#the bald man has me in a chokehold

[fqntasies]

Just a taste, baby - Feyd Rautha x Reader

summary: You and Feyd-Rautha have been connected through dreams since childhood; a complex inner-working of the Bene Gesserit mothers to join your bloodlines. It binds the two of you in a pull you can't escape (nor do you want to). Feyd is absolutely feral for you.

words: 1,258

disclaimer: characters may be out of character, specifically feyd, considering his desperate softness here. just a forewarning.

You were trapped, breaths coming out of shallow pants as you felt the scratch of the cement structure beneath your palms. He had you against the wall in a hidden alcove; along one of the lengthy corridors of the palace in Giedi Prime. Your mouths were just breaths apart. In fact the Harkonnen before you seemed intent on matching your breaths, mingling them. Tasting your tiny pants as his own. It made your eyes heavy, made you want to tilt your head back and close your eyes, give him access to the expanse of your neck.

"sweetness." He rasped, unable to control himself. The Na-Baron wrapped an arm about your waist, a vice arching you against him as he lowered a wanting mouth to your neck, licking and sucking where the two met. You mewled at the wet heat, felt him growl desperately at the taste.

The two of you hadn't even kissed yet - but the wait; the dreams - you both knew each other to the soul.

---- flashback ----------

The sands of Arakis and Geidi Prime alike carried mysteries of prophesies of the lisan-al-gaib. But midst such tales, the Bene-Geserit mothers also had worked to connect bloodlines through dreams. The Na-Baron and the princess of Arrakis had been bound by such since birth. A well-planned move to align feuds and place power into wanting hands in preparation of war. A web of politcal conspiracy only they controlled. Their plans could not be foiled.

But Feyd couldn't care less about such witchcraft; and neither, if one were honest, could you. The two of you had known of this binding since a young age. And when you had met as children too - the connection had been strong.

"Their line is bright" The reverend mother's voice had burned into your mind, even at 10 years old.

You remembered her cloaked form; a black shadow against the haze of the horizon, a tower above you as she turned from your parents. Her voice had been void of emotion, except for a smugness you didn't understand. But when you turned to glance at the older boy before you (such a uniquely beautiful boy; broad shoulders and smooth skin, black attire across a lithe form), his eyes shone with an intensity that surprised her. Dark, watching, intrigued. He intimidated you. He made you curious.

At 15 years of age, the Na-Baron hadn't spoken in their meeting; but he had felt more than he had imagined. The girl...she had made him feel things. It confused and awakened him to something he had never known. His uncle had never spoken of such a pull. A need.

When the ship had arrived to his homeworld, and the strange foreigners parted like a sea, Feyd-Rautha found himself straightening to his full height; head lowered as he studied them beneath an angled gaze. Garbs of strange colors - hair he had never seen before in elegant styles. He would be Harkonnen predator. He would be a warrior. Strike fear in these alien people, show the Baron he was not swayed so easily by something new.

But then-

Swathed in layers of white, a girl stepped forward; dainty and gracious above all else; practically floating across the landing platform. Yet her eyes betrayed her; darting to capture the landscape, thrown off perhaps by the infrared of Giedi Prime's black sun above them.

She was drinking in the strange newness before her, and then they found him. Feyd felt his chest tighten. Fists clenched. Heat brimmed under the chestplate of his armor.

She looked like some newborn animal, caught in his gaze. But they both felt it. The familiarity. The warm hum between them. It made you want to slip from the safety of your parents and stand beside him, as though his shadow was more protection than the whole parade your own family brought with them. You wondered if he'd felt the same.

Three nights later, you had dreamed of him. A bit older, hand in his as he raised it to his lips. His eyes had never left yours. As a young girl it made you blush. Now...

--------------------------------

You made a breathy sound as his tongue lathed the mark he had made, moving with a lazy carelessness across your pulse, hungry above all else, uncaring for decorum. He wanted to devour you entirely. He wanted you to see you helpless and delirious against him, just as you were now. As you were in all his dreams.

He knew you'd had them all too. His eyes on you at their wedding. His tongue against yours, moans and tastes and hunger. You watching from the arena as he slaughtered man after man, coated and heaving. He felt like a beast.

"Feyd-" His name barely formed, like a prayer from your lips.

His eyes nearly lolled in his head at the way you sounded, and he dragged his wanting mouth up to meet yours. Wet and wanting. Feyd's free hand shifted to engulf your slender neck, moving your head against his mouth to deepen the kiss, taste all of you. Consume.

The Na-Baron was all muscle and prowess, a looming figure that practically dwarfed you. The spanse of his shoulders alone were sinful, and deep down you loved how it felt to be completely in his grasp. Guiding you in your movements.

Feyd's tongue sought yours as much as he could, controlling and demanding - but you were a needy little thing too, weren't you? In the haze of passion you were pressing into him - leaning just as much towards his heat as he was pushing you both together. You sucked his plush bottom lip into your mouth - unable to help yourself. After all, why was he made so beautiful, if not to kiss? He was quick to follow, biting your own with a growl that made your knees practically give, and following with his greedy tongue.

"You're going to be my wife." the words are a promise, his eyes glittering under the low light; shadows flashign with the coming storm. You part your mouth as though to taste him again, a helpless 'please' slipping past as you arch in his grasp.

Feyd practically took you then and there. Enter the nearest room... make all his dreams a reality. His patience was nearly worn thin. Years of waiting, of hunger. And now it was here. You were in his reach, that tempting little waist; those hips. It made him absolutely insane.

He wets his lips, gaze feverish.

"tomorrow. tomorrow sweetness, hmm? Can wait that long?" He intends to tease you, but he knows he speaks to himself, his jaw locking as he adjusts his arms to press you against him.

You're so fucking soft. It makes him groan. Of all the things he's known in his life, softness was not one of them, save for the flashes of you in his dreams. He craved you like a creature starved. Thoughts of you made him fight better. Made him kill easier.

There's a rumble suddenly of a drone; Harkonnen orders breaking the silence in distorted code. The words don't make sense to your ears. Not yet anyway. You hope to make progress in the language, but it was a challenge; more than others. The variety of tones were a feat for any foreigner to take on; but this was to be your home. A lady of harkonnen would learn her husband's native tongue.

You know he has to leave.

#feyd x reader #feyd rautha #feyd rautha x reader #dune 2 #dune part 2 #dune fanfiction #dune fanfic #austin butler #feyd #reader insert #reader #fanfiction #fanfic #the bald man has me in a chokehold #i love when powerful men are desperate for their soft ladies

[annihilatius]

Me when I realize that if I wanna be a real Bioshock fanartist I'll eventually have to draw something that isn't just Fontaine shirtless

#v.txt #I'm joking there are sooo many other characters I wanna draw #But god #This bald man has a chokehold on me rn #HE WON'T LEAVE MY BRAIN #Is it obvious I'm gay #(Yes)

[christiangeistdorfer]

MICHÈLE MOUTON & FRANÇOISE CONCONI mucking around with BERNARD DARNICHE & ALAIN MAHÉ at the 1977 TOUR DE FRANCE AUTOMOBILE

#where i read post abt bald men bernard is mostly who i think of #like slapping that bald man on the head. bernard. #it's just so funny because this is in the 70s and then you look at him in the 80s onwards and he has got a full head of hair #and i just KNOW the other rally drivers probably made fun of him because of it #also alain mahé put me in a chokehold #michèle mouton #françoise conconi #bernard darniche #alain mahé #wrc #1970s

[sichore]

KLOKTOBER DAY 1: Favorite Character

Pickles was my favorite way back when the show came out while I was in college! Almost 20 years later, somehow this balding mess of a white man with the worst hair ever conceived has me in a chokehold.

Somehow he's endlessly retable in so many ways and forms and I love seeing the love he gets from the fandom that he didn't get in the show.

#metalocalypse #my art #kloktober #kloktober2023 #pickles the drummer

[myimaginesandrp]

Unwanted Reunions

Summary: You’re not exactly the best at this superhero stuff, but you try. Everything seems to be going okay until a creature who's  not from around here crashes your universe. And that means… they won’t be the only ones to do so. 

Notes: 2k, Miguel O’Hara x Spider Woman reader

Warnings: Mild angst  maybe?...

A/N: Please be nice. This is the first time I write for the ITSV/ATSV universe. This man just has me in a chokehold rn 🙈 {Also this was 0% Edited. oops}

◣━━━--------━ 🕷 ━-------━━━━━◢

The cool breeze of the evening sky brushed against your cheeks as you slowly made your way up another floor on the glass covered skyscraper you found yourself on. Man you wished you were home. You wished you were in your tiny apartment, laying in bed cuddling with a book, or rotting your brain away with a show like you had planned. Instead  you were here, in the middle of the city, crawling up the 50th floor of some random building as balding men in suits watched you trying, and failing, to keep calm because you were scared out of your mind. The last time you had gone up this far you had almost thrown up inside your mask. As it happens, getting bit by a radioactive spider comes with many perks that don’t include taking away your fear of heights. 

Why you still tried to help people on this side of town was a wonder to you. They were all snobby jerks who looked down on people like you. People with “enhancements” or as most of the population liked to call, “unnatural freaks”. Hence why you had decided to opt for the suit and the mask. It helped keep your sanity and your normal life as “normal” as you could get. As “enhancements” went, yours weren’t so bad. You could’ve been some rando with glowing skin, or some deformed fella with multiple limbs, or like that one poor girl who had spikes sticking out of her back.  Such things happen when you mess with stuff you shouldn’t. The people you worked with didn’t know when to stop, and so here you were shooting webs out of your wrists and feeling tingles every time you were in danger. And of course, crawling up ridiculously tall buildings because you were just a girl trying to help people. 

Today people happened to be two idiots who were filming videos on a loose platform instead of cleaning the windows like they were supposed to. They were young, one blonde and the other with rainbow colored hair who were looking around frantically as the platform they stood on swung in the wind. Their camera was a scattered mess of plastic on the ground, and if you didn't hurry, they were going to be joining the scraps soon. But the farther up you went, the harder the wind pushed against you, and honestly maybe this superhero life just wasn't for you anymore. It had been months of near misses and property damage, and rude ladies telling you to mind your own business. 

The snap of a rope above you pulled you away from your thoughts and you looked up just in time to see the last cable holding the platform give out. You leaped up with all the strength you had and grabbed the rainbow haired guy, as the other held on to what was left of the support cables with all his mind. As a series of webs later and you had him all wrapped up around you, holding on as you reached for the other who would not let go. 

“Buddy, you need to let go, that thing is gonna give out!” Exasperated, you reached out to him only to have him kick at your hand, sending his shoe straight up to hit your forehead before it went tumbling down below.

“ I don't want your help, you're a woman! I’ll wait for that one guy with the rocket suit to show up”. Your eyes flashed red. There was no way this guy was for real. 

“Look asshole! He’s in jail! He was laundering money”  you yell back at him while the other young man wrapped around you began to sob.

“I don’t care, I’ll just wait here”  the blonde screamed, shaking his head. A warm puddle of what you hopped were tears spread down your back and you reached forward again only to get hit in the face with another shoe. 

“Look you can either come with me, or you can turn yourself into a puddle of guts once you hit the ground. Your choice!” You took several deep breaths and offered your hand again. This time he reluctantly reached out his arm and you pulled him quickly before he changed his mind. 

The way down was ridiculously slow. The screams and cries of the two men mixed together with the force of the wind made the whole ordeal that much more unpleasant. The last rays of the day were hiding behind the rows of buildings as you focused all your attention on not looking down.  A decent sized crowd gathered at the bottom, a fire truck just pulling into the street to help. Just as you were about to reach the bottom and be done with this mess, you felt your body go rigid. 

No, not now. You thought to yourself as your “tingles” went off, letting you know something was off. What could possibly be happening now… Your answer came in a scatter of screams from the people below. Bodies ran into one another and others pointed up into the sky. You turned in time to see a mass of colors paint the sky and a single figure stepped through. And as a flash of familiarity hit you when you saw him, so did a large creature on your left. 

The two men went flying into the ground and you were lifted into the sky by an enormous pair of wings. It took you a second before you realized it was actually a man, or at least he looked like a man, with a large beak and a set of talons that began clawing at you. Glass broke around you as the man creature flew through buildings heading towards the part of the city you knew was trouble. 

The large green building you worked at came closer and closer and all you could do was try and try to pull and jump and evade his attacks. Still you managed to redirect him towards the river. A moment later you were crashing into a large and thankfully empty warehouse. The creature was shifting and screeching in pain and you rubbed your eyes to make sure you were seeing correctly but this thing was not from around here. And if this thing was not from around here, then others would follow. Your heart dropped to your stomach as you realized you were in for a seriously unwanted reunion. 

Shaking your head you leaped up and made short work of the creature. Now that you had your feet on the ground it was easy for you to work your way around the threat. With a long sigh you finished tying him up and dropped to the ground, to check on your wounds. Most of your arms were scratched up and a nasty gash on the side of your waist was throbbing, but you were okay. You stood up and looked over at the falcon man? Who was knocked out in front of you.

“Now what am I going to do with you? Hmm?” You said as you walked around to get a good look at him.

“I’d be more than happy to take him off your hands” Said a familiar voice behind you. Your body tensed and relaxed as you turned to meet a pair of brown eyes you thought you’d never see again. 

“ Jess!” You made your way over to her and she welcomed you into her arms with a  warm embrace. “I’ve missed you so much” 

“Me too girl, Headquarters hasn’t been the same without you and your big brain” She said with a warm smile. 

“Oh I doubt it, Lyla should have everything taken care of…” 

“Not everything” she replied and nodded her head to the side. Your eyes trailed away from hers as another figure stepped out of the Shadows. 

You took a step back as your heart betrayed you by speeding up to a mile a minute. He had his full suit on so you couldn’t see his face or any emotion behind the new mask as he made his way toward the two of you. He was so tall, taller than you remembered, and his gaze was fixed on you as he began making his way towards you. His name slipped from your lips before you could stop yourself.

“Miguel” 

“I thought you were going to wait for me by the river?” Jess said as she began to play with her watch, scanning the creature. 

“You took too long,” he replied as he looked over at the creature before coming back to meet your gaze. 

“I guess this one is yours?” you cleared your throat. Your name left his lips and you had to move before your body betrayed you and did something stupid like cry. “He’s all knocked out. You should be able to take him with no issues I-”

“You’re hurt” Jess said as she reached forward and lifted your arm to reveal the gash on your side. “We gotta get this looked at”

“No, it’s fine” you said, stepping away “I’m sure it will heal very soon, it's not a big deal.” A firm hand  wrapped around your wrist as he called your name again. 

“She’s right, just have someone in headquarters look at it and you can come right back” he said stepping closer to you. 

“That’s not a good idea. I have a lot to do here. I have people to look after here” 

“Chiquita, it will be quick. I promise.” Your body went rigid at his words. 

“Yeah I’m not sure your promises have much weight to them anymore.” He winced at your words, letting go of your wrist. 

“I’m gonna let you two catch up for a second.” Jess cut in, “See you at headquarters!” she said before disappearing into a portal.

“Chiquita…” Miguel started but you took a  step back shaking your head.

“No, you don’t get to call me sweet names anymore. You broke your promise”

“You know I had no choice. I had to do what I did for the good of the universe. You know that!” 

“You don’t know that! How could you possibly know what the outcome would be?”

“ All the calculations said-”

“He was a child, Miguel! A child! I told you to give me a chance to help him and you went behind my back and you did what you wanted anyway” your voice getting louder and louder.

“You think I wanted to do that to Miles? You think it was easy for me to do what I had to?” he said pacing around.

“ I needed time” you said shaking your head “ I just needed a little more time and we could’ve found an answer”

“But we didn’t have time!” His tone finally reached yours. “We didn’t have time and he was going to destroy millions of people’s lives.” 

“You lied to me Miguel. You lied to me. You were so hellbent on doing what you thought was okay that you didn’t care who you hurt on the way.” Your breath cuts off as the pain in your side burns through you. He runs over and catches you before you fall over. In a moment his mask is gone and you’re staring into his eyes. His eyebrows furrow with concern as he looks over at the red on your  suit that is growing each second. 

“ We can talk about this later. Please, let me help you.” he pleads.

 You don’t know if it’s the loss of blood making you dizzy but you nod your head reluctantly.

“Fine, but as soon as I heal you bring me back” you say. Or you mean to say, but instead a mess of syllables leaves you.  A moment later he lifts you into his arms and as you lean your head on his chest the world around your shifts into a colorful mess. He steps through the portal and you let the heaviness of your eyelids win, welcoming the darkness. 

___🕷___

Tysm for reading :> it’s been a hot minute since I actually wrote something so I know this is gonna be a mess. Either way if you made it this far, thank you so so much for taking the time to read this ❤️

Ps. I’ve been working in this chapter so I’ll be posting an updated one very soon. Please look for ward to that!

#miguel o'hara x reader #miguel o'hara x reader #atsv miguel #Miguel O'Hara Imagine #spiderman 2099 x reader #miguel x reader

[allhailweegee]

MAN HOLY SHIT HOW HAVE I NEVER REALIZED YOU ARE ODD-CHIPS AND YOU'VE APPARENTLY REBLOGGED MY TURBO ART LING BEFORE TOO !?!?!?!

I'M A MASSIVE FAN OF YOUR ART AND I HAVE BEEN FOR YEARS HI. Your kc blog is one of tbose that motivated me to want to start working on my own for a while now !!!!!

Some day in the future I may also be planning to IM you for a commission or two... given the topic of this ask you might already have an idea of what (better said, who).

GIKJFDIMKFD TO BE FAIR!! My URLs are not at ALL similar.

I've noticed usually people share a recognizable element between their art blog and main, but unfortunately, AllHailWeegee has been my online name since 2008 for literally everything.

"Odd-Chips" only came about when I NEEDED some type of distinct art name (it used to be "OrandaTheUnclever" because. I couldn't think of a name and my friend suggested it hILJKFD)

ANYWAYS I DID!! I REMEMBER SEEING IT POP UP ON DEVIANTART AND SCOURED FOR ANY OTHER PLACED YOU POSTED IT HLKFMKLFD I thought I followed you afterwards cause your style fucks, but apparently not! (This Has Now Been Rectified)

ALSO OH MY GOD AUUGGHHHGHHH!! 🥺 🥺 🥺 I'm so glad to have inspired you and that you like my art so much, hrhgrhhgh! q_q)!! I know that the WiR fandom is a bit small now, but that movie still has a huge chokehold on me and I KNOW it does for other people, too. So I think people would go absolutely sicko mode over a new KC blog.

In any case, I DEFINITELY wanted to try to reopen my commissions again before the month is over! When I moved, I ended up closing them and forgetting about it since I was so preoccupied with acclimating to the Great White North, haha! I LOVE GETTING PAID TO DRAW THAT BALD HEADED BITCH. >:)!! (Ask @appelsiinilight, they'll tell you)

#me myself and i #burgerrat

[kybelles]

Hello, can I ask from this ask game :

https://www.tumblr.com/threecheersforinking/677824836625694720/anime-ask-game?source=share

For fandom: Banana Fish, Captive Prince, AFTG, and Fruits Basket.

Thanks 🌻

hi doll! 💖 this was honestly sooo fun 😍

fruits basket

Favorite Character: i genuinely can’t choose between tohru kyo and yuki i’m so sorry!! 🥹

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: i’m a kyoru girl to the end so i’ll go with true form arc!! when kyo called by her name for the first time… let’s just say lives were changed

i also love the ep about baby yuki sm!! the reveal about him being tohru’s savior 🥹🥹 BABY YUKI I WILL AVANGE YOU!

Character I Think is Underrated: momiji 🥺 his backstory makes me wanna kms everytime i think about it and in another life he and tohru were meant to be together 💔

Character I Think is Overrated: hatori 🧍‍♂️ name one useful thing he has done… quickly…

Favorite Ship/Pairing: KYORU 🧡🩷 but i also have a soft spot for yukimachi and yukeru

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: that pretty much every character has an interesting arc! i really love ensemble stories that doesn’t forget about its main characters (cough given cough) and i think furuba had a nice balance about it 🙏

banana fish

Favorite Character: again i can’t choose between ash and eiji i’m sorry 😭

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: asheiji’s domestic life in the condo will always have me in a chokehold… also forever holding a grudge to the anime for erasing eiji’s forever but that part also lives rent free in my mind 🥲

Character I Think is Underrated: SING!! i believe so much mess could be avoided if everyone just listened to sing 🫠

Character I Think is Overrated: blanca 😒 another useless af man who generously told ash to go back to his abuser… DIE!!!

Favorite Ship/Pairing: asheiji till i die 😗 i like unrequited eiji ships too! unrequited shoreiji, singeiji, yueiji… *chefs kiss*

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: honestly i don’t think i can put it into thewords! there’s a reason why banana fish was so influential for so many gay stories that came after it and even though i’m forever bitter about the ending i’ll never not be in awe of yoshida for creating such a beautiful love story

captive prince

Favorite Character: DAMIANOS OF AKIELOS 👑

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: ik this isn’t a very original answer but nesson-eloy will always have my heart! the flirting, the banter, the closeness… simply delicious

Character I Think is Underrated: jokaste ☹️ so many takes about her makes you realize misogyny is well and alive 😍

Character I Think is Overrated: KASTOR 😩 how i wish people would give 10% of the courtesy they show for him to jokaste… what has this balding murderous manbaby ever done to deserve your sympathy people 🧍‍♂️ he’s literally a mirror or regent and yet so many people are ready to believe he was mistreated by theomedes when the canon evidence shows the exact opposite of this claim… ok

Favorite Ship/Pairing: lamen 🫶🏼 but i love me some damenik, damenjo and damenerasmus from time to time 🙈

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: mutual obsession so strong that one of you willingly fucks his brother’s killer and one of you willingly fucks the guy who tortured him… who is doing it like them?

#this ask gave me the worst urge to rewatch furuba… mayhaps… 👀 #THANK YOU FOR THIS!! 💖💖

[mishkakagehishka]

YOU KNOW WHOTBIS IS i voted for wawa and ithink u arent even mad at me u know that clowns got me in a chokehold and i cannot escape ever. it is not my fault corky. anyways still whys leo losing iamcgoing to CRY thats the sexiest man i have ever seen (< this hurt to write bc i never use the word sexy but ITS TRUE. leo has such an effect onme i literally told u that earlier hows he losing to 'balding bingus' 🥺 -my bestie)

I AM mad at you. How could you betray me like that /j

Nah i knew i'd lose that vote to you smh. Wataru kisser and Mika hater, it's expected.

However, as I told you. Leo is so sexless to me. But so is Shu... truly a mid-off

#HDBDBDHDH #i voted Shu tho bc i'm loyal like that. man is as flat as a barbie down there but i voted #asks

[tashabilities]

Big, Black and Bald has me in a chokehold.

Shaq would be cute if he wasn't a fucking COP.

There was a man in Kroger, a vendor, restocking product near the meat and seafood department

Tall, Black and bald with bonus BEARD

And I was all in his grill.

I am begrudgingly heterosexual.

These teeth are perfect, I paid for them,

And NOBODY can see them cause I'm STILL masked.

My doctor AND my nurse were both sniffling today and neither of them were masked.

The Lulus dress I bought is now $15 more than what I paid and Ion't like that.

But I think after my birthday,

After the two month mark

Cause I'ma just act like them first few struggle visits in February was a practice run

I need to make weekly dress try ons a thing.

Check my progress.

Hopefully, I'll be done dropped some inches by then.

[viktorshands]

“You’re Mine” Silco x Reader

Part one of a multi-chapter experience of deceit, double-crossing, and maybe eventually some spicy stuff. Fem!OC/Reader. Word count: 1.2k

Warnings: Extreme graphic depictions of violence, blood, fighting, cursing.

Another night at The Last Drop:

It wasn't even late yet and already two guys doped up on shimmer are threatening you. How lovely. Fuck, you hated being a bartender for these worthless slimeballs. Luckily, if living in the Lanes taught you at least one thing... It was how to stick to your guns and stand up to losers who got in your face. 

You rolled your eyes in disgust, "Fuck you just say to me?" You said to the slender, balding man with as rude of a tone as you could force.

"I said how 'bout I take you out back and show you a good time in exchange for some drinks?" He said with a sneer, lips curling over rotting teeth. 

Your eyes burned; you could smell his foul stench from across the counter. 

"Thanks, but I already had some tiny sausages for breakfast. Also, I don't think you'd be able to walk after meeting me in the alley." You shot back at him and made a face.

Not half bad, you thought, but I guess that's what I get for having my dad's quick wit and my mom's attitude.

"Whatever, you're such a fucking tease anyway, wouldn't even be worth it," the loser conceded, but you weren't satisfied yet.

"If you come back here I'll slap you hard enough you'll lose the only two teeth you've got left!" Your eyes widened then, and with added bravery you said, "Maybe I'll tell Sevika to meet you outside with me, and we’ll string you up together!"

That did it. The bald guy's equally scrawny buddy dove over the bar in an instant. You put your hands up to protect your face but it was moot, he slugged you in the gut hard enough to make you almost puke. You doubled over in pain and grabbed a bottle from the shelf without thinking. You smashed it on the counter and pointed the large glass bottleneck fragment in your hand at the assailant. The bald one jumped over the counter too, trapping you in the middle of both of them. Loud jeering erupted from the patrons at the bar, turning the sound up to explosive levels.

Instinctively you spun and swung the sharp glass at the bald one as he made a move to grab you by the neck. The glass connected with his right forearm, making a nasty gash and earning a high-pitched scream of pain from him. You ducked down just in time to hear a whiff of air from the scrawny one’s fist cutting through the air just where your head had been less than a second ago.

You jabbed the glass bottle at the scrawny one, missing his torso entirely as he dodged you. The other one grabbed you by your hair and yanked you back, putting you in a chokehold with his bloody arm around your throat. The skinny guy’s fist then connected with your nose and mouth with a THUD.

Your head snapped backward from the momentum of the punch, and you felt and tasted the blood dripping from your - most likely broken - nose. You didn’t feel the pain yet as the adrenaline was pumping faster than a freight train through your veins. You spit a mouthful of blood on the floor, trying to focus on clawing at the arm around your neck so you wouldn’t pass out. You could feel the darkness closing in when all of a sudden: 

“What the hell is going on here!” You heard a familiar booming voice demanding an answer from the entrance of the bar.

“Ha! You two are screwed now!” You spat what blood was left in your mouth at them with a small bit of confidence returning.

Though your head was fuzzy, Sevika’s powerful footsteps could be heard stomping towards you from across the bar. The patrons inside went silent as she walked past, their tails between their legs in fear.

“I spend all day cleaning up another one of Jinx’s messes and I walk into this?” She spat her words with such fury and disgust. Her eyes turned to the men who attacked you and said with a growl, “You two better get the fuck out of here before I have to throw you out myself.”

The two goons dropped you and ran as fast as their legs could carry them out of the bar.

Breath finally returning to your lungs, you mustered, “Thanks, Sev.”

Sevika sighed, “You just can’t stay out of trouble, can you Y/N.” She walked behind the bar where you sat in a crumpled heap on the floor and held her good arm out to you. 

“Nope,” you grabbed her hand and she pulled you up with a quick flex of her bicep. “It’s part of my endless charm.” You said with a chuckle as you dragged your sleeve across your face to wipe off the blood from under your nose and mouth.

“Speaking of your endless charm, I actually wanted to talk to you about something.” Sevika lowered her voice, “Come with me.” 

Sevika led you up the stairs and whistled for one of her people to cover the bar in your absence. The normal noise returned to the bar, music playing loudly from the jukebox, glasses being clinked together, and your hesitant footsteps following Sevika up to what was presumably her office above the bar. You had never been up here before. 

She opened the door with a heavy creak and closed it behind you. Your eyes scanned the room, drinking in the sights before you. To your left, a faded red couch sat with a circular coffee table in front of it. Behind the couch was a phonograph playing soft music, contrasting the thumping bass filtering through the floorboards from The Last Drop below. Your view fell on the large desk with a high back chair behind it, turned away from you and Sevika. Neon green light refracted through the patchwork window and bathed the room in a sickly glow. 

Turning towards Sevika you asked, “Is this your office?”

Sevika scoffed, “No.” she said plainly. 

You opened your mouth to speak again and cut yourself off at the sound of a lighter flick coming from ahead of you. You still hadn’t moved from just beyond the door, not sure if fear or uncertainty was keeping you frozen in place.

A puff of smoke could be seen from behind the chair, and the smell of an expensive cigar filled your nostrils. Your heart stilled in your chest and the blood in your veins turned to ice.

“Well now, Sevika, who do we have here?” 

The voice had the smooth, velvety texture of an expensive whisky, with a slight warmth in the back of your throat as you drank it. 

Your heart was racing as you saw the chair swiveling to face you, only one word left in your mind.

Silco.

-

End of part one. Stay tuned for more - I can’t wait to share what I am working on! 

Part II ♥ Part III

#silco x reader #silco/reader #silco imagine #daddy silco #arcane silco #arcane #arcane imagines #arcane x reader #silco #silco league of legends

[daysswithyou]

Box Love

Characters: DAY6 Dowoon x OC

Genre: fluff, romance

Words: 2.2k

Description: boxer!dowoon AU

---

Stepping into the huge warehouse, Dowoon took in time to absorb his surroundings. Fighting equipment of all sorts filled the entire place. To his immediate right and left, sandbags lined the entire area and every sandbag was occupied by someone that was currently punching each punching bag left, right, front centre. In left corner by the back, there was a huge area for hand to hand sparring. Grunts of frustration and pain can be heard from that area as people got thrown around like rag dolls. In the right corner by the back, there was an area cordoned off for martial arts training. People can been seen jumping around holding sticks and dressed in traditional martial arts combat attire. Right in the centre, there was a large boxing circle. Currently there were 3 males and 1 female getting ready to enter the ring; what the female was doing there remained a mystery to Dowoon. Boxing was definitely separated by gender and weight class. She was easily 2 to 3 times lighter than them.

Good luck fighting them, I hope she’s doesn’t pass out.

Just as the fight was about to begin, Dowoon was called away by someone.

“I’m assuming you’re Dowoon.” A middle-aged man with a bald shaven head stuck out his hand which Dowoon took. He gave a very strong and firm handshake and Dowoon knew right there and then that he was someone that should not be messed with.

“Yes sir, I’m Yoon Dowoon.”

“Good to finally see you; heard a lot about you and your achievements. Runner up in light weight boxing, black belt in all forms of martial arts and the list goes on. All you’re missing is being World Champion in light weight boxing.”

“Yes, that’s why I’m here to train.”

“Let’s put you to the test then. See that lady in the ring? You’ll be fighting her later.”

“I don’t fight girls.”

“She’s no ordinary girl, believe me.  Watch and see for yourself.”

Turning his attention to the boxing ring, Dowoon began to focus his attention on you. He watched at first to figure out your fighting style but eventually gave up because you didn’t stick to one – what he saw was a mixture of tactics, making it nearly impossible for him to predict your next move. You were fast and sparing with your energy – you successfully avoided all their punches and you took down all of them easily by targeting vital points that brought the most pain to them.  At the end of it, you were the last one standing victorious as the other 3 lay groaning in pain around you. You locked eyes with Dowoon and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t intimidated by you. You were the exact definition of ‘looks could kill’.

“Her name is Y/N. Best fighter I ever had.”

“She’s really good I admit but how come I’ve never seen her at championships before?”

“She doesn’t want to fight competitively – she trains out of passion and she prefers to coach instead. All my medallists have been under her wing before.”

“I can see why.”

“Come with me.” The man then guided Dowoon towards the ring before asking him to get ready.

“We’ll decide how your training should proceed after fighting her. Good luck.”

“Thanks, I probably need it.”

Bouncing lightly on his feet to get the blood flowing in his limbs, Dowoon watched as you sized him up and immediately felt that small fire of anger burning in him.

“Any last words from the competitors?”

“I never thought I’d be seeing the legendary Yoon Dowoon here. Don’t go easy on me.”

“Sure thing Y/N.”

The whistle beeped and Dowoon wasted no time in attempting to land the first punch, which was his first mistake. Leaning towards the left, you easily dodged his punch and instead ducked low to land a strong one on his stomach. It was so strong that it knocked the wind out of him but thank goodness he wasn’t knocked to the ground. You were still poised and ready to attack. Charging forward with fury, Dowoon tricked you into thinking that he was aiming for your stomach so when you stooped low once again, he rose to land a hard punch on your right shoulder. You could feel the pain and you were sure that it would leave a nasty bruise later on. You staggered forward but even the immense pain could not stop your drive to destroy him. He had broken your clean record of not having let someone ever landing a punch on you – and you were going to kill him for that. Whipping around, you stuck your leg out to trip him and he landed face first with a loud thud on the floor. Taking advantage of his open position, you used your leg to immobilise his lower body before using your body weight to pin his upper body to the ground before holding him in the chokehold. After 5 seconds, you were announced the winner without a doubt. Dowoon was still coughing and massaging his throat after your strong chokehold; he was also in utter disbelief at your strength and skill – never has he ever, been defeated by a female, and so badly at that. All he managed to get was one punch in when usually he’ll be leaving his opponents completely crumpled and defeated. But out the corner of his eye, he could see you standing tall and proud, looking ready to take on another 10 more men.

“Excellent job. Now both of you should get some ice on these bruises.”

Nodding both of you exited the ring before you took Dowoon to the second level where fighters get treated for injuries.

“Here. Ice the one on the stomach.”

“Thanks.” He caught as you tossed him the ice pack before he gingerly placed the ice pack on the bruise, letting out a small sigh as the coolness of the pack eased the burning pain.

“That was a really good fight just now – I look forward to training with you.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic now.”

“I’m serious! Besides, I don’t praise people often so I mean it when I say you’re good.”

“Thanks. You’re good too – don’t think I’ve ever seen a female fighter this strong. It’s a pity you don’t compete competitively.”

“I don’t like the blood thirst that goes on there. I’m quite content staying like this.”

“Well, you do have a point.”

Before you could reply, the door then burst open before revealing the man from before.

“Dowoon from now on you’ll be training with her.”

-

Training has never been this tough for Dowoon. You had put him under a strict regimen with the championships only 3 months away. You had imposed a diet on him to ensure that he maintains his weight in order for him to qualify for that weight class. Every morning started with jogs around the compound and weights training, afternoons were reserved for teaching advanced techniques and night was one-on-one sparring. In the beginning you had gotten your best fighters to spar with him but he proved that they were no match for him. Eventually, nights had become one-on-one sparring with you only. Dowoon enjoyed the night sessions the most – that was when the entire place was quiet and he could focus solely on training. But gradually, Dowoon found that he had something else to focus on: you. Spending so much time with you daily, it was impossible for him to deny that pull towards you that was only getting stronger and stronger with each passing day. You were a very admirable lady with certain qualities that he really liked but now was certainly not the time to be infatuated with you.

Before he even knew what was happening, he had landed on his back and you were directly on top of him now. You weren’t smiling though, in fact, you were snarling at him.

“FOCUS Dowoon! What wrong with you these days? You’re such easy prey – you’d be gone by now if this was the real thing!”

His next words came out as a whisper, so soft that if you weren’t paying attention to him you wouldn’t have caught them at all.

“You’re beautiful Y/N.”

Thrown off by his words, you’d let your attention slip and by the time you noticed the shift in the glint in his eyes, he had already changed your position – now you were hopelessly pinned to the ground as he stared at you from his position above. You fought to push him off, assuming that he was back in the game now.

“Stop fighting me Y/N, I’ve stopped fighting you a long ago.”

You stilled your hands – it was clear that this session had taken a different purpose now.

“What are you doing now?”

“I’m sorry for being so distracted these days Y/N but my heart just races when I see you and I can’t seem to focus on anything except you. I guess this is what people call love huh?”

“Yoon Dowoon, are you confessing to me right now?”

“I suppose you could put it that way… I love you Y/N, I really do.”

By now, you were in absolute disbelief. Was someone actually reciprocating your feelings now? You have a love-hate relationship with Dowoon since the very beginning. You hated him for obvious reasons: he was good at what he does and he proved to be real competition to you. And you hated that about him – you just couldn’t stop the competitive streak in you. But it took you some time before you realised you loved him. You admired his determination – despite getting bruised all over from the day before, he still showed up and gave his best. In his downtime, instead of resting, he’ll help out other fighters. Slowly, he crept into your heart. Was it actually possible that the person you loved felt the same as you did?

His next action confirmed your thoughts. Lowering his head, your lips connected softly. He was unexpectedly gentle for such a fierce fighter and you found another part to love about him. When he pulled away, you were left breathless.

For the first time in your life, you gave up something without a fight.

Your heart.

-

On the day of the championships, you were seated at the back row with your hood drawn up so that Dowoon wouldn’t see you. He had easily cleared the preliminaries and semi-finals and was once again, one of the crowd favourites to win the championships.

Go Dowoon, you can do it.

They started the match with the crowd’s cheering and the blow of the whistle. His opponent had the tendency to strike first and Dowoon was doing well avoiding him like you taught him. But you realised that it wasn’t working and that was his opponent’s tactic – wearing Dowoon down slowly before making the real strike. By the time you realised this, his opponent had landed a punch on Dowoon’s ribs and judging by the sound, you suspect something had cracked. Thrown off by the pain, he lost focus and that’s when his opponent successfully rained punches on him until he was beaten to the ground, effectively losing the first round out of three. Running forward, you caught Dowoon as he exited the ring.

“Dowoon! Can you still fight?”

“Yes.”

“Good, put a patch over your ribs first. Listen, I’ve figured out his tactics. He’s distracting you to wear you down so don’t fall for it later. Go for the first strike and aim for vital points. Conserve your energy. Do not let him get above you – you might not be able to throw him off. Lastly, stay unpredictable and throw in every style you know. You got this ok?”

“Got it Y/N, thanks.”

“Dowoon wait.”

Bravely, you stepped forward to give him a kiss on the cheek before sending him off the ring and heading back to your seat.

I hope I did the right thing – that should fuel him.

It did indeed. Dowoon did as you said and won the next two rounds with ease. He got a few nasty punches in but that didn’t matter with his opponent lying on the ground next to him by the end of it all.

Yoon Dowoon was officially the newest champion of the World Championship for Lightweight boxing.

-

A week later, once he had healed fully from his injuries, Dowoon and you took a slow walk around the Christmas market, admiring the sights and food. Fairy lights decorated each stall and with the snow falling to give the entire place a dreamy feel, Dowoon felt certain tonight was the night.

“Hey Y/N, let’s get a log cake for dessert?”

“Sure.”

“Sit here, I’ll be right back.”

You nodded as he dashed off. Watching him, you saw him whisper into the ears of the cashier before running back to join you.

“What did you tell him?”

“You’ll see later.”

“Ok then.”

Moments later, the log cake was presented to you and that’s when you noticed the words on it: “Y/N, will you be my girl?”

“So this was that it was all about.”

“Yup. And your answer is?”

With lightning speed, you leaned forward to peck him on the lips before digging into the cake. He broke out into a shy grin at your response, positive that that meant ‘yes’.

Tonight, he was feeling extremely accomplished – a world champion and your boyfriend.

#day6writersnet #day6 imagines #day6 scenarios #day6 writings #yoon dowoon #dowoon #day6 dowoon #day6 yoon dowoon #dowoon scenario #dowoon imagine #day6 dowoon imagine #day6 dowoon scenarios

[nyxysabyss]

LEVEL HORIZON; YEAR THREE 6/9; Celestial Limit

Chapter 23!

I’m not afraid of death. It’s the stake one puts up in order to play the game of life. ~Jean Giraudoux

When I saw you, I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew. ~Arrigo Boito

Daichi Sawamura’s calf muscles are cramping from crouching in the brush for so long.

It’s been a solid fifteen minutes of nothing but waiting and he can feel the tension in his leveler beside him, his hair silver under the moonlight. Tanaka is surprisingly calm and focused, but Daichi can only see black in his eyes in the filtering torchlight. He can’t tell if it’s just the poor lighting or if they are actually blown wide with nerves, but he’s guessing the latter. He himself has had the urge to fidget and shift so badly for the last five minutes that he can’t imagine how Kageyama is holding out.

“Snakes have a five to ten meter buffer zone where they can sense all warm life, so it is impossible to sneak up on them. They sense body heat, and your wings will give you away. Which means, I’ll need to borrow your leveler for the first part where we shut down the alarms, Feathers. He’s the only other non-winged person here.” Kuroo had said.

“What about Kenma?” Kageyama had said with a dark look.

“Kenma isn’t much of a combatant; he will be standing by with our means of escape at our rendezvous point. I’d rather have someone with me who I know can handle themselves in a confrontation and will have my back, anyway. I trust your shrimp.” The avian prince had been ready to argue, his cobalt eyes snapping with more homicidal emotion than Daichi had seen from him in a long while.

“I’ll go.” Hinata had said before he could speak. “I want this to work. If this is what I have to do, then I’ll go.”

“Rest assured, Feathers, I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t think he could handle it. And if I don’t bring him back to you, you can bank that I’m not returning either.”

Kageyama hadn’t fought him, but Daichi could tell that he’d hated it all the same— hated it with a level of disquiet worse than their big fight that had left his wings bald. And Daichi had known it had to have taken a soul fracturing effort for Kageyama to control his instincts and let the redhead follow the cat into the darkness a short while ago without a word of protest.

As he watches the crow setter’s gaze flit between the few buildings that mark the holding point’s location, he can see the tension in his body. Everything is taught, from the leaping muscle that betrays his jaw’s rigid set, to his hand that grips a low branch for balance in a vice hold, to his wings that are pulled into an agitated display, to his knee dropped beside a foot as he slowly leans ever more forward.

He knows the younger crow didn’t sleep last night… he doubts any of them had found much. Koushi had lain down, but Daichi hadn’t felt him relax enough to convince him he’d actually slept. The cats had stayed outside to avoid disturbing them with restless pacing. He’d glanced up more than once when Tanaka had risen to go stare out the window for long minutes with a hard look. Hinata had crawled into Kageyama’s lap where the avian princeling had wrapped him in an uncompromising embrace and buried his face into the crook of the redhead’s neck.

Daichi feels a pang for the former young king. They were just starting to bring their relationship the next step forward— there’s so much they have yet to experience and share… and now Kageyama is stuck waiting for an uncertain answer to the question of their future. Daichi doesn’t know if he could have done the same if it were Suga instead.

The softest rustle has the large crow reaching possessively for his leveler. The black cat’s training in stealth and awareness has definitely paid off as he and the three other avians turn as one toward the sound, tensing defensively and ready for a fight. But it is only Kuroo followed closely by Hinata, slipping through the underbrush.

The redhead immediately finds Kageyama, readily allowing the crow to snatch him forward into a relieved chokehold. As the redhead’s gaze flickers toward himself and Suga, he catches a look in them he recognizes in the dim light from the building torches. He knows it, because he’s also experienced it. Most everyone had missed his mental tailspin in the chaos surrounding the younger level pair’s flight from the rookery, but Suga and Tanaka had been there, and he knows they remember. The hollow resolved look in Hinata’s eyes speaks to the death of innocence.

Hinata... bright, effervescent little Hinata... has taken a life.

Daichi’s heart breaks just a little, knowing that it is something that will irrevocably change the brilliant ball of sunshine.

“My prick of a canine connection has sent these to help us.” Kuroo had said only this morning, producing seven tanto knives and a couple keikan daggers. “Do any of you know how to use them?”

“We’ve been trained on most weaponry.” Tanaka had said frankly, picking one up and eyeing it critically. Daichi had reached for one as well, checking its balance and craftsmanship. They weren’t top end, but neither were they bottom, and for what they needed, they would definitely work.

“Then I hope you remember it. Have you guys ever killed people before?” He’d asked and Daichi had remembered freezing at the question. Suga had stilled beside him, and Tanaka had found his gaze in the abrupt tension.

“I have.” Kageyama had quietly answered first, surprising them all. Hinata had spun on him with shock, the tanto he’d grabbed loosely forgotten in his hands.

“What?”

Kageyama had looked away from his leveler, unwilling to meet any of their gazes. He’d looked like he’d been kicked somehow, as if he were appalled to even be in his own skin.

“It was at the end of the big Gamut Run exercise right before we were upgraded to a full-fledged sentry unit, due for missions. My father pulled me aside and had me kill a bound and condemned man as my final initiant act before he would allow me to move forward with you guys. He said it was so that I wouldn’t freeze when I finally had to do it in a fight… in case there was more than one adversary.” He’d murmured, his eyes completely vacant and voice dead as the memory had overtaken him. Hinata had dropped the knife back on a table and grabbed his arm, his face slack.

“Is that why you barely said two words the whole next week?” He’d asked softly, his other hand rising to trace an index finger over his leveler’s cheekbone as his cerulean gaze had focused back on him. Kageyama hadn’t responded, but he hadn’t pulled away either.

“So have I.” Daichi had murmured, drawing their attention. After Kageyama’s admission, it had suddenly been easy to voice his own.

“You, too, Daichi?” Hinata had asked weakly.

“Mine was the day right before you guys came back after you were grounded. We were scouting one of the outlying areas and got into a scrap with some hawks. I’d snapped the guy’s neck before I realized it.” He says, his eyes finding the floor, and he feels his leveler drift closer to him, a silent vote of support.

“He took after Suga. He had it coming.” Tanaka had said sullenly, his arms coming up across his chest and his face pulling into a scowl.

Daichi knew the bald crow had been attempting to stem the bout of depression that inevitably accompanied the memory of feeling the man’s neck just… ‘click’... in his grasp, and the quickly following realization that he’d just ended a life. On purpose.

The guy hadn’t died immediately. It had taken a minute or two during which the only part of him that still moved— his eyes— had wildly flickered around at him, at Suga, at everyone, completely fractured with fear as he slowly suffocated due to paralysis of his lungs. When they’d finally turned glassy, the large crow had been shaking so badly that he’d had to sit down. The had been lucky that the confrontation was over as quick as it had started, and he hadn’t been stuck dealing with his gut-wrenching reaction while trying to defend himself from another attacker.

But it had allowed the full weight of the truth to crash down in its entirety: he’d killed someone. He was the reason that someone else’s life was cut short. He’d been plagued by staggering guilt and questions since then.

Had he really had to kill the hawk? What if he was just following someone else’s instructions? What had he thought in those last couple minutes? Or was there only fear? Did he have a family, someone waiting for him? Children? Did they know that their wait would be forever now? Had he had a leveler and he’d actually killed two people?

More than once Koushi had come and just sat with him in a quiet secluded place, saying nothing and instead, providing silent support just by staying beside him. If they survive, he hopes Kageyama will have the presence of mind to do the same for Hinata now.

“Tobio.” The little redhead’s quiet voice breaks the dark silence. “I’m going to get my sister back. Are you ready?” He asks, and the black resolve in his face is something Daichi will never forget.

He understands the leaded determination swirling inside Hinata; the kid needs a reason to justify having killed someone. Daichi has no doubt that the redhead will stop at nothing to rescue the little girl, and mentally urges him to cling to that. Gods knew, the larger crow is positive the only reason he didn’t lose his mind after he’d killed the hawk was the knowledge that Koushi might have been injured or killed instead if he hadn’t. The crow setter holds onto Hinata a moment longer, then nods.

“There were only three guards at the south alarm tower. They won’t be an issue anymore and we took out another four between here and there. There are plenty left, but I think I can handle the other alarm post alone.” Kuroo murmurs and turns to Daichi even though he still addresses them all.

“The entrance to the vault is just this side of the first building, but there might be more. The shrimp can show you. You will have to clear the guards posted there and then keep a watch while a couple people sweep the inside for Natsu. Your wings will still be a flag, so you will want to lead with Feathers’ leveler to help throw anyone you meet head on. Be quick and don’t hesitate, because they won’t pause in killing you. Be mindful of their reflexes; they’re freaky fast. And um…” Kuroo frowns, his gaze skimming across each of them.

“Try not to sustain injury. Most of their weapons — bolts included— are usually coated with venom; one good strike can kill even if the blow itself might be minor. All the more if one tries biting you. Not every snake will be venomous, but you can bet that if one of them is trying to sink their fangs into you, you will die in agony if they succeed. Most snake venoms are faster acting than your leveler connections can heal, so don’t count on them. I have a couple remedies, but they aren’t guaranteed to save you. Eh, do you…” Kuroo draws a deep breath.

“Do you guys have any questions?” Daichi thinks he hears a note of unease in his voice, and he has to remind himself that this is Kuroo.

The feline didn’t do this kind of thing with others; he worked alone. He’d even suggested that he be the only one to enter the compound and retrieve Natsu at first, but had met opposition from every side. Daichi can tell that he hates splitting them like this, hates that they are in any danger at all. But there is no scenario where retrieving Natsu will not be dangerous.

“I think we’re ready.” Suga says beside him, the black cat swallows hard and nods.

“Okay… I’d rather take your job, but we need that other alarm post out before someone notices anything’s amiss. The full force of a massive snake nest is the last thing we need bearing down on us. So just like we planned, then. I guess… be safe guys. It would be fan-fucking-tastic if we could all go home after this.” The cat says with the slightest hue of nerves.

 “That includes your fuzzy ass. Don’t get yourself iced either.” Tanaka murmurs, before turning to pick his way carefully down into the holding point. Kuroo nods and Daichi exchanges a grasping of arms with the cat as the younger level pair follow the bald crow.

“Good luck.” The large crow murmurs before slipping after the other three, Suga right behind him.

Hinata soon slips into the lead, and takes them swiftly in a wide arc around the cleared forestation, sticking to the shadows until they are right up behind the first building. The redhead pulls his tanto out and leads out first, casually walking up to the building and then skirting its side. For a moment, Daichi wants to ask what he’s doing, but he blinks as he notices his posture.

His steps and demeanor look like Kuroo… relaxed and evenly measured. If a snake senses body heat, someone acting completely normal would be less suspicious than someone acting uneasy. He feels the hair on his neck rise just a bit. For a moment, Daichi can completely believe that he is an elite assassin with his poise and easy silent movements. The kid disappears around the side of the building, there’s a quiet grunt and then nothing.

The next few seconds are nerve wracking. The only reason they know that sound probably didn’t come from Hinata is that Kageyama is still crouched tensely beside them, his eyes fixed on the point where his leveler disappeared.

And then the shrimp’s head pokes back around the side, his small form straining to move something heavy. Kageyama and Tanaka react before Daichi can say anything. Both crows zip over to him, their wings releasing echoes into the silence around them with every beat.

Hinata’s head snaps their way and he automatically drops his burden and catches Kageyama’s shirt, jerking him out of the air. Tanaka lands as well and the shrimp glares at them and puts a finger to his lips. By this point, he and Suga are moving, catching up with the other two as they help the redhead pull the body of a snake out of sight around the side of the building, it’s minimal facial features unnerving.

Daichi can feel his mind shutting down slightly as he numbly stares at the man in horrified wonder. He can see the way Hinata had first buried the long knife in his ribs and then slid it across the man’s exposed neck after he’d collapsed. For the second time, he thinks that Hinata could secretly be an assassin. Kageyama apparently wasn’t the only one who could turn off emotions in a pinch.

Hinata holds up a hand to pause them around the corner before stepping back into the direct light of a torch and Daichi catches a smear of red on his arm.

“Snakes have a harder time feeling body heat through walls and earth so if you are clearing a building or something room by room, approach each with caution. A snake that’s particularly vigilant might still know you are on the other side of the door.” Kuroo had said.

There’s the quiet opening and closing of a door… and then three nearly inaudible knocks on it.

Like a damn breaking behind a lake, energy snaps across his muscles and they all move. Hinata’s warning still sharp in their minds, they all dart around the corner on feather light feet, Kageyama the first to the door.

Three knocks. Three or more adversaries.

There’s a quiet thump as Kageyama bursts in, his tanto already drawn as Daichi, Tanaka, and Suga follow. The room freezes, four glittering pairs of slitted eyes turning their way and a flash of almond.

And then it breaks.

The shrimp pulls his tanto and shoves it into the snake holding him against the wall with a hand around his neck. Kageyama heads straight for the next one beside Hinata, Tanaka for the one sitting at a desk, and Daichi and Suga both round on the last. This one is quick and blocks Suga’s strike, but Daichi uses his tanto sheath to knock him back.

Raising the knife, he sees a flash of circular golden hawk eyes before the two-tone slitted ones of the snake before him take their place, and he brings it down with a sharp intake. The snake jerks away and his aim becomes non-lethal, but Suga’s isn’t so benign. The thrush buries his knife in the snake’s neck, throttling the sound that had been on the verge of escaping it.

Knowing he won’t survive Koushi’s hit, Diachi spins to assist the others, only to find them all straightening already. It had been only moments, but all four snakes lie either dead or dying. Daichi pulls in a breath and tries to flatten out his heart rate as Hinata heads for the door at the back of the room. His hand is closing on the handle when it bursts open and two more snakes push in. Hinata stumbles and Kageyama quickly finds himself the target of one, Tanaka the other.

Daichi’s reflexes vault him forward, the sight of his unit mates under siege enough to blank all thought except what matters.

“Don’t grapple with snakes. Stick with melee. The moment you close a hand on them, they will have a target to aim for.” Kuroo’s voice echoes in his head and at the last moment, Daichi changes action and closes a hand on the snake’s shirt. He hauls on it with all the force he can bring.

If the snake is too busy trying to recover, how is he going to aim for anything?

The snake crashes to the floor and Tanaka quickly takes advantage of his confusion to gain the upper hand and finish him off with one fluid stab to the ribs. When the large crow looks up, he sees that Hinata has failed to remember Kuroo’s advice… but it doesn’t matter much.

The redhead has leaped onto the back of the other snake attacking Kageyama, plunging his tanto into the soft space on top of his shoulder. The snake has no chance to react before Kageyama’s finds his lung from the other side. Daichi sucks in a breath, his adrenaline still spurring his heartbeat and glances at his leveler.

Except Koushi isn’t there.

Daichi feels panic for an instant, his gaze quickly scouring the room. He’s on the verge of tearing the place apart when a sound from the second room draws their attention. They enter to find Suga standing over another snake and wiping his tanto against his shirt with a mildly satisfied expression.

Daichi stares, because homicide isn’t something he’d have ever imagined the thrush being even remotely capable of let alone appearing so unaffected by. The grey-haired setter turns back toward them with a small smile.

“I found the canary.” He says with a wry smirk and Daichi blinks at his poor joke.

Seriously. Who was this guy and what had he done with Sugawara?

“Koushi?” He asks uncertainly and his leveler glances at him with eyes bright.

“I also found the entrance.” He says with a grin and points to a door in the corner. It’s open and Daichi can see stairs leading down below them. He looks to the three younger avians, hating that he’s going to split their unit up even more.

“You guys go ahead, Suga and I will keep watch.” He says.

They nod and disappear down the stairs, the redhead taking the lead once more. Once Daichi can no longer hear them, he turns to where Suga is crouched, studying the snake he’s just killed. The crow frowns.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to imagine what he must have been like.” He says with a small smile. It’s frankly unnerving.

“Koushi… are you alright?” He asks carefully and Suga’s grey eyes find his own with surprise before he breaks out into one of his pure sweet smiles that crinkles his eyes.

“Of course. I can always weep later, Daichi. Right now, I will laugh, because it means I’m still alive.”

Daichi’s eyes widen. Somehow, the thrush’s words put him both at ease and on edge.

“Don’t do anything reckless, Koushi.” He murmurs and Suga chuckles.

“This whole plan is reckless. But I think it’s worth the risk.” He says lightly before looking back at the snake thoughtfully.

“Ne, Daichi. Do you suppose this guy had a family who knew what his day job was?”

The large crow doesn’t know if he should be mortified or awed at the thrush’s calmly morbid thought line. On one hand, he’s happy because it means that the thrush is thinking probably clearer than the rest of them combined… on the other, his demeanor is straight up wrong for Koushi.

Daichi and Suga have barely been standing guard for five minutes before the three are back up, their faces creased with determination. Suga glances their way with surprise.

“That’s not the way down?”

“Oh, it was.” Tanaka grouses darkly.

“Then where’s Natsu?” Daichi asks. Hinata barely falters as he heads for the door.

“She wasn’t there. One of the people said she doesn’t stay down there with them, and they haven’t seen her since yesterday.” He says evenly, his almond eyes fixed coldly ahead of him. “I’ll go through every building here if I have to.”

“Did you run into any snakes down there?” Suga asks.

“We went all the way to where the tunnels let out at the gorge cliffs and only ran into four.” Kageyama says flatly, following his leveler.

Daichi knows what Suga is doing, because he’s doing it, too. Three snakes at the south alarm post, four along the way, one outside the holding cell entry point, seven inside, four down below… that’s almost twenty, and who knows how many more Kuroo’s taken out by now.

The fox had said to expect somewhere around fifty to sixty total. Daichi tries to rack his brain and remember the fox’s sketch as Hinata slips back outside… which one of these buildings had been the barracks again? He’s quite sure there’s probably a good twenty snakes in there alone and they should avoid that one— at least until Kuroo gets back from taking out that other alarm bell and pyre.

Hinata slinks across the way to the building facing the holding point entry. As they trail after him, he pushes open the door and steps inside. No knocks echo back and he’s slipping back out momentarily.

“Supplies.” He mouths and heads for the next building, keeping as much to the shadows as possible, his eyes constantly scanning the vicinity.

Daichi can’t help but feel like they are playing roulette; he really doesn’t want to end up in the barracks. He eyes the other three buildings they haven’t tried yet with misgiving, but Hinata doesn’t waver. They trail after him, making sure to keep a ten-meter radius so he can act as both an advance draw and a distraction for any snake who notices him.

Daichi really has to give Kageyama props; he wouldn’t have near as much faith in the universe if it were Koushi being used as a proverbial lantern.

Hinata reaches the next building, one with light that spills from the windows, and a burst of muffled drunken laughter escapes. Daichi can guess this isn’t the barracks just by the sound; probably their on-site dive. They edge up behind him as the redhead glances into the window. His hand fists and he drops back down out of sight.

“She’s here.” he says in a furious brittle whisper. His next words are nothing but fury. “Kageyama, they hacked her feathers.” Daichi blinks, unsure exactly what that means.

“How many, Shouyou.” His leveler asks.

“Six that I could see. One more at the counter. I’d say at least a couple more to be safe.”

“Well what do we have here? Runaways?”

Daichi spins in place at the sudden leering voice behind him. He can barely glimpse the unexpected outline and his spine goes rigid.

Shit.

“Forget that birds don’t see at night?” The shape asks stepping closer.

Shit, shit, shit.

This is how everything goes to hell, Daichi thinks and throws an arm in front of Koushi.

“How were you planning to leave in the dark? Torches make you an easy target and—”

He stumbles backward with a gasp and Tanaka bursts forth, grabbing Daichi’s tanto. He lands on the snake, driving the blade home and the Daichi blinks as the bald crow silences him. He pulls the knife and hands it back to the former sentry leader and then reaches for another.

His own, Daichi realizes. He threw his own and attacked with mine.

“I vote we not play in the dark. We are at a disadvantage when we can’t see them but they can feel us.” He mutters darkly.

“I vote we move… someone might’ve heard that.” Suga murmurs.

They skirt the back side of the little taproom only to find a back door. Hinata slips inside and there’s a slight rustle and then a single knock. They follow him in to find one snake sprawled in a widening pool of blood, and Hinata steps over him headed for the other door. The redhead peaks through and silently closes it again to another round of raucous laughter.

“There’s a hallway and then the bar. How do you want to do this?” He asks looking up at Daichi. The crow glances around at them in the low lamplight.

“We could try luring a few back first before tackling the rest so we aren’t facing so many at once.” Tanaka suggests. It’s the safer option, but Daichi frowns.

If they dawdle too long, someone will eventually take notice of someone’s absence… or one of the bodies they’ve left lying around. If the cat— skies forbid— bought it, they are flying this mission in some seriously hazardous territory. Daichi wants them out as soon as possible.

“The more time we spend the more likely someone discovers us, and we haven’t seen the cat again, so we can’t be certain the other alarm is down yet. They haven’t been all that skilled from what we’ve seen so far. I think we can take them.” He says.

“So, a brawl it is.” Tanaka says with a leering grin.

“I have an idea… give me two seconds to get out the front door and then bust in.” Hinata says. He’s automatically acting as decoy again, banking that they won’t kill him if they think he’s an escapee, and Daichi can see the dark glower that paints Kageyama’s face. To be honest, he dislikes using the redhead in such a way, too.

“Sounds good. Lead off Hinata.” Suga says with an encouraging smile.

The small spiker nods, reaches out once to Kageyama and turns to the door. He takes a deep breath and wrenches it open. His footsteps pound down the hallway and then echo back from the taproom, the amiable buzz of drunken chatter stalling as he heads for the door.

“Oi, what the fuck?” And then there’s movement as the door opens.

“Hey, get back here, kid!” The door opens again and Daichi moves, everyone on his heels.

“Freakin’ scaleburn. It’s probably Jarda; he’s been told about screwing with the assets. We’re gonna catch it for—”

The snake doesn’t get another word out before Daichi sinks the tanto in his neck, his leveler, Kageyama and Tanaka all pouring out of the hallway just behind him. He pulls it free, leaving the snake to grasp at his bleeding throat, and turns on another as he rises from his seat at a low table. As he sets on him aggressively, he catches sight of at least four others in the room, three fending off his unit mates and one heading for the door.

Kageyama dispatches his opponent and quickly follows the other outside. A flash of orange catches his vision, and he sees one more slit pupiled man grab Natsu’s arm from where she cowers by a wall. Daichi dodges a knife and slips inside the strike to slash the snake’s throat. He turns in time to see the last snake dragging Natsu through the door after the avian prince and scowls.

“Oi, time to go you guys. Our quarry is leaving without us.” He barks at where Tanaka is helping Suga finish off his target. When he’s sure they have it under control, Daichi buzzes for the door as well. As he steps outside, he can see three snakes strewn about in the dim light that filters out around him, Kageyama and Hinata facing two more standing back to back.

A bizarre ‘pkkt’ sound erupts near his feet and he looks down to see an arrow embedded in the dirt.

Fuck. They aren’t invisible anymore.

The other two step out behind them as Hinata drops under a jab and brings his own knife up into his assailant’s gut. Another arrow piffs into the ground by the younger level pair, but a whimper draws their attention. Even if the young avian prince is focused on his opponent, Daichi knows he’s very attuned to the snake who has a hold of Natsu.

Daichi, Suga and Tanaka take off after the little girl and the man jerks her forward and races between the last two buildings and to the edge of the river gorge, before turning back to them. A grim smile creases his face.

“I wondered if that was the kid from Ivoya. She’s why you’re here isn’t she?” He asks and Daichi deduces that he must be the snake that retrieved Hinata’s sister.

Daichi advances, ignoring how another arrow strikes the ground just ahead of himself, the feathering barely having brushed his shoulder. The snake sneers and grabs Natsu by the neck. Her little hands come up to grasp his arm, her large almond eyes welling with frantic tears as he holds her out over the edge.

“Natsu!” He hears the redhead say behind him.

Daichi freezes. He finally gets a good look at her wings as they flap haphazardly— what’s left of them.

Hinata was right. All of her feathers have been cut just past the downy point where they embed in the wing; it’s all but just short of having pulled them altogether and she looks oddly close to what Kageyama had when his wings had gone bald. She won’t even be able to attempt a guided landing; she’ll fall like a stone. Was this her punishment for talking to strangers?

Another arrow strikes the ground.

Their archer must be a novice, Daichi offhandedly thinks with annoyance and takes another step forward.

“I’ll let her go.” The snake threatens.

“Do it and you’re dead.” Tanaka growls.

“Tanpri...” She whimpers.

“We’ll let you go if you put her back down.” Daichi says, attempting to reason with him. The snake stares at him, slitted pupils hard and unyielding.

When a piercing clang breaks across the sky, Daichi isn’t alone when he jars.

Warning bell. Shit. Does that mean Kuroo failed?

He can see Suga glance sharply toward the alert tower as it rings again. More and more echoing chimes fill the air, but Daichi keeps his eyes on the snake holding Natsu’s life in his hand. A slow sadistic smile spreads across his face as the door of the building next to them bursts open and snakes start flooding out.

Ah, hell.

As the first of them hit Hinata and Kageyama, the man lets go of the little girl.

Her screech reminds him of Hinata’s voice as she disappears and he reflexively reaches for her.

“Natsu!” Hinata yells, and Daichi moves to leap before he flinches as another pair of wings nearly bowls him over.

Tanaka launches past him, his wings pushing flat out toward the gorge, and then, as another assailant faces Daichi, the bald crow, too, disappears over the ledge.

The bell rings one last time and then stops, but they are surrounded now. If they don’t figure a way out in the next very short few minutes, they will have a whole bunch more to deal with. If they can get to Hinata and Kageyama and grab the redhead and get off the ground, the only thing they will need to worry about will be the arrows— although he doubts that archer could hit anything.

But there are enough snakes that getting off the ground might prove difficult in the first place. If they can thin them out and avoid injury, they might have a shot.

He throws himself into the melee, hoping to hell that the others remember not to take injury. He focuses on one enemy at a time while still attempting to defend on all sides, but it’s difficult, because they shift between attackers constantly. For the first time, he thanks the Grand King for his brutal sparring sessions. The rookery leader had often encouraged foul play or dirty moves in their bouts, because if they were to ever come up against real enemies, there was little chance they would observe battle chivalry.

The Grand King had been right. And Daichi sees that training manifesting in all of their moves. When on the ground, a bird’s greatest weakness was its wings, something that many years of sparring against the rookery leader’s ‘war dog’ unit had taught them through an unimaginable number of lost feathers. As a result, they all guard them with infinite care, keeping them close against their backs and out of reach.

He manages to take one serpent down and another quickly takes its place. He hears a whoop over his shoulder and knows the freak duo is working as a team and they’ve just brought down another. One, two more go down, but Daichi knows they will tire eventually and their enemy still outnumbers them over two to one.

Oi. Not looking good.

But then another flash of wings as Tanaka crashes to the ground between the younger level pair and Suga and himself, his grey eyes flashing sharply and his scowl murderous.

And there, on his back, clinging to his shirt with a white knuckled grip and feet wrapped around his gut, is a small wiry body with orange hair. Daichi almost wants to tell him to ’at least go put the kid somewhere safer’, but his attention is commanded by the snake in front of him.

The fray around them seems to slack just a moment as soft ringing echoes across the land, the same note as the alarm bell from earlier, long and insistently reverberating. It doesn’t stop and he realizes that it must be the main nest.

What the…were they under attack as well?

He can see snakes pause around them with confusion and he takes a moment to assess his companions. All the avians breathe hard, sweat shining against their skin in the torchlight.

They are tiring.

Just as Daichi is wondering how the hell they are going to survive this, nearly a third of the snakes around them break off, heeding an unspoken order. They melt into the shadows and disappear, leaving the numbers far more even. And as if a switch were flipped, the serpents all resume their attack.

Daichi feels as if they’ve been given a gift, been thrown a lifeline and he can feel his energy levels surge with hope. They all dodge, parry, and attack in fluid tandem, and one by one, the numbers start to slide. Two more go down under Tanaka’s and Kageyama’s blades and then Kuroo bursts from the shadows, his eyes narrowed and lean body flipping into the mess.

“You guys suck at stealth.” He grouses darkly and plunges his tanto into the juncture of Daichi’s most recent attacker’s neck.

“I distinctly remember someone saying they were going to take out the damn bell before they got a chance to use it. We were fine till you woke everyone up.” He growls back.

And then it happens.

Tanaka stumbles. He recovers in a flash and instantly reaches for a wing… where an arrow has pierced it. With a fierce snarl, he snaps the shaft and yanks it out. The younger level pair look over toward him… and it’s a distraction— an opening that the snakes have been waiting for.

One lunges for the avian prince, who sees the strike at the last moment and sidesteps. Daichi would be privately awed at his reflexes if the younger crow hadn’t misjudged his surroundings. Kageyama avoids the strike but trips on the outstretched arm of a former adversary. He’s already overbalanced too far and his wings can’t keep him on his feet and he ends up on his butt.

“Tobio!” Hinata shouts, frantically trying to make his way toward the crow setter where he parries a heavy strike from the snake with his tanto. Daichi is half a step into moving in his direction as well when the snake pulls a second weapon— a dagger, and his mind goes numb.

There’s no way he can get there to stop this. Hinata is already pushing full force toward him, Tanaka, too, but no one is close enough.

Daichi can kill for the people he cares about; he’d learned that three years ago. Daichi won’t stand by and watch one of them die… but what can he possibly do here?

The snake raises the dagger and Daichi sucks in a breath.

And a gleaming flash zips by his head making him flinch. The snake topples backward, a tanto wedged deep between his ribs, and Kageyama regains his feet in an instant. Daichi’s head snaps back to look at Koushi, dread curling in his gut.

The thrush lithely dodges the strikes aimed at him, but Daichi can barely breathe as he ducks one aimed for himself. Sugawara pulls out one of the two keikan daggers Kuroo had given them, but he’s discarded his primary weapon. He’d thrown his tanto— his main offensive capability, to save Kageyama’s life. Daichi’s nerves fray rapidly as he attempts to reach him, to back him up.

And then Suga staggers as well, and when he straightens in surprise, Daichi sees the shaft of another arrow and his heart skips a beat.

Two minutes ago he couldn’t hit a damn thing. Now he’s gotten both Suga and Tanaka?

When he eliminates the next snake in front of him and gets a better look through the chaos, the world slows.

Daichi could fight for his friends, and Daichi could Kill for his friends. Daichi could give up his own blood for his friends, and Daichi could give everything else— his very life— for his friends; what he couldn’t give, was Suga’s.

The archer’s hit his mark this time.

It’s not just a mild wing shot or clipping graze that can be easily dealt with. The arrow has sunk deep into Koushi’s chest, the feathering mere inches from his ribs and Daichi is almost positive that it’s probably gone all the way through and out his back. And where it’s at… it has to have hit a lung.

His leveler’s grey eyes widen just a moment before he jerks, and dodges the snake’s next strike all the same. And as Koushi returns his focus to his opponent, Daichi’s world starts once more, his panic rising and his awareness heightening.

“Suga!” He barks, neatly dodging another snake attempting to take advantage of his distraction. He drives his tanto into the back of his neck as he stumbles by him.

The snake numbers are rapidly dwindling with the appearance of Kuroo to help even the odds, but Daichi honestly couldn’t say how many were actually left. He swiftly strikes another down, his gaze fixed firmly on only one. The thrush seems unfazed by the arrow for the most part and dances out of range of the relentless assailant. Daichi is two steps from the snake, ready to decapitate him, when the serpent finally connects. His blade drags across Koushi’s collarbone and shoulder, slicing through his shirt with ease.

And then Daichi’s strike removes his head cleanly, the snake having no chance.

When he looks back up at his leveler, Koushi’s gone still, a small smile on his face as he watches Daichi scramble toward him.

“Suga!” He says urgently, his hands coming up to the thrush’s arms, terror creeping into his veins. But Suga laughs and brushes him off.

“You really are amazing when you’re fired up, you know that?” He asks as if he doesn’t have an arrow through a lung. The black cat materializes beside him with a scowl, a finger drifting out to trace the cut near his neck.

“I told you not to get hit.” He growls with something of a pained whine. “Not only did you catch an arrow, you caught a knife. We need to get out of here.” There’s an urgency to the cat’s voice when he grabs Suga’s arm and starts drawing him forward.

But Kuroo’s ear twitches and Daichi sees him jerk Koushi backward as another arrow skims by his cheek. The large crow spins, his eyes taking in Tanaka as he helps the younger level pair take care of the last two snakes, Natsu still with her death grip clinging to his back. Daichi is scanning the buildings around them for movement that would betray the archer when Kuroo’s hand closes on his shirt and he jars.

“We need to get out of range. I can’t treat him here. Tanaka’s got the kid, let’s go.” Kuroo says darkly before barking at the other three. “Oi. We’re clear! Come on.”

Kuroo leads them a fair distance into the forest and the dark, their eyes failing them, but they follow with complete faith in the cat. When he stops, Daichi hears the other three right on their tail. Suga sags into his side and he instantly turns toward him.

“Koushi?” He feels Kuroo materialize beside him.

“Sugawara.” He says and Daichi feels his leveler look toward the cat. “How do you feel.”

“Eh… weak?” He murmurs and Daichi’s pulse elevates with fear as he feels the thrush press into him even more.

“No, I mean— never mind. We need to get him to Kenma. I can’t do anything for him here.” Kuroo turns.

“Tanaka, I need you to help Daichi get him back.” He directs.

There’s a soft rustle and a small whimper.

“Eto… she’s kinda bein’ clingy.” He says uncomfortably and Daichi realizes he’s talking about Natsu. He hears Kuroo huff in frustration.

“Can you trust your shrimp to me one more time, Feathers? I’ll be right below you guys.”

The avian prince moves to Koushi’s other side without a word.

“There’s an opening in the tree line right above us. Head east when you’re up. You get up high enough, you should be able to see Kenma’s lantern. It’s about a league out. I hope you know how to hang on Shrimp, let’s go.” He says briskly.

He and Kageyama lift off, each with a hand under one of Koush’s arms. Daichi can barely think above his racing heartbeat, his dread almost suffocating. Koushi has to be alright.

Has to.

They get above the trees, Tanaka right beside them, and the bald crow spots the lantern— a tiny light against one of the far hills. He and Kageyama take off toward it, Sugawara listless between them, and Daichi only grows more anxious as he listens to the thrush’s breathing pick up. He pushes harder and he has to give his former unit mate credit; Kageyama matches him stroke for stroke, hurtling them across the sky.

Tanaka drops back, and for a moment Daichi has to remind himself that the crow took an arrow through a wing; he’s probably hurting as well.

As Kenma’s lantern grows brighter, then clear, then a target they are dropping down on, Daichi sees the golden cat standing by a cart with two horses.

A means to transport non-flying individuals.

When Kuroo had said that, he hadn’t thought it would mean Koushi being so injured. He chances a glance at his leveler and blanches. The front of his shirt is stained black with blood from the knife wound, his skin is pale, and a sheen of sweat shines on his forehead. Daichi nods to Kageyama as they carefully set the thrush down, his leveler offering zero resistance.

Kuroo pushes through the underbrush just behind them, Hinata wrapped around him much like Natsu had been with Tanaka in the fight minutes before. The redhead slips off and Kuroo quickly drops beside the thrush where his legs have folded up beneath him and he leans against Daichi. Kuroo swiftly tears Suga’s shirt away from the knife wound that still readily bleeds as Tanaka drops beside them. The black cat swears and pulls out a packet and when he opens it, the scent of a weed hit’s Daichi’s nose.

“Yarrow?”

“I grabbed some because Yachi used it on Bokuto when he was impaled to stop the bleeding.” He says, pressing it into the leaking cut.

“Sugawara.” He says sharply and the thrush’s eyes focus on Kuroo sluggishly.

“Are you seeing double?” He asks. His leveler frowns faintly and shakes his head.

“Do you feel like you are going to throw up?” Another negative.

“Dizzy.” He murmurs instead, his breathing shallow. Kuroo’s brow creases.

“It’s all wrong. I don’t even know which hit is the one poisoning him— maybe both.”

“Not the arrow.” Tanaka says and Kuroo looks up at him.

“I got one in a wing and I don’t feel nothin’. Just hurts like hell.” He says.

“The cut then. Daichi, what color were the snake’s eyes?” The large crow blinks.

“Huh?”

“The one who hit him. I give him the wrong serum, it’ll just make it worse.” The cat says impatiently. Daichi has no idea. He never got a good look at the snake’s face before he’d swept his head from his shoulders.

“I don’t know.”

“Fuck. Okay… he’s not bruising under the cut and his fingers aren’t turning blue, but he isn’t vomiting and he doesn’t have double vision…” The cat mumbles before frowning and placing two fingers over the thrush’s wrist.

“But a racing pulse. Mamushi?” He says with a scowl and pulls out the two vials the fox had given them and hands one to Daichi.

“Get him to drink this.” He says and turns his attention to the arrow. Daichi takes it and pulls the little cork uncertainly as the cat eyes the shaft.

“At least it went all the way through. We won’t have to deal with the barb being stuck inside him. Thank you whoever invented crossbows.” The cat murmurs as Daichi brings the vile to Koushi’s mouth.

And almost drops it when Kuroo’s hand latches onto his arm in an iron grip. Daichi turns to him with confusion.

“Hold on.” He says with narrowed eyes and Daichi follows his gaze.

A thin trickle of blood escapes from the corner of Koushi’s mouth.

“Suga?” He asks worriedly, and Kuroo is quickly snatching the vile back from him.

“Feathers, did Sugawara cough at all on the way here?”

“No.” Kageyama says and Daichi blinks; he honestly can’t remember the flight much.

“Fuck.” He murmurs more sincerely and Daichi glances at him with alarm.

“What?”

“He didn’t cough so the blood in his mouth isn’t coming from the arrow in his lung. I’m pretty sure I know what was on that knife.” He says with a heavy breath and reaches back into his shirt and pulls out another small vial.

“Yamakagashi. I picked it up on a whim yesterday. I seriously hope there was nothing else on those bolts, Baldy.” He says holding it out to Daichi.

“What happens if there is?” He asks, not moving to take it.

“This serum fails and makes everything worse.”

“You expect me to give that to him?” Daichi asks, his face darkening with fury. The black cat focuses his uneven gaze on him with flat sincerity.

“Yes. You do nothing, he’s dead either way. Yamakagashi venom messes with the blood. It makes you bleed and bleed and bleed. That’s why he’s bleeding from his mouth. You let it go, it causes major organ failure and he will die in agony. It also means I can’t take that bolt out or he’ll bleed out faster.

“I thought it might be mamushi, but his heart rate is up because he’s already lost a lot. You give him this, he might still die, but at least he has a chance. And this is the only option where that chance exists right now. Once we get the venom under control, we can try to take the bolt out. If we can get that far, your leveler bond might just be able to save him.” Kuroo says.

Daichi stares at him for a long moment and looks back at Koushi and the way his grey eyes focus blankly straight ahead. The large crow mechanically reaches for the vial, feeling more than ever as if he’s playing roulette, but in a violent and bizarrely inverted way— like instead of trying not to land on the chance that kills them, he’s trying to land on the one that saves them. Those odds are far worse.

His jaw clenches as he uncorks it and taps Koushi’s cheek, trying to get his attention.

“Koushi.” He says quietly. “Koushi, look at me.” Hazy grey eyes lift up to his face.

“Koushi, my brilliant silver star, I need you to do something for me.”

“Daichi?” He asks with a slight frown. “Dai, it’s fuzzy.”

“I know. I need you to swallow this.” His brow creases and then his mouth quirks.

“I’ll always swallow for you, Daichi.”

For a moment, he can’t believe the words that leave the thrush’s mouth. Of the two of them, Suga is by far the more conscious of their activities around others. Daichi snorts with mild embarrassment on his behalf… and did he just hear a snrrk from Kuroo?  If there was any doubt left in the younger three former sentries’ minds about the nature of their relationship, he knows there won’t be now. If they survive this, his leveler will probably be mortified to learn what he’d said in front of them.

All the same, his chest tightens, because he knows by that response that his leveler isn’t all there anymore.

“No, Koushi. I need you to drink this.” He says with muted urgency, feeling his entire face heating as he holds the vial up in front of the thrush.

Koushi’s brow creases and he reaches for it without hesitation, trusting in him one-hundred percent, but Daichi keeps it out of his reach.

“I got it.” He says and brings it up to the thrush’s bloody mouth. One swallow in and his face wrinkles.

“Tase like blood.” He mumbles and Daichi brushes his lips against his hair in apology.

“I know. But you have to finish it.” He says, feeling sick that it tastes like blood, because Koushi’s mouth is full of it, the thrush’s own life bearing liquid. Suga dutifully swallows the last couple gulps and leans his head against Daichi’s shoulder.

“Okay. Everyone into the wagon. Feathers, can you help Sawamura?” Kuroo asks.

Kageyama is already kneeling to help the larger crow lift his leveler before the black cat finishes asking. They situate the thrush carefully against Daichi in a corner, mindful of the arrow, and when everyone is in, Kuroo looks to Kenma.

“He said they should be able to go for several hours. Head for the coast. I have one more thing I have to take care of.”

“Kuroo.” Kenma says plaintively.

“Relax. It will be fine. Just like old times. I’ll catch you on the flip side.”

“I never liked old times, Kuroo.” He says flatly.

“What’s such a big deal that you have to leave? What if Suga needs you?” Tanaka asks with a scowl. Kuroo glances at him.

“I just have to touch base with someone. They’re the reason we’re all still alive tonight, and they are someone who will come looking if I don’t. They aren’t who you want after you, so I just need to check in. It’ll be fine. I’ll catch up with you in an hour and you’ll never know I was gone. And Daichi,” He says, specifically commanding his attention, “Don’t leave his side. And don’t you dare take that arrow out before I get back.”

“Kuroo.”

“I’ll come back, Kenma. I promise. Now get going.” He says tapping the side of the cart and after a long moment, the golden cat shakes the reigns. As they start off into the night, Kuroo disappears. It sets Daichi on edge.

Tanaka had a valid point. What if something goes wrong with Koushi? None of them knows anything about snake venom. And this ‘blood’ one seems horrible. What if the serum doesn’t work? What if there were other venoms in his system? That meant Koushi would most certainly die, didn’t it?

Diachi knows that he’ll knock off, too, if the thrush goes, and he’s honestly fine with that— he wouldn’t want to remain if his leveler was gone, but he hates the thought of the world without Koushi in it. If Hinata was blazing sunshine with all his burning intensity, Koushi was soft starlight in his pure kindness.

He’d always been beautiful, an ethereal presence to him. He remembers as a small child, seeing Koushi’s hair beneath the moon and thinking even back then how it almost seemed like he was a star given physical form. They’d used to stay up till unholy hours all the time as kids, sneaking out to fall asleep watching the stars on a clear night in the topmost branches of the rookery.

Suga had even asked him at one point why he acted more like an owl than a crow since he liked to stay up so late. It had taken Daichi years to find the balls to answer him honestly and tell him that it was because the stars reminded him of the thrush himself. Brilliant, beautiful, purely divine, and unattainable.

And when he and this perfect avian ended up being levelers, it had felt as if the gods had seen fit to allow that star to fall to earth that he might catch and adore it as a celestial light was meant to be. He, Daichi Sawamura, had been granted the life of a star with all the radiance of the entire night sky to hold in his hands, to nurture and protect.

And right now, Suga is fighting for his life. He’s failed… and Daichi doesn’t think he’s ever felt more helpless.

Distantly, he registers the bells from the main nest still clanging in the distance.

Level Pair ; Chapter 1; Chapter 22; Chapter 24

A/N:  Well. There you are. Actiony/suspenseful enough? Boring? I've honestly never tackled a full scale fight scene like this. I don't know how it came out. Also, I couldn't pick the quote I wanted to use so this one gets two XD

This chapter is over 9200 words, so probably longest chapter of Horizon (or Pair), and with this post, I've eclipsed the total word count of Level Pair, too. Nobody panic, though, I have several chapters left before we are done ^.^ We are looking at 30+

Ha, I'm ALMOST willing to bet that no one will guess next chapter's POV. Almost. B/c if I'm wrong, I'll feel like an idiot and far more predictable than I think I am. But I invite you all to guess!

Oh, right. So, my brother is coming to visit, and I will not be posting either tomorrow (Tuesday) or Thursday evening. Have a crazy night, guys!

#Level Pair #level horizon #sawamura daichi #sugawara koushi #Daisuga #kagehina #kuroo tetsurou #fanfiction #LONG POST #HOLY CRAP LONG POST

[uncannygarco-blog]

Gotham is Burning: II

3:19 PM

Reginald Champion has been waiting patiently outside of the auditorium for nineteen minutes, his backpack strapped to him tightly and his phone in hand. He types out another text message - [Elijah where are you?] - the third he's sent in the past hour. Another minute passes without a response. The text reads "Delivered," but remains unread.

A small group of students come around the side of the auditorium, one of whom Reginald recognizes from earlier track meets. "Have you seen Elijah today?" Ronald calls out.

The young man shakes his head and points toward a small, typed, easily missed paper sign beside the door that reads, "All classes, meetings and seminars in this building canceled until Thursday."

"Sorry bro," the young man says. "Haven't seen him either. Won't be here."

Ronald looks down at his phone again to see that there has not yet been a response. "I'll see you Thursday," he calls out as the two of them wave each other off.

4:01 PM

The train ride home is a somber one. The angst of those unread text messages have seeped themselves so deeply into Ronald's consciousness that he cannot help but feel something is wrong. He stares at his phone again, waiting for something to change. Nothing does. He dials Elijah's number, which at this point he knows by heart. He puts the phone to his ear expecting it to ring, but it goes straight to voicemail. "You'd better be okay," he says to himself.

There are few adversities which Reginald has not overcome in his life, but in trying to better himself through education, he has found himself at ground zero in the quiet war being waged against powered individuals. It isn't anything he knows he can't handle, but dragging his closest friend into this pit of uncertainty with him has since weighed heavily on his consciousness.

"Just for your own protection," he overhears, as two ominous, uniformed figures make their ways down the center aisle. Reginald peers more closely and notices that they are each carrying some type of device - small, metallic and Walkman sized. As these devices point Reginald's way, a loud, piercing static begins to ring out from his phone.

Startled, Reginald quickly ends the call and turns around in his seat so as not to appear suspicious. It does not work - he immediately hears the shuffling of these uniformed men move more hastily toward him. Realizing it is probably better for him to avoid any interaction, Reginald stands up and walks toward the emergency exit, opens it and moves forward to the next cart.

He walks toward the center of the cart, where he is surrounded by other passengers, seats himself there and lifts his hoodie to cover his distinguishing bald head.

The train's emergency exit opens behind him; Reginald doesn't look backward, he only sits still, his head low, pretending to look through something on his phone.

"THIS STOP IS CONYERS AVE," the train's automated voice states over the speakers.

Reginald feels a sense of relief as the train begins to slow down before the uniformed men have reached him. Just as they near his seat, the train stops and nearly all passengers onboard begin to rush out. Reginald rushes with them, brushing up against one of the uniformed men as he exits onto the platform.

His head is still low - he doesn't realize until bumping into him that another person, in the same uniform, with the same device is waiting on the platform. Reginald looks up and sees that nearly two dozen people, in the same uniform, with the same device, line the train station from end to end.

Most of the passengers ignore them - they almost perfectly blend into the crowd of pedestrians, but as soon as Reginald bumps into this one, all their devices begin to buzz. They all look directly at him. "I need you to answer a few questions for me," this uniformed man states blankly. His expression reeks with determination, perhaps a hint of abhorrence, as he says this. "Come with me," he continues, removing a baton from underneath his black coat.

"STAND CLEAR OF THE PLATFORM," the train's automated voice says as the doors begin to shut behind Reginald.

With only precious, few seconds to react, Reginald launches his fist with as much power as he can at the uniformed man's face. He makes contact, but makes little damage; he is more nervous than excited, and as he has come to learn, it is greatly affecting whatever strength, agility or endurance may have been available to him. All the other uniformed officers withdraw weapons almost immediately. This adversary, much larger than Reginald, doubles back before returning the punch with much more force. However, something unusual happens - while the punch lands squarely on Reginald's face, his entire body shifts uniformly with its impact. A barely noticeable wave of pressure reverberates out from, and then into him; it is like the adrenaline that begins pumping through his veins is uniquely visible. Reginald grabs the officer's fist and uses his other hand to shove the officer's chest.

The officer flies across the room and Reginald recoils backward, slamming himself into the train just as the doors shut in front of him.

Officers swarm the train doors from the outside, but it takes off without them. The two officers inside stare at each other for only a brief moment as Reginald quickly tries to gather himself. " I can explain," he shouts. "Goths make me nervous and you're literally all dressed alike."

Before he can even complete his statement, the larger of these two men, whose name tag reads "Wilhelm F." grabs Reginald by the collar and exclaims, "It's over, freak!"

Without attempting to reason with them any further, Reginald grabs the man's arm and swings him over his shoulder. "Freak?" Reginald questions the accusation. "Have you been going through my phone..." but he is tackled by the other officer - Agent Broadus. The impact forces his body to reverberate again; they both land a few feet away within the cart.

"Resist and we will take you down!" Agent Broadus shouts. He holds his arm around Reginald's neck from behind, attempting a chokehold.

It takes Reginald a second to find his footing again. "Try me," he retorts. Once both his feet are squarely on the floor, he thrusts himself upward with all the force within him, slams the officer into the roof of the car's ceiling, dislodging an emergency exit and knocking out the officer in the process.

Wilhelm F. withdraws another weapon - some type of shotgun, but unlike any Reginald has ever seen before. "Keep a place in hell warm for your friends," the officer taunts as he lets loose a shot. Reginald jumps again to avoid being shot and sails clear through the roof's damaged emergency exit.

He lands on the roof of the train as it careens over the streets of DC and begins rolling backward; quickly, he grabs hold of the next car and steadies himself. Another shot rings out; this one pierces the roof of the train's car, but misses Reginald completely. "I know this street," he says to himself as they approach an overpass. With little time to consider an effective escape, he rolls himself off the side of the train, lands hard onto the roof of a moving car, then bounces onto a busy street.

He stands as fast as he can to avoid being hit by incoming traffic; he fails, as an approaching vehicle skids directly into him in the middle of the street.

Passersby scream.

People everywhere turn toward the commotion, to see Reginald take the impact head on, slide only a few inches backward and come to a halt. His clothing is mangled, the vehicle is totaled, but, aside from a few minor scratches, Reginald appears unhurt.

He peers into the driver's seat to see if the driver is conscious; the driver peers back at him in disbelief. "Sorry..." Reginald says. He reaches into the pocket of his torn jeans and removes a small wad of dollar bills, no more than seven dollars altogether, and places it on top of the twisted hood. "This is all the money I have, so....hope it helps fix your car."

With that, he backs away a bit from the car, squats down for a moment, then jumps out from the street and onto the roof of an adjacent building. The onlookers flooding the street gawk and cheer as Reginald lands, then jumps again, all the way onto a building on the next street over. He jumps again, this time landing onto the street just a few yards down, and lands into the backyard of a building familiar to him. It calms him, and the muscles on his body regress back to their natural form.

As casually as he can manage, he walks around to the front of the building and starts up the stairs to the front doors. That is when he sees him - standing blankly in front of the door, a destitute, disheveled Elijah stands idle, staring at the door without movement. "Elijah...?" Reginald says. The young man doesn't respond. "Elijah, where the hell have you been?! Why didn't you answer my calls and I texted you!"

Elijah slowly, unnervingly takes his gaze off of the front door and turns his body toward Ronald. His eyes are lifeless, his expression is emotionless and his stance appears strained, wildly contorted - almost like he could fall apart at any moment.

"Reggie..." he says calmly. A moment passes as tears flood Reginald's eyes. He doesn't know what has happened to his friend, but he knows it isn't good. "Reggie," Elijah repeats. "I think I died last night."

[where-the-cuckoo-lands]

7/27/14?15? The one dream that had me traveling too much to find a friend

7/27 A small man, whom I though of as a leprechaun but he was wearing a British naval coat, pointy nose balding head long ears is on broken boat, small boat, say he has saved someone. Waters calm but dense fog. On other boat, broken in half, one half a young boy, another a banshee? A woman figure that gave off a dark aura. Knew that the small man had rammed his boat through the other to save the boy. Land, get through port.

Place looks like Windhelm in sky rim , slabs of stone to build everything. Running, I look up to a stair case and see captain jack sparrow, I ask him to teach me piracy and how to survive, he responds with an inaudible comment and a warning jester, I turn around and a large Tyrant(from resident evil) is walking towards me, I run towards a door another man in front of me walks ahead, goes in and locks the door. Tyrant summons a monster, looks like zombie cyborg from card game but more dead space threatening .

I run, goes toward narrow stair way towards a door, another man ahead and locks after entry, I say "shit" really loud as I confirm the locked door. Tyrant summons a dark blob, it takes the form of a pretty woman in black, she approaches me, I'm in a chokehold? I just can't move , she is strangling and lifting me up and im facing her ,cant anything except my arms, I punch her face left and right , it doesn't appear to do anything so, I start scratching her face, she bleeds black ooze, face turns into venoms (marvel) face, win fight by punching venoms face as she tries to bite me.

Runs and its suddenly dark, only light were torches and fire pits, have to sneak around or else dead space monsters will get me. Wake up to mom scolding yuna (my dog),she probably dug a hole. Arms numb from fighting, took 5 seconds to fully wake them up. Trying to fall back asleep, mom making food in kitchen, i heard pans clanking , I remember waking up to the washer banging my wall , and  i remember the booms that shook the walls because I thought someone over loaded the washer. Confirmed with mom,but she wasn't washing anything?????

Back asleep I had a red motor scooter, I go to ihop? I went to some eatery , I learned that the brakes don't work, no panic, I simply stopped it by dragging it out and foot on the floor. I park in front, waitress comes out and talks to me. Why? I assume she was gonna steal my ride, take the keys and walk into restaurant , walk around and then left . Exit restaurant, enter Disneyland, no cellphone no wallet, constant reminder , wearing black basketball shorts, no pockets.Thats why I wasnt carrying anything.

Went on a tram tour with others, sat at front point, tram traveled off rail, through park, suddenly it went through the waters of It’s a Small World, hanging on to rails, they come off and some dumb ass jumps in the water and I am pushed off with him, all for laughs it was fun, I felt the water swirl through my nose and down my throat, thought I was gonna need to take a painkiller at home. because I get sick easily if I drink water from like a pool or something.

Got back in tram, tram stopped cuz of our rough housing, long time passes, dumb ass pulls out a video game console, never seen before like oculus but control attached to head piece, he lets me play a sort of racing game, it was pretty arcade styled, race through desert try to defy rules by climbing vertically up a tower, on radar it looked like I was racing 1k people , I asked him how many people I was competing against, tour restarted.

I was dropped off at a larger version of Tarzan jungle thing, go through but before I cross a bridge to enter a themed apartment I look over to the side and see K***** sitting on a comfort chair under a large tree lit by Christmas light, tree not Christmas tree, others were there too, three guys were trying to talk to K******, sat on chair around her, she notices me and tells me to go on with the trials, to meet her . Ask her to hold on to my scooter keys, I throw them down, they land in between her legs and go under the chair, the thing is that that's when a realized that there was water down there, water reaching her ankles, this explains why the place was well lit even through the only lights I noticed were the Christmas lights.

I climb through the apartment window, instantly changes to an Amnesia horror themed place, old rickety, dimly lit,  had to get through the place, Bro (the main monster) and 2 others hunting me, I get through, in an apartment room walls covered with someone's art, like childhood scribbles, I notice 4 posters but only remember 2 of the colors red and yellow, blood red page with a large black hole in the center, same with the yellow and the blue and green , I remember now . I need to go through another window into another room, I'm stopped and asked a question " who is **** **** ***** **** blonde?" I responded with   “The dumbass who pushed me into the water” , it was acceptable cuz my friend  L** told me just to respond with a name, I go through window, super thirsty, find a storage room with alcohol and an ice chest, get water bottle but frozen solid, make my way outside to find K*****, water at ankles, the Dumb Ass (that guy is still around?) siting next to K*****  , I thank her for watching my keys, an tell her I can't stay, she says so and so couldn't stay either , I turn to see J**** ? Leaving I think J***** cuz all I saw was a dark figure leaving with her green back pack . I hug K*****, she was wearing a leather jacket, her chin pinched my right shoulder. It was a long hug, and reminded her I needed to leave, she's like “yeah I know” and then I wake up. 

I wonder, why I had to leave. Why was I traveling so much?

#cuckoo dream #dream #friends #too many video games #Captain Jack Sparrow #Skyrim #Windhelm #Resident Evil #Disney Land #amnesia the dark descent

[uncannygarco-blog]

gøthâm îs bûrnîng - 🕑

2:19 PM

Ronald Champion has been waiting patiently outside of the auditorium for nineteen minutes, his backpack strapped to him tightly and his phone in hand. He types out another text message - [Elijah where are you?] - the third he's sent in the past hour. Another minute passes without a response. The text reads "Delivered," but remains unread.

A small group of students come around the side of the auditorium, one of whom Ronald recognizes from earlier track meets. "Have you seen Elijah today?" Ronald calls out.

The young man shakes his head and points toward a small, typed, easily missed paper sign beside the door that reads, "All classes, meetings and seminars in this building canceled until Thursday."

"Sorry bro," the young man says. "Haven't seen him either. Won't be here."

Ronald looks down at his phone again to see that there has not yet been a response. "I'll see you Thursday," he calls out as the two of them wave each other off.

3:01 PM

The train ride home is a somber one. The angst of those unread text messages have seeped themselves so deeply into Ronald's consciousness that he cannot help but feel something is wrong. He stares at his phone again, waiting for something to change. Nothing does. He dials Elijah's number, which at this point he knows by heart. He puts the phone to his ear expecting it to ring, but it goes straight to voicemail. "You'd better be okay," he says to himself.

There are few adversities which Ronald has not overcome in his life, but in trying to better himself through education, he has found himself at ground zero in the quiet war being waged against powered individuals. It isn't anything he knows he can't handle, but dragging his closest friend into this pit of uncertainty with him has since weighed heavily on his consciousness.

"Just for your own protection," he overhears, as two ominous, uniformed figures make their ways down the center aisle. Ronald peers more closely and notices that they are each carrying some type of device - small, metallic and Walkman sized. As these devices point Ronald's way, a loud, piercing static begins to ring out from his phone.

Startled, Ronald quickly ends the call and turns around in his seat so as not to appear suspicious. It does not work - he immediately hears the shuffling of these uniformed men move more hastily toward him. Realizing it is probably better for him to avoid any interaction, Ronald stands up and walks toward the emergency exit, opens it and moves forward to the next cart.

He walks toward the center of the cart, where he is surrounded by other passengers, seats himself there and lifts his hoodie to cover his distinguishing bald head.

The train's emergency exit opens behind him; Ronald doesn't look backward, he only sits still, his head low, pretending to look through something on his phone.

"THIS STOP IS CONYERS AVE," the train's automated voice states over the speakers.

Ronald feels a sense of relief as the train begins to slow down before the uniformed men have reached him. Just as they near his seat, the train stops and nearly all passengers onboard begin to rush out. Ronald rushes with them, brushing up against one of the uniformed men as he exits onto the platform.

His head is still low - he doesn't realize until bumping into him that another person, in the same uniform, with the same device is waiting on the platform. Ronald looks up and sees that nearly two dozen people, in the same uniform, with the same device, line the train station from end to end.

Most of the passengers ignore them - they almost perfectly blend into the crowd of pedestrians, but as soon as Ronald bumps into this one, all their devices begin to buzz. They all look directly at him. "I need you to answer a few questions for me," this uniformed man states blankly. His expression reeks with determination, perhaps a hint of abhorrence, as he says this. "Come with me," he continues, removing a baton from underneath his black coat.

"STAND CLEAR OF THE PLATFORM," the train's automated voice says as the doors begin to shut behind Ronald.

With only precious, few seconds to react, Ronald launches his fist with as much power as he can at the uniformed man's face. The punch lands squarely on his adversary's face, but makes little damage - all the other uniformed officerswithdraw weapons almost immediately. This adversary, much larger than Ronald, returns doubles back before returning the punch with much more force. However, something unusual happens - while the punch lands on Ronald's face, his entire body shifts uniformly with its impact. A barely noticeable wave of pressure reverberates out from, and then into him; Ronald then channels this force into his hands and shoves the officer backward.

The officer flies across the room and Ronald recoils backward, slamming himself into the train just as the doors shut in front of him.

Officers swarm the train doors from the outside, but it takes off without them. The two officers inside stare at each other for only a brief moment as Ronald quickly tries to gather himself. " I can explain," he says aloud. "Goths make me nervous!"

Not finding any amusement in his exclamation, the larger of these two men grabs Ronald by the collar and says, "It's over, freak."

Without attempting to reason with them any further, Ronald grabs the man's arm and swings him over his shoulder. "Have you seen my videos?" he quips, but is tackled by the other officer. The impact forces his body to reverberate again; they both land a few feet away within the cart.

"Resist and we will take you down!" The officer shouts. The officer holds his arm around Ronald's neck from behind, attempting a chokehold.

It takes Reggie a second to find his footing again. "Try me," he responds. Once both his feet are squarely on the floor, Ronald thrusts himself upward with all the force within him - he slams the officer into the roof of the car's ceiling, dislodging another emergency exit and knocking out the officer in the process.

The other officer withdraws another weapon - some type of shotgun, but unlike any Ronald has ever seen before. "Keep a place in hell warm for your friends," the officer taunts as he lets loose a shot. Ronald jumps again to avoid being shot and sails clear through the roof's damaged emergency exit.

He lands on the roof of the train as it careens over the streets of DC and begins rolling backward - quickly, he grabs hold of the next car and steadies himself. Another shot rings out - this one pierces the roof of the train's car, but misses Ronald completely. "I know this street," Ronald says to himself as they approach an overpass. With little time to consider an effective escape, he rolls himself off the side of the train, lands hard onto the roof of a moving car, then rolls off that onto a busy street.

Ronald stands as fast as he can to avoid being hit by incoming traffic; he fails, as a vehicle skids directly into him in the middle of the street. Passersby scream, people everywhere turn toward the commotion, to see Ronald take the impact head on, slide only a few inches backward and come to a halt. Aside from the tears in his clothing, he is unhurt; the car, however, is totaled.

Ronald peers into the driver's seat to see if the driver is conscious - the driver peers back at Ronald in disbelief. "Sorry..." Ronald says. He reaches into the pocket of his torn jeans and takes out a small was of dollar bills - no more than seven altogether, and places it on the mingled hood. "This is all the money I have, so....hope it helps fix your car."

With that, Ronald backs away a bit from the car, squats down for a moment, then jumps out from the street and onto the roof of an adjacent building. The onlookers flooding the street gawk and cheer as Ronald lands, then jumps again, all the way onto a building on the next street over. He jumps again, this time landing onto the street just a few yards down, and lands into the backyard of a building familiar to him.

While he looks like he has just gone to war, Ronald remains unharmed. As casually as he can manage, he walks around to the front of the building and starts up the stairs to the front doors. That is when he sees him - standing blankly in front of the door, a destitute, disheveled Elijah stands idle, staring at the door without movement. "Elijah...?" Ronald says. The young man doesn't respond. "Elijah, where the hell have you been?! Why didn't you answer my calls and I texted you!"

Elijah slowly, unnervingly takes his gaze off of the front door and turns his body toward Ronald. His eyes are lifeless, his expression is emotionless and his stance appears strained, wildly contorted - almost like he could fall apart at any moment.

"Ronnie..." he says calmly. A moment passes as tears flood Ronald's eyes. He doesn't know what has happened to his friend, but he knows it isn't good. "Ronnie," Elijah repeats after hesitating. "I think I died last night."