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impala-dreamer · 5 months

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Pondering Fate While Ignoring The Obvious

A Ten Inch Hero Story

~Priestly has got it so bad for Tish that he can barely see past the end of her... well, her back end, anyway. He's love sick and forever rejected, constantly stuck inside his own head. When a new girl in town starts messing with him, he quickly loses his cool...~

Boaz Priestly x F!Reader

2,511 Words

Warnings: Nuttin' but fluff and banter. ;)

A/N: This is another square for my @jacklesversebingo card. The prompt is "Backhanded Compliment/Convenience Store/Sugar Addict"

Now listen- I've never written for this movie before, but I had so much fun doing it. If you've seen the movie, I think you'll love this. If you haven't seen it, you may not totally get it, but you'll still love it because it's cute and fluffy and I said so. Give it a chance ;)

Another day, another spicy Italian with no oil and no vinegar. How you could eat a hero dry was a question he could never quite grasp the answer to, but in the end, did another weird order really matter? He’d put a condom on the bun if they asked for it. Maybe not a used one, but then again, Tish was looking extra spicy herself today.

Tish. Goddamnit. There she goes flirting with every male in existence except him. There she is leaning over the counter in that not-so-sneaky way that pushes her tits up and out, giving everyone and their mother a look into the valley of the Promised Land.

For fuck’s sake, if she’d only do that for him.

Then again, nothin’ he hadn’t seen before.

Fingers snapped in front of his face and Priestly blinked himself back into reality.

“Can I help you?” he asked, still half dazed and half hard after staring so intently at his coworker.

Piper sighed. “Yeah. You gotta make a run down the street.”

He sighed harder. “You know, you ladies are capable of patronizing the convenience store now and then. It’s not really hard. You just pick out what you need and exchange it for cash.”

The tiny blonde pouted and batted her lashes. “Please? My feet hurt from standing all day.”

He scoffed. “And mine don't?”

“I’m not used to it. I’m delicate.”

Priestly scratched at the bright green spikes that sat atop his head for the day, masquerading as a hairstyle. He frowned but relented. “Fine. Gimme the list.”

He saw her from the street. He wasn’t purposely peeping through the window like a stalker, but he felt like it all the same. It wasn’t his fault, not really. Things mostly stayed the same around town, so when something was different, when someone new showed up, it tended to stick out a bit.

The new girl at the register was cute, not particularly daring in her style or makeup palette, but she was attractive. Probably the thing Priestly noticed first was the lollipop stick hanging from her painted lips.

His entrance was announced by the jangling of bells and she looked up as he came in. She smiled around the pop and twirled the white paper stick between her fingers.

“Welcome.”

He looked back at her over his shoulder and nodded. “Hey.”

Slowly, she pulled the treat from her mouth and licked the very tip. Her tongue was as red as the pop and Priestley was sure that his cheeks were turning the same shade. He cleared his throat quickly and turned back, going about his business.

The store was otherwise empty except for Mr. Jacobson, the old man who never seemed to go anywhere but was always wherever you went. He was currently lingering at the end of the aisle, amazed at the sheer amount of chip flavors the new millennium had to offer.

“Back in my day we had regular and salt & vinegar, and we were grateful!”

Priestly laughed under his breath and looked over the rack at the register. She was laughing softly as well, and when their eyes met, she didn’t shy away.

He did; quickly tearing his gaze from the cherry pop and focusing on the aluminum foil instead. There was no use flirting with her anyway- she’d never go for him. She looked too normal, too pretty to fall for his shenanigans. Best not to even think about it.

Arms fully stocked, he headed her way, keeping his eyes on the black and gray tiled floor and praying she wouldn’t make his heart race any faster.

She sucked hard on the Blow Pop and then took a bite, making him jump. Sugar crackled between her teeth and she winked.

“I hope you overcharge them,” she said dryly, staring him down.

Confusion took the place of shyness and Priestly’s face scrunched up. “What?” he snapped, jerking away from the counter.

The girl rolled her eyes and went about ringing up his order without another word.

Cash exchanged, Priestly thanked her and walked out, still wondering what the hell she was talking about.

Monday.

Priestly stared out the front window, wondering if the day was going to go his way or not. He knew he shouldn’t bother pondering the Fates, because they always seemed against him, but he liked to think he had some hope tucked away somewhere beneath the Manic Panic hair dye and all the metal sticking out of his head. If there was, he couldn’t find any today.

Tish was late, as usual, probably rolling out of some strange guy’s arms and fishing for her bra underneath the bed.

Someday… someday, that’d be his bed she was searching under. Someday, those would be his arms she rolled out of. He just had to keep hoping.

Or not. He really didn’t care.

The sun was too bright, the grill was too hot. He hated everything.

Except the sound of bubblegum popping behind him. He didn’t seem to hate that.

With spatula in hand, he turned and startled just enough to make the bubblegum appear between coyly smiling pink lips.

“Hey.”

Priestley squinted. “You’re that chick from the store.”

Annoyance crept onto her face. “And you’re that dude with too much eyeliner.”

He laughed before realizing she was insulting him and ended up jolting up on his toes awkwardly, half a smile curled on his lip.

He cleared his throat. “Priestly.”

She squinted. “Like Elvis?”

He shrugged. “And you are?”

“Hungry.”

Slapping a five on the counter, she picked up her hero and spun away, heading toward the door. She turned to push it open with her backside and popped her gum again.

Her eyes were glued to him and Priestly felt his stomach flip. He met her gaze and she smiled.

“I always do.”

He wanted to say something, to ask her what the hell she was talking about, but she was gone before the words reached his tongue.

“Always do what?”

Jen turned her head his way, but her eyes were still locked on the computer screen. “What’s up?”

He sighed. “Nothing. Just a weird girl from…nothing.”

It was nothing. She was just the weird girl from down the street. And anyway, he was supposed to be hating everything today, not shifting his ponderance to the mystery of the gum chewing, pop crunching girl from the convenience store.

“Nothing.”

Blue hair; don’t care.

Priestly cracked an egg on the grill and watched the edges sizzle. He wasn’t great at a lot of things, but cooking eggs was something he did exceptionally well. The butter bubbled around the perimeter, curling the whites just slightly, and he pushed the tip of his spatula against it.

Not ready yet.

The girls were, yet again, chatting about men, and he kept one ear on the sizzle and the other in their conversation.

“I just don’t understand how hard it is to find. It’s right there.” Tish laughed and pushed a delicate hand back through her hair. “It’s a clit, not the Holy Grail.”

Priestly raised a brow. “Some would call it that though,” he interjected.

She rolled her eyes. “You would.”

Offended, he sucked in a quick breath. “Ya know something-”

She turned, one hand on her hip, waiting. “Yeah?”

His lips pursed and dejected, he turned back to the grill. “Forget it.”

“Thought so,” she laughed.

God, she was such a bitch sometimes. OK, most times, but still.

Tish went back to leaning on the counter and he took the opportunity to peek at her ass.

Behind him, a throat was cleared.

Priestly sighed, knowing what was waiting for him when he turned. Or, rather, who.

“You again.” He batted his lashes.

She smacked her lips. “Me again.” From her pocket, she withdrew a pink Starburst and fiddled with the wrapper.

He eyed the candy and followed it to her mouth. Her lips were darker today and it reminded him of the cherry pop. “You eat too much sugar, you know that?”

She smiled gently. “And you dye your hair too much. That isn’t good for you. All those chemicals are gonna fry your brain.”

“Joke’s on you, it’s already fried- shit!” Fried egg. Burnt to a crisp. “Damnit.”

Sugar Girl swallowed a laugh and the Starburst.

He turned around, annoyed at himself and her laughter. “Are you- do you want something?”

“Yup.” She nodded and took her order from Piper, who was holding a small, paper-wrapped hero. “Thanks.”

Green eyes narrowed on her smile. She was weird. Way too weird. And kinda rude.

“You ever gonna tell me your name?” he asked, calling out as she pushed open the door.

“Sure,” she replied, “Soon as I get my free sample.”

“Huh?”

Confusion always seemed to linger when she left, that and the smell of strawberries. Or cherries, or whatever she’d been sucking on.

Sucking on…

His eyes flickered over to Tish and he wondered if she was as good at sucking things as she claimed.

It was raining and he was cranky.

He’d missed his alarm, the car wouldn’t start, and a passing bus nearly drenched him head to toe.

It wasn’t supposed to rain at the beach. It was practically against the law. Nature’s law, anyway.

And to top it all off, Tish was bragging about the amazing night she’d had with a handsome stranger visiting from New York.

“He’s just in town for a few days, so it’s nothing serious,” she explained to a wide-eyed Piper who was drinking down every word. “But man, I wouldn’t be mad if it was. He’s… tall and handsome and-”

Priestly cleared his throat. “Ya know I’m pretty tall.”

She clicked her tongue. “And?”

His heart ached at her callousness. “And… just thought I’d remind you.”

Maybe she didn’t know what she was doing to him, but he thought his advances were fairly obvious. Maybe she was just a bitch.

Jen derailed his thought train with a shopping list she’d printed out.

He shook his head. “No.”

“Please?”

The shop on the corner was the last place he wanted to go. Nameless Sugar Girl was the last person he wanted to see. “Why do I always have to go?” He pouted and gestured to the window. “It’s pouring rain out there.”

Jen looked up with puppy-dog eyes. “Which is why I’m asking you to please go.”

A heavy sigh was his only reply. Priestly grabbed the paper from her hand, crumpling it beyond repair, and set out into the downpour.

He was dripping by the time he made it down the street. He sneered at the water on his face, rolled his eyes at the welcome mat, swatted viciously at the bells as they rang above his head.

“Rough morning?” she asked, watching his huffy entrance.

He scowled. “You could say that.”

A peppermint rolled on her tongue and the red and white stripes caught his eye. “Well, lemme know if you need any assistance.”

Priestly ran a hand through his teal-tinted hair and shook out a puddle’s worth of rain. “Yeah. Thanks.”

It took him a while to collect the goods, having trouble finding the right paper towels that would fit into the holder in the bathrooms. He’d never had any issues in the store before; seemed like someone had rearranged.

Someone.

He looked across the rows of sundries and wondered what her deal was. Hell, he still didn’t even know her name. Not that he wanted to, of course.

Of course.

Finally, and with much annoyance, he arrived at the register.

She laughed softly as he unloaded his arms.

He shook his head. “What?”

“I… I shouldn’t even touch this one.”

He had no clue what she was talking about, he never did, and he was at the end of his rope.

His patience snapped. “What?”

She sat back, clearly hurt by his tone. “Your shirt.”

She pointed at his chest and he looked down, reading the big black letters upside down.

‘Save a tree, eat a beaver’

His shoulders fell. “Oh. Yeah. Whatever.”

“Yeah,” she echoed, the sting heavy in her voice. “Whatever.”

He couldn’t take it anymore. Dropping a can of coffee onto the counter, he slapped his palms down on either side of it and leaned in.

“Ya know, everytime I see you, you’ve got something snarky to say.”

Her eyes went wide. “Snarky?” She frowned. “I thought I was flirting.”

The fight drained out of him along with the blood in his cheeks. Confused once more. “Uh… what?”

Pushing herself up off the stool, she mirrored his pose, hands falling dangerously close to his. “Flirting,” she said again. “It’s an ancient ritual in which a sexually interested party attempts to lure their prey into bed with witty and charming wordplay.”

He balked. “I know what flirting is!”

She glared. “Then why haven’t you picked up on the fact that I’ve been trying to pick you up for weeks now?”

“I uh…” His elbows buckled and he stood up fully. “You have?” No way. She wasn’t…

Memories of the past month flooded his mind. Each time he’d seen her she was smiling at him, not being snarky. She was teasing him, answering the ridiculous sayings on his shirt.

‘I sell crack for the CIA.’ … “I hope you overcharge them”

‘Surf naked.’ … “I always do.”

‘Orgasm Donor - Ask for your free sample’ … “As soon as I get my free sample.”

It had been smacking him in the damned face and he hadn’t seen it. She had been playing with him the whole time, not trying to annoy him. She wanted him to notice her, but he was too busy dreaming of Tish, wondering when she’d notice him.

He sucked in a stunned breath. “You have. Wow.”

A tiny smile returned to her cherry lips. “Come on, I know you’re not as dumb as your fashion sense implies.”

Priestly felt a dip in his gut, something fluttering around inside. He grinned. “Oh, I’m way dumber.”

Reaching across the counter, she grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him close. “Good.”

Her lips were soft, the kiss as sweet as the candy she was always eating. He breathed her in as her tongue swept over his. He was stunned, confused but in a good way. Maybe he needed to push Tish aside and pay more attention to the world around him. Maybe this was a good thing. A really good thing. His eyebrows raised in surprise, his blood pressure raised even higher.

She pulled away slowly, her lips lingering on his.

“You get it now?”

She waited, blinking at him with the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen. He should have looked sooner, closer; should have given her a chance.

“Yeah,” he whispered in a laugh. “I think I do.”

Another kiss, a press of her hand at the nape of his neck.

“You ever gonna tell me your name?”

She smiled. “Y/N.”

He reached for her cheek; fingers landing lightly on her soft skin.

“Nice to meet you, Y/N.”

2023 Forever Tags (Always Open! Send an Ask!)

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#ten inch hero #fanfiction #priestly x reader #boaz priestly x reader #fluff #jacklesversebingo23

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eyesofshinigami · 3 months

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Take A Leap (Someone Will Catch You)

Rating: T

CW: None

Tags: Pre-relationship, Wayne POV, fluff, mentions of Eddie's bad parents, mentions of Steve's bad parents, Supportive Wayne Munson

Prompt: From @unclewaynemunson "Love is being terrified but not letting that stop you from taking a leap"

WC: 1742 (this one got away from me a little!)

Written for @steddielovemonth Day 3

Wayne knows his boy is a runner. It may not always look like his feet hitting the pavement, but it’s running just the same. Eddie runs away from his problems with a smirk and a joint, just as much as the sound of his tires squealing against the road. Wayne figures it’s why Eddie doesn’t try in school even though the boy is smart as a whip. It’s probably why he spends so much time noodling around on his guitar, or building the fantasy world that him and those kids get lost in for hours on end.

He doesn’t hold it against him, not one bit. Al Munson was the same, so was Lilah. Al ran from his responsibilities and ended himself up in prison, and Lilah ran away from the trouble Al brought her by curling up in the bottom of a whiskey bottle. It’s all they knew, all they’d been taught. That’s why Wayne didn’t bat an eye when Eddie ran away not long after he showed up on Wayne’s doorstep, small and angry and so full of hurt that Wayne thought he looked too much like an animal backed into a corner.

Wayne just had to show Eddie he wasn’t going to run. Eddie was his boy, the kid he never thought he’d had but he sure was glad he does now.

Wayne nearly fell out of his boots when he heard the story of what happened to Eddie, about how his boy stood up between the devil and his friends and he didn’t run. Not because he thought Eddie wasn’t capable of something like that, god knows the kid has heart too big for his chest, but Wayne’s still trying to wrap his head around the fact that it’s the Harrington kid telling him this story. The boy’s looking at Wayne with stars and pain in his eyes in equal parts as he tells Wayne exactly why Eddie’s lying in a hospital bed, looking like he was chewed up one side and down the other.

“Eddie’s the bravest guy I know, Mr. Munson. He didn’t deserve what happened to him, but don’t worry. Hopper and Dr Owens are going to take care of it all. You don’t have to worry about any of it.”

Harrington doesn’t look much better, the angry scar around his neck and the bandages wrapped around his torso where his scrub top creeps up. It makes Wayne angry, because as much as he’s not fond of Harrington Senior, there’s no reason this kid should look like this. Not to mention, his parents are notably absent and Harrington is just… hanging around in Eddie’s room.

It would make him wary, except he doesn’t miss the look in Harrington’s eye ever time he glances over at Eddie in the bed. There’s something there, but he can’t put his finger on it. It’ll come to him, he’s sure.

Eddie wakes up two days later, with Steve holding one hand and Wayne holding the other, and he looks like he’s confused. “Where the fuck am I?” he whispers, voice harsh and gritty.

“The hospital. I dragged your sorry ass out of the Upside Down. I told you not to be a hero, Munson,” Steve complains, but there’s no heat behind it. His fingers are curled around Eddie’s and Wayne can see the way the boy is shaking.

Eddie scoffs, but tucks his face into his shoulder. “Just taking a page out of your book, big boy. What can I say, I was inspired.”

Oh. Oh. Wayne knows that look. He’s seen Eddie lovesick before, even if his boy buried it under half-baked lyrics and hid it in those stories he writes. He doesn’t miss the way his cheeks pink and he bites his lip.

He’d almost worry, but he hasn’t missed the way Steve has sat by Eddie’s bedside, how he’s taken the time to talk Wayne through the mess of Hawkins and how Eddie got caught up in it. He’s seen the soft look on Steve’s face, the way his thumb traced over the skin of Eddie’s fingers as he held his hand tight.

“You’re an idiot.” Steve sounds so fond, it makes Wayne smile. He sees the moment their eyes meet, can practically see the hearts twirling around their heads like some kind of Looney Tunes cartoon.

But, he knows his boy. It’s why he’s not surprised when Eddie pulls back, starts to tuck into himself like a pill bug. He knows this look too, the one right before Eddie’s sprinting in the other direction. Steve must know it too, judging by the way his face falls and he starts to frown as he gets to his feet.

“I’m glad you’re awake, Eddie. I’m going to go check on Max, give you two some time to catch up.” And with that, Steve’s out the door and Wayne sees the way Eddie’s face twists into something like a frown, like he’s in pain.

Wayne gives him all of one minute before he says, “Boy, I thought you were smarter than that.”

Eddie jolts. “What?”

Wayne lets out a sigh. “You heard me, boy. You’re gonna tell me that you stood between the devil and your friends and now you’re gonna lose that spine?” It’s none of his business, he’s sure, but Wayne sees it. He’s talked with Steve enough to know that some kind of seed between them has been planted, and he’s not going to let Eddie yank it up by the roots because of whatever idea he’s got in his head. It’s some kind of Munson curse, thinking that they don’t deserve the things they have so they find a way to run away from it. Eddie’s better than most, but Wayne’s not having it.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Eddie grumps, but the red in his cheeks gives him away. They stare at each other for a long moment until Eddie deflates. “It’s not like that, Wayne. He’s… not like that.” Not like me. “It could be something good, what we have. I don’t want to fuck it up by making it into something it’s not.”

Maybe, maybe not, but Wayne’s no fool. He’s seen the way Steve looks at Eddie, the tender way he touched him while he slept. The way that Steve slept hunched over Eddie’s bedside like some kind of sentinel, only leaving when Wayne told him to take a breather. Wayne’s never been a gambling man, but he’d put good money down on the fact that it appears mighty close to being like that.

“Boy, let me tell you something. Love is scary. Love is being so goddamn terrified but not letting that stop you from loving someone enough to take a leap. You love that racket you listen to even though no one else does. You love that game and those kids you play with even when you know it can make the roof crash down on your head. And it did.” Wayne pauses to give him a look. He wouldn’t push if he thought he was wrong. But he’s loved this kid since he showed on his doorstep, full of piss and vinegar, and he was terrified that he was going to fuck him up more than his daddy did because Wayne didn’t know anything about raising a kid. “And I’m telling you, I’d bet my last dollar bill that Harrington feels the same way you do right now, scared he was going to lose you and scared you don’t feel the way he does.” Steve had said as much, in not so many words, when he thought Wayne was sleeping one night. “You didn’t run from hell, kid. Don’t run from this either.”

He watches Eddie stare at him in shock. He almost feels like he needs to make sure he was speaking English, or whatever happened to Eddie hadn’t affected his brain at all. “He said that?” is what Eddie manages to say.

Wayne rolls his eyes. “He’s been here since before I got here. He hasn’t left your side but maybe a couple of times to go check on that Max girl from next door. If it ain’t love, kid, I don’t know what it is.”

Eddie looks like he wants to argue, but he chews on his lip instead. Good. Give the kid something to think about. “And if you’re worried about what I’m gonna think because you’re both boys, you can stop right here. Doesn’t matter to me what pieces and parts you have, as long as you’re good to each other.”

Eddie’s eyes fill with tears and he reaches up to pull his hair over his face, the way he’s done since he was eleven years old and overwhelmed with what Wayne tried to offer him. “Thanks, Wayne. I’ll… I’ll think about it.”

“See that you do. Now, tell me all about this guitar solo of yours. Steve couldn’t shut up about it.”

Wayne had stepped out for a smoke, taking a moment outside to breathe so he stopped feeling so trapped by the white walls of his boy’s hospital room. It’s a nice evening, the moon shining full. Steve had stopped by with some sort of casserole, courtesy of Dustin’s mama, and Eddie had squawked in pleasure and made grabby hands at the dish. Wayne took that as his cue to step out.

He crushes the butt beneath his boot and tucks it back into his pack of cigarettes. He lets out a sigh and starts heading back up the stairs towards Eddie’s room.

It’s quiet when he opens the door, starting when he realizes what he’s seeing. Both boys are fast asleep, curled around each other as much as they can with Eddie’s wires and cords still attached to his hand. Eddie’s tucked into Steve’s chest and Steve’s hair is wrapped tight into Eddie’s curls, still tucked between Eddie and the door like he’s a barrier so the world can’t get him. Their lips are both a bit pink and swollen, and Wayne would be a right fool if he couldn’t put two and two together. It makes him smile, knowing he was right. All they needed to do was take that leap.

He closes the door with a quiet click. He can come back in the morning. Steve’s got Eddie, and Eddie’s got Steve. And he hopes it’s for a long, long time.

#les writes things #steddielovemonth #steddie #wayne pov #fluff #rating: t

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badass-queer-couples-battle · 6 months

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Sword gays showdown preliminaries

Propaganda:

For Kazuma Asogi:

ok so he’s not CANONICALLY queer but it’s ace attorney. so… he does, however, canonically have a katana! a sword so integral to the plot it gives me shivers just thinking about it. the sword also has a name, it’s karuma (translates roughly to karma) and it gets passed onto the main character, ryunosuke naruhodo (who he calls partner), after kazuma (spoiler alert) dies in case 1-2. except (SUPER spoiler alert!) he isn’t dead! he comes back in case 2-3 and would you look at that he has ANOTHER SWORD, a more european sword (cause he ended up in england after his amnesia brain said he REALLY had to go to england). once he gets his memories back, ryunosuke gives karuma back to him and proceeds to use it to destroy the wax figure of his dead presumed serial killer dad (long story), and now he has, you guessed it, TWO SWORDS! for the next two cases he wears both swords at his sides, and also he broke the tip off of karuma attempting to murder someone (he didn’t actually murder anyone but still) and then turns out karuma’s hilt has the REAL serial killer’s will in it. very VERY important sword. in the end, kazuma gives karuma back to ryunosuke which is really symbolic but that’s besides the point, and they cross swords and it’s a whole big thing. 10/10 gay sword guy.

For Raiden:

Man catches knives with his heels and uses a sword to cut through robots 20 times his size

He's such a tragic character! Raised to be a super soldier from birth and is constantly being exploited by the government. As for the lgbt part him and his rival in the latest game he's in have so much tension it's unreal (gay). I headcanon him as trans too because he has a feminine figure, his voice gets more masculine as the series goes on (testosterone) and his entire body gets replaced with cybernetics (trans allegory...)

For Claudine Saijou:

Fights with a longsword! Should be number 1 for this line alone: “For heroes, there are trials. For saints, there are temptations. For me, there is you”, said to def not her girl crush but rival btw (stream Revue of Soul) Vote for my disaster theatre kid its what she deserves!

Her gay levels are off the charts. She has a homoerotic rivalry with another classmate (Maya Tendo/Tendou Maya) that is integral to her character, as she was always first until she met Maya. She’s also half-French, but that’ll be important later. When she’s looking at pictures of Maya stretching (to study her form of course) and another character asks her what she’s looking at, she panics, blushes, and says none of your business. Her and Maya have a heartfelt conversation while stretching with Claudine’s face pressed into Maya’s chest (between her stomach and breasts). Some art from a magazine has Maya pushing Claudine into a deep stretch, but it looks like something a lot different (Claudine blushing doesn’t help. Also I realized that there’s a lot of gay stuff related to stretching with these two).

During a two on two duel (I know it’s not a duel), they fight together. Not only that, but at one point they hold hands and take a pose typical of romantic partners in dancing. For no reason. They just pause and do it to show off. They aren’t even fighting. Anyways, when they lose, Claudine starts crying, not because she lost, but because Maya lost. So, of course, Maya starts speaking to her in French, with one of the things she says being “You’re cute even when you cry, my Claudine.” All of this is stuff that’s happened in the series (except the magazine thing).

Now for the gay stuff in the movie. Their duel with each other is so dense with sapphic undertones they can hardly be called undertones. For starters, the song that accompanies this revue is called “A Beautiful Person, or Perhaps it is.” While this title is incomplete, the director states that he wanted the watcher to fill it in and this removed the end of the original title. That title is “A Beautiful Person, or Perhaps it is a Love Song.” The duel is framed as a fight between a hero (Maya) and a devil (Claudine). Maya is in an outfit reminiscent of Renaissance Italy and Claudine is in a suit. Thus, Maya signs a contract giving her soul over to Claudine, as is the case with marriage. With her own blood, in the shape of Position Zero (an important symbol in the show), which happens to look like a T, for Tendou. After a few minutes of fighting, Maya disappears and monologues, appearing in a white dress. This means that Maya has signed her soul over to Claudine, and they are now both wearing a white dress and suit. Not beating the gay marriage allegations. Maya finished her monologue with “For heroes, there are trials. For saints, there are temptations. For me, there is a devil.” They continue to fight, Maya proclaiming herself emotionless and empty. Maya then cuts the medallion from Claudine’s chest (they wear medallions and you lose the duel if it gets cut off).

Claudine falls. Maya attempts to claim victory by stabbing her sword into Position Zero, which is then covered by steel doors. Claudine sits up and reveals she has another medallion in her mouth, which she does by sticking out her tongue in a uhhhh. Anyways, after a bit of back and forth, Claudine tells Maya that she’s full of arrogance and pride and envy and longing. She then says that “No matter how many times I die, I will revive! Tendou Maya! To beat you, my rival, into submission!” She then makes her stage entrance, taking Maya’s usual entrance speech and mocking it. She also says “I fill myself with exploding passion, now, and bash it into your heart!” After some talking, Maya makes her stage entrance, taking Claudine’s usual entrance speech and mocking it. Up until now, they have been playing characters, but still letting their own emotions shine through. Now, they are entirely themselves.

They begin to fight again, running downs white aisle before clashing swords, with Maya saying “Such an ugly, emotion drenched appearance-“ and is cut off by Claudine, who says “Show me more, Tendou Maya! Right now, you’re the cutest you’ve ever been!” To which Maya responds “I’m always cute!” The song starts up again (duels are accompanied by songs), with Maya singing “With a grin of deception I’ll tear this piece of cloth.” Deception in Japanese is mayakashi, a reference to Maya’s name. Maya then sings “I want to show you my feelings becoming dyed in black.” Black is Kuro in Japanese. Claudine, in Katakana, is Kurodine, with her nickname being Kuro, so that line could also be interpreted “I want to show you my feelings becoming dyed in you.” Claudine then sings “Only me, always, forever,” before they sing in unison “You only need to look at me,” as they lock blades. Some fighting happens and they’re falling through the sky, holding onto each others clothes and Claudine says “Only I can make you lay everything bare!” To which Maya responds “I’ll expose my everything, on the stage!” Claudine shoots back with “There’s a partner you can expose everything to, on the stage!” At this point, there’s a short time with independent vocals for Maya and Claudine in addition to their talking. Maya has been singing “If I’m on the stage, if I’m in front of you,” for the last two lines of dialogue. Claudine sings “Be it ugly or beautiful,” as Maya sings “I will expose, anything and everything, all of me, all of me.” As this happens, Maya is saying “We love the stage,” which is continued by Claudine saying “And we can’t part from the stage!” Maya calls them both “Pathetic clowns!” To which Claudine corrects “No, rivals!” Maya says “If you’re there, I have to strive higher!” Claudine says “You make me even more beautiful! Maya!” Maya then yells “Claudine!” Claudine yells “For heroes, there are trials!” Maya continues “For saints, there are temptations!” Then, as one, their swords crossed, faces inches from each other, yell “For me, there is you!” Over top of this, their voices sing a line in unison: “Forever and ever, I’d like to cross swords with you.”

Claudine’s sword stabs through the contract, through the Position Zero in blood, which may be Maya’s family name, and Maya says as an aside “Saijou Claudine… You are beautiful.” Claudine cuts the medallion from Maya’s chest, finally beating her rival.

#sword gays showdown #claudine saijou #raiden #revue starlight #metal gear solid #kazuma asogi #the great ace attorney #shojo kageki revue starlight #mgs #ace attorney

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screamingatanemptyroom · 2 months

Text

Please Fix the Story - pt 31 The Void Between - END

Last part. (Although I do plan for at least one or two side parts. One definitely from Liam's perspective. Maybe one from Adonis if I feel like it).

Guys, I started this story forever ago. Took a huge break when my life fell apart. I picked up the pieces, and never really thought I would get back to doing the things I love again. But here I am. Finishing this story. I'm so excited.

Please enjoy.

Masterpost linked here.

________________________________

“System!” I shouted into the white void, one hand still holding Liam’s tightly. “Stop hiding!”

THUD

Adonis had fallen to the ground, released from my power that had bound him. He stood up shakily, wiping a small amount of blood from the corner of his mouth. “Where did you take me?” He demanded angrily. “Where is this place?”

“This?” I looked around with a slight smile. “This place is the End.”

“The End?”

I thought for a moment. “Or perhaps the Beginning? It depends on your point of view, I suppose.” I gestured around at the blank whiteness around us “This is the void between, outside of the lower and higher realms, outside of stories. There is nothing here... nothing except memories.”

Liam stood protectively near me. “Where is the System?”

“It’s here. It’s watching. It just doesn’t want to admit that it lost. It views me as weak, pointless…”

Blue flames streaked out from out of sight towards my head. Sensing the magical attack, I dodged and waved a hand, countering it with my own power.

“YOU MUST ACCEPT YOUR FATE” The bright blue words briefly appeared in the void, then disappeared just as fast, leaving nothing but an afterimage behind.

“BEL!” Liam had fallen when I dodged, and reached towards me, panicked.

“It’s okay. That was just a test.” With a grunt of pain, I stood back up again. “REALLY?” I spoke out again. “A sneak attack? Are you really that pathetic?” There was no answer, the System was hiding again.

“Hey!" Adonis had recovered from his shock, and resumed being a pest. “Bel! Tell me what’s going on, now!”

I didn’t even look in his direction. “No.”

“What?! What do you mean, no?!”

"I mean: 'No'." Still looking for any trace of the System, I cast a sympathetic glance towards Liam. “Poor guy.”

Liam caught on quick. “Don’t worry, Bel, I’ll help him!” He cleared his throat, turning towards the enraged hero. “’No’ is an English word used to give a negative response. In this case, the word ‘no’ would indicate a refusal to your request for more information. Similar sounding words, such as ‘know’ with a ‘k’ can sometimes be confused depending on the context clues, but that word is generally used to indicate knowledge rather than refusal. So if she had said ‘I know’ instead…”

“SHUT UP!” Adonis screamed, swinging at fist at Liam, who let him punch him in the chest without any apparent pain. Adonis instead withdrew his hand with a screech, one of his fingers clearly bent at a weird angle.

“Your chest breaks fingers?” I asked with a raised brow.

Liam pulled his collar down, showing off a coat of black scales with a grin. “Dragon skin is tough. Also known as the ‘idiot-tax’.”

During this exchange, I continued searching with my power, trying to feel the system’s presence. “Seems fair.”

“Why is it hiding?” Liam asked quietly.

“It doesn’t want to face the truth.” At my answer, Adonis stopped groaning and looked insulted.

“Why do you answer HIS questions and not MINE?”

“Because he’s my husband… and you’re annoying.” I turned to Liam. “Are you curious?”

Liam smiled at my question. “Very.”

“Then I’ll explain it to you as we go.” I looked around again, sensing that the System had hid itself. “It’s hiding within this space, and so I’ll need to force it out. Since it wants to hide the truth, I’ll show exactly that: the truth."

My power swept around us, filling everything.

"It all started here. In this void.”

The world around us changed, showing infinite portals, each leading to a new world, glowing with various degrees of golden light.

“There are infinite stories, and therefore infinite lower realms. Some are stable, filled with energy… some are unstable, collapsing, draining energy from the realms around it.” As I spoke, some of the weaker portals flickered and died. “Each time a world collapsed, the entirety of the lower realms was at risk, a collapse of a universe of worlds and people.”

The golden light of the portals coalesced, forming a vague being of bright blue light. “The System came into being. It's exact origin is unclear. Was it created, another product of the authors or gods beyond our existence that write the stories? Was it just a random event, too much energy organizing into a sentient being?” I stepped closer to the glowing blue figure, staring up at it. “It’s impossible to know. But I do know one thing:”

The figure peered into a portal as it flickered and disappeared. It stared at the empty space for a few moments before shrugging and moving on to the next. “The System isn’t human. It has no understanding of human emotions, motivations, or relationships. It can read the stories, it can see the unfulfilled wishes of the author, but it cannot truly understand why some stories worked and others collapsed.”

Adonis stared at the figure I showed them, a look of frustration and anger creeping across his face. Liam watched with curiosity. They both stayed silent, however, and the System stayed in hiding, so I continued the story.

“The system depends on the survival of the lower realms, but it could not figure out how to save the stories that were disappearing. So it looked for a human partner, someone who could help it figure out what to do.”

The world around us changed again, and we were standing on a college campus. It was a bright sunny day, with students milling about, chatting, laughing, carrying books. We stood in the midst of everything, unseen by the people around us, unable to touch or affect anything we could see. Adonis, recognizing the area, turned pale, trembling as he stood rooted in place. “No.” He whispered. “This is impossible. This isn’t real.”

I smiled at him, but it wasn’t a pleasant expression. “Of course it isn’t real. This is a memory of the System. No one can travel to this lower realm anymore. It’s destroyed… thanks to you.”

“NO.”

As I searched the memory around us, I could sense the memory... and the System... nearby. “Let’s go.” I grabbed Liam’s hand and ran forward, rushing through the crowds, following the lead that only I could feel. After a brief hesitation, Adonis ran after us.

“The system sensed that someone had broken free from the confines of a story.” I spoke as we moved. All around us there were college students milling about, talking laughing with carefree attitudes. “What had been stable, had become broken, and it was all because of a single individual.”

I pulled Liam to a stop in front of two people, studying both of the figures in the memory with interest.

One was a handsome young man with a playful grin and long hair pulled back with a cord. He was facing another young man, who looked extremely angry.

The other young man was Adonis.

As we looked back and forth between the Adonis in the memory and the one that had followed us through the void, the Adonis next to Liam and I stepped closer, staring at his doppelganger with a weary, contemptuous expression.

“She loves me!” The memory Adonis spoke out. “Stop getting in the way!”

“You know that isn’t right, Adler.” The young man answered with a sigh. “Just because you two grew up together, doesn’t give you ‘dibs’ on her. You two are friends. Ara is my girlfriend.”

Liam raised an eyebrow as we watched the scene around us play out. “Adler?”

“His real name.” I glanced over at Adonis, who looked away. “He changed it to Adonis after he left this lower realm.”

“He CHOSE Adonis?”

“He thought it sounded more heroic.”

“Poor guy.”

“Save your pity.” I pointed back to the memory around us, where Adonis continued to argue with the other college student. Eventually, a young woman walked up, giving a hug to the other man and eyeing Adonis warily.

“Bel…?” Liam sounded concerned and confused, and I didn’t’ blame him.

After all, the woman looked just like me.

It wasn’t exact. There was a bright cheery innocence that this girl carried around her. A naivete, as if she would believe whatever someone told her. Nice, but gullible. She very much lacked my distrustful glares and heavy sarcasm. But the face, body, hair…. All of the outer features were the same.

“It’s not me.” I reassured Liam, who watched the girl with my appearance kiss the college student with a low disgruntled growl. “It’s Arabella. The heroine of this lower realm.”

Adonis stared intently at the woman, obsession in his eyes. “MY heroine.”

“Nope. Not yours. Because you weren’t the hero of your story, were you, Adonis?”

The argument between the three in the memory grew heated. Adonis… Adler… tried to grab Arabella’s hand, and she pulled away with a frustrated expression.

“You were the friend, the side character, the witness to the main romance of the story. But you were unwilling to play that role… to accept your fate.”

“IT WAS NOT MY FATE!” Adonis reached out, but his hand passed through the memory of Arabella. “I WAS THE HERO! I WAS THE ONE SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO LOVE!”

The Adonis in the memory had gone quiet. He reached into his coat, and pulled out a long knife, lunging forward, stabbing the young man and woman in front of him. Only when they were still on the ground, their bodies soaking in the blood pooling beneath them did he seem to recognize what he had done. He fell to his knees, screaming, as the world around his began to distort.

“You broke the story, killed the hero and heroine… and this caught the attention of the System.”

A glowing blue figure appeared in front of the blood-stained Adonis, words appearing around him.

"YOU HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE THE STORY."

I looked down at the dead body on the ground with the same face as me, letting out a quiet sigh. “The two of them made a deal. Adonis would be pulled out of the lower realm, become a higher being. He would help the System in fixing the broken lower realms.”

The Adonis in the memory considered for a brief moment, and nodded. As he and the System disappeared, the world they had left behind began to collapse.

“There’s always a cost, though. If you take someone out of a lower realm… the realm is destroyed as a result.” My eyes met Adonis’ as he watched the memory of the deal he made with a dispassionate gaze. All the emotion that had boiled over at the sight of Arabella had faded, and there was nothing, not even remorse. “You knew you were destroying the world if you left. And you did it anyways.”

“They did nothing for me.” His voice was quiet, but vitriol in it was clear. “I should have been the hero of that world… they didn’t deserve survival.”

“Just like Arabella deserved death for not loving you?” At my question his eyes flickered, but he quickly regained calm. “She didn’t die. After all, you’re here, aren’t you?”

“I’m not Arabella, Adonis. No matter the physical resemblance.” I smiled. “I’m something much more…”

Another blast of blue flames again came towards me. I pushed back with my own power, defending myself. My magic swept through from the direction the blast had came from, trying to strike back, but it had already disappeared once again.

“Oh you didn’t like that, did you? Are you mad enough to stop hiding, or should I keep talking?”

There was only silence in response. I chuckled grimly, continuing the story.

“Adonis was the one who thought of binding the lower realms to the higher realms. By having the heroes of the lower realms be connected to Adonis, by having him control them and their endings through these ties he called fate, he thought he could influence all of the stories at once, helping them reach a happy ending.” I paused. “How funny that the man who was chosen because he broke free of his fate, chose to bind everyone else even tighter.”

The portals showed up around us again, losing their glow and flickering out at a noticeable pace. “But it didn’t work. The lower realms were failing faster than ever. You contaminated all of the heroes with a part of you, they took on a part of your personality, your obsessive desire with being the center of the universe.”

I thought of all the heroes I had met in the lower realms, how they reacted with the story around them changed. Even kinder heroes like K’lliean in the elven world had shown signs… he almost cracked and tried to force me to be with him when he sensed me pulling away. They all had pieces of Adonis forced on them, tying them to an even worse fate then the broken stories once had.

“Out of desperation, Adonis suggested a new plan. It wasn’t enough to have a prototype ‘hero’ to bind everyone to. They needed a new prototype, a second higher level being.” I hesitated, seeing the realization and pain on Liam’s face but forcing myself to continue. “They needed a villain.”

The world around us changed again, and now we were in a beautiful green world with bright open skies. The System remained hidden, so I continued talking, hoping to goad it into showing itself once again.

“Adonis had always been a fan of fairy tales. Knights, princesses, and the evil monster that kidnapped her: the dragon.”

Dragons flew overhead with roars that shook the earth below. The world was filled with the mighty creatures, flying, fighting, sleeping. Simply existing in this beautiful realm. And right next to us was a large silver dragon, patiently teaching a smaller black one.

Liam stepped closer, tears running down his face. “Grandfather.” His hand passed through the larger form, his hand tightening into a fist.

“They searched though all of the lower realms with dragons, and within one found a young black coated dragon that they felt could be molded into what they needed.” I continued to speak, watching Liam closely. “The System tried to offer a deal, promising power and domination over all the lower realms.”

A blue figure pulled the small dragon away, obviously trying to convince it of something. The young dragon shook his head in response.

“But the dragon said no. He loved his world, his family. He didn’t want to leave, no matter what was offered to him.”

The dragon was enveloped in blue fiery light, disappearing with an inhuman screech of terror. The world around us, similar to Adonis’ world before it, crumpled into itself, fading away into nothing.

My voice dropped to a whisper. “The price of removing someone from the lower realms is always the same, whether they want to leave or not. The young dragon’s world… his family… was destroyed.” I reached out and hugged Liam, who was wracked with silent sobs as he watched his home realm disappear.

“I’m sorry.” I tightened my arms around him, feeling a deep pain within as he slowly composed himself. I was using this story to push the System, to make it angry enough to appear. But I had another motive as well. I wanted Liam to understand everything. To see this. He had the right to know the full truth.

The truth of what I was.

The picture around us faded, showing the young black dragon now in the Villain’s realm, surrounded by forest. He looked around, obviously lost and confused. Words appeared in the sky before him.

YOU ARE THE VILLAIN.

The dragon shook his head no.

YOU MUST ACCEPT YOUR FATE.

A portal appeared and chains shot out, binding the dragon and dragging it into a lower realm. The sight was heartrendingly familiar, and I had to take a deep breath, steadying myself to continue.

“They tried to mold the dragon into the villain they needed. The plan was to force the dragon into multiple realms, placing him as the villain of the story. If he refused to play his part? The realm would be destroyed. The dragon was too kind hearted, and eventually became resigned to sacrificing himself, story after story, realm after realm. Saving the realms but losing himself. The system tied the dragon to the villains of the lower realms, in the bonds of fate, but if anything, that made things even worse.”

The portals in the void reappeared, now most of them becoming unstable and flickering, even previously brightly glowing ones were slowly becoming dim.

“Your plans had brought this whole universe to the brink of destruction, and still Adonis refused to believe that his strategy was wrong. It’s just that the prototype story… the higher realm story… was incomplete.”

I turned towards Adonis, who was glaring at me with unbridled rage. “The knight, the dragon… and now you needed the princess. You were a hero missing your heroine. And so, you told the System to bring you your heroine.”

“Don’t…” Adonis finally spoke up again, but the word was forced out between clenched teeth.

“What? Don’t tell the truth?” I shook my head. “It’s not your secret to hide. It’s my truth to tell.”

“Stop!” He rushed forward, but my dark power wrapped around him again, holding him in place.

“Shush. I’m trying to explain my mysterious origins here.” I sat him down on the ground with my magic, and turned to Liam. I felt nervous, a desperation welling up within me. I wondered as I started to speak again if this is how he felt when I found out he was a dragon. It turned out he didn’t need to worry.

I wasn’t human either.

“Adonis would only accept one heroine.”

“Arabella.” Liam added, watching me carefully.

“Exactly. But that left the system with a problem. Arabella was dead. Even if she survived the stabbing, the entire lower realm had been destroyed by bringing Adonis out. It tried to convince him, but he grew only more desperate. He couldn’t accept the truth.”

I paused, taking a deep breath. “So the system did the only thing it could: it tried to make a new Arabella.”

“But that means…” Liam looked confused, but as realization started to dawn, I ran forward and tackled him.

“GET DOWN!”

The entire space imploded. There was nothing but blue fire, drowning everything. There was no noise, no heat. There was only magic destructive power. It lasted for what seemed like an eternity, and then slowly faded.

I lifted my head. An enormous being was wrapped around me, protecting me. Liam, who had shifted to his dragon form, continued to shield me, his dark blue eyes looking over me carefully, filled with concern, checking for injuries. I withdrew the magic I had used to protect us both, but I still saw a few burned spots in his scales here and there. Touching his scales with a regretful expression, I whispered. “Sorry.”

I had been goading the system, waiting for it to make its move, but as I told Liam the truth, my attention had shifted for a short moment. And in that moment, the System who had been biding its time, made its move.

“As long as you are safe.” Liam’s reply made me smile. We stared at each other for a few moments, both happy the other was okay.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU DESTROY HIM?!” Adonis’ voice destroyed the special moment. At least he's consistently annoying.

Liam rolled his eyes, the expression a bit strange on a dragon. “How did he survive the fire?” He asked me.

I thought it over, and winced. “My bad, my power was already wrapped around him to hold him down when the System attacked… I must have accidentally protected him.”

“It’s okay, we all make mistakes.” Liam nodded solemnly and comforted me.

“Yeah, maybe next time he’ll get burned to a crisp.”

“You know… I am a dragon… I could help us achieve that goal.”

“Tempting…” I started to respond, but Adonis started shouting again.

“System! Now’s your chance! Destroy the monster!” He pointed at Liam, his face triumphant as he commanded him. “And then we can fix Arabella, and start over with a new villain. We will make the story right, correct everything that is wrong, and retie the strings of Fate to save the universe!”

“…” There was something new that had joined us in this space between realms. A vaguely human shaped being made of blue flames. As it spoke, its voice was neither young or old, soft or deep, it was deeply disturbingly inhuman. The words it spoke appeared in front of us, scrawled across the sky, a reminder of its power.

“YOU MUST ACCEPT YOUR FATE.”

“System! Destroy it!” Adonis screamed impatiently.

“…” There was no response.

“It can’t.” I finally spoke up, calmly. “It doesn’t want to risk attacking Liam anymore. It had its only chance with that sneak attack and it failed. Facing me head on… there’s no way it can win easily.”

“I don’t understand. The System… it creates fate… it’s a god!”

“You are the one that doesn’t understand. I know what the System is, Adonis, much better than you do." I took a deep breath.

"After all… I’m a part of it.”

In the silence that followed I heard the soft sound of Liam’s sigh as understanding dawned. My heart beat nervously, but I continued to explain.

“The system couldn’t resurrect Arabella, so it split off some of its own power, a new entity that remained only with a limited connection. It used Adonis’ memories of Arabella as a template, but it could never be exact. From the moment of its creation, the created being would grow and change based on new experiences, meetings… to become something new, beyond the confines of what others wanted.”

“YOU WERE AN ERROR.” The system’s inhuman voice was cold.

“I was the only effective thing you’ve ever done to save the lower realms.” Was my even colder response.

“No… you’re Arabella.” Adonis was stuttering, staring at me with horror.

“You always knew I wasn’t her, Adonis." I sighed. "The only thing I can thank you for was that when the system used your memories of a template, it used data, rather than your perception of her. Rather than a perfect heroine deeply in love with you, it created a young woman with a thirst for adventure and learning… and no romantic interest in you whatsoever.”

The system stepped closer, and Liam’s wings spread out widely, protectively.

“THE DEAL IS INVALID. YOU MUST ACCEPT YOUR FATE.”

“The deal is already done, System. You lost.” I waved my hand, and my power formed into the shape of a sword. It always was my preferred weapon. “If you won’t concede that I won willingly… Then I’ll make you by force.”

As I circled closer, the System stood still, confident. “YOU CANNOT KILL ME. YOU ARE ME!”

I smiled. “That’s where you’re wrong.”

My sword swung, and a limb fell to the ground, disintegrating into blue flame. I held my blade at its neck and it froze.

“I WAS you. But the deals we made changed everything.”

The world around us changed again. The System buzzed with energy, trying to fight it, but I pushed through.

It was time to finish the story.

Liam continued to stand guard, watching Adonis and the System carefully. As my power took over, the world I was showing became clear:

It was me. I was in the villain world, laying on the ground pale and sweating. I was dying.

“After I was created, I only tried to save the lower realms one by one. I refused to listen to Adonis' plans. In his frustration, he tossed me into the villain realm to force me to submit. It was his way of continuing the prototype story. The dragon keeping the princess captive. But Adonis and the System didn’t count on one thing:"

In the vision I showed, Liam in his human form knelt beside me, his expression despairing as he gently wiped the sweat from my forehead. I held his hand, my eyes focused on him and no one else. Adonis stood nearby, ignored by both of us in the memory, watching with a hateful, weary expression.

“I decided I would rather die in the villain realm, die by my husband’s side, rather than submit to the horrible fate you and the System had devised.”

The System in the memory appeared next to human Liam, pushing him aside, and approaching the dying Bel. Liam screamed with fear and rage, trying to return to his dragon form, but was frozen into place half-transformed.

“YOU CANNOT DIE.” The system’s inhuman voice was quiet, but deafening at the same time.

The memory Bel forced a smile. “Better dead and free than trapped by your chains.”

“I CANNOT LET YOU DIE. IT WOULD DESTROY ME, DESTROY EVERYTHING. BUT YOU REFUSE TO LIVE… WE ARE AT AN IMPASSE.”

“Then how about we make a wager?” The weakness in her voice couldn’t hide the determination of her words.

I looked at the System, still held in place at the point of my sword. “So, we made a deal. I would travel the realms, save them, gather the energy from each of the recovered worlds.”

In the memory, blocks of text appeared in front of the dying Bel. She read through the deal with a frown. I watched the vision, shaking my head in frustration.

“The stakes were clear. If I could save enough worlds… could build enough power, separate from the System, I would be able to break free from the ending of this prototype story. To write my own fate. But… if I failed even one… the System would take all the energy I gathered, and I would be forced to submit to the fate designed to me. To be a mindless, soulless heroine, playing her role and nothing else.”

“Foolish.” Adonis was standing, glaring at me with blood shot eyes. Liam growled in response, placing his enormous form between us, but Adonis ignored him, continuing to speak. “You just had to agree to be a heroine, and we could have saved everyone together. Instead, you risked everything, left an unstable universe to try to save it world by world.”

“I chose to remain free. To not enslave these worlds to fate.” The System sensed my distraction and tried to strike, and so I pressed my sword of magic forward, dripping flames from the cut in its shapeless neck.

“The deal was designed for me to fail.” Again the picture around us changed. It was still me, but in many different forms. A student. An assassin. An elf. World after world, flipping faster and faster until it was a visual blur. “You chose miserable roles for me. I had no memories, no knowledge of the story except what was provided for me. I was alone… or I was supposed to be.”

Another change. Now the System in the memory was talking with Liam. As he watched the memory, Liam beside me shook his head, as if trying to clear it.

“Liam had nothing the system wanted but his status as a villain. If I lost, he would play the perfect villain. No shortcuts, no mercy for the weak…become a puppet for the system. But the system wanted more.”

Text appeared in front of Liam in the memory. As the nature of the deal became clear, the real Liam beside me let out a moan.

“A sacrifice.” His voice was filled with pain, barely audible. “Every lower realm I had saved in the past by playing my role. How many worlds would that be? Countless lives. Innocents.”

“The System would absorb them for energy if we lost.”

“It asked for my soul. Saving those worlds by letting myself be defeated or killed in those realms was all that I could cling to when I was despairing. If I sacrificed them… “ He paused, his dragon eyes showing despair. “It wouldn’t have to brainwash me to become a villain. I would have already taken that step myself.”

“Liam would be given the chance to follow me. His memories wiped each time. He would have no idea who I was or how to help me. He would as always be the villain in the story. A bad deal.” The Liam in the memory agreed, and disappeared. “ I glanced at Liam beside me. “But you took it anyways, desperate to help me, to stay by my side. Even though you would more likely end up a mindless, soulless slave.”

“I would never abandon you, Bel. Not if there was any chance I could help you.”

"You did." I reassured him. "I had nearly given into despair by the time you joined me. You gave me purpose, helped me forward. I would have been lost, along with everything else." I glanced over at Adonis who was shaking in rage.

“Adonis made a deal too, of course, but much different from ours. He wanted to follow, but wanted his memories, wanted to know the full story. The System only allowed him limited access, into a few worlds. It worried that if Adonis followed me everywhere I would be motivated to resist longer, as I had in the higher realms before.”

Adonis in the memory accepted a deal, and disappeared as well. There was only the system left.

“You thought I would give up, or that I would fail to fix a world. I was supposed to accept my fate. Instead, I refused. I resisted. I fixed every single world I went to. I won. Which brought us back to the higher realm.”

“NO.” The system beside me pushed back with all of its power, erasing the memory I had shown around us. I tried my best to shield Liam and I, but as I concentrated on my own dark magic, I heard someone running up behind me.

“You ruined everything!” Adonis had a knife, trying to slash at my back as he drew closer. The System kept attacking, forcing all of my attention on it. I was helpless to stop the attack from the hero.

Fortunately I wasn't alone.

A dragon tail swung out, knocking Adonis a fair distance where he fell to the ground with a crunch. He lay still, his hand grabbing at the hilt of his knife where it protruded from his side after he landed on it.

“How…?” He touched the blood spilling from the wound, shocked.

“You brought it on yourself.” Liam growled. “Also, why is your only response to rejection stabbing? You seriously need better coping mechanisms.”

I laughed, but couldn’t lose focus on the battle at hand. I turned to the system, who had stopped attacking “Now that this story is done, all bets are complete.” I waved a hand, a wave of dark power covering the void around us.

Liam’s eyes blinked, and then cleared, a sense of timelessness within them. He rubbed his head against me. “Bel. You did it.”

I smiled. “Thanks to you.”

Adonis had changed as well. His face was pale, then red with anger, then pale again as he continued to lose blood from his side. “You cheated, System! You promised I would keep my memories! How did…”

“It wasn’t the system, Adonis.” I interrupted. “This last story, us repeating the Higher Realm… it was me. I gained power because I wanted a different ending to OUR story, and this is the ending I chose. Not one with me dying in the villain realm, with Liam and I accepting a terrible deal in a desperate attempt to save one another. A better ending.”

Adonis struggled to his feet, sneering. “So what? THIS is it? Your so-called happy ending? You become a villainess instead of a heroine and get to stay in the villain realm with that monster? Big deal.” He spat on the ground, the spit mixed with blood from the wounds on his mouth. “The System and I will find a real heroine. Not a FAKE one like you. We’ll restart the story, and fate will save us all, with the villain and villainess being destroyed!”

I laughed. A true, villainess cackle. It echoed in the vast emptiness of the Void, seeming to go on for ages.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Who told you my goal was to be the villainess?”

The System began flickering, like a candle going out.

“YOU MUST ACCEPT…”

“My goal was to be the new System.” I swung the sword in my hand, and the already fading system fell to pieces. “To destroy fate itself.”

The last of the blue flames fizzled out with a soft sound. If an inhuman machine-like existence could sigh with relief, I would have sworn that is what I heard. The System was gone.

There was only me left.

Adonis screamed at my actions. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”

“I gained enough power in my travels to be fully independent of the System. That is why it feared me. Why it tried to destroy me in the end. But now its gone. As is your foolish fate.”

“Every realm will be destroyed! Without a prototype… without a guide… all of those worlds will be lost!”

“No Adonis.” I stepped closer to him, and he shuddered in fear at the power I wielded, moving backwards. “Those worlds will be free. Some strong, some broken and needing help. But I’d rather spend the rest of my existence helping worlds one by one then ever attempting what you and the System tried to do.”

“It’s impossible to save them all!” He hissed, his voice cracking with pain and terror.

“Doesn’t mean I won’t keep trying.” I shrugged, looking over at Liam. “I hope you don’t mind, dear. He’s not wrong when he says it’s an impossible task.”

“Traveling with you to different realms for all eternity? How horrible for me.” Liam laughed. “Now there’s fate I can get behind.”

I turned back to Adonis. “You see… he’s fine with it.”

“I’ll have to make a sling to carry future eggs if we’re always going to be traveling…” Liam muttered to himself. I ignored him, continuing to stare at the former hero.

“So what now, Bel?” He scowled. “Are you going to kill me? Torture me? Your villainous plans don’t scare me!”

“I don’t have to do any of that, Adonis… or should I say Adler?” A villain laugh sounded out again. “You have much to answer for: How many have you killed in your quest to be a ‘hero’? How many have lives have you destroyed in your desire to impose fate on the lower realms?" He shook his head, trying to deny my words, but it was too late.

"Killing you? No. I have a much better ‘fate’ in store for you:” Reaching out, my dark power curled around him, healing his wound from his side and lifting him up in the air

“You will be banished to a lower realm. To live out your days as an insignificant side character.”

His eyes widened with shock. “NO! YOU CAN’T!!!”

“By day, you will remember nothing… but every night, your memories of the higher realms will be returned to you, just enough so you can always live in regret for what you have done.”

“NO!”

I looked at the man I had once thought of as a friend.

“You always told me to accept my fate. Well now, you must accept YOUR fate, Adonis. Goodbye.” My power covered him, and he disappeared, forever.

Only Liam and I were left.

“Soo…” I looked up at the dragon. “No issues with me being a multidimensional being, whose origin comes from a homicidal fate-obsessed system?”

Liam’s serpentine face grinned, and with a brief covering of smoke he turned back into a human. “No problems here!” He reached out and hugged me. “So what now? We travel the lower realms? Save worlds?”

“Yeah, but Liam…”

“So many different weddings to plan…” He rested his chin on the top of my head. “I wonder if we can visit old worlds? I’d love to let the Blood Wolves celebrate with us.”

“I think that could be arranged… Liam…”

“Yes, Bel.” his deep blue eyes shining with joy as they met my own.

“Can you put on clothes, first?”

He looked down at his naked human form, and then back up at me, hugging me tighter. “Sorry, I don’t have extra clothes in the void.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Where did my shy and modest dragon go?”

“He remembers at least four different weddings we’ve had in different worlds.” His smile widened. “Now that we’re finally alone, no spying system, or stalking heroes… I feel like we have very important things to discuss.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Like dragon eggs?”

“Bel!” He gave me a fake shocked expression. “I was going to discuss the weather! But now that you’ve brought it up…”

I laughed again at the evil villain dragon. The villainous minion. The support spouse. My husband the dragon.

“Sure, Liam. Then when we’re ready… we’ll go travel the realms. Visit some old friends. Save some worlds.”

No more heroes.

No more villains.

No more Fate.

Just us.

________________________________

In a lower realm…

“Are you ready?” Adam, his tall form dressed up in a fancy suit, held out a hand towards me. He didn't look too different to how he had seemed in high school, his features more mature, his eyes wiser. The look of brotherly affection hadn't changed at all, however.

“Of course!” I grinned and took his hand, looking at his face. “Are you crying?”

“What? No!” He wiped his eyes quickly. “Just shocked at how much my little sister has grown up! Seems like yesterday you were a goofy highschooler chasing that bozo Jake around."

“You grew up too.” I smiled. “When is Jessica due?”

His expression grew soft. “Just 2 more months. I told her she should take time off, but she likes running the café. Says people watching is her pleasure in life." He glanced back at me. “Speaking of which, are they going to hire a substitute to teach calculus while you’re gone?”

“They’re going to have to. I’m not spending my honeymoon teaching math, that’s for sure.”

“I can’t believe you became a teacher… and a calculus teacher of all things… I thought you hated it.”

“I’m somewhat of an expert on the topic. Plus, I feel the need to spread the… joy… of learning calculus to others.”

“I feel sorry for your students.” he shuddered. "At least you don't spray them."

“Nope, that's only for brother behavior modification.” I laughed out loud, and Adam shook his head at my signature villainess sound.

“Good thing Liam likes your craziness.”

I shrugged. “He wouldn’t have me be any other way.”

We walked forward, stepping up to the beginning of the aisle. I grabbed the white skirt of my wedding gown in one hand, holding Adam’s hand with my other, as the wedding march played.

At the front of the church, Liam, dressed in a suit and looking slightly nervous waited. As I moved towards him, our eyes met. His dark blue eyes, the same in every world, lit up with joy, despite the countless weddings we’ve had before.

Different realms. Different bodies. The same souls. The same love.

Well… not everything was the same.

Wait until he finds out about my surprise. I laughed silently. The egg sling is finally going to be of use.

I took Liam's outstretched hand, and we spoke our vows once more, surrounded by our friends and family of this realm.

Promising to stay by each other’s side.

Forever.

#writing #please fix the story #ending #hope you guys like it #fantasy #magic #dragons #doesn't feel real

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kitthepurplepotato · 5 months

Text

Chapter 5 - Never enough

Summary: Y/N goes out with Kyouka for a flat hunt. Izuku gets smacked in the face - Once by a random teen and once by his Sweet Pea.

Warnings: Swear words, mentions of a toxic relationship (in the past).

First Chapter Master List

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Kyouka comes over a few hours after Izuku leaves; he didn’t really say goodbye after your conversation in the bedroom this morning, which was quite surprising and he also left an untouched sandwich on the table, filled with his favorite stuff, which is also… well… really fucking weird, but okay. To be fair, there is so much happening all at once it’s easy to go all silly, especially at 5 AM in the morning. Maybe it took him so long to make his sandwich he ended up being late and instead of bringing it with him he just left it on the table. Even though, Izuku must be aware that he owns a cat so leaving food on the table isn’t the smartest idea. Thankfully, All Meowt is the laziest motherfucker the word has ever seen and jumping on the table to get some nibbles is way too much of a lbother for him, hence why the food is still in tact.

Sometimes you wonder if All Meowt is even a cat; he doesn’t scratch furniture, doesn’t eat anything he needs to work for, barely jumps on anything and he’s just… a part of the furniture. A furry little sofa pillow. He’s also really smart as somehow he knew you are the one who messed with his automatic feeder because to this day, he didn’t even approach you once when Izuku wasn’t around. Except when you sleep. Then he cuddles. He probably hopes you stay that way forever.

“Okay, I managed to get a viewing for flat 2 and flat 4.” Kyouka mumbles to herself after putting her phone down. You look at the girl incredulously. “Don’t look at me like that, I know flat 4 is pricy as fudge, but with my current salary, I can afford it. I won’t have a bunch to spend for a few months but if I make it to the top 10 next year, it won’t be a problem!”

You know Kyouka like you know the back of your hand; there is no reason to even look at flat 2 at this point, this silly woman has already decided to get that fancy ass flat and there is probably an extremely ridiculous reason behind it.

“Be honest with me…” You look at your bestie, trying your best not to look judgmental. “Why do you want that flat?”

Kyouka looks down at her hands, her cheeks ruddy from embarassment. “My favorite rockstar lives in the same building… you know the one with black hair and the sick angel wing tattoo.” Kyouka answers while she plays with her bangs like a stupid school girl.

There it is. There it fucking is.

“So you decided to spend all your life savings for a few minutes of neighborly banter with your Bae.” You really can’t believe this silly woman.

“Oh my god, you are literally dating your favorite hero, sorry if your stupid love story made me believe in fated love!” She yells and you can’t help but laugh at that.

“Hey, it didn’t cost me anything to fall in love with him though! Plus we are not official yet!” Now it’s your turn to be embarrassed.

“Oh fuck off, Izuku wouldn’t even poke you with a foot long pole if he wouldn’t want you to be his fucking wife in the next few years. My bro isn’t playing around. He’s had enough of that shit when he was young.”

Well, that’s a new information.

“What do you mean?”

Kyouka sighs.

“It’s not my place you tell you this and to be honest I don’t know too much about it, Katsuki is probably the best one to ask but… there was this girl, right after high school who was all over Izuku after his first debut. We told him to stay away from her, we warned him that she’s only after the fame and the money but Izuku was so happy to be liked by someone in a romantic way he didn’t fucking listen to any of us…” Kyouka’s eyes look really sad as she continues. “Izuku was always a sweet boy so most people only thought of him just as that; a boy, not a man. This girl was different, I give her that. I fucking hated her. We all did. Except Izuku.” You really don’t like where this story is going. You can feel the betrayal in the air, it makes your stomach upset and your heart bleed. “After a few weeks Izuku couldn’t even wear his own clothes. She started to point out every geeky thing on him, the shirts, the shoes, his hair… she wanted him to change into something he wasn’t. She even made a comment about his baby fat. Katsuki almost exploded her that day and Izuku stopped bringing her over after that. Things got worse after as Katsuki wasn’t there to reprimand her. I don’t want to say more, Y/N. Ask him. It’s not my story to tell.”

You are rendered speechless. There are so many emotions swirling inside you; fury, hatred, sadness, then there is the urge to protect, the urge to call Izuku home so you can tell him how much you love him and his quirkiness… it’s so much to take in, so much to think about…

“Let’s go before we both start crying.” Kyouka ruffles your hair and motions towards the door, ready for the adventure.

You try your best to keep your focus on the beautiful flats. You look around for flaws, ask the right questions but you are not really there; your mind can only think of Izuku, about how alone he must’ve felt while dating that terrible human being, how humiliated he had to feel around his friends in those clothes he was forced to wear… fuck.

“I’ll walk you home then I’ll come back to do the paperwork.”

She doesn’t need to say any more for you to know that all your thoughts are written on your face.

“Sorry…”

“Don’t be sorry! You helped a lot. Really.” Kyouka smiles. You are so lucky to have her.

~•🥦•~

Izuku is not with it at work. He makes a lot of mistakes and he gets punched by some “random extra” who shouldn’t even be able to touch him.

There was a group of teens making a ruckus downtown. Izuku and Katsuki were out on patrol when they saw them yelling at a poor old man, asking for money but somehow Izuku managed to get hit by one of the kids while he was too distracted with his own thoughts.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Deku!” Katsuki yells at him with a red face. “You just let that fucking extra have the time of his fucking life! Hitting the number one fucking hero in the face! He probably thinks he’s the coolest fucking dude right now and has zero motherfucking remorse about what he’s done!”

“Because you were any better, you burned that kids face! Do you want to get canceled?!”

Izuku is frustrated. He can’t do this anymore. He can’t just let Katsuki step over him like that, not anymore…

“Someone had to do something about it! I had to clean your fucking mess up because that’s what friends do, you absolute fucking moron!”

“Since when do you consider me as a friend? I thought I’m just a nuisance.”

“Stop with the attitude. I know what you are doing and it’s not going to work. You won’t push me away. Don’t make the same mistakes I’ve made when I was a kid. You know it more than anyone how much it fucking hurts.”

“I’m sorry, Kacchan.” He can’t take it anymore. The tears fall, his body shakes and moves towards Katsuki on his own and Katsuki catches him just in time.

“If you want to talk, I’m here. Eijirou is here too. You are not alone anymore.” Katsuki mutters into his hair, his fingers deep in Izuku’s curls. Katsuki has changed so much in the last few years; if anyone would’ve told him he’s gonna be cuddled by Katsuki while he cries for the stupidest fucking reason he would’ve laughed in their face.

He knows he’s being an idiot. Y/N loves him, he can see it in her eyes when he comes back after a long day of work, he can feel it in her touches, in the food she makes, in the way she smiles when Izuku cuddles her from behind… he also knows his Sweet Pea loves him the way he is and he has no reason to doubt himself with her but Izuku can’t do anything with his insecurities; he’s been told so many times how weird he is, how unattractive his home wear is, how his unruly hair makes him look like a child and he doesn’t even want to start talking about his “annoying” clinginess.

Maybe he should’ve told her to finish that commission instead of asking her to go to bed with him. Maybe he should’ve let her cook the food alone or ask her if she needs help instead of clinging to her back like an oversized koala. Maybe he should’ve slept on his own side of the bed instead of suffocating his Sweet Pea with his heavy arms. He went overboard. Even his perfect Sweet Pea needs some space. Maybe that’s why she wants to move out. She loves Izuku but Izuku is too much as a boyfriend… he’s too much, he’s always too much…

“Go home, Zuku.” Katsuki sighs into his hair. “Go home and sort yourself out. I fucking hate seeing you like this. I want to blow your face up.”

Izuku can’t help but snort at that.

“I love you too, Kacchan.”

“Fuck you.”

~•🥦•~

You get home around 2PM; you managed to find some All Might shaped chicken nuggets in the store which you decided to air fry today with some lovely fresh veggies you found in the little market you love. Oh, and rice. Izuku needs more than a snack when he comes home.

Thankfully you manage to finish cooking by 3 so you decide to sit down and finally start working on your commissions; there isn’t much to do, just a few sketches, so you should be done by the time Izuku gets home. Thank god no one commissioned anything detailed, otherwise you would be fucked; there is no way you can do a full, colored drawing in this mental state.

For your surprise the door opens around 4PM; Izuku is already in his civilian clothes, freshly showered, hair still a bit wet.

There is one thing you realize now that Kyouka told you about his past; Izuku’s civilian clothes are quite plain compared to his usual style. It doesn’t sit right with you but that’s a problem for another day.

Today’s problem is…

“You are really early, did you forget something? Want to eat before you go back? I made you something special!” You jump off the chair right away. Izuku looks at you like this is the last time he sees your face; you have no idea what’s going on but you really hate that look on his face, that’s for sure. “Oh my god, please tell me this is not that part of the fanfiction when the hero comes home and tells his wife that he’s going a year long mission to America. I’m not ready for that yet.”

For some reason, Izuku looks guilty. He lowers his eyes, suddenly finding the design of the floor extremely interesting as he fiddles with the sleeve of his jacket anxiously.

“Just a short day, nothing to worry about.” Izuku smiles but it’s fake. So fucking fake it makes you want to gag. “Were you doing a commission? Don’t worry about me, I’m not even supposed to be here, so just ignore me.”

Red flag. A big, fucking red flag. Something happened and Izuku is not telling you jack shit about it.

“Izu, what the fuck, I’ve been waiting to have a few hours with you for a whole week, I can’t just ignore you. With the amount of hours you work I have all the time to finish this fucking scribble, but I only have a few hours with you.” You reprimand, a little bit offended. Just a little bit. Teeny-tiny bit. “You also left without giving me a kiss. You need to give me double kisses today. Also, look at the food I made for you!” You run into the kitchen and come out with the All Might shaped chicken nuggets. You show them off proudly, jumping up and down with the excitement. “Look! It’s All Might! And chicken! I put the magnet that came with it on the fridge, I hope that’s fine! There are 10 different magnets to collect, I’ll try to get them all!”

Suddenly, a loud sob escapes Izuku’s mouth, but it’s not his usual ‘I’m so happy so I’ll cry a river’ kinda sob, it’s the one full of pain and misery. “Izu.” You put the food down on the table to approach the shaking man now sitting on the floor. “I’m sorry do you not want to eat All Might? That’s okay, Izu!” You mutter but Izuku jumps into your words.

“Y/N, stop.” The sound of your own name sounds so foreign from Izuku’s mouth you almost choke on your words. “Stop. It hurts. It hurts so fucking much, I can’t…” Izuku starts to sob again and you are not too far behind him. Without knowing, your tears start to fall, joining Izuku’s in the puddle of misery on the floor.

“What’s wrong, baby? Please, tell me what did I do wrong. I won’t do it ever again, I swear…”

“I know you want to move out. You don’t need to pretend.” Izuku jumps into your words between two loud sobs. “I know I’m impossible to live with, I know my love is toxic, it’s too much too soon, I’m… aware of it and I can change, I can give you space, fuck, I can sleep in the agency if you want me to, I don’t care, but please, don’t leave me. I can change, I can do anything…”

Instead of words you decide to use your hand to tell him how fucking annoyed you are. Because honest to fuck you thought someone died or Izuku is dying or the world is on fire and these are his last words… the sound of the slap is loud in the quiet room but it makes Izuku listen and hopefully he’ll forgive you when this is over.

“I don’t want you to change, you dumb little… waaah!” Great job, Y/N. You are doing fucking well. You slapped the poor sobbing guy then you called him dumb. Great start indeed. “I fucking love you and your nerdy little ass, I love the way you geek out over the stupidest thing, I love how we are glued to each other when you’re home because that’s what I also want to do, thank you for fucking asking, I love those super silly t-shirts you’re hiding at the back of your drawer and I can’t believe you never wear them by the way, I’m not leaving you, I’m not going anywhere, I want to be here, with you, every single second, I can’t believe you really thought you could get rid of me that easily, Midoriya Izuku!” You have no air left by the time you finish your sentence because you forgot to breathe during your rant. “Don’t you fucking dare to change for me. I fell in love with YOU, not with some impostor. Tell me what you want. Do what you want. Act as silly as you want. I’ll probably only love you more, even though it’s quite impossible.”

The silence is deafening. You can see Izuku’s brain going into overdrive. He looks completely lost.

“The notes on the table…” He mutters as he motions towards the notebook. He looks dumbfounded.

“Kyouka is looking for a new flat. I was helping her.”

“I’m an idiot.” Izuku mumbles, mortified. He even forgets to cry.

“Yeah, you are. My idiot boyfriend who I love so dearly.” The words slip out but it’s too late to take it back; you look at Izuku with a terrified look on your face, ready to be reprimanded but Izuku looks at you with nothing but wonder, eyes shining from tears and finally, from happiness.

“Say it again.”

“What?”

“Say it again.” Izuku’s hand reaches towards you. Needless to say, you take it.

“My weird boyfriend, Midoriya Izuku.” You giggle to yourself. If this would be a fanfiction… ahh, Nevermind.

“I love you, Sweet Pea. Please, never change.” Izuku is all over you, not even caring about the floor being the most uncomfortable surface in the whole entire building. You can’t really hold yourself up with such a heavy weight sitting on your shoulders so you both end up stumbling backwards with a loud yelp followed by a bunch of giggling.

“So what does my boyfriend want to do today?” You mutter into Izuku’s neck between two kisses.

“I want to watch an All Might movie in my silly All Might onesie I’m hiding in my dresser while I eat the silly little all might chicken nuggets my perfect girlfriend made for me.”

Your smile is so big it actually hurts your jaw.

“… Only if I can borrow a silly All Might shirt to match with you.”

Apparently, that was the right thing to say; Izuku is about to combust from the happiness as he attacks your mouth with violent happy kisses.

“Have I told you how much I love you?” He mutters into your lips, already knowing your answer.

“Only a few thousand times but it never gets old.”

“Is that a challenge I hear?” He smirks with such confidence it makes you shiver. You did that. You made him feel that way. Oh fuck, this new Midoriya Izuku is really bad for your heart.

“Might as well be.” You grab Izuku’s hair at the back of his head and yank him forward for a heated, deep kiss. Izuku yelps but he doesn’t let you have all the control; this is Izuku’s day, he’s is completely unhinged and so are you.

The food got cold by the time you managed to untangle from each other.

And fuck, it was so worth it.

… Next Chapter!

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Potato ramble:

- Some explanations for the this chapter because I feel like it’s needed:

- 1. Midoriya does wear merch, but mostly black ones with a logo on it instead of the super loud, super colorful ones he would prefer.

- 2. Midoriya’s mum said in one of the chapters that Midoriya has never had a girl over before which is still true; the girl was never officially introduced to Inko as Izuku knew the way the girl was treating him would make his mom really sad. Inko has a slight idea about what happened thanks to Katsuki but she was spared from the gruesome details of it. Izuku doesn’t know his mom knows about it.

- 3. No, they didn’t do anything cheeky on the floor. They were just kissing, you dirty little potato.

- In the next chapter, we are going home to Izuku’s mom! I’m so excited!!!!

- I got a beautiful Deku figurine. I try not to talk about my figurine obsession anymore but I have to show this one off. I genuinely didn’t think I’ll be able to get my hands on this one because it’s an Ichiban Kuji (it’s like a lottery but with anime merch) Last One prize, but here I am, I guess. 😂

TL: @garfieldthomas @porusuniverse @stickygumchewer @sixxze @mily-moo @aei-sedai-moiraine @aymasakusa @kastuari @kenzie-deadly @shiviwrites07 @lukerycyja-reblogs @cloroxisadelectabletreat @coffeent @kisskissshutmydoor @bobcar1 @yazminetrahan @cringefan @ronimacaroni77 @thekookiecorner @dangerousluv1 @emperatris-rinaka @shotos-angelic-whore @angelsdemonsmonsters @norvacaine @rei165 @unofficialmuilover @yao-ai

#bnha x reader #mha x reader #Deku x reader #pro hero deku x reader #midoriya x y/n #midoriya izuku x y/n #midoriya fluff #midoriya x you #midoriya izuku x reader

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gatorbites-imagines · 1 year

Note

do you think you can do a yandere Jason todd x male reader x Yandere Dick Grayson if you want to that is your a great writer :)

Yandere Jason Todd x male reader x Yandere Dick Grayson

Headcanons

(i couldnt find a gif of just Jason and Dick, so have this one)

So, Jason and Dick are both yandere for the same person here, who’s got powers, cuz duh, I always make the reader a hero or meta. Readers related to Reverse flash, cuz hes one of my crazy meow meows.

I kinda went a little all over the place in the story with this, but I love the idea of speedster powers.

- You were called Mach 10, or that was your alter egos name anyways. In the beginning they had called you reverse kid flash since you were to Thawne what Wally was to Barry, except your relationship with Thawne was a lot more confusing.

- You weren’t sure where you even started, what year you were from, or what reality for that matter, and neither was Thawne. But he saw you had his exact powers, looked like him, at least a little, so he took you under his wing and brought you with him.

- Thawne is in no way a good person, whatsoever, but he didn’t force you to follow his path. You didn’t have a reason for what you did like Thawne, but part of you liked the feeling of your powers and how strong you were, so you also did crime, though not to the same scale as your father figure.

- This didn’t mean you were all evil though. You saw yourself as greyer or rather a darker grey. You helped when people were in mortal danger, sometimes, and you always helped if the world was in danger or similar.

- You could even be convinced to work alongside the flashes, though they were wary of you in the beginning, until you all actually got closer, and you became allies with the likes of Wally or Bart, though they weren’t the biggest fans of your villainy, they knew they couldn’t stop you for the most part.

- And as long as you weren’t actually hurting people, or you only were hurting actually evil people, they could look past it in a similar way to the league looking past the outlaws and their behavior. Of course, you’d killed innocent people too, you weren’t without flaws, but they didn’t have to know that.

- The first time you used your powers to your full potential and jumped through and altered time, or jumped to different dimensions, Thawne was so proud and the two of you went out for ice cream to celebrate.

- This new world was very similar to your own, and the league of this world must have felt the ripple in the speedforce or reality itself, as the ice cream shop you and Thawne were sitting in soon had a couple of heroes outside.

- Your father figure rolled his eyes so hard you couldn’t help but giggle, and you two kept on eating your treat as this dimensions Flash cautiously made his way inside, seemingly recognizing Thawne at the very least, though you gave you some wary looks.

- As the two men talked you ended up speeding outside to get some air, and since you grew extremely bored listening to them discuss why you were here, what you wanted, etc. etc. You flashed past the other heroes outside and decided to check out the different cities this dimension had to offer.

- As the heroes panicked, Thawne just waved his hand and told them you were fine since you didn’t have a bloodlust like he did, and you were more like a dog hyped up on the speedforce checking out a new patch of grass.

- Of course none of them trusted Thawne, but its not like anyone but Barry could really keep up with you, and as Thawne left saying you’d leave when you were done, they decided to keep an eye on you instead.

- One thing led to another, and you ended up in Gotham, sitting on the edge of a rooftop watching the gloomy city go about their life. Every now and then you’d catch some people glancing up at you, as your bright yellow suit stood out very brightly across the dark city.

- Your suit was very similar to Thawnes, though you had added your own quirks to it, and the suit had more black mixed with some red patterns, though it was clear your inspiration was from Reverse Flash and not Flash.

- It was when you were debating on ransacking a store for all their snacks that you noticed this dimensions Red Hood fighting a large number of enemies. He was limping and was struggling to keep up, so you could under assume he had been at this for a while.

- Shrugging you decided to help, since Red Hood was the only bat you got along with in your universe. With a crackle of black and red lightning, you flashed on over and took out the enemies with ease.

- You had to hold back from not killing them since you knew the bat wouldn’t be very happy about that, and you remembered Red Hood from your universe didn’t kill as much anymore.

- Turning around you watched as Red Hood collapsed to his knee with a pained groan, blood vividly pouring down his torso and onto the rooftop.

- Jason had no idea who you were or where you came from, but he was too messed up from his fight to do much as you walked over and picked him up like he weighed nothing. Then you sped somewhere else, one of his safehouses that seemed to be the same as the one in your original dimension, and you patched him out.

- He passed out from blood loss, but when he woke up again you were still there, sitting on his couch watching tv like you owned the place. Seeing as he was awake you went and checked up on him, making sure he wasn’t dying or anything.

- That’s when Jason finally demanded to know who the hell you were, or how you knew about his safehouse. You just laugh and reach up to push you cowl off, introducing yourself as Mach 10, and saying you were just a visitor from a different dimension.

- Jason would never admit it but the moment he saw your face the seeds of obsession were sown, and as you stuck around for the rest of the day you two started talking and found out you had a lot in common.

- And when you didn’t judge him for his violent ways and he learned you resorted to violence and murder as well, he felt some kind of kinship with you, only deepening the already brewing obsession and love.

- You end up figuring out the Red Hood of this world never stopped using real bullets, he just kills less than before, but still puts and end to the lives of the worse kinds of people.

- After that, much to Batman’s annoyance, you stuck around Gotham, though you mainly stuck around Crime Alley. You started to become Red Hoods terrifying yellow shadow. There were rumors you were some kind of opposite to Signal, but they people saw your use of speed, and it became obvious you weren’t a bat.

- You had never been one much for boundaries, so when Jasons obsession grew over time and he started to touch you like grabbing you, holding your hand or carrying you around you just let him, knowing you could snap him in half if you needed too.

- You weren’t the best influence as your own moral compass wasn’t the best, but Crime Alley had never been more safe for the innocent, and you started to actually gather admirers amongst the civilian population.

- Jason never spoke of how jealous or sick it made him feel to see people cheer for you or take your hand to thank you for saving them. But people never got too far in their hero worship, as you always did something the normal population found terrifying, placing you right back in the untouchable category.

- But seeing you use the speedforce to rip apart someones atoms or watch you vibrate at a frequency that allowed you to control people, it made people back away and only admire and fear you from a distance.

- But for Jason it only made you more attractive, and watching you vibrate or as sparks of lightning shot off your body, it only made Jason feel hot under the collar. His obsession with you grew to the point where he would neglect his duties as the Red Hood if you weren’t going out as well, so he could spend more time with you.

- Before you arrived Jason had kept up some kind of contact with the batfam since he was lonely or might need support at times, but now that you were there he pretty much stopped all contact as you were all he needed.

- This worried the bats, but not enough for most of them to do anything about it, except for Dick who decided he needed to get to the bottom of this. So he went to Crime Alley to check on Jason and you.

- When Dick first met you he couldn’t help but notice how bright and carefree you were, like the weight of the world meant absolutely nothing to you, and looking at you and your powers that might be the truth.

- But he also couldn’t help but notice how Jason seemed to tense up as he shook your hand, or how his younger brothers hand seemed to be twitching for his gun whenever Dick got a little too close to you.

- Dick hadn’t ever really been the most mentally stable person, especially in this new dimension he seemed even more unstable in a sense, as he grew interested in you and seemed to ignore the obvious danger that Jason was to him.

- In the beginning it was just a curious interest for Dick, but like Jason the moment he saw your face the first time without your cowl, his heart stuttered, and his face went red, and he felt like he had to have you.

- Like with Jason you did very little to disapprove of his behavior, letting Dick hug you whenever he wanted, or leaving the trackers you knew they both placed on you, knowing your lightning would break them at some point.

- Dick went out of his way to learn all your interests, and buying you more gifts than you knew what to do with, he might even use his connection to the league to get you speedster based gear that you could use.

- Jasons jealousy became worse as he clung to you, his eyes pretty much always a constant bright green as pit rage burned in his chest as he watched Dick try to charm you and steal you from him.

- Up until they point Jason hadn’t made a move on you romantically, but when he saw Dick bring you a brand new herosuit, one that when you put it on hugged your body even more than the last one, he decided enough was enough.

- It was especially the way Dick seemed to look all over your body in your new suit, or how Dicks hands wandered over your body to “check out that the suit fit” and how he knew Dick kept pictures and recordings of you.

- Jason hoped Dicks interest would disappear when he watched you mind control someone to kill their entire family and then themselves, as multiple members of the family were innocent or children.

- But to Jasons extreme annoyance, Dick only seemed to get more interested or feel more drawn to you. Jason was happy you didn’t pay much attention to other people, or else you might have noticed how Dick was aching for you like a cat in heat as he watched you rip out someone’s lungs using the speedforce.

- They both knew they couldn’t keep you locked up, they couldn’t even threaten you as you were so much more powerful than them, and you weren’t dumb enough to manipulate.

- No matter how many plans Jason cooked up, he couldn’t figure out a way to keep you as his and his alone, until one night it just became too much.

- A woman you had just saved from a criminal pressed up against you, hands rubbing your chest as she told you she could thank you in the best way, but before you could laugh in her face, Jason had shot her.

- As you turned to look at him in confusion Jason crowded close to you, ripping of his helmet to grab your face and force his lips onto yours. You could easily have broken both his arms, but you didn’t find Jason annoying to be around, so you kissed him back.

- Jason was over the moon as you kissed him back, his legs growing weak as he started moaning and whimpering against your lips, his knees completely giving out as your tongues clashed, resulting in you having to hold him up.

- What you both didn’t realize was that Dick had been following you, and had seen the kiss which was enough to snap what little bit of sanity he had left as possessiveness burned so brightly in his chest.

- He followed you both back to Jasons place where he confronted you two as you got inside, and you were just confused as the two bats started fighting both physically and with words. But when their fighting got a little too extreme you pulled them apart.

- Dick ended up grabbing you and pulling you close so he could kiss you too, forcing his tongue between your lips as you could taste blood from where Jason must have busted his lip. Jason yelled in rage and tried to fling himself at Dick again, but you just grabbed him and held him against your side.

- Where Jason had grown weak in his knees and almost soft at the kisses, Dick seemed to grow controlling, the grip he had on you growing tight to the point it would have hurt a normal person.

- When the kiss started to feel like you were being devoured by some animal you forced Dick to step back, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand as you told him to control the slobbering.

- Both Dick and Jason still fought a lot for you, but they also knew they’d have to kill one another to get the other to leave, but you liked them both as a person, so they put up with each other’s presence.

- They even started sharing the pictures or videos they had, or their collection of stolen items they had taken from you, where dicks most prized possession was your last suit, and Jasons was the original clothes you had been wearing underneath the suit when you first arrived.

- Dick grew more violent during his patrols as he became almost illusioned by his possessive obsession to you, that he couldn’t let these criminals walk around as they’d want to take you from him or would taint you. This resulted in Dick also cutting most contact with the batfam and the league, as he and Jason were too busy worshipping your very existence.

- They were both extremely clingy, both inside and outside of suits, and they loved to buy you things or to always be touching you. And though they hated your powers at times since they could never get the upper hand, they both loved how strong you were, or how cruel you were to criminals or just anybody that got in your way.

- But one day came that you were growing bored of this dimension, and though you did care for Jason and Dick, you wanted to be on your way and even return to your original dimension.

- You weren’t a good person, and since you’d never officially put a name on what you were with the two bats, you just packed up what few things you needed on a rare day neither of them were there, put on your suit, left a note, and left using the speedforce.

- When Dick and Jason realize you left, they both in their delusional minds think there must have been some reason you left, that maybe Thawne forced you or something happened in your original universe.

- You were the only thing keeping them a little stable, so with you gone they both pretty much lose it and hurt and kill anybody in their way to get you back, which ends up with them finding some gear or machine that uses the speedforce.

- They somehow had something of yours that is connected to you or your presence in the speedforce that means they can zero the machine in on you, and take them to you. So with the league in shambles around them, they abandon their original Dimension and step into your original dimension, on their search for you so they can stand by you once more.

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lostloveletters · 1 month

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Leave a Tender Moment Alone (John Brady x OFC)

Summary: Private Kate Woodward and Lieutenant John Brady are reluctant to wear their hearts on their sleeves, but they're each starting to wonder if maybe they should.

Word count: 1k

Note: Meet Woody! Title comes from the Billy Joel song. For a little bit of context, this takes place before Damn Yankees, but you don't need to read that to understand what's going on in this fic. Do not interact if you’re under 18, terf or radfem, or post thinspo/ED content.

Warnings: Light period-typical misogyny. Inevitable historical and technical inaccuracies.

Private Kate Woodward had a child clinging to her leg, another hanging onto her back, both attached to her like little monkeys.

The village kids were always in the mechanics’ orbit. Woody wanted to be a good role model for them, even if she didn’t quite know what that looked like. She wasn’t exactly keen to admit it to anyone except Holly, but offering her expertise as a mechanic to the WAC wasn’t entirely out of love for country.

After years of wandering aimlessly up and down the West Coast, she woke up one morning and realized she didn’t like her friends (if she could even call them that), working almost exclusively on stolen cars because she couldn’t hold down a legitimate mechanic job, and especially not the type of person she’d become. So she signed up, expecting to be working on jeeps or trucks, but instead found herself applying her knowledge to planes.

Her first commanding officer, Lieutenant Deanna Seberg from Glendale, designated her Woody to differentiate her from the dozen or so Catherines and Kathleens who used Kate as a nickname.

She liked being Woody. Woody was tough and competent yet approachable, likable, even. She tried to be good. Helpful but not too imposing. Kept her cursing to a minimum. Checked her temper. Had to. She was part of something bigger than herself, bigger than any of them could have ever conceived of. Finally found a way out through it. She couldn’t afford to fuck it up.

While the handful of other mechanic girls had gotten their experience through family garages or the odd trade school, they accepted her claim that hers came from messing around with friends’ cars. She was good at what she did. No need to push it.

Thankfully, Kenny had their backs, the young Arkansan drawling that where he came from, women weren’t afraid of getting their hands dirty to get the job done by the end of the day, whatever it may be. If that also involved entertaining English laborers’ kids, fascinated by Americans and their planes, she’d try her damnedest.

“Miss Woody!” Billy shouted, making a running start toward her.

“Wait!” she yelled. “I can’t—“

Just before impact, which would have surely sent her directly to the ground with three children in tow, Billy was scooped up in Lieutenant John Brady’s arms.

“You could take off with that speed, buddy,” he said, flying the boy around for a moment before setting him on his feet and ruffling his hair.

Woody smiled as the other two children climbed off of her. “You saved the day, Lieutenant.”

“Miss Woody, now you’ve got to give the hero a kiss!” Sarah, the young girl who’d been hanging off her back exclaimed with a flourish of her hands. “That’s what happens in the stories.”

Brady shook his head. “Miss Woody doesn’t have to—“

Woody gave him a quick peck on the cheek, their small audience of Billy, Sammy, and Sarah giggling and cheering in delight. “Why don’t you kids go make some trouble for Mr. Kenny?”

The children ran off, arms spread out wide as they imitated planes themselves. God, had she ever been that carefree as a kid?

Brady cleared his throat. “I came by to see how the fort’s doing.”

“And just in time. That would’ve been a hell of a tumble if it weren’t for you,” she said.

“You’re great with those kids.”

She smiled. “Thanks. I try to be the kind of adult I wish I had around when I was their age, you know?”

“That’s good of you.”

“C’mon, I’ll show you what we’ve done so far.”

He stuck close to her as they made their way around the damaged plane, Woody taking care to let him know exactly what had been fixed so far and where they were having a bit of trouble. Shuffled a little closer to her when she pointed at one of the engines.

He smelled nice, a reprieve from the mix of fuel, motor oil, and sweat. Not to mention the occasional whiff of cow manure drifting through the air on a strong breeze. For a moment, she envisioned her arms around him, burying her face in the crook of his neck while something soft and slow filled the room. Wondered how he’d hold her.

Shit. Stop daydreaming.

She glanced at him every so often. His expression didn’t change much. Brows furrowed, handsome face etched with concern as he scrutinized the state of his plane.

“Really, I’ve seen worse,” she said.

He scoffed. “That’s reassuring.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that.”

Certainly wasn’t the first plane he crash-landed, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he could practically hear his mother’s voice, ‘John Brady, I did not raise you to speak to young ladies that way.’ Except he’d hardly consider Woody a young lady. She was a mechanic with a mouth when she got a few beers in her. More rough-and-tumble than any of the girls he grew up with.

Everyone seemed to like her, though. Hell, he sure did. Hambone already made a stupid comment about how he should ‘ask Woody to kiss it better’ when his fort, so comically named Brady’s Crash Wagon, went up in smoke. Probably why it smarted to feel like she pitied him or something.

Smarted worse to see the way her lips pressed in a thin line. Kept her gaze anywhere but him.

“Kenny told me you stay out here late working on it. Thank you,” he said, a stubborn substitution for an apology. “I appreciate that.”

“You’re welcome.”

Silence.

Wasn’t sure what else he could say, and she was doing everything but telling him to buzz off.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to it, Woody.”

She nodded. “See you around, sir.”

He tried not to kick himself too much as he walked off, not entirely sure where he was going.

“Hey Lieutenant!” Woody shouted when there was a few yards of distance between them.

He stopped in his tracks, turning around to look at her. “What is it?”

“You got something—“ She gestured to her own cheek.

He wiped the spot on his cheek where she had kissed him and fought back a smile at the grease smudged on his fingertips.

#john brady x oc #john brady x ofc #masters of the air #masters of the air x oc #john brady #masters of the air x ofc #mota x oc #mota #mota x ofc #mota fanfic #hbo war fanfic #hbo war #ch: woody #let's hear it for emotional constipation and mutual pining

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simpforfandoms · 10 months

Text

you’re loosing me

wrote this on my phone the day you’re loosing me

pairing: dick grayson x fem!reader (I don’t think any pronouns are used tho)

summary: the end of a relationship is never fun

warnings: probs bad might delete later

“I don’t know, I just don’t see myself marrying you” dick states

You snort, “but you saw yourself marrying Barbara and Kory?”

You smile while saying it, trying to play it off as a lighthearted conversation, like you didn’t hear your heart break, like he practically wasn’t saying that you weren’t good enough to marry.

He shrugs, “yeah but that’s different they’re like heroes”

and they’re prettier than you? Smarter? Braver? Stronger? He loved them more than you? It wasn’t like he was meaning to judge you but it felt like it. It felt like he was judging you for not being as good as them.

You scrunch your lips in distaste, “hmmm not really but ok.”

He laughs in disbelief, noticing the slight venom to your words, “you seriously can’t be mad at me for saying I wouldn’t marry you, you’re the one who asked me!”

You’re jaw clenches at his words, first it was I don’t see myself marrying you, now it was I wouldn’t marry you, you shut your jaw and try to compose yourself.

He notices your response, or lack thereof, and states something before you even get the chance to speak, “it’s not like you would marry me!”

Your face turns into one of disgust and confusion, “Dick I would marry you in a heartbeat.” You state.

For a moment he just stares at you, knowing he can’t say the same to you. You shrug and turn your head back to the tv and watch some random sitcom on ABC family, ignoring the burning sensation in your stomach all the way up to your heart. He inches closer to you and wraps an arm around you.

“You know I love you, right?”

“Right.” is what your mouth says but the achy sensation in your heart is telling a different story.

•

A month later and thing start quickly going downhill, more arguing, more resentment, less love.

“I don’t understand.” Dick says

“I know you don’t.” You reply

“Then help me understand!”

“I can’t! Alright?”

“I’m sick of your fucking mind games!”

“My mind games?!?”

“Yes! You say you I judge you! I don’t”

“Yes you do like non stop as you’re off saving lives!”

“I’ve told you like a thousand times I don’t judge what you do!”

“Uh no no yes you do judge me. Like last month remember? You said you wouldn’t marry because I’m not a hero!”

“What?” He sighs, “okay, if I did say that I was probably just agreeing with you.”

“Well you did. You did say it. And I just can’t unhear the judgement in your voice.”

“Oh my god! Give me fucking break.” He shouts, “you don’t feel judged by me, you don’t and you know you don’t. You have judgement on yourself and you’re making this about me.” He pauses to look at you, “I have been nothing but supportive of you. You say you want to be attorney I say “that’s great, I love you.” but then you don’t believe me, so then you say you want to volenteer at an library for underprivileged youth, and I say “that’s great, I love you.” And then you’re mad at me for supporting that, it’s like I can’t fucking win with you!”

“Cause you never should have let me do the library, Dick!” You sigh, “like you know me better than anybody and you let me quit a job that I love to go teach children to fucking read! You should’ve stopped me!”

“You kept saying that that was what you wanted and it’s not my fucking job to make you be honest with me!”

“Yeah you’re right, I don’t know what came over me I’m sorry.” You say in defeat just wanted the argument to end

“No your not because you still think I’m in the wrong. I’m not. You make everything constantly about you. You don’t care about at all about Nightwing except how it relates to you, how it makes you feel. And it’s exhausting. Like what about me? I want somebody to show up for me and to support me. Not just someone who’s always thinking about themselves. And if you do have a problem you need to fucking talk to me.” He pauses for emphasis, “but instead you spin and spin and you quit your job and you hide things from me, like we’re in a relationship, we’re supposed to be partners”

“Dick what the fuck do you want me to do? I patch you up after patrol, I stay up for you because I know you don’t want to go to sleep alone, I follow your rules because I know it’s for my safety. What more do you want?”

“I want you to see that what I do is for greater good!”

“Yes I do, you make that perfectly clear! And I’m sure if it were between me and the fucking greater good you would choose the greater good! Because I’m no fucking Starfire or fucking Batgirl, I’m just me and apparently that’s not enough for you!”

“Oh my god this again! How many times do I have to tell you that I love you for you?!?”

“I never said you didn’t, you just don’t love me as much as you love them! You’ve made that as clear as a window.”

“Is this about the marriage thing because if it is then fine let’s go get married.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Then help me understand because you’re acting fucking crazy!”

“I don’t want you to marry me out of spite! I want you to marry me because you want to! And that isn’t the fucking problem!”

“Then what is?”

“I can’t be what you want!”

“I have never said that!”

“You don’t have to I can fucking feel it!”

Dick sighs, “fine if you can’t see that I love you for who you are then maybe this isn’t going to work out.”

“Yeah maybe.” You sigh, “I’m going to sleep in the guest room tonight.”

“I’m going out.” He says as he walks out the door and slams it.

When the door shuts you mutter a ‘fuck you to’ to particularly no one. Then you rush to the bathroom for a nice clearing your mind shower. What the fuck was happening. What the actual fuck. Was this the end of a five year relationship. Just like that five year relationship down the drain. Well not just like that, it’s been a long time coming. Recently you’ve started to notice that the relationship was slowly and painfully becoming more of a burden then a joy. You cut your hair, he didn’t notice. You hardly ever saw him anymore because of his work, and when you did it was just arguing. You would call him and it would go to voicemail and you would listen to it because you haven’t heard his voice in a while. And you thought that maybe a job that helps people more would bring you closer to him, but it didn’t. If anything it made things worse, you resented him as if he made you get the job. And you resented for not seeing that you resented him. You didn’t want to resent him because that was the first sign of a end of a relationship. And it feels so fucking horrible to resent the person you love for no reason. He didn’t make you quit your job, you made yourself. He was right it’s not his job to make you be honest with him. None of this was his fault. And you know he feels the same way. You saw the sparkle in his eyes leave. You felt him seeing you as a chore to check off his to-do list. You see him see you as to needy. So you saw the end coming. You just didn’t know it would be so painful. You guess it’s true what people say, “sometimes people just grow apart”.

As the cold water hits your skin, you’re brought out of your thoughts. The hot having turning cold reminded you just how long you have been in the shower. But instead of getting out, you let the water stream down your face, disguising your tears.

…

After a long hard talk about what you both want, you decided it was time to go.

“so I guess this is goodbye?” you say with a bitter sweet smile

“Yeah I guess.” He says with that same bittersweet smile.

“I’ve regretted endless things but I don’t think I’ll ever regret you. You taught me how to love and for that I’m forever grateful.” You state walking over to him to embrace him in hug

Dick welcomes the hug and mumbles “I hate how you’re so poetic even in a time of despair.”

“Oh please you love that about me!” You pull back appalled

“Yeah I guess” he sighs

“I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you to”

“Goodbye.” You say as you let go of his hands

“Goodbye.” As he says it you have to hold back from saying ‘I love you’ because now he wasn’t yours.

You turn to leave and are you about to open the door but pause. There’s so many unsaid words. Unfinished dreams. Unfulfilled accomplishments. But maybe they were better off left that way. You then open the door and leave behind a whirlwind of memories but also find new ones. You do not know what will come from Dick’s part in your life but you know it led you closer to you’re happy ending. While you still love him, you realized you’re just not what each other need anymore and that’s okay.

#dick grayson #batman #angst #fluff #dick grayson x reader #dc comics #dick grayson x you #dick grayson angst #dick grayson x female!reader

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dekusleftsock · 14 days

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Turning tragedy into hope-Let him lose those arms

I’ve tried making this post three times so let’s hope that third times the charm y’all.

I’m just gonna come out and say it but when I saw that panel where Izuku doesn’t have any hands I literally got so excited.

AND ITS NOT BECAUSE I LIKE MY FAVORITE CHARACTER GETTING BRUTALIZED (well? I do think it’s a little funny but shhh)

But it’s because this has been foreshadowed almost as much as the handhold itself between Izuku and Katsuki. And it’s wonderfully tragic in the best of ways. Literally half of the commentary surrounding it when it came out in the leaks was “omg I thought of that!” Because literally everyone and their mother KNEW this was coming in some form. Izuku was going to lose an arm, and that would be the case.

Hell, even outside of the story the amount of official art and AU’s Horikoshi drew that had Izuku without an arm is astounding. Like it’s so painfully obvious that this was coming, and so he upped the shock when he made Izuku lose them both.

Izuku is even doing his white eye thing, he isn’t shocked, he’s angry. My dude is pissed. Clearly, to me at least, the loss of his hands is less of a shock to him and more so that he’s angry that afo took away the reason he lost them in the first place—Tenko.

Y’all gotta remember who Izuku is, he’s the stubborn motherfucker that refused time and time again to give up on his dreams, he’s the one that illegally saved Iida and Katsuki, he’s the one that refused to let go of Tenko’s hands because when he was in his time of need, it comforted him.

Izuku has been told by his doctors for over a year atp that he was going to eventually either lose his hands, or lose the function within them. He’s accepted that. He can try to stop it, hold it off through equipment and treatment, but at the end of the day, everything breaks eventually. He knows that. We know that.

So if he was going to lose his arms in some way, it’d be through this: saving someone, holding their hands, never letting go, comforting them.

It’s tragic and sacrificial, but Aizawa’s the same. Did we make theories about how Eri is gonna heal him from being an amputee? Did the story say “actually due to this cool magical illusion/quirk it was all a mirage/eri could heal it”? No, it didn’t. Did Mirko somehow get her arms and legs back because they’re tied to how she views her strength? No, she didn’t.

And there’s a reason they didn’t. Multiple reasons they didn’t. They’re heroes, their scars tell their stories.

Not even mentioning how that’s such a trope (“everyone else keeps their long term injuries except for the main character because he’s special and gets main character powers, like not getting a disability from a dangerous job! :)”), but why should eri, a little girl, be responsible for everyone’s injuries? She doesn’t even have full control yet, she’s playing it by day. (People LOVE to talk about how all the 1-A kids are just kids fighting in a war, except when it comes to a little girl being responsible for everyone’s injuries, somehow)

The reason eri was shown wasn’t because she was going to somehow save the day, but because she wasn’t. It was supposed to stop those theories from having actual merit, because eri doesn’t actually have the built up strength to help.

So, with that out of the way, I wanted to say how this is so fucking beautiful. It’s tragic yes, Izuku and Katsuki never got to hold hands, not properly, but maybe the measure of their trust is beyond that. Maybe, an embrace could suffice—this would go back to Izuku’s vigilante arc. Where, instead of holding hands, Katsuki caught him when he needed to. And he’s going to do it, again and again.

Maybe holding a robot or silicone arm won’t feel the same, but it’s the feelings surrounding it that matters, not the act itself. The hand hold is still there, the hands still haunt the narrative like a mouse within the walls. It bites at cords like their own emotional walls.

Katsuki missed his chance, over and over again, and he’s going to have to come to terms with that. But that’s not to say that the story won’t let this aspect haunt the narrative like it always has. It’s still THERE, and I believe in Horikoshi to continue to write a story about hands while the main character doesn’t even have them.

Izuku’s hands are tied to his strength, physically and emotionally. He views them has the glue that ties his heroics to himself. His hands have always reached out to others, his hands have always punched those who were wrong, and even when he had to switch fighting styles he still saw them as the reason he was able to fight at all. They represent OFA, his love, his anger, his weakness, his strength. They represent his sense of self, and yet he’s more outraged than hurt that he lost them for Tenko to be free—only for AFO to take away that freedom all over again.

THATS why the loss had to happen. THIS. He lost something so incredibly valuable to himself, but he lost them of his own accord. He could have let go of Tenko at any moment, yet he didn’t because he wanted Tenko to know comfort and freedom. He wanted him to be free.

You could say that Tenko was telling Izuku to let go because he was breaking down his emotional resolve, and I believe you could also say that he was telling Izuku to let go so he doesn’t hurt someone who tried to help him all over again. You could say it’s both. It’s selfish and selfless, like everything in this story is. But Izuku refused to, and that was a choice Tenko could never take away from him.

So, that’s how I’ll turn this tragedy to hope, because this was done out of Izuku’s love, why take away that meaning?

Why put them back?

Why take away those scars?

Scars tell stories, they tell you how we became the greatest heroes.

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antiwhores · 2 years

Note

Hey there remember when you said you were down to write (almost) anything

Wellll how bout some size kink Prohero!Kiri or Prohero!Shinso they're just big loving men with giant muscles they would easily manhandle you into any position and maybe a little pinch of praise kink in there because they would love you so much and want to make sure you feel loved during and after and the cuddles don't get me started I love them

Double stuffed- Kirishima/Shinsou/Reader

Gotchu, sorry this took so long, I didn’t know how to check requests LOL! Hope you enjoy.

Kirishima x Shinsou x Reader for anonymous

Double penetration, oral (male and female recieveing), could look non con but I promise its not, threesome, proof read (yall proud of me?), dacryfillia, creampies, slight exbititism or whatever its called, aftercare, praise kink, manhandling

You didn’t really understand how you ended up sandwiched between two pro heros. One your boyfriend and one a customer, yet they both unzipping their pants and threw their belts on the floor. No matteer how many times you replayed the story, it still felt unbelievable.

You were a waitress at the hero gala, a proud one at that. Although you weren’t a big fangirl or anything, your job let you meet countless heros and interesting people and anyone sane would find that super cool.

This job is where you met your now boyfriend, Shinso, after an awkward encounter on you first day that you still cringed about.

You remember bringing a plate to a table occupying pro heros Dynamight, Red Riot, Cellophane, and Chargebolt. You kinda asked them what theyd like to eat. You’d made sure not to sound to enthusiastic or interested since it was highly adviced against during training.

Chargebolt winked, “I’ll have a some fugu with a side of you, babe.” You calmly wrote down fugu as his friends glared at him, except for Dynamight, he hit him. “Fugu, good choice. We’re out of that side though.” You had tried to keep professional but it came a bit hostile. His friend, Cellophane, snickered at him. Chargebolt dramatically fainted, “So cruel!”

You took the other two’s orders, stopping at the redhead. He was looking at you- no, staring. “If you’re stuck on what the get, the Kujira here is great.” He snapped out of his trance, startled. “I’ll have that then!” His reply was a bit too loud. It would’ve startled you if you weren’t so used to other pro heros. “Alright, your food will be with you soon. Thank you.”

After that you spent the whole day assisting them and one other table of heros you didnt know the names of. The redhead still couldn’t take his eyes off of you. You felt them as you walked away, or steered by, or walked up. If he wasn’t so hot, you’d get scared.

After a solid couple of hours, it was your break. You would usually head into the breakroom but your boyfriend had passed you a note to meet him in the abandoned hallway to speak.

He came in suprisingly quickly after you. He came over a kissed your temple, scanning you with his tired eyes. You sighed, “You need to start sleeping more.” “Hypocrite.” He quickly responded. He began to inspect you once more, “I swear, this uniform is too tight. Its like second skin.” He says. “So is half of modern hero costumes.” He lazily smiles at that.

You lean in to give him a quick kiss. It wasn’t quick for long though as he immediately came back for seconds. Before long, his tongue was exploring your mouth and his leg was between your thighs. “What’s gotten into you?” You said between kisses. He dove into your neck. “You have. Theres a room over there, bed and all, lets go.” You bit your lip to hold back the sounds threatening to excape. “I have work.” He groaned into your neck, “Whatever, one word from me and they’ll be allowing you-“

Before he could even finish the sentence a gasp accompanied with a flinch rips through you as you turn your head to give him more room to lick. “What?” He turns your way and also freezes.

Standing there, hard though his pants is Red Riot. His eyes widened when he was caught, immediately removing the hand that had been palming himself.

Shinso’s tired face doesn’t falter much, he only frowns. “Kirishima. What the hell?” They know eachother. Red Riot, aka Kirishima, runs over to you guys. He flails his arms as he prefusely apologizes. “Im sorry! I was coming out here to ask Ms. l/n out and just couldn’t move. I didnt know you were like… a thing!”

And somehow, this simple interaction turned into your clothes being torn off and you panting on the bed. “We’ll make it quick since you have to get back to work l/n! Swear!” “Speak for yourself.”

It was dark, you could barely see anything but you could hear the sound of them shuffling on the big bed behind and in front of you. You sqealed when two big arms suddenly pulled your legs apart. Then another pair of even bigger hands gently grabbed your face and pulled it towards him.

“Your mouth is so pretty baby.” Kirishima gaps before sliding his cock against your lips. Shinso bent down between your legs while hoisting your hips up. “Wait till you see hee other lips.” You would’ve shamed him for the crued joke but the feeling of his tongue licking up the slick dripping from your cunt silenced you into a moan.

Kirishima gently inserted his cock inside his mouth. You gagged, he was huge. “I know baby.” You barely grabbed your compulsure between his cock lightly thrusting into your mouth and Shinso sucking hard on your clit. You were already so overstimulated and they had just begun.

Shinso’s tongue was mesmerizing. You found your eyes rolling back into you skull at the slopping noises he made. He was fisting himself hard and slow while he ate you out. You could tell he was atleast trying to make it fast by helping himself out until leaving that to the main course. Every once in a while you would gasp at the spikes of pleasure and squeeze down your throat. Kirishima would whimper and always pick up the pace.

Tears streamed down your face like a focet near your orgasm. The more you tried to moan, the more you squeezed on Kirishima. “Mmmmmm,” He moaned, “Im gonna-“

Your eyes widened as his cock twitched in your mouth. Just as you braced yourself the tongue left and a harsh thrust was replaced. It made an aggressive arch and muffled scream force out of you throat.

Shinso immediately started to fuck into you at an insane pace. He bit his lips to hold back his moans. Kirishima couldnt hold himself back anymore and came hard down your throat. He spasmed, blubbering praises, while his warm cum shot down your throat.

Your orgasm tore threw you like paper. And it was intense. You shook so hard your muscles hurt. Your eyes rolled even farther into your head as more tears rolled down your cheeks. The stars you saw clouded your vision until you were on the edge of passing out.

You squeezed so hard onto Shinsou that he didn’t last more than 5 seconds after you. “Fuck…” He moaned before dumping his load into you as well. It filled you up so much it seeped out through his cock. He held you still in place as he orgasmed. “Just like that.” He moaned before taking out his cock and stuffing it back into his pants, Kirishima following suit.

Kirishima wiped your tears as Shinsou began to clean your thighs with a washcloth he found in the drawer. They dressed you back up, helped you on your feet, pampered you until you stopped crying from the overstimulation, and helped you out the door. You were only 5 minutes late.

#mha smut #mha x reader #shinsou smut #shinsou x reader #kirishima fluff #kirishima x you #kirishima imagine #kirishima x reader #shinso x reader #shinso smut #kirishima x shinsou x reader #shinsou x kirishima x reader #hitoshi shinso x reader #ejirou x reader #ejirou kirishima

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percyjacksonblog · 2 months

Text

I just finished the first Trials of Apollo book and I got to say, I actually enjoyed it.

I read the original 5 PJOs from 2007-9. 6th grade to 7th grade. Then starting in 2010 (?) when The Lost Hero came out I read each of the HoO books as they came out. I think I was a freshman in college (2014?) when the last one came out, so I can honestly say I grew up with these characters and this world.

I don’t remember why I didn’t read any of the Trials of Apollo books before but it was nice to come back to this world. I read PJO 6 when it came out last fall and it sparked my love of reading these stories again, so I read The Hidden Oracle to continue this story to keep up to date in this world.

Spoilers ahead

So as I mentioned before I did like this book.

It’s been literal years since I read any of TLF, but I did get some major TLF vibes from it. The set up for the rest of the series is pretty good.

Haikus for chapter titles A+

Showing that the mythic world is always growing and there is a new generation of Demigods (Clarisse, and Travis going to college, Percy and Annabeth in their senior year)

Cameos from og characters like Connor, Percy, Malcolm, Nico, and Will

Interesting take that once Apollo and Meg arrived at camp they technically never left. I think except for BotL and TLO this book and the most limited outside of camp action. Not a bad thing, just a different experience.

Peaches!

I’m not going to lie I genuinely did not expect that twist! I was legitimately shocked. Looking back I feel like I could have picked up on some of the clues. I mean imperial gold swords…come on. That should have been a dead giveaway.

Apollo really did grow as a character this book. I’m very interested to see how else he grows.

My biggest question is, if Apollo is supposed to be Lester, why don’t the other demigods refer to him as Lester? Like what is the point of an entirely different identity if it’s really not used? Apollo only refers to himself as Lester when he’s complaining about mortality or feeling useless. Maybe it’s more important later but I feel like making an entirely new identity, one that Nero and probably the rest of the Triumvirate can see through, is kind of pointless. One of the themes of this book is acceptance, so maybe when Apollo totally accepts “Lester” that’s the end.

So much of this was too easily accomplished by Apollo or Apollo/Meg. They were met with a problem and it was almost solved too easily. The thugs in the beginning, Meg beat them up. Attacked by plague spirits, Meg summons Peaches, trapped in the cocoon made by ants and almost about to be eaten, flower seeds that your 1/2 sister gave you before your quest. Trying to fight off ants, just sing a song and they’ll be mesmerized. Don’t get me wrong I loved all those scenes, but the only time that any of the characters actually struggled was fighting Nero. Even when they’re fighting the giant statue, Apollo’s arrow magically gets helped by the wind.

I really hope Apollo finds Meg. I have the second book ready to go and will start reading it. I need her to come back to camp. That poor girl had been emotionally and mentally abused by Nero. She was also manipulated by him and I feel so sorry for her.

Leo coming back to camp and Nico setting up a queue to allow the campers to punch him was legitimately one of the funniest things I’ve read in the entire Percy Jackson world.

Calypso giving up immortality is huge. Her reunion with Percy was also funny.

Apollo’s reaction to Calypso was also amazing (juicy gossip. Don’t ask me later.) If Percy is the god of sass, Apollo is literally the god of gossip. I love it.

I’m excited to keep going with this series. It’s nice to that I don’t have to wait until the next book gets published because it’s already out.

#percy jackson #heroes of olympus #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo series #trials of apollo #the hidden oracle #apollo

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mighty-ant · 11 days

Text

heroes in need

ao3

It was far past the hour that Cody should be asleep by, but his dad usually made an exception for their solo father-son adventures, and tonight was no different.

If schedules allowed, they might go camping or all the way to the mainland, but when Charlie had a patrol shift the next morning, they usually stuck closer to home. Chase had been a good sport about joining them for a screening at the drive-in, as he was about most things that Cody or Charlie asked of him.

With such a big family, that doubled in size with the arrival of the bots, getting his dad’s attention all to himself without having to end up in some sort of mortal peril first was harder than it looked, and it made Cody protective of their time together. It hurt when one of his siblings butted in, intentionally or otherwise, or if an emergency dragged his dad away.

Cody loved spending time with his entire family, really he did, but sometimes it was too easy to fade into the background when everyone was involved. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, just a drawback of being the youngest in a big family, and Cody knew now that it wasn’t because he was especially forgettable or anything.

It was different with the bots, as most things were, and he didn’t feel small or invisible when he was around them. The opposite, really.

When Cody and Boulder went to the far side of the island to stargaze, and Boulder told stories about Cybertron, holding Cody close to his chest, close enough to feel the thrum of his spark beneath his plating, it felt as if he had the universe at his fingertips.

And when Blades insisted on joining the Pioneer Scouts because he wanted to spend more time with Cody (and because he liked how the neckerchiefs looked), it was the first time anyone had gone to such lengths to share in his interests. He and Blades learned and explored together, did badgework together, and always paired up for their nature hikes. He was the person Cody watched cartoons with, and watching him be brave made Cody want to be brave too.

Heatwave, huge, angry, and the leader of a group of rescue workers turned interstellar refugees, gave Cody the same level of undivided attention he gave their Prime, if not more. Cody knew that his gruff voice gentled around him in a way it didn’t for anyone else, and that the only place safer than Heatwave’s cab was his dad’s own arms.

He saw Cody’s worth as a rescuer before anyone else did, and from that first day, when Heatwave refused to continue on with the team if Cody wasn’t part of it, Cody knew he didn’t have to worry about getting left behind ever again.

Chase had almost become an extension of his dad, protective and stern in equal measure. Just being near him was calming, even when Cody wasn’t doing anything more than reading, playing a video game, or just wanting some company. Not only did he not seem to mind these long stretches of silence, but Chase always seemed pleased to see him, the naturally severe set to his faceplates softening with his smile. And when his dad had to leave for the mainland for two weeks, Cody found himself slipping into the garage on more than a few nights to curl up in Chase’s passenger seat, and keep each other company for a few hours, missing Charlie together.

While Cody preferred that no one else interrupt his time with his dad, Chase’s presence felt natural now, and unobtrusive in a way the other bots or his siblings weren’t.

He was great to watch movies with once he got over his instinctual cringe every time a character broke a law, and had such a precise memory that he could save all of his questions for the end (once he learned that interrupting the movie to ask them was typically considered rude).

Cody hoped Chase had enjoyed tonight’s movie; the poor guy had practically leapt out of vehicle mode when Doc Brown revealed he’d stolen plutonium. At any rate, his avatar on the dashboard screen was smiling as they turned onto their block, but Cody couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t just because his two charges were still talking and laughing inside his cabin.

“I can’t believe we haven’t shown the bots the Back to the Future movies yet,” Cody said, shaking his head in wonder.

“I’m as surprised as you are,” Charlie chuckled. “They’re classics.”

“They’re showing the rest of the trilogy at the drive-in over the next two nights,” Cody exclaimed. “We could all go! What do you think, Chase?”

Chase hummed thoughtfully, and Cody felt his seat belt tighten gently in the bots’ vehicle mode version of a hug. “Boulder would certainly have something to say about the execution of time travel, having experienced it ourselves, and Blades will enjoy the music and general hilarity. Heatwave, I believe, will join us if you ask him to.”

“Oh, but they’ve gotta watch the first movie, or the second one won’t make any sense.” Cody turned pleading eyes on his dad.

Charlie laughed, shaking his head. “Oh no, it’s already way past shut-eye, kiddo. You can watch the movie in the morning.”

Cody sighed, if only on principle. He was pretty tired, and if he started the movie now, he’d fall asleep five minutes in. “Okay.”

Chase rolled into the garage, and opened his doors to the familiar sound of Kade and Heatwave arguing.

The firebot was looming over Kade, shoving a car buffer in his face. Undaunted by the difference in height, weight, and strength, Kade was waving his arms to ward him off, trying to skirt around Heatwave at the same time.

“I can’t right now! I’ve got a—”

Heatwave growled. “If you say ‘date,’ I swear next time I’ll lock you in my cab with Mr. Pettypaws.”

“Some partner!” Kade shot back.

“What’s all this now?” Charlie asked dryly.

Heatwave straightened up, coming somewhat to attention in Charlie’s presence. Not that it stopped him from shooting his fellow firefighter a dirty look. “I was just reminding Kade here that he agreed to buff out the dents on my back from our rescue at that rockslide this morning. Blades already took care of the deeper damage.”

“Damage?” Cody repeated, his heart skipping a beat. “I didn’t know you got hurt, Heatwave.”

He looked Heatwave over intently, and his worry eased a bit when he didn’t see any trace of the pink, alien blood they called energon.

It was extremely rare that any of the bots were injured enough to bleed—they weren’t soldiers, thankfully, and as dangerous as their rescues could be, there wasn’t a whole lot on their island that could hurt a Cybertronian. But an explosion at the rocket fuel reservoir last month had mangled Boulder’s arm, turning a routine inspection into something out of a nightmare.

The bulldozer handled the whole ordeal with his usual aplomb, staying calmer than any of them, even Blades who triaged him ahead of Velocity’s emergency arrival from the Autobots, D.C. base. Boulder had even eagerly helped with rebuilding his ruined limb, and had been officially cleared for duty as of two weeks ago.

But Cody couldn’t forget the chaos over the comm lines, Graham, the only one to see the explosion firsthand, desperately calling Boulder’s name from the reservoir control room. They’d airlifted Boulder to the firehouse and when Cody tried to get into the bunker to check on him, his dad held him back from where the three bots were gathered around the medical berth, hiding Boulder from view, but not the grunts of pain he couldn’t quite keep at bay or the trail of glowing energon they’d left in their wake.

In the present, Heatwave reached down, nudging a finger against Cody’s shoulder with gentle care. “Only a few dings, Cody,” he said in his comforting gravel voice, as warm with reassurance as it had been snappish with acrimony just moments before. “Got my tailboard caught in the rockslide when we were clearing out one of the houses.”

Charlie looked at Kade expectantly, arms crossed over his chest. “Did you agree to help? Because that sounds more than fair, son.”

Kade groaned. “Well, yeah, but I didn’t think I’d actually have to—”

Heatwave shoved the buffer into his arms again, letting go this time and forcing Kade to scramble to catch it before it hit the floor. “Thanks, champ,” Heatwave said with a grin that was all teeth.

“Oh hoho, you are gonna get it, Clifford, just you wait.”

“Good night, you two,” Charlie said pointedly as he started leading Cody toward the entrance to the firehouse proper. To Chase, he bid a much more pleasant, “I’ll see you in the morning, partner.”

“Good night, Chase!” Cody piped up.

Chase dipped his head slightly, his faceplates shifting into one of his subtle smiles. “Good night, Chief. Cody.”

He started for the platform that led down to the bunker, but he hadn’t even made it to the controls before he froze midstep.

Across the garage, Heatwave halted mid transformation into vehicle mode. He returned to root mood swiftly, startling Kade who’d just gotten the buffer started.

Judging by the tilt of the bots’ heads, they were receiving an internal comm. Chase’s brow furrowed at whatever he heard, but Cody didn’t think much of it until he saw Heatwave’s worried scowl.

“Did you just receive a distress signal from Boulder?” Chase asked, concern deepening his usually even tone.

“Yeah,” Heatwave muttered. “But it cut off.”

“For me as well.” Chase raised a hand to his comm unit. “I will attempt to contact Boulder directly.” He was quiet for a moment, as he presumably did just that, but his expression grew even more troubled. “He is not responding on any frequency.”

“Pull up his location,” Heatwave growled.

A hologram popped out of Chase’s wrist displaying a map of the island, which Cody would’ve usually marveled at. But all he could feel was the cold prickling of dread in his stomach. His dad put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, but it didn’t do much to make him feel better.

Chase’s optics widened. “I cannot detect Boulder’s energon signature.”

“What does that mean?” Cody asked hesitantly.

In a flash, Heatwave had a hand up to his comm. “Blades! Report in, do you have eyes on Boulder?”

“I cannot detect Blades’ signature either,” Chase said quietly.

Cody’s stomach dropped at the note of fear in the policebot’s voice. He looked up to his dad, but he was watching the bots with a knit brow and tension in his jaw.

“That’s it!” Heatwave snarled as he stormed the tall doors of the garage. “We’re going to Boulder’s last known location. He’s supposed to be at the lab, right?”

“Sir,” Chase murmured to Charlie, hesitating briefly between the two leaders.

Charlie nodded. “I’m coming along too, partner.”

“What’s the big deal?” Kade complained, even as he followed Heatwave. “Those nerds probably just got distracted by moss growing on the wrong side of a tree or something,” he said, only to run straight into the back of Heatwave’s lower leg when the firebot jerked to a stop before even reaching the doors.

Kade stumbled back with a curse, pressing a hand over his face. “Hey, ow! If you chipped my tooth, I’m making us swap bodies again so you can go to the dentist to deal with it.”

He looked up when there was no snide retort from his partner. “Heatwave?”

Heatwave wasn’t the only one not moving or reacting in any way. Chase was frozen, too. They shuddered into an uncanny stillness, completely unlike their earlier pause at the distress signal or their typical, imperfect robot mode. It happened in a blink, but in that second Cody swore he saw a bar of glowing red light arc over their bodies from head to toe, flickering at the edges like electricity.

That second of silence was like a held breath.

Kade, though, was apparently blind and deaf to it.

“What’s the deal, Heatw—WOAH!”

Kade threw himself to the side, narrowly avoiding being crushed by Heatwave’s body as he collapsed backward, a twenty-foot-tall marionette with its strings cut. Cody had never thought about just how tall Heatwave was, or how broad, until he was toppling from his great height, deadly as a collapsing building.

Utterly limp, the force of his fall was like a miniature earthquake and it knocked Cody off his feet with a startled cry.

Behind him, he heard his dad call out as Chase slumped forward the same way Heatwave had, falling face first with a tooth rattling, deafening crash that rang in Cody’s ears long after it passed.

Staring over Chase’s prone form, Cody locked eyes with his dad, who’d been thrown to the ground just like him, expression blown wide with shock.

Cody sucked in air but couldn’t form words, ice-cold panic crystalizing in his chest. His mind was utterly blank, unable to comprehend what had happened. What little he understood .

Kade didn’t have that problem.

“Heatwave, what the hell? You could’ve killed me!” Pushing himself back onto his feet, Cody’s oldest brother whirled around with a snarl to put Heatwave to shame, but his ire sputtered out as he took in the true extent of the scene: both bots collapsed on the ground, and Cody and Charlie’s equally panicked faces.

“What the hell?” Kade repeated.

Heatwave had fallen with his face turned toward Cody.

He’d seen the bots’ faces when frozen by virus into an emotionless mask. He’d seen the bots’ faces when their memories were wiped, and they didn’t recognize their own family. He’d even seen the bots’ faces while mind controlled by Mrs. Pynch.

Heatwave’s face wasn’t just blank. It was slack, hints of confusion and pain frozen in the unmoving furrow of his brow and lines of tension around his mouth. His orange optics were dark, the light within guttered. They weren’t closed, or dimmed like when the bots were in recharge.

It was like he was…like he was…

Kade had scrambled around to Heatwave’s other side, slapping his palms against one broad red shoulder. “Heatwave, this isn’t funny, man!” he snapped, his voice cracking.

“Kade,” Charlie said hoarsely, too faint to be a reprimand. “This isn’t an act.” His hands were on Chase’s face and he didn’t look away from his partner for an instant. Cody was too afraid to check if his gold optics had gone dark too.

“So what the hell’s happened to them! Heatwave? C’mon, man, I need you to wake up now!”

Kade was kneeling by Cody, in front of Heatwave’s dark, empty face. His sightless optics seemed to stare at him over Kade’s shoulder, and Cody couldn’t look away, cold horror narrowing his vision.

“Cody!” Charlie yelled like he never did unless danger was barreling toward them, and Cody snapped to attention. Based on the desperation in his dad’s voice and the apology in his expression, it probably wasn’t the first time he’d called Cody’s name.

“Call Graham,” he instructed, his steady voice wavering only slightly. “Maybe he or Boulder knows what’s happening to them.”

“O-okay, Dad.”

Cody reached for his comm link. Maybe he’d turned it off for the movie and forgotten to turn it back on, or maybe the shattering slam of Heatwave and Chase’s collapse really had deafened him. Whatever the reason, the moment he reached for his comm, the line exploded with Graham and Dani’s shaking, terrified voices shouting to be heard over each other.

“—Dad with you? Are the bots there? We need to call Ratchet, call-call anyone! Boulder, he-he—”

“—Blades, we need to help Blades! I don’t know what’s going—!”

“Just collapsed—he’s unresponsive—”

“Blades fell out of the sky!”

–

Boulder rounded the bend coming down from Doc Greene’s lab, his open window letting in a breeze that ruffled Graham’s hair and cooled his skin. They’d lost track of time experimenting with new upgrades for the bots’ energon-powered tools, but Graham didn’t regret it, and he knew Boulder didn’t either.

After two weeks of medical leave, and down one arm almost the entire time, Boulder was eager to get back to work, having drawn up plans upon plans while his repairs set in and his new limb was manufactured. They included but were not limited to: visiting Leafy, visiting the Rubios, reinforcing the walls around the rocket fuel reservoir (as Kade would say, doy! ), and looking over the newest specs sent over by Wheeljack, which was best done with plenty of fire extinguishers around, or better yet, one Heatwave.

Graham’s engineering mind had been fascinated by Boulder’s self-repair network, so similar and yet nothing alike a human’s own immune system, preventing its host from going into shock from a missing limb by shutting off pain receptors and sealing off the flow of energon to damaged areas.

Not to mention rebuilding a Cybertronian limb from scratch was a truly humbling experience. Thirty years of their presence on Earth, and their biology was still a highly classified secret everywhere but the furthest reaches of the black market, and neither Graham nor Doc Greene took that trust and access for granted.

Boulder’s arm, much like his original, was a transformer all on its own, capable of turning into a welding torch, nail gun, and drill, not to mention a dozen other tools like saws and screwdrivers of various sizes. It was a wonder to build and even more gratifying to see in operation during their rescues since, but Graham wouldn’t soon forget the reason Boulder needed an entirely new limb in the first place.

The blast at the rocket fuel reservoir had been intense. Graham felt the heat behind the three foot thick concrete walls of the security room, and had been knocked off his feet by the force of the explosion. The sound of Boulder bellowing in pain wouldn’t leave his nightmares for a long time, if ever, nor the sight of his partner stumbling away from the flames once Graham scrambled out of the building with a fire extinguisher in hand, his left arm hanging limp, barely attached to his shoulder, and the rivulets of glowing pink energon pouring down his limp fingertips and pooling on the ground.

“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” Boulder had grunted, somehow still managing to smile at Graham as he furiously put out the flames encroaching on his partner’s spilled energon.

Boulder was always doing that, trying to make the best of a bad situation and easing Graham out of his spirals of self-doubt. It didn’t work so much when he was in obvious pain and failing to hide it, but a part of Graham was still in awe and humbled that someone like Boulder, giant, powerful and unflinchingly kind, an alien from a society so advanced that humans must resemble cavemen playing with sticks and stones by comparison, would look at him and find someone worthwhile. Someone he called friend. Partner.

But Boulder did, and almost every day he reminded Graham that he’d chosen their family, and he'd chosen him, in a hundred small ways. Like now.

“It’s a beautiful night,” Boulder rumbled, his voice rolling warmly through his cab. “Makes me wish I had my paints with me.”

The view was especially nice tonight. A waxing moon painted the ocean in strokes of silver, and below them the town looked like a miniature, every light a little beacon in the darkness. There was little light pollution up on the hill to Griffin Rock Labs, save the street lights every few feet, and the stars above them were plentiful, if faint.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you paint a night sky before,” Graham wondered aloud. Boulder had been getting more experimental with his art style lately, inspired by Dalí and Van Gogh to try out oil paints. He wondered what The Starry Night by Boulder might look like. “We can grab them from the firehouse and come back if you want?”

On Boulder’s screen, his avatar smiled gratefully, but shook its head.

“Nah, it’s already pretty late. Maybe another night.” Boulder’s digital face brightened. “We can set out right after sunset!”

Graham smiled back, his pensiveness pushed aside by Boulder’s perpetually upbeat disposition. “Sounds good to me, partner.”

They fell into a comfortable silence again, but Graham could sense that Boulder still had something on his mind, judging by the thoughtful cant to his avatar’s face. He waited, looking back out Boulder’s window so he wouldn’t feel pressured to speak. Graham’s instincts proved right after another minute.

“I was just thinking; maybe we could take a trip one day?” Boulder wondered aloud, his voice going up hopefully. “To the mainland, I mean.”

“I’d love that,” Graham responded almost at once, and he meant it, too. Their bots had seen so little of Earth compared to the rest of the Autobots, who’d had fifteen years of peacetime to travel and get acclimated. Graham wanted to see their reactions to everything. Boulder’s especially.

He immediately jumped into plotting out the logistics in his head, though he was struck by a troubling thought almost as quickly.

“But what about G.H.O.S.T?”

They didn’t know much about the organization—nobody did, apparently, outside of internet conspiracy theorists—and Optimus was frustratingly vague whenever they tried to question him about it.

What they did know: G.H.O.S.T. was partnered with the Autobots’, serving as an intermediary with the U.S. government and helping to capture the remaining Decepticons in the country, which was a point of contention all its own. Even the Rescue Bots were split.

Boulder and Blades wanted peace on all fronts, and that included pardons for the Decepticons stuck on Earth. Chase was of the mind that they should serve some sort of time for their crimes against Cybertron and humanity, while Heatwave couldn’t care less what they did, as long as the Decepticons were locked away. Graham privately thought that the firebot wanted someone to blame for the destruction and eventual loss of their home, since they were beyond powerless to do anything about it, arriving twelve years after the loss of the Allspark.

Supposedly, G.H.O.S.T. was also meant to provide the Autobots with housing and support. But at the same time, the Rescue Bots had to remain a secret from them no matter what, because Optimus didn’t trust their partner’s intentions enough to let them know about the existence of possibly the last Cybertronian civilians in existence.

It was heavy stuff, not to mention extremely nerve-wracking, especially when they first learned of the Rescue Bots’ sentience and true origins. It had felt like just a matter of time before black helicopters and SWAT teams descended on the island and dragged their new Cybertronian partners away.

But Griffin Rock’s shielding remained intact, and the town was so used to advanced technology that they bought the Rescue Bots as being man-made, especially since none of them had ever had cause to meet a real Cybertronian up close before.

Boulder hummed, the sound nearly lost under the churning of his treads. “We’d be careful! Humans barely even bat an eye when they see a Cybertronian. We could visit Canada! Not a whole lot of G.H.O.S.T. activity up there, at least according to Teletraan I.”

Graham started to nod. “That does sound nice. No rescues for a few days, no siblings, no drama…” And close enough to home in case of an all-hands emergency.

Plus, Boulder had been stuck on Griffin Rock for three years, and hadn’t even gotten a real look at the rest of Maine, much less another country. And with the warmer weather, Canada wouldn’t even be a bad option for those who weren’t resistant to subzero temperatures.

Boulder began slowing down, and Graham first thought that some sort of animal must be in their path. But the road was clear, and Boulder’s digital face looked confused.

“Hmm. That’s strange,” he muttered to himself.

Graham leaned forward, much more alert now. “What is it?”

“I’m detecting an energy signature unlike anything I’ve ever seen before,” Boulder explained, sounding troubled. “It’s…incredibly powerful.”

A thrill of fear swept through Graham at the uncertainty in his partner’s voice, and he wrapped a hand around the edge of Boulder’s center console, though he wasn’t quite sure if he was seeking reassurance or trying to give it. “An energy signature? From where?”

Boulder didn’t sound any less perturbed, and Graham could only imagine that he was straining his many diagnostic sensors to the fullest. “Nowhere on the island. Its origin is somewhere west, on the mainland and…it’s spreading. Like a pulse.”

Boulder braked completely, and in a dizzying turn, Graham found himself an extra ten feet off the ground, the bot having converted to root mode much faster than he normally would have. “Hold on, Graham. This thing is coming straight at us, and I don’t know what effect it’ll have on humans.”

“But-but my family!” Graham insisted, that tease of fear sinking claws of terror into his heart.

“I’ve already sent out a distress signal,” Boulder tried to soothe despite the tension of what could only be his EM field thickening the air, and making Graham’s hair stand on end. “That should—”

Boulder cut himself off with a terrible gasp, shuddering around Graham like his armor was trying to rattle apart. Red light flashed through his interior, inexplicable as it was instantaneous, and so bright it burned an afterimage into Graham’s retinas.

“Boulder!” Graham cried, blinking hard. “Boulder, buddy, what’s wrong?”

“Wr-wrong-gg,” Boulder garbled out in a voice that was almost all static. The screen on his center console has gone dark.

He fell to his knees, and his windshield opened at the same time his seat belt retracted. The seat itself booted Graham out, and he hit the dirt hard, rocks tearing at the skin of palms when he instinctively stuck out his hands to catch himself, bashing his cheek and biting his tongue when his arms buckled. But his training didn’t let him dwell on those injuries for long as he rolled out from under Boulder’s shadow.

Boulder, who had gone eerily silent above him.

Graham craned his head up just in time to watch Boulder’s still form start to tip, before his arms gave out and he collapsed, utterly limp, into the dirt.

Hands stinging with blood and grit, half his face aching, and Graham barely felt any of it. He stared at Boulder’s motionless body with mounting horror for seconds that stretched into hours, every rational thought quailing as his mind refused to comprehend what was in front of him. He scarcely understood what had just happened, but the end result…?

“B-Boulder?” Graham stammered into the crushing, painful silence, his voice cracking. This fear, thick and nauseating, was familiar but had never been this intense. It was a byproduct of the helplessness of knowing his best friend was beyond his reach and his efforts were useless. He’d sampled this horror at the rocket fuel reservoir, hearing Boulder’s guttural roar of pain, seeing the ruin of his arm. But his silence was so much worse.

“Boulder!” Graham pleaded, louder now, as he fought past the shock and scrambled over to his partner’s side. Pressing scraped hands against Boulder’s plating, still warm with life, and moving up to palm Boulder’s rounded jaw hinge, Graham searched for his sunset orange optics only to find them dark and empty, the light within them completely extinguished.

His hand convulsed against the side of Boulder’s faceplate, and he fought to keep breathing against the vice tightening around his chest. Think, brainiac, he scolded himself, channeling Kade’s voice with only a small (and growing) amount of hysteria. Analyze the problem, craft a solution. You’re a rescuer, not a victim. Think.

Keeping one hand on Boulder’s face, as well as a breathless ramble even he wasn’t fully cognizant of producing, he searched his toolbelt with badly trembling fingers.

“Boulder, c-can you hear me, buddy? It wouldn’t be the first time a potentially alien virus froze you in your tracks, but-but hopefully it’ll be the last. It must’ve been that weird energy pulse you detected. Definitely not another solar flare. M-maybe it was some sort of EMP? But that might mean someone’s targeting Cybertronians…”

From his toolbelt he retrieved the human-sized Cybertronian med scanner that Boulder helped him build years ago (the original model, at least—they were currently on version 3.5). It was low-grade compared to the scanners most of the bots were equipped with, but more than enough to detect spark pulse and catalog injuries. Graham last used it on Boulder at the reservoir, submitting the injury report to Velocity with half a dozen priority markers even though his wounds hadn’t been spark-threatening.

It was after Blades’ tail rotor was struck by lightning, paralyzing him in his vehicle mode, that at Optimus’ urging, with maybe some minor begging involved, CMO Ratchet had visited under utmost secrecy to give the human members of the team a crash course in Cybertronian first aid.

That in of itself was unheard of. Even after thirty years, Cybertronian biology was still a heavily-guarded secret, betrayed by neither the Autobots or the Decepticons. Both sides knew the potential consequences of letting the human race know their weaknesses. Graham understood that, allies or not, there would always be some people who feared and hated anything they didn’t understand, and humans excelled at that especially.

Graham and his family learned the basics of Cybertronian biology, with an emphasis on the first aid they’d actually be capable of performing to keep their partner online until help arrived. Things like minor welding to damaged armor and leaking energon lines, how to monitor spark pulse and vitals, and the like.

Boulder had even gone to the extent of showing Graham his spark after their lesson, as cheerily practical as ever. “It would probably help if you had a good idea of what our sparks are supposed to look like first,” he’d remarked, before opening his chest plates and revealing his tangible soul, bright as a star plucked from the night sky, utterly alien and yet undoubtedly sacred.

Graham didn’t know if any of the other bots had done the same for their partners, though he wouldn’t be surprised if Boulder was the only one. He was a scientist, eager to share knowledge with a fellow scientist, and he was also the most empathetic person Graham had ever met, who wanted to share the innermost part of himself with a friend.

His reminiscing only lasted as long as it took the med scanner to generate a report on Boulder’s condition. The screen illuminated, and the cascade of information it revealed stopped his heart inside his chest.

Graham’s vision blurred as it tracked down the list, from the shaking of his hands or the tears in his eyes, he couldn’t say. Blood rushed in his ears with such force it was akin to the roaring of the ocean, threatening to swallow him whole.

POWER SYSTEMS OFFLINE

BACKUP POWER SYSTEMS OFFLINE

T-COG OFFLINE

CENTRAL PROCESSOR OFFLINE

OPTICS OFFLINE

AUDITORY SYSTEMS OFFLINE

VOCAL PROCESSOR OFFLINE

EMERGENCY DISTRESS SIGNAL OFFLINE

COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS OFFLINE

NO SPARK PULSE DETECTED

–

“Sooo how was dinner with Taylor?”

Blades’ voice was smug over the comm, and Dani could just imagine the conniving little face he was making to accompany it. She never would’ve thought that she’d be getting a fourth annoying brother when she was partnered with a gangly transforming alien robot, but that was life in Griffin Rock for you.

“It was nice,” she said thoughtfully after a moment, thinking back to the restaurant already a few blocks behind her with the view of a brilliant sunset on the island’s easternmost rocky shore, and the warm glow of candlelight deepening Taylor’s laugh lines and making his light hair shine gold.

“‘Nice?’” Blades repeated, utterly aghast. “Just ‘nice?’ Work with me here! Is Taylor your one true love or not?”

Dani rolled her eyes with undisguised fondness. And the boys called her a hopeless romantic?

She paused on the sidewalk to let a group of laughing teens pass; she didn’t recognize any of them, and guessed that they might be visiting from a school on the mainland. With the warmer weather, downtown was busy despite the late hour, both locals and tourists enjoying the same walk down to the waterfront as Dani.

She refocused on their conversation over the comm link with a great big scoff.

“Okay, first off, what movies have you been watching lately? Cuz if it’s The Notebook, how dare you watch it without me. And second, Taylor and I are taking things slow, Blades.” Her grin turned sly and she couldn’t help but add, “Not unlike you and a certain yellow scout I could mention.”

Blades let out a startlingly bitter laugh, nearly stopping Dani in her tracks at the wrongness of it. “There’s slow, and turtle speed in your case, and then there’s stock-still. Guess which one Bumblebee and me fall under.”

Dani frowned, wishing they were both at the beach already so she could give her partner a big hug. “What do you mean, Blades?” she asked, apology gentling her tone. “I thought you and Bee were hitting it off.”

“Yeah,” Blades muttered. “All the way off.”

Bumblebee had stayed with them for a little less than a year, ostensibly to work with the Rescue Bots on human-Cybertronian relations, but that quickly shifted into training the bots, both as a scout and a soldier. The combat training didn’t go over well with half the team (no surprise there, considering Blades’ anxiety and Boulder’s steadfast pacifist nature), but soon even Heatwave chafed under Bumblebee’s nerveracking tutelage, seemingly hellbent on convincing them that a Decepticon attack was imminent at any given moment, despite thirty years of no such thing on Griffin Rock.

The bots were all a little starstruck by Bumblebee’s presence in the beginning. But even considering his status as Optimus Prime’s most accomplished scout—and y’know, being presumed dead for fifteen years—no amount of fanboying could spare him from a collective intervention after he tried to get a cringing Blades to take a blaster for target practice.

The real surprise was that Blades started it, standing up for himself in a way none of them had ever seen before, hands clenched in shaking fists at his sides while his rotor blades rattled against his back.

"I-I'm sorry, Bumblebee, but I won't. Actually! Actually, I'm not sorry! I won't-I can't take the blaster because I refuse to hurt another living being that way. Or-or in any way, but especially that way! I'm— we’re —Rescue Bots! We can protect people without guns."

Visibly taken aback, Bumblebee had stared at Blades, and then the rest of the Rescue Bots, in a sort of horrified stupor, as though seeing them for the first time. Then he subspaced the offending blaster, ducked his head a quiet apology to Blades and to the Chief, before ending the lesson by transforming and speeding away down the street.

Humbled, though still a little high-strung, which seemed to be Bumblebee’s natural state, the scout’s second attempt at integrating with the team went much better after that.

Blades quietly told Dani late one movie night that Bumblebee had apologized to him, seeking him out not even a day after Blades’ legendary scolding.

“He knows we’re all Autobots, but he’s been in hiding so long, and at war for so much longer, that I think being a soldier is all he really knows,” Blades murmured, staring down at his hands as Dani paused the latest installment in their Sandra Bullock marathon. “Maybe…maybe we can show him the good things about Earth, like you all showed me? Since he’s safe from G.H.O.S.T. here, at least for a little while.”

And Blades had. With Bumblebee taking a break from teaching, Blades took that as the perfect opportunity to drag him all over the island, whether it was movies at the drive-in, Pioneer Scout outings, or karaoke. And, admittedly, Dani worried like any self respecting best friend ought to.

Blades had something of an obvious (full on flashing neon lights) crush on Bumblebee from the get-go and while Bumblebee had been friendly, he’d shown no sign of reciprocating. Then the incident with the blaster put the whole team on tenterhooks, with Blades being the first of them to reach out again. Dani was somewhat mollified by Bumblebee having to apologize before Blades took that step, but she wasn’t completely reassured either.

She’d never been able to get a real bead on Bumblebee. While never rude, he’d done little to ingratiate himself to the human members of the team, treating them all with distant politeness, like temporary coworkers he didn’t much want to bother with. Even Cody, their resident bot whisperer, couldn’t get through to him, and all the time Bumblebee didn’t spend training the Rescue Bots was devoted to his own exercises, moving with a deadly agility and violent grace she’d never seen in their bots.

Chase was the only Rescue Bot with anything resembling actual weapons incorporated in his frame, and even then they were a taser and small laser cutterer, both nonlethal. Bumblebee had guns in both arms, whining energon blasters brimming with alien power the likes of which Dani had last seen on the news fifteen years ago, crowded around the television set with Kade and Graham late at night when their dad was on patrol, and the Transformer War was still waging on the mainland, too close and yet a world away.

Dani hadn’t been afraid of Bumblebee, per say—she knew Optimus would never send them someone dangerous—but rather pointedly aware of his and Blades differences. Blades could be timid, high-strung, and a nuisance, and he was also the bravest person Dani knew, not to mention one of the sweetest. If he was gonna be with someone romantically, they needed to know and appreciate all of that about him. But more than anything, she wanted Blades to be happy .

Bumblebee already hurt him once. What if he did it again?

Dani fully was prepared to take matters into her own hands, when she noticed a change come over the scout.

Bumblebee started seeking out Blades rather than the other way around, to the point that it became rare to see one without the other. They ran drills and training sims together, just the two of them, of the rescue work variety rather than the more soldierly scenarios Bumblebee had started out with.

And as joined at the hip as they were, it became impossible not to notice the looks Bumblebee was constantly sending Blades.

Blades wasn’t exactly a master of subterfuge, but compared to Bumblebee, he was suddenly on Quickshadow's level. He could barely tear his optics away from Blades’ face whenever the helicopter-bot wasn’t looking straight at him and they held hands often, even going on long walks, just the two of them, along the very same beach Dani was meeting Blades at now.

Cody swore he’d caught them kissing behind the firehouse, but Dani chalked it up to wishful thinking and maybe an interrupted hug. Her baby brother was turning into a bigger romantic than she was.

Dani had walked it on them in the bunker late one night when everyone else was out, sitting on the Autobot-sized could with Blades’ arms around Bumblebee, one hand pressed between his doorwings and another cradling the back of his helm, letting Bumblebee hide his face against Blades’ shoulder.

Those doorwings twitched violently at the sound of the elevator doors opening, her presence clearly putting Bumblebee immediately on high alert. But Blades didn’t let him go, and after meeting her eyes over his head and seeing her waving apologeticly as she backed into the elevator again, he leaned down to murmur in Bumblebee’s audial. She only heard a snippet before the doors closed.

“You’re okay. It was just Dani, and she’s already—”

And then Bumblebee left, almost without warning, a few months later. Prime was reassigning him, he said. They’d thrown together a last minute goodbye, he and Blades had hugged, and that was it. They hadn’t received any word since, not that Dani knew of, but she’d assumed that it was a case of no news is good news.

But maybe she’d been wrong.

“It’s been almost six months,” she hedged, as the beach finally came into view directly ahead of her, where the storefronts ended. “Have you heard from Bee at all?”

“No, and I don’t want to,” Blades huffed petulantly.

Dani sighed as she stopped on the last stretch of sidewalk before the beach to take off her wedge heels. Near her were the remains of a few bonfires, all carefully contained to their brick fire pits and burned down to ashes by this point, and a few stragglers were packing up the last of their beach gear. She recognized one of the families from Boulder’s gardening club and waved.

“I’m sure you don’t mean that,” Dani said gently. “Who knows where Optimus sent him. Maybe he has to go radio silent.”

Blades went quiet for so long that Dani nearly tested her comm for signal interference. The surf pounded from a couple hundred feet away, nearly drowning out Blades’ whisper, wavering with false bravado. “Or maybe he never cared about…about Griffin Rock at all.”

Dani’s heart broke for him. “Aw, Blades…”

He came into view then, a white and orange speck growing larger as he followed where the rocky shoreline of the river curved into clear, sandy beach.

“It’s fine, Dani! I’m fine!” he shrilled so that Dani couldn’t get a word in edgewise, utterly unconvincing. “Let’s go home, huh? Miss Knightley’s Pride and Prejudice is calling my name.”

Before Dani could say another word, there was a flash of red light above her, rippling through the sky and across the ocean like a second set of waves. It struck Blades from tail rotor to strut, washing over him in an instant.

She watched as almost at once, the helicopter shuddered, blades freezing in place, before Blades transformed to robot mode in midair, and plunged out of the sky.

Around her, she heard other townspeople gasp.

Dani screamed. “BLADES!”

She was running before he even hit the ground. She had a second to pray he’d jolt back to vehicle mode and catch himself in time.

He didn’t.

The slam of Blades’ impact might’ve been muffled by the sand, but instead he hit the water with an almighty splash. He was facedown when Dani reached him, already half buried from the force of his landing, waves lapping at his frame as high up as his rotor assembly, as if to drag him out to sea.

Dani dropped her shoes somewhere behind her and sprinted, full tilt and clumsy, through the sand to reach him. The wet sand suctioned on her feet, nearly causing her to topple over, but it just made her all the more desperate.

Overbalanced and clumsily, she careened through the water with tremendous splash, soaking her jeans immediately and the cold shock of the water stole her breath. But she barely felt the discomfort, because Blades’ optics were dark and he was laying utterly still, as if in death.

It was all wrong. Sick and wrong.

Whenever Blades flew without her, this was his preferred meetup spot, in case he got overwhelmed flying alone and came down hard, the impact would be softened and the chances of hurting anyone was low.

Now, thanks to the lateness of the hour and the chill of the water, the beach was blessedly empty. She knew that Blades would never forgive himself if he’d hurt someone in his fall, but that was of cold comfort.

Nothing she did, from screaming his name to slapping his face until her hands ached got any reaction out of him. And when she turned to her comm for aid, she found the rest of her family embroiled in the same grief and chaos.

All she’d wanted was to protect Blades, and now she might never get another chance.

–

All of the Rescue Bots. Half of Cody’s family was down, unresponsive…dead? He could barely even think it. He didn’t dare.

But they’d never been so utterly disabled like this, not to this extent, and definitely not all at once.

This wasn’t like the virus that locked them in vehicle mode, stealing their ability to transform before stealing their voices. They’d still had Bumblebee and Blades to save the day, and Optimus to turn to for guidance. Even if the EMP zone froze them in their tracks, they could still communicate.

But Graham was saying they had no spark pulse. And even Cody, with his limited knowledge of the bots’ biology, knew what that meant.

His children’s panicked voices ringing around him, Charlie raised his head and shouted, “Sigma-1, call Optimus!”

The semi-sentient computer Boulder, Graham and Doc Greene had installed in the firehouse responded in its usual placid tone, which made its answer all the more chilling, “Optimus Prime: COMM DISABLED.”

Charlie’s expression contorted with true fear. “Call Elita-One! Call Megatron!” he demanded desperately.

“Elita-One: COMM DISABLED. Megatron: COMM DISABLED,” Sigma-1 responded, like nails in a coffin.

“Call any Autobot!”

“Unable to sync with any Autobot frequency,” Sigma-1 said, sounding almost apologetic. “Teletraan-1 is reporting total failure of Autobot communication systems.”

“Is-is it the Decepticons?” Kade wondered aloud, his voice shaking. He looked back over his shoulder at their dad. “Or….or something else? Who would go after the bots like this?”

Something, or some one. Anti-Transformer sentiment wasn’t going anywhere, but the Rescue Bots were supposed to be a secret . Griffin Rock was their home. For someone to learn about them—rescuers, the last of their kind—and still want to hurt them? What could Cody do against that kind of reckless hate?

His phone lit up with a call from Frankie, but Cody couldn’t imagine answering right now. He let it go to voicemail, only for Frankie to immediately call again. When he didn’t answer that, his phone blew up with texts.

He risked a glance at the screen. If Frankie was sending him memes, he might throw his phone against the wall.

But no. Instead, she’d sent him a series of links to news articles and online posts. The title of one read: TRANSFORMERS DEACTIVATING ACROSS THE GLOBE.

Cody clicked it, heart going cold and still in his chest.

The link led him to a video taken from someone’s phone of a silver and blue Autobot talking to a curly-haired man standing on a second story fire escape. Cody didn’t recognize either of them. With the Rescue Bots’ existence technically a secret, they’d had minimal interaction with other Autobots. It was mostly just Optimus and Bee.

In the video, the same red band of light he saw strike Chase and Heatwave flashed over the Autobot. And just like the Rescue Bots, he collapsed to a chorus of screams from the humans around him.

Cody scrolled mindlessly. Almost every other post was a similar video, or photo documenting a transformer (Autobot and Decepticon) crumpling where they stood.

“Dad, it’s not just our bots,” he found himself saying. Every part of him felt numb as he imparted information just like he would during a normal mission. “It’s happening to all Cybertronians, Autobot and Decepticon.”

Kade slumped against Heatwave’s shoulder. He looked shell shocked. “But who… Why-why would someone do this?”

Charlie was grim as he turned back to Chase’s slack, vacant face. His hand had never left his partner’s cheek. “Then we’re on our own,” he said tightly. “Sigma-1, call Doc. Tell him…tell him it’s an emergency. Omega level.”

Cody had to hope that they could fix this, that Doc Greene and Graham would pull through just as they had so many times before. Hope that this abrupt death wouldn’t be his last memory of the newest members of his family, who had already lost everything except each other and deserved better than this.

He dropped his phone on the floor. He didn’t want to see any more empty faces, the fallen bodies of those who might’ve been future friends.

Standing was hard on legs as shaky as his, and he resorted to half crawling to get closer to Heatwave. Kade had his fists pressed over his eyes, muttering a combination of swears and garbled apologies under his breath. Under normal circumstances, Cody would’ve gone to his oldest brother to try and comfort him, but things weren’t normal, and Cody wanted to be comforted too—by the one person who couldn’t offer it this time.

Heatwave’s palm lay half open, his massive metal fingers unmoving. Cody curled up around the hand that had snatched him out of harm’s way more times than could be counted, wrapped around his shoulders in their closest approximation of a hug, lifted him up to the safety of a cab, and done the same for every member of Cody’s family.

He wrapped his arms around Heatwave’s thumb, pressing his face against the cooling metal. He didn’t cry. He might have forgotten how.

Because he was pressed so close to Heatwave, he was the first to notice the change.

Cody’s skin startled to prickle, stinging almost, with a feeling not unlike static electricity when he pulled clothes out of the dryer. He opened his eyes when his hair stood on end, just in time to watch a ribbon of shimmering green sweep over Heatwave, just like the crimson light had crackled over him a few minutes or an hour ago.

And then, Heatwave’s thumb twitched.

Then, impossibly, inexplicably, Heatwave groaned.

“Ugh, what in Primus’ name… Did a combiner run me over?”

Cody didn’t look up. He couldn’t. He didn’t dare. But he felt the shifting of the Autobot beside him as Heatwave sat up.

Kade jumped like he’d been electrocuted, letting out a rasping, wet gasp. “N-no way. No freaking way.”

Cody glanced over at his dad when he made his own startled oath.

“Oh my god, Chase .”

No longer limp and still in death, Chase’s gold eyes were wide with confusion as he pushed himself off the floor. “My apologies, Chief. I…do not know what came over me. Or how I ended up on the ground.”

Charlie laughed, a hoarse burst of sound. “Don’t apologize, partner. I’m…I’m just glad to hear your voice.” Charlie’s own voice was thick, and in lieu of keeping a hand on Chase’s cheek, he’d wrapped his fingers around the edge of Chase’ forearm.

Cody couldn’t see his dad’s face from his vantage point, but Chase obviously could and judging by his worried frown, he didn’t like what he saw. “But, are you well, sir? Your eyes are…leaking? I was under the impression that only emotional distress triggered such a reaction in humans.”

Charlie laughed again, a thready sound of relief tinged with hysteria. “It’s called crying, Chase. And we do it when we’re happy too.”

A sense of unreality threatened to overcome Cody, watching Chase move and speak like normal, alive and unhurt as though the last several minutes weren’t some of the most terrifying in Cody’s short life. It almost felt too good to be true, but Chase’s bemusement and the way he remained kneeling by Charlie’s side, under his insistence that they all get medical scans immediately, was enough to buoy Cody from the cold, numb depths of shock that had swallowed him.

Heatwave’s thumb nudged Cody then, exceedingly gentle. Despite that encouragement, Cody had to muster his courage before he looked up at Heatwave’s face, some small part of him still afraid of what he would find.

Burning orange optics stared down at him in concern, a color Cody had started to think he’d never see again.

“What happened?” Heatwave rumbled. “Are you okay, Cody?”

It was too much. The lingering terror collided with the tidal wave of sheer mind bending relief inside of him. Thrust out of the cold numbness of shock like breaking the surface of the water after too long without air, Cody’s tenuous hold on his emotions snapped. He finally burst into tears.

A familiar, warm palm the size of a car door settled over his shoulders and another beneath him, scooping him up against a wide chestplate.

“Whoa, hey. You’re alright, Code.” Heatwave’s naturally gruff voice rumbled through the plating under Cody’s ear as a massive thumb carefully ruffled his hair.

He caught a glimpse of Heatwave’s Rescue Bots sigil through the haze of his tears before clenching his eyes shut and hiding his face against the red plating.

“Is this more…happy crying?” he heard Chase ask worriedly, slightly muffled through the metal of Heatwave’s hand.

Even while wiping away tears, trying to breath through hitching sobs, a giggle burst out of Cody without his control. Because yes, he was overwhelmed and terrified, but he was also happy . He had his family back.

–

Boulder returned to the waking world with a hard reboot, optics fizzing, and an alert on his HUD informing him of a gap in his memory banks.

He tried to run a diagnostic, but he wasn’t of a mind to even process the results.

Boulder didn’t frighten easily, but the last time he’d awoken missing time, he was emerging from a four million year stasis lock to discover their war ravaged planet was dead and that they were the last of their kind. He couldn’t go through something like that again, losing a home, a family all over again. Losing Graham. He wouldn’t survive it.

But the timestamp on his blank memory banks was little under five minutes and his chronometer was fully functional. Only four minutes, twenty-three seconds, and 0.47 milliseconds were missing.

He ran another self-diagnostic as he onlined his optics, this time actually paying attention to the readout.

POWER SYSTEMS ONLINE

BACKUP POWER SYSTEMS ONLINE

T-COG 100% FUNCTIONAL

CENTRAL PROCESSOR 100% FUNCTIONAL

OPTICS 100% FUNCTIONAL

AUDITORY SYSTEMS 100% FUNCTIONAL

VOCAL PROCESSOR 100% FUNCTIONAL

COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 100% FUNCTIONAL

SPARK PULSE NORMAL

Everything came back clear despite his processor’s inability to explain his crash. He just got error alerts flagged in red whenever he tried to access the missing memory files. It wasn’t that they'd been corrupted; this wasn’t the fault of a virus or any sort of hack. The files simply didn’t exist. As if Boulder had ceased to exist for those four minutes, twenty-three seconds, and 0.47 milliseconds.

Putting that troubling conundrum aside for now, he set about figuring out where he was.

His GPS placed him exactly where he remembered being last, on the road down from Griffin Rock Labs. He knew he was laying in the dirt before his visual feed even cleared, having detected trace minerals of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur, all of them well-known signifiers of Earth soil.

Until he banished the alert, his proximity sensor kept pinging him about a human heat signature less than a meter away. It was a subroutine he and the others installed when they arrived on the island since humans lacked a mech’s EM field, and the risk of one of those fragile lives getting passed over during a rescue or, Primus forbid, getting caught underfoot, was unthinkable.

Boulder didn’t need the faint frequency of a remote comm signal to know who was beside him. He would’ve known by their nearness, the press of two delicate, calloused human hands against the plating of his shoulder guards.

But his scanners picked up more. An abnormally fast heartbeat. Irregular breathing, quick and shallow. Those steady hands on his plating were trembling.

Boulder knew what he would find before he even raised his head, but the sight was no less troubling to wake up to.

Graham (for whom his processors automatically rattled off designation tags, buddy, love, partner).

Graham, always a dear sight for sore optics, had the color leached from his skin, and his dark, human eyes were glassy and unfocused as he hyperventilated fast enough to make his entire body shake. He didn’t even acknowledge Boulder’s gaze on him, or Boulder’s presence at all.

Graham had endured a few panic attacks since their partnership began, but this was the worst Boulder had seen since the first, on their first real rescue as a team, when he hadn’t known what was wrong or how to make it better.

Back then, they had been waiting for word from Heatwave and Kade, who had raced off to save Cody from a hidden lava flow they hadn’t noticed until it was too late. With nothing left except the waiting, Graham had folded in on himself, almost collapsing against Boulder, who until then he’d been careful to touch as little as possible, even while “driving” him.

While startled, Boulder had still been in vehicle mode and was careful not to do more than stiffen on his treads for fear of harming his charge. Graham’s hands were buried in his hair and his breathing had gone high and fast, and in Boulder’s own dismay, he’d run as many medical scans over Graham as his processors would let him. Humans were still so new to him then, not that that was any excuse, and he’d cursed himself for clearly missing some kind of injury.

While no less fascinating, humans were no longer the great mystery that they used to be, and Boulder knew his partner like he knew his own spark.

His memories from before his crash were fragmented, but he recalled a strange red flash and Graham’s soft voice tight with panic. Whatever had happened (and make no mistake, Boulder would figure out the exact details of what happened), it must have caused his crash and left Graham alone with his unresponsive frame for nearly five minutes.

Boulder would be in a much worse state if the reverse had been the case.

While he would’ve liked to gather Graham close at once, offering comfort in one of the few ways their difference in size allowed, experience told Boulder that it was best not to alarm Graham any further. Slowly pushing himself up onto his knees, Boulder reached out with just his voice, a lifeline spoken at such a low volume it was practically subsonic. “Hey, buddy.”

Jerking his head up with such force he nearly fell backward, Graham gasped, a brutal rattling sound as he sucked in too much air too fast. “Oh— god,” he choked out, throat clicking wetly, like something inside of him had torn. Tears welled up behind his glasses and overflowed, making trails through the dirt on his cheeks. One side of his face had an ugly bruise forming, crisscrossed by a handful of small abrasions, the pinpricks of blood already clotting.

With great care, Boulder wrapped both of his hands around Graham’s shoulders. Graham’s breath hitched again at the press of metal against his back but he didn’t pull away. The opposite, really.

“B-Boulder,” he croaked, latching onto one of Boulder’s thumbs with enough force to make his knuckles jut out, white and bloodless. “You—how—y-you’re—”

“Are you alright?” Boulder rumbled, brushing Graham’s injured cheek with his free thumb. “What happened?”

Graham made a strange wheezing sound. It took Boulder a klik to recognize it as a reedy laugh, lacking any signs of actual mirth, much less a smile.

“Am-am I okay?” Graham demanded. He sounded angry, but he still looked wrung out and devastated. “How can you even—Boulder, y-you were–you were offline! And I couldn’t–I wasn’t able–I was useless!”

“Hey,” Boulder chided gently, Graham’s stammering self-flagellation making his fuel pump churn. He’d never seen his partner in such distress before, and he hated that he was the cause, even unintentionally. “Don’t say that. You could never be useless. To be honest, I don’t even understand what happened.”

Graham’s frustration gutted out like a candle flame, breathless alarm surging to take its place. One of his hands snapped out and clung to Boulder’s wrist, the few inches his comparatively diminutive grip could cover.

“What do you mean? Do-do you think it could happen again?”

“No, no.” Aching to reassure him, Boulder ran his thumb up and down the center of Graham’ chest, gently, gently, following the line of his tie and feeling the racing of his heart beneath the fragile barrier of cotton.

“I’m pretty sure this was a one-time thing. My memory’s a little foggy, but I got hit with some kind of…energy pulse, right?” At Graham’s hesitant nod, he continued more confidently. “It completely blacked out my systems so I wasn’t able to get any readings, but one of Doc’s scanners must’ve picked it up. We’ll study it, figure out where it came from, and what it’s supposed to do. We’ll contact Optimus, too. See if some of the Autobot scientists have any idea what it is.”

“I think this is bigger than Griffin Rock, buddy.” Graham closed his eyes, taking a breath that trembled on the exhale, as if he was bracing himself. “When all four of you were…unresponsive, my dad tried to contact Optimus. It…it looks like this pulse was targeting all Cybertronians. And when…when it hit you, Boulder, you weren’t in stasis. You didn’t just crash. You…you were dead. Your spark…according to the med scanner, your spark had gone out.”

Boulder loosed a hand from around Graham and flattened it to the center of his chest without conscious thought. Beneath layers of heavy armor, his spark whirling feverishly in its chamber, as if reassuring him you’re still here!

“Oh,” he said, rather numbly.

Well, that would explain why his processors didn’t register his existence for those four minutes, twenty-three seconds, and 0.47 milliseconds, wouldn’t it?

“Boulder?” Graham murmured, expression open with affectionate concern as he rubbed Boulder’s wrist guard. Clearly he thought it was Boulder’s turn to be comforted, and he wasn’t exactly wrong.

Boulder shook his helm in an attempt to clear it. An existential crisis was the last thing he needed right now. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m…I’ll be okay.”

Graham bit his lower lip in a familiar show of uncertainty.

“The others…do you know if they’re…?”

Boulder had been aware of his teammates' presence in the back of his processors from the moment of onlining. Their inner comm system made communication possible via glyph and emotional impressions in a fraction of the time it took spoken dialogue, and all four of them tended to leave the channel open, maintained at a steady thrum that could be ignored if needed, but made them all feel less alone. Now that he paid attention though, he was conscious of the careful distance their impressions were maintaining from him, as though they were each trying to avoid overwhelming him.

When he finally consciously reached out, he was bombarded almost at once.

BOULDER[RESCUE-BOT-Σ1703]

: : Everyone okay? : :

/ relief / we’re safe / where are you /

HEATWAVE[RESCUE-BOT-Σ1701]

: : It’s about time. : :

: : What, did you get a bump on your head and let Graham kiss it better? : :

/ relief / thank primus / i don’t know what i’d do without / CHANNEL BLOCKED /

CHASE[RESCUE-BOT-Σ1702]

: : No injuries to report. : :

: : However, this is a troubling development. : :

: : We cannot allow ourselves to be caught unawares again. Being incapacitated in such a manner puts our partners at great risk. : :

: : We must find a way to contact the Prime at once. : :

/ relief / i’m glad you’re safe / how could this happen /

BLADES[RESCUE-BOT-Σ1704]

: : SAND! I'VE GOT SAND EVERYWHERE!! : :

/ panic / panic / panic /

Boulder huffed a laugh. “Everyone’s fine. I guess whatever that was only had a temporary effect on us.”

Graham still looked ill at ease, his expression far away as he pressed a hand against his mouth. Boulder could practically hear his brilliant mind already whirring away beneath his hard hat. “I don’t like this. We need to go back to Doc’s.”

“And we will,” Boulder soothed. He hadn’t forgotten about Graham’s panic attack; his partner was his own worst enemy sometimes, overworking himself half to the point of collapse. “But it’s late, Graham, and you need rest—”

“And you don’t?” Graham demanded, snapping his head up and pinning Boulder in place with laser sharp focus as effectively as a launched stasis net.

Boulder blinked, taken aback by the uncharacteristically sharp tone. Just as quickly, Graham softened in chagrin. He looked himself again, if a tired and hunted version of himself.

He sighed, wrapping a hand around Boulder’s thumb again. “I’m–I'm sorry, buddy. But I can’t just go to sleep like nothing’s wrong when there might be something out there with the power to hurt you again. I can’t. I won’t.” While Graham spoke gently, with that same, low fondness he seemed to reserve just for Boulder, there was a waver in his voice that spoke of lingering fear. But then he set his jaw, not out of stubbornness but in fierce determination, the same way his father did.

Boulder’s spark throbbed, once, twice, whirling brightly in its chamber. His plating was only just thick enough to obscure the glow from human sight. As if there was any chance he’d tell his partner ‘no’ after that.

“I…thank you,” he managed hoarsely.

Graham grinned up at him crookedly, and Boulder cherished the rare sight of the dimple in his right cheek. “Don’t thank me yet.”

Dani knelt in the surf, feeling hollow, carved out, her lungs, stomach, and heart scraped free from the force of her screaming and the retching she hadn’t been able to control, her lovely dinner with Taylor lost in the waves.

Now she tried to scrape sand out of the crevices of Blades’ face, where it caked beneath his chin and in the hollow of his dark optics, because she knew he would hate it. As much fun as he had on beach days, no matter how many immaculate sand castles he built, he would complain about sand in his joints as much as any human complained about finding sand in their shoes.

But hers was an exercise in futility. There was only one of her, and her two hands weren’t enough to lift Blades’ body out of the sand, or free him from the tide that lengthened/deepened every passing second, trying to claim him, dragging him further away from her than he already was.

Some of the townspeople who saw Blades fall had moved to help, but Dani waved them all away. A few of them left, after firing endless questions at her that she had no answer for, while others, Boulder’s garden club friends and a few kids Dani recognized as Teen Pioneers, lingered over by the incline leading down to the beach, clustered together and crying or speaking frantically into their phones. Dani tried to ignore them.

Without another one of the bots to carry Blades, they’d need something like a crane to lift him out of the surf and she was nowhere near ready to consider that horrifying eventuality.

It was almost utterly dark now, with only a few distant streetlights to see by. Almost up to her waist in frigid seawater, shivers wracked Dani’s body so strongly that her teeth chattered and her fingers were halfway numb. She couldn’t stay out here much longer without risking hypothermia, but what else could she do? Leave Blades here, alone?

As if both in answer and insult, a wave crashed against Blades’ back, soaking Dani down to the roots of her hair.

She was blinking saltwater out of her eyes when a second wave washed over Blades. Only this one was composed of green light, dazzling her vision as it left a glowing trail in its wake. Dani’s skin prickled with a feeling like static electricity, and she swore that the sea spray around them froze for a long heartbeat, as if suspended in time. The sounds of the ocean were a distant echo, and her heartbeat thundered in her ears instead.

With a great crash, the world reasserted itself.

The ocean roared, cold lanced through her like lightning, and Blades’ optics reignited as he awoke with a sputtering gasp, flailing in the surf.

“Ugh, oh, augh!! Sand! I’ve got sand in my mouth!” he spat out a mouthful, pawing at his face, neck, and finials. “And in my nose, and my optics—aw, it’s everywhere!”

“Blades!” Dani shrieked, her hoarse voice creaking horribly, and threw her arms around Blades’ neck. In typical fashion, Blades wailed and let her momentum knock him over, landing flat on his back in the water with a tremendous splash.

“Dani?” he stammered. “Whyyyy? I’m getting salt and sand in all my transformation seams! This is so embarrassing.” Despite his complaining, his hands gently settled around her to hug her back.

Dani couldn’t even think of responding right now. Distantly, she was aware of the crowd on the beach cheering for Blades’ miraculous revival but all she could do was hug him tighter. His voice, whiny and singsong, was the best thing she’d ever heard.

“Dani?” he murmured quietly. With careful movements, he sat up in the surf, taking Dani with him. Cradled gently in his hands against the round smoothness of his chestplate, she realized she was shaking from more than just cold. Silent tears were making hot trails down her face, and her breath hitched upon realizing she was crying, with no memory of when she started.

She leaned back roughly wiping at her cheeks with the heels of her palms and back of her hands. “It’s–I’m-I’m fine. How do you feel, Blades?” she demanded.

Blades blinked at her intensity. “Ummm…okay, I guess. My head hurts a little…” he glanced around, seemingly taking in their surroundings for the first time. “Uh… Dani?” his voice cracked, rising sharply with his sudden and growing panic. He’d noticed the Blades-shaped hole in the sand that the waves hadn’t washed away fast enough. “How did I get here? I…I don’t remember—I didn’t crash, did I?”

Dani caught his face between her comparatively small hands, giving him no choice but to look at her. “Blades— Blades, no. Something…something happened, but it wasn’t your fault. You’re okay. You’re here, and you’re okay,” she said firmly, repeating it for her sake.

A new thought hit her and she thumbed her comm link. “Guys? Blades—he’s back. The rest of the bots, are they…?”

Her father’s voice answered her, warm with exhausted relief. “We’re all here, Dani. Boulder’s with Graham. They’re heading back to Doc’s to try and figure out what just happened.”

Dani breathed for the first time in what felt like hours.

But above her, Blades had gone strangely silent.

When she looked up, she found him looking troubled, his gaze locked on the horizon.

“What is it?” she asked quietly.

“It’s…Bumblebee,” Blades gasped. He tilted his helm, gesturing at his comm link. “He’s okay. He’s…he’s asking if we’re okay, too.” Blades’ eyes were wide, clearly wondering what exactly had happened to him, to all of them, but Dani couldn’t bear to explain and relive it right now.

“The same happened to them, right? Does he know what it was?” she pressed.

“He says…it’s a long story.”

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