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your-phantomfield · 2 months

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RELIUS = CLOVER

i .. ii .. iii circa 2198 for @cutesymortician

A relationship with Relius Clover is anything but stable. No matter how much you love him, or how much you interest him, he is and always will be thrall to his desires. He is a hedonist at his core. Your relationship really isn’t about you at all- it’s about Relius’ interest in you, and his obsession with all that interests him. The relationship is viciously hot-and-cold.

When it’s hot, it's fire. Relius is absolutely terrible at saying no to himself in any capacity, and you are one of his desires. His most fascinating little pet project at the moment.

He’s spending a shockingly small amount of time in his lab, preferring to be observing you at all hours as a form of ‘field research.’ He can’t stand to have you out of his sight. No other project interests him right now. Any time spent alone just leads his thoughts back to the subject of you.

II.

More well-adjusted people might call this pining, or a crush, or love. Of course, super genius that he is, Relius doesn’t see it as such. Yes, yes, you’re captivating, you are lovely, but his interest is nothing so pedestrian. His draw to you is based in more refined things, he thinks; scientific curiosity and artistic appreciation.

This is no meaningless bid for human connection. His admiration of you is much like his admiration for theater. Refined. An intellectual pursuit.

Which is why he must be able to reach you whenever the fancy strikes him. He can’t have you interrupting his work with all your mystery. He won’t be able to get anything done if he’s stuck pining for wondering about you. Wherever you lived previously, you'll be moved to living in the same Hierarchical City he's been stationed in. Having to make time for an entire airship flight every day is beneath him- it's much more reasonable to have you near enough that he can teleport to your location whenever he likes.

If you have any connection to the NOL, he has enough power to pull the strings necessary to have you formally transferred to his location. Perhaps he could even have you stationed near his office. He could do with a secretary.

III.

If you aren't in the NOL, don't fret- no path you walk will be able to lead you out of his reach. Maybe a family member gets sick, maybe the job offer of your dreams just appears out of the aether... He'll take just about any route to get you to him other than asking directly.

Relius, the gentleman that he is, prefers to be able to offer you the courtesy of allowing you to move closer to him. He'll take care of your room and board as an act of charity. God forbid he have to act like a normal boyfriend and just ask you to move in with him. He'd sooner die... or maybe just kill you and be done with this. No, he'd rather not lose you... perhaps you've been refined enough to service one of his Detonator prototypes... The convenience of being able to call for Ignis whenever he pleases is wonderful, it would certainly be a boon to your relationship-

Hmm.... no. Not... yet. He's not done with this dance of yours.

IV.

Speaking of how this man cannot be normal about anything. A relationship with Relius doesn’t exactly look like modern dating. You’re free to consider him your boyfriend, but from Relius’ perspective, he doesn’t really do dating. He finds it childish, gauche, and an utter waste of time.

Instead, Relius prefers to see himself as courting you. Your relationship may be official, in a way, in that he has decided he wants you and will be furious if you turn to someone else, but he’s not inclined to put any names to it. All the more reason he would rather ‘puppet master’ his way into getting you to move to his area code than ever ask you to move in.

His love of theatrics, his dramatism, and that desire to ‘court you properly’ combine into something like a dream. He’s old school. Storybook old school.

This is a man who never lets you open a door on your own- he’ll either do it himself, with a bow, or he’ll send someone else to take care of it while his hand stays firmly on your waist. He treats you like you’re delicate, regardless of whether or not you are. Your chairs will be pulled out, your drinks will be poured. When you’re with him, you’ll almost never have to do anything other than sit, look pleasant like the prized piece of artwork he sees you as, and provide some interesting conversation. That should be easy enough, no?

VI.

He makes time for dinner with you multiple times a week, during the periods when you’re his primary interest. He never lets you see the bill. During the conversation, he may share a little about his work, but he’s vague, talking mostly in abstracts. He appreciates any interest you show, absolutely, and would love to give you a demonstration on his research sometime- but that isn’t of any interest right now. At the moment he’d rather be thinking about you, and he’ll keep steering the conversation back to you because of that.

Sometimes he’s uncomfortably quiet, barely nodding along as you’re forced to carry the entire conversation. It’s not that he isn’t paying attention- he’s fixated. He enjoys relaxing to the melody of your voice, watching the ebbs and flows in your soul. On occasion that does mean he’s barely listening to the actual words you’re saying, sure, but he is paying attention to you. How sweet!

Other times dinner with him kind of feels like an interview, the way he keeps pestering you about every little thing he can think of. Your hobbies- how are they coming along? He remembers projects or interests you may have only mentioned in passing, and expects to hear how you’ve made progress on them. He latches on to any kind of self-improvement attempt you’ve been considering and he will scold you if you haven’t been following through. He takes special interests in the arts and in education, fields he believes to improve a person’s mind.

If you aren’t able to present enough ‘progress points’ to satisfy him, he’ll start ‘helpfully’ suggesting some of his own, functionally giving you homework. Practice your penmanship, it’s truly embarrassing for someone of your caliber. Read this philosophy treatise, he’ll have it sent to your home by the morning. Has your dancing improved at all? Come, he’s going to test you.

VII.

Which leads us into the other side of your relationship. I’ve mentioned that Relius is mercurial, unpredictable and just as liable to ice you out as he is to burn you up. When he turns cold, it can chill you to the bone.

As intense as his obsessive admiration can get, it is terrifyingly easy to disappoint him. Failure is never acceptable. This is a man that, for all your life, if you plan to be with him, you are going to have to constantly impress him. His favor can only ever be earned temporarily. He’s constantly reassessing you. You will be allowed to wax and wane, when he’s in a good enough mood to humor you, but you must never become boring, or displeasing, to him.

On a good night, fussing a little can be cute... but you will not argue with him. Don’t take a tone with him. His word, on anything, is final- don’t test that.

You can desire him, you can ask for things... but don’t be too needy. There are more important things than you, and if you cannot wrap your head around that simple fact, then he must have overestimated you, and he will waste no time on an idiot.

VIII.

Even if you do everything right and are perfectly pleasing to him, he still gets cold. It’s something you have to be able to adapt to with him. Relius sets the entire pace of your relationship. If that doesn’t work for you, see above. It will start a fight that you’ll be able to never win.

Unexpectedly and out of nowhere, his interests will shift from you to some other project. His work, his plotting- he’s rarely inclined to explain it to you. One day he’s your perfect prince, spending every night twirling you under the stars… and the next he’s out the door with barely a word. You may be given a goodbye, but even then, when is he coming back? He doesn’t know, or care, and won’t be able to tell you. If you ask too much, you'll irritate him.

And then he's gone. Sometimes only for a few hours, if it was just a little chore at headquarters. Other times it’s weeks. A month. Two. Time passing with absolutely no contact from him.

It’s even worse if he does reach out, honestly. A poem or a gift appearing in your room, proving he’s been here, but couldn’t be bothered to see you or explain anything. You're left with your thoughts and whatever scattered rumors you can pick up.

How can you help but wonder what you did wrong? Where you became so boring that he'd vanish without a trace? Why you mean nothing to him now?

But no, dear, this isn't a punishment for you at all. This is simply the nature of the man you've chosen to love.

#relius clover #x reader #cutesymortician #romantic #yandere #tw power imbalance

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mizukagami-takamagahara · 1 year

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@ramix-the-red;

Right!? Considering who she was married to, just the fact that they were together brings up a whole mystery. Like you, I find it extremely hard to believe that it was just a normal relationship- I don't see Relius as someone who just falls in love and marries. Some villains do lend themselves to this image of "they're a crazy villain most of the time but have an exceedingly normal personal life," but that's just... not Relius.

For my own personal theory/read on the situation, I definitely think you're on to something with the idea that it was some kind of strategic 'marriage of convenience.' Looking at who Ada and Carl became, and looking at what Relius values, I imagine Ignis must have had an incredibly 'notable soul.' Whether that meant she had a very strong soul, or just a very interesting one (think Relius' interest in Meifang) that Relius felt would be 'good material' for him to work with Relius Trying To Propose: "I would love to study you" or what, I don't know. Perhaps, as you mentioned, he was already looking for a soul to use as a core for his Detonator project- or perhaps he just found her fascinating, and having her as a research specimen and an available resource was part of what pushed him into creating the Detonator line.

I don't believe Relius was actively looking for a wife to produce offspring. Some 'evil scientist' characters do actively spouse-hunt for the purpose of creating a certain kind of offspring, a little dalliance in eugenics, but I don't interpret Relius as the type to be interested in that. I think his 'scientific curiosity' is a lot more impulsive. He finds something that catches his eye, he obsesses over it, pokes it with a few sticks, and sees what he can make it into.

But back to Ignis. I imagine her as someone with some kind of notable soul to capture Relius' interest, and if I'm allowed to get a little creative given we have nothing to go off of, possibly a personality type that he favored too. We see that he doesn't like the 'bleeding heart' type like Litchi, but he gets very fixated on women with strong convictions, like Makoto. I could see also see her having a high Ars Magus Aptitude that contributed to her children's abilities, alongside Relius' talents with magic.

I'm also inclined to believe that she was from a noble family. Rereading Pupeteers, we see that the Clover family lived in a sizable estate, and there seems to be implication that they may have had at least some level of staffing in their house. That kind of status could easily come from Relius' position in the NOL, but for the sake of Trying To Find Clues About Ignis, I'm inclined to attribute at least some of that to her. Also, if Relius went directly into the NOL upon reaching this time period, it would make be reasonable for the people he meets to be mostly other NOL affiliates- he's already very antisocial, it's not like he's going out to parties to meet people. For anyone to catch Relius' eye, they'd have to come to him first.

(tangent) Though in the same short story, we also get to meet Ignis' sibling and their spouse. Francis notably answers the door himself and Rosanne prepares Carl's room personally, suggesting that if they have any staff, it's a small enough amount that they wouldn't be working at night. Although they are noted to have a big enough house that a whole extra bedroom is present to be given to Carl in the first place despite the couple having no kids of their own, and it's possible they have more than one extra room, as when they try to separate Nirvana from Carl, they tell him she'll sleep in a different room- if there wasn't another extra bedroom to give her, I would expect Carl to argue against her 'sleeping' in the living room or something. I... could very easily go off on another tangent, theorizing the size of the household, positions employed, and where in a social hierarchy that would place the family- but I'll save that for another post maybe. I'm already all over the place.

Back to my point, that I believe Ignis was a member of the nobility. Considering what we know about the culture of the BlazBlue world at this point in time, the people most likely to be highly skilled or to have talents with Ars Magus/Seithr/Magic/Etc are the nobility, where we see a lot of focused training from a young age and political/eugenics-esque marriages.

This is further supported by the way Carl and Ada act in their youth. We see them dressed well but modest, acting polite, and we see them being educated under a set of standards that match up with high society values- chess, manners, violin, etc. I can't imagine Relius alone was making all the choices about what direction to go in with raising them, or we would see a more hands-off approach and a lot more stress on engineering, combat, and his scientific interests. I find it more believable that Ignis was raised in a similar environment as part of the nobility, and intended to raise her children in line with those ideals.

I don't think Ignis' family would be from the high nobility like the Duodecim, their branch families, or anything in their circle. They have a much more rigid and notably distinct (often Japanese) culture. I would place Ignis' familial status more in line with the Vermillions, though a few rungs higher up the ladder as her family hasn't been disgraced. If anything, marrying Relius, a prominent military figure, would have raised her status a little. The Vermillions also seem to have a similar aesthetic- compare Ada's clothing to what Noel wears as a child. This could further support the idea that Ignis was a low-ranking noble.

I'll wrap this up here because, wow, I did not intend to go on and on that much. Thanks for commenting and inspiring me to write this out in the first place- these are some Ignis Characterization thoughts I've had for a while, but I haven't put them into words until now.

#relius clover #ignis clover #ao no imakagami #bb meta #bb headcanons #automaton #whoops this is a long one #bb theory #novus orbis librarium #carl clover #ada clover #ao no kokagami #bb setting #nobility and a caste system sort of thing are HUGE parts of the culture of the blazblue world #in the games it's almost always treated sort of as set dressing to support certain plot points #but it's important to remember for theorhycrafting that looks at the blazblue setting as a fully coherent and interconnected world #ps I think this is an uncommon opinion in the fandom but I actually don't see relius as asexual AT ALL #like I see him as a very detached person with no interest in connection but I don't read him as lacking sexuality #I guess I just think “sex drive/sexual interest” and “interest in actively pursuing sex” are very different things #by my interpretation relius would lack the second but not the first #another controversial take but I actually could see Terumi as more aspec #to me his vulgarity/sexual commentary always feels a lot more like a threat or a weapon than anything he personally connects with #will reread this to edit it later I have to get it posted or I'm gonna run out of mother's day time to make my OTHER posts

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merryfortune · 3 months

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heaven sent saviour

Written for Femslash February 2024 and the Sweetheart Bingo from @sweetspicybingo

Day 11. Sky | Fuck Me

Title: heaven sent saviour

Ship: not applicable | Aoi/Kyoko

Word Count: 2,345

Universe: Vrains - Canon Compliant

Rating: T

Tags: Post-Canon, Age Difference, Inappropriate Crushes, Unrequited Attraction

The last thing she saw was a beautiful sky.

Bright, endless, and blue. Baira was happy to have been blessed that the last thing she ever saw - and would ever see - was the azure sky which was ever so free. Streaked with white clouds and swirling Data Storms, cut up by a silver outline of the city skyline: the Link VRAINS was beautiful when it was enjoyed in its truest form.

As a digital video game.

One that she was not ever meant to log out of but she did.

Baira became Doctor Kyoko Taki once more and she was arrested. Her location had been tipped off in advance. By Playmaker and his faction, of course. Less pity given to her - an adult, a torturer, a terrorist - than to her leader.

The skies in the real world paled in comparison to what the Link VRAINS could conjure. Kyoko decided that quite quickly when she became discontent with the fact that she was still alive and ergo, so was their mission. The sky burned in ugly oranges that evening of the arrest and looked even worse through the slats of grey prison bars.

Though she was thrust back into freedom soon enough. It was forcibly pried open by her cohort. The upper echelon was all that remained and quite frankly, all that needed to remain.

So, she put herself back to work again. A lieutenant, a hacker, anything to support the inglorious ambitions of the Kogami patrilineal line. Though this time, she wasn’t on the frontline anymore.

A shame.

She had enjoyed her duel against Blue Angel tremendously but as far as first and only hurrahs went, that was a damn good one.

Kyoko wanted to be caught. Deep down, she didn’t want to struggle with the burden that she had created for herself by going deeper and deeper into the descent of depravity that Dr. Kogami had called the marching forward of progress. She wasn’t even sure if she had even wanted to be freed from prison but until the time her crime had been dealt with internally, she didn’t want to see the sky from behind prison bars. She had wanted the impending doom of the Hanoi Tower to purify her and her sins in the wake of its detonation but that bomb never went off rendering their efforts fruitless.

But that duel had been a good one from a standpoint of skill and technicality.

To have a celebrity Duelist like Blue Angel on the ropes was a good feeling. To feel her struggling in her snare and then fighting back to win, to see her produce results from a miracle, Kyoko relished the reviewing of her own duel. She wanted to get better, too, you know but she was perfectly content with being Blue Angel’s stepping stone.

Though too bad she had to crash into a certain tree right after.. But she learned from that, too, Spectre was just a crueller teacher than her. No need to wonder where he had learned that, though, truly a case of the student becoming the master in that regard.

Blue Angel- no, Blue Maiden’s struggle against the insurmountable odds of the have’s and have not’s was also quite admirable, Kyoko found from afar as she monitored the duels from the safety net of the Hanoi’s yacht. Whilst the Leader and Second-in-Command fought, a duality of fate was yielded and Zaizen Aoi was not among the chosen. The victors.

But she tried.

She chased after identity, after mentors, after the truth. The little girl who was a girl no more. She would become an adult woman one day. She was going to be strong one day but that day was not today.

Against Bohman, Blue Maiden had tried so hard from what Kyoko observed. She truly was just like the Water Ignis’ Origin in that regard. It was just a shame that Sugisaki Miyu had succeeded - she won her bread crusts in a duel more often than not - and Blue Maiden was felled by the Light Ignis’ creation.

But her quiet, blue-coloured strength, Kyoko would do well to commend Aoi for her effort.

Though these were opinions Kyoko thought she would never get to air. That she thought Blue Maiden was an admirable compatriot in her cause: her allyship to the Ignis and Playmaker’s faction but one whose ideals were in vain. The Ignis were vanquished in the end.

Even if their creators never turned out to be their destructors like they lusted for.

It was a shame their end was not really their end. Even when it seemed to be but the Ignis-Origin bond was a peculiar thing. A sixth sense as it were, Spectre could provide evidence of that. Just as he had sensed the Ignis’ death, his inevitable resurrection was also something he twigged upon. It was as though he could smell Earth like a bloodhound, even through the veil of death.

Revolver had a sixth sense, also, for Playmaker’s movements as his were driven by a single-minded obsession for resurrecting his Ignis.

“What now?” Kyoko asked. “What of our penance?”

The answer was obvious.

If the Ignis could not be killed, then they would be allowed to live. Perhaps this time, if they tried more softly and out of love rather than violence, peace could be established.

They were no longer in that man’s shadow. They would have to deal with his legacy. Archive it, curate it, but they did not necessarily have to kill it. Not when it was apparent their foe would stop at nothing to prevent them from laying a hand on their targets.

(To say nothing of the budding sympathies on their own side from a certain previous subject of their experiment…)

So, they could instead, protect it. Them . This Ignis.

Though that would require some truces and peace treaties.

Thus bringing Baira in front of someone she thought she would never see again: Blue Maiden.

They had met briefly again, with Aoi inhabiting her Blue Maiden persona, prior to them being soundly thrashed by Ai but they had barely had the chance to say hello. Let alone a chat. But their light and idle conversation, waiting for some sign of the Water Ignis’ return, brought them closer.

Too close, actually.

For Baira anyway.

Blue Maiden had her at an arm’s length. Why waste time resting on one’s laurels in victory, as close as it had been, when she could agonise and dissect where she had gone wrong in a humiliating defeat? Baira had been just that. A stepping stone. But Blue Angel had been much more to Baira than that.

She had been an angel, after all. Absolving her of her sins. Even for a little while. A fitting defeat for someone who would slowly kill by placing her victims in a deepest sleep with a virus. One she had even been infected with herself so she knew the horror well.

Yet there were no hard feelings it seemed as Blue Maiden was from what Baira could surmise, her usual self.

They were waiting for word from on high. Baira, orders from her Leader and fellow Lieutenants and Blue Maiden from Playmaker and his eye in the sky. The silence was comfortable.

Until it wasn’t.

“In hindsight,” Blue Maiden announced out of nowhere as she scanned their surroundings, pretending to look for something she hadn’t already noticed, “I enjoyed our duel.”

“Me too.” Baira chuckled.

“It was good for me, I think.” Blue Maiden said. “Helped me grow as a Duellist.”

“I’m glad.” Baira said.

The observation was not new to her but she let Blue Maiden enjoy the feeling of thinking it was.

“I got catharsis. Defeating the person who put all those people in that coma. The one that I had been a guinea pig for.” Blue Maiden said. “I got to prove to my brother that I’m not some little girl anymore.”

Baira’s lips quirked with amusement. That caused her to reinforce her guard. She had no idea. No idea at all.

“It wasn’t enough though. I was still young and dumb and arrogant but I got better. Even if it was for only a minute. I still got to play the hero and save so many lives. I helped. I… I don’t think I helped enough and I still don’t. Maybe I’ll always be insatiable that way but I’m sick of being powerless.” Blue Maiden continued.

“Understandable.” Baira murmured.

“One day, I want to duel again and I’m going to win in a landslide.” Blue Maiden said and she glanced at Baira.

Their eyes met and Baira was overwhelmed by the way Blue Maiden radiated her seriousness. The blue of her eyes was fierce. Competitive. She folded her arms.

“You better be ready for it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we’re on the same side now. Despite everything, or maybe in spite of everything but I want to do it. I want to end the suffering of my friend and you are the most potent symbol of it.” Blue Maiden said, her tone of voice turned ice cold.

Yet it got Baira so hot underneath her collar.

It was uncomfortable and yet exhilarating.

Baira’s stomach knotted. It was all so… romantic. The skylines, her tone of voice, her feelings. Completely and one-sidedly romantic as Blue Maiden spoke lightly, off her sleeve, all her words and revelations coming from mere seconds ago but Baira had already done the detailed autopsy months ago.

She knew she had a crush on the… younger woman. If she could dare call an underaged girl a ‘woman’ at all.

Call it another ethics violation, call it what you will, Baira was well aware of her feelings. Maybe if she was lucky she could call it a fleeting fancy, she hadn’t thought about it months since the duel but the way her heart pounded, she knew it was something a little bit more permanent than a whim.

Maybe it was an extent of her circumstances. Some, such as the media or the law, would call it a cult. She would call it a family. For years now, Kyoko was hierarchically submissive to two teenagers after all. Misguided neurons firing on what was and was not normal. That was just the topsy-turvy world that Kyoko belonged to.

But the way she had enjoyed their duel, what she felt about it and what she had gained from it, it was utterly cathartic for Baira. How was she not meant to fall in love with the heaven sent saviour?

Zaizen Aoi was entirely oblivious and Baira hoped to keep it that way. So she resolved to keep quiet and stony faced. She wouldn’t give a reaction but the way Blue Maiden looked at her, she wanted something.

Anything.

She started to stall for words and gestures when Baira didn’t give her that satisfaction. Not knowing that it was for her own good that she didn’t get that bone.

So she waited.

And she waited.

The only reply either of them got, actually, was to cease the search for today. It was apparent by now that it had been a false reading.

But even after that. Blue Maiden was hopeful but that hope never paid off as Baira chewed her bottom lip in defiance and so, Blue Maiden never got the satisfaction of the beat, of Baira accepting her writ of challenge.

That silence from before began to creep into the corners of the internal monologues of the other. Not even it privy to what either one of them was thinking. Though the assumption of guilt did fester, but that was Baira’s assumption, after all. Thus silence, in contrast to the vastness around them, enclosed in them. A silence that wasn’t comfortable nor was it palpable yet Blue Maiden returned to something closer to her bubbly Blue Angel persona once more.

“So yeah, that’s my spiel.” Blue Maiden said. She kind of danced on the spot, it was hard for Baira to describe as she only watched from the corner of her eye, how Blue Maiden shifted her weight and stretched. It was rhythmic and purposeful if a little awkward, trying to wordlessly clear to the air after her vent. At the end of it, Blue Maiden flashed her a smile and added, “Thank you for listening.”

“You're welcome.” Baira replied as emotionlessly as she could.

She felt the same way.

But she could never let Blue Maiden know.

That would cause an issue. Though, the way her heart seized with yearning that felt like thorns in flesh, it was already an issue.

“That’s my shift done, I look forward to the continued support from the Hanoi now that we are no longer enemies.” Blue Maiden teased.

“As do I.” Baira said. “Perhaps the initial intention of the Ignis can be salvaged after all.”

“Perhaps.” Blue Maiden said.

She didn’t say anything more. Clever girl. She truly had learned some humility and wisdom through her losses. Baira felt a waft of being impressed.

“See you later, I’m logging out now.” Blue Maiden said.

“Tata, sweetheart.” Baira couldn’t help herself but the pet name felt bittersweet in her mouth ever so inappropriate.

Blue Maiden nodded and stepped forward. Her body hit the sunlight perfectly, sunlight bent around her and darkened her silhouette whilst blinding Baira to the actuality of her form. She became haloed, in a way, and part of the ever expanding landscape of the Link VRAINS’ azure and taro-coloured hinterlands.

There was a flash of data - silver and blue - and she was gone, leaving Baira all alone with the sight of the beautiful, blue sky expanding out in front of her, all Baira could say to herself was…

"Fuck me." Her voice was breathless as she contended with the turmoil.

She was so screwed. Fuck her life, honestly, she deserved it. Another victim to destiny who doled out the have’s and have-not’s but she couldn’t not call it penance when her feelings were for an angel and one interested in avenging at that.

#femslash #femslash february #sweet and spicy bingo #yugioh #vrains #aoi x kyoko #kyoko x aoi #writing tag #clover and violets #clover and violets 2024 #heaven sent saviour #age gap cw #age difference cw #i promise this is the last of the age gap yuri #or at least i hope

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littlefreya · 4 years

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The Way to Hell - Part 5

*No permission is given for reposting my work, copying it or parts of the source material and claiming it as your own*

Summary: Post Mi6 - August manages to escape with his face intact and just won himself the title of being the most dangerous man on earth. With every agent in the world on the hunt for him, life became a living hell, but that’s okay because hell is where he reigns.

Too bad for the woman who’ll stand in his way.

Pairing: August Walker x OFC (Ingvild)

Word count: 4K

Warnings: Dark themes, kidnapping, gore, slight violence, mentions of sexual encounters, dirty words, sexual threats. It’s August, he’s the baddest of bad boys!

A/N: Thanks again for reading guys, I am having fun with August and Igni 💖 and really enjoy reading your feedback so keep it coming! Thanks @agniavateira for editing my work and consulting me through and through!

Title: History of a Bad Man

“Sit down,” August commands coldly, his hand pushing her bony shoulder, forcing her to sit on the bed. Ingvild’s behind lands on the mattress with a bounce, her gaze remaining on the strange menacing man as he moves through the room with harsh steps. An irritated look mars his face as he looks for something.

She exploits the sparse moment of false freedom, searching for his well-concealed arsenal. Liam’s words of wisdom from her days of training echo in her mind. “There is always a slip,” an absentee of the mind. This large dangerous man might be an equal opponent yet he is just a man.

And this agent of chaos had his plan interrupted, ironic as it may be. In his fine work of hiding most of the weapons from her reach, he remained negligent, keeping his handgun next to the laptop on his desk.

Keep in mind he carries that knife with him. The scar on her torso should be a keen reminder.

“Can I at least have my undergarments back? Or do you plan to keep me here naked, Mr. Walker?” she calmly asks.

“I don’t plan to keep you.” August speaks with no real emotion in his voice. He has left her clothes to dry on the radiator throughout the night. Her tactical suit is still damp but her ridiculously small underwear and bra seem to have dried. He picks them up, then carelessly throws them at her face before grabbing the large medical kit.

The garments are warm and pleasant to the touch. Ingvild manages to slip into her underwear beneath the bathrobe with haste before August returns to sit in his chair.

Appearing determined, he unzips the blue medical bag, preparing some bandages and pulling out a bottle of antiseptic. “Open up,” he speaks, gesturing at the white cotton robe around her body.

She stares at him oddly, her hands latching onto the fabric.

He sighs, rolling his eyes at her. Fine lines of irritation are drawn on his forehead. “The bandage is wet and needs to be replaced. Do you want your wound to get infected?”

Cautiously she observes him, wondering what brings a malicious man who tried to kill her only a few hours ago to tend to her wound. It seems like any action he performs is robotic, as if he is still in the CIA, following protocols. Curiosity sets her mind, driving her to follow his request with obedience and untie the cotton bind that holds the robe together.

August keeps his leer on his face, whether she is frightened by him or not he can’t determine. She seems trained in hiding or faking her emotions.

As most women are.

His fingers pry the robe open, just enough to uncover the fusty bandage on her torso.

Carefully, his eyes descend from her face to her chest, unable to ignore the way the fabric hangs on the edge of her small perky breast. The roundness of it appears tempting enough to sink his teeth in and leave a nice, bleeding bite mark for another scar on that beautiful pure skin.

You love it when they’re pure.

He brushes that vampiric thought away, trying to keep a clear, indifferent mind as he begins to peel the medical tape from her pale flesh.

The coldness on his face is mesmerizing. There is not an inch of care as he removes the old bandages and exposes her ghastly injury. The crescent line is bulging out, looking purple and irritated while the damaged skin around the area of the wound is white with a tint of blue. She stares at it with almost clinical fascination, her gaze tracing the shape and the amateur-looking stitches without saying a word.

Not even a complaint about damaging her fine-looking body?

“You haven’t answered my question.” His deep voice disturbs her exploration, forcing her to avert her gaze to his face. He is stern, focused on the wound as if he has any care for her well-being. Using the back of his fingers, he moves one side of the robe to further examine the status of the stitches.

“Which one? You ask so many August, you’re like a really boring date.”

If truth be told, the last 14 hours have been anything but boring. She kissed death on its fickle lips and was brought back to life by the devil himself to later share moments of carnal euphoria in front of one another.

All in a day’s work.

Yet she prevents him from having that pride, gifting him with snide in her voice and one of her trademark scornful smirks. He smirks back, giving her just as much as hatred in return while opening the bottle of alcohol and pouring some of it onto the sterile gauze.

Oh princess, I’m about to enjoy how much this is going to hurt.

“One: I asked you who Liam is.” he raises his voice and presses the damp gauze onto the wound without warning. His eyes shine with child-like anticipation, waiting for the scream that never leaves her controlled breath. The torment in her glassy grey eyes is apparent yet her face is stoic, not even a twitch of a muscle as she swallows her suffering and keeps her pride.

Impressive.

“Let’s play a game then,” she suggests, her voice strained as she forces herself to speak without any sign of tremor from the searing pain that’s inflicted upon her. August cocks one eyebrow up, curious to hear her suggestion.

“Quid pro quo.”

His head tilts to the side, considering the idea. If anything, August Walker always loved to speak about himself, even when people didn’t know it was himself he was speaking of. Hiding behind the pseudonym of John Lark, he speaks about his horrifying actions as if he was some ghost or a myth, while all the glory was always his.

“Whatever.” He agrees to her terms and continues to wipe the wound clean, applying a wisp of more alcohol to cleanse the blood clots that formed around the stitches. He imagines this hurts like hell, if he was in her place right now he’d be squirming with agony yet she keeps her composure, eyes still as death.

Ingvild watches as he leans closer, his head nearly rests on her chest. He takes his time, patiently examining and cleaning the injury he inflicted on he. August Walker is a patient man. She takes a mental note before deciding to answer his question. “Liam is my job trafficker.”

“You mean your pimp?” he mocks her, his stormy blue eyes granting her a glimpse of his disrespectful reaction before he places the bloodstained gauze away.

He is answered with silence, cold and unyielding, just like her. “Does he or anyone else know I’m here?” he asks, taking an antiseptic ointment and applying it onto a new piece of gauze.

“Are you not a man of your word, August Walker?” she asks and leans back as he presses the bandage onto the wound. “Quid pro quo, remember?”

No, I am the great deceiver.

Her eyes are at him, claiming sincerity from a man who tried to lie and trick her from the moment they first met. But then again, she also was never honest with him to begin with, pretending to be just a girl when she was anything but.

A deep arduous sigh escapes his mouth. He takes a larger piece of dressing and places it onto the wound to cover the entire area.

“Fine, ask away.”

She stares as he takes the medical tape and cuts it into smaller pieces, placing the first piece between her skin and the dressing. He then smooths his finger over the tape to keep the bandage tight on her wound.

“Why do you want to destroy the world, August Walker?”

August pauses, lifting his eyes again to meet her face. She has her chin resting on her fist, staring at him with pure and sick fascination. Almost as if she’s excited to hear the history of this very bad man. It occurs to him in that very instant that the girl who was sent out to eliminate him has not a drop of idea of who she’s been sought out to hunt. Typical Erica Sloane, he thought, let the dogs sniff him out but tell them nothing.

“You really know nothing do you, little girl?”

“I got your file, it tells me everything about you: army service, height, weight, all your operations, skills, achievements, and ex-girlfriends. All the boring stuff.” She explains, watching the frown that forms on his face as if his ego is bruised. “I know that you tried to detonate a nuclear device almost a week ago, but I don’t know why, it’s as if, pieces of the puzzle are… missing?”

She nearly hisses as August places the last piece of tape on her dressing, the careful, clinical touch from before is now replaced by a crude, punishing one. “Did Erica mention what she did?” he asks, pressing his thumb against the tape to create more pressure. “Did she tell you about the rot in the CIA and the government? A system so biased and corrupt that it forces people like you to fall victim to the sickness the old world order created.”

Ingvild watches him intently, ignoring the punishment his fingers wrongfully inflict on her wound as if she’s the one to blame. There is a blazing hot fury in his eyes but also an emotion she hasn’t seen before, deeming those ocean blues to look like an animal that was injured, or stripped off of its pride.

Curious, she thinks to herself while his thumb tightens another tape to her skin and slides onto her torso, grazing the naked skin unkindly.

“I am going to fix the world, princess.” He answers with a rasp in his voice, glaring fiercely into those rain cloud eyes when something hard and cold pushes beneath his chin. The black barrel of a gun, of his gun, sinks into the softness of the tender flesh beneath his jaw.

There is a sick smile dancing on her face as she holds the gun to his face, her finger resting on the trigger, flirting with it while August stares at her in a mixture of surprise and fury.

“No you won’t,” she speaks, and pulls the trigger.

The empty metallic click rings in his ears, but not even a twitch or a wrinkle forms at his face as she pushes her finger against the little nub. She pulls the trigger for the second time and then for the third. All the lines in her brow become apparent, her eyes narrowed with hatred and frustration as she continues to shoot the unloaded gun with gritted teeth.

August grabs her wrist tightly, pulling her hand away and forcing the gun out of her hand. “You really thought I didn’t see you take my gun?” He asks with an arrogant smirk on his face. “That I’d be stupid enough to leave a loaded gun unsupervised with a woman like you, princess?”

She utters a small growl, staring at him with deadly determination while trying to wrest her wrist free from his grasp to no use. “Stop calling me princess. I will kill you, August Walker.”

August hisses with disrespect while staring deeply into her eyes, as if seeking for something in them. Her glare is bewitching. He imagines she has great power over every man who stands in her way like a black widow, luring her prey into the web.

But he is not falling for these tricks. These days are long gone.

With the brisk move of his hands, her wrists are captured and she is forced flat onto the mattress. He places one knee over and shoves her crudely to lie straight between the pillow before slamming her hands onto the bars of the bed. There are no screams of fear or protest from her mouth, but small whispered grunts as she slightly squirms beneath him instead.

It would have been so fun to break her, to strip her from her tightened control and expand her range of emotions to new heights of fear and suffering. But time is not his ally and he imagines it would take more than a few hours.

With wrists so slender he manages to easily subdue her with one hand. Ingvild sucks her breath, watching as the large man hovers above her, appearing much larger and stronger than he did before. If not for her injury, she would have fought him and flipped him over before he knew it but he disarmed her without difficulty. He made her weak and it only makes her heart throb and her skin crawl with tingling anger.

“Don’t try to fight me, it’s not gonna help,” he warns her as he reaches one lengthy arm to the nightstand where remnants of the rope are hidden.

“Convenient,” she teases fearlessly and watches as he moves back and slings the rope over the bars and around her hands several times. His hand tugs at the binds, making sure it’s tight enough to make her hands turn white due to the blood circulation being cut off. The rope hurts her skin, her fingers splay succumbing to the pain and a small moan leaves her lush pink lips.

There it was, the sound he’s been waiting to hear all day long. She’s yielding to her suffering, letting the pain flow through her form. Letting go of the binds, his hand moves to hover above her face, the phantom of a memory of those same eyes soaked in pleasure in his mind. Ingvild stares back silently, yet the bemusement in her eyes is distinguished. She looks like an animal, unsure and untrusting of the predator who stands before her.

August allows his thumb to stroke her cheek, feeling the small flinch beneath the tip of his finger. He traces the outline of her jaw, giving her a small hazy grin. His lips inch closer to hers, his eyes shutting as he visibly inhales the scent of her body. “Don’t provoke me angel, I won’t stop even if you cry.”

Her eyes focus on the freckles at his nose, secretly counting them before her gaze drops to his lips, studying the shape beneath the coarse hair of his moustache. August awaits for that rewarding expression of fear to shadow her face yet she gives him not an inch of vulnerability. Twice he had the empty pit that is her soul naked. Once at the lake, the other in the shower. This is a woman he saw in two of her very worst moments in life yet her composure is a desert of ice.

“Huh…” He huffs with intrigue and shifts away from the bed, leaving her captive and helpless with pain building in her wrists.

“Where are you heading next?” Ingvild teases, knowing she will not receive a solid answer. Her eyes follow August as he rushes through the room, trying to learn every detail that may provide a hint of where he is heading next.

Ignoring her he grabs the leather traveling bag, placing it on the desk and pausing as he begins to carefully calculate his steps. The sun highlights his tall frame as he stands still. Ingvild stares at how the light makes him look golden and almost god-like.

“Will you just leave poor little me like this?” She asks with false sweetness on her tongue, her hands tugging the ties fruitlessly, making the bars shake and the pain in her wrists worse with the friction of the rope cutting into her skin.

August chuckles, turning to look at her as she attempts to provoke him. “Don’t worry love, housekeeping will pick you up at one point.”

He collects every item meticulously, sweeping through the room to make sure nothing is forgotten. The room appears more tidy and organized than it was before he walked in, except of course, for the half-naked woman tied to the bed posts.

I’m sure it will make for some hilarious stories among the hotel staff.

His mobile phone buzzes, a message from Knight_of_Darkn3ss has been received.

“Fucking idiotic nerd name.” He mutters and shakes his head as he opens the message:

“I have arranged an exit point for you. The Love boat leaves in 2 hours. Better hurry, Lark.”

“I’ll keep coming after you, Walker Texas Ranger…” She sounds peaceful as she makes her threat, as if she’s speaking politely of the weather or asking him about his day. “I always finish a job.”

He slips the phone back into his pocket and turns to stare at the girl who is no longer afraid to die. Now vamping with death instead, she lies relaxed in the sun-shower of the bed, surrounded by a sea of white sheets with red floral patterns. They look more like splatters of blood from where he is standing.

She doesn’t fight the bind that holds her anymore, remaining calm with her hands above her head like a sacrifice.

“Should I have left you to die then?” August asks darkly, making his advance toward her with long, heavy strides. His eyes are shadowed with lust for the kill, like a hunter that hunts for sport. He hovers above her once more, staring deep into those icy grey eyes.

“I wanted to grant you the gift of always knowing I took your life and gave it back.” He answers cruelly, and bites his lower lip. His hand hovers over her form, moving like a maddened composer. “Enjoy whatever life I gave you, sweet Ingvild. Don’t play the hero and try to save the world, or try chasing me. I won’t be merciful next time.”

A cold grin begins to spread across her face, slowly growing into vile laughter that thunders in his ears. “I don’t care if this world burns, let it go to ashes.” She stares at him sincerely, her grin now replaced by a determined hateful glare.

“All I care about is the job. I will terminate you.”

The world was indeed in her last concern. It was never kind to her and she cared very little about the stupid people who harboured it and even less about the ugliness and toxicity that it stenched from. Her only concern in life was to never fail a mission. And Liam, who was the only person she had what she believed to be a relationship of some sort.

Bewildered and impressed by her brutal honesty, he nearly allows himself to fall deeper into the trap that is being offered in front of him. The temptation to delve deeper and seek those vulnerabilities, to rip her to shreds now when she is in her weakest moments. But he clears his mind from thoughts, forbidding them to pester him of ghosts from his previous life. He is a man on a mission and now he must leave the girl behind.

“Farewell, dear Ingvild.”

Ingvild watches carefully, trying to comprehend his actions as he crouches above her, imprisoning her square chin with his forceful fingers. As he sinks closer, his breath caresses her skin, and she smells the scent of coffee and cologne mixed with his natural musk. Her heartbeats become abnormal, as if preparing her body for battle. She tries to escape his grip as his fingers travel to her throat, realizing he means to snap her neck.

But instead she is assaulted by the tender brush of his lips, slow and feather-like they land onto hers. August feels a delicacy so tender that his instinct is to sink his teeth in it. Yet he reverts from it, pulling away before these thoughts grow into actions.

Silence takes the room as he departs, making strong hasty strides while grabbing his traveling bag. Ingvild watches how his long coat flings in the air like a cape of a villain as he hurries to the door. He doesn’t look back, not even when he shuts the door, leaving her alone in the room with her lips tingling.

*~*~*

It took nearly 20 minutes to fight for her freedom. She tugged, pushed, and tore off the skin from her wrists until the wooden bars gave in before her hands did. At one point she felt as if she was close to blacking out. She was injured, starved, and dehydrated yet she endured. Adrenaline is spiking liquid in the tendons of her throat, keeping her fighting like a berserker.

Being beaten was a physical concept she never experienced before. She got her ass kicked in the past, during training, during a combat. But she won and bested every target. Even Liam who was heavier and skilled eventually fell on his back with her heel shoved onto his chest.

August Walker taught her the true meaning of failure and lack of control. The more thoughts of killing him sprang in her mind, the more it felt like butterflies that were locked fluttering in her chest.

Dressed in her still damp suit and a pair of gloves, she unlocks the door to her apartment with a meek hand. She’s not so surprised to find Liam sitting on her couch with a look of disdain on his face, not even bothering to look concerned at her sickly pallor.

She gives him an odd glare as she shuts the door behind her. “Were you waiting here all day long with the same face and didn’t move until the moment I walked in, or did you time this?”

“Where the hell were you? I couldn’t call or trace you,” Liam ignores her joke, giving her a stern glare while quickly observing her messy appearance. “This isn’t like you, Ingvild, you are not clumsy.”

“I dropped my phone into the toilet while I was on a date,” she teases again, shaking her head at him with fake disbelief and then throws her key at the stand near the door. August’s folder is on the coffee table in the living room, just where she left it before leaving on her failed mission.

She ignores Liam’s unsatisfied face, bouncing on her feet lightly and then sitting down next to the coffee table while grabbing the file to reread it.

Liam glares at her with a clenched jaw, his lips stretched to a thin line while he looks at the girl as she acts so juvenile. Legs crossed together while her eyes sift through the documents urgently, she tries to find anything that will give a clue.

“You think this is a game? You know the terms of your contract, don’t make me remind you what happens if you fail.” He looks at her, reminded of the day he collected her from the orphanage, a weird little girl with a murderous look on her face. Much of her remained the same. The ability to know what really went through that complicated mind of hers was impossible..She was blocked, incapable of feeling anything but starvation in her heart. He only assumed it was for violence.

“I want to read his manifesto,” she lifts her gaze to meet Liam's face. Curiosity is shining on her weary eyes. “Why was it not in the file?”

The older man shrugs, curling his mouth. “Sloane didn’t include it. It’s irrelevant to your mission. Have you made any progress in tracking him?”

“I was naked in bed with him,” she answers nonchalantly, giving him a fake smile and then returning her eyes to the section on the file that mentions his past relationships. Her finger travels down through the list, mouthing the names of his many conquests. No wonder they called him “The Hammer”. There were so many of them.

“Are you going to answer me, Ingi?”

“I need a new phone and I need to get to England tonight if possible.” She finally answers, closing the file and jumping to her feet which she immediately regrets for the astonishing pain in her torso. All day long, since the moment she opened her eyes to find herself in August’s bed, all she wanted to do was throw up from the pain and scream into a pillow.

Liam gets up from his seat as well, the older man towering above her and taking a step forward while studying the determination on her face. “What’s in London, girl?”

“A lead.”

_____________________________________________________

Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible and August Walker!

#August Walker #Henry Cavill #August Walker Smut #Henry Cavill Smut #mission impossible fallout #Mi6 #August Walker x OFC #Henry Cavill x OFC #Henry Cavill Fanfiction #August Walker Fanfiction #augustwalker #augustwalkersmut

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goron-king-darunia · 3 years

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Amane Nishiki and Relius Clover Bio's

Annon-Guy: Here’s bio’s on Amane Nishiki (support protagonist) and Relius Clover (one of the main antagonists) from the BlazBlue series.

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Amane Nishiki

Amane Nishiki (アマネ＝ニシキ), also known as the Uzume, is the current Onlooker of the world. He runs a small troupe consisting of orphans of war that he has adopted, and ventures across the world. He is a mysterious figure, but once he has his eyes set on something, or someone, he wants, it is difficult to dissuade him.

Personality:

Very honest about his own desires, and a dogged and relentless opponent of anything he deems wrong or dishonest. He looks after the boys—mostly war orphans—that he’s recruited to his troupe with a great deal of kindness.[1][2][3]

Straightforward and honest about nearly everything, Amane is true to his beliefs and has an unstoppable determination. When he sees something, or someone, he desires for his troupe, he will never take ‘no’ for an answer. This can grating, and some people have even tried to runaway from being scouted into the group. When he is not being straightforward, Amane speaks in riddles, dancing around a subject and using various terms associated with performing troupes to mask his intentions. It does not take long for this mask to fall, and then he will tell his victim what he desires from them.

Amane cares for those in his troupe as if they were his own family. He’s adopted war-orphans, giving them a family, job, and home with him, and goes far out of his way to oppose what he considers an injustice. Nothing fazes Amane - even when someone is holding him by his throat, an aura of cockiness and subtle arrogance in his abilities remains.

There are times where Amane makes innocent mistakes and does not notice until a long time afterwards. He once taught Bullet’s Mercenary Squad dancing techniques when he mistook them for being a “troupe” instead of “troops”; he did not realise until three days and nights after he had started. This incident scarred Bullet for years because of Amane’s harsh dance teaching and regime.[4]

Side Note:

All of Amane’s special attacks are named after Super Sentai.

Amane is an Observer like Rachel Alucard and is immune to her Slave Red Ability.

Rachel refers to Amane as “Uzume”.

Amane’s seeks out Carl Clover to recruit in his Dancing Troupe in the story due to his Bishonen and cute appearance. In Gag Reels, this aspect is flanderized to make Amane look like he’s Gay for Carl. Sadly, when Carl turns the the dark side like his father, Amane loses interest in him.

He likes beautiful things (especially handsome men), dislikes social withdrawal, and his hobby is making Japanese Sweets.

His dream is to witness a stage filled with the strongest fighters who can change the world. As Amane puts it, the perfect dance and the the perfect fight are one and the same.

Drive Ability: Spiral - Can turn the ribbons on his robes into drills that can pierce and destroy an enemy’s gaurd. It can go up to 3 levels. If you try to block a level Spiral Drill, you will be defeated by INSANE chip damage!

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Relius Clover

Relius Clover (レリウス＝クローバー), known to many as the Mad Puppeteer (狂気の人形師), is the patriarch of the Clover family and the former Colonel of the Novus Orbis Librarium’s Engineering Department. He was once the leader of the Ten Sages, known as The One (ザ・ワン) and formerly belonged to the Immortal Breakers, having worked alongside Valkenhayn R. Hellsing. He wants to destroy the world and rebuild it as its architect.

Personality:

Consistently self-centered. He has barely any interest in things that are unrelated to his research, and detests wasting time. He can be social, but aside from his research it’s only to “maintain appearances.” It’s not that he doesn’t experience changes to his mood, but rather that he won’t let himself lose his calm and collected demeanor. He behaves extremely coldly to the ignorant, whom he regards as fools.[3][4][5]

Apathetic to everything and everyone that is not research or the fulfilment of his own goals. Relius is a self-centered individual who surrounds himself in the pursuits of every science and Art, giving everything he has to understand what is presented to him. His research mainly concerns the soul and anything related to the Boundary, but he has expressed interest in a wide variety of subjects. Because Relius only sees people as souls, which he further sees as reducible elements, the lives of others are trivial to him. Relius does not care for emotions, bar hatred and determination, two things which can strengthen the soul.

Relius’ fascination in his own research and lack of interest in anything else also extends to his family. He has demonstrated no love towards Carl, seeing him as an annoyance and not a son. It is only when Carl began to demonstrate hatred towards him that Relius finally acknowledged the boy and began to educate him in his research. His love towards Ignis and Ada also seems questionable at best, having only ever complimented them on their souls and willingness to commit to his research.

Professionally, Relius maintains a social facade in order to fulfil his goals, but that does not mean that he feels genuine affection or connection to any of his colleagues. There are times when their actions interest him, such as Hazama wanting to fulfil his wish and Izanami’s desire to know if she has a soul. Other than the arts and science, Relius has expressed an interest in other subjects such as philosophy and literature.

When he is not researching, Relius enjoys opera.

Side Note: The Fluctus Redactum: Ignis, the Automaton at Relius’ side, is his OWN wife (Ignis Clover? that Relius transformed into a replica Nox Nyctores called a Detonator.

He was also responsible for transferring Ada Clover’s (his daughter) soul into the Nox Nyctores, Nirvana. Nirvana/Ada currently travels with her brother, Carl Clover.

In Naoto Kurogane’s World (The Bloodedge Experience World), Relius is not the evil man he is in the BlazBlue World. He’s a calm and kinder man. He even built Naoto’s prosthetic arm and leg.

In the Gag Reels where he and Hazama go to a parallel world, Relius shows that under different circumstances, he’s a legitimately good father and husband to the Clover Family.

It’s heavily implied that because he can see a person’s soul, he’s gone blind. No confirmation though.

Father of the years, ladies and gentlemen (Intense Sarcasm inserted)!

Drive Ability: Detonator - Summons Ignis. She’ll follow Relius wherever he goes and can perform attacks unique to her until Relius teleports her away or until the Ignis Meter drains from using her too much or takes too much damage. If Ignis becomes immobile, the Ignis Meter needs to refill before you can use her again.

Hope you like them.

#submissions #submission #Letters from Annon Guy #BBTAG #Amane Nishiki #Relius Clover #These seem like quite the pair #Colver seems to be the perfect example of when bastard father and mad scientist mix #And Amane seems like he's just too gung ho and hampered by the powerful idiot archetype he is #Both definitely seem interesting

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echoes-of-the-clockwork · 3 years

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Book Three: Pestilence (Ignis x Reader) Chapter Twenty

(Y/n) placed her fingers in her mouth and whistled, summoning her steed. Erra appeared from a cloud of smoke, neighing as he trotted over to his rider. His presence frightened the civilians waiting to be evacuated, but she ignored their shocked cries as she mounted the horse. Grabbing his mane gently, she commanded him to follow the boat that disappeared only moments ago. Erra reared up before dashing down the dock, his hooves clacking against the wood. She heard a few screams of fright from the civilians as the horse leapt off the dock.

When the horrified people thought the girl was going to sink into the water alongside the horse, they were shocked to find the horse was running across the surface of the water. The steed's hooves were encased in ice and created small platforms as it dashed across the water's surface.

Pestilence's ivory locks whipped in the wind as Erra exited the canal and entered open waters. Her (e/c) eyes traveled over to the Archaean as the Astral used his fists to destroy imperial airships left and right in order to protect the altar. Seeing a brilliant beam of light resonating from behind the divine being, she wondered if Lady Lunafreya and Noctis were safe.

Suddenly, a loud explosion caught (Y/n)'s attention. Her eyes traveled back over to the boat Ignis was in and realized it was blown to smithereens. As gasp fell from her lips as she searched the water for the advisor. When she saw him break through the surface, she sighed in relief but her body immediately tensed up when she saw an imperial ship descend toward him.

Carefully, she maneuvered her body and stood on Erra's back. She remained in a crouching position to keep herself from falling off the horse's back. The pain and weakness were bearable, but she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to ward off the ailments.

As they closed in on Ignis' position, the aircraft's hatch opens to reveal an MA-X Aureus. From the machine, she heard Caligo's taunting voice. "Well, well. Look who it is! What could one of His Majesty's royal retainers be doing here of all places?"

"Bloody hell," Ignis cursed as he tried to think of a plan.

"I must thank you for your visit to Fort Vaullerey. Do allow me to express my gratitude! Once I'm finished with you, I'll find that damned Horseman and slay her with my own hands!"

Ignis couldn't help but smirk in amusement at the general's words, truly wondering how he would slay an immortal. His smirk fell when the MA-X Aureus began firing at him. He had no plan and knew one of the bullets would pierce his body.

Suddenly, Ignis was torn from his thoughts as a fireball crashed against the side of the airship. It lurched to the side, earning a grunt from Caligo as the machine he was inside slammed against one of the walls of the airship. He was unable to aim properly due to the sudden impact and his vision was obscured by smoke.

Ignis looked toward where the fireball came from and saw Pestilence riding atop Erra. He watched in awe as she switched out her staff for her chakrams and threw them, remaining in a crouched position on her steed's back. The curved blades sliced into the aircraft's thrusters, creating more explosions and smoke. She caught her chakrams when they flew back toward her and returned to her usual sitting position on Erra's back. She pulled the horse to a hault in front of Ignis and offered him a hand. Her eyes drifted to the Archaean just in time to see the Astral vanish before looking back down at the strategist.

Without hesitating, Ignis took her hand. He climbed out of the water and onto Erra's back just as the smoke cleared. Caligo spotted the Horseman and chuckled. "This is too perfect." The aircraft steadied and he was able to regain control of the MA-X Aureus. "Surrender now, and I'll ensure your end is as painless as possible."

"Never," Ignis hissed loud enough for the general to hear.

"You clearly are delusional if you think we'll surrender," (Y/n) scoffed. She dug her heels into Erra's sides, beckoning him to run.

The machine leapt out of the ship and landed on the surface of the water. "Then you leave me no choice," Caligo declared.

Pestilence shouted at Erra, urging him to run faster. Ignis braced his body against the horse's back as they headed back into the inner waterways of the city with Caligo on their tail. The imperial general fired rockets at them, but Erra was able to detect and dodge the projectiles with ease. When they entered a narrow canal, it proved to be more difficult for the animal to dodge the missiles.

"Plenty more where that came from!" Caligo taunted as he leapt from water to land, continuing his barrage of firepower. His machine jumped from building to building as it remained hot in their trail. "They say, "One good turn deserves another." And I believe I owe both of you quite the "turn." Once you two are out of the way, the Ring of the Lucii will be mine!"

"Erra!" (Y/n) shouted as they dodged more missiles. One projectile landed in the water right next to the horse, startling him. When it exploded, the steed neighed in fright as he lost his balance for a split second before regaining it. Another rocket soared toward them, heading straight for their backs.

The Horseman promptly relinquished her grip from her steed's mane and conjured her staff and casted a shadow spell. A single black tendril wrapped around the rocket, redirecting its trajectory back at the MA-X Aureus. Caligo growled in annoyance as the projectile hit his machine, knocking him off the building it was clinging to. However, the machine was able to recover and skidded across the water's surface as it continued to pursue its targets.

Ignis wrapped an arm around (Y/n)'s waist, using his body as a shield when a missile exploded against one of the buildings right beside them. Debris rained down upon them as another rocket targeted Erra's legs. With a deafening explosion, the three were tossed in the air and landed in the streets of the Padore District.

The Horseman and advisor landed harshly on the ground, groaning in pain from the impact. Erra vanished before his body could collide with the ground. They pushed themselves to their feet, Ignis tossing aside his earpiece as he glared at the MA-X Aureus once it landed a few feet away from them. "I'm afraid not. It will never be yours. We'll make sure of it!"

"You both shall rue the day you defied the Niflheim Empire!" Caligo bellowed.

Ignis glances at Pestilence as he summoned his daggers. "Are you prepared, (Y/n)?"

She conjured her staff, gripping it tightly. "Let's do this."

Caligo focused his attacks on the two as more imperial forces arrived, surrounding them. "Beg for your lives-just like that pathetic old servant did back in Lestallum."

Ignis focused his attention on the MA-X Aureus while (Y/n) directed her spells at the MTs trying to attack them from behind. She jumped back, avoiding one of the enemy's blows. A familiar tinge of pain surged through her chest, causing her to wince. She fought through the pain and tapped her staff against the ground.

Myriads of ice shards formed in the air before ricocheting downward. They pierced the MTs' armor, killing all of them in an instant. A few stray ice shards plunged into the MA-X Aureus, incapacitating it. Ignis didn't hold back and released a fury of attacks on the collapsed machine with his elemental daggers.

"This simply won't do," Caligo growled as he tried to recover from the Horseman's spell. "I must get my hands on the Ring before that impudent outsider Ravus beats me to it!"

"No," Ignis hissed, switching out his daggers for his javelin. "We won't let you!" He stabbed the machine repeatedly before backing away when it recovered from the fall.

Caligo fired a barrage of missiles with a maniacal cackle. (Y/n) dashed toward Ignis and used a light spell. A barrier protected them, absorbing the explosions as each missile struck the crystalline surface. Once the last projectile detonated, she dispelled the barrier and Ignis threw his javelin. The weapon pierced the machine's ankle and it swatted at the advisor in retaliation. "You're both certainly putting up quite a fight," Caligo sneered.

Pestilence gritted her teeth as she dodged one of the MA-X Aureus' feet before it could squash her. She swung her staff around as she conjured up an immense fireball. Ignis saw this and immediately backed away from the machine. With a wave of her staff, she launched the fireball. It soared through the air, hitting its mark.

Caligo howled in pain as the intense flames melted the metal that protected him. The MA-X Aureus crumpled to the ground, sparks and flames erupting from where the fireball had made impact. (Y/n) lowered her staff, staring at the metal corpse. She stood beside Ignis as he fell to a single knee in exhaustion. Her mind wondered if the general was dead or clinging to life after such a powerful attack.

They heard a grunt of pain and labored breathing as a figure emerged from behind the destroyed MA-X Aureus. "You wretches..." Caligo spat out, holding his side and dragging his body around the metal carcass.

Suddenly, a blade plunged into the man's back before being yanked out. He sputtered out a gurgle as he turned around to see who the culprit was, but he was cut down. Caligo fell silent as his body crumpled to the ground.

Ignis and (Y/n) stared in shock as the culprit revealed themselves to them. "Ravus..." The tactician muttered as Pestilence helped him to his feet before placing her hand on his back and healing his wounds.

The heterochromia-eyed man sauntered toward them, his sword resting by his side with a stoic expression. He was accompanied by a small brigade of MTs. Ignis stretched a hand out and placed it in front of (Y/n) as he stood his ground against the high commander. The Horseman kept her gaze focused on Ravus, detecting no hostility toward them from him whatsoever. Unfortunately, she couldn't say the same thing for the magiteks currently surrounding them.

Ignis' fingers flexed, which didn't go unnoticed by the snowy-haired girl. She knew he was about to summon his daggers but stopped him by lowering his arm and stepping in front of him, inserting herself between the advisor and the high commander. She still held her staff tightly as she gazed into Ravus' eyes. "What could you possibly desire of us if you harness no ill-intent?"

"Your cooperation," Ravus simply replied. He lunges forward as Ignis summoned his daggers, plunging his blade into one of the MTs that was ready to pounce on the tactician. The single blow was enough to kill the enemy. He eyed the other assailants as he avoided eye contact with the strategist and Pestilence. "I've no quarrel with you nor the Horseman, boy," Ravus stated. "Join me. I can secure us a way to the King and the Oracle."

Ignis gripped his daggers tightly. "How do I know we can trust you?"

"Have you any other options?" The high commander retorted.

Before Ignis could make his own remark, they heard a deep, menacing chuckle. The two men looked around for the source while (Y/n) already knew what was laughing at them. She promptly placed a protective barrier around Ignis and Ravus as the draugr sliced down the MTs surrounding them as it materialized from an inky puddle. She glared daggers at the monster as it smirked at her, noticing the arm she tore off earlier had regenerated. "I will put an end to you," she declared.

The draugr continued to smirk at her as she used a shadow spell to create wings on her back. She avoided all four of the corpse's swords as she remained on the defensive. She knew she couldn't keep the barrier erected for much longer and had to get the monster away from Ignis and Ravus.

The sound of Ignis shouting her name and trying to break the barrier with his daggers filled her ears alongside her racing heart. She confused the draugr with quick movements and managed to buy her some time when its swords were imbedded in the ground and it was struggling to yank them free. She locked eyes with Ignis, who ceased trying to break free from the barrier when their eyes met. "I shall lead the draugr away and rendezvous with you soon, Ignis."

"(Y/n), this is-!"

"You won't be changing my mind. Once I'm out of range, the barrier will disperse and you'll be freed," she stated calmly, interrupting him. "Please, don't do anything rash in my absence." The onyx wings attached to her back fluttered, carrying her away from Ignis before he could reply. She flew through the ruins of Altissia and knew the draugr was following her when she felt its presence nipping at her heels.

Feeling as though she was far enough away from Ignis, (Y/n) landed and faced the draugr as it manifested from the ground. She jabbed her staff in its direction, staring into its cloudy, lifeless eyes. "Come and get me."

The monster released a battlecry before charging toward her. Before it could get too close, Pestilence created pillars of ice and hid behind one. She peered out from her hiding spot and saw the undead warrior was struggling to locate her exact position when seeing her reflection in the ice pillars. Switching out her staff for her chakrams, she maneuvered through the ice pillars until she snuck up behind the draugr and used her weapons to slice off two of its arms.

It wailed in pain as its arms fell to the ground before spinning around and swinging its two swords around wildly. (Y/n) dodged the blades, backing away. She ran circles around the monster, weaving around ice pillars left and right, until it was confused once again. She moved from cover to cover until heading straight for it and slicing off its legs.

As the Horseman was about to decapitate the undead warrior, she cried out when a surge of pain surged through her chest. She placed a hand over her heart as she collapsed to her knees, dropping her chakrams. Beads of sweat streamed down her face as she began breathing heavily. Managing to lift her head slightly, she glared weakly at the draugr. "Wh-What did you do to me...?"

The corpse only cackled with a creepy tone. (Y/n) tried to push herself off the ice-covered ground so she could annihilate her target, but she was flabbergasted when Death appeared out of thin air and delivered the killing blow with her scythe. The draugr's body slowly evaporated, leaving no trace behind.

The inky-haired Horseman rushes over to Pestilence and helped her up. "I'm glad I found you," she sighed in relief. The ice pillars melted, leaving behind puddles of water.

"Wh-Why're you here, Death?" (Y/n) questioned.

"It's been brought to my attention that someone has been manipulating the draugr for quite some time."

"Why would someone desire to control such a monster?"

Death stared into her sister's (e/c) eyes. "To get to you."

"What could they possibly want with me?" Pestilence questioned.

"To control you."

#ffxv x reader #ffxv #final fantasy xv x reader #final fantasy xv #ignis x reader #ignis scientia #prompto argentum #gladiolus amicitia #Noctis Lucis Caelum

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duskdragon39 · 4 years

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Long Podfic Recs

I keep promising myself that I’m going to go back and pay tribute to some of the amazing podficcers and writers out there by compiling my favorites into a rec list and then forgetting about it

But also my life is going to go insane in about a week so we’re doing this now xD The order that these are in is roughly the order that I found them on my phone, and are... from a variety of fandoms. I have more (and shorter podfics), this post was just getting long.

I tried to tag authors/podficcers whose tumblrs I know- if you don’t want to be on this list or if I got the wrong person, my apologies. lmk and I’ll update it. Times are in hours:minutes. 1. create / detonate - written by pprfaith, read by @reena-jenkins

Fandom: MCU

Summary: In a world where Natasha Stark still dreams of fire and blood, the Winter Soldier wakes ahead of schedule and nothing happens the way it was meant to.

(People don’t have a purpose.)

Length: 9-ish hours ((Listen, I will and have listened to absolutely anything and everything these two have done together. I do not care. This story has made me laugh, made me cry, and is on the “must listen to at least once a year” list. We have female Tony Stark, Stark absolutely being on Shield’s shitlist and being badass while doing so, Natasha Romanov being a triple agent (and also badass), and it’s just good. Reena does all of the character voices so well, and the emotion and humor will at times make you laugh out loud and at times want to give everyone in this a hug. Do mind the tags if you decide to give it a go.))

2. Don’t You Forget About Me - written by @robininthelabyrinth, read by @litrapod

Fandom: Legends of Tomorrow

Summary: After Len, nothing seems to be going right for Mick. He keeps going listlessly -

- at least until something cold as death starts crawling into his bed.

(In which Mick Rory braves the Sidhe to win back his True Love)

Length: 01:05

((I am weak for mythology/folklore AUs, and this one is just so well done. The characterization, the bargaining with the Morrigan, a fix-it fic for Len’s death- Litra’s reading is also amazing. The way they do character voices and incorporate that character voice into their narration never fails to amaze me, and I love it.))

[Others under read more because this is getting long]

3. Sailor’s Sorrow - written by @robininthelabyrinth, read by @litrapod

Fandom: Legends of Tomorrow

Summary: Sailors tell the same tales everywhere you go. Sometimes, they tell you how to bring someone home. (an Orpheus and Eurydice retelling - and a bit more besides)

Length: 01:13

((Other things I am weak for: Orpheus and Eurydice. I am in love with this for all the reasons I loved Don’t You Forget About Me, except moreso. Have probably listened to this over ten times now, still not tired of it. Has the dubious honor of being the podfic that helped get me through an eight hour plane flight. Also may or may not have dubious fan art plans for the opening lines.))

4. those who were faithful, and those who betrayed them, those who did nothing, and those who defied - written by tigriswolf, read by tinypinkmouse Fandom: MCU / White Collar / Inception/ James Bond / Sherlock / NCIS / The Magnificent Seven / Norse Mythology / Native American/First Nations Mythology / African Diasporic Mythology Summary: On my laptop, this lives as Loki’s kids megacrossover of doom. So, yeah. 12000+ words of healing and planning for vengeance. It was fun. Length: 2:16 ((Things I am incredibly grateful exist: this story and its podfic. Somehow everyone is Loki’s kid and it works, and I’m not going to question how it works because I’m pretty sure it’s some kind of magic. Tinypinkmouse also does an excellent job with the podfic- both reading and editing. Their voice is both strangely relaxing and really engaging, and their reading draws you into the story and doesn’t let you go. Also kudos to them for the pronunciation of all the names. Seriously. All of them.))

5. Eschaton - written by @robininthelabyrinth, read by @annapods

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV

Summary: Sure, it's the end of the world, but that just means someone's got to fix it.

And then the world found its somebodies.

(aka, with Noctis gone into the Crystal and no one sure when he'll be back, Ignis, Gladio, and Prompto end up saving the world one piece at a time)

Length: 7-ish hours

((Listen. I have never played this game. I have no idea who any of these people are. Somehow Nirejseki managed to pull me into this world despite that- it’s 60k words of worldbuilding and rebuilding post-apocalypse, and it’s so fricken hopeful and I love it. Annapods’ reading of this is also excellent - their voice now narrates this story and Nirejseki’s other ffxv fics for me. Their reading also made it so much easier for me to absorb all the details of this fic- 10/10 would recommend listening.))

6. The Firebird - written by @robininthelabyrinth, read by @litrapod Fandom: Legends of Tomorrow / The Flash Summary: Barry, prince of Central City, never seems to be able to make it anywhere on time, but he seems to have found himself on a magical quest – and he’s going to meet some very interesting people on his way, not least being a mysterious thief and a magnificent firebird. Length: 11:03 ((Speaking of fairy tale AUs. Nirejseju always does such a good job of writing these types of AUs and this is no exception. It’s an adventurer story that’s- at least in part- fueled by romance, and it is so very, very good. Litra’s character voices are always on point, often to the point that I don’t actually remember that it’s one person reading both parts (*eyes their Mick and Len voices*). That they incorporate character voices into narration once again never fails to amaze me.))

#podfic recs #podfic #my only authority is the 2-odd weeks of podfic I have on my phone #there are so many excellent creators and I don't comment on enough of their works #so this is a step towards rectifying that and a reminder that I need to go through and yknow #comment #long post #tumblr where the hell did you hide the read more button

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gastricpierrot · 4 years

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Title: Breathe fire into me

Series: Promare

Pairing: GaloLio

Rating: T

Summary:

Lio might have a little crush on the cute barista from the boba shop he visited recently.

Only there's a catch: there's much more to Galo Thymos than what he seems.

Note: role reversal AU, boba barista Galo, archer main Lio

Also on AO3

[Chapter 1]

Lio Fotia isn’t fearless by any means.

After all, firefighting is a dangerous job. Fire burns. Fire consumes. Fires do not care. They're destructive, unpredictable. And in the case of Burnish flares, they’re alive.

It takes courage to put out flames, it takes strategy. It takes many things Lio still doesn’t have and hasn’t learnt.

It’s been about a year since Lio’s joined the FDPP, immediately assigned to the 3rd unit the moment he’d graduated from the Academy due to them being severely shorthanded at the time. He's braved through countless blazes since then, yet he still finds a slight tremor in his hands whenever he’s on the way to a scene. The sirens of the Rescue Mobile never seemed to stop sounding too loud, too piercing.

Lio Fotia is afraid of fire. Afraid of what else they might take from him, because he knows they could never take enough.

“Lio? Lio, are you listening?”

He takes a sharp breath, pulled out of the lulling haze of siren wails by the Captain’s voice over the intercom. Don’t think. Don't let it register.

“There’s people trapped in the fiftieth floor with flammable chemicals. Got it,” Lio affirms as he does a brief, habitual last-minute routine check on his Rescue Gear's controls. “I’ll get it over with quick.”

“Be careful,” he hears Ignis say, and he grits his teeth just in time before he’s launched into the air, shot out and up at a speed that sends his stomach plunging all the way down to his feet.

Lio crashes through the windows of the building’s fiftieth floor, immediately surrounded by a hellscape of Burnish flames. They're hostile as always the moment they sense his presence, forming into massive serpents of purple and turquoise fire –honestly too beautiful to be so destructive—and diving towards him with obvious malice.

Lio doesn’t have the time to deal with them; the fire could reach the chemicals and cause an explosion any moment. He freezes the serpents barely batting an eye, barreling his way towards where the projection on his Gear’s windshield indicates. He's not too far now. Sweat trickles down his jaw. Five minutes. Give him five minutes.

He tears off the door of the room where the group of researchers have been taking shelter, not even sparing the breath to yell assurances before he’s ushering them into the rescue container. His pulse pounds in his ears as he waits for the last of them to climb on, fingers gripping his handles tight enough to burn against his palms.

“Retrieval successful, Captain,” Lio says as he hoists the container up. “Proceeding to retreat.”

“Better hurry up, Lio,” Lucia warns just after Ignis acknowledges his update. “Things aren’t looking too good.”

Lio knows better than to jinx it by wondering what could be worse. He charges right back into the inferno, this time not bothering to even ward off the flame serpents. His Gear can withstand at least this much heat, he’s sure. There's no choice but for it to be so.

He makes his escape not a second too soon, barely climbing ten floors down when the fiftieth finally erupts, sending entire building quaking violently and in palpable danger of collapsing altogether. Lio near loses his grip for a moment, thrown off balance by the shockwave and the ringing in his ears. He bites his lip hard to reel himself back, using the staticky, frantic voices of his teammates as an anchor.

“I’m fine,” he assures into his communicator, though he’s yet to be able to properly hear his own voice again. “I’m coming down now.”

And by the universe’s mercy he does manage to eventually make the rest of the way down. He proceeds to transport the researchers a safe distance away where paramedics are on stand-by, hurrying back to the scene right after setting down the container. Lucia’s mentioning about picking up some unusual heat readings over the intercom, then as if on cue, Lio hears more explosions from the distance.

Static. His other teammates frantically asking if everything’s alright. Ignis coming back online, his sentences choppy from interference.

Then Lio hears what could only be described as the laughter of hooligans in the background.

Lio heaves an exhausted sigh. Of course they’d have to be there. Mad Burnish has a reputation for loving to gloat as much as they have one for setting random fires, after all. Lio really has his job cut out for him this time.

“Lucia?” Lio waits until he gets a solid response from her before continuing, “Is Detroit good to go today?”

“I haven’t had the time to finish fixing the bow’s mechanism,” Lucia says, her words peppered with the rapid clicks of her controls. “You’ll probably have ten shots, max.”

“Apart from that?” Lio arrives and assesses the situation. Mad Burnish are circling around the Rescue Mobiles on their bikes, hooting and jeering and generally making a ruckus and obstructing extinguishing efforts while outnumbering Lio’s teammates three to one. They’re too fast for Lucia to handle with the Mobile’s artillery and for Ignis to land effective shots with his gun. Varys, Remi and Aina are nowhere to be seen on ground; they’re still occupied with trying to control the fire above.

“Shouldn’t have a problem,” Lucia affirms, and Lio’s cranking the lever to shift his Gear into Detroit mode.

Mechanisms slide and click into place with flawless transition upon activation of the suit’s alternate form, shifting its center of gravity and losing redundant pieces as it takes a sleeker, lighter appearance more suitable for combat. Lio then reaches behind the back of his Gear, detaching the rod there which he then flips a switch to have it morph into the form of a large bow.

Lio gets into position, and draws.

It's stiffer than usual, he notices at once as the built-in arrows respond to his motion and take shape. Lucia’s estimates are rarely ever wrong; he’s going to need to make every shot here count.

He takes aim, and releases the first arrow.

It soars through the air and instantly encases a Mad Burnish member in a large bloom of ice upon contact. Lio’s notching the next one while the rest are still trying to process what’s happened, successfully freezing another in place before the finally spot him.

Lio braces himself, seeing them exchanging signs to rally.

Then all at once, they’re charging straight towards him.

Lio manages to pick off one more Burnish before he decides they’re getting too close. He presses another button and changes his grip on his bow, moving into another stance as his weapon shifts to next resemble a sword. He spends a second to analyze their positions and movements, then with a sharp breath, he rushes to engage them.

He enters a daze as he always does when close combat, letting his body and instincts take over as he maneuvers through and around his opponents. Slash, duck, parry. Lio’s received a number of questions and comments about the way he fights over his months on duty, but truthfully, he’s never really figured out how to respond to them. He just does what feels right, what feels the most effective.

When he comes to this time, all six Mad Burnish members are encased in blocks of ice. Lio’s slightly out of breath as he checks his Gear’s condition out of habit, hoping he hadn’t accidentally overdone it again. There are some gashes on the armor plating, the usual singed spots from Burnish fire—but everything else seems good enough. His weapon is still holding up as well.

Lio turns toward the blaze in the building; it seems that his teammates have also been making good progress with that. Ignis tells him good work, and Lio’s just about to take his hands off his controls to work the knots out of his shoulders when he feels an impact against his Gear.

Whatever hit him detonates a split second after contact, sending him staggering sideways and almost toppling onto the pavement.

Lio grits his teeth, finding his footing again by almost the sheer force of will. Red warnings blink across his windshield, and Lio sprains to see a part of his suit’s left shoulder burnt and falling into pieces.

And then flame serpents, even larger than those Lio had faced earlier, dive in out of seemingly nowhere to collect the frozen Burnish into their jaws. A series of slow claps follows, and Lio’s turning and notching an arrow the second he overcomes his surprise, gaze following the length of the flames until he reaches their source.

Another Burnish seems to have just exited the building, waltzing out casually as his serpents retrieved his brethren. Lio squints, barely making out details from the distance between them, only seeing that he dons a ragged black vest unbuttoned, black pants, and the horned visor helmet signifying a Mad Burnish leader.

Not again, Lio nearly groans because Burning Rescue had just apprehended the previous leaders some months back and the stress and exhaustion from that alone had taken probably a few years off his lifespan.

In contrast, the Burnish sure sounds like he’s having fun.

“Whewwww, you sure made that seem easy!” he whistles, voice distorted by his helmet yet somehow carrying enough for Lio to hear him clearly. “But sorry, hotshot, looks like it’s time for us to—hey!”

He's interrupted by a sudden bloom of ice near his feet. Lio clicks his tongue. His trajectory was just a little off—it must be the unusual stiffness of his bow that’s messing with him.

“At least let people finish talking!” the Burnish protests, to which Lio doesn’t even bother answering. He notches another arrow, pulling taut as he recalibrates him aim with the help of Lucia’s adjustments. This time, he will not miss.

He doesn’t. It would’ve once again landed right on target, if only it wasn’t intercepted by a wall of fire, far hotter than what their ice are designed to handle. Lio barely has the chance to think when the Burnish bursts out from behind the flames riding a bike he manifested, cranking it to obnoxious levels of noise as he charges towards Lio.

Lio prepares to intercept, prepares to be out-sped and still somehow deal with it because what else is he supposed to do —until the entire left arm of his Gear falls apart, and he flinches.

The Burnish speed right past him in a blazing trail of fire, hollering victory cheers as he makes his escape.

Lio fumes, immediately moving to give chase.

“Lio, stop!”

And he’s halted in his tracks upon a stern order from Ignis. Let them be, the fire has priority, he’s told in a tone leaving no room for arguments. And Lio knows the Captain’s right. He's getting too worked up, he's losing rationality. He clenches his fists, forces the roar of blood in his ears to subside.

He glares toward the direction where Mad Burnish had disappeared to for just a moment more, then spitting a curse, he turns around and heads to help finish up their job for the day.

xXx

“How’s that feeling?”

Lio draws an arrow from his bow, trying to gauge the extent of improvement Lucia’s service had made on it. It feels much easier to use than the last time even in its down-sized mode; the string fiber more flexible, the overall weight of the bow more stable in his hands.

“Like it’s new,” Lio marvels, eternally impressed by Lucia’s mechanical skills. Lucia smiles wryly and crosses her arms.

“Good. You’re gonna have to be relying only on that for a while,” she says, then gesturing to Lio’s Gear behind her in the garage. “We won’t be able to do much with Detroit until the new parts arrive.”

“It’ll do,” Lio assures; his specialty has always been the bow and arrow from the start, anyway. “Thanks, Lucia.”

“Anytime,” Lucia says, slipping her goggles back over her eyes before turning to saunter off. “Now back to work!”

“Aina’s asked me to go with her to get some bubble tea later,” Lio calls after her, remembering at the nick of time. “What would you like?”

Lucia responds to just get her whatever, and knowing she’s now already too distracted to pay him attention any longer, Lio hurries off in search for Aina.

It’s Aina’s idea to check out the new shop that’s recently opened just down the block from the station, thinking it could be a nice treat for the team after that hell of a fire they had to put out two days ago. The higher-ups had a lot to say about them failing to capture the new Mad Burnish boss as well, and while none of them has outwardly voiced their complaints about it, Lio knows everyone’s high-strung. Arsonist Burnish always pose more danger when they’re in groups; they become more daring, fearless. Even more so if they have a charismatic leader to head the way. It'll be the start of another manhunt for the new Boss.

Lio has never quite understood the point of Mad Burnish setting all those whimsical fires. They’re only giving the rest of the Burnish people a bad reputation, further feeding the stereotype that they are inherently dangerous just because they have the ability to control flames while the majority do not. Sure, perhaps setting things aflame does create a sense of unexplainable satisfaction, but is doing it at such a destructive scale really worth possibly endangering the rest of your people in the long run?

“What did Lucia say she’d want?” Aina asks once Lio’s caught up to her and they’re setting out on their way to the shop. Lio shrugs as he trudges on, taking a moment to enjoy the mundane tranquility around him; the feel of the late morning sunlight on his skin, the sounds of traffic along the road. It’s not every day that he gets to talk casual strolls in the middle of a shift like this.

“She says anything’s fine.” Lio tears his gaze away from the puppy going out on a walk with its owner just passing them to look at Aina while he speaks. “We could just get her one of their signatures?”

“Can’t go wrong with that, she likes anything as long as they’re sweet anyways,” Aina agrees with a little snicker. “What about you, Lio? Any preference in mind?”

“I’m not really in the mood for anything too rich so maybe I'll just get some fruit tea,” Lio says, then halting in his steps at the sight that greets him. “That’s, uh, if we even get to order at all..?”

Aina follows his gaze towards the line of people spanning three shop lots from their targeted bubble tea place, and lets out a groan. Lio understands her disappointment; he was really looking forward to sipping on something cold and sweet and refreshing, too. Still, they should’ve expected this, the craze never really had signs of going away even after all this while. The place is probably also having some sort of opening promotion, so of course people would be scrambling to have a try for themselves over the weekend.

“Maybe we should just go to another place,” Aina suggests, already looking around to see what alternatives they have. Lio agrees, not quite wanting to return empty handed after all their anticipation. He fishes out his phone and does a quick search, knowing there’s sure to be some other shop nearby. They seem to be everywhere regardless of competition.

He eventually finds one with decent reviews located just a little further down the street, past the first junction. Aina, with no better ideas in mind, easily goes along with it.

So they make their way there, and to their relief, finds it with a more reasonable queue despite most of the tables inside being occupied. Lio goes over the menu with Aina as they get in line, trying to decide on what to get. Lio’s going for the peach tea, Aina’s getting the matcha latte, and since the rest of the team can’t really be bothered as long as it’s Aina’s treat, they’ll just get them each the signature brown sugar milk tea.

Aina receives a call while they’re later waiting for their order to be prepared, and Lio soon finds himself scrolling through his phone alone while she leaves to answer it outside where it’s a little quieter. With just a couple of other customers with singular orders ahead of theirs, it doesn’t take long until Lio’s number is beeped through the prompter and he’s stepping out to collect the drinks.

“Oh, you’re part of the FDPP?”

Lio glances up at the crew member, not even sure if he’d actually been spoken to because it’s so unexpected. His attention is immediately drawn to the blue hair first, shaved on the sides and spiked in a way that’s almost comical yet strangely suiting the person it belongs to. Lio’s gaze then travels a little further down to see the staff’s face and um.

Okay. He's kind of...

Cute.

“I’m sorry?” Lio manages, just in case he really hadn’t heard right or something. Get it together, Lio Fotia.

“Your jacket,” the guy repeats with a vague indicative motion, eyes bright with curiosity, “you’re part of the FDPP?”

“Ah,” Lio’s suddenly a little too aware that he might’ve been staring and almost frantically averts his gaze. “Yeah, our HQ’s just down the block.”

Wait, did he really need to say that, though? Oof.

“Cool, cool!” Then as Lio dares to risk one final glance at him, he sees him offering him an encouraging grin. “Thanks for all your hard work!”

Lio can’t help but offer a slight smile in return, a little touched by the sudden appreciation. “Thank you.”

And as they’re on the way back to the station, Lio catches himself lowkey hoping that the drinks would taste good enough for him to have an excuse to return.

#promare #lio fotia #galo thymos #galolio #liogalo #its been a while since i worked on a multichapter lets gO madlads #man i miss spamming in the tags like this #this fic will also be more lighthearted than a lot of my past works so i hope we'll have a good time!!#speaking of which i should get around to posting the rest of my drabs here too hmm #fanfiction

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isedonsdndgame · 4 years

Text

Game Night 2020-10-10

The members of the party all manage to recover fully and the next several days proceed without any encounters. At one point Dagdag and Bropple describe an idea they had for a remote viewing apparatus consisting of a floating crystal orb that can be tied into the divinatorium which can then scry on it. The idea is a good one, but no one in the party has an orb of said description or the magic to create one. On the third day, Iltharian notices a faint red light pass below the vessel and then fades into the distance with no consequence. The divinatorium has been getting blurrier more and more as they get closer to their destination due to the presence of so many worms in the water travelling along with them.

The following day, Iltharian notices the red light again, this time moving closer behind them. He gives control of the shark to Dagdag and has Driscoll accompany him to check from the exterior hatch to try and see what they can make out. When they look outside, the glow is surrounding a dense cloud of worms that is heading directly for them. They call Ignys to come down and conjures a firestorm to burn through the worms with a scalding explosion of steam. Numerous worms are destroyed, and the rest of the party throw other attacks in the direction of the worms with some more killed off. After their initial assault, the ruby shrouded worms pulse with light and Ignys hears in his head “BURN THEM ALL,” so he turns, his eyes gleaming with a mirrored red light from the worms, and he detonates a fireball within the main vessel chamber injuring everyone. After he detonates the fireball, the words echo in everyone's mind “We see you now, you will not survive our attention”

Iskafar causes Ignys to flee outside the shark with a mental thrust and Iltharian follows him out and takes a few quick jabs with his swords that snaps Ignys out of his charm. The worms pulse with light again and Iltharian hears in his mind “YES, KEEP CUTTING.” The worms then move to surround the shark now sitting still in the water. Iltharian conjures a wall of radiant light outside the shark that burns through several of the worms while Iltharian continues to slash at Ignys under his compulsion. Driscoll heals Dagdag with a quick spell before the worm cloud wriggles through the vessel and takes the form of a robed figure glowing with a ruby light standing beside Driscoll and Iskafar. It then seems to flex its form and an explosion of worms covers and gnaws into Driscoll and Iskafar, restraining them in place and obscuring them both.

Ignys Dimension doors back to the shark and uses a quickened fire bolt to strike the worm creature. Iltharian rushes up behind Ignys and stabs him twice more in the back. Iskafar conjures an icy armour to protect himself from the worms while Driscoll burns away some of the worms on his face to restore his vision, the mage then commands the worms to continue their assault while some that were full from chewing crawl back into him, restoring some damage. It then moves up to Ignys and swipes at him with a wormy claw, but Ignys dodges the attack. It continues moving to try and get off the shark quickly but Ignys counters with a fire bolt, causing the creature to fall to individual worms, the ruby glow fading. As the light fades, they hear in their minds a final statement “We know you now, you will be destroyed.”

The party assesses the damage to the inside of the ship but it seems to be intact for the most part. They continue on to their destination while getting a good long rest to recover. Some time in the next day, Iltharian seems something ahead looming in the dark of the ocean. As they approach, Ignys watches on the divinatorium as the information seems to stop suddenly, as if cut off on a clear line. Iltharian reports that he can see what appears to be a wall created from giant worms slowly twisting over one another. As they all look out they can see that the wall goes on as far as they can see in any direction. Ignys suggests, to everyone's agreement, that it is time to try using the crystal to shift to the alternate layer and try to bypass the wall that way.

Bropple crawls underneath to reach the crystal and advises everyone to be prepared and brace themselves as he is not sure what will happen exactly. There is a click and a hum and everyone feels their minds stretch and twist until they snap back in place, an orange light shining in through the view ports of the shark. They look outside to see an orange sky in all directions, tiny points of brilliant black, like stars, are everywhere they can see. There appear to be floating rocks littered about, masses of worms crawling over them. In the distance they can see a massive inverted pyramid, something large wrapped around it. Bropple checks quickly out the back hatch and finds that they are no longer within water, there seems to be nothing outside.

Game ends as the party takes in this new situation and decides how to proceed.

#D&D

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chocobroness · 4 years

Text

Boom, CMC one-shot. (Also warnings: minors drinking a bit of alcohol)

—

There was a loud BOOM!

It shook the ground some. Ignis didn’t spare a second as he proceeded to drop flat into the ground. Narrowly avoiding the flying glass shards of the windows in front of him.

An attack was surely possible. But after 3 years of this routine, it became habit to differentiate between what was an attack and what was someone’s antics. So reacting, assessing and responding to it in a matter of seconds became as natural as breathing.

Didn’t mean he enjoyed it.

After waiting for the floor to stop shaking, he stood and brushed the dirt off his clothes. Nodding to the others passing by, he made his way to the garage.

“What have I told you about detonating bombs within the citadel?” Was the first thing out of his mouth as he entered the room.

As those words were spoken. He stepped to the side. Dodging the baseball that was thrown at his face. He saw the look of glee and amused surprise on the room’s occupant’s face before they exploded into a puff of smoke.

Ignis simply watching as they collected themselves from the ensuing coughing fit.

“Crap, I wanted to have some more fun." Ignis made a soft noise.

“You two seem to have become a lot more ‘affectionate since you found out I won’t allow you to hit me, hm?"

Brushing off the dirt on her sweater, Silas gave a toothy grin. "It's just our way of showing love."

Ignis shook his head. “Noctis has asked everyone to his room for dinner.”

Silas raised an eyebrow. “Already? Time flies by.”

Ignis chuckled at that, Silas joint in with laughter of her own when a box to her left fell over. A small body tumbled out with a surprised cry giving way to glee.

"I wanna go again!”

“Can’t Valentina, boss is calling.”

“Aw Bull.”

Rolling his eyes, Ignis watched as the young girls flew backwards as a resounding boom was made from the mixed bomb powder. slamming into the ground a few feet from him.

Valentia picked herself up and gave her head a shake. Silas joined her with a rolled her eyes.

"Let’s go. Not like this place will be clean anytime soon.” Valentina snorted, crossing her arms.

“Bet he’s sleeping while you’re here.” The answering sigh was enough to bring out giggles from the girls.

“Don’t worry Iggy, if he’s sleeping, I know what will wake him up.”

C/C/C/C

“BOSS! GET UP!"

With a voice of a million sirens suddenly cutting through the evening air, Noctis wasn’t the only one holding his hands to his ears in a futile attempt to blot out the noise. When it slowly cut off, everyone turned their head to the cause of the siren call.

“Silas, why did you have Amata be so loud?” Noctis yawned as Silas shrugged in response. Rubbing his eyes. He looked at everyone in the room.

"What time did I fall asleep last night?"

“You’ve only been asleep for 30 minutes.” Ava replied lazily, busy with the stuff bear one of the younger kids asked her to fix.

Noct let out a whine and curled back up into a ball. “Ugh, so little sleep.” Valentina decided to then throw a small pebble at him in response. Gladiolus, who had just entered the room, proceeded to chew her out.

Which then resulted in a screaming matching between the two.

Amata shook her head in defeat as Silas laughed besides her and cheered on Valentina.

Gaius made himself known as he walked up to Ignis.

“He sleeps too much.” Was the first thing he mumbled.

The second was, “Too loud.”

Followed by, “What’s for dinner?”

Noctis managed to answer his question when he gained everyone’s attention and called for the food to be brought in.

After a moment to bring everyone down from the sudden spike of adrenaline. Things started to go more smoothly.

C/C/C/C

"-and then that poor child got involved and I'm not sure how she got a hold of my bonesaw but that's when things went down the waste bin.

Ignis watched as the soul of Ms. Castro slowly dissociated from her mortal shell as Amata spoke. she was smiling vapidly, though it was obvious her mind was feverishly trying to ignore the graphic details of some of Ms. Eshmun’s more...’stubborn’ patients.

All he knew of the story she was talking about was that she had woken up to the sound of screaming, a chainsaw hitting something and the smell of blood. Then, both Gladiolus and Gaius had come crashing through her wall after setting off one of Ms. Drusus’ bombs. Her struggling patient in their arms and then her memory just sort of cut off from there.

Now they were all in Noct’s room after finally putting her patient back into her room.

Gladiolus’ face was a bruised mess while Gaius was scorched all over his body, but she had made sure it was all just superficial before they arrived so no one was concerned. Ignis knew Noctis was glad the three were bonding and there was no need to delve further than his happiness.

Kaiser had left to the kitchens before the nonsense had begun. the shenanigans having forced him to abandon the others lest he be caught up in them.

They didn’t blame him seeing as they would have done the same given the chance.

So would he for that matter.

Instead, Ignis focused more on Noctis. Watching as he and Prompto gushed over the bundles of joy in their laps. Umbra and Pryna were barking and yipping softly. pressing into their stomachs, trying to get as much pets and scratches as they could.

Noctis squealed and squished the growing pup into his chest.

"You’re so cute Umbra!!” Prompto looked over at Noctis with a frown.

"Hey, Tiny is cute too!” Noctis looked back and nodded seriously.

"Yes, yes she is," Noctis concurred, watching as Pryna let out a pleased yip as she was happily engulfed in Prompto’s arms.

“Hey guys. I got a question.” Everyone turned to Silas, who had snapped out of her daze.

She nodded towards Noctis. “We already know what you did.” She looked back at the others. “did everyone else have something to do with their folks during the holidays?”

The room was so silent, Ignis would have almost thought that the noise a moment ago was his imagination.

It was not a topic that was taboo per say.

But mostly it was hard to talk about one’s family when one missed them.

Silas was, however, a very curious girl so she decided to help the conversation along but throwing in her piece.

“I mean, my mom and dad would go to this guy in little Galahd and he would make these sleds that always lasted for a few days and they would put them through the ringer.” She moved her hands around, trying to describe what it was like. “Like, they would do so many stunts with them and record it all. They would then gather friends and watch it together.”

She looked around at the group.

“Have you guys done anything like that?”

"Hmm...Sorta," They looked to Ava, who shrugged. She took a bite from her plate and continued with her stitch work.

“We cut our own tree and tied Ribbons to it to hope for a healthy year.” She sipped her mug of coffee and grimaced. "Valentina, did you spike the grounds again?" That set everyone to inspect their cups.

“Damnit Drusus!”

“It wasn’t me!”

“Might I remind you that we are still underage. Adults gone or not.”

“Bad Valentina!”

“IT WASN’T ME.”

“Cute defense, still guilty.” Gladio and Kaiser had to hold Valentina back before she launched over the table and tackled a grinning Noctis.

“And why are you still drinking the coffee Ms. Varius?”

Ava didn’t even blinked as she responded. “Because I’m not gonna waste coffee just because there’s a little bit of alcohol. I drank wine with my family on many occasions so this isn’t new.”

She looked at him directly. “Problem?"

Ignis felt like he should have one but he looked into his mug and dipped a finger. He then licked it and looked upwards thoughtfully.

Gladiolus took a swig himself and shrugged. "Got a bit of a kick to it."

"Nice buzz," Gaius echoed.

"What did I say about drinking these things while we’re so young?” Amata berated them. She couldn't blame the group though. And didn’t continue to push it when they shrugged back at her.

After doing so many things that pushed their heads to the very brink. It wasn’t often they touched the adult drinks but sometimes they grabbed a glass of it because something so uncommon shocked them back to their senses. It was stupid and dangerous but they all trusted Valentina to be careful.

trust was all they had most days.

“Back to my question folks!” Silas gained back their attention with a clap of her hands. She then proceeded to point at Kaiser.

“What did you do with your folks?” Kaiser actually took the time to think about it.

“Well, dad was less busy during the holidays so he would make this wonderful smelling but dreadful tasting fruit cake. We would then throw it in the fire place and let the house fill with the wonderful scent while we bought pizza and watched musicals together.” Kaiser smiled softly as he remembered.

“Ooh, that sounds fun.” Valentina jumped in. “But my family was awesome! Dad would get me and my siblings and he would get a bunch of fireworks, and go to the junkyard and set them off while mom cooked this yummy stew!”

“Gaius?” Amata looked at her friend curiously.

Gaius blinked and shrugged helplessly.

“Read old folklore together...Wove new traditions from the old ones...Made spice cider...and burned papers with written wishes.”

“Wow....that was the longest thing I ever heard you say.”

“Valentina!”

“It’s true!”

“What about you Eshmun?” Amata pointed at herself at the sudden attention.

“O-oh, well we just stayed home and watched movies.”

“Sounds normal.” Silas stated, Amata shrugging with a blush.

“Prompto?” He just shrugged and continued to pet Pryna. Noctis laid his head on Prompto’s shoulders in a form a comfort. it seemed to help as a smile emerged on the blonde’s face.

“ I spent the day with my uncle, nothing more.” Ignis said, focusing on his meal.

Gladio rubbed his chin. “Don’t really remember much traditions for that but we just watched random movies on tv and that was it.”

The meal was continued in silence but it was a thoughtful one rather than an awkward one.

Noctis broke that silence near the end of the meal.

“We can make our own tradition...”

“King you gotta make more sense then that.” Ava said with a raised eyebrow.

“What I mean is, why don’t we make new traditions for everyone?” He kept himself focused on Umbra’s fur.

“We’ve been hard at work for so long and things are started to even out a bit...” he shrugged.

“I thought maybe we can do something special now and then to keep the kids spirits up when times are tough.”

This, is what made Ignis so honored to follow Noctis. How, despite his obvious discomfort when pushing his boundaries, he always wants to help everyone under his care. To put their joys before his own. To save their health and happiness before his own life.

So wonderous yet self-destructive. Ignis had so much work to do to keep him safe when he let his guard down.

And a quick look at Gladiolus proved he wasn’t the only who thought so.

“What should we do?” Kaiser asked curiously, playing with his hair.

“Fireworks!” Valentina automatically suggested. And was as quickly turned down as usual.

“We can come up with traditional foods?” Amata suggested. “Just pay attention to any allergies!”

“We can find some movies at the store?”

“Yeah!”

“I still say we light something up.”

“Shut up Drusus.”

“Make me Amicitia.”

Ignis smiled as the meal came to a chaotic close.

He already enjoyed the traditions he had made for himself after this new life began.

Watching this group of children become better leaders was always a sight to see.

But watching as they regain their fading childhood joy at such simple things always made the difficulties of the coming year worth the struggle.

Ignis rested his head in his hand and closed his eyes for a moment. Allowing himself to engage in his favorite tradition during this time of year.

And he let the joyful voices lull him into a brief but comforting rest.

—

Merry Christmas folks! (And please reblog)

#Crystal Made City AU #ffxv oneshots #ignis scientia #noctis lucis caelum #prompto argentum #gladiolus amicitia #ffxv #final fantasy xv #final fantasy xv imagines #ffxv oc #ocs

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arundolyn · 2 years

Text

MY BLAZBLUE KNOWLEDGE IS ATROPHYING... I TAGGED IGNIS AS "DETONATOR: IGNIS"

THAT'S THE NAME OF RELIUS'S DRIVE HER NAME IS FLUCTUS REDACTUM IGNIS HONEY IM SO SORRY 😭😭😭😭

#crow.txt #(bdg voice) HOW EMBAAAARASSING #blazblueposting #fixing it NOW

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carolyncaves · 5 years

Text

Red Lights

FFXV Jeopardy Daily Double for @errantknightess. The request was for comedic MT!Prompto, with some very clever ideas I absolutely loved. I hope this is what you were hoping for!

Huge thank-you to TheRegalHarvester for betaing, this is was a little experimental for me and you were a big help!

They found him wandering around in the desert. At first they thought he had heatstroke. Or at least, that was their excuse for not figuring it out more quickly.

He had weird black clothes, and a weird walk, and when they tried to talk to him, he gave weird answers. He wore a dirty, worn baseball cap that read "Ramuh’s Light" pulled way down over his right eye. It didn't match the rest of him, and he barely looked old enough to drink – plus he seemed nothing like a Leiden good-ole’-boy in Gladio’s opinion – so they suspected he’d stolen it. Or found it.

Noctis asked him where he came from. "I'm from the city," he said, very carefully, an answer he'd obviously practiced in advance.

"Bull shit," Gladio replied.

"Perhaps not," Ignis countered. "Rather, I think the operative question would be: which city?"

His face fell. He hadn’t planned what to do if that didn’t work. "Gralea," he conceded, and there was a lot of yelling after that.

They quickly ascertained he was an MT, that he got separated from his unit, and that he did not want to go back. He told them this less because there were several blades suddenly pointed at his vulnerable parts (although there definitely were) and more because he really had no filter. Gladio growled at him to empty his pockets, slowly, and take off his hat. He didn't have any pockets, he said apologetically, but he did remove the hat, and their jaws hit the desert floor.

He had a few bits of metal embedded in the skin around his eye socket, which must have had some functional relation to the robotic eye seated at their center. It was metallic silver, and the pupil glowed a menacing red that was entirely at odds with the soft, slightly anxious face that housed it.

"He's the Terminator," Noctis breathed.

Gladio grunted. "He's a fricking Niff borg. What are we going to do with him?”

“Maybe we could take him to Hammerhead,” Noctis said. “See if the hunters will watch him until someone can pick him up.”

“No, this is a sensitive security issue.” And potentially dangerous, Ignis thought but didn’t say. “We’ll have to take care of him ourselves.”

There was a pensive silence. ‘Take care of him’ sounded like something out of a mafia movie, and none of them liked the thought of that.

"We'll take him to Cor," Gladio said, "at Cape Caem. He'll handle it. Question him for intel, then put him somewhere the Crownsguard can keep an eye on him."

That plan was deemed acceptable by all parties. Including, apparently, their captive, who’d stood calmly while he waited for them to decide what would happen to him. He knew he hadn’t been very good at deciding things for himself. That was how he got stranded in the desert. It was a bit of a relief, having people to tell him what to do again, especially since they were people who weren’t his old commanders.

"It's a long way to Caem, and he's rather conspicuous," Ignis said.

"Yeah, the glowing red is hard to miss,” Noctis deadpanned.

“Don't suppose you can turn it off or anything," Gladio asked him.

"No,” he replied. “I can’t deactivate it, and it houses the processor for the rest of my modifications. I can only go without it for a short time." And then, to demonstrate, he reached up and did something and his metal eye clicked free into his fingers. They barely had time to process that, or the metal hollow behind it, before he shuddered and gasped horribly and clutched at his chest.

With a panicked “No!”, they lunged toward him in unison, hands everywhere. Between the three of them, they managed to get him to put it back.

"No," Ignis repeated sternly. "No," Gladio agreed, steady hands glued to that trembling chest and back. "No," Noctis promised, looking him plain in the eye.

"Okay," he said weakly. Then he heaved a sad string of stomach acid onto the toe of Gladio's boot and fainted. He did, it turned out, have heat stroke.

---------

They took him to the motel at Longwythe, so they could get him air conditioning and a bed, and food and water, and, well, everything. He accepted each of these treatments with exhausted, listless obedience.

The second day, he seemed a lot more alive. They got him to tell his story (which was horrifying), and he asked them a million questions, about everything from why daemons came out at night to how people got their haircuts (which was … unreasonably cute). He watched Noctis play King’s Knight for hours, mesmerized, and he picked the name "Prompto" himself, out of a magazine. A magazine Gladio had open on the coffee table on the other side of the room.

They all stopped what they were doing and gave him three hard looks.

“You’re telling me you can read that?” Gladio asked.

“Of course," he said.

"So it can zoom,” Noctis said, of the robotic eye. “Is that all?”

"No," Prompto answered simply. No one pressed him to elaborate, but they each tried to imagine.

---------

When they decided he was fit to travel, they gave him a gun. He had to be able to defend himself, Noctis and then Ignis maintained. Gladio grudgingly allowed it, because he seemed perfectly willing to defend them too.

It turned out he actually was a little like the Terminator, in that he was terrifyingly relentless at killing things. He also wasn’t, in that once they exposed him to the concept of high-fives, he insisted on cheerfully exchanging one with each of them after every successful battle. Gladio still wasn’t entirely comfortable keeping him armed, considering his prowess. "Just until we get to Cape Caem," Ignis demurred.

A few days later, when Gladio and Ignis weren't looking, Noctis added Prompto to the Armiger.

When Ignis noticed, when he felt their magical party line stretch to accommodate one more irrevocable door, he let out one of the longest sighs of his life.

---------

It took them two weeks to get to Lestallum – they got sidetracked by a long and unnecessary and debilitatingly heartwarming interlude at the Chocobo Ranch – but Ignis still said they could stay for a few days. To let the weariness of the road wash off them, and to give Prompto a chance to see the city. (Before they handed him over to Cor’s custody for the remainder of the war – or longer.)

The Leville was always a welcome sight, and Prompto seemed to feed off their palpable relief. He was energetic despite the heat, effusively delighted by the crowds of people in the streets, the shady ambiance of the Leville’s lobby, the spacious arrangement and … eclectic décor of their customary room.

“And what’s that?” he asked, pointing at the enormous spider on the wall beside one of the shuttered patio doors.

“Holy shit," Gladio said, leaping back in horror.

"Oh my gods kill it," Noctis said, and Prompto had already readied the emergency weapons system in his modified eye in response to Gladio’s alarm, so he discharged a shot.

"Now let's all remain calm ..." Ignis had begun to say, but the plasma bolt slipped through the air, detonating on impact with the intruding arachnid.

A sudden, still silence filled the room. A golden ray of warm Lestallum sunlight shone through the new hole in their hotel room’s exterior wall. Ignis stood blinking in the gently swirling dust. The chatter and noise of the city filtered in from below, much clearer than usual.

"The target is neutralized," Prompto said, in case they weren't sure.

“Holy shit,” Gladio repeated.

“Well. We can thank the Six for the infinite patience and steadfast loyalty of the managers of the Leville,” Ignis said. “There goes yet another security deposit,” he added more quietly, almost to himself.

“That's a brick wall,” Gladio said, drifting closer to the aperture to get a better look.

“Why didn’t you use the Armiger?” Noctis asked him. He seemed a little hurt.

“Oh – I forgot,” Prompto answered. His gun materialized in his hand. “It was just a reflex, using the eye. Next time I’ll use the gun instead.”

“No,” Ignis and Gladio responded emphatically. Noctis snorted. Then they all sat Prompto down and explained the difference between life-threatening and non-life-threatening situations.

---------

Showing Prompto around Lestallum was a lot of fun, though. Noctis used some gil he’d hidden from Ignis and took him to all the restaurants, buying him as many different foods as possible. He would sometimes babble about internal temperature and chemical compositions (“high capsaicin levels, avoid if possible,” he pronounced before biting into a super-hot hot wing), but the rest of the time he babbled about how much he was enjoying himself. Each new thing was different from anything Prompto had ever had, and he loved all of them. Noctis just kind of let it wash over him. It was dangerously addictive, getting Prompto to smile. Noctis wanted to do it as often as he could while he had the chance.

Eventually they were both too full to continue (even Prompto, who ate like a machine, literally), so they started the slow, sweltering walk back to the Leville, where Noctis planned to introduce Prompto to the concept of a food coma.

But Prompto had stopped talking, and Noctis didn’t want that just yet. “So, like, what do you see with that?”

Prompto reached up and fiddled with his hair. They’d combed it over his evil eye when they arrived – it had seemed too mean to make him walk around with something blocking half his vision, and also wearing a hat like that looked insane. They were trying to keep a low profile, so Ignis had decided they would attempt the subtle approach.

The red glow was only a little noticeable.

“I see the world, plus extra things. Everything around me, I get information, potential uses, potential hazards. Whatever I’m actually focused on, there’s target assist – trajectory modelling based on gravity, wind speed, movement predictions. Living creatures, I get threat assessments … uh, all the people are either ‘high’ or ‘very high’ now, because everyone is an enemy. So right now I’ve got a bunch of red lights in the corners of my eyes. Usually, it’s just you and the others.”

“I’m not your enemy,” Noctis said quietly.

“I know. It’s a dumb computer. I hardly even notice them anymore, especially yours. I always look at your eyes instead.” Prompto swallowed. “Um, I can see infrared. That one I can turn up and down.” He looked up at the Leville. "Like now I can see Gladio and Ignis in our room. It looks like they're engaged in some kind of grappling exercise."

Noctis couldn’t make that series of words make sense. "Huh?"

"Yeah, they're writhing around on one of the beds. Ignis is pinning Gladio to the mattress." Prompto considered the display. "It looks like he’s definitely winning."

It took Noctis a really pathetically long time to figure out what Prompto was describing. When he did, he pressed his hands to his face and slowly bent double at the waist. A long, muffled groan filtered up to Prompto's ears.

"Gladio’s putting up a good fight, " Prompto assured him.

Noctis couldn’t move or speak or exist comfortably for several minutes. When he’d recovered a little, he turned them around and made them go get ice cream. Prompto was still really full, so he didn’t know why he’d changed his mind, but the ice cream was as amazing as all the rest, so he didn’t worry about it.

Later, when they did go back to the room, Noctis’ face was very red. After Gladio kept needling him about it, he walked over and whispered something in both Gladio's and Ignis' ears that made them blush too.

“Your Highness,” Ignis said faintly, “I apologize. Gladio and I, we’ve …”

“Please,” Noctis said. “It’s fine. It’s good. I’m happy for both of you. Let’s not.”

“Of course,” Ignis replied.

Then Gladio sat Prompto down for another lesson. He called this one "The Talk". He kept stumbling and stopping and starting over, so eventually Ignis joined in. Noctis lay limp on the bed. He wouldn’t look anywhere but the carpet.

Prompto thought regular people were very strange sometimes.

When they were done, the room lapsed into an awkward silence. An awkward, thoughtful silence.

“Oh my goodness.” Noctis sat up. He couldn’t believe it had taken him this long to think of it. Probably because of his inferno of embarrassment. “Let’s go fishing. Right now.”

“Seriously?” Gladio said.

“He can see the fish,” Noctis replied. “He can probably read their minds.”

“That’s cheating.”

“It’s winning. I’m going to win fishing. I’ll be king of the fish.”

“Noctis, you are the rightful King of Lucis,” Ignis pointed out, but Noctis was too busy showing Prompto pictures of what a Regal Aparaima looked like to care.

“We’re not going right now,” Gladio said. “It’s almost dark.”

“Tomorrow, then.”

“We should be making our way to Cape Caem,” Ignis suggested.

“We can take a detour to the Vesperpool,” Noctis said, and neither Gladio nor Ignis actually disliked that idea, so they did.

---------

They spent a long afternoon and evening on the edge of the Vesperpool. Ignis took the opportunity to organize his corner of the Armiger, and when he was through with that, he actually sat down and did nothing for nearly fifteen minutes. Gladio pretended to read and dozed in his camp chair. Eventually they both meandered down to the dock, where Noctis was and had been fishing. Prompto hovered at his elbow with his eyes trained on the water – though really only the one mattered at that particular moment. He could see every fish beneath the murky surface, and his HUD predicted their movements based on every twitch of a fin. He spoke quiet, constant analysis into Noctis’ ear, and Noctis caught every fish he wanted. He could pick his targets at will, based on species and size, before even casting his line – and because he knew what his mark was going to do almost as soon as it did, his lines were lasting three times longer. It was, very nearly, like shooting fish in a barrel.

“You’re really gonna make him stand there all day doing that?” Gladio remarked. “He’s not your personal assistant.”

Noctis only had a heartbeat to feel guilty before Prompto said, “I like it.” He’d been holding a fold of Noctis’ shirt between his fingers for the past hour, and for a second he tugged on it, like he was trying to reel Noctis in. Then he shook himself. “Unless that’s bad, in which case …”

“If you like it, it’s not bad,” Noctis said, catching his arm before he could pull away. “I promise.”

“Oh,” Prompto said, clasping Noctis’ arm in return. “Okay.” They cut a striking picture like that – an ex-MT and a displaced prince, pressed close to one another at the edge of the swamp, gazing longingly into each other’s eyes. Gladio could feel a sneeze coming on – he was allergic to sap – so he gave them each a hard shove, sending them into the water with a pair of squawks.

This display of dominance was short-lived, because Gladio immediately jumped after them in a panic – he didn’t actually know if Prompto was waterproof or not. But Prompto came up laughing, and he and Noctis immediately pounced on Gladio. In theory Gladio should have been able to overpower them, but in reality he was toast. Prompto came equipped with enhanced lung efficiency – Gladio swore up and down when he discovered that one, when Prompto latched onto his legs underwater and never let go – and that plus his fast-as-lightning reflexes and strong-as-steel muscles made him pretty much impossible to slip away from.

(Not unlike, Noctis would later point out over their campfire, the Terminator.)

---------

The next morning, Noctis did catch a Regal Aparaima, and then they had no excuse not to proceed to Cape Caem. When they arrived, Noctis stepped out of the car, took a deep breath of sea salt air, and sighed. It was a sigh of relief and some other thing, both wrapped up together. Someone up the hill must have spotted them, because the door to the farmhouse opened.

Luna was there. It had taken Cid forever to get the royal boat fixed, but once he did, he went to Altissia and got her, and now Noctis felt the swift, sudden urge to run and hug her and listen to her tell him everything was finally going to be all right. But Cor was also there, frowning at Prompto, a stranger, and Noctis realized very suddenly that he didn’t want this next thing to happen.

“We shouldn’t tell him,” Noctis said, as the greeting party came down the slope. “Prompto, I’m being serious now, don’t tell them.”

“Little late for that,” Gladio said. “What’s his cover story? What about his fricking eye?”

“At this range, there will be no mistaking it,” Ignis agreed.

With a fwish of the Armiger, Noctis plucked his fishing cap out of thin air and shoved it onto Prompto’s head. Together, they fixed it down over his tell-tale eye.

Then they turned to meet the inquisitive gazes of Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, Cid Sophiar, Iris Amicitia, and Cor Leonis.

“Luna,” Noctis said, and then he did hug her, for a second. She hugged him back just as hard. Then he remembered he was the prince, and someone had to say something, and that someone was probably him. He stepped back and kind of steeled himself. “This is Prompto,” he said mostly to Cor. “We found him –”

“Met him,” Ignis corrected.

“– met him in Longwythe,” Noctis revised. “We. Um.”

“He’s a sharpshooter,” Gladio said, coming to the rescue. “He wanted to do something about the Niffs and he knew how to fight, so he’s been with us ever since. He’s been a big help.”

“He’s a sharpshooter with one eye?” Cid asked, skeptical.

“He has heterochromia,” Ignis said, so casually Noctis and Gladio almost believed it. “He’s self-conscious about it,” Ignis explained.

“That’s all right,” Iris said. “I think that’s really neat! What color is it? Your other eye, I mean – this one’s such a pretty blue.”

Prompto stared at her, searching for an answer. He wasn’t good at lying. He was taking way too long. “Brown,” Gladio said, at the same moment Ignis said, “Grey.”

They both tried not to wince and failed.

Cor gave them a look that was definitely not an eye roll but wanted to be. He reached out slowly and lifted the cap off Prompto’s head. That red metal eye was still under there, right where they’d left it.

“Oh,” Iris piped in a strangled sort of way. “Wow.”

“Yeah, that’s what we thought,” Noctis murmured.

Cid shouldered up next to Cor and leaned in to squint at Prompto’s weaponized eye. “Son, is that Magitek?”

Prompto parted his lips in shock, and Noctis and Gladio and Ignis tried to use the collective power of their minds to will Prompto into saying anything other than yes. Prompto squirmed, looked at them despondently, and answered, “Yes.”

They’d gotten used to long silences, and there was another one after that. One they were sure meant something terrible was finally happening. Then Luna laughed, bright and clear and pure.

“You should see your faces,” she explained at Noctis’ scandalized expression. “A Magitek eye, what’s so wrong with that? You say he’s been a great help to you. It doesn’t matter where he came from – only where he is now.”

Cid and Cor were giving each other a pair of very incredulous looks, and Iris’ face was an uncertain mixture of horrified and horribly curious. But Noctis was pretty sure that with Luna’s unreserved vote, the balance couldn’t help but tilt in Prompto’s favor.

Apparently I can’t write MT!Prompto without making it Promptis and Gladnis. As failings go, it’s not the worst.

Inspo: @errantknightess obviously, who requested a light-hearted MT!Prompto fic where his modifications and instincts are wildly inappropriate for everyday life, which is such a fabulous fic idea I’m surprised you let me have it, honestly, but I’m not complaining. Also this fic by @magitekunit05953234, whose aching take on a heavily-modified MT!Prompto certainly influenced my own.

#my fic #fanfic #ffxv #mt!prompto #final fantasy xv #prompto #ffxv jeopardy #this has been sitting essentially finished in my drafts for literal months #i hope it was worth the (regrettably completely-in-character) wait #thanks again for the request #i really enjoyed writing it #in other news ...#the next chapter of warmth will theoretically come out sometime in our lifetime #meaning i just need to edit it but it's long so that could take some time #i also haven't responded to ao3 comments in so long it's practically criminal #but i've seen them and i love you all #as with the other jeopardy fics i'll post this over there in the next few days

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endervoiid · 5 years

Text

I remembered The Empire of Corpses / Shisha no Teikoku is a thing and so I thought of an AU where Niflheim uses Necroware to bring people back to life and make them into MTs since Corpses can't speak, feel or think for themselves and only follow orders. Prompto is a reanimated Corpse who got dumped on the road and the guys come across him, deciding to take him w/ them.

Also shoutout to @culturalmochi and @schattenlurch for being enablers and encouraging me to write this. <3

Rb’s > likes

A circle or as close as it gets to being one with three people surrounding a fourth person. They are all staring at the blond in their middle, trying to make sense of his existence. Judging by logic, it -- he? -- is a Corpse. The undead. A person brought back to life by usually illegal means since the Necroware technology is highly expensive and people can’t afford it unless they give a leg and an arm in exchange. So. Either somebody lost their expensive as all hell pet and they managed to grab it off the road or it’s a runaway all the way from Niflheim. The Empire is notorious for using them for everything, especially for replacing their entire army with disposable things. They don’t need to eat, drink or sleep. Profitable.

The first one to break the silence is Noctis who sighs and allows his shoulders to drop from their tense position. “ Think it’s broken? It hasn’t reacted at all since we’ve found it on the shore in Galdin Quay. ” not to them picking it up and putting it in the back of the Regalia, not to them poking it repeatedly, nothing.

Okay, honestly, maybe it wasn’t the best idea to just pick up a random Corpse off the street and bring it with them but alas here they are. They’ve picked it up and now are trying to make sense of it. Perhaps it’s curiosity, perhaps it’s the need for a fourth party member and being unable to find one nor being comfortable enough to use a chip on someone who’s died.

No response at first before Ignis steps in. “ It would seem that it’s behaving accordingly. They are said to be unable to think, feel or act on their own. Without their owner around, they are nothing more than mere puppets waiting for their strings to be pulled. ”

Cold but it’s the truth. The Corpse looks at each one of them, scanning their faces with its blank expression. It still doesn’t seem to react in any way, shape or form but at the very least it’s moving around. As much as looking around can be called that. At least it’s still functional? That.

On and on the conversation goes with little to no mind being paid to the Corpse among them. It almost looks like they’ve forgotten about it, off into their own little world and wherever their discussion has taken them. That is until it’s interrupted by a pale, freckled hand suddenly rising and darting for the Prince. The responses are almost immediate in the form of the Hand calling forth his dagger and pointing it at the blond’s throat and the Shield grabbing him by the middle, ready to yank him away. Although that’s as far as the movement goes, hand tightly buried in a dark overcoat. Otherwise, he remains silent, unfocused gaze aimed somewhere lower than a bright and confused blue one.

“ I told you that this isn’t a good idea. ” a gruff voice joins. Gladio has been eyeing the blond ever since they met it hours ago before they drove off to the nearest campsite. Still distrustful that it won’t turn on them and rightfully so. What if it’s been instructed to act innocently and detonate when they least expect it? It’s a very likely thing to happen! Wouldn’t be the first time either as the news are full of such incidents.

This time, however, Noctis doesn’t allow for the silence to reign over them. He’s tired of hearing the same old speech about how these things are just lifeless husks. Why is he the only one who thinks this guy is even remotely human? It used to be a real person with thoughts and feeling of its own, for crying out loud! It’s not suddenly a monster for being brought back to life against its own wishes!

( Isn’t it ironic that he keeps referring to it as an object, though? Hah. )

“ I think it might want to say something? ” cue a groan in response and a slow blink of the eyes “ I think. It doesn’t seem to be hostile. ”

“ It could be -- ”

“ I know, Specs. ”

Curiosity brings the worst out of the raven so he reaches a hand over and slowly cards his fingers through blond hair. The response is instant, dull blue eyes closing as the Corpse leans into the touch. Ah. Perhaps it really doesn’t want to harm him. Then what’s with the hand holding on so tightly?

“ I really don’t think he wants to harm either of us. ” and it’s so natural to refer to it -- him -- as if he were still human. As if he weren’t the product of war and the endless human greediness. As if he is just another person who’s suffering the aftereffects of the constant battles, another one they are trying to befriend and care for. “ I think he just wants us to calm down. ”

A groan. “ Noctis, it’s not a pet. ” even though that’s exactly Gladio is currently classifying the Corpse as.

“ It’s not. He’s a human being. One whose name we don’t know. And he’s probably not going to tell us anytime soon either. ” he kind of reminds the Prince of a cat. He’s awkwardly resting in the Shield’s strong grip, throat grazing the Hand’s dagger enough to create a thin, reddish line that is now dripping crimson rivulets. Yet he still won’t let go no matter what. “ Guys, let go of him. ” followed by the blond leaning even closer once unsure glances are exchanged and the two pull away. “ See? Nothing wrong. ”

“ You have to understand that your safety comes before any and all whims you may have. ”

“ Gladio is right, Noctis. You can’t allow yourself to be driven by the very first thought that crosses your mind. Likewise, you shouldn’t wait to be prompted to react either. ”

But it’s clear that the raven has stopped listening, making his poor friends sigh in disbelief. It’s not unexpected but they both wish Noct would be paying more attention to what they are saying.

“ Prompt, you say. He did react promptly. Struck when we least expected it. Prompto.” which is by far the worst way to decide on a name but who’s going to fight him over it? Especially when he looks so happy about it and ‘ Prompto ‘ perks up as if understanding that that’s going to be his new name. Or, mayhaps, it’s his real name? Hard to tell.

“ I can’t believe this. ”

“ Well, welcome to the team, Prompto. ”

#FFXV #Final Fantasy XV #Prompto Argentum #Noctis Lucis Caelum #Ignis Scientia #Gladiolus Amicitia #Promptis #[ later but still ]#🌠 || MY WRITING ◀#🌠 || WHAT IS DEATH IF NOT A RESET BUTTON? ◀

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swordmens · 5 years

Text

Castor as a Trial Boss

The Broken Field - Normal

Compelled to stand against you by his employer, do not expect Castor to be gentle. Wade through the carnage of war and put a stop to his resistance.

Phase 1: Oaths, 100 to 75%

Engagement VO: “I warned you; it’s nothing personal.”

Castor cycles through two buffs, Oath of Vengeance and Oath of Endurance. During Oath of Endurance, he takes less damage and uses Fulcimen Belli, Ceruleum Canisters, and Pistol Salvo. During Oath of Vengeance, the Animosity gauge is active on players, Castor deals more damage, and uses Pistol Salvo and Animus Blade.

Fulcimen Belli – Castor activates an aetherochemical agent in his blade, dealing heavy damage in three consecutive arcs, encompassing the entire arena in total. Being hit by an arc applies vulnerability up for 1 minute. The arc which he starts with and his direction of turning are telegraphed. VO on ability use: “Raaagh!”

Pistol Salvo – Castor selects six targets at random out of the party, placing a marker over their head. After a short cast, he fires an explosive shot at each target in rapid succession, dealing moderate damage. VO on ability use: “A perfect shot.”

Ceruleum Canisters – Castor lobs a number of liquid explosive canisters in three overlapping circular areas. The canisters deal moderate damage immediately and heavy damage over time to any who stand in the inflamed areas, which persist for a moderate duration. The areas are telegraphed, and the ability has a short cast time. VO on ability use: “Can you take the heat?”

Castor will not use Pistol Salvo and Fulcimen Belli at the same time on their first respective casts, but will not abide by this limitation otherwise. Castor uses Ceruleum Canisters freely.

Castor switches to Oath of Vengeance after a minute in Oath of Endurance. Castor switches back to Oath of Endurance in 1 minute, or earlier if he K.O.s a party member.

While in Oath of Vengeance, Castor grants each party member an Animosity gauge, which increases as the player in question deals damage to Castor. Castor’s abilities have additional effects when affecting a target with a full Animosity gauge. Players may reduce their Animosity gauge with the special duty action Fade, which can be channeled, reducing their Animosity for the duration of the channel. Players casting Fade cannot be Castor’s direct target, though they can still take damage from his abilities. If the player with highest enmity casts fade, Castor targets the player with the next highest enmity for the duration of the channel. Fade has a short cooldown.

Animus Blade – Castor swings his augmented sword in the direction he is facing, causing heavy damage to all targets in a small arc. At max Animosity, Animus Blade also applies a heavy DoT. VO on ability use: “I’ll tear you apart!”

Pistol Salvo – Identical to the Oath of Endurance version, except players at max animosity are stunned for a short duration. VO on ability use: “Between the eyes.”

Phase 2: Ten Paces, 75 to 50%

Phase switch VO: “Let’s settle this like gentlefolk, hm?”

Castor pulls one DPS member of the party into an enclosed area. The chosen party member can only deal damage to Castor, and no one outside the area can deal damage to Castor. Castor will use Bitter Thrust and Cannonade against the chosen party member, and Armageddon on the rest of the party. At the start of this phase, Castor also summons four Violent Machina, which use Magitek Fist and Ceruleum vent.

Bitter Thrust: Castor marks one half of the enclosed area, dealing heavy damage to the marked area after a short cast. Applies vulnerable up. VO on ability use: “Outmatched!”

Cannonade: Castor marks a number of small circular areas in the enclosed area, dealing massive damage after a short cast. VO on ability use: “How do you dance?”

Armageddon: Castor will randomly select a number of circular areas across the arena in three volleys. Each volley deals damage heavy damage consecutively. VO on ability use: “Burn to death!”

Violent Machina: These magitek constructs use Magitek Fist, a moderate damage tankbuster, and Ceruleum Vent, a small area centered on themselves that deals moderate damage and applies vulnerability up. Killing a Violent Machina grants the chosen party member a stacking 50% increased damage buff for the duration of this phase. Killing all Violent Machina removes the enclosed area and disables Bitter Thrust.

If Castor reaches the health threshold, the phase ends harmlessly. The phase ends and Castor wipes the raid if he does not meet the health threshold within a few minutes or if the chosen player is K.O.d.

VO on hard enrage: “Never outdone.”

Phase 3: Child of War – 50 to 10%

Phase switch VO: “Alright - have it your way.”

During this phase, Castor focuses his aether, periodically becoming immune to damage with Aether Cloak. The animosity gauge is once again active. Castor uses Fulcimen Belli, Ceruleum Canisters, Pistol Salvo, and Armageddon. He also periodically summons large groups of Scrap Golems.

Aether Cloak – Castor focuses his aether, deflecting all attacks. In order to dispel this effect, the party must activate the three Aetheric Siphons located around the arena. VO on ability use: “I have seen so much worse!”

Fulcimen Belli – Identical to the Oath of Endurance version, but enemies at max animosity take significantly increased damage. VO on ability use: “Why… won’t… you… die?!”

Ceruleum Canisters – Identical to the Oath of Endurance version, but enemies at max animosity are afflicted with Heavy while they remain in the burning area. “You are nothing but ash!”

Pistol Salvo – Identical to the Oath of Vengeance version.

Armageddon – Identical to the Ten Paces version, but enemies at max animosity are afflicted with Terror. VO on ability use: “I’m ending this.”

Scrap Golem – these weak adds do not have a traditional aggro table; instead they select a single target to attack when they are summoned, and continue attacking until they or the chosen target are defeated. Scrap golem attacks increase the target’s animosity gauge.

Phase 4: Desperation

Phase switch VO: “Not here. Not like this.”

At 10% of his total health, Castor uses Ignis Patriae and begins casting Desperate Destruction. If he is not killed before he finishes the cast, he will wipe the raid. He will use Armageddon, Pistol Salvo, and Bitter Thrust concurrently with his cast. The animosity gauge remains active from the previous phase.

Ignis Patriae – Castor detonates a magitek explosive, dealing heavy damage, pushing all party members to the edge of the arena and afflicting Down for the Count for a few seconds.

Desperate Destruction – Castor prepares a fatal shot on each party member. This ability has a very long cast, but Castor can use his other abilities during the duration.

Armageddon – Identical to the Child of War version.

Pistol Salvo – Identical to the Oath of Vengeance version.

Bitter Thrust – Castor telegraphs a line which extends to the edge of the arena. Identical to the ten paces version, except enemies at max enmity take significantly increased damage. The cast time is also reduced. VO on ability use: “Hrah!”

Defeat VO: “It was... just like they said…”

VO on hard enrage: “Huff… huff… it was – it was you or me.”

#another magitek server prompt #can you tell that I had fun with this #obvious disclaimer that this is a very powered up bad!castor #and in no way indicative of his actual skill level #His mechanic is that He Doesn't Like You #according to castor

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muses-darling · 5 years

Text

Fire & Fury - A Star Wars AU - Ch.9 Rescue?

There wasn’t any chains not for those enslaved by the Hutt. Instead a terrible implant on the side of one’s neck that would detonate if one left the planet. She had watched it happen sometimes the Hutt sent people shooting up just to watch them explode. Still there was some joy to be found as she worked on the project that he had allowed her, categorizing the various treasures and wealth he had amassed. She was lovely her hair flowed behind her with some breeze that seemed to follow her. Eyes that shined out like stars and a smile that made the heart sing when it was directed at you. A ray of light in such a dark and dingy place shone much brighter, but deserved to be free.

“No wonder this Grimm loves her.” Alucard was heard whispering before a sharp snap of fingers reminded him that Honey was listening. “What?” Alucard looked at her. “She is clearly his light, you saw how he was without her. I’d be the same way except I’d bring down whoever kept you like this or die trying.”

“Clever save.” Honey told him.

“Or?” Layla looked at him before chuckling.

“What happened to being silent?” Arthur asked looking at all of them.

“I haven’t said anything.” Nikki said before sighing tiredly.

Entering into the treasure room was to court death, taking one of the slaves there for one of the treasures was suicide.

Alucard saw Annalise about to scream hurrying to her he pressed a hand over her mouth yanking it back as she bit him. “Hey,” He waved his hand to shake the pain away. “We are here to rescue you. Your uh, husband? Grimm? sent us.”

Annalise stopped and frowned. “Grimm?” She felt her face brighten. “He’s, he’s not forgotten all about me?”

“No he hired us to come get you, now come on, we need to get out of here before the Hutt discovers our deception.”

“I can’t just leave,” Annalise said taking steps back. “If I do, I’ll...” Her hand reached up to her neck. “I’ll die.”

“We won’t let him kill you.” Layla said.

“It isn’t about letting. I will die.” Annalise shook her head. “They have these devices implanted in us that if we leave the planet will make us.” Her lip trembled. “Just tell Grim I love him. Go before you can’t leave too.”

“I’m good at biometrics and implants.” Nikki said her left hand was a synthetic. “Let me have a look.”

“If improperly removed I’ll die too.” Annalise told her.

“Then allow me a look.” Nikki peered over the head of the implant. “If I can get to a proper medic station I can get it out of her. it will be painful but you won’t die and you will be free.”

Annalise nodded then left with them making their ways through the halls of the Hutt’s palace. “So my Grimm sent you here to rescue me?”

“Along with your brother,” Alucard informed her.

“August?”

“Yeah that was his name.” Nikki nodded.

The medic bay wasn’t far but it was now becoming more aware that the prisoners were not in their cells as the klaxons started baying.

“Well if we don’t get in the medical bay, we won’t have any time!” Alucard nodded holding the door open. “Nikki you have two minutes is that enough time?”

“Not really.”

Arthur stood outside as he looked like a guard keeping eye for any who might disturb his friends at work. After a minute Arthur knocked on the door the signal.

“I’ve almost got it out, just a minute!” Nikki said as she disconnected the device from Annalise removing the rods that further connected her was the next hardest part.

Arthur swallowed, “There is a surgery going on in there, I have been given orders to see that it is not interrupted.”

“There was no authorized surgery today.”

“Not that you were notified of, then perhaps it has nothing to do with you?” Arthur told him. “You aren’t a doctor are you?”

The other guard backed up and pulled out his blaster. “You are going to be-”

Alucard opened the door firing upon the man, “Alright let’s go before more head this way.”

Annalise held to Layla for support as they made their way to the ship.

________________________________________________________________

Ignis sat upon the throne staring at the ginger haired engineer before him, the sallowness of the man’s skin told him that he rarely if ever saw the outdoors. “So he will be able to do what we need of him?”

“He will or we will kill him and find whoever else will.” Darth Ceres told him.

A new sith stood beside Darth Lykaios, masked a hood up, one would never have known that it was Kit standing there with no memory of this place, no memory of Hades, just flashes that had no way of being pieced together easily

Ignis was too distracted otherwise he would have read the force energy and known his husband to be there before him.

Darth Ceres walked up to Casper seizing his shoulder, “Now then let’s get you to work, the Republic isn’t going to defeat itself at this rate.”

Casper shuddered, “Just don’t leave me alone with that one.” He pointed to the new masked Sith. “Please I don’t think he will let me live.”

“Oh sweet boy, you were dead the moment you came into our employ. Now do what a good little engineer does best and get to work!” She let go of Casper with a vicious manner.

Ignis glared at her though she couldn’t see him behind his own mask. Her mistreatment of him was beyond unnecessary. He would make a point of visiting him and making sure he was treated well and if he could seeing him safely sent away once he had been useful. No sense in killing him once all that was needed had passed.

“You’ve added a new member to your ranks,” Ignis looked at the other Sith now feeling an odd familiarity.

“Oh him?” Ceres smiled. “Yes, a new apprentice, Darth Kore,”

“Welcome to the Sith Empire Darth Kore.” Ignis nodded in his direction.

Darth Kore knelt for a moment before standing up and walking out with them.

Hades watched him go a certain uneasiness gripping him.

________________________________________________________________

Grimm paced back and forth across the bay of his ship awaiting the news of his beloved’s return or the failure of her return. He was about to turn around when August grabbed him pulling him from the bay at a break-neck-pace. He understood as the ship that the rag-tag crew of criminals came screeching into the bay stopping just inches from Grimm. Grimm looked up at them ready to admonish when he saw her standing there in the cockpit. He started running around the ship to where they would disembark seeing her made him run all the faster till they ran into each other spinning pressing kisses to each other. “Annalise!” He sobbed her name cradling her to him. “My sweet Annalise! My love!”

“Grimm!” She hugged him sobbing as she rested her head on his shoulder needing to just be close to him as they stood there.

August looked to Alucard and his crew before walking up to Grimm and Annalise being pulled into the hug. Happily reunited with his sister and all being well he let the crew stay there for a moment let them wait he had, had too.

Alucard smiled and looked aboard the pleasure vessel, “Well someone’s got to tell them.”

Arthur looked at him, “You go I’ll tell.”

Alucard and his sisters hurried to the bridge of the vessel Honey staying behind with Arthur to see to it that they were made to understand.

“We have exactly one minute until they get here and we should perhaps plot a course to elsewhere from here!” Arthur said only to be ignored. “I said-”

Honey pulled out her blaster and fired it at a set of keys hanging off of Grimm’s belt getting the man’s attention.

Arthur interrupted him. “Sorry but we don’t have much time unless you want this to be all for nothing we have a very angry Hutt on our tail.”

Grimm nodded, “Right we should make sure we get out of here.” He looked to Annalise before they felt the ship make a jump. “Who?”

Alucard called over the intercom from where he stood in the cockpit of the research vessel the pilot and co-pilot unconscious on the ground next to his seat. “This is Captain Alucard of the Cerberus currently standing in, we have a bit of a bumpy ride ahead of us so find a safe place to be until we finish making our escape thank you.”

“Did he just commandeer?” August began.

“He’s done a lot of that today that wasn’t the first ship we attempted to use nor will it likely be the last one today.” Arthur said. “Given his history.”

This earned a glare from Honey before she nodded, “Yeah, he does have a habit. Now you heard the Captain move. Unless you want to be thrown around in our escape?”

The vessel was not meant for high speeds when not moving through hyperspace and Alucard was pushing it’s limits. Watching each time they exited the jump to make sure that they weren’t followed before making another calculated jump. After a moment there was truly peace again. “This is your temporary Captain speaking, if you will look behind us you will see that we have now at last lost them and may resume as we were before. Thank you for flying with us and have an uneventful day.”

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“We can’t just go to Korriban!” Ben said. “There’s Sith there, and other darksided things.”

It had been weeks now a month since Eadu. Trying to track down Kit who’s path had become erratic and left dead in it’s wake; during which HK-47 had in a way become family, even Jules had warmed up to the odd droid. Making flower crowns so he could kill people but while looking pretty as she put it. They were getting desperate now, Kit had been in the dark side for longer than they had meant to leave him languishing in. The longer one was steeped the harder the pull to the light.

“I agree,” Aziraphale said. “We would be annihilated and if Kit truly is turned to the dark side then there is little hope of bringing him back when surrounded by so much darkness.”

“Then what should we do?” Harper suggested. “We can’t go there but we need to save Master Kit.”

“Perhaps Hades will be able to get through to him, can’t imagine that he would sit well with seeing his beloved so twisted. Even if Hades is a Sith Lord. Kit is his light.” Crowley reminded them.

“Idea: Perhaps sending me?” Hk-47 added. “There are other HK units down there I will blend in well.”

“But how to get you down there close enough without us being spotted? Then getting you out?”

“Easy I’ll use the escape pod crash down then use a ship to bring us back.”

“Leaving us without an escape pod.” Crowley said. “But I’m out of ideas.”

“As am I,” Azirphale admitted.

“So that is the plan?” Ben asked receiving nods. “Well I like it, as long as I don’t have to go back down there the better.” The whole place was eerie, He’d already had enough of that for the rest of the cycle; his time on Dagobah was a testimony of that.

HK-47 went to the escape pod, “Statement: I’ll see you meatbags later.”

“Wait!” Tiny Jules ran up to him, “It’s scary to go alone, take dis with you.” She used the force to send his blaster to him. “Be safe!” She waved before scampering off to Uncle Crowley and hugging him.

HK-47 would have smiled if his mechanics allowed it. “Statement: You are the only meatbag who gets me on this ship.”

Aziraphale’s jaw dropped, here he thought the droid was having a marvelous time!

Crowley grinned at it all before going and flipping the switch on HK-47 back to a mode that allowed killing. “No sense in sending him down without the ability to defend himself.” He sealed the doors.

Harper rolled her eyes and jettisoned the escape pod out of the ship. “Right one homicidal droid down, one homicidal dark jedi to-go.”

Ben wanted to point out that she had made a pun but said nothing. Now they waited.

#Ch.9 Fire and Fury #SeaCoastCity SWAU #SW:F&F

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