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the-lightning-strikes-again · 3 years

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A Review of Voltron DDP Comic: A Legend Forged (2008)

I knew the old Devil’s Due Publishing (DDP) comics for Voltron were lit…but the sequel, A Legend Forged, really resonated with me! This 5-issue comic series is DDP’s interpretation of the history behind the Voltron robot itself, and it wraps this lore within an adventure plot featuring our main pilots (Allura, Keith, Hunk, Lance, Pidge) in an alliance with Lotor.

I’ve meant to write a review about A Legend Forged for a while because I know that older Voltron comics aren’t always accessible. I think this one deserves some attention because it does things that I find just really refreshing after watching the 2016 Legendary Defender show. It also has some fun details that could have been source material for the world building and events in the 2016 VLD show.

The basic summary of this comic is that Team Voltron and Lotor are accidentally transported 1,200 years in the past after some classified time travel tech destabilizes in the middle of a fight. Powerless from the blast, they crash-land on a nearby planet, and they’re soon captured by people on the planet who have exceptionally advanced technology. Lotor agrees to a truce with Team Voltron to help find a way out of their prison, and back to their own time.

In arriving through the wormhole, however, they catch the attention of a very powerful group who are missing an important piece to complete their special defense project (the Voltron robot). The robot is being built in part by King Altarus, Allura’s ancestor, to fight off the villain in that ancient past—Empress Jain IX, Lotor’s evil great great (10X) grandmother, who is a sorceress hellbent on intergalactic domination.

Ultimately, Team Voltron and Lotor get caught up in the efforts to stop Empress Jain and assist King Altarus’s Council…and they discover some interesting things about themselves and about Voltron along the way!

I found A Legend Forged to be one entertaining, snarky shenanigan after another. Although it does source the 1984 character designs and backgrounds along with some references to Vehicle Voltron (which may be alienating to fans familiar only with VLD), I love that this comic deeply and openly explores what makes the Voltron franchise so identifiable and unique—its Arthurian legends/magic in the midst of an expansive space opera.

The comic is meant for slightly older audiences compared to VLD—it includes several instances of adult cursing, frightening images, some brief images of romance/non-graphic sensuality, and occasional graphic violence showing blood. I couldn’t find a publisher-recommended age for this comic on the book covers, but I think it might be T for ages 12 and older.

If you’re interested, a deeper overview of A Legend Forged is included under the cut!

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At a high level, there’s certain things that just really attracted me to this comic, even though I’m usually not much of a comic reader:

THE WORLD BUILDING

The whole timeline distortion that takes them back 1,200 years is a direct consequence of humans attempting to back-engineer the mysterious Voltron robot. Within that back-engineering, they’d stumbled into creating a time machine:

(Photo Description: The city of Toronto in the future. Someone asks, “Time travel?” Coran replies, “Devised using reverse engineered technology from Lion Voltron, no doubt.” An alliance official responds, “Come on now, how would that be possible?” A second official responses, “Coran’s right. The way that Lion Voltron summons energy and weaponry is a mystery. We learned how to mimic the ability with the vehicle units, without really understanding it.”)

So there’s a lot of undertow here about just what exactly all these different parties (Earth/Galaxy Alliance, space pirates, Lotor) were planning to do with a time machine to begin with before it gets blown up in a battle over it. But there’s also something interesting happening here involving Fate/Destiny and plasticity of time itself.

At the very heart of this comic is the concept that the Voltron robot could not have been completed 1,200 years ago if Team Voltron and Lotor were not accidentally tossed back in time to help complete the project. And idk, I think that’s just pretty cool. It ties these lives of these characters together in a way that I don’t think I’ve seen in any other Voltron iteration—that they were meant to pilot Voltron, because their presence helped to unlock the final missing piece to bring it to life.

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In addition, we get a really interesting look into the ancient past of the Voltron universe, back to the beginning of the first space empire. The comic’s big bad, Empress Jain IX, is an incredibly powerful and heartless sorceress of Drule heritage, from the planet Doon:

(Photo description: Empress Jain standing before the leader of a world she’s conquered, declaring, “And thus, the mighty fall! The powerful kneel at my feet! Behold the grandeur of your empress, and witness what happens to those who stand in her way!”)

But there’s always been this larger question in the Voltron franchise around King Zarkon’s unique, fish-like features compared to other Drule characters like Jain, and this comic answers that.

This is what the OG Zarkon looked like:

Compared to the ancient people of Korrinoth, who have similar ears and coloring as he does:

(Description: Keith says to the team, “I think we may be witnessing the beginning of King Zarkon’s people’s assimilation into the Drule Empire.”)

The planet that our protagonists crash-land on 1,200 years in the past is called Korrinoth. The people here had been recently conquered by Jain and share many similarities with the visual features of Zarkon. So this comic establishes that Zarkon has both Drule and Korrinite heritage. Unfortunately for Lotor, the Korrinites of the planet don’t acknowledge his Korrinite blood because he looks too Drule in comparison. So this comic reaches back on the hints that Lotor struggles to fit in with his own people…and it helps to explain why he’s captured along with Team Voltron:

(Photo description: Team Voltron and Lotor stand together, having been captured in a purple energy field functioning like jail bars.)

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There’s also the concept that Voltron—just like the surrounding environment in Voltron franchise—is an amalgamation of science and magic. The comic’s big bad, Empress Jain, had discovered that her own dark sorcery arts could be challenged by the “lion gods,” who were demanding an increasing price be paid for her horrific conquering. In order to negate the lion gods’ power, Jain explicitly banned religious worship around them and any lion god iconography from her empire.

(Photo description: The dark entity Sarga says, “It is coming, and soon, that which may be your downfall. A twisted abomination of science and technology. The might of the Lion-Gods with the heart and mind of Man.” Jain says, “But I have banned worship of the Lions through the empire.”)

So the Voltron builders were reaching back to a very ancient, lost power that they were risking their lives to resurrect. The connection to a pantheon of lion gods helps to provide some logic around why the Voltron robot itself splits into lions��because it’s literally the symbol of these lost gods.

The visual design of Voltron is also reflected in the armor worn specifically by warriors fighting in the name of these banned gods:

(Photo description: A humanoid warrior wearing Voltron-based armor, coming to Team Voltron’s rescue at the command of the Council.)

So Voltron as a machine metaphorically stands as the Ultimate Warrior in humanoid form, supported by the individual lion gods.

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Within the comic, it hints at some pretty intense religious discrimination—that Empress Jain was willing to arrest and torment even her own daughter, Azakhi for becoming a Lion Priestess:

(Photo description: Jain’s daughter, Azahki, is revealed to be a dirtied prisoner captured by Jain’s forces. She tells Team Voltron, “Do not fear my Drule appearance. I am a devout follower of your ways.”)

This background battle supports why Team Voltron and Lotor are instantly targeted by Jain’s forces when they crash-land on Korrinoth, bearing the banner of the lion gods in the form of Voltron.

Later on in the comic, we also see that the colors themselves represented the various domains of these lion gods:

(Photo description: An image of Voltron as it’s being built, with King Altarus narrating in the background, ““Yellow for win, red for fire, green for earth, blue for water, and at the center…the might blackness of space which houses all of reality.”)

So we really see Voltron pick up a lot more backstory to explain the robot itself.

We do get a deeper look as well into King Altarus and his Council.

King Altarus, Princess Allura’s ancestor, is the leader of the group. But the work involved in building Voltron doesn’t just rest with him like it did with Alfor in VLD. His council is just as equally if not more powerful than him in other ways.

In this panel, King Altarus introduces his four other team members as the most powerful scientists or sorcerers of their respective planet:

(Photo description: An introduction of the five council members of Altarus: “Cybrus hails from a world of sentient machines…More than a computer, he is also sorcerer to rival any other. The striking beauty to my right is Heket. Born of a nomadic race who travels the galaxy bestowing gifts of knowledge to primitive worlds. She is also the most brilliant scientist of her people. Phelos is a brilliant sci-mage from the neighboring solar system. If you are truly who you say, you may already know legends of our final ally. From a primitive world, but master of the most advance wizardry in the galazy: Merlin.”)

The combination of Altarus, Cybrus, Heket, Phelos, and Merlin all echo the 2016 Legendary Defender’s backstory—in which leaders of various people united together for the greater good of their galaxy. Once again, we have five unique planets represented in the Voltron effort—but in this case, it even includes Earth. This helps to explain part of why Voltron’s original design had very medieval attributes.

Maybe some would think it’s a bit hokey that the OG builders included the actual Arthurian figure of Merlin, the wizard? Idk, I think it’s kind of a fun way to connect Voltron’s ancient, magical past to Earth as well, and it suggests that Merlin was preparing or called by the others to help prepare for a future of advanced warfare. I’ve always wondered why the OG Voltron looked so medieval with the crests and the swords and such—and actually, it being built in part by a medieval human wizard would help to explain that!

We also see in the DDP comics a very heavy evolution to Allura’s character and to the world building within the Voltron franchise itself. She’s no longer just a princess who knows how to fight—she’s actively a Clairvoyant, with untapped power. King Altarus acknowledges, and the other Council members sense it, that Princess Allura has way more internal magic than she even knows about herself:

(Photo description: Council member Heket says to King Altarus, “I have a feeling about the girl [Allura]. Her aura is oddly similar to your own.”)

We also see that the dark entity Sarga recognizes this in her as well:

(Photo description: The dark entity Sarga says to Empress Jain, “The visitors…they each have a link to this monstrosity. However, the blood of only one of them pulses with the magic of Arus. The one called Allura! She is the one! She must be—” Jain cuts in, “The host!” And Sarga confirms, “Yes, with Princess Allura, Sarga will live in this realm once more. With her, we can control Voltron.”)

I feel like this magic probably helped to set the tone for the Princess Allura we meet in the 2016 Legendary Defender reboot, who ultimately got the opportunity to grow into the powers that are hinted at here in this previous iteration.

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I do also like this comic because the protagonists (with the exception of Pidge who is 16) are adults, and they’re a little more mature in their decisions and interests.

Like, for example, the Lance in this comic has a much more extensive sensitivity to and interest in culture. Instead of it being Hunk bonding with aliens through food, we see Lance as the diplomat, bonding with Jain’s daughter Azahki, just by asking her questions:

(Photo description: Lance and Jain’s daughter, Azahki, sitting at a table and eating. Lance says, “That hit the sport. I was frickin’ starving.” Azahki says, “After being held prisoner for so long, I had forgotten what real food tastes like. So much time was wasted…so much life. Just sitting in a cell because of my beliefs. I…I’m sorry, Lance. This should be a nice evening, and I’m bringing the mood down.”)

(Photo description: Lance replies, “Actually, I’m fascinated to learn more about the followers of the Lions, and about you. Like, where you come from. You feel free to talk about whatever comes to mind.” Azahki responds then, “You’re too kind.”)

I think along with this, we see a more nuanced view into the Drule themselves. Azahki, as both a Drule and as Empress Jain’s daughter, has turned away from the evil deeds of the empire and has suffered dearly for trying to do the right thing. This falls in line with DDP’s dedication in the worldbuilding to show that not all Drule are bad.

We also see some very interesting, Honervian backstory relating to Empress Jain’s dark powers. Like VLD Honerva, Jain is in part backed by an ancient spirit/power she likes to “talk” to. She calls on it as the “Mother of Power.” This creepy creature is named Sarga in the comics:

(Photo description: Jain summons Sarga: “Mother of Power, Great Spirit, I summon thee.” The dark entity Sarga manifests and says, “Yesss, sweet Jain! You know my name! Feel free to speak it. Have you found the Host?” Jain replies, “Not yet, great Sarga. But the search continues. To date, my body is the only one that could sustain you in our realm.” Sarga says, “Jain. Do not be so simple-minded. It’s only your mortal shell.” Jain retorts, “One that I rather like, thank you.”)

Sarga is pushing for Jain to give up her mortal body entirely so that Sarga can walk the mortal plane, but they don’t see eye to eye on this. Jain likes having her own body. Even so, Sarga knows that she has to protect her investment in Jain, and so she’s the one who plants a devious idea in Jain’s head—that she could potentially use the Voltron from the future to destroy the Voltron of the past, and therefore reestablish her supremacy over the lion gods and their legacy.

Tbh, I visually get a LOT of vibes from Jain relating to VLD’s Honerva character? Down to the long stringy hair and gold eyes…and she really does look like a female version of Lotor, tbh, lol.

(Photo description: Jain leaning in a circle of candles, exhausted from summoning Sarga, who has referred to Voltron. Jain murmurs to herself, “Pow..power. There is power in that name.”)

I think what I like about Jain as a big bad, though, is that she’s legit just an evil person. She doesn’t have an abuse backstory, like what so many content creators like to reference as the reason for someone going insane/evil. She’s clearly very talented and very powerful and very in control, and she’s using those abilities in all the wrong ways just because she can.

Given DDP’s contributions to the Voltron franchise with its female villains (Merla, Jain), I almost can’t believe that the 2016 VLD show didn’t carry these characters forward but instead raised up the all-new Honerva as “needed female villain rep.” But I can definitely see the echoes of Jain in the Honerva that we see throughout VLD.

I also really, really see similarities in how Jain is willing to use her own daughter, Azahki, as a pawn for her own aims. And by the end of the comic, Jain eventually accomplishes bringing Sarga into the mortal plane by sacrificing her own daughter’s body. This pretty hauntingly echoes the lack of maternal instinct seen in Honerva in VLD and Honerva’s malicious interest in and use of Lotor, even post-death in s8.

I feel like I relived Honerva’s interactions with Lotor in s8 when I saw how Jain acts with her own daughter, Azahki:

(Photo description: Azahki has been shot in the battle. Jain kneels down to her and cries, “Daughter. My only daughter.” Azahki says, “Mother...you…you’re crying? I…I’m sorry…you didn’t give me… a choice.” Jain pleads, “You can’t do this, Azahki, not now. After being gone for so long and now…” But then Jain has a complete switch of demeanor. She stands up and declares, “Now you’ve ruined everything! Everything!” Azahki, bewildered, says, “What?” And Jain yells, “I should have killed you in your crib!”)

Another association with Honerva is that Honerva/Haggar killed the original paladins. Likewise, it is Jain who takes down the Council one by one:

(Photo description: Jain breaks into the Council, hand glowing with power and fallen warriors around her, saying, “How could someone with such feeble defenses have eluded me for so long, Altarus? I give you credit for that, at least.”)

(Photo description: Jane is surrounded by the dead bodies of Merlin and Heket. She says, “Now, to finish this.”)

So I guess I’m just fascinated by Jain as a villain and find her similarities with Honerva interesting. In Jain’s case, however, there’s absolutely nothing to be sympathetic with her on, lol.

In terms of Lotor’s part:

I think this comic represents probably the most actively hopeful iteration of him that I’ve seen in the Voltron franchise? Like, Dynamite Comics had Lotor moving to ally with Team Voltron to bring down the rift creatures in a massive alliance, but those comics were canceled before we could see the whole story that Brandon Thomas intended. Here, we have a whole, complete story in which Lotor actively does good deeds and lives, wow.

(I didn’t think that was, like, allowed in this franchise, lol?)

I do think it’s really interesting that here, Lotor comes face-to-face with just pure, unadulterated evil—and it scares him. Just like in VLD, this Lotor is forced to watch Jain decimate an entire planet and enslave its people. Despite being canonically “evil,” Lotor does not take this level of destruction very well:

(Photo description: Empress Jain speaking to an underling, saying, “For now, rid this planet of its luscious environment and warp home.”)

(Photo description: The planet is set ablaze by Jain’s forces. Lotor is looking on from a different ship. He is unsettled by Jain’s power and says, “My god.” His prisoner that he’s watching on Team Voltron’s request (the space pirate Captain Stride), teases, “Nothing like a little global decimation to build character, eh, Lotor?” And Lotor warns, “Stride,” with an upset look on this face.)

His motivations for helping out and connecting with both Team Voltron and King Altarus’s council do start with just wanting to save his own neck. But as the comic progresses, we see him taking larger and larger risks to help protect the team, and he responds more emotionally to the stakes being faced by other allies.

Jain’s level of evil, and her later attempts to target Princess Allura as a host body for the dark entity Sarga, are what really push Lotor out of the antagonist/villain role into the position of antihero. And I like this exploration of him because Lotor is a really fascinating character in the franchise and usually always a wild card. Like, he has the capacity to play both sides and be unpredictable.

And it’s interesting too that this comic even opens up by acknowledging that. In the beginning, King Altarus and his council are watching Team Voltron and Lotor recalibrate from their crash-landing on Korrinoth. King Altarus notes that Lotor is evil, but that he’s capable of doing good…because of his love for Allura:

(Photo description: King Altarus judging the team: “The girl has a clairvoyance about her, but doesn’t even realize it. I sense something noble about all of them…save for the Drule who should not be trusted. Although his apparent fondness for the woman may cause him to fight his true evil nature at least for a while.”)

Later in the comic, it’s King Altarus himself who leans on Lotor when he thinks all hope is lost. And it’s Lotor who holds him up and tries to take down Jain:

(Photo description: King Altarus leans upon Lotor and mourns, “She’s…she’s done it, Lotor. She’s ruined our chances. Five generations…for nothing.” Lotor has raised a blaster and replies, “Not without going through me first.”)

So we really see this comic actively allow Lotor’s character to do things outside of the typical bounds of a villain. The very person who called him inherently evil is the one wailing to him and counting on him to save the day, lol.

We also see echoes of VLD Lotor’s pride in this comic. The DDP Lotor is also a man of mixed heritage and is very proud of who and what he is.

(Photo description: Lotor is on the battlefield, having slain an enemy who’d called them pathetic. Lotor responds, “Pathetic? My noble blood begs to differ.”)

So I liked that once again, Lotor is actually proud of who he is even though the world around him actively tries to devalue him. I think that’s been something meaningful about the Lotor character that a lot of people have connected to.

In his efforts to assist Team Voltron in reclaiming their own recharged Voltron lions (so that Jain can’t get them), Lotor is actually a very helpful ally as well, and a skilled warrior. So it was fun to see panels of Team Voltron and Lotor fighting together, side by side.

THE CLIMAX AND RESOLUTION

Ultimately, the evil Empress Jain tries to take over the Voltron from the future, in realizing that Allura has deep, spiritual connections to the machine. She agrees that this makes Allura the perfect host body for the dark entity Sarga, and as their way to control the robot. And so she enacts the rituals to possess Allura:

(Photo description: Allura’s features are mutating unnaturally as Sarga begins to posses her. In the background, Jain calls, “Don’t fight it, child. Don’t fight the honor of becoming a god.” Someone in the background, revealed later to be Lotor, calls out, “No! You can’t do this!”)

With Jain threatening Allura’s life, Lotor steps up to defend her, still holding up the battered King Altarus:

(Photo description: Lotor yells, “No! Not Allura!” And he shoots Jain through the shoulder.)

(Photo description: Jain snaps, “Lotor! How dare you attack your own kind! I’ll smite my own daughter, let alone a pissant distant grandson!”)

Ultimately, Lotor’s decision to shoot his grandma (what is it with this franchise and matricide/patricide lol) results in Jain being distracted long enough for the combined spiritual/soul energies of Allura, the previous Council members, and Altarus to bring “life” to Voltron.

This completes Voltron as a spiritual being as well—that it’s sentient and not just a robot, but imbued with the hopes and impulses for a defender against the evil attacking them.

(Photo description: Voltron awakens as a sentient robot and stands to move against Jain.)

Realizing that she has lost, Jain flees in a poof of magic—with her daughter, Azahki, oddly disappearing too. The comic ends for them on an unsettling note that Sarga has in fact slipped through to the mortal realm…by choosing Azahki instead of Allura as her host body:

(Photo description: Jain kneels and cries, “Oh mighty Sarga, I humbly beseech thee. Forgive my failures. Forgive my ability to bring you into our world. I beg you to be given a second chance! I vow to you we will see this through.” From behind, someone says, “Don’t be so harsh, mother.” Jain turns around and asks, “Who dares?” A woman in a cloak appears and says, “You may have failed to give me Voltron’s power, my child. But do not fear.” The woman is revealed to be the possessed body of Azahki, Jain’s daughter. Through her body, Sarga says, “I found a body that will do just fine for now.”)

However, we don’t see this thread explored any further. Shortly after the battle, the Galaxy Alliance manages to rebuild a temporal manipulation device to lock in on the missing Team Voltron and Lotor, and pull them back through time.

(Photo description: A strange flying machine appears. Someone asks, “What…what is it?” Allura echoes, “What’s it doing?” Lotor peers at it curiously and says, “I believe it’s scanning us.” The comic panels show the device scanning and identifying people to send back to modern times.)

And so, eventually, this wayward team makes it back home, with the final panels suggesting the Garrison had to complete a couple of temporal jumps to do it.

FUN LITTLE PIECES ALONG THE WAY

The comic itself had some interesting and funny scenes in it, including the following:

Please enjoy this image of a boi having tamed a dinosaur in the middle of an active battle:

(Photo description: Prince Lotor sitting atop a large, dinosaur-like creature that he’s tamed, calling joyfully to the paladins, “You can put your toy away, Pidge. I know where to find the lions.”)

Pidge jokes about Hunk and Lance:

(Photo description: Hunk had saved Lance from a shot. In running past them, Pidge calls, “Keep moving, guys! There’ll be time for spooning later.”)

Some time-traveling paradox humor:

(Photo description: Lotor shooting an ancient Drule, “Hope you’re not one of my forefathers.”)

Some Keith and Lance badgering:

(Photo description: Lance complains, “Keith Kogane seriously isn’t going to lecture me about battlefield romance, is he?”)

Did VLD get the name Kaltor from this comic??? Because Kalthor sounds pretty darn similar to Kaltor from VLD:

(Photo description: Jain calling out for an underling, “Kalthor! Sigh. Kalthor, this effort is beneath me. Extract the information I seek.”)

ALSO BLESS, THIS COMIC LETS ALLURA CUSS:

(Photo description: Princess Allura raises a blaster to use, but it doesn’t work. She says, “What the--? Damn! Now is not the time for you to malfunction! And I do not know how to fix a 1,200-year-old—”)

This comic probably is also the singular place in the DDP comics that offers any evidence whatsoever that Lotor and Allura actually did have positive childhood experiences together prior to his father decimating Arus, helping to explain Lotor’s curious loyalty to Allura throughout:

(Photo description: Lotor standing before Allura and saying, “I knew you’d pull through, Allura. Speaking of treehouses, do you remember climbing the Arusion orchids in the royal gardens when we were children?” Allura responds, “Yes…of course I do. I…”)

And finally, this comic has no issues whatsoever with making fun of itself or the concept of robotic lions:

(Photo description: A space pirate complains to Lotor, “Think about it! How you think this place ends up looking like it does in our time? Looking like Planet Doom?! Meanwhile, the Kitty Cat Club up there gets out without a scratch!”)

VOLTRON IS THE KITTY CAT CLUB, 2008 CONFIRMED

CONCLUSION

The 5-part comic A Legend Forged (2008) adds an incredible amount of history and lore to the Voltron franchise. It gave me some things that I personally was really craving out of this franchise—including some logic behind the lion imagery, a legit alliance between previously warring groups that doesn’t just end in catastrophe, some adult snark and some good-old fashioned silliness, some deeper exploration into dark entities/spirits, and also just a really powerful villainess that you can love to hate.

I think the comic ultimately took on the theme of Strength in Unity and fulfilled the concept that people really can work together. Even if the Team Voltron and Lotor and Council alliance was all just temporary, it was still nice to see that alliance come through for the greater good of the universe, instead of leading to more mass insanity like it did in VLD….

I liked that in this iteration, Voltron stood as a collective effort on the part of various worlds who were oppressed by Empress Jain. That helps to tone down the savior complex inherent in the franchise, that at least here, Voltron wasn’t one nation’s attempt to play police for all other people.

From a critical perspective, if you read carefully, there are some instances where you can tell that various alien races are prejudiced against each other and discriminate on the basis of appearance and religion, and even Team Voltron feeds into this at times in their initial assumption that Korrinites are a barbarian race when in fact they’re very intelligent and advanced. These aspects are just not fully reflected on within this comic, but they definitely feed into the conflict as we experience it 1,200 years in the past. Interestingly enough, the comic also makes fun of Team Voltron members who are from Earth as being “primitive” too. So I guess the DDP world does function in a “problematic” state where all of these alien races are struggling with how to interact well with one another. I’m not sure if that baseline would be a potential trigger for someone just entering this series, so I wanted to call it out here.

I do also occasionally find comics hard to read because of the all-caps print and because comics will switch back and forth between past and present, with only small visual markers to warn you. So I don’t think these comics are designed in the most accessible way. But that could just be me.

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Overall, I think A Legend Forged ranks as one of my more favorite comic iterations of Voltron. It definitely has some differences from both the 1984 and 2016 shows, but it pulls on enough shared content to remain accessible. And while it was a quick read, it felt pretty tightly constructed. I would have liked to see more aftermath and epilogue, but I feel thankful that the story got an ending and that both Team Voltron and Lotor are shown being transported back home. The comic’s similarities and differences compared to VLD made it fun to read and analyze as well.

So yeah, if you get the chance to try reading it yourself, I recommend it! And if you’ve made it to the end of this very long post, thank you for reading!

#Comics #Voltron #Comics review #A Legend Forged #Allura #Lotor #Keith #Hunk #Lance #Pidge #Zarkon #Jain #Azahki #Coran #DDP Voltron #yay I finally finished my review piece #it actually was a pretty enjoyable read

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darkpetal16 · 3 years

Note

Can we see anything about the Jujutsu story? I'm so excited to see all the chaos!!

Sure thing! I'll take some scenes from chapter one. They haven't been edited yet and I don't have a beta so please forgive the typos / lack of description.

April 13th, 2000

Éclosion was a town of over 25,000 citizens in France. It was a suburb a few hours from Paris, and was known as one of the safer towns in France.

On April 13th, in the year 2000, the entire population of Éclosion instantly died from an “unknown” cause.

To most of the world, it was a bizarre tragedy, something to be marked down as an unsolved mystery for the history books. Each citizen had simultaneously suffocated within a few minutes of being exposed to… something.

Something that could not leave behind a physical trace of its existence yet was so overwhelming it simultaneously strangled over 25,000 living beings within Éclosion.

To a very small group of people, they knew the truth.

That town did not die by ordinary means, rather, from the sheer spiritual pressure exerted by a very dangerous being.

To that small group of people, they assumed it was the work of a curse.

Curses were created when cursed energy leaked from humans as a result of their human emotion. Cursed energy would build up in areas like sediment until it is strong enough to manifest a form. They were known to be lethal when left alone.

Populated locations such as schools and hospitals are hot spots for creating curses because many negative emotions were associated with those places. The same concept applies humanity's collective fear and hatred. An image of fear shared by the masses can create a powerful curse even if the subject was not real, such as famous monsters or ghosts. The negative emotions that humanity directed at that singular fear would cause it to manifest as a curse and in time… a cursed spirit.

Cursed spirits’ bodies are entirely made up of cursed energy--or spiritual energy. Their metaphysical existence made it impossible for normal humans to perceive or touch them.

Only a small group of humans were able to interact with cursed spirits, and in turn, combat them.

They were known as Jujutsu Sorcerers.

Jujutsu Sorcerers formed a society over the past thousands of years to work in the shadows to supress curses in an effort to protect humanity. All Jujutsu Sorcerers were trained in their youth at one of the two Jujutsu educational facilities in either Tokyo or Kyoto in Japan. At those facilities, they were taught how to utilize their own cursed energy in order to exorcise cursed spirits.

After graduating, alumni Sorcerers who remain aligned with the schools typically used one of the two facilities as a home base. Those facilities served as the cornerstone for the Jujutsu Sorcerer community. They mediated issues, assigned missions, and officially established a payroll for all their employed exorcists. The higher-ups were in charge of the schools and by extension all Jujutsu sorcerers.

Sorcerers would be dispatched wherever they found a gathering of cursed spirits. They were dispatched based on how strong they are in comparison to the spirit they face. The jujutsu society would rank spirits--and Sorcerers--like so:

Grade 4 - The weakest; a tire iron is plenty to deal with it.

Grade 3 - Slightly harder than Grade 4; handgun or something of similiar power recommended.

Semi-Grade 2

Grade 2 - An average Jujutsu sorcerer would not come out unscathed.

Semi-Grade 1

Grade 1 - “Even a tank might be insufficient.”

Special Grade 1

Special Grade - “Cluster bombs might work.”

For reasons not yet known to the Jujutsu community, curses and Sorcerers were most commonly found in Japan. While some could crop up in other countries, it was exceedingly rare.

That meant only a handful of Sorcerers were dispatched on rotation to monitor countries outside of Japan.

For example, France.

There were only three Sorcerorors stationed in France and they would handle the curses and Curse Users that appeared in France.

Three Sorcerers.

Who, at best, could handle a Grade 1 spirit.

But on April 13th that year something truly horrific happened.

A curse that had simultaneously slaughtered thousands of civilians within minutes of being born. Its mere presence could be felt by the Sorcerors not only in France, but in the surrounding countries across Europe.

It was only felt for five minutes, and then it vanished.

And so while the majority of the world was in a panicked frenzy over the mysterious massacre, the Jujutsu world was in a different kind of panic.

For a spirit that went beyond their measurement system had just been born… and they had no way of dealing with it.

(Lilly - April 13th, 2000)

Again.

Lilly stared in grim resignation at the hanging corpse. The woman didn’t even reach her thirties before throwing in the towel. The body swayed side by side, still warm. Still leaking. The woman hadn’t hung herself from far up enough to snap her neck, so she strangled slowly and painfully.

Dumbass, Lilly thought, finding it hard to scrounge up sympathy for the woman.

Woman could have saved herself the painful death if she just chugged sleeping pills with wine.

But people that desperate to flee reality rarely thought that rationally.

“Geh,” Lilly gasped, clutching at her head as another burst of pain shot through her. She was blinded, her vision going completely white at the influx of memories.

She fell to her knees, struggling to breathe from the intense pain. Her body quaked and trembled, unable to cope with the weight of her soul.

Too many memories. Too many lives. Too many deaths.

If she could forget then the body would carry on without needing her entire soul to be there. She could rest a bit more. She could sleep in death’s kind arms--

But, no.

Again.

She woke up again in a body too small and immature to handle the weight of her memories.

Lilly was what many referred to as an old soul.

It was not that her soul was older than the others around her, more so that her soul tended to retain the memories and knowledge of her previous lives.

Whereas death granted most souls a clean slate before their next life, Lilly was not permitted the same courtesy.

She was, mockingly, a Blessed being.

The pain subsided, the small body quivering.

How old am I now? Lilly wondered. Which world is this? Where--?

Panting, the old soul glanced around the house. Most of it looked like an average house on Earth from the early 2000s or late 1900s. None of it was in disarray so probably not apocalyptic.

Not completely normal though, Lilly thought, feeling how sensitive her spiritual energy was in her current body.

If was born in a powerless world, she wouldn’t have woken up. The fact that she woke up meant there was something about that world that made it special.

Maybe a Hero will be born here? Will a Story happen?

Her head throbbed again, her soul and energy aching from the strain of being awoken in a premature body. Lilly stumbled around the house, every so often feeling another spike of her insides burning.

It was not too dissimilar to swallowing lava. On top of the pain, she was nauseous, unbearably hot, and had significant difficulty in trying to focus on what was in front of her. Every step was a milestone. Her soul yearned to burst out of the fragile body, to preemptively rejoin death.

Not yet. I woke up here for a reason. There’s always a reason, Lilly thought. She fumbled around the house, searching for anything that could give her a better idea of where she was.

No computer. I think I see a landline phone, though, Lilly thought.

When she went to use it, however, only silence could be heard. She frowned, then hesitantly moved to flick on the lights.

Nothing happened.

Uwa… did I accidentally fry the tech trying to contain my energy? Lilly wanted to groan.

She hated being reborn in tech-sensitive worlds. If her spiritual energy was too overwhelmign for the technology, it became such a hassle. It meant she had to consciously filter, repress, and refine her energy any time she had to use it when around technology.

Whatever.

Time to find a neighbor then, she thought.

Stepping outside the house, Lilly found a bizarre scene. There was a mailman who collapsed right at the door, and judging from how still he was, she could tell he wasn’t breathing.

Lilly stared at the dead body. She looked up and found several crashed cards and more dead bodies.

Oh.

“Oops,” she said.

March 8, 2001

Lilly was minding her own business the following day. Yuuta was swaddled and placed in a baby wrap carrier that Lilly tied around herself. She kept his head well supported, it rested in the crook of her neck.

It had been a while since she had repeatedly cast so many illusionary and compulsion spells. She knew it couldn’t be helped--she was in the body of a seven-year old, of course the adults wouldn’t take her too seriously.

She had finished authenticating his birth certificate, adoption papers, and was on her way to handle funeral arrangements for his mother. Lilly had already made a few tentative and brief ventures into the world to steal (shamelessly) steal money so she had cash on hand in case the woman hadn’t made prior plans for herself--which guessing by how optimistic she was, Lilly assumed the answer was no.

Yuuta was an easy crier, which made what would have been a thirty-minute errand into a two-hour errand since a lot of that time was spent soothing the infant.

Lilly could feel he had more spiritual energy inside him than some of the adults she had previously encountered, but it was still growing.

If her hunch was correct and he was a protagonist--or antagonist--then she figured his energy would only continue to grow.

Maybe I should start feeding him some of mine? Lilly pondered. If she doubled or tripled the raw power of someone important, what would Fate do? Would it increase the power levels of everyone else to match, or would it give away under her pressure?

She didn’t know the story--if there was one in that world--so she had no way of knowing what to anticipate. She could only catch the common signs and draw her own predictions from her past experiences.

Let’s find out, Lilly thought.

Daiki Choki was had recently completed his mission to vanquish an A-Grade Curse at a nearby graveyard. It had gone much smoother than he anticipated, and the Jujutsu Sorcerer was looking forward to his pay.

As he was leaving the graveyard, however, he felt something… odd.

It was indescribable. A sensation he had never encountered.

Similar… very similar… to encountering a powerful Curse, but…

It was a Curse, yet it was not.

It clearly had a presence. He felt an uncomfortable heat wash over him, as if the thing was projecting an aura of fire, but it was not malicious. Curses were filled with malevolent bloodlust, but what he felt lacked that intensity.

It was still dangerous, that heat.

Perhaps not directly evil, but…

If he had to put it into words, it was as if he had stumbled across a forest fire. The fire held no ill-will, but it was still a dangerous force that if left unchecked would devour the entire forest.

Daiki did not feel that it was especially powerful, however, so he made his way over to it.

To his surprise, it took the form of a small girl holding something in a budle of cloth. She was entering the funeral parlor.

Daiki frowned. Curses had never looked human before.

Suppose there’s always a chance it’s possessing her corpse, Daiki thought. He may not have encountered that specific scenario before, but he didn’t see a reason why it couldn’t happen.

Curses weren’t human, but they were tricky by nature.

Daiki lingered outside the mortician’s office, wondering if he would need to follow after the curse. He hated fighting near civilians, but--

The Curse left, as if sensing something was wrong.

But that’s silly, thought Daiki.

It headed straight past the building, making its way to the graves behind. Daiki followed behind it, slowly pulling his gun.

The Curse stopped, turning around to face Daiki. Its eyes were a vibrant red.

“Why are you focusing on me?” it asked.

Oddly articulate for a curse, the Sorcerer thought, raising his gun and taking aim. He smirked. “Don’t worry about it, Curse.”

“Curse? What--?”

He fired, and then his whole world tilted upside down. He hadn’t even felt it happening, let alone seen it, but somehow his head had been chopped off his body the moment he pulled the trigger. The Curse, who had been several steps ahead of him, was suddenly crushing his gun in her bare hand, scowling at him.

“If I had let that gone off, you woulda woken him,” she scolded the decapitated head. “Rude.”

#jujutsu

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readerficsbyhyaku · 4 years

Text

Court Caramel (Godot x Reader) Part 2

author’s note

I realized i wrote yet another massage scene in my fics. It's not even a kink, my back just hurts x')

The next morning, you were still working on your case when you heard the door to your office open. Slightly unnerved by the fact that somebody came in without knocking or asking, you rose from your chair to deal with the issue when you froze in your steps.

The warm smell of coffee was coming from the door that led to the entranceway, growing more overwhelming as seconds passed. You saw the doorknob turn, and the silhouette behind the frosted glass revealed itself.

Of course it was Godot.

You quickly backed up behind your couch, voice wavering as you asked

“What do you want ?”

The prosecutor didn’t answer right away, visor scanning the room, as if he hadn’t done his misdeeds right there the day before. He grinned when he saw the steaming cup of coffee near your laptop, the one you needed to finish your work in time…

“Is that your special blend ?”

Again with that ! you cursed mentally. But it was obvious that you preferred giving up a cup of coffee rather than have him… Do that again.

“Y-yeah ! Have a taste !” you forced out with a crooked smile, not inching anywhere closer to the man.

He took a few steps towards the desk, picked up the mug and brought it to his lips. As he took a long sip, you saw his adam’s apple bob and it sparked something inside of you, yet again. You never learned, did you ?

Godot seemed to savor the beverage for a few seconds, during which you held your breath, praying he would be satisfied with it. But as he put down the cup with a muted thud and turned back towards you, you knew it didn’t bid well. He walked up to you, the couch still in between your bodies, as you shrunk in fear.

“That’s not it, sweetheart” he growled in a low tone “But how can I smell caramel all around you right now ?”

Cold sweat broke on your back as you tried to babble an explanation, when there was none.

You didn’t expect him to reach for you above the couch, but he did. His large hand encased your jaw as his lips came, once again, crashing onto yours in the most indelicate manner. Bitterness only lightly subdued by your own coffee invaded your senses and you tried to push him back, but to no avail. His fingers, warmed by the cup, were hot and burning on the sensitive skin of your face. After what seemed like a long while, he broke the union as you gasped for air. Tears were threatening to fall from your eyes as you stared back up at him in newfound anger, only to see him look… puzzled.

He was almost daintily touching his goddamned lips with his fingers, when he said, dawning onto him.

“It was you.”

Taken aback and suddenly feeling threatened again, you narrowed your eyes and asked

“What was me ? What are you talking about ?”

He turned to face you with a small smile.

“The taste I was looking for. It was you all along”

You shivered at the implications of his words, but steeled yourself. You needed to hide any weakness until he was out.

“Great. Now that you found what you were after, can you go ? I’ve got a case to defend this afternoon, and I think you might want to look on your part too.” You said coldly while walking to the door and opening it wide.

Hopefully, the prosecutor was too stunned by his own epiphany to resist, and he walked out of your office with a tiny smile curling the ends of his lips in a very appealing way. At least some part of you thought so before being reminded that the guy had assaulted you two times now.

You attempted to resume your work but your train of thought had been wildly disturbed by a certain white haired completely crazy guy, and it ended up taking more time than expected to complete your defense.

On the plus side, you mused, you surely had gotten a day’s worth of caffeine from your brief encounter with Godot.

However, you did not let your guard down during the weeks following the incident. You made sure the door to your office was locked, and stopped accepting walk-ins. You stopped drinking coffee altogether because your nerves were keeping you tense as a wire. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t erase the two times you had met with Godot from your mind. At night, they came swirling back in your thoughts, as bitter as he tasted. You caught yourself wondering a few times if things could’ve gone differently, if there was a way for you to stop caring and worrying, but the past is past and there was nothing you could do about it.

One day, you got a mail signed from a certain Diego Armando that wanted your help for a case. You gladly answered him and soon enough, an appointment was made. He sounded pressed for time, so you decided to receive him after hours. Normally, you didn’t work that late, but you also couldn’t let down someone in need of your assistance. As a young attorney, any case was good for you as long as you could trust your client.

The day you had to meet with Diego Armando arrived quickly, and you worked all day on yet another investigation, assembling testimonies and autopsy reports in a discourse that should convince the judge of your client’s innocence. Your back was stiff from working on the computer all day, and all you wanted was a hot bath and laying in your bed. A massage would’ve been exquisite, but it was a luxury you couldn’t afford.

When the hour came, you heard a few knocks on the door.

“Come in, the door’s open !” you exclaimed loud enough so that the person would hear you. It was surely your client.

While you waited for him to come in, you skimmed through your text once more, eyes stinging, and saved it. You were closing all the tabs and documents you had opened when you felt two large hands on your shoulders.

Startled, you went to turn around but both pain and said hands prevented you from doing so, pinning your back flush to your chair.

“What-“ you started.

But then, the hands began moving. You felt them knead slowly at your tense shoulders and upper back, fingers pressing into the hard muscles and unwinding them bit by bit. The large palms were hot and contributed to making you feel relaxed as the mysterious person behind you was untying the knots in your flesh. As the pain receded from your shoulders, you felt the hands rise and gently massage the nape of your neck, the fingertips broad and rough on your sensitive skin. There again, the movements relieved you from the pain you had endured all day and you couldn’t stifle a sigh of contempt. The heat had crept into your muscles and you felt a satisfying buzz inside your head. The skilled fingers went up to your cranium and, englobing it, started massaging your scalp with small circles.

Surrendering to fatigue, you closed your eyes and enjoyed the massage, your inhibitions melting under the warm skin tending to you. A few moments later and you were a limp mess, completely relaxed into the bodyless hands as they drew circles at the base of your skull, your head nestled in between them. Every touch from the rough fingers had gone from warm and unwinding to hot and tantalizing. The relief had led the way to pleasure and your breathing was becoming erratic as the fingers just so slightly scraped your scalp, eliciting a myriad of shivers and tremors inside of you.

Responding to a particularly strong push of the fingers, your head jolted backwards and your eyes opened to lay upon who was so diligently taking care of you.

Your sight was still a bit blurry, but you made out white hair and red lines barring the face. It was then that you became conscious of the powerful, warm, englobing smell of coffee that had invaded the whole room.

Fuck, it was Godot.

However, no matter how hard you wanted to care, you couldn’t muster enough energy to get up from your chair. You were putty between his expert fingers, and even though you had recognized him, he continued drawing small circles at the base of your head.

You didn’t know what he was thinking, but you decided to enjoy what was given to you while you still could. There was no telling when he would have a change of mind.

After a few minutes and your headache finally dulling to a slight throb, you felt the skillful hands leave and opened your eyes again.

Godot spun your chair so that you were facing him and you stared at his face, trying to decrypt any expression or intention he might have. Slowly, he came closer to you until you could feel his breath on your skin. Your sight was still blurry, so you decided to close your eyes. You felt utterly abandoned after his ministrations, so you might as well let him do whatever he wanted.

You felt his lips gently brushing on yours, the aroma of coffee overpowering and obliterating your senses, as if you were trapped into a warm fog. You didn’t budge, didn’t even crack open an eye, your breath also coming back at you because of how close he was without actually touching you. Your lips started tingling from the fleeting contact and sparked more heat in your gut than ever before. You were about to do it yourself when you felt his lips mold onto yours, scorching hot and so tender, unlike everything he had been before. His hands rested under your jaw, propping you up for his higher form as he nipped and sucked at your lips gently.

He licked your bottom lip slowly, stoking the fire in your belly and you opened your mouth slightly, granting him entry. As his tongue wound around yours, the bitterness came with it and you almost regretted it. But the way he was kissing you this time around was so soft you couldn’t fight back, you were melting into his blistering embrace like a cube of sugar in a cup of coffee.

And as he continued languidly making out with you, you began to taste a hint of sweetness in him. It was timid, hidden under layers of bitterness, but like the darkest of chocolate it gave it volume and body. What you thought would be an inevitable hassle of your encounters with Godot became slightly, the tiniest bit enjoyable. His kiss felt no longer forced on you as you began to move your lips with his and press a bit harder to deepen the embrace.

However, you were growing out of breath and the prosecutor pulled away before you grew too dizzy. The both of you were panting, trying to regain a bit of composure after the kiss you had shared.

Getting a bit of oxygen to your brain seemed to help you assess the situation, as you realized it was still Godot in front of you and you grew slightly wary of him again. You stared at him as his breathing evened out, and a small smile curled his lips. He then stood back up and walked away, you could hear the door close with a small thump in the distance.

It was the first time he hadn’t said a word. It was also the first time you didn’t feel overly violated by his touch. He had tricked you, sure, but in the end what you shared had felt… agreeable.

Baffled by what had occurred, you didn’t know what to think about him anymore. Maybe coffee wasn’t so bad after all.

#godot #ace attorney #x reader #fanfiction #self insert #abuse #harassment #not consensual #kissing #coffee #maniac #addiction #stockholm syndrome #weird

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waddlenotwaddles · 4 years

Text

Beginnings

Or: the story of one agent’s unconventional recruitment to the PSA.

“Fishsticks,” Wei muttered, prodding at the stubborn image scan on her laptop that simply refused to un-pixelate. “Come on, you old thing. Why won’t you load?”

She clicked a few keys decisively and pressed ‘Enter’. The image juddered, somehow pixelated even more, and then the entire webpage crashed, showing only a grey, sad-looking error icon on-screen with a blue ? in its centre. Wei clutched at her hair and resisted the urge to shriek, but it was a near thing.

(read the rest on ao3, or:)

It was no use. If she wanted any chance of finishing her work before midnight tonight, she would have to return to her tiny desk at the Club Penguin Times offices, where the internet was reliable but which was also busy and crowded and clamouring with penguins to the point that her flippers started to shake just at the thought of it.

Wei closed her eyes and swore under her breath. This is impossible. I can’t get into a panic every time I enter my own place of work.

Her laptop beeped feebly at her, announcing the imminent decline of both her battery percentage and continued will to live. Wei cursed again and fumbled her laptop into her arms, pulling the charging cable from her bag and casting around frantically for an outlet. The Book Room, it seemed, was allergic not only to reliable internet but also to basic technology as a whole; the only outlet in sight was already fully occupied by both an ancient, sputtering lamp and a small black box with a blinking red light in one corner. With a muttered “sorry”, Wei unplugged the dying lamp and replaced it with her laptop’s charging cable. At the very least, waiting for her laptop to charge up would give her time to mentally brace herself before she had to return to the office.

Wei sat on the floor with a bump and a sigh, and something knocked against her flipper. She twisted around, and saw she had narrowly avoided sitting on that little black box with the blinking red light which still occupied the second plug of the electrical outlet. Even with her stomach growling with hunger (she’d missed lunch) and her overtaxed brain making her thoughts lag more than usual, it should’ve occurred to her sooner that this black box was, in fact, a router. An internet router, to be precise.

Wei’s eyes widened. She reached out for the router, but then withdrew. She was in the Book Room above the very public Coffee Shop, not in her own igloo, for crying out loud. She couldn’t just — just poke around other folks’ electronics without asking permission first! Even if she was, for the moment, completely alone and unobserved in the room… and even if said electronic was sitting right there, blinking tantalizingly up at her as though pleading to be fixed…

Wei’s flipper twitched again in the direction of the router. All she wanted to do was fix the Book Room’s terrible internet. Surely there would be no harm in that.

Wei didn’t consider her technological knowledge to be that remarkable, all things considered. Certainly not even close to the realm of penguins like Gary the Gadget Guy, whose inventions held an undercurrent of genius that she could never possibly hope to understand. That being said, Wei had picked up one or two tricks over the years, and these had eventually allowed her to develop her own Methods for doing things. Said Methods weren’t illegal, exactly, but they could occasionally be a little… flexible. One of these Methods included the program she began to boot up on her laptop, even as she connected her laptop to the router with a second cable from her bag. She had written this program herself several years back, to improve the internet at the workplace of a friend whose boss had refused to hire a technician to fix their network connectivity issues, and it only required a few more tweaks in code before it began scanning through the Book Room’s router as easily as picking o’berries. It took a few minutes longer to gain access to the router’s configuration, which Wei accomplished with a few guilty glances over her shoulder toward the still-closed door of the Book Room.

“Sorry,” she muttered again to no one in particular. “I promise I just want to make the network run faster. Even the Dojo has better internet than this.”

Ding. The program wrapped up its final processes and obediently closed itself with a self-satisfied air. In her other window, Wei could see the previously crashed webpage reloading, now much, much faster than before. She allowed herself a little fist-pump of victory.

Which was promptly cut short when her entire screen froze, went grey, and proceeded to throw up several glaring error windows all over the display.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no,” she yelped, tapping desperately at the keys. “What’s wrong with you now?”

The screen flickered. She could practically hear the fans on her poor laptop strain with the effort of preventing it from overheating. This is a straightforward process, she thought with dismay as her laptop’s memory nearly overflowed despite her frantic efforts. Or at least it should be!

Then as suddenly as it had begun, the blowup stopped. No further error windows appeared, and her screen only lagged slightly when she tentatively tested a few keys. The laptop fans died down to their usual quiet hum.

Only… something was different. When she checked, her laptop memory was still fuller than it should’ve been, and it didn’t take long for her to discover the reason why: a program that had definitely not been present before was now running itself innocuously on her laptop, like a small but stubborn snow-leech sucking away at her RAM.

Wei’s eyes narrowed. She tested the internet, and found that it was running as smoothly as expected.

So this was the reason why the internet connection had been so terrible. Not merely because of a faulty router, but because someone had — had somehow installed a secret program onto said router, where it had stayed for who knew how long, eating away at the extra space and mangling the system into an unusable mess.

But who on the island would do such a thing, and why? A penguin playing a prank? Or someone with more malicious intentions — someone trying to steal information, perhaps, or install malware or even spyware on unknowing penguins’ devices if they tried to use the Coffee Shop’s public internet?

Wei would be the first to admit that she had something of a vivid imagination, but this seemed off in a way that genuinely unsettled her. Her suspicions only grew when she attempted to open this strange program, only to discover the file was heavily encrypted — and it was no amateur’s work, either.

“Alright, then,” she said under her breath, squinting at the numbers on screen. “You want to play this game with me, jerk? Then let’s play.”

She hadn’t done anything like this in ages. Not since she was still in school at least, and eager to push the boundaries of her technological capabilities. But like many of Wei’s more dubious Methods, once learnt, it proved to be a hard one to forget. It took her quite a few attempts to suss out the full thirty-two digit encryption key, even with her computer making full use of its ability to compute, but after what seemed like an interminably long time, the firewall collapsed beneath her assault like a stubborn snow-fort finally being knocked over.

“Got you,” Wei murmured triumphantly. The mysterious program sure looked malware-y enough, even after being decrypted, but she had her own ways of protecting her computer from harm. She moused over to the file and opened it with a decisive click.

She was expecting anything from irritating advertisements to a virus’s game attempt at deleting her files. What she was decidedly not expecting was for a nonsense slew of squares dotted with circles and Xs to suddenly shoot across the screen, followed by her own startled face staring back at her from the monitor. With a furious squawk, she scrambled to cover her webcam with one flipper, but already there was large text blinking into existence above the image of her face, this time in readable letters:

NAME: ANWEI

STATUS: CIVILIAN

ERROR 403 — ACCESS DENIED

LOCK DOWN FOREIGN DEVICE IMMEDIATELY.

What do you mean, lock down — !!!

Wei’s laptop screen suddenly flared with an eye-searingly blue light, so bright that she was forced to shield her eyes. Then, with a fatal-sounding whine, the display sputtered, spasmed, and slowly died out, leaving Wei still sitting on the floor of the Book Room, gaping silently at her unresponsive laptop. - - -

Wei did not sleep well that night.

She was too anxious to eat more than a few bites of dinner, and when ten o’clock rolled around, she found herself turning on all the lights in her igloo and triple-checking the locks on her doors and windows. Her laptop, which she had firmly closed and weighed down with a heavy book for good measure, sat in the centre of her cleared-out desk where she could keep a close eye on it. Then she dragged a chair into the foyer so she could sit and guard the front door, phone in flipper and poised to call… somebody, should anyone try to break in, or something.

In her head, a quiet voice that sounded a bit like her last girlfriend’s asked if maybe she was being a tad overdramatic about what was probably just a prank being played on her.

Sagging back in her chair, Wei shook her head furiously to clear it. Mere pranks couldn’t just — just shut down someone’s laptop remotely, or identify exactly who she was from a single blurry photo taken by her webcam.

She wondered, a little wildly, if she ought to start running through her old Card-jitsu katas just in case.

An hour passed; then another, then another. Despite herself, Wei’s eyelids were growing heavy by around three in the morning, and before she knew it, she was startling awake in her chair when her usual seven a.m. work alarm rang shrilly from her bedroom.

In her lap, her white puffle Ai squeaked indignantly at this disturbance before flouncing off in a huff. Meanwhile, Crown, Wei’s second puffle, had somehow found her way on top of her desk and was now rubbing her furry face against the still-closed laptop.

“Get away from that,” Wei muttered, staggering over to her desk and scooping Crown into her arms. “That might not be safe.”

Crown chirruped and head-butted Wei’s face affectionately. At the other end of her igloo, Ai began to demand for her breakfast with loud, imperious squeaks. Wei sighed, and despite the prospect of confronting her massive unfinished workload thanks to her laptop practically imploding the day before, the tight knot in her chest finally loosened somewhat.

“I guess it does seem silly to think about now, huh,” she said to Crown, ruffling the yellow puffle’s fur. Crown tolerated the cuddle for a few moments longer before she squirmed free and hopped over to join Ai by the food bowls.

In spite of her restless night, the brisk morning air revived Wei somewhat when she finally stepped out her front door. Her spirits only continued to rise when she encountered no unpleasant surprises during her walk to the local branch of the Club Penguin Times offices. Today was Friday, the day after the weekly issue was released, and therefore it was the day when her workplace was at its emptiest. It was, in turn, Wei’s favourite day of the week to work, for it meant she had to endure the barest minimum of social interaction possible.

So it was that Wei became relaxed enough to hum along to the tune on her MP3000 as she pushed open the doors to the front lobby. But she stopped short at the entrance when she noticed several things at once:

The usual receptionist was gone, and standing by the front desk instead were three penguins who, eerily, all turned around at the same time to look at her when she walked in.

One of these penguins was Aunt Arctic herself, even though the Club Penguin Times editing offices were located on the other side of the island, and:

One of the other two penguins, wearing a black suit and dark sunglasses like something straight out of ‘Penguins in Black’, stepped forward, half-opened her jacket to reveal a shiny emblem pinned to her lapel, and said in a calm voice,

“Are you Anwei, the employee from the Archives Department? We need you to come with us.”

- - -

“So let me get this straight,” the suited penguin said slowly.

I’m not, Wei’s brain supplied uselessly. She kept her beak shut.

“You located and broke into a PSA Level 5 High-Security Clearance Server… because you were trying to fix the internet in the Coffee Shop.”

“In the Book Room, actually,” Wei said in a small voice. “And it was an accident.”

The heating was turned on in the small basement room where the three of them currently sat, but Wei’s flippers were ice-cold all the same. She clasped them in her lap to keep them still. She had been placed into a chair in front of a dusty, unused office desk, while the other two penguins sat behind the desk in their own chairs, facing her. The black-suited penguin must have sensed Wei’s nervousness, for she visibly softened before speaking once more.

“Again, you’re not in any trouble, Wei,” the suited penguin said gently. Wei kept her eyes fixed on the nametag pinned to the other penguin’s blazer, which only read ‘S’. “We know you didn’t mean anything malicious by it. All we want to know is how you were able to do it.”

At that, the brown penguin accompanying S snorted and kicked their feet up over the arm of their chair, looking for all the world like they were lounging on a sofa in the Ski Lodge instead of crammed into a wooden chair in a dank little basement of the Club Penguin Times offices.

“And don’t give us any of that nonsense about it being an accident,” they drawled. “The day some penguin can bypass G’s security by accident is the day puffles sprout wings and fly.”

S turned around to give the brown penguin a truly withering glare that was obvious even under those impenetrable sunglasses. “Not helping, Zed,” she hissed.

Zed stuck their tongue out at her, and S scowled back. Watching them now, the two penguins could not be more diametrically opposed; S sitting primly in her neatly buttoned-up suit and tie, and Zed slouched over in a comfortably worn pink hoodie with a blue baseball cap turned sideways on their head. And yet the way in which the two of them interacted, like squabbling siblings who had known each other from the egg, was just so mundane that Wei began to relax, despite herself.

“It really was an accident,” she said. The other two halted their staredown immediately to refocus on her. Wei resisted the urge to shrink back.

“I mean,” she stammered, “I honestly had no idea what I was looking at when I found it. I thought it was a virus, at first.”

Zed sat up and raised an eyebrow. “You thought it was a virus and you still opened it?”

Wei fidgeted. “Well, yeah. I couldn’t just — leave it there, and let some other poor penguin who came after me get their account information stolen, or something.”

S and Zed were silent. Wei tried to elaborate. “I know how to protect my own data from most cyberattacks, so I thought it’d be best if I, er, extracted the corrupt files and dismantled them so they wouldn’t hurt anyone else. Only, when I opened the file, that happened.” Wei gestured at her laptop sitting on the desk, which was open and turned toward the other two penguins but still without power. “And, um. I guess you know what happened next.”

“...right.” S exchanged a look with Zed. “You still haven’t told us how you were able to break the encryption on the server.”

Wei couldn’t help but bristle a little. “I used my own decryption program. But I can’t exactly show you how I did it with my laptop like that, can I?”

“So she does have a backbone,” Zed said, sounding amused. They reached a flipper into their hoodie pocket, pulled out a battered blue phone, and held it up to their ear. “Everything’s good, folks,” they said into the phone unexpectedly. “You can let up now.”

There was no reply that Wei could discern, but Zed tucked the phone back into their hoodie and waved at Wei’s laptop. “Go ahead, you can open it now. I’ve told HQ that they could transfer control back to you.”

No part of that sentence made any sense to Wei, but the startled way in which S jerked and whipped around to face Zed was telling. “Zed,” she whispered. Then, with a significant glance back at Wei, S visibly calmed herself and said stiffly to Zed, “Agent, may I have a word with you outside?”

“Bit late for that now, I think,” Zed said dryly, and Wei tried not to look like she’d been listening too obviously. “C’mon, Sash,” they went on, nudging S/Sash/??? in the shoulder. “You heard what G said. This is too good of an opportunity to waste.” Then to Wei, good-naturedly, “Open up that laptop for us, would you?”

“This is remarkable,” S murmured some time later, with no sign of her previous reservations. She scanned avidly through the programming code that Wei had pulled up on the screen of her now miraculously-restored laptop. “May I…” Her flipper hovered over the keyboard, and Wei nodded, recognizing the fervour of a fellow nerd who desperately wanted to take a closer look at the Cool Thing in front of them — not that she ever would have considered one of her own programs to be “cool”. S immediately took off those dark sunglasses and pulled the laptop closer to her, leaning toward the screen.

“The code is a little disorganized,” Wei said nervously. She jumped when Zed clapped a flipper to her shoulder.

“No use talking to her for a while, I’m afraid,” they said cheerfully as S began to write fervently in a small notebook she pulled from her jacket, eyes still fixed to the laptop screen. “When she gets like this, everything goes in one ear and right out the other.”

“Shut up,” S said without looking up.

Zed smirked, but steered Wei aside. “I actually wanted to talk to you about something else,” they said, leaning against the wall and crossing their flippers. “You probably have a lot of questions.”

“I’ll say.” Wei shook her head vigorously, then burst out, “Who even are you? Why are you questioning me like this? How did you take over my computer and what was that program I opened and what does any of it have to do with me?”

Zed held up their flippers. “Whoa, slow down. One question at a time, please.”

Wei breathed out slowly. “Fine. Who are you?”

Zed grinned. “Well, that’s easy enough. I’m Zed, and the penguin with the stick down her collar over there is S. Not our real names, of course, but we can tell those to you, too, soon enough. We’re members of an organization called the PSA.”

“You mentioned that… PSA thing before,” Wei said, gathering her thoughts. “What is it?”

“Let’s just say we’re a specialized, anonymous group dedicated to protecting the island from harm.” Zed reached into their pocket and pulled out a slightly more scuffed-up version of that same shiny emblem S had shown her earlier. They passed it to Wei, who examined it closely. “Most of the island leaders and mascots are aware of our existence, including your boss, Aunt Arctic, though we generally prefer to keep out of sight of the general public.”

“Wait.” Wei looked up. “You know Aunt Arctic?”

Zed shrugged. “Not personally. More like she knows of us, really. She’s not a member of the PSA, of course, but she demanded to see our identification before she let us speak with you. Nice lady.”

“Oh,” Wei said, a bit faintly. She had only met Aunt Arctic once before this, during a party to celebrate the publication of the 100th edition of the Club Penguin Times, and even then, she’d only had the courage to stammer out a quick ‘hello’ before bolting. The thought that Aunt Arctic would go through all that trouble, just to protect an employee she probably didn’t even remember meeting, was a little staggering, though Wei was grateful for it. I ought to send her a fish basket or something as thanks.

“Which brings me to my next point.” Zed gave Wei an unexpectedly piercing look. “What you did with that program in the Book Room… you really shouldn’t have been able to do that.”

Wei glared at them a little. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What Zed means is that the encryption on that program was designed to be foolproof,” S said, suddenly appearing at Zed’s shoulder. She paged through her notebook with a scrutinizing eye. “There are only a few penguins on the island that we know of who are capable of that level of decoding expertise, and all four of them are in the employ of the PSA. Heck, G and K were the ones who wrote that encryption in the first place.” S looked up at Wei, and surprisingly, she smiled. “And then you turned up.”

“Um,” Wei said. “Sorry about that?”

“No, you don’t need to apologize. Quite the opposite, actually.” S stepped forward and held out a file toward Wei. Hesitantly, Wei accepted it, running her flipper over the word CLASSIFIED stamped in red on the cover.

“You possess a number of skills that the Penguin Secret Agency would find quite useful for a number of reasons,” S said, refocusing Wei’s attention on her. “And we sought you out today because we’d like to offer you a position.”

Wei blinked, then shook herself. She didn’t have water in her ears, did she? “I’m sorry — a position?” Wei repeated. “You mean, like — like a job? At this Penguin Secret… thing?”

“Yep,” Zed said.

Wei opened her beak, then closed it. “But —” she floundered. “But I already have a job here, with the Club Penguin Times!”

“We’re not saying you have to quit your position here at the newspaper,” S hastened to assure her. “Most of us work regular jobs in our civilian lives. Agency work is usually assigned on an on-call basis, so there’s plenty of downtime between assignments.”

“The PSA’s probably most interested in hiring you as a consultant, anyway,” Zed added. “That’s, like, one assignment every six months, tops. And the pay’s not half-bad, either—”

“Not to mention,” S said loudly, interrupting Zed with a glare, “You would be helping us keep the island safe from threats of all kinds.”

Wei stared down at the file in her flippers. She eased the cover back, and her own name gazed up at her in bold black letters from the page inside.

“Take some time to think about it,” S said more gently. “No hard feelings if you decide the job’s not for you, but if you are interested, all the information’s there in the file.”

Wei could only stand there and continue to stare blankly down, the gears in her mind whirring away frantically. Eventually the other two penguins stepped away and began gathering their things, leaving Wei’s laptop still open on the desk.

“Wait,” Wei heard herself say before S and Zed could leave for good. The scuff of their feet paused at the other end of the room.

“You still haven’t told me what that server was for,” she said, not looking up from the file. “The one I accidentally opened, I mean. Why was it in a router in the Book Room, of all places?”

There was a pause, then an amused chuckle. “If you must know, it’s part of a series of secure PSA servers hidden in select locations around the island,” Zed said. “In the event that the computer mainframe at Headquarters is compromised, our most sensitive information can still be kept safe and accessible by our agents, if they know where to look.”

“The server that you accessed is a bit of a… special case, though,” S said. She sounded a little exasperated. “The Book Room was already ruled out by our tech division as being too public of a space to be truly secure, so its server was left empty, only to be used in the worst of emergencies.”

Wei was finally able to drag her eyes from the file to S and Zed hovering at the door. “But it wasn’t empty,” she said, confused.

Zed looked like they were holding back a laugh, and S sighed. “As it turns out, one of our agents thought that a secure PSA server which had been mostly discarded by the agency as useless would be a grand place to store his family’s top-secret fish recipes,” she said dryly. “The penguins on duty yesterday were just as surprised as you were to be notified of a security breach taking place in a supposedly empty server.”

“The agent responsible for misusing the server has already been reprimanded,” Zed added, snickering. “You should’ve seen his face when he learned of what happened from the Director themself.”

“More worried for his job, or for the sanctity of his oh-so-important apple-fish pie?” S muttered to Zed as the two of them left the room. The door clicked shut before Wei could hear any more of their ensuing conversation, but Zed’s laugh echoed loudly down the hall.

- - -

“This is crazy,” Wei said to a sleeping Ai later that day back at her igloo. (Aunt Arctic had taken one look at her after her conversation with S and Zed and immediately given her the rest of the day off, much to Wei’s relief.)

“This is just absolutely ridiculous,” Wei continued, petting Ai’s fur a little desperately. “I don’t even know who these penguins are. I shouldn’t want to join their weird little secret club and weird secret ways, even if their technology is incredible and like nothing I’ve ever seen before in my life.”

Ai’s only response was a snore. On the coffee table in front of them, Crown hopped over the scattered pages of the file that Wei had spread out and read and reread countless times over the past several hours.

Wei stared at Crown. Crown stared back and let out a questioning squeak. Wei sighed.

“Oh, what the hell,” she said, and reached for the phone.

The penguin on the other end picked up after two rings. “Hello, you’ve reached the Sports Shop in the Ski Village,” they said cheerfully. “How can I help you today?”

“Um.” Wei glanced at the file in front of her. “I think the password is, ‘G has forty-five pairs of socks.’”

#club penguin #club penguin oc #club penguin ace #agent ace #penguin secret agency #club penguin psa #club penguin fanfic #waddle.txt #my writing #wei #anxiety mention

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cherryeoo · 4 years

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Morning Star (Ateez Fantasy!Au) Ch 7

Summary: Two unlikely companions join together to ride the rollercoaster known as: Life. With a yin and yang balance, they soon discover that there’s not only beauty in the beast, but beast in the beauty.

“I agree ma’am. I feel like it’s all for the best too for the sake of the case.”

Saetbyeol stood before her bosses desk, hands clasped before her. Since San’s outburst in the car on their way back from the cave it had been decided by Saet and her boss that San be taken off the case. She still didn’t know what had suddenly gotten into San that night.

“Very well. I know you’ll continue to work hard but just remember to take care of yourself and not overwork yourself.”

Bidding Saet goodbye her boss shooed her out of the office with a soft smile. Saetbyeol’s boss was always very caring and kind. The two women instantly became friends when Saet was hired. Returning to her desk, she sunk into her chair - an audible sigh escaping her lips. It’s been almost three weeks since she last saw San. Her heart felt heavy and constantly ached. At first she wasn’t sure why she felt the way she did, but it didn’t take long for her to realize the truth. She hasn’t heard from her best friend Mirae since the night she was attacked either. What was going on? Was everyone abandoning her?

Shaking her head - sections of hair brushing her bare shoulders, pieces sticking to the knit fabric, strands falling across her face and eyes - the sensation soft and familiar but at the same time ticklish and foreign. Waiting for her computer to power on Saetbyeol sifted through her notes mentally bookmarking what to add. She didn’t know how she was going to handle all of this herself but she wasn’t going to let anything stop her from solving this mystery!

This case was not making any sense. The more Saetbyeol investigated, the more it seems like something primal and less human. But what could do such a thing? It was time to broaden Saet’s horizons. Making her way back to the office Saetbyeol noticed a familiar figure standing near the picnic tables.

“Mirae!” Saetbyeol burst into a sprint as she crashed bodies with her best friend - pulling her into a tight embrace.

“Where have you been?! What happened to you after that night?! I have been trying to reach you ever since! I was starting to worry something really bad happened to you!”

Mirae held her friends shaking frame tight, gently rubbing her back hoping to calm her.The two sat at a nearby table - Mirae watching Saetbyeol wipe away the tears that soaked her rosy cheeks. Once she sensed Saet calm down enough she proceeded to fill her in.

“I received an emergency phone call from my parents the next morning so I had to rush back home. I ended up leaving all my belongings here and my phone had died so I wasn’t able to contact you. I’m really sorry for worrying you, everything is okay now.”

“When did you get back?”

“Late last night. I assumed you were sleeping so I decided to wait until today and tell you everything face to face. How is everything going with the case? How is San doing?”

Saetbyeol’s heart dropped at the sound of his name, a frown forming across her face. Mirae noticed the sudden change in her demeanor. “I haven’t seen or heard from him since the two of us got back to the office after we visited the caves. I’m worried Mirae. I know I shouldn’t be it’s just...I’ve gotten used to him being by my side. I miss his teasing, his laughter, the way his eyes formed small crescent shapes when he smiled. I miss it all and I don’t even know why I do.”

Mirae’s eyes widened at the news. Seeing tears well up in Saet’s eyes once more, anger burst through her body. She didn’t understand how this could happen. He was so nice to her. He protected her. He treated her better than he treated anyone. Mirae knew what was going on but dared not say anything, they needed to figure it out on their own. None of this made sense to her. How could things turn out like this?

“What happened when I was away?”

Lowering her head, Saetbyeol began to recite everything that occurred in the past three weeks - tears flowing freely. But Saetbyeol didn’t care, she missed Choi San so much. It was only now when she realized just how she felt about him. Coming to an end she gently shook her head.

The night in the car San stared at her so intensely Saetbyeol genuinely felt afraid of San, a feeling she never thought she would experience with him. His eyes were stone cold, like the damp stones in the cave. His words piercing like daggers. He had told her how she was smothering him. She was holding him back. He was constantly embarrassed to be around her. She was always causing him trouble. He wanted nothing to do with her anymore. The two drove back to the office in complete silence. Saetbyeol was in shock. The whole way she stared blankly out the window - tears threatened to fall from her eyes but she willed them not to. The last she saw of him was his car driving away, leaving her standing outside the office in the cold night. Turning her back she walked back to her apartment, allowing the tears to flow down her cheeks.

“I don’t know how any of this happened. Things were going great between us. San had changed, but he reverted back to his old self maybe even worse.”

Bringing Saetbyeol into her side as to hide her away from onlookers Mirae wanting nothing more than to hunt him down and give him a piece of her mind and then some. Little did she know she was about to get her wish. Hearing the revving of an engine race towards them Mirae glanced up. A yellow sports car whipped into an empty parking spot, just barely missing the car to the right. A young woman about Mirae and Saetbyeol’s age emerged from the driver’s side.

“Well that explains the poor, careless driving.” Mirae thought.

Then she saw him. The thin, slender figure stepped gracefully from the passenger side. Choi San. A smug smirk smeared across his face. Mirae wanted nothing more than to smack it off. He walked over to the woman as she immediately clung to his arm. The pair walked towards the building laughing and talking as if they had known one another for their entire life. But San once said he didn’t have any friends or family. So just who exactly was this girl?

Saetbyeol lowered her head even more, freeing her hair from behind her ears as a way to shield her eyes and face entirely from his view. He couldn’t let him see her tears. He can’t know the effect this had on her. Watching the two walk past without a glance her way through the black curtain her heart shattered. He has completely forgotten all about her, about everything they’ve been through. Fate really did enjoy playing games with Saetbyeol.

“Just who the hell does she think she is?!”

Mirae cursed audibly as she stood up to go run after him and demand answers but was halted by a gentle tug on her sleeve. Looking down, Saet’s trembling hand clung to her, refusing to look up. Sighing, Mirae hoisted her friend up and ushered her to the car. “Come on, let’s go home.”

Saetbyeol buried herself deep within her sheets. Blocking all sunlight out. She felt numb. No sense of hurt, cold or heartache could touch her. She sunk so far into herself nothing mattered. Mirae fed her - Saet’s eyes hollow, her stare blank. All light and warmth sucked from her eyes. Tears no longer fell, she was emotionless. Just a hollow shell of who she once was. Her entire being taken from her. Mirae couldn’t watch her best friend go on like this.

Grabbing her jacket and key’s she stormed out to her car and raced to Saetbyeol’s job. Saet knew what she was about to do but she no longer cared. Screeching to a stop, Mirae instantly locked on to her target. San sat alone at the furthest picnic table. Picking at his food, staring blankly ahead, he only snapped out of his trance at the sound of Mirae’s fist slamming onto the table right next to him.

“Choi San you have a lot of explaining to do. And it better be good.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” San continued to stare straight ahead, his eyes still glazed over. His eyes were puffy but she wasn’t sure if it was from lack of sleep, staring at the computer screen or something else entirely.

Mirae’s blood boiled hot within her veins. Without second thought her hands darted forward grabbing San by the front of his shirt, forcing him to look at her. Her gaze was so intense San couldn’t look away, he had never seen this usual gentle girl this angry. But he wasn’t sure as to why she was mad at him. What had he done? He tried to shake her off but her grip only tightened like a rattlesnake waiting for its prey to accept defeat.

“You know damn well what I’m talking about! Saetbyeol! Or have you forgotten about her? Your partner at work, your friend, the girl you love, every cruel thing you said to her that night.”

Confusion danced across his face. The look in his eyes flickered at the sound of her name, as if he was trying to fight to remember something important that was slowly drifting away. His eyes started to become clear as realization set in. Mirae could see a battle raging in his eyes as he fought to hold onto the memories.

“What are you doing?! Get off my boyfriend!”

Mirae whipped her head in the direction of the voice only to see the girl that was attached to San at the office. Her long blonde hair draped over her shoulders, bangs swept off to one side covering her left eye slightly. The girl was dressed in a rather short and skin tight dress, not really the appropriate attire for a cold winter afternoon, a fur jacket draped over her small frame. The clattering of her heels got louder as she got closer to the two.

“This is none of your business!” Mirae snapped at the girl, returning her head back to San just to see his eyes completely glaze back over the closer she got. Just who was this girl and what power did she hold over him?

“It is my business when you’re harassing my boyfriend.”

Mirae had to admit the girl before her was very charming, but too charming. Her voice was like the sound of soft chimes that sent shivers down your spine and goosebumps to form all across your body. Her eyes were soft and around but the gaze that radiated from them was so intense it would make any man cower before her, even San.

“My name is Solmi. I am San’s girlfriend. I am also working here now and San’s new partner.”

Mirae couldn’t take much more of her. Releasing San, she turned to face Solmi. “I could care less who you say you are. I know who you really are, you can’t fool me and you’ll never replace Saetbyeol.”

Solmi scoffed, raising her head she glared at Mirae “I don’t care, it’s not going to change anything. You and I both know this. Oh by the way, I know who you are as well.”

Solmi reached down grabbing San’s arm helping him to his feet. Turning their backs to Mirae the two made their way inside. “Damn siren.”

Mirae spun on her heels making her way back to her car and home to Saet. She wasn’t going to allow San to be manipulated by that woman. And she certainly wasn’t going to allow her best friend to give up.

Saetbyeol sat at her desk, her focus fully on the screen of her computer as she typed diligently about the new findings and theories to what really is responsible for all the killings. There was another attack a couple nights ago. Saetbyeol received a call in the middle of the night from her boss with the news. She immediately raced to the address her boss had texted her. The scene was the same as in the cave, bodies of animals piled skillfully on top of one another, the kill site was clean, the livers of each carcass was missing.

Thinking back to that night at the cave Saetbyeol paused as the memories flooded her mind. The smell, the bodies, the way she cut her ankle, how San...San. Saetbyeol was successfully able to bury her feelings deep within her enough so she could return to work. She was still numb to everything but she pulled herself together with the help of Mirae. No. She won’t allow herself to think of him. He made things quite clear that night and then when he returned back to work with her.

Hearing the sound of an all familiar laugh, Saetbyeol raised her head just enough to be able to glance out of the corner of her eye. Across the room she saw San and his new partner, Solmi she thinks Mirae told her, standing close to one another as they discussed a project they were working on. They were all everyone talked about, while Saetbyeol was once again left in the shadows - no longer aware of her existence.

Her heart ached still, she wouldn’t deny that and she knew when she went home tonight the pain and misery would swallow her whole once again. But she never let it show. She couldn’t. Not that he remembered what happened anyway, or cared. Signing off her computer she made her way outside to head back to the woods to search for more clues. Reaching the door she could feel eyes on her but she didn’t dare stop to see who’s eyes it was. Exiting into the cold air helped clear her mind and bring her back to focus on the task at hand.

The site, now void of reporters and police officers, was quiet and eerie.The air was thick and damp, her hair becoming slightly damp as it clung to her face from the dewy fog that lingered. Digging her camera out of her bag Saetbyeol made her way around the area snapping pictures to examine more closely later on. The sun started to dip lower in the sky as Saetbyeol finished taking pictures and taking notes. Turning to head back Saetbyeol stumbled in a nearby hole that had been covered up by the fresh fallen snow. Cursing as Saetbyeol tumbled to the moist soil she felt the sharp edge of what felt like a stick sliced across the delicate flesh of her ankle and palms of her hands.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Not this again.”

Groaning, Saet stood up examining her injuries. They were bad but not as bad as the first time. Wiping her hands on a clean spot on her pants she bit her lower lip at the pain shooting through her ankle and palms. Hobbling to her car she made her way back to the office to get cleaned up. Putting on a brave face Saetbyeol made her way through the buildings door to the bathroom, fully aware of the stares and snickers coming from the other side of the building. She knew she looked terrible but she didn’t care. Locking the door behind her Saetbyeol began removing various leaves and grass from her hair and dirt from her clothes before moving on to patch up her wounds.

Satisfied, ignoring the lingering pain in her body and the fresh blood that flowed leaving visible red blotches on the bandages, Saetbyeol made her way back to her desk. Passing Solmi and San, feeling their eyes on her, she heard San softly gasped and stand up as if to make his way to her but was stopped by his new partner. “Saet?”

The sound of her name coming from his mouth after so long made her heart jump but she dare not react. Sinking into her chair she extended her injured ankle as she carefully removed the camera and notebook from her bag before placing them on her desk. It was just like last time, San could smell her blood. She was hurt again, but this time on more than just her ankle. San yearned to run to her and tend to her and he wasn’t sure why he felt this way. He had a girlfriend already. And he and Saetbyeol had never been close. They worked together for years but never got to know one another. So why was he feeling this way?

Confused San remained in his trance. The scent of her blood was luring him more and more to her. Scenes flashed in his mind which only added to his confusion because she was there, laughing and smiling with him. What was going on? Why is he remembering such things? It felt like there was a thick veil before him blocking out important things he was fighting to remember. His heart ached in his chest and he didn’t understand why. What was he forgetting? Why was he fighting so hard to rip down the veil? He had everything. Who was Saetbyeol?

Grabbing his face, Solmi turned San to face her. Locking eyes with her San could feel the veil getting thicker and the images started to fade away. Everything inside of him was screaming to hold on and not give in but the urge was too strong. San’s eyes glazed back over as his confused and conflicted expression was switched with the now typical cocky and smug one.

“Babe you okay? You had me worried for a while.”

Solmi pressed her body against his as she gripped his arms feigning concern. Snaking his arms around her waist San glanced down at her smiling back at her. “Yeah I’m okay, just got distracted for a moment there. No need to worry, you’re the only one for me.”

Making her way through the door of her apartment Saetbyeol wandered off to her room, tossing her belongings on the floor near her bed. She usually was more tidy but right now she didn’t care, she was in pain both physically and emotionally. She was tired. Changing into her pajama’s Saet made her way back downstairs to the living room. Mirae sat on the couch fully consumed by the drama she was watching. It wasn’t until she saw Saet limping to the couch that she snapped out of her trance. “What happened to you?”

Mirae was used to her best friend getting hurt so she was never really surprised and was always prepared for such moments. Fetching the first aid kit Mirae sat down beside Saetbyeol and began properly tending to her wounds. Saet began to fill Mirae of everything that happened today, from her falling in the hole and getting hurt to San’s strange behavior after she got hurt. Cleaning up, Mirae sighed and reached her Saetbyeol’s hands. A look of seriousness set on her face. This wasn’t like Mirae, Saetbyeol was worried.

“Saet there’s some things you need to know. And I need you to promise me you’ll keep a very open mind.” Mirae was terrified. She was about to tell her only friend and family about Solmi, about San, about her.

Saetbyeol was confused but nodded, promising to keep an open mind. Mirae was her best friend, her family, nothing would ever change that.

“Saet everything you know about this world is a lie. There’s a lot more going on than you or anyone know. But you’re starting to realize that even if you’re not ready to admit it to yourself. Me, San and Solmi are...special. Even you are special.”

Taking a deep breath Mirae raised her head, looking right into Saet’s eyes. “Saet I’m the mythical creature Samjokgu. I’m the three legged dog of our folklore.”

Saetbyeol gasped, her eyes growing wide at the sudden news. “What?”

#atzwriters #atinynet #ateez #san #ateez fanfic #ateez san #choi san #atiny #fanfic #writings #fanfiction #my works #cherryeoo #p; Morning Star #cherryeoo; Morning Star

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qvestchen · 5 years

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Nemesis // Soonwoo SVT

Summary: It was really laughable. The idea that Jeon Wonwoo had a nemesis. And yet there it was. The clear proof that all his life, like a nagging dull ache, Kwon Soonyoung had stepped all over his plans without ever really acknowledging him.

And maybe it was wrong for Wonwoo to seek him out but all he wanted was answers at first. He had never imagined they would stand opposite each other, fingers on triggers, his death in his nemesis’s hands and vice-versa.

Author: qvestchen

Status: Ongoing

Chapters: Home, Previous, Next.

Nemesis // Soonwoo SVT

Chapter 2: But he is cursed

Soonyoung was laughing, totally immersed in a joke that his friend, Junhui, was narrating when Jihoon scoffed loudly.

“Have you two even signed up for your electives yet?”

Soonyoung and Jun stopped laughing and threw him a dark look.

“Jihoon, loosen up when you’re at the drama club,” Soonyoung said, whining slightly. “We still have till tomorrow to decide.”

Jun nodded. “A decision made at the last minute is the best.”

Seungcheol who was lazily watching the three of them while going over Jihoon’s new music with Joshua grinned at Joshua and Jihoon. “Should I break it to them?”

Jihoon smiled. “Let me do the honours this time.” He straightened up from his position on the floor and cleared his throat. “Today’s the last date for applying for electives. Good luck getting any because I’m pretty sure all of the courses are filled up by now. The good ones, anyway.”

Soonyoung frowned, still disbelieving, reaching for his phone to check the date. “You’ve probably mixed up your da—oh shit, Jun, we got to rush. It’s today!”

The two of them scrambled up quickly jumping down from the cool stage, looking for their bags.

“Joshua, what happens if two fools don’t choose their electives?” Seungcheol asked, laughing fondly at his friends.

Joshua pretended to think. “Apart from the immediate embarrassment? I would say, failing the semester, seeing everyone else pass and ooh, or worse, expulsion?”

They laughed as Jun flipped them off.

Jihoon got up too. “I’m going to the studio—”

“You mean your dorm room,” Seungcheol corrected.

“What’s in a name?” Jihoon said, gathering his things. “Got to go, folks. Inspiration calls. Wait up, you two. I’m coming up.”

“I’m planning to go to the cafeteria too,” Joshua said. “I’ll grab a sandwich and finish my essay.”

Soonyoung, who was waiting for Jun at the door, said. “I don’t understand how you like the cafeteria food so much. Especially when now we have Jeonghan’s cooking to sample.”

Joshua visibly stiffened. “I’ll see you later.” He left without looking at Soonyoung.

“What’s up with him?” Soonyoung asked Seungcheol as they locked the drama club.

“He doesn’t like the new club member.”

“Jeonghan? He has barely known him for a couple of days. How serious can it be?” He said, looking at Joshua’s retreating figure.

Seungcheol shrugged. “I have no idea. He’s usually very welcoming to the new members.”

Jihoon said, “He’s probably just worried about his essay. He’s been writing it in the cafeteria since the start of semester.”

Jun cut across. “You’re all wrong. It’s the sexual tension.”

“O-kay, that’s our cue to leave,” Soonyoung said, dragging Jun to the Language and Literature block.

There was a huge line of students at the Chinese department so Jun suggested that Soonyoung should go ahead. “Unless you want to take the class with me which would be amazing, to be honest.”

“You’re Chinese. You’re going to ace it but it’s a bit too heavy an elective for me. Intro to Persian is famous for being a light elective. Let me just rush and sign up for it and come back for you.”

Soonyoung walked outside the department room and was immediately hit by the sound of students loudly discussing plans but the noise died out as he left the English and Chinese language departments behind and climbed upstairs to the quiet, dusty corridor which housed the small, air-conditioned room that worked as the reception of the Persian department. He knocked at the glass door and waited before poking his head inside. “May I come in?”

The man at the small reception desk looked up from the computer screen with intense dislike at having been disturbed from his solitary afternoon ruminations. “Since you’re here, you might as well.”

Soonyoung walked inside quietly, smiling a bit awkwardly. “I could come back later if you’re busy.”

Truth be told, the great ‘angel’ of the drama club who was famous for being loud, boisterous and confident, the friendly Soonyoung was, outside his drama club and otherwise small group of friends, a shy, polite person especially in front of people he didn’t know. Right now, he was a stark contrast to his popular image (Jihoon often joked “it is the Gemini in him”) but the fact was that he was all of this together, a complex person, a bit forgetful at times but an easily endearing person, the kind who made people feel at ease.

The man at the desk seemed to consider his words. “How can I help you today?”

Soonyoung smiled warmly. “I came to sign up for the ‘Introduction to Persian Language and Culture’ course. Wait I have my ID copy and registration form somewhere here.” He rummaged in his backpack, apologetically. “Ah, here it is.”

He was handed a sheet. “You’re lucky. We just had one spot left. Fill in your details, name, course, email and so on and sign here.”

“Oh wow,” Soonyoung said, writing down his name, “I am so grate—” His phone rang, a hip-hop number filling the small room. His eyes widened and he apologized, looking at his phone. It was Joshua probably calling to tell him that the cafeteria had some semi-edible delicacy. He silenced his phone, filling in the details and signing with a flourish, before picking up the phone. He nodded to receptionist. “Thank you for everything. I’m looking forward to the classes.” He winced as he heard Joshua nearly screaming out of his phone. “Hello, Joshua. You sound excited. What’s up? Yes, I just finished signing up for the Persian elective. No, no, I don’t want to change. I would love to study English but I would probably fail, see everyone else pass and ooh, or worse, get expelled?” He laughed his characteristic loud, happy laugh, swinging outside the door, not even realising that someone was standing right outside. If he had realized that he had nearly crashed the door into a very annoyed student he would have no doubt stopped and apologized profusely but as it was, he was totally immersed in the call with a frantic Joshua who, unsuccessfully, wanted him to change his elective for some inexplicable reason.

After Joshua mysteriously said a sudden goodbye, Soonyoung reunited with Jun in the Chinese department who was still standing in the queue. “You won’t believe it but I made it just in time.”

Jun said, “I hope I get lucky too. There’s so many people that I’m worried the course will get filled by the time my chance comes.”

As they waited, Soonyoung wondered aloud about Joshua’s strange call and recent behaviour in general. “I hope he’s okay.”

Jun assumed a saint-like expression. “I’m telling you it’s Jeonghan. I think Joshua is experiencing a crush for the first time ever.”

Joshua was, in fact, experiencing something totally different. After having reached the cafeteria and spotting Seokmin and Hansol, he had placed himself within earshot at a table nearby, pretending to work on his essay. He hadn’t expected to hear much but instead he got to know that Wonwoo had decided to take Persian.

He had been unable to stop himself from exclaiming in pure shock. “What!?” No, no, that could not happen. He could not allow that to happen. Soonyoung and Wonwoo could not be allowed to cross paths. As if on cue, the bracelet around his wrist heated up, the runes no doubt signalling impending disaster. He gathered his things into his backpack and between rushing to get up and calling Soonyoung simultaneously, he tripped and fell.

The loud exclamation and following fall alerted Seokmin and Hansol to him and Seokmin even began to reiterate the information but he was already rushing out of the cafeteria, nearly shouting in his phone.

He was crossing the threshold of the cafeteria when something in the corner of his vision seemed to slow down time.

A flash of blonde hair.

Yoon Jeonghan.

Maybe time did slow down because it must have been fraction of a second but Joshua could feel his heart drop as Jeonghan returned his gaze, a taunting smile foretelling his failure to stop things from happening. Still smiling, Jeonghan tilted his head in a greeting and then, time sped up again and turning back, Soonyoung’s voice sounding through his phone, Joshua’s heart dropped as he noticed Jeonghan walking to Seokmin and Hansol’s table.

He had been right. The Warlock was here to stay.

The scene vanished as he tumbled suddenly into a quiet classroom instead of walking out of the cafeteria. “Uh, Soonyoung,” he continued to speak in his phone, “please, don’t take the elective. How about you take English with me? Or, I don’t know, Geography, I’ve heard they still have seats.” But Soonyoung had already cut the line.

He jiggled his bracelet which was warning him of unauthorised magic use but at the same time burning with an urgency that he knew well to read. Soonyoung and Wonwoo were going to cross paths and here, his teleportation magic was shortcircuiting as usual. He groaned aloud. “I’m doing it for them. I’m not using magic for myself.”

He let out a breath, trying to calm himself down. Okay, one more try. He walked to the classroom door and turned the handle, closing his eyes as he walked out.

The air shifted around him and suddenly, he could smell old paper and musty air-conditioning. He sighed in relief on opening his eyes and found himself in the Persian department.

The man at the desk made an irritated noise at seeing him. “The course is closed.”

Joshua walked up to him with a small smile. “You are sleeping right now. I am a figment of your imagination. How about you move on to another dream?” He clenched his fist as his bracelet shuddered with the magic use. He wondered if it would work. Even if it did, it would only work for mere seconds. His magic was limited by the bracelet, taking a physical toll on him to work. Suddenly, a thought of Jeonghan crossed his mind. That one did not have a bracelet. He must be immensely powerful. Immediately, he shook his head. But he is cursed.

His magic seemed to be working for the receptionist eyes glazed slightly, eyelids drooping and his head lolled to the side as slight snores filled the air.

Joshua got to work. He crossed off Soonyoung’s name and details from the list, not even needing to check the list above the last name. Opening the folder beside it, he took out Soonyoung’s ID copy and registration form, stuffing them in his pocket. It took him less than five seconds and the receptionist had already begun to show signs of waking up. He walked to the door, turning one last time to mumble an apology and then, he was walking out.

The air shifted and he was wrinkling his nose, knowing already that his teleportation had messed up again. He was in the washroom beside the cafeteria. Not as offtrack as it could have been though, he reasoned, checking the runes on his bracelet. It was cool again, no warning signs. Disaster had been averted. Soonyoung and Wonwoo had been steered clear of each other.

He noticed that his hands were shaking and pursed his lips before walking out of the cubicle. He caught his reflection in the mirror. His face was ashen. The magic always took a toll, even if he used it for the right purposes. He washed his face and patted it dry with a tissue before walking out confidently.

If anyone had seen him walk out, they wouldn’t have thought him any different from any other student. That gave him comfort and he had even begun to smile a bit, feeling happy with his quick thinking when he walked into the cafeteria. His smile dropped as he found himself under the attention of everyone at the table he had earlier been eavesdropping on. He felt like he was suffocating as he saw Jeonghan sitting alongside Wonwoo.

He knew already that his efforts today were only temporary. Now that Soonyoung and Wonwoo’s lives had a thin common factor—Jeonghan. The warlock seemed to sense his thoughts and raised an eyebrow in challenge.

Jisoo, won’t you come meet my new friends?

His eyes bulged as he recognized the smooth, taunting voice in his head. Jeonghan knew his name. How did he know it? What else did he know?

Get out of my head, Jeonghan. He turned around and walked out of the place, finding himself inadvertently walking into the Chinese department where Soonyoung and Jun were still waiting for Jun’s turn at the registration.

“Joshua? What are you doing here?” Soonyoung asked, brightly.

He looks so happy, he thought, he doesn’t know what I’ve done. He wanted to say sorry for denying his friend his chosen elective. Maybe he could sign him up here. He opened his mouth to suggest it in some subtle way but no sound came out.

Jun clapped. “You’re joining this elective too? What made you change your mind?”

Joshua wanted to say something but his mouth had gone dry and even as he walked to his friends, his body was leaden. He could see their expression drop right before the world spotted and darkened.

The last thing he heard was Jun screaming.

It was, in fact, Soonyoung screaming. Together the two of them managed to haul him to the medic’s room in the building while a teacher rang up the campus hospital.

“Is he okay?” Soonyoung asked the nurse, his face stained with tears, after they had settled Joshua down a bit. It had only been minutes but Jun and him had panicked and called everyone. They were all on the way, including Jeonghan who had called Soonyoung and caught him crying.

The nurse smiled warmly at the two of them. “It’s exhaustion and probably stress but he’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

“Are you sure?” he asked again. He looked at his friend who was now on the hospital bed. He looked tired, slight dark circles beneath his eyes and pale, blotchy skin.

“Maybe we should call his parents?” Jun said, worriedly.

They looked at each other, suddenly realizing they had no idea how to contact Joshua’s parents.

Soonyoung picked up Joshua’s jacket. “It will be on his phone.” He unlocked the phone easily, priding himself at knowing the passcode, but frowned when he looked at the contacts. He just had four numbers saved. Soonyoung, Seungcheol, Jihoon and Junhui.

Jun who was beside him looked surprised too.

“Well?” the nurse asked.

Soonyoung kept the phone back. “You could say we are his family. I’ll stay with him here tonight.”

“Okay, how about you get these medicines from the prescription here and get him and yourself a change of clothes and toiletries?” the nurse said.

Soonyoung was reluctant to leave but Jun nodded.

“Go. I won’t leave. Don’t worry.”

And so he was walking out of the hospital when someone’s heavy backpack knocked into his chest. He lost balance and grabbed at air, eyes widening as he realized that he was heading straight for the open window.

A hand caught his t-shirt and pulled him back.

“Watch where you’re going, will you?” Seungcheol said, steadying him. “If you fell from here, you would probably die.” He pulled shut the window pane, securing it firmly, after glaring in the direction of the person who had collided with Soonyoung. “I’m going to complain to the admin about these windows here.”

“It’s okay,” Soonyoung said, rubbing his chest. “I wasn’t seeing where I was going. You go ahead. I’ll just get these medicines and—”

“Jihoon is getting nightwear and other stuff so don’t worry. Should I get the medicines?” Seungcheol asked.

“Thank God for Jihoon. I’ll get the medicines though. You go ahead.”

When Soonyoung returned, he found his friends waiting outside the room. “What happened?”

“He’s sleeping right now so that’s fine,” Jun said.

Jihoon looked furious. “The nurse kicked us out because we were crowding the place.”

“We aren’t even that many,” Soonyoung said.

“Jeonghan dropped in with a friend. Remember the idiot who nearly killed you near the window here. That’s his friend, Jeon Wonwoo. I nearly told him off. Anyway, I politely thanked them but knowing Joshua wouldn’t be happy to see Jeonghan when he woke up, I somehow managed to get rid of them for now.”

The packet of medicines slipped from Soonyoung’s fingers.

Jeon Wonwoo?

“D-Did you say Jeon Wonwoo?” No, what he wanted to ask was, he is real?

He felt sick. The name was echoing in his head like a ghost haunting his veins. Wonwoo. Wonwoo. Wonwoo. The spectre which followed him only to disappear. Soonyoung had thought he had got over him. He had spent a good part of his high school life chasing after this name. Only to find nothing. He had sworn himself to let go, to forget, convinced himself that there was no such person, that everything that happened, every little incident, every whisper, was nothing, had told himself to stop looking for that glint of spectacles, that soft head of dark hair, that once-heard deep voice, because they were all red herrings.

“Yes, do you know him? He was kind of weird. I mean, he said he saw Joshua at the cafeteria when he was with you guys.”

And yet there it was. The name and the person.

He dialled Jeonghan’s number hurriedly. “Hey, is—is someone…this is going to sound weird but do you know…do you have a friend named Wonwoo?”

hello, hope you enjoyed the new chapter!

lots of things happened, we got to see a bit more about soonwoo's relationship of sorts, more about joshua (and his powers and limits) and jeonghan, and we met soonyoung's friends! what did you think of the chapter? are you ready for soonwoo to meet next chapter?

side note: "Introduction to Persian Language and Culture" is an elective course i took in uni. this is a little bit of a background story for this fic but in our uni this course was immensely popular among the students because it was supposed to be easy to score marks in. and it turned out to be true lol because of the structure of the course (rather than the content or anything else) and the fact that we only did basic language in the course. i actually enjoyed the course and loved learning the language and about the culture. persian is a beautiful language. unfortunately, my classmates and i, did not, even after a year of the course, become fluent. idk i thought this would explain this bit of the fic and some of the references that i'm using. most of the uni scenes in this fic are going to be typical uni student lives but with seventeen.

thank you for supporting <3 love, positive vibes and great friendships!

#soonwoo #seventeen au #seventeen fic #svt hoshi #wonwoo #seventeen #soonyoung #jihan #jihoon #junhui #joshua #jeonghan #seokmin #mingyu #vernon #svt chan #seungkwan #scoups #minghao

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freshwater--mermaid · 6 years

Text

Ersatz Ch 28: Ghost Around

Many miles of thick forest spread like a green ocean, separating Amity Park from its neighboring city, Elmerton.

The vast sea of land was calm, serene, and isolated from any human contact; save for one area.

All animals had long since fled the tiny clearing as the air was filled with static and thunderclaps of green and white. Small streaks of lightening threatened to set fire to nearby trees as they left the outstretched hands of a lone teenaged boy.

He straightened his posture, shaking his hands and hissing out a breath between his teeth. The more powerful attacks took longer to charge, and hurt as they exited his palms.

They were also draining, and Danny could feel himself waning as the hours dragged by. Scowling down at a hand, Danny watched the ectoplasm manifest, growing as he fed more energy into it. Sparks of white danced up his fingers and across his wrist as he held his hand out, not watching where he aimed as he let go. The ball of buzzing green shot out, striking a tree several yards away with a hiss.

Finally, Danny lifted his eyes upward, taking in the day and his surroundings. He idly wondered why he'd never thought of coming to the forest to train before. If he went far enough in, no one would ever find him as he practiced.

And that's what he was doing, wasn't it. Practice makes perfect, they say.

'Not avoiding anything; nope.' a little voice spoke up in a snide tone.

Danny squashed the thought, frowning.

So what if he wanted to get far away from his home and his family and the city? He wasn't sitting under a tree crying or something; he was training! So it didn't really count as running away, right?

"It's not like it even happened." Danny mumbled aloud.

It didn't happen. His parents never hurt him. Never discovered his body or his secret. They were still his regular parents. They still loved him.

But none of those thoughts felt real. He couldn't understand it. He knew what was real, but it was as if a part of himself wouldn't accept it. A piece of his mind was still convinced that it'd happened, and no rational thinking or angry ecto blasts fired in the woods could cool down the raging rampage that still warred in a dark recess of his head.

Danny was at a loss with himself. He groaned, frustrated and tired, and pulled out his cellphone from a jeans pocket. Glancing down at the time, Danny figured that he should start heading back, before Jazz or his dad came home to check on him. No need to earn himself more unwanted attention by being mysteriously absent.

'Hopefully with Mom hurt they won't bother much with me.' he thought as his feet left the ground.

He slowly rose above the tree tops, not bothering with invisibility as his mind numbed once more, falling into a lulled quiet as he looked toward the distant skyline.

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

The sun was beginning its downward climb as a small car pulled up outside of the Manson family home.

Before it fully stopped, the back door was opening and Tucker was rushing out of the vehicle. He ignored his mother's call from behind him as he bounded up to the ornate door. He threw it open, staring into the dark interior with a sudden tremor of fear.

Concern quickly drowned out all thoughts of horror movie scenarios, however, and Tucker dove into the shadows as his parents jogged to catch up to him.

"Tucker, sweetie, slow down!" Angela said, to no avail.

The boy was bounding up the stairs two at a time, running straight for Sam's room. Just inside the open doorway he halted, his parents almost crashing into him.

Sam lay across her large bed, wrapped in a plush black robe, wet hair clinging to her face as her red eyes slowly turned to look at everyone.

"Tucker?" her voice was nearly a whisper.

Tucker walked fully into the room, relieved beyond belief that Sam was okay. But sadness pierced his heart like pins at the sight of her. All this time, she had been alone in this big house, probably thinking the absolute worst had happened to her parents. Tucker would never stop kicking himself for not coming over sooner.

Sam sat up, pulling her robe tighter about herself as the cold air chilled her wet skin. She glanced briefly at the adults, her eyes falling from them as Tucker stood by her bedside. Her face twisted into an expression of grief before she fought back control, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

"Tucker," she began, voice wobbling as fresh tears threatened to build. "My parents…they-"

"They're alive!" Tucker interrupted, not able to bear another broken word from the girl.

Sam's throat closed around her voice, choking it as her eyes widened. She stared up at the boy before her, mind struggling to comprehend.

"What?" she finally managed.

"Your parents are at the hospital." Tucker explained. "They've been hurt pretty bad, but the doctors say they'll be okay. We came to take you-"

Tucker's words were halted by Sam's body colliding with his own. He very nearly was knocked off his feet by the force of it, Sam's arms wrapping tight around his neck as she hugged him.

Quickly she let go, now looking ready to start sprinting down the street. Angela left her husband's side and walked into the room, resting a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Come on, honey. Let's get you dressed and then we'll leave right away." she spoke gently, steering the teen over to her closet.

Tucker followed his dad back out, and the two waited in silence downstairs.

In under two minutes Sam was running down to join them, shirt and jeans thrown on haphazardly. She practically charged out the front door, hopping into the back of the Foley family car.

Tucker and the rest were close behind, Angela starting up the car and driving back the way they came.

Tucker looked at Sam, who sat tense in her seat, hands toying with her seatbelt as she stared out the window. He leaned slightly toward her, his voice low as he spoke.

"It'll be alright, Sam." he said, hesitating before he continued. "I'm sorry I didn't come over sooner. I just wasn't thinking, I guess…"

Sam pulled from her thoughts, turning and giving Tucker a half-smile.

"Don't be sorry. I know there's been…a lot going on today." she assured him, before returning her gaze to the window.

The four sat in weighted silence for the rest of the trip, all anxious to reach the hospital and finally see the Manson parents with their own eyes.

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

The house was barren and still as Jazz walked quietly through it. She internally winced at every creak and groan the stairs made, the noises scraping at the silence.

Danny's door was predictably closed and locked, and Jazz jiggled the handle in frustration. She knocked on the door several times, frowning at it.

"Danny, open up." she called. "Come on."

No answer, and Jazz sighed in annoyance. Why was Danny picking now of all times to be a brooding teenager?

"Danny, this isn't the time to be stubborn! Open the door, we're going to the hospital. Mom wants to see you, and your friends are there. Danny!"

Nothing. Jazz groaned loudly, giving the door another round of loud knocks before giving up.

"That does it." she said to herself, turning away from the impassive door and down into the main room once more.

From there she continued her descent, going into the lab. She searched about in the darkness, soon finding a long screwdriver sitting atop her father's table. Tool in hand, she stomped back upstairs, thinking over just how long a lecture Danny was in for.

It took a few minutes of swiveling the screwdriver in the small space between the door's lock and the frame, and Jazz huffed and tried not to curse under her breath. Oh yes, Danny was going to be in so much trouble when she got in there.

Finally catching the lock, Jazz was able to maneuver it just enough to shove the door open. It swung wide, revealing an empty room.

Jazz dropped the screwdriver, walking quickly into the room. Her eyes swept up and down the small messy space.

"Danny?" she called.

She ripped off the blanket, revealing the bare mattress beneath it. She shoved aside papers to better see underneath the bed. She opened the closet door and rummaged around in it, moving boxes and clothes. Danny was nowhere.

Feeling a wave of dread, Jazz gave the room one last look before exiting it, mindful to unlock the door before closing it. She stood uncertainly in the hallway for several seconds, debating over what to do. She really hated the idea of calling Dad just to tell him that Danny was once again missing, but she didn't know what else to do.

Slowly, she walked back downstairs, all fire taken out of her as fear moved in.

Back in the bedroom, its temperature dropped a few degrees as Danny entered, moving through the window and setting his feet down onto the carpet. He listened for a moment, and hearing nothing, was glad that it appeared everyone was still away.

His mood lightening, Danny ducked down to the floor, searching around for his discarded backpack. He vaguely remembered flinging it somewhere when he had arrived home the other day. It felt like too much time had passed between then and now, and he swept aside items and trash in his impatience.

Jazz paused, foot hovering on the last step, as the distinct sound of movement reached her ears. She turned and looked upstairs, her feet carrying her cautiously back the way she came.

Danny paused at his open closet door, before shoving it closed with a loud click. As soon as he found his backpack, he was getting his thermos and heading into the Ghost Zone.

Danny let out a small noise of triumph as he spotted the worn bag lying half underneath his computer desk. He grabbed it up, pulling open the zipper and searching within. He let stray papers flutter out as he dug down to the bottom, feeling the metal against his fingers. He pulled the thermos out, dropping the backpack to the floor.

He looked down at the glinting chrome, thinking of the three tiny spirits trapped inside. His stomach took that moment to growl at him, and he turned toward the door just as Jazz opened it.

Both siblings froze, staring at one another. Jazz was the first to speak.

"Danny?" she said, looking her brother up and down as though he were a hallucination. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, this is my room?" Danny replied in a petulant tone.

Jazz sputtered, unable to form her spinning thoughts into cohesive sentences. Danny took the opportunity to skirt around her. His own mind was barely operating, and he could only think of getting down to the lab.

He was in the living room before Jazz caught up and grabbed him by the arm. He stopped, his mind waking up in time to watch her do a double take down at his captured arm. He quickly jerked it from her grasp, glaring at her.

"What!" he asked, exasperated and wanting her to go away.

"We're heading to the hospital. Come on." Jazz stated firmly, pushing all confusing thoughts aside in favor of the task she was sent on.

Once she got them both back to their parents, then Jazz would ask Danny how on earth he had evaded her search. Determined, Jazz once more grabbed Danny's arm. Leaving no room for argument, she pivoted on her heel and made for the door, dragging her reluctant brother along.

"Jazz-"

"No. You can't stay cooped up in here all day, Danny." Jazz said, not looking back at him. "Mom is hurt and hasn't seen you in almost two days, and your friends are worried, too."

At the mention of Tucker and Sam, Danny stopped pulling away from his sister. He sighed quietly behind her, but let himself be led outside into the afternoon light. Once she was sure he wouldn't run away, Jazz released her hold on Danny, bringing her hand up and cradling it close to her chest, trying to get the warmth back into it. Her fingers felt like they'd been wrapped around ice! And the air wasn't much better. Cold nipped at her from all around, and Jazz crossed her arms with a shudder.

Lost in their own thoughts, both teens walked the long trek to the hospital in complete silence. The sky had darkened into a rich shade of orange by the time they reached the main entrance.

The glass doors slid open for them, and Jazz mutely led the way down halls and through groups of people. Maddie's door stood open, and the two parents could be seen inside. Maddie lay in the bed, awake but drowsy, and Jack stood leaning against a wall.

Jazz entered the small dim room, smiling as her parents looked up.

"Where's Danny?" Maddie asked immediately.

Thought fled as Jazz stared at her. She whipped around toward her brother, only to be met with empty space.

"Danny?" Jazz walked out of the room, looking up and down the hallway, no younger brother in sight.

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

Tucker suddenly shivered, pulling his arms around himself to fend off the cold. He looked up to send a glare toward the hospital's ventilation system, but his eyes were stopped halfway as they landed on Danny. The other boy stood nearby, silent and looking at him, his expression unreadable.

"Danny!" Tucker yelled, flinging his arms out and crushing his friend in a hug.

He was so glad to see the other that he held on for an extra few seconds, despite his body screaming at the bitter cold seeping into it. Stepping back, he rubbed his arms as he grinned at Danny, happy to see that he didn't look hurt.

"Dude, we've all been so worried! Where have you been this whole time?" Tucker asked, walking further from where his parents sat.

Danny followed, and the two stood several feet from the tired adults.

"Sam's with her mom and dad." Tucker continued, his voice lowering. He nodded toward the closed door.

"Are they alright?" Danny asked after a moment's silence.

"Yeah, they'll be fine. Her dad's not in good shape, but he'll live." Tucker replied, thinking back to the brief glimpse he'd gotten of the man.

Lying prone on the bed, unconscious, his legs exposed as they were hooked up to wires and metal rods, piercing into flesh-

Tucker shook his head to rid himself of the images; he'd nearly fainted when he peeked in. And he was not going to pass out now!

Danny looked at the door, then at Tucker's parents, and then resumed staring at Tucker. His silence and blank expression quickly began to unnerve Tucker, and he glanced back at his folks before pulling Danny further away.

"Where were you, y'know, during everything?" he whispered.

Danny blinked at him, confused.

"During what?" he asked.

"You know, the flipping nightmare!" Tucker stressed. "When that big ghost thing sent all those creatures loose."

Now it was Danny's turn to look at Tucker like he was acting strange.

"I have no clue what you're talking about." Danny said, shaking his head.

"Dude...where exactly were you?" Tucker asked again.

"I was out." Danny answered plainly. "Remember? At the party I said I was heading out. I wanted to get some fresh air. And speaking of, I-"

"Fresh air!" Tucker yelled, before stopping himself and looking around.

People glanced their way at the noise, but quickly ignored the two once more.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure it was a relaxing night for you. The blood red sky, the thousands of people screaming and running for their lives. What's not to love?" Tucker couldn't help the thick sarcasm coating his words. He barely kept his voice low and contained, wanting to shout and gesture wildly. The night had been an absolute hell, and here Danny was speaking as if it'd been a boring evening.

Danny was also becoming angry, frowning heavily at his friend.

"What the heck are you talking about? Look, all I know is the big Knight ghost came through the portal and wrecked things. My mom got hurt fighting him. Anything I'm missing?"

"Uh, yeah, how about the monsters he created out of freaken' cars and stuff and sent after all of us." Tucker said. "They're what hurt a lot of people. The big ghost mostly just flew around hitting people with his sword."

Danny had opened his mouth to reply, but at that final word he stopped. Tucker took notice of the sudden change, his eyes wide and his expression blank once more.

"Um, Danny? What is-"

"Who'd he attack with his sword?" Danny asked quietly.

"He got Mr Lancer and Paulina. Maybe others, but I don't know." Tucker shrugged. "It didn't actually stab them or anything, it just made them faint. They're okay, but they're still pretty spooked. I think getting stabbed with a ghost sword really freaked them out."

Sam took that moment to step out of the room, looking ragged and tired. She rubbed at her red eyes, searching around for Tucker. When her gaze landed on both boys, she gasped. Running over, she grabbed Danny by the arm, pulling him into a fierce hug.

"Danny! We've been so worried. Where have you been this whole time?"

"Out having a relaxing night, apparently." Tucker remarked, still not happy with his friend.

He just couldn't believe it. This entire time he and Sam had been convinced Danny was out helping people, and might've gotten hurt while doing so. And yet here he was insisting he'd had a nice quiet night of flying around or whatever. It really irked him.

"Relaxing night?" Sam repeated with a raised brow, looking toward Danny like he was a Martian.

"What!" Danny shouted, flinging his arms out. "I really didn't see any of these 'monsters' Tucker's talking about. So some windows got smashed and people got injured; sounds like the exact same thing as the Ember incident."

"You haven't watched the news, have you?" Sam said. "A lot of people were killed, Danny. The entire city was in chaos. Just where on earth did you go?"

"I went out of the city. You know, to practice." Danny decided on the lie quickly. He had been doing just that for most of the day, after all. "Where no one can see me."

Sam looked ready to comment further, but Danny beat her to it, holding up the thermos still in his grasp.

"Look, I'll be back in a few minutes, you guys." he said quietly. "Jazz dragged me out of the house and I'm starving."

Sam frowned unhappily down at the thermos, her own stomach clenching at the unpleasant reminder of Danny's food source. She reluctantly reached out a hand and placed it on her friend's shoulder.

"We'll come with you." she said. "It feels like we've all been separated a whole week instead of just one day."

"I would like to get out of this place for a bit." Tucker agreed. "I swear, the next time I step foot in a hospital, it'll be too soon."

Danny smiled at them both, glancing toward Tucker's parents to make sure they weren't being watched.

"Then follow me." he said over his shoulder, quickly walking around a corner.

"Let's thank god this old building doesn't have many security cameras." Tucker commented as the trio went down a few more hallways, each lined with less and less people.

Once they reached one that was abandoned, Danny began trying doors. Finding one that was unlocked, he ducked inside the dark room, followed closely by the other two.

"Grab onto me, and don't let go." he said, holding his arms out.

"Oh man." Tucker groaned, knowing what this meant.

They reluctantly wrapped their hands around each of Danny's arms, gripping tight as though he were about to rocket away. Both teens swallowed deep breaths of air as they felt the cold chill of intangibility slide up their bodies. It felt like what they imagined being submerged in arctic water might feel like. Pins and needles stabbed along their flesh, and they were barely aware of when their feet left the floor and they began flying out into the night sky.

"Open your eyes." Danny's voice was heard.

Tucker and Sam both slowly cracked their eyes open, only to regret the action. They were soaring hundreds of feet above the ground. The few working street lights looked like tiny stars, and a sea of black enclosed them from above and below.

Tucker let out a high-pitched shriek, his nails digging into Danny's arm. Sam didn't fare much better, closing her eyes once more to steady herself.

"Calm down." Danny laughed at his friends' fear. "I can catch you guys if you fall."

"Don't say that!" Tucker wailed, pulling closer to Danny and clinging to him like a life raft.

Danny grinned at him before spinning suddenly, looping through the air as the two on either side of him screamed. He couldn't stop the laughter that burst out of him. He should have done this sooner, it was way too entertaining!

"Danny!" Sam yelled over the wind, bravely letting go with one hand to hit him.

"Okay okay, I'm sorry." Danny replied with a smile.

Once more, their flight was calm and slow, and as minutes passed the teens settled down enough to take in the amazing sight.

"This is actually really cool." Sam said, looking around herself at the darkness. "It's like being deep under the ocean."

"Or in outer space." Danny added.

"Or in my nightmares!" Tucker shouted. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"Oh, nowhere in particular." Danny said. "I just wanted to fly you two around for a bit before we landed."

"Consider us flown. Please land, now." Tucker insisted.

Danny obliged, turning them all invisible as he dropped down into the park. They landed in a shadowed area beside a large tree, Tucker and Sam tearing away from Danny as soon as they felt dirt beneath their feet. They became visible as they disconnected from him, and Danny let himself be seen soon after. The two teens stood shivering and hugging themselves, trying to bring warmth back into their bodies.

Danny glanced about, making certain no one was around before falling back further into the shadows, uncapping the thermos. He looked up toward his friends, who were huddled together nearby, watching on. Sam wore an expression of clear ambivalence, and Danny half-expected her to turn around and walk off.

"Can we, uh, hurry it up please." Tucker broke the silence. "It's starting to get really cold out here."

Danny felt the pull of hunger, and mentally agreed with Tucker. Not wasting another moment, he pressed the release button, bathing the area in light for a brief moment.

A tiny amorphous blob of glowing green appeared near the ground, slowly lifting up as it took in its surroundings. Danny didn't give it a chance to escape, dropping the thermos and zapping the creature with both hands. It faltered, falling back upon the grass, and Danny followed it.

Tucker looked around, keeping an eye out for people and trying to ignore the sounds of Danny eating the small ghost.

Sam found that she couldn't look away. Her eyes were held, lingering on the dim glow of the green ectoplasm as it spread along Danny's mouth and hands, running in thin rivulets down his chin.

Part of her mind tried to look at it objectively. It was the same as watching an animal eating another in the nature documentaries she loved. It wasn't so different. Danny certainly looked like some kind of animal, crouching in the dark, eyes glowing, tearing at the small spirit in an almost feral way.

But the other half of her was scared. Genuinely and completely scared of her friend. For the first time since he had shown them his own dead body in his bedroom, Sam felt like she was looking at a stranger. Someone merely wearing Danny's skin. But not truly him; not on the inside.

And then it was over. Danny stood up, making an attempt at wiping away the green staining his mouth. His eyes remained glowing orbs, blacking out all his features as he picked up the thermos and joined the other two.

Wordlessly, he held his arms out toward them once more. Tucker groaned again before grabbing hold. Sam looked at the ectoplasm painting Danny's hand as she wrapped her own around his arm.

Together, the three flew back to the hospital. Danny was careful to enter the same room they'd walked into earlier, letting Sam and Tucker go as they neared the floor. Both kids gasped as they became tangible once more, breathing in deep and feeling chilled to the bone once again.

"Okay, I officially hate that." Tucker said through chattering teeth.

"Go warm up, you guys." Danny said from his place still hovering in the air. "I'll meet back with you later."

"Wait, where are you going?" Sam asked.

"I'm gonna go clean up and change." he replied, pulling further away. "Then I think I'll fly around; see for myself what kind of damage the Knight caused."

"Well, maybe we-"

Sam's sentence fell as Danny vanished through the ceiling, leaving the remaining two in the dark room.

"Guess that's a no." Tucker commented, turning and heading for the door.

Sam followed, and they blinked in the bright lights of the hallway, walking slowly down it and toward the sounds of people.

"Did Danny seem…I don't know, kind of off to you?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, actually." Tucker agreed. "He kept looking at me funny, before you showed up. Like he was zombified, or something."

"I don't think he was just out in the forest all night, Tuck." Sam frowned. "I wonder why he won't tell us-"

"There you are!" a voice shouted, making them jump.

They were quickly set upon by two angry-looking adults and one worried teenager.

"And just where were you two all this time?" Angela demanded. "Do you know how long we've been looking for you?"

"S-sorry, Mom," Tucker said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess we sort of…lost track of time?"

His mother did not look placated by this answer. Jazz quickly stepped around her, gaining everyone's attention.

"Were you guys with Danny?" she asked.

"No, sorry." Sam answered.

"Haven't seen him." Tucker replied in unison.

Jazz's shoulders sagged at this, and she walked away, continuing her search for her wayward brother. Angela, meanwhile, looked even more irate.

"Children, I do not think this is the time nor the place to be running off alone together, do you hear me!" she said sternly.

She grabbed them by their shoulders and steered them to a cluster of chairs.

"Park it." she ordered, and both teens obeyed immediately. "You two are not gonna leave my sight for the rest of the night."

Sam and Tucker exchanged a quick look before slouching down in their seats, preparing themselves for a long lecture from Mrs Foley, and a long night of wondering just what was up with their friend.

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

Jazz had given up calling out Danny's name an hour ago as she traveled from hall to hall, looking into rooms, even quickly stepping into the mens' restrooms, hoping to find her brother. She had absolutely no idea why he would suddenly vanish, refusing to simply sit with his family for the night.

And that wasn't the least of Jazz's questions. Just how exactly he managed to hide from her before was another one. And several more that had been slowly building up in the back of Jazz's head for weeks now.

She crossed into a new unit of the hospital, unnoticed by its half-asleep denizens. Beeping machines created an oddly soothing cadence in the otherwise silent space. Jazz peeked discreetly into a few rooms, trying not to disturb the injured patients within.

She was so wrapped up in her worry that she nearly missed the familiar figure as it dashed into a room. Jazz stopped in her tracks, staring ahead at the closed door for several tense seconds, before coming to a decision.

Determined not to freak out, Jazz walked to the room, turning the handle tentatively. The door opened with barely a whisper, and Jazz stepped into the dark room. Various machines cast an eerie glow, illuminating the room's sole occupant.

Jazz walked up to the bed, looking down at the young woman who lay motionless under thick blankets. Shadows clung around her closed eyes, her mouth hanging half-open. Faded turquoise locks framed her round face, ginger hair sprouting out at the roots.

She was clearly not the person Jazz had seen enter this room, and she looked around in the small space, spotting no one.

It had to have been Johnny. Why he was malingering around in a hospital spying on her, Jazz didn't know. But she sure as heck was going to find out.

But first she had to find Danny, the girl reminded herself. And so with one last glance toward the woman, Jazz hurriedly left the room and all ruminations over Johnny behind.

#ersatz au #danny phantom #sam manson #jazz fenton #ghost hunger #hey look i'm nearly up to date on current chapters

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littlecatlost1 · 6 years

Text

Inside (A Short Jacksepticeye Horror Fanfiction)

Inside (A Short Jacksepticeye Horror Fanfiction) @therealjacksepticeye

Summary: "Was the nightmare forgotten? Or are you too afraid to remember?"

Note: I had to do serious battle with my inner demons for about a year just to get this out. I still don’t think it’s very good, but hopefully someone will like it. Please be kind and do not steal this and post it as your own.

Warning: This story contains descriptions of violence and gore. So, read at your own discretion.

Links to other sites where you can read this story: FanFiction.net | Archive of Our Own | Wattpad | DeviantArt

"So familiar. I wonder. Will I find anything worthwhile inside? I want to know."

September, 2016

"...and I will see all you dudes IN THE NEXT VIDEO!!"

With one last set of high fives and a double fist pump, Sean completes another day of recording. He'd just spent the last few hours recording himself playing an incredibly immersive science fiction survival game set on a gorgeous, lush alien planet. Which was made all the better by the fact that it was in VR. He was still riding that gamer's high as he set aside his headset and controllers, then sat down in his chair to begin shutting down the various pieces of equipment. When out of the corner of his eye, he saw something that made his heart plummet down into his stomach. His facecam display was missing.

"Oh, no, no, no, no...!"

Sean reached for his camera. It was cold to the touch. He turned the camera around in his hands and, just as he'd suspected, the display screen was completely black. The battery must have died. But that wasn't possible. Sean distinctly remembered putting in a freshly charged battery before he started recording. He always did. It was a consistent step in his daily routine. Maybe the battery had gone faulty. But that didn't make much sense either since he'd used the same battery the day before and it worked perfectly with no issues.

"Damn it!"

Sean threw his head back and heaved out a loud sigh in frustration as he slumped back into his chair. That game was so much fun to record and one he'd been very excited to post on his channel. Awash with disappointment, Sean considered his options. He wondered how much footage had actually been lost. Judging by how cool it felt, the camera most likely had been without power for a decent amount of time. 'Fuck!' Sean always disliked the idea of having to re-record a video since the reactions wouldn't be as genuine as that first time experience.

Refusing to let this setback drag him down, Sean chose to take a more positive approach to the problem. Perhaps it wasn't as bad as it seemed. The only way to be sure was to get onto his computer and check the files. It was possible that there was enough footage he could salvage and still put together a decent video. He might have to edit in some sort of annotation explaining that his facecam had crapped out. He hoped that was the worst of it. Because the far less desirable option would be to abandon the video altogether.

As he pulled his chair closer to his desktop, he turned and cast a baleful gaze at the camera sitting silently in the corner. Traitor.

Just a few minutes into his work, Sean was distracted by the sound of scraping coming from his right. A small table stood beside his desk. On top of which sat his coffee mug, his phone, a notebook and a couple other random items. He leaned over in his chair to give everything a cursory inspection. But the only conclusion he came to was that he needed to refill his coffee. The sight of that slender, light brown ring slowly drying up at the bottom of the mug, it was nearly as tragic a sight as corrupted video data.

Sean made a mental note to brew up some more in a few minutes. He may just need some caffeinated assistance to deal with this mess.

However, no sooner had he laid his hand down on the mouse, he heard it again. That noise. The scraping. It certainly seemed like it was coming from right next to him. But he quickly dismissed it a moment later when he heard a couple of familiar voices coming from outside. It must have been the neighbors doing something close to his side of the house and his ears were simply playing tricks on him.

Sean had only turned halfway back around when he went completely stopped dead. The sound came again. The sound of ceramic sliding across a smooth surface. The mug. It moved. It barely slid a hair's length, but it definitely did move. Sean glanced down to make certain he hadn't accidentally nudged the table. His breath then caught sharply in his throat as the mug once more shifted every so slightly across the tabletop.

'What in the actual fuck?' Sean was beginning to feel genuinely unsettled. That is, until the rational side of his mind chimed in and told him that, at some point, he must have absentmindedly laid down his mug so that it was resting right up against his phone. Every time the phone vibrated, it created the illusion that the mug was moving on it's own. Of course, that was it. Thanks, brain. Sean breathed again, feeling just a little bit foolish.

Sean reached forward, intending to rectify this silly mishap. Just as his fingers were about to make contact, the mug suddenly shot across the table, like a bullet escaping the barrel of a gun, through the air, and then shattered to pieces against the far wall.

Sean jumped up so quickly his chair spun around on its swivel and slid across the floor. He pressed his back up against the wall, as if to try and push himself as far away as he could from the broken shards of ceramic that now lay silent and lifeless in the corner. Eyes wide and chest tight, his mind was a swirling whirlwind of thoughts and fear that he was earnestly trying to contain. He struggled to comprehend what he'd just witnessed. But Sean was finding it rather difficult to explain away the mystery of why his favorite mug decided to, of its own accord, fly across his room and commit kamikaze all over the wall.

Every nerve in his body was awake and screaming at him. The room didn't feel safe to him, and all Sean wanted to do right now was get the hell out. He took a step towards the door, but immediately stopped as a strange sensation enveloped his left forearm. It was a cold, tingling feeling that crept along from his elbow all the way down to the very tips of his fingers. It was a soft, gentle sort of tingling. As if he'd curiously dipped his arm deep into a spider's web. Sean lifted his arm, turned it around from one side to the other, and watched as the hairs on his arm each stood straight on end.

"Ah! Fuck!" Sean screamed. Feelings of unease gave way to absolute terror when the undeniable realization struck him, that he wasn't alone. Something had grabbed him. Something he couldn't see. He could actually feel five individual fingers wrapped tightly around his forearm, close to his wrist. Sean immediately attempted to pull away, but to his horror, he was met with resistance. Swallowing hard, he braced his feet against the floor and tugged again, harder this time. Nothing. Not even so much as an inch was gained. All he could do was stare at his arm that hung suspended in midair. He winced as each tug only seemed to entice his unseen assailant to form a death-like grip so tight he began to feel sharp sparks of pain shooting through his trapped limb.

Next, he was stumbling backward and crashing hard into the set of shelves where he kept his collection of memorabilia, several of which were sent clattering to the floor in the impact. Sean didn't waste a moment to wonder at how he'd inexplicably broken loose. He dashed to the door and grabbed the handle, only to be faced with a new problem. The handle was stuck, very tightly.

The air in the room was steadily becoming heavy and cloying. There was a tangible oppressiveness to it. Sean pushed down on the handle with all of his strength, but still it refused to give. Several more curse words streamed from his mouth as panic settled in and latched itself to his racing heart. Sean knew that whatever it was that had just attacked him was likely still in the room with him and he was now trapped in here with it. He felt a heat come up over his back and shoulders.

Sean put one foot up against the door frame, held onto the door handle with both hands and pulled hard while trying to turn it at the same time. The walls came alive all around him in an uproar of loud pounding. Sean threw his shoulder against the door. The windows shuddered and banged against their frames, adding to the cacophony. Sean kicked the door several times, knowing it was pointless, but at the same time vaguely hoping that he could break the latch open. The heat was getting worse. It felt like the entire room was on fire, though there were no flames. He couldn't even bear to try the handle again. It burned in his hands.

Sean fell against the door, rubbing his brow against the smooth wood. The room was so damned humid. His skin was itching in the heat. There was so much noise. His head was pounding. Why is it so hot? Can't get out. Everything is spinning. Can't breath. Everything is agony.

"WHY IS IT SO FUCKING HOT IN HERE!?" Sean let out a sudden and explosive scream. Lungs heaving, he spun around and grabbed onto his chair by the armrests and lifted it up over his shoulder. He stared at that damned fucking door, the edges of his vision turning red, at the barrier to his freedom. He had to- wanted to destroy it. He wanted nothing more than to throw the chair into the door until nothing was left of it but a pile of splinters.

From the door arose a series of clicking sounds, then the latch popped and the door opened a small gap. Feeling equally bewildered as he was relieved, Sean swung open the door and charged out of the room. He didn't stop until he reached the opposite end of the hallway. He lurched forward and had to place his hands on his knees to stop himself from falling over. It took a moment for Sean to realize that he was hyperventilating. Now free, he took a moment to take a few deep breaths and try to calm his frayed and abused nerves.

So many questions were buzzing like insects in his head. What had happened just now? Objects thrown by invisible forces, doors closing and locking themselves, unexplained noises? It all sounded like superstitious nonsense. Like one of the stories you hear on those paranormal reality shows that try so hard to make you think it really happened, but seems too much like something out of Hollywood to actually be taken seriously.

But this was real. Wasn't it? Sean shook his head and ran a hand through his green hair, still struggling to digest it all. He'd felt a hand close itself around his arm, this he couldn't deny. Something strong had caught him and refused to let him go. And then in the ensuing chaos that erupted when he tried to leave, what may have scared him the most, was himself. There was a moment, just for a split second, where he didn't recognize himself. Sean shuddered. That rage, it didn't belong to him. He knew fear had the power to turn even the most rational person into a madman. But still...

Sean slowly turned around and stared down the long hallway and into the gaping maw that led into his recording room. His muscles twitched. He half-expected to see a dark figure appear in the doorway and come for him. But the only thing staring back at him was his computer monitor idly looping a screensaver.

Everything was quiet now. Maybe...

A violent force suddenly struck Sean in the side and threw him sideways. His head slammed into the wall with a sickening crack. The shock rippled through to the back of his skull and back again, causing his senses to briefly careen severely out of focus. Everything around him became a mass of vague shapes and blotches of color. A shrill ringing pierced through his ears.

Sean let out a weak moan. His whole body ached horribly. The one side of his head was throbbing and his cheek felt damp and sticky. The blur of shapes were tilted on their sides and he knew he was on the floor. He tried to turn his head slightly and heard a soft crunch. In his immediate vision, a dozen dazzling lights danced like glittering diamonds. His head swam turbulently and he had to shut his eyes to stop from being sick.

'I need help. I have to get up.'

Sean felt an overwhelming need to sleep. He tried to fight it, tried to force himself up. He knew the danger of falling asleep with a severe head injury. But it was no use. His body would no longer obey him. The world was fading. He was sinking down into a deep, dark murk. His eyelids flickered once and then shut.

Sean drifted away into unconsciousness, not sure if he would ever wake again.

"Some of the worst monsters imaginable were born of the cruelty of men. It plucks. It rips. It tears. Until little more than a shattered husk remains, quivering and howling in a dark corner."

It was cold.

That was the first thing Sean noticed, the cold breeze that sent shivers through his entire body. Then came the scent of damp soil and grass. He heard the ebb and flow of water gently caressing the shore. Somewhere nearby, a songbird was chirping cheerfully in the trees. Sean slowly opened his eyes. Everything was blurry at first, but it quickly became clear that he wasn't at home anymore.

Before him, he beheld a quiet lake surrounded by a dense forest thick with trees and vegetation. A heavy fog hung over the lake like a blanket. Overhead, the sun was trying to peek through an overcast sky, bathing the area in a soft and silvery light. It was so serene and lovely, a beautiful little hideaway. It was the kind of place he would gladly visit again and again.

If only he knew how he'd gotten here when only a few seconds ago, he was passing out on his floor with a gushing wound on his temple. Sean carefully tested his limbs. His muscles didn't give much of a response and felt mildly tight and sore. He turned his head a bit and saw that his body was locked up in the fetal position, with his legs pulled up against his chest and his arms wrapped around his knees in a tight bear hug.

Sean slowly stretched himself out and pushed himself up to his feet. He felt a bit dizzy, so he braced an arm against a nearby tree. With his free hand he gingerly pressed his fingers against the side of his face. He sucked in a sharp breath of air through his teeth in trepidation of what he would find. A bloody gash, perhaps even a loose shard of skull. But to his surprise, the wound was gone. That's not possible. His head had impacted with the wall with such tremendous force, it was a miracle he was even standing right now.

'I should be dead.'

With that chilling thought, Sean slowly stepped up to the lake's shore and surveyed his surroundings. Maybe he was dead. He wasn't sure how else to explain how he suddenly found himself in this strange, albeit picturesque, place. The steady beat in his chest, however, argued otherwise. Maybe he was in a coma. He could be laying in a hospital bed right now, head wrapped in bandages and hooked up to a dozen machines. He'd heard stories of people having some rather fantastical dreams while in comas.

Then again, there was also the possibility that no one had found him yet. He could still be sprawled out on the floor in his home, unconscious and bleeding out. His life slowly passing away as each precious second ticked by. Perhaps this place was some sort of purgatory. A pocket between existential planes where he would have to wait until, well... whatever comes next.

Sean shuddered. He really hoped it wasn't the latter.

Sean wrapped his arms around himself for warmth against the cool air, then turned and began to walk along the shore. He wasn't sure what else to do at the moment. He simply felt compelled to keep moving forward. The fog that rolled in from the lake had somehow grown exponentially in the short time since he woke up here. Sean stopped and turned around in place. He was surrounded on all sides by a wall of thick white mist. He could barely see more than a few yards ahead of him in any direction.

He briefly considered calling out for help, but quickly thought better of it. Somewhere deep down he knew that drawing attention to himself may not be the wisest of choices.

Sean continued to slowly and carefully follow the lake's shoreline. It was the only real landmark he had. Beyond that was the forest. Venturing into that sea of trees would be a foolish endeavor, for he was sure to become lost. But Sean's fear was growing with each step that he took. He kept hoping he would find some sign of other people. A boat, a campsite, a trail leading out to a road. Something. Something that would tell him that he wasn't alone. Something that would tell him that he was still here.

Ahead of him, a soft buzzing could be heard from inside the mist. In the trees he heard several birds fluttering and flying from one branch to another. Several nagging thoughts began to itch at the back of his mind. They urged him to turn back. But Sean pressed onward. His legs were moving on auto-pilot now. He had to keep going. He needed to see what what was waiting for him just beyond that white curtain.

Eventually the mist receded just barely enough to reveal a small clearing nestled between the lake and the rest of the forest.

That's where he found the body.

It was a grotesque sight that made his insides squirm and twist into knots. There on the far edge of the clearing the body of what appeared to be a man hung from a tree, its wrists tied to two different branches. What's more, the head was missing. And on its chest was an angry red wound. All black around the edges and darkened and exposed muscle in the middle. It looked like a burn. This burn ran from the center of its chest, all the way up to the edge of what remained of its neck.

A crow stood perched on the shoulder, clacking its beak as it snatched up a few flies darting back and forth from the corpse. The black bird regarded Sean with a sideways glance before dipping its beak into the open neck for a small morsel of rotting flesh. Sean gagged. A putrid and pungent stench drifted outward, carried by a breeze, and hit him suddenly like a heavy wave. His stomach churned, his eyes watered, and everything started to spin. The world tipped vertically. There he saw what he couldn't believe he'd missed before.

The severed head of this mutilated man rested on a stump close to the feet. Its mouth agape in a perpetual scream. The crows appear to have already made quick work of this appetizer. The face was no longer recognizable. The skin and muscle have been stripped away, leaving mostly bone and a few scraps of hair. And the teeth were a bit strange. Most of them were quite ordinary, except for the four canine teeth. They were slightly elongated and sharp. Like fangs.

Sean stood there mesmerized, unable to look away from the horror. Even though he knew he should run. He wanted to run. But he couldn't. Sean could feel something building inside him. Something strange and terrible. There was a dull heat in his center which was rapidly spreading through his entire body like liquid fire. His heart beat faster and faster. It hurt to breath. He wanted to scream, but could only gasp and choke. The fire. The sheer terror. It was coming. Death. Death was coming and he was helpless to deny it.

"No. NO! Leave me alone!" Out of nowhere, Sean was assaulted by a loud bellowing voice. It bounded about like a thrumming echo, as if coming from every direction and right in his ears, all at the same time. "Somebody help me!" Sean winced and clapped his hands over his ears. "I never harmed anyone! Why!?" But the voice persisted. It was scratching at the inside of his skull. Begging and pleading for mercy. "This isn't fair!!"

There was a brief moment of silence. Then an utterly visceral, tortured wailing echoed between his ears. The scream came again, and again and again. Over and over. Each scream was punctuated by a guttural moan. As if this person were being struck repeatedly. There was so much pain. Sean couldn't bear it. It just went on and on. Even worse still, a second scream rose up to join the first, mingling together with the other in a harrowing chorus.

This went on for what felt like an eternity until Sean finally discovered that the second voice was actually his own. As soon as he did, everything went silent. Sean slowly opened his eyes... 'When did I close them?' ...and desperately tried to gather himself together. He'd somehow ended up on the ground, his chest heaving and his body rocked by fearsome tremors. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten there.

Sean stared into that moldering face. The eye sockets nothing but two pools of writhing, milky white maggots. Sean swooned again. He felt the bile rapidly rushing up in his throat and he reflexly brought his hand up to cover his mouth.

His hand hit his mouth with a wet slap. A strong metallic smell filled his nose. Sean slowly lowered his hand and immediately screamed. Both of his hands were completely drenched in blood. Viscous and speckled with dark clots, the blood spread from the tips of his fingernails all the way down to his elbows and slowly dripped down to the ground.

"Fucking Jesus!"

Sean turned around and dashed toward the lake. He threw his arms into the water and frantically wiped away all of the blood. The water turned bright red all around him. He slumped forward and rested on his knees, keeping his arms submerged. He took in a few slow, deep breaths. Thankfully, his vision stopped swaying so precariously, but he couldn't stop shaking. He was scared. For a moment, Sean wondered if this was Hell. In that moment, he felt like he was being punished. Punished for something he didn't do. This was so fucking insane. It couldn't be real. He just wanted to go home.

"What in the hell is happening to me?", Sean muttered to himself morosely.

Sean pulled his arms out of the tinted water and held them up in front of his eyes. He gave them both a thorough inspection, but couldn't find a single cut or scratch anywhere. But then, where had all that blood come from? Sean didn't know. All he cared about right now was getting as far away from here as possible. He cupped some clean water in his hands and splashed it in his face. His stomach gave a mild complaint as he began to straighten up, but he ignored it. He just had to find a way out.

Sean paused when he noticed something catch a brief flicker of light in the dirt just to his right. Curiously, he stooped down to pick it up. In his hand he held a perfectly round, flat piece of glass with a large crack going through it. It looked like a lens.

From behind, a hoarse exhale broke the relative silence. Sean spun around so quickly he fell down on his backside. A figure had appeared in the clearing mere feet from where he now sat. How did it get so close without him noticing? It was sitting on a large stone, leaning forward with its arms resting on its knees. While this figure had all the hallmark features of a man, Sean was hesitant to call it as such. All of the skin on its throat, trailing up into its lower jaw and halfway down its chest, was just gone. Leaving only naked muscle and sinew, bleeding and glistening in the pale light. It did wear clothes, dirty and tattered though they were. And it stared at Sean through two glassy black marbles from underneath a curtain of stringy copper-colored hair.

It was watching him... Those two cold, obsidian orbs bore straight into his own wide blue eyes. The only sound to be heard was the sound of its labored, raspy breathing. Sean could actually see the muscles in its neck contracting and relaxing with each breath, and his fingers twitched anxiously. The crows have gone quiet. And there were more of them now. Countless numbers of large, back birds gathered in the trees surrounding the small clearing. They seemed eager, as if they were waiting to see what would happen next.

The ghoulish man rose up to its feet. Sean crawled backward several feet in panic. There was a sense of predatory malice in its dark gaze now. And it was at this point when Sean realized what it must have been like for a mouse to lock eyes with a cat. Caught in the shadow of this harbinger of death, Sean felt very small indeed.

"Oh, god." Sean gasped softly, his mouth gone dry. It began to step towards him now. Sean didn't think twice. He leapt up and ran as fast as he could away from it, straight into the woods.

Sean could barely see where he was going. The thick mist was as oppressive as ever. Trees bloomed into view as he ran and he had to keep his hands raised to stop himself from crashing into them more than once. The terrain was just as treacherous. Several times he would slip on loose rocks or stumble when a root caught his foot. He kept going, kept running. He didn't dare slow down. That thing was surely right behind him.

Sean knew he couldn't keep this pace up for too long. But what options did he have? Turning and fighting was suicide for sure. He whipped his head around in all directions. Perhaps he could find something that he could hide behind and pray that it lost track of him. It was definitely a bit of a crap shoot. He had no way of knowing how good its senses were. He couldn't hear it anymore. The forest was quiet aside from the sound of his own feet pounding against the ground. If he found something quickly enough, he might have a chance.

There! Ahead and to the right of his path, there was a large rotted-out log surrounded by dense underbrush and laying next to a large tree. This might work. There was a space under the log just big enough for him to crawl into and enough cover to hide him from sight.

Sean turned and began to head toward the log, when something suddenly caught him in the back. It felt like being hit with a massive sledgehammer. The force of it sent him flying and he skidded several feet across the ground. He spat out a mouthful of dirt and started to push himself back up. Then Sean screamed louder than he had ever screamed in his life. What must have been ten knives had stabbed him, digging deeply into the back of his shoulder blades. The pain was indescribable. All he could do was gasp and cry out as he felt the flesh being tugged upward, and watch as the ground pulled away from him and then rush sideways in a blur.

Sean tumbled onto the ground like a rag doll with a hard thud. All of the air was knocked out of him and he rolled onto his side in a fit of violent coughing. He felt dizzy. So dizzy, he barely noticed the hands grasping at him, pushing him down onto his back. A heavy weight settled on top of him. One hand came up and grabbed him round the face from under his jaw. He could feel its elongated, pointed nails poking his cheeks. It forcibly turned his head to the left, then to the right.

Through bleary eyes, Sean saw the scorched horror looming over him. It was even worse now that it was so close. It stared down at him intensely with those black eyes, it's breath rattling harshly through mangled windpipes. It turned his head sideways again, curiously tilting its own head in rhythm as it did. He got the feeling that he was being deeply inspected. Sean was petrified. It was going to kill him. He was positive of this. He didn't want to die.

His sense of self-preservation awoke and somehow, he managed to scrounge up enough courage to tighten up his fists and started swinging at the stranger as hard as he possibly could.

It snatched his right fist mid-swing, faster than he could follow. His left connected with its chin. The stranger's head jerked to the side from the blow, but it was otherwise unfazed. It didn't even flinch. Then with frightening speed, it backhanded him hard across his face. Everything went fuzzy again and his ears rang shrilly.

Somewhere in his haze, Sean felt a rough palm come to rest against the side of his face. Followed by a sharp pain when one its nails sliced him in the forehead. Sean was instantly focused again. He looked up and watched while the stranger lazily, almost absent-mindedly, traced random patterns across his forehead with its forefinger. His blood was the ink, as evident by the ease at which the tip of the nail glided across the skin.

"Who-" Sean swallowed hard, "who are you? What do you want?"

Sean didn't know what possessed him to do it. This stranger looked very much like a human man, underneath all the open wounds, yet somehow Sean never even considered trying to actually talk to it until just now. Judging by the way it narrowed its black eyes and cocked its head to the side slightly, the stranger hadn't expected it either. His heart was pounding, full with dread. He was sure he'd just made a very costly mistake.

Above him, the stranger began to gnash its sharp teeth together. It was making such horrible sounds. A chilling mixture of choking and wheezing that was making his stomach turn a bit queasy again. Sean's eyes widened when he realized, it was trying to speak. It was trying to speak to him, but it couldn't. It was clearly struggling in vain to get words out from a ruined voice box.

Sean took a deep breath and prepared himself.

"W-what are you trying to s-say? I don't underst- Ah!" Before Sean could finish, the stranger took a fistful of green hair and smacked the back of his head against the ground. The frustration behind this reaction was tangible.

"Why are you doing this to me!?"

Sean didn't even think. In that brief instant, he forgot the dire situation he was in and the words simply came tumbling out of his mouth without restraint. He clenched his eyes shut and braced himself for another reprisal, or possibly worse. But after a few tense seconds, Sean noticed that nothing was happening. He opened his eyes again to see that his tormentor has gone completely stock still.

The stranger was locked in the thousand-yard stare.

Its head twitched strangely from side to side, while also letting out a low and strained moan. It seemed lost. Lost in a dark miasma that was his alone. It slowly brought its hands up and firmly grasped both sides of its head. It flinched at something that wasn't there. As if to try and protect itself from some vile, treacherous brute only it could see. It continued to moan and shudder. It was scared. Scared and trapped in some far away hellscape it couldn't seem to escape.

Sean could see that its mind had gone away. Staring blankly into the forest, and swaying back and forth. More importantly, it wasn't paying attention to him anymore. His hands trembled as he very carefully felt around the ground nearby. His eyes darted between his surroundings and the glassy-eyed stranger above him. There had to be something here. Something that he could use to get away. Sean already knew how strong it was. But it was also straining to breath properly. Maybe if he found something heavy enough, he could hit it hard enough to at least stun it.

His fingers brushed up against an object with a rough surface. Sean turned his head and spotted a broken piece of a fallen tree branch laying beside him. It wasn't good enough to do any real damage, but if he drove the thick end of it into the stranger's eye, the resulting pain and confusion might give him just enough time to slip away.

There was a flash of movement. Then shock. Sean's eyes bulged out from their sockets. His mouth filled with the strong, metallic taste of his own blood. He spluttered and gurgled. He couldn't get any air in. Above him, he saw those dagger-like nails dripping with crimson. He could feel the chill night air biting into his exposed throat, juxtaposed with the warmth of his life spilling out from ripped veins.

With those blank, inhuman eyes and a lower jaw that was nearly completely eroded, it was difficult to discern what the stranger's motivations were or what violent turn snapped in that tangled labyrinthine mind. The tightened muscles in its face and the knotted brow, however, gave the impression of unquestionable fury.

Sean cascaded into a state of unbridled terror. His mind retreated into that special place where his thoughts began to backpedal into denial.

'This isn't happening! This isn't real!'

Sean repeated it over and over like a mantra. This place. What was this place? Sean still didn't understand where he was or how he'd gotten here. It couldn't be real. It just couldn't. Yet here he was. Trapped in here with a living nightmare, flat on the ground and utterly helpless.

His trachea had been split open. He could feel the blood emptying into his windpipe, and spilling out of the corners of his mouth each time he choked. Breathing was impossible. His chest burned and flared with agony as each futile attempt to suck in a breath of air caused his lungs to seize up on themselves. Then something cold began to grow deep in the center of himself, and it was spreading out to each of his limbs. Trying to consume him.

Sean could hear his own heartbeat in his head. It sounded distant, and it was getting slower.

'So, is this it? Is this me, dying?'

Grey walls appeared at the edges of his vision. He tried to lift up his hands, but he could barely feel them anymore. He barely felt it when the stranger took hold of both his wrists and pushed them back onto the ground again. It frightened him how easily he was able to do it. He felt so numb. So tired. He needed to sleep. The walls were closing in. Somewhere in the grey gloom, he could still hear the stranger's rasping, only it seemed so far away now. It was watching him drown in his own blood.

The last thing Sean saw were two fingers hovering closely above his eyes. One on the left, the other on the right.

And then...

All was darkness.

He was floating.

Surrounded on all sides by a deep, oily black void.

It was endless. At least, he assumed it was endless.

He couldn't see anymore.

His eyes were gone.

He couldn't feel his body anymore.

Couldn't hear, smell or taste.

He simply existed here in this space.

Alone.

Alone in oblivion.

"Listen to me..."

Something warm entered his space.

"Nightmares don't last forever. No matter how upsetting it may be, or how helpless you may feel, it will all fade away soon enough. When you wake up, everything will be as it should be. I promise."

Sean burst up to the surface of consciousness with the force of a thunderbolt. He swallowed huge gulps of air into his starving lungs, coughing just a little bit. The feeling of relief was both glorious and overwhelming at the same time. He stared straight up, blinking through bleary vision at the clean white surface of the ceiling. 'What?' Sean was so startled all of a sudden, he had to grip the armrests to keep himself from falling out of his chair.

Sean slowly lowered his head and took in the familiar sight of his recording room.

He was home.

The room was utterly still, save for his still racing heart beating against his ribs like a crazed beast trying to escape from its too small cage. It was dark now. The only light came from the soft glow of the digital clock, which currently read 3:00 AM. But that would mean that he'd been out for hours. That's not possible. He couldn't even remember ever falling asleep. In fact, he's never just conked out in the middle of his work before. The last thing he remembered...

Instantly, his hands flew up to his throat. He gasped and coughed, his body briefly reliving those last few moments. However, his probing fingers found no sign of injury. He was whole again.

With renewed anxiety, Sean panned his sight back and forth to each corner of the room. He wasn't sure what he expected to see. He vaguely remembered falling against his shelf. But when he looked over, he saw that everything was still in its place and completely undisturbed. He then turned to his computer and brought it back from standby mode. There on the screen was the video footage he'd been reviewing, paused right where he'd left it.

Sean looked around at the quiet room again. Everything was fine. Everything was perfectly normal.

No! This is wrong! This didn't make any sense.

Sean jumped out of his chair, swung open the door and walked out into the hallway. He just had to make sure. He stared down the expanse of the hallway, all the way to the end. There was nothing there. Just the walls, and a few framed posters hanging on them. His memory at this moment was very hazy. This is where something had come up from behind and flung him with enough force to split his skull open. It was all a terrible blur after that. The next thing he knew, he was in a nightmare.

He entered the bathroom and stepped up to the mirror, placing both hands on the edge of the sink. Sean tilted his chin up and took a good look at himself. There wasn't a single mark on him. Not even the slightest cut or bruise. He leaned forward and stared straight into his own eyes. Straight at himself. His face was an ashen white. His pupils just two tiny specks. He looked sick. And he couldn't stop trembling.

Slowly, he backed up against the wall and slid down to the floor. The weight of all the terrors he'd faced now bearing down heavily on him. Had all of it really just been a dream? He's never had a dream that was so lucid before. So real. He could still feel those dark eyes on him as he slipped down into some strange and unknown void. Sean wondered if that was really what it felt like to die. Or if it was just his imagination. Something his mind supplied to him based on what seemed to be happening to him in that moment.

Surely, that must be the answer. He was alive, which was the only thing that seemed clear to him right now. The proof was right there in front of him. In the comforting sight of his cabinet doors, in the lines of grout in between the tiles, and the feeling of the cold floor underneath him. He was here. He was home.

That place. That forest haunted by the specter of the man with the burnt neck. Where agony and blood permeated every rock and tree and even the air. A twisted fantasy. This was reality. Where nothing was broken and the most frightening thing he had to face in his day to day routine was the possibility of finding a little yellow icon next to one of his videos. Sean took a series of slow, deep breaths as he determinedly put the former out of his mind. Eventually his heart rate slowed down to some semblance of normality.

It was just a dream.

Sean began to find peace in this acceptance. The memories of that nightmare faded little by little with each exhale. As all dreams inevitably do, good or bad. People forget, for the most part. And life moves on.

It was just a very bad dream.

#jacksepticeye #therealjacksepticeye #jse #jse community #jse fandom #fanfic #fan fiction #fan fic writing #fan fic rec #fic rec #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticeye fanfic #jse fanfiction #jse fanfic #my writing

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cielpurrple · 6 years

Text

Make Me 19.2

Pairing/s: Jimin x Reader x Got7 Jaebum

Word count: : 9103

Warning/s: Cursing, well, it made me cry so prolly tissues?

Summary:

“Sometimes, the people that we wish to be with isn’t supposed to be with us that’s why fate interferes.” ~Y/N’s Dad.

Since his friends told him about Jaebum, he couldn’t focus at all. A lot of scenarios or ‘what ifs’ comes through his mind. Another thing that makes him restless is telling you about his past, or as the boys call it, ‘her’. He doesn’t want to tell you because it has been a part of his past already and you don’t have to be involved in it either in his honest opinion but on the other hand, it’s unfair not to tell you since you when he’s serious about marrying you soon.

That same night, one of his worst fears returned, the nightmares associated with her.

But now, he wasn’t alone, you’re with him which calms him down and makes his fear go away. When the nightmares became more often, he noticed your worried expression which made him consider in telling you the reason. But, what would it cause to you and your relationship? Another fear strikes.

Another thing that made him even more guilty of not telling you anything was the day you completely surrendered yourself to him, the day which you entrusted fully your entirety to him which he treasured the most. You’re giving your all to him and yet here he is, trying to conceal as much as he could from his past.

This made him wish he can divide his body into two just so he could beat the hell out of him right now.

So, just to make up for this, he decided to leave work early to take you out on a date because for the past few weeks, you seemed stressed because of your school work.

When he’s already at home, he noticed the curtains were changed. He assumed that the cleaners left already because it’s quiet so he looked for you. You’re not on your room so he went to his room, liking the taste of whoever changed his covers but you’re not there so, with full enthusiasm, he declared that he is home and again looked for you until he saw you on his office.

He slightly frowned when he saw what you’re holding on your left hand, and he felt cold, he felt like his blood was vacuumed in an instant when he saw what you’re holding on your right hand.

“Who is she?” you tried to asked casually, but your voice is shaking.

“Who?” he pretends as if he’s not in a difficult situation.

You lifted the picture towards his direction, with the hopes that he could see the photo.

He approached you slowly, trying to get the picture out of your hands plus the sketchbook.

“She’s nothing, a nobody,” he replied flatly.

Upon hearing his answer, you felt a sudden pain in your heart, as if it’s being stabbed.

“Who is she, Jimin?” you repeated, clutching the sketchbook firmly so he couldn’t get it.

He sighed, as if it’s a bother for him to tell you.

“Okay, Y/N, she’s just a girl I met before, freshman in college. It’s been a long time though, I can’t even remember that I have that picture.” He explained.

You looked at him with a blank expression and you finally let go of the sketch book and picture.

You watch him as he place those things on top of his desk. He turned to look at you and his eyes met yours, his gaze is soft.

“Baby...” he said as he approach you.

You didn’t speak, move, or even change your blank expression, your head is full of thought, until you felt your hands are being held.

“It’s just a picture Y/N, it’s nothing.” He said sincerely.

Despite of the questions in your head, you gave him a smile and a nod.

“I believe you,” you replied.

He pulled you into his arms and embraced you tightly.

“Let’s eat outside, I have a reservation for us somewhere tonight. He whispered.

“Okay, I’ll get changed,” you responded.

You tried to be as normal as possible during your dinner. He was all chirpy and energetic just like before. You strolled around a bit after you two finished dinner. He attempted to buy you whatever your eyes landed on but you insisted.

When you returned home, you both spent the rest of the evening watching two movies. You still decided to stay in his room. You’re both in each other’s arms, cuddling, the usual. But as soon as he falls asleep, there you are still thinking about who the girl was and what really is her role in Jimin’s life.

Jimin found himself on a wide garden, the brick walls protecting it are covered with climbing plants,revealing it’s age. Patches of wildflowers in different colors everwhere; is he in paradise? He thought. He walked towards the path of pink, white, and yellow flowers as if it has created a pattern, an aisle. At the end of it, he can see someone so, he walked towards that person, and when his distance is just a mere couple of steps, he finally called her. He called out your name but as the woman turned, it’s the same girl from the photo. She’s crying and she muttered

“Have you forgotten about me?”

The paradise – like place suddenly cracked, as if everything’s made of glass. He can even hear her scream, then everything crashed and it went dark.

“Jimin, I’m here, it’s okay,” he heard you speak beside him. Your warm, and caring voice made him go back to reality.

Another nightmare.

You’re in the middle of patting his forehead with a soft towel when he suddenly pulled you for an embrace.

“Feeling better?”

He let out a hum in response and he felt your hands starts to play with his slightly damp hair. It makes him feel relaxed so you continued it until he feels sleepy once more. You embraced him, trying to make him feel safe and when you felt his breaths became slow, you followed and you get back to sleep too.

You noticed that his nightmares became frequent since you asked him about the picture. A part of you felt guilty while the other’s keep on creating excuses about the cause of his nightmares. Stressed at work? Pressure? And any other things as long as it wouldn’t end up mentioning the girl.

You became busier when the final checking of your paper started. Nobody from your other group mates appears except for the lectures. You’re starting to lose patience because of their behavior. You spent your breaks in the library, editing and polishing your paper. You’re in the middle of adding some related literature on your statistical findings when your phone vibrates, Yoongi’s picture appeared on it. You returned into typing when he called again and this time, you answered it.

“Hello?”

[You looked stressed, what’s going on?]

You slowly scanned the area, trying to locate where he is.

“Well, I’m trying to finish a paper that’s supposedly a task of three but here I am, doing it alone so, yeah. I’m feeling some kind of pressure,” you admitted, still looking for him.

[Behind you, fourth aisle.]

You turned around and you counted the aisle of books and fixed on the fourth. He slowly appeared, and gave you a small wave. He began to approach you while you ended the call, now you’re back into typing.

“Stop that.” His statement is more of an order.

“You know, I can’t, I have to finish editing this already,” you replied, now you doubled the pace of typing.

“Says who? Your professor or yourself?”

He pulled a chair and sit beside you.

“C’mon Y/N, let’s de-stress you,” he tried pulling the laptop away from you when you swatted his hand.

“OWW!”

His overreaction earned annoyed glances from the other students who obviously doesn’t know who he is.

“This is a libary, Yoongi—“ he suddenly pressed several keys on your computer and it went black.

“Did you just broke my laptop?”

“No, I let it sleep so we can de-stress you,” he replied smugly.

“One condition, you’ll return my laptop into it’s normal state after this okay?”

He nods and you began placing your stuff inside your bag while he took care of the books. The two of you began to jog the flight of stairs as quietly as possible. You let him lead the way as soon as you exited the library. You quickly approached his car and he told you to get in. When you’re both ready, he started driving.

The drive towards wherever you’re going is quiet except the soft classical music playing on his car. You didn’t bother asking anymore because he won’t answer anyways.

He slowed down until it stopped at a wide parking lot, which is in front of an 80’s inspired diner. There’s still some sunlight so the neon signs are still turned off but you know it’ll look fantastic as soon as it lights up.

There are quite a few people inside, most of them are eating but the others are on the side, enjoying their time trying to balance themselves while they roller blade. You find it interesting, so you watch them while Yoongi orders.

“I ordered you some burger, fries, and straberry banana shake,” he muttered.

“Thanks.”

“Wanna do that?”

You looked at him, he’s eyeing the roller blades area.

“Maybe later,” you replied, thinking carefully about your choice of answer.

“No, let’s do it now, we’ll be full in a few minutes anyway,” he stood up and you followed.

The crew were very helpful in assisting you two to properly put on your roller blades. They even guided you to do the basics and just when you thought you’re the clumsiest one on that place, you let out a giggle when you saw Yoongi clutching the jacket of one of the crew so he could move.

After a few tries, you get the hang of it and you start to roam with ease while Yoongi’s attached to the walls, clingin to the wires for balance.

You approached him and helped him so he could do it as well but you kept on falling but you enjoyed it.

When you’re both tired, you returned to your table and that’s the time that your food was served.

You exchanged conversations about different topics from the school, to literature, and other things that you can talk about. It was already dark when you left so you still saw how cool those neon signs and it gave off a cool-mysterious vibe to the place, not to mention the music being played.

“Thanks for this de-stress thingy,” you said as you both walked towards the parking lot.

“Don’t mention it. You seemed so preoccupied lately,” he replied.

You sighed and fell silent beside him.

You both stopped at the opposite sides of the car when he muttered something.

“Wanna talk about it?”

You’re not sure if Yoongi is the right person to talk to about what’s going on your mind but there’s something in your head and gut that’s telling you that someone should know about it.

So, you nod in response to his question.

You both sat on the hood of the car, his silence means he’s ready to listen so you cleared your throat and began talking.

“Jimin’s having nightmares lately.”

He quickly turned his head towards you and his expression somewhat became a bit serious.

“What were his nightmares about?”

“I don’t know, he never mention anything about those nightmares. It’s just that, It became more and more frequent these past few weeks and maybe it has something to do with a person,” your voice started to crack at the last few words.

“Person? Who, you?” he responded.

“No, I don’t know but I found a picture of him, with a girl, they seemed close to each other if I may describe the picture,” from there, you told every detail that you remembered about that picture. Yoongi just nods from time to time.

“I asked him about her, he told me that she was a nobody, a nothing.” You continued.

“Do you believe him?”

It’s now your turn to look at him. You looked straight into his eyes, and smiled.

“I do believe in him,”

He returned your smile with another smile. After that talk, you both hopped in the car to return to the city.

He only planned on dropping you but you reminded him of your laptop so he didn’t have a choice so he followed you inside. You reached the receiving area and you let him do his magic. When your laptop turned on, and your paper’s still in tact and saved, you thanked him.

“Don’t go out anymore, I can walk by myself,”

“Until the front door only Yoongi, thanks again,” you waved at him.

“See you around, Y/N,” he said with a smile.

You closed the door and returned to your things, bringing it straight to your room. What you didn’t know was as soon as he turned his back on you, his face became dim.

You glanced at the digital clock that’s near you and it’s already half past midnight and Jimin hasn’t returned home yet.

You tried calling him but your calls only goes to the voicemail. You tried for a few times more until his phone became unreachable.

Before you worry, you again formulated excuses that will lessen the panic on your system. You started calling his friends and you began with Yoongi followed by Taehung, Jungkook, and Jin. You’re quite hesitant to call Namjoon so you didn’t bother.

A few minutes has passed and a call from Jin made you go downstairs. He told you that he’s gonna come over so you have someone with you while the others decided to look for him. Taehyung is on the CBD area, Jungkook decided to be on the area where the clubs are while Yoongi roams wherever he could thik Jimin might be.

From time to time the boys will call either you or Jin and will update you, until an hour has passed.

There, you start to worry.

Jin is doing his best to calm you down. He brought a pillow and a blanket for you from upstairs, both are from Jimin’s room.

“Y/N, it’s 2:30 you have to get some rest,” he tries convincing you but you shook your head.

“You have school later, I don’t want you to get sick,” he tried again.

“Okay, just sleep for an hour, I’ll wake you up,” he bargained and you nod. You stretched your body and tried to find a position that you’re comfortable and as soon as you found it, you fell asleep.

Jimin can’t focus the entire time he’s at work. He wanted to tell you what his nightmare’s all about but he couldn’t summon the courage to do so. He just buried himself with unneccessary work and when his shift comes to an end, he left the building. He drive off somewhere towards the opposite direction from where your house is, without any destination in mind.

Until he found himself on his old high school campus. He stepped on the accelerator for a bit until he found a parking space.

He began to scan the area, it’s still the same with only additional plants around. He remembered the small playground so he went there, a slight smile formed in his lips.

He slowly sat down on the swing and stared at nothingness. He let his thoughts wander where it wanted to.

He didn’t know for how long he’s been doing that until a familiar voice made him snap into reality.

“Thought I’d see you here.”

He turned towards the direction of the voice and he saw Yoongi.

“My subconscious took me here,” Jimin replied.

Yoongi sat on the empty swing. He kept quiet as he prepares himself to listen to anything that Jimin will say but they’re both enveloped in silence so, he started the conversation.

“I remember you used to be on the baseball team with Taehyung, girls will crowd the field just to get your attention but you seemed oblivious about it,” he began.

A soft chuckle was heard from Jimin, probably a sign that he too, remembered it.

“You know I’m not the sappy type of person Jimin, right? Oh yeah, I’ve noticed something has changed about Y/N these past few weeks. I’m one of her professors this term too, you know? It seems that she can’t focus during my class. She keeps on staring outside the window or wherever. And she looked tired recently, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know what happened, she found a picture of her, then she asked me who is she and I told her that that picture is nothing,” he confessed.

He felt a sharp pain on his head, making him look at the older man.

“What was that for?!”

Yoongi smacked his head.

“Unbelieveable, Jimin. You’ve lost your opportunity to tell her what you’re supposed to be telling her!” he shouted.

“I can’t, I just can’t—“ he was cut off by Yoongi raised his hand in front of him.

“If you can’t tell her, that means you don’t trust her, Jimin. And there she is, waiting for you in your so-called home, trying to act normal and all as if nothing’s bothering her because she doesn’t want you to have an argument about it,” he continued.

“Did she talked to you?”

“I saw her alone at the library, typing furiously. I took her out and she started describing me a photo of you with another girl. Her description of your expressions were so accurate, as if I was there when she found it.”

At this point, they’re both standing up, facing each other, Jimin doesn’t know what excuse he’d say next so Yoongi will shut up.

“Another thing, she told me about your nightmares.” He said flatly.

Jimin felt defeated.

“She’s worried about you, she wanted to involve herself but it seems that you’re stopping her. Oh yeah before I forgot, go home. She called us, telling us that you haven’t returned yet.” He turned and began to walk but again he paused.

“Think about the choices that you’ll make from now on, Jimin. Consdider her feelings too.”

With that Yoongi walked away.

Jimin walked towards his car and began driving back home, Yoongi made his head clearer and now his decision whether to tell you or not what his nightmares are about is leaning to the telling side. With the urge to see you, he speeds up, not noticing the incoming car on the right side of the intersection.

You jolted as you gain consciousness, and you’re on your bedroom.

You run towards Jimin’s room and you felt a sharp pain on your chest when you see that his bed’s empty. You searched for him in his office, but still, no sign of him.

You slowly went downstairs and you heard a noise from the kitchen so you went there as quiet as possible.

You saw Jimin’s figure, grabbing as many ice cubes as he could, filling the container for it.

“Jimin, are you okay?” You asked, trying to conceal the worry that has been inside your system since yesterday.

He half jumped upon hearing you, making him groan in pain.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” he said trying to pick up the ice pack but he couldn’t so you approached him and grabbed it before he does.

You noticed that he had a cut on the side of his lip and another on his right cheek. He also seemed uncomfortable to move.

“You’re definitely not okay, Jimin. You’re bleeding.” Your worry intensifies that it starts to irritate you.

“Baby, what are you doing?” he asked as you start to pull his coat off, he wince whenever you touch his right arm.

“Take that off, now.” Your tone is so serious, he tried removing it on his own but it’s obvious that there’s something wrong so you stopped him.

“We’re taking you to the hospital. Don’t argue with me on this.” You stood up and dashed towards the door to call your driver to prepare the car that you’re using. You went straight to his room to grab some clothes just in case he needs to be admitted.

You were quiet since the visit to the doctor. Now, you’re eating at a nearby fast food restaurant and It made Jimin feel uneasy.

“It’s time for you to go to school, princess.” He said, trying to open up a conversation with you but you remained silent, your attention is focused on eating your food.

“Babe...” he called you again.

“I’m gonna be absent today. I’ll call the school telling them that I have an emergency,” you said as calm as you could, still not looking at him.

“Why?” He asked, somewhat surprised.

“Are you serious right now, Jimin? Asking me why do I have to be absent today? You must be out of your mind!”

Your anger is starting to get the best of you right now so you stppd up, and went to the wash room. There, you washed your face with the hopes that it’ll lessen the intensity of your emotions.

When you returned to your table, he was still waiting for you, he seemed worried. You told him that the two of you should go back home so he could rest. The drive home’s never been this quiet before.

You guided him to his room without saying a word. He took off his coat and shirt while you helped him. After that, he went straight to the bathroom so you followed him until he entered it.

“Are you going to take a bath?” You asked from the outside.

“No, I’ll just use a wet towel to clean myself,” he relpied.

“Okay,” you returned.

“Can you help me? I can’t reach some parts of my back.”

You slowly opened the door and you saw him in a pitiful yet funny position, You supressed your laughter and began wiping his back.

As you do it, he suddenly removed all of his remaining clothes , making you feel embarrassed.

“As if you haven’t seen it,” he commented playfully.

You kept quiet and handed him a towel and you exited the bathroom.

When he’s fully clothed, you helped him to bed. When he’s comfortable enough, you planned on leaving, to go to your own room so you can sleep but the urge inside you to ask him what happened wins.

“We need to talk,” you started.

He looked into your direction, completely dismissing the book he’s reading and placed it on his bedside table.

“Anything,” he replied.

“Do you think I haven’t noticed? For the past weeks you’re going home late at night, sometimes past midnight, can you tell me why?”

He looked into his hands that’s playing with the blanket.

“I uh, there’s a lot of work to do—“ you don’t want to be rude but you’re not buying that excuse.

“No, Jimin, I noticed since you had those nightmares, you began to be like this, you’re distancing yourself from me. I waited for you last night, because I was worried, did I do something wrong?”

Now it’s his time to be silent and when the silence became unbearable, you slowly stood up.

“If you need me, just call me using your phone, I’ll be on my room.”

He called you but you continued walking, because the tears that you’ve been holding back began to fall like rain.

Yoongi was mad when you told him what you’ve found out. He immediately called Taehyung to meet at a nearby bar, tagging along Jungkook. After a few minutes of waiting, Jin and Namjoon appeared.

“Y/n told me two things today. One, Jimin’s nightmares came back, and two, she mentioned her. She found an old picture of G and Jimin.”

Jungkook’s eyes widen while Taehyung’s mouth fell open. Jin and Namjoon frowned after they heard what Yoongi said.

“Did Jimin told her something already?” Jungkook asked after he recpvered from shock.

“No, he didn’t. What’s worse is that he’s denying Y/N about G. About their past.” Yoongi’s tone’s bitter.

“Than shit, what is he doing with Y/N?” Namjoon spat, now obviously annoyed.

“Should we take over?” Jungkook asked.

“As much as we wanted to, No. Jimin should be the one to do that.” Jin answered.

“But it’s obvious that he’s not gonna tell it anytime soon,” Namjoon replied.

“Or he’s not gonna tell it ever.” Jungkook added.

“If he chose the latter, that won’t be possible anymore. Y/N is an intelligent woman guys. I bet she has some theories of her own regarding G. The only thing that we’re waiting here is either she’d found out everything by herself or from another person.” Yoongi said.

“And if that happens...” Jin sounded worried, his expression somber.

“Oh, I hope not.” Taehyung replied to Jin. He knew what he’s supposed to say.

“It could be. It’s possible you know.” Namjoon replied.

“Could you please shed some light here? What are you talking about now?” Jungkook is lost.

“They might break up, Kook.” Yoongi replied.

“Shit.” The youngest said.

“When that happens, can we do something about it?” Taehyung tries to look further, hoping they can come up with a solution in case it’ll happen.

Namjoon shook his head slowly.

“If that happens Tae, we step back. Only Jimin could do something about that. We’ll be here for support, as much as possible for the both of them and nothing else.” Yoongi muttered slowly, his expression is now sadder.

They stayed there to get a few drinks. When Yoongi’s about to enter his house, he received a call from you, telling that Jimin’s not home yet so he called the rest of the boys and created a search party while Jin decided to go to you so you have someone to wait with. Yoongi decided to roam around because knowing Jimin, he could be an emotional fucker, so he can be all over the place. The next thing he knew he’s speeding towards the direction of his old high school. When he searched and found Jimin sitting on the swing, he really really wanted to beat the hell out of him but he tried to remain calm. He tried shedding some light to Jimin’s situation, so he can decide now on what to do next.

When you woke up, you went straight to Jimin’s room. You saw him sleeping with glasses on, book on the other side of the bed.

Your heart melted a bit when you saw how cute he looks. You removed his glasses as gentle as you can plus the book. You stared at him for a few moments when he opened his eyes.

“Hey,” he suddenly sits down, forgetting that he has a broken arm so he hissed in pain.

“Careful, let me help you,” so you did. And when he’s comfortably sitting, you returnend to his side.

“Why didn’t you sleep here?” he pouted.

“I have tons of things to do, I want you to rest.” You replied. Though this was half a lie, you just cried yourself to sleep last night.

“Come downstairs okay? I’ll make breakfast.” You began to move but he stopped you with his other hand.

“What?”

He shook his head, and smiled. You gave him a slight smile and went downstairs.

You managed to make breakfast for everybody including the security team. You’re helping Jimin in whatever he needs during that meal.

He decided to chill at the pool while he do some work using his laptop while you cleaned the dishes, you received a call from Taehyung.

“Yep?”

[Jimin called in sick, and he won’t be back until two to three weeks?]

��Yeah, I think so.” You said.

[Are you two on a vacation? Don’t tell me you’re on a honeymoon already.] he teased.

“No, no, he’s injured. He came home in the wee hours of the morning, bruised and bleeding. Oh did I mention he has a broken right arm?”

[WHAT? What happened?]

“That’s what I’m trying to found out since last night, Tae. He won’t tell me.” You sighed.

[What?]

“Yeah, what. But don’t worry I’ll ask him again.”

[Alright, take care you two.]

“Bye.”

You ended the call and you finished washing the dishes. Then you decided to take a walk outside. You let yourself wander around the large front garden until you found yourself in front of the garage.

You entered it, and saw the cars parked there, nothing unusual, except for one that’s missing.

Jimin’s car.

You frowned, you really wanted to ask him so you returned to the house where Jimin is.

“Can we talk?” you’re trying to hold your emotions again.

“Anytime,” he closed his laptop and put it on the side.

When you see he’s ready, you sat across him.

“Where’s your car?”

“It’s there—“

“Please, Jimin tell me the truth please, where is your car?”

Your anger’s turning into tears.

“I-uh, I brought it to the service center, I have to get it fixed.” He replied.

“Why? What happened last night?”

“I got into an accident, I’m sorry.” He confessed.

“Can you elaborate further? I have all the time in this world right now to listen.”

He recalled what happened only mentioning Yoongi found him, telling him you’re waiting for him. Then he told you the rest.

“Why didn’t you went straight to the hospital? And how did you return here if your car is somewhere with the police?”

“They offered me a ride, I dropped off a few blocks here.” He answered.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I’ve been waiting for you. Ever since you decided to stay late from work or I don’t know where else anymore.” The tears finally began to fall from your eyes, earning a guilty look from Jimin.

“You know you can tell me everything right? I’m here to listen, Jimin. anytime right?” you said in between your sniffles.

He looked at his hands, and slowly nod.

“Is there anything else that you want to tell me?”

He shook his head.

You sighed, you felt disappointed. Because you expected he’ll tell you everything. From his nightmares to the girl on the picture.

“If you need me, I’ll be upstairs.” You said, walking away from him.

The days turned into weeks and during those times you’re just beside Jimin, helping him until he’s fully recovered.

Christmas break’s just around the corner and you’re all pressured. Especially you, because it’s the deadline of your paper.

You managed to pass all of the projects on your subjects so you don’t have any problems with those. You’re quite nervous with this one because of your group mates who you decided not to talk to.

You’re retrieving books on your locker when Erin furiously shut it’s door closed.

“Why aren’t you responding to my texts? I’ve been asking you tons of times for updates and you’re not replying?” she said, furious.

“Since the time you and Tom decided not to show up when I drive all the way to the other side of the city, you completely removed your position and names on the paper.” You replied calmly.

“Excuse me? You don’t have the right to do that! You know I’m working, so as Tom.” She’s now shouting, earning weird looks from other students.

“So am I. I wonder how I could do it, how can i add tons of projects and a job while maintainting a scholarship. I don’t know.” You replied.

“Edit the paper and include our names. Or else you’ll not gonna like what’s gonna happen to you.” She said through greeted teeth.

“Excuse you. Who’s the irresponsible one here? I basically did everything on this paper, Erin. I decided to remove your names because obviously, it doesn’t deserve a place on my paper. Now you get to taste your own medicine, you’re mad? Wow.” You replied, locking your locker, you decide to walk away but here comes Tom, his ears are red.

“How dare you remove our names there! Don’t you know who am I?” he screamed.

“Obviously she doesn’t but I do.” Jungkook replied.

You don’t know what happened but Tom suddenly moved back and walked away from the two of you.

“Did you just threaten her? If something happens to her, you’ll be accountable even if it’s not your fault. Clear?” He looked Erin dead in the eye.

Erin began sobbing on the side.

“I’m gonn walk you to your class, I’m free today.” He said.

You thanked him and when you’re in class, you walked past Erin and Tom, choosing to sit in front.

The truth is, you haven’t removed Erin and Tom’s names on your finished paper. When the professor asked you to pass it, you gladly did, finally being free of the stress it caused.

After that, you were given your pen and paper test. Then the unexpected happened.

A few professors entered your room, including Yoongi.

Your professor told you you’ll be having a mock defense of your paper that day and those professors would be the panel. And if you were called and passed, it’s gonna be your last day attending her class.

Of all people, your group was called.

You connected your flash drive to the TV, opening the presentation format of your paper. You started talking when Yoongi raised his hand in the middle of your explanation.

“Thank you Ms. Y/L/N you can sit down and let your other group mates take over now.” He said.

So, it’s Erin’s turn who basically just read what’s inside the slides so as Tom. When the question and answer part came, you stood up, answering the questions with confidence. Another professor told you to sit down once again which made you feel uneasy.

Four groups in total, including your group managed to finish the mock defense that day. Your professor called your group for the decision whether your paper passed or not.

“Congratulations, Ms. Y/L/N, you don’t need to attend my remaining classes. And, I should advise you to remove the names of these two. It’s obvious they didn’t helped.” She looked at them with a disappointed look on her face. “It seems you’ll be having another term with me.”

Erin and Tom looked down, looking guilty.

You thanked her and she said you can send the final paper via email.

When you exited the building, you couldn’t help but smile. You decided to visit Yoongi who probably chilling on the SAO office.

When you saw his familiar mint hair, you gave him a hug.

“Whoa, whoa, what was that for? Jimin might get jealous again, damn.” He joked.

“Thank you!” you replied.

He gave you a knowing smile.

“You deserve to pass while they don’t.” He said matter of factly.

“Since you’re here, may I ask how are you two doing?” his tone became serious.

You sat down, began talking.

“Since his accident we’re not the same, you know? Or maybe since I found the picture, we’re not the same.” You said and you couldn’t help but be sad.

You miss the old Jimin, the one despite having nightmares, he still makes you feel secured and loved.

“Do you know something about it, no, do you know something about her, Yoongi?” you don’t want to sound desperate but obviously, you do.

Yoongi’s face became blank. As if the entire Antartica’s poured into him.

“I believe that you don’t deserve to be lied to. Of course I do know something about her, but the thing is, I’m not the one that should be telling you anything about her, Y/N. Not me, Taehyung, Kook, or anybody else. It should be Jimin.”

You couldn’t help it. for the past weeks, you’re trying your hardest to be okay. To feel and act like you’re okay so that Jimin would recuperate faster. But as the days went by, you feel like you two are drifting apart from each other day by day.

Tears starts to race again from your eyes to your cheeks.

“Sorry, could you please just answer this with all honesty, please Yoongi?”

“It depends but let’s hear it,” he replied.

“Is she special? Is she special to Jimin?” you asked disregarding the pain you’re feeling.

“In all honesty, Y/N, I don’t have an idea. I don’t know. But remember this, Jimin is a good man.” He said.

“I know.” You said. You said your good bye to him and left.

When you returned home, you heard Jimin inside the house only to find him decorating a Christmas tree, both of his arms now fully functional as if nothing happened.

“Hey, baby welcome back.” He said while he’s placing some sparkly things on the top of the tree.

“Hi, I passed my dreaded subject today.” You announced.

“Lets celebrate!” he cheered.

“Why not? Maybe after decorating the tree.” You said and you looked at the boxes lying around the floor.

One box is full of christmas balls, some are christmas lights, you noticed one box thats’ decorated with doodles, you opened it and there are stuffed animals dressed as santa. You asked him if it can be the ornaments and he agreed so you helped him.

After two hours, the christmas tree looks cute with red, gold, and green as motif.

“That’s nice,” you said.

“It’s wonderful because we made it together,” he said.

“Now shall we go?”

You nod.

It’s so chilly outside you dashed towards his car. It’s the very same car that got damaged few weeks back and restored to it’s former glory as if it’s brand new.

Jimin brought you his favorite steak house. You shared some laughs, and stories which you really enjoyed.

“Just this once please? Let me buy you a gift, baby please?” he literally begged, you’re outside an expensive jewelry shop.

“But, this is more than enough, and I like this one!” you argued showing him your Magnolia ring that he gave when you’re with him overseas.

“Please?”

He looked as if he’s gonna cry, so you sighed.

“Fine. Just this once.” You said.

He pulled you inside, nodding to one of the ladies there while he told you to look around and maybe you’ll find anything you’ll like.

You’re not into those kinds of things although they’re beautiful.

“Baby,” Jimin called you and you gasped as you see him kneeling on his knee.

“What are you doing?” You whispered, trying to tell him to stand up.

“Will you be officially mine, from now until forever?”

He opened a small dark blue box, with a shining ring inside.

Without hesitation, you smiled at him.

“Yes, yes I will.” You replied.

Every one who’s inside the establishment either clapped or gave an ‘awwww’ to the two of you as he slipped the ring beside the Magnolia one.

“I’ve never felt this happiness before, I love you, Y/N.” He said as he land a kiss on your lips.

“I love you too, Jimin.” You replied as sincere as you could.

The two of you were about to exit the store when you received a call from your father.

“Yes dad?”

[Well should I say congratulations or what?]

Your eyes popped out and you turned around and you saw your parents coming from the side of the store.

“Oh my goodness! What are you doing here?” you quickly embraced your parents.

Your mother started crying.

“Aww mom, why are you crying?”

You embraced her and you saw Jimin politely greeting your father but instead he was given a hug and a pat on the back.

“I’m so happy for you dear, though it’s too early but oh, my baby’s now a lady.” She said in between cries.

“Oh mom,” you hugged her again.

“Will you come here son, I want to hug you both.”

Jimin shyly approached you two and you hugged your mother together.

You were clinging to your mother the while you roam around the mall.

“So, what brings you here?” you excitedly asked.”

“Your father and I got a promotion!” Your mother said.

You both jumped in the middle of the mall and you told her that you’re so proud of them.

She said that they’re now transferred in the city and that they’ll be working at the hotel here.

“So does that mean you’ll stay here?” you smiled.

“Yes.” Your mother replied.

You couldn’t contain your happiness. You watch Jimin and your father talk from a distance you don’t know but there’s something odd about the way you feel as you look at them.

That day was so enjoyable, your parents enjoyed playing at the arcade with you and Jimin.

When you returned home with Jimin, you couldn’t believe it, you’re already engaged as if it was just a dream. But you can feel, see, and touch the proof that it happened. You’re so happy seeing the stone as it twinkles in the dim light that’s on his room.

“I’m sorry for all of the stress that I’ve caused you, baby.” He whispered.

“Forget about it, It’s cool.” You smiled.

“Thank you—“ he cut you off by kissing you, and you let him. You let yourself drown into the kiss. You missed this, his sudden movements that makes your heart skip a million beats, your blood rush.

You looked into each other and you nod, you both started removing whatever clothes you have.

You let your soul once again be one with his.

“I love you so much, Y/N.” He whispered to your ears right after.

“I love you too,” you replied sleepily.

Days have passed and your relationship returned to normal, the both of you almost inseparable. A few days before Christmas, you approached but you stopped when you heard him talking to someone.

“I wanted to tell her, but I can’t, I just can’t.”

“How would she react? I don’t know if she can take everything if I tell her.”

Pause.

“Why are you asking me that? Of course I love her, Mom. I really do. I proposed to her about a week ago.” He said.

You felt a wave of relief when you hear the word ‘mom’ in his sentence.

“Alright, see you soon.” He said and he hang up.

That’s your que to come in, you were given a scream.

“Don’t scare me like that, baby goodness,” he replied.

“Sorry, um Jimin? I’m coming home for Christmas, would that be okay?”

“To your parents? Yeah, why not?” he replied, removing his glasses.

“Are you gonna be okay?”

“Of course, mom will be coming back. She’ll visit us. Maybe we’ll celebrate with gram.”

“Oh god, we forgot to tell her, Jimin! She might be mad.” You panicked.

“About?” he raised an eyebrow.

“About our enagagement.” You pouted.

He gave you a chuckle, then a giggle.

“She was the one who bought the ring, baby. She’s pushing me to ask you already.”

“R-really?” another relief.

“Yep. Aaaand one more thing, she’s uh, kind a... asking for something as well,”

“A gift? Let’s get her one.” You said, trying to complete his sentence.

“Yes, it’s a gift, but she wants it to be made... by the two of us.” He said, carefully choosing his words.

“Food? Christmas cookies?” you asked.

Another giggle from Jimin.

“No princess, she’s hinting a great-grand child.”

You blushed.

But you narrowed your eyes on his statement.

“You’re not making this up, are you?” you asked.

He let you read their conversation and she really gave hints about babies and stuff using emojis.

You shook your head in disbelief.

“Wow. Just wow.” You commented.

The two of you spent your day preparing for the upcoming festivities when you received a call from Jimin’s mother, asking you to meet up with her, but you should keep it as a secret from him. Probably you’ll gonna make a surprise gift? Or a party so you agreed.

She met you at an exclusive tea houses. You told the driver that it’s top secret so you told him if ever Jimin will ask, you’re shopping at the mall.

You were greeted by his mother’s warm, motherly smile and a hug which you mirrored.

“Lemme guess, the old lady chose this didn’t she?” she chuckled.

You nod. She shared some stories and she showed you hers but it’s studded with stones.

“It suits you, honey. I know it’s early but I am wholeheartedly welcoming you to our family,” she said.

“Thank you, Mrs. Park,” you smiled.

“Uh-uh. Call me ‘Mom’ from now on, please.” She said.

“Sorry, mom.” You replied and you both laughed.

“So, how are you two?” She asked.

“We’re fine, but there’s one thing that I’m concerned about, it’s about his nightmares. It happened several months back. At first it’s once a week, then it became twice, and recently, it’s almost every night.” You opened up your concern to his mother because you’re sure she can understand.

She sighed and gave you an apologetic smile.

“If that’s the case then, you should convince him to go to the doctor, honey.” She said.

“Okay, I’ll do that.” You replied.

“It’s nice to see you again, Y/N. I hope I’ll be seeing more of you in the near future.” She said.

You gave her a polite nod and you told her to that you’ll be leaving first.

You reflected on what she said and you felt that same odd feeling that you felt when you saw Jimin talking to your father.

“I promoted her parents so she can live with them in the city,” Jaebum said while eating, Hoseok listens while he slices his steak.

“Of course the house is within this area. So I can take care of Y/N.” He said.

“I’ve sent my Christmas gift to Park Jimin early by the way,” he said with a hint of excitement on his tone.

Whatever that gift would be, it means trouble, and damage to Jimin if it’s Jaebum who sent it.

Meanwhile, Jimin received a package and he immediately opened it, it’s a beautiful gray box with silver and blue ribbon.

He closed it as soon as he saw the contents.

He’s now looking for a lighter to burn it, not noticing your return.

You looked for him on his office and you found the box. You opened it, and you saw an old frame. You saw smiled as you saw a younger versions of the boys including Namjoon and Hoseok. Your eyes drifted to the furthest right and your smile was suddenly erased.

You again saw her.

You don’t care anymore whether he’ll be mad if he sees you looking at it.

You found another picture, Jimin’s wearing a baseball uniform, but the hat was being worn again, by her.

You this time you picked an envelope, and it revealed a yellowish piece of stationery.

You read the title.

LOVE CONTRACT

You wanted to read the contents but you couldn’t stomach what could be inside.

You looked in the direction of the door and found him there, frozen.

“Is she really a nothing, Jimin? If she is then what are these?”

He stayed there, silent.

“Who is she, really? Can you tell me now?”

Still, silence.

“Oh my god. Please don’t tell me she’s the reason why your’e coming home late.” You felt your heart being crushed again.

“No, no, baby, she’s not,” he finally replied.

“THEN WHO IS SHE?” you screamed.

He just looked down, saying nothing.

You walked past him but he followed. He went straight to your room. You left without a choice. It’s either he’ll tell you or you’ll leave.

You placed most of your clothes to your backpak plus your laptop.

“What are you doing? Where are you going?” he asked his voice is weak.

“Maybe we need this, a time apart. So we can think of some things,” you replied.

“No, please Y/N, don’t do this please.” He begged.

You’re about to reply but your phone blasted the ring tone assigned to your father.

“Dad?”

[MOVE OUT OF THAT HOUSE RIGHT NOW! THAT BOY IS NOT TELLING YOU SOMETHING]

You slowly looked at him, with a frown.

“Wait, dad what are you talking about?”

[JUST MOVE OUT, RIGHT NOW OR I’M GONNA GET YOU OUT THERE BY FORCE!]

He’s not just mad but very mad.

“Okay, dad. Breathe, I’ll be there, text me the address. Okay? See you in a bit.”

“Y/N, please,” Jimin’s voice is broken, as if he’s close to tears.

Still he followed you until you reached the landing of the first floor. You stood for a bit, still your back facing him.

“Please, don’t follow. And don’t do anything stupid, I have to talk to my father,” you said.

Although your heart’s heavy, and you have tons of doubts with your deciscion about leaving him, you have to. With slow footsteps, you managed to leave his house. You told your driver to drop you off at the bus stop.

You updated your father when you’re inside the bus, it’s quite far from the university, since it’s second to the last stop, according to it’s route. It took you more than an hour to get to your destination. You saw your father waiting for you at the bus stop.

“What’s the matter dad, you okay?” you hugged him.

“Did you and mom had a fight?” you asked as you follow him. He’s now carrying your backpack despite your protests.

He remained quiet, until you two reached the place where they’re staying. It’s a nice two-storey house, more like of a town house type. There’s a build in garage and a gate.

“This place is nice, considering that it’s from the company,” you commented.

Still, your father kept quiet which made you feel that something serious has happened.

When you entered the house, it’s was quiet. He told you that your room is on the left side. You slowly went upstairs and opened the said room.

It’s ready. As if they’re anticipating you to come that day.

You just placed your bags on the floor, no energy to unpack when you remembered what your father had said during the call.

If you weren’t mistaken, this has something to do with Jimin.

But of course, you hope not.

A slight knock made you stop thinking for a while.

“Your father wants to talk to you,” your mother said.

So, you followed.

You found your father in the living room, with a serious expression. You sat on one of the single seater sofa, while your mother sat beside him.

“What is this about?”

You speak slowly, trying to find some emotions on their faces but no avail. You were enveloped in a silence that makes your chest hurt.

“ Sometimes, the people that we wish to be with isn’t supposed to be with us that’s why fate interferes .” Your father spoke.

“What are you talking about?” you asked, totally confused.

“If I may ask, although this is obvious, do you love Jimin with all of your heart?”

You nod.

“And you believe he feels the same way about you, right?”

Again, you nod.

You looked at him and you saw his face into serious to a saddened one.

“Someone kind enough sent this here,” he gave you a flat box,

You took a deep breath, and when you opened it, it’s more than what you’re expecting.

A sequence of pictures, with a background that you’ve seen somewhere, that beautiful background. You started flipping through until you saw a picture of Jimin, in front of the altar, together with the woman on the pictures that you saw.

It’s a picture of him, placing a ring on the girl’s finger, in front of the altar.

Your tears escaped from your eyes like storm. And suddenly, you don’t know how to breathe.

All of your excuses was thrown out of the window.

So, from the beginning what you’ve been thinking is right?

Upon seeing that huge picture of him with her you knew in the back of your mind, what that means.

That at some point in his past, he got married.

That he’s married.

And what that beame of you?

What are you now?

You couldn’t continue. Anymore, you suddenly let a wail, and you found yourself being embraced by your mother who’s also crying, whispering words of apology to you.

Your father stood up, picking up the pictures that fell on the floor. You caught a glimpse of him, wiping his eyes. He too, is crying.

You couldn’t feel anything. You what you knew is you just continued crying, until your father decided to carry you to your bed.

You stayed like that until you finally fall asleep.

Jimin was at a loss right now. He couldn’t feel anything except the pain that’s inside his chest as soon as you turned your back at him and left. But there’s nobody to be blamed, is there?

It’s him, and only him.

He’s staring into nothingness until someone called. He grabbed his phone hoping that it’s you only to see it’s from an unknown number.

[Did you like my early Christmas gift? Oh, I sen’t one to Y/N’s parents as well so, yeah, enjoy while that lasts alright?]

“Don’t you dare show yourself to me, I will fucking kill you.” Jimin said, with a deadly tone.

[I dare you then. Do it Park, just like what you did to her.]

You fucker--!

The other line hang up.

He threw his phone somewhere, making something crashed. He continued wrecking whatever thing his hand get a hold of until he remembered what you just said befoe

Don’t do anything stupid.

He stopped smashing the vases. He sat on the floor, with tears on his eyes, he cries for you.

[A/N]

Sorry this post is late! This chapter broke me :(

Will this story be a tragic one or the one with flowery ending?

a few chapters left!.

#BTS jimin #BTS jin #BTS jungkook #BTS rap monster #BTS suga #bts v #bts jhope #bts scenarios #bts fanfic #bts fanfction #jimin x you #jin x reader

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micahrodney · 3 years

Text

Thread; Chapter 1 - Lost Boy

The following was a commissioned piece for MatthewCaveatZealot. Awakening with a start, Neil managed to bash his head on the ceiling of his dorm room. He collapsed back into his loft bed, running his hands across his temple. He had always known this was a distinct possibility with his sleeping arrangement; there was barely three feet of clearance between his mattress and the unsettling popcorn-style stucco which always left flakes in his bedding. The only damage appeared to be a mild contusion, and a slightly hurt ego. The boy glanced at the alarm clock, which was inelegantly tucked into a corner of the frame, cord precariously taut.

8:35 AM

“Shit!” Neil cursed.

In his panic, he practically hurled himself over the rail of his loft. Fortunately, his faded blue bean bag chair – presently covered by a week's worth of dirty laundry – broke his fall. Fishing in the bureau just beneath his bed, he managed to dig out a clean pair of jeans and a grey tee.

As he reached for his bookbag, he noticed he'd left his computer on. The dull white of a Lotus document was burning into the monitor. Upon reading the salutation of “Dear Erica” the previous night's phone call came rushing back to him; three years discarded in two minutes. He had trouble saying what he needed to say in that call. Truthfully, the shock of it had rendered him phased out of reality. There was a hollowness that consumed him upon hearing those words, an emptiness that had to be embraced lest it consume him.

He couldn't even bring himself to cry. Tears would only validate the nightmare. That had to be it: a nightmare. One that he would wake up from in a day or two when she called him back and apologized. When she remembered how happy they had been together and realized what she was giving up. After a few hours, he had passed from denial to bargaining. Every possible scenario played through in his head simultaneously, from magnanimous acceptance of her apology to him banging at her door and pleading to take him back. That was when the rational approach of writing her a letter presented itself.

Without bothering to save the document, he flipped the switch. The dull fizzling sound was always a strange comfort. To Neil, it represented the end of a day. Maybe that's how he should view Erica: just another chapter in his life that he would move past. And maybe, like the document itself, there really was nothing worth saving there anyway.

---

Voxton was once a whistle-stop town just outside of the state capitol. It was the home of an active farm community, and the state's number one exporter of unemployed drunks looking for better opportunity in “the big city”. Then somebody decided to build a college there in the wake of the 1973 stock market crash, presumably with hopes of turning the state's fortune around.

McCain University – presumably named for its founder, though Neil had never bothered to find out – had grown to become something of a Mecca for the technically inclined. If you wanted to break into engineering or computer science, you went to McCain, assuming your parents weren't wealthy or connected enough to ship you off to MIT.

Thanks to a grant from the Governor, the school had an entire campus building dedicated to the most powerful machines on the market. Perhaps this was why Neil insisted upon using a personal computer from the 80s, despite the fact that his father had offered many times to buy him something newer.

The IBM 386 was more than a little dated, but the chunky machine could do the important things in his life. Sure his classes had him learning on top-of-the-line Power Macintosh hardware, but it had been the computer he grew up with. Its impressive 32 MB memory was stuffed with the text-adventure games of INFOCOM. While his first love would always be Zork, it was the murder-mystery Moonmist that made him want to become a writer.

These dual interests had conflicted before, and while Neil's father was supportive he was also wary. Writing, after all, was a hard market to break into. But computer technology was in high demand and only rising. When he had embarrassingly tried to connect with his son by saying maybe he could learn to make “some of those Nintendo games”, Neil had politely laughed and agreed to consider it. The boy's consideration didn't take long. As a lawyer, his dad always was the better negotiator. Perhaps it was overkill to mention that it is what his mother would have wanted.

Neil opened the door to his usual morning haunt, a student-run coffee shop called “The Junction”. The place was barely bigger than his dorm, but they also had the best muffins in Voxton. He stumbled up to the register and barely sputtered out his order before his bookbag slipped off of his shoulder, sending his notebooks scattering.

“Damn,” Neil cursed. “Sorry, Angie. A blueberry muffin and a coffee to go please!”

“Running late again, Neil?” The senior asked, tying her long ebony hair back with a scrunchy.

“I know, they're lucky to have me as a student,” Neil mumbled bitterly, shoving the papers haphazardly back into his bag.

“Four bucks. Your dad's Amex, I trust?” Angie replied, extending her hand.

“Cash today. I forgot to grab my wallet, but luckily there was a five in my jeans,” Neil chuckled benignly, handing her the bill.

“Moving up in the world.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Lemme grab your breakfast, champ,” Angie smirked.

Neil took his change and leaned back against the bar. The place wasn't really all that bad. Sure two people couldn't walk side-by-side behind the bar, but the little brick shack was alright. He had particularly liked the ironic name. Before the University reclaimed land for a parking lot the place had been a rail depot. The result were tracks that didn't lead anywhere just behind the restaurant and for few miles north and south respectively.

“And in offbeat news today,” droned a local news anchor on the 16 inch TV in the corner of the bar. “IBM supercomputer 'Deep Blue' went six games against chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov yesterday. Although Kasparov won the match with four games to Deep Blue's two, this is the first time a computer has ever defeated a world champion under tournament regulations. Truly this is a sign of things to come. Just how more advanced can these computers get?”

“Neil!” Angie called, snapping her fingers in front of his face. “Muffin, coffee, late for Computer Theory 221, remember?”

“Right, sorry!” Neil sputtered, grabbing his food and bolting out the door.

---

“Mr. Brown. How nice of you to grace us with your presence.”

Professor Barker was generally a nice guy, but Neil had tried his patience one too many times. Tardiness was just one of Neil's offenses against the would-be silicon valley elite. In short, Barker didn't like his attitude. He didn't like that Neil would sit through his classes, mind clearly on other things. But what he hated worse was the fact that Neil continued to ace every assignment in spite of his lackluster classroom performance. It wasn't Neil's fault that he felt he got very little out of the lecture hall experience, preferring instead to study on his own time.

“Sorry, sir,” Neil apologized half-heartedly. “Rough night.”

“Wait until you become an adult, then you'll learn what a real rough night is,” Barker scolded.

The aging technician looked like a slightly sunkissed Steve Wozniak. He had the beard and the plaid collar shirts, but his face was a bit more rugged. Barker had learned computers while serving in the Army during the 70s. The synthesis was a computer nerd who looked like he used to beat kids up for their lunch money.

“Now that Mr. Brown has found his seat,” Barker sighed. “Let's resume. Where were we now? Ah, yes! The potential of virtual reality. Now, this ain't your 'Virtual Boy', we're talking about actual virtual reality.”

Barker was nothing if not fond of the sound of his own voice. The lecture was more or less him pontificating about the achievements that had been accomplished with the budding technology and his wild-eyed fantasies of future use. Of particular note, Barker's assertion that we could one day use virtual reality to explore the entire planet's history in first-person seemed especially romantic.

“Imagine, if you would, you put on a visor and are instantly transported to the wild west. With a few mouse clicks, you are in the Roman Empire, or watching the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza.”

A loud digitized beep came from the clock just over the door. It was already 11 AM.

“Ah, well, I seem to have rambled on right to the end of class,” Barker chuckled. “Alright, that's a good stopping point anyway. I'll let you head out. Mr. Brown, a word.”

The students began to pack up and make their way towards the door, as Neil marched down the steps of the lecture hall, prepared for his weekly chew-out session. The beard of the middle-aged educator seemed to twitch in anticipation and annoyance.

“Neil, do you want to be in this class?” Barker asked bluntly.

“Yes sir,” Neil stoically replied.

“You know the class starts at 8:30 AM every Monday and Wednesday, right?”

“Yep.”

“The winter semester has only just started and in the six classes we've had together you have been on time to one of them.”

“That's correct, sir.”

Barker sighed and waved his hands about in front of him as if he was grasping for something to strike him with.

“I don't know what you expect from me,” Barker steadied his hands and pointed a finger in Neil's face. “But I know I expect from you. I can't have you barging in after the class starts. If I have to lock that door, I'll do it. Your work is good, but if you want to stay in my class I expect you to show up on time.”

“I understand sir.”

“Well, I hope so,” Barker grumbled. “I'm not kidding about that lock either.”

---

Monday was, by design, Neil's easiest day. He only had the one class, and he used the remainder of the day to run errands. So as soon as Barker let him out, his first stop was to the Store24 to pick up some groceries. Considering his food storage options in his dorm was a mini-fridge and the top shelf of his closet, he only wound up with two bags and a twelve-pack of the store-brand cola.

He dropped off the bare essentials of sustenance and took a brief moment to tidy his room. There wasn't much cause to impress anyone, but he felt compelled to use the time. It felt better to accomplish something – anything – rather than waiting around for the day to end.

The next two hours were spent overseeing a load of laundry in the dormitory laundromat. It was pretty depressing, featuring bare stone walls and illuminated by a single dirt-specked window. with a line of six washers and four driers on opposite sides of the room from each other. There was a table in the middle, slightly off-set from the window in a way that mildly infuriated Neil. There were technically chairs, but two metal folding chairs took a certain wear-and-tear over the decades and had never been replaced.

Neil found himself sitting on the edge of the table, staring out that window and reflecting on the bizarre dream that had woken him with such a start. The events of the day had driven out most of the fantastic experience from his mind, but bits and pieces still lingered. Those omnipresent voices, speaking in grand detail about him. An idyllic planet that was repeatedly destroyed. The beast from within the pit, as Neil was bound and helpless on a web of light.

He considered whether or not he wanted to try and duplicate the effects of his lucid dreaming again tonight. Was it a story worth picking up? Or did he want to find himself once again at the genuine mercy of some phantasm?

A low blare came from the drier, in what was more than once mistaken for a fire alarm.

Discarding the shards of his recollection, he set about folding his clothes for about five minutes, before hastily shoving the rest of his clothes into his basket and resolving to just “do it later”. This was perhaps his favorite lie.

So it was, at 3:00 PM, Neil found himself back in his room with nothing else on the docket. The young scholar now had to decide between drowning his mounting sorrows in video games, television, or – if he were feeling particularly adventurous – both at the same time.

Looking to a torn up photo of Erica on his desk, he considered what he would be doing if last night's conversation had not happened. The weekends were theirs and sometimes she would visit him Monday night as well, to hit up a movie when it wasn't crowded with people. She wasn't a terribly social girl, and Neil had always done his best to accommodate that.

They both used to joke about how she was a “cheap date”. She was the kind of person who genuinely enjoyed an experience-driven rendezvous. Erica would much rather walk through the Voxton arboretum or take in one of the free community light-shows at the planetarium rather than actually go out and spend money.

On their first date, Neil had nearly blown his chance with her by trying to flaunt his dad's wealth. He had been given $100 to “impress the girl” with. Erica, in that way she always did, knocked him flat on his ass.

“I'm not here to get to know your money, I'm here to get to know you,” she said, before insisting on having dinner at the cheapest restaurant in Voxton, where she paid for her own meal.

The wake-up call had worked, and he loosened up considerably; enough so that she was agreeable to a second date. In spite of the rough start, they had gotten along famously. But apparently not as well as he had thought.

A knock on his door disrupted Neil from his day-dreaming.

“Hey man, open up. You're decent, right?”

Neil chuckled as he opened up the door. His friend Damian could only be described as “dashing”. The heart-throb of choice for all the girls when they were in high school together, his looks had only improved with age.

“Did they finally let you in?” Neil teased.

“Dude, they let you in,” Damian retorted. “If I wanted in, I'd be in. But money is good in the sales game.”

“You work in retail.”

“Retail sales. If I sell ten computers, they give me $50 of store credit,” Damian replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Anyway, we doing dinner? My treat. Gotta cheer up my sad-sack friend, don't I?”

“Damian, you don't have to-”

“Nah, brother, I insist,” Damian smiled, patting Neil on the back. “Breakups hurt. I've been here, and you're gonna be fine. We will eat, drink, be merry and this weekend we will go out dancing and find a girl to make you forget all about her.”

It was this benevolent nature that led to the two becoming friends in the first place. In middle-school, they were both slightly awkward, but Damian had the further disadvantage of being an immigrant. His mother Tabitha had fled Egypt shortly after that assassination of Anwar Sadat, carrying along a four-year-old Damian with her.

The pubescent Damian was dealing with bullying and trying to adapt to both a new country and a stepfather who Neil had never met. The two had met while Damian was hiding out in the library during one fateful lunch and they managed to hit it off over Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles. Neil had just started reading The Black Cauldron, but Damian was already on Taran Wanderer. A young boy's excitement to talk about his favorite fantasy series led to the longest-lasting friendship either of them had enjoyed.

“Damian, I'm not sure if I really want to 'forget' about her, you know?” Neil sighed. “But I don't really need to get into that now.”

“Why not now?” Damian asked. “Take the time, friend. Dinner can wait.”

“It just seems kinda,” Neil struggled to find the words. “Pointless. I mean she's made her decision. I have no idea why, but she made it clear she was done with me.”

“Your feelings aren't pointless,” Damian replied, tapping his chest for emphasis. “It's all we really have in this world. Of course, if you don't want to talk, I won't make you. But, uh, make a decision quick. I skipped lunch.”

Neil laughed and opted to continue keeping his thoughts concealed. At least for now.

“Alright. Dealer's choice,” Neil said.

“What a dangerous power you've given me,” Damian chuckled. “Thai food it is.”

---

This one is hard to position. The thread is destabilizing.

Neil was not dreaming. The voice was not in his head. It was just on the opposite side of his dormitory door. The room around him was shrouded in darkness, and only the door was illuminated. If he could just reach out and grab the handle...

A terrible weight was dragging him down, and his limbs felt as though they were made of concrete. A biting cold was gnawing at him, and there was a presence just behind him. Somewhere in that darkness, a great unseen thing wanted to devour him. Panic seized him as he flailed his useless forelimbs at the impossible contraption. A doorknob; he had seen thousands of these. But his brain could not process how to manipulate one.

With looming annihilation mere inches from him, he resorted to throwing all of his weight at the wooden barrier, hoping it would yield under the force of what, to Neil, felt like two tons of his own mass.

If the thread is lost, we lose the Binder. This is unacceptable.

“Nox?” Neil called out, vaguely remembering the kindly voice from the other night.

We are here, Binder. Patience. We will pull you into our realm. You will not be sundered.

At this pronouncement, a hideous shriek invaded Neil's mind. The darkness wrapped around the young man and began to flay him, leaving crimson marks on his arm. By the time the third sinewy tendril had lashed him across the face, he felt an uncomfortably familiar tug around his midsection as he was dragged out of the darkness and through the door, beyond which lay the sea of stars from his prior visit.

As the distant sparks sailed past him, the memory of that Eden weight heavily upon his mind. He wanted to see it again, and yet he could not bear to watch it be destroyed once more. The thought of having to relive the same disaster over and over again throughout eternity was unbearable. How many times would he have to suffer the same loss? How many people would abandon him to the darkness of his own mind?

Hey Neil, it's Dad. Hope you've had a good Monday. You're probably out with Erica, but I just wanted to get in touch with you about... well, your mother's remembrance. It won't be a big social gathering like last year's. Basically just gonna be your siblings and me, but we wanted to coordinate with you. Just give me a call back when you can. I love you.

His father didn't know yet. Of course, why would he? That was only last night?

Focus on the moment, Binder!

Rem's voice was as stern and monotone as ever, but with a renewed sense of urgency. There was a planet on the horizon, but it was no paradise. The world was molten rock and scattered space-dust, perhaps one in the process of still being formed. Or was this was had remained of the other world after the disaster?

See past the reality of your eyes, Binder. They are not a reliable path to truth, Nox urged.

He is weighed down by his emotional attachment to his own thread. We are losing him, Rem added.

The planet was quite hot, and Neil felt his flesh beginning to sear as he drew ever closer to it. He closed his eyes as he fell through the atmosphere of a dying world, the weight of his grief dragging him into oblivion.

#thread matthewcaveatzealot commission #scifi #short story #90s

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hockyeah · 7 years

Text

Mind Candy (5)

Chapter: 5/?

Ship: Marliza

Summary: Of all the things Maria wasn’t doing, bribing her misbehaving child with candy just to talk to her incredibly attractive teacher was very high on that list. Definitely.

Word Count: 2428

Warnings: Mild language

_____________

The rest of the week stayed very much the same, much like, Maria dared to think, a schedule. She would drop Susie off at school, go to work, text Eliza during her lunch break, pick Susie up from her PSPM at the end of the day, eat dinner, bathe Susie, and then talk to Eliza over the phone for hours on end. Maria loved how easy it was to have conversations that lasted long, and was deeply saddened whenever they ended each night, but there was always the promise to speak again, the “I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” that Maria loved to hear. She was finally getting comfortable with talking with Eliza over the phone. She was so easy to talk with, so kind and sweet and good that Maria felt that she could be around her so easily.

As she pulled into work on Friday, she couldn’t help but feel that something would have to go wrong, even if everything seemed so perfect right now. Excluding the lateness earlier in the week, everything had been flawless, and she was beginning to worry that things would soon come crashing down. She was only human, not some immortal who was above fault. She stepped out of her car and pulled her laptop bag out of the vehicle after her. Walk up to the building of her work, she couldn’t suppress the feeling that something would be off today. It curled in her stomach tentatively, making her wonder if it was a premonition or a simple bout of anxious energy.

She pulled her thoughts down from the clouds as she also pulled open the door to her small office, stepping inside and sliding into the chair behind her desk. For working at an advertising company, her office was fairly dull, painted a deep grey with green hues. Her plush chair was a black faux leather that was decidedly worn, for Maria spent most of her days sat in there organizing calls with clients or formulating emails.

She opened her email, entering her password with ease before clicking the button that read “Log In?” Her computer stalled momentarily before displaying an error screen. Maria cursed under her breath before refreshing the page. Her attempt to revive the computer was met with no avail. Looking at the corner of her screen, the company’s Wi-Fi was still working, meaning that there was a problem with the email server itself. She pulled out her phone, opening the email app, but was met with the same error message, displayed only in a slightly smaller format. She leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temple.

She had scarcely a second of quiet before her office door burst open and a quickly moving short mass off brown hair and messy suit rushed into her office.

“Hamilton, what the hell?” Maria looked dead at the man, who was breathing heavily and running his hands through his shoulder-length hair. He leaned against her doorframe, still offering no explanation.

“Hamilton, you heard me. What are you doing here?” Maria repeated the question, more irritated this time. Hamilton looked at her, his dark eye bags outlining his bottom lashes like some sort of reverse eyeshadow. Maria smirked at the thought when Hamilton finally spoke

“Washington just called an emergency meeting. He sent out an email about it too, but no one’s responded. He sent me to round everyone up.” Hamilton raced through his sentences, Maria’s brain running a marathon trying to catch up with his words.

“Well, the email server is down, that’s one half of the problem.” Maria spoke. Hamilton’s face fell, but he continued relaying his instructions.

“Head up to the conference room on floor three. You have ten minutes.” And then, just as quickly as he appeared, Hamilton had raced back out of the door, his heels clicking on the wooden floor in the hallway. Maria stood, stretching and repacked her laptop bag. Exiting the room, she hit the lights, watching as the room fell dark except for a small lamp that stood in the corner of her office. She could turn that off later, Maria reasoned, before shutting the door.

She hurried up the hallway, stopping outside the elevator and relentlessly hitting the button to cue an elevator into returning to her floor. Hamilton was nowhere to be seen, but Maria reasoned that he was still frantically running around the building doing Washington’s bidding. The elevator dinged and she stepped inside, quickly pressing the button labelled “three.” She waited, tapping her heel impatiently in the metal elevator. The doors began sliding to a close before a tall man wedged himself in between the frame and the door. The automatic doors slid back open and the man stepped inside, his colorful presence filling the entire room.

“God damn it.” he quietly spoke, examining a loose thread in his magenta dress shirt, his voice dripping with southern charm. He looked up, noticing that he was not unaccompanied in the elevator and cleared his throat loudly.

“My apologies, ma’am.” Maria had known it from the second he had entered, but the loud voice clearly denounced itself as that of Thomas Jefferson, famous within the company for his questionable but impressive taste, and even more questionable but impressive debate tactics. Maria had never witnessed them head to head, but she had heard that he made a formidable debate partner for Hamilton to argue with.

“It’s fine.” she absentmindedly replied. The elevator dinged, announcing that it had reached the third floor, and Jefferson exited. Maria followed after him, entering the conference room moments after him. She slid into an empty chair, looking around. To her surprise, Hamilton was sat to the right of Washington, already scribbling down notes. How he had beaten her to the room was a mystery, and Maria felt herself blush after realizing she was one of the last ones to arrive. Washington re-entered the room and stood at the front, clearing his throat.

“Alright everyone,” he began, “I’m so sorry that this was such short notice, apparently, the email server is down and I didn’t realize it.” he shifted, obviously uncomfortable with what he was about to say.

“I have called this meeting to inform you of some changes that will be made in upcoming weeks or months.” he continued. Everyone shifted in the chairs, the air of unease slipping into the minds of all in the room. “As you all probably know, I have been working at this company for eight years, and before that, spent over twenty years in this industry. It has come to my attention recently that I have been the head of this company for 8 years.”

Maria looked around, impressed. She had seldom been working here for three years, and Washington’s experience was monumental compared to her own.

“I have also quite recently realized that 8 years is a long time, and because of this. I will be resigning from my position as executive director.” Washington finished his speech as Hamilton audibly gasped beside him. His pen stopped it’s constant rhythm against the paper as he sprung out of his chair, confronting Washington face to chest.

“What?! Who will replace you?” he exclaimed. Washington put a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed Hamilton back into his chair.

“Sit down Hamilton. I was getting to that point.” Washington continued, “I have spoken to some of you about who should follow after me. Right now, I have yet to pick a definite person, but those who have expressed the most interest in the position are John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.” he finished his speech as the two men stood. John Adams was a short and chubby man, a brilliant mind behind a whiny exterior. Maria had once had the privilege to work with him, and wished to never have to do so again. Both of the options seemed unfavorable, and Maria felt that there had to be a better option.

Hamilton was incredulous, standing up out of his chair again, and furiously exclaiming,

“Mr. Washington! I can’t believe you would resign, leaving two if the most unqualified, disgraceful men-”

“Excuse me, Mr. Washington, but I believe the real disgrace here is Hamilton.” Jefferson shot up, angrily defending himself. The room tensed, all knowing what would happen in the near future is no one intervened. Adams sat back in his chair, glaring at Hamilton and muttering something incomprehensible under his breath.

“I’m a disgrace? Well, at least I’m a disgrace that gets work done!” Hamilton retorted, aggressively balling his hands by his side. Maria looked up from her paper and locked eyes with James Madison, someone who worked alongside Jefferson frequently. He shook his head disapprovingly and sighed, resigned. Maria nodded and sighed as well, turning her focus back to the ongoing argument.

“Work? You can hardly keep a client.” Jefferson leaned against the table. The room was deadly quiet, and Maria could hear Hamilton’s heavy breathing as his gaze hardened, furious with the other man. Maria found herself nervously clicking her pen, but slowly came to a halt when she noticed that it was the only source of noise in the room.

“At least I don’t get caught having an affair with a barely legal client, you whore” Hamilton thought he had ended the argument, falling back from his fighting stance, if only for just a moment. Jefferson’s hands tightened on the table, his knuckles turning white before he uttered his final blow.

“Hamilton, I’m the whore? I’m sure your mother would love to pop in.” Jefferson spat out the last words as Hamilton visibly flushed before snapping entirely. Maria watched as he appeared to move in slow motion, running to Jefferson’s side of the table, his hands curling into fists as he jumped and connected his fist with the side of Jefferson’s face. Jefferson fell back, catching himself before he fell completely.

“Don’t talk about my mother.” Hamilton hissed at the taller man, infuriated and clutching his fist. Maria’s eyes widened as what had just happened truly set in.

“Gentlemen!” Washington roared, rushing to put himself between the two aggressive men. Jefferson was clutching the side of his face, glaring at the smaller man.

“Both of you, out of this room now. I don’t want to see either of you until you have both calmed down.” he commanded. Hamilton turned on his heel and was out the door in seconds while Jefferson took his time, clutching his head in overdone agony. Washington shut the door behind them, turning back to face the room of employees. He cleared his throat and resumed,

“To those of you wondering, that altercation was not one of the first of their kind, and will most likely have no impact on my decision of who will follow me.” Washington positioned himself at the front of the room and continued the meeting as if nothing had happened.

The rest of Maria’s time in the room went by painstakingly slowly as she spent more time doodling on her yellow legal pad as opposed to taking notes. Thankfully, she was not asked to join in on any conversation, or else she would have been talking about the conspicuous amount of hearts that she had drawn around a large cursive E in the corner of her page. She tuned back in just as Washington finished his long discussion and made it to seem that the meeting was over. A light blush graced Maria’s cheeks as she realized that she had just spent the better part of her time drawing small hearts like an obsessed grade schooler.

“Sir,” James Madison began, sopping at his brow with a handkerchief and asking for Washington’s approval to continue. He was a sickly man, seemingly small despite his formidable size. He would be intimidating if he wasn’t so timid.

“Yes?” he asked, scratching his bald head. Maria was curious with what Madison had to say, as he did not speak often. He held up his phone, revealing it to be the email app, still displaying an error page.

“Our work is based mainly around services provided by this email company. How are we to work if we can’t talk to our customers?” Maria felt her eyes widen. How would she work? She wasn’t one of the few who took phone calls and face-to-face meetings.

“Well,” Washington began, “actually, I don’t know how. Thank you for bringing that up Madison.” he paused again, his brow crunching in thought. “How about everyone take an extra long lunch break, my resignation gift to everyone, while I call the company and try to work out what’s happening.” Washington smiled wearily and leaned against the table. Maria felt oddly relieved, for Washington was leaving, but his kindness was still here even if he wasn’t.

“Meeting dismissed. See everyone in two hours with a hopefully properly functioning email server.” he concluded, opening the door. Maria slid her legal pad back into her laptop bag, slinging it over her shoulder as she got up, pushed her chair in, and then hurried out of the door. She stopped at the elevator, studying it for a minute before deciding to take the stairs, letting her heels clack against the hard stairs.

She reached her office, opening the door and walking over to turn out the lamp, bathing the room in darkness. She pulled out her phone, checking the time. The white numbers read 11:09, and Maria clicked off her phone, leaving her office once again. She left the building entirely, unlocking and climbing inside her car. She sat there for a few minutes, engrossed in thought as she wondered what to do next.

What could she do with her two hours? Normally, she would have become so engrossed in her work that she would have been barely able to pop out and get a salad for lunch, but now, with such a large amount of time, she had no idea how to spend it. Her mind wandered back to Susie. What time did she eat lunch? Around 11:20, wasn’t it? She had heard of parents coming in and eating with their children, but could she do so on such short notice?

Maria decided she would anyway, choosing to go pick up Susie a lunch from a restaurant, and sent a text to detail what would happen.

To: Eliza

“Unexpectedly popping in for lunch. Tell Susie to not get in the lunch line today.”

Smiling to herself, Maria turned the key in her car and watched as it whirred to life. This would be interesting.

#mind candy #marliza #maria reynolds #eliza schuyler #maria reynolds x eliza schuyler #susan reynolds #lams #jamilton #gimme gimme attention #hamilton #hamilton an american musical #hockendrabbles

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onlyonecanbeking · 7 years

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The Persuasion Show

Written by Yours Truly, ask-sadisticdark. I have promised a story at 1,000 followers, and here we are! I am ever so glad that you all decided to remain with me, a blubbering and rambling mess of a Figment. Without further ado, here we begin.

WARNING: This story details a stressful situation with mild (very mild, only mentions of blood), mocking, and vulgar. If this does not appeal to you, I urge you to not complete this story. Thank you.

The night never used to effect you.

For some points in your life, you never even noticed the change of the day. The computer screen blaring its blue light right into your eyes made it hard to realize that at some point, sunlight failed to gleam its way past your window curtains. But things change.

And your fears changed with them.

Darkiplier’s return hadn’t struck you much when it first occurred. You had been excited and enthralled by the momentum of it all, but there was no true fear. But as it was said... things change. And things changed very drastically on one particular blustering, lonely night.

You remember it vividly. It was dark, the wind was crashing like tidal waves against the panels of your house, but you paid almost no mind to it. It’s desperate warning howls against cold and bitter air never seemed to register its way into your head. You were busy, far too busy, to listen. Instead, your attentions were eagerly set upon one particular youtube channel, and to one particular youtuber, who’s smile and stubble always seemed to burn a piece of you even brighter. Every time his video started, your entire body always relaxed. Every time his voice rolled from the speakers of your computer, you were already fixated.

“Hello everybody, my name is Markiplier and welcome-”

Another horrible gurgling sound of the wind smacking against the tree branches almost drowned out the sounds of Mark speaking. But you were determined to listen, you were an avid lover of the Subnautica series, after all. It started as usual, Mark had his character standing out into the empty abyss of the sea, looking towards the horizon and blabbering his thoughts about his loneliness and plans to rebuild a base somewhere deep underwater. And you loved every second of it. You loved his goofy childish fear of the creatures bellowing from beyond. You loved his ambitions and truest, deepest, desire to learn more about the secrets hidden bellow ocean waves.

That is when everything went horribly wrong.

It was about ten minutes into the video. Mark had his Seamoth floating into the endless chasms of the trenches of the deep, darkness surrounding him, eery music screeching beneath his words. There was an abrupt beeping sound that sounded much like a computer error note, and the youtube video was cut off, glitched into place in the midst of Mark’s opening mouth.

The sudden file that abruptly popped up in the center of your screen made you jerk in your seat. Leaning back after realizing how closely you had been leaning, your eyes stared upon the digital manila envelope that sat right smack in the middle of the youtube video, innocent but very, very odd. In bold black letters beneath the folder, it read

“Read Me.”

Instead of feeling fear, you scowled in annoyance. Damn bots and their malware. You quickly clicked away from the envelope, and it brought you back to the youtube screen, where you were able to begin the video again. In just mere moments, you completely forgot all about that strange, random digital file.

Mark’s humorous statements, and the surprising calm of the wind battering the window pane, caused you to begin relaxing again. When the loud bling sound arrived for the second time, only about five minutes after deleting the first file, you almost gave a gasp in surprise. The file, in all its small digital glory, popped back up onto the midst of the computer screen, sitting patiently, quietly, unassuming. But the words bellow had changed. In that same bold font, rigid and black, it read;

“I Said Read Me.”

This one caused your attention. This one, you could feel, caused for your stomach to awkwardly flutter in a mixture of nervous curiosity. This was definitely no malware, no bot had ever sent another message after being declined with such demand. Your hand on the mouse, suddenly becoming slightly slick, slowly pulled the cursor over the file, highlighting it in preparation to click. But you hesitated.

What if this absolutely fucked up your computer? Implanted a virus or some type of device to stalk you while you slept. You had heard of the stories before, those horrible nightmarish instances where someone was kidnapped by a freak viewing them from their computer screen.... But this felt... different. Somehow, this felt... safe. You had no explanation as to why, and you rarely ever trusted your judgement. But without another pause, you tapped the file to beckon it open.

The file disappeared, and into another quick moment, a blank empty page took its place, only taking up about half of the screen in a small rectangular shape. The page, in same bolded black, only read a few words.

“Mind Or Body?”

And beneath those words were two empty boxes, one with an M beside it, and the other with a B. They were waiting to be checked.

At this point, you were beyond puzzled. What did the question even mean? Was this some sort of advertisement? It couldn’t have been, advertisements were never ones to be mysterious. They immediately wanted you to know their name and they motives. This was just... bizarre.

“Mind Or Body?”

You removed your hand from the mouse, and slowly rubbed the cold and sweating fingertips of yours across your cheeks, desperately trying to understand what it was initially asking. Was it based off attraction? Perhaps that was it... intelligence or beauty, perhaps, was the underlying cause. You had to assume so, because it certainly wasn’t giving any further clues.

Your tongue clicked against the roof of your mouth, scowling in an attempted concentration as a slow breath drew from you. On top of trying to discover where this file had come from, and why, you were also trying to choose between the two options.

What did it matter, really anyway? What type of strange poll was this, and how did it affect anything?

In a fit of “I don’t care”, you wiggled your cursor across the screen before randomly choosing one of the options. You think you ended up clicking on Body, but you weren’t completely sure.

The page disappeared in a silent blink, leaving the canvas of the youtube page up to its fullest colors. But despite the eagerly awaiting adventures that were going to occur in the deep, you failed to start the video again. You merely stared, blankly, unseeing of the bold red outline of the webpage. You were too intensely in thought, and too intent on finding out what that file had exactly done to the likes of your computer.

You ran a malware check, a virus check, and a few treatment diagnostics, almost certain some type of disruption surely had made its way to the database. But, the computer seemed certain that all was well, as certain as it was that it couldn’t find the source of that file, or the history of its appearance.

Satisfied, only partially, that all was well, you shrugged off the experience and assumed that whatever poll you had just taken was going to some sort of research facility, somewhere in the world. A strange, mysterious, unknown facility, but a facility nonetheless. Your hand fell upon the mouse again, and you moved your cursor across the screen in order to reopen your page again.

You only got about half way.

The entirety of your screen froze, or at least, that’s what you could determine. No matter how aggressively you swiped your mice across your desk, around in circles, back and forth, zigzagging and cursing under your breath, the white little cursor simply remained stuck right in the center of your computer screen.

“Dammit you stupid lagging piece of trash.” Your voice growled in disdain as you lifted the mouse in your hand, beginning to twist it to check and see if anything had blocked off the sensors down bellow. It was then that the familiar, horribly familiar, bling from the computer resounded in your ears again.

Your eyes lifted back towards the computer before you, and there, in the center of the computer, directly bellow the cursor with the same cream manila envelope, was another file.

“View Me.”

You were unable to move the cursor in order to hover over the words, the entirety of your screen had obviously completely crashed. So, in one last effort, you pressed your finger against your enter button. The file glitched into uneven shreds, ditching across the screen as a scratching noise, like fuzz and screeching nails, echoed in your ears for a moment or so, before all was quiet again. Calmly, a much larger rectangle assumed its place, but it was empty, and black, and a small play button sat in the center. It was a video. It began playing with you urging it to start.

The scene it faded into caused the depths of your chest to rise into your throat.

The dark concrete room was barren, lacking substantial light and seeming to be aged and worn. Deep cracks were in the floor and wall that connected together. Dark stains, mud or... blood... or whatever else... were randomly splattered against the surface. You could almost smell the musky scent it most certainly wafted.

A man sat directly in the center, head drooped lowly, the black raven tresses of his hair cascading over half of his face. The chair he sat in was large, awkwardly large, metallic and rigid and surely not comfortable. You could see that his eyes were closed, but it lacked anything that would describe that he was peaceful. His hands were stuck awkwardly behind his back, elbows protruding outward enough to make you believe his wrists were most likely bound.

“Mark...” The words barely left you, your voice was having a difficult time being used. What in the hell was this? Why were you being shown something like this? What did it mean?

You were desperately attempting to process the horrid display, when suddenly they entirety of the scene jostled and wiggled, blurring the figure in front of you. Someone was adjusting the camera pointed in Mark’s direction.

“Mmmmm....” There was a light growling sound in the depth of an unknown figure’s throat, whoever was behind the scene. Behind the camera. Behind all of this mayhem you were looking upon. There was a few more seconds of jostling and incoherent muttering, before there was a loud click, and a sound of praise.

“There we are.” The voice was rich, flowing and gentle, almost calming if any different situation was occurring. A man, burly and tall, surprisingly pale, strode into the view of the camera.

You suddenly realized just how thirsty you were. All you ever wanted, at that moment, was a tall glass of water.

Dark turned himself around in order to burn his gaze into the camera lens, staring directly into you with a smile that arched unnaturally. His arms that lay at his sides swung out, beckoning in a gesture of prideful welcome.

“Lovelies, ladies and gentleman, one... and all. I am most pleased to find you here with me. Welcome, all of you, to my first ever, official, Darkiplier episode.” Dark clapped his hands together and hugged them close to his chest, snickering and smiling in a giddy fashion.

“It took quite a bit of effort, I must admit. Days worth of planning, aggravation, sweat and tears and blood, quite literally, in order to make this possible. I set up the scene, of course, with the skills that I wield. But the final piece, the final push to truly... get this episode rolling, was something I required from you.”

Dark stood directly in front of Mark’s body, who remained unmoving, locked in some type of trance, or fretful sleep, looking like a long passed mannequin. Dark didn’t even seem to notice Mark’s existence, his entire attentions focused to the screen, and he continued talking.

“All of you received a poll, just minutes ago. The question, as I’m sure you all can recall, was ‘Mind or Body?’ Did any of you ponder what this may entail? Hmm? Did any of you suspect any ill will when you responded? Well, whatever curiosity you have faced in these last few moments, my friends, it will finally be quenched. Your responses determined the actions that will be bestowed upon my perfect little subject here with me, today. Some of you may know him from his video channel, some of you may have no recognition of him. I simply call him Mark.”

Dark stepped to the side only slightly, and twisted his shoulders to show off the shadowed figure of poor empty Mark, hanging in his seat.

“Perhaps ‘The Little Wench Who Ruined My Existence’ would suffice as a more suitable nickname, however. Don’t you agree, Mark?”

After another pause, he turned back, and jerked his hands against the hem of his vest, straining the fabric. He continued as if he hadn’t interacted with the unconscious man at all. As he did, his smile shifted, only slightly, something laying beneath his skin that grew darker, less friendly. He seemed to be staring directly into you, and you alone.

“Some of you may believe that this is for Mark alone. But you would assume incorrectly. Don’t you see? I tried to play nicely. I tried to be the wonderful, perfect Figment they all assumed me to be. But still... you doubted. Adoration turned into comfortableness. You all became fearless of me. You sought me out because you thought I was fUnnY, OR cuTE, or soMEtHING to brINg you AMUsemenT. You all believe that I am.... am incapable..... of what I KNOW.... I can do. You all believe that I am weak, pathetic, and that I am simply some... imagination. Some... tHinG. Well... I am here to remind you, Lovelies, that I am not some wandering decision. I am a concrete REALITY. And now... well... I will prove. What I. Am capable of.”

TO BE CONTINUED?

Oops! I may have not completely fulfilled my promise. Did I fail to mention I would only be providing HALF of the story at 1,000 followers? How disappointing. It must have slipped my mind.

Do you desire part two? Perhaps I will continue at 1,500. Or perhaps not. We’ll see where the wind takes me.

#darkiplier #dark #askdarkiplier #ask darkiplier #ask-sadisticdark #part 1

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ostermahaus · 7 years

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It’s Morphin’ Time! Eventually... Power Rangers Review

Saban’s Power Rangers opens darkly. You see a blasted torn up landscape of prehistoric Earth with the Red Ranger dragging himself across it, obviously injured. He crawls to the Yellow Ranger, also lying prone who morphs into an alien and hands her coin to him, telling him to hide it before dying in his arms. Yikes. He morphs into Zordon (Bryan Cranston) and puts his coin with the others he’s carrying, instructing Alpha via communicator to fire a meteorite at his current location. He turns to find himself face to face with a female Green Ranger named Rita (Elizabeth Banks) who he accuses of being a traitor and killing his team. She boasts that she’s won when Zordon informs her it’s too late and a meteor comes crashing down on them sending her to the bottom of the sea. Also wiping out the dinosaurs, I presume. I guess nuking from orbit was the only way to be sure. Smash cut to a bunch of jocks leading a bull into a locker room as a prank and we meet Jason Scott (Dacre Montgomery) who informs us that he calmed the cow down by milking it. Womp womp. Your protagonist can’t tell an udder from a dong, not a great start. The cops show up and after the most nausea inducing go-pro car chase I’ve ever encountered (Seriously, I saw Gravity on the UltraScreen in 3D and this almost made me vomit) he gets in a horrific wreck and we have a title screen. Go go Power Rangers? If you never watched the show this may seem exciting. If you did, well here’s why it might not be what you were expecting.

Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers hit children in 1993 with a blast of popularity that overpowered the Ninja Turtles and kept kids riveted until Pokemon came along at the end of the decade! A Japanese import, it was cheesy, silly, campy and formulaic and pre-teens ate it up! As well as some teens. I was just hitting the age where I felt like I was outgrowing Saturday morning/after school shows (Thank God that phase didn’t last) so I was never a die hard fan, but I knew enough people that were that I kept abreast of the original shows run. I watched a fair number of episodes with my friends more due to our love of riffing it a la Mystery Science Theater 3000 than anything else… Although I will admit that Kimberly (Amy Jo Johnson) kept me on board a bit as well. The premise was simple. Five teenagers from Angel Grove are given magic coins that allow them to morph into Power Rangers. Spandex clad ninjas with full coverage helmets who can summon robot dinosaurs called Zords and merge them Voltron style into a giant Mega Zord to win the day. They answer to Zordon, a giant holographic head, and fight the monsters that Rita Repulsa repeatedly sends down from the moon. Ninjas, dinosaurs and giant robots. It was famous for the obvious cut between the American actors doing their day to day thing and the original Japanese footage being used once they were in costume. Ever wonder why Kimberly was the only Ranger wearing a skirt? Because the Yellow Ranger in that Japanese footage is a dude. (The more you know!) That’s all you needed and it’s still on the air in some iteration to this day! Why mess with a good thing? If it’s not broke, right?

Unfortunately Hollywood is following a current and overused trend of trying to make things dark and gritty when they reboot them right now. That’s not to say it can’t work, but it really feels like a forced excutive decision by the movie companies some times. This new Power Rangers update has a lot of things that work really well for it as they try to make a serious and less campy approach to one of the most popular cheese fests ever. They also make some big missteps. I know that Zordon famously asked for “teenagers with attitude” in the original and wound up with the nicest kids in town, but this version makes an over correction by having three of them meet in detention and one of them just not go to school at all. Turns out Jason has to wear an ankle bracelet now and report to detention for the rest of the year and lost all sorts of football scholarships. As soon as he walks in he sees Billy (RJ Cyler) being bullied for OCD behavior arranging things on his desk. Jason puts a stop to it and Billy immediately declares him his new best friend for sticking up for him! I really liked Billy in this movie, but they make a very clear point early on to have him state that he’s on the autism spectrum and they play it pretty well until he becomes a Ranger. Then it just seems to disappear and he’s merely giddy all the time. He’s adorkable, sure, and probably the most likeable character but it would have been nice to see them stick to his spectrum tendencies. Jason is fairly dismissive until he offers to use his skills to hack Jason’s ankle bracelet in order for them to hang out. How all true friendships begin!

Next we meet Kimberly Heart (Naomi Scott) who was set up by her cheerleader ‘friends’ for an incriminating picture that’s been circulating around school and they show up to inform her that she no longer gets to be a plastic. It makes her so angry that she gives herself a kicky new haircut in the bathroom that Jason is immediately smitten by when she returns from the restroom! After Billy hacks the ankle device, he and Jason go into a restricted area of the gold mine outside Angel Grove because apparently Billy likes to blast there. Even though it’s an active mine with security. Shrug While Billy is setting his charges, Jason goes off to hike around and spies Kimberly cliff diving while We get Zack (Ludi Lin) and Trini (Becky G.) dropped in as just random kids who are also hanging out in an active work zone after dark. Her to practice her Karate Kid poses and him to watch her through binoculars. Like you do. Anyway, Billy’s blast draws them all and they discover 5 glowing coins embedded in the rock. After cutting them out, they each grab one and then alarms go off, summoning security and another slightly less vomit inducing chase that AGAIN ends in a horrific crash, this time with a train. The next morning they all wake up at home with no injuries and no knowledge of how they survived the wreck, plus sick abs and super strength! Wanna know how they managed that without being seen? Or what Billy’s mom’s reaction is to the destruction of HER van? (You see the wreck later on being pulled off the tracks) You’re out of luck! Anyway, they get together and decide to go back to try to find answers about the coins and discover a buried spaceship manned by Alpha 5 (Bill Hader) and Zordon’s memory in the ship’s computer. He informs them that they’re the Power Rangers and they need to learn to defend the universe once they can learn to morph! Eventually…

I don’t know if it came with the casting of Bryan Cranston but the biggest drawback of this film is that at 2 hours almost every minute of the Rangers suited up has been shown in the trailers because it only happens in the films final action scene, similar to my beef with Godzilla not having enough Godzilla. There are training montages aplenty and I really did appreciate the effort it made to give the core cast some substance behind there characters that wasn’t there before, but it’s pace could best be described as deliberate. The film seems to work the best when it’s trying to have some fun and not brooding so much, which is all too often. The scene of all the nerd kids idolizing Billy after he knocks out a bully without trying and then being in awe when he gets pulled from the table by Kimberly? Great! Fun little scene, use more moments like that as opposed to repeated instances of people mispronouncing Trini as DeeDee. ??? I assume it’s a joke but I just don’t get it and boy do they keep pushing it. I wish they had done more with Zack as he had a lot of potential in his backstory. He doesn’t attend school any more because you find out he’s caring for his terminally ill mother but aside from that reveal he just gets all the “I’m gonna shout quips!” style lines. Don’t try taking a drink every time he calls Trini “Crazy Girl”, it won’t end well. Jason is fine in his role as the leader, but as is the curse of the leader role (Cyclops, Leonardo), is pretty bland. Kimberly and Trini are both solid female role models although I wish they would have come right out with Trini’s sexuality/crush on Kimberly rather than just heavily alluding to it. Although I was disappointed by him dropping the autism traits halfway through, I thought Billy in the second half was the most relatable character. He’s just so giddy every time they bring up the fact they get to be Rangers!

I was not a fan of the design choices for Alpha and the Zords. Alpha was thankfully less obnoxious than the original, but his super long arms on the tiny body just looked weird and creepy. Props to Hader for making me not hate him! The Zords… I couldn’t tell what I was looking at. I’ll be honest, aside from the T-Rex and the Pterodactyl they could have been anything. I had to go online after the movie because I couldn’t remember if the Triceratops was Blue or Black because I couldn’t tell them apart. Turns out it’s Blue. For as many montages as we were dealt and given the movies run time, I’d have preferred to see them learning their suits and Zords right off the bat as opposed to trying and failing to Morph a half dozen times and then finally getting it right just in time for the final battle where they go in operating things they’ve never used before. I know I’m overthinking it, but I hate when people just innately know how to use things like that.

Lastly we come to the villains. I’ve got really mixed feelings on this part. I appreciate they wanted to take it more seriously, and I like what they did with Rita but DAMN. They may have made her a bit too intense for the audience that’s generally associated with Power Rangers! Banks is great and and she is wonderfully creepy and terrifying but there is a scene where she’s killed some police officers and you see that she’s ripped the teeth out of one and has dismembered/is CANNIBALIZING the other. This is while she’s still in her slightly mummified state after a fishing boat pulls up her body and it’s horror movie levels of creepy as she gets her power back to create Goldar. Because he’s made of gold, see? I don’t quite get her power set because at first she’s brutally murdering people for their gold, then eating it (WTF?) then just pointing at it and drawing it to her in liquid form. At least she gets to say “Make my monster grow.”

Overall, it’s not bad. It’s not as action packed as you’d expect, but what references do show up are all well placed and fun. You get some cameos and throwback lines. Ay-yi-yi and what not. My favorite reference was when two boys were arguing who got to be the Red Ranger while they’re playing and Trini tells them, “Why not Yellow?” “That’s a girl!” “How do you know?” lol Love the message and the nod to the original Yellow I mentioned earlier, but unfortunately undercut by the obvious sculpted boob armor on Pink and Yellow… Best moment, bar none, was when they played the original theme. Unfortunately it’s just one refrain then back to generic orchestration, but the theater I was in was electrified when it came on! I’m not made of stone, that riff is freaking amazing. You could tell everyone was a bit bummed when it didn’t continue throughout the fight. As usual anymore, stay through the credits. There’s a mid credit scene that I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to call before it happens but it’s there. LOL at the guys behind me talking loudly throughout the film complaining about the very thing the scene was about and leaving before it happened. That’s what you get for being terrible movie attendants! If you were a fan of the show as a kid, I think you’ll have a great time! If you’re bringing your kids because of how much YOU loved it… Just be aware it gets really dark and creepy in places and might move a bit slow if they have to wait over 90 minutes to see any Morphin’ Time.

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qvestchen · 5 years

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Nemesis // Soonwoo SVT

Author: qvestchen

Status: Ongoing

Chapters: Home, Previous, Next.

Nemesis // Soonwoo SVT

Chapter 1: It was a surrealist meme

Wonwoo looked at the schedule in his hand and scanned the corridor. His eyes found Room No. 67 and he walked to the glass doors with only a slight urgency of purpose being betrayed in his quick steps. He cursed under his breath as the door swung outside nearly crashing against his face. Whoever it was, didn't even see him, choosing instead to continue on their way without a care in the world, happily talking on the phone.

He slunk into the department room, nodding to the man sitting on the small desk that served as a reception counter. "I have come to register myself for the 3 p.m. 'Introduction to Persian Language and Culture' course." He placed a copy of his college ID and registration form on the desk.

"The course is closed," the man responded without even looking up from computer screen.

"But—" Wonwoo began.

The man threw a sheet towards him. "The last spot just got filled."

Wonwoo made a face, eyes dully scanning the sheet. His eyes stopped at the last name, widening in recognition.

Kwon Soonyoung.

His gaze flitted to the doorway. He asked, "Wait, the person who signed...t-this Kwon Soonyoung...was he the one who just left?"

The receptionist looked at him with a grimace. "Yes, and he was damn polite unlike you. Now, can I get my work do—?"

But Wonwoo was already rushing out of the small, air-conditioned room. His footsteps rang across the empty corridor. He looked right and left and followed a flight of stairs down and found himself in the ringing din of the English and Chinese language departments, a sharp contrast to the dusty, quiet floor above. People brushed past, someone knocking against his shoulder while he wildly looked for a sign, anything that he could zero in and recognize, something for him to pin the mystery of his life with.

The scattered conversations crawled at the nape of his neck as he strained to catch the words.

--I didn't mean to—Have you seen—wait up, you f—I can't believe I'm still—Shakespeare probably didn't even—she doesn't love me—are you free on—I flunked Chinese last time so—there can only be—save me from Proffess—which elective are—do you think the comeback—bro, the course is overflowing—are you coming to the party on Friday—we should start making the club flyers th—

"Wonwoo? Wonwoo?"

Wonwoo turned around realizing the weight of a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you really spacing out in the corridor?"

Wonwoo made a face at his friend. "What are you doing here, Mingyu?"

"I came to sign up for my Literature elective but what are you doing here?" the other boy asked, all smiles and mischievous eyes.

"I came to sign up for my Persian elective," Wonwoo said, gesturing Mingyu to walk beside him.

Mingyu laughed his characteristic barking laugh and Wonwoo could see a couple of students stop and stare with intrigue in their eyes. This happened a lot when he was with his friend. Kim Mingyu excited interest everywhere he went. His tall frame and impeccable fashion made him stick out but his warm smile and constant chatter made him endearing. Everyone wanted to befriend him. Many wanted to date him and would have no doubt tried to make a move but since Mingyu mostly hung out with Wonwoo and his snarky aura, Mingyu was bordering on unapproachable.

"That's on the floor above," Mingyu said, still laughing. "I can't believe you've spent a semester here and yet behave like you know nothing."

"I went there. The registrations are full so it was a bummer and then I..." He trailed off, looking around one last time.

"And you decided to come find me? Aww, I knew you had a thing for me." Mingyu joked, eyes twinkling. "But, sorry, Wonwoo, I don't have any plans for a relationship right now. You know how tough it is for college-going people—Ouch, don't hit me!"

"I wish we hadn't met last semester. I can't seem to get rid of you," Wonwoo said, pushing him with his shoulder.

Mingyu grinned. He knew his words didn't have any bite. They were best of friends and even though people always felt Mingyu was never in shortage of friends, it was him who depended on Wonwoo more. He was grateful for their little circle of friends.

Wonwoo added a bit wistfully. "I thought I saw someone."

"Oh, wait a sec, this is my department. I'll drop in and be back. Wait for me."

Wonwoo nodded, taking out his Nintendo and was about to log on to a game when his phone buzzed with a notification. It was a message from Seokmin.

Pizzamin: Hey, come to the cafeteria asap

If you spot Mingyu or Minghao, get them too

They never reply to the gc

A very small smile made its way across Wonwoo's features. He began to reply.

Wonwoollen: It's because you and Seungkwan spam the gc with weird stuff

Pizzamin: They're memes

Wonwoollen: It was an hour long video of just you saying "are you ready" and Seungkwan replying "I'm ready" last night

Pizzamin: It was a surrealist meme

The drama club president Hoshi loved it

Hoshi is cool, he helped make it

Hoshi. It was a new name but Wonwoo had already heard it repeatedly in glowing terms on a frequent basis at their cafeteria table ever since the new semester had started. Some 'angel' had descended on to the nearly defunct drama club last semester and over the course of the semester transformed it into one of the top clubs in the university this semester. Seokmin and Seungkwan who had just joined the club, now idolized the said 'angel'.

Pizzamin: Anyway, get everyone

I made a new friend

You all should meet him and make him feel welcome

Wonwoo couldn't resist an eye-roll. As much as he adored his friends, Seokmin had a habit of making a new friend every now and then and Wonwoo who was comfortable with sitting alone, found their friends circle increasing at an alarming rate. When he had come to the university last semester, he had totally imagined himself being a certified loner who could just sit back and watch life unfold in front him. Instead, he got adopted by Mingyu and Seokmin.

Wonwoollen: I'll bring Mingyu

Pizzamin: Hansol found Minghao so be here quick

Also, buy me a music notebook from the store since it's on the way

Mingyu emerged from the office, smiling, slightly red, and stuffing a small chit of paper in his pocket.

It was now Wonwoo's turn to tease. "Let me guess, someone gave you their number?"

Mingyu blushed harder. "It's not what you're thinking. She said just in case I find the elective tough later."

"Yeah, right."

"So," Mingyu said, changing the subject, "whom did you see? Was it someone pretty?"

"No, no. It was just...someone...I don't know, I thought it was someone I keep meeting but not really meeting. It's weird."

Mingyu looked at him shrewdly. "Wonwoo, I think you have a crush. It happens to the best of us. You needn't be shy about it. Minghao and I, we can help you with the wardrobe and Seokmin can give you some nice jokes so your dark personality doesn't come to the fore."

Wonwoo scoffed. "Thanks, but it's not a crush and I love my personality the way it is."

"Sure, whatever you say."

They bickered all the way till the cafeteria, even making a stop for Seokmin's precious notebook collection, where they were hailed by their friends.

Seungkwan shouted. "Last one to the table has to buy cupcakes for everyone."

It was totally stupid and there was no need to race across the cafeteria for those tasteless cupcakes but Wonwoo found himself laughing aloud as he pushed Mingyu sideways and ran forward. Their friends cheered for them. Moments like these he totally forgot the little puzzle in his brain, the strange feeling that there was someone out there whom he kept meeting but only side-stepping, he forgot his fears, he forgot details of this other person he didn't remember in full—the back of the head, the swing of the shoulder, a fraction of a cheek, the turn of the ears, the confident walk, the angle of the shoulders and that one time he had seen a quarter of a smile—he forgot all these little incomplete bits of the puzzle, he even forgot momentarily the name he tried to never forgot. Kwon Soonyoung. Whoever he might be, wherever he might be. Wonwoo didn't care. He didn't want to see the big picture. He just wanted to go on living this simple life where he was racing Mingyu to get out of buying some cupcakes.

He laughed at Mingyu who clutched his side, grumbling and coming in last.

Seokmin called their attention after everyone sat down on the table. "Alright, alright, now that we have shown our worst side, here is my new friend Yoon Jeonghan. He's a History major, just like you Wonwoo."

Wonwoo's heart was thundering after the run to the table but as he looked back at Yoon Jeonghan and his easy, lazy smile, he felt a cold hand clutch at his throat. His eyes never left the newcomer who introduced himself to everyone in a comfortable, suave manner.

Jeonghan had blonde hair that was brushed immaculately in place, every strand glittering with every movement of his head. His eyes were lazy and then suddenly watchful and a slight smirk never left his sharp, angular face. He looked at you as if he knew everything about you, as if he knew you better than you yourself, and Wonwoo who led a quiet, private life felt unnerved.

"Absolutely lovely to meet you, Wonwoo. I look forward to studying History with you. I hope we can be the best of friends," Jeonghan said, his tone affectionate and sinister at the same time, as if they had known each other since ages.

Wonwoo's hands were clammy in the handshake and he wordlessly nodded, trying to retract his hand.

Thankfully, Minghao intervened. "Wonwoo's a bit shy around strangers."

"Oh," Jeonghan said and withdrew from the handshake. "I'm sorry. I can be quite awkward myself."

"It's alright," Wonwoo replied, feeling a bit embarrassed at already judging the newcomer who seemed genuinely apologetic. He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Talking about strangers," Seokmin said. "I think someone has a crush on our Wonwoo."

"Oh, you have to hear this," Hansol said.

Seokmin said, "The two of us were just sitting here and discussing our electives and Hansol happened to mention that you decided to go for not-so-popular Intro to Persian because it's really easy and scoring and not many people turn up for it and—" He started laughing.

"And," Hansol continued, with a smile, "this guy on the table beside us literally screamed WHAT and fell out of his chair. Seokmin here goes, 'Oh our friend, Wonwoo, went to sign up for the Persian elective because it's easy' but the man just bolted. He probably wanted to be in your class real bad. People these days."

"No way," Mingyu said, laughing now too.

"Shut up," Wonwoo said, making an unimpressed face. "You're making this up."

"Who was it?" Seungkwan asked, totally interested. "This is amazing."

Seokmin looked around the cafeteria. "He hangs around our table a lot. I'm sure you've seen him—Oh, there he is. His name is...uh, Joshua, I think? Yeah, he's Joshua."

Later, it was with stubborn determination that Wonwoo would explain to everyone that he had only looked out of pure human curiosity, the kind that makes people look up when an airplane flies by and nothing more.

Joshua Hong entered the cafeteria looking frantically around as if he had lost something important.

The fact that their whole table was looking at him was enough to alert him to their gaze. Wonwoo (out of pure human curiosity) watched with an expressionless face as Joshua's eyes widened as he caught sight of something beyond Wonwoo. Wonwoo turned around to see what it was and it surprised him when he saw that it was Jeonghan and Joshua in a staring contest. The rest of the table needn't have existed.

Jeonghan didn't drop his gaze and raised an eyebrow as if in a challenge. Whatever it was, Joshua seemed to understand. He turned around and left the cafeteria.

Opposite Wonwoo, Minghao had caught the strange interaction too. Both of them looked away quickly, knowing that it was something they would discuss later.

"Well, that was weird. I'm going to go to my room and finish the last level of my game. Get me a cupcake, Mingyu," Wonwoo said with a yawn.

Jeonghan raised a hand, putting his phone to his ear. "Just a sec. This is important," he said to everyone. He spoke into the phone, "Hello, Soonyoung?"

hello! this is our first seventeen story on here :)

hope you'll enjoy it. please keep on supporting this fic, soonwoo and svt xx

#soonwoo #soonyoung #hoshi #wonwoo #seventeen fanfic #seventeen au #jeonghan #joshua #jihan #seventeen imagines #wonshi #vernon #seungkwan #seokmin #mingyu

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