#should i make a part three??

[iamhereinthebg]

Let's talk about the clock keepers in the new chapter!!

It's not a surprise to see that they had more in their sleeves, putting up an act to get all the information they wanted. Kako said it after all, he is the one observing. And he will gather what he needs before making a move, showing he deserves his title as the oldest supernatural. Hanako being the leader doesn’t seem to matter a lot to him in the end. He clearly has had his plan for a long time. It's not a shock to see he recognizes what came back with Tsukasa from the red house, probably knowing the entity from before.

Even if it was an act and all of them knew what the end result would be. The reactions Akane and Mirai had for each other in the last chapter were real. Akane was never shield in the manga, being the one doing it most of the time. So his reaction towards Mirai taking the blow for him is absolutely genuine, especially when he tried so hard to make her run away. And we can see it again when we see how slowly he takes her out of the water to give her back to Kako. Akane even reprimands the old man about being slow and Mirai having to go through this at first. 

This chapter highlights the clock keepers relationship too. Akane has been before in the innermost reach, he clearly knows what he is doing here, entering the house like nothing and actually setting things up for tea knowing Kako would like it. Being considered as a whole clock keeper, Kako and Mirai trust him not to do anything bad even in their most vulnerable state.

Kako watches over Mirai like a worried father, being happy when she is back and is still pushing Akane to find the answers himself, always in a teaching position. Akane is quick to scold Mirai about her actions, clearly seeing her more as a kid than a real supernatural being. He is seen worried for her and tells her right away not to do something like this ever again. On her side, Mirai is overjoyed to see Akane, the first question coming out of her mouth asking if he is hurt, and she seems rather shocked to see him being so worried about her, jumping on his head right away to praise him for being a nice boy.

They are way more genuine in their physical contact and actions. Akane is not refusing Kako’s headpat even though he has an angry/solemn expression when accepting it, the old man is smiling at Mirai and Akane the whole chapter while Mirai is being her usual clingy self. 

Kako clearly has been observing things and waited until the right moment to take actions. They are coming back in time to fix things up, and will sleep until the new present is stable. And for this they trust the clock keeper of the present to take care of the duty that was placed upon him.  

Akane is a wonderful pick for the present. His personality and way of life has always shown he was the only character who would be able to handle this role. He is a duty centered and really proactive boy, and most of all, sees how life is worth living. Even if he never feared the idea of getting hurt, we can clearly see how much he takes his role at heart. He now knows he has to live if the idea of a better present can exist. 

Kako knows Akane is able to handle all of it which is why they can leave without being worried about the new present, they absolutely believe Akane will be able to fulfill his duty. In the end, it’s Akane who keeps the yorishiro with him.  They trust him to make sure everything is in order and not die until he can use the key to get them out of the clock once they awaken. Kako’s last word to Akane is once again one with a teaching tone, praising him for a job he will do, showing he thinks he will handle it. 

One of Kako’s strongest traits is observation too. And Akane is really good at that, he is one of the most observant and perceptive characters of the whole cast. His mission will be all about seeing if the events really changed, acting like a memory of a present which doesn’t exist anymore. Having a human among the clock keepers to have eyes in the human world seems also like a logical choice. To know the whole situation Kako needs eyes in the human realm too, and Akane shares his informations with him when he think it's important.

Akane has known his role for a long time. Once he heard that he had his duty to do, his expression is hard to see because he KNOWS what the implications are. He is aware of what it means, he isn’t happy with this, he clenches the yorishiro once he has it, he says he doesn’t have a choice to Teru. Because even if Akane complains, he does things he is asked to do.

 Akane’s sense of justice has always been a big part of his character, and it’s also a big part of the clock keepers. Of course he wants the present to be better and goes with the clock keepers’ idea, erasing a problem at its root to help the majority of people and protect the persons he cares for is something Akane would never refuse.

He has no problem doing it even if he doesn’t want to be on the clock keepers’ side, because he knows he can do something ‘right’. He still trusts Kako on this one, embracing his role as the guardian of the present fully. The old man did say it would be good for humans after all.

How long has Akane been thinking about changing the present? Even if it means erasing the severance I don’t know how he would react seeing that Aoi never lived it. Having a world where she never got to know supernaturals, never was left dead all alone on the far shore and never got her hand hurt. It can’t be so bad right? 

But the more I think about it the more I go ‘was this present really THAT bad?’ Aoi has to go through her horrible everyday life once again, thinking that no one will ever love her for who she is and Akane definitely doesn't want that.

His talk to Teru also implies that Teru and Nene may remember since they were stopped by his time power. He trusts Teru to understand what is happening and help him with this new reality or hoping not everything will have changed. 

If we focus quickly on Amane and Tsuchigomori. They seem to have go back in 1968 so Amane was a middle schooler. Tsuchigomori and him had the talk about the moon in 1969 (after the 20th of July) so Tsuchi may not have the same yorishiro either. Would Amane live this time? Not sure, the reason he was trying to destroy the big clock may be related to the clock keepers going back in Time. I wonder what the clock Amane was working on really represents.

We can see this clock indicating the hour exactly like when Akane is stopping time, suggesting that it is really the one controlling the whole school time. It’s the first clock we see when the clock keepers are introduced too.

If Kako and Mirai really go back in time and erase everything they are visualizing on this. It would indeed mean a better control over the mysteries situations and the protection of the Land.

It means everything the mysteries went through won't happen. So the second Mitsuba won't exist, n°3 would still be here, Yako would still be waiting for Misaki to come back and won't go berserk, Shijima-san would still be in her boundary thinking she has no reason to exist expect hurting Mei-chan's memory, Hakubo would still be doing his duty without feeling anything and Sumire would still be living her death over and over again, not having anyone go see her in more than a century.

It means erasing all of the mysteries’ struggles and acceptance of what they are, not being bound by grief and regrets to do a job most of them didn't want to do. Would this present really be a good one? For the humans mostly it would be, it's the mysteries duties after all, and n°1 is ready to undo all the things each mystery went through to make sure humans have a good Present. They always have been more about humans than supernaturals. And this may also be the reason why Akane is okay with everything going on too. Kako sees this as his ultimate duty in the end, forcing all mysteries to embrace it even if they don't want to. Taking the matter at end without warning anyone since after all, no one will remember.

Another thing that has always been interesting to me, was the fact that the clock keepers look nothing like something out of Japanese Myths/folklore. It has always been strange to me to see they were labeled as the oldest supernaturals, when clocks weren’t that common in Japan before a long time.  The way they dress look way different compared to anyone else from the cast too. The closest look you could find was from the Meiji Era, which was mostly about Japan importing a lot of Western culture into their Land. I always thought that the clock keepers just couldn’t be from a Japanese folktale and this was confirmed in the last chapter. I had my supposition about where they were from,  but having an actual image of their old town helped me to focus more on it.

If we look at Clock making history we can easily focus on some countries, The Netherlands, Germany and England being the main ones. Now if we look at the architecture we get in this chapter, we can delete England from the list easily. This type of house is called Timbered framed houses. It can be found in Europe in different countries.

It’s important to note that the roofs on those houses are really really sharp on the illustration AidaIro gave us. Which means they were built for snow, so it can slide off the roofs more easily. The trees in the background are too blurry to see but it looks like forest of pines and the kids shown are holding one.

Now if I combine the two ideas of clock making and architecture I found here, my thoughts came to one city. Nuremberg in Germany. It’s a city known for its clock making history, there are mountains nearby and there is snow in this region during Winter. And more importantly The Nuremberg Egg.

It’s known as the ancestor of the pocket watch, created in the XVIth century.  

I don’t think AidaIro was inspired by a precise place but I think somewhere in this region of Europe could be a good pick for the inspiration of the city the clock keepers are from! Same can be said about the clothes the kids are wearing and the toy's shop which have vibes from this region too.

I’ve been thinking a bit more about what Kako and Mirai are really and it’s hard to say. With how Akane introduced them it could imply they were humans before. 

Why did they move to Japan and how did they become supernatural? Were they created or were they humans before? The idea of Kako creating a body to survive and creating Mirai is not out of the way since he is clearly the oldest and more experienced supernatural there is. A lot of questions with no answers for now but I am happy we get some glimpse of their old life.

I am also interested in the clock keeper of the present status too. Are they used to create different presents or if the present is fixed their role is finished? Did Kako and Mirai go back in time to change stuff before?

I don't think it happened recently. Nothing special has been happening at Kamome even with the whole Yugi suicide/murder history. The real problems started really once Nene met Hanako and Tsukasa woke up. Kako may have been observing things since a really long time, maybe putting some students as clock keepers of the present but never ‘activating’ their real role. Which may also be why Akane never was shown that stressed out about his role as a clock keeper, why would he be if all the previous clock keepers of the present never had to do this? What is supposed to happen to them once they have fulfilled their duty? Are they erased from the timeline to represent completely this new Present? Do they get to continue their life like nothing happens, being the only person having the memories of a world which doesn't exist anymore? How long do they stay alone until the other two wake up? Why insist so much on the idea he has to stay alive? So many questions I hope we will have answers on soon.

The story of the clock keepers is still really blurry but we are slowly getting more on them . AidaIro really showed us that they were mysteries the other characters shouldn't mess with and I am all for it.

#toilet bound hanako kun #the three clock keepers #tbhk spoilers #IT'S THEM #aoi akane #mirai #kako #tbhk 111 #jibaku shonen hanako kun #tbhk #ramblings #tbhk analysis #for the city of course it's the old part of the city we should look at #I love the geogesser game in the middle of this long text help me #I asked my sibling (architect) for this :DD and just yes the vibes are really this part of Europe anyways from what I know ahah #the mysteries make me super emo #they really are the ones taking the Ls here #Kako is so op idk what to do with myself I LOVE HIM SM #antagonist Kako for the mysteries my beloved too #Akane continues to make me fcking sad imagine learning all this role at 12 yo #idc if I am wrong on stuff I just love them #the seven mysteries #jibaku shounen hanako kun #this is fcking long but this insanity is more than 4 years old #and my insanity about automaton and clocks is older #a big thanks to Mari for having seen this insanity #the main problem about what I say for the new chapters is that I don t give a fck about the yugi twins so rip #maybe the whole thing is just #to set back the timeline where Amane would become a teacher or something #if he is 60+ now that would be hilarous

[khruschevshoe]

Listen. Listen. RTD. My dude. You are back. You have the power. You are running the show. *pulls him in close and whispers through gritted teeth* Who needs UNIT when you can have the world's messiest bisexual polycule back from the dead?

#listen torchwood three always vibed better with doctor who than unit did #that sort of put together from spare parts vibe #I'm not saying he necessarily should bring them all back from the dead #but if we're unnecessarily undoing tragic plot points here for fix-it vibes (doctordonna) #then why not bring back torchwood? just recast jack you bring back gwen if you want give me more disasters to carry about #torchwood was raw and messy and REAL #i want disasters on my screen that could never make it past Disney's respectability/only-queer-if-you're-polite-about-it banner #torchwood #jack harkness #ianto jones #gwen cooper #toshiko sato #owen harper #tosh sato #rtd #rtd2 #doctor who

[redbootsindoriath]

Apparently in my absence this post had its 1000-notes-iversary.

This time we get to see the culprit responsible for ruining our heroes' lives as well.

I've really missed you guys, by the way. I know I've said that already, but I'm serious. Once or twice this year I've been right on the brink of coming back but schedule stuff always keeps me from letting myself commit to that again, and that in turn has kept me from posting anything at all. But I've been in an unexpected drawing mood lately and so if I can get enough stuff to set up a queue we might pretend I'm back for a month or so sometime this year. Maybe. Hopefully. We'll see. No promises though. That's why I'm hiding this paragraph under the cut.

Transcription:

[Beren:] "Uhhh...barkeep...I think he's had enough now..." [Tolkien:] "No, I don't think he has...!"

#beren #bilbo #frodo #tolkien #túrin #the man the myth the legends #beowulf except everybody is short #one shiny #three shinies #everyone deserved better except mîm #what's this a happy ending #my trash #is this actually funny or am i just tired #i'm sorry professor tolkien #/end classification tags #túrin keeps becoming a bigger and bigger guy in my drawings and at this rate he's going to be way taller and broader than he should be #canonically he was really tall and broad but i don't think the professor meant like THIS #at least it makes him really distinct i guess #gonna be sufficiently intimidating for the dagor dagorath #but in the meantime he's just making beren look like a schoolkid in this doodle #(and as i'm sitting here writing these tags i suddenly realize i forgot túrin's white hair streaks again) #(tsk tsk shame on me) #(and didn't it say somewhere that beren's hair also turned grey...? i can't remember where it said that though) #(0 for 2 i have failed all of us) #ANYWAY in my absence tumblr apparently changed formatting again which is not cool but whatever #it's nice to draw again #i've had art block for like 9 months straight #and suddenly this month i suddenly was able to write AND draw again as if i never stopped #i've had writer's block since maybe 2021 so that was the most surprising part #weirdest thing ever but i'm not mad about it

[eggseabutter]

The ballad of Lucy Gray Baird from Sonic to Eggman, a silly idea I got on my road trip

#sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sonic fanart #sth #🌈✨ems #dr eggman #eggman #i don’t feel like I should say this considering my whole personality is made from these two but #not ship art #DO NOT TAG AS SHIP I SWEAR TO GOD #May turn into a digital animatic #someday #Maybe in three years #Idk #metal virus #very based on that arc if you couldn’t tell hehe #May post part two tomorrow #these doodles are like the draft idea? #i seriously wanna make this a digital animatic

[shady-tavern]

Perfect Nemesis Part One

As usual with all my hero and villain stories, this one has a warning for blood and injury, though nothing too graphic will be described.

***

You tasted sweat and dust on your tongue, the ground beneath you cracked and half crumbled and your ears rang. You couldn’t make yourself move, your limbs too heavy and hurt radiated in a big, cresting wave through your body.

You couldn’t breathe as someone loomed over you, scuffed boots with white laces appearing in your vision. The hand that gripped you and dragged you to your feet, your costume torn and blood seeping past to stain the colorful material, was icy. The touch felt searing with how cold it was and you were terrified.

You were dragged up until you met burning red eyes and you tried to fight, but your body wouldn’t move. A second hand rose, magic winding around the villain’s fingers and their grin was mean and terrible and full of ugly, righteous glee.

You didn’t want them to touch you, you tried to pull away, but their fingers pressed against your chest and you were going to die it hurt so much -

You woke with a desperate gasp, as though you had held your breath in your sleep. You fought free of your blankets, arms trembling and you sat up, pressing a hand over your chest. Your heart was pounding.

Just a dream. Just a nightmare.

You sagged back against your pillows, wiping sweat from your brow with trembling fingers. Just a dream. You stared up at the ceiling, the slowly rising sun outside just barely casting it’s first light past your windows.

You managed to slow your breathing, going through your grounding techniques until you no longer felt the phantom press of pebbles, until your tongue stopped tasting like dust and sweat. Until you no longer felt that terrible, cold hand press against your chest, about to rip everything you were and held dear away from you.

As got out of bed, you still felt uneasy down to your bones, nervous in a way you knew would last for hours. A sort of anxiety that haunted your bones like ghosts haunted old, abandoned houses.

Today would not be a good day.

Your hand fell to the ring you always wore, gripping it and the surrounding fingers tightly. It was made of simple, plain iron, scratched up and a little dinged in one or two spots after years of accompanying you through battles.

People had called it ugly in the past. Your last boyfriend had even tried to convince you to take it off for good, offering you a prettier ring in exchange. You hadn’t been able to tell him that you needed this ring.

You would never forget the villain who had attacked you back when you had been a sidekick, while the Hero Society had approved of your rise in rank to become a full fledged hero soon. 

Your mentor had been so proud, had helped you with the paperwork to apply for the promotion. She had even made sure you’d get to live and work somewhere you wanted instead of getting a random, open position.

The villain, on your last day as a sidekick, had utterly wiped the floor with you. He had sneered down at you when you had lain on the ground before him in that half-finished parking lot, construction equipment everywhere. 

You’d never forget the dark look in his eyes. The hatred in his voice as he had cursed you, his magic so thick it had choked you nearly unconscious.

Your mentor had shown up back then before he had been able to complete the spell, so he had quickly adjusted, cursing you to lose something vital instead of leaving you crippled inside and out for life.

Your mentor had stopped you when you had gone unhinged after the curse had taken hold. Pain and a sudden lack, an absence inside of you had had you howling with something that would have been grief had you still been capable of feeling such things.

Your mentor had restrained you, had kept you safe and comfortable and contained as others had come in to help. No one had been able to break the curse, but they had been able to do something else instead.

The moment the ring had been slipped on it had felt like you had been whole again after having been split in two, wandering around with only one eye and one ear and one half of a working tongue and mouth. Without the ring, everything had been wrong, you had seen and perceived the world in a warped, half-alive at best manner.

Because it wasn’t just simply empathy that the villain had taken away from you. That was only what other people called it, what you even called it to make it easier for others to understand. The villain had taken away everything good, everything warm and soft and capable of kindness and care within you. Kindness towards others and yourself.

Only after empathy had gotten ripped out of you had you understood just how intricately it had been tied to who you were as a person. How much it had driven you and your desire to do good, even if you didn’t always like people or felt up to the task.

Your empathy had made you hand-craft gifts for loved ones, had made sure you gave pep-talks to yourself and went to therapy. It made sure you got bubble baths and bought your favorite chocolate and took the time to make a good meal on your days off. It made sunrises bright and hopeful and made you dance and sing to music, no matter how silly you might otherwise feel.

Your empathy had made you feel alive.

You had never once taken the ring off after receiving it, vividly remembering the days without it. You had spent all that time not caring for other lives or for big and small wonders and pleasures.

How the people you loved and cared about had been less than strangers. They had felt like dust, like something you could and would carelessly wipe aside. Wipe out even should you consider it necessary. Everything within you had been dead and barren, salted earth after a war had left everything razed to the ground.

The moment the ring was considered a success and you had returned home safely, your mentor had gone on a hunt, capturing the villain who had done this to you. He had gotten dragged in front of a jury and sentenced to prison for life.

He had refused to remove the curse, no matter the threats and bargains people offered. He had said that the Society was welcome to torture and kill him, he would never let go of this final victory over them all.

'Besides, even if I wanted to, I could not remove it,' he had said with a haughty, victorious tilt of his head. 'It would take something quite awful indeed to even get a hold of the curse and something else entirely to remove it. I won’t say more on the matter.'

And he hadn’t.

'Why?' your mentor had snarled, standing half in front of you. And while she had always been on the slim and short side, right now she was bristling and tense like a lion in front of her cub and you had felt unexpectedly safe.

The villain had looked at you and all those sparks of safety had died as surely as stars in the night sky.

'Because you are good,’ he had told you, dark and bitter. 'Because you save people and no one saved me when I needed a hero.'

Even after six years and a lot of therapy you still remembered that moment vividly. You still had nightmares. You had never stopped being terrified of losing the ring one day. It was a constant fear that lived under your skin and made you paranoid. You checked if the ring was there multiple times throughout the day, making sure it hadn’t come lose or started to slip.

So no, today would not be a good day, but the world didn’t care about that. You dragged yourself out of bed to get ready, staring at your hero costume as you brushed your teeth. After getting cursed you had bothered the Society to get you a new costume, your mentor supporting you every step of the way.

It had felt wrong to go with the bright colors and a metallic H on your back you had chosen previously. You had wanted to call yourself Hopeful as a hero. Corny, yes and absolutely a little bit kitschy, but you had liked the idea of giving people hope.

You hadn’t been able to go through with it after the words the villain had spat at you, after knowing how close you now were to losing everything that made you you. A small band of iron was all that stood between you and walking through the world torn apart inside.

Imagination you called yourself these days, after your powers. It was, ironically, rather unimaginative, but when you had to re-do your paperwork, you hadn’t been able to come up with something better. You still weren’t able to think of a better hero name and by now you didn’t care to. People knew you as Imagination and that worked just fine.

You bagged your costume and gear in a nondescript sport’s bag and went to a hidden office of the Society. This one masqueraded as a travel agency and you got dressed in your separate dressing room, before you set foot into the backroom. 

You weren’t the only one ready to clock in to work and you exchanged a friendly greeting with your colleague and friend, your partner in this part of the city.

Peony was a hero capable of growing all kinds of plants and flowers at will and he had an innate kindness to him that made him very pleasant company indeed. 

He always decorated his hair with a crown of peonies and his costume with whatever flower he liked that day. He gave flowers to anyone sad or upset when he worked in order to cheer them up. Alongside with you he had a high track record of turning villains around and ending fights peacefully.

Or rather, you turned new villains around, for the older or well established ones would have only laughed and spat at your efforts before trying to tear you to shreds. Not everyone wanted to change. Not everyone wanted to be saved.

It had been hard at first to make yourself soft towards young, inexperienced villains, but you hadn’t wanted to become bitter and cynic after getting hurt. After getting cursed forever.

Countless hours of therapy and hard training had ensured you could take the chance of talking villains down if they seemed receptive. Of course some had tried to backstab you, but there were enough people who were just desperate or hurt and often enough they just needed someone to offer a helping hand. They just needed a little bit of kindness.

'No one saved me when I needed a hero'. Sometimes that accusation bounced around your head restlessly, no matter how much good you did. Those hate filled eyes followed you into your dreams.

"Are you alright?" Peony asked, carefully feeling along his glued down mask, making sure it had dried well. The last thing any of you wanted was to have your masks torn off by villains or overly invasive paparazzi. Those existed too, irritatingly enough. "You look tired."

"I’m fine," you lied. Today was a bad day and it would pass, you reminded yourself. You’d be more careful and you’d truck through your work hours and tonight you’d go and call your therapist and try to get back on track in time for work tomorrow.

"Hm." Peony hummed softly and a moment later he held out his hands, a flower crown woven out of small, magenta lilacs and dark blue cornflowers rested on his palms. Like the colors of your suit, only less muted. "For a little bit of good luck," he said with a warm, kind smile.

You felt yourself soften, smiling back at him and bowing forward a bit so he could put it on your head. "Thank you."

"Of course, I know we don’t get to hang out outside of work, because of secret identities and all, but you’re my friend," he said with a warm smile. "And we have each other’s back, always. Radio me in if you need some company or assistance today, alright?"

"Alright," you said and you knew that Peony would never judge you for needing a bit of help. You had helped him out a couple of times when he had had bad days and he understood what it felt like to have the past snap at your heels like hungry hounds.

There was hardly a hero who didn’t carry around some shadow, some memory of terror and defeat. Some had it worse than others, but sooner or later everyone met a villain that crushed them under their heel.

Some heroes had managed to rise to the occasion and had defeated the villain at long last, others had needed help and backup to take down the one who had tried to break them. Some never again returned to active duty.

You made sure your gloves were secure so your ring could never, ever slip off during a fight. It was, at this point, the single most important thing about your outfit, aside from it’s protective properties.

Your sleeves were even designed to make sure your gloves stayed in place by you pulling the cuffs over the gloves, keeping the hem in place with thumb holes. You could not risk losing the ring. You would not ever risk it. Besides, gloves were almost expected in your field of work, no matter if one was a villain or hero.

Your work day started out quietly enough. People waved at you, you posed for a few pictures, making sure to paste your signature smile onto your face. Just because you wanted to go crawl under a blanket and watch TV the rest of the day didn’t mean you had to let others know.

You helped a lost girl find her fathers and carried the groceries of an elderly couple up the stairs to their front door. Simple, little things that actually made you happy. This was what you wished being a hero could be all about more often. Just walking through the streets, helping anyone who needed a hand.

Right before your lunch break - because of course villains had to have awful timing - you heard the sound of something splintering. It didn’t quite sound like the sharp, high-pitched sound of glass, nor the gravelly crack of asphalt and stone or the screech and snap of metal.

Jolting around, you stilled when you saw cracks spidering through the air itself, as though part of the world had turned into a mirror someone had punched. You had just half a second to recognize those powers, before you saw him.

Endless.

A villain with reality manipulating and altering powers who should not be here. This was not his city. You hadn’t heard of him losing a territory battle or handing his territory over to someone else either.

You had just a moment to feel utter confusion mingled in alarm, before those eyes found you. Ones that held an intense glow of magic and a grin curled across his face. It wasn’t hard for you two to recognize each other as enemies, not with the masks and armored costumes.

Your muted magenta and dark blue, his black with gleaming, metallic blue accents, mirroring the shine of his eyes easily visible through his half-face mask. He shifted to face you, his body tensing up the only warning you got before he lunged into action.

Showtime.

You had heard about Endless’s powers, of how he cracked the world around himself open like an egg, as though he was pulling the stitches of reality apart at the seams to poke his fingers between. To pull forth whatever laid beyond.

You had heard, but not understood what it meant. How it felt to meet that star speckled void that he pulled forth from the cracks, easily manipulating the matter as he saw fit. Something primal in your hindbrain was alarmed and then swiftly terrified when you felt that void skim past your skin, just barely missing your face.

The very foundation of your existence wanted to run and suddenly you understood why Endless was so feared even though he had never killed or crippled anyone, be they hero or civilian. Anyone would want to run from the thing that could unmake them.

But for the first time in your life, your own powers were the perfect counter. You had been born with the ability to summon things you could create within your own mind. Your own version of manipulating reality.

You watched Endless’s eyes widen as the air around you shimmered in a crystalline manner and you pulled forth two sleek panthers. Your favorite weapon fell into the hand you kept hidden at your side by shifting your stance, waiting for your moment to strike.

"Oh my," Endless breathed and you only heard him because he had come close enough that he could almost touch you if he stretched out his hand. "How very lovely."

The beasts leaped forward to distract him, while you ducked beneath another swipe of his void-wrapped fist, striking at his unguarded flank.

The blow struck, but Endless hadn’t climbed the ranks without being able to tank a few hits.

The fight was fast and harsh and, in a way, exhilarating. You hadn’t ever fought like this before, where it took every ounce of your concentration, pulling creations into existence while dodging the very power that made the feral part of your hindbrain gibber in fear.

You almost thought it would end in a true draw, the two of you getting tired, movements slower, blows and dodges getting sloppier. The world around you was a mixture of splintered cracks and that crystalline shimmer of your powers.

Right up until you managed to conjure a snake in Endless’s blind spot and when the summoned animal wrapped around his foot, just as he wanted to kick out at you, it ended in him getting yanked back instead.

Your hit connected with his shoulder and he fell to the ground, breathing hard, sweat dripping down his chin, but as he stared up at you, a grin was on his face. It had something wild around the edges and was so delighted it gave you pause.

"Beautiful," he said, his eyes glowing brighter. The tone of his voice caught you off guard, impressed and delighted and something else. Something that was just slightly breathless, just slightly…almost soft with reverence. "I’m so sorry to cut this short, I wish we could have finished this."

Before you could do more than feel bewildered, the ground beneath him cracked apart, that void surging up to swallow him. You jerked forward, only to immediately flinch back. You knew you could not reach into that void, could not follow him without being unmade.

As the void smoothed back over like waves calming after a big splash, the cracks around you faded away, returning the world to how it was meant to be. The sound of distant traffic and shouting civilians filtered through and it was only then that you realized how quiet it had been previously.

How far away the world had been, how nothing had been able to reach you with so much shattered reality everywhere around you.

"Imagination!" Peony’s voice made you jolt and a moment later he landed beside you, clapping you on the shoulder. His press smile was on his face, while his eyes were impressed. "Good fight, my friend!"

It…had been. You realized that you had been the first person in nearly five years to make Endless back out of a fight. You hadn’t won the battle, but when you glanced up at the clapping and cheering crowd, you realized that you had won in the eyes of the public.

Peony swiftly whisked you away to avoid the excited crowd and paparazzi that had been rushing towards you, cameras and microphones at the ready.

"Are you alright?" Peony asked as the two of you sat high up on a skyscraper, wedged in behind an old, big gargoyle. Your shoulders pressed together and you tipped your head back to stare up at the sky.

"Yeah, you said with a smile, then you frowned. "I thought Endless called Imperia home, not our city."

Imperia, the capital city, was a veritable cesspit of villains and underground crime. That Endless had made a name for himself in a place that ruthlessly chewed up and spat out anyone who faltered, who misstepped only the slightest bit, meant something.

You doubted that anyone but you truly had a good defense against him and these void powers. Powers that could destroy anything that was real near immediately - but your creations were only half real. They existed because you wanted them to, not because they were actually a part of reality. That made them harder to break.

"I don’t know," Peony answered after a moment of silence. "Maybe the Society knows what’s up."

*.*.*

The Society, in fact, had no idea why Endless had given up his bitterly fought for territory in Imperia. In fact, no one was able to find out anything as the weeks turned to months and instead of answers, you only got more questions.

And you gained a nemesis. 

You had never had one before and you could have entirely done without ever getting one. Endless however had decided that you were ’the shit’ as an impressed teen had once said and he just had to take you down.

Endless didn’t always seek you out when you were on patrol, especially since he had plenty of things to do himself, but whenever you spotted him, you knew he had come for you. After that first fight, you had never again managed to get the upper hand against him. Until now, everything had ended in a draw where the two of you had been forced to retreat.

He was dangerous and cunning and you really had no idea why he bothered fighting with you as much as he did. There was no need for Endless to go up against you or to seek you out for battles.

He was powerful enough that he could have just slipped past you to cause destruction elsewhere. To go pick off the younger or weaker heroes and sidekicks, the ones he could kick around like squeaky toys. 

He could have even gone straight for the official Society headquarters, since he had once let slip that he knew where it was. You didn’t know for sure if he actually did know, but the threat had been big enough that the Society was currently busy relocating, having closed down the headquarters for the time being.

He could have…well, he could have done a lot more damage, was what you were trying to say. You were glad that he didn’t though, that he didn’t kill people and never involved civilians if it could be avoided.

Endless had even stopped attacking a fellow hero the time your colleague had gotten knocked out in a fight against him, just as you had arrived. Rather than hit your fellow hero again to kill him or to inflict career ending injuries, Endless had just stepped aside.

He had allowed you to carry the woman to safety, though he had done so with running commentary. Everything had been said, from compliments to teasing remarks until you couldn’t help but snap back. And then he had grinned, achieving what he had wanted: that you spoke with him.

That you looked at him, bantering back before you knew it.

It was simultaneously the most fun and the most intense time whenever you fought him.

And recently he had gotten into the very distracting, very flustering habit of murmuring those compliments and teasing remarks at you whenever your fight caused the two of you to end up close to each other.

It was so easy to forget the world when he made the noise disappear, when everything was so far away with the way he cracked the world apart.

And yet, he never locked you in, he never put you into a cage you couldn’t escape, for wherever those cracks were, it was impossible to reach past them. But there were always spots to slip through for you and you just knew that was on purpose.

It was unexpected to look at a villain and realize that a part of you trusted him. Trusted him to not hit below the belt, to pull his punches before something truly awful happened. When you fought him, you could forget about the ring on your finger and how you could never, ever allow those gloves to come off.

"Why me?" you found yourself asking at your next clash, the fight between you no longer a harsh meeting of two blunt forces, but something refined and sharp. Almost like a fierce dance.

"Pardon?" Endless asked, elegantly ducking beneath your weapon and kicking the two-headed hound out of the way that you had summoned today. "Your beautiful lethality distracted me for a moment."

"Why fight me?" you asked, ignoring his compliments. He was just trying to make you trip up, you were certain he’d stop once he realized it wasn’t going to work, no matter what he said.

Endless blinked, looking taken aback for just a split second, before he stepped in close with a quick maneuver, close enough to almost touch you.

His voice was quiet and almost soft as he said, "If it’s not obvious, I am doing a worse job than I thought."

When you looked as confused as you felt, he made a low noise and the next second you smoothly slid back a step, head jerking to the side to avoid getting touched by the void he drew forth.

"I’ll figure out how to make my intent clear," he said in that tone that never failed to send a small shiver down your spine in the best of ways. His gaze flickered past you and his smile got a regretful little quirk. "For now, I fear our time is almost up."

To your surprise, he leaned in again, close enough that your noses were almost touching. You realized that you had stopped moving a second later, that the hounds stood still, waiting for your next command. 

"I don’t believe you find me quite so despicable," he murmured, his fingertips brushing your hand.

The one with the ring. Cold reality crashed over you, a sudden stab of alarmed fear that had nothing to do with Endless himself and his powers and you found yourself flinching back, hand tucked against your chest before you could stop yourself.

No other villain would have gotten that reaction, would have seen that moment of vulnerability. Plenty of villains had grabbed your wrist or hand before, especially if they had matter or mind manipulating powers. It was hardly the first time.

But something about Endless made it feel as though your barriers were paper thin. You had gotten careless.

His eyes widened at your reaction. "Apologies," he said, gaze flicking between you and your hand. Then his gaze snapped past you and he muttered an unflattering curse at the people you knew were about to join you.

With a last, thoughtful and apologetic glance your way, he folded into the cracks, disappearing into the void.

The world smoothed out, but your heart kept racing and you forced yourself to lower your hand back to your side and look normal and unaffected.

You were deeply relieved that Peony showed up moments later, whisking you away with an excuse to save you from the people. When you sat crouched behind the same gargoyle as last time, he said nothing when you curled up tight, hand clutched against your chest and forehead pressed against your knees.

He knew about the ring, about what had happened to you. It wasn’t hard to find out, not with how public both the fight and trial had been. Peony had slowly, over time, asked you more questions about it. Always carefully and gently and you had recently told him the rest of the story. How you didn’t remember what curse you had been afflicted with, only how it had felt to receive it.

And what happened if you ever took your ring off.

Peony was a solid line of warmth against your side and sometimes you felt a light tickling against your shoulder or head. By the time you looked up, uncurling a little, you blinked when you realized he had almost entirely covered you in flowers.

"Why is Endless bothering with me?" you found yourself asking as he carefully set down a handful of daisies in your now revealed lap.

"I think he’s flirting with you," Peony said and when you stared at him, wide eyed, he laughed. "Oh, he is. Couldn’t you tell?"

You grumbled beneath your breath, looking away and feeling embarrassed. Embarrassed and…aw, shit. You also felt flattered and touched and gooey warm. You liked Endless's attention and his words and how he fought you and how close the two of you could get to each other.

"I think you should ask yourself why you indulge him so," Peony continued, creating some tiny roses he put in your palm when he motioned for your hand. They were a pretty pink. 

"But he’s a villain," you found yourself saying and he snorted and started to tick off his fingers.

"Thunder and Goldstar, Justice and the Furious Two, Deadend and Dawn and of course, we can’t forget the most iconic and notorious romance between Dragon and Nightmare," he said. "They are villains and heroes who are more than enemies, if you catch my drift."

"Nothing was ever confirmed," you muttered and he shot you a look.

His voice was softer as he said, "Not officially, no. But I know you saw at least some of their fights. In all honesty, it even looked like Nightmare recently proposed to Dragon in the middle of their battle."

"Wait, what?" You sat up straight at that, sending a shower of flowers to tumble off of you. Peony just simply made a few more and tossed them straight at your face, petals silk-soft and sweet smelling.

"Endless isn’t awful," he said. "Arrogant, yes. Highly dangerous? Oh abso-fucking-lutely, but he’s no killer. He fucks with the government and some institutions and companies over for fun. No one knows what he really wants most of the time. His moral compass is probably so firmly in the gray zone he might as well rename himself into Raincloud, but you have my blessings."

"Thanks, Mom," you joked back and he smiled, nudging your shoulders together.

"I’m glad you’re doing better," he said, which made all the sarcastic mirth smooth out into something softer and genuine. "Want me to patrol with you the rest of the day?"

You were quiet for a long moment, staring down at the flowers littered all around you. All your favorite flowers and some of his.

"Yeah," you said at last. "Thanks."

"That’s what friends are for." He made a flower crown and gently set it upon your head. "Now come on, before someone yells at us for slacking off."

*.*.*.*

If you had expected Endless to back up, you were sorely mistaken. Not that you…not that you wanted him to. Still, you had no idea if you should reciprocate, if he really was flirting with you like Peony said, or how to go about it.

Endless certainly had stepped up his game after last time. Now every fight it seemed less and less like he wanted to get close to you in order to trade blows, quick strikes and just as quick parries, but to slip around your defenses like water and say more and more things in a low voice only you could hear.

If your battles had looked like dancing before, now your fights really were just a steady back and forth, a push and pull that had left all attempts at actual hitting behind ages ago.

Endless never again touched your hand, but now his fingertips brushed your elbow, your shoulders, your lower arm. He tugged at your utility belt instead of destroying it like another villain would have and you found yourself reaching back.

But he did glance down at your hand every time the two of you fought. The outline of the ring wasn’t easily visible beneath the gloves, but it felt like he had figured out exactly where the ring was.

You ignored it, you much rather focused on the bantering, on the way the words he said in that utterly pleasant and very flustering voice made you feel. You much rather bantered back, the world with all its troubles and realities locked away beyond those cracks he formed around you without ever locking you in.

You should not have ignored it.

It was Peony who called you just as you were about to finish patrol a couple of days later. It was getting quite late and you had volunteered for an evening shift to clear your head after you kept thinking about Endless. 

You had even found yourself watching some of his old fights online. It was…pleasant, possibly even alluringly impressive, to see him in action. His competence, his skills, his cunning and adaptability.

"Can you meet me at the old warehouse district?" Peony asked, voice tense and lowered over the phone in a way that told you something was wrong and he didn’t want to be spotted. "At the barrel intersection? There is a group of villains and far too fucking many explosives."

"On my way," you said, already changing tracks and hurrying towards the district. "Wait until I’m there."

"Hurry," he hissed and ended the call.

You arrived in record time, finding Peony hiding behind the barrels that lined the intersection on one side. It wasn't officially named Barrel Intersection, but that was what the two of you called it.

The old warehouse district was a quiet neighborhood, a mixture of storefronts and still used warehouses and industrial apartments on the more expensive side.

It also offered a lot of backrooms for villains to meet in and plot. Weirdly enough, you couldn’t see anything. The windows of the apartments were all dark and the storefronts lit, showing that no one was inside.

Actually, it was impossible to see much at all from the spot where Peony crouched.

"Where are they?" you asked in a whisper, as you ducked down beside him. "Did they leave already?"

"Alley," he whispered back and slipped into the shadows, face and shoulders tense in a way you hadn’t seen in quite a while. Or ever, possibly. It must be worse than you had thought.

You followed, only to notice that the flowers he usually decorated his outfit with were different. 

That wasn’t too strange in and of itself, Peony picked a new flower for his outfit every week, but it was always something cute and sweet, something that delighted the kids he saved and made crying people smile when he offered them a sunflower or cherry blossoms or tulips. And he always wore peonies around his head.

You weren’t well versed in flowers, but even you recognized the ones you could see now. Belladonna and nettles and a crawling of moss down his shoulders.

"Peony?" you whispered, confused. A low warning tingle spread through your limbs. You warily glanced around. Something was off.

"This is going to be horrible," Peony said so softly you barely heard him and something in his voice was different. It took you a second to realize it was sadness, laced with pain and grim determination.

A second you shouldn't have wasted with puzzling over his tone.

Vines stronger than anything Peony had created before snapped forward to wrap around your limbs, dragging you to the ground with a power and strength you hadn’t been able to fight.

In a split second, your mind ran through all the things an enemy could have done to Peony. Possession, mind control, mind manipulation, blackmail and a plethora of spells. Right up until cracks spidered along the wall and Endless oozed out of the void.

Both of their faces were solemn and grim, something you weren’t used to seeing. You fought the vines, shifting your hands and focusing on your powers when Peony took a step forward, a very familiar item in his hand, gas filling the alley with a sharp hiss.

The hero society had gas canisters that allowed heroes to nullify the powers of their partners in case of aforementioned mind control and other trouble. Those measures worked only short-term, a few moments at most, just long enough for either the afflicted hero or the responsible villain to be taken out.

You felt your powers hit a block, the shimmer around you vanishing in an instant. That was when a first creeping of fear and betrayal set in.

"What do you want?" you hissed as Endless stepped forward and Peony kept you pinned to the ground, the vines keeping your limbs still no matter how hard you fought.

"I’m very sorry about this," Endless murmured and reached for your hand. The one with the ring.

Panic immediately slammed into you and you found yourself saying, "No." even as he forced your fist open to pull your thumb through the hole in the sleeve and push the sleeve back. 

The moment he pulled your glove off, betrayal hit you fully like a hit to the gut, like a vile stench that threatened to make you gag and dizzy.

"Don’t," it came out like a pleading croak and you were only distantly aware of the fact that panicked tears were starting to gather in your eyes. You had thought he’d cared about you. You had been…had been fool enough to start to fall in love with him.

Endless said nothing, wrestling with your hand until more vines appeared, pinning your fingers into place. All but one. You looked at Peony, who stood back, silent and watching.

"I thought you were my friend," you rasped out just as Endless slipped the ring off your finger.

Your world shattered into something cold and warped, your breaths feeling crisp and clear in your lungs. Tears stopped gathering and your hammering heart slowed immediately, all those conflicting and painful feelings dying away, leaving only a yawning absence. A gnarly, ripped open wound across your soul that could easily be torn wider.

Your fingers twitched as you felt the effects of the gas wear off and you gathered your powers close, your mind already conjuring up something. Something unexpected that would give you the wriggle room to get free.

"Gloves off, huh?" you said, your voice coming out flat and cool. "Very well."

People thought that a lack of empathy meant that only rage and violence were left behind. That only something vile existed now, as if everything about human emotions could be neatly divided into 'good' and 'bad' at all times.

A lack of empathy meant there was also a lack of rage, of betrayed hurt, of the desolate realization that you had gotten played by two people you had grown to trust so very much. That you cared for so very much.

It felt different compared to when you had first gotten cursed. Back then the cosmos-bright wrongness within you had utterly consumed your mind. But now that wasn't the case.

You knew this curse. Your body knew it. Had lived years like this, even if the ring had been a neat little temporary loophole.

You had known you’d always end up like this again. The absence was still there, the torn open wound where something had been ripped away from you, but it did not consume your mind.

Your gaze snapped to the two threats in front of you as Endless dropped the ring and reached out again.

The advantage of having pulled your punches previously, of having had morals, was that they did not expect what you would do. They would not count on you summoning creatures that resembled nightmares.

Startling them was the advantage you needed and the monsters that tore out of the shimmering air moved fast like spiders, leapt like predators and had a maw of teeth like sharks.

The vines around you slackened and you ripped free, smoothly rolling to your feet and backing away behind the protective press of nightmare bodies. Two of the creatures had skittered up and along the wall, dropping down from above.

You took the moment of distraction, of hurried fighting, to focus on your biggest creation yet.

You hadn’t made things too big before, always aware of the civilians and the buildings around you as well as your own health. The damage you could cause not only to human life but also to people’s livelihood and possessions.

That didn’t matter anymore. Other people and their problems did no longer concern you. It felt as though the air behind you grew solid for a moment, no longer just wavering and shimmering, but a hard crystal surface, flat and shiny like a mirror, stretching to cover the space behind you from wall to wall.

The ground trembled faintly as the hydra stepped out, three heads swiveling to pin on the two men who had just defeated your skittering critters. One maw dripped acid, the other had smoke curling up and the last snapped its teeth, lightning arching.

"Please tell me you have another canister," Endless said, body tense and ready, as Peony stepped up to his side with a nod. "Cover my back?"

"Always," Peony answered, hands lifting and vines, thick and thorny, breaking out of the walls of the alley, writhing and destructive.

The hydra lunged with a screech, only for the lightning head to suddenly turn into chopped up, bleeding pieces, courtesy of Endless cracking it apart. You had always wondered if he could break flesh as easily as air. Your answer, evidently, was yes.

What a good thing that Hydra heads grew back in double their number. Acid sizzled, fire caught on wood and scorched stone and lightning from the new head lit up the area with quick flashes, while the fourth head lunged forward in a poison filled bite.

With the hydra blocking their path and obscuring their view of you, you had a comparatively easy time avoiding the vines, even as head after head got decimated. You took a second to create your usual weapon, only instead of the blunt hammer, it came out more deadly. Sharper.

That moment, your hydra got wrapped in vines, the heads getting pinned together, mouths forced shut. You watched the broken cobblestone and bricks, vines crawling from below and a new idea found you.

You hadn’t attempted to mix your imagination with the world around you before. You had only just summoned. You closed your eyes for a moment, heart beat steady and calm. You were not harried or frenzied or afraid, all you felt was…hollowed out. Empty. Like a yawning abyss had opened inside you that kept it’s frayed, torn mouth wide open at all times.

It took a second, the hydra growling and writhing, the smell of blood and smoke and something sharp and stinging thick in the air. Some of the heads must have fought free, for you saw a chain of lightning bursts flicker past even with your eyes closed and the golden, bright flare of fire.

When you opened your eyes, the crystalline matter of your summoning was woven into the alley around you, shimmering between walls and ground, layered over and sunk into stone and glass and metal.

You tugged, then realized it would take far, far more power than that. So you yanked and pulled, sweat starting to drip down your face and your heart beating faster with effort and just as your hydra got hacked into so many pieces all at once that it disintegrated, the alley around you heaved like it had come alive.

Because it had. You heard an alarmed shout as the entire alley reassembled itself, your stance shifting to keep your balance on the dragon head that raised itself out of earth and stone, built out of the material around you and held together by the matter of your imagination. 

It was easily the most powerful thing you had ever made and it made your legs tremble with how thoroughly it had drained you. Now you no longer only felt empty but exhausted down to your bones as well. You just barely kept your grip on the dragon, realizing that you had to finish this fast before your powers failed you.

It seemed you had overdone it. It would be worth it, if you won.

You met Endless’s eyes, the man who was your perfect nemesis, your perfect opponent. Peony was nowhere to be seen, aside from a splatter of blood on the ground and there were no hiding spots he could have been in without betting crushed when you had torn the alley apart. He had gotten eaten by the hydra.

Almost distantly, as though detached, you wondered what Endless was capable off if he, too, stopped pulling his punches.

You weighed the weapon in your hands as the dragon roared, wings sweeping out like giant sails, crushing the top of a nearby building to rubble. You weighted your powers against Endless’s. His intent and willingness to harm you against your ability to avoid being sliced apart like your hydra. 

Your legs trembled again, nearly buckling. You did not have the strength to draw this fight out any longer, nor would you be able to negotiate properly like this should it become necessary. You’d need to rest before making a decision, unless you managed to kill him.

It was worth a try.

"I knew you were holding back on me," Endless shouted up at you, but his usual smile was nowhere to be seen and he was out of breath. "I think it’s only fair if I do the same, isn’t it?"

You had seen the world crack like a mirror before and you expected to see much of the same again. And you did, for just a moment.

Before the cracks that spidered from his touch met in the air and then the world broke away in big pieces, the void devouring the edges of your dragon, forcing you to make it curl in tighter as it swiped and stomped and spat fire at Endless, who dipped in and out of the void too quickly to be caught.

You were about to take flight to gain the upper hand when Endless did smile, grim and triumphant. That was the only warning you got, as a crack appeared above you and Peony came tumbling out of the void, looking vaguely ill. His mask and half his outfit were gone, the void slipping off the edges where it had started to devour him.

For just a second you met his eyes, then you saw the canister he held in his hands and when you tried to dodge, your legs buckled at last, sending you tumbling onto the dragon’s hard head.

Peony landed at your side just as the canister hissed and you felt that wall slam up against your powers once more. The dragon collapsed in an avalanche of hard material and the only reason you didn’t get buried in a massive pile of rubble was Peony. He grabbed you and hauled the two of you away with vines.

Vines that tied you to the ground the second he landed and Endless took one big step forward to stand over you. They were both bleeding, Peony wrapping an arm around ribs that were most likely broken, while a gash down Endless’s shoulder made blood soak into his outfit and drip to the ground from his fingertips.

You stared up at them, fingers flexing and exhaustion making them tremble faintly. It seemed you had miscalculated. Not that it would matter for long, they’d finish taking you out any moment now.

"Careful," Peony whispered, looking tense and worried.

"I know," Endless said and it made no sense to you. They had blocked your powers for now and they could finish you off without worry. And even if you did manage to survive and wriggle free, you were too tired to summon anything else. Probably even too tired to run.

You distantly remembered your mentor saying that a lack of empathy made you reckless and careless with yourself to a frightening degree, that any sort of worry and concerns got wiped away.

Endless moved to kneel over you, knees bracketing your ribs.

He took a deep breath and held out his hands without touching you. "Here goes nothing. If you have some prayers left to say, say them now."

You had never felt his powers used on you. You had felt the void, had known it would try to pull you apart like bad stitching, but he had never cracked you.

There was a split second of something wrong registering, before everything just went utterly numb and detached. You stared up at Endless as he reached into the cracks that had just pulled apart cloth and skin and tissue, bone and organs to reach something else.

You would have called it your soul had you cared to and he reached right for the ripped open wound where everything that made you human, that made you feel like a person, had gotten torn out in a sloppy, brutal manner.

Peony hovered close by worriedly and you found yourself looking at him, his face turning into an apologetic grimace. Why? Had he not intended for you to die when he had betrayed you?

Endless’s fingertips touched the edges of the wound the curse had ripped into you, took a deep breath and exhaled slow. The glow of his eyes brightened and you felt a second crack, a shattering within the shattering.

For a moment the world around you seemed to exist only in bits and pieces that came and went without feeling connected to each other. Cracked stone beneath you, one hand gloved the other not, the smell of ozone and fire, the dark, smog filled sky above, your inhale, a heart beat.

A soul-bound wound shattering.

The second Endless pulled back, you saw that he held something writhing and vile between his fingers, tendrils of void wrapped around it. Then he curled his fingers around the curse, letting it be swallowed by the void.

You felt the second the curse was unmade, the world rushing back in all the details it had lacked as it vanished. The taste of exhaustion on your tongue, the heavy pain in your limbs from overextending yourself so brutally, the ache of your heart and your great confusion.

The last thing you noticed before blacking out was Endless carefully smoothing away the cracks he had made on your chest, still without touching you, looking exhausted and grimly victorious.

.

Part Two

#my writing #part one #perfect nemesis #villains and heroes #this used to have a slightly worse cliffhanger #until I realized just how long part 2 had become #and I did not want to make a part three #I hope this is fun to read! #can't remember of any additional warnings #please let me know if anything should be tagged or mentioned #I was so torn between making this a poly relationship or not #just saying #the potential is there #short story #superpowers #I hope someone has as much fun reading this as I had writing it #I'm serious this one is long #but then again #which of my 'short stories' aren't

[the-holy-ghosted]

itching here because its entirely irrelevant to the overall theme of my blog but if i dont talk about [THAT OLD MAN] in [MOVIE] where he [PERVERTED DESCRIPTION OF SCENE] im going to fucking explode

#the heron speaketh #NO im not putting these in the tags they should be in im trying to STEALTH HERE. UNTIL I GET SCREENSHOTS #i cant make gifs it would so look good as a gif. idk how but i can get images for sure #the best part about this is i could be talking about at least like two. three movies #in the one thats bugging me though hes really not old hes only like 30. but still. could always get more ! #i worry that im being weird or annoying but this is the 'be weird and annoying' website so i dont think it matters anyuways. #anywho...ahem

[chemdisaster]

thinking about other characters, whose experience with watching their alliances get consumed by the cruel nature of the game grew on them like scar tissue and made them shy away from freely giving up all of themselves to someone else like that again, and about joel, who got burnt over and over in the worst possible way, but held on to that memory of something good in a world turned against them and only became more acquainted with loyalty, against everything he used to be

#like his last episode of limited life is so painful to watch and you'd think after that he'd go the grian route #and do his best to close that part of himself off forever (and ultimately fail but shh) #but no instead he just carries everything good about the bad boys with him into the next game #holds on to the times they shared together and not the pain of losing it all #that's the key difference between grian and a lot of people actually. i should make a desert duo post about this #ANYWAY #joel smallishbeans #smallishbeans #double life #dlsmp #limited life #limlsmp #llsmp2 #secret life #slsmp #because it's the progression of these three one after the other specifically that gets me #trafficblr #textdisaster

[crossbackpoke-check]

it’s all the rest of what i want with you

connor dewar/brandon duhaime :: 8k

Summary:

“Brandon,” Connor says with a sigh. “There’s no baby in there.”

“Not yet,” Brandon says. Connor feels his stomach twist, almost like what he would imagine a baby kicking to feel like.

in these trying times of dewvorce, may i offer you 8k of pwp inspired by @stillfertile’s wonderful art which i had. several breakdowns about 🫶 anyway please enjoy!!!

#OFFICIAL FIC ANNOUNCEMENT 🗣️🗣️🗣️‼️‼️‼️ i wish i had pretty fic graphics but alas i have No Skill and also. so much work i should be doing bu #HI SHE’S HERE i would love to say this is a complete surprise drop except i have Anxiety & i needed to ask you guys about it beforehand #in my defense i started writing this in like. january far before any tragedy occurred #because square asked about my tags on their dewey2 art and she spawned like. a million more thoughts about it #including the part where i got absolutely kicked in the face with the lightning vision of those two lines. #like those two lines are the first actual lines of the fic i wrote ajdhkwdiowdjiw ANYWAY please be nice to me i know i am always like #‘this is not the first real fic i ever thought i’d post’ and if i had a nickel i’d have three but this is the first pwp i’ve ever posted #and it’s 8k and it’s not a fic for an exchange (although technically i did very much write this for the dewey^2 hivemind so.) #i have SO many things to say i have so many comments on this doc also i couldn’t pick a title for the LONGEST time and i finally decided on #this one but the full quote was too long: #all the rest of what i want with you that scares me shitless #so. i was angling SO hard to make a yung gravy lyric as a title bc i saw the video of him at a wild game but i couldn’t find a good one #and instead y’all got a very sentimental title l m a o. #liv in the replies #shout out to the extended universe this lives in and also my unhinged comments in the docs. #if you liked fun fuck a baby in him friday i’ll be here all week i promise i am the exact same in the comments as i am in the tags 🫡 #the NUMBER of times i wrote something in this by pulling it out of my ass and then actually went back and did the research & was RIGHT is. #far too high. also the amount of coincidental things that dropped while i was writing this (yung gravy song about pregnancy AFTER i wheeze #laughed myself into a yung gravy title the athletic player poll confirming my restaurant & bar choices from googling ‘st. paul good bars’…) #also if anybody got advice on formatting for these little announcements. help. this is different from my miro/luka one &i’m still not happy

[thatrandombystander]

When you get to the final boss of Okami and you're all alone fighting an alien monster in the darkness and you've lost all your strength and all hope seems lost BUT THEN you hear the voices of all the characters you've helped in secret along they way as Issun steps into his role as your Celestial Envoy and everyone starts praying to you while Reset (Thank You) plays and their BELIEF in you unlocks Ammy's cool ass final form so you can GO KICK YAMI'S ASS and save the world. I cry 😭

#for the record i have not like. recently finished okami #i actually probably haven't played it in about a decade? #but i finished at least three full playthroughs on the PS2 #plus i had saves before each major boss so i could replay them #and you can believe i did the yami fight multiple times #anyway this was prompted part of the okami soundtrack playing while i was listening to my instrumentals playlist #is it a perfect game? hm. no. i wouldn't say so #but 'tis a fave. i should replay it at some point. #ramblings of a bystander #okami #okami amaterasu #side note but why is orochi a boss TWICE times in the game #they make such a big deal about him. and then you kill him. #and then you travel back in time and kill him AGAIN. and he's like. functionally the same boss. #i don't remember there being any real difference

[mishapen-dear]

i've mentioned here and there that i made a relationships/dynamic spreadsheet. i have finally put it to use. look on my Works, ye mighty, and despair.

-extra note: i am not omniscient and i cannot watch every stream. i may have missed a sibling declaration or two.

-extra extra note: i currently speak only english and used google translate for the rest. if theres a translation error I'd love to know- i wont be able to go back and fix these, but im always so curious about how accurate google translate can be

extra extra note pt 2: do. do other languages use guardian as in "legal guardian" as in "not a family member but still Primary Caregiver of child" because i am suddenly aware those translations might not be correct. on the other hand tho if google translate decided that the parents are guarding warriors of the eggs im not going to argue

#qsmp #i should have added a ??? line for fit and philza tbh #look at just how beloved forever is <3 #his dynamics have dynamics #he and richarlyson are also part of The Issue when compiling a fucking. whatever the hell this si #maybe a chart not a graph it is currently 4 am and im gonna schedule this #anyway i did legitimately consider making one of those classic family tree charts and just sticking richas in the centre so he wouldnt caus #too many lines to overlap but i think this worked out fine #absolutely delighted i thought of the columns it saved my ass #this server is Three Months Old #look at them founding those families #philever stans i see you and im sorry #if i included a heartbreak line then this would have been completely incomprehensible #fun fact to translate the silly 'king what are you doing' i made google translate #'chad what are you doing' instead so there would still be the grammar of a proper noun #but i wouldnt trick it into thinking king is an honourary title #i might not know the grammar of any non-english language but Oh Boy i know there are Traps #or maybe english's traps have just made me paranoid #either way #also. richas was added to bad's family art wall and bad baghs and forever have called each other family enough that #i made the executive decision to just adopt richarlyson out to the other two #richas called bad basically his mom tonight i can do what i want #and baghera gets to be part of that line because. honestly i wasnt thinking about him being Extra Canon Nephew #and i refuse to change it for reasons above re: it is 4 am; they are family #tho the thought of bad having three children separately attributed to him is hilarious.... maybe if i ever remake this ill do that #also note: i do know that foolish and bad had a kid called jimmy However i do not know what a jimmy is #so #scheduled post

[robotsafari]

i havent even watched legacy yet but that fucking kh world did some.. unexpected things to me

#beep boop you want fries with that #kingdom hearts #re:kh #re:ddd #sora #quorra #tron #riku #was trying to redesign rinzler’s helmet bc god. its. kinda fucking boring. leaning into the beast more #also teh helmets eyes are supposed to look angry when its down and sad when its up. bwaaa #i heard rinzler acts like a cat. thats soemthing to look forward to when i watch the movie. grins. #the three dots are supposed to be the classic t. btw. #theres four you just cant see the last one. #made sora look more liek his space paranoids look because he needs to retain the 80s swag. #this reads like a change log. #and my good friend quorra. idk if i’ve even posted that redesign b4. #yes im making her quote the ur my pockets eddie post #i think she needs to chew on things. maybe she should maul clu with her fucking teeth. #shes so unorthadox girl to me. do you see my vision. #also dw about riku falling or paralelling tron or anything hes fiiine. #speaking of the falling art. its old. so its inaccurate to how i draw riku now #before my brain was huge basically. #its so funny how i drew this much art for legacy like. i love tron 1982. i havent watched legacy yet but i feel like im gonna hate it. #the kh world was okay but it had a lot of potential and. uh. made me a BIT insane at the last part in sora’s story (EXPLODES) #also this post is tagged re:ddd for. reasons. dw about it. #ANYWAY GN ITS 1 AM. RUNS AT MACH SPEED.

[foxgloveinspace]

Spoonie Neil headcanons (pt. 1/?)

Hey I decided to write this, and probably won’t be updating this headcanon series, sorry guys!! (You have to be logged into ao3 to read it)

It all starts when Abby jokingly says ‘and remember, the normal amount of pain is no pain’ as they get ready to start a game. He rolls his eyes at first, but then that night when he really thinks about it he starts to wonder to himself

Is the pain I remember having constantly from a life on the run and then a life of constant practice?

He takes a couple nights off of extra practice, making Kevin pissed at him, and Andrew silently concerned, but him pulling back in day practice as well has most of the team on edge for the week it keeps up.

On that Saturday he walks into Abby’s office and sits on her table, and looks her right in the eye and says ‘I have pain all the time. I have been in constant pain since I was a kid. I don’t know if it’s something my dad did, or if I’ve always been like this.’

She’s concerned. Duh.

They do some tests come up with 🤷🏼 it’s pain.

She asks Neil if she should tell coach or if she should, and he says he’ll take care of it.

He doesn’t.

He doesn't tell anyone and starts practicing hard again.

Except that now that he knows about it, it's harder to ignore.

The constant ache in his left hip and ankle that are just barely there, the way his fingers hurt after it gets cold, when he feels it down to his bones.

It's all harder to push to the back of his brain now.

Kevin notices first. (Andrew knows something is up, he just figures Neil will now tell him about it....) He notices Neil rubbing his left knee in the hall once, when he thinks he's alone in between classes.

He corners Neil before night practice, Andrew already in the goal, and them putting on their gear.

'you pushed yourself too hard, your injured, you don't play while injured' lecture.

'it's not an injury.' 'I saw you rubbing your knee, and limping. Stop Lying to Me'.

He ends up shouting it, 'Im always in pain'. He's so loud even Andrew stops what he's doing (swinging his racket around, practicing sick af spins).

They all stand there. not saying anything, Neil's panting even though he doesn't even feel out of breath.

'what.' Kevin says it in an icy voice.

'im always in pain, I have chronic pain, I don't know why, but I hurt all the time.'

Kevin is quiet. and then he says, Neil's worst nightmare, 'we're not practicing tonight.'

Neil hasn't shed tears since he was a kid, since before his mom knocked it out of him (literally), but he's close in that moment, taking off his gloves and throwing them on the ground/at Kevin, and stomping back into the lockers.

Kevin doesn't even say anything, just picks them up and Andrew walks out after them, having come close enough to the door to hear the conversation.

When they get back to the room, Neil just wants to be alone. But instead Kevin follows after him, and pushes him down on one of the bean bags.

'stay'

Neil's leg hurts too much to really argue, but he sits there stewing.

Andrew is staring at him fron across the room, he's sitting on his desk, and Neil looks at him, but he can sort of read Andrew's expression, and he doesn't like it, so he looks at the black tv screen.

the microwave goes off, and Neil almost jumps. he almost does again when the door to it is slammed shut.

Kevin comes back in the room, holding a heat pack.

He walks over to Neil, and drops down to his knees in front of him, 'which knee?'

Neil shakes his head, and presses his hand to his hip, and Kevin lays the heat pack over Neil's side, and Neil makes a quizical sort of noise, but then he sighs as it starts to ease the pain a little.

Kevin hesitates for a moment, his eyes flickers toward Andrew's direction for a second, before he sighs, and reaches up to ruffle Neil's hair.

'I'll teach you how to take care of it better, ok?'

Neil sighs, but nods, his hands curling in the front of his hoodie.

'We'll try ice for your knee, hows that sound?'

Neil just nods again.

he dozes to the sound of Kevin and Andrew discussing compression leggings.

they get them overnight shipped.

Kevin places both hands on Neil shoulders and stands him in front of Coach until Neil finally tells him.

'Yeah, so. Me and Abby figured out I have chronic pain.'

Coach nods, 'ok. That why you where late this morning?'

Neil cringes, 'no, Kevin got me weird leggings that seem to help.'

Coach pauses his watching of the rest of the team, and turns too look at Neil, 'when did you and Abby figure this out again?'

Neil, finally getting fidgety, 'uhh, last month.'

Coach pinches the bridge of his nose, 'ok, dipshit, I'll work on changing your routine now.'

the tension melts out of Neil's shoulders. Kevin sighs. David looks frustrated, 'did you think I was gonna bench you?'

Neil doesn't do anything, but Kevin nods his head.

David sighs, 'get back to practice idiots.'

#aftg #neil josten #kevin day #uhhhh this is technically #kevneil #kevineil #no one worry though cause its still #andreil #its just that I don't ship andrew and kevin so its not the three sorry sorry #but Andrew and Neil are very soft for each other. and Neil is gonna be getting a lot of attention from Andrew. hence this being part one. #come back in a few weeks or so for part two! #considering I started this in like. June. #but kevineil is like. this ship I have a soft place for in my heart and I want to make more content for them. i should finish #that smut i started where Andrew is platonic with Kev but he watches Kevin and Neil fuck lol. #which is their ship name btw I do not know. oof

[chiropteracupola]

steadfast sailor, paper captain...

#em draws stuff #hornblower #william bush #horatio hornblower #first and foremost! sorry for melting bush's face off in this image #but for a bit more context this is because I had the idea that a hornblower story based in 'the steadfast tin soldier' would be interesting #so here we've got pewter-cast model bush and paper theatre guy hornblower (and things are not going well for them!) #this one was an interesting challenge since I wanted bush to look like the metal was sort of melting out from under his paint #and then hornblower's paper hasn't quite caught alight yet but is starting to char at the very edges of him and where he's touching bush #both of them are much more complex designs than I'd originally been planning for (bush has got ball-and-socket joints and all...) #(the original original plan was that I would learn pewter casting and make him Real. as you can see I did not do that.) #but hey I'm pleased with how they turned out in the end! this took me three sharpe episodes to draw :| #(eleven episodes in and I think it made me weird in the head so I think I will slow down for the time being! too much riflery!) #aaaaaanyway. I don't know if I'll ever write anything about this idea so I'm releasing it into the wild if anyone else likes it #part of this was. an excuse to put some sequins on hornblower yes. fellow should sparkle a little more often!

[skrunksthatwunk]

aurghhh ok still rewatching '97 and the way guts and casca only have the room to breathe and really come to understand and care for each other in griffith's absence because he has such a strong hold over them both.... and the way their mutual dedication to him is what causes them to bicker for years (casca thinks he's not serving him well enough, guts thinks she doesn't get that he cares/how much he cares, casca's jealousy over griffith's feelings for guts, how he won his heart without even trying or being aware of it or doing anything with it) and is also a big part of what brings them together (earlier when guts deviates from the plan to save griffith and she commends him, in the cave casca opening up about griffith and her's past, showing that vulnerability, while it's mostly confrontational, leads to guts kinda getting her better, and his efforts to save and protect her (falling off the cliff with her, taking on the 100 men so she can escape, encouraging her to return to griffith so she can help him because it's what she feels she's meant to do (her dream, the direction in life guts shares and yet is questioning because of griffith's speech at the fountain, whether or not it's enough to serve him if it means he'll never be a true friend in griffith's eyes because he's not an equal), supporting the idea of her being with griffith/being his most important person like he won't because he doesn't view it as a competition like she has been since day one) leading to her realizing that he's kind of not that bad a guy and they have a lot more in common that she thought. and how the bonfire of dreams conversation is guts opening up to her in kind, the answer to her talking about how griffith saved her, how she feels. how neither of them ever call it love but it's something they know they both have for griffith. how it's something they're beginning to have for each other, different in ways they couldn't put a word to. because they're equals this time. the way griffith kind of becomes less and less important as they find other reasons to live and fight, as they become less singularly obsessed with him. how griffith is unable to stand it, guts' personhood, that agency and peer-to-peer equality he claimed to want (and perhaps truly did) that disappeared guts from his life, his plans, his side. how it barely even matters to griffith how casca changes because he never wanted her like she wanted him. god i can't fucking stand their shakespearean nonsense drama (<- hopelessly in love with their interpersonal dynamics)

#god they're the only healthy part of this unholy mind-palace love triangle/throuple aren't they #they could have been the worst qpr/throuple in your social circle. like just insufferable when they're not getting along #if griffith hadn't [oh god oh fuck oh jesus christ] all over everything even remotely good in his life anyway #poor casca's in love with a gay man and then falls for his not-quite-boyfriend and when not-quite-boyfriend reciprocates said gay man fucki #g. Does The Eclipse Stuff. at least partially to get back at you two. oh my godd #i'm sorry i'm so not normal about them. it's starting to leak out into the blog bc i'm finally having a Berserk Moment since starting tumbl #but whewwwww. gotta get this outta my system #hope this wall of text makes sense oops <3 #berserk #berserk 1997 #how do i even tag their thang. their disastrous just horrible agonizing 3 guy dynamic. hm. #gutsca #griffguts #don't even know if anyone tags for griffith and casca. fair because 1) he raped her. yikes 2) he just straight up isn't into her #and i don't know if there's a tag for the three of them but trial and error led to nothing #but i wanna talk about their dynamic. their. (gestures wildly) whatever. it's not about thinking griffith should kiss anyone it's about lik #the agony. the pining and the torment and whatever miura so beautifully crafted for me specifically. sheesh #hope it's clear that i Don't Want Them To Be An Uwu Little Polycule Bc Casca Should Not Be In A Cutesy Throuple With Her Rapist #it's more that i think they kind of are or almost are part of this (gestures wildly again). Thing. with each other and i wanna talk about i #same with griffguts like oh man they should NOT be in a relationship. but i have this deep intense Need to study them and frankly they're #kind of crazy about each other for a while. like they care about each other so so much it's crucial to all three of their characters. #so it's kind of unavoidable. and i wanna talk about it. and have this read by people who also want to talk about it. yeah? yeah. #(and yeah i think griffith raping casca was about her and guts. like 'fuck you for making him okay with leaving me' type of vibe. even #though it wasn't her fault he's just. god. but it sure as hell isn't Mostly about casca because griffith's making eye contact like the Whol #time with guts. he makes him watch. it's just. shooooooooooo aughhhhghhghh fucking. jesus christ. that or it's the fear that his two most #important pawns are going to leave him Together and he just. can't deal with that. especially after the torture internment thing. #he's so weak and he was so close to his dream and now it's falling apart and they're leaving him and he can't even move. it's about making #damn sure they can't escape him or forget him ever again. #or maybe it's even a 'you can't have her she's mine' to guts but it's still largely like. spiteful/about possessing her as a soldier/human #because i don't think you could convince me it's about having her as a lover or about controlling/hurting/possessing her body.)

[gimmehyuck]

reckless heroism | l.dh

summary. you've kept your secret for all of six months, mostly to keep your friends - him - safe. when he finds out, it puts your skills of truly wanting to keep him safe to the test.

or in other words, he's your mary jane. the damsel in distress. and he may or may not be happy about it.

pairing. protective med student!hyuck x spiderwoman!yn, feat. nomin

words. roughly 10.3k~ish

genre. friends to lovers, angst, general fluff, serious mutual pining, seriously, they know they like each other and so does everyone else, some action? idk i wrote this after obsessing over the latest spiderman movie it just took me a century to post it, technically two kiss scenes.

warnings. a bi jaehyun is a Very Bad Guy™, like a bit unhinged and does not nice things. you have been warned. also mentions of blood, injuries, guns, things blow up etc. it's an action based au, whatever else comes from that. also i know nothing about med school, sorry.

p.s. i use an -almost- direct line from tom holland's spiderman... see if you can spot it... hehe

.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.

donghyuck wasn’t sure how he ended up in this position.

categorizing his injuries quickly like his training taught is what helped him stay grounded. his ribs felt as if they had taken a severe beating, and his head was throbbing.

probably a concussion.

his eyes burned from the blood that leaked down his face into them from a gash he got earlier, facial wounds always bled worse he reminded himself. he was nauseous but he assumed that was from the overwhelming smell of smoke from the explosion that destroyed half the building.

he brought his hand up to cradle his head, his ears were ringing so loudly. and they just kept ringing, and ringing, and ringing, and…

“hyuck, please! focus!” he finally heard the yelling over the sound of sirens going off in his head.

he blinked once, twice, trying to get his eyes to lock in and focus; he searched around to try and find the sound of the voice that had yelled for him.

his blurry vision tried to clear but it went in and out in intervals. with the moments spent in focus, he saw you, standing over him, shouldering a very heavy looking slab of concrete, arms shaking from the weight.

“hey, hyuck, are you with me now?” you groaned, face screwing in exertion.

he noticed your suit was torn in places, your mask long since forgotten, dust and debris littered your face and hair. you were bleeding from cuts on your face and even though he could see you physically shaking from trying to hold up the weight, he saw you sigh in annoyance at him.

“hyuck!” you yelled this time, frustration lining your voice.

“yeah,” he croaked out, his voice coming out gravelly.

“yeah, i’m here now.” he squinted up at you, watching as your frustration ebbed away and you smiled.

even in all this, you still smiled at him. and that’s when everything came back in a flood, and he realized…

maybe this was his fault after all.

.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.

donghyuck was playing his game loudly on his PC, rapidly clicking his mouse and yelling through his headset.

“jaemin, no, no, dammit! now i’m dead because you – jeno, don’t yell at me for yelling at your boyfriend, i just died!” donghyuck whined dramatically into the mic, and he jumped a little when he heard his door open and click shut.

“hyuck,” he heard your familiar voice calling softly from across the room. since he was dead anyways, he swiveled around in his chair, a smile already working its way on his face, but the moment he saw you, he froze.

his brain took a moment to process what he saw and even then, it still didn’t make any sense. his mouth opened and shut rapidly, trying to form any semblance of a thought, any attempt of words but eventually he landed on just your name.

“y/n is there? turn on your camera so we can say hey!” he heard jisung say through the headset. you seemed to have heard jisung and you rapidly shook your head no, putting a gloved finger to your lips. you made a motion pointing at his headset and made a slicing motion across your throat. when he didn’t move a muscle, you repeated the motion more frantically, eyes almost seeming to panic. putting your hands together in a plea, then repeating the charades of telling him to turn off the game.

finally he acted, clearing his throat before saying, “no, y/n isn’t here but she is calling. i’ll get back on later, bye guys.” and he was met with a chorus of “ooooh the girlfriend is calling” and what donghyuck thought was very childish kissing sounds coming from chenle and jisung, but regardless of how childish it was, it still caused a blush to creep up his neck and make its way into his cheeks.

clicking the headset off and dropping it around his neck, he and his red cheeks focused back on you. standing across the room, you were dressed in a red and black skintight suit, with a giant spider across the chest.

“you’re cosplaying now?” he asked with an eyebrow raised, his voice taking on a sarcastic tone. “you never showed any interest at all in spider-woman when we’ve all discussed her, and where did you get that costume? it looks nicely made, you nearly failed homec in high school so…”

he watched as you took a deep breath before opening your mouth to say the unbelievable., “it’s not a cosplay. it’s not a costume. it is my suit. it was technically a gift but… i am spider-woman.” you raised a finger for each point you made, your face and tone showing extreme seriousness that he would have found almost comical if he hadn’t begun to notice your face had become a little paler than when he had first seen you enter. narrowing his eyes slightly, his brain trying to figure out what was going on, he went on to huff a laugh. “you’re so full of shit.”

“look,” you ran your hand through your hair and sighed, donghyuck noticing you had started to sway a little, but you began to emphasize your points by talking with your hands again as you spoke. “i know this is a lot to take in suddenly, and i’m gonna go ahead and apologize to you for lying to you these past six months, i didn’t know how to properly tell you that ‘hey i was bitten by a radioactive spider and now i can do things i can’t explain’ because i knew you’d act like this, but i don’t have anywhere to go right now and i really… really need your help.”

and that’s when you swayed so hard, you staggered against the standing dresser sliding down its front, shaking it so hard that his textbooks fell off.

donghyuck flew across the room to kneel by your side, noticing your breathing was a little labored. you laughed a little at how quickly his demeanor changed from sarcastic to serious.

“okay, okay. you’re spider-woman and you’re forgiven for lying, what happened?” he said, going into what you called his No Nonsense Mode. he ran to his desk to grab his med kit and rushed back to your side.

“i was shot and the bullet is lodged in my arm, and i can’t remove it myself, i’ve tried and i can’t heal unless it’s out. i need you to pull it out.” it was matter-of-fact the way you spoke about what had happened to you. donghyuck placed his stethoscope on your chest and listened for any irregularities, not missing the way his heart lurched when you mentioned you were shot with nonchalance. once he couldn’t find any irregularities though, he got out scissors and began cutting the fabric away from the wound on your arm, that he wasn’t sure how he didn’t notice it earlier, but, he told himself (in his defense) the majority of the suit was black, it didn’t really stand out.

“you really should have gone to the emergency room to have an actual doctor do this.” he scolded softly, taking gauze and wiping away the excess blood from the site.

you snorted. “what? just, swing into the ER and go, ‘i can’t take off my mask for you but i need you to treat my gunshot wound’? yeah, that’ll go smoothly. besides, you’re a doctor.” you murmured as you watched him rummage in his kit for whatever tool he needed.

“i’m training to be a doctor, i’m not a doctor, yet. there’s a literal board certified difference.” he corrected, cutting his eyes at you. you lifted your other hand in surrender.

“it’s all the same to me.” you replied.

“how have you not needed me before now?” he asked before taking off a cap of a bottle and looking directly into your eyes as he said, “this is going to sting a little.”

“i heal quickly, broken ribs are nothing but – ah, shit!” crying out sharply in pain, eyes bulging at the liquid that burned worse than you thought it would.

“you said sting, you liar!” and he smirked at you, your heart leaping a little at the look. “that’s for lying to me.”

“yeah, sure. a huge identity secret that could get all my friends and family killed that i kept secret to protect you means you can hurt me with alcohol. sure, sure.” you rolled your eyes as he shrugged.

“it’s all the same to me,” he quoted you, but then frowned a little. “i’m going to dig it out now. and this will actually hurt, do you need me to grab something for you to bite down on, or… or squeeze?” he asked, his laser-focused attention shifting from your face to the hole in your arm.

you shook your head and gripped your thigh tightly. he nodded and began to find the object that was keeping you from healing yourself. you could feel the bruises start to come up on your knee as your arm shook from the pressure you applied to try and take your mind off of the pain your best friend was inflicting on you.

you watched his face as a distraction and distantly thought it was cute that he stuck his tongue out between his lips in concentration. after agonizing minutes, he finally let out an excited, “got it!”

he showed you the offending metal excitedly between the long medical tweezers and you let out a heavy sigh of relief, and you could feel your body jump into overdrive to try and heal the area.

“i think i’m going to pass out, and if i do… just leave me here. i’ll wake up in thirty minutes, tops.” you mumbled a little too softly before doing exactly what you said you would do, and slumped over onto donghyuck’s lap. considering you warned him beforehand, he only let himself panic for all of thirty seconds before he grabbed a pillow from his couch and gently moved your head from his lap to the pillow.

he rummaged around in his kit for more gauze and started to clean the area of the blood that had gushed out during the process of him removing the bullet, as he did so his hands froze midair. he could only watch in awe as he saw your skin start to heal itself, the tissues and skin closing up from the inside out. and sure enough, within thirty minutes, it was as if you had never been injured, and five minutes after that, you stirred awake. you blinked a few times up at him, and he continued to stare down at you as if he were mapping out the details of your face.

“you lied.” he said, and you groaned, throwing an arm over your eyes.

“i told you i was sorry!” you immediately went on the defensive.

“it took you thirty-five minutes, you said thirty tops.” he raised one eyebrow, giving you his signature irritating smirk that always gave you butterflies.

you thought for a moment, “hmm, must have lost more blood than i realized.”

you both stared at each other for a few awkward seconds before you let out, “so you’re…. not… mad at me? i wanted to tell you the moment i found out, i swear. but every chance i got i – ” and your voice came out smaller and smaller with each word, more than you had hoped it would. you weren’t sure why, but you knew that if he was angry it would hurt you more than you had realized it would.

“hey, chill. how could i be mad?” he sounded confused, looking away to put something in his kit. “no, i couldn’t be mad at you. i can rationalize why you did it. it makes sense why you didn’t tell me. but no more secrets from here on.” he cut his eyes over at you sternly.

“promise, no more secrets.” you agreed with a nod.

“but… now that i know…” he said, stern look morphing into a more mischievous one and the smile he wore made you shift. “i have so many questions.” the intense staring contest came to an end when you smiled back.

“alright, shoot.” you offered and sat up. when you noticed he gave you an instant unamused look, you amended sarcastically. “oh, too soon? sorry. you may proceed, your majesty.”

and oh, he did.

two hours of nothing but rapid fire questions, answering everything from:

“what are your powers?”

“the powers of a spider, hyuck.”

“yes, i can tell, but what exactly can you do?”

to:

“have you really robbed banks like that tabloid said?”

“do i look like i’m suddenly millions of dollars richer to you?”

after the intense game of twenty thousand questions, he seemed satisfied with all of his answers he received until he came down to the last one.

“what were you doing when you were shot?” he asked, deep concern written all over his face. you had scared him, you realized. he was just now processing everything that had happened, the excitement was falling away so he had to deal with what had happened and you had frightened him more than you thought you would.

“there’s a mob boss, he’s trafficking in a new kind of drug that is killing so. many. people. i think he may have manufactured it to kill but i’m not sure on that part. i was getting close to the warehouse, and he knew it. i ran into an ambush, but not before i destroyed a case of the drugs. they seem to be highly flammable somehow but anyway, there’s still so much more though, hyuck. i just acted first this time before coming up with a plan.” you became more and more enthused as you spoke but when donghyuck didn’t respond, you looked up to find him picking at his fingernails. he did this when he had something to say but wasn’t sure if he wanted to say it, you noticed in elementary school and it was his biggest tell when he had secrets. which meant he never really had secrets from you.

“hyuck, what is it?” you leaned over and touched his fiddling fingers, stilling them. he waited a few more moments before looking up and making eye contact.

“you’ve been doing all of this for six months… alone. and it’s… it’s dangerous. you’re… why are you choosing to be reckless?” his voice came out accusatory but small, almost a little unsure of himself. and it made you pause, because it was so unlike him. your hyuck, the extremely smart med student. almost overly, frustratingly self-confident, was always self-assured, but the last half hit an uncomfortable spot in your chest. a spot that signaled an argument. your eyebrows drew together and you tilted your head to the side.

“it’s dangerous, yeah, but it’s nothing i can’t handle. i’ve been handling it. and i’m not being reckless. i can’t just not use this to help people. it happened to me for a reason.”

“yeah but,” he hesitated again. he didn’t want this to come out the way he was worried it was going to. “you could get hurt, you have been hurt! what if you didn’t make it here in time? this screams recklessness to me.”

“it… it doesn’t matter if i get hurt, and i did make it here in time… look, when you can do the things i can, and you’re given a chance to help but you don’t, and then the bad things happen… they happen because of you.” you argued simply, your voice taking on a tone of pleading to match your eyes.

“it doesn't matt- it matters to me!" hearing you say your life wasn’t as important to you as others nearly gave him a heart attack. he was almost rendered speechless at those words. keyword: almost, "you could be killed! what part of that don’t you get? everything you just said isn’t heroism, y/n. that’s just self-imposed guilt.” he yelled, the sudden rise in his voice startling the both of you.

“no, it isn’t. it’s taking responsibility!” you responded, teeth clenched.

“respons-,” he cut himself off, completely incredulous. he all but rolled his eyes at you, “why do you feel responsible for people you’ve never met?! you could be killed, killed y/n. what part of that don’t you get?”

“yeah, hyuck, i could. believe me, i get it. but so could you, at any given time. people are dying, and if i can help them, then i will.” you didn’t raise your voice, but the bitterness that seeped through your still clenched teeth wasn’t easily controlled.

“people are dying because they’re choosing to take illegal drugs.”

“and you think that just because they chose to get high, off of something they were lied to about, that they should be murdered?” you were incredulous this time at the notion, eyebrows nearly in your hair.

“that’s not what i’m saying!” he threw his hands up, and you stood up abruptly.

“really?” you flung your hands out, exasperated beyond belief. “because it sure as hell sounds like it. it’s not just addicts taking this drug. it’s college kids experimenting. it – it could be our friends next! just trying a normal college experience!” and he scoffed at the defensive stance you took, arms crossing over your chest. he rolled his eyes and that just pissed you off even more. you weren’t sure why he was taking this stance, and it felt like he was against you. this was the argument that your body had warned you of.

“it could be jeno, or jaemin, or… or even mark next. at the next party, they may just try something, or, or get something slipped to them, and then what?” your tone was serious. you meant what you said.

“mark doesn’t do parties-.” he started sarcastically but you cut him off with a scoff.

“that isn’t the fucking point! you’re becoming a doctor to save people, i was given these abilities to do the same. why does it feel like i’m the only one willing to try? why does it feel like you’re… you’re judging me for it?”

“how could you say that? i’ll take an oath to do no harm in a few years, it will be my job to save people’s lives. responsibly. not doing it illegally, like a vigilante. not getting myself injured in the process, not getting myself killed.” he spat out the last sentence with such vehemence that you had no retaliation for it, mouth dropping in a silent gasp.

you just stared at him before shaking your head slightly. you walked across the room and snatched your discarded mask off the floor.

“thank you for helping me.” was all you said and he could only watch as you threw open the door and climbed out of the window in the hall you had originally crawled through. he could only partially see as you slung away. he took a moment to replay the argument through his head and he smacked himself hard in the forehead. he was stupid. he started the argument because he was worried and his smart mouth did what it always did, got him into trouble.

why was saying, ‘i’m worried for you, please be careful next time’ so hard for him?

he crossed the room and closed the door, banging his head softly against the door and mumbling,

“stupid, stupid, stupid.”

.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.

he hadn’t spoken to you in three days, not that he hadn’t tried. numerous texts and voicemails apologizing profusely for what he had said, but he received nothing in return. he had even let slip during gaming with his friends that he had upset you and you were refusing to talk to him.

they all immediately sided with you without even knowing what the argument was about, with jaemin throwing in a ‘you probably opened your stupid mouth and said the opposite of what you wanted to’, and donghyuck couldn’t even argue with that. they knew him well.

but with what was going on, he was, unfortunately, a little distracted doing his clinical hours at the hospital overnight. it was his turn in the ICU, the department he wanted to be in once he graduated. he just couldn’t get the image of your face out of his head when you left, and it made it hard for him to focus.

he had really hurt you, and after having the time to think about it, he understood where you were coming from. you wanted to make a difference, you had always been that way even as a kid, and how could he expect anything less? he was becoming a doctor to do the same thing. what made him any better? he knew if it were him in your shoes, he’d have done the same. he already knew the reason that made him react so negatively.

because it was you.

“lee!” the attending doctor yelled at him, snapping him out of his musings. his head snapped up instantly and he rushed over to his side, he wasn’t technically allowed to help yet but he was to shadow and learn what he could from observation. an ambulance had wheeled in a drug overdose victim, and the nurses were running around.

he finally got a good look at the patient and that’s when he stilled. the guy was in his coding class that he took as an elective, yangyang. he knew he was a good guy, a little on the strange side but he and his friends were the same. donghyuck noticed another guy he knew from around campus was hovering near the curtains edge.

xiaojun was biting his fingernails in worry and donghyuck could tell he had been crying. his attending doctor had called for narcan and so donghyuck made his way over to xiaojun. he looked up from yangyang, eyes lighting up for a second as he recognized donghyuck and he started fumbling over his words instantly.

“we-we were in the club, we hardly drank anything but a maybe a couple of beers and then all of a sudden he just… just f-fell out on the floor. they were saying it was a drug overdose but – but he doesn’t do drugs. he’d never touch them. he – he, wouldn’t. he didn’t do this.” donghyuck was about to offer words, when the doctor yelled at him to get xiaojun out of the way.

yangyang had started seizing, and he knew that xiaojun didn’t need to see it. placing a gentle hand on xiaojun’s shoulder, donghyuck escorted him away and the nurses closed the curtains. seeing this up close proved that he needed to find you. if he didn’t understand you before, he fully understood now.

his shift had ended, yangyang had been barely stable and instead of going home to sleep for his classes in the morning, he went the opposite way to go to your apartment. it was late, but he was hoping you’d be awake.

if not, he’d just wake you up and deal with it when you hit him for it. when he realized the elevator was down he sighed, assuming this was his karmic punishment, he made his way up the five flights of stairs and down the hall to your room.

standing in front of 606 he raised his hand to knock but the door opened before his hand met the wood. he figured it was the senses you had told him about that let you know he was there.

you stood in the doorway, face completely impassive. he coughed once, and scratched the back of his neck.

“i’ve been texting you, and calling…” he trailed off watching for your reaction.

“i know.” your response was cold.

“i’m really sorry,” he started again.

“i know. even jeno has told me. is that all?” and his shoulders drooped a little. when he didn’t respond for a moment, you started to close the door and he put his hand up to stop it, saying all he had to say in one quick breath.

“you were right. i was worried, and i just saw you bleeding and you acted like it was no big deal even though you had been shot and i couldn’t understand it and i’m sorry, really sorry, i reacted that way, but you were right… i… i saw what you were talking about today at the hospital. i saw it, and you were right.” your stony demeanor fell away, because you knew you couldn’t really stay mad at him, and worry seeped in.

you moved out of the way of the entrance to your room and he stepped inside and made his way to sit on your couch. he heard you close the door and shuffle across the room behind him. his elbows rested on his knees as he stared at the coffee table, and you sat on your knees in front of his field of vision.

“are you okay?” you asked, taking his hands in yours.

“it was a guy in my class, you know yangyang?” you nodded in answer and he breathed in shakily. “we… we got him stable for now but he, he wasn’t actively doing drugs. his friend said he never touched any, he was probably slipped something and – you were right. it could have been any of us.”

“it’s scary to watch happen, especially when it’s already too late to help, i know. i’m sorry you had to see it, but this lets me know that they’re getting bolder. a club? right. they’re going to make a mistake soon, i’ll be able to stop it then. you won’t have to see it again, if i can do anything about it.” your voice was honest, and earnest. donghyuck knew you meant it completely, but it made him wonder if you had already seen it be too late after trying to help, and how you were dealing with that trauma or if you were ignoring it.

taking a breath, he finally took a look around the room and you had your computer open and papers strewn around the desk like you were planning something. he got up and walked over to the papers, and he found they were annotated blueprints.

“it’s their main warehouse, i finally found it. i’m coming up with a plan this time. to save me from another hyuck scolding.” he heard you over his left shoulder. he turned quickly and his face came within inches of yours, but neither of you went to move away. his face heated at the close proximity, and you smiled knowingly at the reaction.

“i can hear your heart racing, what’s making you nervous? the plans…” you said looking down at the papers then back up, “or me?” you smirked at the way his eyes widened at the question.

maybe jeno was right after all, maybe you both were aware of how you felt about each other.

he hesitated before answering with an honest, “both, i think.”

“good,” was all you said with a grin.

“i want to help you,” he said looking down at you, searching your eyes for the part that he knew would cave.

“did you suddenly get bit by a radioactive spider too and gain superhuman abilities?” you snarked, taking his usual stance in the conversation.

“no, but i can be your person in the background helping you out. your guy in the chair, you know?” you hesitated at that.

“why not just my doctor in the hospital? i don’t want you to get hurt,” you replied, breaking eye contact to toy with the sleeve of his jacket.

“and you can?”

“i heal quickly,” you retorted. “you don’t.”

“i won’t get hurt, i’ll be sitting behind a computer helping you out with whatever you need. i’m pretty good at hacking things when i want to, if the almost choosing cybersecurity as my minor could remind you.” he wiggled his eyebrows at that and you laughed. you shoved his shoulder, and offered a hum to agree.

“fine, since i know you won’t back down. but don’t you dare think that i’ll take you anywhere near the big guys with the scary guns. i’ve been working on making my suit a little more bulletproof, so what happened last time won’t happen again as easily.” you said gesturing to the table where your sewing machine sat with other materials he couldn’t quite make out. before he could ask another question, he yawned wide, bringing his hand up to cover his mouth.

“do you want to stay here?” you offered to him, and he shook his head.

“i have a class at nine, i should head home.” and at his response you smiled a smile that seemed almost evil and he leaned away, eyebrows knitting together.

“why did you make that face? i don’t like it. stop it.” he joked, laughing a little at how uncomfortable he felt with the mischievousness of the smile.

“oh come on, you love my face.” you responded, expression not changing at all.

“yes but…”

“let me take you home.” you said, gripping the arm of his jacket and he finally connected the dots and he actually stepped back half a step at that as if it had offended him.

“oh, hell no!” he rejected the idea instantly, just the idea of heights making his stomach churn. you started to peel off your t-shirt you were wearing and he covered his eyes to avoid seeing something he shouldn’t, but you just scoffed at him. you tugged his hands away from his eyes and he saw you in your suit.

“i don’t know if i’m going to get used to that,” he whispered. he watched as you walked to the window and opened it, waving him over.

“you will, eventually.” you called. he stepped to the window, you were already on the other side standing on the fire escape. he hesitated, his fear keeping him from wanting to step onto the rickety metal. you reached your hand out to him.

“don’t you trust me?” you asked innocently, looking up at him through your lashes and his heart jumped a little at the question and the sight of you.

“yes,” he breathed before taking your hand and climbing out onto the landing that was a little too small for the both of you. he was chest to chest with you, and he couldn’t get his heart to calm down with how close you were to him. the air was cold and your breaths came out in little clouds and mixed together before dissipating.

he didn’t miss the way your eyes flicked to his lips before you shook your head slightly, he desperatly wish he could know what you were thinking but you only leaned over to grab your mask from the desk that was next to the window. you closed it firmly and turned away, and donghyuck let his body relax a little at the bit of space you created between the two of you.

“i need you to hold on to my neck, if you get scared then wrap your legs around me.” and he paled at the idea.

“i think i’m a little too –.” you cut your eyes at him, and he corrected himself. “right, sorry. super strength. got it.” you pulled the mask over your face while tugging up the black hood over your head, leapt up on the railing in a crouch before standing, perfectly balanced and turned to him.

“come on, then.” he awkwardly stepped closer and reached out, you tugged him up on the railing with ease and he wobbled. he wrapped his arms around your neck to stabilize himself and he laughed a little wildly.

“this feels a little backwards, usually it’s the man that holds the damsel close.” he joked, avoiding looking down at the ground that was a far drop.

“yes, well, i’ll make sure to tell the next spider to bite a man to save you the indecency.” he didn’t have to see it to know you were rolling your eyes. and before he could say that wasn’t exactly what he meant, you reached out your hand, wrapping your arm around his waist and suddenly you both were falling and his stomach had dropped to the ground without him.

he couldn’t even scream out in fear, his breath caught instantly in his throat. but his eyes were taking in everything around him, the city lights at night from this height were breathtaking. the adrenaline mixing with the awe made him speechless, and he slowly felt safe with you, his body getting into the gentle rhythm of the rise and fall as you swung in between the buildings.

“this is beautiful,” he said, barely above a whisper, and you turned your masked face slightly towards him.

“it is, isn’t it?” you replied, and he could hear the smile. a few minutes of peaceful silence later and you used a lamp post to swing and land. arriving in front of his apartment building safely and in one piece. donghyuck breathed a sigh of relief to be on the ground but ultimately couldn’t stop the beautiful smile that was stretching across his face.

“that was exhilarating!” he whisper-yelled. you stepped forward and brushed his hair down to control it from where the wind and swept it all over the place.

“it’s a rush for sure,” you replied and he laughed.

“so you’re a bit of an adrenaline junkie now, huh? i would be.” he said, staring at your mask, wishing he could see your face.

“you could say that,” you let out a laugh at the look on his face. when neither of you moved, you coughed and it sounded nervous to him. he gently reached up to try and tug your mask up with both hands, but you placed your hands gently on his and halted him. he wasn’t sure what he was trying to do, all he knew was that he wanted to see your face.

“you should go in and get some rest, i’ll text you in the morning, okay?” your voice was so soft, and his heart ached. eventually he nodded. “goodnight,” he said and you hummed. you leaned up and pecked him on the cheek through the mask, smiling under it as his heart kicked off within seconds.

“goodnight, hyuck.” and then he watched as you shot a web up to the same lamp post and crouched precariously on it. you sent him a small wave and you shot off into the night, he watched you go until you were out of sight and he stepped towards the apartment building entrance.

he got out his phone and sent you a quick text before making his way to the steps of his building. he fumbled with his keys to the main door when he heard shuffling behind him. he turned towards the sound of the noise, but didn’t get a chance to see before he was sucker punched in the face and the last thing he heard was deep, mocking laughter.

.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.

you were sound asleep, and then you weren’t. a loud banging at your door had you jumping from your bed as if you had been struck by lightening. you checked your phone to see the time, and as you noticed it was half past noon.

you also noticed you had fifteen missed calls and twenty-three text messages, all from your friend group. majority coming from jaemin and jeno, and two texts from hyuck. the knocking persisted and you groaned to your feet. feeling that the knocker wasn’t dangerous, you flung open the door to find a disheveled jeno. he was slightly out of breath and you could only assume he ran the entire way here.

“what’s going on, jen?” you asked, voice still groggy from being woken up so abruptly. you rubbed at your eyes, still trying to wake up.

“donghyuck’s gone,” was all he said and you felt icy fear trickle down your back, your face draining of color.

“what do you mean? he’s probably at class, or the hospital.” trying to be rational, and jeno was already shaking his head.

“no, jaem said he didn’t show up to class and i went to check his apartment and i don’t think he ever made it up to his place because i found his keys near the stairs. and – and there was blood.” at that you were sure your heart stopped. you numbly walked from the door to sit on your couch, staring at the wall. jeno followed you in after closing the door behind him and stood in front on you.

“y/n.” you didn’t respond.

“y/n.” he said and he kneeled in front of you, the same way you had done the night before with hyuck. you didn’t move a muscle, didn’t even blink.

“y/n!” he said, voice a little louder and more serious, and his hands shook you gently. the tone and movement breaking you from the trance you had been put in at the news. you finally focused on his face, and he sighed.

“there you are. i can’t have you spacing out now on me.” you could only nod as an answer.

“i need you to find him, i know you can.”

“what? i don’t –.” and he cut you off with a stern look.

“get yourself together, go put your suit on, and find whoever took him.” and your eyes widened at his statement, your mouth dropping. before you could even deny it, he sighed dramatically.

“i already know. and so does jaemin. we both figured it out after the first month when you didn’t need your glasses anymore, and that one time in the courtyard when you caught that frisbee heading toward your head that you didn’t even see.”

you were speechless so you only answered with a, “ahhh…”

“and your suit is right there on the table.” he smiled at his little joke. “but don’t worry. your secret is safe with us.”

you looked over your shoulder, of course you’d left it out after finishing up adding the enhancements you were working on late last night after dropping hyuck off. you were regaining your thoughts again, and you got up and walked over to the papers that were strewn across your desk, leaning against your desk as you stared at them. jeno stayed put near the couch.

“do you know who took him?” he called over and you nodded, knowing there was only one group powerful enough to do this that you had severely pissed off.

“yeah, i think so. i told hyuck i was coming up with a plan, but i don’t have time to really get the plan together now. they’re not the type of people to really keep… hostages.” you let out a heavy sigh and dropped your head. you felt a comforting hand on your shoulder, and you brought your hands up to rub your face. suddenly a thought registered and you froze. you ran to your phone, and picked it up. opening your messaging app, you skipped the frantic texts from your friends and landed on the messages from hyuck.

clicking on the notifications, you slapped a hand over your mouth. the first one read,

3:37am thank you for dropping me off, talk to you in the morning :)

and the next message was a picture of hyuck, head drooped to rest on his chest, and you could see blood trailing down the side of his face. he was tied to something you couldn’t quite make out. attached to the picture were the words,

come alone.

you knew he was in danger. you were painfully aware. but to see it so clearly made your breath quicken and you felt a sob escape your throat. jeno picked up the discarded phone and swore sharply.

hyuck was in danger.

hyuck was in danger.

hyuck was in – your senses were in overdrive and you tried to get a grip on it. if you couldn’t get this under control, how would you be able to save anyone? one important person to you in trouble and you became useless? no that wasn’t going to work. it was just that you yelled at him about what if your friends were next, you told yourself, you just hadn’t registered the same would apply to you just yet. to him.

the thought of hyuck being in danger had your resolve steeling itself. you felt anger begin to course through you in place of the fear and you stalked over to the table and you yanked your clothes off, not caring that jeno was in the room. you shoved the suit on angrily, and turned to jeno. your mouth was set in a straight line. he could only stare wide-eyed and mouth dropped at you in your suit, first time really seeing that it was you in it.

“you’ll get used to it,” you said, fierce determination set on your face as you put your hands on your hips. “don't tell hyuck he'll be so jealous but... i think i’m going to need yours and jaemin’s help.” jeno only nodded as you threw on your clothes over your suit, grabbed the papers and you both stormed out of the room.

.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.

walking into jeno’s apartment he shared with jaemin, you followed quickly and located jaemin studying at the kitchen table, medical books scattered across the table.

“jaemin?” he called to him.

“hmm?” was his answer.

“jaem!” he said, more urgent this time. jaemin looked up and when he noticed you were with him, he shot up and rounded the table.

“did you find him? do you know where he is?” jaemin said, nothing but worry on his face.

“i know where he is i think, but i will need your help. i just found the blueprints last night to the place and i haven’t had time to memorize the layout, that’s where i need you two to help me. jen says you already know everything already, so…” and she unzipped her jacket to show her suit underneath to jaemin.

“that’s still so cool to see,” jeno whispered, eyeing the colors and the giant spider. jaemin narrowed his eyes at jeno.

“focus,” he hissed. jeno raised his hands in surrender.

“what? you can’t say it’s not.” jaemin rolled his eyes at him and turned his attention back to you.

“whatever you need us to do, anything… just tell us.” you moved some of his books to the side, putting a piece of paper to hold the spot in the ones that were open, and laid out the blueprints to the building. jaemin and jeno hovered behind you, each of them taking a shoulder to look over and you explained the half-assed plan you put together on the walk over.

“there are only two entrances to the building, but since it’s two stories, and i don’t necessarily need doors, i’ll enter here on this window, it’s the dark side of the alley, hardly anyone will be there, i hope at least, and make my way through the building. i find hyuck, get him out, and if the building blows up with the drugs inside… then it’s a win-win for us.”

“you’re going to blow up a building?!” they exclaimed at the same time, both turning to look at you.

“this is a kingpins warehouse,” you said to jeno before turning to jaemin, looking between the both of them as you spoke. “he’s manufacturing drugs that are killing people. blow up the supply, and stop the deaths. maybe i can trap him in there until the cops come and it saves more lives than hurts.” jeno nodded as he understood but jaemin was pensive.

“it feels a little too dangerous, something could go wrong.” he said.

“of course something could go wrong, but hyuck is in danger!” you argued instantly, before deflating. “this… this is the only plan i’ve got.”

“maybe we can… take some more time. think about this. come up with a better plan.”

“we don’t have time!” you fumed, shoving your hand in your jacket pocket to grab your phone. you pulled up the picture you had been sent and all but shoved it in jaemin’s face. “he’s hurt! he could be killed if i don’t… i have to save him. i have to save him, before he… before he dies. because of me.” the fear was coming back, doubled up with extreme guilt and you tried to clamp down on it before it bubbled over. you felt two steady hands rest on your shoulders.

“we get it. we’re with you, not against you. we’ll help you.” it was jeno, and you nodded, looking up at the ceiling for a moment to get a rein on the tears that threatened to spill. you rummaged in your pockets again and pulled out another phone.

“my suit,” your voice cracked a little and you cleared your throat. “my suit is connected to this phone, you both can stay here and help walk me through the building. or call 911 if anything goes wrong. i worked on this last night for hyuck, when he offered to do what you’re doing for me now. and look,” you turned on the phone.

“when i do this,” you pressed on the side of your mask above your ear and the screen reflected black. “you can see what i can see.” you pulled out your mask and turned it to look at all three of you. your faces showing up on the small screen of the phone, various stages of stress.

“you made this yourself?” jeno asked, grabbing the phone and inspecting it.

“pretty much, yeah.”

“you’re really smart.” and jeno saw the unamused look you gave him through the screen.

“well i didn’t get into this school on my dashing good looks, did i?” and you let out a laugh. jaemin let out a sigh of relief and you looked over your shoulder at him.

“you’re back, i was worried you wouldn’t be able to crack jokes like you usually do, didn’t want you to go in tense to save him.” and you smiled at them both. it wasn’t a full smile, it didn’t reach your eyes, but the effort was there.

“i’m back. and i’m not going to let him die.” you pulled your mask over your head and snuggly put it in to place and tugging up the hood to follow.

“let’s do this.”

.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.

you waited until night fell, crouched down on the building across the street from the warehouse. the temperature kept dropping and even though you couldn’t feel it through the suit, you were worried about hyuck.

“he’s going to be okay,” you heard jaemin say through the mask.

“how did you know?” you asked, surveying as a few of the lackeys got into the car from the alley you were about to enter through and speed away.

“it’s what i’d do if i were you.” was his answer. you shot a web across the street and slung your way over to rest on the side of the building above the window. you tugged it open easily. with a deep breath, you told them you were going in and slunk through the window, gently closing it shut behind you.

you made your way through the building, turning down hallways the two told you to, opening and closing various doors along the way. all of them turning up empty. you eased your way up to the ceiling and made it down to the first floor where you heard idle chatter.

“i don’t think she’s coming. she’s going to leave you here to die, my friend.” and that was him. the head of all of this and he had hyuck’s head lifted up by his hair, forcing him to look him in the eye. hyuck surprised you by smiling, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth and it had stained his teeth.

“i hope she doesn’t come, just so she doesn’t give you what you want. just to piss you off.”

“but i want to see the desperation and anguish when i kill you, i live for it,” you couldn’t see his face but the way he said the words made your lips turn up in disgust.

you heard jeno come through on the mask, “i can’t wait to watch you kick his ass.”

“yes, well,” the kingpin continued. you still couldn’t see his face as he moved around hyuck, but he wore an expensive suit decorated with gold details. “i have what she wants. do you really think she’d let you die so easily?” and hyuck spit his blood out on his expensive shoes. the kingpin threw hyuck’s head back and it cracked loudly against the concrete wall he was tied to.

“you’re awfully pretty, you know. i could use you. maybe sell you out a few times. break that spirit of yours, make some money off of you before i killed you, or… maybe keep you for myself.” the kingpin mused out loud in a way that could have sounded like he was reading off stocks instead of hyucks fate, all while toying with a strand of hyucks curls gently. finding no better time than now, you released your grip on the ceiling.

“i’d be willing to buy him off you,” you said sarcastically, dropping down to the ground in a crouch. your sudden appearance made all of his guards pull their guns and aim them at you. “for a heavily discounted price, of course. that one has sass for days.”

you didn’t miss the annoyed glare hyuck shot at you from where he was sitting.

“y/n, be careful.” you heard jaemin warn in your ear.

the kingpin turned fully to face you for the first time and he smiled at your sudden entrance, and the sight of him made you pause.

he was breathtakingly handsome, and surprisingly young. the smile creating dimples in his cheeks and his hair was perfectly styled. he screamed ceo, a business man in disguise.

“kill her,” was his order before everything went by in a flurry. knocking the gun out of the first guards hand that rushed you, you punched him hard in the face, knocking him unconscious instantly.

“what a right hook!” you heard jeno whoop. two more rushed you from the side, and you leapt up in the air, round house kicking one into the other. the force of the kick sending them across the room. you looked up to find a gun pointing directly in your face, senses telling you to duck in time as he fired.

crouching low, you swept his legs and knocked him out once he was on the ground. jerking your head up quickly you took notice of the only two left, and you shot webs to the walls directly behind them. they sneered at you condescendingly, “you missed us.”

you only cocked your head and you jumped up high and pulled hard, using the momentum to pull you forward. you kicked them both hard in the face at the same time, neutralizing them at once. you internally winced at the sounds of their noses cracking.

“you’re so badass, where did you learn to fight like that?” jeno said in awe. you didn’t answer him. you turned quickly to face the kingpin again, and you froze when you saw the sight. he had hyuck by the hair again, untied and standing, neck fully exposed. his dimples smile directed at you as he held a needle in his left hand centimeters away from hyuck’s throat, and he kept his chin on hyuck’s right shoulder.

“if he injects him with that -.” jaemin started and you cut him off.

“i know,” you murmured between clenched teeth, voice coming out more curt than you intended.

“take off your mask,” the kingpin requested of you happily. you stood up from your low stance.

“why?” you asked, not moving an inch. your brain was in hyperdrive trying to search the room for another option. you would accept any option at all to help at this point – and there. in the corner. you found it.

“because i want to watch your face as i kill the man you love.” you pretended to pause to think, bringing your finger to your chin in dramatic fashion.

“i will… but only if you tell me your name,” you responded.

“i don’t think you’re in a position to bargain here.” he still smiled, the grin starting to pull at his lips in a way that looked painful. you wished he would stop. the insanity of it all crossed your threshold of comfort ages ago.

“you’re right, but i would at least like to know the name of the man who’s about to kill me. consider it chivalry.” you figured when you survived this, you’d have some sort of leverage. the smile he gave you as he pondered grew more insane, and it made you uneasy.

“my name is jaehyun. what’s yours?” he chirped, a little too happily.

“ah, ah, ah,” you tutted while wagging a finger at him, letting forced amusement filter in your voice for his sake, “you only get one. my face, or my name.” shifting to one foot, you rested your hand on your hip.

feigning nonchalance was not your strong suit, but it helped when your face was covered. jaehyun didn’t hesitate with his answer.

“face.” and it was your turn to pause. you didn’t want to do this.

“please don’t,” hyuck whispered to you, eyes pleading with you, and jaehyun tugged his hair harder, earning a hiss from hyuck.

“come now. a deal’s a deal.” he scolded you both gently. your head slumped slightly as you reached up to your hood and tugging it back. then your hands made their way to your face slowly and you could hear both jeno and jaemin’s protests in your ears.

“y/n, don’t!” they shouted through the headset. you tugged off the mask, head down and with your hands open in a surrendering motion, you laid the mask down against the knocked out guard.

so they could still see.

so they could still call for help in case something went horribly wrong.

you finally looked up to make eye contact with hyuck first, you were surprised when you didn’t see fear there anymore. he looked a little proud, and somehow, also angry.

you finally dragged your eyes away from hyuck’s and looking jaehyun directly in his. he dragged his eyes up and down your body, your senses going haywire with the way he was looking at you, chills traveling down your spine making the hairs on your neck stand on end. everything about this man made your body scream danger.

“you’re surprisingly beautiful… you know what? i’ll make a deal. tell you what, you let me use you instead, keep you as mine only, and i’ll set him free.”

“just like that?” you asked, noticing how his hand drifted slightly away from hyuck’s neck.

“just like that,” jaehyun laughed, his eyes roaming over your body in a way that seemed hungry for a moment, the stare going on far longer than socially acceptable. you resisted the urge to scowl.

“no,” was all hyuck said. the finality in his voice made you jerk your head.

“where do you think you have the footing to defy me?” jaehyun murmured into hyuck’s neck and he inhaled deeply.

god, he was so fucking weird, you couldn’t help but think as the corners of your lips tugged down.

jaehyun still looking intently at you, he grinned widely at the grimace you made at the semi intimate action. you could only watch as jaehyun’s face grew darker and his eyes lit up brightly as an idea struck him.

the insane man stared at you as he forced hyuck’s head to face him, you were out of his line of sight and hyuck struggled against his hold to be able to see you again but immediately froze when jaehyun kissed him hard. it wasn’t a passionate kiss, it wasn’t meant to be romantic. but one with a hidden purpose. it was meant to hurt everyone in the room.

you took a step forward and raised your arm slightly.

“stop it.” your voice was soft.

hyuck didn’t move, keeping his lips shut tightly but it still didn’t help the rage that was bubbling up. jaehyun didn’t seem bothered by hyuck’s struggles, and he finally released hyuck’s mouth at your request and licked his lips. he was satisfied with the emotions he knew he had created in you and rested his head on hyuck’s neck again. you ground your teeth together, trying to compose yourself.

hyuck caught your eyes, and you could only hope the look in yours screamed that you were sorry for getting him caught up in this. you couldn’t help but begin to blame yourself all over again.

hyuck shaking his head caught your eye, he was good at reading you. his eyes burned with a sort of defiance and you felt a bit of tension leave your shoulders at that. he didn’t blame you, neither should you. it wouldn’t be that easy, but it was a start. after long seconds, jaehyun broke the silence, not being able to handle his lack of understanding in the silent conversation.

“you know, i could keep you both. i could have so much fun with the both of you.” he purred and he waited patiently for your response.

“absolutely not,” you and hyuck said together instantly. jaehyun visibly pouted.

“fine,” he huffed, looking up at you from the crook of hyuck’s neck. “i guess i’ll just have to kill you both then.” jaehyun’s hand that was still gripping the needle moved forward, and as if everything moved in slow motion for you, you shot a web to stick his hand to the wall with the needle, and shot another web that stuck to hyuck and yanked hard, pulling him close to you, grabbing a fistful of his hoodie and pulled him close to make sure he wouldn’t fall from the force.

“hey,” he breathed, relief washing over him as he stood so close to you. he couldn’t relax fully but to be near you calmed him somehow. “if you wanted me close, you could have just asked. the man you love is more than willing.” he flirted shamelessly, smirking shakily down at you. he was trying any way he could to break the tension somehow and you rolled your eyes with a smile.

“glad to know you’re still you.” your senses alerted you, and your body reacted on its own. you shoved hyuck to the ground before you even knew what the danger was. realizing a second later what as the sound of the gunshot rang. it hit you fully in the chest, knocked you on your back and you slid across the ground several feet.

the scream of your name you heard hyuck yell broke your heart, you never wanted to hear that again you decided right then and there. as you regained your breath that had been knocked out of you, you groaned aloud, noting somewhere in the back of your mind that if jaehyun was paying attention, he now had your name and face. you would worry about that later.

you struggled to lift yourself on one elbow, a little sore but you didn’t feel the pain that you did the time before. the modifications worked, examples by the fact that you brushed off the bullet as if it were dust. you couldn’t miss how it infuriated jaehyun as he was still stuck to the wall, his face turning red in anger. you slowly rose to your feet.

“damn, dude. can’t even kill a girl right, can you?” you taunted, and you noticed he angled his gun towards hyuck who was scrambling to get up to come to your side and in the same second you grabbed the gun you had landed next to. you found the mark you had noticed earlier and shot the beaker filled with a liquid that you were sure it was flammable if the labels on the surrounding areas were anything to go by. the small bunsen burner underneath it ignited the liquid and started a chain reaction. you stepped in front of hyuck, pushing him back down to the ground to protect him as the explosion rocked the building around you.

.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.°.

you had smiled down at him, and all hyuck could think to say was, “i’m so sorry, this is all my fault.”

“what?!” you exclaimed, and grunted as the weight pressed down further.

“if i hadn’t -.”

“not now hyuck, you know damn well that none of this is your fault. if you don’t think it’s my fault, then you can’t possibly think it’s yours but we can talk about that later, now please, can you stand?” it took hyuck longer than he’d like to admit to process the question, but eventually he nodded. he groaned as he stumbled to his feet, grabbing his side as it revolted against the movement. definitely bruised, maybe cracked.

“good, good.” you said, “now if only you could move about six feet away, that would be…” the slab shifted and your knees buckled slightly. “that would be great.”

“i’m not leaving you!” he argued. and your patience ran thin, the weight and panic of trying to save him getting to you.

“now is not the time, donghyuck! please!” you yelled at him, crying out in frustration at the situation. it caused him to pause, you never used his real name, always the shortened version you had decided on calling him since you were kids. he wavered for a moment, internally arguing with himself before stumbling away the distance you had asked. he turned back to see your knee buckle under the weight and he wanted to reach out to you.

“no, stay there. give me…” the slab shifted again and he watched you sink lower against the weight. “give me a few seconds to think.”

“y/n, you don’t have seconds!” he was frantic now with worry, watching you struggle.

you looked up to glare at him, “you’re not helping!” then your vision drifted to over his shoulder and a familiar idea popped in your head. you shifted as minutely as possible, freeing a hand. you shot a web across the room to the opposing wall and you wrapped your hand around it tightly.

“when i move, this will fall. cover your eyes or turn away. preferably both in case this crushes me,” you ordered, half joking as always, before taking two steadying breaths, once you had watched him turn halfway, and he wasn’t moving further than that, you yanked, pulling hard with all the strength you had left. the slab shifted instantly and the weight worsened but not before you were flung far from the collapsing chunk of building.

the crash of the cement slab echoed loudly in what was left of the room and hyuck ran to your side as you lay on the ground. he turned you over and at your smile, he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. you sat up to look at him fully, eyes taking in his injuries. tears sprung in his eyes, and he held your cheeks in his hands.

“you’re okay.”

“you’re okay.” you parroted back at him.

you leaned forward slightly but before you could move more than an inch, his lips crashed into yours. there was a sense of need, urgency and passion in this kiss.

as if the kiss was solidifying that you were safe, you were here. one of his hands traveling down to your waist, pulling you tightly against him, the other holding onto your face like he was afraid to let go.

your hands made their way to his hair and he notated in the back of his mind that it hurt but it didn’t stop him from moving his lips against yours. after what felt like hours, you both finally separated, and he rested his forehead against yours as you both caught your breaths. he couldn’t take his eyes off of your face.

“if i had known getting kidnapped and almost murdered would have made you bolder, i would have told you much sooner.” you joked against his lips, pulling back a bit to smile up at him and he gave you his signature smirk as usual. you paused and tilted your head slightly away and strained your ears, sirens.

“police are coming, guess jeno and jaemin assumed something went wrong,” you said, slowly rising to your feet and reaching out a hand to help him up. you scanned the room quickly trying to catch sight of jaehyun but came up empty. you halfway hoped he had died but something told you that wasn’t the case. and you stopped yourself, realizing that you’d feel guilty for that train of thought later.

“well they assumed right – wait, what?!” he exclaimed and he struggled to his feet but overall was far more steady than he had been minutes before. you attempted to walk a few steps away from him but he refused to let go of your hand, so you tugged him along to pick up your mask that had dust covering it.

“i’ll tell you when we’re away from here,” you smiled at him before raising your mask slightly, hopefully showing to jeno and jaemin if they were still watching that you both were alive.

“you ready for another trip through the city, my style?” and he seemed almost childlike in his response, his giddiness showing through his grin he gave you.

“hell yeah, babe.”

#lee haechan fic #haechan x reader fic #haechan x reader fluff #haechan #lee haechan #nct #nct 127 #nct dream #haechan fluff #haechan x reader #nctdream au #gimmehyuck #masterlist #i’m not sorry for the nomin #i’m also not sorry for jaehyun’s behavior #i’ve been debating on writing like a lil one shot type thing from the viewpoint of jaehyun #my brain wants to make this like a three part series or smth #but my motivation will probably say no #oh i should also tag this as angst too huh? #haechan angst #also i was originally gonna do a mark spider fic but there’s a lot and i was like hmm #you know who would make a good mj? #hyuck #that’s who #p.s. i imagined the suit to be like a mix of spidergwen and the spiderwoman from the comics #idk i just liked the hood

[splickedylit]

Do the kids these days know about REX DUODECIM ANGELUS because no matter what stage of my life I've been in RE: Homestuck, good ol' RDA never fails to get me, ehhhhh, how you say,,, turnt as fuck.

#Every time I go to a homestuck thing either me or toasty has made on youtube it's there in the sidebar #and why yes thank you youtube algorithm i WILL watch it again three or four times #yes it is like nine minutes long yes I do watch it multiple times every time #////it just makes me so fucking happy//// #favorite parts include: all of it #but especially Sollux and Aradia doing their sick combo attack which always makes me flail my hands around in joy #and also the part I like to call it ''how were the horrors gamzee did you have fun'' #also: ANCESTORS......................feral about ancestors forever #anyway everybody should watch RDA it's a triumph of fandom and it never fails to get me hype as all get out