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tangledinink · 1 year

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Chapter Twelve of I'm Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now? is up!!! It's the moment you've all waited for-- the reveal. :000 They boys discover some things about themselves (things they once knew) and visit an unfamiliar place (a place that was once familiar.) Read it on ao3 or below the cut!

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The group’s shocked silence lasted for two, maybe three seconds before it quickly morphed into chaos.

“That’s him! That’s the goat!” Mikey shrieked, pointing wildly. “That’s the goat who has Dad!”

“Leo! Call 911!” Raph commanded. Leo scoffed loudly.

“No way! I wanna kick this guy’s ass. Make Donnie do it.”

“What?! No fair! I’ve called 911 the last six times! It’s someone else’s turn!”

“You have not! I called 911 last time!” April protested.

“That one doesn’t count!”

“Well someone’s gotta--”

“Enough!” Goatman snarled, absolutely bristling, waving his arm sharply. The air around them suddenly felt colder and stiller, and Leo shuddered, gritting his teeth as his posture stiffened. “I am not here to listen to your silly arguments. I am here to bring you home, so you can finally fulfill your purpose.”

Leo gave a short snort of laughter. “Hm, yeah, tempting, but our Daddy actually taught us not to go with creepy sheep strangers, even if they offer us free candy, soooo…”

“What?! Candy? No! I’m talking about your purpose! The reason you were created-- to eliminate the human threat! Come with me, and I can unlock your full potential!”

“How many divine purposes have we got again? ‘Cause I’m starting to lose track,” Mikey complained. Leo rolled his eyes.

“Eliminate the human threat? Yeah, uh, maybe you haven't been paying attention, but in case you haven’t noticed, we’re literally humans.”

The yokai paused for a moment. His face twisted, and he hunched his shoulders back before he gave a forced laugh. “Humans?” He echoed. “Humans?! Surely you aren’t fooled by those silly trinkets! You can’t possibly, actually believe…”

“Oh my god. This guy is, like, for real crazy,” April observed, raising her brows.

“No, you are fools!” He hissed in return. “Humans?! These ridiculous forms are completely fabricated! These are not your true selves! You are experiments! You are soldiers! You’re mutated turtles-- my greatest creations! The creations of Baron Draxum!”

“Baron Draxum? Okay, well, we’ll deal with him when he gets here… Oh… Oh-ho-ho wait! You’re doing that, like, sinister talking-about-yourself-in-third person thing, aren’t you! Oh my god, that’s rich!” Leo snorted.

“Hey! Only Raph can use the third-person!”

“I’m sorry, did he say turtles?” Mikey questioned.

“Oh my fucking god…” Leo laughed, clutching his stomach. “Turtles? I’m sorry, we’re mutant turtles?”

“This guy can’t be serious,” Raph muttered.

“Uh, yeah, I’m pretty sure we would have noticed by now if we were reptiles,” Donnie scoffed, one hand on his hip. “Let alone subjects of some kind of biochemical experiments. Which I am intimately familiar with, by the way. Do you have any idea how many community gardens I’ve been banned from?”

“This can’t…” The yokai shook his head, a hand on his brow. “How could you be tricked by such simple magic? I will show you if I have to.”

“Oh, I’d love to see that,” Donnie muttered.

“Come with me--”

“You are out of your damn mind if you think we’re goin’ anywhere with you!” Raph cut in.

“Maybe if you prove that turtle hypothesis thing you have going on, we can discuss it from there,” Donnie laughed, one brow quirked, sounding caught somewhere between exasperated and amused. Honestly, this whole thing was a little bit fucking hilarious. It was also fucking horrible and scary because their dad was missing and a magic criminal had them cornered in an alley, but like. Seriously. Mutant turtles? You can’t make this stuff up, dude.

Draxum sighed very deeply, scowling at their group.

“Very well,” he said, and he snapped his fingers.

Things became unfunny very, very quickly.

If the air had become cold earlier, now it became startlingly hot, just for a moment, the alley rising up at least five degrees, and Leo heard this choked, startled gasp that he immediately recognized as his twin brother. At the same time, a blinding, almost familiar flash of white light overtook the alley, and Leo hissed, flinching away.

When he looked back, he was horrified to find that where his brother had been standing just a moment ago there was instead some sort of green, scaled creature, their eyes slitted and their skin leathery and bumped, and he thought, what the hell happened to my brother? And after a moment of silence, all of them staring in dazed shock, the reptile flailed, floundered, held its own hands up to its face as if to examine them, and promptly began screaming.

And Leo recognized his own brother's screams, so instead he was thinking: what the hell happened to my brother?!

“What did you do?!” Leo shrieked. Behind him, Mikey screamed, too, and he could hear April spluttering out an impressive string of curse words. He just barely resisted the urge to race over to Donnie’s side, to check if he was okay, (he’s not okay, he knows he’s not okay,) to try to help him, to fix it, because he couldn’t just turn his back on the enemy in front of them-- couldn’t ignore the very obvious threat.

“I simply removed the cloaking enchantment as he requested,” Draxum responded calmly. He even looked amused, almost, the very corners of his lips turning up.

“You what!? What the hell are you-- fix it!!! Turn him back!!!” Leo demanded, his voice rising with the very edges of panic, his pulse climbing ever-steadily higher the longer he listened to his siblings scream.

The other sighed deeply, tilting their head to the side. “Do you still not understand? Fine, then. I’ll show you as well.”

Snap.

Leo wouldn’t describe the experience as painful, but it really wasn’t pleasant, either. He swore he could feel his skin being stripped away and reforming; it was like his skeleton itself was being rearranged, his entire body becoming fluid for just a split second before solidifying again in new places, new patterns, new spaces. An unfamiliar weight pulled at his shoulders, forcing his spine to bend, and his hands and feet fell in a way that now felt unnatural to him. His skin seemed to lay over his muscles differently now.

He was vaguely aware of Mikey screaming somewhere behind him a second time, echoing Donatello’s continued wails.

“Guys?” April bit out, her voice high and frightened.

What the hell happened to him?

“What-- what did you do?” Leo repeated himself, his eyes wide, straining, because his vision was ever-so-slightly different than it had been a few seconds ago and he didn’t know how to adjust. He swore to god he was frozen in place. He wasn’t sure when he had ended up on his knees, but he was shaking so hard, he supposed he wasn’t surprised.

What the fuck happened to his body?

“Now are you convinced?” The yokai pressed. “Now, we will be going to my lab whether you want to or not. We can either do this the easy way or the hard way. I would highly recommend the easy way,” he hummed, giving a sharp sweep of his arms. Wind tugged at his back and Leo had just barely the presence of mind to glance behind him, his eyes widening in horror to see this huge expanse of black opening up behind him.

Mikey-- (Mikey? They were small, they were wearing Mikey’s clothes, it must be Mikey--) yelped loudly, the inky cloud yanking him from his feet. April jumped, attempting to grab her baby brother, though she only succeeded in falling into him-- both of them swallowed up into the portal. Raph gave a strangled howl of protest, diving right after them, and Donnie was sucked up as well, disappearing from Leo’s sight. His heart thudded wildly in his ears. He could feel the magick yanking at him, trying to pull him in as well.

But Leo had always been the fastest.

Every shred of him was screaming to follow, to chase after his family, to go with his sister and brothers, but he tensed his muscles, his stance widening and holding firm as he set his sights back on the yokai towering before him. A tiny voice in his head whispered in his ears that following wouldn’t help--

No, he had to move forward. This guy was the one hurting them.

Get him.

Leo wasn’t sure if he had leapt forward or if he simply was there. Everything was moving too quickly for even him to follow, the blinding white of panic and rage eating hungrily at the edges of his vision, threatening to overtake him. Either way, he lunged, a cry of protective fury wringing itself from his chest.

"Stay away from my brothers," he snarled, his own throat staggering painfully with the force with which he screamed out his warning, his hands flying forward to grab the yokai by his throat, slamming into him at full speed. He felt the alien velvet fuzz of Draxum’s skin beneath the tear of his fingernails (claws) even as the pair of them were flung from their feet. Gravity was stolen from them both, the portal behind them reaching out to consume them.

Everything went black. For just a second, tumbling through nothingness, floating through the sizzling rush of magick itself, Leo couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t hear anything, all he could feel was the body of the yokai against him, struggling against his grip, attempting to throw him away.

And then this bright, searing lavender light came singing through the world. It didn’t reflect or bounce; nothing was lit up by it. Leo still could not see himself, could not even find the outline of his own hands or fingers. But this brilliant, complex pattern of the palest, gentlest pastel purple lit up bright before him, swirling and twisting in foreign shapes, and Leo just barely recognized that the ribbon of runes they formed echoed the shape of the yokai he had just grabbed.

The body he was clinging to went limp.

The next second, the wind was knocked out of him as they made impact with stone, light coming streaming back into his universe. Leo found himself landing in a heap in their new location, the portal disappearing behind them. Oddly, however, the crash landing didn’t hurt near as much as he would have expected it to.

“Leo!” He heard Raph cry. Leo groaned, still dazed, looking around blearily. Where the hell were they? He glanced over at the yokai who he had yanked through the portal with them, only to find them in an awkward slump just a few paces away, completely limp and seemingly unconscious.

“Are you okay? What happened?” Raph demanded, moving quickly to his side. Mikey was already all bundled up in his arms, shaking like a leaf and absolutely clinging to him for dear life like he was going to fall apart if he let go. And Leo couldn’t even blame him if he did. Mikey had always been the smallest of them, and Raph always the biggest, but Leo thought dimly that the size difference between them now was fucking bananas.

Jesus christ. Raph was fucking huge. And… spiky. Was he a goddamn dinosaur? What the fuck.

“I-- yeah-- I-- I think the goatman got knocked out--” He stammered, still reeling slightly, trying to collect himself, to gather himself, adrenaline still rushing through his veins like it was a racetrack.

Somewhere in the background, Donnie fucking screamed, and Leo immediately forgot about everything else, his head whipping around.

“Donnie!” He cried, on his feet in a second, rushing over to his brother’s side. He had no idea where they were, not having yet taken stock of the location. He was only dimly aware that they were someplace cold and dark, with stone and concrete above, below, and around them. Donnie had pressed himself up against one of the walls, his entire body rigid and his head bent forward, his arms fluttering wildly beside his head in such a way that Leo recognized he was fighting not to hit himself. Good job, Dee. The screaming continued, but every wail that wrenched its way out of Donnie’s mouth was short and grinding, repeating itself over and over like an alarm. It was fucking terrifying. Not for him, but for Donnie, because he could tell that they were completely, totally not in control. Just panicking.

“Hey. Hey, hey, it’s okay, I’m right here, Don. It’s alright. It’s okay, you’re safe, I’m right here, hermano,” he tried to soothe, forcing his voice down, calm, steady. He knew better than to touch Donnie, but he would reach over just long enough to tap a button on the side of his headphones that he knew would flip the device into white noise mode. Donnie jerked slightly in response, and the screaming stopped, at least, but he didn’t relax. His arms still fluttered and flapped anxiously, and he shifted just enough to begin rocking back and forth, clenching his jaw and grinding his teeth so hard that Leo was afraid he was going to hurt himself. His chest absolutely shook with the panicked, shuddering breaths he was taking, hyperventilating so hard that his entire body trembled in response.

“Come on, Donnie, it’s alright. It’s okay. We’re safe, Mikey and Raph and April are safe, we’re gonna be okay, but you’ve gotta breathe, dude. Can you try it with me? Like this? We’ve gotta calm down a little bit--” Leo pressed on because this was not his first rodeo. He wasn’t quite as adept at handling these things as their dad was, and at this point, Donnie was pretty good at avoiding meltdowns and panic attacks, armed with tools and tricks and years of therapy, but sometimes they were unavoidable and Leo had always known how to calm them down, always been able to step up and help, the same way Donnie could for him--

But Donnie wasn’t calming down. Donnie wouldn’t even look up at him. Rather, Donnie scrunched up harder, curled his lips, and fucking hissed at him.

And, okay, look, it wasn’t the first time Donnie had hissed at them. Donnie used to love to hiss at people when they were little kids, though nowadays he was more likely to express annoyance with declarations such as “groan” or “scoff” or “eye-roll.” But he didn’t hiss like this.

He sounded fucking feral. Even more than that, he sounded fucking terrified. He looked like a goddamn cornered animal, his eyes blown out and huge, the scaly skin that now made up his form stretched tight over shivering muscles and his lips drawn back over sharp, pointed teeth. And Leo looked down at his own clawed, three-fingered hand and came to a horrible realization.

He couldn’t help because Donnie couldn’t recognize him. They were panicking because they were in this crazy, fucked up body that wasn’t theirs, and Leo was in a fucked up body that wasn’t his, and looking at him was just a reminder of everything wrong. He was just scaring them more. His being here was just making things worse, and Leo’s throat tied itself in a knot, swelling up as the backs of his eyes pinched with the thought.

“April,” he called, his voice cracking slightly as he desperately turned to look for his sister. She wasn’t far off, watching from a short distance with obvious worry, and she blinked in surprise at the sound of her name.

“Help me.”

---

If Leo was being completely honest, he hadn’t even realized that Donnie wasn’t still nearby. The two of them typically stuck together like glue whenever they were at school. Leo would usually lead the way, and Donnie would trail after, with Leo doing most of the talking and socializing for both of them. And once Donnie got sick of whatever they were doing, he would simply drag Leo off to sit and read or work on some project or puzzle for a while, and Leo would oblige and keep him company. Donnie was always close by, and Leo wasn’t even aware that this wasn’t currently the case, too absorbed in his latest arts and crafts project, until he heard a telltale, high-pitched whine from across the room.

He was on his feet in seconds, abandoning the activity and his classmates to scuttle off in search of his twin brother. Luckily, he wasn’t too hard to find. Both because he was pretty loud, and also because their substitute teacher was crouched down next to him. She was nice enough, Leo thought, but not quite as cool as Miss Mitchelle was, and he wasn’t sure if Donnie liked her at all. It definitely didn’t seem like he liked her too much right now with how he was all balled up, and Leo wasted no time at all in planting himself physically between the two.

Donnie immediately gravitated towards his brother and Leo moved a bit closer in turn, giving Miss Substitute (he didn’t remember her name,) a very displeased look.

“He doesn’t like whatever you’re doing,” he declared firmly.

Miss Substitute’s expression twitched and faltered for a moment before it settled back into something patient and pleasant, though Leo still didn’t quite trust it. “Leo,” she said, “I was just trying to talk with your brother--”

“I can talk to him,” Leo assured immediately, not bothering to listen to the remainder of her sentence because he couldn’t imagine it would be all that important or interesting. He turned to face Donnie instead. “It’s okay. I can always understand him, ‘cause we have a secret twin language. We made it up. Only we can speak it,” he declared proudly, crouching down to lean in towards his brother, his arms wrapped around his knees.

Donnie was still whining a bit, curled up into a ball and shoved halfway inside of a cubby, his arms crossed protectively over his head as he rocked. And yeah, he was obviously upset, though Leo wasn’t completely sure why yet. As such, he got to work, conversing with his twin in the previously mentioned secret twin language.

… And.

Okay.

So.

They didn’t actually have a secret twin language.

But it was close enough! It wasn’t a language, per se, ‘cause it didn’t have words, just noises and chirps and trills and squeaks and babbles. But he still always got the gist of what Donnie was saying, and Donnie would get the gist of what he was saying, too, so it worked. Sooner or later, he could pretty much always get an understanding of what Donnie was meaning based on the inflection or tone of his noises, as well as calm the other down enough so that Leo could coax a couple of signs out of him, so Leo figured it was close enough to language.

Plus, the ‘language’ itself always seemed to kind of settle Donnie down when he was upset like this. Once Leo started humming and squeaking at him, Donnie gradually started to answer with his own chirps and clicks, and, little by little, Leo watched their twin’s body untense and unwind. Leo grinned, moving to sit properly by him, and Donnie moved closer, edging just a bit out of his hiding spot so he could shove himself up against Leo’s side instead, resting his head against his shoulder and settling in there, an indignant scowl still on his face.

Leo grinned, puffing out his chest a bit as he shot Miss Substitute a look. See? He told her so. He and Donnie always understood each other, no matter what, and he could always fix it when Donnie wasn’t feeling good! He was basically the best brother in the entire world. Confident that he understood the problem, he turned back to face Miss Substitute.

“He said you’re not doing the schedule right, and we’re supposed to do math right now,” he announced, crossing his arms over his chest. And he hadn’t even noticed, but Donnie was right, they did usually do math lessons during this part of the day-- not arts and crafts. “And also, he doesn’t like the paper fish we’re doing ‘cause the glue feels bad. So we gotta find something else to do,” he insisted. “‘Cause otherwise Donnie and I aren’t playing.”

Donnie nodded a tiny bit from behind him, and Leo beamed with pride. Understanding Donnie and calming him down wasn’t even that hard. He didn’t get why adults besides Dad had such a hard time with it sometimes. You really just had to listen to him.

---

It took a while for April to calm Donnie back down, (or at least get him as calm as they possibly could be in such circumstances,) but she managed after a bit, his panicked breaths eventually dying down into something a bit more even and steady. Thank god. Mikey thought dimly to himself that he had never seen Donnie freak out so bad, but... he supposed he couldn't really blame him.

He frowned a bit, looking down at his own, unfamiliar hands, and he curled up a bit more, his tail tucking in (oh my god, he had a tail,) as he clung to Raph's plastron (oh my god, Raph had a plastron.) And though it still held comfort, the fold of his biggest brother's arms, bundled up close and held there, this place that he had known his whole life... it suddenly felt foreign, too. Everything was hard and jagged and cold. And even worse-- it was unfamiliar.

He kept staring at his own hands because he couldn't stop himself, and it made his stomach wobble. He wondered bleakly what his own face looked like because he had no idea. He wouldn't even recognize himself in the mirror.

Now that Donnie had finally settled a bit, though he was still curled up and pressed just against April's side, just barely not touching but still squeezed up small against her, Leo finally got up to his feet-- only to immediately lose his balance, falling over onto his back with a loud clunk.

"Leo!" Raph's eyes widened, his muscles immediately bunching up, ready to jump up and go grab his brother. Mikey could tell that he was just barely resisting the urge to scoop up all three of them and bundle them up in his arms and just hang onto them for a while. He had been sitting here long enough for Mikey to notice how fast his heart was beating. Mikey’s was keeping pace. Leo kind of flailed for a second before he managed to redirect the momentum to roll over onto his side, getting himself back onto his hands and knees. A wry, strangled laugh forced its way out of him.

"Alright. Well. Pro tip: center of gravity is weird now," he remarked dryly, his voice strained. "But the good news is falling doesn't even hurt anymore! So that’s great!"

It didn't get a laugh out of anyone. After a moment of hesitation, Mikey slowly wriggled his way from Raph's grip, making his way over to Leo's side. He didn't dare try to walk after watching Leo's attempt, noting that it seemed to be more difficult now without the rush of adrenaline to aid them, so he instead stayed in a crouch, sort of half-hopping-half-crawling over. Raph followed shortly after in a similar manner.

"Can I see?" He questioned softly, and when Leo didn't deny him, he leaned over slightly, moving his hoodie (which was now a very awkward fit,) out of the way enough so that he could examine the edges of his brother's new shell.

(Oh my god. His brother's shell. What kind of a sentence was that? What kind of weird, fucked up make-believe world were they suddenly in? Leo was his brother. He didn't have a shell. He had cool brown skin. He had bouncy blonde curls that Mikey had helped him bleach and dye a red streak in. He had vitiligo 'stripes' over his eyes. He had a bad habit of cycling through boyfriends and insomnia and a shockingly large vocabulary... but he didn't have a shell. He didn't have scales or stripes or claws or a tail.)

He looked anyway, running the tips of his fingers over the top of it, following the curve. He couldn't quite tell if he was feeling the texture of the shell, or just the texture of his own fingers, which were different than they had been; covered in scales, the skin thicker and rougher than it had been before. Bending his joints felt odd, and he couldn't help himself from doing it over and over, as if that might help him get used to it faster.

Every part of his brother’s shell was this cool, ocean blue, just edging on teal in some places, and Mikey thought to himself that, in the very least, it matched his life color perfectly.

He swallowed hard and resisted the tears that were building up in his eyes. He didn’t want to cry right now. He didn’t even know what he was crying about. Because he was scared? Because he was overwhelmed? He wasn’t very good at not crying, but he forced it down, his hands trembling a bit with the effort of it.

"Does it look the same as mine?" He heard himself asking, his eyes flickering over to meet Leo's (which were now not something he recognized, looking more animal than person, though they still retained the same, familiar almond shape. The color, however, he realized, was slightly different. Leo's eyes were brown. All of their eyes were brown, so dark that they were almost black, but now, instead, Leo's eyes were mismatched; one of them dark blue, like water in a cove, like the sea at night, and the other dark red, like ink with blood, like black cherries.)

"I dunno," Leo laughed, though his voice was still shaking. "I don't know what mine looks like."

"They're... kinda the same…" Raph observed from nearby, leaning over slightly to examine them both. His voice sounded kind of hollow, like he wasn’t really there. Sort of far-off. "I mean. The parts I can see. Mikey, yours is more... orangey. And bumpier," he said. "And yours is spotty. Leo's is kinda... stripey."

"Yours is huge," Leo observed with a chuckle, glancing over at their biggest brother, who was always the tallest and largest by a wide margin, but now absolutely dwarfed the rest of them. "And... spiky. You're all spiky. And… and fucking huge, dude. You look like you have fucking paws. And your mouth is all..." He laughed again, scrubbing anxiously at his face with his hands. "You look like a fucking snapping turtle."

Mikey paused a bit at that, glancing over at the other.

Donnie must have said or signed something that the rest of them didn’t catch, because April spoke up next, clearly addressing him. "Uhm, no, yours is... uh. It's kind of flat? And..." There was a pause. "Oh, oh my god, it's, like, squishy!" She squealed, everyone else in the room jumping in response, before she tamped down the noise, biting her lip and getting a handle on her reaction. "Sorry! Sorry, I just. I just wasn't expecting that texture, that's all! It doesn't... feel like what I thought a shell would feel like, I guess."

"Are we different kinds of... turtles?" Mikey questioned, tilting his head to the side. He wanted to laugh at himself when he said turtles. I mean, seriously, turtles? Of all the creatures in the world, turtles? Why were they turtles?

"I guess we must be," Leo sighed, resting his chin on his knee. "We obviously look different."

Mikey frowned, and he thought that his lips might be trembling if he had proper lips anymore, but he wasn't sure if he did or if they could tremble or what that would feel like if they did. Okay, fine. Now there were a few tears.

"Does that mean we're not brothers?"

A beat of silence followed.

"We're not," Donnie said, and quite frankly, Mikey was surprised to hear him speaking. Small miracles? Kinda…?

"Yeah, we are. Don't be crazy," Raph immediately refuted, his brows (er... brows? Place where brows once were?) furrowing together, and Mikey was desperately relieved to see that the space in between still wrinkled into a crease the same way they always did. "Of course we're brothers."

"Evidently, we're not even the same species," Donnie hissed out bitterly, drawing himself up even closer, even smaller, into a little ball. "It's literally impossible."

"Come on, Dee--"

"We're not even human!" Donnie snapped, hunching up his shoulders. "We're not even people!"

"Hey, look, come on you guys," April tried to soothe, holding up her hands as if to calm the group. "It doesn't matter if you're turtles! It doesn't matter to me. I love you guys no matter what--"

"Oh, wow, what a comfort!" Donnie scoffed, and April bristled.

"Okay, look, I am trying to be helpful! I know that this fucking sucks but you do not need to take out your nasty attitude on me!"

Leo suddenly laughed-- loudly, painfully-- tilting his head back and letting his shoulders slump so he could stare up at the ceiling. "Oh my god. Jesus christ. We're not people," he bit out in between his barely restrained hysterics, squeezing his eyes shut. "We're freaks, dude!"

"Leo, c'mon."

"We're not even people!!!" He repeated. "Fuck. We never even had a chance, and we didn't even know it!... Oh my god, we’re such morons!!! Hahaha-- welp! This is it! Pack it in, boys, it’s all over!"

"Leo, chill. What are you even talkin’ about?"

"Did you know I was gonna go on T?" He questioned, turning around sharply, suddenly, to face Raph. "Me and Dad were talking about it. For, like, a while now. And I was gonna start T, finally. Do you know how much I wanted to do that? Do you know how long I've been waiting to get to do that?"

Raph frowned. "Leo... This doesn't mean--"

"How the fuck is that going to work now!?" He interrupted. "How is anything gonna work now? We're fucking! REPTILES! Raph!!!"

"I KNOW THAT!" Now Raph was yelling, too, and Mikey flinched a bit, hiccuping softly as he drew himself down, retreating slightly, halfway into his shell (oh my god, he can do that now?) "You think you're the only one who was lookin' forward to stuff? I was--" He cut himself off, breathing in deep and then letting it out slow, his jaw tensed.

"Look. I know this... sucks. But it's not gonna help to just throw in the towel right now and mourn shit that we don't even know is gone yet, alright? We'll... figure it out," he said. "We don’t even know what’s goin’ on, so let’s just… let's just try to figure it out first. Okay?"

Leo frowned. He looked down and to the side, tightening his hands into fists, but he didn't have any rebuttal. After a moment, he took a deep breath, pulling himself up to his feet for a second time. He tottered for a moment, his arms windmilling until he found his balance and this time he stayed on his feet. He looked around the room for a moment before his eyes fell on the limp form of Baron Draxum, still crumpled in a heap some odd paces away.

"What do we do with that guy?"

All of their eyes snapped over, as though they had all just remembered that he was there in the first place.

"Did you knock him out, dude?!" Raph questioned, his eyes widening slightly.

"No! I mean. I don't think so. Not exactly," Leo said. "It's, like-- he grabbed me and some sort of mystic-magic-whatever thing happened. He lit up with a bunch of symbols and he just... went down. I dunno what happened."

"Well," Raph said, sighing deeply before he pulled himself to his feet as well, doing a similar rock and wobble to Leo before he figured out the new balance he had to strike, correcting his own footing. His long tail swung back and forth behind him, assumedly on instinct, to help. "We dunno how long he's gonna stay down, so we oughta find a way out of here and put some distance between us and him ASAP. We already know where Dad is, anyway."

"Maybe we can figure out where we are," Donnie mumbled bleakly, pulling himself to his feet as well. He seemed to struggle much less than his brothers did, and Mikey noted that his back rounded less than theirs. April got up as well, sticking close to his side, but perhaps hovering a bit less now.

Mikey watched as his family rose up, one by one, finding their feet again. And something in his chest unwound and loosened again. A breath he hadn't realized he had been holding came tumbling out of him.

He didn't know his own face anymore. And he didn't recognize his brothers when he looked at them.

But they were still them. Already, Mikey was completely sure of it. And the change, while still terrifying, felt just a tiny bit less devastating.

He hadn’t lost them yet.

Bracing himself for the coming challenge, he rose up to his feet as well. The unfamiliar weight on his back was more than he had expected and attempted to drag him down, and he stumbled slightly, nearly toppling over onto his back the same way Leo had the first time-- but Raph grabbed his wrist before he could, pulling him forward and correcting him, and Mikey was relieved to find his center of gravity once more. Usually, he would complain about his big brother stepping in, preferring to do things on his own rather than being 'babied' by his older family members, but...

Right now, it was actually okay.

"Okay. Let's do this."

(They took about three steps before Raph yelped and tripped over his own tail.)

---

Though they had tied up the so-called "Baron Draxum" with whatever rope and other scrap they could find in this place, (the longer they were here, the more Donnie began to suspect it was a lab of some kind,) none of them were very confident that it would be able to hold him for very long, if at all, and so they all got to work trying to figure out an exit. But to call this place 'maze-like' was a bit of an understatement.

"This is the worst landmark ever," April hissed in frustration as they turned a corner, only to once again be met with a hog-tied yokai, face-down on the concrete. "We keep going in circles!"

"Okay, look," Donnie sighed. "I know we don't want to linger here any more than we have to, but let's look around a bit and see if there's anything useful lying around to get us out of here. Clearly just walking out isn't getting us anywhere."

There was a chorus of grunts and mumbles of agreement from the rest of his family, and the group slowly fanned out, beginning their search. It was dark here, wherever they were. The ground beneath his feet was cold, with him and his brothers having already ditched and stowed their sneakers and boots after realizing how awkward and painful it was to walk in them with their new wide, two-toed feet.

The space was wide and almost circular, with various tunnels branching off at different levels, all leading away to who-knew-where. Several desks and tables were scattered about the space, each surface covered in everything from charts to pipettes to oddly-shaped jars filled with oddly-colored substances. Donnie just barely resisted the urge to sit down and start working, or to begin snatching and pocketing things as he found them. Instead, he took a liberal amount of photographs of everything they found on his phone.

His impulse control could only get him so far, however, and his eyes narrowed as they fell across a small, purpley-pink gem that lay on the desk, suspended within a small glass case. This certainly looked interesting... Geology wasn't really a passion of his, but something about this just seemed... intriguing. He couldn't quite place it...

Surely no one would miss this, right? It was small! It would be silly not to take it, quite frankly, and he slipped it into his pocket as quietly as he could when he was sure no one else was looking.

Now, if only he could find some blueprints of the tunnels... But that would be too easy, wouldn't it?

"So," Mikey said after a minute or so of them searching, and Donnie sighed internally. Of course, they couldn't expect him to stay quiet for that long. "If Raph is a snapping turtle, and me and Leo are turtle-turtles, then what kind of a turtle is Donnie?"

Donnie rolled his eyes, scowling. "Okay, well, first of all, do we really have to discuss this?" He hissed, immediately bristling. "I’d highly prefer we not address the proverbial elephant in the room, thank you! Second of all, 'turtle-turtle' is not a species."

"Yeah, but, like, we have turtle shells!" Mikey explained. "But April said yours is squishy. So what does that make you?"

Donnie sighed deeply. Talking about this made his skin itch.

"A softshell turtle, I suppose."

"A softshell?" Leo questioned, raising a brow. "That's a thing?"

"Yes."

"How do you know that off the top of your head?" Raph questioned.

"Some of us actually paid attention during biology classes," he responded dryly. And having a near-photographic memory did, admittedly, help as well…

"Whoa!" Mikey absolutely beamed. "That's so cool! Now we just gotta figure out what kind of turtles me and Leo are!"

"Well, I'd look it up if we had any service. And also if it was even close to being an appropriate time for us to waste our efforts on something like that," Donnie said with a roll of his eyes. He knew that Mikey was just distracting himself, finding a silver lining so he didn’t break down, but Donnie didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to think about how much of their entire lives was completely fabricated, about how--

He snorted, suddenly doubling over with laughter.

"What?" April questioned, raising a brow.

"I just-- I just realized!" Donnie laughed. "Our... our moms must be turtles! Fucking turtles!"

There was a beat of silence as this sunk in before Raph gave a similar reaction. "Damn! I guess you're right, huh?"

"Do you have any idea how much time I wasted in therapy talking about this?" Donnie squeaked out through giggles. "I spent so much time with Mossy talking about our mom and how she didn't want us or whatever the fuck and about the stuff she did to Dad and how I couldn't remember her, and she-- she was never even real! None of that ever even happened! She was just a fucking turtle, wasn't she!? We don’t even have a real mom!"

"Whoa! Mind... blown. I didn't even think about that..." Mikey gaped, his eyes wide. "This whole time I just assumed that our mom was probably the hotel lady..."

"Yeah, me too," Leo agreed.

Donnie blinked.

"You what?"

"Well, you know, that woman that Dad was datin’ right before he disappeared," Raph said. "And she runs the Grand Nexus Hotel, right? All the articles I ever read always mentioned her."

Donnie's eyes twitched. "You thought she was our mother?" He questioned.

"Well, that's who Dad was datin’ last! And for a long time, too. It'd make sense, wouldn't it?" Raph defended.

"Yeah. You didn't think that?" Leo said.

"NO! Why would I think that?!" Donnie was laughing again.

Leo huffed in offense, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm sorry, do you know something we don't?"

"Apparently!" Donnie exclaimed. "Guys, you've seen pictures of her, right?!"

"Well, yeah?" Mikey tilted his head to the side.

"She's pale as fuck!"

"So?"

"And our Dad is Japanese!"

"And? Donnie, what's your point?"

"We're black!"

"... Ooooohhhhh," all three of his brothers said, nearly in unison, after Donnie's argument finally sunk in.

"Oh my god," Donnie laughed, covering his face with his hands, scrubbing tears from his eyes. "You're all so fucking dumb..."

"I guess our mom would have had to be black. I mean. We got the Japanese half from Dad, but... I never really thought about where the other half came from..." Raph admitted, his mouth still slightly agape like he was still rolling the thought about in his head.

"Wait a minute," April said, her hands on her hips. "I mean, yeah, all that makes sense, but if you guys have secretly been turtles this whole time, then why are you black?"

"Dude, are all turtles black?" Mikey questioned, his eyes widening.

"I cannot discuss this any further. I'll get a migraine and furthermore cease to function, as I am, and I cannot stress this enough, just barely suppressing the gravity of this whole situation right now," Donnie sighed, gesturing to himself as he turned back to the desk in front of him. "Did anyone find anything yet?"

"Not yet," April sighed, shuffling through some papers. "What even is all this junk?"

"I'm not sure. Some sort of research, it seems like..." Donnie mused, sort of thumbing through a book as he spoke, reading key phrases and chunks of text as quickly as he could and making mental notes so he could refer back to it later. He was more than happy to have something else to focus on, though this would admittedly be a lot easier with human hands. "But I'm still not sure where--"

Shhhh shhhh.

Donnie paused mid-sentence, his brows furrowed. He hadn't noticed that sound before now. He tilted his head a bit to the side, turning in its direction, trying to zero in.

"... Donnie?"

"What's that noise?" He questioned aloud, though his voice was barely above a whisper.

Shhhh shhhhh.

He knew that noise. He recognized it. Where had he heard it before?

Shhhh shhhhh.

... Water, he realized with a start. The noise was running water. Of course. How had he never realized this before?...

That's what he was hearing. That's what he had heard.

"Dee? You good?"

"Guys," he said, turning just enough to glance over in their direction. His face suddenly felt like glass. It was odd. "I think... I think we're in the sewer," he said. "... And I think we've been here before...?"

Before anyone could say anything further, a new noise filled up the space.

Skrrrtttccchhhhh.

---

"What was that?!" Mikey shrieked, immediately leaping behind his biggest brother to hide. Leo and Donnie were instantly gravitating to each other as well, falling into stance on instinct as they stood back to back, each covering the other.

"It sounds like something scratching," April said thoughtfully, and true to her word, the same skritching noise clawed its way through the air a moment later, echoing slightly against the walls. "I think it's coming from over here!"

"April!" Raph hissed off a protest as she took off, heading in the direction of the sound. "We don't know what that is!"

"We will if we go look!" She chirped in reply. I mean, come on, what was the benefit of hiding over here instead of investigating? Weren't they curious either way? Besides, they were stuck here regardless-- maybe they'd find something helpful.

The noise continued as April searched, peering around corners and down tunnels, until, finally, she found her prize. Tucked inside one of the off-shoot tunnels, one of the many dead-ends that seemed to surround this space, was a proverbial treasure trove. A variety of odds and ends filled the space; various amulets and scrolls and chests and even weapons were leaned up against the wall or stacked up on the ground. In fact, a lot of weapons were in here. Was this some kind of a weird armory? Or a trophy room? What kind of sewer has a trophy room?

But most interestingly, she found the source of the noise. Inside a small, dimly lit orb, looking as though it were made of some sort of glass, or perhaps even light, was one of the oddest creatures April had ever seen, clawing sadly at the surface of its prison. It had ears like a chihuahua, pointed and too big for its head, with tufts of fur poofing out from inside, but huge eyes like some kind of a cat. Pointed tusks stuck from its mouth like a boar, but soft, downy yellow-and-blue fur covered its entire, squirrel-like body, complete with a fluffy, wriggly tail.

"AW, you guyyssss!" She called out. "Come look! It's cute!"

"April!" The guys were right behind her, with Raph leading the charge. "You can't just run off like-- jumpin' jack flash! What the heck is that thing?!"

"I dunno!" April said with a shrug, immediately making her way into the room, scooping up the orb so she could examine it, looking for a way to open it up. The little critter inside pattered about excitedly, its claws clicking against the smooth surface. "Help me figure out how to get him outta here."

"Are you sure about that?" Leo questioned. "No offense, but we have nooo idea what that thing is! Maybe it's, I dunno, locked up for a reason?"

"What? C'mon, guys, we've gotta help!" Mikey protested, turning on them with big, pleading eyes. Nice, April thought, with Mikey on her side she had basically already won. Suck it, middle children. "Plus, he was locked up by Draxum. So he can't be bad!"

"Yeah! Ever heard ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend?’" April added in.

"I'm not convinced," Donnie said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I mean, has anyone else noticed that pretty much everything else in this room is a weapon of some kind? Isn't that maybe a bit telling?"

"Aw, come on, Dee. Look at this face!" April insisted, holding up the orb to the others. The creature, to their credit, played their part, pulling an absolutely pitiful face which Mikey immediately echoed, turning to his brothers with watery eyes.

Checkmate.

"Okay, okay, fine. Look, there's gotta be something in here that can help us bust him out..." Leo muttered, beginning to pick his way through the contents of the room with Raph, Donnie, and Mikey following suit shortly after.

"Here, what about these?" Leo said after a moment, turning to face them with a pair of twin katanas in hand. "Think I could slice that bad boy open with these guys?"

April scoffed, clutching the orb close to her chest. "Uhm, and this guy in half, maybe!" She protested. "Can we try something a little less deadly, please?"

"Aw, come on! These are cool," Leo protested, grinning as he twirled them in his hands with a metallic shwing.

"You just like them because you always win at any swordsmanship event at tournaments," Donnie remarked dryly, grabbing a long wooden staff to hold in his hands, testing the weight of it. "... That being said, should we maybe grab some of these just in case?"

"Whaddya mean?" Raph glanced over at the other.

"Well, we haven't even made it to the Hidden City yet, and we've already been attacked once," Donnie reasoned, placing a hand on his hip and frowning. "So it wouldn't exactly be a bad idea to have some weapons on hand in case of an emergency." He spun the bo staff in his hands appraisingly a few times. "I mean, obviously this is a bit underwhelming, but I'm sure I could make some improvements once we got back home..."

"Sounds like a good plan to me! Look at all the stuff they’ve got!” Mikey cheered, immediately diving in, beginning to sort through all the various options they had in the room. He chuckled darkly, swinging a pair of nun-chucks in his hands. “These’ll do…”

“Yo, guys!” Raph called, waving to get his brothers’ attention before pointing to the very far corner of the room. “If we’re gonna take stuff, why don’t we take the glowy ones?”

There was, in fact, a weapons rack filled with floating, vaguely glowing weapons, tucked away in the shadows, which only made the glow all that much more tempting. They were simply begging to be taken.

Mikey and Leo, almost in unison, gasped, their faces absolutely lighting up as they raced over to join Raph. “Ooh, dibs on the sword!” Leo cheered, immediately snatching up the odachi and repeatedly striking poses.

“Hot soup! Check me out!” Mikey snatched up a bright orange kusari-fundo, absolutely beaming ear-to-ear. Raph was nearly drooling as he laid his claim on a pair of tonfas, beaming as he gave a few experimental swings.

“They’re perfect! No one’ll mess with us now!”

“What about you, Donnie?” April questioned, tilting her head back to glance at the remaining brother. “Don’t you want a glowy weapon?”

“And add yet another unknown, uncontrolled variable to our current situation? I’m good,” Donnie scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I’ve trained with a regular, wooden bo staff. I’ll fight with a wooden bo staff, thank you very much. You all have fun with your likely-radioactive weaponry,” he said, waving them off.

“Here, April, I got something for you, too,” Mikey chirped excitedly, scampering over to present his find to her. “Ta-da!!! Baseball bat!”

It wasn’t a baseball bat-- it was a club. But close enough! April gasped in delight. “It’s perfect!” She enthused, immediately snatching it up, rolling it around in her hands and tapping it against the side of her shoe a few times. Ooh, and the weight was perfect, too. “And I think it can help us get little guy out of this ball thingie, too! Leo, come hold it still for me!”

"Aw man, why do I gotta hold it?" Leo muttered in complaint but did as he was told regardless, kneeling down to hold the orb steady, taking care in the placement of his hands to minimize the chances of broken fingers.

"Alright," April said, backing up a bit, her tongue sticking out from between her lips with focus. "This won't hurt a bit..."

She swung the club back, taking care to temper her strength, and brought it down on the little ball prison with a satisfying crunch.

"Did it work?" Mikey gasped, his eyes wide as he leaned over. The orb was not shattered nor laying in pieces; but the side of it had caved in considerably, a spiderweb of cracks blossoming from it, and a second later, it simply dissolved as if it had never been there in the first place. The creature that had previously been trapped inside cracked one eye open, having squeezed itself into the very back of its cage, flinching at the oncoming impact, gave an absolute trill of excitement, darting about in celebration.

"There we go!" April said, grinning wide, her hands planted on her hips. "See, told ya I'd get you outta there! That's better, right?"

The little yellow beast threw itself into her lap, wriggling with joy and nuzzling at her with an enthusiastic wag of its tail. "Okay, okay! You're welcome!" April laughed, giggling as she allowed the creature to clamber about in her arms, allowing it time to bounce about before it finally began to settle again.

"Any chance you know how to get out of here, little guy?"

---

Raph looked up from his phone and his tea at the sound of mail plopping down on the table, glancing over to examine the letters his father had just tossed over in his direction.

"For you," Dad remarked, sorting through the remaining mail from the day.

"For me?" Raph echoed, his brows rising up. "Who the heck is sending me mail?" Curiosity took hold immediately, and he abandoned the wrestling video he had been watching previously in favor of tearing open the letters on the table.

He was surprised to find college brochures inside. His father, however, did not seem all that surprised at all, even adding a couple more to the pile.

"It seems you are in high demand," Dad teased, smiling the tiniest bit. "I have received a few emails as well from recruiters recently."

Raph paused for a moment, rolling this idea about in his brain, trying to figure out what it meant and what it tasted like before he forced a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Guess they haven't seen my grades yet," he joked weakly. Dad hummed softly, pulling up a chair so he could sit down next to his eldest son.

"Nonsense," he scoffed. "Your grades are fine, Raphael. You've simply tricked yourself into thinking they're not by comparing yourself to others," he added, giving the other a knowing look. "And besides that, this is hardly the only thing that matters. I have told you many times that grades aren't everything. My grades in high school were terrible!" He remarked with a laugh. "And your career in sports is very impressive."

"I guess," Raph said, wrinkling his nose up a bit as he leaned over the table. Easy for him to say. He had a hard time wrapping his head around the idea of colleges being interested in him when his three younger brothers were right here in the same damn house! Had they really meant to send these to Hamato Raphael?

Dad's hand moved to rub little circles into his back, and he nudged his son's teacup a bit. Raph agreeably took a sip, allowing the warm liquid to trickle down through his chest.

"I know you have not always enjoyed schoolwork, Raphael," Dad finally spoke again. "But you are not stupid. You may very well have the most common sense of any of my children!" He chuckled. "And you have many talents besides that. You are a remarkable athlete, and I know I do not have to drag you over to the trophy wall to prove this to you, but I will if I have to. You are only sixteen and you are already the captain of multiple sports teams... not just anyone could handle that! It is difficult to lead a team. But you have always handled this with grace. And teaching children! That is a talent in and of itself. That is no easy task. Trust me, I know," he said, smiling slightly. "But you are doing so well with your new job. And I am very proud of you."

Raphael glanced over at his father, for just a moment, hesitating like he wanted to say something, but then biting it back.

"You don't have to go to college if you don't want to," Dad added. "If you decide that is not the path for you, that is fine. I won't be upset or disappointed. I did not go to college, either! But I would hate for you to not even consider it just because you don't think you're good enough for it," he pressed. "I know you've always said you intend to pursue a career in sports of some kind, but this is very much an avenue to achieve that if you'd like. Many professional athletes get their start through college sports, you know. And I can already name half a dozen universities off the top of my head who would be thrilled to have you on their team in a couple of years!"

He sighed softly.

"But you do not have to decide right now, my son. There is still plenty of time for you to consider all of your options."

Raph glanced over at his father, shifting a bit in his seat, before looking to the side.

"Uh. I dunno, Pops. I mean. I'm not good at tests and all that junk. I mean. College football could be good 'n all, but, uh..."

He hesitated a second, sort of scratching the side of his jaw, hesitating a bit. "I dunno. Maybe I could... I mean. We could look at it, at least. I was kind of wonderin’ about, uh. I dunno… Just, lately, I was thinkin' about... studyin' early childhood education, maybe?..."

[ next ]

#sorrywhatnowau #sorrywhatnowau fic #rottmnt #rottmnt fanfic #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt au #rottmnt human au #tmnt

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saturnicos · 2 months

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can i have a headcanon for lucifer morningstar with elder sister! reader? I am just in desperate need for family stuff. Like elder sister! reader is nto weak and as powerful as lucifer (maybe a tiny bit stronger since th eboth of them are archangel).

Like elder sister!reader decided to follow her younger brother lucifer to hell by becoming a fallen angel too because she is very worried for him. (even knowing the punishment are brutal and harsh but she does not care) I would love if you make the dynamic between the two where reader is the more sterner, fiercer and scary one (like maybe she used to be a commander of an angel army before) and then lucifer is just a little guy who loves ducks (he can beat ass too lol) thanks for reading and i will appreciate a lot if you start writing my ideas! take care!

Of course!! I like sm that type of dynamic despite not have worked a lot with it

I'm not very used to writing family headcanons, so I'm sorry if this does not correspond to what you would like (I'm also finishing this sick, so maybe I messed some things up), feel free to order again if you wish! <3

—

Lucifer with an elder sister !reader before the fall

Ps:: female pronouns used and platonic reading

You both are created almost the same time, only a few years of difference, since they wanted to keep a visual representation of a man and a woman in the heaven, like an example of family and brotherhood.

Despite the same creation, you both are extremely different. Lucifer was a lively dreamer, wanting to expand his ideas and dreams in the creation. You, by other side, have seen yourself in other dynamic of power, joining in the heaven's army, being the leader of army in no much time.

As being the commander, you've to base your personality in a more cold and recluse on, thinking about the success and progress of the angelic army corporation, taking the stance of a leader.

However, this doesn't make Lucifer have bad impressions about you. On the contrary, he actually were so happy for you and was ever talking of how much well you was going with your job. He had ever supported your dreams and desires, since was something that he ever appreciated. And, of course, from time to time he came to you with some ideas to you implement in the army, since were about the training or the cloths.

One day, Lucifer looked more happy than usual, what was particularly strange due to frequent oppression by elders.

He told you that he had meet the first human woman, Lilith, in the Garden of Eden after that she leaves Adam.

You saw he was talking about she in a lovely way every day, praising she every time; he was clearly and totally in love with she and, by what he said, looks like that's mutual.

You were so much happy for him, of course. See your younger brother happy after all the oppression and limitations that the heaven imposed on him was a good feeling; see his happiness was something that filled your heart with hope and compassion.

Even in a place so unfair with him dreams, he was so happy with someone who seems to like him so much mutually. Deep down, your greatest joy was seeing your brother happy.

This, however, was until a certain point. A few weeks after, Lucifer started to talk a lot about free will and how the humanity could use it. He, actually, ever liked the concept of free will, but in the lasts times that was a subject much more frequently between your conversations.

When you asked him why that suddenly become a current subject, he just said that it was pure curiosity since it was something debated in the angelic council last week. Mostly you felt it wasn't a pure truth, just nodded in acceptance.

A few days later, you saw a commotion in the angels' cabinet. As leader of army of angels, Sera quickly contacted you, asking for your presence at the next meeting.

On the appointed day, you attended the assembly, which was particularly fuller than you had imagined. You, indeed, were not often called to the council of angels, so there wasn't much certainty as to how many members usually showed up, but it definitely felt busier and more commotion than meetings in general.

Passing through the council entrance, you were assigned to one of the high benches, close to the high heavenly echelon, which consisted more of Sera, although the presence of God was also there.

Confused, you asked Sera the reason for being summoned to the council since everything was going well with the army and freedom in heaven in recent times.

It was then that you saw Lucifer enter the council, sitting in the stands of indicted. Before you could question him, a golden document was conjured in front of you, which you quickly picked it up and read it.

Incredulous would be the best word to describe his emotions. The document named Lucifer as a criminal who had induced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit and spread free will on Earth, opening evils.

You looked dumbfounded at Sera, who was looking at you with regret and pity. The document proposed the expulsion of both Lilith and Lucifer to a new concept of place - the hell. A place for those who committed sins were doomed to horror, both of them being its first residents.

From above your bleachers, you looked at Lucifer who was showing an expression of indifference towards the advice, despite that you could very well see a spark of concern emerging on his face.

Sera was ready to hit the hammer and announce their definitive expulsion from paradise, collecting the document that floated in front of him and soon dissolved into light.

Light. You thought. Light, that's what Lucifer was. Even though he was prevented from implementing his ideas and dreams, even the most innovative and incredible in all creation, he was still light in your life. Even though he was tried as a criminal before the court, he was still light for you, after all, he was your brother forever, the most important person in your life, the source of light that held you together.

You jumped out of your stand, flying in front of Sera, shouting insults and questioning why Lucifer always had his ideas oppressed, arguing that he would never have encouraged Eve if heaven had given his ideas a chance.

You looked at Lucifer. He looked back at you, dumbfounded and with slightly widened eyes. From lip-reading, you could tell he was trying to whisper a few things like "no" and "why..?", but the growing anger in your head made it a complicated activity.

Sera watched as you slowly descended to your brother, standing still and firm next to him. She conjured the document again, using a feather pen to add some extra paragraph; the advice was taken in quick murmurs, those who angels feared you and your authority, now they had an expression of growing disgust and hatred as they looked at you.

When Sera finished, she made the document disappear into light again, standing up from the grandstand and flying in the center of the assembly. The murmurs quickly stopped, the angels now paying attention to what she had to say.

She began to talk about the accusations of crimes that Lucifer committed in the Garden of Eden and the consequences of his actions that generated evils and triggered diseases on Earth. She ended up with the penalty he and Lilith would receive - expulsion from heaven. However, there was an addendum: you were also sentenced to expulsion, accused of being an accomplice and justifying an unforgivable criminal act.

Lucifer looked at you with a bitter taste for being the reason for your expulsion from paradise to a completely unknown location. You, however, just held his hand and squeezed it lightly, saying you didn't care about any consequences as long as you managed to defend his ideals and be close to him. After all, he was your brother, and you would do anything for him.

You could see his eyes slightly teary when he let go of your hand and pulled you into a hug to which you reciprocated, closing your eyes heavily as you felt the feeling of falling into the void, without knowing what the place you would go would be like, but the feeling of having the person who cares most around you, as safe as possible, it already made the fall more acceptable and tolerable.

You didn't regret defending your brother at all, and would never think of going back on your decision. Things may not be better than before being in hell, but you will adapt like a family, happy to be able to see your brother and Lilith well.

I'm not very used to writing family headcanons, but I hope it was an enjoyable read! Anyway, thank you very much for reading.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel x reader #lucifer x reader

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audrey-emeralds · 10 months

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Can you please do a fake instagram with Rob x actress!reader, where they break the internet by announcing the birth of their daughter and no one even knew they were pregnant cause they were so secretive. 😭🙏🏻

Liked by taylorswift and 11,829,023 others

ynpattinson For the past few months I have been preparing for my biggest role ever, putting my phone and scripts aside and reading magazines and many other books, listening to pieces of advice given by my mother and being educated for a new part in our lives. We are incredibly thankful for our baby girl and can't wait to meet her, so I only ask of you guys to give us a break, and some privacy and you will hear from us again when we are ready.

Love, Robert and Y/n Pattinson

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blakelively can't wait for girl play dates

robbertsmommy aaaaaaa congrats

zebramelon that's so amazing, congrats!

annehathaway the best of news right now, congratulation 🎉

rosiehw *adds another member to the mom group chat*

empattinson4lifeeeee ah! THIS IS AMAZING

sorrynotsingle oml there is a Pattinson baby on the day, I repeat a Pattinson baby on the way!

robpfandom girl this is some cute ass news, good for you

Liked by arianagrande and 13,828,972 others

ynpattinson After a few months here we are, introducing Amelia Charlotte Pattinson, our greatest creation.

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annehathaway hey there Amelia!

rosiehw ❤❤❤️

zoekravitz congarts dear!

intorpattinson my god it's a baby

user1 queen y/n is back, with a little princess

ynxroberopat AMELIA is literally my middle name and CHARLOTTE is my cousin's name like aaaaaaaaa!!!!!!

klever.choicess.wseals wow they look good

mother.onthw.internet3234 welcome into motherhood

attention-lights bro, this is slowly killing the internet, no joke

robertsvampiregirl nawww she is adorableeeeeee

12,330,076 likes

ynpattinson mama's precious little thing 🐥

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empattinson4lifeeeee stop the earth, people look who posteddddd

ynpattinsonsprettiest how amazing is this ahhhhhhhh

pattinsonverse ah they are soo lovelyy

robertpqttinsonfan11 precious!!!!!!

lovinrobertp the greatest thing on the internet fr

flag.gassed omg where is that

ynylnfanpagee amelia's hair is soo cute!!

rad.io.music IT GIRLS OF THE CENTURY

#robert pattinson instagram #robert pattinson imagine #robert pattinson x reader #robert pattinson icons #robert pattinson #fake social media #fake instagram #social media au #instagram au

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captainzigo · 2 months

Text

since I have been making my little pony comics for the past few months, I have basically forgotten what every single one of my duckverse comic prompts means. I had a big list full of one sentence prompts for duckverse comics that I was going to make, and I was reading through it yesterday, because I thought about making one. I was surprised to find out that I have no idea what any of them mean. instead of just deleting the list, I have decided to share with you. For what good it will do you. Think of this as a little shout out to the people who followed me for duckverse content. i havent forgotten about you. it’s also a little peek in my twisted mind. my horrible creation process. a behind the scenes look from hell. the list of prompts is below the break

max college fund

launchpad rescue hero

costco 22¢ per bite

house of mouse

door to darkness

because i’m hispanic?

donald cousins catch and release

fish wife

the greatest skateboard trick in the seven seas

backyardagins movie

evil versions boy band

gladstone gay moms

the poor part of town

private army of freaks vs my boys

you own the town. you are politics - what do you think taxes are for - not gladstone bail - id be doing everyone a favor

kids table is great actually

donald cry gold swim

beautiful gold moon

villains table

these lovebirds

gladstone can’t read

gladstone hyper specific thrift store shirt

louie seeing anyone right now?

managed my uncle’s finances

june dolls episode

may louie webs spy episode

house of mouse christmas hdl want to come

propeller cap start to turn. big wind. its a helicopter landing. thanks babe

double gay batteries

daisy likes donald snoring

if you can understand anything he says then yeah!

sora. quack pack. bald monkey

i respect your pronouns. i dont not respect YOU scrooge

why are you friends with my rival’s girlfriend

we’re sisters now too???

The dancing hacker - do you know how hard it is to lucid dream

are you guys playing dancing hacker?

how did you do that? Those dice were rigged i mean.

you guys were supposed to prepare a musical number every session

Lady in pink but with a knife

girl boss? No girl lady. But not a girl.

sephirof at the door. never seen Donald that serious in my life.

I have a superhero alter ego - like super Grover?

louie x robin the frog

daffy: i’m getting you a job in Hollywood, kid! You gonna make big times. Why? uh… i’m friends with your mom.

Duckburg community college is the only community college that does dance scholarship

duckberg community ducks, and the Duckburg University geese

in helicopter: you ever going to get tired of having our dates like this? no never.

donald take responsibility for our son! panchito what

babe your costume is terrible. why are you still in a sailor hat

tasha austin gay lesbian solidarity

hey webby! *glittery hands*

webby diary

shake for trust? glitter on hand. body slam

why did t you tell me your girlfriend is a pilot? tasha said i shouldn’t tell you because of what happened to you pilot ex. he’s still alive!

pablo: sleeper agents be like time for my next mission

CHRISTMAS GIFTS

WHATS UP T-BOYS?

donald’s boyfriends what does gladstone have against gay people

donald you should wingman for me. i thought you were gay

dugan duck is your secret kid isn’t he

huey ponytail

donald has three boyfriends why can’t i have two

woops i mexed up their super powers - let’s go, t boys! i didn’t make them trans! they were like that before, right?

your brother donald has like five partners. yeah and i’m not my brother donald. you’re right. i should date your brother donald

dewey damn girl your ass phat what are your pronouns. katy nun/ya

tying normie trans girl to a chair turbo pablo

don’t worry. the promise ring is just a tracking device

punch buggy gets steadily more and more violent

dewey’s many licenses

duck twins cobwebs

beaks: help! #911

katy can not entertain in her tiny trailer

uno gaydar donald i finally give you a job and you’re being gay on the clock??

when mom comes in and you have to hide your DS under your pillow

HDL Tulin

HDL chart

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #donald duck #dt17 #duckverse

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bengiyo · 7 months

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If you had to pick one film that was your favorite from each unit of your Queer Cinema Syllabus, which ones would they be and why?

The Queer Cinema Syllabus grew out of a conversation that @shortpplfedup and I were having about what queer works I would show to a prospective BL fan, which eventually led to the creation of @the-conversation-pod. Captain Hands here has decided to run the gauntlet and has reached Unit 2.

Unit 1: Coming of Age Post-Moonlight

It's definitely Pariah (2011). This movie and Moonlight (2016) are having a complex conversation about Blackness and Queerness that feels so resonant to me. It's so rare that we see lesbians of any sort treated with this much complexity and sympathy in a contemporary setting. The complex web of lesbian interactions here isn't matched that often, and the only other movie that comes to mind it The Watermelon Woman (1996).

Unit 2: Race, Disability, and Class

Probably The Way He Looks (2014) because it's an easy layup to introduce folks to the genre. The intersection between Leo's blindness and his queerness gives the newer person multiple things to think about and forces them to consider how queer people are more than just their queerness. I also feel warmly about this film because it was a project we followed all the way from short film to movie, and I love that we were able to get the entire cast back.

Unit 3: Faith and Religion

You haven't gotten here, but this is where things start to get especially heavy. I think for this section I'm going with The Wise Kids (2011) because I really like the way Stephen Cone approaches the struggle with faith queer and non-queer people have in evangelical spaces. There's an honesty that I really admire. This is not an easy film, but it's lingered with me for over a decade.

Unit 4: Heartbreak Alley

This is the section of straight losses. I don't know that I ever want to watch it again, but I would probably select Bent (1997) as my favorite because the idea that we could still love even in the greatest of horrors spoke to me. I also think the performances in this adaptation are phenomenal.

Unit 5: Lesbians

I think we just passed Lesbian Visibility Day, so happy birthday, lesbians! This is actually a difficult selection because there are so many great films in this section. I think, today, I'm giving it to The Handmaiden (2016), but I almost chose Bound (1996).

Unit 6: Gems

I don't even need to look to know Big Eden (2000) is in this section. This section whips ass all around, but Big Eden is my favorite because there's just so much love all over this movie, and every new fact I learn about the BTS of it makes me love it more. Arye Gross and Eric Shweig did not have to go as hard as they did in this movie. The director left that choice to them a veteran actors and they did that 23 years ago. Nothing but admiration and respect. This is one of my most beloved films.

Unit 7: Asian Film Warm-up

This is a difficult selection because I think it depends on my mood, but for now, I'll go with The Stranger by the Shore (2020). This is a very Japanese take on second-chance romance. I like the way Japan approaches the quiet internalized homophobia that grips us. Some of the same things in Minato's Laundromat can be found here. It's also gorgeous and approaches sex in a frank way that I really loved.

Unit 8: Yaoi

Once again I don't even need to look to know that it's Yuri!!! On Ice (2016). This show is so goddamn gay. I know people feel like it was censored because of the kiss, but these two proposed to each other. It's what sports anime wishes it could be with the open queerness on display from so many characters. It's beautiful and so much fun.

Unit 9: Boys Love

I will not be selecting a favorite BL, but I will say that I really love The Boy Foretold by the Stars (2020) and it's a movie. I loved that we had a femme lead for once and that they explored what faith meant for femmes. It's a film that took the romantic lead's gay awakening very seriously and explored what being together might look like in a sequel called Love Beneath the Stars.

I'm looking forward to you completing the syllabus!

#answered #lgbt film #pariah #the way he looks #the boy foretold by the stars #the wise kids #bent #yuri!!! on ice #the stranger by the shore #big eden #the handmaiden #queer cinema syllabus

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blues824 · 1 year

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Hello there! Not sure if you're open or not but for my request can I have the obey me brothers with a Diablo from that time I got reincarnated as a slime

Black hair with streaks of red and gold, as well as golden eyes with black sclerae, Noir was finely dressed in garments like that of a prince. Other than that, he looked like a normal human, though he was able to unfold wings as well.

Diablo's change in appearance is possibly the least drastic after any evolution, with only his princely garments being replaced by a Butler outfit, reflecting his wish to serve Rimuru. Despite that, however, his dignity did not decrease, but rather increased instead.

The greatest show of Diablo's loyalty to Rimuru was recruiting hundreds of other daemons, including the last three Primordials, to serve his master; the creation of the Black Numbers, who became the de facto strongest fighting force in Tempest.

Diablo also despises owing a debt, even to someone who has already passed on. Shizu's replacement, Tiss attempted a desperate summon to save Shizu's Students from a Phantom, only for the unnamed Diablo to offer his aid for what was practically a pittance of a price by forbidding her from mentioning his involvement, and proceeded to slaughter the aggressor in a truly horrific fashion, thus fulfilling his debt.

I tend to stray away from describing the reader.

Lucifer

Mans likes you so much, you don’t even know

You were competent, you were level-headed, you were dedicated to Diavolo

He also liked how you hated owing someone something

You were nothing like his younger brothers, and you reminded him a lot of Barbatos, actually

Mammon

He thought you had a stick up your ass half the time

Only to find out that you were just loyal to Diavolo

Mammon is in massive debt, and you hated it. So before you got together, you said that he needed to pay off his debt so that you could be with him

When you both got together, he would cling to your ankle and beg you to give him more attention before you go off to work

Leviathan

Holy shit you’re Barbatos but different!

ANYWAYS, he has probably idolizing you because you reminded him of a character he has seen in an anime

He definitely gets jealous when your job takes your time and attention away from him

Will sit and sulk until you cave in and stay home for the day so that you can be with him (rarely works, but is kind of effective)

Satan

He appreciated you because of your competence

But he hated how your dedication to Diavolo knew no bounds

Your relationship contains him helping you with your chores around the castle as well as you listening to him rant about how Lucifer sucks

Like a lot of the other brothers, he craves your love and affection, but unlike a lot of the other brothers, he respects your time

Asmodeus

Tries to seduce you the minute he is introduced to you

Upon seeing that it didn’t work, he was very surprised.

He is doing mathematical equations that he has never seen before.

However, like we originally do in the game, we see him for him and not for his beauty, and that’s what he appreciates about you

Beelzebub

He just wishes you wouldn’t push yourself so hard for Diavolo

Like, he understands your loyalty, but still

I don’t think he likes owing anybody anything, so he’s on board with you there

That aside, he shows you all due respect and love and understanding

Belphegor

This guy hates Diavolo, and he hates him even more when he sees how you spend 99.9% of your time working for the prince

Plus, that bastard is stealing your attention away from him

He can’t sleep without you

On a completely unrelated note, he hates owing debts as well.

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theconstantsidekick · 10 months

Text

My Greatest Creation Is You

Pairings: Tony Stark x Stark!Reader (siblings), Howard Stark x Stark!Reader (best friends)

Genre: A bickering fluffy look back at the good times, with slight angst

Summary: Tony realizes he never really knew his father. Thankfully he has a box of Howard Starks's stuff and a video message from beyond the grave to help him out.

(These scenes incorporate y/n, codename—Static, into the pre-existing story as a character without making drastic changes to the plot or mythos. All the major plot points from the MCU remain in place with the addition of the reader as Static, who is not only a Stark but also enhanced. Whatever events from the canon aren’t mentioned, take place without much change.)

Warnings: Swearing, Mentions of Death, Mentions of Past Trauma.

a/n: read Age Of Ultron for more information on Y/n's backstory

sidenote: I just missed Tony a lot, ok?

“That thing in your chest is based on unfinished technology,” Fury tells him as they sit next to each other, listening to the sound of bird chip away at what once used to be his center table. They’re at his place, it’s pretty banged up from the party, the windows are all gone, he can hear the waves beneath them, hell, he can even hear the birds chirping.

“No, it was finished,” Tony argues. “It has never been particularly effective until I miniaturized it and put it in my—”

“No,” Fury interjects. “Howard said the arc reactor was the stepping stone to something greater. He was about to kick off an energy race that was gonna dwarf the arms race. He was on to something big, something so big that it was gonna make the nuclear reactor look like a triple-A battery.”

This is the first he’s hearing of this.

He begins pouring himself a glass of water. “Just him, or Anton Vanko in on this too?”

“Anton Vanko is the other side of that coin. Anton saw it as a way to get rich,” Fury tells him.

“I told you he got deported, what I didn’t tell you was that Howard was the one who got him deported,” Y/n chimes in from where she stands in front of them, smoking a cigarette while leaning against what used to be a wall. “Once he got back, the Russians found out he couldn’t deliver so they shipped his ass off to Siberia after which he spent the next 20 years in a vodka-fuelled rage.” She exhales letting out the smoke.

“Not quite the environment you want to raise a kid in, the son you had the misfortune of crossing paths with in Monaco,” Fury adds.

Ok, got it, he thinks. Irrelevant now, I’ve got bigger fish to fry.

“You told me I hadn’t tried everything. What do you mean I haven’t tried everything? What haven’t I tried?” Tony asks.

“He said that—” Fury points towards with a glass in hand as he continues, “you were the only person with the means and knowledge to finish what he started.”

Well, fuck.

“He said that?” Tony doesn’t believe a single word of it.

“Are you that guy? Hm?” Fury leans in, resting his elbows on his knees but his eyes or well eye remains locked on Tony. “Are you? ‘Cause if you are, then you can solve the riddle of your heart.”

It takes a second for Fury’s words to settle, but when they do, all Tony can do is shake his head slowly in what would be considered something similar disagreement or even maybe shock? “I don’t know where you get your information, but he wasn’t my biggest fan.”

“What do you remember about your dad? Huh?” There’s a challenge in Fury’s words.

“He was cold, he was calculating. He never told me he loved me. He never even told me he liked me, so it’s a little tough for me to digest when you’re telling me he said the whole future was riding on me and he’s passing it down. I don’t get that.” He really fucking doesn’t. “You’re talking about a guy whose happiest day was when he shipped me off to boarding school,” he adds, as he leans back into his chair.

It’s a fucked up day, don’t you think? Tony’s being told Howard Fucking Stark bet the goddamn future on the son he couldn’t wait to get rid of.

“That’s not true,” Fury counters. His words fall out easy as if the years and years of trauma Howard gave him were not valid. As if whatever he lived through with his father wasn’t all that real. The world has always seen his father in a much different light than he ever did. He made peace with that. Howard Stark was a completely different than Tony’s dad but FUCK if it doesn’t grind his gears when he hears Fury spew this shit.

The future riding on me? Bull fucking shit!

“Well, then, clearly you knew my dad better than I did,” Tony half-concedes, wanting the topic to be over.

“As a matter of fact, I did,” Fury comments, putting his glass down on the makeshift table in front of them. The moment the words fall out of his mouth, a couple agents along with Agent Coulson and Natali—fuck! No. God!—Natasha Romanoff walk up in front of them. “He was one of the founding members of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Fury says that like that wasn’t a fucking bombshell he just dropped. The asshole is all nonchalant, looking down at his watch, absolutely uncensored about how he just broke Tony’s fucking brian a little bit.

The agents drop the crate infront of him.

“What?” Tony asks Fury, confounded. “WHAT?” He looks over at Y/n, who looks even more zen than Fury. “WHAT THE FUCK?”

Fury gets up off the chair “I got a two o’clock.”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait! What’s this?” He asks, pointing at the crate.

“Okay, you’re good, right?” Fury asks, ready to walk away.

Tony’s up too. “No, I’m not good.”

“You got this? Right? Right?” Fury asks, pointing over at the crate.

“Got what?” Tony’s fucking lost. “I don’t even know what I’m supposed to get.”

“Natasha will remain a floater at Stark with her cover intact,” Fury informs him as he puts on his jacket. “You remember Agent Coulson, right?”

“Yeah,” is all he can say because he knows he’s not getting any more answers out of that guy.

Fury begins walking away, but stops for a second, turning to face him again, “Oh! And Tony, remember, I got my eye on you.”

That’s fucking hilarious.

Natalie/Agent Romanoff/Natasha—We will—we’ll just call her Agent Romanoff from hereon out. Anyway, so, Agent Romanoff says, “We’ve disabled all communications. No contact with the outside world. Good luck.” And with that she leaves as well.

Turning to Coulson, Tony begins, “Please. First thing, I need a little bodywork. I’ll put in a little time at the lab. If we could send one of your goon squad down to The Coffee Bean, Cross Creek, for a Starbucks run, or something like that, that’d be nice.”

“I’m not here for that,” Coulson’s reply is simple. “I’ve been authorised by Director Fury to use any means necessary to keep you on-premises. If you attempt to leave or play any games, I will tase you and watch Supernanny while you drool into the carpet. Okay?”

Fuck me! “I think I got it, yeah,” he replies instead.

“Enjoy your evening’s entertainment,” Coulson comments. He turns over to Y/n then, “Ms. Stark, good to see you again.”

She smiles then. “Hey Phill, how’ve you been?” She asks as she pulls out the cigarette from between her lips, pulling a foot up and rubbing the butt across the soul of her boots, releasing pretty yellow embers. Pocketing the now extinguished butt she walks over to the men.

“I’ve been great. You?” She just passes a pointed look over at Tony as a response and Coulson has the audacity to smile. “Fair enough. You need anything?”

“A pack of menthols would be great,” she answers with a smile.

“On it,” Coulson nods, walking off.

And Tony cannot help but stare.

“What?” She asks, looking absolutely innocent.

Rolling his eyes, he replies, “Fuck the fuck off, Stark.” And that somehow makes her chuckle.

She waves him over, “Come on,” she says pointing at the crate. Understanding her instruction, both of them pick up the damn thing and begin dragging in downstairs.

It’s a little while later when they’re in the basement that Tony is hit with the realization that he never really knew his father at all.

He’s looking through the crate, it’s all stuff that seems fairly out of place but somewhat useful? He’s not sure. There are blue prints for the arc reactor, newspaper articles, videos reels and such.

He decides to play one of the reels. It seems to be the outtakes from the video of his father that he showcased at the Stark Expo earlier.

“Everything is achievable through technology. Better living, robust heath,” his father speaks on the video tape, while Tony tries flicking through a notebook and notes down some of the calculations he thinks might come in handy. “—and for the first time in human history, the possibility of world peace. I’m Howard Stark, and everything you’ll need for the future can be found right here. City of the Future? City of Tomorrow? City of—Hang on” Dad begins to fumble on the screen, redoing the take. “I’m Howard Stark and everything you’ll need in the future can be found right here.” This is fucking stupid, Tony thinks. He’s about to turn off the damn thing when—

“Hold on,” Y/n speaks up from behind him. It startles him a little because he didn’t even know she had entered the room. “You’re gonna miss the best part.”

And yeah, that grabs his attention.

As she walks over to lean on her side against the wall opposite Tony, the video continues.

While Dad keeps talking to the camera, he reconginizes a small child pop up from behind the model and pick up a building with a mischievous smile on his face.

“So, from all of us at Stark Industries, I would like to personally—” Howard turns a little and then seems to finally notice Little Tony. “Tony, what are you doing back there? What is that?” He scolds the kid on screen. “Put that back. Put it back where you got it from. Where’s your sister? Y/n? Y/n!”

And then Y/n walks onto the screen, annoyed.

“I’m right fucking here, Howie! Okay? Can you—can you just—I don’t know, relax maybe?” She looks the same as she does right now. Maybe a new wrinkle or two, but mostly the same, except a lot more pissed. “And don’t fucking yell at him, you asshat!”

“Don’t curse infront of him, Y/n! You know how he is, he’ll pick it up and Maria will kill us both,” Howard reprimands her.

He watches as Y/n walks over to Little Tony, leaning down and dropping a kiss on his head. “Well, then don’t talk to him like that. He’s an inquisitive kid. I mean he’s your kid, what the—” she covers Little Tony’s ears with her hands. “—fuck—” she takes them off, “else were you expecting him to be like?”

His dad just shakes his head. “I’m trying to do something here,” he says, pointing at the camera that’s been rolling.

He can see Y/n rolling her eyes at Howard. “Yeah, yeah. Because this is what he’ll remember years later—not the parts where you kept yelling at him for absolute—” she covers her ears again, “—fucking bullshit—” uncovers them, “—that you seemed to care more about. A1 parenting Howie. Why don’t you write a book about it?”

And clearly, Howard feels some sense of guilt about it all because his head falls. With one hand on his waist and the other resting on the model, he revalutes his word for a few seconds and then looks up. Tony (this Tony, not Little Tony) can see he’s about to say something, wants to say something but before he can, Y/n picks up Little Tony on her shoulder.

“Come on, Stark, we’ll go have our kinda fun and not invite Dad at all,” Y/n says excitedly, making Little Tony giggle.

He watches his dad let out a sigh in defeat.

Then the footage cuts off.

The screen shows a few more outtakes of Howard talking to the camera guy while drinking whiskey or redoing takes.

Tony can’t help himself.

“Why didn’t you tell me Dad founded S.H.I.E.L.D.?” He asks.

Y/n (real Y/n, not the video Y/n) looks over, now leaning on her back, she shrugs. “Wasn’t really pertinent information.”

“Wasn’t pertinent—Are you fucking kidding me?!” Tony’s gonna loose his fucking mind.

“I told you I worked with him!”

Tony can’t help but chuckle. “Now that’s just bullshit!” He’s shouting now, “I thought you meant at Stark Industries!”

“Why the fuck would they need a goddamn spy at Stark Industries??!!” She bites back, standing straight now. She’s shouting too.

“To spy on competitive companies! I don’t know??!!”

“You think Stark Industries needed an expert spy, adept at espionage to keep an eye on their competition?!!” Her hands are flying everywhere. “Is the palladium giving you retroactive brain damage?!”

Frankly? It does seem really stupid on his part to presume that she worked as a spy for Stark Industries. But come on! He wasn’t provided the entire data.

“Oh my god, I get that you’re trying to insult me but that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever,” Tony bites back regardless. “Maybe you’re the one with brain damage.”

She begins walking over to him. “I’ll show you brain damage—”

He gets off the chair, ready to throw down with her. “Yeah, fine, show me, granny—”

Both Stark sibling halt in their position, with hands around each other’s throat, ready to throw punches, when the video recording on the screen calls out to him.

“Tony.” Dad is looking into the camera, sitting atop the model behind him. His previous put together suit gone, all that’s left now is his messy tie and white shirt with rolled up sleeves. “You’re too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film for you. I built this for you. And someday you’ll realise that it represents a whole lot more than just people’s inventions. It represents my life’s work. This is the key to the future. I’m limited by the technology of my time, but one day you’ll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is and always will be my greatest creation is you.”

The reel runs out. Screen goes white.

Both the Starks, slowly take their hands off each other and sit down on the floor, facing each other.

After a silence that seems to stretch on for a little too long, Y/n decides to break it.

“How could you think I was a spy for Stark Industries?” She has a small smile on her face.

Tony can’t help but smile too. “I don’t know, man. You’re just… You’re like the box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch in my kitchen cupboard. You’re just here, you’re always here, you’ve always been here. I don’t question it.” He shrugs. “I just enjoy having it be there.”

“It's me,” Y/n says, leaning back far enough to support herself with her elbows.

“What?”

“I replace the boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.”

Tony laughs, “Figures.” He shakes his head. “I—I—I think—” He can’t help but laugh again, “I didn’t put much thought behind it, but I kinda just figured that Aunt Peg just handed you to Dad and that was that.”

Nodding her head slowly, she agrees. “That’s kinda exactly what happened. I was this freak of a thing she’d recued on an op, and then yeah, she basically handed me over to Howie.” Her head falls back as she looks up at the ceiling. “It helped that he was probably my best friend in the entire world.”

Tony snorts in amusement. “Didn’t really look like it on the video,” he says, pointing to the screen.

She looks at him then, “After—I guess, after you were born—I don’t know. It got complicated. I expected him to do better by you. And don’t get me wrong, he tried to… but—” Her words drop off.

“But—” He prompts, desperate to know more.

She shrugs. “But it wasn’t good enough, it wasn’t persistent. He could’ve done better, he should have. He knew that.” She shakes her head. “Like I said, it was complicated.” Her head falls back again. “Once you were born you became my favorite person in the entire world and nothing was good enough. I guess—I mean maybe he just didn’t know how to be a dad, you know? He didn’t make for a great dad, but he was still my best friend.”

And yeah, he can understand that.

This man, the man who saved her, gave her a home, founded an organisation with her, for her—opposing him on anything couldn’t have been easy for her. It all does sound fairly complicated.

I guess Howard Stark never had an uncomplicated relationship, did he?

The thought makes him smile.

But then he remembers.

“Still pretty uncool of you, you know? Going behind my back and calling mom,” he says, with a cunning smile.

She looks at him with an unimpressed look. “I called Fury because he was the only guy who could get through to you. You have a habit of overlooking my advice when shit is hitting the fan.”

He nods in understanding. “But you still called mom.”

“I saved you from dying.”

“...by calling mom.”

She kicks him gently with her leg. “Whatever, asshole.”

Read the next part here.

Find the series masterlist here. Find the Static Verse Masterlist here. Read The Avengers (ft. Static) here.

tag list : @aryksworld @freeflyingphoenix @arikarapli @just-anotherstan @justab-eautifulmess @ceo-of-daichi @liketearsintherainn @paintballkid711 @starkleila @heyitsmereading @fairlygothparents @euphoria-svt @sidepartskinnyjeans @mini-kunoichi @third-broparcelicito @siwiecola @haleybutnotthecomet @mvaldez7821 @rockybutmakeitlame @romanoffswoman @ashpeace888 @hopeofwinter @percabethfangirl987

hit me up if you wanna be added to the tag list.

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uzumaki-rebellion · 5 months

Text

"King Killmonger: The Golden Jaguar" Chapter 1

Author's Note: You must have read the "Black Boys Bloom Thorns First" series before trying to dip into this new book!

youtube

"I will be one of the greatest That is a vow, yeah, that is a promise Always wanted to be famous Just being real, yeah, just being honest

My haters gon' always be nameless Give them no cloud, I give them no power

Creators built different, they ancient Sooner than later, all will be ours…"

Iniko—"The King's Affirmation"

King N'Jadaka Udaku of the Panther Tribe from the kingdom of Wakanda sat at the head table for the Congressional Black Caucus's newly minted Pan-African symposium/dinner. Housed inside of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the event brought together Black leaders from all over the world that wanted to shape their future with the influence of Black American politicians after the great disaster of the Infinity War.

The king sipped from a glass of lemon water with his young Executive Assistant Mpilo by his side, very much aware of the eyes dragging across his intimidating figure in the midst of seventy-five world politicians of African descent with their various entourages. Women and men allowed to participate in the momentous occasion chanced glancing his way to assess what kind of man he was on this rare occasion that N'Jadaka visited Washington, D.C.

He grew accustomed to the staring. King N'Jadaka became the legend made flesh among them, the rare Black man of real power surrounded by other Black leaders that tried to balance governing in the face of American neo-imperialism. The people in that room would've given up their firstborn child just to be in his presence, especially the representatives from Sudan and Ethiopia. Thanos's ridiculous plan to snap problems away only created more dire ones on earth and Africa suffered as a result. The rise of new warloads and the loss of faith in democracy sprouted far and wide. Slavery, coups, and genocide had ramped up. Troubled nations in the motherland looked to Wakanda and not the U.S. for leadership, and that made N'Jadaka's stay in his former homeland dangerous. The C.I.A. had a bench warrant of death on his head. Western powers wanted the king of Wakanda eliminated.

The Golden Jaguar sighed and pressed his hands on his thighs and flexed his fingers to offset the ribbons of tension coursing through him. Despite it being an all Black affair, there were enemy ops in the conference hall among them. The Dora Milaje and his Onyx Squad remained visible and dispersed throughout the perimeter, their smart-looking uniforms marking them as superior protection among the American security hired to keep unwelcome outsiders from trying to sneak an audience with the Wakandan king.

This attempt at a heavily-publicized gathering of Black international elites became a way for powerless Black politicians in the U.S. to rival and possibly supplant N'Jadaka's influential UDC creation that made waves in under a year. No matter what power-to-the-people slogans were used to get them in office, Black American politicians were still…politicians. No different than their white counterparts that only worried about getting re-elected and stuffing their pockets with money, connections, and a fat board member assignment or consultation position on some corporations dime after retirement. No matter the pithy declarations about supporting the Black community he heard all evening, there were wolves in the room seeking access to more power. The white American power structure lit a fire under the CBC's ass to put together something that would convince diaspora Africans to join with them instead of the Wakandans. N'Jadaka knew what it was and decided to participate anyway. Just to let the CBC know he was watching them closely and feigning diplomacy. America was a weak and decaying order. The bored king found solace knowing he would be its demise.

N'Jadaka tapped his hand on the fancy table cloth. Mpilo took note of his mood and quickly checked his comm tab for the expected time of arrival for Yani and the children. The trip abroad had lasted over two weeks, most of it spent at the United Nations in Geneva, and meetings in New York, London, and South Africa. N'Jadaka cancelled a trip to Saudi Arabia when one of the crown princes of an oil billionaire insulted him on a viral vid. He made an example of them by snubbing a much-anticipated visit there. Any form of anti-Blackness anywhere was swiftly aired out. Mexico, Argentina, Spain, France, Italy, and the Dominican Republic were already smarting from his public call-out of their treatment of Black people due to an increase of racialized violence targeting poor Black citizens in their nations. With Yani's urging and Ramonda's powerful voice as an ambassador, there was a rallying call against global femcide in the wake of the disappearance of so many people.

The U.S. didn't let the great loss of citizens stop their continuing encroachment of resources and they took advantage of pumping predatory capitalism along. What could've been a moment of self-reflection, a shift in priorities, and a new way of being for the country as a whole was simply an opportunity to prey on weaker nations even harder. Their only hindrance in achieving more power was the rise of Wakanda under N'Jadaka's leadership. He instilled fear in every nation that wanted life to go on the same way, and he also gave hope to those parts that saw a chance at progressive changes aligning with Wakanda. The western powers still gasped at his U.N. speech criticizing colonial apartheid in Palestine and Gaza. The gasp turned into full-fledged choking when he charged genocide co-signed and funded by the Americans. Once he pontificated on the historical similarities between Gaza, South Africa, and the Black American segregation of his own people, his War Dogs got wind of Mossad operations trying to penetrate Wakandan intelligence through the C.I.A.

Back home, the continent was split.

African nations that had long been ignored and left to suffer on their own benefitted from supporting Wakanda. N'Jadaka flooded their lands with tech support, agricultural advances, doctors, and a quick rebuilding of infrastructures with his Wakandan Humanitarian Corps that embarrassed the U.S.. At N'Jadaka's urging, Azania and Caanan had stopped selling uranium, colbalt, and platinum to anyone outside of Africa in exchange for advanced agricultural expansion. Mining had ruined and polluted their lands with run-off depleting usable soil and water. Rapid climate change didn't help them either and the neighboring nations were on the verge of famine. Wakanda helped clean their water, soil, and air for free, allowing farmers to produce a bumper crop that saved millions from starvation and prevented them from becoming refugees in other nations. Those who had been malnourished received the best medical treatment, and once snatched from the brink of disaster, Azania and Caanan were staunch allies for good.

Niganda and Mohannda were a different story, currying favor from the CBC leaders and complaining to the U.S. president that Wakanda was a global threat to sovereignty. The other African nations galvanized by the freely given help, threw all of their allegiance to the Wakandans, thus leading other unaligned African nations to fear him creating a United States of Wakanda to rule them all.

It wasn't a bad idea.

He never acknowledged those types of concerns and just let the rumors grow to keep his enemies on their toes. His own father N'Jobu had flirted with visions of a united continent under Wakandan rule in his journals. Currently, N'Jadaka scrambled to replace War Dogs lost to the blip in order to keep his finger on the pulse of other nations.

"Princess Yani will arrive within the next two hours. They have crossed onto the Atlantic," Mpilo said.

N'Jadaka nodded. He gave Mpilo a full-time job as his personal assistant since the loss of his father in the snap. The king had no idea the young man suffered that loss until months after the memorial honoring the lost ones. Mpilo continued to do his work professionally until Yani brought the news to the king's attention. She recognized Mpilo's family name from one of the palace attendants sending personal condolences to their staff on her behalf. When N'Jadaka questioned him, Mpilo broke down in tears in the king's office. His father and two oldest brothers had vanished leaving behind his mother and baby sister. Barely an adult, Mpilo now had the responsibility of looking out for his immediate family. N'Jadaka terminated his fellowship and gave him a permanent job title as his executive assistant.

The king let out a sigh of relief.

He needed to be with his family again. Normally Yani would be with him, but she was on her own global tour promoting her book, "The Wakandan Way of Birth". Their children traveled with her and he caught interview segments of her in three countries. The world was enamored with the exotic princess. It was her first appearance outside of Wakanda representing the nation. N'Jadaka grinned thinking about the reaction of the Caribbean. The entire region went nuts finding out officially that an island girl had snagged the most powerful man in the world.

She promoted the book in St. Thomas first, and he hated not being there with her. She traveled to Jamaica next to visit the land of her father and paid her respects to their relatives there. In the midst of the new global normal, Yani's book became a smashing success. All proceeds went to funding her midwifery scholarships to further the number of Black and Native midwives and doulas learning at the Wakandan birthing centers. The money allowed women to focus fulltime on their craft without monetary constraints. She planned to give more once she became queen because the palace allotted a salary for Queen Consorts that she planned to use for more income-based scholarships. Wherever there were Black and Indigenous women in need, Yani made sure they took priority over anyone else.

Everyone wanted their hands on the book. A Wakandan publishing company mass marketed the coffee-table sized manauscript, and they looked exquisite. The cover was created by a Birnin S'Yan artisan who made a vibranium-tinged dye that was threaded into a gorgeous royal purple and silver cloth overlay. The book had fifty full-page color photos that Yani spent months agonizing over from a total of 200. The cover photo itself deserved to hang in a museum. It showed a young woman holding her newborn daughter and they were both dressed in the vibrant colors of the River Tribe.

When the pre-release online sales skyrocketed, Yani made the decision to only provide non-online sales out of Wakanada through global Black bookstores. The international brick and mortar stores made bank with the flood of non-Black customers wanting their hands on something from Wakanda. Even people who weren't even interested in childbirth or culture clamored to snatch up a copy just to get a glimpse of what Wakanda looked like from the inside. The first print sold out in one week.

The talks finally ended and the affair moved into a spacious outdoor dining area where a small jazz trio played music in a corner. The balmy weather made it comfortable to be outside and he took in a deep inhale of D.C. air.

Okoye and Ayo kept the pre-dinner rush to talk to the king at a distance, giving N'Jadaka time to snag a moment of peace. After ten minutes he shook hands and greeted caucus leaders, trying not to look annoyed at their requests for selfies with him. He obliged to be polite and to give an air of camaraderie. Everyone wanted everyone else to think they had connections to him by how loud they talked or laughed with him. He knew the drill.

The hosts ushered his entourage to their dining seats near the front of another podium. No one pretended to be sly about sneaking candids of him with their smartphones.

"King N'Jadaka, your son is here to see you right away," Ayo whispered in his ear.

N'Jadaka looked around and spotted Riki walking out from the museum with his personal Dora, Quamba. All the diners stopped to watch the prince of Wakanda walk through with his hands behind his back and his eyes searching for his Baba. Some people tried to snap photos of Riki, but all of N'Jadaka's children wore necklaces that thwarted any cameras from getting clear pictures of them by jamming up electronics and flash photography cameras.

Riki looked too clean.

Yani braided his hair in the spiral style of his Wakandan ancestors, threaded with shells and beads that bounced around his shoulders. This week, Riki wore jade and black fingernail polish decorated with mini panther claws in bright gold which was the rage of young children in Birnin Zana who loved their local team that played a popular sport called ukudlala ngomlenze…leg play. It was a game that required balance, and intense leg flexibility as two teams battled each other on a low swinging wooden bridge that moved across a deep body of water. One member of each team took turns standing in the center of the swinging bridge as the other team members of the challenging team split up on either side to rock the opponent off their feet, without any of their own teammates falling over too. The narrow bridge swung higher and higher, pushing athletes to go against gravity, their exhausted limbs put to the test for long durations. N'Jadaka had promised Riki a trip to the national competition in the River Tribe territory once they returned home.

Riki's black royal sash rested snug across his chest with the family crest emblazoned on it. The boy was seven-years old and sprouting a bit of height. He was almost as tall as Sydette and would probably surpass her by the time he was eight. The freckles on his red-brown skin were more pronounced, covering his nose and cheeks. Riki's eyes lit up when he spotted N'Jadaka.

"Baba!"

The boy ran past chuckling adults who admired the tailored royal suit and polished shoes. N'Jadaka held his arms out and his son jumped onto his lap and kissed his cheek. The happy king wrapped his child up in love.

"I've missed your busy behind," N'Jadaka said. "Where's your Mama and the girls?"

"Changing clothes. I couldn't wait to see you," Riki said, squeezing his arms around N'Jadaka's neck.

"Good trip, Dumplin?"

"Yes. People went crazy for Mama and her book. I'm ready to go home though. I don't like this country…the people here are so fake. They only like you if you're rich or famous."

"Hungry?"

Riki nodded and scanned the tables for the evening's selection. He scrunched up his nose at the servers placing rolls and butter on the tables.

"Can we eat this food, Baba?" Riki asked.

"We have people watching the chef in the kitchen."

The Udaku children had been taught to reject outside food unless their parents permitted them to partake. N'Jadaka had become cautious with poisoning and normally had his own personal chef make all of their food, but he opted to watch the American cooks this time around instead of turning down a plate. The head chef for the evening was a famous Black American from New Orleans who read that N'Jadaka liked food from that region and wanted to create a menu to impress the powerful king.

"Sit next to me," N'Jadaka said, pulling out a chair for Riki.

Mpilo took a seat across from them at the circular table that seated twelve. Members of the CBC organizing committee greeted him then took their seats at other tables. The jazz music grew softer as guests took their seats all throughout the guarded space. A congresswoman from Philly took to the podium near N'Jadaka's area and announced the arrival of Yani and Ramonda. Eager applause broke out and N'Jadaka stood up from his seat. He helped Riki stand in his chair so he could see his mother and aunt enter.

N'Jadaka's Uncle Bakari escorted Yani and Ramonda together as Sydette and Joba walked in front of them wearing matching purple dresses with their hair twisted and pulled back with amethyst panther-shaped hair clips. Yani mesmerized the crowd in a shimmery emerald green dress that revealed all her rounded curves. She styled her hair with extensions in an upswept fancy roll that denoted her status as queen-to-be. Ramonda had the crowd transfixed with her tall purple isicholo and deep purple gown. Uncle Bakari appeared dapper in his black tux. N'Jadaka's grandfather Dante escorted Bakari's wife Shavonne and they all made their way toward the front where their Dora Milaje escorts brought them to the king's table.

Sydette and Joba dashed to him first and he picked up both girls and smothered their faces with kisses amidst their squeals of delight for being with him again. He put them down the moment Yani reached him and he couldn't hide from the world his love for her.

He wrapped eager arms around her tight and pressed his forehead against her brow. The tense energy in his body drained down into the floor and he exhaled a long breath. Yani rested her arms around his massive shoulders, her perfume drowning him in memories of their shared bed and the last time they had been alone without the world watching their every move.

"Baby, I missed you so much."

"I know. I couldn't wait to get here and hold you."

"You know these niggas is starin' so we better play it cool for Ramonda's sake."

Yani giggled and pulled away from him. He kissed her hand and turned to Ramonda, giving his auntie double kisses on both cheeks. He hugged his grandpop next and finally showed love to his American aunt and uncle who raised him after his parents died. They all took their seats at the dining table. Yani sat at his right, and Riki, Joba, and Sydette took over his left side.

As the first courses of salads, soups, and finger foods were brought out, announcements were made. The head chef was brought out and recognized. N'Jadaka allowed the nervous man to take a picture with him holding up a plate of sausage gumbo with rice. There was special recognition given to Yani, along with a surprise plaque presented to Ramonda for her role as an ambassador fostering goodwill between America and Wakanda.

N'Jadaka caught up with his aunt and uncle and the family chatter reminded him of being home except they were being watched like fish in a fishbowl. When dessert and coffee were brought out at the end of the meal, Ramonda switched seats with Riki and leaned in toward the king.

"President Mubiri would like to have a nightcap with you during the mixer inside the museum," Ramonda said.

"Why?"

Ramonda's sharp eyes observed the guests.

"He believes D.C. is neutral ground and he would like to discuss rumors of you inciting a coup in his nation."

"Sounds like C.I.A. bullshit."

"Even so, it wouldn't hurt to appear cordial. Get some photos taken that shows two rival nations talking together. Yani is your icebreaker. Madame Mubiri is here, too. A nice photo-op of beautiful African women mingling will make the CBC very happy."

N'Jadaka glanced at Yani's fingers. She had on her deadly finger armor. Hopefully she wouldn't threaten the man again.

He signaled for Quamba and several Onyx Squad security to take his children and grandfather back to their penthouse suite at the hotel they were lodged in for the weekend. He hugged and kissed the children promising to read a bedtime story to them later. People moved out of the way and stared at his heirs. All three children walked like royalty, heads held high, backs kept straight.

The after dinner mixer started inside the lobby of the museum where a giant abstract art installation above their heads looked like the unfurling of giant bronze ribbons. N'Jadka read the description of the sculpture that was supposed to represent the swinging motions like a band of angels coming down to carry Black Americans back home like the old spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". The artist, Richard Hunt, used suspended cables to anchor the work, and the swooping arcs of the bronze bands reminded N'Jadaka of his mother's arms around his body when he was small.

Several servers traipsed the lobby carrying drinks and savory finger foods. A D.J. played contemporary R&B and the guests relaxed into full-blown partying mode. Bakari and Shavonne headed toward a display of Harriet Tubman's shawl further inside the museum and Mpilo escorted Ramonda to meet some caucus members who were dying to be seen with her.

N'Jadaka held out his arm and Yani rested her hand on it. She walked with a majestic stride that matched his and they mingled for a bit. Yani's charm was her greatest weapon and they spent a considerable amount of time discussing her book and tour. Her radiance overwhelmed a few people who couldn't stop admiring her even as they moved on to other guests. The allure of power was a true aphrodisiac, and Yani wielded it well. All of her Wakandan training and years of experience dealing with all sorts of people paid off in spades as she delighted American dignitaries. He couldn't stop staring at her himself. Her voice lit up his face and he smiled at everything she said. Yani's youth also surprised people. She would be entering her late twenties soon enough, but carried a greater maturity and self-awareness in the last year representing Wakanda internationally.

They worked the first three corners of the lobby before the mixer branched out to the rest of the museum, and they headed toward President Mubiri and Madame Mubiri who lingered near a replica of a slave quarter. The Mohanndan president stood with a glass of liquor in his hand entertaining cronies as his wife watched her husband's dour animated face with his uppercase gums spilling over his lowercase teeth. Her eyes sparked up when Yani approached holding out her hands toward the woman.

"Madame Habiba Mubiri, I finally get to see you again in a less formal setting," Yani enthused.

Yani ignored Mubiri and immediately pulled Habiba away from her husband, touching her hand in informal friendship.

"Mubiri," N'Jadaka said, offering his hand. Mubiri shook it.

"King N'Jadaka."

Yani reached for a glass of wine from a server that had been freshly poured from the bar. She presented it to N'Jadaka using the ancient submissive stance of queens in Wakanda, holding the glass up to him with her right hand, while her other hand cradled the elbow of the serving arm. N'Jadaka caught the lust in Mubiri's eyes again for his fiancé. He took the glass from Yani and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you, baby," he said.

"May I please borrow Madame Mubiri? I would love to introduce her to the head organizer," Yani asked Mubiri.

It was clear that Mubiri didn't want his wife to do anything, but Yani's seductive voice couldn't be denied. She played on the man's need to control women by asking his permission. Her earlier exaggerated submissive act toward N'Jadaka fed into the man's cultural ego. Yani upped the ante by touching his arm and squeezing it. Her touch ignited something in the president and he lifted his wife's arm and practically threw her at Yani.

"I'm sure you two have some important things to discuss without us present," she added.

"Enjoy yourselves," Mubiri said, his gaze plastered all over Yani's figure as the two women strolled further into the heart of the museum.

N'Jadka pretended to drink his wine while being focused on something else until Yani was gone.

"I thank you for the personal invitation to your wedding King N'Jadaka. I didn't think you would extend us any welcome to your country again."

"It's a time of celebration, not political intrigue. Yani wanted your wife there. They have been corresponding for a time getting to know each other. You don't have to come if you don't want to."

"And miss the nuptials of that delightful woman you parade around like a trophy? Never. We will attend and enjoy the splendor."

They both drank in silence.

"Did you like the tour of the museum earlier?" N'Jadaka asked.

"An intriguing history lesson. You must be proud of your heritage here."

"I am."

"Rebels at heart. I see why the Americans want to control you."

"I know you don't want to stand here and shoot the shit about my lineage. You want to know if I'm plotting to throw you out of office."

Mubiri choked on his drink as N'Jadaka stared at his face. The Mohanndan's cronies flicked their eyes away in embarrassment, not expecting the king to be that blunt.

"What would I gain from having you taken out, Mubiri? There would only be another leader who thinks the same as you, so nothing would change. Pinning your hopes on the Americans holding me in check has not paid off in a year. I offer nothing but hope and a chance at directing Africa's vast internal wealth and ancient wisdom back to where it belongs…on all of our people."

"Our people? You Wakandans are stand-offish and think only of yourselves. These little excursions into other African nations giving them little trinkets of your resources reeks of a ploy to rule over us all. At least your uncle acted like a benevolent father-figure in the west."

"My uncle was not the man you all think he was. I am telling you now, to your face Barasa Mubiri…I have no plans for a coup, an assassination, nor war with your country. Did you not read my fiancé's book? Wakandans value peaceful living, enhancements to prolong life, and self-actualization that benefits the whole and not just the individual. We kept to ourselves for centuries even when we had the means to colonize the world and bend it to our will. But we didn't."

"I still think that is an option in your arsenal, King N'Jadaka."

"I am from the school of 'don't start none, won't be none'. My goal is transformative liberation for whomever wants it."

"So-called liberators often transform into something sinister, if given the chance."

The king moved closer to the east African president, closing the small gap between them.

"I only plan to bring hell to those who mean us harm. Do you plan to cause problems for us with this U.S. administration?" N'Jadaka asked.

Mubiri shook his head and smiled.

"I want peace and prosperity for our people too."

"Good. You have heard directly from my mouth what I want. Let's spend the rest of the evening showing the world that Africans can co-exist on the continent without people confirming their biases about us being warlords and despots. We can be civil with our disagreements. Everything doesn't have to be bloodshed, or rumors of hostile take-overs."

N'Jadaka excused himself with Okoye by his side.

"You were very civil, kumkani," Okoye said.

"I promised Umama that I would control my hostile tendencies here."

"She would be very pleased. Princess Yani is speaking to a delegation from the Sudan. Ambassador Udaku is with the Press Secretary for the American President."

N'Jadaka peeked at his kimoyos. He wanted to leave as soon as possible without making it glaringly obvious that he was ready to dip. His declining of the White House meeting with the President didn't sit well among the ruling Republican party.

"Kumkani!"

Mpilo rushed to him breathing heavily.

"You must come immediately," Mpilo said.

N'Jadaka quickened his steps with Okoye at his side. Mpilo led them through a throng of people and Yani rushed forward, clasping his hand in hers.

"What is it?" he said.

He squeezed a protective hand around hers and she pulled him toward another room. His family stood with other guests admiring a wall display. Ramonda stood with Dante and his uncle Bakari had taken off his glasses. Shavonne held an arm over Bakari's shoulder and they made room for N'Jadaka to move in front of them. Yani linked her arm with his.

"We didn't know this was here," Yani said.

N'Jadaka looked at a series of life-sized color photos of his mother Califia leading a Berkley BSU meeting. Her young face looked on fire like her hair as she held up a fist, her brows knitted together, and her mouth open spitting fire. A second photo connected to the first in a collage-styled presentation showed her carrying N'Jadaka on her hip. He was four years old wearing intricate cornrows and they both looked directly at whoever took the picture for a public event in Oakland. A deep inhale filled his lungs. The third image brought the handsome beauty of his father N'Jobu to life. He wore the dark ceremonial royal robes of Wakanda looking noble and fly as fuck. A fourth photo made N'Jadaka blink trying to figure out where it came from. He sported an MIT sweatshirt and his grin looked so innocent long ago. It came back to him. Chocolate City. A school paper had done an article about him and his dorm mates The final photo was a formal publicity photo of himself as the king of Wakanda. The entire collage mural threaded his Black American roots to his Wakandan roots, forming a romanticized link of the diaspora back to the motherland.

He appreciated his family becoming a historical footnote in the museum. Dante wiped his eyes and Yani wrapped an arm around him, helping the older man to reconcile the pain they felt in not having Califia and N'Jobu there with them.

The museum director approached N'Jadaka with a timid smile, her pale brown eyes dazzled by how close she stood next to him and his entourage. She down casted her gaze quickly when he stared directly at her.

"We hope you like this new installation King N'Jadaka. Unfortunately, the artist has been ill, or else he would've been here," the director said.

"Very impressive," he said.

His eyes lingered on his mother's image holding him while Ramonda gazed at N'Jobu's image. He wondered what thoughts went through her mind. Was there regret? Any remains of sadness that he had chosen someone else over her?

"Every time I see your parents, I see our children," Yani said. "You look so much like Riki in this one."

Yani reached out and let her fingers hover under the chin of his childhood image. He wanted to go home. Back to Wakanda. He whispered in Ramonda's ear and she slid next to the director to heap praises on the installation. Clasping Yani's hand, he guided his relatives toward the nearest exit. The Dora snapped to attention flanking them while the Onyx squad scanned for any problems.

Five dark SUVs pulled up to the side of the museum with Kingsguard drivers. Their entire party was whisked away to a luxury hotel in the heart of the capital and they disembarked in an underground parking garage to avoid paparazzi.

N'Jadaka entered his suite with Yani, and their children tackled him onto the floor wearing their pajamas. Dante watched them from a couch for a few minutes before standing up.

"I'm heading to bed, JaJa. What time do you need me to be ready for Joba's grandma?" Dante asked.

"She's arriving with the rest of Disa's family in the half cruiser around noon. We'll pick up some family in St. Thomas and Jamaica too before we travel back to Wakanda. The wedding rehearsal happens on Wednesday instead of Thursday."

"Yani's still doing the Today show interview?"

"Yes," Yani said, pulling Sydette from on top of N'Jadaka's head, "It's the only place I'm promoting the book."

Dante looked surprised.

N'Jadka gave Yani a look to take the children to their shared junior suite. Dante watched the family leave and he moved closer to his grandson.

"What's going on?" Dante asked.

"I don't want Yani in this country any longer than she has to be. We have some credible threats here in the states, and we're doing some culling of problems."

"Culling? You mean killing right?"

N'Jadaka glanced over his shoulder. Yani's voice gently scolded the children from being so hyper and loud before bed.

"Grandpop, things are escalating. Neutralizing threats will become more common for me."

"I don't have any issues with that."

N'Jadaka nodded.

"I'm turning in. See ya in the morning."

"I'm sleeping in."

"That doesn't surprise me."

He squeezed his grandfather's shoulder and watched the older man shuffle off to the adjoining door that led to another private suite. A Dora on night duty greeted Dante and closed the suite door behind him.

N'Jadaka stepped into the bedroom with his children frolicking across two queen beds. Sydette bounced on hers and played with her kimoyo beads while Riki and Joba tried to sidestep Yani's attempts to get them under the covers. N'Jadaka clapped his hands and all three children stopped goofing around and centered their attention on him. Yani placed hands on her hips, her long extensions fallen over one shoulder.

"Hey, what's going on in here? Mama said it's time for bed. Stop playing around."

"You promised us a story," Joba said.

He sighed and tread softly to the younger children's bed and plopped down on it. Pulling Joba onto his lap, he nuzzled his chin on top of her head. She touched his cheek.

"Are you too tired Baba? We can wait for another time," Joba said.

Her soft voice and soft hands brought forth all the mental exhaustion of the day.

"Thank you, Sunshine," he said.

He kissed Joba's cheek and she scrambled under the covers next to her brother. Riki patted his hand and he stroked the boy's braids.

"Night, Baba," Sydette said.

His oldest climbed under thick blankets and blew him a kiss. He pretended to catch it and place it lovingly on his cheek.

"Tomorrow you will go with Grandpop to have breakfast with Uncle Bakari and Aunt Shavonne, then Grandma Theresa will arrive and we'll all meet up for lunch," Yani said.

"When are we leaving this place?" Riki asked.

"Soon," N'Jadaka said. "Get some sleep."

All the children looked relieved. He slipped his hand over Yani's and pulled her out of the room, turning off the lights and closing the bedroom door. Yani threw her arms around his waist and they hugged each other, allowing their mutual warmth and affection to flow through one another. He had his family back.

N'Jadaka's sleep was interrupted not by a sound, but by the missing softness removed from his side. Opening his eyes, he spread his hand out feeling for Yani. A toilet flushed from the bathroom outside of the hotel bedroom and she padded in quietly, closing the door before re-joining him. Glancing at the clock on the nightstand he was surprised to see it was only three in the morning. His body felt like it had slept later than that. He spooned back around Yani's lush form and they threaded the fingers of their right hands together, tucking them under her breasts.

The TV they watched before nodding off played a twenty-four hour news channel. Broadcasts of his visit stayed on loop most of the night, but the current images flashing onscreen highlighted the weather and celebrity gossip.

"At the end of this week we will be married," he whispered into Yani's ear.

She giggled and pushed her rump against his crotch.

"Queen Yani and King N'Jadaka," he said. "Nervous?"

"A little. Our counseling sessions with Elder Efetebo gave me a lot to think about. Umama and Ramonda have helped me too. Feels like I'm a part of something bigger than anything I have ever known in Wakanda…and yet…"

N'Jadaka reached over and turned on a lamp. He turned her face toward him.

"What is it?"

Yani's eyes watered and she blinked quickly. Two small tears trekked a lonely trail down her round cheeks. He kissed them away and cuddled her in his body heat and strength. She continued speaking in a low voice.

"At times…I know many still see us as outsiders on the noble court. They don't come for mi like they used to in the beginning, but I see it in their eyes. I know they want you take a Wakandan concubine. As modern and visionary as our country is, they hold on to these old timey ways to discredit our reign. I can see if they don't want Sweet Pea to have claim to the throne, but Riki and Joba have the bloodline in them. That should be enough. They want you to have a legally sanctioned child with a second wife to make the new line more legitimate…more Wakandan than diaspora. Everyone is scared to say this to your face, so that is the only thing that keeps them in line."

"Zola and Ilana tell you this?"

"They tell me everything. They love us."

"I've been on the elders' asses about that shit."

"There's only so much they can do. They can't stop other people from talking what they feel to be true in their hearts. A segment of the population will always see us diluting the bloodline."

"I will have Zola and Ilana tell me who the gossipmongers are and I will cast them out on their asses."

Yani sighed and burrowed into his arms.

"That will only make them feel justified and maybe cause more trouble for me in the palace. I will deal with it in mi own way."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure. Right now I'm a weak piece on the chess board. But once that royal isicholo is on my head, I will have more power to play a different position. I won't need to run to you all the time complaining."

"You don't run to me."

She rubbed his bicep and kissed the skin there on his arm.

"I can stand on my own. I have to in order to survive the politics as queen. The more time I spend in the throne room with you, I see why you wanted me there so much."

"Does it overwhelm you?"

"Sometimes. The Council of Elders are so particular…so strict. Like I said, we have the most modern country and I can't get over how backwards they can be with a willful adherence to tradition without even considering the impact of our population being made up of so many young citizens. Nearly half of our citizens are under the age of twenty. Even before the Infinity War. These young people are hungry for change. They want to create new traditions. Look at Zola and Ilana, my staunchest supporters…their desire for new things spills over into every conversation we have together. So much goes on back home and yet, we both have to deal with the rest of the world's problems too. I tell myself I'm up to the challenge, that I can multitask and handle every little fire that breaks out in the Court of Nobles, but it can look daunting at times."

"We have each other. We have our family. There's nothing we can't get through together. I put us all in hell and we climbed back out… you and me. I plan on protecting you Yani, and providing you with anything you need for yourself or our children. The nation will know your power and influence for generations to come. I mean…look at your book tour. The world knows who you are…"

Yani's eyes drifted away from N'Jadaka's face. She reached for the tv remote on the nightstand and turned up the volume on a previously broadcasted segment. Onscreen a male news anchor out of D.C. spoke over a background image of N'Jadaka back in his Killmonger days. Mercenary fatigues covered his body and his short locs had barely curled over his forehead.

"They outed you," Yani said.

N'Jadaka listened to the anchor list his accomplishments at MIT and the Navy before cutting to alleged covert missions for various off-the-grid companies and ghost units. He sat up on the bed as a female political analyst sat in front of an image of the Pentagon. She shared a clip of N'Jadaka's speech to the U.N. and inferred that the Wakandan king's connection to the C.I.A. and mercenary past would prove to be a detriment to African nations seeking true democracy. The overall segment painted N'Jadaka in an unsavory light.

"…King N'Jadaka has stated publicly at the latest U.N. gathering in Geneva that he will continue to interfere with African nations that are in turmoil. Our government can't afford to have Wakanda becoming the world police if the U.N. can't rally around the support of ending genocide in the Congo or demanding that Rwanda and Uganda stop their pillaging of coltan in that region. His calling out of multinationals is dangerous to the progress America is making to help the DRC put an end to the loss of life there. We've sat on the sidelines long enough waiting to see what direction Wakanda will move in since the mysterious ousting of King T'Challa, and now that we know the full background of the rebel king…this by the way is what he is known as in Mohannda and Niganda. Those two nations also have large deposits of colbalt, coltan, and uranium, and their leaders have hinted King N'Jadaka may wage war to secure those resources just like he hoards vibranium from the rest of the world."

"Janice, are you suggesting that King N'Jadaka's background as a C.I.A. operative may provoke a World War Three scenario in the future? He is in our country right now, in this city exactly with other African leaders and Black politicians from around the world. You really believe he will bring us to the brink of another global disaster after we've gone through so much?"

"He is a threat to our national security and the security of other African countries who desire peace and free-trade without violence. It is our duty to protect those people, and to protect the leadership who want to sell resources that benefit all. We are all witnessing the emergence of a secretive superpower under the leadership of a man we trained in black ops and who has no allegiance to anyone. I find this disconcerting and frankly, Bill, I'm shocked at how casual the leadership in this country is taking this troubling revelation."

"Excluding his recent U.N. speech, King N'Jadaka has only spoken out publicly against the on-going genocidal war in the DRC. As far as we know, he hasn't done anything outright on the continent of Africa that should warrant the type of forceful caution you are suggesting. Why are you so adamant about this discourse in the capital?"

"Wakanda is an unknown factor in global conflicts to date. U.S. officials and the Pentagon would like to see it stay that way, but King N'Jadaka appears to be rattling his saber. His training and access to the most powerful weaponry on earth scares me. It should scare everyone, especially with his negative views toward the United States…the land of his birth."

"Genius…decorated solder…Navy SEAL…C.I.A. operative…mercenary…king…you've given us a lot to think about with your upcoming book about Wakanda's place in geopolitics."

"Here's something else to think about. King N'Jadaka —Erik Stevens when he was an American—used to have Tony Stark as a mentor."

"Iron Man?"

"Yes."

"Are you implicating the billionaire superhero in anything to do with King N'Jadaka's spectacular political trajectory?"

"I'm only pointing out how entrenched the Wakandan king is within bleeding edge technology in the military arms race and his close proximity to someone many found problematic years ago as an industrialist. Who knows if these two men are still in contact with one another? Tony Stark should be called to Washington to answer pertinent questions about his past with this king."

N'Jadaka flicked the off button for the tv. Yani placed it back on the nightstand.

"They've been sitting on this shit for a year. Been wondering when the C.I.A. would drop it in the court of public opinion. Of course that bitch pushes her upcoming book during the last leg of your international book tour. I bet all of your book sales that Everett Ross had a hand in being a ghostwriter for it."

"Will they connect me with your mercenary past? Klaue?"

"No. Klaue used aliases on St. Thomas."

"What if they ask you about how we met?"

N'Jadaka lifted a long braid from Yani's face and tucked it behind her ear.

"I was on vacation in paradise and met you…a beautiful island girl. We fell in love and that's all there is to it."

Yani kissed his lips gently and rolled back on her side. He curled around her and they snuggled for a bit. He whispered in her ear.

"I don't want you to worry about anything that woman said. They've been looking to smear me every chance they get. It doesn't take away from those who support and believe in us."

She nodded into his arm and he kissed her temple.

"These people can only speculate from afar. We'll always be ahead of them. The only thing I want you thinking about is how you'll look in that wedding dress when I see you walking down the aisle," he said.

"That woman on tv tried to make you look like a monster, but all of your achievements only made you look like a man they should praise."

"I came up out the mud and took my talents to the last place they expected. They're starting to see what Africa could become once I get these wars abolished. Africa has always been the center of the world. Once we get the rest of these colonial shackles off her feet, I'll make her flex."

"You sound like you want to be king of the motherland."

"Don't tempt me."

Yani glanced back at him.

"Would you do something like that?"

"No more talk about the world. The sun hasn't come up yet and the children are still asleep."

N'Jadaka smashed his lips against hers and hurriedly slipped his tongue in her mouth to hush more inquiries. Her watery mouth tasted of 7-Up that she must've snuck a sip of from the suite's mini-fridge. His mind slowed down the way it always did when he kissed her. The heartbeat thumps in his chest matched the speed of hers. His long locs fanned out around her face and his Golden Jaguar necklace claws grazed her throat. Yani hummed into his mouth while sucking his tongue and he gasped at the initial thickening of his dick.

Pulling away, he stared down at her face, taking in the wide round eyes with curling lashes that fluttered whispery kisses against his neck as he kissed her forehead.

"I hate when we're apart," he said.

"I know."

"I love being with you like this when the children are in the next room asleep and safe…when no one from the outside bothers us. I can have you all to myself…oohhh…."

Yani slid her hands down his chest and squeezed the growing bulge in his pajama bottoms. He leaked a growing spot of precum and she toyed with it through the silk barrier. Her fingers became sticky and slick. He groaned and murmured her name into her hair, lifting his body higher so he could watch her hand do wonders teasing his erection.

Resting against her, he slid his fingers across her chest, fondling her breasts through her gauzy nightgown top. He pulled down on it until her titties spilled out, the plump nipples feeling like fat grapes on his fingertips. Pinching and plucking at them gently, he played with her breasts until he was ready for more. He climbed above her and pushed his groin into her mound, the friction swelling his dick until it poked out of the waist band on its own. He tugged his pajama pants down and gripped the thick erection in his eager hand. Yani lifted off her gown and he pushed the covers back so he could see the blessed globes jiggle.

"Oh shit," he groaned.

He pressed the tip of his dick against her pierced clit and a glistening long thread of precum shined up her labia. Swiping the bulbous head back and forth, he smeared the clear fluid on her fat vulva like icing on a chocolate cake. Yani shifted her big thighs and her ass cheeks jiggled. He smacked the underside hard and the recoil from that position forced a heavy moan from his lips. She had gained weight. He knew her trip back to St. Thomas and Jamaica meant eating good childhood food, and his woman didn't miss nary a meal. It was a gift to him no doubt.

Kicking off his pajama bottoms all the way, N'Jadaka played with Yani's breasts and labia until he was ready to penetrate the pretty pink opening flashing at him. Yani turned on her side and he parted her labia with one fluid motion of his dick sinking deep into her. She whimpered at the stretching of her walls after a long absence.

"I won't go crazy, baby…I promise. Too many people close around," he huffed.

Her pussy accommodated his girth with a tight wetness he was accustomed to having mold like a second skin around his dick. All he could think of was President Mubiri ogling Yani's body, especially her ass. It looked so round and ripe in her dress. He thrust forward knowing that man would never know pussy as sweet and juicy as the one sheathing his exceptional length. Only kings deserved the clenching his dick received at that moment.

"Yani….dassit…baby…damn…"

He grit his teeth trying to keep from shouting. Lowering his head, he dropped his face into the back of her neck and muffled his vocal straining. In and out…her perfect gushy cavern squelched and he dug in deeper, wanting to hear the sounds of his balls smacking her ass.

"Fuck…girl…"

She arched her back and he smothered his body over hers, preventing her from taking control and making him nut too quick. His dick needed to marinate in her pussy. He held Yani's back against his chest and reveled in the snug pussy cradling his dick. Keeping still, he played with her clit without thrusting, making her indulge in the pressure off all that meat stuffed inside of her. She huffed into her pillow and wiggled her hips, but he kept her anchored against him without mercy.

"You miss Daddy's dick?" he asked.

"Yes."

She whimpered pitiful sounds and clawed the sheets, eventually wilting in his arms. His dick could stay hard for hours, the gift from the heart-shaped herb's power flowing through his blood. He rested in her walls for an hour, teasing her clit and whispering nasty things in her ear. She started crying from the delicate teasing of his fingers all over her jewel-pierced vulva for such a long time without release.

"You betta not cum until I tell you…okay?"

"Okay…okay…I can't take much more…"

She bit into his arm and the heat from her mouth made him chuckle. Yani sat on the edge of her orgasm. Her legs shook from the anticipation. He needed the slow revving from her to keep himself in check.

They shared a sex routine they always adhered to on their reunions since their year of living together in the palace. It was a way to protect her pussy from his veracity. He was never allowed to cum in her pussy first when they joined. It took too much out of her to handle him regularly, so he learned to control his first release and saved it for her submission to him on her knees. The king's affirmation was always a facial for his beautiful queen.

If Yani orgasmed too quickly first, he would head straight to pound town, spurting too much semen that always released the beast in him. Uniting their bodies in slow methodical build ups kept him manageable for her. As he resumed stroking her walls after the long delay of cockwarming, he kept tabs on his arousal levels. When it was time to shift the pace before he wore her down, he pulled his dick from her precious pink sanctuary. Yani scrambled off the bed to submit to his need for dominance.

He moved his legs over the bed and spread his thighs wider, giving Yani room to position her knees on the floor properly in front of him. She offered him her tits, smacking them together playfully, and he fondled a nipple, fisting his dick, and watching her big beautiful brown eyes stare up at him.

"I love you like this…looking up at me…yeah baby…open that mouth…stick out your tongue…yeah, just like that. You gon' let me fuck that pussy some more after this?"

She nodded, looking innocent and expectant.

"Sexy ass…" he hissed.

He bent down and kissed her and she sucked on his lower lip, tugging on the skin with her teeth. Pulling back he shoved his dick down her throat, the girth hallowing out her cheeks on both sides as she sucked and worked her neck. She smacked her lips against his tip, releasing it with a loud pop and a sliding of her tongue across her top lip.

"Suck dick so good…suck it some more…right there…let me stretch that mouth. Stop playing with it Yani, take that shit the right way…"

He reached out and softly slapped the side of her mouth and she gave him a sly grin and licked the underside of his thick ridge. He grabbed her hair then, yanking on the braids to remind her of her place. She hit that itchy sensitive part of his dick with the friction of her scandalous tongue. The thinnest part of the dermis seemed to rest there in that spot that gave her tongue-tip the secret combination to start making his dick leak with clear fluid again. His erection was like a rigid pole vault in her mouth and he was so ready to dismount with a fat nut. Yani hummed, and slowly licked along the sides of his dick. His breathing quickened to a pace that alarmed him. She was beginning to control him, making him react like a desperate man under her spell, and that was being disobedient. Her bratty behavior couldn't be corrected in the heat of her deep throating him. That would require major spanking and loud cursing. The last thing he wanted was for their children and security team to hear him curse a blue streak while spanking Yani's ass. She wanted him to hurry up and ejaculate so she could ride his dick and cum.

A surge of semen rose up through his balls. He slapped Yani again for putting a super charged gwak-gwak 3000 on him too soon. She became obedient again and squeezed his fat sack, staving off his release. He thought about letting her milk him and cumming in her mouth, but the decadent and demanding king wanted to paint her face with hot semen when he was ready. It was his way…he craved the ritual of it between them, and also because he knew a little secret about her.

He grinned slyly thinking about it.

Yani had been sneakily watching old videos of him with past lovers. Months earlier he had scanned old computers that he planned on destroying until his spyware cam detected unusual activity in secret files. The spycam revealed Yani's viewrship and he chuckled at the thought of her using him for her personal porn collection. He said nothing, and left the old computers where they stayed in their home, pretending to ignore them as old artifacts from his past life. The most viewed images were his cum shots on women's faces, and he clocked the intense looks of pleasure on her face when he did it to her. She loved submitting to him that way and it was a great help to their energetic sex life. Lovemaking wasn't as frequent as it used to be because their lives were so busy, but the intensity increased because of it.

Yani continued the arousing slow sucking. He watched her glossy plump lips slide back and forth across the top half of his dick. Her fawning eyes stayed locked on his, riling up his body because she made the act of dick sucking look so illicit. So pornographic.

Every now and then she would stop sucking and rubbed her lips back and forth across the mushroom cap creating a delicious tickling. His balls throbbed. She twisted her fingers around the head to give him new sensations, never once breaking eye contact. Yani knew how to chip away his defenses by giving off innocent vibes. She'd stay on her knees looking up at him with her big titties all out, nipples perky and offered to him like delectable appetizers. That look took him back to St. Thomas and the first time he ever touched her. His dick felt heavy between his legs. Thoughts of her back then being a little spitfire towards him ratcheted up his emotions for her in the present. In six days he would wed the most beautiful, cunning, and loving woman he had ever had to call his own. She latched onto him like a ride or die and he never wanted her to be that way ever again. She deserved better…she deserved more from him. His best. No, he would be a ride or die for her. Always.

He palmed her breasts and squeezed them. Lifted them up and down. Thumbing her nipples with wide circles, he listened to her breathy pants of pleasure. She stroked his dick. Yani would soon be the composed queen of a mighty nation in public, but at night, she would always be his nasty little slut…on her knees begging for Daddy dick to be stuffed in all of her orifices. That turned him on as he pushed her tits together. Her eyes were glassy. Lips pouted. She reached down and peeled back the wings of her inner labia giving him peek-a-boo glimpses of her wet pink. She needed his dick and slapped her pussy lips to ignite a wild fire in him.

"Taste mi," she purred.

Yani held up her wet fingers scented with her love and he licked them, opening his mouth wider so she could stuff three digits inside to paint his tongue with the dew. He swallowed her offering and she traced the shape of his lips with her own until the swollen skin on his lips itched for more.

"Killmonger."

Her moist lips pushed out the air to say that name. It ended him. He jumped to his feet and leveled the deep slit of his dick toward her cheek.

"Yani! Fuck! Fuck!"

Hollering out more expletives, a rush of thick hot cum splashed all over the side of her face. It dripped down to her neck in a sticky white deluge. He gulped for air and groaned to the ceiling.

Cumming on her face soothed the raging libido in N'Jadaka long enough for him to gather Yani in his arms and put her back on the bed. She leaned on her side again. Curling around her ass, he lifted her heavy thigh and pushed back inside her pussy.

"…fucking this pussy…."

He groaned and pumped, letting his lust take over, grateful he ejaculated on her face first because he would've broke her back if he hadn't. She took the pounding like a graceful queen, fully aware that he was lost in the pussy, her pleasure forgotten because her loving blotted out all of his senses. He took advantage of his selfishness because once she became queen, their sex life would switch over to ancient protocols that dictated that the queen had to cum first with her pussy being eaten before the king could even put his dick inside of her. Yani looked forward to that, and he plowed into her knowing that he had a week left to be a bedroom bully.

He smacked her ass cheek harder, talked his shit in her ear and knew his dick tugged on her labia long enough. The king pushed her onto her back and mounted her with one purpose: to hear her scream his name in his ear.

"Cum all over this big dick. Show me how much you love me."

Rocking into her, he held onto her bouncing tits and they both watched him pump long strokes into quivering walls. Her mouth fell open and he crushed her with his full weight. Her lips brushed against his ear and he waited to her that old name of his called out.

It didn't take long.

"Killmonger…Killmonger…fuck me…fuck me Killmonger…."

The silky muscular walls of her pussy squeezed around his dick in a constant flow of contractions that only added to his pleasure listening to her cry out for more. The ecstasy of her voice spiraled him out of his soul.

Hunched over her, N'Jadaka pressed his face into her pillow and roared into the cotton. His dick swelled inside of her and the intense throbbing rippled all the way to his anus and down the back of his ankles. He gasped like he was dying, mashing Yani's breasts into his sweaty chest and enjoying the rooted sensation of his balls throbbing and pushing out semen.

"Goddammit," he sputtered into her hair.

His eyes rolled back into watery sockets that blurred his vision. He rolled over and she climbed on top of him, breasts swinging in his face. Yani bounced on his dick and he thrust up to meet her passionate energy. He settled into sucking on her nipples and areola, letting her rock the bed with her own efforts. She gave him nurturing with the fucking, cooing to him and rubbing his locs.

"My man works so hard…you like your queen taking care of the royal dick, Daddy?"

He nodded, groaning at her soft accent and the way her pussy yanked on his dick with perfect timing. She went at his stiffness at the speed and depth that was comfortable for her and he submitted to whatever she wanted to give him. He watched the up and down movements and admired how shiny she made his dick. Her sticky wetness overflowed and made his lap slippery. The sounds of a fat ass smacking on his balls pleased his ears.

Yani leaned forward and her breasts covered his face entirely, smothering him in buttery softness like a fleshy curtain hiding him from the world. Grateful to be hidden inside her warmth, he relaxed into letting go of all of stresses, all of his problems, all of his worries. He let his queen carry him away to physical delights that poured life back into him. That's what she had always been for him. A life giver. A true goddess the way Tahir had called her.

He started hollering and Yani slammed her hand over his mouth. His heels pressed down into the mattress and his toes curled. Yani panted above him, her voice going up an octave as her second release ascended its peak.

"I'm cumming! I'm cumming on your dick, Killmonger!"

She whipped her head back and forth. Arching her back, her nails clawed his chest.

"Oh, God….oh god! Killmonger…!"

He grabbed her arms and pressed her against his chest. Thrusting his hips upward, he forced Yani to take all the dick as her pussy contracted and milked every drop of cum he shot into her. Their cries of lust co-mingled into an ancient primordial release.

N'Jadaka's voice became hoarse and Yani cradled his face and kissed him, uniting all of their parts together. Her slow languid kisses centered him once more. He hugged her tight, his face mashed into her breasts, and she rubbed his head. They both could feel his stiff dick still throbbing inside of her.

"Can you take more?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Go to the restroom and come on back," he said.

He smacked her ass cheek and she climbed off of him.

Waiting for her to urinate and put special lubricants on her vulva and inside her vagina, N'Jadaka stretched his body. His dick fell back onto his stomach, the head pulsing and dribbling semen above his belly button.

"Fuck, I miss this shit," he said to himself.

Yani returned and they kissed. He licked a trail down to her pussy and pampered her with plenty of earned licks and kisses. The sweet odor of the lubricant she used to protect her womanly parts excited him. He blew a soft breath on her clit and the lubricant warmed up on her vulva adding more pleasure to their adult play time. The pale lighting of the sky heralded the new morning. Yani came in his mouth with her thighs covering his head.

Before the children arose to greet them, Yani rode his dick reverse cowgirl so he could watch the new weight of her backside gleam from the sunlight. Each time she rose up, he watched how tight her pussy gripped his dick. He kept quiet, swallowing his groans, nearly crying himself looking at how big her ass had gotten. N'Jadaka knew the weight gain wasn't from pregnancy. They had been apart since her last period, but he imagined how she would look with pregnancy weight. He liked her chunky and round like a butterball. Her weight had fluctuated over the last year, but it had settled down in the last two months until she did her book tour.

He watched the massive orbs of jiggly ass cheeks bounce on him. It was insane to have a body like that. But it was all his. Her voluptuous gifts belonged to him.

A new thought floated in his mind.

Part of the royal protocols meant that Yani wouldn't be permitted to take birth control during their wedding and honeymoon. Any child conceived during the first month of marriage to a royal couple was a sign of a prosperous future. The world was missing billions of people. Wakanda needed to repopulate. That meant she couldn't be on the contraceptive shots Wakandans used. She would already be weaned off of it to match the timing of their wedding.

He could get her pregnant right then and there.

Yani arched her back and wiggled her backside. She studied his face over her shoulder as she made love to him in the best way for him to admire her body. His dick seemed to get harder thinking about impregnating her before the wedding.

"Do that shit, Ma. Shake that ass."

Yani giggled and tossed her braids over her one side of her head and continued watching him watch her move.

"Look at all this ass…."

She reached back and lifted her ass cheeks for him, her light pink manicured nails looking lovely splayed out to tease him by digging into the ripeness of that bubble. He smacked her butt hard. They'd been fucking for three hours after the troubling news broadcast. He gripped the sheets admiring the dimpling in her backside. If she grew bigger back there during a new pregnancy, she would probably get stretch marks. Titties would get bigger too. He remembered what they looked like filled with milk and he rubbed his large hands all across both ass cheeks, sinking his fingers into the weight.

Sweat dripped down her body and pooled around the indentations on her lower back. She wound her waist teasing the tip of his dick before sliding back down, clapping her own cheeks for him. The woman knew how to keep him satisfied. He gripped her waist and kept her bounce steady. His balls ached to release. He already knew she was fatigued but kept going because she missed him so much and wanted to show off for him longer.

"Such a good girl, Yani. You took good care of this dick. I can't wait to put some more babies in this pussy."

His loose talk brought a glance back at him. Her pussy squeezed his dick with his baby talk. He laughed.

"You heard me girl. Might get you pregnant right now if you keep playing with me like this…shit. Get down for me…just like that. Arch that back. Yeah baby, givin' me that right triangle action…yeah, there it go…head all the way down…big ass up…"

N'Jadaka wistfully stared at Yani in the doggy position, her head to the side so he could watch her face while he smashed. He held onto her waist and pushed in. They had to hurry or else there'd be a pounding on the door with three sets of feet jumping up and down to get their attention.

CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.

Loud. So loud.

Perspiration dropped down from his face onto her spine. His kimoyo beads lit up bright yellow. Okoye was notifying him of incoming reports from Wakanda. He had an hour before the general came to him.

He groaned once Yani hit that spot on his dick with her pussy that felt like lips and tongue suction. The queen had skills that were mindblowing. She started cumming before he did so he rode her wave of pleasure, encouraging her to squirt all over him and fuck up the covers even more with all their fluids on the blanket. He pulled out and palmed her ass, holding the tip of his dick close to her entrance where he shot ribbons of heat all over her labia. Sitting back on his haunches, he admired the way her tight pink opening throbbed and glistened with his cum covering it. She moaned softly at his gentle fingering of the pretty mess he made.

He rubbed her booty and then helped her get under the covers. Kissing her forehead he wasn't surprised to see her drift away quickly from exhaustion. She knew more than anyone it would be some time before they could be like that again until their wedding night. Once back in Wakanda there would be a whirlwind of duties and ceremonial events for their betrothal march.

His dick finally went limp.

He showered and changed into a saffron yellow lounging tunic and slacks. Kora arrived on time to get the children up and ready for breakfast with the rest of the family. He kissed them goodbye and welcomed Okoye and Ayo into the suite.

"Sit," he said.

He poured himself fresh orange juice and nibbled at some breakfast pastries his personal chef sent down from the half cruiser floating invisibly above the hotel roof. Getting comfortable in a side chair, he watched the two Doras on the couch.

Okoye tapped her beads and ten pictures of African men floated above her wrist. She flicked the images above the hotel coffee table and N'Jadaka peered at each one with stern eyes. Each man came from various nations on the continent in service of genocide and predatory exploitation. Okoye tapped each image as she spoke.

"Angola, Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Sudan, Nigeria, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia. Each man neutralized as requested," Okoye said.

She gave him time to inspect the stats on each man's file report before swiping them away and bringing up targets in Eastern and Western Europe.

"Ukraine. Russia. England. France. Germany. Spain. Turkey. Italy. Norway. Sweden," Okoye said.

She went through all twelve countries in South America and ended with combined targets in the U.S. and Canada.

"Any blowback yet? Suspicions?"

Ayo spoke up.

"None kumkani. Each target was studied for months before our War Dogs acted. If there were pre-existing medical conditions, we exacerbated the problem. Others were set up with accidents or placed in precarious positions through threats of exposure. Several committed self-harm when faced with public humiliation," Ayo said.

The women led him through detailed intelligence. Yani eventually woke up and padded past a narrow hall in a long ivory robe to shower and dress. Okoye and Ayo didn't notice her.

"Kumkani, there is one more target," Okoye said.

She tapped her beads and Agent Everett Ross's image popped up along with his ex-wife, C.I.A. Director Valentina Fontaine.

N'Jadaka tapped his fingers on the arms of the chair.

"Since Nick Fury has been gone, Ross is our only reliable plant. I can't take any chances trying to turn anyone around from the inside. None of them can be trusted. Not even the Black ones," he said.

"We are on standby to neutralize them as soon as you give us word," Okoye said.

"I want Ross dead, but not until I've used him up. As long as he thinks he's cool with us, I'll string him along. We can use him to get intel on Fontaine. She's making waves in the intelligence community and they're still somewhat close from what we've gathered so far."

"He wants to meet with you before you leave," Okoye said.

"Nah. I have no desire to talk with him. Just tell him I'm busy with my nuptials and will be unavailable for a month. I'm honeymooning with Yani in Umbono Cove on the houseboat. I don't want to be bothered with anything. Ramonda will oversee everything in my absence. Understood?"

They nodded.

A knock at the entrance door brought them all into guarded attention. Ayo answered. N'Jadaka spotted an Onyx Squad captain standing next to Mpilo.

"Kumkani, sorry to disturb your meeting. I have a private message from the President of the United States," Mpilo said.

N'Jadaka waved the young man over to him. Mpilo handed him a thick beige envelope with the Presidential seal on it. He read the short message inside.

"The President would like a private meeting with me too before we leave," N'Jadaka said.

"Your schedule is under tight security. We would need adequate time to set up additional protective measures inside the White House," Okoye said.

"They don't want to meet at the White House."

"Where then?"

"Camp David."

"The American Department of Defense already has additional surveillance on us since our arrival in this country. Nothing we can't handle if they try something there," Ayo said.

N'Jadaka thrummed his fingers again on the armchair.

"They've set the meeting a day after Yani's television interview."

"Will you go?" Yani interjected from behind them.

Everyone lowered their heads to Yani. She stepped into the living room area dressed in a long cozy pocket dress with vivid colors that reminded him of Black Creek in Wakanda, the place where his parents were entombed. Her hair was elaborately wrapped in a matching headwrap. She took a seat at the small dinette table by the window where their morning meal was set up. Pouring herself fruit juice, she sipped and stared at him. N'Jadaka tossed the invitation on the coffee table.

"I don't want to be bothered," he said.

"I think you should go. At least see what he wants. You won't come here again for awhile and it's time that he gets to see you in an informal place. Maybe you'll catch him off guard without all the eyes here in D.C.," Yani said.

He considered it.

"Leave us," he said.

Mpilo, the Doras , and the Onyx Squad guard removed themselves from the suite. He joined Yani at the table and they fixed themselves plates of food and ate together.

"You really want me to go?" he asked.

Yani stuffed a small Wakandan red berry pastry in her mouth.

"I think President Matthew Ellis needs to see the man that frightens him so much. Think of it as a flex if you want," Yani said.

N'Jadaka grinned.

"And people out here think you're just some sweet faced beauty on my arm," he said. "That means I won't be able to travel back home with you and the kids."

She shrugged and sipped on more juice brought from their new homeland.

"It just means I get to miss you again and we can have another reunion in our bedroom back in Birnin Zana."

He widened his legs and patted his thigh. Yani left her seat and sat on his lap. He rubbed on her booty again and rested his head on her breasts.

"I want to be on a houseboat with you…naked. Making long slow love under the moon and stars."

"We will do that soon enough."

"A whole month, you and me…partially alone."

"Don't remind me. Riki has already complained that they don't get to join us until two weeks into our honeymoon."

"Man, two weeks off with just you and me. Yeah, you definitely getting pregnant Yani."

She slapped his arm.

"Stop putting that out in the universe. We said we'd wait two more years before trying…and trying is the operative word, sir. I'm not taking the man-made contraceptive shots as tradition dictates, but I am taking precautions."

She held up the bluish drink she sipped on.

"This was given to me by Umama. Two glasses a day and it inhibits any eggs from fertilizing. You can shoot up the club and I won't be penalized for forsaking tradition…technically."

"Alright then…practice getting pregnant is good enough for me."

"Aren't three children enough for you already for the time being?"

"Nah. I'm making a whole new tribe with you."

"Easy for you to say, I'm the one who has to carry your big babies."

"I'll be right by your side spoiling you every step of the way. You make pretty babies, Yani, and my family's genes are strong. They all gonna look like me."

He kissed her neck and let his full lips linger there.

"Tell me you love me, Yani."

She cupped his chin and raised it.

"I love you."

"Say it again."

He nuzzled against her breasts and she stroked his lengthy locs.

"I love you. I love you. I love you," she said above his head.

Closing his eyes, N'Jadaka listened to Yani's heartbeat and rested in her bosom of peace.

Chapter 2 HERE.

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#King Killmonger #King Killmonger The Golden Jaguar #Killmonger Fanfiction #Black Panther Fanfiction #Wakanda Forever Fanfiction #Namor #Uzumaki Rebellion #Uzumaki Rebellion Writes

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crusherthedoctor · 3 months

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"What do the games have that the comics/cartoons don't?"

Gameplay

SA1 skyboxes

SA1 animations

SA1 Eggman pimp strutting

SA2 Eggman scratching his ass

S3&K sound design

Hue Hue Hue

Werehog scream

Make believes reborn

This is the wrong room

Sonic walking like he's got erectile dysfunction in 3D Blast

Sonic saying WAHHHH every three seconds in the arcade game

well well, if it isn't sonic and tails... SILENCE IAMDOCTORROBOTNIK

The blood, sweat, and tears that went into Rouge's jiggle physics

Work that sucker to death, c'mon now, work that sucker to death

That's a load off my back

They were harmed after the creation of the park

The greatest character in cinematic history, Black Doom

Cope

All's well that ends well, right?

GBA compression doing nothing to offset Chaos Angel

Mean Bean Machine stranger danger faces

Maybe it's the G H O S T of Shadow we saw earlier

Eggman flying past the Babylon Rogues in full view on purpose

The sphinx was so cute, I had to shave it

Trip transforming into a better dragon than Dulcy

TA DAVY JOOONES WITH YE

:O ...goodthingyou'reokay

Don't worry buddy, Don't worry buddy, Don't worry buddy

Johnny GiOHHHHeli

Completing the road to adulthood by beating the antlion boss on Game Gear

Dear Sonic Heroes, GUESS WHAT SONIC HEROES

Yep, I'm the captain

Barrel

Yer a sheep shagger Knuckles

I'm Shadow the Hedgehog, no one tells me what to do, this is who I am

TRULY AMAZING *dies*

Tails' Wave Ocean being immediately followed up with Eggman saying "You have wasted so much of my time"

Sonic music cured my depression and also my rigor mortis

Initiating Recovery Mode

#Dumb Shit #Sonic the Hedgehog

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ineffabildaddy · 3 months

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favourite fic lines tag game

thank u @crowleyslvt for sharing this lovely idea and inviting me to do it!!! i’ve started doing it at work cause i’m bored lol. & i greatly enjoyed reading urs @captainblou and @ironriots so tysm for sharing!!!

For as many as you want of your published works, pick your favourite line/paragraph and post it up here. Let yourself feel proud of your creations.

as usual, explicit content incoming!!!

I Know

I know you want to interrupt me in the middle of a stammering sentence and lift your palm to my glowing cheek. I know you want to kiss me, gentle and fond as a fifteen year-old girl who silently watches the moon shimmer on the surface of a lake, shoulder to shoulder with the greatest friend she's ever known.

Flecks of Stardust

When I unmuzzle you

Moist, fertile earth spills out of your mouth

Preserved from the Eden days all these years

Nourished inside you like a measured promise

And when I unleash you

You remain beside the apple tree you were bound to

Beckoning me to bite once again

Strawberry Scripture

They came, in long rolling waves, at once, breaths squeezed out between yeses and fucks and darlings and angels, sweat trickling off skin and heat emanating off scales and fire casting two souls in iron, never again to be melted into separation. Aziraphale's spend leaked from Crowley's cunt and gushed down the plated finish of her thighs when he pulled out, and it was pure, it was good, it was right, it was just.

you’re so golden

For the first time, Crawley entered Aziraphale that night, chest fluttering and palms slick and dick flaring with ardent rhapsodies while Aziraphale rolled his hips again and again, seizing the flesh protecting Crawley's throat into his mouth each time Crawley's head fell back against the bark of the tree. By the time Crawley's dick twitched and streamed inside Aziraphale, every one of the freckles on his tanned shoulders was obscured by obscene purplish marks, which were not in view of either party, but were nevertheless making their presence known by way of pushing aching bursts all the way through to Crawley's bones. Drooling and hazy, Crawley allowed his eyes to buzz back into focus on the sheen of Aziraphale's stretch marks while he caressed Aziraphale's straining shaft, and oh, fuck, Aziraphale's spend was flecked with gold just as his skin was. In that moment, with Aziraphale squirming on Crawley's softening cock and showering his own belly with starlight, the words I love you sprung to Crawley's mind, although Crawley had very little concept of what those words meant.

Despite Knowing Better…

He paused a breathy, open-mouthed pause, and then: "I wish you could see yourself like this. My dirty, gorgeous slut."

Crowley's hips fidgeted. She pushed her ass further upwards and outwards, grinding against the air, against nothing.

"The sight of you, it's... it's nothing short of obscene."

The demon's eyes flew open. They were flooded, inundated, overrun with amber; not a sliver of white could be seen framing her irises. Her lids drooped slightly as she stared up at him. She was drooling so heavily now that streaks of her spit oozed from her mouth even as Aziraphale fucked it. Aziraphale beheld these developments with a laboured, guttural exhalation.

"Come here."

I’m Beginning to See The Light

"'Course, angel. Just need you nice and open for me first." Crowley's lashes lowered and he ran his tongue across his bottom lip as Aziraphale squirmed on Crowley's fingers, grinding his dick against Crowley's thumb. "That's it. Good boy, fuck my fingers, just like that." Aziraphale smashed his face into the pillow as his hips stuttered and he felt his dick throbbing. "Yes, yes, come for me, sweetheart, you were so so hard for me, you must have been that way for hours, bet that must feel good." The sweeping motions of Crowley's hips came to a halt, but resumed when Aziraphale lifted his face again and begged Crowley not to stop, pleaded with him to carry on. Crowley swallowed thickly, meeting Aziraphale's sleep-bleared eyes with his glassy ones as he fulfilled Aziraphale's request. "Fuck, you like it when I do this? Gorgeous boy, darling boy, you're killing me."

no pressure tags: @raining-stars-somewhere-else @createserenity @robinwithay @foolishlovers

#good omens #fanfic #ineffabildaddy #tag game #<3 <3 <3

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popculturebuffet · 5 months

Text

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye Retrospective: Rememberance Day (Issues 12-16) (Patreon review for Brotoman.Exe)

Hello all you happy autobots! And welcome back to my long retrospective of Transformers More than Meets The Eye: The greatest comic about robuts in the known universe.

After a long road, a beetle themed detour and tons of tie ins, one shots and other needed stuff, we're FINALLY almost at the end of Season 1 and to help speed things along, Brotoman gave me some extra money to get through Dark Cybertron. That also means we have a pretty baked in schedule through april so here it is: After this review i'll be covering Remain in Light, the season 1 finale, next week. January is a recap of MTMTE's sister series Robot's in disguise. I volunteered for this one as I felt with Dark Cybertron relying heavily on RiD's history, I should reaquaint myself with it.

We'll then take another break for a Fizzarolli retrospective in Feburary, and then begin dark cybertron in may, with the plan to have it in two or three parts. After that barring any other side trips or what not, it's SEASON 2 BABY, the series best. It also means easing up a bit on the sidetrips: there's still two whole minis to go into and a christmas special but both are shorter and with our two issue schedule the pacing won't be as nettled.

As for the present these two arcs represent MTMTE hitting it's stride: The books always been good and these reviews have been almost two years of gushing. I have ocasional gripes but overal the series is just pure excellence. This is simply the best of the best: all the character and plot setup for the season paying off in the most awesome, heartbreaking and horrifying ways possible. These arcs are great, but I dreaded getting to them as they will rip your heart out of your chest guaranteed.

See while John Roberts built up an impressive cast of characters, almost all from characters' whose history before this could best be described "That one guy over there in the background" or "That transfomer you got at a yard sale that was a bitch to identify", he wasn't afraid to say goodbye to his creations, even the main characters, and got that this story.. needed life and death stakes.

It's how death SHOULD be handled in comic books: not a publicity stunt done half assed and undone in months, not a massacre to "raise stakes", simply when the story calls for someone to die.

So the question to those of you who haven't read it is simple: who dies tonight? Well i'll tell ya'll under the cut.

Before and After

Admitely these first two issues are less an arc and more two more standalones. As usual for MTMTE these are ripe for setup and Before and After feels like an out and out prelude to Reemergence Day, so the bundling fits.

Before and After has a unique structure, flashing both to the Autobots preparing for a strike on a Decepticon fortress on Sensenica. It's the first real Autbots Vs Decepticon battle we've seen: while there was one in Ratchet's arc, it was more a smokescreen for Pharma and Fort Max took them down quickly and messily.

Here it's an actual battle: a bunch of decepticons who shall remain nameless and largely unimportant to the overall scheme of things have been bleeding organic's dry for energy, so our heroes go down to stop it. For the sake of clarity i'm not going ot be covering the issue as structured as it's a lot.

The good news: our heroes are able to take the fortress, free the organics, save the day. The bad.. is there is a lot of injuries in the process, and that's the real intresting part of this issue: while the battle is neat, I often forget it and it really just kinda comes and goes: what's important.. is the after effect: Swerve, Rewind and Cyclonus were all horribly injured and we don't find out why till the tailend of the issue for the latter two.

For swerve.. he shot himself in the face while trying to figure out his gun while Chromedone and SKids fought a giant dinosaur. This guy is snapdragon and yes I looked him up on the grounds he fought two characters while transformed and apparently bathes in the blood of his enemies when he can't find sludge as he has a senstive butt.

So while this goes on it's down to Rewind and Tailgate. Tailgate is, allegedlys, a bomb disposal expert, and thus has to take out a bomb hooked to the organics with Rewind's help. Also of note is that Rewind and Chromedome are fighting.

Rewind is PISSSEEED Chromedome keeps hacking heads, while Chromedome is mad Rewind won't stay out of action. So naturally it's the perfect time for Rewind to go boom as the two little guys simply can't stop it. Rewind stays to mitigate the blast... and Cyclonus tosses Tailgate out taking the blast himself.

The prognosis for both.. isn't good. Rewind is a tiny bot.. and that means it's harder for him to bounce back from this, with Red Alert floating his Spark Jumping idea from his intro arc, a nice call back I honestly forgot about. Of course it'd crop up again and naturally, Chromedome is a spark type match for Rewind.

While Chromedome recovers from it as the process.. isn't exactly plesant. So while he recovers he talks to Tailgate. Chromedome admits when he's told Cyclonus still survivied that it's a shame... though what I like is when Tailgate asks him fi he really meant that.. he admits it.. but also admits he shouldn't of said it to Tailgate and apologizes, admitting thigns are just stressful. Tailgate calls rewind Chromedome's best friend

That flub aside, Chromedome admits that he's not #1 in his boyfriend's heart.. there's someone else, just above him.

So we get Rewind's backstory which as usual is important for later: Rewind was a member of what was called at the time "The disposable class". There aren't many left and it's easy to see why as the disposables were basically slaves, with Chromedome flat out admitting that's what they'd call them now. It makes him one of the oldest and is why he has a memory stick of all alt modes: he was made for just one purpose and that purpose was being a comically large usb drive.

This changed when Rewind met Dominus Ambus, Scientest, Doctor, Author Explorer and that one ex of your partners you can never live up to. Tailgate for his part says he hates the guy. That's a good friend tailgate.

Anyways Ambus used Rewind as a memory drive but treated him kindly, giving him premium energon instead of the cheap stuff and realizing in the process that the disposables were just autbots and just as sentient as any other, and started campaiging for their rights. He seemed to succeed but trying to find a cure for Cybercocis he and Rewind left to find Luna 1, Cybertron's missing moon because like any missing thing of legend, you just gotta assume it has the cure for anything.

They failed, and what's worse they came back to a planet at war. All hell had broken loose and the two underwent the right of the autobrand.

So cut to years later in the war and Chromedome, already not having the best mental health for his years in psi ops and other traumas, has decided to unalive himself. Which is harder than it sounds for a transformer: their bodies are built to be nigh on indestructable and Chromedome can't really try sucicide by comabat as it'd put others in whatever unit he was in at risk. So instead he went to a relinquishment clinic, with what clinics left offering assisted suicide.

This ends up saving Chromedomes life as he hears a scream.. and it turns out to be Rewind who was checking the bodies. And that, dear readers is the main reason Rewind's on the lost light, the reason for the snuff film footage he got earlier: he's been looking for Dominus anywhere there's bodies in hopes of getting closure with Chromedome along for the ride. Dome assumes that's why he goes into battle.. but Tailgate has a more optimstic take: Rewind loves him and simply wants to be there to support him.

Either way things aren't looking good as it turns out chromedome's spark has a low yield. As he stated earlier he was born dry and thus dosen't hae a lot of ennermost energon. Ennermost energon is a brilliant concept: it's the energon closest to a bot's casing, their essence. Being robots, Cybertronians naturally run into a ship of thesus paradox oftne with most of their original parts long gone. The innermost energon is the part of them that's always there, the one part that, along with the spark itself, will always be then

So as a gesture of love when someone is dying, possibly may survivie may likely not, a bot puts a portion by them. Tailgate hearing this.. decides to do the same for Cyclonus. This being Cyclonus he's not only not quite dead, but an asshole about it, saying he dosen't care about tailgate they don't have a bond, etc... but in a touching moment instead of keeping up his abuse of the poor guy after smashing the jar.. he goes to help him pick it up. Despite trying to distance himself, despite trying to push Tailgate away.. they have a bond. And he can't deny that.. I mean he will, it's Cyclonus, he has the emotoinal maturity of a very angry stump, but he's at least TRYING to not be as closed off.

As for Chromedome he's not doin so hot and in his lowest moment a mysterious voice says something VERY prowl like: the decpitcons are still a threat and this proves it and there's something Chromedome can do to help. He wants to show him something in the basement.

Thankfully Rewind's alive, and of all people it was whirl who donated.. and whose uncharcatristically nice. It's almost as if he's hiding something and.. yup as we find out in the final pages turns out he locked the door to attempted murder cyclonus and Rewind got caught in it.

Cybertronian Homesick Blues

CHB is a fun issue, what SEEMS to just be some fun shenanigans and an excuse to make human forms for the cast.

So Mags is wound tighter than usual, having thrown several people, Swereve included in the brig for general nonsense.. which as Rodimus notes is all kinds of fucked up. I mean it'd usually just be two or three kinds, but they have dangerous criminals down there now along with Fort Max, who is dangerous but isn't out to hurt anybody anymore, so he's not exactly going to prison shank anyone.

Rodimus can see a problem coming and decides to help: the Lost Light's approaching Hedonia, a vacation planet ala Risa from Star Trek, but saying the quiet part loud. He asks Swerve to take him to relax, threatning the bar if he dosen't, and Swerve to his credit genuinely tries to bond with Ultra Magnus, bringing most of his close friends to help with the task: Rewind, Rung, Skids, Tailgate and Whirl. Whirl isn't exactly a close friend but you try telling Whirl he can't come and see how many limbs you have left.

Due to anti robot prejudice , our heroes can't enter EVERY section so they set up Holomatter Avatars to go into those sections and drink it up, having disabled Mags DiD chip. Said chip keeps fuel from hitting transformers at full impact, i.e. keeping them from getting plastered unless they WANT to get plastered.

Naturally as you can imagine Mags is going through something and is thus a pretty depressed/angry drunk and has a full on breakdown

It's very obvious that Ultra Magnus.. is having a crisis of faith. His whole point is to be unflinching unchanging and as seen in the Annual the idea of NOT being that is propsterous to him.. and now we see that even with his acceptance in that story.. ti's not easy. Change.. often involves a lot of backsliding first. Personal growth is not easy, take it from me, so naturally the idea of being more than the tight ass he's SUPPOSED to be is tearing the poor bot apart. He also takes it out on swerve saying people like him because he's funny and that he's shirking his responsibliteis iwth the bar plan, not beliving Swerve's half hearted defense of it... causing the little guy to open up.

It's a deeply painful sentence.. and one that's all too damn relatable. I often feel this way wondering if people like me for anlysizing shit and being mildly amusing or for me.

MOst of the rest of the issue is holomatter hyjinks, as our heroes are forced to cary Magnus, who accidently drank something REALLY strong across a human section in their disguises. The disguises.. are really neat, with special note to Tailgate as a baby, Rung's neat hat, Whirl as a murder child and my faviorite, Magnus.. using Verity's likeness. A nice little nod, make sme hope the two do actually meet again.

At any rate our heroes succeed, but we have some important story stuff before we move on to the main event: first I forgot how the story really started.. with Drift busting in to stop Cyclonus from.. singing. Turns out no one was in danger, it was just ancient cybertronian and beautiful, with Rewind recording it.. only to be hastily shouted to get out.

While this seems lke Standard cyclonus.. he was covering. Turns out Tailgate's stories about being in the primal vanguard, being important, all his big puffed up stories are a lie. He wasn't even bomb disposal, he's WASTE disposal, he was just able to bluff himself through the bomb just enough. It's all a lie. Yet it wasn't to feel special or anything.. it's for much more tragic, entirely understandable reasons.

It's a painful moment.. and an understandable one. He should've been found easily.. but got lost for CENTURIES.. and no one cared. No one noticed. It's not hard to see why the little guy didn't want to admit that. While cyclonus is right Tailgate can't keep lying forever.. he sees why he started it and sees that Tailgate might be the ONLY person who understands his pain, the only person who knows what it's like to wake up in a world that just left you behind and dosen't seem to have a place for you. So he teaches Tailgate how to sing cybertronian.

And from that heartwearming moment.. more depression as this issue was Swerve trying to commuincate with Blur.. only it turns out like Tailgate that was a lie. The two never knew each other, swerve only met him once with a plan and the bar is sipmly.. trying to fill the space with something. He also offers Ultra Mags to be roomy.. but Mags coldly shoots him down, saying their not friends. It's a pretty solemn ending to what SEEMED to be a wacky one off... and it's only going to get worse from here.

Rememberance Day:

We begin wtih the story of Overlord's birth. Two hapless minors find his, call it in and their superior calls for someone to come down. That someone is Three of Twelve, one of the functionist council, a loose council that preached functionism, aka alt mode dictates class, the kind of prick Dominus Ambus was rallying against. These guys will be important next season but for now he's just here to point out how important that is, give the guy who called it in an award and tell the miners they have 6 hours to live from the radation.

Overlord is a point one percenter. A point one percenter is a green spark found in the tiniest fraction of the cybertronian population. Said sparks are treasured and their wielders are often the toughest, most nigh unstoppable bots out there. It's why Overlord is such a juggernaught and why it took so much to bring him down on Garrus 9, as well as a retroactive reason why the deceiptcons he had under his boot didn't just revolt. Other phase sixers for scale include Fortress Maximus, Ultra Magnus, Optimus Prime, Megatron, Scorponok, Shockwave, Tarn, Roller and of course, He, Grimlock, with Megatron weaponziing this fact, hence why so much of this list is purple.

We then cut to the finale of Last Stand of the Wreckers, just before overlord went boom.. and find an univitied guest; Chromedome. Turns out he's been going into Overlord's mind looking for something, and makes the fatal mistake of telling him about it, mostly becaues he needs to rummage. Overlord is a Phase Sixer, what Megatron would call in to finish off a planet along with most of those guys mentioned. As a result the only person whose really easlily pummled overlord.. is Megatron himself.

After a few more cups of punch to the face we find what Chromedome's after: the memory of Overlord's true birth. He was put in Megatron's fucked up super solider program, using a very unstable very rare Ununtrium, the same stuff used to make Sixshot. While Rossum, the tech and likely the person responsible for naming Rossum's trinity, pumps him full of goo. Megatron isn't AS suicidal as he sounds doing this sort of supervillian origin story, having had SHockwave throw in a killswitch. Overlord awakens.. and takes after his new dad, smashing Rossum's head as his first act of new life.

This seems to be the end: Rossum warned during the procedure the heat could kill him and the substance itself could kill Megatron: While he's currently assumed dead by the crew, Chromedome is sure he'll come back.. and is right as he returned towards the end of RiD season 1 and plays a key part in both Dark Cybertron and this series from Season 2 onward.

Then.. things take a turn. Overlord remembers where he met Chromedome before: the New Institute. Turns out Chromedome was a brainwasher, with Zeta Prime redubbing the insittute.. but not really changing it and using it for the same brainwashing. Overlord broke in in the early days of the decepticons and stole Trepan, who we met in Shadowplay.

And that theft is WHY Overlord now has taken control of the situation and is going into Chromedome's memories instead: turns out Overlord tried to dabble in mnemosurgery, thinking he could use it against shockwave and undue the killswitches. Megatron isn't stupid though and the second he got wind of what was going on killed Trepan. So while Overlord can't hack int oa mind, he learned enough to take it over, not helped by the fact that Chromedome is scared shitless of the guy , as anyone would be and despite his attempts to hide it, overlord easily picked it up.

So we instead go back to the day of loading.. and a conversation we hadn't seen. In a twist i'd honestly forgot but is entirley brilliant.. Prowl had already MET with Chromedome... and it was about Overlord. As for why he's in tact, Bumblebee has mercy and didn't want to abuse POW's, so he rebuilt the body.

Prowl's intrest is in making their OWN phase sixers: while most Autobots, Chromedome included, assumed they were just freak accidents of nature, Prowl is right about something for once: there's so many that are decipticon, WHY is that. So he wants to find out why, and wnats Chromedome to do it despite being a MASSIVE risk.

Chromedome, as you'd expect tells Prowl to go fuck himself in the poltest manner possible: the war's over, this really isn't necessary, and Rewind really woudlnt' want him doing this. Prowl then enters peak dickhead.. and for once actually suffers for it.

It's a horrible act that has legit consequences over in RID, leaving Prowl free to be brainwashed. Yet.. it's hard to feel too bad as Prowl was trying to blackmail his ex to do something highly shady and ENTIRELY not approved by the rest of Autobot High Command, something that would've likely destroyed Cromedome's relationship anyway. So it's a bad act.. but it's on a deserving victim and seeing Prowl crying no as he's abotu to be brainjacked is just.. so satisfying.

We then finally get the face behind this conspiracy: Drift. The last person you'd expect as he takes Chromedome to talk to Brainstorm. Brainstorm made the cell and is in on it.. but unlike Drift knows what a stupid idea this was, calling it project: total insanity and project :end in tears. Both accurate. The only people who know about this , as far as Drift says, are in this room as Shock and Ore did the loading but as we know both died horribly. Drift is the one who suggested the idea nd brings up the slow cell, Overlord's prison that slows down time for the user.. and that despite his best efforts to stop it, Chromedome's memory shows Overlord how to unlock.

Overlord locks Chromedome in and since, as Overlord figures out, Chromedome did this without anyone else knowing, Overlord now has a lead to go kill people. As he chillingly puts it "Run as fast as you can Chromedome, your already too late".

Under Cold Blue Stars:

Before we get to the tragedy above.. we have to get to the tragedy bellow: Chromedome escapes.. but thanks to the slow field it's been half an hour... and what he finds...

Yeah our heroes.. aren't doing so good. It's something that, despite reading this comic twice before this... had never registered; Overlord.. is strong enough to take on the ENTIRE lost light and WIN. It's taking EVERYONE they have just to hold him BACK. It does make perfect sense: not only is overlord a literal monster, able to tank hits he's spent his career wiping out planets and autobots and his last experince before this was months as the horrifiying dark god of his own planet, most of which was a game of "how many ways can I have my minons creatively murder and torture autobots?". Our heroes, despite their ragtag nature on paper, are GOOD, but their in tight quarters trying not to hit each other while overlord would gladly use one of them to smash through the others omniman style if he had a way to. He wants to kill EVERY , LAST, BOT simply as a warmup. He COULD leave to go find megatron, maybe by killing everyone on cybertron and using the bodies to spell out "HI DAD". But he just can't resisit the torture it'd put chromedome through. He's a sadist... while his main motive may be

He has hobbies.

So you may say to yourself: well, how did we get here, so we go back 30 minutes to the start of this rampage. We see Pipes again, who I honestly forgot existed and whose asking blaster if commuincations are back with Cybertron yet, and since Pipes intended recipient is a friend of Blasters, Blaster goes ahead and forwards it while Whirl, whose naturally there to blow shit up, mocks him.

I didn't think much of this... till Pipes runs into someone.. overlord, who gladly squishes him under his boots with Pipes getting a fairly effective and horrifying death: bleeding out, scrunched to hell.. he uses what little spark he has left for one last push to do the one thing he CAN do to warn everyone else

It makes me tear up.. and again, I FORGOT THIS GUY EXISTED. Roberts is just that good a writer, taking a character whose last major part in things was back in issues 3 and 4 and then NOTHING, and making you feel gutted the poor guy is dead... using what he had left to warn everybody.

So we then rewind again to where everyone was when the emergency alarm went off:

We start naturally with Rewind, whose worried about Chromedome and came to Brainstorm's lab to talk to him. Swerve's just here to accidently activate a meta bomb that gives him forth wall powers. Or make him thinks he has them, like with Deadpool it's left vauge. Rewind is wondering where his boyfriend is and is suspcious of Brainstorm since CHromey keeps saying Brainstorm's name.. though not in a sexy way but in a screaming it as he wakes up way. Brainstorm for his part, while very good at subterfuge to a point. .blabs about a secret project, wtih Swerve distracting them before the alarm goes off.

Rodimus is having Perciptor, the less fun genius aboard look at the map to the knights of cybertron and after having him dumb it down a few shades we get to the point: the thing can't be copied. This setup with the finale is interupted and we go to Rung, whose gone to Visit Fort Max. Max invited him down.. to apologize, planning to give a speech but realizing that was more for him and admitting the shock, waking up after garrus 9, he was in bad shape and genuinely asks if Rung can forgive him. And Rung.. instantly does. Not only has Rung been around for eons.. but he's a therapist. He spent the whole hostage situation trying to talk max down best he could. He can forgive.

Finally we have Skids wondering why Cyclonus is on the warpath.. thankfully JUST a metaphor, otherwise there'd be more than two corpses today, but he's mad Tailgate is hosting movie night at their place.

We end this catchup with Ratchet, whose pissed off Rodimus is being caviler about this, both because these don't go off for some reason.. and he made a joke about Ratchet's hands. Come on rodders.. that's way too easy. You can do better.

Drift is out and about to investigate.. and happens to benearbye as both bots see Overlord. We also get a really nice moment of bonding with the two, showing tha tbeneath their constant bickering.. they care about each other. More over time but we'll get to that. When Drift tries to get Ratchet to barricade himself in.. he refuses. He'll lock down the clinic.. but they fight and if needed die together. Ratchet calls Rodimus to get EVERYONE down there and tells him if he dosen't make it.. tell first aid he's ready and tell all his patients they'll have to make new apointments.

Thankfully one of the best characters in this comic dosen't go down swinging as everyone arrives to throw down. They do their best, but naturally their best bet is the only other .1%er they have... Magnus. And while he SEEMS to do well, pounding Overlord's face in as he heavily regrets not being there on G9 when everything went to shit.. only for that classic reveal that always means your fucked.

IT's a shocking, horrific moment as one of the main cast, one of their leaders and seemingly their best hope.. is down. Magnus hoped to make up for Garrus 9.

It's also why I feel last stand is necessary to read these books after this read througH: while you CAN without it, Overlord's appearnce just dosen't have the same impact till AFTER this.. and just how badly Magnus falls here dosen't. After feeling he was slipping more and more.. he once again fails.. this time in a way he simply can't cope with. And the consequences.. will not be great.

And not suprisingly "Sword through the chest" seems incuriable: his spark is detaached and while First Aid can slow it down.. he can't stop it, and while everyone else is trying their best.. they can't do much. So drift has Swerve give him the com to call for backup.. the one person whose NOT here.

So just as Overlord has Rodimus by the throat he makes the mistake of asking for last words.. as the natural "Till All Are One" you'd expect... sends him panicking .. and leaves him wide open for..

God that felt good. It's not remotely over though as we find out why Fort Max had this opening: turns out Domey , while recklessly charging into a known mass murderer's brain, was still JUST smart enough to leave a trigger in there in case Overlord got out, something that would make him feel he was loosing which , since Overlord is deathly afraid of defeat, would send him spiraling. And in one of the best uses of a gag as a chekov's gun i've seen, only topped by something in next season's finale, he made it till all are one because Rodimus won't stop saying it.

As Rewind lays in shock,w ondering what the helld omey's been up to, Chromedome inacts plan b, asking Fort Max to drag overlord over yonder back to his cell. While Prowl is many things, most of them varations of rat bastard motherfucker, he IS prepared and made Overlord's cell detachable for if, or if your smart like Brainstorm WHEN this stupid plan backfired. Problem is there's a sword jammed in the way of the hatch... someone has to go pull it out.. and rewind is small enoguh, brave enough, and sad enough to pull it off, saying a tearful goodbye to cromedome as the pod detaches. To make matters even worse... Cromedome then has to blow the fucker up as he'd rather not leave the love of his life who was just about to leave him anyway with a sadistic murderer. And all that's left.. is

IT's one of the saddest moment sin the whole comic, and trust me there will be more and one of the best character death's i've seen. A big as screwup as bringing overlord aboard, a bigger one of him getting out.. it needed weight. LIke I said, Roberts knows it's best to kill a character when it's NECESSARy.. and Rewind going out lik ea hero sacrifcing himself so his friends and lover can escape, sadly bidding farewell knowing he's about to go through hell? It's a lot. It's a perfect sendoff to a great character, and a truly painful moment. Also if your wondering about the blood, Rewind took Chromedome's arm along with his heart.

The Gloaming

The gloaming starts with foreshadowing for the next arc: we see a bunch of ops with Ultra Magnus from the war.. but two things are off. The first is that he looks slightly diffrent each time.. and the second is he looks very dead at the end of each one.

This will make sense later but for now we're in the aftermath of overlord's attack: Drift is being repaired, and Ratchet is TRYING to repair mags.. but it dosen't look good. Using a death clock, a device that predicts how long a bot has left, he only has ten days at best and poor Tailgate breaks down over how unfair it all is: one friend is dead, another close to it...

And there aren't easy answers for everyone else either: Chromedome responds a little to Skids but it's very clear he's not remotely okay, while Rodimus has torn up his office. Rung tries to help.. but he's held back by the fact he dosen't know why Rodimus is REALLY upset: Rodimus thinks it's magnus, Rung thinks it's because he lost.. which is a good guess.. but it's not the right one. We'll find out why next time but for now with Rodimus launching an investigation into the incident.. he and Drift need to have a talk.

After that we get the funeral: Rodimus gives a wonderful speech as he's returned to the stars spock style pointing out how EVERYONE he met was better for having known him. Except Prowl, nothing can make that guy better> it's a sweet earnest speech.. which makes it odd that Rewind's actual partner.. can barely say a sentence.

Brainstorm notices.. and goes to confront dome. Not about the speech, most bots would likely chuck that up to bottling up his grief. But it turns out these two go back a ways.. and as a result we find out just WHY Chromedome has so little innermost energon and I really wish I could share the full scene as it's powerful and shows a more emotional side of the usually flippant Brainstorm we haven't seen till now: He knows what Chromedome's abotu to do and to prove it rattles off a bunch of names. All ones Chromedome dosen't recognize.. because they were all former Conjux Endura's. And after they died he wiped his memory of them to not deal with the pain. It's a hard reveal, and a well done one and throughly proves Rewind right about mnemosurgery being an addiction for him: After all grief is hard, loosing someone even harder.. if you had the option to just make that pain temporary it'd be incredibly tempting, near impossible to turn down. You loose the person.. but you also loose the knife in your gut every time you think of them and realize their gone. Sure you could say "Well i'd want to rmemeber them i'd want the pain" and the strongest among us probably could turn that down.. but it's harder when you have that option. It's why i'ts such a comeplling hook here and why the next part hurts so damn much

It fleshes out their friendship and Brainstorm a lot: he's had to watch his friend erase those he loved again, and again and again, tried and failed to talk him out of it time and again. All because he KNOWS what it's like to loose someone.. and that while the pain never goes away, it's better to have them with you. We'll get into how he knows that pain next time. For now the slug is the only reason history may not repeat itself.

So we get two scenes intercut: One is Rodimus before the rest of the crew.. as Drift takes full responsiblity for what happened and is stripped of his autobrand, banished and boo. It's a loss that hit harder this time as i'd gotten more attached to the guy, seen him nearly sacrifice himself, his deep faith, his argument flirting with ratchet.. it's hard to see him go even if he damn well deserves it after all this cost. There's no.. joy in this.. no catharsis. he screwed up, sure.. but it dosen't bring Rewind or Pipes back. It dosen't undue the pain and grief everyone has or fix anything. It's simply assining blame. I'm not saying Drift or a certain someone else we'll get to next time shoudln't be held acountable, but it dosen't make it easy to see him go.. or see Ratchet be the only one to comfort him showing that despite arguging constantly.. they ultimately were close as anyone could be. With this... Rodimus is alone, his command staff gone and it's not going to be easier to wear the crown going into the finale.

The other is a touching moment I can't really share in full here, two page spread and all, btu Rewind pieced together a message for Chromedome, knowing what he'd do if he was gone. He begs his partner to go on without him, that injecting will kill him.. and that he deserves to be happy. The New Institute isn't him anymore. And as one last note because he dosen't say it enough

It's a scene that's now become one of my faviorite: while it's hard to follow because of the various footage, when you put it all together.. it's a message of courage. Despite the guilt, despite the pain, despite al lthey went through.. rewind loved chromedome, as he was, for who he was.. and wants him to stay that way. To keep him with him. And so .. Chromedome , for the first time, sheethes his claws.. and chooses to live with the pain.

We then end on a cliffhanger: Ultra Magnus.. is missing. Someone stole him, he's just gone.. and if that wasn't enough.. Tailgate goes under the death clock light.. and dosen't have much time left.

If it wasn't obvious by now I love these issues: their heartbreaking, well done and read even better this time around: It's a tragic loss that's expertly crafted, and used entirely to push the characters forward, to really push them with one forced to leave, one seemingly kidnapped and one facing his own crippling issues.. .and finding the courage to live

Next Time: We finish season 1! If you thoguht things coudln't get worse for the lost light.. your wrong as they face an attempted genocide , a character we've seen named a lot but not actually met till now, an old foe and a cool as hell new one. Until then thanks for reading

#transformers #transformers more than meets the eye #comics #idw #james roberts #rewind #chromedome #rewind x chromedome #overlord #rodimus prime #ultra magnus #swerve

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ellssbellss · 2 years

Text

Lavender Roses ~ (Kyoya X Reader)

pairing- Kyoya Ootori x Reader

In which a rational head hides a generous heart, but you have always known how to see past his walls and help him bloom into the gorgeous rose he is.

Enjoy a slow burn between an honor student and our beloved glasses character!

-> word count: 6.5k

-> summary: You talk over their argument. “They’ve never fought like this before.” You say to Kyoya before looking up at him, seeing that he is taking the same level of interest you are.

“This is a very interesting development.”

-> i'm sorry it took me so long to get this out and it's so short, college is interesting lol.

see masterlist!: masterlist

The Twins Fight! pt. 1

“Kyoya! Oh my god, Kyoya!”

A bundle of mechanisms are caged into your palm as you burst through the club doors. Along with some of the guests that are not completely infatuated with the hosts in front of them, Kyoya’s gaze finds yours. For seemingly no reason at all, he is met with the widest, nearly manic smile he’s ever seen tightening across your lips. You laugh victoriously as you thrust your arm in the air and gently wave it, careful of the treasure that you bestow.

“I did it!” Your voice echoes across the music room towards him, and you miss the warning signs he sends you as your feet proudly carry you to Ootori’s table across the pink tile. You drop your forearms onto the wooden surface without grace, and let your fingers bloom open in front of the pale host’s face, showcasing your creation.

“I am the greatest partner in the entire country- no! The entire world!” (E/c) eyes rake over the assembly of wires with the most adoration you’ve ever given anything. “This baby will power anything with nothing but pure solar power! Because of the inevitable constant use of our product, our customers will never have to worry about batteries again until this thing is worn down to its motherboard.”

“(Y/n)-” Ignorant to the way his eyes dart to the seat in front of him, you interrupt the club’s director.

“Wait!” You put a hand on his shoulder, moving the invention closer to his gaze so that he can get a better look. “There’s more! Not only is it solar powered, but the wiring is so compact that my predicted initial measurements will pair perfectly to its size. That has never happened before!”

His lips move around clenched teeth. “(Y/n), I do not have time-”

“Just let me finish, I saved the best part for last!” You set the tangled technology on the table and begin passionately talking with your hands. “I am going to be able to assemble the entire thing to-night.” Emphasizing each syllable of that word, you struggle to contain an even bigger smile as you utter your next sentence.

“So after a few test runs, not only will we be able to put focus groups together like you wanted, but on top of that, we can also begin the marketing process, moving us way ahead of your schedule!” You excitedly gauge his reaction, but you are met with frustrated pieces of gaze staring back at you. Wincing at the sharpness, your eyebrows furrow.

You try again, thinking he may not have understood you. “In summary, along with the perfect engineering from yours truly, we are ahead of your precious schedule, so we are not only able to double-check each and every thing that you can think of, but we can take the necessary time to guarantee an A.” You fold your arms smugly. “How does that sound, Shadow King?”

Kyoya’s lips pursed as his aggravated stare shifts from anger to bored annoyance, a questioning eyebrow indenting his forehead.

You blinked, taken aback. This was not the reaction you were expecting.

Was he still mad at you? Were you speaking (n/l)?

That wouldn’t even matter, Kyoya was fluent in languages you had never even heard of.

“Look, I know you don’t like parading your emotions on your sleeve, but I need you to stand up from that chair and jump up and down with me as we celebrate getting the highest grade anyone has ever gotten from that goddamn, hard-ass professor.”

His visage hardens at your cursing, swallowing thickly as he sighs, the reflection of his glasses hiding his steel gray irises.

“Are you done?” The ravenet asks, not able to look at you.

You shake your head in confusion at his tone. “What?”

The pads of his fingers rise to rest against the frames of his glasses. “I asked if you were done, considering you requested for me to let you finish.”

“Oh!” Perking up, you're relieved as you realize that he was just saving his response for your ending statements. “Yeah!”

“Good.” To your horror, he turns stiffly to the seat across from him. “I’m terribly sorry for (Y/n)’s barbaric behavior, Monet-san.”

The weight of the situation cracks your shoulders slightly as you turn timidly to the girl poised in front of Kyoya. Perfect lips writhe over perfect teeth as Monet-san tries to keep her laughter in check at your interaction with the ravenet, mirth sparkling in her green orbs.

“(Y/n), would you please apologize to my guest here for so rudely interrupting our time together?” Kyoya gives you another look that makes it known that if you don’t repent right this second, you might be killed.

If you were anywhere else, you probably would’ve dropped to your knees. Instead, you opted for bowing in front of the French girl, a regretful expression painted on your face.

“I am so sorry, Monet-san.” You stand back up to look at her, trying your best to save face. “I got carried away with this project that Kyoya and I have been working on for a while now, and I just got totally caught up in this huge breakthrough-”

A giggle breaks your rambling like light coming through stained glass. The sweet blonde waves off your long-winded explanation with a tease of her wrist, her jewelry reflecting the light from the chandeliers above you. The tension in your body disappears as you realize that she’s not mad at all, and that you didn’t just ruin Ootori’s entire business.

Her french accent is embroidered in her voice as she laughs through her reply. “I appreciate the apology, but Kyoya and I were just saying our goodbyes.” She giggles again as she stands to pack up her things. Kyoya stands as well to help her out of her chair, and she curtseys in front of the two of you.

“You two fight like an old married couple.” She makes a last minute comment from over her shoulder as she makes her way out the large double doors. “But you both are so cute together.”

With that, the girl walks into the hallway, leaving the two of you frozen in place.

‘What did she just say?’

Both of you tried to process the fact that she had just mistaken you for a couple, and then you both tried to sedate the absolute spark that shot up your spine from being paired together so easily, fighting the smile that tugged at your lips.

‘Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. What do I do?’

Questions ran through your mind, but still neither of you said a thing. Kyoya was unhelpful, as his glasses shielded his true thoughts, so you did the best you could to mend the flustering silence.

Your first, and natural reaction to the boy beside you was to laugh it off, and fill the awkward space.

“Oh wow,” Finally breaking the stillness, you turn to fiddle with the contraption still lying on the red table cloth. “I’ve been spending too much time with you, it seems.” Another slightly forced chuckle escapes you as you peek at him again, trying to predict whatever thoughts are going through his mind.

A calculating gaze still rests on his face, an eyebrow raising as he still looks on to where the girl had just left. “Hm. I suppose so.”

His heart stuttered, but his face remained still.

You didn’t know it, but a million thoughts raced across the forefront of Kyoya’s mind like shooting stars, each one equally desperate and blazing as they twinkled for his attention. Thoughts about you and him together, being seen as an official couple. Kyoya tried to control the images that flashed into his imagination as he zoned in on Monet’s comment, but his starless mind suddenly became scattered with sparks at the notion of you being his.

And when he didn’t react to your teasing with some other retort, you started to worry. “I’m sorry if what she said made you uncomfortable.” You apologized, saddened by the possibility that he might be detested by the fact to even be associated with you in that way.

At your tone, Kyoya slightly tilts his head to you, and for the first time, notices the stretched silence. He clears his throat, loosening the muscles from their tightened position.

He sighed, hiding his emotions behind his wall and sinking back into his comfortable cool demeanor. “As long as it doesn’t become a rumor that decreases business, then she can say whatever she’d like. It doesn’t bother me.”

His words and lighthearted tone makes you relax a little, and you both dodge the rest of the awkwardness when his attention points back to the invention on the table.

“Tell me more about this.” Kyoya says, and his long fingers gingerly grasp the contraption to review it at all angles.

Beaming like a fangirl over your own creation, excitement fills the air as you center yourself in front of him in order to give him the full run down.

“This is the thing that is going to take our project to the next level. Everything is compacted to a usable size, and solar powered for optimal use.” Kyoya feels another spark of a feeling from your close proximity, but also from the glow that emits from your tone as you talk about your passion.

“And we are ahead of schedule?” He asks, and you proudly nod your head.

Ootori raises an eyebrow, a content and proud simper falling onto his lips as he twists his wrist to survey your invention even further.

A happy hum vibrates in his chest when he looks at you, both of you appreciating the closeness once more. “This is very impressive, (Y/n). Fantastic job.”

And just then, as the validation from your new found crush triggers another flutter in your chest, you both find yourself lost in the color of each other's eyes. There’s a gravity to him that keeps you there, but unfortunately, you’re only able to stay in his orbit for a moment.

“(Y/n)~” A pair of sing-song voices float over the small bustle of the club room, and suddenly the twins are perched on each of your shoulders.

“Sorry, Kyoya-senpai…” Kaoru says, placing a green hat on his head.

“But we need to steal this one from you.” Hikaru finishes, mirroring his brother with his own cap.

When you see the forest green apparel that they shared, you shake your head assertively. “Absolutely not.”

“Come, on, (Y/n)! Let’s play a game!” Their arms move from your shoulders as they link with yours, and you are suddenly dragged to the center of the club room. Kyoya does nothing to end your suffering, but he is slightly peeved that the moment was ruined.

A group of girls await the twins as they set you upright. Soon after, they tilt their hats to cover their expression and do a practiced dance around the guests as they shuffle themselves to confuse their audience. It reminds you of two magicians, demonstrating an act they’ve performed millions of times to the point where it was second nature.

Suddenly, the blur of orange hair settles, and the brothers lift their caps up slightly to show their fox-like faces. “Let’s all play the ‘Which One is Hikaru?’ game!” They posed in a reflected fashion, one hand up and the arms closest to each other were crossed in an ‘X’ shape.

The guests around them blush while you just sighed and turned to look out the window, shifting your weight to your other foot. It was hard to see them play this game over and over again, only for all of these girls to get it wrong.

“What kind of game is this?” A down-to-earth voice sounded next to you as Haruhi appeared by your side. Turning to her, you chuckle sadly, watching the three girls in front of them ponder the age old question: Which One of Us is Hikaru?

“They put on caps to cover the parts in their hair, i.e. the only physical attribute that distinguishes them. Then they sit in front of these poor guests and ask them to tell which one of them is Hikaru.” You shake your head.

“I get why they do it, but it can be tough to watch them get let down. Plus, I think it’s a little bit biased. Why can’t they guess which one is Kaoru? Hikaru is such an attention whore.”

Haruhi laughs at that and watches the brothers as they flash more poses in front of the guests. “That’s the dumbest game I’ve ever heard of.”

Your eyes widened, and before you could stop them, the twins spin around, placing a hand on their hips.

“What, you’ve got a problem with it, Haruhi?” They speak in unison, careful to not give any hints to the answer to their game.

“Not really. I just don’t understand why you two are so popular.” Haruhi retorts, and you beg her to stop talking. Your best friend was so so smart, and yet so so dumb.

“That’s not very nice.” Sauntering up to her, they take off their hats and throw them in your direction. Suddenly, you were a human coat rack.

“I’m disappointed.” Hikaru’s voice lulls into something bored.

Kaoru copies his attitude. “It seems like you don’t understand the merits of having a pair of twins as members of the host club.” They rest themselves on either side of Haruhi, ready to give her the run down you’ve heard so many times before.

“Having a couple of good looking guys with homosexual tendencies earns the club high points. It also helps if the two struggle between their friendship and their attraction.”

A pair of (e/c) eyes slid to a certain ravenet, then quickly reverted back to the moment.

“And in our case, because we’re twins, our relationship is taboo, and therefore more intriguing.”

You scrunch your nose up at the guests who swooned in front of you. But before you can leave, the hats are jostled from your grasp as Hikaru and Kaoru slide into your line of sight.

Hikaru gets closer to you than you’d like, and you feel soft skin coast against the bottom of your chin as he puts a palm under your face, tilting your head up slightly.

His breath is in your ear as his deep voice resounds within you. “And besides, who hasn’t fantasized about twins? Having two loves is better than one, don’t you think?”

Kaoru’s hand replaces his brother’s as your head is adjusted towards the other twin. “It’s a young woman’s fantasy.”

Nearly forgetting who was talking to you, a blush rushes to your cheeks before you can stop it. But soon, reality sinks in and you nearly want to gag. You flick them off and walk towards Kyoya and the others, mumbling under your breath. “You pervs.”

It was a good thing too, that you got away from them. When the twins watched with a victorious smirk as you stomped off, the expression was drained off their faces from a certain dark purple glare that met them from the otherside of the room.

When you got to the safety of Kyoya’s side, you were rolling your eyes at the twin’s antics, taking some of the tension from the Ootori son, but not all of it.

The twins went back to being smug, but around here, you knew that there was never a break from the chaos. Large steps were heard from down the hallway. Dress shoes smacked against tile as Tamaki sprinted into Music Room #3, a fury mixed into his violet eyes.

“Hikaru! Kaoru!” The blonde skidded in front of the twins, and you could almost see a vein popping out from where you were standing.

The twins looked at him with a blank expression in response, only making the prince angrier.

“When I gave you control of the club’s website, I did so on one condition! That you take it seriously!” Tamaki yells in their face.

Hikaru and Kaoru play innocent as they wave him off with a flick of the wrist. “We take our job very seriously, boss...”

“...In fact, last night we worked on it ‘til dawn.”

Tamaki grumbles as he fishes out his laptop. “Is this what you worked so hard to create?!”

Nearly tearing the screen of his laptop off its hinges, Tamaki opens the computer to reveal a very interesting picture.

“What the hell?” You ask lowly, as the club members group around the image before the guests can see it.

Depicted in pixels, You and Haruhi stand side by side. Haruhi has her back turned to the camera, her torso bare and smooth for the whole world to see. And to her right, you were poised on your knees, a sheet covering up the most sensitive of areas, and a sweet smile was plastered onto your face.

You’ve seen yourself enough times in the mirror to know that something wasn’t right.

At the sound of something snapping, you turn to your left to see Kyoya, shoving two halves of a shattered pen into his jacket pocket, only to pull out the spare he always carried. His black book sharply closed, and his glasses hid the club director’s expression. His previously dim aura grew into another significant size, and a hand rubbed at his forehead in order to soften the new stress in his features.

Your anger matched his when a swarm of guests took the laptop from you in order to gawk at the borderline porn that had just graced the internet.

“Tell me when.” Tamaki grumbles, and you knew he won’t be able to control his outbursts for very much longer.

“Huh?” The twins looked at him with questioning gazes.

Tamaki spins around, getting close and personal to the brothers who stole Haruhi's innocence. “Tell me when did you take pictures of Haruhi and (Y/n)?!” His face pales as he whimpers from the images reeling in his own imaginary mind-theater. “You bribed them, didn’t you?!”

The Hitachiians scoff and wave him off once again. “You’re imagining things.”

You huff. “It’s obvious the photo has been altered.” You clench your teeth as you make eye contact with the twins, trying to show them how much they messed up.

But they just smirk at your anger, happy to get some sort of satisfying reaction from their little prank.

Tamaki whirls around to you as a smidge of hope wedges its way back into his posture. “It was…photoshopped?”

Both gingers strut over to their boss, smugness radiating off them like a foul smell. “We did a pretty good job, huh?” Hikaru asks.

“We’ve got some major photoshopping talent.” Kaoru finishes, slinking up to Tamaki’s side.

The prince throws them off, his rage coming back into full bloom. “You idiots!” Tamaki reels between them as he scolds them both. “That’s a waste of your skills! Have you no shame?!”

And just when you feel validated in your embarrassment, Tamaki groups together tightly with the twins with a photobook in his hand. “But if you’re going to do it anyway, can you photoshop them into this idol photobook?”

You roll your eyes as Haruhi’s face loses its color.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Boss…” When they see your reaction, Hikaru and Kaoru begin to push the prince towards the pair of you, ready to ignite anarchy.

“Why don’t you just ask them yourself?”

Tamaki thinks, then brightens up a little bit more. “I never thought to ask them.”

Oh, poor, poor innocent Tamaki. With a large smile on his face, he stalks up to the both of you with an arsenal of charm and persuasion displayed at his fingertips. He holds up two very frilly dresses with a light blush on his face.

“What do you think about these, my dears?”

Haruhi stays frozen, and before you can really react at all, one of the dresses is taken from the boss’ grasp. Kyoya uncaringly tosses the pink fabric over his shoulder while continuing to look through his book, passing it to Mori, who throws it into the trash can next to him.

Tamaki stutters as he watches his fantasy quite literally be thrown away, but turns to find Haruhi glaring at him once again, which encourages him to walk away. Slowly.

The honor student lets out a breath she forgot she was holding since she saw herself bare chested on that computer and redirects her glare to the twins.

“Now cut it out. No more taking weird photos of me. You got that? Just what do you guys take me for anyway?”

Another egotistic scoff emanated from the Hitachiian twins as they wrap their arms around each other’s shoulders.

A synchronous reply comes from their smirking mouths. “Isn’t that obvious? You’re our toy.”

Hikaru continues. “In order to entertain one’s self in this otherwise boring life…”

“One must find himself stimulating toys.” Kaoru says with a smile that doesn’t fit his words. A laugh escapes the both of them and you resist a second eye roll.

“A toy? Why am I your toy?” Haruhi asks, crossing her arms while raising a delicate eyebrow.

“You took (Y/n)’s place when you broke that vase…” Kaoru explains.

“Plus, she was making it kind of boring.” Hikaru sulks as he turns to you. “It got dull when she started predicting our games.”

You stick your tongue out at them, and the three of you looked similar to a group of young siblings having a fight over who got the last cookie. But before you could sprout into another bickering argument, the sound of a creaking door attracted your attention.

A dark wood door slowly unbolted, swinging on its hinges to reveal a tall student in a dark cloak. You didn’t recognize him at all. In fact, had there always been a door there? Where did it come from?

“You want a toy?” The boy spoke in a wobbly voice, his tone sending a small shiver down your spine.

“Okay then…” You shifted slightly closer to Kyoya when a cold gust of air trickled in from the mysterious door and mixed into the clubroom.

The boy kept talking. “Toys, toys, if you like toys, then you should come out and visit my black magic club. We’ve opened a marketplace that boasts black magic items from across the globe. We’re also holding mass around the clock.”

“Black magic?” You questioned, looking between the cloaked figure and Tamaki, who looked even more scared than you were.

This boy stalks out even more, careful of the music room lighting, revealing a lit candelabra, and a small hand puppet in the shape of a cat.

“If you visit right now,” his growing closeness makes you inch even closer to Kyoya until you’re flush against him. “I’ll even throw in a free curse doll. You can have Belzenef as your free gift!”

Haruhi, ever the unphased, just cocks her head to the side. “Why is he talking to us through a crack in the door?”

Looking up at Kyoya, you add on to the brunette’s question. “And has that door always been there?”

Kyoya continues to write in his folder, but he gives you a small, comforting smile. “Nekozawa-senpai likes to hide, he doesn’t really care for brightly lit places.”

You feel slightly better until Tamaki rises up behind you. “Don’t get involved with that guy, (Y/n).”

You jump and turn around, ready to fight the black magic spirit that was released from the mysterious door.

“Holy sh-!” You take a breath from being startled. “Jesus, Tamaki.”

“If you do,” The prince stalks forward, his bangs covering his face and his tone dropping into one that would tell scary stories around a fireplace. “You’ll end up being cursed!”

“What?” Your voice rises a slightly higher octave as you spin around once again to look at Nekozawa.

Haruhi rolls her eyes and walks over to you, putting a hand on your shoulder. “Do you have any basis for that?”

“Yes. It happened during the final exams at the end of the last school year.” Sweat drips down the prince’s face as he zones into his past, barely being able to contain his fear. You’re on the edge of your seat, trapped in the suspense of what the fuck you should be thinking of this guy.

“On that fateful day, I accidentally stepped on that weirdo Nekozawa’s doll, Belzenef. Afterward, I took my exam, and the entire test was written in some strange lettering!” Gasping, you put your hands in front of your lips.

“I know! I looked at the others around me for help and realized I knew none of them! I was all alone in a different dimension!”

You, Honey and Haruhi cling together, almost as if it was playing out right in front of you. “Did that really happen to you?” Haruhi asks, a wobble in her voice.

Kyoya, who was behind you, sighs. “That only happened because you were so scared that you walked into the Beginning Greek class and took their exam.”

Tamaki whooshes past you as he debates with Kyoya, which was never the right thing. “No, it was a curse! I know because three days later I woke up and my legs felt as heavy as lead! Just how do you explain that?”

“Oh wait.” The tension in your shoulders flushes out as your mind thinks back to that very day. “Didn’t you run a marathon the day before?”

Tamaki’s posture deflates when he realizes that yes, he had run a marathon, and no, he didn’t experience what it was like to be cursed in any sort of fashion. You deadpanned and sat yourself next to Kyoya again, slightly embarrassed that you got roped into the myth of it all.

You and the supernatural didn’t mix very well. You weren’t weak, obviously, and would fight anything head on. But when there was a ghost that you couldn’t punch, that’s where you ran into a problem.

“You shouldn’t underestimate the dark powers of Belzenef the curse doll!” Nekozawa appears from nowhere, ready to defend his precious art. “All you have to do is write the name of someone you hate on his back. Then that person is certain to come face to face with misfortune!”

“Can I write Tamaki’s name on the back?” You mumble to Kyoya, earning yourself a sharp exhale through his nose.

The twins however, are unamused. They must change that.

“Wow this guy is dark in more ways than one…” Hikaru says to his brother.

“Supposedly he hates bright lights.” From your position next to your club’s director, you see Kaoru fish a flashlight out of his pocket. Where did he even get that? “I wonder what he’ll think of this?” And before anyone can stop them, they literally flashbang the poor black magic artist.

Nekozawa’s cloak whips to and fro as he zigzags across the clubroom, desperate to get away from the evil beam of light. “You murderers!”

He runs back into his dark dimension, slamming the door behind him.

“You guys are such dicks.” You say, arms folded across your chest.

“How could you guys do such a thing?!” Tamaki’s eyes fill with tears at the mere thought of the consequences from the twin’s actions. “You clearly don’t know the true terror of black magic!”

The twins turn to you, then the prince, then to each other. They shrug and ignore Tamaki’s pleas as they sit in a chair by the window.

Tamaki sulks in a corner about his leadership being ignored. You walk over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, giving some sort of royal comfort.

On the other side of the room, Hikaru sinks deeper into his chair. “I am so bored.”

Nodding, Kaoru rests his head on his chin. “Is there anything fun we can do around here?”

A collective sigh rushes through them as they stare out onto the campus below, a cascade of sunlight gracing their features.

It was a slight calm before the storm.

As usual, they soon had a fantastic idea in order to quench their thirst for chaos, and raised their hands to get Haruhi’s attention.

“Hey Haruhi! We’ve got a favor to ask you!”

Already at the end of her patience with these two, Haruhi tiredly turns to the Hitachiians. “What is it?”

“The next time we get a day off…” Hikaru leads.

“...Could we come over to your place to hang out?” Kaoru asks.

From your place next to the sulking prince, you roll your eyes again. It seems to be your initial reaction when you're around the twins. Tamaki shifts next to you, leaning towards the conversation slightly. It seems his pity party was forgotten at the mention of seeing Haruhi’s house.

Haruhi would never willingly let them into her personal space, let alone her home.

“Why would you wanna do that?” The brunette asks.

But, of course, the twins will persist.

“We’re curious~!” Fake innocence seeps through their voices. “We want to see where you live!”

“No way.” Haruhi states, a blank expression forming on her face.

And with that, an immovable force meets an unstoppable object.

“Aw, pretty please?” The gingers persist, moving closer to her.

“No way.” She repeats, putting her foot down. “You guys are just gonna make fun of me.”

“No matter how much we beg you?” They lean in a little closer.

“No. Way.”

Before you can blink, Tamaki stands up next to you, showering himself with persuasive charm. You followed him back to the center of the room, cautious of Haruhi’s reaction.

Rose petals seemed to surround him as he poses noblely. “I too have been thinking that it’s about time I pay my respects to our beloved Haruhi’s family!”

It was elegant. It was refined. It was beautiful. It-

“No way in hell senpai.”

It didn’t work.

Tamaki was immediately shot back into his emo corner.

Shaking your head, you try to hide the giggle that bubbled from your lips from the absolute shut down that the prince just experienced.

Turning your attention back to the twins, you didn’t like the mischievous look on their faces.

The tricksters put their fingers up in the air, suddenly deciding their next move.

“We can settle this with a game!” Their green hats make a reappearance from thin air, and as they settle them on their head, they get closer to Haruhi.

“If you can’t pick out which one of us is Hikaru, then your penalty will be the two of us coming over to your house later tonight!”

You step up next to Haruhi and wave your hands in front of you. “Guys, she already said no. Respect her boundaries.”

They pause, pretending to think on your request. “Mmmmm….no!”

You groan as they shuffle themselves once more.

“Okay!” They stop, their voices blending in perfect time. “So which one of us is Hikaru?”

You were about to whisper in her ear when the twins shook a finger out in front of them. “Uh-uh-uh! (Y/n) can’t help you.”

“Wow, (Y/n), you can tell them apart?” One of the guests peaks around the boys in front of you.

You nod with a small smile. “Of course, I’ve known them for over a year now.”

“But how?” Another one perks up.

You turn to them with a prepared reply, having to answer this many times before.

“Have you ever spent time with them alone?” You point to the both of the twins. “Completely different people.”

“It’s fine, (Y/n), I already knew anyway.” She points to a twin. “This one’s Kaoru, and this one is Hikaru.”

You stutter, turning to your best friend in wonder. It had taken at least 6 months for you to get it down to a science, and Haruhi just blew you out of the water.

“Uh oh, you got it wrong.” Their classic fake out, the ultimate test.

“No, I know I’m right.” Hikaru and Kaoru froze, the same amazement you had from earlier shaping their features. “You guys may look alike, but you’re very different.”

Suddenly, Haruhi was a god in your eyes, and you were unworthy.

The twins look at each other, their golden eyes glazed with a sense of nostalgia. Your heart swelled. Slowly, their walls were falling, and one more person was able to get over their barriers.

“How do you do that, Haruhi?” The same guests who were questioning you earlier focused their attention on the honor student. “Whenever they wear those hats to cover up which way they part their hair, it’s practically impossible to try and figure out which twin is which!”

“Yeah, how can you tell them apart?”

Haruhi raises some fingers to rest under her chin as she thinks. “Mm..well, how do I put it. It’s kind of difficult to explain.” She points to the left twin. “Hikaru’s speech and actions makes him come off a little more mischievous than Kaoru.”

There’s some silence before Kaoru, the twin on the right, begins to chuckle slightly. It keeps boiling through his posture before he is doubled over in laughter in seconds.

“Haha! I’m sorry Hikaru, I don’t mean to laugh.”

Hikaru rolls his eyes and glares at his brother. “Well, I don’t see what the problem is.” He bows his head and crosses his arms. “I’m honest, I speak my mind, and I don’t hold back.” He gives Kaoru another side eye.

“It’s sneaky people like Kaoru who are the real trouble makers.”

The laughter died down almost immediately as a cold tension stacked itself around the club.

“Don’t turn this on me, Hikaru. After all, I’m the one who is always going along with your selfish games.”

A defiant look takes over Hikaru’s stance. “I may suggest them, but you’re the one who really gets into them, Kaoru. If you hate it so much, then why don’t you just stop?”

Kaoru scoffs. “Because I’d hate to see you make an ass of yourself.” His eyes turn to Haruhi and then back to his brother. “It was your idea to call Haruhi our toy, but I noticed you were quick to make a pass at her.” Tamaki shoots out of his emo corner once again. “You’re actually in love with her, aren’t you?”

“Eh?!” The blonde next to you shrieks.

You scan the two siblings who were suddenly at odds. This has never happened before.

With a blush on his face, the last straw broke Hikaru’s back. “You’ve got it all wrong Kaoru! Man, you’re such a freaking idiot!”

The whites in Tamaki’s eyes are more apparent than ever. “Yeah, there are some things in this world that must never be said!”

“Why would I fall for her? She looks like a tanuki!”

Leaning into the dramatics of it all, you gasp and step forward to defend your friend. “How dare you call her a racoon dog?! You’re gonna pay for that!”

The twins back away as you reach for them, but a rumbling motor stops the entire club in it’s tracks.

“Perfect. This is just perfect!”

You freeze as a voice resounds through the room, grating against your eardrums in a great distaste. To your bad luck, Renge rises out of the ground on a motorized platform, her pink bow perky as ever.

“What the hell…” You say as you back up to make room for the machine coming out of the ground.

“Our beloved Haruhi is in the middle of a beautiful yet poignant four-sided romantic relationship!” Her dress twirls as the platform begins to spin gently. “And to make it even more exciting, two of Haruhi’s admirers are twins, torn apart by love!” A blush forms on her cheeks as she strikes a longing pose.

“Just the thought of it could make me eat three bowls of rice!”

Another eye roll escapes you as you walk back to Kyoya’s side. “Oh but out, otaku.”

Renge gasps and turns to you, sudden tears running down her face as she falls to the floor. “You are such a meanie, you shouldn’t say something like that to your manager!”

“You’re not the manager!” You cry back, but her tears are gone as she twirls her head around, ignoring your statement.

Sputtering, you turn to Kyoya, but he only gives you a shake of his head, telling you to let it go. Whimpering, you let your head fall onto his shoulder. “I thought this nightmare was over already.”

Tamaki comes to Renge’s side, an arm held out as a peace offering. “But Renge, I thought you had feelings for Haruhi as well?” He asks, his voice strained.

“Oh I do.” You huff at how quickly she got over her recent crush. You wonder how she did that. “But I have no problem with Haruhi having a homosexual relationship on the side.”

Tamaki sweat drops, and Haruhi steps in to try and reason with her.

“I’m confused, I thought that you had gone home to France, Renge.”

“Well,” she starts, the blush stuck to her pointed face. “I was going to start up a host club of my own, but I don’t think France is ready for a host club quite yet.”

Haruhi also looks like she ran out of ideas, but the twins’ bickering saves her from pushing the subject any further.

“Cut it out already!” When you look back at the Hitachiians, they are head to head, throwing insults at each other left and right.

Hikaru spits more venom. “You’re the one who’s always crawling into my bed at night. Talk about being annoying!”

But Kaoru fights back. “I only do that because you look lonely! I wouldn’t choose to sleep in your bed, you idiot!”

You talk over their argument. “They’ve never fought like this before.” You say to Kyoya before looking up at him, seeing that he is taking the same level of interest you are.

“This is a very interesting development.” He replies, an eyebrow raising as he flips to a new page in his folder and writes something down.

You listen back in as the twins grow closer with each jab to the ego. “The way you grind your teeth is deafening!”

“At least I don’t toss and turn so much that I fall out of bed!”

Hikaru shouts louder. “Sex Pixie!”

Kaoru raises his bluff. “Sicko!”

They both take a final step towards one another and they mock in ironic synchronicity. “Your momma wears too much makeup!” They both scoff and turn from one another as they walk off.

“That’s it, we’re over!” They both storm out of the same door but turn away into different spaces in the hallway, leaving the rest of the host club stunned.

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