight in his left hand, in case he needs to summon his Keyblade. The farther he traverses from the ladder that leads back into the basement, the darker it becomes. The walkway is covered in dirt and dust, and it curves sharply to the left, where there are no electric lights illuminating the way forward. The flashlight isn’t powerful either. By the looks of it, it is damp and disorienting. Just a long, dirty hallway of doors.

He approaches the closest door, and beyond it is another long hallway of what he guesses are more doors, since his flashlight can’t allow him to see that far. But what he does see in the shadows are two pairs of bright yellow eyes. Or perhaps three.

He chuckles to himself for a bit. If things were normal, if Eraqus was still alive and his home still existed, if he was younger and more naive, he would be a little nervous.

“I don’t think there is anything worse than the abyss,” he says out loud. To no one in particular, but he doesn’t need anyone there.

Summoning his Keyblade, he wipes the hallway clean of those three wandering Heartless. Then he stands, trying to get an idea of how long this particular hallway is. But the flashlight shows him nothing. I wonder just how many of these doors will open to more hallways.

Deciding to walk back the way he came, he passes by a door labeled Control Room. Inside, there are a few desks huddled together in the middle of the room. There are large computer monitors on the wall opposite the door, but they do not turn on. There are lockers with uniforms and other personal objects that belonged to whoever worked here last.

He searches the desk, which are mostly filled with reports. They all stop at the same date - perhaps the date when Noctis decided to seal the clock tower.

There is a map. Hovering the flashlight above it, he tries to get a sense of where he is. He hears the bubbling of Heartless materializing in the room, and he grunts loudly before doing his duty and getting rid of them.

“I’m trying to read,” he says to the now empty room. He waits a moment to see if there is a response, and when there isn’t, he yells good riddance before he puts his attention back to where it belongs.

There is no way to determine where he is on the map since he has no reference point. It seems that this is a map of the sewers that are part of the second district. Which is fine - he shouldn’t stray too far from the clock tower, anyway. Doors are marked as well. Although there are faint lines on the map that twist outside of the sewers, and it’s impossible to tell what that’s supposed to mean.

The clock strikes nine.

He slams his free palm against the table.

Staring blankly at the table only makes it feel like time is frozen, but it will continue ticking anyway. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, praying that Riku will come back empty-handed, and promising that he will be back later that night.

Tumblr readers! I’m celebrating having 100 followers! Thank you so much for reading my work and supporting me along the way. I am taking different writing requests, and you can find guidelines for that here. And yes, I’m taking anonymous requests as well. :)

#terraqua #terqua #kingdom hearts fanfiction #kh fanfic #terra #riku #i'm going to try to release this on tumblr at a different time #i just i dunno #it's hard to deal with things when my symptoms are very strong #my fic

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halfcape · 4 years

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Finished up S1 of Tokyo Ghoul – (spoilers for a lot of the series)

I’m not a ~lore stan, but there are already way too many world-building and really just basic storytelling issues I’ve seen so far that’s messing with my interest in this series. Maybe some of this stuff is better explained in the manga, but I’ve checked the wiki, and it seems to be pretty faithful.

- there’s a lot of suspension of disbelief when it comes to just accepting how Kaneki was turned into an artificial ghoul. This wouldn’t bother me so much if it wasn’t a plot point, but it is. Why does transplanting some ghoul organs (which ones?) into a human body change … the nature of the entire human body? How was he able to survive that if the organs are apparently so different? You don’t need to be a med or nursing student to understand that the organ systems all work together. Yes, I know that it’s fiction and there’s some stuff you need to just accept to get through the story, but this is asking too much, especially when the author makes a point to lean into “real life science” explanations for fantasy/sci-fi elements.

Even stuff like Twilight make an effort to explain the vampire transformation process (magical sparkly hard skin, etc) but goes the ‘less is more’ route. This ~magical transformation is stupid, but it’s at least consistent in a stupid story. Personal preference, maybe, but I’d much rather read a ‘magic did that’ explanation instead of ‘mad scientist guy switched the organs out of magical monsters chick like a jigsaw puzzle which explains how a human got magical monster powers’. Though when I skipped ahead to see how everything ended (I don’t have hours to burn into cross-checking the manga for adaption accuracy), considering that Kaneki and the blue-haired Creator’s Pet end up basically having an anime-Renesmee babu by the end of this series (even though there is a scene at the beginning explicitly saying that this really should not be possible), maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. I’ve read that the author’s also a lit major (……..), so maybe he’s secretly Into Twilight and other dumb popular crap? Who knows.

- there doesn’t seem to be much of a practical difference in-universe between half-ghouls and full-ghouls, which unfortunately ruins a lot of the dramatic weight for Kaneki’s story. The only major differences are that Kaneki has the one red eye, still smells like a human, regenerates really fast, and … that’s it. He still stuck with the Food Problem, and no “in-between” way to avoid participating in the morally bad thing that would make him a monster. Tbf, I don’t watch too much monster fantasy stuff, but with characters that are “half-species” like Keith from Voltron (he is a badly written character, but yeah) and Marvel’s Blade, there’s something that’s different enough for the characters to “blend in” with both worlds without having to be a complete monster (why bother writing the character as half if they’re the same as the full monsters). With Blade, he had the strengths of being a vampire and could go outside, but the disadvantage of blood thirst, which he’s able to manage with a serum. Keith is technically Galra, but can pass for human, which is relevant to the plot since the Galra are the antagonists and he won’t be persecuted because he doesn’t look like them. Kaneki is just a ghoul with one red eye and a human smell. (I had some ideas of how the series might work better if Kaneki had that in-between, but honestly this series isn’t good enough for me to do the work of the author, so I’m not posting them).

- The ghouls are not sympathetic as the “oppressed monster” trope. You instantly lose your humanity points when you’re Eating People, whether or not your “bIoLoGy” requires that. Kaneki is the exception, but that’s only because he used to be human, and his body was forcibly “changed” into a monster. His story is tragic because the writer at least seems to understand that eating people is pretty fucking irredeemable and it’s near-impossible to write around this. (Unless you’re a vore fan, but I don’t think they’re the target demographic for this series.) The people at Anteiku have made the best of a bad situation by cannibalizing dead bodies, for example, but Kaneki’s revulsion to even that means it’s still terrible.

- The whole 'don’t tell humans you’re a ghoul’ meme that generic angry blue chick rages about isn’t really that impactful when everyone in the universe already knows ghouls exist. And her bff is human.

- The in-universe reaction to the existence of the ghouls isn’t realistic. Yes, there is a special police branch to deal with them, but this is an inadequate response to literal cannibalistic monsters living in a human society. I thought there’d be something like the government system keeping track of ghouls rather than just letting them wander around and ~hoping that … they don’t eat too many people every few months? That they don’t completely overpower humans, since they canonically can do that? … Why are ghouls allowed to roam around, anyway?

- There are too many characters, and most of them are forgettable or underdeveloped. Characters like Nishiki are not given enough time to be redeemed for doing shitty things, so I can’t get invested in them. No, I don’t care about your sad backstory when you’re introduced kicking the the protag’s best friend into the wall for shock value.

- That said, Blue Anger is easily the worst in the main cast. Watching scenes with her is almost as painful as watching LOK’s Mako not being held accountable for pretty much anything. Nishiki may be underdeveloped, and other characters like Tsukiyama just make me tired (and he’s not good queer rep, but I’m not going to talk about that right now), but at least Nishiki gets knocked around a few times so it doesn’t feel like he’s completely getting away with being a dick. Bleugh gets to treat the cast like garbage, kick and beat up Kaneki repeatedly, murder humans in broad daylight, doesn’t suffer significantly for making bad choices (like uhh murder), and we’re still expected to like her because she has a generic cute anime girl design.

- there’s also a lot of sexist and other gross gender-related themes in this, but that’s for another post, maybe.

also, the usual “don’t @ me about the following”:

- “you're being too critical, it’s not a character study”. yes it is

- “Not Everything Is ATLA” yes, isn’t it sad that a children’s show has better character development than a "seinen” series.

- “the author had health problems while he was writing it” yup, and that’s valid. Just like the criticisms of the series.

- “why are you even watching this if you have so many problems with it?” I haven’t watched anything this Edgy in awhile and it’s horror.

- “I like this series, which means you’re attacking me personally by criticizing it.’ sIgh

#tokyo ghoul///#thoughts/meta #character dislike #longpost #sorry if you're on mobile #media criticism

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flying-guinea-pig · 7 years

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Season Finale 3/7

Whoops, posted these on OA3 but forgot to put them here!

The previous chapters.

Chapter 3: Into The Bunker

"Remember you're wearing a camera, don't smudge the lens," Steve said, as the boat neared their destination. "Katya and I will mostly follow Tenney and Francesca around, but we use footage from all cams to splice the final episode, so don't break yours. Should anything happen to it, please notify me or Katya as soon as possible."

A short nod was all the reaction he got. Well then.

"The cams record both low-light and regular vision simultaneously. You can watch a live feed of your low-light recording on your watch face. These buttons, see? I can remotely switch the setting of the cams if necessary so if you get confused, just give me a call and I'll make sure they're adjusted correctly."

"Wouldn't vision goggles have made more sense?" Adams said, with the same frown she'd been wearing since he had first laid eyes on her. She was going to be a real delight to work with, he bet. "Instead of a watch? I can't fight and look at my watch at the same time."

"I hightly doubt you'll have to fight anything," Steve said. "Tenney is very experienced in dealing with ghosts. Anyway, we used to have goggles and such but that was bad for the ratings. Viewers prefer to look at human faces without obstructions, makes it easier to relate to them. So we stick to the watches. Katya's camera and mine are equipped with Artificial Sight, by the way - it really eats the batteries, we only activate that one if we're a hundred percent sure there's something interesting to see. If you think there's something invisible, or any kind of presence or aura, give us a shout. Right, now about the other gear, I hope you've read the manuals for the pressure suit and the waterbreathing spells?"

"I've used these before," their other newbie to the world of televised entertainment piped in. Steve turned to April Merrick, granddaughter of one of the few surviving cultists and special guest for this episode. "I used to go scuba diving near old shipwrecks with my dad."

"Good, then you know what to do in case of emergency."

"Question," Adams said, already messing with the few buttons of her cam. "How do you turn this thing off?"

It's a good thing he had so much experience keeping his groan of annoyance inside. "You're not supposed to turn it off."

"I need to use the ladies' room and I'm not recording that."

Right. He'd better show her.

Tenney popped up, unmistakeble in that trademark pinstripe suit and his shock of white hair. "Is everyone ready? We're nearing the platform, I want some footage of our approach."

"Almost done, sir," Steve said. "I'm just checking if everyone knows what to do in case the bunker should flood."

"Oh, you worry too much," Tenney said, throwing an arm around Adams' shoulders. She did not seem pleased. "All these precautions are for show, my dear. Don't be afraid. We go in, get some nice footage of the bodies and the ghosts, I do what I do best, cue a tearful part about how your long-lost relatives are finally released from their doom, and it's a wrap."

"I can't promise tears, but it will be nice to know they'll be free," Ms Merrick said, with a contemplative glance out of the porthole window. "Strange, to think I actually do have relatives who are haunting that place. The cult of Xuerus was mostly a family community. If life had been a bit different, I could have been born and raised down there, brainwashed into serving a demon."

"Perfect, my girl, but can you repeat that while we're on deck? Steve, get those cameras rolling, I'm not paying you to stand around. Hup hup, showtime people!"

Steve lifted the large hand-held camera and followed his boss up on deck. The sky was blue and cloudless, the wind bitingly cold. Monifa was already there, making sure that everyone was all geared up. Her expression was grumpy as she worked. Steve really hoped she didn't have another argument with Tenney again...

The sooner this episode was wrapped up, the better. The team needed a break from eachother - things had been tense ever since Tenney had benched his co-star only two weeks ago for that small meltdown she had.

The oil rig loomed on the horizon, massive and abandoned. Steve made some shots of their approach, careful to stay out of view of Katya and Flint, who were recording the little speech Ms Merrick was repeating on deck.

"- brainwashed into serving a demon," Ms Merrick finished, with a pondering look at the oil rig.

Tenney patted her hand. "We will give your relatives the rest every soul deserves, my dear. I give you my word."

"Thank you, Mr Tenney."

"Please, call me John," Tenney said, amping up the charm as the cameras rolled. "Now my dear, tell us about your grandmother. Was it her dying wish for you to return here?"

"Not quite, John. She never spoke much about what happened, and no wonder. Nearly everyone she knew had died, here."

"Cultists," Adams muttered, off-screen. Katya turned her cam, in time to record Adams' eye-roll. "That's what you get for summoning demons. All cults end like that, eventually."

Oh dear. Tenney did not seem happy at this interruption of the conversation. It was the way the lines around his eyes tightened. He kept smiling sympathetically though, since Flint's cam was still aimed at him and Ms Merrick.

"True, summoning demons is exceptionally dangerous," Tenney said. "You, of course, have some experience with this, Elisabeth dear. Perhaps you can share some insight about the demon Xuerus with us?"

"I would, if I knew anything about it," she said. "Xuerus is a complete unknown. Most likely a very low-level demon."

"That is all?" Francesca asked, coming up on deck. Her jacket looked bulky with all the gear packed underneath it - she must be more worried about this Bunker than she let on. "He appeared, got a cult devoted to him, slaughtered them all and disappeared into obscurity again?"

"Apparently so," Adams said.

"Is that normal?"

"How should I know? The number of demons is literally uncountable, and no one knows for sure how new ones come into existence. I'm not an expert on all of them."

"Well, if you believe Twin Souls -" Ms Merrick started to say, a faint smile on her face, but Adams shot her a glare that made her swallow the rest of her sentence.

"Don't mention that nightmare," Adams said. "That drivel is based on nothing but ridiculous fantasies and it teaches teens all the wrong things about demons."

"Back to Xuerus," Francesca said. "There is aboslutely nothing you can tell us about him? You're going into this blind?"

"I'll know more about it if I see his symbol, or whatever remains of his summoning circle. The cultists should have left some signs behind. At least that'll give me a benchmark for his power level. As you know, the more intricate or complicated a demon's symbol, the more low-level they are."

"Really?" Ms Merrick said. "I'd think it was the other way around."

"As if! How often do you hear about someone accidentally summoning Sapheele, demon of invisibility? Never. Because it takes a lot of effort and concentration to summon it." Adams made a face. "Compared to the Dreambender, for example... Well, any idiot could doodle a winged star with an eye and be unlucky enough to catch his attention by utter accident."

A ding! came from her pockets.

Really? Good thing this wasn't live television, because stuff like this could ruin a take. Of course they could edit it out, but it was annoying all the same.

"Isn't your phone muted?" Steve said. "We're recording, please turn it off."

Ding!

"Sounds like you're popular," Ms Merrick smiled.

Adams took out her phone to glare at it. "Could you shut up? I'm working. "

Okay then. Apparently she talked to inanimate objects. This was definitely going to be an interesting episode.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

"Turn it off, Ms Adams," Tenney said. "No texting on the job."

"Apologies," Adams said. "Just having a small disagreement with my phone, which I am definitely going to throw into the ocean if it doesn't stop making noises."

"You can just mute it, you know," Steve said.

"No. I really can't."

She had the gall to glare at him while saying that. Yeesh. A real delight, indeed.

---

Tenney set his first foot on the upper deck of the rig and closed his eyes, tipping his head back slightly, as if he was scenting the air. He always did this. Even after working with him for the entire run of Extreme Exorcists!! Steve wasn't sure if Tenney actually sensed anything special like that, or if it was only for show.

It did make for a dramatic shot, with the looming shadow of the building above and the yellow-edged clouds in the far distance.

"The weather's not looking great, but we should be fine here until tomorrow evening, if the predictions hold," Monifa said. "The ship can withstand a lot, and the stabilising spells in the rig itself should keep the most of a storm away."

"Still, best not to linger too long," Francesca said. "I'd like to get initial reconaissance wrapped up as soon as possible."

"Why such a hurry?" Monifa teased. "Is this place creeping you out?"

"Oh, ha ha. I'm in the wrong business to be scared of ghosts, sweetie. But there's only two experienced ghost hunters here, and we're far away from any backup."

"The more reason to be careful and not rush our way through," Tenney said, opening his eyes. "There is definitely some sort of presence down below."

Miss Merrick shivered visibly, her eyes glued to the stairs leading up from the platform, to the dark insides of the rig. "I'm creeped out."

Steve turned his camera to their demonologist, to see her reaction, but she was glaring at her phone again.

"Let us go," Tenney said, and led them inside.

Monifa stayed behind on the boat, where she'd taken over two cabins with all the screens and gear to keep track of their cams. She could follow everything from up there, and call for back-up should things get iffy. Say what you want about Tenney, the man took all precautions.

Steve had been in many creepy places during his career. For some reason the ghost hunting business rarely led you to brightly lit and lively houses. Abandoned buildings and old grave-sites were the norm.

Remember the hospital episode? It had been a horror of flickering lights and floating scalpels and screaming. Or, oh god, that day-care that had been closed after a madmen with a gun had murdered all those children... He still couldn't hear children singing without getting goosebumps.

This dusty old building wasn't the worst, actually. The corridors and rooms were small and cramped and stank of metal and salt, but he'd seen worse. So much worse.

Then again, these were just the upper levels. The actual Bunker lay underneath this, an unsightly growth of metal and concrete on the limbs of the oil rig itself. These were just the living quarters. And, good to know, the power generator still appeared to work fine, because the overhead lights turned on when Francesca flipped the switch.

"How deep down did the probes go?" Adams asked. "The ones the police sent down to investigate this?"

"Difficult to say," Francesca answered. "The footage is corrupted, more so the deeper they went. They found some bodies about seven floors down from here and shorted out soon after, but what distance they crossed in that time between? No clue. We'll come across them eventually, I'm sure."

"The bodies," Ms Merrick repeated, pale as a ghost herself in the cold white light.

"Your relatives," Francesca said. "I'm sorry, sweetie. Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Too late to back out now," Tenney said. He glanced at Steve. "We will look through these upper levels first. Flint, Katya, you're with Franscesca. Get some good ambiance shots. Steve -"

"You've got to be kidding me," Adams interrupted him. "We're not going to split up, right? That's what they do in horror movies right before everyone gets killed."

Steve hid a smile behind his camera. Was little Miss Popular with her sarcastic eyerolls getting a bit scared?

"This is not a horror movie, Ms Adams," Tenney said.

"The girl has a point, John," Francesca said, with a frown. "I know we usually split up to get a wider perspective of the place, but this time... there's something unsettling about it. We should stay together."

"Darling, don't worry so much. We've handled hotter fires," Tenney said. "These upper levels are barely haunted. I sense no ghosts up here. I do agree we should stay together when descending into the Bunker proper, however."

"Alright," Francesca said. "As long as we're not going down there yet. We'll meet up back here in, let us say, one hour?"

"Excuse me," Adams said. "What exactly are we supposed to do now? Just look around?"

"Yes, Ms Adams. We're going for initial impressions right now." Tenney's smile was thin and impatient. "Steve and I will accompany you and Ms Merrick, we're not sending you in alone."

"Do not disturb anything," Francesca added. "Especially not bones. These upper levels should be safe, more or less, but you never know."

"Great. I feel so at-ease," Adams said.

Ding! her phone added.

#transcendence au #elisabeth adams #the alcor virus #al-v #fic: season finale #steve the camera guy

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legalist217 · 5 years

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Grisha Trilogy: in defense of That Ending

My hottest take: the end of Ruin and Rising, while shocking in the moment, is fully consistent with the themes of the book and the Grisha Trilogy as a whole. Further, to feel as though Leigh Bardugo did not tell the story she meant to tell from the outset (for whatever reason, be it executive meddling or chickening out at the last minute) is doing her narrative a disservice at minimum and might at most be missing the point of the series.

This is the part where my good sis @alskaichou and I disagree to disagree and I accept that. Also this essay thing is by and large directed at Tara, and is just being written out longform for efficiency’s sake. So if you disagree with it, it’s not personal. (Unless you’re Tara. And even then, it’s not personal; I just… disagree… with you...) I’d also like it known that I’m only consulting the text, my own notes, and my own thoughts for this analysis... so if these end up being common Hot Takes, welp.

Also, mass spoilers directly ahead.

To make sure there’s zero ambiguity in what I mean, I’m saying that both the part where Alina gets depowered and the part where Malina is endgame feel like they were intended right from the start, and to argue that the author intended otherwise may be missing a thematic point.

Okay, so, where do I get off with this flaming hot take? There are two keys, in my opinion: Alina’s narration, and the character of Ilya Morozova.

When I was recapping these books, I spent a lot of time bemoaning Alina’s lack of ambition. Here’s this girl with all this OPPORTUNITY, and yet she keeps going for the lowest-hanging fruits of dangerous power, and that’s when she’s even bothering. But… here’s the thing. I’ve been reflecting ever since reading the ending on what Alina was actually saying in her narration. And I realized something: I am pretty sure Alina wasn’t looking for power, or even opportunity.

The problem for Alina is that for most of the series, she’s faced with two extremes. She can smother her Grisha gift and be extremely weak even for an otkazat’sya, or she can accept her Sun Summoner status… which comes with a ton of prestige, prominence, and responsibilities she never asked to have. For her, the options are being a saltwife or being a queen. And Alina just wants to be normal. Just wants to be physically unhampered and able to pursue the life an otkazat’sya may have.

I realize that’s disappointing. It does tend to go against not only what we want from our protagonists (which is in fantasy often “start ordinary but end up extraordinary”), but even more specifically it goes against what we want from a YA protagonist, particularly a female one. We want role models. We want strong female protagonists. We want them to make the right choices. But therein may have lain a trap we set for ourselves.

When I was reading the first book, I fully expected Mal to be killed off within the first fifty pages. I then fully expected him to become the Gale to Alina’s Katniss--the childhood friend who isn’t extraordinary like the protagonist and just can’t keep up with the life she’s destined to lead. The books do lean into this, with the pair of them breaking up over the course of Siege and Storm due to him being unable to understand the person she’s become and resenting that she’s no longer the girl he grew up with, and by the middle of Ruin and Rising, both of them seem committed to a permanent separation so that Alina can be the best Alina she can be and Mal won’t hold her back.

But... here’s the thing: the reason Mal wouldn’t be a good match for Alina is, by and large, rooted in societal factors which insist that otkazat’sya will never bother to understand Grisha, so trying to build a life together is foolish. I mean, set aside all the prestige that Alina gets for being this unique Sun Summoner, and even then, there’s this artificial divide which the Darkling smugly predicted would occur between them. But if that hadn’t been there, would Mal have been deeply in love with her and likely an unambiguously suited match?

According to the books? Yep. Mal has never had eyes for any girl that isn’t Alina, and that’s something that started even when they were still living at the orphanage, which he suppressed because, well hey, that’s his best friend, he can’t be like that towards her. And when Alina asks him the question I had, which was whether their bond had been falsely forged by the amplifier inside him, the two of them end up having a very sweet conversation about all the human reasons why they love each other regardless of that magnetic draw.

Does Mal have some growing up to do? Oh, hell yes. But so does Alina. And like it or not (and I know where you are on this, mate), I think they’re a couple who have the foundation and moreover the willingness to grow together. To weather those shitty arguments and those periods of maturation. Because they both care deeply for one another, and they share common interests and goals in the endgame, which lend them a common purpose beyond twu wuv.

I haven’t forgotten all those other aspects of Alina and this ending which I brushed off--not just her powers, but her prestige. How can I so quickly go from “wtf is this ending” to “nah you know what I’m happy for them”?

Enter Ilya Morozova. Him and his obsessive, ultimate love of “ordinary” people, the characters that we readers on a meta level are somewhat trained to disregard and to hope our protagonist ascends well past. I agree with what Alina posits on (of all pages) pg 394; Morozova probably did expect the amplifiers to be united by a Grisha older than memories of memory. And that would be because it would mean they could rest at long last.

More of this is coming into focus as I sit here and write. Of course Ilya Morozova never finished what he started. He wanted to. Baghra knew him well enough to get that right. But she didn’t understand his love of otkazat’sya, be it his wife or his daughter, even if she pays lip service to believing he felt it for them. She doesn’t understand that feeling her father had because she never felt anything of the sort for them, and why would she after all the persecution, after seeing her father and sister thrown into the sea?

Baghra understood that he wanted to finish his project. What she failed to realize was that it was not about creating the amplifiers. It was about uniting them. And how could this man do that to his daughter, or her child, or her grandchild? How long before he took his life rather than contemplate this non-choice, I wonder?

Morozova wanted a world where he and his wife would understand each other, where his family would not be cast out by the village. Hence the amplifiers. Hence their ultimate effect. Baghra’s Grisha gift, if you think about it, almost feels like a Newton’s Third Law situation: the darkness brought into being to counteract the newly created light. Balance, as the Darkling would constantly harp on about. But balance is a regular diurnal cycle. Neither Fold nor weird merzost angels (which never happened, boo). I wonder whether any Sun Summoners will have Darkling children. Balance.

I’m veering off my intended track here: by uniting the amplifiers, Alina at once loses her gift and grants Sun Summoning to what’s described as being all the otkazat’sya in range. I don’t think that ended up eliminating the concept of otkazat’sya, unfortunately, but it does two things:

it levels the playing field and likely kicks open the door to Grisha becoming citizens (because how are otkazat’sya supposed to argue that they’re abominations or whatever when the gift can just randomly get flung onto you well past the standard age? actually don’t answer that im sure humans can find a way)

it sets Alina free

I feel like that second one is going to cause Objections, but refer to earlier when I mentioned she was trapped between the two extremes. Saltwife or queen. And while she’s spent three books psyching up to ascending some form of throne or another, she still... really doesn’t want it. And that? Matters.

To throw down a kind of low blow here, I’m linking a post you enthusiastically reblogged about a young person who, when told they can be anything they want to be, confidently replies they want to be a secretary. Not a CEO, not a scientist, not a lawyer, not a doctor. A secretary.

Alina visibly misses several things over the course of this series. Occasionally it’s cartography. Often, it’s Mal. But mostly, and despite all the trauma that she endured there, she misses her childhood home at Keramzin. I didn’t realize until the ending just how many of her thoughts stray back to the Duke’s house, to lessons from Ana Kuya, to the grounds and the rooms. It may not have been particularly happy, but Alina’s childhood was important to her. And the fact that it wasn’t happy shapes her motivation as she looks to the future, once there’s a future to be had.

Of course it isn’t something she ever considers in the series, but then again, when would she have had the opportunity to imagine taking over the orphanage? She was the weakest link in the regiment, then training to be the Most Important Grisha, then preparing for all-out war with the Most Dangerous Grisha, then preparing to be a Queen while maintaining appearances as a Saint. She wasn’t really allowed to have her own idea of her future at any point (that I can recall--my brain is still very fuzzy on book one), and the few times that she’s fleeing all these responsibilities, it’s to do nothing more specific than live with Mal, because to survive is all she dare dream of doing.

Other people want her to be a queen. Including us readers, because it would be a satisfying end to her arc. But, at the end of it all, I think she really doesn’t want to be a queen. And if it weren’t for how the power is so intimately tied to her life force that not using it makes her sickly, I get the sense she would give up the Grisha gift as well. Of course she misses it once it’s gone, because using Grisha power feels good and encourages further use. It’s self-fulfilling. But it was something that kept her separated from her favorite person (because like it or not Mal sure is that for her), and that made her unhappy.

Sure, we want stories that encourage girls to do what’s best for them and not just to settle for whatever gross man just because. But I think enough happens with Alina where settling down with Mal isn’t, in her case, “settling.” Girl had options. She also knew what made her happy. In the end? No accounting for taste.

#rip in pieces our friendship tara #jk i hope #grisha spoilers #long post

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archivederedblog · 6 years

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timestamp post (verse page)

Verses:

verse: text

By default I’ll label online interactions simply: text unless it’s specifically for an rp. Keep in mind that Ered is more liable to chat online than she is in person, as that tends to be the case with a lot of people acting differently between online and irl. And keep noted that Ered with anyone she interacts with online, she will be sixteen after the events of and series: Camp Camp. And will be aging in real time as the years go by. Turning 17 on december 31st.

verse: my rule of cool.

Rps for default verse will be labeled: my rule of cool. These don’t take place in any set timeline, mainly to just free myself up for wiggle room. Keep in mind that if it takes place at Camp Campbell that Ered will most likely be younger, but older outside or after Camp Cambell by at least a few years. Mostly likely 13-14 for how I hc her inside the camp, then 17 going on 18 outside of it.

Sub-verse tied into default canon verse: too cool 4 school.

Just light-hearted school-verse stuff, triggering things won’t be a main theme unless asked or plotted for to avoid uncomfortable situations for people. Feel free to have muses as teachers, counselors, tutors, or faculty, etc, if they’re adults!

Secondary sub-verse tied into default canon verse: too cool 4 highschool.

Basically it makes use of older Ered in the school verse but for highschool will always cut off for 18 on her real-time age, since she does graduate on time. Still all the same stuff applies, though my canon-verse icons will still be used, granted her body-type and height along with looks will be drastically different to how she actually is in her picture. Same aspects apply to it basically as the pre-high school verse.

This time a Flowerscouts verse: the coolest flower.

I say verse instead of AU (still deciding whether or not to make this an AU instead of having it line up since it’s like… takes a lot of adjustments on both parties to make it work) as I decided I’m going to tie it into Ered actually being in the Flowerscouts after the summer ends and her stay in Camp Campbell due to her dads’ busy schedule. It works and lines up with a lot of interactions I’ve had with Flowerscout blogs on why they still talk and now a Miss Priss blog and future ones. But also for how I headcanon her journey into adulthood as she is a model on the side of being a pro-skateboarder but eventually retires after a life of trashing other pros and makes extreme sports and skateboarding a hobby she does now, wanting to still enjoy her extreme passions rather than have it be a job. And thus becomes a super model full-time instead.

So Ered doesn’t conform to the Flower Scout’s agenda and rules but has a great sense of fashion and personal beauty, albeit the verse begins with her having the sleeves ripped off her uniform to wear her jacket over the shirt, then redesigning the skirt to be more akin to a toga with legs bared. So with a sudden burst of popularity on her arrival, it’s up to one of the Trio or Miss Priss to somehow handle or have a rich, bratty, and spoiled teenager come to their side to prevent her ruining the camp in the most outrageous and fabulous ways possible.

verse: tides of cool. (This is a heavy gore, death, and blood verse. I suggest black listing this verse as I will tag any gore, but just in case you have a problem with it. I suggest you read all of this before clicking on any links for this. Ered’s age ranges from canon unconfirmed age to 16)

This is a monster AU with Ered based around being an Orca Siren due to her high charisma and overall what I felt was interesting and fit her personality. And overall this AU began after I saw it be a thing in the fandom which makes sense considering ghosts and actual magic exist in the canon Camp Camp universe, though Ered being an Orca Siren is my idea. This AU will be selective as you need to communicate with me on what’s going to happen. As I write monsters with horror and gore in mind with bits of comedy thrown in as this is Camp Camp, as well? I guess I’m just a girl who likes cute, horror and gory things. Regardless, keep in mind even child Ered in this AU is extremely dangerous to a group of normal humans or even to abnormal beings. I suggest blacklisting this verse or avoiding it as it will contain heavy gore, death, and consumption as Ered will try to eat or entrance your character if they’re not a monster, though in rare instances and me being highly selective, she can befriend others that are just plain humans in this verse. And as a disclaimer: I don’t rp vore before anyone interested in this verse that is seeking it: asks me for it as I don’t do fetish eating, as I write monsters as monsters. And if Ered ever swallows someone alive without crushing them, they WILL most likely die 99% of the time? Ered’s internal systems are supernatural in nature and hardy like the rest of her, but Ered will have to be in a lazy mood enough to not provide mercy killings or it’s on accident when feeding. Sometimes they’ll probably be limbless from mutilation and it’ll be to torture them, though that’s rare.

If you’re down with this verse and what I’ve stated in it and want to rp in it on here on my main blog? Then follow my sideblog: sirens4life and read the important info for it to show me you’ve read this where I will post gore, au drabbles and other Orca Siren info related things as the information and relation pages for this AU will be on that blog. Warning: heavy gore and dark themes will be untagged on that side blog. If you follow that blog, I will pm you to plot things out as this au requires communication if you’re character isn’t a monster and you’re okay with them dying. With all of that being said, you have been warned.

sirens4life blog link for info.

Verse: cool pool. (Not actually solely like Dead Pool, just had the most catchy name) Basically a superhero verse, though Ered is an artificial human mercenary contracted by the USA government and currently resides at Camp Campbell. This AU has darker themes such as blood, gore and violence due to the intense fighting that can and will occur.

Sideblog for more detailed info: https://mercenaries4life.tumblr.com/

tag verse: satan is pretty metal.

Before I begin, why are you rping with a Jen but not Daniel!!!11! Jen didn’t really do anything on screen to the campers and Daniel’s main thing with me is brainwashing combined with some other things I associate stuff is why? I would be down rping with him otherwise if it wasn’t just a oddly specific combo.

This Au was specifically for a Jen that has long since disappeared and I no longer have contact with! But this verse far more popular than I thought it’d be, so it’s staying.

Other Jens that have joined the AU as Ered’s mom: @reformedjensearchistory @vilevogue

More under the cut.

This AU will be making use of the fact that is Ered is adopted in canon along with showing a lot of abnormal abilities/traits. In this darker AU (Though Ered will still be relatively the same personality wise, a laidback, fun loving girl for the extreme and cool stuff, just chill with murder and eating people along with a few darker things), Ered’s blood father is Lucifier and Jen her birth mother as the willing vessel. Though Ered was separated from her at near birth due to being hunted by zealots, having Ered be with (My Ered’s previous blood parents as just adoptive abusive parents which is later her loving dads that save her) Jen actually being her birth mother with the explanation of: they didn’t kill Ered as a baby out of fear of the consequences, Jen’s execution was interrupted by the police who followed up on a report of a woman with a baby being chased through the town, gunning down her attackers, but not before Ered was kidnapped by her adopted parents until her FBI dads rescued her once they tried to flee after it was found out her papers were forged by them.

Taking years to track down Ered, killing people even to get her files in order to locate her baby: Jen discovered that she gave birth to a daughter, thus making her realize why she could never find her due to my Ered being transgender. Which I explain that she merely molds her body subconsciously as grows, not needing outside aid, due to her demonic nature.

Click here for the https://antichrist4life.tumblr.com/ blog for more info.

Subcategory verse: make me pretty.

It’s a subcategory tag to the main tag ‘satan is pretty metal.’ au considering how much our plotting and how much it’s starting to deviate from the original idea/relations, though overall is still the same au in the core concept. The new tag is called ‘make me pretty.’ as Jen is more of a teacher, along with other aspects in the au while still her blood mother in this au

Tags:

Tag: wittle - Mainly for @puddlechild but I am open to others interacting with Ered as a younger child. Though it’s going to highly revolve around hc to reflect her in canon. I am near private with this tag, so do feel free to request rping with kid Ered, but be aware I might reject you if I’m not familiar with you. This tag will be used in AUs as well if she’s a kid currently in the thread. Her age will be 6-8.

Then the ‘alt.’ tag has been added, basically meaning a what-if scenario as an alternate timeline that somehow conflicts with my portrayal subtly yet not enough to warrant an AU: so it takes place in a separate timeline. It’s mainly to just make interactions easier since I’m flexible and go off canon for the most part for her camp verse, then kinda build off her traits and personality/actions in others.

Ered’s dads tag: gay dads.

Tag: older ered

Exactly what it means basically, it will make use of the oldest and the present version I have in a real-time aging timeline. Which right now is 17 going on 18 and currently makes use of Hillary Duff as a fc for a semi-accurate representation but overall, not correspondent to what she actually looks like face-wise or body wise. As I might commission that one day when I get enough money scrounged up.

Tag: gore and other dark tags (In general how I tag gore and what’s a common tag.) Mostly I tag gore or any associated body part as: tw: gore - tw: consumption - tw: death.

Tag: facts - thots (meaning her thoughts. i thought it was funny and I got meme’d into it through voting) - suggestion - conversation - selfcare - If you want to look at Ered messing with people online when she’s bored and occasionally being sentimental.

Tag: twin - Will be used for duplicates and WILL be acknowledged in the default verse if the topic is tread upon. Ered out of anyone would probably like herself, aka her twin sister the most compared to most people.

Tag: selfpromo - It’s pretty self-explanatory, decided to just put the info here for it. Mainly regarding the frequency the ic and ooc ones will be reblogged as I know some people dislike ooc things on their online blogs. I’ll probably reblog the promos near the end and beginning of the month.

Tag: timestamp - Basically my timestamps to show when I made these headcanons if they’re blatantly stolen.

#ooc #psa #timestamp

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