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solara-bean · 5 years

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A Warlord's Hatred

-see A Talk with the Prime himself for lil more context. This takes place beforehand-

My heart and lungs burned from all the running I'd done in less than an hour.

How did it come to this? We were just out to get some more energon. It was suppose to be an easy mission, but nOoO the Cons just had to pop in and start a fight. Now I'm seperated from the group, the sun is setting, we're in the middle of some vast forest and my personally constructed ,energon powered laser gun is back at the base. So yeah. Today's going great.

The sound of heavy footsteps brought me back to reality. I needed to hide and quick. If one of them caught me there's no telling what would happen to me. There were plenty of big trees and rocks but they'd expect me to be there.

Then I saw it. A rather normal looking pine tree, except some of the roots were above ground, leaving a very small opening right under it. Upon close examination the burrow was empty and just big enough for my small form to fit. So I managed to wiggle myself in just in time before I had been seen.

The burrow was too far down for any of them to see, epecially now with night coming soon. They couldn't have been around long but it felt like ages. I'm not great with small spaces, too much dirt or bugs so I had to keep myself from freaking out and breathing too loud. Eventually they moved on and I couldn't hear or feel their steps anymore.

I was about to come out when I heard more footsteps. Much heavier than the ones before. Maybe another scout? A really big scout. Yeah. No need to worry. They'll just be on their way.

A large, silver ped stomped right in front of the burrow. The force of it jostled me into one of the pointed roots, causing me to squeak.

" Aw cra-"

Before I could finish, the tree was kicked clean from the ground and fell to the side with a loud thud. My head shot up to see none other than the Warlord himself. This was my first time seeing him up close and the same probably went for him too. The closest encounter we've had was a long stare from opposite ends of the battlefield. Bumblebee was holding me as instructed by Optimus to get me to safety while he dealt with Megatron.

I'll never forget the cold look he gave me. It was so filled with ...hatred. In fact it was same look he was giving me now. There was no escaping it since he had me held up to his eye level. When he grabbed me I'm not sure. Someone bigger than Optimus has no right to be that fast.

" Well well well. If it isn't the Autobot's favorite pet. Or should I say Optimus' pet."

Although both his and Optimus' voices were deep, his was no where near as gentle or calming. Maybe because of all the venom and arrogance it held.

" What's wrong little human? Do really have nothing to say for our first meeting. I honestly expected more from the organic that blasted me out of the sky."

Oh right! I sure did do that. He wasn't the first Con I shot with my laser gun, but he was certainly the most satisfying. Got him right in the wing while he was firing at me and Op as we tried to escape. He couldn't have known that I was in the front seat but he definitely wouldn't forget the pain of that fall plus the laser wound around the size if a car tire.

" Well!" he urged on tightening his grasp for emphasis and making me wince.

" I-I have a lot to say actually," I groaned as I tried to loosen his digits around me to no avail. " It would just be pointless though."

He raised an optical ridge, almost amused.

" And why is that, little one."

I cringed at the pet name. That better not stick.

" Because," I leaned forward and gave him the best glare I could muster. " You're too arrogant and hard headed to listen. Even if you did give me the privilege of speaking, you wouldn't take me seriously. You haven't even bothered to learn my name! So why waste my breath on a foolish prick like you?"

He was taken aback if only for a second before he emitted a low, dark chuckle and smirked.

" I know your name. I just see no point in using it."

I through my hands into the air, releasing his digits for the first time.

" That's what I'm talking about! You barely know me ,or anyone of my species for that matter, and you've already decided that we're below you. What sense could that possibly make?!"

" Plenty! Your worthless people can't even protect themselves against us. Why should you have any of my respect?!"

" Well gee we wouldn't have to defend ourselves if someone wasn't trying to conquer our planet in the first place!"

" Your planet is the only thing of use to me. You humans are merely a bystander."

" You of all mechs should know what that feels like! To be pushed aside. Disrespected. Yet here you are doing the same thing to us!"

That got him.

" What could you possibly know about that?"

I grinned wickedly.

" You said it yourself. I'm Optimus' favorite pet. Do you really think he wouldn't share stories with me," I leaned in just close enough to his face plates, now giving off a bright white shine from the moon's light. " Stories about you specifically." I lowered my voice to a whisper. " Megatronus."

The next thing I heard was the most feral growl that I was sure no human or mech could make. I was certain he'd drop or squish me then and there. Instead I was raised even higher to his level, now staring down into his crimson optics.

" You dare," he snarled. " You dare address me by that designation."

His tone was meant to intimidate, but I steeled myself.

" You should be flattered. I'm giving you more respect than you've given me."

" You being squished by my own servo is as much respect as you'll get!"

" And what's the honor in that," I crossed my arms. " If I'm so weak and helpless then what does killing day about you? You could easily step on, throw me or hell drop me and I'd be done for. So what would an all powerful warlord such as yourself gain from such an easy defeat!?"

He narrowed his optics before throwing his helm back and cackled.

" To get to Optimus of course! The mere thought of his devastation over your death is beyond satisfying. To get a rise out of him. To see him break."

My stomach sank.

" H-how are you so sure he'll break? He's lost lives before. How would I be any different?"

He frowned in what could only be disgust.

" Because, human, he cares for you. Too much in fact. I can see it in his optics. Feel it in his field. Honestly, killing you might do him a favor."

I cowered despite myself.

" Why...?"

He sighed in exhaustion and looked away. I thanked the cosmos that he didn't notice me trembling. Or maybe he didn't care.

" Despite what you're tiny mind might think, I do have respect for Prime. He would not be my one true rival if I didn't. To see him stoop so low. To show such affection for another being after all these centuries-" for a moment his sounded as though it broke before he turned back to me, optics full of rage and something else I couldn't place.

" It had to be you. The medic I could understand. Same for Magnus. Pits! Even the bumbling wrecker! But you! No. He must be desperate. Desperate for another. So he chose the easiest of the bunch. As if you aren't going to wilt away any solar cycle!"

I couldn't speak. My words seemed trapped in my throat so I just let him drone on.

" So yes. The best option would be to end you. To show him how meaningless his feelings are. If I'm going to win this war then he needs to be focused. Focused on my next move to defeat him."

We remained silent. The seconds dragging by torturously as we kept our gazes locked.

" ....Zola"

He tilted his helm.

" What?"

I steadied my breath before I spoke again.

" If you're really going to kill me then you need to know my name. To remember every syllable. To remember that Optimus is still capable of loving after all you put him through. And you're wrong. He doesn't just love me. He loves everyone. Why else would he sacrifice so much. Lose so much of himself. Lose so many years fighting when he could have just killed you long ago. Because as crazy as it sounds..."

I made sure to meet his gaze. To my surprise he was listening. Really listening.

" I think he still loves you."

I couldn't predict what happened next. Megatron. The leader of the Decepticons. The gladiator of Kaon. Looked distraught. Unbelieving. . .Hurt.

He exvented shakily. Stared at the ground. Loosened his grip to where I nearly fell.

I held on and peered at him almost out of concern as time passed.

" Y-you...." his voice barely audible. " You don't know anything. You couldn't possibly know how he feels. You haven't known him long enough."

I considered his panicked words and smiled softly moreso to myself.

" Then I guess I have one reason to be envious of you...."

Whatever he was about to say or however he was going to react next, I'll never know.

An energon beam hit him in the shoulder, causing him to drop me. Before I could hit the ground, I was caught by to smaller servos.

" Bumblebee!" I exclaimed both in surprise and happiness.

'Are you okay, Zola' he beeped.

" I'm fine Bee." I patted him on the cheek.

A shadow loomed over us. I looked to see Optimus, in his fighting stance, blocking Megatron's path to us. His field radiating so much protectiveness and fury that I could sense it. The moment felt like deja vu. Except this time, Megatron didn't stay to fight.

Back at the base, all the bots bombarded me with concerns and questions. Optimus took me to his room before I could address all of them, saying I and everyone else needed to rest. Once we were in his room, he laid on the berth and put me down next to him. This wasn't my first time in his room so there were already pillows and blankets handy. I bundled up and settled next to his neck cables, resting my head on his faceplate.

He knew I was crying before I did. He didn't say anything. Merely shielded me with his servo and hummed an old Cybertronian lullaby.

#megatron #megatronus #transformers #oc #human oc #optimus prime #autobots #decepticons #maybe tfp megatron????#whichever megs really #implied megaop

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aterabyte · 4 years

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Rating Fallen Order Bosses from Easiest to Hardest for Me, Personally (Except the Albino Spider thingy because I never fought that)

Beware of spoilers and longwindedness below the cut.

12. AT-ST; this was by far the easiest boss. It took me a while to whittle down, but I don’t believe I even needed to use a stim. It was just parry until it’s stunned, run in and slash, roll away from the grenades, force push the missile, and repeat. No trouble at all. Granted, it was to introduce a recurring enemy (albeit a rare one), but I think it would’ve been served better as a more dangerous modified AT-ST of some sort (perhaps with a stomp attack?), with regular ones appearing later as degraded bosses with fewer features.

11. Security Droid; another boss fight to introduce a new enemy, and only slightly more dangerous than the last. It had tight confines that made the droid hypothetically dangerous, given its long ranged melee attacks and high damage, but the droid was ultimately far less threat than many droids that appeared later on due to being fought alone. I’m not sure it even brought me to half health on my first stim pack.

10. Arena Bounty Hunter; Ding, mine was called. She caught me by surprise during the ambush and stunned me without me landing a single blow, and when I finally got to the arena and got my lightsaber back, I had an infuriatingly tough fight--I think I must have died three or four times. The last death was right after I reached her with about half my health left and no stims--but then when I got to come back in at full health with no beasts to fight, she was pathetically easy. She mostly attacks with blaster fire, which can be easily parried. Every once in a while, she’ll fire a missile or strafe you with a flamethrower, but these are easily avoided. The only time she even damaged me in our second fight was when I got greedy and didn’t roll away in time after landing a lightsaber combo, and she hit me with her flamethrower.

9. Nydak Alpha; this one took some time for me to figure out as I’d spent most of Dathomir avoiding the Lesser Nydaks. Because of this, I died once when I had almost killed it. When I came back, however, it was just a matter of patience and diligence, dodging its unblockable lunge and then parrying its three-hit combo to get a few good hits in. Rinse, repeat.

8. Second Sister; by far the easiest melee-focused humanoid enemy in the game. She has an impressively varied set of combos and some good range, but her attacks are easily parried, and her unblockables are not only easily dodged, but leave her very vulnerable. Not only that, but the fight ends at half health, so she doesn’t last very long. Unlike the previous two entries, she didn’t even kill me--but at the same time, the last two were mostly circumstantial losses, and she got a number of good licks in due to her sheer variety.

7. Gorgara; This oversized bat seemed at first like it would be a terrifying foe. Its very early first phase is easy, with just a couple of heavily telegraphed unblockable that let you land several hits, followed by an opportunity to Force Pull it to the ground and hit is head for massive damage. After you do that, though, it takes to the air and starts hitting you when sonic strafing runs, then charge attacks, then ground pounds that make a shockwave like the last two bosses. For all its variety, though, this boss fight is clearly a power fantasy more than anything. Its attacks are easily avoided and it takes little damage to bring down for its size.

6. Taron Malicos; Essentially a better version of Second Sister in every way, and the first boss I’d say gave me serious trouble as a lone enemy against a full-health Cal. He starts off with some easily-parried lightsaber combos, but those combos quickly cease to be easily-parried once he starts mixing in his unblockables. Malicos is an extremely technical fighter who will often take a parry, then bounce back with an unblockable--or throw his lightsaber at you several times in a row, then toss one into the air out of your sight to pull in back down at you while you’re dueling him, or just pick rocks out of the air and throw them. Lucky you, Merrin will come in and start helping you halfway through the fight, hitting him with magic at various points that drops his stamina. He didn’t quite kill me, but he got me within a single hit of death, which was impressive since I had six stim packs at this point and a badass magic lady teleporting in and out of the fray.

Honorable Mention. Electrobaton Purge Troopers; these guys are actually just regular enemies, but you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. The first time I encountered one, he killed me with almost no damage taken because of his absurdly fast combos that stunlock you into taking several more hits if you don’t block or parry the first blow--and then killed me two or three more times for good measure. These guys also have an unblockable at the end of their main combo, which catches you by surprise at first. And if you don’t parry before attacking and instead just block then dodge, they also tend to, instead of blocking and letting you take down a chunk of their stamina meter, dodge your attack and throw a weird jumping attack out of nowhere. Plus, they tend to come in areas where you can’t Force Push them off the ledge, at least after you unlock the upgrade that makes your pushes strong enough to affect them. Even at the end of the game, one of them came in with a couple scout troopers and took two of my stim packs, which was absurd since I was tearing through every other regular enemy in the Fortress Inquisitorius with ease. Fuck these guys.

5. Oggdo Boggdo; Oggdo Boggdo was an interesting one. The earliest miniboss in the game, encounterable in the first hour to hour and a half. If I’d come back and killed it later, I likely wouldn’t have struggled at all. Fighting it as early as I did, however, I only had a single lightsaber blade, one force power (which didn’t even work right, because if you Slow its tongue and try to hit it, your blade goes right through) and little enough health that it could kill me in two hits even after I lowered the difficulty to normal for the only time in the game. Even after doing so, I had to drop down from above and cut off a quarter of its health, and it still brought me to almost no HP. Oggdo Boggdo may not have been that dangerous in reality, but with how early I faced it, it earned a solid place just just inside the top 5.

4. Haxian Brood Droid and Bounty Hunter; of the randomly-generated miniboss ambushes, this was the only kind I ever encounter, and it was a doozy. Both enemies are unthreatening on their own--the Bounty Hunter is identical to the one in the arena, and while the droid has long range and mostly unblockable attacks, it’s also slow and easily avoided. The problem is that this is a very good combination. The Bounty Hunter tends to stay in the air, and it’s a lot harder to deflect her charged shot and bring her down when you have a Droid named Chonk or whatever pummeling you. Conversely, if you try to focus on the Droid, you get pelted with annoying lasers and stunned with missiles. Of the four times one of these pairs showed up, the only one I actually killed was on Kashyyyk, where the Bounty Hunter got stuck in an infinite walk cycle and couldn’t move or attack unless I came close, allowing me to whittle down the, on its own, pathetically easy Droid. This pair is perhaps the greatest example of enemies being more than the sum of their parts.

3. Rabid Jotaz; Funny enough, I never actually killed this thing. I went to face it immediately after getting the scomplink, died three or four times, and then gave up. I’m confident I could have killed it if I’d faced it a little later, but at that point in the game, this simple enemy was too much. Its attacks have wide arcs and obvious tells and are easily dodged in theory, and its health was pitiful for its massive size, but the Rabid Jotaz had one big advantage--a tiny arena. Seriously, the arena was a claustrophobic circle maybe two and a half times its armspan in diameter. It didn’t matter how slow the thing was when there was no room to go anywhere and its unblockable swept across half the room. It would’ve been much easier, I think, had I come back to kill it later on but I hate backtracking, so it gets a spot in the top three.

2. Trilla Suderi; Trilla has an absurdly varied moveset. Even right off the bat, she likes to throw two different combos with multiple variations on how they can end, sometimes leading into each other, sometimes leading into a weird spinny move, sometimes leading into a jumping downward stab. Of course, that’s nothing compared to the shockwave she has. It’s like Ninth Sister’s where she’ll smash her hand into the ground after a short windup and send a wave of force bullshit you have to jump. The thing is, she likes to throw it at two inconvenient times. One, right after she summons an annoying probe droid to distract and stagger you, and two, when you’re at point blank range and have no time to dodge. She also has absurd range, blinking across the entire large arena in a matter of moments, which is bad enough when she’s throwing an unblockable lightsaber attack, but is even worse when she’s throwing her most infuriating attack of all. She’ll lunge at you, grab you by the face, and suck out both your health and, for good measure, your Force meter. The only saving grace is that is has a generous windup time.

With all that, why’s she only number 2? Well, she’s sloppy. I had a hard time whittling down her block meter because so many of the attacks she does will let you just hit her health directly and take off a good chunk. Plus, after my first death I started using a fun tactic where I’d run in, spam Force Push to drop her Stamina, hit her to regain my Force meter along with the experience she stole, then use a dual lightsaber attack for massive damage, dropping somewhere close to a fifth of her HP in one fell swoop. Plus, her attacks are mostly easily blocked or dodged. She killed me five times, but it was always because she either used her OHKO suck-yer-brains-out move, or because she summoned a Probe Droid that staggered me at critical moments before I could kill it. With all that, it was very satisfying that I beat her by throwing her own exploding probe droid into her.

1. Ninth Sister; she killed me a whopping twelve times. Like, seriously; this lady did not play around. Her first phase, when she’s using just one blade, is simple. Parry, parry, dodge to the side to avoid the unblockable stab when she Force Pulls you in, don’t get hit by the overhead jumping swing. You can deal good damage to her with the openings she leaves, but she’s still more defensive than Trilla despite her brutish style, and she has health befitting her stature. Still, the first phase poses no threat. Then, she activates the other blade on her lightsaber and becomes a lot tougher.

Noticeably, she has several more special moves. She’ll do a shoulder charge that’s pretty easy to avoid, but once her health gets down to about a third, she’ll throw in a second charge, which caught me off guard sometimes even when I was expecting it. She has an unblockable spinning blade attack, which is easy to avoid but does massive damage, and she has a ground slam like Trilla--but easier to evade because she always creates distance before doing it. My big struggle was the simpler part. Her combos are faster and last longer, she seems harder to land hits on, she pulls switcharoos with similar-looking attacks that turn out to be unblockables, and her stab seems to have less windup time, making it a far more dangerous attack than in the first phase. For all the fanciness that she adds, it’s mostly easily avoided. What got me was just the regular attacks, and that damnable stab. With this, the Ninth Sister of the Inquisitorious takes the #1 spot.

#jedi fallen order #rating bosses #fallen order spoilers #star wars jedi fallen order spoilers #jedi fallen order spoilers

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sulfurousdreamscapes · 7 years

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Marie had to take her earbuds off to find out what had the rest of the passengers so excited and frightened. Without moving her head from leaning against the window, she scanned the interior of the limousine.

Her mother was making a face like she'd had a miscarriage, an unsavoury brew of shock and dismay that overpowers any anger that may arise. The secretary, William, his white face had always reminded her of a bowl of rice, for some reason. His face was more along the lines of realising he had made a terrible mistake in life, realised he had been dreaming, and then realised it wasn't a dream after all.

The client, Ms Yan, her face had turned red, somewhere between a tomato and a beetroot, and she had the facial structure to go with it. Her mouth just wouldn't close. Her hands just wouldn't stop moving. She was the first person Marie had to hear.

"What do you mean there's a bomb in the car?" she said, and Marie thought that her voice was so high-pitched, it could shatter glass.

"I have been assured that the security team is looking into it," Marie's mother said. It was that tone when everything was going wrong, but Marie's mother was somehow convinced she'll salvage the situation. She never does. Marie rolled her eyes.

"I want to get off! I need to get off!" Ms Yan was making a convincing argument for Marie to put her earbuds back on, but the thought was quickly fading out of Marie's mind, as was Ms Yan's face, and her mother's face, and the secretary's face.

"Why's there a bomb?" Marie asked, forcing her mother and William to look at her in unison. It was the first thing she'd said on the ride. If only she'd been asking questions about business and finances, Marie imagined her mother thinking. That's what I brought her here for.

"Marie, don't worry, okay sweetie? Everything's going to be just fine. It's no big deal," Marie's mother was saying, when the high-pitched screaming started anew.

"No big deal? No big deal? There's a bomb in the car!"

And right on cue, Marie's mother buried her head in her hands, just as Marie had seen her do before. Seeing her do while at work was a novelty, however. There's an unusual combination of conquest and sadness to be felt at seeing your parent defeated.

Marie reached into her pocket and pulled out mint chewing gum, and straightened her posture at last. She offered another to William. He looked at the gum, then at Marie, then shook his head curtly.

Ms Yan was now screaming at the driver, Marie noticed. Her mother tried to calm Ms Yan down.

"Look, we're probably going to die, William," Marie said, and held out the chewing gum again. "I wouldn't be caught dead with bad breath. What about you?"

William took the gum and opened the wrapper with shaky hands.

Ms Yan’s eyes had sunk, and she looked like she’d resigned herself to fate, Marie thought. William was making calls to the security team, rapidly covering his phone to report to Marie’s mother about the situation. Marie’s mother had a hand on Ms Yan’s shoulder, and was bending down to catch her eyes.

“I knew this wasn’t a safe place,” Ms Yan mumbled, “I knew I shouldn’t have come here. There are enemies everywhere. They want my head on a skate.”

“No one’s going to get to you, Ms Yan,” Marie’s mother said.

“Stake,” Marie said. “Head on a stake, not a skate,” she said after a dignified pause.

Ms Yan laughed, but it was a hollow, forced laughter only amateur actors and passive aggressive assholes can manage. “Yes, please, let’s make fun of the old businesswoman as she’s about to be taken somewhere and shot in the head,” Ms Yan wailed.

Marie’s mother gasped. “My security team is on top of this, Ms Yan, I assure you we’re going to be perfectly safe. Isn’t that right, William?”

William nodded weakly while pressing the phone to his ear.

“Does ‘we’ include Ms Yan, Mom?” Marie asked.

Marie’s mother aimed her laser eyes at Marie. “What the hell are you insinuating?” she asked.

“Listen to her!” Ms Yan added, her voice performing the pole vault again, “She knows! She knows what’s going on!”

“Woah, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here,” Marie said between chews. “I’m just making sure we’re all on the same page here.”

“Marie, just, don’t,” Marie’s mother warned, jabbing a finger at her, “I’m not going to say it again. Just don’t.”

Ms Yan swiped her phone, but Marie’s mother snatched it out of her hands.

“Please, my security team insists that you make no outside communication about this matter,” she said, handing the phone to William. “My security team is reputed and capable of handling this situation. They don’t need additional complications.”

“Can we at least discuss why there’s a bomb on the car?” Marie asked. “I mean, it didn’t go off when we were going to the airport to pick Ms Yan up, so it clearly wasn’t meant for us. That can only mean whoever set it up wants Ms Yan gone.”

“Can we please not speculate?” Marie’s mother began just as Ms Yan was pointing at Marie and screaming “There! She knows!”

“And whoever has set it up is okay with us dying, too,” Marie added, looking at Ms Yan in the eyes. “So if my mother is responsible, she’s either terrible at making plans—which she isn't—or she has a death wish.”

“We have enemies too, Ms Yan,” Marie’s mother said, “And we might even have enemies in common. I assure you, this is all going to be dealt with and we’ll forget all about it tomorrow as we eat dessert.”

“Yes, forget that time I almost died in a car explosion,” Ms Yan returned to a sullen drawl.

A few moments passed without a sound, other than William’s broken record that said 'yes’ and 'I understand’ at regular intervals.

“What if it’s a bluff?” Marie asked.

“A bluff?” Ms Yan asked.

“Like a prank, a practical joke of some sort,” Marie explained, “A troll trolling about. Happens all the time on the Internet.”

“I assure you, Ms Yan,” Marie’s mother turned to Ms Yan, “If this is a prank or a bluff of some sort, our security team will waste no time in bringing the perpetrator to justice.”

Marie and Ms Yan were complete ignoring the businesswoman between them, however. They looked at each other, as if with an understanding that they were the only ones affected by this situation.

“I mean, when you think about it,” Marie said, “We haven’t actually seen the bomb, right? We don’t even know where it is. Could it be here, in the interior? If not, then it’s attached somewhere below the body of the car.”

“A bluff,” Ms Yan echoed herself and rubbed her face with her fingers. “I don’t know what to believe any more. Nothing!”

“You can believe in me, Ms Yan,” Marie’s mother said.

“I’m not sure she can,” William said. “It’s not going to go off—if everyone co-operates. And I’m going to make sure everyone does.”

Marie noticed that his hands were shaking.

Marie’s mother nodded at him. “As you can see, Ms Yan, all we need to do is to keep calm and co-operate,” she said, but was interrupted by William.

His eyes had a different look to them than before, Marie thought. He looked like he’d played a winning hand, but was still trying to maintain a poker face.

“I’m not sure you understand,” he said to Marie’s mother, leaning forward. “That bomb is a failsafe. It’s a shame it got discovered, but it’s there to make sure you two get taken care of one way or another. I’m going to make sure of that.”

Marie’s mother looked at him spellbound for several moments. Ms Yan was staring blankly at the space between the two of them.

“You know if the bomb goes off, you die too, right?” Marie said to William, who turned to her.

“I’m afraid that wasn’t my idea, but then, I don’t question my superiors,” he grinned, “I just choose who my superiors are.”

Marie whistled. “How long did it take you to come up with that line, bro?” she asked.

“You piece of shit,” Marie’s mother said, her expression still stuck somewhere between mild shock and disbelief. “You absolute piece of shitty traitor fucker.”

William leaned back. “The security team knows more than need to, I’ll grant that I underestimated them,” he said. “But all you need to do is to co-operate and…” he looked at Marie and then back at Marie’s mother. “Marie will be safe.”

Marie’s mother was still swearing at him. This was enough time for Marie to work out a few things. Such as an image of her mother’s disfigured, mangled body in a car wreck. Or lying on the floor with bullet wounds leaking blood. Or—and she hated herself for not realising it earlier—that if she knew the plan, she wasn’t going to live for very long.

"Do you want me to beg, William?" Marie's mother asked. She opened the mouth to say more, but didn't.

William relished a smile, but toned it down a little. "I haven't decided yet," he said.

The windows turned dark and flashed in yellows as the car entered a tunnel. Ms Yan had her head in her hands, and her back trembled and shook.

Marie put her earbuds back on, leaned against the window and closed her eyes. Her music player was in the middle of a song she hadn't heard in many years.

Back then, it had been one of her favourite songs. It was the soundtrack to her life, she thought. And then, she'd found something new, something fresh, something that felt truer to her and she forgot all about this one. So when she listened to this old song now, she felt like she was taken back—back to when she was thirteen and sitting in her mother's spacious office.

What was she reading then? It was an X-Men comic, and she occasionally paused reading to smell the pages. Ferns. So much natural light. And the constant click-click-click of her mother's computer. What a comfortable chair Marie was sitting on.

"I didn't bring you here so you could read comic books," her mother had said.

And that's when the door had opened, and in walked the walking bowl of rice. In walked William, with a professional smile and a professional stride, and he laid down a file on the desk.

"William, you should meet Marie. Marie, meet William, my new secretary."

The words were like echoes, and the room was pulsating. There was an energy in this memory that she couldn't place. It was an energy of its own. "Meet William," the words went over and over in Marie's mind until she threw away her precious X-Men issue and pointed at William.

"Traitor," she said, and her words were like a vortex, swirling through the air, towards a dumbfounded William. "You will not destroy us."

Her eyes jerked open, and she forcefully pulled the earbuds out of her ears.

Marie's mother was laughing with Ms Yan, and there was a young woman sitting opposite her, tapping on an iPad.

"Where's William?" Marie asked.

"Who's William?" Marie's mother asked.

Marie stared at the young woman, until the woman uncomfortably shifted in her seat and smiled at her. "Something you need, Marie?" she asked.

Marie shook her head. "Who are you?" she asked.

The woman looked at Marie with the strangest of frowns, a touch disturbed and a touch concerned, but mostly just very confused. Not the kind of frown you get to do daily.

"What happened to the—" Marie stopped herself. Ms Yan was talking about how she had personally convinced the board of directors to approve the deal. She was jabbing in the air and making faces and laughing. Marie's mother had an animated face that responded to every trivial detail Ms Yan spat out.

Marie swiped to her music player and deleted the song from her library.

Today, Sulfurous Dreamscapes hit two milestones at once!

First, the blog now has 800 followers. Welcome to all the new followers! I hope you enjoy the stories.

Second, this story about flavoured milk now has 700 notes. People just really like flavoured milk, I guess? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Thanks to everyone who liked, reblogged and commented that piece!

#writing #writeblr #words #fiction #short story #short fiction #short fic #short stories #spilled ink #original fic #original prose #milestone #follower milestone #daily writing

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anagrammaddict · 7 years

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The Greatest Show

Wow, I am really running behind on the prompts lol. Wrote this one ine a hurry, so it’s a bit abrupt.

For SpiritAssassin Week 2017 by @fyeahspiritassassin. Day 2. Prompt is: AU

The visitors to the Circus Kyberus arrive long before the show starts. Their ships rumble into the Circus’s vast docking port, attendants waving fluorescent batons at the guests and directing them along the prismatic passageways, to the central auditorium at the heart of the massive starship.

Come and catch the Greatest Show in Space: that’s what they call the Circus Kyberus, the best galactic entertainment there is - witness daredevil acts and simply stellar performances, excuse the pun (poor advertising from Ringmaster Chirrut Imwe).

But the lights and the glam and the death-defying acts have all but lost their novelty for the star of the show: the High Voltage Acrobat, Baze ‘Blaze’ Malbus.

He’s been here fifteen years; he’s seen the lot; he knows the tricks even though the other circus folk guard their secrets jealously. But after awhile, one trick is the same as the next, anyway. He’s seen the supersonic chariots, the strong man(droid) performances, the laser pyrotechnics, the electrothaumaturges, the rocket booster trapeze, the trained troupes of giant sklatha salamanders, extinct everywhere else in all the charted systems of the universe, except here in this galactic freakshow.

God, if there’s such a being at all, knows why he even stays. Actually, God just might be the biggest, most grandiose circus act of all.

“And now!” a voice booms from the arena. It’s Ringmaster, in his usual brilliant scarlet overcoat with a trailing bridal train and an equally scarlet top hat. He cracks his whip and sparks fly, rising in a hissing cloud to temporarily engulf him, and the audience cheers. “The star of our show, the one and only High Voltage Acrobat in the entirety of the universe, ‘Blaze’ Malbus!”

The crowd howls and stamps.

The cube-shaped electrical grid that had been assembled quietly during intermission now lights up. Brilliant blinding blue. The crystal shaped spotlights swerve around to direct the full intensity of their beams upon the vast and non-symmetrical lattice, which crackles with electricity. Techno music pounds from hidden speakers, bass rhythms amplified by the arena’s subwoofer network, so it feels like the whole starship is pulsing, a gigantic metallic heart in the vacuum of space.

Baze mounts the platform at the top. Notes the positions of the insulated handholds, the mid-air micro-coordinates where he’ll have to twist his body and avoid the wavy parallel rails. Sets a rhythm deep within his body.

But even this is dull for him. Fifteen years of this crap. He’s old. He ought to retire. Maybe go to this faraway idyll called Earth, the native world of coffee and adorable alien feline creatures known as cats.

He glances down, way down past the bottom transmission bars to where Ringmaster is standing, fire-whip still cracking up a frenzy. If he’s not careful, he’s going to set himself on fire again. And then Baze will have to stop his act and douse him with a canister of coolant. Not for the first time either.

As if sensing Baze looking down at him, Ringmaster turns his face upwards. White-blue unseeing eyes, their colour and their blindness magnified by optic irradiator implants, catch his stare. Ringmaster smiles a lazy toothed smile at him. Baze can see the indents of his dimples from high up here.

For a moment, he pauses, disoriented by the recent memory of Ringmaster in his arms, of that smug smile wiped off his face, replaced by the openness of his mouth, slack, moaning, spit curling out of the corner of his lips as Baze fucked him against the walls of his own quarters.

No, he has to concentrate. Or he’ll fry himself pretty in this grid.

He closes his eyes, tries to find that point of calm deep within.

Then he leaps off the platform, calculating all the way, every nano-second of his freefall. Fizzing strings of electricity leap off the bars and try to attach themselves to his skintight conductive suit, try to connect into the circuit of his own flesh and blood, and the electrical impulses of his own heart. Lightning pursues his trajectory through the grid. The crystal-spotlights start strobing in technicolour. It makes for a spectacular display and the crowd grows more feral with the applause and cheering.

Personally, Baze thinks that some of them would just love to see him slip, see what happens, never seen a man fry on electricity before.

He makes a grab for the handhold and his aim is true. Then he undoes the hasp of the swing, calculates, concentrates - and swings across the grid, spinning, eeling, until he gets to the next handhold.

Then he finishes his whole circuit, spends all his moves. It’s banal like that.

He starts to descend, when a tremendous crack comes from below.

Ringmaster has held up his hand for silence from the crowd. Baze stops and stares. Now what?

“You have all seen the magnificent Blaze! Now for the next part of his act…”

The what part of what act? No, no, fuck this shit, his act is over. What is Chirrut up to?

“..I, your humble Ringmaster and host for tonight, will now ascend to the platform and enter the grid…”

“You will not!” Baze thunders from where he’s standing. But nobody hears him.

“...and I will leap off, without a safety harness or a protective suit…”

“And fall to your death! And then I’ll have to extract your sizzling, charred meat off the rails.”

“..and our one and only High Voltage Acrobat, Blaze Malbus, will catch me…”

“What if I don’t?” Baze shouts, only to be ignored.

“...or maybe he won’t…”

The crowd howls louder than ever. It sounds like they’re baying for blood. Wishing the excitement of mishap upon the performers.

“...and if he doesn’t catch me, then well, let me thank you all for being here with us. You’ve been an exceptional crowd and I am truly honoured to have been your host for tonight.”

With that, Ringmaster sheds off that six-foot bridal train of his robes, and his scarlet overcoat and top hat, wearing only a shirt and red harem pants. He scales the ladder easily to the platform opposite Baze, on the other side of the grid.

He smiles at Baze. “I’m ready when you are.”

“Chirrut, this isn’t in the script.”

“Well, this is an unscripted performance.”

“I’m not doing it.”

“We are already in the middle of the performance, whether you like it or not. Besides, what have you got to fear? You’re going to catch me, aren’t you?”

“You,” growls Baze, “have far too much faith in me.”

Chirrut spreads his arms, tilts his blind gaze to the ceiling. “And you need to have some faith in me. You need to have some faith in the fact that I have faith in the fact that you are going to catch me, no matter what.”

“I think if your brains get fried on the grid, it’s not going to affect your twisted sense of logic.”

Chirrut laughs. Then he straightens all the mirth out of his face and looks directly at Baze. When he speaks, there is iron in his syllables. “Catch. Me.”

Ringmaster steps off the platform. He hurtles downward, straight as a calm arrow, electricity fizzing in his wake, but never seeming to touch him.

Baze forgets to calculate. He leaps off without thinking, seizes the swing and arcs downward, a hand outstretched, sweeping through the charged air, to lock around Chirrut’s elbow. He hears Chirrut gasp as Baze nearly wrenches his arm loose of his socket, and then twists them safely around to a lower platform.

The audience nearly erupts.

Later, once the show is over, and Baze goes to Chirrut’s quarters.

“Right,” says Baze. “I quit. I’m leaving.”

“Think before you do anything,” Chirrut cautions.

“Says the Ringmaster who jumped off the platform straight into waiting death. Why would you do something so stupid as that? Don’t you know the risks?”

Chirrut is carefully storing away his ringmaster jewelry and overcoat. “Don’t you feel different?”

“Feel what?” Baze growls.

“All this time. All these years you’ve been working here. You’ve been here far longer than I have. I know your discontent. Boredom. You’re bored with the whole act. Everything is just one shiny routine to you. So why not change things up a little? Spontaneity is the salt of life, they say.”

Baze takes a deep breath. “Just because I’m bored or discontented doesn’t mean I want you to risk any part of yourself for me. I can’t - I don’t know what I’d do if - if -”

He trails off.

Chirrut doesn’t say anything for a moment. Then: “I’m sorry.”

Baze is incredulous. “Did you just - say you’re sorry? That’s a first.”

“I’m sorry to have caused you much distress.” Chirrut looks thoughtful. “Though all that distress is unnecessary, if only you’d believed in the both of us a bit more.”

“I knew that apology wasn’t going to last long.”

Chirrut puts his arms around him from behind, kneads the muscles of his shoulder. “Please don’t go, Baze Malbus.”

“Say that again,” says Baze roughly.

“Please.” Chirrut unbuttons Baze’s shirt.

“Again.”

“Please. Stay.” Chirrut’s mouth presses kisses on the nape of his neck, stutters a line along his bare shoulders. "With me."

“I’ll think about it,” says Baze. Then he turns to face Chirrut and kisses him, a deep bruise of a kiss.

***

Later, Baze sits up in Chirrut’s bed. Chirrut is asleep, his body flushed and bare, his sleep unbroken and rhythmic.

Baze thinks of another show he’ll have to do the next night. And the night after that. And after.

He thinks of anchoring himself to some planet, preferably one with an ocean (that Earth place sounds so good in all the ads), where he can learn how to surf. How to fish. How to look at the stars and all the universe from a fixed point, instead of constantly swinging through space in some big flamboyant circus starship.

But then again, he’s already got his fixed point, his anchor.

He gets up from bed and gets himself a glass of water. But he stays.

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defenestratingideas · 7 years

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Iron Fist Unfiltered - Episode 2

Wherein I move onto the next episode...

Episode 2: More Colleen, please!

Yeah, I'm not really a fan of this opening. Don't know why. Seems too familiar to be original and not as interesting as DD or LC.

Why didn't they put him in a hospital gown or something? Don't those clothes smell?

I never noticed those shoes before – what is going on with them? What's with the toe?

Gods help me, I like Simon. He should never be allowed in a room alone with another patient, but I like him.

Joy has a conscience. Got it.

Sorry Danny, but you should definitely talk to someone about the plane crash. Take advantage of this opportunity. There's no shame in seeking help for something that's affecting you this badly.

It's like Danny thinks that everyone should know exactly what he's talking about, even though he's talking crazy. It'd be like if I invented a new world and acted like a douche because nobody else had ever heard of it.

In this day and age, you'll need more than a Canadian Passport to get into the states.

Why is Colleen teaching her students to be better attackers? Shouldn't she be teaching them to be better defenders? Why isn't she having them walk along the streets while she stalks & attacks them? Wouldn't that be more practical? Also, she's really mean. Maybe the financial woes are weighing down upon her, but nobody gets better by being called a hippo.

Simon's the tour guide? What a terrible idea. Although, glad to see him again.

Which on is which? Is the big one the slightly taller guy? Or the slightly broader guy? Or the slightly heavier guy? What a terrible introduction. I hope I'm not supposed to remember any of that.

Simon, you might be true about the never getting out thing, but just remember that you tried to kill Danny a few minutes ago, okay? You cray.

Oh, the slightly taller one is Dink. Don't care.

Did Harold give his punching bag a love tap at the end? How cute.

Why wait to make a move on Danny? Just bribe someone in the facility to keep Danny drugged 24/7. Why risk him getting out? What could you possibly learn from him?

I really don't care about the damn birds.

Colleen really doesn't show much love for her job.

Way to not be subtle at all about the threatening, Ward.

You know, Colleen just finished a class, so wouldn't her armpits be sweaty? I mean, mine are usually pretty sweaty after a workout, so I definitely wouldn't stick my hands in there...

That being said, she's got nice arms.

How did Ward know that Colleen needed money? She didn't end this session with her patented “I need more students or I'll have to close” speech, like she did the last time we saw her. Oh, was that only for plot development?

Kyle apologizes so much that I'm starting to think he's Canadian.

Kyle, honey, no matter what Harold's paying you, you can do better.

I know Harold's the secret police or FBI or whatever, but I refuse to believe that he could get into Danny's room without a single other person seeing him. Why not have your son do this job if you trust him so much?

Roll credits.

You're doing business with China and you don't know the Hand, Harold? Seriously?

I'm pretty sure that Daredevil could take care of the Hand. So far, he's done a hell of lot more than you have, Danny.

Was that handprint left by Spiderman? Daredevil? Or is it a Hand-print!!!

Jesus, Joy, could you choose a worse picture for comparison? He's 15 years younger & wearing a hat! You can barely see his eyes!

Secretary says what I've been thinking.

Swords! This show slightly knows how to win me over.

If the drugs make Danny feel like he's underwater, then it would be interesting to see him “underwater” instead of glitching-out all Matrix-like.

Danny, that is not the way to greet someone that you want to help you. Could you be any more sullen?

What, the doctor believes Danny? That doctor's going to die, isn't he?

And we're back to crazy-pants Danny.

Honestly, the doctor's not wrong. I feel like this show is sending the wrong message about mental health. We know that Danny's right about K’un Lun, but from the doctor's perspective, Danny's two bananas short of a fruit basket. He needs help. Imagine if Danny wasn't the Iron Fist and was actually suffering from a mental breakdown. Man, what a show that would be. I'd watch that.

Couldn't you find an Iron Fist comic series, Kyle?

Ward, did you name your dad after Frankenstein? Subtle. Although that makes him the doctor and not the monster, so I'm not sure what you're going for...

Dammit, Harold, are you a James Bond villain? Are you going to tie Danny to a chair and surround him with sharks with lasers on their heads? Just snap his neck and get it over with!

Is this where the pain thing Danny mentioned kicks in?

What does the orderly have to gain by doing this?

If you're bribing the orderly then why have him drug the guy only to lead him to a room where three guys will kick his ass? If you want the guy dead, just get the orderly to inject him with something. This is sloppy work, honestly. Was it all for our effect? Was it to bait and switch the audience, to make them think Danny's getting moved and then suddenly “oh no, he's going to get beat to death”, because that's dumb.

#beers and reviews

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