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doedreamss · 4 years

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Some Real Cowboy Shit

You can all thank @vonschweetz for this one because after the bte episode she suggested adam getting a reply back from the swingers e-mail sounded like the perfect set-up for a naughty fic and I took the bait hook, line, and sinker. Happily, of course.

Ship: Hangman Adam Page x Fawna Rose (FOC)

Summary: Directly following the events in episode 181 of Being the Elite; Adam responds to a reply he gets from that accidental e-mail he sent when he meant to ask Private Party to do a bit on BTE with him, drunk off the booze he snatched from them and desperate to get back on his cowboy shit.

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Alcohol use, mentions of cuckolding/swinging, gratuitous smut, little bit of edging/orgasm denial, unprotected sex

Length: 6,762 words

Available below the cut

“He’s gonna have a lit night tonight.”

The words followed his back and Adam didn’t pause to consider or rethink his actions. He grimaced against the burn in his throat and blinked, reaching to press his thumb and forefinger over his low brows. That definitely wasn’t water. He opened his eyes and the long cement brick hallways veered in an odd direction in front of him, throwing him slightly off balance. One large hand jerked outward, fingers spread, and his palm caught his body weight on a rolling case with wheels which were thankfully locked. The case caught the bulk of his weight and kept him standing upright.

“Heh,” a breathless chuckle, amused at how just two glasses had already made him sway. His eyes darted down to the bottle he was holding, tilting it, letting the remaining liquor slosh around in its contents. “Those boys know how to party,” he said to only himself, mouth open with another amused laugh. “This is a Private Party!” He sang gently under his breath and laughed again.

His brows jerked, and he shook his head, fluffy, blond curls slightly disturbed by the motion.

“Gotta get back on my cowboy shit,” he muttered, remembering, and stood upright again.

Wasn’t he already trying that? Wasn’t stepping away from the Elite, riding solo, supposed to help him finally make a damn name for himself? Hadn’t his performance in the 12-man Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale proved just what in the hell he’d meant? A small noise of frustration in his throat and he tried to give those thoughts a mental shove. He was going to do exactly what he’d just said. He was going to do what the fuck he promised he was going to do. Every damn person in every damn crowd was going to make the walls of the arena’s vibrate with their “cowboy shit” chants when he came out to the ring.

He wasn’t going to be buried. Forgotten. Left behind. He was done with that. He was done licking his goddamn wounds.

Adam stormed into the little room where his luggage case was packed and waiting. The show wasn’t over – walls still reverberating with the cheers of thousands of fans watching the matches – but why stick around? His thick fingers wrapped around the plastic handle and rolled the case. He looked back down at the bottle in hand, twisted the cap off and took another hard swallow. Another grimace chased the burn.

“Woo!” He hollered and shook his head, laughing again. The sound bounced empty around the walls and died shortly after. Drinking was a gamble, and when you were doing it alone…

Grumbling under his breath, he fished his phone out of his pocket, transferring the bottle of liquor to the hand rolling his luggage case beside him. He’d order a ride and head out. No point sticking around after the show… not anymore. He hadn’t really managed to make any new friends and the longer he hung out backstage the more likely he was to run into one of the Elite.

Although, the idea of the lonely hotel room waiting for him didn’t sound any better.

A new notification for an e-mail caught his eye. He blinked a few times, trying to bring the glowing screen into focus and stopped walking (swaying) altogether so he could hold it closer to his face and make out the reply.

“Oh shit,” he muttered, blue eyes going a little wide. He glanced around him as if he was going to get caught but was still practically on his own. A few crewmembers were down the way, but they hadn’t paid him much mind.

The reply was from the e-mail he’d accidentally sent, thinking he was discussing a possible “bit” with Private Party. Unfortunately, he’d sent it to the wrong address and whoever held that e-mail address had replied.

Hi Adam,

I would absolutely love to do a bit with you… Are you a solo party? I’ve attached a picture for your viewing pleasure, so you’d know what you could be getting yourself into… hope to hear back from you soon. - XOXO Fawna Rose

He swallowed and glanced at the attachments, slowly moving his thumb over the screen and clicking them open. What he saw made his mouth go dry, hung gently open in a gap, and the blood rush between his legs. She was beautiful – the girl who’d replied – with thick curves his fingers suddenly itched to latch onto and hold. His tongue swept the inside of his lip, and he envisioned himself blemishing her skin with red marks as he sucked his way down her body. Her eyes were amber-brown, rich, and they reminded him of autumn in the country. Her lips were full, perfectly kissable, and he found himself aching for what little sound she’d make when he caught her thick bottom lip between his teeth and pinched it tight. She was scantily dressed in baby pink lace lingerie with matching thigh-high pink fishnet stockings attached by garter belts. He wanted to slowly peel the little bits of material from her body like he was unwrapping a gift. He blinked and realized he could see the peekaboo of her nipples through the sheer material.

His head was spinning.

Lost to good judgement a swig or two ago, Adam set the bottle on top of his luggage case and let his thumbs do the talking for him. A quick e-mail reply was shot back, and he made sure not to mention the entire thing had been a mistake. When he said he wanted to do a “bit” with Private Party he’d meant something else entirely...

Hello Fawna,

You’re… wow… uh.. I guess I’d be a solo party… not really sure what I’m getting myself into here lol mind helping a guy out? - Adam

What the hell was he doing? His heart was pounding so hard and fast in his chest he felt as if he might be sick. Adam swallowed, closing the e-mail application and stuffing his phone into his pocket, grunting at the strain of his half-hard cock bulging against the confines of the clothing he was wearing.

Waving off anyone who tried to talk to him, including a few backstage production members who were concerned when he swayed and stumbled a bit (he took two more gulps from the bottle on his way out), Adam drew in a deep breath of fresh air and pulled out his phone to order a ride. He’d shaken off whatever stupidity had prompted him to reply to that e-mail and decided he’d just go back to his room, drink the rest of whatever this was he’d taken from Private Party, pass out and get up to catch his afternoon flight back home the next day. He pushed away the melancholy that chased reality. He was used to doing that these days.

And he was done with it anyways. Those feelings. Defeat. Emptiness. Feeling lonely even when he was in a room crowded with people who were supposed to be his closest, most trusted friends. He’d won the damn dynamite dozen battle royale, hadn’t he? And he’d win the diamond ring next week. Everyone would see he meant business.

Closing the app for the ride service, Adam’s finger hovered over the screen lock button on his phone when a little red dot appeared beside the mail application icon. One unread message. He grinned and clicked it open. An e-mail reply from Fawna.

Why don’t you call me, and we’ll talk about this a little more?

Her number followed. He drew a breath and remembered that picture of her in lingerie. Good sense tried beating at the door of his buzzed mind, but he wouldn’t let it in. The boys had been right. He needed to get back on his high horse again. He needed to get back on his cowboy shit.

Adam clicked to dial her number and held the phone to his ear.

“Hello?” Her voice was sweet as honey.

“Hello, is this Fawna? It’s Hangman – er, I mean – Adam.” His brow furrowed as his words stumbled around themselves. What proof was that alcohol anyways? He glanced back at the bottle and tried to read the fine print, but everything was blurring together, and his brain wouldn’t stay focused for long. Especially not with that pretty little thing on the other side of the phone and his insides burning for a complete and total win.

“Hangman?” She repeated, and he could hear the amusement in her tone. He realized he had a dumb smile smeared across his mouth that he couldn’t stop if he tried.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s… a whole… thing…” He blinked. “Hey uh… what exactly did I get myself into, e-mailing you?”

Her laughter was as sweet as the rest of her seemed to be, and it didn’t mock him. It encouraged his shoulders to relax, and for him to smile too.

“Well, my husband and I have particular interests… have you ever done any swinging before?”

“No, I haven’t,” he was beat red and decided he needed more alcohol.

“Since you’re a solo party… if you’d be interested, we’d meet up, see if we have chemistry and everyone feels safe and comfortable with each other and then find a hotel room to go to and have a little adult fun.”

He had to bite back the groan. How long had it been for him? Fuck… he’d needed all of this more than he realized.

“Normally if you’d have someone who’d like to switch, we do partner-swapping… but… well, my husband also enjoys watching while I have fun with a sturdy, handsome bull… and judging by the sound of your voice…” Her tone dipped sultry and it made a shiver crawl down his spine until he had to give himself a quick shake and blink a few times, trying to snap back into focus. A woman like her was a dangerous one. “I’d say you’re one hell of a specimen.”

“Heh, you could say that,” his country drawl dipped low and liquor-won confidence, the high off the crowd chanting his slogan, made him feel like a different man entirely. A buzz from his phone showed him a message that his ride had arrived. “Listen, I’m staying at a hotel already, why don’t I send you the information and we’ll meet in an hour or so?”

“Sounds good, Hangman.” She playfully purred his ring-name and made his breath hitch and his head spin. “Can’t wait to see you,” were her last words before the call ended and he found he couldn’t scramble fast enough to send the hotel address her way. Little warning bells tried their hardest to shriek in his mind, somewhere where he’d locked the sober, sensible part of himself away. Meeting up with a stranger for kinky sex? Drunk? What the hell was he doing?

“I’m getting my cowboy shit, that’s what.” He ground out through clenched teeth and took a breath that swelled up his muscled, barrel chest.

By the time the hour had passed, Adam had drunk the rest of the liquor he’d snatched from Private Party’s hand, sent a jumble of text messages to a few people who were checking in and making sure he was alright (he was confident he’d eventually been able to tell them he was fine, just wanted time to himself at the hotel), showered and changed back into his “cowboy shit” t-shirt (appropriate, for what he was reaching for), jeans, boots, and the belt with the big, silver buckle. He grinned at himself in the full-length mirror.

“Yeah,” he said approvingly at his reflection, nodding his head, drunk out of his mind and unaware of how dumb he looked doing it. The proof on that liquor was a hell of a lot stronger than the beer he usually drank. “Yeah…” His fingers pinched the buckle and he leaned, turning and running his inebriated gaze up and down his body. He curled his fist and bent his arm, flexing the muscles of his bicep. He thought about the picture Fawna had sent him – that pretty pink lingerie – and her voice as they’d talked. His sloshed mind reeled, and he grinned as he stepped out into the hotel hall and made his way down to the lobby.

The first thing he thought was: Wow.

The second thing he thought was: Thank God this wasn’t some sort of catfish situation.

Fawna Rose was exactly as her picture showed, only she was wearing a tight-fitting black dress that accentuated every curve he was hungry to watch jerk with each thrust he bucked inside her. He wondered if she was wearing anything lacey and see-through underneath. When she looked at him he saw those brown eyes go dark, and he licked his lips as he closed the distance between them.

“Adam?” She asked, and he grinned wide at how hopeful she sounded. She was into him.

‘Course she was. Gone were apprehensions or the nerves he felt, always in his head and convinced he wasn’t good enough. He was coming off a high, winning that dynamite dozen, and had enough liquor in him that he could only have a good time.

“Yeah,” he said, his eyes dropping down her curves and back to her pretty face. “You look even better in person.” Adam stepped forward, his palm sliding on the curve of her hip, adding gentle pressure at her lower back before he dipped, laying a warm, soft kiss on either side of her cheek. He wasn’t sure why he’d done it, he never greeted anyone like that, but maybe it was so he could steal a sniff of her perfume… or maybe it was so he could watch her get a little flustered by him.

They’d just met, but Adam decided he liked getting her worked up. Her rosy cheeks held a blush that hadn’t been applied, and her pupils were dilated, making that amber-brown of her eyes a sliver of a ring around them. She wanted him, and it was the confidence boost he needed.

“My husband is over here,” she said, and Adam nodded and followed in step. He’d been so wrapped up in how attracted he was to her he’d forgotten she was married to begin with.

The man at the table was big, which was saying something to Adam’s six-foot height and two-hundred and thirty-pound weight. He was at least five inches taller, maybe twenty pounds heavier, all muscle. He had blue eyes that cut in a way that Adam’s never had, but maybe the dark black of his long hair and close-shaved beard was what made them stand out more. He looked like he could be a violent man if it called for it, and again those little warning bells tried chiming off in Adam’s head, trying to tell him this situation was too out-of-left-field for him to get involved with.

“You must be Adam,” the man said with a thick, but warm Scottish accent. He didn’t look particularly murderous. In fact, he even smiled. He’d stood at the table and extended a hand for Adam to shake. Fawna glanced between them both and pinched her thick bottom lip between her teeth, a little spark of something in her eyes that Adam was too curious not to pick up on.

“You look like you’re up to trouble,” Adam said to her, hand still clasped in her husbands.

“She always is,” Fawna’s husband said with amusement, and Adam’s eyes swung back to him, remembering he was there at all. It seemed strange that he could completely forget the existence of a six-foot-five-inch Scotsman who even managed to make his hand feel a little small… but god, there was something about her… or maybe it was the entire situation. Maybe it was because he was drunk. Maybe he wouldn’t remember any of this in the morning.

God willing, he hoped he did.

“Yeah, I’m Adam.” He remembered to say, gave her husband’s hand a firmer shake, and then slipped his away. They all sat down at the table, Fawna and her husband across from him.

“Andrew.” Her husband said his name finally, extending one hand around Fawna and rubbing his fingertips up and down her bare shoulder. “Fawna says you’re new to swinging,” Andrew said, one thick, dark brow arching inquisitively.

“Yeah,” Adam blinked, knowing if he was sober there was no way in hell he’d be able to have this kind of conversation. Then again, the pair of them spoke so casually about it, Adam felt like he’d be the weird one if he mentioned how strange it all seemed to him.

Andrew saw right through him and, judging by the grin Fawna had on her mouth, she did too.

“You have some questions then, right?”

“I uh,” Adam blinked, pulling his eyes away from Fawna – god she was gorgeous, he couldn’t wait to see what cute little expression she was going to make when he pushed his cock inside her – and to her husband. Shit… was that okay, to have those kinds of thoughts when her husband was just inches away from him? Well… they were swingers, and Fawna had said Andrew liked watching her get intimate with another man…

The alcohol once again reminded him that complex thought or worrying about consequences was a dumb idea. It was easier to just… go with the flow.

“Not really, I mean… if this is what y’all enjoy, who am I to be any kind of judge? I’m the one that e-mailed you, so clearly I knew at least a little of what I was getting into, even if I didn’t know the whole… thing.” He lied, still too embarrassed to admit he’d messed that up and hadn’t meant to find himself in the situation he was now in.

Andrew’s eyes narrowed slightly, but Fawna smiled and reached across the table, lying her hand atop Adam’s. Her fingertips brushed across his skin and electricity rushed up his veins and all over his body. He couldn’t think past how damn beautiful he thought she was and all the things he wanted to do to her…

“If it makes you nervous, having Andrew in the room… he doesn’t mind leaving us alone, either.”

Adam’s eyes swung away from her (which was nearly an impossible feat to get his drunken mind to do) and to her husband who was looking at her with much of the same, hungry expression Adam had earlier.

“You don’t?”

Andrew pulled his attention from his wife and smiled at Adam.

“No.” He gently rubbed Fawna’s shoulder, and she leaned subtly forward, giving Adam ample view of her cleavage. He tried to keep watching Andrew, but his mind zeroed in and there was no helping the way he hungrily watched that line between her breasts, or how his mouth went dry with the want to bite and suckle that sweet, soft flesh.

“It’s as much for me as it is for her. I like to watch, but I don’t have to.” Andrew dipped and gently kissed her temple. His next words were a whispered growl but said loud enough that Adam would hear them too. “I’ll just make her tell me how much she loved getting fucked by you later,” he laid his lips against the curve of her neck, just below her jaw. Fawna sucked in a sharp breath and her hungry eyes landed firm on Adam.

“What do you say, cowboy?” She asked, voice tight as her husband littered her neck with kisses.

“I want you. Only you.” He’d never been so direct, but it felt good. It felt damn good to say what he wanted and not bend to everyone else for once. It felt even better when she gently pushed her palm on her husband’s chest, moving him away from her before she slipped out of her seat and extended an open hand toward Adam. Even though all parties agreed, there was something… exciting… about another man’s wife choosing him to sleep with, right in front of her husband, too.

Adam led them to the elevator, and that’s where they parted from Andrew. Fawna gave him a little kiss before she stepped in after Adam. When the doors to the elevator slid closed, she offered no reprieve. She pressed the firm length of her body against him and, like it was instinctual, Adam’s wide palms ran down her figure without hesitation. She littered hot kisses along his neck, making a sound somewhere between a moan and a groan strangle itself in his tight throat. Her hand fell between them and she stroked the shape of his cock, making him dizzier by the second. Adam’s palms scooped into the fat of her ass, pinching and squeezing tight enough to elicit a gentle yelp from her mouth that made him grin.

She’d worked him into a frenzy by the time the elevator dinged, and the doors slipped open. An elderly couple waiting in the lobby looked at them with wide, shocked eyes, but Fawna only giggled and, hand wrapped around his, tugged him after her. With a laugh in his mouth he followed, giddy and drunk and needy.

He struggled to get the keycard through the slot at the right time, distracted by her hands on his body, slipping up under his shirt as she pressed her nails and gently raked up his back.

“Mmm,” she moaned, and the little green light finally clicked on the door, the lock slid back and he wrenched the damn handle open.

With his hands on her hips, he pushed her into the wall and chased with his body. His hips dug up against hers, sliding the bulge of his trapped hard-on between her legs. He moaned in her ear and kissed her skin, getting more and more drunk with every taste of her coating his tongue. She made the sweetest sounds, little whines and moans, fingers like spiders scurrying hungrily down his body. She tugged at his shirt and he only paused his feast long enough to lean back and tug it off, letting it fall in a pile on the floor.

“Fuck,” she whispered through kiss-swollen lips, eyes appraising his thick torso and chest. Her fingers pressed up his body, nails skimming his nipples and making him clench his teeth, fighting his eyes as they wanted to roll.

“You like what you see, darlin’?” His low, rough voice was demanding an answer. He was someone else entirely tonight. Someone… someone who’d always been there inside him, but he’d never had the confidence to grab. He was the Hangman, and he was here to collect his dues. Next week he’d worry about the ring and about facing MJF. Tonight… tonight he had her.

“Mhm,” she nodded her head and looked up at him.

“C’mere.” He gripped her wrist – so small, he could easily fit both in one hand – and tugged her gently toward the bed.

Adam didn’t sit her on it. Instead he lowered himself to settle on the edge of the mattress and made her stand in front of him.

“Take off your dress,” he commanded. “I want to see you.”

Fawna turned and pulled her soft brown hair aside so he could help unzip her dress. He watched the peekaboo of soft skin revealed between her shoulder blades and didn’t deny himself from leaning forward and laying a firm kiss there. His lips lingered on her skin as he tasted her. Fawna arched her back and hovered a moment as if wanting more. Adam left her zipper halfway down and gave her ass a little, teasing smack, grinning as she jumped and squealed in playful surprise.

“Take it off,” he said again, both palms flat on the plush comforter as he leaned back to watch her strip for him.

She bit at that full bottom lip again and he clenched, fighting the need to kiss those lips until he bruised them. Fawna reached up, peeling the top of the sleeveless dress slowly down, tormenting him in the best way possible as she revealed inch after inch of smooth skin. She wasn’t wearing the lingerie she’d had on in the picture, but he wasn’t complaining.

Fawna stood in front of him in a matching pink satin bra and panty set, with cream lace trim and matching cream pinstripes. When she turned, Adam’s cock twitched, eyes fallen on the sight of her round, juicy peach of an ass barely caught in those cheeky panties. It was all too easy for him to lean forward, reach and grab her wrist, tugging her into his lap and giving her no time to breathe before he was kissing her and shoving his tongue along hers. His fingers skimmed her stomach, curved into the fat of her thighs, and then pressed between her legs. He stroked her over the material of her panties, just teasing the touch he’d give her, winding her up until she squirmed and whined in his mouth.

They broke apart with a gasp of needed air and he breathed heavy across her face. The pad of his thumb skimmed that sweet, sensitive little button and made her suck in a shaky, gasped breath. He teased her, slowly winding her up as he bent and kissed down her neck, her shoulder, over the tops of her breasts. He latched on to the fat and suckled, rolling the skin between his teeth and pinching gently. With her mouth free, Fawna moaned needy into the room, and drove him to rub her a little harder, but not enough that he’d deliver satisfaction so early.

Adam pulled his hand away and pushed her upwards, so the weight of her ass settled on one of his thick, sturdy thighs and she was sitting up, looking down at him.

“You’re a needy little thing, aren’t you?” He asked, gently taking her chin in his fingers and turning her face as if appraising her beauty. A smile slipped across his mouth. “Have you been waiting for someone like me to come along?”

“Mhmmm,” she said, eyes pleading with him to put his hands on her again.

“Use your words, darlin’.”

“Yes… I’ve been waiting for you, Adam.”

His thumb and forefinger squeezed her chin a little tighter, and he dropped her gaze, so it could be pinned by his.

“Then show me how badly you want me.” He said, and let her chin go. He gently lifted her leg and guided her to straddle the thick thigh he’d previously sat her on.

Fawna rocked her hips, dragging her panties along the stiff denim of his jeans, gasping and moaning when a particular sweep hit the right mark and sent shivers of pleasure through her thighs. Adam watched, his chest tight and mind buzzing. It was as torturous as it was pleasurable to watch her ride his thigh, her legs shaking at either side of his, the pace growing subtly quicker. His still-trapped cock was thick and hard, twitching and leaking under his clothes. It was almost too much to bear, this tease, but he liked watching her work herself into a frenzy on him.

He liked being the man she wanted to get off on. He liked the confidence it gave him. He liked what it did to him. Who she made him.

Adam’s fingers found her warm hips, and he guided her a little faster, a little faster, enjoying the expressions pleasure made on her cute, round face.

“Don’t cum until I say so,” he said, suddenly firm.

Fawna’s eyelashes fluttered and she bit that lip again, whining.

“Please, Adam,” she drug herself along his hard, muscled thigh and made a soft, desperate little sound.

“Nu-uh,” he whispered, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

“But I’m so close,” her brows pinched tight together, her mouth hung open.

“Too bad,” he whispered playfully and, just when it seemed she was going to lose it on the next grind, Adam moved. He pinched her waist and stood up, upsetting their weight and making her stumble off his thigh. He’d brought her right to the edge and snatched her away before she reached nirvana. Frustration pinched her otherwise adorable features, but Adam found he thought she was even cuter all riled up like that.

He’d never let himself have this much fun before and he wasn’t sure if it was the booze still singing in his veins, the pep talk that’d reminded him to get back on his cowboy shit, or Fawna herself. Maybe it was a combination of all three.

He stood up and grimaced as the tight denim of his jeans stretched around his erection.

“Take the rest off and lay back for me, darlin’.”

Adam watched as Fawna climbed onto the bed, purposefully sinking slow into the soft plush mattress, giving him ample view of her ass tucked in those pink, lace-trim cheeky panties. The groan he stifled vibrated in his throat, and he reached down to yank his damn buckle out of the belt’s clasp, letting the leather hang open on either side as he pinched the button of his jeans. He’d just yanked the zipper down when, her sultry brown eyes on his, Fawna peeled the bra from her breasts like she was undoing the gold foil wrapping around some extravagant and far too expensive treat. He ate up the sight of her breasts gently resting, free, and how pretty and inviting her pink nipples were. His mouth went dry and ached, wanting to latch around and suckle her skin until he left pretty little blue bruises.

Hooking his thumb into the denim, he gave it a sharp tug down his thick, blond-hair dusted thighs and stepped out of them, his boots, and his socks. His hard cock was an impressive bulge against the material of his boxers, and he watched her eyes drop to it, just as she had begun to slip her panties down those legs he so badly wanted to taste. A cocksure grin pushed higher into one side of his cheek than the other. He liked her looking at him like that, like only he could make her feel the way she was feeling right now.

Adam liked thinking he was the only man on her mind, even while her own husband had been with them just a little bit ago. Maybe he was enjoying this “swingers” thing more than he thought he would…

She slipped her panties off and dropped them off the side of the bed, laying herself back on the plain white comforter, a vision as she bent her legs and propped herself up on the pillows. Adam took a few seconds to eat the sight of her up, eyes running down her body and letting her see how he watched her and how his body reacted to him watching her. His cock throbbed, painfully filled with blood, the tip leaking pre-cum enough to gently dampen the dark dyed cotton material of his boxers. He pinched the elastic and slid them off, leaving him as nude as she was.

Fawna’s teeth caught her lip – a habit, he was noticing – and her eyes were dark as a new moon night out in the country, away from city lights. She let those eyes fall over every inch of him, and Adam stood a little taller. A little surer of himself.

“You like what you see, baby girl?” He asked and watched her closely to catch every expression she made as she answered. Her eyes flew back up to his.

“Yes,” the word came out in a needy, breathy sigh, and Adam decided he’d had enough teasing.

His weight sank into the bed as he crawled up its length and fell a hungry shadow over her. Her thighs fell apart like the gates to paradise were opening for him, and he was the ravaged soul that needed its heavenly comforts. Adam’s hips rolled hers up, pushing her knees into the air. The tip of his cock – bare, neither of them seemed worried about the lack of protection – sank a mere inch or two into her warm, wet slit. The muscles in his arms trembled, and he wrapped them around her back, curling her into him before he thrust forward and shoved the length of his thick, throbbing cock inside her.

A groan poured hot from his mouth and washed over her face. She answered with a whine of her own, and a small utterance of his name that sounded like a plead. As if she were begging him, convinced he was the only man capable of offering her salvation. One hand stayed wrapped around her and the other slid up her body, palm squeezing her breast, pinching her nipple and rolling it between his fingers before he drew a small yelp that was chased by a moan. That hand traveled on, grabbing each one of her wrists, wrapping his fingers around them – his hand was big enough to catch both – and raising them up over her head. He pinned her and left her unable to touch him, unable to do anything but lay a willing victim to thrust after thrust as he shoved his hips up toward hers, balls slapping the wet slick that covered her ass and his thighs.

A low growl out of his mouth, and his eyes rolled. When they rolled back, he thrust harder. Faster. It didn’t even feel better to rip it up inside her, but it felt good to feel like he had the control, like he had some ungodly strength and power, and he’d leave her bruised and thinking about him well into the next day.

Finally, sweat dripping down the line in the middle of his chest and sticking their skin together, Adam slowed his pace. His breaths fell in hard, heavy waves over her. The muscles in his thighs and ass ached as he gently relaxed them and slipped his hands away from her wrists. He’d pinched them so tight his fingers left soft white marks in her skin. He glanced down at her and caught her deliriously pleasured gaze. It made him smile and laugh on a weak exhale.

“You like that, don’t you darlin’?” He asked her gently, like one would talk to a cute little kitten.

“Yes,” she panted back, and her lips pressed into a smile that made his grow.

“You’re a wild little filly,” he said, playful edge dipping his country drawl deep, “and I’ve got a mind to tame you.”

“That so, cowboy?” She asked, her voice still tight and breathless. She was trying to tease, but he’d affected her and she was struggling to come out of the fog of gratification. It satisfied him to see it.

Adam shifted, lifting his torso off her body and kneeling between her legs, still halfway thrust inside her, never once pulling out. He glanced down where they were joined, saw the fat veins running along his girthy erection, and how he glistened with wet from how messy she’d been thus far. One eyebrow arched with a jump as his eyes slid from that sight, up her naked body, and to her face. A smile hung lazy on his mouth as his big hands grabbed her legs at either side of his body, lifting them and setting her ankles on his broad shoulders. Bringing her legs up helped him push deeper when he slowly leaned forward, sinking the few extra inches and doing it slowly, letting her cunt adjust to what it felt like to be strained by him.

Then, as he started to thrust, Adam’s palm clapped with a spank against her ass. She yelped, and he smacked her again. The fat of her ass rippled, and he clenched his jaw, smacking her again. Harder. There was a red print in the shape of his hand across her pale ass. It made him hungrier. His thrusts came in shorter, harder bursts. He slapped her again.

“Adam!” She screamed his name.

“That’s right darlin’,” he barely managed to squeeze it through the gaps in his teeth, and it was chased by a long groan as a particular thrust sent a shiver through the tip of his head, down his shaft and down his balls. They were sucked up tight to the base of his cock. “Scream my name, let them know – Nnnggghhfuck – let them know who’s the man,” his mind felt fuzzy, drunk on pleasure plunging into her was giving him.

She cried out, moaning as he thrust forward, sinking his hips against hers. He smacked her ass and squeezed hard into the flesh, drawing a cute little yelp out of her lips again. Adam drew his hips back and sank deep inside.

He knew she was close.

“Cum,” he commanded, barely managing to get the word out of his tight throat.

“Adam! Fuck!!!”

She came, her thighs clamping together and her pink painted toes curling on either side of his head. She quivered and twitched and made little sounds of undeniable gratification. The warm, wet muscles of her cunt squeezed and pulled at his already on-the-verge cock. He couldn’t hold off anymore.

With a long moan that started as her name and quickly was lost to sensible words, Adam collapsed forward on her, decorating her insides with ribbons of warm cum. His moan was a long breath over her, and he was victim to do nothing but hold her still as the sensation passed. He became nothing more than a beast, lost to reasonable sense. He was his pleasure. He was the nirvana at finally seizing what he wanted in life and coming out victorious because of it. He was everything Fawna had given to him.

Then, he breathed. He came back down to earth and slowly pushed his body off hers, his arms feeling alienlike in how weak they were. There was a different sort of exhaustion after particularly good sex, like a good cry or an unstoppable laugh that nearly robs you of all air. Cathartic.

Adam smiled down at her and gingerly helped rearrange their limbs to a more comfortable position. He kept himself tucked inside her – just for a moment longer as he slowly softened – and laid down behind her. Fawna happily obliged, curling into his body, seemingly not ready to let him go just yet. His lips pressed a kiss into her temple, and she turned her head to smile up at him.

“You are something else, cowboy.” Her pleasure-exhausted voice was soft, just barely spoken above a whisper.

Adam chuckled behind closed lips and reached to tuck a strand of her brown hair behind her ear, then fell into cradling her face. His thumb skimmed across her soft, round cheek. He stretched, leaning up (and trying not to grunt as his still sensitive cock was shoved a little bit up inside her again) and placed his lips against hers in a sweet, satiated kiss. When he pulled away, he was smiling, and she was too.

“You’re not too bad yourself.” A pause, and he decided to tell her. “Hey, did you know I e-mailed you by mistake?” His grin stretched with amusement.

“Oh, yeah. Absolutely.” She laughed.

“What?! You did?”

“You were so sweet in your e-mail… and, if I’m being honest…” She bit at her lip and Adam was surprised to find that despite being sexually drained in the best way, seeing the sight of it made him hungry all over again. God… he wished he could go at her again. She peered up through her lashes at him.

“What is it darlin’?”

“I didn’t actually expect to get an answer back to my reply to you. I figured you’d tell me it was a mistake and that’d be that. Plus… I may or may not kind of know who you are.” She flashed an innocent smile at him, but it was all too clear it hid the mischief of an imp underneath.

Adam’s blond brows rose up on his forehead.

“You do?”

“I put two-and-two together from your name and then when you introduced yourself as Hangman…well, I just considered myself a lucky girl.” That playful little smile again. It made his palm itch to slap that welted curve of her ass. The little tease… she had to know the effect she had on him.

“And just so you know,” she glanced down their still-joined bodies. “What just happened right now? That was some real cowboy shit.”

#hangman adam page #hangman page #adam page #aew #fanfiction #hangman page fanfiction #wrestling fanfiction #hapedit

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rockmiyabideusexmachina · 5 years

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2019 Megaman Valentine’s Day (Humor) Contest Results!

Apologize for the delay on this once again. Didn’t expect to be posting these results nearly a month after Valentine’s Day, but the extended deadline did help make sure we got a healthy competition this year. Thank you to all for your patience!

I’m going to start out this year’s results thread with a totally appropriate callout 4-Koma that is not technically an official humor entry from SubzeroIceSkater, even though it fit the rules. But it’s worth posting, to publicly humiliate myself anyways:

I'll take my token Akane-in-an-entry bribery any way I can get it, since nobody felt inclined to draw Mrs. Stelar’s fresh, piping hot, iced cinnabuns for their talent entry this year...Did I just type that? I mean, um...

Play me off, Johnny!

I kid, I kid! After all, these contests aren’t about me, it’s about the characters you love and want to draw. And that’s what makes everyone’s entries unique and helps motivate you to create time after time. And I am grateful for it, whether you are a long-time participant, or the yearly new contestant.

I’ll be doing things a little different this year, because the post would be way too long if I kept everything in one. So this first post will just contain the Humor category, and I will have a second, separate post for the Talent category. Raffle prize winners will be contained in both posts, so keep an eye out after my commentary on your art, for some possible winners here. The rest will follow soon. I’ll be contacting all winners soon enough, so sit tight!

Here are your humor winners and full gallery of entries, after the break!

Category 2 (Humor) - Princess Sigmia Returns

A much smaller group of entries for this category, but the zany mergers were great, all the same. I thank you all for getting as creative as you could with this concept, as it was a little more than just a mere gender swap you had to consider, when designing your combined character. Whether you won or not, know I truly enjoyed seeing all of these pics.

I know imgbox gallery gave people some issues before, so as always, let me know if images or links appear broken. Crossing my fingers this works smoothly this year! XD

After each entrant’s name, there will be a link in the character description to the entry, too, just in case the inserted external images don’t load for you.

[Full humor gallery]

1.) SubzeroIceSkater - Arc Weldy Falls In Love (featuring Tundroll.EXE the Arc Weldy, plus ‘Master Albert’)

[Page 1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]

Comics with length and substance always seem to steal the show, and this year was no different. Joining the ranks of fenril-huayra, wintesm and so many others in recent years, I believe SubzeroIceSkater’s wonderful tale will stick with many of you, as much as it did me. As a humor piece, sure there are great sight gags and comedic lines all around, but it also has a lot of heart. You feel really bad for Arc Weldy to start out, but also feel so many emotions of compassion, friendship and love throughout. Wonderful work, and thank you for all the effort you put into this massive entry!

Also, are 21 pages not enough for you all? Well, SubzeroIceSkater also had ANOTHER 15 pages worth of ideas, alternates, and outtakes to go with this comic. And, while I won’t upload each link or image here, because this one entry is long enough, you can see them in THIS GALLERY LINK. They are also really great.

*For coming in 1st, SubzeroIceSkater has won $100 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value.*

2.) @drewblossom - Geminette

Nearly equally deserving in length, Drew’s comic more closely followed the Bowsette-style transformation gimmick to give Snake Man his comeuppance. The classic bait-and-switch kiss, turned on it’s head with a ‘lil Search Snake rather than a gross Toad Man, was a funny end.

Design-wise, I really liked what you did to create Geminette’s look. Splitting his helmet crystals to the side as like dual hair broaches, and keeping the motif with the choker, armband, garter straps and chestplate, worked out nice. I can see why Snake was so easily charmed.

*For coming in 2nd, Drew has won $50 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value.*

3.) @wimzik - Rollbble.EXE

If dominatrix Devil Roll wasn’t enough of a pain in Rockman’s side, I shudder to think how bad a Bubble Roll would be, puku! Or, would her devotion to him be as great (or clingy) as Bubs was with Shademan-sama?

Taking Bubbleman’s yellow flipper feet motif, and turning it into a fish fin design, both on her feet, legs, and hair ribbon, turned out pretty neat. If anything, I’m sure this transformation gives her very kissable lips, though! XD I have to wonder what her plan is with that Roll Navi Data chip, now that the chocolate is all gone, and what it will do to Rockman?

*For coming in 3rd, wimzik has won $25 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value.*

And the remaining wonderful entries, in alphabetical order by alias:

@3-oclock-blues - Dr. Willis

What you talkin’ ‘bout, Wil-lis? Or Dr. WHY?!-ris, if you prefer. With that absolutely awesome wide-eyed grin, she’s hellbent on living together with Zero in a world where only Reploids exist. Being that they both have spent time piloting flying machine bodies, and have sorta possessed some form of an evil energy, it’s a rather fitting combo. Unless you are Zero, and it’s your dad and girlfriend merged into one being. Awk~waaaarrrd.

The skull motif and spikes are subtle on Iris’ design, but fit in really well. Her bangs are just wild enough on both sides now, that it gives that Wily hair vibe, without having to give her a horrible, bushy mustache. XD

*3-OClock-Blues is the winner of Raffle Prize #2 - The X OCW artbook and Zero keychain*

@bracedshark - Mettayer

This might be a terrible concept, but I’m going to type it. When a Met pops out from under it’s helmet, especially in sprite form, usually all you can see is the whites of it’s dark, beady eyes under that helmet, on it’s dark grey/black blobby round body form. With Layer, you don’t get to see her eyes under her bangs, hardly ever. So staring at Mettayer’s underboob for too long, due to her chest armor mimicking a Met helmet, all I see is a Met’s pair of closed bottom eyelids, and I’m seriously waiting for those eyes to open up and start staring back at me. Would that not be the most wrong way for Mettayer’s eyes to work?! But I can’t unsee it! Her belly button even feels like a snoring, sleeping Met’s mouth. I’ll spare everyone of me editing this art to make my point. But it’s in your head now, isn’t it?

OK, despite that awful paragraph, this is one hot Metall Mommy. Sorry, I’m starting this paragraph off pretty badly, too, I guess. ^^; Despite my interpretation of the combination, the design elements do stand out in a unique way. The fiery reddish-pink hair seems like a different choice considering the characters merged, but it plays off the red of a Met’s mouth and earpiece, and, well, fitting for Valentine’s, too! And instead, you get the Layer color scheme in the pickaxe, so it still connects visually.

@drewblossom’s 2nd entry - Roll n’ Rock

This bonus entry from Drew flips the genders of both DLN-001 and 002. I liked Roll’s hair bow converting into more of a bow tie, and Rock getting her version of Roll’s hoodie, in a Blue Bomber color scheme. The V-Day card concept, complete with crayon-ish name writing, made for a cute entry. Hearts all around!

@supernovabee - Bayer

No, there won’t be any paragraph about underboob eyes for this version of a Layer transformation, as supernovabee has merged her with Bass. Bayer loves belting out her hard and heavy siren song to woo prospective love interests during karaoke night.

Keeping Layer’s purple hair here actually kinda still keeps a Treble Boost feel, that the color scheme fits seamlessly, to go along with the more obvious Layer armor design pieces.

#Rockman #Megaman #Mega Man #Rock Miyabi's 2019 Megaman Valentine's Day Contest #Fanart Contest #Too many tags to list

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joeyvintage · 4 years

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https://www.videoreligion.net/2019/01/violent-shit-2-mother-hold-my-hand-1992.html?m=1

-rev terry

I think if I were a badass, I would need a metal mask or full covering helmet of some kind. Not for the armor aspect, although head protection is always good, I'm just a fan of the look. I would wear one in my daily life now, but they are probably expensive, and people would expect me to do something cool (as I too would expect of a dude with a metal head). All my favorite villains had one in my youth. Both Magneto and Dr. Doom from the comics commanded respect and fucked shit up while wearing some metal on their heads. They were probably my earliest examples, but honestly, that's enough to have secured my love for the style. Their helmets were both semi utilitarian but mostly just looked really awesome with their cape combo. In cartoons, GI Joe took the effects of mirrored sunglasses to the next level with Cobra Commander, as he sometimes just had a smooth piece of chrome covering his face. I can get down with that--the blank and shiny look. It’s stylish features even distracted from his shrill sounding voice. I would probably go with something a little more personalized myself, but would definitely want something metal. It just completes the whole look for me. Something about a good sturdy helmet just fits with murder and mayhem. Karl the Butcher gets it. That's why, when he died, along with his love for over-the-top murder, he passed his fancy medieval headwear down to his son, so he would be properly dressed for his own adventure in Violent Shit II (1992).

Long after the events of the first film, two makeshift drug distributing gangs meet up in an open field to engage in something nefarious with a briefcase. For whatever reason, the deal sours, and the two groups go at eliminating each other in various gusher inducing ways. The battle whittles the congregation of assorted backyard wrestles down to a one on one duel between the leaders who both happen to practice kung fu and enjoy white button-up t-shirts. After some fancy moves, one of them slays the other in combat and begins to leave the scene (sans all his dead homies, I guess) but is stopped in his tracks by the sight of a large masked man yelling at him on the horizon. Turns out Karl Butcher Jr, son of the legendary mass murderer, was out for a stroll, spotted the dealers killing each other, and, not to be left out, had rushed to join. Very quickly, Karl (Andreas Schnaas) is on top of the would-be lone brawl survivor and promptly fucks him up with a machete just before the screen goes black. Following its intro and sparse opening credits, the film takes the form of a true crime documentary in development by reporter Paul Glas. Paul believes a string of recent murders can be linked back to The Butcher massacre from twenty years before (and also, the whole thing has something to do with real-life serial killer Fritz Honka...I think?). After divulging the history of Karl senior for a bit over panning random footage of Germany, the reporter follows a tip leading to an interview with some dude in a bar who confirms his suspicions. The Deepthroat-esque “DR. X” then tells him a few stories about the original culprit’s son who, mad about a face rash or something (honestly between the bad subs and silly plot I'm still dim on some details, but it doesn't really matter), had also already done some minor rampaging of his own in the last few years . Switching formats once again, we catch up with Karl II and his (adoptive?) mother (Anke Prothmann in a lot of make-up). Turns out, Momma Butcher has been priming her young progeny to follow in her late husband's footsteps, and now that he has grown to be the spitting image of his father (complete with the heirloom medieval helmet), he is ready to do some eccentric butchery of his own. In fact, this time will be extra special, because mom is coming along too. As one could probably guess, Karl's old lady has some very peculiar parenting ideas, specifically cannibalism and incest. Also at some point, a naturally occurring body hole gets closed up with a stapler, and I think someone eats poop, so watch out for that.

The title is about as far from the old-fashioned B-movie bait and switch as you can get. Like the first film, Violent Shit is wall to wall grotesque violence, only now (in true sequel fashion), it's been turned up a few ridiculous levels. There is an increased story to it compared to the first film, that is to say, there is more than nothing tieing the insane moments of torture and dismemberment together. For the first few acts, a disjointed, random, and confusing series of events form some semblance of a point, but the film forgets about the majority of this as it moves on into plasma soaked sadism. Mostly, the additional fluff just makes room for things the series was truly missing-- like a training montage, cliche fauxumentary tropes, and Kung Fu. Karl Jr's maternal relationship adds fucked up frosting to an already disturbing cake of sinister shit. The weird sexual thing that's going on there, combined with mom's encouraging cheers, was enough to make me glad the subtitles are wonky and that I don't speak German. At around the same runtime, it might be a little lighter on the fake entrails than the first to make room for the added story, but it wouldn't be considered lacking in most circles. The Butcher-minor is more creative than his father but also seemingly obsessed with genitals (of all genders), which is weird and takes a lot of screen time. There are a few classic machete whacks to the face for some victims. However, as the body count grows, most of the slaughter comes with long, drawn out, silly torture and bloodletting. A bare-bones opposite to the Saw-style mouse trap, instead of providing intricate setups for the deaths, the act of execution itself is long, complicated, and involves several steps. It's all sure to offend anyone who watches but is too extreme to take seriously. Even if you are of the squeamish type, by the fifteenth minute of growling testicle torture and six similar acts, the action loses any real shock and becomes either just gross or hilarious (and gross). It goes for broke, eventually just dissolving into increasing levels of carnage, capturing the essence of a drunken night between friends trying to top each other's morbid imagination. Along with its spastic rampage, the film makes several references to classic American horror films and even borrows a few plot points from the Friday the 13th series unambiguously. To its credit, it's moved forward quite a bit from the first writing-wise, although it’s not like it is casting a bigger net for an audience. It's still just random gore because that's fun sometimes, and hopefully, no one who pops in a film titled Violent Shit 2 will be worried about the level of drama involved.

Shot on tape and seemingly dumping the entirety of its finite resources into gore, Violent Shit 2 is, again, what it says on the tin. The whole thing looks like it was shot in different sections of the same public park, which it refers to as a “forest” at one point. The John Woo tribute, in the beginning, is the film’s most developed moment as far as framing and choreography go, displaying some above average movie brawling for its budget. For the film’s meat and potatoes (Karl the second, killing people), it's a lot more of the same backyard style camera work that kind of hangs around watching the action from any accessible angle. Shots seem almost placed at random, and it jumps between them with meaningless cuts. The film’s biggest draw is an overabundance of practical gore, which comes out as a step above the rest of the film quality- wise. For the lack of resources, the film utilizes some pretty gnarly effects when it comes to flesh mangling, and it doesn't skimp or pull away. I think I counted four different consistencies of blood, and each horrible scenario is trying to top the last. Without spoiling anything, there is a range of squirtastic stabbings and stringy limb removals that, despite their amateur surrounding conditions, would give a lot of larger budget splatter flicks a run for their money. Some of the more ambitious (for lack of a better word) moments spend a little too much time on screen and give themselves away, but all together it should more than slate any grimy blood-seekers thirst or send anyone else running. When it isn't mumbling at random volumes, the dubbing is just screaming, grunting and giggle-worthy squishing sounds with no attachment to what's on screen. Music-wise, the film is laced with an out of place, unbalanced soundtrack that sounds straight out of an RPG fantasy video game. Besides the Dungeons & Dragons mood tunes, it does have a German death metal/butt rock theme song (Violent Shit by Vice Versa) bookending it that captures the spirit nicely and almost feels critically necessary. Stick around afterward for some bonus scenes and marquee of credits that look like they are trying to sell you knock off sunglasses.

German director Andreas Schnaas has made an international name for himself with a torrent of ultra-low budget, ultra-violent gross-out splatter flicks that continues today. In 1989, he and some homies secured a tiny bit of funding to form the company Reel Gore Productions and produce their first full-length picture titled Violent Shit. Filmed over four weekends and with a rented tape recorder, the project amounted to a series of violent acts committed by a large masked man named Karl the Butcher, crafted with homemade practical effects (and little else). By the grace of the trash-gods, it saw a single midnight theater showing but received mostly negative reviews on its initial video release due to its lack of production values. However, with a little help from a to-the-point naming strategy and its unrefined grimy gusto, it found an audience worldwide over the following years in less discerning gore hounds who don't mind the homemade feel (a bunch of fucking weirdos probably). Succeeding their second feature Zombie '90: Extreme Pestilence in 1991, Andreas & Co would return to the world of Violent Shit and brewing cult following. To date, the character Karl the Butcher has appeared in six flicks, that I know of, including a reboot of sorts (Violent Shit: The Movie 2015) by Italian director Luigi Pastore, without Andreas Schnaas involvement. Schnaas himself would play the role in most outings, taking over for Karl Inger (allegedly) after the first film.

Violent Shit II: Mother Hold My Hand (aka Violent Shit 2) is a composition sketchbook of demented cartoon executions forged during an in-school suspension and realized in full-color low fidelity magnetic tape. For the right crowd, it's an awesomely inelegant, generously proportioned helping of sloppy sleaze, possibly best devoured while intoxicated. It advances from the first movie to some degree in almost every way, but it's still one for the same exclusive and fucked-up crowd. If you want tasteless acts of dismemberment, childish boundary-pushing, and obscene special effects, it's got you covered. Those seeking damn near anything outside of that, better look for their kicks elsewhere. In a way, it has the same MO as a Gallagher show, in that there are small bits of gibberish in between gags, but ultimately everyone watching is just waiting for red shit to spray, and a majority of possible viewers are not going to get the joke. I enjoy the fuck out of the unseemly mess, although I don't know what that says about me. I also really dig Karl the Butcher’s fashion sense. If only I too had been lucky enough to have inherited some cool metal headgear along with the destructive predispositions.

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theclacks · 7 years

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Angel Thoughts - (S4 E15-E18)

I can pretty much sum up my thoughts on these episodes by saying that Connor is officially, unequivocally, 100% objectively...

Okay. Okay. In all seriousness, these were probably the best crop of episodes in season 4 so far (thanks in no help to either Connor or Angel). So let’s dig in shall we?

BtVS & AtS Recap Master Post located here

Episode 15 (Orpheus)

My favorite episode of the bunch. Probably because of combined Faith and Willow power. Both of them just showin’ up to the club like “wham bam, thank you, ma’am.”

At first I thought the Orpheus stuff was going to yet more straight forward Angel flashbacks and I was like “come on, really? I am all good on the Angel flashbacks.” But then both Angelus and Faith were there to watch and it was kind of awesome.

Well, half of it was awesome. Half of it was groan-worthy.

The Awesome:

I love my Spike & Angel comparisons. I love how 100% set Angel is in his ways that his experience is the Universal Vampire Experience (TM). I love how he dissociates from his demon self enough that--not only do they have two different personalities--but Angel goes as far as to block certain memories as well. It’s fascinating. And it’s like, on the surface, it seems like he’s the “noble” one for doing this, that he’s so disgusted at his demon and the thought of being evil by association, that he’s keeping himself “above” it, but he’s really doing the opposite?

Like, to hearken back to Lies My Parents Told Me (and now I’m kinda wishing I’d done these two episode metas in the same post), if the First was in LA, Angel would have soooooo many triggers, like holy shit his team would be screwed. And Angel would never, ever face them... or at least, would never face them in a way where he assumed responsibility and accepted his actions as things that’d happened and are in the past and are therefore unchangeable, so stop letting them rule you and do you best with the things that are currently in the present.

And, it’s like, until he does that, Angel won’t ever “grow”, he’ll just get more and more self-mired in his own angst while Angelus continues to destabilize into more and more of a ticking time bomb in his sub-conscious.

Just... holy mental issues, Batman. No wonder his moments of perfect happiness only happen during sex; he’s too fractured and fucked up for them to occur any other way.

The Groan-Worthy:

So yeah. That diner scene. I didn’t get it.

Oh no, Angel fed on a human that was already dead? The horror? Was I really supposed to be as shocked and disgusted as Faith was? Like I get the need to add new scenes, but really? This was BY FAR one of the least questionable things Angel has done with a soul.

Like... why didn’t they show him palling around with Darla, Spike, & Dru again? Darla mentioned in 1900 he’d been killing murderers and thieves to put on a show of still being evil. Killing murderers is questionable, but thieves? Steal a loaf of bread, get chomped by a vampire? They could’ve done something with that.

Or, you know, they could’ve also just flashed back to this scene:

How many people died in that bout of violence? 20-30?

But no. We get “ohhhhhh noo, Angel fed on a dead guy!!!!!!11!1” and are expected to care. Like puhlease. Give me a break.

MEANWHILE BACK IN THE HYPERION

Willow coming to the rescue was great. The best thing about crossover characters/cameos is the chatter.

So yeah. Wesley & Willow’s scene was amazing. I loved how Wesley was like “you couldn’t possibly understand my pain” and Willow was all, “ummm... yeah, about that... I flayed a guy last spring.” And I think that more that anything hit home how you don’t need to be the dark & edgy, more adult version of a show to have serious shit going down.

Also I’m glad that the Willow/Fred UST was called out because through-out the whole episode I was like, “daaaamn Alyson.... you are standing in the same room as your husband and are having 9000 times the chemistry with Amy Acker than him rn.”

But all’s well that ends well and Angel’s soul is popped back in, just in time for Cordelia to come down the steps wearing an ensemble that just SCREAMS, “I AM EVIL”. Surely our heroes will notice?!?

Episode 16 (Players)

Spoilers, our heroes don’t notice.

I’ve really been snoring to death on the evil Cordy thing (mostly because I hate Connor and all of Cordy’s lines have been reduced to “but Connor! think about the baby! think about us!”), so I’m gonna focus on the Gunn & Gwen subplot. Or main plot? IDK, I liked it a whole lot better than the baby drama.

Gunn is fascinating. He’s like the Xander of the LA team, but if Xander had maintained his soldier experience/role? Although I hated the fact that the Gunn/Fred relationship drama was happening in the midst of all the other drama, I’m actually kind of glad it happened because it did/does expose key issues in both their self-perception of each other + themselves.

In Gunn’s case, namely that he’s not smart. Or rather, he’s not book smart, because Gunn is hella smart. He can think on his feet, he can improvise, he can strategize... but all that pales and his confidence wanes when put beside the others.

Because when’s the last time he had to play a part and be all sneaky? When’s the last time he gotta to devise a battle plan (Angel & Wesley are the ones always taking charge)?

This episode really took the kernel that was planted back in Supersymmetry re: Gunn accompanying Fred and trying to care about what she cares about even though he understands 0% of it vs Wesley openly being able to discuss her arguments and positions...

It’s like, no, a relationship doesn’t require both partners to understand the other’s job, but when Fred has dedicated her entire LIFE to understanding physic principles, it DOES create a gap. It’s this untouchable, unknowable part of her brain that will always be unknowable as long as Gunn remains uneducated. Which he will.

And that’s not an insult because, hell, even I’d be uneducated compared to Fred & Wesley, but it’s like...

To pull an example from my own life, I recently went on a first date that went really, really well. At one point the topic switched into movies and we literally spent the next TWO HOURS talking about movies. Talking about narrative, talking about cinematography, talking about editing, talking about film as a medium as a whole and how the best film stories are the ones that can only be told through film and it was AMAZING. And yeah, I just think of that vs other dates where I’ve asked the other person what kind of movies they liked and they’ve just said “eh, superhero movies are good i guess” or “i haven’t had much time recently for movies,” and it’s like, sure, not being passionate about movies isn’t a dealkiller, but film/tv love takes up such a HUGE part of my brain that NOT clicking with it is always going to leave a significant deadspace re: things that are frequently on my mind vs things I know I can converse about.

Yeah.

TL;DR, both Fred & Gunn deserve people that they can not only be cute and loving with, but also passionate. Like mentally passionate.

Episode 17 (Inside Out)

I hated this episode. I mean, yes. Woo Lorne, acting the bait but otherwise??

Ouch.

Like... Angel knew Cordelia was evil by the way she said “my sweet”? Really? That was your master clue-by-four? You know it’s lame when you have to do a flashback all Mr. Monk style and LITERALLY EXPLAIN IT TO THE AUDIENCE.

IDK, part of me’s just remembering BtVS S3 Enemies and how damn good THAT reveal was.

But yeah. Oh no, Connor and Cordelia run off. Oh no, Angel angst.

And then Connor just continues to be THE WORST. Like kidnap a girl and ignore the voice of his dead mom and then murder the crying girl THE WORST.

Like JESUS CHRIST. Your dad and... pseudo-nephew? Is Spike Connor’s psuedo-nephew? That’s messed up. Anyway, Your dad and pseudo-nephew at least had the No Soul Get Out of Jail Free card. What’s your excuse?

And, yes, evil!Cordy has been brainwashing him, but not to this extent surely! Like Holtz was screwed up, but he spent 15+ years instilling right vs wrong into him. And even if was swayed into confusion, CRYING GIRL PLEADING FOR HER LIFE. WHAT IS CONFUSING ABOUT THAT?

CONNOR YOU ARE THE WORST.

And then everything continues to go to shit and Cordelia gives birth to Gina Torres.

End episode apparently.

Episode 18 (Shiny Happy People)

My one complaint is that it took way too long for the ball to drop. (Not surprisingly, I had this same reaction to Madoka Magica: Rebellion--30m in of wtf dreamland vs eventual dark reality.)

But then once it did.

HOLY SHIT, FRED. I LOVE YOU.

I didn’t realize how much Fred had gotten side-lined this season until this episode and that’s a tragedy because Fred slayed it in this episode.

And omg, that one cut to Jasmine’s true face. HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT, WHY THE FUCK DID THEY DO THAT. I watched this episode right before going to bed. I was not prepared for that! I was not okay with that!

Like, even now, I am too scared and revolted to scroll back through the episode and rewatch/pause that scene.

I’m just wigged.

Completely wigged.

Gah.

But yeah. Currently Fred is the only sane one and completely segregated from the rest of the cast + 99.5% of LA. How is she going to get out of this one? I honestly have no idea and for the first time in forever Angel has ended on a cliff hanger I actually get a fuck about so as soon as I hit “Post” I am headed off to watch the next episode.

That’s it for now, folks! Until next time, I’m gonna close out on my favorite line of this set of eps.

#angel #angel the series #ats #orpheus #shiny happy people #clacks from theclacks

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severalbakuras · 6 years

Text

first episode of the dragon prince woooo

episode 1:

DOG LIZARD

oooooh those birds look coooooool

and so do those backgroundsssss

BIG BOY

YAY FOR ONCE IT’S NOT ELVES FUCKING EVERYTHING UP IN FANTASY LAND IT’S HUMANS

ALTHOUGH THE RACIAL SEGREGATION IS ALSO A FUCK-UP EVEN IF IT’S DRAGON APPROVED

i wonder who’s telling this tale.

ew dog lizard that’s gross

oh here’s protag boy i guess woo.

at least he’s a good bro though

i wonder what the point of that mission was like spy scouting sure but they sure as shit didn’t hide very well and she doesn’t seem too upset that she let him get away...

mage dude is secretly evil, calling it now. he basically has the same stave as that evil mage minus the bird skulls. if he’s not related to/a follower of that mage and carrying on his work then he probably IS that mage using the life magic he drained to keep himself young. he’s a WARLOCK.

aww i kinda hope we’re in for a bait and switch though bc that doesn’t bode well for the king if he’s evil he seems v fond of mage man :(

also wow they went to the trouble of animating someone under a quilt like a lot of cgi just doesn’t even bother trying to do that bc of how much of a pain in the ass it is to do kudos to the team there and for the animation in general.

DON’T EAT THE RED BERRIES AAAA

oh ok. that’s not how blood works though and with that much juice surely they could smell it?

ezrin is cute. CUUUTE.

blonde-ish dude has asshole hair but he’s v. patient and not in a ��this is the prince i must be on my best behaviour’ way with protag boy so he gets a pass.

gjdfkg ok i was prepared to ignore protag boy for the most part but this is pretty cute. she’s not buying it for a second lel.

WINTER IS COMING

oh no they’re the mage’s kids aaaaa

love these siblings though

how in the hell did he hear that?

eat an apple while you say that line it’ll make you look like more of an asshole! CHARACTER STATUS LOWERED - WHAT’S YOUR ISSUE WITH THE WHOLE ‘STEPDAD’ THING BLONDIE YOU MENTIONED IT IN TRAINING TOO

fjdkfjsdf why are they all vaguely scottish while that one guy isn’t it’s so jarring.

oops you fucked up girl.

STEALTH BOMB PENDANT

i mean he’s got a point gal if you’re going on a stealth infiltration/assassination mission you kinda have to be prepared to kill people whose only crime was seeing you. why did you come? actually who let her come i’m putting the blame on them for this who assumed this kid was capable of killing someone.

first episode: pretty good! might check out the rest later, or at least the second episode. the humans are pretty bland archetypes so far but that’s standard for humans in fantasy and they’re not actively irritating me so i won’t hold it against them. i kinda wish the moon elves had been a bit more alien looking but eh.

i’ll probably remember everyone’s names by next episode if i watch it.

#tdp #the dragon prince #sb watches tdp

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oumakokichi · 7 years

Note

What's your view on Ouma and Saihara's relationship?

Oh my god, thank you so much for asking this. This isactually one of the things I’ve wanted to write about the most lately!

I’m going to reference some of Ouma’s FTEs in my answer, soI’d like to thank @kaibutsushidousha for translating them all to English! ThoseFTEs gave me a lot of insight on things, and were incredibly fun to read, so ifanyone hasn’t checked them out already, I’d say go take a look!

My explanation’s probably gonna get long, and it WILL include spoilers for pretty much every part ofthe game, so anyone who wants to avoid spoilers shouldn’t read past this part!

First, let me start by saying I think Ouma is the smartestcharacter in the entire game. Moreso than the mastermind. Moreso than Saihara. He’snot “the mastermind” himself, but he IS one step ahead of just about every single othercharacter, and he’s clever as hell about guiding the rest of them subtly to theinformation he knows while simultaneously making it seem as if he just wants tomess with them.

Ouma’s title is SHSL Supreme Leader. He has charisma, he hasan adorable, childlike quality, and he has the ability to lie his ass off. Ifhe really, truly got off on making others suffer, or if he enjoyed the killinggame half as much as he pretends to for the first four chapters, he could havewooed them all from the moment he met them, earned their trust, and then soldthem out to Monokuma (for one cornchip, etc. etc.). I honestly believe he’ssmart enough that he could have killed everysingle member of that game if he had actually planned to.

But Ouma’s goal is very specific, and in order to obtainthat goal he needs Saihara. Where Ouma and Kaede disagreed on the basis of howto lead the group on a very fundamental level, I feel as if Saihara’s morehesitant approach both to leadership and to pursuing the truth is exactly whatOuma wants. Someone has to take on the role of leading the group, and whileOuma certainly could, he definitely doesn’t want to. He wants someone else todo it, so that he can continue with his own plans in the shadows. And Saihara, slowly coming out of his shell and beginning to finally,seriously weigh the consequences of pursuing the real truth of a matter versusthe perceived truth of a matter, is just the one he wants.

I think he’s a parallel to Saihara in every way conceivable.I’ve seen people call Ouma the new Komaeda of the fandom, but what I don’tthink people quite get is that he’s intentionally similar to Komaeda on a fewfronts, yes—but he’s also a subversionof everything Komaeda was in sdr2.

I remember people talking about how the conflict betweenHinata and Komaeda was originally supposed to be between Hinata and Akane,given the context of their first and last names (Hajime and Owari, beginningand end). That concept sadly didn’t get implemented in favor of giving the conflict-bringerrole to Komaeda at the time, but I feel as if now it’s finally come back aroundvia Saihara and Ouma (although don’t get me wrong, I would love to see anactual female protagonist or deuteragonist for this trope and not a bait-and-switch).

The theme of ndrv3 is truth versus lies, and the greymorality that stretches between them. Reality, fiction, black, white, all thesethings are heavily emphasized even in Saihara and Ouma’s character designs. And at everyopportunity, these two are shown on opposing sides of class trials and debates.

But I don’t take this to mean the relationship between the two of them ishostile. If anything, I think it’s exactly the opposite. I think Ouma is tryingto guide Saihara into solving things that he already knows the answer to, allthe while acting as if he enjoys antagonizing or wreaking havoc in order tofool Monokuma into thinking he would never, ever present a threat to thekilling game itself. And Saihara is smart enough to realize he’s being led,even if most of Ouma’s thought process remains an enigma to him.

Ouma’s FTEs highlight this perfectly. Throughout all ofthem, Ouma plays games with Saihara, and claims that at the end of a set numberof events, he’s going to “have to kill him” for knowing about the existence ofhis supposed secret, evil organization. And although he could win these gameseasily time and time again, he chooses notto. He teases Saihara and slowly nudges him in whichever direction he wants himto go, and at the end of it all, he loses on purpose, because his objective wasnever to win in the first place.

If that’s not a perfect analogy for how Ouma behaves inevery single one of the trials, I don’t know what is. His resourcefulness andperceptiveness suggests that he knows the answer to just about all of thembefore they even start. In Chapter 2, he even makes an offhanded, amusedcomment about how he “didn’t even read the Monokuma file.” And in hindsight Irealized that of course he didn’t, because he already guessed that Kirumi wasthe culprit by knowing that she had received her own motive video.

At any point in time, he could have chosen to lie blatantlyand condemn the group, and therefore get them all killed, or come clean withthe info and be considered a leader and a savior to all of them. Instead hedoes neither, and teases out the answers in the trial at his own pace. At onepoint when no one, not even Saihara can guess how the culprit climbed up to thegym window, Ouma even goes completely blank-faced before “randomly” taking thediscussion in another direction. And Saihara even asks point-blank if that wasOuma’s way of trying to give him a hint (to which Ouma, being Ouma, respondsthat he has nooo idea what he’s talking about).

Ouma’s not even really what I would call the Komaeda ofndrv3. If anything, he’s the Kirigiri. With an actual detective in theprotagonist role, Ouma instead tails Saihara’s every step when exploring newareas, always acting as if he’s come around to annoy him or the others. But thewhiteboard in his room, the statue of Amami, and his decision to stage a case that not even Monokuma could possibly know the entire “truth” of in Chapter 5,all suggests that he was investigating absolutely everything, running his owntheories and guesses parallel to Saihara’s.

And while I think Saihara is certainly uncomfortable withsome aspects of Ouma’s character and finds him inscrutable, I also think that preciselybecause of his own inability to pinpoint Ouma’s true objectives andpersonality, he’s curious. He’s a detective, so it’s only natural. A characterlike Ouma presents so many mysteries that anyone with a penchant for solvingthose mysteries would be intrigued. Saihara wants to see more of “Ouma’s trueself,” despite Ouma’s consistent efforts to make sure absolutely no one wouldever like him or get close to him.

As Saihara develops and grows throughout the course of thekilling game, again and again he’s led along from trial to trial, given hints,and not-so-gently nudged in the right direction by a perceptive, incrediblyintelligent character with all the patience of a 10-year-old. And just as Kaedeentrusted her will to Saihara and he learned many things from her in Chapter 1,I can’t help but feel as if Ouma’s death in Chapter 5 was meant to mirror that.As Kaede died framed as a culprit but beloved by everyone, her intentions ofsaving them made clear, Ouma dies as a victim but hated by everyone, suspected,doubted, and with his motives unknown to all of them.

Ouma didn’t want to die if he could help it, but he trusted Saiharaenough that he believed he could continue leading the group—without being ledalong anymore—and thus willingly sacrificed himself for the sake of forcing awrench into all of Monokuma’s plans. And Saihara, while still undoubtedlyskeptical as to whether he ever really knew the true Ouma at all, neverthelesssteps into this role, and does catch on to the truth of things in the followingchapter.

This got way longer than I planned for it to, but therelationship between these two is central to the entire story. Regardless ofwhether or not you ship them romantically, I don’t think anyone can deny thattheir dynamic is still extremely important to the plot, or that they’re bothparalleling and observing each other’s actions every step of the way.

Ouma has what I would consider to be pretty canon feelingsfor Saihara. Call him a liar all you want, but without an undeniable interestin Saihara (or a huge crush the size of a brick), there’d be literally noexplanation at all for his actions. Mysteries are meant to be solvable, andthat means Ouma himself is no exception. Rather than pure chaos, his actions arefueled by an interest in Saihara and a desire for pushing him into center stageso that he himself can better undermine Monokuma’s plans.

And Saihara…well, he’s uncomfortable with Ouma’s cold,calculating nature and his tendency to flip-flop from one extreme to the other,make no mistake. But without his interest in Ouma, he would never have come toseriously question the meaning of the word “truth” or the nature of reality versusfiction versus belief. He also probably would have died about ten times over ifhe’d just flat-out doubted Ouma every time instead of trusting on instinct thatOuma was throwing him a bone, rather than hanging him out to dry.

All in all, they’re a very interesting, very fun dynamic,and I do ship them together myself. I just hope the fandom comes to understandtheir relationship a little more and doesn’t immediately assume the worst aboutit.

#ndrv3 #new danganronpa v3 #kokichi ouma #shuuichi saihara #saiouma #my meta #okay to reblog!#this was fun to write up a response to #thank you so much!#ndrv3 spoilers //

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cartoonsliveon · 4 years

Text

Malevolent Intentions

After reading some fanfics on AO3, I realized that no one’s ever tried to play the “side kick being lured to the dark side” trope. Or where Sashi’s skills attract some unwanted attention.

8,716 words

Sashi swiped her arm swiftly across her forehead, wiping off the sweat that was starting to bead down her face. It was an abnormally hot day today, the humidity so thick that the moisture in the air was slightly blurring her vision through the specs. Sitting in the shade of a giant tree, was their gym coach snoring softly away. Across the field, most of her team was sat huddled in the tiny square confines of Capture the Flag jail. The group of six students were stood shoulder to shoulder uncomfortably, just desperate for the game to end so they could go back inside. But, because it was only Penn and Sashi left, they all knew this game could go on for another twenty minutes.

Sashi stood, standing protectively in front of their little yellow flag. At the moment, their goal was defense until either no one was left defending the red flag or the odds looked favorable enough for one of them to grab it. But at the moment, all Sashi could focus on was the two students in front of her, right at the edge of the line that divided the red team from the yellow team. Sashi glared as they both sized her up, clenching her teeth in determination as they glanced at each other. The Willis twins were pretty athletic, and were probably the two fastest runners on the red team.

But they didn't stand a chance against Sashi. As soon as they crossed the line, Sashi gave a blood chilling war cry as she launched herself at the closest of the brothers. Her small body rolled twice along the ground before she rose suddenly to her feet in front of him. Her hands connected to his chest, the force of her shove sending him falling flat on his butt. Then she turns, spotting the second Willis twin halfway to the yellow flag. With a growl, Sashi sprints after him as fast as she can. Pieces of the turf is kicked up with each step she takes, and she blinks furiously as sweat starts to drip into her eyes. But Sashi suddenly skids to a stop once the boy has hold of the yellow flag, and Boone can't help but be grateful he can only see Sashi's back. If looks could kill, Sashi would have turned anyone within fifty feet of her glare to pure ash.

"Oh no you don't," She whispers softly to herself, staring him down as he stands almost like a deer in headlights. He's got the yellow flag tightly in his left hand, eyes flickering to decide which way would yield the best possibility of victory.

He runs to the right, planning to trick Sashi into gaining the momentum of that straight line before switching directions and taking off to the left. But Sashi anticipates this, seeing the way his eyes flicker purposefully to the far left side of her side of the field. She sticks closer to the dividing line, inching closer to the right side in order to bait the teen into a false sense of security. But once he starts to break towards the left, Sashi launches herself in the air to close the distance between them. She flips through the air, not caring that the specs are sliding slightly down her nose. She hits the ground in a crouch near the boy and, spinning on her heels, tackles him to the ground. She presses her hands against his shoulders before ripping the flag from his hands and standing.

And suddenly the entire class, including the red team, is cheering. Sashi turns, confused, to see Penn crossing back onto the yellow teams side with the red flag. Everyone rushes out from the pretend jails, crowding around Penn to congratulate him. No one cares who won or lost because the game is over and everyone is disgustingly sweaty. They all want to go back inside and shower and change.

"Woo! Way to go Penn!"

"The way you slid under Jefferson's leg to get to the flag was epic!"

"Good game Penn!"

Sashi sighed, throwing the yellow flag back onto the ground before taking the specs off her face to start wiping them clean. She hadn't noticed Penn make a break, all on his own, for the flag. It makes sense though, he knows that Sashi can hold the entire field on her own without any back up. When she puts the specs back on her face, she sees the entire yellow team sitting Penn on their shoulders and carrying him inside. They all head off, and Sashi takes a deep breath as she clenches her hands into fists.

'Keep it together Sashi. Keep it together.'

Sashi takes three deep breathes before making her way slowly back inside. The air conditioning immediately brings goosebumps to her skin and makes her feel shivery. But it doesn't distract her from the bitterness still sitting in her chest. She knows that at the end of the day it doesn't matter because this was just a stupid game, but she can't help wanting that praise and attention the same way Penn gets it so easily from their classmates. She just wants all her hard work and effort to be acknowledged.

'It doesn't matter Sashi. It's a game. It's not like he cheated again like in dodge ball.' But it still mattered to her, no matter how much she scolded herself that it shouldn't.

-----

"Whoa! Look at you!" Larry gasped in awe, "You're like... a really weird lion with your normal head and an insect tail."

"I'm a manticore!" Rippen growled, shaking his head as he stared down at Larry, "Judging from the fact that your a satyr, I've got to guess we're in some sort of Ancient Grecian Mythology dimension..."

Larry, however, didn't hear anything past the fact that he was a satyr. He was too busy staring up at Rippen, staring in awe at the way his dark black spikey hair flawlessly blended in to his main, the dark and sleek muscular physique of the lion body. The scorpion tail glistened a dark, deadly red and Larry was really tempted to stroke it Rippen's back to see how soft his fur was.

"Larry!" Rippen shouted, interrupting the smaller man's thoughts, "The mission!"

"Right," The overly optimistic and distracted henchman nodded, tapping the side of his specs. Rippen stared at the swirling dark red image projecting from them but before Larry could begin explaining, an incredibly irritating and familiar voice spoke up from the bushes around them.

"You're the general of an army of Grecian monsters preparing to lay waste to an overwhelmed city of demigods. The city is on the verge of defeat and their only hope is to gain help from the god Ares by bringing him an offering to his temple at the top of that mountain. Your job is to destroy the offering and stop them before sunset or else... well, you should know that by now huh Rippen?"

"What are you doing here Vlurgen?"

Larry suddenly let out a high pitched gasp, as if he were excitedly choking for air, as the woman stepped out of the foliage to greet her brother. She shared the same oddly green complexion as Rippen, red eyes, pointed ears, and spiked black hair. Though her hair was spiked downwards rather than upwards, and she cast Larry a rather disgusted look as he started to jump in place excitedly. She was dressed in a beautiful, long, flowing green peplos dress with a leather satchel across her shoulders and a dark black waist length cloak.

"Relax Rippen, I'm not here to steal the spotlight from you and actually succeed," Rippen growled in response, "I've found myself in need of a right hand man. Simple as that. What better place to look than among supernatural beings who spend their entire life trained in combat?"

Rippen raised an eyebrow, about to tell Vlurgen to go hit the road and stay out of his way. But Larry immediately turned his eyes on him with that stupid pleading look.

"Oh Rippen, can she please come with us? Please? I've never met your sister before. Please? Please? Please?!"

Vlurgen started to cackle, "Perhaps while we're here, we can find you a new henchman as well."

-----

"AHHH!"

Boone shrieked as a cyclops swung a giant club towards his face, the centaur raising his arms up to protect his face. His shrieking was so loud that it completely drowned out the war cry Sashi let out as she stabbed her spear right into the cyclops neck. It exploded in dark black dust, coating Sashi as the girl dashed through the disintegrating monster to take out the rest of the attack party.

While Rippen and Larry were the general and his henchman for the army of monster, Penn and his friends were the warriors sent to deliver the offering to Ares. Penn, obviously because he was the hero, was the demigod child of Zeus himself. His jeans and t-shirt had transformed into a white chiton that was pinned over his right shoulder in a single strap and stopped at just an inch above his knees. He wore the most uncomfortable sandals he'd ever experienced and had a dark brown rope as his belt tightly around his waist. Strapped to his back was a heavy wooden shield and a short sword was secured safely to his left side. A ring of laurel leaves were tangled in his curly red hair. Boone, being the wise man, was their centaur guide. His horse body was a deep chestnut brown. Boone's hair was changed to match the dark brown coat of his horse hair, and much longer and wilder than normal. Twigs and leaves were also tangled in it and he had a scraggly braided beard coming from his chin. He had a fully loaded quiver with him, but he forgot that he even had it.

And Sashi, Sashi was just a normal mortal armed with a spear and dressed in an off white peplos dress. It was ripped along the edges, ending two inches below her knees because she had needed to improvise. It was WAY too long for her to be able to fight like she wanted to and used Penn's sword to alter it to her liking. Her specs were rimmed in a gold color, though it was now coated in the black ash of her enemies. And hanging across her back was a small brown satchel carrying their offering to Ares, a bottle of wine to burn in the sacrificial fire and a sculpture made of pure ruby of the god himself.

They were making their way up the mountain to the temple when they had been attacked by a group of monsters. While Boone ran this way and that way, kicking up dust and dirt with his hooves, Sashi and Penn were doing everything in their power to destroy them. Sashi stabbed and threw her spear at the enemies around them, not letting the weapon be her only means of delivering painful death. She kicked and punched, fighting back like they had never witnessed a mortal do before. And Penn, realizing that he had the ability to shoot lightning from his hands, was content in taking out monsters purely with his demigod abilities.

It was the screaming of the monsters as they're electrocuted to death and violently stabbed by Sashi that lured Rippen, Larry, and Vlurgen to the edge of the clearing. They lurked between the trees, Vlurgen's arm raised to signal that all she wished to do was observe.

"Really Rippen, are you not competent enough to handle three children?"

Rippen huffed, glaring as his eyes landed on the satchel around Sashi's shoulder. He silently cursed to himself. If it were Boone who had the satchel or even Penn, it wouldn't be that much of a problem. They were both immature and childish, all he would have to do was wait for their guard to drop. But Sashi was vigilante, always on the alert. There would be no way of stealing that bag from her.

Vlurgen followed his gaze, from the red haired boy shouting annoying quips and making ridiculous conversation with the centaur to Sashi. She could see her brother pulling a face, trying to think of a way to get around her. The alien woman silently crossed her arms as she watched Sashi take out three monsters at once single handedly, her entire body turned nearly black from the ash of her enemies while Penn merely knocked them out. She couldn't help the evil, malicious grin spreading across her face.

"Ooh... someone has the case of the smiles."

Rippen immediately turned towards Vlurgen, eyes widening in recognition of the look on her face, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Who's the girl?" Vlurgen asks, completely ignoring Rippen's question. Her gaze predictably shifted to Larry as the minion started to answer.

"Oh, that's Sashi. She's Penn's side kick," Larry explained happily, "If you want we can introduce you."

"A side kick," Vlurgen hummed in thought.

"Oh no. Listen here Vlurgen, those three idiots are for me to humiliate in defeat and destroy with no mercy. If you think you can just-"

"That's funny Rippen, because I only see two idiots and one incredibly dangerous and competent potential hench-woman," Vlurgen gripped Rippen by the chin and forcibly turned his head to stare back down at the three teens, "All I want is her. The two buffoons with her are all yours for the destroying. Think of how much easier it'll be to cream them when you don't have the side kick to worry about."

"Sashi is really good at keeping Penn and Boone out of immediate death and danger," Larry supplied, though the little man didn't exactly know where this conversation was headed either.

Rippen scowled, narrowing his eyes as he watched Penn laugh victoriously at the defeated monsters around him. That stupid, smug look on his face made Rippen want to leap from the trees they were hiding behind and rip it clean off the muscle. But he couldn't do that, not yet at the very least. Otherwise he would never be victorious if he was merely following every violent, emotional urge in him. If he had, Larry would have been dead a long time ago. Rippen couldn't help blinking a lot though as he let Vlurgen's words actually set in. Sashi was a problem, always protecting her friends and fighting any and every force that got in their way. She was their smartest and strongest team member. She was always saving Penn and Boone's butt, which arguably really flipped the script. Usually it's the hero saving the sidekicks.

Without Sashi, Rippen might actually win for once. His eyes darkened at the mere thought of victory in his grasp, an evil smile beginning to morph his features.

------

"Come on guys, we're burning daylight."

"Give us a second Sashi," Penn gasped, collapsing against a large rock as he struggled to catch his breath. They had just finished climbing the steepest incline in maybe the entire Multiverse. His hands burned and ached from having to practically rock climb up here.

"Hey, you're not the only ones that are tired!" Sashi crossed her arms in front of her, "But we have to keep moving."

All she got in response was a bunch of groaning and whining. Rolling her eyes, Sashi scoffed at them as she turned her back on them, "Fine. I'll go scout the area for any more monsters waiting to stop us."

Sashi didn't even wait for Penn or Boone to acknowledge what she said, making her way quickly though the woods to scout out the area for any danger. If either of them cared about the danger, they didn't say. Or at least, Sashi didn't hear them. She was hot, sweaty, and just as exhausted as Penn and Boone. But they were so close to the top and to completing their mission. And they hadn't run into Rippen or Larry yet, so the sooner that they got there the better. Yet Sashi learned a long time ago that there was no moving either of them when they didn't want to move. So she'd give them two minutes to catch their breath and then drag them up the path some more.

Unfortunately for Sashi, there weren't any monsters in sight for her to pummel. Or to use as an excuse to go back to get Boone and Penn on their feet. Branches just smacked her face lightly, the leaves tickling or scratching her face as she went. The only sounds that greeted her were the scampering rabbits and foxes that hid deep in the foliage.

"I see you've finally ditched Dumb and Dumber."

Sashi immediately spun around, one hand firmly grabbing the satchel resting against her hip. The giant bushes rustled, revealing a grinning Larry as he came tumbling out of the foliage with Rippen behind him. The manticore stared down at Sashi, his grin revealing a row of sharp teeth that would have made any other girl start bawling her eyes out. Sashi growled, reaching for her spear.

"If you think you're going to get these offerings you have another thin-"

"I'm not here for you," Rippen interrupted, smirking at the dumbfounded expression emerging on Sashi's face before he gestured his head for her to look behind her, "She is."

Sashi glared, thinking Rippen was trying to create a diversion to distract her. But it's the sound of branches cracking and leaves shifting that make her slowly turn her head around to stare at the tall woman coming from behind her. The physical similarities between her and Rippen make Sashi a tad uneasy. Because even though Rippen always fails, it's not because he's completely incompetent. He's actually a fairly dangerous adversary when they aren't careful.

"Sashi, meet Vlurgen. Vlurgen, Sashi."

"Listen lady, no one is getting their hands on-"

"Oh I'm not here for the satchel," Vlurgen scoffed, walking closer to Sashi. She circled the girl, like a predator sizing up its next meal. Her eyes bore into Sashi, taking in the fighting stance and burning fire in the girl's eyes, "I'm here for a new right hand man, and I want you."

"Not interested."

Vlurgen laughed, before swinging her leg into Sashi's chest. Sashi went flying backwards, her head hitting the ground with a thud. She blinks, watching as Rippen starts laughing at her. Sashi tilts her head, frowning as she stares at her art teacher. Something doesn't seem right about this situation, about Rippen just letting this strange woman attack her and wanting Sashi to join her. But before she has a chance to fathom what this nagging feeling is, Sashi's rolling across the ground, swinging her legs out to trip Vlurgen up.

Vlurgen trips, falling onto one knee. Sashi takes the opportunity to get back to her feet, but Vlurgen grips her arm tightly and pulls the teen down besides her. So Sashi turns, pulling her right arm away from the alien's grip and swinging her left elbow into the woman's nose. Vlurgen digs her sharp nails into Sashi's arm and swings her knee into Sashi's stomach as she stands. Sashi feels her legs start to buckle, trying to get the air back into her lungs. Her entire body can't help but hunch forward, exposing her back. And suddenly she's dealt a painful blow as both elbows slam into the center of her back. Sashi collapses on her stomach in the dirt, the specs sliding up her face to where they start resting on her forehead more than her nose.

When she lifts her head up, Larry and Rippen are gone. She can hear their retreating footsteps, heading in the direction she just came from. Towards Penn and Boone.

"Hey!" Sashi shouts, but before she can start hurling insults to lure Rippen back, she's picked up by the back of her neck and flipped onto her back.

Sashi growls angrily at Vlurgen and swings a left hook into her face before she has the chance to restrain her. It hits, but Vlurgen just starts laughing. And it brings a chill through Sashi's entire body.

"So much fire in such a small feeble body, I like that."

"Let go of me!" Sashi shouts, squirming as Vlurgen tightly grips both her wrists and pins them to the ground.

"Why? So you can go back to your pathetic friends and keep them out of danger?" Vlurgen asks, "You'd be so much better without them anyways. I've seen you in action. You're so much stronger, so much smarter. You don't need them. They're holding you back."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Aren't I? Look at yourself Sashi. Is this where you want to be? Some idiot boy's side kick, constantly saving him because he doesn't listen to you or have the common sense to keep anyone out of trouble? Aren't you tired of trailing behind him? Of doing all the work and not getting the level of credit you know you deserve?"

Vlurgen smirks when she sees she's hit a nerve. Sashi's squirming lightens up for a second as the girl stares off to the side blankly. Sashi's thoughts immediately drift to gym class, to the way everyone crowds around Penn when no one looks at her. Or applauds her for all her effort. Every adventure they go on, they thank Penn and cheer on Penn. They call Penn the hero when Sashi does just as much work if not more than Penn. It's not fair. But... Sashi knew that going into this what being a side kick entailed.

"That's my job."

Sashi swings her knee up into Vlurgen's abdomen, and her grip slackens. Sashi uses the moment to roll, shoving her off onto the ground as she scrambles to her feet. Sashi immediately turns her eyes to the trees, preparing to make a break for it, but just as she takes off, she's pulled back. Vlurgen has a tight grip on the strap of her satchel, and the momentum sends Sashi stumbling back. The specs go sliding backwards off her head and somewhere on the ground. Vlurgen slams her into a tree, her spear pressed painful into her spine as her feet swing helplessly. Vlurgen holds her by the neck off the ground so they're eye level and presses herself close enough to Sashi that the girl can't swing her legs. All her heels do is scrape against the bark of the tree for traction.

"No, the job of a side kick is to be the annoying little helper that always needs saving by the hero. They're the one who is useful only fifty percent of the time in a situation, who always messes up to the point where they get captured or need saving. They're constantly in distress," Vlurgen whispers, "You're not a side kick. You're nothing but wasted talent."

Sashi growled, but Vlurgen continued, "Why aren't you the hero huh? You're so much more competent than the both of them. They should be your sidekicks. You could do so much better. Be so much better."

All the anger building inside Sashi starts shifting, started redirecting away from the villain in front of her to resentment. Throughout the years, she'd dream of becoming a side kick to an amazing hero and wise man, to being an unstoppable and unparalleled team. She imagined working with serious heroes who knew maybe more about this job than she did. And instead she got stuck with Penn and Boone. They constantly needed her help, her protection, and her vigilance to keep them focused. Everything Penn did was perfect without even trying, sometimes he wasn't even trying at all and it was just... always going his way.

"You could be so much better. Do so much better Sashi."

She could do better. Sashi could be so much better. She... dare she say that maybe she even deserved better. She was tired of Penn and Boone always getting distracted and goofing around. She was tired of not being listened to. Tired of having to rescue them. Of sacrificing herself for them.

"I can give you so much more," Vlurgen promised, watching as Sashi's eyes started to gaze distantly up at her. The girl was clearly soaking in every last word, her arguments turning and bouncing around in her little human brain and converting every resistant thought over to her side. Sashi stared up at Vlurgen and her dark brown irises slowly started to bleed red.

------

"Um... Boone? A little help over here?"

Penn raised his shield, his legs shaking as Rippen slashed a large lion paw against the heavy wooden circle. His sharp claws managed to gorge out long chunks of the wood and some of the metal rivets decorating the edges.

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"Screaming isn't helping!" Penn shouted, before yelling himself as the back of Rippen's paw knocked him clean off his feet.

"Is so! I'm calling for Sashi!"

"Sashi probably can't even-" Penn cuts himself off though, eyes widening in sudden realization. His eyes narrowed angrily as he grabbed for his sword and stared Rippen down, "What did you do to Sashi?"

It hadn't occurred to Penn, until Boone mentioned their anger driven friend, that Rippen and Larry came from the direction she left from. Which meant that Sashi would have undoubtedly crossed their path. And while Sashi was more than capable of taking care of herself, she was the one with the satchel. She was the one in the most danger because she had the offerings. And Sashi would have been lured back by the fighting and screaming by this point. Or she would have been dragged back here with the angriest look on her face.

But Rippen started to laugh, "Believe me boy, I haven't done anything to your little side kick."

Penn clenched his teeth, not at all comforted by those words. It actually made him even more nervous and worried for Sashi, with the foreboding feeling that she was in a lot more trouble than they were. And that Rippen knew exactly what. With a scream of rage, Penn charged at Rippen with his sword raised. Rippen swung his scorpion tail forward to impale the red headed hero, but he blocked it with his sword. Behind him, somewhere to the side, he could hear Boone fumbling for his bow and an arrow from his quiver. The wise man and Larry the henchman didn't really exist though in Penn's mind though, he was far more worried about getting to Sashi.

Penn stared Rippen in the eyes, and... faltered. His grip suddenly went slack around the hilt of the sword and the scorpion tail started to push past it. Penn stumbled back, rolling backwards as the tip came down onto the ground. It punctured a deep hole into the rocky earth and Rippen immediately began to step closer, left paw on top of Penn's lost sword.

Something wasn't right. Despite how much he hated Rippen, Penn knew that there was something wrong with the villain. Rippen's eyes were a much darker shade of red than normal. It's an incredibly weird detail to notice, an otherwise unnoticeable change to anyone who hadn't spent nearly every day standing toe to toe with him, staring him eye to eye. Rippen's eyes were a vivid scarlet red, not this darker, almost bloody like red. Penn raised his arms up though to shield his face as the scorpion tail became poised above him. Rippen stared down at Penn, laughing as the tail straightened. The light caught the dark exoskeleton shell and-

And then an arrow struck the top of the tail. Rippen screamed painfully, backing away and shaking his tail back and forth to dislodge it. Penn climbed quickly to his feet, planting them firmly to the ground as he stared Rippen down. Rippen growled, about to lunge, but Penn threw his arms forward and a bright flash of lightning flew from his palm. It collided with Rippen's chest and sent the villain crashing into the trees behind him.

"Whoa..." Boone whispered, coming to stand beside Penn as Larry raced to check on Rippen.

Penn was silent as he stared at Rippen, knowing that they had to run off and find Sashi. But there was a fear that maybe he took it too far, that he really hurt Rippen. And maybe even... no. No his chest was moving. Penn hadn't killed him. Rippen groaned, suddenly growling as Larry yanked the arrow out of his tail without any warning.

"Rippen? Rippen are you okay?"

Rippen snarled as Larry pressed his face closer to his, "Larry get away fr-where are we? Penn Zero?"

"Where's Sashi?" Penn demanded, the relief he felt for not committing murder thrown aside once he remembered the situation at hand, "What did you do to her?"

"I haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about!"

"Oh come on Rippen, remember? We just saw her. She was with your sister, Vlurgen."

"Vlurgen?" Boone asked, before looking at Penn and silently whispered, "Who names their daughter Vlurgen anyways?"

"Yeah! We were helping her find herself a new number 2 henchman! She said she wanted Sashi and-" Larry stopped, because Rippen's face was turning a dark red. If Penn didn't know better, and actually cared, he'd think Rippen would have smoke flying out his ears, "Don't be mad Rippen. You did hit your head really hard."

"It's not because I hit my head you idiot! That rotten-"

"Hey!" Larry shouted, interrupting Rippen before he could unleash the long and violent list of alien curses he wanted to slander his sister's name with, "Where are you both going?"

Neither Penn nor Boone needed further explaining from either of the villains. Penn hopped onto Boone's back, and the centaur took off through the woods in the direction they last saw Sashi. Neither of them wanted to dwell on what sort of trouble Sashi could be in, especially on her own against an opponent they knew next to nothing about. And sure, Sashi was tough, but that doesn't stop them from worrying about her. From wanting to protect her. They raced down the beaten path, branches smacking Penn and Boone in the face as they screamed her name.

"SASHI!" Penn shouted, pleading for her to answer them.

Penn suddenly flies into the back of Boone's head as he skids to a stop, sliding off of Boone and landing with a thud to the ground. But before he can yell at Boone or demand to know why he stopped, the weight of the entire sky seems like its crushing him into the dirty. He stares silently at the specs, watching a beetle crawl over them.

"No. No, no, no..." Penn whispers, crawling to his feet and grabbing the specs, "Sashi? Sashi!"

"Penn?" Boone says softly, bending down to pick of the discarded satchel, "Penn. She's not here."

Penn shook his head though, "N-no. No, Sashi can't be far. She has to be here somewhere. I mean, come on Boone, this is Sashi we're talking about! She's the toughest girl in the entire multiverse-"

"And that's exactly why my sister wants her as her partner."

Penn dug his nails into his palm, back tensing as he turns to look at the villain. Rippen stands two feet behind them, not daring to come any closer. Boone doesn't blame him, Penn has a look of rage that could rival Sashi's right now. He wouldn't want to be on Penn's bad side right now either.

"Think about it Penn, every mission you won was because you had Sashi on your team to keep you safe or to keep you focused. Without her you're both scrambling in all directions like headless chickens. We all know that," Rippen told him.

"Sashi wouldn't join the dark side," Penn spat, "She wouldn't betray us."

"Not on her own free will. You're not the only one with supernatural powers here boy, so does she. The power to enthrall and enchant people to do what she wants and see things her way with just the sound of her voice. That's why I didn't remember, because the wretched woman did it to me so I wouldn't get in the way."

"Why are you even telling us this?" Boone demanded.

That same thought was on Penn's mind too, as he held Sashi's specs tightly in his hands. As Rippen's explanation sunk in, he couldn't help feeling incredibly worried for Sashi. Sashi was tough and all hard edges, but she didn't want to hurt them. She didn't like hurting her friends. Not like this, not like they were the enemy. Yeah, a couple of punches and kicks were one thing. But trying to actually hurt them hurt them like they were the enemy she needed to vanquish, Sashi would never want to unleash that wrath on them. But why did Rippen care about what happened to Sashi? It meant one less hero to deal with. One less threat to get in his way. Isn't that what Rippen wants?

"I thought you wanted to be rid of us."

"I do," Rippen narrowed his eyes as a snarl started to form in the back of his throat, "But I loathe the idea of Vlurgen getting anything she wants more than the idea of you idiots winning another mission. She left that here because she wants you to go to the temple. She wants to show off," Rippen rolled his eyes before turning around, "Come on Larry."

"Wait... you're not going to help us?"

At that, Rippen let out a barking laugh, "Isn't it enough that just this once, I let you go scott free and don't try to stop you? If, by chance, Vlurgen and Sashi annihilate you both, I have to be ready to lead an army of monsters onto a helpless city of demigods."

Penn narrowed his eyes, glaring into Rippen's back as he made his way down the mountain with Larry in tow. He looked down at the specs one final time before sighing and glancing up at the sky. The sun was beginning to sink down towards the horizon. They were running out of time.

"Come on Boone," Penn says softly as he hops back on to the wise man's back, "Sashi needs us."

------

They arrive to the temple a few minutes before sunset. It's not at all what Penn was expecting. The temple was just four white Grecian pillars standing tall and straight at each corner. There's a giant pyre in the center, a hot fire already burning. A pillar of dark black smoke rises into the sky, and standing at each side are two towering dogs made of glistening bronze. They stand to attention, facing out away from the temple as though to guard it. Slightly behind the pyre is a stone pedestal, most likely the place where Penn and Boone are meant to put the ruby statue.

"I knew you'd come."

And then there's the woman sitting at the very top of one of the pillars. Her feet dangle and her cloak flutters slightly in the breeze. Just beneath her, sat silently in a meditation like pose is Sashi. She's silent beside the pair of abandoned sandals and doesn't even open her eyes to see what brought on the sudden conversation. Penn has to force himself to stare at Vlurgen instead of Sashi. The familiar similarities between her and Rippen strike him like a fast ball. They have the same weirdly colored skin, the spiky dark hair, and piercing red eyes full of malice and hate. Vlurgen holds his stare with the same intensity as her brother, jumping gracefully off her perch and landing besides Sashi. That still does not rouse Sashi, who remains completely still despite the villain towering over her.

"Heroes, always so predictable," Vlurgen sighed, "Always rushing to do the right thing and save the day."

"Give us back our Sashi."

The response was not at all what Penn expected. Vlurgen starts to laugh, eyebrow raised in challenge at Penn. Besides her, Sashi finally opens her eyes and turns to stare coldly at her two friends. Boone and Penn both freeze when they see a pair of dark red eyes staring at them.

"Your Sashi?" Vlurgen couldn't help the high pitched tone her voice took as she laughed.

"I'm no one's property," Sashi hissed softly, eyes narrowing at Penn. Penn's mind couldn't help going back to when she answered death vision in a choice between super speed or super strength. He felt grateful she didn't have those powers or else he'd be toast.

"Sashi-"

"And as it stands anyway, Zero," Vlurgen interrupted, "Sashi's here on her own free volition. She chose to come with me."

"That's a lie and you know it," Boone argued, "Rippen told us everything. That you have some weird magic voice power to trick people into doing what you want."

The laughter had died down, and the sly smile that graced Vlurgen's features vanished. She stared at Penn and Boone with an unimpressed expression, mouth morphed into a straight line. Sashi finally climbed to her feet, gripping the spear in her hand.

"Not that much time left," Vlurgen observed, "Best make those offerings before my brother finally does the impossible."

"Not without Sashi."

Penn could feel the panicky look Boone sent his way. The words had came immediately, but Penn doesn't regret them. Completing the mission means going home and he doesn't know if Sashi will come with them or not. Will Phyllis bring Sashi with them? Would Sashi still be under Vlurgen's weird control? Penn couldn't stand the idea of leaving Sashi behind or leaving her in this predicament.

"Then I believe you're going to become very disappointed."

With a war cry, Sashi rushed the two teens with her spear held high. She swung it down, aimed towards Penn's chest. Penn swung his battered and broken shield around, watching as the spear cut cleanly through the wood. The tip rested half a centimeter from his heart when Boone started screaming. He turned on his front hooves and kicked backwards at Sashi. Sashi slipped beneath Boone, back hitting the dirty as she kicked upwards with both feet to his underbelly. Boone, still only balanced on his front two legs, screamed as he went falling forward onto his face.

"Sashi stop!" Penn shouted, grabbing her by the wrist as she reached for her spear. Sashi pulled it free from Penn's useless shield, clearly intending to make a Boone shish-kabob with it, "You need to listen to me."

She immediately stiffened, pivoting on her heels as she ripped her arm free from Penn's grasp. The red irises only exaggerated the fire burning in her eyes, the rage radiating from Sashi's small figure enough to level hundreds of cities. The pure look in her eyes turned his intestines to jelly.

"No," Sashi hissed, and her fist landed with a large crack as it connected with Penn's nose, "You need to listen to me, Zero."

Penn stumbled back, pulling his hands away from his nose to find that it was thankfully, not bleeding. Though he didn't have the time to really appreciate it because his sword was instantly drawn, trying to deflect the thrusts of her spear so they didn't impale him. While electrocuting Sashi would be an incredibly quick end to the fight, Penn refused to use his demigod powers on her. Sashi was his friend, she had to be in there somewhere. There had to be some part of her that knew this was wrong. To fight her and treat her like a villain would only make the situation and its consequences all the more worse.

"I've worked my butt off for you. Keeping you idiots safe, keeping you idiots on track and focused, getting you to your end goal. I worked so hard protecting you, helping you," Their weapons clashed. Sashi growled as Penn did everything he could to keep himself grounded and balanced, "But it doesn't matter. It never mattered. I put my blood, my sweat, and tears into everything to help you succeed. So we can succeed. But you get it all. You get all the credit. All the attention. All the thanks. You wouldn't have won Capture the Flag if I hadn't protected the flag. You wouldn't have been able to get Boone in the water to get that stupid trident if I wasn't holding off Rippen's army. You and Boone spent so much time organizing a stupid wedding, but I was the one who called the princess out on her superficial garbage!"

Penn gasped, her spear came dangerously close to hitting his stomach. She ducked under his sword swing, and came back up to punch him in the throat. Boone, finally back on his feet, came charging towards them to help, but Penn waved his hand to stop him. Behind him, he felt the intense heat of pyre burning the back of his neck. A few more steps and he would be literally in the fire.

"But is this really what you want Sash?" Penn asked softly, forcing himself to hold eye contact with her, "Sashi, I-I didn't know you felt like that. I-I know Boone and I are always telling you how awesome you are, but..." Penn couldn't afford to falter right now. He had her attention, as she drew her spear back in preparation for her next attack.

"End him," Vlurgen ordered, "End him now."

"Please Sashi. I'm sorry that it never occurred to me that you don't get the thanks or credit you deserve. Every time we're thanked together, as a team, I assumed we were all valued at the same level. But that's not always the case. And I've been too stupid and hyped up on a victory to realize you want thanks and applause from more than just Boone and I. But Sash, you know how awesome you are. Every day, Boone and I are so grateful for you. You're the reason we're still alive. I'm sorry that you feel shadowed, ignored, or forgotten at the end of the mission," Penn hesitantly reached out to touch her shoulder, "But is this really what you want? Sashi you spent 13 years training to be the best side kick in the multiverse. You are the best side kick anyone could ever ask for. Do you want to throw that away and be a henchman? Will joining evil really make you feel better?"

Sashi immediately jerked away from Penn's hand, back handing him across the face. The blow causes Penn to fall back and, seeing the spear poised over him, squeezes his eyes shut. Penn holds his breath, waiting for a swift demise. But nothing happens. Instead, he opens his eyes hesitantly to see Sashi dropping her spear. With both hands, Sashi grips her head. Penn pushes himself into a sitting position.

"Sashi?"

"No!" Vlurgen shrieks.

"P-Penn?" Sashi groans as she blinks, the red fading from her eyes. Penn pulls himself to his feet, about to wrap his arms around her to steady her when she shakes her head, "T-the offerings... Ares..."

Boone comes trotting over, tossing Penn the satchel as he sets a hand on Sashi's shoulder. Sashi blinks, one hand drooping as she looks around quietly. She's silently taking it all in, the surroundings as she rubs her head. Everything that happened after Vlurgen pinned her down in the woods is a blur, she can't remember what happened after that. All she remembers is suddenly hearing Penn's worried voice right in front of her. And Penn, the satchel hanging loosely from his shoulder, reaches for the bottle of wine. Twisting the cork off, he turns to face the fire and holds the bottle over the flames.

"You little-"

"Not another step closer!"

Vlurgen stares down at Sashi, the smallest of the heroes standing directly behind Penn. Her spear, now gripped in her hand again, is pointed towards the villainess, eyes narrowed as she holds the tip just under the woman's chin. Somehow, despite her confusion and headache, Sashi has the strength to keep Vlurgen at bay away from her best friend.

"You're pointing that thing at the wrong person my dear. You would be so much better off without them."

Sashi glared, hissing as her head throbbed with unwanted thoughts. Boone stepped forward, trying to get between Sashi and Vlurgen as if he could protect the side kick.

"That's nothing but garbage!" Sashi hissed.

Penn glanced back and forth, from Sashi to the sun sinking towards the horizon to the wine evaporating into the fire and back again. The moment the last drop of wine dripped out, Penn threw the bottle aside. He heard the glass shatter somewhere in the distance but didn't care as he raced to the alter. His hands dug into the satchel, trying to grab the statue.

"These idiots don't deserve you. Join me and I can turn you into someone."

Penn wanted to look back, heck, he wanted to run back and restrain Sashi in case it was becoming too much for her. He could feel the weight of Vlurgen's words on his shoulder, and they weren't even directed at him. But the sky was growing darker and darker above them. Boone rose onto his back legs and kicked forward, knocking Vlurgen away. Or at least, he tried to. Vlurgen moved out of the way and grabbed one of Boone's horse legs, tossing him off to the side like he weighed no more than a piece of paper. Sashi ducked beneath Boone's flying body, before giving a scream of rage.

"No one throws my friend around!"

Sashi lunged, rushing to stab Vlurgen through the chest with her spear. Vlurgen grabbed it though just beneath the point and stared Sashi down. She opened her mouth to speak, lifting the spear up in the air. Sashi, holding on with a death grip to her weapon, was lifted off the ground. But before she could try to put Sashi under her control or influence again, the sky darkens with dark, heavy storm clouds. Thunder echoes across the sky but there is no lightning to be seen. Everyone's eyes turn to Penn, standing before the alter with the ruby statue resting on its new pedestal.

"It seems I'm the one who's run out of time," Vlurgen scoffs, looking off into the distance. Below, in the tiny distance, the fighting was taking its turn. Monsters began a swift retreat, their screams too far away to be heard as a tall, hulking figure in a glowing red aura stood before the city gates, standing side by side with veteran demigod soldiers. Another win for the heroes. Another loss for the villains.

Vlurgen looked back at Sashi, releasing the girl's spear. Sashi fell with a thud on her butt, and the alien woman backed away as both Penn and Boone ran to their friend's side.

"It appears I've underestimated you," Vlurgen mused, watching as their bodies started to take on a blue glow, "A mistake I won't make again."

------

"Ow!" Sashi hissed, pulling her arm away from Penn as he wiped disinfectant on the deep scratches Vlurgan had practically gorged into her arm. One look at Penn's worried and guilty face has her reluctantly stretching her arm back towards him though, averting her gaze to her shoes and pushing the specs slightly higher up the bridge of her nose.

"I'm almost done," Penn reassures as Boone hands Sashi another ice pack for her head. Ever since they snapped Sashi out of it, her head has been killing her.

"It's all my fault the mission was almost ruined. If I hadn't gone off on my own and-"

"Vlurgen would have found way to separate you," Phyllis intervened, staring down at the group from the balcony as she worked.

But that still didn't make Sashi feel any better. She drew her knees to her chest and pulled silently away from Penn's assistance, "She knew just the right words to say to... to persuade me or whatever. But-"

"But no matter how annoying we get, you would never trade any of this for a life of being evil," Boone finished for Sashi. Sashi nodded, staring at the ugly carpet rather than their faces. Penn and Boone both took a seat on either side of Sashi, setting their hands on her shoulder.

"You know, no matter how many missions we go on, you'll always be our hero," Penn told her, "You're always keeping us safe. And even though people tend to not pay attention to that, which is their fault and their problem for not seeing how awesome you are, we'll never not be grateful and appreciative for everything you do for us. And you should never have to bury those feelings down Sash."

"Yeah," Boone reassured, "And if you were feeling so ignored and a tad jealous that no one was giving you anywhere near the credit you deserve, you can talk to us. Don't forget she also put some of those thoughts in your head for you, all those feelings might not even have been yours to begin with."

"I know," Sashi whispered, "I know. I just... it had never been a problem like that before. All the frustration, it just boiled over. It's never been like that, so uncontrollable. I'm still sorry, for everything I'd done back there."

"The only one who ought to be sorry is Rippen's sister."

"Yeah, hopefully we never see her again."

"Do not speak so soon," Phyllis interrupted, much to Boone's disappointment that he would be wrong, "Vlurgen is dangerous villain. She won't stop until she have what she wants. If she wants Sashi, she will not stop."

"Well that's not going to happen," Penn snapped, turning to look at his two best friends, "No one's turning one of my best friends to the dark side. She has another thing coming if she thinks Boone and I will just let that happen."

"Thanks PZ," Sashi whispered, wincing as the sudden flashing light of Phyllis blow torching something aggravated her headache.

Sashi was grateful that the conversation ended there. She had a bad feeling deep in her gut that this wouldn't be the last time Boone and Penn would almost lose her. And that thought terrified her, not because she would need saving and protection at every turn, but the thought of hurting her best friends made her feel physically sick. She'd come way too close to hurting them both, especially Penn. She didn't ever want that to happen again. Ever.

#Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero #fanfic

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