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kleineshexenkraut · 2 years

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Character analysis and some headcanons

Let me ramble about Kenpachi Zaraki, his squad 11's top members and their unwritten rules with all their seriously bad or even icky connotations a bit. And also about why I think all of it is part of an actually beautiful plot about acceptance and defying the expectations of toxic masculinity.

Characters who defy expectations the narrative set for them earlier is one of my absolute favorite things! Even if the story or character in question isn't otherwise interesting to me, something like this I will always enjoy! Tite Kubo has my deep respect for all the times he did it (for every character with such moments, really). And while what I think about this particular topic here could obviously be mostly personal interpretation rather than actual intended fact, in my mind this will always stay a very touching and interesting subplot. So apologies in advance for the truly long text, buckle up!

And just in case, major spoiler alert throughout.

TW: bullying; abuse; violence; mention of homophobia

Lets first list the unwritten rules and the other bad assumptions first:

no kido-type swords allowed

no kido learning/use in general

people keep their abilities a secret

only men in the Squad

Squad 4 can be bullied

And now take a look at the people who (seemingly) enforce them, or rather what we are shown at first:

Kenpachi Zaraki – Taller and stronger than most others, described as brutal, murderous, crazy warrior who enjoys fighting more than anything else, who frequently challenges even allies to serious battles. A lot of his design would usually be chosen for villain-type characters, such as the small irises that give him a rather unfriendly glare; a too wide, mad grin that exposes pronounced canines; the large scars; an eye patch and a spiky hairdo that further underline the dangerous appearance. Combined with his general ignorance and lack of intelligence he paints the perfect stereotypical picture of a brutish, toxic alpha-male who doesn't tolerate weakness and oppresses others.

Yachiru Kusajishi - a small, cute girl with light pink hair and a generally sunny disposition who possesses a lot of power and a pretty violent streak. Lives as Kenpachi's adopted daughter until she's revealed to be part of his Zanpakuto's spirit.

Ikkaku Madarame – His design and fighting style most resemble a Shaolin monk, with a bald head and red eye-make-up (because people can argue Ikkaku having markings instead of eye-shadow all they want, it is still very clearly in the style of traditional Japanese, female eye-make-up.) A man who enjoys fighting almost as much as his leader, but with a much more pronounced intent to kill his opponents. He's easily angered and actually enjoys frightening people on occasion by deliberately making a scary face.

Yumichika Ayasegawa – A vain, narcissistic man who's obsessed with looks as much as he enjoys fighting. The long feathers he wears on his eyelashes and brow is one of the most prominent decorative accessory (at least on the side of the good guys). And while Yumichika could be a flamboyant heterosexual guy, I'd say him being homosexual makes much more sense.

And already in these short descriptions we get some breaking up of general stereotypes and it goes on. At a cursory glance Kenpachi is just a one-dimensional, all-brawn-no-brains madman and that's pretty much the impression many of the other characters have. Once you look more closely, though, there's a lot of surprising nuance. Because the brutal, bloodthirsty leader of the fight- and strength-obsessed 11th Squad we were told about, while being all of this, also:

is immediately seen getting lost several times like an idiot for comedic relief

is so lonely that he unwittingly manifested part of his soul into a child, then adopted it to carry it around for decades (The duo resembles the main characters from Lone Wolf and Cub, and I'm pretty sure that was one of the inspirations. Although the similarity ends there, not least because the protagonist in Lone Wolf and Cub follows the Samurai codex and his son is a thousand times more annoying.)

Lets Yachiru pretty much walk all over him, slapping and hair-pulling included, without any retaliation or violence directed at her ever

admires a woman as his idol and describes her as the strongest person he ever met

Has a female sword-spirit (who's in part the small, very girly girl)

Bathes everyday and styles his hair for hours

Has a gay dude and in general the guys with some of the most obvious make-up and fashion accessories as his highest ranking Squad members without giving them flak for it. (Kenpachi looked like he wore eyeliner in the anime sometimes too. He didn't in the manga, but if you look at certain anime-scenes – that's a clear design choice they made there!)

Has no interest in fighting anyone who's clearly weaker than him and does so only if he has to as part of the job or if attacked first. And will complain about it the whole time.

Lets most opponents alone once they can't fight anymore and is even annoyed whenever an opponent doesn't stay down and has to be killed for real. (This is the case with most of the serious fights. Opponents who survived are: Ichigo, Tosen, Ikkaku, Ichinose, Yammy. Nnoitra died, but only after getting the chance to stay down.)

Befriends or admires people who defeated him (Unohana, Ichigo)

Is the only one who didn't subjugate his Zanpakuto-spirit for it's abilities, but got them by being kind and loving for decades instead

is not fighting out of permanent anger, but because he enjoys a real battle like nothing else

With all of what we see from the source materials, be it manga, anime or both (yes, including filler arcs), it makes me wonder how much of the unwritten rules are conjectures done by others made on behalf of Kenpachi. Now don't get me wrong, as stated, the guy lacks self-awareness to a baffling degree and his views do limit his subordinates greatly! Discovering and getting in touch with his own strength and soul is his main character-plotline after all.

However, the question stands. How much of this is people going: “You said A, B and C – so we assumed XYZ.” (?)

People do this all the time. I'm sure we all did at some point, and hopefully were corrected and learned for the future. But that's not what automatically always happens. And the hero-worship that the 11th has for their leader is very expressive and enthusiastic. At times it even resembles the annoying level of obsession Kiyone and Sentarō show towards Ukitake. This seems to get worse after the 1000 year blood war arc. It's not hard to picture them taking Kenpachi's every word as gospel and running with it.

Everything points to captains being able to run their squads however the hell they want, with very little limitations or regard for members. Look at the 12th, Mayuri exploded unsuspecting members of his division without a second thought or repercussions. The way he treats Nemu is highly abusive, yet no one cares. At least not enough to step in or forbid this behavior. So what's not wanting to recruit certain people in comparison? No big deal, that's what it would be. Especially since there are 12 other Divisions people can pick. If these are things the captain truly wants, why are these unwritten rules?

No kido-type swords

Looking at what this does, namely Yumichika hiding his abilities from everyone even at the risk of being killed, makes this the worst one and a key issue. A Zanpakuto and it's abilities are part of a Shinigami's soul and personality. By hiding and denying his powers it's clear from the start that this man lives in an environment that wouldn't accept him for what he is. That he doesn't want to be anywhere else makes changing this issue extremely difficult to nigh impossible with this setup. And since he is depicted as a rather stereotypical gay man, it absolutely very quickly implies that this is the thinly veiled depiction of the struggle of every queer person who fears having their coming out. (Which makes it all the more sad that this hasn't been clearly resolved and might never be in canon.)

And it wouldn't be only Yumichika. Achieving even Shikai is not common and there are constantly new recruits. There will inevitably be quite a few people who discover a non-melee type Zanpakuto in time and be just as tormented about it.

The fighting style Kenpachi loves the most is direct clashing of steel on steel, up close and personal, that's stated multiple times. He can't, or rather doesn't even try to, use kido (until much later). Furthermore a lot of the opponents with kido-type abilities were relatively boring and/or disappointing to him in the end, like Tōsen and Ichinose. Often kido-abilities are distance attacks or support a fighting style that's more covert.

This, combined with the general notion he had before being defeated by Ichigo that talking with and fighting alongside one's zanpakuto is nonsense, could easily have resulted in him saying he doesn't like people having kido-zanpakuto.

On the other hand, what constitutes as kido-sword? The wiki makes the distinction between element and kido as separate types. But during the battle against Baraggan, Ōmaeda says he wished he'd have a kido-sword with flames or ice.

This makes me question whether the element-abilities are actually nothing else than kido. And if that's the case there are multiple examples for incredibly strong fighters, like head-captain Yamamoto or Hitsugaya. No one would call these two weak. His idol, Unohana, has a sword that might have acid-related abilities, which would make it another example, maybe even the most important one. That in turn makes me wonder whether he actually made this rule or whether he said something negative about several former enemies and their abilities every now and then and his Squad interpreting it as: “Obviously our captain hates kido-Zanpakuto! Therefore no one in our Squad is allowed to have one!”

Kenpachi is notorious for having little interest in anything besides fighting and his ignorance toward himself can not be overstated. The man limited his abilities, most of his talent and power unconsciously as a child to the point where he couldn't hear his own Zanpakuto nor recognize it's manifestation, then further impaired himself by adding bells that give his position away and slapping a seal on his right eye (which means no depth perception along less Reiatsu, mind).

Is this a guy one can expect to realize that people make wrong assumptions on his behalf?

Or did it go more along the lines of:

Statement: Kido-swords are lame

Assumption: No kido-type Zanpakuto allowed

Reaction: No one here has kido-swords? Less hassle for me to find people who can help them train with those.

Conclusion: People hiding their abilities

Now, Komamura did say that Kenpachi couldn't look past appearances and wasn't able to see someone's inner strength. That was after Kenpachi tried goading him into a fight, though. Komamura hid his face for over a century because he feared the rejection and enmity of others and understandably was quite vulnerable in that moment. For all that Kenpachi isn't the sharpest tool in the shed on many occasions, he does know how to get under people's skin if he puts his mind to it. But what was said earlier shows that he doesn't care about appearances at all. That he isn't shocked about Komamura's face, because a guy's appearance isn't important in a fight. He has only two criteria:

Are they strong?

Will they fight me?

That's it. Man, woman, child, shinigami, human, hollow, beast, muscular, thin, heavy, big, small, whatever else – nothing matters except these two questions. As long as the opponent actually can fight there's no discrimination because none of it is indicative of abilities. And Yumichika definitely does fight well, he's third seated officer later on with only fighting prowess sans abilities, much like Kenpachi for most of the story.

Does Yumichika really have to fear not being accepted, then?

The most beautiful resolve to this whole issue would obviously be Yumichika somehow being forced to reveal his abilities and Kenpachi just excitedly going: “Interesting! When did you learn that? Lets try it out in a sparring match!” And maybe calling him an idiot for thinking this would ever be a problem after being clued in on the worries. I can see Ikkaku being angry only because Yumichika didn't tell him the very moment he knew. Not only because I love the characters, but I genuinely think this would be most in character for them. It would unravel the awful situation and further flip the stereotypes upside down. As in having the people that were assumed to be the most biased and negative turn out to be the ones most accepting. It would solidify the found family aspect of the 11th so much more as well. And it would be a great metaphor for someone being cherished just as much for who they are after coming out. And there can't be enough of that in any media.

2. no kido learning/use in general

This ties in with the first and is already kind of negated by Kenpachi using flash step later on. If this one was ever really a thing the 11th can take him using it as example to reconsider.

3. people keep their abilities a secret

While this sounds like point one at first glance, especially after the long-ass meta earlier, it isn't quite. Ikkaku is able to use Bankai for years and has a melee-type Zanpakuto, yet still keeps it a secret. There are only a select few who know and his captain isn't one of them.

The reason he gives is that he wants to fight until he dies under Zaraki and doesn't want others constantly asking him to become a captain. While this does make sense in terms of loyalty and admiration towards Zaraki, it doesn't explain why he keeps it a secret from said captain too.

Even with the shortage of captains after Aizen's betrayal it's not very likely to get promoted into such a position without consent. If nothing else, this is a surefire way of getting bad results. So why then? Is it because he fears surpassing his leader in this regard would anger or somehow disappoint him? From everything else we see of Kenpachi there is no indicator that might be a thing. On the contrary, stronger fighters with more abilities mean better fights, even if it's just sparring.

Kenpachi tells Ichinose that fighting people without own goals is no fun and that loyalty is different to relying on people. Then there's the speech he gives to new recruits, more specifically, that he won't restrict any viewpoints nor sanction them. And this isn't just blah, the way members of Squad 11 are shown to act in his vicinity reflects this. People sit or stand when he's around and bow when the situation calls for it, like an enthusiastic deferential greeting, but there's no kneeling going on as far as we can see. And Aramaki is quite relaxed when he speaks with him. (And in the recruitment fair brochure the answer about the atmosphere in the division is: “We get along and have fun.”)

As conclusion, someone who's loyal while having their own goals and opinions should be someone he would value. Ikkaku is almost the definition of that. He's strong, skilled, independent and probably couldn't stand to be anywhere where he had to go against what he believes in. That makes me think, while admiring Zaraki as much as he does, he misunderstands a lot about the man's views.

Another example of this is what happens after Ikkaku fought Ichigo. He apologized to Kenpachi for surviving after losing. Even though the same guy explicitly told him years earlier, after he beat him in a fight, not to ask to be killed. To consider himself lucky, live, get stronger and fight again. In a way that had enough lasting impact on Ikkaku to keep on going, but apparently didn't fully register all the way.

And for all the talking on eye-level people could probably do in the 11th, people will most likely uphold the gap to higher-ups out of habit, respect, and in this particular case sometimes fear as well. Under these circumstances it makes a bit more sense where this unwillingness to show his abilities comes from. But if that's the case it very much is a misconception.

4. only men in the Squad

This is maybe the weirdest one. We don't actually know for certain if there aren't any women in the 11th, but none is ever shown.

Again, the person Kenpachi strived to be like and still admires is a woman. Yachiru (never mind what else she is) is obviously a girl and extremely strong, so her position is warranted and unquestioned outside and inside the division. Then the already mentioned things about how Kenpachi completely doesn't give a shit about appearances, only whether or not someone stands their ground. All of this could point to be the most clear indication of conjecture or a combination of unfortunate circumstances.

We got very little information about the former leader of the 11th, Kenpachi Kiganjō. Shinji describes him as a piggish slacker who never did what he was told, while Ichinose believed he had a deep sense of justice. We have even less about the rules this guy had, but the background characters that can be seen during the flashbacks are also all male. Then we can take a look at the recruitment brochure again where Zaraki's statement is that only strong guys should join. Yachiru however says no weak people should join. As far as I'm aware 'guys' can be used as a universal address for groups of people, women and men. But lets consider what a new female recruit might see/hear, especially given that the inner motivations and believes of characters aren't known to anyone but us as audience, unless explicitly shown or stated.

The Squad is full of brutish thugs who love fighting.

There are no women besides a little girl, who might be related to the leader in some way

The brochure says guys in the address

Everything people have to say about Zaraki Kenpachi - which excludes aaall the nice things we know and leaves them with the picture of the toxic masculine lunatic

Yeah, I wouldn't want to join either... As conclusion, I put this one under unfortunate, completely wrong conjecture, though.

5. Squad 4 can be bullied

We see this happened and it's obviously bad. Given, Unohana stepped in and scared the shit out of the guys who did it on her own turf, but it shouldn't be a thing in the first place. That said, does Kenpachi know about this?

Unohana was the first Kenpachi, she has an iron grip on things, and someone who was on the receiving end of her 'kind' reminder that their lives are in her Squad's hands while they're there will most likely never forget to be polite again. So there's no real reason for her to complain. Apart from that, seeing how Hanatarō said that the 4th is weak and therefore always ends up doing all the chores, like cleaning the sewers, makes me think this isn't just the 11th treating them badly. (Which again, worse still.)

Anyone beside Unohana that we see of the 4th are usually rather timid. Isane has trouble talking to other captains even after she became one herself. So...

Did anyone from the 4th ever dare to walk up to Zaraki Kenpachi to complain about his Squad being mean to them? If that mental image made you laugh even a tiny bit we are in agreement. That probably never happened. He might not know then. The question is how he would react if he found out?

One interesting thing to remember is that Kenpachi has actually little problems with regular people who are weak. Not that he meets many after joining the Gotai 13, but whenever he's around those there's no such thing as killing sprees or bouts of violent outbursts.

The issue is with anything and anyone who should be able to fight, like fellow Shinigami or Hollows, but isn't cutting it – or rather him. He is incredibly bored most of the time. As such his Squad will definitely pick up on his dissatisfaction with 'the weaklings' all around them, which could have turned into everyone is fair game. But frankly, being the power house he is, being weak applies to almost anyone including other captains and the whole 11th. Based on that there's actually little basis for them to look down on other divisions. Conjecture again, then?

We can only speculate what would happen if he found out about his Squad's behavior. He'd probably tell whoever has grievances to grow a spine and just show the ones treating them badly this isn't going to fly. At the worst this would change nothing and stay a problem. But at times he can come up with unexpected insights, especially when it comes to things he knows. More brutal, constant sparring matches with the persons in question that leave them in need of healing from the 4th may work wonders on people's attitudes. But alas, unless we get more material all is just more musings and head-canons.

#bleach #kenpachi zaraki #zaraki kenpachi #yashiru kusajishi #ikkaku madarame #yumichika ayasegawa #long post #like really long #tw: bullying #tw: violence #tw: mention of abuse #tw: mention of homophobia #headcanon #bleach meta

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queerbrainrot · 2 years

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Vegas going to Pete in his comfy pjs but already with a bruise from his dad hitting him makes me think bad things.

like that Gun pulled his son out of bed to beat him over thing nr 9987 that Vegas has no control over at this point since he's locked in the safe house for who knows how long

#vegas kornwit theerapanyakul #kinnporsche #vegas theerapanyakul #kp spoilers #vegaspete #vegas kinnporsche #kinnporsche la forte #kinnporsche spoilers #kinnporsche the series #tw: mention of abuse

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damagedward · 1 year

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𝘕𝘰 — 𝘐 𝘞𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘉𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈 𝕳𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙

*** ⚠️ Trigger Warning ⚠️ ***

tw: dark themes , tw: mature themes , tw: abuse , tw: mention of abuse , tw: 21+ , tw: mention of death , tw: mention of murder , tw: patricide

She had always had a heart , but over time that had grown cold , frozen over , become a sealed vessel . It only lead to hurt , pain , false hopes and dreams .

Her entire life from the start to now had been nothing but one long nightmare , in all aspects . Family ? They wanted her dead . Raised a hand to her , had shackled her . Friends ? Had tried to poison her , attempted to end her . Romance ? Well she had ruined her chances at that long ago hadn’t she ?

She had been driven out of her home , a bastard son , named a Prince as she was stripped of her titles .

𝕯𝖎𝖘𝖔𝖜𝖓𝖊𝖉 — because she’d had enough and snapped , tried to hurt him ( Arthur ) for the first time .

After that the only surprise had been when she first ran and their father actually sent out men to find her , he wanted her back home , and for sometime she had wished and hoped it was for and with good intention , that he may actually care .

It wasn’t the case —

She finds herself constantly on the run for months , sometimes closer to the kingdom than any of them would’ve ever suspected but she knew she couldn’t go back for real unless at least Uther was handled .

So a plot began in her mind , she began to figure out how to kill the king .

He never saw it coming in the end , as she came to him , in the middle of the night , she awoke him with a blade to his neck …

“Don’t —,” she shushes him as his eyes widened and his lips parted to scream she’s sure .

“Did you think I’d never come back ? Or let myself be caught ? I had to come back , because you need to pay .. for all you’ve done and all you’ve yet to do .”

He had shaken in her hold , she had felt powerful then , felt that perhaps she had the upper hand to him for once . It had always terrified her how with all her powers she was so weak and useless to him and against him .

“Do you truly hate me so much ?” He had asked as she pressed the dagger against his throat , he’d have felt that , the difference in pressure .

She hissed .

She had ended him , his blood had been on her hands in all senses that night .

Even after having washed herself raw she had still seen the stains , she had gone mad that night in her tower . The tower she had once been chained in , imprisoned in many times . It had become her secret hideaway . And how twisted it was to be there now after finally finishing him .

As the word had spread they had come for her , her brother and now his men .

“How could you be so heartless ?! He was our father ?!”

“HE WAS A MONSTER !”

The arguments had fallen to deaf ears . She had finally stood for herself and naturally the result was she be pushed down immediately .

“I wasn’t always like this —,” she had tried in a last attempt before vanishing in a whirlwind of magic .

“I know ,” the new King would say as the dust settled and his eyes had remained glued to the place she’d just been .

She knew from then on that no one would ever see anything she did as good for anyone , not even herself . And she knew he had raised hand to her brother as well , yet he held his sword to her neck rather than aiding in her mission that night .

How many times could one be told they were worthless ? Be pushed and beaten down , physically , mentally — how lunch longer would she had endured and how much more ‘heartless’ would she be when it was all said and done ?

It had worn her down , and she had resorted to this as her solution , she had tried her brother but that had just caused her more issue so why not go for the main source . And she had .

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tempest-toss · 5 months

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Violently in the literal sense..?

Tw: mention of abuse

Yes. Despite being living in an anomalous area and our parents being friends with anomalous folk, they were disgusted with us having anomalies.

You know my big brother? You can't see it because he's always in his Moon Lord form, but his arms are full of marks

I had to hide Dot's anomaly after it began to manifest.

Our brother essentially being sold off to the Foundation was the last straw.

That night I packed up everything essential and took my sister and we fled. To this day I have yet to return back to the family house

--Ten

#ten #gamer #shady person #tw: mention of abuse #lore bits

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kurosawa-family · 2 years

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A little comfort at night.

Convoitise Kurosawa, Yui Komori.

SPOILER! from Convoitise's Route. (maybe)

Freedom was scary to Yui. After all, ten, maybe more, years worth of abuse aren't really easy to erase from your memory, not even if she tried. With her change of scent and her escape to a safe place in Germany, Yui can't barely sleep on one of those horrible nights.

Thankfully, she has still a little problematic creature that keeps her company at night.

Trigger Warning: Mentions of physical and psychological abuse.

Content Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Angst.

A gasp left her soft lips as she opened her eyes wide, shaking. Before she knew it, her face was filled with her own tears . The pain in her neck was just too familiar to bare, yet there was nothing, no matter how much she rubbed it. Turning around to look at the window of her small apartment, Yui held her breath. She was so, so sure that one of them was going to come in any moment now...

It was painful.

She chose to be left alone, she chose to just not stay with neither and live her life, yet she was still under her protection. Then why does she feel like this? Why does she feel like she made a grave mistake? No, she did made a mistake, a fatal one, a mistake that could take her life. She just signed a dead wish with those guys...!

Yui closed her eyes shut, slowly. She wanted to bawl her eyes out, but any sound, any noise could attract an unwanted attention. The pettite girl carefully got up from the bed, looking around. As much as she disliked the apartment, she didn't hate it completely, and it was a really nice offer she just couldn't pass on: Kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and a small living room with a T.V., what else could she ask for? Well... For starters, she could ask for the nightmares—No, the memories to go away. As far away as possible. But that's not how humans work, now is it? Yui couldn't sleep in peace knowing what she did. She really left them, all without them knowing, in secret and with a little bit of help. She left for good. She'll be replaced in a week or two. The years she spent with them will be nothing for them soon enough, and their rage and betrayal they'll soon fell will colapse on them.

... Ten years.

Ten years of what could be described as a portion of hell, with her disguising it as "little bumps on the road" with her relationship between the three families. Ten years, yet now that she was away, now that she never had to see them again, she feels the same danger as she felt every time she went to sleep, just ten times— no, a hundred times worse. She couldn't help but feel that emerald pair of feline-like eyes on her. Her stomach started to twist and move in disgust, an uncomfortable knot began to form itself in the middle of her throat, along with the horrid need of vomiting. His gaze, his touch, everything felt so disgusting. He was disgusting. Everyone of them was disgusting.

A rush of fear went down her body the moment she heard something, probably a sound the wood made, but still Yui pulled the covers up her head. Childish, yes, but what else could someone like her do, when she was so used to just helplessly lay there? She couldn't fight them. They were stronger. She still remembered that time Subaru broke her wrist, and she had it like that for a long, long while... Well, a week doesn't seem that long, but it was only when her blood started to decline that they finally let her go and see someone.

But it was in that moment Yui had to leave those memories behind, since she noticed something smells. It was bad at all, but she couldn't figure out what.

( Someone's in the kitchen. )

That thought alone was enough to make her shiver. She didn't want to get out of bed, but not only the subtle yet somewhat audible sounds of kitchen stuff were keeping her awake, but the feeling of uneasiness was killing her.

Carefully, she got up, not caring a bit about her bare feet against the cold floor, just to make her best to go out of her room and see what was happening... Until she opens the door and two bodies frozen when meeting each other's gazes.

“... Uh,—” The albino, pale-looking young man started, stuttering, yet looking at her in the eyes, not knowing what to say or do. “—good night for you, too...?”

Her body somewhat relaxed. This was Yvonne's eldest son, after all... And one of the people that helped escape. Still, Yui rubbed her eyes in pure exhaustion. Seriously, she wasn't in the mood for this, she almost had a heart attack.

“Convoitise—”

“I know, I know—” He cut her off while looking away, thinking to himself just how stupid this was. “I know it was creepy on my part to just... Well, do this, but it's really concerning me when I literally feel your feelings... You're literally right in front of my shop, you know?”

Yui snapped her neck to look at him and her expression told her everything: She did not, in fact, know that she was right in front of his clothing shop. With a sigh in unison from the both of them, Yui looked down at his hands. When he noticed, the albino boy made a sign to make it clear the little red velvet tart was for her. She reluctantly took it, still glaring at him.

“How did you get in?”

“... What—”

“How did you get in, Convoitise?”

“Oh, your door was open.”

Silence.

“... Without lock?”

“Without lock, indeed.”

Yui wanted to scream. Uhg, she was so used to the doors of her room not having any way to lock anyone outside nor inside... It was pure habit at this point. Yui just sighed, resigned, and turned back while turning the light on. Convoitise followed, and just like the platinum blonde girl, sat on the side of the bed.

“... You can't sleep.” He started. “I can tell.”

“... I'm fine, really.”

“You know you can't lie to me, Yui.” He scoffs with a smile, looking down at his hands. “But neither can I...”

They stayed in silence for a bit. It was awkward at first, but somewhat Yui was... Glad, somehow? Well, it wasn't necessarily a good thing, but still, it's been a while since she has something near to a normal interaction.

“How are you holding with the translator mom got you?” He asked, finally turning his head to look at her. Yui sighed with 0a smile, all while tasting that delicious red tart he... Got her? Made for her? Well, doesn't matter, it was delicious anyhow.

“It's been a live-saver. I'm still learning German little by little, but having that little device your mom made is actually amazing.” Yui gave him a sided smile as she finally left the empty plate on her nightstand, turning to him. “... Was it ok?”

“What?”

“Leaving them, was it really OK?” She asked, closing her eyes. “I can't help, but feel bad that I left without a trace...” Yui took a good look at the only window in the bedroom, the night sky gracefully clear and full of stars. “They... Really cared about me.”

Silence, then Convoitise sighs.

“You know that's a lie, don't you?”

Silence.

“As much as I'd like to say the opposite, you know I'm right.” He continued, looking at his own hands. “Not because they're demons, that's the most cheap and lamest excuse I've ever heard. It's because of what happened to them, but even something as horrible as their own childhood is just a stupid excuse for their behaviour.” He continued, looking at Yui's face. That expression, even when filled with sadness, was exactly the one she had when his mother asked her if she really wanted to stay with those beasts. “You know... You're the first one.”

“Eh...?” Yui seemed to come back to her senses when he said that. “What do you...?”

“You're the first bride I've met alive...” He, hesitant at first, placed his hand on top of hers. “and let me tell you, I was happy. I was happy that you were alive, that you were safe in a sense or another.”

Silence. Again.

“... I've met so many souls that came from that wrenched place, so many girls and, sometimes, boys that just were completely broken from that place alone. And I've never met someone like you.” He took his hand away, slowly, but didn't notice how Yui sat closer to him. “Maybe because you were special, maybe because you had pure "luck", but either way, you decided to live...”

“... What can I say? Any member from the Komori family is rather stubborn.”

The both of them chuckle at the joke. Convoitise feels like she's finally feeling somewhat relieved.

“Well, you stubborn woman, I promise you, whenever you need m—us...” He quickly saved himself the humiliation of saying "me", it's not only him that's there to protect Yui... “We're there for you. All of us...”

“I know... I just wish that things were different. That they were different...”

They looked at each other's eyes, and without noticing, they talked in unison.

“But once a Sakamaki, always a Sakamaki.”

“... Can I hug you, Yui...?” His question was simple, spoken in a soft manner. The Komori girl hesitated, but nodded, and instead of arms, soft wings are wrapped around her body. What was this scent...? It made her nostalgic in a way, even if she knew it was the first time she smelled something as... as soft as this.

Yui sighed. She chuckles a bit, but Convoitise looks at her. Just as he thought, the little chuckles turned into giggles, and the giggles quickly turned into soft sobbing from her. The pink-eyed girl quickly covered her face, and Convoitise just looked at her, waiting for her to say anything, but there was nothing. She couldn't find the words to express just how nerve-wracking was all of this. It was absolutely terrifying, but at the same time, she felt happy. After ten years, ten horrible years, she was finally away from them. She was alive. And as much as she felt like it was a lie, a part of her reassured her that nobody was going to hurt her nor suck her blood like she was just a Kool-Aid. Still, she was so, so sure that they'll eventually find her, and there'll be hell for her to pay, probably so much worse compared to what she endured. And through her stay with those guys, to think that millions and millions of girls suffered just as horrible things, if not worse, before her.

She still remembered the night Laito finally got his way with her with Kanato's and Ayato's help. She remembered just got painful it was, her blood, and how miserable she felt afterwards. It was a miracle nothing happened out of that, the last thing she needed was a child out of that situation. Still, their touch, their mocking, their looks; just remembering that was disgusting. Remembering just the ways she was dragged to the dungeon, either by the hair or by her wrist; remembering just the dreadful feeling when Reiji called her to have tea with him, with her knowing it was poison, most likely; and that was only the tip of the iceberg. The night Ruki tried to force himself into her, the night Yuma almost killed her with a single punch, the night Kou almost made his fans kill her, the night Azusa tried to make her kill herself with him even if that wasn't his entire intention at all, the night-no, the many occasions Carla choked her to the point of leaving marks that lasted a week at least, all while all of them sucking her blood. She didn't even want to remember Shin...

She tried. She knew she did, and she knew Convoitise was aware of that, too. She really tried her best, trying to make them better... But, at last, she stopped believing in them. It was just as Yvonne said: “Those kind of abusers, those kind of monsters are bound to stay like that for the rest of their life.”

“I—” Her voice was just as broken as she was. “I just thought they could change... I really hoped, I really knew they could, but— but—”

“Yui... Hey, Yui, listen to me, ok?” He gently pressed his forehead against hers. “Follow my lead, ok...?” Once he saw her nodd, he smiled softly. “Alright. Good... Breath in...”

Silence fills the room once again after she let's out a shaky sigh, her tears not stopping from going down her face, not even once. As for Convoitise, he doesn't answer, and just holds her hands while his white, feathered wings embrace the angel in front of him. He rubs her knuckles with his thumbs, and looks at her.

The both of them do as he said, Yui squeezing his hands tightly.

“One, two, three... Breath out...”

“Haah...”

“There we go. You're doing great. Let's go again, ok...?” He saw her nodd again. “OK... Breath it... One, two, three... Breath out.”

They did that a few more times, and eventually, she felt somewhat better, but she just... She just wanted to be alone and sleep. Convoitise noticed that, so as his wings slowly backed off and disappeared, he got up from bed.

“Well... I'm going to let you rest, ok? You had a long day, with the studies and all...” The golden-eyed boy smiled at her, immediately remembering what she told him what she wanted to do if she ever had the chance to go to college. “You wanted to study medicine, right?”

“Fufu, yeah... It's been a bit complicated, but the money your father sent is... You know.”

“Haah, yeah, I know...” Yui can't avoid a little laugh because of Convoitise tired reaction to that comment alone. “But he literally adores you. He can't help but see you as one of our own...”

“Pretty funny... And, uh, Convoitise...?”

“Yes?”

“Movie night tomorrow? My—”

“My treat, you stubborn human. But, I gladly accept.”

With a pout, Yui sighed and proceded to send Convoitise off. A wave from each of them, and she closed the door with lock this time. The pettite girl walked back to bed and found, to her surprise, a DVD music player, with a CD next to it and a note.

“I remember you told me you liked those melodies that you liked, the ones that reminded you of fairytales. I hope this helps with your sleep.”

Yui smiled softly. He really did listen to her, huh? Well, maybe tonight is going to be peaceful after all...

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lunarninja613 · 1 year

Text

Where I Belong (Modern Bad Batch AU) Chapter Two

Again, credit to @alligatorpie1945 and @kaydear and their story on ao3. https://archiveofourown.org/works/35750065/chapters/89145700

Warnings: mentions of past abuse, medication, blood tests, doctor visits

Words: 902

Echo sat down in the waiting room with the twins while they waited for someone to come and get them. While they waited, Echo thought about the past few days. He thought about that Friday afternoon when Hunter and Wrecker told them about a little girl they had met while volunteering at the carnival. Their sister.

He remembered Tech calling Cody. Hunter had then gone to meet up with Cody, who had gotten them a lawyer. He remembered going to the courthouse with Tech and Hunter the following morning and meeting Omega for the first time. It came as quite a shock when they saw a second little girl.

Omega waved at them and smiled brightly while the other girl clung to her arm with a nervous expression on her face. Shaak Ti, the social worker, explained how the investigative team found the other girl while searching the house.

Hunter had then bent down and tried asking the other girl what her name was, but she quickly ducked behind her sister. Omega introduced the skittish girl as Umber, her younger twin sister by six minutes and thirteen seconds. Identical twins, just like Echo and Fives.

“Omega and Umber Se?” a doctor called out, bringing Echo back to present time. Echo stood up and walked over to the doctor, Omega and Umber following close behind him.

“Come with me, girls.” the doctor said. Omega looked at Echo for a brief moment before taking Umber’s hand and following the doctor. Echo went to sit back down in one of the crummy waiting room chairs and decided to look through some of the magazines that the clinic had while he waited. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before the doctor came back with Umber and Omega.

“Why don’t you girls go sit down while I talk to your brother, okay?” the doctor asked. Omega nodded before dragging Umber back to the chairs and sitting down. The doctor led Echo over to the front desk and told him in a hushed voice how the two girls were underweight and that they were very small for their age, and something about strains in their kidneys or something like that.

“It says here that there is some suspected medical abuse that is currently being investigated.” the doctor said, looking at her clipboard.

“We can thank their mother for that.” Echo said, trying not to show how furious he was with Nala Se.

“Do you know what their mother did?” the doctor asked.

Echo shook his head, “Not really, although I’m guessing she gave them different medications.”

The doctor nodded, “Alright then, I’m going to ask you to head down to the lab so we can take some blood tests.”

Echo winced a bit, but nodded before walking back to where the girls were seated. “Alright, girls,” Echo said, causing the twins to look up from the magazine they were reading, “We gotta head over to the lab to get some blood tests done.” Echo said. His chest clenched when he saw the fear that flashed across both their faces before they nodded stiffly and got up. It seemed that this wasn’t the first time that they’d had a blood test.

Echo noticed how the twins held hands the entire way to the lab, and continued to do so during the blood test. It seemed to be their way of showing themselves and each other that they were there. Echo began to wonder if his brothers did something similar to comfort each other when Nala Se would test on them.

“All done.” the doctor exclaimed, and Echo let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. The doctor placed gauzes on the girls’ arms and told them that they could remove them in about a half hour.

Echo thanked the doctor before leaving the clinic with the twins.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After leaving the lab, someone at the front desk had offered the girls stickers. “Why don’t you pick a sticker out for me, hm?” Echo asked when he noticed Omega’s hesitation. Omega picked out a shiny cat sticker for him, and eventually decided to choose a sparkly soccer ball sticker for herself.

“Do you want one?” Omega asked her sister. Umber whispered something in her sister’s ear before Omega picked a sparkly bat sticker and handed it to Umber.

The bus ride home was silent, with the two girls sitting quietly and admiring their sparkly stickers like they were some sort of priceless treasure. It made Echo’s heart hurt a little bit. However, his thoughts were cut short when the bus driver announced their stop over the intercom.

The three of them walked to the house. Echo saw the Marauder parked in the driveway, which meant that Tech was home. However, Crosshair’s car was nowhere to be seen, which meant that Crosshair had left for work early. Again.

Ever since Omega and Umber had arrived, Crosshair did everything in his power to avoid them. When questioned about it, he simply replied that he did not want to get attached to them when he knew that they would only leave in the end.

Upon entering the house, Echo saw Tech and Hunter sitting at the dining room table. “How was the doctor’s appointment?” Hunter asked.

“It was okay.” Echo replied. Hunter cocked an eyebrow and Echo added, “It was a doctor’s appointment, not a trip to an amusement park.”

#tw: blood testing #tw: blood test #tw: mention of medical abuse #tw: medical abuse #tw: mention of abuse #tw: doctor visit #modern bad batch au #bad batch modern au #my original character #original character #bad batch original character #star wars original character #star wars oc #bad batch oc #inspired by a story on ao3 #star wars #the bad batch #bad batch #fanfiction

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the-doll-in-red · 8 months

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I've read previous blogs but never really understood, who IS this guy you've dated before and what happened?

tw: abuse/mention of abuse

#Undertale #Undertale Red #Ask Blog #Anonymous #tw: abuse #Asriel Dreemurr #tw: mention of abuse #Mentioned OC

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skully-64 · 9 months

Text

So I read a modern highschool au about Henry, and now need more. I may write something, but if i do it'll take a while.

I need an au where Henry is the weird kid who's undiagnosed autistic, and just got put with his foster family (mufasta, mufasta's wife, and their son) because his biological parents were incredibly abusive and neglectful. Most of the other kids avoid him because he's really quite strange and off-putting (I love him, and I love that about him, but he is Henry, and it is highschool) but eventually he becomes friends with Ricken, who is absolutely horrified when Henry talks about what life was like for him before he was put with mufasta. Eventually Henry makes friends with the rest of the first generation fire emblem cast, and it's very sweet.

#henry fire emblem #fire emblem au #fire emblem awakening #tw: mention of abuse #tw: abuse #fire emblem

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fxllen-angxlboy · 2 years

Text

@painforcain

——

“Cain...I miss you..so much that it’s ripping my chest n’ heart apart..” Angel let’s out a heavy sigh. “I feel so...incomplete and lost..”

Truthfully he was at his end, he didn’t like how his music career was going and had left the band a few months ago, his mind was far to wrapped around how he felt towards the ancient. He was still in love with him. Angel was always so fixated on him and hated that he never had time—Even his best mate would tell him that he should go and try to see Cain n’ forget the rockstar life, and that’s when Angel had decided he needed to be away from his music—it wasn’t making him happy nor were they really going anywhere with it since their management got fucked over.

“I’ve been a fool and deserve to be punished for causing you any pain...I don’t care what you do to me, chain me up, lashings, beatings, anything..I offer myself and just hope that you can forgive me.”

#painforcain #(i hope this is okay!)#tw: mention of abuse

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deathxcko · 1 year

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//making me emotional? I think that's a solid trademark. Your writing consistently makes me feel things in the best ways, and I'm delighted at how much depth you've given jason and how open you are to writing all the things!

tell me my blog's trademark // accepting !!

awwwwwwwwww thank you!! writing jason has always been from a place of immense love for a character. even growing up, jason had always been my favorite robin. not to hashtag theater kid myself, but i think when you give a character love and really devote yourself to the kinds of stories the character wants to tell it can take you to some real deep places!!

beyond that, speaking as someone who grew up dirt poor, surrounded with the struggles of poverty in america, as a highly emotionally intelligent person, and as a ab*se survivor.... idk. i relate a lot to him. he gives me hope !!

#tw: mention of abuse #&&; IT'S JUST A SPARK BUT ENOUGH TO KEEP ME GOING. ( ooc )

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rinzay · 1 year

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Sup, this isn't really an idea, but more of an explanation of how the possession worked in my idea list. I thought you might be interested in reading it!

Prelude: How the possession in my outlines worked

I have noticed that a lot of people are a bit confused on how the possession here works, so I wanted to clarify it with this little addendum of sorts. My version would have Vanessa initally black out occasionally for the first month or so after her initial possession. They would happen more specifically when she has her therapy visits. This is also where GlitchTrap/Afton attempts to rewrite her childhood memories to include an abusive father figure (presumably like him) to try and make her more obedient.

This is contrary to Vanessa's actual childhood, which was fairly standard and had 2 normal loving parents. It should be noted that in this universe they died in a car crash the year before the events of Help Wanted. All the therapists would play along as a way to diagnose her (or something idk) before eventually telling her that her memories don't line up with what her patient report sheet (or whatever they use) says about her childhood.

This gets rid of all the work Glitchtrap puts in and Vanessa original memories come back the overwhelming shock of which causes her to freeze up, and during this time she blacks out and Glitchtrap takes control of her and kills the therapist. He would then get her back to her apartment where she would regain consciousness and be none the wiser to her therapists fate. Controlling Vanessa directly takes a lot of energy from Glitchtrap and tires him out since he isn't intended to "control" humans just be manipulative. This is why he can't take direct control of Vanessa and has to resort to attempting to mentally gaslight her.

This happens 5 times before Glitchtrap says "screw this" and decides to create Vanny. He doesn't really want to do this, as he will be creating a different persona. This persona will be "programmed" to be subservient to him. However there is always a risk that since they are effectively their own person, this seperate personality can decide to not listen to the instructions correctly or do them their own way. They can also have their own goals that conflict with Glitchtrap's (something that you see in idea 6). He doesn't see any other way however, and is getting impatient and wants to start being evil again quickly. So he creates Vanny out of his own agony power thing and some of Vanessa's emotions. He uses ones that are still hurting from her parents death, duplicates and then corrupts them beyond all recognition.

Vanny is "made" (for lack of a better word) to control things directly, unlike glitchtrap. As such, the experience is now completely different. At her last therapist visit, Vanessa is forced to watch herself kill someone for the first time, starting off the worst 6 months of her life.

I hope that cleared up some confusion. If it didn't, let me know!

OOOOO that's interesting, glitchtrap I would love to stab u.

So Vanessa would have 'black outs', was she aware these blackouts were happening? Or were her memories on of before the appointment, leaving no memory of the therapist.

If she did, I wonder If she would get it checked or if she considered it a problem far too late.

If Vanny were created from Vanessa's emotions stemming from the death of her parents then it would mean; grief, longing, sadness, and anger is comming to play. When twisting those emotions I guess you get someone who is Possesive and Violent.

Vanny got some twisted morals since those are not only just regular emotions but very strong ones aswell if the accident was recent. If it wasn't then the 'black outs' glitchtrap has been causeing would definitly add some uneeded stress to her, when you are stress you are emotional so you could think of the stress factor as a multiplier!

Every Virus has a firewall, could Vanessa potentionally atleast resist Vanny's hold for a few seconds? Or even stall her movements through sheer will? Or would it be that she is completely helpless and all that she could do is watch her body move at someone elses command?

JJDVWJWHWJW Your possession idea is interestin, JDBSJSBFJ

#rinzanswers #fnaf #tw: death mention #tw: car accident #tw: mention of abuse #just a smidge #but ye I WOULD LOVE TO STUDY IT #Nothin like a good ole deep dive

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bowlerhatwearer · 2 years

Text

Phantoms in the Base

Based on "Roadkillerz" which belongs to @ghostypeppers and can be found at @ghostys-originals.

Bruno Capello belongs to @ghostypeppers

Special thanks to @northerngrail

TW: Mention of Abuse, TW: Panic attack, TW: Anxiety attack

~~~~

This was a bad idea.

A major part of his mind revolved at this one thought.

Honestly, he couldn’t agree on it more.

Bruno Capello, was certainly, that all would turn from bad to worse, in a matter of seconds.

Yet, if he would not do it, face the danger, no one else would.

For he was basically the only one who believed it.

Well, he was also the only one who saw the signs…and got a glimpse on them.

The “Phantom of the Roadkillerz base” as the jackalope had named this...entity.

Of course, when he showed his peers and colleagues his proof, many gave him a look of disbelieve or laughed, only a few thinking it was true.

Cupid, his best friend for example did, searching right now in another part of the base for the phantom.

Something in his guts told him, that today, they would be here again.

Maybe it was that he has always noticed them, on every Wednesday now.

Five times have they appeared now…this…being, with its blue glowing eyes, wandering around the halls and doing…something…searching through the base and different rooms, deep into the night when everyone else was asleep, or at least should be.

But the phantom never left a single trace behind, that they were ever here, not even on the surveillance cameras.

Bruno nervously scratched on his arm.

This was really a bad idea.

He couldn’t imagine what he would encounter.

Maybe it was a robot…or an alien…. or perhaps a vengeful ghost!

Only the worst and most frightening scenarios appeared in the young Roadkillerz members mind, but no, he had to face them, at this hour, today, right now, here in the middle of the night.

Cupid promised him he would give him a signal if he found the phantom first.

And of course, the very moment he thought of his good friend, he couldn’t help but worry.

Who knew what could happen, if one of them would confront them.

Maybe the phantom would send them in some sort of eldritch dimension.

Turn them into post stamps.

Or worst of all, make every food they eat, taste like onions for the rest of their lives!

Swallowing some dry air, Bruno had to distract himself as sweat of fear was already forming on his forehead.

The sudden sound, of someone walking, made him at first freeze in place, before quickly turning around the corner of the hallway he was walking right now.

The jackalope really wished that it was just another Roadkillerz member, having woken up to get a glass of water.

But his hopes remained unfulfilled, and what he saw just caused his knees to shake even more in fear.

There was a silhouette, walking around, on the other side of the hallway. slowly, yet also not afraid to make any sounds, for the clacking of their walking could be heard clearly by Bruno’s ears.

“This part of the intel I have gathered, should be…sufficient…now to the…archives.”

Intel? Was this entity perhaps…stealing classified information?!

And they were literally about to take more, was that what they had done since the first day?

Bruno could not help but wonder, and even if he was still afraid of this being, he was not going to allow it to snoop around any longer, he would confront them, and then get Cupid.

No wait, he should get Cupid first and then face the phantom.

But if he did not approach them now, they could already be gone, who knew how fast they really were!

The more he thought how to solve this, the more the phantoms footsteps faded away, until Bruno barely noticed them anymore.

Now or never, taking a few more breaths he stepped out of the corner.

“S-stop right where you are, you, you.... whatever you are!”

Having shouted louder than intended and full of anxiety, slowly Bruno opened his eyes, seeing that the phantom had come to a halt.

For a moment, they remained frozen in place, before they began to shake.

Bruno could hear, muffled chuckling that turned into laughter.

“Of all the people, this self-declared freedom fighter org has to offer-“

Their damped masculine voice echoed a bit trough the hallway as the phantom approached the shaking jackalope.

“- it is of course you, Bruno Capello.”

By all means, he knew he should be afraid of this stranger who knew his name, but the way they said it so…mockingly, angered him, he could feel how his eyes turned to slits. And although his voice continued to be shaky, he spoke directly to the entity.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just that, no one will ever believe you that I am standing here and-“

Coming to and halt, the jackalope could see how their raised, what he believed to be one of their arms, pointing at him.

“- I think, you should forget that I was ever here, jackalope.”

They were not taking him seriously, not at all.

“J-just you wait and see, as soon as I get Cupid here, your…stealing is over phantom!”

Tilting their head, they appeared unimpressed, or so Bruno assumed, given that it was too dark to see much of them.

“Stealing? I am merely…copying some information and don’t bother with your little friend, he won’t come to help you.”

Both worry and anger spread through his whole body, and for a moment Bruno wondered if he was going to whistle like a tea kettle, blurting out his words.

“What have you done to him?!”

“Me…nothing…poor guy, he was so tired looking for me…one tactical placed chair was all that it needed, for him to fall asleep the moment he sat on it, dozing off into the land of dreams.”

Cursing himself for having not allowed his friend to sleep two hours longer, Bruno gritted his teeth while the phantom continued mocking him with their chuckling.

“It d-doesn’t matter, I will deal with you myself and then everyone in the base will see that you are real!”

The hand that had previously pointed at him, it sounded as if it was whirring before the phantom retracted it close to what Bruno assumed was their body.

“No, I don’t think you will.”

The sudden illumination of two sources of bright blue light, startled the jackalope for a moment, dazzling him before he was able to cover his eyes with his arms.

The phantoms eyes as he had seen them before, but not as clear as today.

Concentrating on them, Bruno nearly neglected to hear the other sound, something akin to powering up, looking under his arm to be shielded a bit from the light, his own eyes went big.

Despite how dark it was, he could clearly see that whatever they held, looked absolutely like a gun, one that the phantom held close to their chest.

Before he could say or do anything, the sound grew louder and the stranger moved the gun away, pointing it at the floor between Bruno and them.

The crackling sound of the rays and flashes that appeared startled him and he wished he could look away, yet like the icy blue colour that surrounded the floor where the laser hit, he was frozen.

Without noticing when exactly it was over, instead of the phantom, Bruno was suddenly facing a wall of solid ice, still glowing a bit and steaming.

He could feel the cold that originated from the blockage, that was now an obstacle in his self-declared mission to get the phantom.

Not knowing what to do at the moment, he could not help himself but to shout in anger, as the magic of the ice wall was over, and he was alone.

Yet, despite that and the thickness of the wall, he was still able to hear the chuckling from behind it.

“Now…that should stop him, time to visit the archives.”

About to start kicking at the icy wall in frustration, an idea came into his mind, one so good, that he wished a lightbulb would appear over his head.

It wasn’t perfect but, if he would crawl through the vents, he could outreach the phantom, before he could do any more harm by stealing what they pleased to take. If he got close enough, he could kick that ray gun out of their strange sounding hands and then when he would present the defeated phantom to the others, he would finally get the recogni-

Shaking his head, the jackalope found himself again, first, he had to get to the phantom, looking for the nearest vent entrance on the floor, Bruno removed the cover and crawled in.

Eugh, he knew why he preferred not to do it, but it was all to catch the intruder and stop him, who knew what he might do with the information.

Maybe he was someone working for the Wrath?

Gulping down some air and a few specs of dust, Bruno Capello decided to crawl faster.

He didn’t like the tight environment of the vents, but in emergencies it was always good to know their layout.

More automatic than with thoughts, he navigated trough the metallic shafts, being occupied in trying to figure out how exactly to stop the phantom, maybe a sneak attack could do the trick.

Grunting he had to crawl through a steep elevation, ignoring of how dusty he must be looking right now, letting out a sharp breath, he had reached his destination.

Just in time, for he could clearly see through the slits that the strange intruder had just reached the door of the archive as well, about to enter.

Now or never, with a gracious kick he kicked the lights out of the phantom, dragging him to his superior and getting praised for his good work.

Or so, Bruno loved to imagine it went.

Instead, the jackalope lost his footing and fell out of the vent, falling directly onto the intruder, both grunting on the floor.

“You-you …nobody- “

Flinching at the anger and frustration in the words of the phantom, Bruno tried to collect himself as quickly as possible, however his opponent was quicker, for the first time the jackalope noticed the Russian accent they spoke with.

“-the only thing you are good at, is cooking mediocre spaghetti and sauce!”

Wait how did they- Fieriness was suddenly rising into his head when he connected the dots, he knew exactly why they said that.

“You! You were the one who stole my lunches from the fridge in the break room!”

Having found new energy Bruno faced the stranger, noticing, how he was only one or two inches taller than him, taking away a bit of their intimidating factor.

“Man does not live from granola bars and cheap soda alone!”

“…what?”

But before Bruno could question the weird sentence any further, they had already their gun ready in their hand, charging up, but this time, into his face, he could feel how his eyes were shrinking in anxiety.

“Time to turn you into a jackalope popsicle!”

More out of reflex than intention he grabbed the stranger’s arm, startling Bruno for it felt cold and metallic, before pushing it above his head, causing the gun, to fire at the ceiling were suddenly a few icicles appeared.

“Proklyatiye!”

Unable to react, Bruno could feel how they shoved him rudely away, opening the door to the Roadkillerz archive and vanishing into it, with the jackalope running after them.

However, when they were into the room, one that looked larger and taller on the inside, than the casual looking door would imply, they did not see the Phantom, despite the fact, they were gone only for a split second. Pushing the light switch, the room, illuminating it by the artificial white light of neon tubes.

“Show yourself, there is only one door so you can’t hide forever!”

“Pah- who needs hiding, certainly not me, not-“

For the first time, Bruno Capello got a better look in who he was fighting against, however, it did not bring more clarity as he had hoped.

Their face was wrapped trough and trough with white bandages, disguising it completely, and the eyes hidden behind blue tinted safety glasses, they wore a white laboratory coat, and the light was reflected from their black lacquered shoes they had on their feet.

“-doctor Nikolai Akdow!”

Before he could evade him, Bruno could feel how this strange guy, was running into him with the elbow, of one of their metallic two arms, that were as black as their shoes, causing him to breath out. Nikolai had hidden himself, behind one of the shelves, so the jackalope concluded.

Taking the opportunity, the stranger ran, but not through the door, rather running through the narrow corridors of the archived inventory.

“-somewhere…somewhere, there must be something about quantum mecha-“

“-STOP IT Stop right where you are!”

“I am not taking orders from someone, who looks like a teenagers first internet OC!”

“You take that back!”

He had enough from this Akdow and his insults, biting on his lip he decided to take a swing, and to his own surprise landed a hit against the individual, the jackalope was now sure, was no real phantom.

Letting out a wheeze before coughing, his opponent held on his stomach were the jackalope landed the hit, breathing in Bruno heard something, that sounded similar to a snarl.

“You…you will not put harm to this body, you rebenok!”

How strange, as Bruno was blinking, is looked like as if the intruder’s blue tinted googles were red, but then they were back to their former selves, it was probably nothing.

What wasn’t nothing, however, was how Nikolai Akdow once again took his ray gun and was ready to shoot, having no chance to deliver another punch, Bruno Capello believed it was the best to run, hoping that maybe, the stranger would be out of breath soon so he could confront his opponent again.

Akdow on the other hand, started to shoot, missing Bruno by far and hitting one of the shelves that was shaking, and ice started to quickly form on the metal. Followed by another shot, causing icicles to form close to Bruno, but causing no harm or posing the risk they could impale him.

Noticing how the clacking grew louder and more frequent, together with the fact that the rays hit now more randomly than with precision, it was easy for Bruno to conclude, that Nikolai was trying to catch up on him and despite his attempts to loose or confuse Nikolai, it did not help, the stranger was still behind him.

Before he could think about something else, a blue flash just narrowly missed him, startling the jackalope as it hit the shelve close to him, making it wobble like the others, and causing archived objects to fall down, fortunately it were only small shoe boxes and not one hit him, but it was enough for him to loose his momentum, exhaustion began to drain his energy reserves.

However, he was not the only one gasping for air.

Akdow stood there, the gun still stretched into the jackalopes direction, the invader was observing him, but he was not shooting, it looked as if blue smoke was, pouring out of the gun, was it perhaps overheated?

“This is…only a…minor setback….you…do you really believe you are better-“

He was staring at Bruno, as his free hand turned into a fist.

“-pollution, conflicts, global warming, corruption…suspicions…how wrong I was to think this place would be any different.”

For Bruno, it looked as if Nikolai allowed himself to wander around with his thoughts and vision, looking left to right as he continued talking, when he suddenly must have seen something that interested him, for he bowed down to pick something up from one of the boxes.

The jackalopes eyes widened, but it was not only for it appeared that the intruder was about to throw the object at Bruno, but also because of what exactly he held into his hand.

“This good to nothing world will be nuke-“

“STOP! DON’T! NOT THE FEAR SEED!”

Closing his eyes, Bruno Capello expected to be hit by the item into the face, which is why he put his arms in front to protect it. However, nothing happened, opening them again slowly, it was, as if Nikolai Akdow was frozen in place before retracting his arm that was about to have done the deed.

Tilting his head, his opponent looked at him, questioning, or so Bruno at least assumed.

“A what?”

“T-the fear seed, it’s very fragile…and dangerous…or so I have been told.”

Avoiding eye contact, he didn’t like to think what this object, that looked like a heavy ornamented easter egg, could cause in the wrong or improper hands.

While the jackalope, the longer nothing bad happened got calmer, the intruder appeared to be more nervous.

“…C….Ok…ok…so what do I do now with that thing?”

Caught off guard by Akdow’s sudden consideration, he wasn’t sure himself, but there was no harm done it putting it back into the box, right?

“Just, just give it back where you got it from.

Very carefully the stranger put his gun back, knelt down and picked up the cardboard gently, as he was about to put the seed back into the box without any promptness. So far so good.

*Crack*

Witnessing how without any warning, cracks started to appear all over the seed, Brunos eyes snapped open, about to scream in horror, Nikolai breathed out sharply upon seeing what was happening.

“Uh-oh.”

Violet smoke poured out of the egg-shaped object before a sudden flash blinded and startled the jackalope.

For a moment, everything appeared to be calm, he had knelt down with one of his legs more by reflex than intentional and that Akdow guy was lying on the floor, slowly looking up. Maybe, it was just a false alarm Bruno had in his thoughts, as he slowly opened his eyes, noticing how Nikolais widened under his glasses and before the jackalope could ask what was wrong, he too observed what was happening.

A large shadow began to appear under him, he could see the silhouette, one that made him shiver trough his spine, for the awful realization, of it looking familiar, crept trough his mind. Something…. someone was standing behind him, someone that made all his alarm bells go off at once, that told him to run immediately, just as he did once in the past. But before he could do it, a thunderous voice was already echoing through the archive.

“BRUNO! WHAT DID YOU DO THIS TIME!?”

The whole body didn’t want to move to the source of the voice, yet it still did, turning his head around, Bruno could feel, how all the energy wanted to vanish from one second to another. It felt as if his blood froze in his veins and his heart stopped beating, his eyes got smaller and he wanted to run, but his legs remained still.

“I WILL TEACH YOU SOME MANNERS AND RESPECT!!!””

His father, his very own, how he imagined…how he feared him, stood before him, tall, arms like logs of wood, ready to smash the young jackalope into pieces any second now and eyes flashing, that stared into Bruno’s very soul, declaring their disappointment of him in absolute silence unlike the non-existing mouth that continued to shout.

Bruno did not notice, or cared, how Akdow stood up, looking at bewilderment at the gigantic entity that had two large horns on his head.

“What…. who is that thing?”

However, the jackalope couldn’t give him an answer, staring at what he knew his own father was, with shrunken eyes, unable to say a world, unlike someone else whose voice was raised.

“~Oh Nikolai, there you are, I have missed you my dear, finally we get to see us again.~”

From the corner of his eyes, Bruno could see something, what he assumed was the source of this, sickly sweet voice that he already started to ignore again, but whatever it was, it managed to make Nikolai shake and his usually confident or at least strong sounding voice gone hoarse.

“No…. that’s, impossible you…you are…”

Before he continued to say anything, the intruder turned around and ran, vanishing into one of the rows of the archives.

However, Bruno didn’t realize, or care, too deep sat the shock in his body, for having to see his father, who he thought he would be having to never see again.

“I WILL MAKE YOU RESPECT ME BOY!”

Swinging his two mighty arms, his father hit the floor with all the power he had, making the whole room shake as if it was exposed to an earthquake, all the shelves were shaking dangerously, with the jackalope fearing that at any moment they would collapse and bury him with all the items and boxes that would fall down on him.

Covering his ears, the jackalope tried to focus on the way before he as well had finally found enough energy to make a run for it.

“YOU CAN’T GET AWAY FROM ME!”

But he didn’t listen, too strong was his flight response to get away from the danger his father posed, he just wanted him to be gone…he just wanted to hide.

Just as he did for so many years.

Squinting his eyes, he really hoped that there would be no tears in them, because he needed to find something to get away from him, whose shaking steps he could hear and feel.

While his legs carried him, he did notice how his energy was dwindling fast, looking left to right to search for…just anything where he could hide from his dad, his prayers got answered.

He found a rack that was not, as well illuminated by the white neon light than the others, and had the two lower shelves removed, giving him enough room to desperately crawl under it, with each passing moment a part of his body was still exposed and vulnerable, Bruno anxiously worried that his father would grab him any second now, but luck was on his side, and he was able to slip under it, hidden away, still hearing the grumbling and vibrations away from him.

How, how was this possible?

Feeling, a bit more safer than out in the open of the archives, fright, questions and panic started to overtake Brunos mind.

He thought that by joining the Roadkillerz, he finally would be away from his father, yet here he was, how the young jackalope always saw and feared him.

Crouching his body together by putting his legs closer to the rest of it, Bruno himself noticed how his heart was racing together with his heavy breathing and shaking.

No, no, no! This was not fair! He finally had found a place where he thought he was safe and now his dad had found him!

What was he supposed to do now?!

Leave the Roadkillerz?

Perhaps even leave the whole country if not the continent behind?

How the young jackalope wished right now for this to be a dream…a nightmare he would wake up from soon.

A part of him just wanted to shout in frustration, burying his own head deeper in his body, he really wanted to, but knew that this would bring the risk of his father discovering his hiding place.

Bruno could feel how, together with the anxiety, his vision turned blurry and he felt sick, questions together with an mind that was in overload and a dry mouth, made him feel as if he was about to puke.

The image of the angry face of his father, he saw too many times, burned into his mind, his echoing voice going trough his head again and again, just like a broken record.

If only he could think about something else.

Something that is around him?

Another object or person.

Maybe even a face that is not his fathers.

Perhaps even a different-

“-voice- “

Snapping his eyes open in surprise, he was suddenly met by the bandaged face of Nikolai Akdow.

For a quick moment the jackalope startled in surprise, before reminding himself that his father could hear him.

“-Mr.Cap- Bruno listen to my voice…focus on me, and take a few breaths…”

It was difficult, when his mind was occupied trying to remind him of who he dreaded so much, but the more he looked at the Akdow guy, the intruder, who, right now he saw less of a danger than his father, the more it felt like as if his blurry vision started to fade and his breathing turned more regular.

“Good, now, just-“

Before Bruno could say anything, Nikolai was already squeezing himself into the same gap as he did, trying to sit as far away from the jackalope, as that was possible, maybe to avoid him…or perhaps to give him space.

The intruder breathed heavy himself, and even if the jackalope didn’t like him, it was a welcome distraction from what was going on.

“L-listen, I admit that this situation we are in, is partly may fault, but listen-“

Taking one last breath, Akdow’s eyes, hidden behind his safety glasses focused on him.

“-they are not real; I mean they are physical manifestations of our inner fears.”

Revealing his left metal arm, Bruno could see a few scratch marks he was certain, were not there before.

But the jackalope couldn’t help but doubt the opponent’s words, looking up from his huddled position his eyes looked at the “phantom” with disbelief.

“Uhu, how can you be so sure about that?”

Continuing to squint at the stranger, Akdow let out a sigh, looking at the floor before raising his focus on Bruno again, moving a few inches forward. For a moment it looked for the jackalope as if Nikolai was about to give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, but it never came, instead the intruder retracted his arm back to himself.

“I understand, but, if there is nothing else you trust me about, than just this one, they can’t be real, because the one thing I saw and called after me…her…I know one thing for sure-“

Opening his eyes, Bruno could see how the stranger ones met his, full of assurance and honesty.

“-she is death and can’t be here.”

He was not sure what to say after that, only a nearly silent “oh” escaped his mouth.

The sudden quaking of the ground startled them both, making Nikolai look once again at Bruno.

“We need to stop them before they destroy the room or worse-“

Of course, he knew that was well, but the pain and fear over his own father…or rather this manifestation of him was fresh, and he couldn’t help but shake his head.

“How? You have seen him; he will mop the floor with me- “

Stopping himself, Bruno decided to finish the following part of the sentence in his thoughts.

“-as he did so often-”

“…and you too fled from her, so what do you think we can do?”

This thing may not be his real father, but Bruno knew he would hurt him just as much his real one did.

If the jackalope wouldn’t have looked on the floor, trying to avoid the gaze of Akdow, he might have seen the intruders short-lived worried expression in his eyes before he raised his voice again.

“Perhaps…an alternative then…I will fight him for you…can you face her for me?”

He really wasn’t, or felt like it, but there were not really, any other options, were there? It was deep in the night, they were basically trapped with those two, manifestations here and with how the floor was shaking, who knew how long it would take, until Akdow’s worries, would turn into reality.

As much as he didn’t like it, they had to do something against them

Bruno had to admit, even if he was suspicious about this Nikolai guy, he appreciated the alternative offered to him.

Giving him a silent nod, he spoke to his opponent again.

“…Ok….I think I can do it…just, give me a moment.”

Taking a few more breaths, Bruno moved closer to the gap and Nikolai crouched to it as well, giving him another glance.

“So…stalemate?”

The strangers voice himself sounded unsure, but Bruno knew, even in this stressful situation, that right now it was genuine. Giving him a, shakily, but more confident expression than before.

“Stalemate.”

Akdow stepped out, listening to the room, another shake happened, followed what Bruno could clearly hear, was once again a shout from his “father”, listening closely, the intruder and now ally took out his ray gun once again, before running towards, were Nikolai assumed was the source of the voice.

For a moment the jackalope could hear how the stomping got closer before it suddenly stopped.

“I WILL GET YOU BRUNO! HIDING WON’T HEL-“

“Hey pridurok! Go get someone your size and be quiet!”

The short silence that followed, was soon taken by what Bruno could describe as a feral roar and then the sound of the Akdow using his gun once again.

He decided it was the best to get away from their fighting, wondering if his newfound ally would be able to deal with his “father” and that it was time for him to search for “her”.

Running into the opposite direction he looked at the shelves, some of them appeared to have claw marks, that reminded him on those he saw on Nikolai’s metal arm, wondering if he was on the right track.

Sudden sounds made him stop and caused his fur to bristle Brunos ears raised to full attention, listening closely.

There was first creaking, followed by laughing, not cheerful, neither malicious, but rather hollow.

“~Are you perhaps a friend of my Nikolai, it matters not, I will make him perfect, no matter what you try.~”

Turning around, he saw “her”, as she had patiently waited, like a spider in a web she was sitting on one of the shelves of one of the metal racks.

She looked like a shadow, only the silhouette of a person was all that he could see, she appeared to have long hair, and a taller appearance than Nikolai, she was completely, shrouded in darkness, like the one in a night of a new moon. Only her teeth, shining unnatural white, he was able to see clearly, and how they formed a grin, he couldn’t see any eyes. It was only an assumption on his side, but it looks like as if she was wearing a lab coat…strangely with belts attached to it.

The feminine voice of hers sounded soft, yet the jackalope was able make out the poison in which they were soaked in.

Bruno swallowed, even, if he had to admit that he didn’t feel comfortable with the confrontation of “her”, his mind told himself, that it was still better than having to face the manifestation of his father, and facing her, whoever she was.

“You are not going to harm me, others, the base or that Akdow guy!”

Having squinted his eyes, he opened them again, she was still sitting on the rack, however her smile, slowly turned into a frown, before she hopped down were she sat, standing her ground.

“What courage you have …but it matters not…you will submit and do as I say, just like my Nikolai will-“

The sudden deeper chuckling startled him, with his first thoughts shouting at him to run, but not enough to make him do so yet.

On each one of her arms, two additional revealed themselves, making them six, with the fingers of her hands, turning, despite how shadow like she was, Bruno still could see how they shaped into razor-sharp claws.

“~I am his mother! And Nikolai will be made perfect! No matter what you do!”~

As she started to approach him, the jackalope knew, now was really the time to run again, part of his mind wanted to hide as he did before, but another told him he had to fight Nikolai’s “parent”.

He didn’t know where to go exactly, but he had to think about a way in stopping her fast.

Running past one of the many rackets, he could hear, and quickly see how one of her arms shot forwards, despite her being a few meters behind him, and clenching around the metal, which started to creak in protest, making it shake slightly for a moment, then more violently as she shot forwards, nearly reaching and ready to get him.

Shouting with anxiety and filled with surprise, he took a quick turn continuing to run.

Bruno’s thoughts continued to run like a typewriter, thinking about anything to stop her, or at least slow her down.

Searching through the Roadkillerz archive for some useful item, was out of option.

“Come on, you are supposed to be the smart one, think Bruno think!”

It felt for him, as if he was running in circles, or at least, around the same block of shelves, for the narrow passage looked the same, as the ones he saw before.

Then it hit him, something clicked in his mind that made him realise, that he had an idea.

Perhaps not a perfect plan, but the best one he could think about, even if it was risky.

Looking around, he remained still at the small corridor opening, he stopped running facing her.

Nikolai’s “mother” of course smiled, as if she was thinking he was a fool to face her, and in full over-confidence, used four of her arms, to shoot forward.

“~All imperfections will be made perfect, even you!~”

As she moved forward to get him, Bruno ran into the narrow passage, not looking back he could hear the metal creak, as it hit against her arms, as she continued to move towards him, her speed had decreased, yet despite of that she was very close to him.

He could hear her chuckling together with the sound of her four arms going through the shelves, with the archived objects all making different noises, and some even falling on the ground.

Increasing his running again, he could see the opening on the other end, and as he did, so did hers, with her arms reaching more violently for him, without her noticing, how her arms entangled themselves more and more, with each passing shelve.

“~When I have you, I will with all the love I can give…. claw your FACE!”

Running between the narrow way by now as fast as he could, Bruno Capello could not help but wonder for a short moment, just what happened to Nikolai Akdow in the past.

The thought got overtaken by his flight response as he continued to escape her grip, the jackalope feared would soon catch him if he wouldn’t-

-escape!

With a short and quick jump, he was out, going a few steps backwards, and hoping, perhaps even praying a bit, his plan would work, if not, he didn’t know what else to do, except trying to fight her.

“Got you now!”

What Bruno assumed was her hair, looked suddenly unkempt, impatient, the sugary sweet poison replaced by one that was full of impatience, and ready to rip him to shreds if she would reach him, gulping down, he feared for the worst as she leaped towards him.

But it never came.

Once again, the creaking of metal could be heard, and when the jackalope opened his eyes, Nikolai’s “mother” has not moved an inch from her current position.

Because she couldn’t

As he had planned.

Letting out a sigh of relieve, he could see how she appeared to look herself in confusion of the situation.

Four of her arms, had been embroiled in the rows of shelves and she was unable to retract them at this point, all she could do, was to pull on them futile.

Taking a few breaths, the question remained now for Bruno, what he should do with her, this, manifestation of Nikolai’s mother, however, before he had a solid thought, he could already hear groaning metal again.

Not holding back, the manifestation of Nikolai’s mother, tried to pull herself free, but it was to no avail, yet, she continued trying to do so, no matter how the shelves resisted, as they started to vibrate and shake more and more.

Bruno, could already see the calamity happening, when again, items started to fall down, and even when he protested and told her to stop, she did not, snarling in frustration at him, as she once again tried to push trough.

Like slow motion he saw it happening in front of his eyes, as the shelves started to resign themselves to her aggressiveness, getting unhinged from the floor where they had been fixated, first steadily, as if gently they wanted to fall, and then, with the increasing laws of physics coming into effect, going down abruptly.

Collapsing directly on her.

There was one last shout of protest, as this shadow of a person, realized what was happening.

Before everything else, was drowned by the sounds of falling objects and crashing metal.

No dust was raised by the sudden events, and when Bruno Capello opened his eyes, he could see her, half buried under the heavy racks that had fallen on her, was he, supposed to help her, what could he really do in that situation, given that she was not real.

For a moment, it appeared as if she did not notice the jackalope, more desperately trying to free herself, but with every passing moment, her movement getting weaker, before it stopped, and looked up, her eyeless face directly into Bruno’s, just her teeth, giving him a weak but confident grin.

“~A part of me…always…. remains….~”

Before the young jackalope could ask what, she meant by that, he could already see her body dissolving into the same violet smoke that had brought her into this world and when it stopped, there being no sign left that she ever existed.

The jackalope was honestly not sure what to think about that, neither her words or that she was gone, but despite how much energy it had costed him and feeling how exhaustion started to spread over his body, there was relief, that it was finally over.

For a short moment Bruno breathed out relaxed before his eyes snapped open.

Having forgotten about his father, during the running, he had no time to think about him, but now it all came back to him.

Bruno hadn’t seen or heard anything about Nikolai Akdow, did that mean that he had failed taking care of his father.

Would that mean, HE had to deal with him?

Yet, before his worries could overtake his mind again, he could hear a strong and animalistic sounding roar before everything turned to silence again.

Was this a good or bad sign, in the jackalope’s mind it was the latter, as his feet, who preferred to run into the opposite direction did ran towards were the sound had come from.

At this point, his feet hurt, and all he wanted to do was go back to bed and sleep for at least a whole week before waking up again, however, despite not liking the situation, he had to make sure his “father” was dealt with.

When Bruno arrived at the source of the wild sound, he found a site of chaos, which, in his opinion looked much worse that the mess he was involved with.

Objects laid strewn together everywhere, surprising the jackalope that not one of them, caused a fire or something, many of the rackets had dents in them, or got smashed to unrecognition, some even appeared as if they were thrown, or as if they were about to break apart.

Nikolai Akdow, sat before on one of the shelves, that had fallen, leaning against it, breathing exhausted and using his one metallic arm, that although showing since of wear and tear, was not as much dented as their other ones to bring something to Bruno’s attention.

Just in time, did the jackalope see how the last remains of violet smoke, dissolved into nothingness, what was once the manifestation of his father as Akdow put away his ray gun.

“D-Don’t ask me how I did it…if I would know that myself.”

The in-…stranger looked completely depleted from all energy, with their clothing and bandages covered in dust and dirt and the jackalope had to admit, he didn’t look better.

Neither did he felt any different than his opponent.

Unable to ignore his own lack of vigor any longer, he couldn’t help himself and Bruno sat down as well, he hoped that he would soon find enough power, to stand up and find someone, notifying about what had happened.

Speaking of the question of course remained, what to do with the stranger?

At least, he had to give up the Intel he took, that was something Bruno was certain, who knew what they are going to do with it.

However, before he had reclaimed his strength, Nikolai Akdow was already back on his legs, It was clear, that he had not recovered yet, which did not stop him to move into the direction of were the exit would be.

“W-wait you can’t…”

Bruno’s tired eyes looked at him, and Nikolai returned that look, no matter how hard the stranger tried to look professional, he was as sleepy as he was.

“I did my part, and so did you…I see, no reason to stay here…”

Holding his stomach with his dented arm, Akdow slowly dragged away, unable to raise them even an inch above the ground, despite his own exhaustion he continued, for a few meters, coming to a halt to take a few more breaths he supported himself on one of the racks that had not fallen.

A fatal mistake.

Bruno heard it, and so did Nikolai, the undistinguishable sound of metal creaking, as the two had heard it tonight often enough, causing them to look up, and their eyes to shrink in unison.

The shelves gave up and an avalanche of old folders and books started to fall down, with the exhausted stranger being their target.

A short shout was all that he could express before Nikolai Akdow got buried under them.

<;…>

Sasha du Rand took another pull on her quellazaire, the silver cigarette holder she had now for years, despite the strict no-smoking policy in the Roadkillerz base, she could not care less at the moment, later she would probably regret it for not being a good role model for the younger recruits, but given what had transpired tonight, and all the administrative work she would have to do, she ignored it for the moment.

The poodle with her champagne pink fur let out a sigh, before extinguishing the last remains of her smoke and returning to the room where she was before.

Although this was not officially an infirmary and looked like the room of a school nurse who the government cheated on their funding, it was usually just used to treat smaller injuries.

As it right now was for Bruno Capello and their “guest”.

“Ouch- I said it’s fine I- ouch!...And again I dealt with the problem didn’t I?”

Pushing the hand away of the person holding the cotton ball that was drenched in hydrogen peroxide, Bruno noticed who had entered the room again, flinching for a short moment.

Sasha wondered for a second if she should take another cigarette.

“Dealt with Mr.Capello? What I see is having at least three-quarters of our archive getting damaged to several degrees and wondering, why YOU, did not get any help or notified us of the intruder or about the incident that followed?”

Grumbling, the young jackalope did not say anything directly to the Roadkillerz senior-member and administrator, as he once again pushed the approaching hand away, mumbling how he tried to, but how nearly no one believed him.

Exhaling sharply, even the poodle had to admit, that this was true.

“This, is a factor I will bear in mind when writing the report, however there will be a penalty, which I still have to think about.”

Letting out a resigned sigh, the Roadkillerz administrator turned her attention, to the person who was pouring more sanitizer on another ball of cotton.

“And you, are you sure, that the ID is a forgery, Owens?”

Blaise Owens put away the cotton ball and disinfectant, before placing another sticking plaster at Bruno Capello’s arm, one that had dinosaurs on it.

By no means should the old war journalist be here, but in a strange twist of fate they were working on an article and were present when the news reached the upper management of the Roadkillerz, and given that today they were short-staffed, Blaise offered to patch the two injured up, an offer, that right now Sasha appreciated, as she was not interested to deal with the fuss the two injured made for long.

Turning around, the old cat went to a table and grabbed the aforementioned ID, a card, that looked like any other governmental issued identification card, at least, on the first glance.

“Indeed, upon closer inspection, there are a few spelling errors, AND the affiliation symbol of “Neutral” he has in his, looks different to the one compared to my card. Also it’s printed on cheap paper which you can see when I-“

Holding the card in both of their hands, they slightly bend it, which caused the paper to rip and Blaise expressing an embarrassed smiled.

“-which was not my intention but shows what I mean.”

Looking at the damaged remains, Sasha gave a closer inspection to the name.

“…do you believe it’s real?”

“I have no doubt, given how proudly he proclaimed it according to Mr.Capello’s account I-“

“And I will do it again if I have to, release me at once!”

Turning their heads, they saw Nikolai Akdow, who had been placed on a bed, trying futilely to free his arm, that had been handcuffed to a nearby radiator, making the poodle exhale once again and roll her eyes.

“Looks like someone has found the strength again to complain.”

“I have a PHD-“

“Yeah yeah, who doesn’t.”

Approaching him alone, Sasha had showed no qualms, in pushing the raised Akdow, back to the bed, to make her point clear, who stared daggers into the poodle.

“Listen and listen well, the fact that you used a security flaw, to gain access to our base is one thing…that you stole intel is another-“

Her eyes stared at his, still under the safety googles, when they tried to remove them or his bandages, he resisted greatly, cursing and throwing threats around as if there would be no tomorrow.

“-I don’t know how things are dealt with, where you are from, but your actions…will have consequences, starting now-“

The intruder did not look afraid, however the poodle wondered if he would explode soon, but for now he allowed her to continue speaking.

“-until your debt is repaid for the destruction you have caused, you will remain here, work for us, and do as I, or other people here in the position, say-“

“You can’t be serious, that goes-“

“-alternatively, I will hand you over to the authorities.”

That made him go quiet for once, with Shasha noticing, how he realised that not only he was put in a corner, but also had no way to escape, although she could not see it, the poodle was certain he was gritting his teeth.

“Glad that we come to an agreement then, Mr.Capello…will be ever so often, your…overseer for the time you will be here with us.”

Having not bothered to listen, hearing his last name being spoken and what the administrator had said afterwards made his ears twitch in attention with a shocked expression on his face.

“What? Hey, that’s completely un-“

“-fair, now take your time to recover, I will see that your prosthetics get maintained.”

As she turned around, she could hear a few more protests coming from Bruno, and how Blaise Owens was approaching now their guest to continue patching him up, but she did not care, the poodle had said, what needed to be said.

Opening the door, she put another cigarette on her holder, about to leave, there was one last thing she wanted to say to their new, guest and recruit.

“Welcome to the Roadkillerz Dr.Akdow, enjoy your stay.”

~~~~

I hope you enjoyed reading the story

Yours sincerely

Bowler

#Roadkillerz #RKZ #Bruno Capello #Roadkillerz OC #RKZ OC #Nikolai Akdow RKZ #Blaise Owens #Owens Family #Sasha du Rand RKZ #Bowler writes #RKZ Fan fiction #Roadkillerz Fan Fiction #I will reblog it later because of the different time zones #tw: mention of abuse #tw: panic attack #tw: anxiety attack #I am myself not sure if they those warnings suit to this story #But I just want to be sure #If I forgot something to tag; please let me know

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