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goosewithtwoos · 2 years

Note

Rooster x female reader

I’m not sure if you take requests if not please feel free t ignore this

You were mavericks little girl and best friends with rooster sense what seemed like forever not knowing he had secret feelings for you but didn’t say anything because you were His dads best friends daughter,but he couldn’t help when everyone was at the bar and hangman was teasing you at pool and for the first time you let anger slip and used the pool stick to being hangman to his knees and held his chin up with the stick.

“You think your mother would be very proud of the man she raised talking like that”

Frothing at the mouth, let’s go :0 also i have no idea if you wanted some seccy moment but i wrote seccy anyways. dip out at any point bby

PUNK TACTICS

Cheers erupted from the crowd as Penny rang the ‘Free Round’ bell.

Some idiotic soul had insulted Phoenix who was out of uniform, saying that he could probably score better on the ASVAB.

You were standing with the other Top Gun graduates, hanging around the pool table, beer bottles scattered nearby. You probably didn’t need another round, but hell, if someone else was paying, you’d take a free drink.

Rooster stood, watching more than actually playing. He leaned his chin on the pool cue, aviators falling down to the bridge of his nose. His eyes flit between the action on the table and you.

Phoenix made her way back over, rolling her eyes at the wolf whistles but carried drinks in hand. She handed one to Bob who, bless him, was still nursing his first beer.

She passed another to Coyote and made an attempt to give one to Rooster, but he politely declined.

Phoenix raised a brow at him. It wasn’t often that Rooster declined a drink.

“I’m D.D tonight.” He explained. “Someone has to make sure she gets home safe.” He motioned towards you.

You would alternate between being designated drivers for each other for as long as you could remember. Whoever was driver would take the other home and make sure to set up a nice little array of advil and water so the following morning hangover would be lessened.

You and Rooster used to sleep over at each other’s houses - solely for the purpose of ‘if anything went wrong’ - but the amount of sleepovers seemed to have diminished as of late.

Phoenix just shrugged at Rooster, took a sip from her own bottle, and then handed you the one meant for Bradley.

He smiled, lop sided, as you took a sip. Your eyes were laser focused on the table, watching how Hangman was playing and trying to figure out the best way to screw him over.

Hangman hit two shots in a row, basking in the glory from Fanboy who was seemingly always hyping him up.

“Your turn, Mini-Mav.” He said to you, eyes glinting with the excitement of the game.

You had a call sign but no one from Top Gun used it. Ever since it was discovered that you were the daughter of Maverick, you became ‘Mini-Mav’.

It bothered you at first. You were your own person, damn it, not just your fathers daughter, but it eventually grew on you.

Your eyes found Rooster, who gave you a slight nod as encouragement, and lined up your shot. Your heart inexplicably began to quicken its pace but you attributed it to the game.

Your cue tapped the table lightly and Hangman whistled, low and slow. “My move.”

You groaned, righting yourself and smacking the end of your cue on the floor. “Come on,” you groan. “Are you serious?”

Hangman just shrugged and went to line up his shot.

“Rules are rules.” He said cooly. He hit another perfect shot and you wanted to tap out right then and there but knew you couldn’t. You had put money on this stupid game and were determined not to lose.

Hangman stood back up, moving around the table to get another shot. Rooster’s and Hangman’s eyes met, the two men trying to burn each other.

Neither was blind. You were undeniably attractive and both men were fighting for you. Rooster said he had claim, he’d known you forever, but Hangman swore he’d get you in the end. This game was going to determine winner.

As Hangman prepared for a shot, he made sure to get right in front of Rooster, successfully hitting him in the abdomen when he shot another round.

Rooster pressed his lips firmly together, trying not to show any sort of discomfort.

“Oh, sorry bud. Didn’t see you there.” Hangman said, turning and grinning. Your eyes darkened. No one was allowed to insult Bradley except for you. Making fun of him was your job.

Hangman looked towards you and noticed the way your expression had changed. “All right there, Mini?”

“Dandy, Bagman.” You grit out.

Maybe it was the alcohol talking but seeing Hangman hit Rooster was really rubbing you the wrong way. You had to make this game count.

You focused on each shot, hitting four in a row. No one spoke as you sunk the last ball, seemingly all holding their breath.

Hangman looked both angry and impressed but Rooster was smitten.

The look of determination across your face, they way your arms flexed in your black tee, all mixed with the fact that he was taking you home tonight left him with a dull ache.

He had to stop himself from staring by turning to Bob and joining the conversation with Phoenix.

You went to make another move but Hangman’s voice stopped you.

“Didn’t think you’d be this good, Mini.” He said, making a crude gesture with his pool cue, the double implication not lost to you.

You whipped your head around, ready to hit him. “Would you shut up for once in your goddamn life?”

Phoenix, Rooster and Bob all stopped and turned. Fanboy was stepping behind Hangman, ready to back him up in anything.

“Struck a nerve there, didn’t I? Never took you for a prude. Kinda thought you were like your daddy.” Hangman’s eyes danced between you and Penny who was smiling behind the bar, none the wiser of what had just been said.

That was it.

You struck Hangman in the chest with the end of your cue, sending him back and hunched over. A look of shock crossed his face but before he could stand back up, your cue was under his chin, forcing him to look at you.

“You think your mother would be proud of the man she raised talking like that?” You growled.

Fanboy grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him back up. Both men were looking at you, shock in their eyes. You’d never lost your temper like this before.

Rooster was behind you in an instant, pressing a hand against your back. Phoenix was on your left, ready for a fight.

Penny had looked over but knew it was best to leave the group alone until it really turned physical.

“Jeez, doll, didn’t think you’d react like that.” He rubbed over the spot in his chest, holding back the whine in his throat.

“How’d you think I’d take it? You expect me to be okay with you making fun of my family?”

Something flashed across Hangman’s face. He wasn’t going to let you have the last word.

“I expected you to go crying to Goose - ah whoops, I mean Rooster.”

You lunged at Hangman, ready to swing a beautiful right hook but Phoenix had grabbed you, holding you back. Rooster was much too surprised to do anything and contemplated if he should tell Phoenix to let you go.

“I bet your taking the right piss there, aren’t you?” You yelled at him. Hangman was taking steps back, Fanboy going to stand between you two. “Or is it left, huh? I bet even in the tightest boxers, it’s so small you can’t even see which way it curves!”

You slipped from Phoenix’s grip but got caught by Rooster.

“Come on,” he said, picking you up from under the arms and dragging you across the bar. Penny’s eyes were on you, concerned. She shook her head slowly and watched as you got pulled through the crowd. “We’re going home.”

Once in the parking lot, Rooster set you down. You tried to run back in but he stood in front of you, body blocking.

“Just one swing!” You cried, trying to get past him.

He grabbed you again, holding you by the arms. His eyes bore down to yours, trying to get you to calm down.

“Take a deep breath.” He said.

You tried to do as told but remembering what Hangman had said - calling Rooster by his dad’s call sign - chocked you up again.

“Just forget about him. He’s stupid. You’re the biggest prude I know.” He smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

You dropped your head. You didn’t want him to see the tears welling in your eyes. It was a nasty habit of yours to cry whenever you got mad and you hated when Rooster saw your tears.

“It’s not what he said about me.” You admitted, feeling a tear slip down. “It’s what he said to you.”

Roosters grip on you lessened. His breath hitched as he took in what you said. He knew you both cared for each other but watching you try to fight for his honor left his heart aching.

“Look at me.” He muttered. It wasn’t a command and more of a question.

Your head turned up, wiping your nose with the back of your hand. Your eyes were a bit red but thankfully you weren’t crying anymore.

His thumb wiped under your eye, picking up a trace tear that hadn’t fallen just yet.

“You don’t have to fight for me.” He said, heart beat racing. “I’m a big enough boy to fight my own battles.”

You finally met his eyes and you wanted to cry again. Something inside you switched when you looked at him.

You had known for a while that you loved him but you couldn’t tell what kind. Sure, you had grown up with him but that didn’t stop you from thinking of him in a few different ways. He was obviously handsome but he also was your best friend. He knew more about you than anyone else and when you had your heart broken for the first time, he was the first person you ran to.

Bradley held a special place in your heart that couldn’t be filled by anyone else.

“I know you are,” You whimpered out. “but he’s not allowed to say that to you.” You felt a bit childish but continued. “I’m the only one who’s allowed to make fun of you. You’re mine.”

The words were out before you could think hard enough to stop them.

They could be innocent but the two of you knew they weren’t. You were each other’s person. No one else could compete with the way you completed each other.

Your face flushed and it wasn’t from the beer. Roosters eyes searched your face, trying to figure out if he had understood you properly.

Your lip trembled again, embarrassment setting in.

Was he going to leave you here, alone on the porch of the Hard Deck? Assuredly not, since he was the one driving you home and your dad would have Roosters balls as a coin purse if he found out you were left alone at night. But now that meant you were going to have to sit in silence on the way home and then pretend everything was okay next time you ran drills together.

Rooster swallowed deeply and nodded. “I’m yours.”

He dipped down, pressing your lips together. You had no hesitation when you kissed him back, wrapping your arms around his neck to deepen the kiss.

It felt like everything fell into place. Finally, you had the boy of your dreams right where you wanted him and it felt so good to have him want you back.

His mustache tickled your upper lip. You smiled at the feeling, excitement bubbling in your chest.

He pulled back for a moment, hanging his aviators onto his shirt so they wouldn’t fall. You looked up at him, goofy smile forming across your face.

“You still driving me home?” You asked, tilting your head.

Rooster smiled down at you, hands making their way to your waist. “You bet I am.”

From the window, Bob and Phoenix were cheering. You groaned and pressed your face to his chest, waving at them blindly. Rooster laughed and gave them a thumbs up.

Once they had left, you pulled yourself from him and took a step back. You gripped his hand and gently pulled, leading him to the car.

“Am I allowed to say, ‘Take me to bed or lose me forever’?”

Rooster groaned, excitement flaring through him. “Show me the way home, honey.”

The two of you ran to the car, jumping in and pulling out of the parking lot before you even had your seatbelts on.

Rooster sped to your house in record time. You grabbed his hand, leading him through the door and towards your room.

Once inside, you kissed him again, removing his aviators and placing them gently onto your dresser.

You walked him backwards towards the bed and when his knees hit the edge, you pushed him down, enjoying the way he made a little “oomf” sound.

You sat atop of him, grinding your hips down. He moaned into your mouth, pawing at the hem of your shirt.

You took the initiative to take off his, throwing the fabric across your room. He got the hint and pulled at yours, allowing your shirt to join his on the floor.

He broke away, taking his time, committing your chest and every little freckle to memory.

You raked your fingers across his abs, watching how they flexed under your touch. His hips bucked when you got close to his v-line.

His hands came up to your fly, toying at. “Can I?” He asked, looking at you like a hopeful puppy.

You nodded, unsure if you could trust your voice.

Before he got your shorts down, he stopped. His eyes flitted up to yours, hesitation slowly crossing his features.

“You’re not drunk, right?”

God, you fell even more in love with him everyday.

“No,” you shook your head. “I’m not drunk. I want this.”

“Thank God.” and with that, he caught your lips again, pulling your shorts down. You had to get off him to pull them down fully and he whined at the loss of contact.

He scooted back on the bed, pulling at his own jeans as he did. He laid in his boxers, watching as you undressed.

You tried to remind yourself that this was Rooster. Not ever Rooster - this was Bradley.

Still, you left your bra and underwear on, slightly embarrassed that they weren’t a matching set. You made a mental note to go shopping soon.

He propped himself onto his elbow, enjoying the show as you crawled over and on top of him.

His eyes were so inviting and his scent was captivating. Your heart swelled as you looked down on him.

Rooster, Bradley, the boy you’ve loved, was beneath you and smiling. He placed his hands on your bare hips, drawing circles with his thumbs.

“Hi.” You said foolishly, unsure of anything better to say.

His smile only grew. “Hi.” He replied, eyes dancing around your facial features. “You’re really pretty.”

You dipped your head down into the crook of his neck and laughed. “Shut up.”

“I’m just making up for lost time.” He said. He cradled the back of you head and locked his legs around your waist. In a swift motion, you were beneath him, staring up into his dark brown eyes.

He pressed a quick kiss to your temple, removing his hand from behind your head. He trailed down, leaving soft kisses against your collar bone.

His lips found your hipbones, kissing each one gently before finding their way between your thighs.

You looked down, watching his hand come up and slowly massage your inner thigh. He pressed his nose against your core and another wave of arousal shot through you.

You let out a soft whine as he began to press his nose deeper, leaving soft kitten licks every once and a while.

Your hand found his hair and he hummed in appreciation.

He soon became relentless, lapping at you through your panties and gripping harshly at your thigh. His hips ground against the bed, seeking his own friction.

You felt yourself clench around nothing and cried out as his nose hit your clit perfectly.

“Please, Bradley, I need you.” It was so pitiful you surprised even yourself.

He pulled himself up and back to his original position, hovering slightly over you.

“I’m going to have to prep you first, baby girl. You are the biggest prude I know, after all.”

You went to say something snarky back but lost all words when he pressed a finger against your core, slowly teasing your entrance.

He slipped it in and began rocking back and forth, watching your reactions to see what made you scrunch your nose in discomfort and what made you moan.

He slowly added a second finger, checking your reaction. You moaned out as he pressed against your g-spot and felt your orgasm slowly start to build.

“Roos,” you moaned out, gripping at his bicep. Lord, when had he gotten this buff? “Please, more.”

Bradley chucked, leaning down to capture your lips. He pressed his thumb against your clit as he added a third finger.

Never going too fast, Rooster kept a steady pace, opening you up on his fingers.

When he pulled his fingers out, you whined at the loss. He smirked against your lips, pulling down his boxers.

He sat up quickly, fully removing them and tossing them aside. He found his discarded jeans and pulled out a condom from the pocket, quickly putting it on.

“Presumptuous, huh?” You joked, glad for the lighthearted moment.

He smirked, adjusting the condom so there would be no accidents. “I always have one when I go out. Don’t think too much about it.”

You laughed, throwing your head back. He chuckled and grabbed your thigh again. When you looked back, his eyes found yours and then glanced down, questioningly, at your panties.

You swallowed your fear and nodded. He took his time, pulling down the fabric, drinking in the sight of you.

“Let me know if you need me to slow down.” He told you, grabbing you under the knee and coming back to hover over you.

He slowly sunk into you, moaning out at the sensation.

You tensed, hissing at the feeling. It had been a long time since you’d done this and it was a completely different sensation.

Perhaps you just hadn’t liked the other ones as much as you thought you had because the way Bradley was leaning over you made you feel like heaven on earth.

He moved slowly, allowing you time to adjust to his size.

“God, you feel so good around me.” He moaned.

You whimpered in response, brain clouding over in pleasure.

Slowly, you felt the pain melt into intense pleasure. Your building orgasm started rapidly approaching.

“I’m not gonna last long.” You tell him as he began rocking his hips fast.

“Me neither.” He said, bringing his fingers down to work your clit.

You cried out, throwing your head back further into the pillows. You grip back onto his bicep, feeling how he tensed beneath your touch.

He worked your clit as you felt the coil in your abdomen tighten. You willed yourself to keep your eyes open, not wanting to miss a second of having him above you.

His curls bounced with each thrust and his biceps tensed. A sheen layer of sweat was covering his forehead and his eyes changed between watching you and watching where he was entering you.

“Brad-Bradley!” You cried out, trying to hold yourself back from cumming embarrassingly early.

He kissed the inside of your neck, making you clench around him. He nipped the sensitive section of skin, thrusting his hips faster.

“Let go, darling, I got you.” And with that, you were cumming around him, eyes finally shutting as your orgasm flowed through you.

Bradley pulled out, jerking off until he came into the condom.

He rolled off you, catching his breath. You turned towards him, watching the way his chest heaved.

“Shit…” He muttered. “If I had known you felt that good, I would have admitted my feelings a long time ago.”

You laughed, swatting at his arm.

He smiled back before getting to his elbows, trying to stand. He groaned as he got up, unsteady legs taking him to the bathroom. He came back quickly, damp wash cloth in hand and gently cleaned you.

When he was done, he went to your dresser where you had kept a small section for his clothes. He pulled out a pair of his gray sweatpants and tossed them to you. For himself, he chose black sweats.

He went to the bathroom, leaving the washcloth in the sink.

Back in your room, you had put his gray sweatpants on and was making yourself comfortable underneath the covers.

Rooster came back, smiling at your sleepy figure.

He got into the bed, turning you onto your side and pulling you close. His head resting onto your shoulder, arms wrapped protectively around your waist.

“Hangman’s never going to talk to you like that again.” You muttered, half asleep already.

Bradley chuckled, snuggling deeper into you.

You slept better that night than you had in a long time. You had put Hangman in his place, and the boy you loved in your bed.

#rooster smut #rooster x reader #rooster x reader smut #bradley bradshaw #bradly bradshaw #bradley bradshaw smut #bradly bradshaw smut #bradley bradshaw x reader #bradly bradshaw x reader #top gun smut

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best-tv-theme-song · 7 months

Text

Polls will start to be posted within the next week or so.

Bracket list under the cut!

UPDATE: LIST CANCELLED

*Starred shows have multiple theme songs or I have combined shows in a franchise in an effort to include as much as possible. These will have preliminaries built-into their polls on the first round. This is how it works: 1. all of the songs will go into a poll together against one other show; 2. the COMBINED votes for those songs will determine which show wins that poll; 3. only the top voted song for that show/franchise will move on, if the show has won the poll. (If you are confused it will make more sense when we start, I promise!)

The 100

30 Rock

9-1-1*

The Addams Family

Adventure Time*

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

All That

The Amazing World of Gumball

American Dragon: Jake Long

Animaniacs

Arcane: League of Legends

Arrested Development

Arthur

Assassination Classroom*

Austin & Ally

The Backyardigans

Barney & Friends

Barry

Batman*

Bear in the Big Blue House

Ben 10*

Better Call Saul

Beverly Hills, 90210

The Big Bang Theory

Big Time Rush

Bill Nye the Science Guy

Black Sails

Bluey

Bob the Builder

Bob's Burgers

BoJack Horseman

Bones

Boy Meets World

The Brady Bunch

Breaking Bad

Bridgerton

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Buffy the Vampire Slayer*

Captain Planet and the Planeteers

Charmed

Cheers

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers

Choo Choo Soul

Code Lyoko

Codename: Kids Next Door

Cold Case

Community

Cory in the House

Cowboy Bebop

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend*

Criminal Minds

CSI*

Cyberchase

Danny Phantom

Daredevil

Dawson's Creek

Death Note*

Desperate Housewives

Detective Conan

Dexter

Dexter's Laboratory

Diff'rent Strokes

Digimon*

Doctor Who*

Dora the Explorer

Downton Abbey

Dragon Ball*

Dragon Tales

Drake & Josh

Ducktales*

Ever After High

The Fairly OddParents

Firefly

The Flintstones

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

Fraggle Rock

Frasier

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Friends

Fringe

Full House

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood*

Futurama

Game of Thrones

George Lopez

George of the Jungle

Gilmore Girls

Glee

The Golden Girls

Good Omens

Gravity Falls

Grey's Anatomy

H2O: Just Add Water

Hannah Montana

Hannibal

Happy Days

Hawaii Five-0*

His Dark Materials

Horrible Histories

House, M.D.

How I Met Your Mother

How It's Made

Hunter × Hunter

Huntik: Secrets & Seekers

I Dream of Jeannie

I Love Lucy

iCarly

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

The Jeffersons

Jeopardy!

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure*

Jonas

Justice League

Kim Possible

The Last of Us

Laverne & Shirley

Law & Order*

LazyTown

The Legend of Vox Machina

Leverage

Lilo & Stitch: The Series

Little Einsteins

Lizzie McGuire

Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies

The Love Boat

M*A*S*H

Mad Men

Madoka Magica*

The Magic School Bus

Malcolm in the Middle

The Mandalorian

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Merlin

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

Mob Psycho 100

The Monkees

Monster High

The Muppet Show

Murder, She Wrote

Murdoch Mysteries

My Babysitter's a Vampire

My Hero Academia*

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

The Nanny

Naruto*

NCIS

Neon Genesis Evangelion

The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

New Girl

NFL (various network themes)*

Ninjago

The O.C.

The Office

One Day at a Time*

One Piece

Only Murders in the Building

Orange Is the New Black

Ouran High School Host Club

The Owl House

Parks and Recreation

The Partridge Family

Phil of the Future

Phineas and Ferb

Pinky and the Brain

Pippi Longstocking

Pokémon*

Power Rangers

The Powerpuff Girls

Pretty Little Liars

The Price Is Right

The Proud Family

Psych

Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure

Reading Rainbow

Reba

Red Dwarf

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Riverdale

Rugrats

Sabrina the Teenage Witch

Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat

Sailor Moon

Sanford and Son

Saturday Night Live

Schitt's Creek

Scooby-Doo*

Scrubs

Seinfeld

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Sesame Street

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Sherlock

The Simpsons

Smallville

Sofia the First

Sonny with a Chance

The Sopranos

Spider-Man

SpongeBob SquarePants

Star Trek (instrumental themes)*

Star Trek: Enterprise

Star vs. the Forces of Evil

Stargate*

Steven Universe

Stranger Things

Succession

The Suite Life of Zack and Cody*

Suits

Taskmaster

Ted Lasso

Teen Titans

Teen Wolf

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teletubbies

That '70s Show

That's So Raven

Theory of Love

Thomas & Friends

Tokyo Ghoul

Total Drama

Totally Spies!

Transformers*

True Blood

The Twilight Zone

Twin Peaks

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

VeggieTales

Veronica Mars

Victorious

Voltron: Legendary Defender

W.I.T.C.H.

The Walking Dead

WandaVision*

Welcome Back, Kotter

The West Wing

Westworld

What We Do in the Shadows

The White Lotus

Wild Kratts

Winx Club

The Wire*

The Witcher

Wizards of Waverly Place

Wonder Pets!

Wonder Woman

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!

The X-Files

Xena: Warrior Princess

Yellowjackets

Yu-Gi-Oh!*

Yuri on Ice

Zoboomafoo

Zoey 101

#mod post

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usafphantom2 · 1 month

Text

A Flight of Four Mustangs Celebrates WWII Fighter Pilot’s 100th Birthday

March 20, 2024 Vintage Aviation News Warbirds News 0

The formation of four Mustangs flying over Lake Lanier, north of Atlanta.

United Fuel Cells

Mission accomplished! On Tuesday, March 19, World War II pilot Paul Crawford fulfilled his dream of flying in a P-51 Mustang like the one he commanded 79 years ago in China, where he flew 29 missions until he was shot down in 1945. Now 100, Buckhead resident Crawford was delighted when the Liberty Foundation and Inspire Aviation Foundation took him up in a TF-51D on a perfect blue-sky day for flying.

TF-51 “E Pluribus Unum” piloted by owner Bob Bull with Paul Crawford in the back leads the formation over Lake Lanier. The camera ship was a Bonanza piloted by long time Liberty Foundation’s pilot Cullen Underwood.

For the occasion, four P-51 Mustangs landed at the Dekalb-Peachtree Airport and parked at Atlantic Aviation, the FBO that supported this unique event. Mr. Crawford lovingly touched the nose and wing of one of the Mustangs when he first walked up to it, reuniting after a 79-year separation. LtCol Ray Fowler, Liberty Foundation Chief Pilot, and pilot Bob Bull helped Crawford into the back seat of the TF-51 and gave him an exhilarating 30-minute ride.

The organizers envisioned the participation of only one P-51, but a quick round of calls sparked the interest of other owners who enthusiastically decided to participate in the event. Bob Bull, Steve Maher, and Rodney Allison flew their Mustangs to Atlanta bringing the total number to four:

P-51D “Old Crow” (N451MG) – Pilot Ray Fowler – Liberty Foundation P-51D “Rebel” (N3BB) – Pilot Rodney Allison P-51 “E Pluribus Unum” (N351B) – Pilot Bob Bull – P-51 “Ain’t Missbehavin” (N51K) – Pilot Steve Maher

The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and Paul graduated six months later, during which time Congress passed the law to draft 18-year-olds. “I knew that I was going to be drafted so I went to Atlanta to talk with the Army Air Corps [sic] and the Navy about flying,” shared Mr. Crawford. ”The Navy said they would accept me for flight training but wanted me to go right then to their Great Lakes training center. The Air Corps told me they would accept me, but to go on back to college and they would notify me when to report.” said Crawford. Paul went back to Americus, entered Georgia Southwestern College, and shortly thereafter he received his draft notice to report to Fort McPherson in Atlanta on January 2, 1942.

Paul Crawford in his P-51 ‘Little Rebel’ ( photo by Paul Crawford Collection)

Paul had an older brother, Tim, who had gone into the Air Corps before Pearl Harbor and was flying B-26s, a medium bomber. He ended up flying combat in the B-17 Flying Fortress out of North Africa. The older brother influenced Paul’s choice, convincing him that the Air Corps had better aircraft, “I thought the water was, as they say, too deep and too wide to swim!” said Mr. Crawford.

With about 100 hours on the P-51 and 250-275 hours total, Mr. Crawford was sent off to Chengtu, China assigned to the 311th Fighter Group, 529th Fighter Squadron protecting the B-29 bases. As these B-29s transferred to the Pacific Theater, his squadron was transferred to Hsian headed for combat. At the time, Mr. Crawford was estimated to have only accumulated another 60 hours of flying time.

On his 29th mission, Mr. Crawford was shot down by ground fire while strafing a small railroad facility. After getting hit, he bailed out and was picked up by Chinese Communist guerillas. A few days earlier one of his housemates had been shot down and captured by the Japanese who cut his head off and put it up on a gate post. After a 200-mile-long walk, chased by the Japanese a couple of times, yet still evading capture, Mr. Crawford ended up at a compound owned by a wealthy family. A few miles from the compound was an airstrip where the OSS (U.S. Office of Strategic Services) brought downed airmen out. After the flight, Mr. Crawford talked about his experience: “When I recall my time in World War II, I always start by saying, I was not a hero! I was just there! That is not false modesty because it is the way I have always felt. I flew the P-51 Mustang.”

Mr. Crawford who has time in P-40, P-47, A-24, and P-51C, believes that the P-51 was the best fighter plane of its day. “There’s nothing in the world like that airplane,” Crawford said. “I loved doing the maneuvers again.” Paul Crawford was surrounded by several friends, his son-in-law, Tommy, and dozens of Liberty Foundation and Inspire Aviation Foundation members eager to have their pictures taken with him, shake his hand, and thank him for his service.

Ezoic

After serving in WWII, Paul Crawford finished college at Georgia Tech with a degree in Industrial Management. That’s also where he met his wife, Jean. They had a daughter and were married for sixty-one years when Jean passed away. Paul worked in the paper industry and for the U.S. Envelope Company until he retired in 1988. Paul currently lives in Atlanta and participates in aviation and historical WWII events.

This special event was made possible thanks to the support of Bob Bull, Ray Fowler Chief Pilot of The Liberty Foundation, Steve Maher, Atlantic Aviation FBO, Cullen Underwood with Vintage Flights, and Inspire Aviation Foundation.

Paul Crawford after the successful flight with (L to R), Cullen Underwood (Camera ship pilot), Bob Bull, Ray Fowler, and Rodney Allison.

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juniperjellyfish · 2 months

Text

And with that, Round One of the Second Annual Ninjago Sexyman Tournament has ended!

How we all doing?

Suffering from spam? Me too. Don't worry! Next year I'm going to make a separate blog just for the tournament, because I was not expecting there to be THIS MANY CHARACTERS. This tournament is comprised of 402 characters, and that's not even the total number of Ninjago characters, that's just the adult characters. Plus, Ninjago is only getting bigger and bigger

From here on out, the rounds are going to be smaller and smaller, so spam won't be as bad (again, I apologize).

I thought it'd be fun to also do a bit of a summary!

Most votes: Fungus vs Finn - 328 votes

Closest call: 1) Shezada vs Mindroid - 50/50

2) Sally’s Dad vs Nails - 50/50

Biggest win: 1) Raggmunk vs Shade - 0/100

2) Cardinsto vs Movie Wu - 0/100

Least votes: Kenji vs Sally-Bob - 27 votes

Round 2 will consist of 5 sections, with 20 polls each. All else is normal, you'll have a week to vote on each poll and they'll release every three to four days. Section one will release on 3/12 at 7pm EST.

Sorry, one last thing- here's a reminder of how polls are tagged: "#nst 2 Round-Section"

#ninjago #lego ninjago #lego #nst 2 #nst 2 2

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mostbelovedwwewrestlertournament · 2 months

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Most Beloved WWE Wrestler Tournament: Round 3 Statistics Dump

Followers: 260

Total Votes: 22,087 + 13,398 + 8,109 = 43,594

Number of times I caused tumblr drama over this tournament: 0, but I really got close

Beloved By Gender:

After Round 2, we were at a split of ~31/69 for female and male wrestlers. In a shocking turn of events, after Round 3, for the first time in the history of any of my tournaments, the male percentage has gone up by over an entire percent

Voting Trends:

Round 3 had a low vote count day of 456 and the highest count day of 630, making the average 550.8 votes per day (discounting final day cause there were only 6 brackets), almost an extra hundred votes per day beyond Round 2's average of 462

(Also I'm still super proud of my datelines, btw)

The 100%ers:

In the entirety of Round 3, there was only one wrestler who got a perfect score, which was Naomi with the full 59 votes in her favor

Public Opinion:

More and more famous favourites are being voted out every round

Sports Illustrated’s 101 Best Wrestlers Of All Time (2016)

Ric Flair (18, lose)

Shawn Michaels (53 + 57 + 71, win)

Steve Austin (29 + 18, lose)

The Rock (23, lose)

The Undertaker (53 + 55 + 45, win)

Dusty Rhodes (46 + 42 + 43, win)

John Cena (47 + 51 + 50, win)

Hulk Hogan (10, lose)

Sting (51 + 53 + 61, win)

Andre The Giant (56 + 38 + 38, win)

Randy Savage (37 + 32 + 42, win)

Roddy Piper (54 + 33 + 53, win)

Chris Jericho (27 + 31 + 32, win)

Harley Race (17 + 18 + 10, lose)

Mick Foley (58 + 47 + 57, win)

Bret Hart (52 + 59 + 61, win)

Randy Orton (58 + 48 + 49, win)

Kurt Angle (45 + 36 + 37, win)

Antonio Inoki (28 + 38 + 23, lose)

Ricky Steamboat (28 + 47 + 16, lose)

Daniel Bryan (61 + 51 + 48, win)

Triple H (31 + 12, lose)

Buddy Rogers (21 + 17 + 8, lose)

Edge (41 + 49 + 44, win)

Bob Backlund (26 + 22 + 11, lose)

Brock Lesnar (23, lose)

Stan Hansen (22, lose)

Bruno Sammartino (30 + 6, lose)

CM Punk (57 + 40, lose)

Ted DiBiase (27 + 26 + 27, win)

Bruiser Brody (33 + 31 + 22, win)

Hideo Itami (34 + 35 + 7, lose)

Rey Mysterio (48 + 40 + 42, win)

Vader (32 + 17, lose)

Dory Funk Jr (17 + 17, lose)

Mr Perfect (37 + 25 + 28, win)

Eddie Guerrero (53 + 43 + 47, win)

Jake Roberts (32 + 29 + 31, win)

Arn Anderson (25 + 30 + 15, lose)

The Sheik (31 + 30 + 11, lose)

AJ Styles (40 + 46 + 46, win)

Goldust (70 + 34 + 49, win)

Samoa Joe (61 + 84 + 60, win)

Terry Funk (27 + 37 + 32, win)

Verne Gagne (14, lose)

Mil Mascaras (10, lose)

Rob Van Dam (43 + 45 + 50, win)

Tatsumi Fujinami (25, lose)

Rick Rude (35 + 29 + 10, lose)

Owen Hart (56 + 41 + 53, win)

Jeff Hardy (52 + 32, lose)

Goldberg (23 + 22, lose)

Ivan Koloff (15, lose)

Chris Benoit (17, lose)

Larry Zbyszko (4, lose)

Ultimo Dragon (9, lose)

Scott Hall (44 + 40 + 44, win)

Trish Stratus (38 + 42 + 22, lose)

Dean Malenko (37 + 29 + 19, lose)

Ultimate Warrior (28 + 20, lose)

Fabulous Moolah (18, lose)

William Regal (62 + 45 + 50, win)

Gene Kiniski (14, lose)

Scott Steiner (44, lose)

Rick Steiner (26 + 9, lose)

Chyna (68 + 49 + 52, win)

Seth Rollins (55 + 54 + 66, win)

Kane (40 + 29 + 33, win)

Jimmy Snuka (9, lose)

Davey Boy Smith (22 + 24 + 33, win)

The Iron Sheik (49 + 40 + 32, win)

Pedro Morales (20 + 9, lose)

Michael Hayes (10, lose)

Johnny Valentine (14 + 4, lose)

Shinsuke Nakamura (58 + 60 + 58, win)

Diesel (39 + 35 + 34, win)

Batista (53 + 54 +35, win)

Lita (46 + 65 + 37, win)

Christian (56 + 47 + 67, win)

Ron Simmons (25 + 33 + 31, win)

Big Show (41 + 60 + 38, win)

JBL (10, lose)

Christopher Daniels (26 + 10, lose)

The Miz (34 + 30 + 39, win)

PWI Wrestler Of The Year

Pedro Morales (20 + 9, lose)

Jack Brisco (17 + 13, lose)

Bruno Sammartino (30 + 6, lose)

Terry Funk (27 + 37 + 32, win)

Dusty Rhodes (46 + 42 + 43, win)

Harley Race (17 + 18 + 10, lose)

Bob Backlund (26 + 22 + 11, lose)

Ric Flair (18, lose)

Hulk Hogan (10, lose)

Randy Savage (37 + 32 + 42, win)

Sting (51 + 53 + 61, win)

Vader (32 + 17, lose)

Diesel (39 + 35 + 34, win)

Big Show (41 + 39 + 38, win)

Lex Luger (25 + 4, lose)

Steve Austin (29 + 18, lose)

The Rock (23, lose)

Brock Lesnar (23, lose)

Kurt Angle (45 + 36 + 37, win)

Chris Benoit (17, lose)

Batista (52 + 54 + 35, win)

John Cena (47 + 51 + 50, win)

Triple H (31 + 12, lose)

Randy Orton (58 + 48 + 49, win)

CM Punk (57 + 40, lose)

Daniel Bryan (61 + 51 + 48, win)

Seth Rollins (55 + 54 + 66, win)

AJ Styles (40 + 46 + 46, win)

Adam Cole (47 + 40 + 53, win)

Dean Ambrose (58 + 54 + 42, win)

Roman Reigns (51 + 64 + 59, win)

PWI Woman Of The Year

Joyce Grable (30 + 24 + 0, lose)

Susan Green (21 + 27 + 11, lose)

Stephanie McMahon (26 + 4, lose)

Lita (46 + 65 + 37, win)

Trish Stratus (38 + 42 + 22, lose)

Victoria (27 + 23 + 17, lose)

Candice Michelle (24 + 39 + 13, lose)

Mickie James (47 + 46 + 47, win)

Michelle McCool (29 + 10, lose)

AJ Lee (48 + 46 + 39, win)

Sasha Banks (44 + 47 + 42, win)

Charlotte Flair (45 + 42 + 27, win)

Asuka (58 + 60 + 65, win)

Becky Lynch (58 + 53 + 58, win)

Bianca Belair (34 + 66 + 54, win)

Top 10 Voted Wrestlers Who've Already Been Eliminated:

Big E (156 - round 3)

Neville (111 - round 3)

Natalya/Trish Stratus (102 - round 3)

Baron Corbin (101 - round 3)

Tyler Breeze/Elias (100 - round 3)

Raquel Rodriguez (99 - round 3)

CM Punk (97 - round 2)

Paul Heyman/Dominik Mysterio (96 - round 3/2)

Umaga (95 - round 3)

Ricochet/Santino Marella (94 - round 3)

Top 10 Voted In Round 3:

Damian Priest (76)

Shawn Michaels (71)

Sami Zayn (70)

Cody Rhodes (69)

Jey Uso (68)

Christian (67)

Seth Rollins (66)

Kevin Owens/LA Knight/Asuka (65)

Bayley (64)

Sting/Bret Hart/Finn Balor (61)

Top 10 Voted Overall:

Naomi (282)

Billy Gunn (232)

Damian Priest (226)

Samoa Joe (205)

Sami Zayn (200)

Rhea Ripley (193)

Jey Uso (191)

Asuka (183)

R-Truth (182)

Shawn Michaels (181)

A big thanks to everyone who's voted so far! By my calculations, this tournament will be ending before the end of the month, so only a few weeks left to show your love for your favourites.

In the meantime, if there are any other statistics you'd like to see based on the data I've been keeping track of, send me an ask and I'll include them in the statistics dumps

Since we'll be getting into shorter rounds, Round 4 is going to start today, hopefully within the hour, so keep an eye out!

#most beloved wwe wrestler tournament

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best-o-boingo · 11 months

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#oingo boingo #best o' boingo #bob: round 0 #nothing to fear #well whatever messed up stuff happens with the second half blame mod boingo <3 #Spotify

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l33t-hax0r-tournament · 1 year

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THE BRACKET IS HERE!

round 0 (yes, we are starting at 0 just like computers do) will start on march 2 at 12pm EST. the round will be spread out across 4 days to avoid a shadowban, and posts will be tagged as #round 0. the matchups were randomized, so sorry about that! matchups in text form are under the cut:

match 0: Ami Enan (Lupin III Part 5) vs. Harold Finch (Person of Interest)

match 1: Barbara Gordon (Batman) vs. Saburo Yamada (Hypnosis Mic)

match 2: Hackerman (Kung Fury) vs. Piconjo (Newgrounds)

match 3: Lain Iwakura (Serial Experiments Lain) vs. Dr. Alphys (Undertale)

match 4: Sollux Captor (Homestuck) vs. Lucyna Kushinada (Cyberpunk: Edgerunners)

match 5: Breanna Casey (Leverage: Redemption) vs. Saeyoung "707" Choi (Mystic Messenger)

match 6: Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost In The Shell (1995)) vs. Bentley Wiseturtle (Sly Cooper)

match 7: Kururu (Keroro Gunsou) vs. Mei Hatsume (Boku no Hero Academia)

match 8: Nomi Marks (Sense8) vs. Tulip Olsen (Infinity Train)

match 9: Tae Joon "Crypto" Park (Apex Legends) vs. Penny (Pokémon)

match 10: Tux the Penguin (GNU/Linux) vs. Hieronymous "The" Hacker (Cyberchase)

match 11: Elliot Alderson (Mr. Robot) vs. Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi (Digimon Adventure)

match 12: Vanessa A. (Five Night's at Freddy's: Security Breach) vs. Chihiro Fujisaki (Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc)

match 13: Donatello Hamato (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) vs. Aloe Cookie (Cookie Run: OvenBreak)

match 14: Monika (Doki Doki Literature Club!) vs. Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski IV (Cowboy Bebop)

match 15: Spock (Star Trek) vs. Roxy Lalonde (Homestuck)

match 16: Rita (The Penumbra Podcast) vs. Futaba Sakura (Persona 5)

match 17: Entrapta (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) vs. Mickey Smith (Doctor Who)

match 18: Idia Shroud (Twisted Wonderland) vs. Alter Ego (Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc)

match 19: Urushihara Hanzo (The Devil is a Part-Timer!) vs. Alec Hardison (Leverage)

match 20: Root (Person of Interest) vs. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya (Mass Effect)

match 21: Katie "Pidge" Holt (Voltron: Legendary Defender) vs. Penelope Garcia (Criminal Minds)

match 22: Carla Dosa (The Hex) vs. Nicole the Holo-Lynx (Sonic the Hedgehog)

match 23: Dendy (OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes) vs. Toshiko "Tosh" Sato (Torchwood)

match 24: Yasuho Hirose (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: JoJolion) vs. Ezekiel Jones (The Librarians)

match 25: Ritsuko Akagi (Neon Genesis Evangelion) vs. Felicity Smoak (Arrow)

match 26: Robert "Bob" Johansson (We Are Legion (We Are Bob)) vs. Maya Ibuki (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

match 27: Neo (The Matrix) vs. Trinity (The Matrix)

match 28: James T. Kirk (Star Trek) vs. Player Bouchard (Carmen Sandiego (2019))

match 29: Shiang Sun (Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2) vs. Raimu "Rhyme" Bito (The World Ends With You)

match 30: Susie (Kirby) vs. Miles "Tails" Prower (Sonic the Hedgehog)

match 31: Mikado Ryuugamine (Durarara!!) vs. Fuuka Yamagishi (Persona 3)

#l33t hax0r tournament #round 0 #tumblr polls #wew it took longer than i wanted it to but it's here #i put almost every submission on here plus some of my favs #i know not all of them are technically hackers but shhhhh my poll

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saiilorstars · 1 year

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Ch. 19: Baby Steps

[Story Masterlist] // [Aitana’s Masterlist]

Fandom: Criminal Minds // Pairing: Spencer Reid x OFC

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @averyhotchner @foxesandmagic

If you’d like to be a part of Aitana’s taglist, please let me know!

Aitana had come in a little earlier today. It was the first day Hotch was back from his short break and she felt like she couldn't just get back to work like nothing. She might have learned something she shouldn't have and so she wanted to make it right however she could. And what she had at her fingertips were sweet pastries to hopefully push things in the right direction.

"Morning," she gave a light tap against Hotch's office door. He looked up from his desk that held a decent amount of paperwork from his absence. "Welcome back." Aitana raised the pink box in her hands.

Whatever he actually felt, Hotch still smiled at her and welcomed her inside. "Those aren't all for me, are they?"

"I don't know, how good are you with sugar?" Hotch bobbed his head for a short second, making her chuckle. She set the box down on the desk. "It's good to have you back, sir. It's been a doozy without you."

"I heard the case you all had to handle," Hotch said, head shaking slightly.

"Well, technically, most of us handled it." Aitana's wry look now made him smile.

"I know Strauss can be a lot, but—"

Aitana waved it off. "It's fine. I'm...let's just say that I followed Rossi's advice about some wine…"

Hotch raised his eyebrows at her. "Good to hear."

"I, um, I just wanted to see how you were doing?" Aitana pursed her lips together, bracing herself for his reaction. "Emily told me what happened with, uh, with your wife. I don't know if I was supposed to find out but I don't know all the details of what happened and I won't know it of course. I just…" Aitana exhaled deeply, "I just wanted to tell you that I know and I'm sorry for everything that happened."

Hotch stared at her long and hard and while she thought he was considering his next words, he was actually waiting to see if she was finished. When she didn't say anything else, he finally started to speak, "I never expected you to be in the dark about. At some point, you would find out."

"I'm sorry," Aitana felt the urge to say again, possibly a hundred more times. "I...I thought I had a bad experience but turns out that everyone has something and some people have very, very bad things happen to them. I'm really sorry."

"Serrano, thank you, really," Hotch said. "I'm not upset at all that you know."

Aitana pushed the box towards him. "You get first choice."

Hotch smiled at it. "You know you really don't want to get them used to this stuff…"

Aitana shrugged. "I can handle it. My parents are just happy that I'm coming by more often. They'll bake as many things as I want."

Hotch nodded. "It's good that you're reintegrating."

"Baby steps," Aitana repeated what got her through most of it. "Just baby steps."

"And the will," Hotch pointed out. "Because it's your own will that'll let you do that."

Aitana agreed. Things were very different for now than they were when she first came out of Witness Protection. For the first time now, she had a job that she liked, a job that she was progressively getting better at, and a group of people she was liking more by the day. She didn't want to let it go. She knew that for a fact.

~ 0 ~

"You're kidding right?" Penelope was ecstatic with the fresh round of pastries Aitana brought the team that morning. The pink box was full of delicious smelling bread. Penelope reached for her piece before anybody else around the conference table could. "Oh, oh, you're not kidding!"

Aitana chuckled. "All yours, Penelope." She grabbed her chair to take a seat while the others gathered around the box.

"You've been bringing these around more often," Morgan noted as he came in beside Penelope. "We might have to stop by this bakery to say our thanks."

Aitana laughed a bit too loud for Morgan's liking. "Oh boy, I can imagine how that would go. You'd flirt with my mother, wouldn't you?"

Morgan made a face. "It's not my fault I'm good with mothers."

"You're awful!"

"I spy a rainbow-sprinkled donut for Boy Wonder!" Penelope motioned the doctor over when he stepped into the room.

"I figured as much which is why I brought over some…" Spencer stopped by Aitana's chair with a coffee for her.

Her eyes lit up at the sweet scent drifting to her nose. "Light, right? I love me some coffee but it doesn't need a lot of shots in it."

Spencer wholeheartedly agreed with her. "Of course!" A lot of people liked to joke with him and the amount of sugar he put into his coffee, he was happy to see Aitana was on his side.

"Where's Prentiss?" Morgan asked after securing his sweet bread.

"I don't know," Penelope shrugged. She returned to her seat with her own bread.

"Her car wasn't here when I rode in this morning," remarked Spencer. He quickly grabbed his donut and headed for his seat.

"Hey," Emily strode into the room. She looked worse for wear but Morgan was the only one who dared to comment.

"Somebody have a long night?"

"Somebody want to mind their own business?" Emily uncharacteristically snapped in response.

There was a mutual dumbfounded reaction amongst the group that Emily didn't stop to notice, or care for that matter. She went to the furthest chair from the group and plopped down.

"Umm…" Aitana was certainly not aiming to be the second victim, so she played it cautiously, "I brought sweet bread again...if you'd like some." She was just about to reach the doing box when Emily refused it. Aitana wasn't stupid enough to insist.

A short moment later, Hotch and Rossi arrived. Hotch let them know they could start the meeting as Seaver would not be joining them this time. She was off on another assignment.

"Alright," Aitana rose up from her chair, Penelope bringing the screen behind them alive, "We're headed to Los Angeles—"

"Two times in one year," remarked Penelope.

"Mhm—wait, what?" Aitana paused to glance at Penelope, eyes wide. "Two times?" Penelope nodded. "I'm...we're only halfway into the year—ah, no, moving on." The others were amused with her but kept their chuckles hidden. "This one was an odd one, I…" She motioned Penelope to present the pictures they had of the recent victims. "Three women were all abducted from different parts of the city and murdered within the last couple of weeks. Shelly onto, 23-year-old bank teller, 15 days ago. Vickie Hagerg, 39-year-old art teacher, 6 days ago. And Linda Dean, a 28-year-old hostess at a bar, 2 days ago. They were all from different parts of the city, all different socioeconomic statuses."

"All 3 were held approximately 24 hours before being dumped in a public space," Penelope regretfully showed them the corpses.

"He's not hiding what he's doing," Morgan noted the very public spots the Unsub had chosen for each of the victims.

"And here's one weird part…"

"They all look like floaters," Emily said as she took study of the very pale skin of the corpses, along with the seemingly crumpled clothes as if they'd been wet.

"That's because all 3 women were drowned," Aitana said.

"Their bodies weren't found anywhere near water?" Spencer read from the file.

"No, they weren't. They were drowned somewhere else and transported to the dumpsite."

"But they weren't drowned in water…" Rossi said, but of course Spencer had already read ahead.

"Methanol?" He looked up at the team.

"Each woman had it in her lungs and was alive before she went into it," Penelope said.

"No water, just methanol," Emily said in thought. "Drowning's a tough way to kill someone. Slow."

"The unsub wants his victims to suffer, and he's got the space and privacy in which to do it," Hotch said, prompting the others to conclude on their own that the murder list would continue until they found the unsub."

~0~

As soon as the jet took off, the team got deeper into the case file.

"You guys want to show me how much more experienced you are by telling me, please, what the hell this unsub could possibly gain from removing a part of flesh like this one?" Aitana turned her copy of the file around so the others could see exactly what she talked about. Each of the victims had one perfectly cut square of flesh taken from their right foot. Penelope had not wanted to see any scrap of that so she purposely kept it out of the screen and left in the files. Aitana was, however, overly curious about the meaning of such a peculiar act. "I mean, all the victims were nude but there's no evidence of sexual assault on any of them so...what the hell? Unless we're talking about a foot fetishist, you actually can't get further away from sexual areas. What-what is it? A trophy?"

"Skin, independent of any other substance, would wither and die rather quickly," Spencer called from where he was making himself a cup of tea.

Aitana's face scrunched. That just left her even more lost. "Great, so then what does he want? Just a thrill?"

"Possibly," Morgan shrugged. "Maybe we should focus on the methanol as a way to get more clues. We don't really see it that often."

Spencer came over to take a seat with them now with his cup of tea in hand. "Methanol is compositionally speaking the simplest of the alcohols. It's actually ubiquitous in the environment. There are small traces of its vapor in the atmosphere, but atmospheric methanol is easily oxidized by sunlight."

"Is it toxic?" Morgan asked. This time, they'd let the entire flood of explanations come out without an interruption.

"Ingesting 10 milliliters of it will cause permanent blindness, and as little as 30 is potentially fatal."

Emily grabbed her copy of the file and skimmed it again to make sure she remembered correctly. "These victims had between 5 and 6 ounces in their lungs."

"You know, if they were immersed in it, they would have died even without ingesting or inhaling it. When absorbed through the skin, it depresses the central nervous system to an unsustainable degree."

Aitana was positively bemused with how Spencer had a response for everything they asked him. It would never cease to be fascinating for her. How could someone fit all that information into one head? Well, she would definitely take her turn like the rest of the team and ask a question. "What's it used for?"

And just like with the others, Spencer didn't skip a beat when answering her. "What isn't it used for? A solvent, an antifreeze. In World War II the Germans used it for rocket fuel. It's used in wine-making. Its most commonplace use, however, is in the creation of other chemicals. Methanol can become plastic, plywood, paint, explosives, permanent-press textiles. It's essentially the chemical used to separate other chemicals from each other."

Aitana would give him the full points this time.

"Can it be bought? Is it tracked?" asked Hotch.

"California's got some of the strictest environmental laws in the country. I'm sure it's regulated," Rossi remarked but it appeared like Spencer thought differently.

"Methanol is also used in making biofuels, which quite a few people have been doing at home. I'd imagine the sale of it is fairly commonplace." And it would turn out later that Spencer was quite right.

~0~

Based in L.A. would end up doing more damage to their case. Aitana met with Spencer, Hotch, and Emily in the conference room with a near grumbling face.

"I know I struggle with the press but I think I'm more upset right now that I won't have to do anything with it this time," she said, planting the three victims' cases on the table.

"Why not?" Emily asked her. She lifted her gaze from the map Spencer had set up and was still going through it.

"Two of the 3 women weren't even reported missing when the cops found them. There's no coverage because the media doesn't see them as pertinent, outstanding amongst actually reported missing cases."

"The unsub is dumping their bodies 24 hours after abducting them. It takes longer than that for a missing persons report to clear the system," Spencer would say in the midst of his work.

"Thank you, well of knowledge," Aitana said with a sigh. "For the time being, the press won't be a problem. Anything on the methanol?"

At that, Spencer turned right away from the map, finger raised to announce his findings. "Methanol can be easily purchased from any chemical supply house in Southern California. It's not controlled. You can buy it in large quantities or small quantities."

Hotch and Rossi, along with primary detective Bailey, returned from the coroner's office with little to nothing for the case, except that the victims had all ingested the methanol.

"I've charted the abduction and disposal sites," Spencer stepped back for them to better the marked map. "Linda Dean was taken from Hollywood. Her body was dumped in Echo Park. Shelly was last seen in the Garment district. Her body was dumped in Sherman Oaks. And finally, Vickie Hagerg was taken in Torrance south of the city. Her body was left in Westlake."

"It's a huge geographical area," Morgan would say what the others were unfortunately thinking. The vast range didn't leave them a lot to work with.

"The only area the unsub hasn't hit yet is east of downtown, which means we can either eliminate it or it's the one place left," Spencer added in a quieter tone, knowing that he was providing virtually nothing.

"Well…" Rossi started when the silence fell over them, "We could say that the locations of the dumpsites means this guy's very mobile."

Spencer would nod in agreement. "All of the dumpsites, including the most recent one, are between the 110 and 405 freeway and the 5 and 10 north and south."

"Linda Dean's family said she always took the Red Line home from work at night, but the subway in L. A. stops running at 1 a.m," Emily said. "She clocked out of work at 5 past 1:00."

"L. A. at 1 a.m.? She probably didn't walk home," Morgan said.

"All the victims had breathed an aerosolized chloroform, and to do that he needs an enclosed space," Hotch said.

"You know, chloroform's a lot more controlled than methanol," Spencer said, hoping that would be enough to spark a new lead for them. "I'll have Garcia track any large quantity purchases or thefts from chemical supply houses."

Detective Bailey moved around the room, rethinking everything they'd learned so far. "So we're looking for a vehicle, one that could be in any area of Los Angeles at 1:00 in the morning and not attract attention. I hate to say it, but that could be a police car."

"Or a taxi," Aitana spoke up. "I saw like five different ones on the way here."

Yet another task for the one and only Penelope Garcia.

~ 0 ~

"There's 7 companies," Garcia had the information shortly later. "I checked all 7 cab companies that service the Hollywood and Vermont area, and none of the drivers reported picking anyone up between 11:00 and 2:00 the night Linda went missing."

"And they know that for sure?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah. They seemed really certain."

"Well, one of the drivers may have picked someone up off the meter," Emily offered. It wasn't that far fetched. "The cabs have GPS?"

"Yeah," Garcia was quick to answer, "Taxis are tracked more than Gaga's Twitter."

"What does that mean?" Spencer said, making a face as he tried to understand the comparison.

"I'll explain it to him, Garcia," Rossi said just as she was about to say something no doubt long and sarcastic.

"Yeah, teach him to worship the other Lady G, boss. Ta and ta!" Penelope said before hanging up.

"You don't know Lady Gaga?" Aitana was giving Spencer an incredulous look. He was halfway shrugging when the others continued.

"So there were no taxis in the area…" Emily began, wheels of the mind turning to find another alternative.

"What about a gypsy cab?" Rossi suddenly asked. "They roam around in unregistered vehicles with fake insignias that look legit."

"There are 2, 300 registered cabs in the city and at least as many unregistered," detective Bailey remarked.

"And no one pays any attention when they get into a cab. If he's unregistered, he's not gonna sit outside taxi stands and wait to pick up fares in the traditional way."

"Which makes him either harder to find," Hotch muttered. Time was something they did not have. "This guy could be anywhere. Detective, can you gather everyone?" Bailey nodded. "We'd like to give the profile."

Bailey left the room to gather the others. Aitana neared Hotch more concerned than earlier. "If this guy's using a fake cab then maybe we should use the press now."

Hotch thought about it until he saw Spencer heading towards the small board they'd brought in earlier. He was writing down the ingredients they had so far but at the end he stopped. He turned towards the table then back to the board twice.

Even Aitana forgot what she'd requested watching him go through that two more times. "You okay over there…?"

"When I was in school, we used to use methanol to separate chemicals from each other," he started, though it was clear he was still trying to connect the two dots. "Whatever we did, we'd clip a sample of the source material to label and keep next to the output."

"What kind of samples?" asked Hotch.

They saw the connection in his eyes before he answered. Spencer turned to them, eyes wide as whatever he realized was still being processed. "Square samples 2 inches by 2 inches. I think this guy's a scientist and he's experimenting."

That certainly put a twist into the case, they just weren't sure if it was a good one or a worse one.

~0~

While the profile was given, Aitana focused on the single-handedly releasing the same profile to the press. The 'baby steps' turned into one huge step today and it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. Yes, she was nervous — there were at least half a dozen reporters waiting for her when she stepped up to the podium — but she focused on the most important thing at the moment: the victims. Releasing the profile was the only way they could decrease the chance of there being another victim.

"This is a highly intelligible man we're looking for between the ages of 20 and 40. He's been abducting women between the same ages with the ruse of an unregistered gypsy cab." Aitana ignored the floundering questions with the vague information. "This man may stick out in that he exhibits odd behavior, can't hold a conversation very well. He may have little to no eye contact when you step into his cab. But do not be fooled because as I said before, this man is very intelligible. He uses a breathable form of methanol to incapacitate his victims. One of the intentions of this profile is to encourage any person who may have had a confrontation with this man to come forwards. If you have had an encounter with this man, please contact…the local precinct at the number that's shown on your screen. In the meantime, I implore everyone in the community to be vigilant about the taxi cabs you are taking, women especially."

By the time Aitana finished, she had dozens and dozens of questions being thrown at her. She'd managed to start giving her press conferences without stuttering and stammering but now she had to figure out a way to get around those questions. She couldn't prepare for them like she would with the speeches. She just had to learn from experience.

Only half an hour later, she got a call from Spencer. "What's up?"

"Where are you?" He went straight to the point.

"Still clearing up the last of the reporters, why?"

"There's been another victim found."

Aitana held her breath at that. The victim had to have been dumped today, no doubt close to the release of their profile. "We were too late for her," she sighed.

"But we may be onto something, don't fret."

Aitana made a face, almost laughing which was the last thing Spencer expected her to do during this situation. "People still say 'fret'?"

Spencer was now making the face, scrunching his nose. "Possibly. But you know, the word's meaning doesn't even come close to the meaning of the original word or came from."

Aitana's eyebrows raised with curiosity. "It doesn't?"

"No. It originated from the old English word 'freton' which means 'to devour like an animal'."

Aitana blinked several times as she processed his words. She couldn't help but smile. "Point number God-knows-how-many-numbers to Dr. Reid. I will take my defeat for today as humbly as I can."

Normally Spencer would've been more self-conscious about his random blurts of information but Aitana rarely made him feel anything like that. Hearing her say that, so casually and playful, warmed his heart.

"Spencer?" she called him twice before he snapped out of his thoughts. "What else you got for me?"

It was then that Spencer remembered he'd called for two things. "Yeah! Um...we may have someone who called saying she talked to the guy. You're closer."

Aitana nodded. "That is something. Send me the address and I'm on my way."

"Great, Morgan will meet you there."

~0~

"Hey," Aitana greeted Morgan as soon as she arrived at the block. She could already see two officers standing by the woman claiming to have met their unsub.

"Hey there, spicy sprinkles," Morgan pulled his shades off for a second. He smiled when she rolled her eyes. "What?"

"Do you and Garcia just randomly come up with these nicknames or do you actually have like meetings together to agree on them?"

Morgan shrugged his shoulders. "Sometimes both."

Aitana shook her head. "I don't even want to know what else goes on in those meetings."

"Hey now," he chastised playfully, "Jealous?"

"You wish." She chuckled and started for the officers.

The woman seemed shifty when she met the two agents. She was sharply dressed as if she was heading to work, or possibly coming home from work.

"I don't know if he's the guy, but he was out of control," she explained, "His cab was unregistered, and he actually made me, a paying customer, get out."

"Ok, was that all that happened?" Aitana asked.

"Well, I was on the phone when I first got in the cab. I mean…" she paused for a moment, "I think he was listening to something."

Morgan tilted his head at the woman. "What do you mean?"

"Some dumb recording of himself talking."

"What was he saying on the recording?"

"I don't know. I tried to get his cab number down, but I was really flustered. I only got the last 2 digits." The woman showed them her right first where 2 numbers were written down on her skin.

"Thanks for that, ma'am," Aitana said, taking a mental note of the numbers. Two was better than nothing and they did have the whiz that was Penelope Garcia.

"These two officers will take down all your information," Morgan gestured for the officers to near them. "They're probably gonna ask you to look at some photos."

The woman made a face. "How long is that gonna take?"

Aitana made a face right back, hoping that it had the woman rethinking her priorities right now. "I'm not really sure, ma'am, but you may actually help save someone's life," she made sure to enunciate slowly. It seemed to have the woman shifting uncomfortably which was definitely something Aitana would take. Some people were just too much.

"She's something," Morgan remarked when the woman had been taken away.

"L.A.," Aitana said as if that was enough of an explanation.

"All right, if he's listening to recordings of himself, he's not only antisocial, he's probably delusional as well."

"Making him even more dangerous," Aitana nodded.

Morgan glanced at the cabs around them. "Follow me," he said suddenly, "I have an idea."

~ 0 ~

"Could it be smell? Could smell be what's attracting him to his victims?"" Aitana would later apologize to Spencer for such a rude straight-to-point phone call. She and Morgan were almost sure they might have found the way their unsub was picking his victims. His idea of getting into the cab to simulate the unsub's thought pattern turned out to be a genius idea.

"Distillation extraction," Spencer was quick to say, though it left Aitana wondering what exactly he had meant.

"Another point to Dr. Reid but right now can you just explain what that means?" From the side, Aitana heard Morgan snicker. She rolled her eyes and focused on what Spencer was saying.

"Methanol can be used to create scents or aromas. If you soak something in it for hours, it draws out the essential oils…" There was a sudden pause in Spencer's explanation and Aitana suspected that he had realized something else. "Aitana, let me call you right back, ok?"

"Uuh, sure?" Aitana shrugged her shoulders as the call went dead.

Later in the evening, they regrouped back in the precinct to go over what they had and get some makeshift dinner in the process.

Rossi stationed himself in front of the coffee machine while the others grabbed seats around the conference table. "Unless the victims all wore excessive amounts of perfume, it would take a hell of nose to detect smell through a taxi window."

"Not necessarily," Spencer raised a finger, making it no surprise for the others. "People with the olfactory disorder hyperosmia have an oversensitivity to smell. They typically pick up scents that other people can't."

"That must suck then," Aitana mumbled under her breath.

"I don't think he'd be going after their perfume. It's already artificial."

"So they probably weren't wearing anything on their skin," Emily realized. "Something about their natural scent compels him?"

"Smell's a powerful trigger for memory. He might be trying to bring back the memory of somebody he lost," Morgan said. It was the logical thing to think of.

At that moment, Penelope called in to tell them she had a possible lead of their unsub. "I have exactly one address at which every piece of equipment Reid listed was delivered to!"

"That's great, Garcia, send it in," instructed Hotch.

"On it!"

And as soon as they had the address, they took off. The latest victim could still be alive so time was of the essence.

They arrived at the house to find it dead quiet but they would be fools to believe that. Hotch led the team and the rest of the officers towards the house, sending a flock of them around the back.

"Morgan and Prentiss, take the back," Hotch ordered the pair to move out.

"He's got eyes on us," Rossi nodded over to the security camera perched up on the entrance ceiling.

"Which means so does the victim," Aitana said, preferring to think only about that woman waiting for them.

Hotch prepared to kick the front door when the unsub failed to show himself. Just then, they heard Morgan shouting from the back. "He's running!"

"Serrano,and Reid stay with Prentiss, search the house!" Hotch said quickly as he and Rossi ran back to the SUV.

"C'mon!" Spencer led Aitana into the house with a strong door kick. Emily had no doubt already entered through the back. They searched the living room and kitchen until Emily led the way towards the basement.

The trio cautiously stepped down until they opened the basement door.

"Please help me! Help me!" They soon heard Anisa's cry from inside.

She was tied down to a slab, naked, and in tears. The trio hurried inside to get her out. Emily pulled her jacket off to cover the poor woman up while Spencer worked on releasing the slab from the chains threatening to spill her over into the methanol.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Anisa burst into fresh sobs once they had her completely free.

"You'll be alright now," Emily promised her. All they had to do now was catch the unsub. Unfortunately, the chase for him would lead to his death.

~ 0 ~

On the jet ride back home, most of the team was nearly knocked out after the case they had. Aitana found Emily wide awake, though it seemed like there was a reason why. She slid into the seat opposite of Emily, it being one of the few left open by their sleeping co-workers.

"Hey," she set down a cup of coffee on the table. She thought she'd been pretty quiet but it seemed like it was enough to cause a jolt in Emily. It certainly pulled the phone down from Emily's hands. "Sorry, is, uh, everything okay?"

Emily cleared her throat. "Yeah, of course." Her eyes briefly flickered over to a sleeping Morgan. She already had this type of conversation with him earlier in the day and the last thing she wanted was to have a go with Aitana. She certainly didn't seem like the kind to be nosy.

"Somebody on the phone?" Aitana made a languid point to the phone sitting on the table between them.

Emily shrugged. "Yeah, uh, friend."

"Are they okay?"

"Yes," Emily's sharp answer came as a surprise to Aitana. She'd never gotten an answer like that. Emily caught herself—confirming for sure that Aitana wasn't the nosy type based on that reaction—and sought to ease things. "I'm just tired, barely slept, you know?"

Aitana slowly nodded. She knew better than to keep asking questions. She was still getting to know everybody in the team and she had to take baby steps there too. They wouldn't tell her everything in one go. "Okay," she picked up her cup to drink and thus ended the conversation. After all, whatever that was bothering Emily couldn't be that bad.

#ocappreciation #fd: criminal minds #criminal minds #spencer reid #spencer reid fics #spencer reid imagines #spencer reid x oc #criminal minds fics #criminal minds imagines #cm fics #cm imagines #oc: aitana serrano #fic: against all odds

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anotherwvba · 5 months

Text

Dreaming After Midnight pt. 3

Niki Binary bounced on her toes, 1’s and 0’s glowing around her gloves, eagerly waiting for the bell. She locked eyes with Dream, her opponent in this strange match. I thought I saw something at the end of the last round, in her eyes. But, now…

Across the ring, Dream was dancing around, moving her upper body, staying warm. With the empty gym’s late night security lighting behind her, Dream seemed to be glowing. It just added to the eerie, ethereal aura. But while Niki held her gaze, Dream’s expression grew cold and cruel.

She’ll leave a hole. Find it. Glitch this girl. The bell rang, shaking Niki from the moment. She began to circle right, away from Dream’s power. She was looking for a chance to land her System Crash, but Dream wasn’t going to let her.

Within the blink of an eye, Dream had dashed across the canvas and was cutting off the ring. Damn! She’s getting faster?! Punches started flying Niki’s way. She dodged and weaved away from most of Dream’s blows and the few she didn’t connected with her guard, each one heavier than the last. And stronger?! What the—

“This is your dream, huh?” Dream sneered now, her words dripping venom, cruel compared to her almost jovial taunts of the first round. And her punches kept coming “You dream of being a punching bag? Let’s make that dream come true!”

Try as she might, Niki couldn’t block all of it out. Between all the blows, physical and verbal, Niki’s focus lapsed for a split second… and that’s all it took. “Gotcha!” Dream screamed as she nailed Niki’s stomach with a brutal right hook, just on the waistline. The air rushed out of Niki’s lungs as she fell back into the ropes and the glow faded from Niki’s gloves.

“Poor Niki,” Dream smacked her gloves together as she danced around, peppering Niki’s guard with jabs, almost absent-mindedly. “Just a little fan-girl that thinks she can box.”

She’s playing with me? Aww hell no! Ignoring the burning in her lungs, a deep growl in her throat, Niki used the ropes for momentum and unleashed a flurry of blows guided more by force than finesse. She was getting angry… and reckless.

With a preternatural precision, Dream swayed just to the side of a straight right and slammed her own right into Niki’s sternum. “You’re mine!” Dream snarled as she threw a barrage silver bullets Niki’s way. A pair of hooks glazed Niki’s eyes and two more rapid rights to her sternum drove her deep into the ropes.

Steady, girl. Hold on. Niki’s thoughts jumbled as she turtled up on the ropes.

“I told you, Niki,” Dream taunted as she charged and buffeted Niki’s guard with blow after blow. “You won’t last two rounds with me!”

Move girl! Move! Niki’s guard broke, her arms too sore to hold in place under Dream’s assault. She bobbed and weaved, avoiding blows, before lunging forward and clinching with Dream. Niki’s arms wrapped Dream’s in place as she maneuvered herself off the ropes, Dream wriggling her arms up between them.

“Two rounds, girl,” Dream whispered right in Niki’s face before shoving her out of their clinch and snapping her head back with a hard straight right. Niki stumbled back, but quickly regained her footing. She spotted the ethereal blue glow around Dream’s gloves as Dream smiled. “Two rounds, and I meant it.”

As she moved and watched her opponent, a memory flashed in Niki’s mind as doubt crept in. She was taking a beating, outclassed and outgunned. But, then she heard her Coach’s voice as clear as though he were in her corner right now.

“This,” Von Kaiser took her glove in his hand, “is not where steel lives.” Then, he tapped her chest, over her heart, “This is. Show them your steel, meine Schülerin.“

Niki’s gaze took on a defiant hardness. “I’m not giving up. Not to you or anyone else.” Her mind started to clear and she saw Dream hesitate. “You need a lot more than that to beat me.”

A chillingly confident laugh filled the empty gym and Dream smiled, “Lucky me. I’ve got plenty more to give.” Dream surged forward, glowing gloves raised. “Sweet dreams, Niki!”

Dream rolled her shoulder as she charged. Tornado Hook, Niki thought as readied to dodge the left hook that… wasn’t coming her way.

“So young,” Dream whispered as she shifted weight and cocked back her right glove, now glowing ominously bright. Time seemed to slow as Dream’s silver leather missile came up toward Niki’s chin. Niki’s eyes widened as she heard Dream yell, “Fly, fan-girl!” And a moment later, Niki was airborne.

The Rocket Upper landed flush, taking Niki’s feet off the canvas and sending her crashing to the mat, on her shoulders, from a good four feet in the air. Wha… what happened? Niki trying to steady her thoughts, then she heard the count.

“One! Look at you.” Dream was counting from the neutral corner. “Two! Flat on your back!” Her taunts echoed in the empty gym as Niki started to stir.

Down. Okay. Breathe, get your bearings. Look around. Niki’s brain started to process calmly, analytically. This was a different Niki than her first fight. She knew what this was like now. Ropes. I’m near the ropes. Use them. Energy save mode.

Dream continued the count, “Three! Just sleep it off, Niki.” She was dancing in the neutral corner, throwing punches, staying loose, a triumphant smirk on her face. “Four! You don’t want any more of me.”

Gripping the ropes with her neon green gloves, Niki started to pull herself to her knees, her vision blurring. “I’m not done,” she said, breathing hard as she did.

“Five! Yeah, you are. You’re done.” Dream’s voice dripped with disdain. Niki’s vision cleared as she looked toward Dream, bouncing on her toes and banging her gloves together. “Six! Make it easy on yourself, girl.”

Niki got her feet under her and took a deep breath, holding the top rope with both gloves. “I said, I’m. Not. Done,” Niki said defiantly, as much to herself as to her opponent.

Dream’s gaze turned to ice. “Seven! You ain’t ready for this ring.” She took her stance and started to sway and move, looking like a predator eying her prey. “Eight! You get up and I’m gonna hurt you, girl. You want that? You want your blood on my gloves?”

Letting go of the top rope, Niki locked eyes with Dream and wiped her gloves off on her trunks. “I’m good to continue,” Niki said, answering the unasked question a referee would’ve asked right now, then started to find her rhythm and brought up her gloves. “You ready?”

For the briefest of moments, Dream’s face softened, but just as quickly shifted into a cold, cruel smirk. “Oh, girl… I’m tucking you in nice and tight now,” Dream sneering as she charged in with throwing bombs at Niki’s midsection.

I know I saw it now. Niki blocked the first couple of body shots, then got on her bicycle. That was respect. It was like gasoline on embers. Now, a flame was flickering in Niki, driving her forward. Keep swinging, baby. You know it’s gonna take more than one now. Tire yourself out. I can wait.

“You can’t run away here, Wenig Stahl.” Dream kept the pressure on, relentless attacks, unyielding offense. But, Niki continued to move, dance, slip, avoiding Dream’s every blow. Seemingly frustrated, Dream shouted at her foe, “What would Von Kaiser say about his Little Steel running like a bitch?”

“He’d say ‘good girl’,” Niki answered with a faux German accent and a fearless voice. Then she saw it. Niki saw Dream’s right dip as she jabbed. The next jab Dream threw, Niki slipped the punch and landed a near perfect counter jab to Dream’s nose. Still throwing the accent in, “Then he’d say ‘make her pay!’”

Niki could see Dream’s eyes watering, her foe blinking furiously to clear her vision, and Niki pounced. Another jab to the nose, a hard straight right, and an uppercut that would make her Coach proud all found their marks against Dream’s head.

Trying to press the attack, Niki loaded up a left hook, but Dream saw it coming and intercepted the blow, countering with a hard right uppercut to Niki’s solar plexus. Niki reeled back, her breath gone in an instant.

Dream smiled, a trickle of blood coming from her nose. “Now, let’s check that chin of yours. I bet you can’t take much more.” Her voice was laced with malice as rushed toward Niki to pour on her promised punishment.

A hard jab made Niki tear up just as a hard right crashed into her temple. “Barely hanging on, aren’t ya’,” Dream practically growled through her mouthpiece as one, two, three right hooks crashed into Niki’s chin. “Ready to kiss the canvas, fan-girl?”

Niki struggled to stay upright, reeling into the ropes and shaking her head. Hands up. Eyes open. She can’t break steel. Then, the sight of Dream’s gloves giving off that menacing blue glow sobered Niki’s punch drunk mind quickly. But she can dent the hell out of it. No more of those, Niki.

Sensing her victory was near, ferocity filled Dream’s eyes. “A little more and it’s lights out. Just give up, fan-girl!” She was trying to bait Niki, looking to stun her foe, her right glove glowing brighter and brighter as she had a sure knockout blow cocked and ready.

It was adrenaline, instinct, and grit that drove Niki’s focus and movements. She was a whirlwind, bobbing and weaving, avoiding each and every blow Dream threw at her. C’mon, Dream. C’mon. I know what’s coming. C’mon.

A swift and sharp one-two suddenly rocked Niki’s head back and she stumbled back a step. “Go to sleep, fan-girl!” Dream stepped into a straight right hand, her glove glowing with bad intentions, power from feet, to legs, to hip, to core, to shoulder, to arm, to fist, and all aimed at the point of Niki’s chin.

Dream’s eyes widened as Niki snapped to attention, “Not yet!” She slipped Dream’s right, and slammed her own right hand, a beautiful cross counter, right into Dream’s face. “Fan-girl, my ass. I’m a boxer!”

Niki unleashed hell! A left hook to the body bent Dream over into a hard right uppercut. Dream’s head snapped back and Niki pushed on with a pair of hooks crashing into Dream’s jaw and forcing Dream back into the ropes. Seeing Dream’s eyes clear, Niki stayed back and took the chance to recover.

Dream backed off, too, taking a moment to recompose herself. “Not bad, kid. Not bad at all.”

“What’s wrong, Dream?” Niki, though her breath was ragged, felt her energy coming back and it was now her turn to talk. “You scared a fan-girl might put you on your butt?”

An angry sneer warped Dream’s face and she flexed her gloves. “You’re finished!” Dream rushed forward with inhuman speed, her right hand poised for an overhand right. NIki braced for impact and got her guard set. The silver clad wrecking ball rocketed toward Niki’s head… and the bell rang.

Niki’s eyes were squeezed shut as she waited on the blow. After a long moment, and realizing she’d been holding her breath, Niki opened her eyes. A silver leather glove hovered a mere couple of inches from her gloves. The two boxers stood there, tense, Dream’s punch frozen a moment before impact, Niki’s guard raised to shield from the blow as much as she could.

“Two rounds down,” Niki said, defiance in her tone, but her voice betraying her exhaustion. “I’m still here and still fighting.”

“So you are.” Dream’s gaze softened, a warm smile replacing her cruel sneer. “Not from a lack of effort on my part.”

Dream nodded and lowered her gloves, Niki warily lowering her’s at the same time. “Niki, you’ve got a lot of heart and a true fighting spirit.” It was almost like a different person was talking at that moment. This was not the vicious boxer Niki had been fighting for two rounds. Dream sounded… genuine and sincere. “I’m impressed.”

Caution and confusion came over Niki. She was wary as she eyed Dream and kept her gloved fists clenched. “What are you talking about? We’re in the middle of a match. There’s one more round.”

“I know, Niki. I know,” Dream’s eyes reflected the smile on her lips. Warmth filled her voice as she spoke, extending her glove and offering to touch in a gesture of respect and sportsmanship. “There's more to my challenge than just a boxing match. We should talk for a few minutes.”

#punch out #super punch out #punch out wii #punch-out!!#super punch-out!!#punch-out!! wii #punch out oc #punch out fanfic #wvba #niki binary #mr. dream

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