I will only watch old horror movies. cant watch none of that modern stuf.. bc they’re too good at convincing me that there’s an evil about to be unleashed on my town. i can watch old horror movies bc it’s just some fucking guy.. not a rotting demonic creature crawling around.

some dude!! my friend!!

oh.. .. what the freakage.. what the junk..

The Suicide Squad: Who Lives and Who Dies

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This article contains major The Suicide Squad spoilers. We have a spoiler free review here.

Five years ago, Will Smith uttered the instantly meme-able line, “So that’s it, huh, we’re the patsies, we’re some kind of Suicide Squad.” Yet by the end of that 2016 film, barely anyone in that squad was put six feet under. How times have changed.

For the entire rollout of his pseudo-sequel/reboot, writer-director James Gunn has insisted he had carte blanche to kill off any character in his The Suicide Squad roster. While we may remain skeptical if Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and a few others were really that expendable to Warner Bros., Gunn’s finished film speaks to just how much freedom he was allotted in slaughtering potentially valuable DC IP. Major characters from the first film, and a slew of new ones Gunn personally introduced, were pushing up daisies before the movie’s opening title card. And the bodycount only grew from there.

So if you had trouble keeping up with who died, and in what gnarly and grotesque fashion, we’re here to offer a handy dandy list of which members of the Suicide Squad walked away from Corto Maltese, and which were carried away in bags.

Blackguard

Dies

You can’t help but wonder if Gunn intentionally cast Pete Davidson as the first Squad member to get put down. With the exception of a fakeout (more on that in a bit), the mildly divisive SNL alumni goes out in gruesome fashion when he reveals on a Corto Maltese beachhead that he somehow communicated with the local military that a U.S. operation would be landing there. He thinks this will get him in good with the new government. Instead it gets him obliterated by a hail of bullets. All that time in prison and Blackguard never learned what happens to snitches…

Javelin

Dies

Flula Borg’s Javelin cut an amusing figure, as if he wandered in from some low-rent 1970s superhero television series. Even his accent was absurdly disarming, as Harley quickly noticed. Alas, it was not meant to be since Javelin was blasted fast on the beach, barely having a moment to entrust Dr. Quinzel with his trusty weapon.

Mongal

Dies

Let it not go unsaid that Mayling Ng’s Mongal made an epic introduction and exit when she took down several choppers all by herself. Unfortunately, she didn’t really think about a personal strategy as she rode one helicopter all the way down into its fiery ‘splosion.

Captain Boomerang

Dies

The first really major death of the film came when Captain Boomerang, Jai Courtney’s holdover from the 2016 movie, also bit the big one from the same fiery blast that took Mongal. At least he and Harley got to share a few laughs beforehand. We guess this puts an end to any chance of him  showing up in The Flash movie!

T.D.K.

Dies

Okay, as soon as you realized the secret superpower of Nathan Fillion’s character was something as lame as “detachable” limbs, you also knew he was dead meat, right? This character is so lame that Gunn doesn’t even show the Corto Maltese military putting him out of his misery. They just snicker as he writhes in pain, feeling how his detached arms have been shot to ribbons. Bad day to be a Browncoat.

Savant

Dies

Michael Rooker is the actor James Gunn casts when he wants to give a character an epic death scene. It took two movies for that to prove true in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, but Rooker’s Savant doesn’t even make it to the end of the opening credits here… well not all of him. The blood and brain splatter created by the bomb Amanda Waller detonated in this coward’s skull spells a lovely “The Suicide Squad” lettering across the waves. And hey, at least Rooker got to rock those epic blonde locks!

The Thinker

Dies

Once you heard that Peter Capaldi was playing an evil supervillain who was also in league with the Suicide Squad’s enemies, you knew there was no way Thinker was walking away from this movie, right? Nonetheless, Gunn goes hard with the doc’s death scene when a liberated Starro the Conqueror gets revenge for 30 years of captivity by ripping his captor’s arms off and then turning him into a red smear across glass. Ouch.

Col. Rick Flag

Dies

This one hurt. Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag was one of the better and even underrated elements from 2016’s Suicide Squad, and he got a chance to shine a lot brighter here. From small things like his total war buddies vibe with Harley to showing a backbone when he realizes Waller’s nefarious cover-up game, Flag came out as a real leader this time up to bat. Sadly, he then got Cena’d to death.

Polka-Dot Man

Dies

You did it, Polka-Dot Man, you proved your simultaneously dippy and creepy superpowers could make you a real superhero! Even your Norma Bates-like mama would be proud. Too bad Starro then stepped on you immediately afterward. Yay?

Starro

Dies

The big guy had his giant eye poked out by Harley and then an army of rats swarm into the hole that made and chew up his insides. Honestly, you feel bad for the kaiju in the end. Like King Kong, he didn’t ask to be brought here. Who knew we could get the sniffles for a rampaging monster with mind-control powers?

Harley Quinn

Lives

Come on, did you think they’d kill off Harley? Pfft, Robbie’s performance is way too good for that.

Bloodsport

Lives

Given his world-weary stoicism, I thought going in that Idris Elba’s Bloodsport was too noble for Gunn’s twisted vision. How nice it is to be proven wrong. Elba’s supervillain marksman reveals there’s a heart of gold beneath that gruff exterior, and it’s still beating when the credits come around.

Ratcatcher II

Lives

James Gunn once told us that Daniela Melchior’s Ratcatcher was the heart of the movie with a presence “like somebody from the French New Wave.” And he wasn’t blowing smoke about the actor or the character. Despite being introduced as an easygoing millennial, Ratcatcher turns out to be the most sympathetic Squad member and proves her generation gets the job done by unleashing an armada of rats on Starro.

King Shark

Lives

Thank God. Nobody better hurt our precious man-eating Nanaue. Go ahead, King, have another nom-nom. You earned it!

Sol Soria

Lives

Sol Soria gets to be el presidente in Corto Maltese now. I guess that’s a fair enough trade with the knowledge that the people who put her there also fed her buddies head first to a land shark.

Amanda Waller

Lives

Some characters are too evil to die. Amanda Waller is still stewing back in D.C. by the end of The Suicide Squad, and she’s likely scheming of a way to murder all of her current underlings too.

Weasel

Lives

The first fakeout of the movie is the fate of Weasel. Despite seemingly being the first character to seemingly die off—in a really hilarious fashion when Waller and company realize they didn’t check to see if Weasel could swim—it turns out he didn’t drown. There’s another reason right there for why Savant deserved to have his head go boom. Pity the children of Corto Maltese.

Peacemaker

Lives

Even though Peacemaker got an epic death scene where Bloodsport won a quickdraw showdown, some actors are just too big of a deal to kill. Thus the end credits scene reveals that Peacemaker survived his bullet wound to the neck and is still breathing on a hospital ventilator. Nonetheless, Bloodsport taught him a valuable lesson: It’s not the size of your bullets but how you use them.

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Icarus Falls - Ch. II - Heat Haze Days

Story Summary: “You’ll never leave me alone right?“ "You think I’d actually let you go?”

A story about the slow descent and corruption of a lonely man, a demon who learns that bonds go both ways, brothers who deeply regrets their words spoken out of anger, and a conflicted man watching them all fall down from the distance. Here’s a Puppet!Chase AU that was written with extreme self-indulgence so beware and read the tags before entering.

Chapter Summary: In which some of you will hate me for what happens in this chapter. fucking rip everyone Pairing/s: None, Platonic Character/s: Jack McLoughlin, Chase Brody, Antisepticeye, Mentions of Other Septic Egos Genre: Angst, Fluff Chapter Warning/s: Creepy!Anti, Self-Deprecating Thoughts (Thoughts like I’m not as good as the others, etc.), Sadness (Archive Of Our Own Edition) (Prev. Chapter)

He was burning.

His head felt like it was a plugged up kettle, waiting to burst forth with the built-up pressure from the heat attempting to push out with a loud bang. His throat felt like he had swallowed up a mixture of burning coals and sandpaper. His skin was so sensitive that the previously comfortable weight of the comforter on his body was now suffocating and its cloth scratched roughly against his skin.

It was all too much! The mixture of pain and overstimulation drove him to kick the blankets off his body although that had probably been the worst action he could’ve taken right now. The sudden movement seemed to have taken out all the air in his lungs and he wheezed and curled up into a ball on his bed. His teeth clicked and chattered loudly while he shivered and trembled despite the fire that was burning a trail through his veins.

Through the heated haze of his mind, he knows that he has to go take his own temperature and find the meds that are in the other room. So with a loud groan scraping up his raw throat, he uncurled from his ball and attempted to sit up on the side of the bed. However, if it was as if he suddenly lost all control and strength in his shaking limbs and he careened forwards into the thankfully carpeted floor with a loud crash.

“Oh fuck, Chase!” He heard muffled stomping footsteps run towards him before two strong arms pulled him up to lean him back against the bed.

Chase opened up the eyes that he didn’t even notice he had closed and blinked hazily at the pair of grey-blue eyes gazing at him with concern.

“J-Jack?” Chase whispered hoarsely through the lump that had formed in his throat.

The man before him blinked, confusion darkening his eyes at the lost look that had shifted over Chase’s glazed expression.

“I mean… Yeah? Who else would it be? Henrik? The guy who practically lives in the hospital?” The man snorted and gave him a light-hearted smile. “I’m your only housemate, remember?”

Right… Right. Jackie, Marvin, and Henrik lived in their own places while Chase lived with Jack because they both didn’t like being alone. Originally, Chase had been planning on moving out a few weeks after he had been ‘born’ but he and Jack came to like being housemates too much and it just never happened.

Jack sighed and smiled when he saw the recognition click in Chase’s eyes. He pressed their foreheads together as they normally did when they were comforting the other before he yelped and jerked back with a flinch.

“Yikes! You’re burning up like the sun there, Chasey,” the older man rubbed his own forehead with a frown before he slipped his arms under Chase’s body and lifted him back up onto his bed.

He ran his fingers through the feverish man’s sweat matted hair, untangling some of the knots that tried to hamper his hand’s movements. Jack reached into his pocket and brought out his smartphone.

“Wait a sec there, would you? I’m going to get our thermometer and call our resident Doc to ask what I should do with you?” Jack covered his heated eyes with a cold hand and Chase closed them in bliss as it soothed the fire.

He must have drifted off for a small bit because the next time he opened his eyes, it was to the feel of something metallic being pressed into the hole of his ear and he heard a tiny beep before it was removed. He heard Jack click his tongue and murmur something too low for him to hear before he felt his bed dip at the other man’s weight.

Chase rolled over to his side and moved closer to Jack. He buried his face against his older brother’s side with a sigh before Jack moved him so that he was laying his head on his lap. Jack started to play with his hair again, digging his fingers deep into his scalp to relieve some of the painful tension drilling insistently from the inside of his head.

“I missed you so much,” Chase whimpered deliriously before he began to cry.

“Oh Chase… Why would you miss me when I haven’t left your side in the first place? You were probably just having a terrible nightmare that seemed to be lasting forever because of your fever,” Jack wiped away his tears and snot with the tissue he pulled from the nearby box. He leaned down and brushed his lips against Chase’s heated forehead before straightening back up. “Schneep said we’ll have to lower your temperature with the good old cold towel later on after I’ve given you your meds.”

Jack gave him an indulgent smile when his face twisted at the prospect of having to taste the bitter aftertaste of the medicine being washed down by bland water. His caretaker nudged him gently to warn him that he was about to move him before he helped the sick man sit up against the headboard, giving him stability in the form of the pillows he propped up on his back.

“Don’t worry, Chaser. I know how much you hate the taste of medicine so before I came back up, I heated up a bowl of the leftover chicken soup from the fridge to help you swallow your medicine down.” Jack told him before he stood up. “Wait there while I get the bowl from the microwave downstairs.”

“Not like I can move anyway,” Chase slurred his words, blinking drowsily at his brother who chuckled and patted him on the head before he walked away.

He was left by himself in the silence of his room. Chase reached up to touch his forehead where Jack’s touch continued to linger like a burning mark. How long has it been since he had been touched this gently? How much longer has it been since somebody took care of him while he was sick rather than him just stumbling into the other rooms and downstairs to nurse himself back to health?

A terrible nightmare…

It certainly would be one wouldn’t it? A demon haunting him and his family, a brother who’s basically trapped in a Sleeping Beauty curse type of sleep, a missing brother who was spirited away by the mentioned demon, and his other distant brothers who were having adventures in god knows where…

Before he could even allow himself to think deeper on that line of thought, Jack came back holding a steaming bowl of soup in his hands, the fragrance coming from the food awakened the monster that was his stomach.

G R O W L

He could see the growing mirth in his brother’s eyes but he ignored it. Previous thoughts forgotten and vanished like a wisp in the air in favor of concentrating on sating the ravenous hunger that seemed to have possessed him. Chase’s eyes followed the bowl like a predator stalking his prey. Jack teasingly moved the bowl around and snickered when his sick brother’s baby blue eyes never lost sight of it.

“Looks like somebody is hungry,” Jack teased his brother who in a sudden burst of childishness stuck his tongue out at him. “Cranky too, I see.”

“I will fuck you up,” Chase vowed with the fire and spite only a younger sibling could muster up against their older sibling. He narrowed his eyes at Jack but only succeeded in looking more like he was constipated.

He sulked when Jack tweaked his nose as if he was just the cutest little thing and heard him chuckle at his scowl.

“Sure you will,” Jack patted his flushed cheek with the most patronizing spirit an older sibling would use to infuriate their cute younger sibling. “I’m sure you’re going to fuck me up when you can’t even crawl on your stomach without feeling like you’re about to die.”

Jack left him there to sulk crankily at the face of the harsh truth he just laid on him while he went to the bathroom to get a towel to place on Chase’s body just in case they spilled his food. His caretaker settled the tower over his body making sure that most of his lap and chest are covered before dragging a nearby chair to sit beside Chase’s side. He scooped up a spoonful of soup and blew on it until it was warm and not scalding on the tongue.

“Want me to do the here comes the train schtick?” Jack sarcastically asked while holding up the spoon.

“Excuse me, you know I like the airplane one better,” Chase huffed petulantly before opening his mouth.

Jack made sarcastic airplane noises before he fed the soup to his brother, “Don’t choke on your veggies now, you big baby.”

Chase chewed on his food spitefully slow before making a show of swallowing it down.

“But Daddy,” even if it will kill his throat, Chase forced himself to pitch his tone up into a perfect copy of a whining child’s voice, “I wanna eat now!”

He watched with unrestrained glee as Jack nearly lost his grip on the bowl at his lap and threw his head back with a loud cackle. He had to place the bowl down on the bedside drawer while he curled in on his stomach from the force of his cackling. Jack slammed his hand down on the bed and grip the blankets tightly while his body shook in his attempt to calm himself down.

“You son of a bitch,” Jack panted as he finally reduced his cackles to giggling before he reached over to lock Chase’s head under his arms and heavily mussed up the extremely proud-looking man’s hair in spite of his outraged squeals. “Alright then son, open your mouth for Daddy. Here comes your airplane!”

He let go of his victim’s head and grabbed the bowl again. He scooped up another spoonful of soup again and began making it fly all over, taking care not to spill anything, before he led it back to Chase. If Chase didn’t feel like he’s going to die if he busted a gut laughing, he’d probably be keeled over on the bed wheezing like Jack had been earlier.

If Henrik was here, he’d be rolling his eyes at their dumbass antics.

Chase opened his mouth waiting for Jack to place the food in and looked at the other with a confused blink when the other man seemed to have gone into a stupor and stared at him with a dumbfounded look before he inhaled sharply and let out a sharp snicker. However, Jack didn’t elaborate on the weird pause, only snorting and snickering when Chase asked him about it.

It took them nearly an entire hour before the bowl was cleared of every drop of soup because of their teasing and horsing around, and Chase had finally taken his medicine while making a disgusted face the entire time he could feel the pill moving down his throat. In spite of still feeling like absolute garbage, his chest was warm not with the fever but with the happiness pulsing through his veins. His headache slash migraine is still there but it was being offsetted by the light-headedness that came from the drug like high of being given all the physical and verbal affection that he’s been craving from his best friend.

Jack helped him change into lighter clothes after noticing that his pajamas were soaked with his sweat. He said that Henrik mentioned that’s a good thing since it’ll help cool down his insides but it can’t be comfortable being weighed down by sweat-soaked clothes. Jack helped him drink a few glasses of water while rubbing his back to help him swallow down the stale taste and murmured small words of praises of how he’s being so good and how he’s so proud of him that eased most of the discomfort that he was feeling.

After asking him if he needed to go to the bathroom to which he replied in the negative, Jack helped him lay on his back again. The man smoothed his sweat matted hair back and told him that he’s going downstairs to wash the soup bowl and get fresh cold water to wipe him down with.

Chase blinked up at his ceiling in a dazed manner. He probably looked like he was drunk out of his mind right now with his half-lidded glazed blue eyes, the still prominent feverish flush on his cheeks, and his doped out silly grin that hasn’t faded ever since the fun that he just had. His mind kept replaying the past hour over and over almost obsessively to the point that he nearly didn’t notice his brother come back from his previous task. He heard footsteps and turned his head to blink at Jack who was now holding a wash basin that he was carrying carefully into the room. He placed it on top of the bedside drawer before bringing out the ear thermometer.

“Turn your head a bit,” Jack tapped his cheek with cold fingertips.

Chase turned his head to the side so that Jack could use the thermometer on his ear. He heard the soft click of a button being pushed and a few seconds later, the thing beeped and he felt it being removed.

“Thirty nine point one celsius… At least it’s gone down by point four.” Jack hummed to himself before he turned his body over to the wash bowl and slipped off the white towel that had been draped over his shoulders to dunked it into the water.

The sound of cloth being submerged into water before it was wrung out reached Chase’s ears. He turned his face back into the front position just as Jack lifted the wet towel up and started to dab the blissfully cold cloth all over his face and neck. Chase closed his eyes with a content sigh while Jack dunked the towel again and wrung out all the water before folding it into a small rectangle to place it on his forehead.

“That feels… nice…” Chase slurred his words while he blindly reached out for Jack’s hand and was rewarded by the man knotting their fingers together.

“It does, doesn’t it?” He could hear the smile on Jack’s voice.

They stayed in that position in silence while Jack would occasionally change the towel after it had lost its cold temperature.

“Where’s the others?” Chase suddenly asked, his drifting mind thinking of their other brothers especially Henrik who must be worried out of his head whenever he hears that one of them was sick.

“They’re busy with things but they might come by if they have some free time,” Jack answered while he rubbed the back of Chase’s hand in soothing circles.

“Mkay,” Chase muttered and they were silent again.

He must have drifted off for a few minutes again because he didn’t even notice that Jack had left for a bit before he was startled out of the sleepy haze at the sound of his brother cursing and something dropping on top of the bedside drawer loudly.

“Ah shit, I woke you up didn’t I?” Jack looked dismayed when he noticed that Chase’s eyes snapped open and was blinking at him owlishly. “Sorry Chaser, I stubbed my toe on your bed.”

“‘S okay,” Chase yawned and sleepily watched Jack as he sat back down in his previous position and made a new fresh towel to place it back on his forehead before looping their fingers together again. “Changed the water?”

“Yeah, you actually napped for an hour,” his brother smiled down at him and reached over with his free hand to pull the blanket up to his chin. “Sorry I woke you up.”

Chase doesn’t mind. He closed his eyes again, still feeling extremely fatigued from his sickness. They stayed there in silence. He could feel Jack’s gaze intently watching him and normally, he’d make a quip about how he’s being a little creep now he just felt comforted and safe under his watchful eyes.

“Hey Jack?” Chase cut through the silence with a whisper.

“Hm?” He felt him lean closer to hear him better.

“You’re… not going to leave right?” Chase peeked one eye open to watch Jack’s reaction.

His brother’s face was pensive as he considered the question that he laid on him out of nowhere. Then Jack huffed and tweaked his nose again, Chase just scrunching it up as a response to the by now another one of his brother’s affectionate slash teasing gestures towards him.

“Course not, if I left who’d nag you to death about taking better care of yourself?” Jack smirked and tapped the reddening spot on the tip of his nose. “You’re not getting rid of me for a very, very long time, Chaser.”

Chase’s lips quirked up into a tiny but adoring smile at his words. He relaxed back onto the bed and closed his eyes. Now that the serotonin rush has fully faded away, he felt himself crashing harder than he’s ever crashed before. The exhaustion from his stressful days (or was it nightmares?) and his fever dragged him down into that weird tiny barrier between the worlds of sleep and the waking.

“I love you, Jack,” Chase murmured and finally gave in to the persistent tugging of sleep.

-------------------------------------------

Now that Chase had fallen into deep sleep, ‘Jack’ allowed his long ruse to fully drop. Those kind blue-grey eyes shifted back into acid green eyes that blankly stared down at the sleeping form. The friendly face that had comforted Chase so much lost the layered over illusion of softness as it was replaced by harder, sharper features that were accented by the sneer that was twisting down his lips.

Chase didn’t see his closest friend turn back into the monster that had been making his life a living hell for nearly an entire year. But then again… Chase never noticed that his neck had been wrapped with blood-stained bandages or the infamous black shirt and ripped jeans that would’ve been a dead giveaway that he wasn’t his Jack.

Was the blindness due to deliriousness brought about by his fever or was it willful blindness for the sake of allowing himself to be fooled so long as he kept up the happy ruse?

Anti looked down at their joined hands with disdain, observing the way Chase clutched it as if he or rather ‘Jack’ was his personal lifeline. However, despite the venomous look, he didn’t even attempt to pry it off.

“How annoyingly clingy,” the demon drawled yet oddly enough his harsh words only had half the poison it would normally have.

‘Is this why you’re so protective over him, Jack? Because he needed you more than you needed him?’ The demon asked the other who he knows would rather cut off his tongue than answer such questions. He sat there among the silence, absentmindedly rubbing the back of Chase’s hand with a thumb.

He stayed still for a few more minutes, head inclined to the side as if trying to listen for a voice that would never come.

Silence.

Anti huffed and smirked coldly at the wall, ‘You’re pathetic, Jack.’

He looked down at the younger ego when he heard him mutter something unintelligible under his breath. He tilted his head to the side, green eyes making note of the small shivers through Chase’s body and the slight wheezing. His mind went back to the past few hours where a spark burned bright as the sun in the man’s normally dull blue eyes. That happiness had been rather… infectious.

Anti scrunched up his nose in disgust.

“You’re even more pathetic,” Anti muttered angrily towards the sleeping man. “Falling apart just because you’re alone… This is why you’re the weakest link.”

He doesn’t understand why Chase had been so relaxed around him just because he so earnestly believed that he was Jack and easily believed his half-hearted lie that the past few months had just been a fever-induced vivid nightmare. Sure he was sick but Anti didn’t even try hiding most of his physical cues save for his eyes and softening the curves of his face.

Chase clung to him but it wasn’t really him that he was holding on to, he attached himself to Anti with the stubbornness of a leech and looked up at him with those deliriously happy eyes but he knew that the person Chase was seeing was the person that Anti hated the most in this entire universe.

Anti growled and scratched the side of his itching neck as something in him seemed to twist and curl with an emotion that he couldn’t quite identify himself. He had been so busy trying to comprehend the odd, irritating emotion that was buzzing beneath his skin that his soul nearly glitched out of his body when Chase moved in his sleep again and was now hugging his hand like a teddy bear, nuzzling his still flushed cheek against Anti’s hand. He watched the idiot’s towel slide down his face to the bed, creating a wet spot on the mattress.

…

He was starting to drool.

The eldest ego resisted the urge to sigh.

“It’s rather ironic what I barely even had to put any effort in our little game,” Anti tried to push his face back with a finger on his cheek but Chase just scowled in his sleep and nuzzled Anti’s hand in a more aggressive manner. “Clingy little bastard… I wonder if you’d still snuggle my hand this hard if you know where that thing’s been?”

Not that he wouldn’t know the answer to that considering little Chase practically hates his guts. If the younger ego had been more aware of his surroundings, he would have recoiled from his touch as if he had been burned by fire and would have spat insults trying to hide the wounded, almost feral gleam in those blue eyes.

It was interesting how his plans could change just on a single whim. Originally, he planned on merely inflicting worse nightmares on the man’s feverish psyche and messing with his senses when he’d stumble around the house trying to find the medicine and other materials he’ll need to bunk up in his bed to bear the sickness but then… He took one look at Chase’s panting, feverish state and he wondered just how far would he be able to take pretending to be his saintly older brother before the sick man would notice anything.

The answer to that is a lot.

Anti was willing to admit to himself that he did get too into his own acting out of his anticipation of witnessing the sheer fury, the denial, and the shattered visage of this man as he realized that he clutched so sweetly, so desperately to the demon who had been the main cause for his daily hell.

He wondered just what exactly Chase would do once he finally gave up the ruse. Would he scream his throat hoarse or until he was coughing out blood? Would he charge at him, seeing only red and thinking only of lashing out at the demon who fooled him, or would he run away like the coward that he was? Would he place his hands over his ears and tightly close his eyes while he shook his head in utter denial or what just happened? Or would he cry and cry and cry until he had no tears left and his spirit had been shredded into pieces?

An eerily wide smile slowly began to stretch out across his face as he tightened his grip around Chase’s hand. He lifted the drying towel from its fallen position and soaked it in the plastic bowl. The demon took his time wringing out the water from the towel before he began to wipe it gently, almost tenderly, all over Chase’s face.

“You better give me a nice show worth remembering later on, baby brother,” Anti cooed sweetly and pressed the cold towel over the sleeping man’s cheek. “Who know? Perhaps you might even surprise me. If you do… I will be very very pleased.”

Anti leaned over and pressed a small kiss on the top of Chase’s head, the brown fluff tickling his nose.

“Enjoy those sweet dreams while you can, clingy little puppet.”

---------------------------------------------

Jack woke him up a few hours later to get the next dosage of his fever medicine. He was feeling much better compared to his previous bout of consciousness to the point that he didn’t need Jack’s help to go to the bathroom.

Chase leaned on the doorway of the bathroom after washing his hands and grimaced as the world lightly spun around him and the ground on his feet slowly began to disappear. This is why he hated getting sick. Even doing the simplest tasks makes him feel like he was one of those IPhones that would go from one hundred to thirty percent battery in two minutes just because he accidentally left the screen brightness a little bit higher than usual.

His caretaker was waiting for him on his bed, watching the other man play with his phone before he finally noticed him.

“What’re you doing over there?” Jack then gestured for him to come near with a wave of his hand and patted the free space on his side. “Come on over.”

“I’m gonna get you sick,” Chase protested weakly but still he walked over to his bed and slid into the space that Jack made for him. He maintained a few inches of distance between him and the healthy man.

Jack rolled his eyes and shuffled closer so that they’re shoulder to shoulder.

“Then we’ll just do the sick bro solidarity while Hen takes care of us and calls us dumbasses while cursing our existence the entire time.” Jack chirped while he waved his phone around. “By the way, Henrik sends his regards.”

His tone took an odd turn at the last sentence. Jack was wearing a secretive smile with a gleam in his eyes like he was laughing at a joke that only he could understand. Chase squinted at him suspiciously but thinking too hard on whatever his brother was implying was far too painful for his head. Jack ‘rewarded’ his suspicious look with a finger flick on his forehead.

“Hey!” Chase yelped and grumbled while he rubbed the stinging skin. “What’s with the weird tone and smile? Did you play a prank on Henrik or something?”

Jack let out a loud bark of laughter at his rapidly fired questions.

“Man, you’re getting pretty smart. That means you’re getting better!” Jack’s smile widened and it took on that same odd twist that slightly unnerved Chase earlier. “As for Henrik… Yeah, let’s just say I pulled a pretty neat prank on him. His reactions are starting to get boring and predictable though.”

“He’s going to kill you,” Chase stated as a matter of fact, his tone just sending Jack into another fit of giggles.

“I’d like him to actually try,” Jack smirked before turning over to relax on his back and crossed his arms under his head.

Chase yawned and he cursed himself for his sick body’s constant need for sleep. Jack chuckled at his frustration and let him lean his head against his side.

“How about the others?” Chase asked. “Did they pass by while I was completely dead to the world?”

“Jackie seems a bit busy right now along with Marvin. You know how those two are when they’re focused on their own projects or jobs. It’s like the entire world disappears and nothing else matters to them,” Jack’s voice was soft with both fondness and exasperation at those duo’s antics. “Remember that time you accidentally sprained one of your legs and had a concussion because you smacked the side of your head against the edge of a table when you fell down while you were attempting one of your more complicated trick shots? Those two idiots only found out two days after cause Henrik had to drag Jackie out from his headquarters because he wasn’t answering his phone and Marv was doing one of those magic projects that he spent days obsessing over.”

Jack shook his head while making a face when he remembered the aftermath.

“Henrik gave them some harsh tongue lashing after that. I thought he was going to kill them on the spot,” Jack murmured and slid his arms out from behind his head and slipped one under Chase’s neck as a makeshift pillow. “Can’t say I’d blame him for being so angry though.”

Chase slumped down at that. The memory of that day was blurry because of his headache but he could still remember the gist.

“You were too.” He softly pointed out, remembering the blank look that had shifted over Jack’s face while he avoided looking at the other two.

“Course I was… What if that had been a serious emergency? Two days would’ve already been far too late for them to come back,” Chase glanced at Jack’s face and noticed that he has the same expression that he had back then.

“They’re always on time when it’s for important stuff,” he defended his two older brothers and Jack turned this time to look him in the eyes.

“And you’re not important stuff?” There was a storm lurking beneath those eyes as he quietly asked him that damned question.

He could feel the blood in his face draining out at the snapback. Chase shuddered and looked away from those far too seeing eyes. A lump had grown inside his throat and he had to painfully swallow it down before he could answer.

“Can we not… talk about that? Please?” He pleaded and looked back with cracked glass for eyes.

Jack’s pensive look fell at that sight and he immediately turned over to tug Chase into his arms. Chase hid his face against his chest and shivered, trying to keep his heart together.

“Aw… You know I hate it when you look at me like that. It always feels like I kicked a wounded puppy or something,” Jack rested his cheek on top of Chase’s fluffy hair and rubbed the back of his neck to get him to relax. “I just don’t like it when you think that you’re the least important among all of us just because you seem the most normal, Chaser.”

Chase bit down the bitter words ‘aren’t I?’ and settled for pressing his ear on top of Jack’s chest and listening to the calming sound of his heartbeat.

The light atmosphere had been tainted by the sudden downturn of their conversation. He felt Jack breathe in and heave out a sigh before the older man began to tap his fingers up and down his spine.

“Sorry for ruining the mood, Chase,” Jack truly sounded very apologetic and this time it was Chase’s turn to feel like he just kicked a sad puppy. “I know you don’t like talking about these sorts of topics…”

“‘S alright. ‘M just not in the mood to get therapy especially from you.” Chase mumbled, injecting some sass at the end to lighten up the mood again.

He was relieved when he heard Jack snort at his half-assed joke.

“I’ll have you know I’m a good talker and listener,” He felt the chest pressed against his ear expand with Jack’s faked angry huff.

Chase just laughed and shook his head with a fond smile teasing at the edge of his lips, “I know.”

He closed his eyes and found himself easing drifting back into the world of dreams especially when he feels so safe and warm in his watchful older brother’s arms.

The man who had just fallen asleep doesn’t notice the comforting hand that had been previously rubbing the back of his neck grab the back collar of his shirt as if to pull him away from its disgruntled owner. It paused when Chase whimpered and curled deeper into his arms. A few seconds later, the hand relaxed and just settled on the middle of his back.

“Gone running back to the world of dreams again, Chaser? Careful now… Someone might just mistake your running away as a desire to replace Jackaboy in his coma,” Anti muttered.

He paused.

Chase was warm, Anti had noticed now. It wasn’t just because of his fever but his soul… It felt like he was sleeping near the fireplace while it was in the middle of winter.

“...” Anti decided to give in and indulge himself just this once. He closed his eyes and realized that perhaps this was the most peaceful and silent his normally buzzing mind has ever been. “Goodnight, Chaser. Get well soon.”

------------------------------------

Chase woke up to Jack’s back touching against his own. He couldn’t help but quirk up a tiny grin at the soft sound of snoring coming from the other man. And Jack said that he doesn’t snore…

He took inventory of his own body’s current stats. The headache was practically gone, leaving a dull numb throb that felt more like a heavy weight on his head rather than anything painful. His body still feels weak and he doesn’t trust himself to jump around the stairs but he thinks that he’s getting there. His head and sight was also much clearer now, the world doesn’t feel like it’s constantly five inches away from his grasp and he’s not getting that falling down the rabbit hole weightlessness so he’s counting that as a win.

He reached up to feel the back of his hand against his forehead and let out a soundless sigh when it still felt hotter than normal. Well… He can’t exactly expect himself to immediately get better just because he spent an entirely relaxing day sleeping away. At least he’s not boiling from the inside anymore.

Chase looked around and caught sight of his phone on the drawer on his side of the bed. He wonders how the rest of the world was doing and wanted to get a peek before he decided to go for more naps. He moved slowly so that he didn't disturb the snoring man from his sleep and grabbed his phone. He pressed the side button and waited for it to boot up.

Once his phone screen fully loaded (both of his lock screen and wallpaper is of him and his brothers which never failed to make him smile), he froze when a text notification popped up on his screen.

Dr. Adam: I’d like to think that you just took my advice And that’s why you’re not visiting your brother today. Well… I truly hope you’re fine, Mister Brody. We’ve detected no changes from the patient as usual But I think you’d still want to know Have a good day. :)

He felt his body go cold as the blood drained out of him from the sight of that message. Every single memory of the past months began to play in front of his head like old cinema reels and he was hyper aware of the person who had somehow turned around while he was unaware and slowly wrapped an arm around his chest.

“Aww… I guess our little game of pretend is finally over,” Chase’s breath quickened and he could feel the corners of his sight growing dark while his blood roared in his ears. His shaking body was pulled close against the person who was giggling at his unfortunate state. “It’s almost such a shame… Did you have fun, Chaser? I certainly did.”

Those crooned words were spoken with such relished delight that grew along with the cold numbness that was spreading through his body.

“You were having so much fun too! I think that was the happiest I’ve ever seen you it’s almost pathetic,” Anti hissed the last word in a mixture of horrid amusement and disgust, “you were laughing and smiling so much, so convinced that your precious Jack never left and that your neglectful older brothers was just a phone away. That everything that happened was just a long nightmare.”

And then the shaking stopped and Chase was still… So still that for a brief second, Anti thought he had passed out.

“... up…” Anti arched an eyebrow when he heard Chase mumble something far too low for him to understand.

He leaned over and placed his chin on Chase’s shoulder in a mockery of their previously affectionate gestures.

“Pardon?” He sarcastically asked while he tilted his head closer to the mumbling man’s head as if he was craning his ears to hear a whispered secret. “Gotta pipe up a bit louder there, little brother.”

Despite expecting the possible outburst that would come from the tormented man in his arms, Anti didn’t predict that he would have the energy nor the strength to suddenly grip the wrist of the arm that was wrapped around his chest and manage to take advantage of his surprise to fling it off him and push him down on the bed. Chase swung around and straddled Anti, to slam his fists over and over the demon’s chest.

“Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up!” Chase crouched over the older ego, his blue eyes wide and streaming rivers of tears. His lips were bared into a snarl as he kept hitting Anti’s chest. “Why couldn’t you have just shut your mouth? Why couldn’t you just leave me alone and let me forget this entire thing ever happened? Why? Why?”

Anti didn’t retaliate. He just watched his little brother’s agonized but furious tantrum as he lashed out at him. Those tears fell on Anti’s blank face, sliding down his cheeks, while Chase sobbed on top of him.

Those normally fragile blue eyes blazed with hatred despite the shakiness in that gaze. Yet despite the agony, despite the heartrending loneliness that lurked beneath the mask of anger, Anti could see that the spark that he thought had gone out for a very long time was burning ever brighter than the sun.

A slow smile curled up the corner of his lips as the hits slowly began to lose strength and Chase just hid his face away against his balled up fists while they’re digging into Anti’s chest.

“I hate you… I hate you so much…” Chase hiccuped on a low sob. “Stop it… Stop wearing his face… Stop acting like him to toy with me just to see me react to your bullshit…”

“You’re not Jack. You will never be Jack.” The shattered man gritted out, the tears never ending as he finally collapsed on top of the demon who merely reached up to start playing with his hair.

That familiar tender gesture was just another stab into Chase’s broken heart.

“But you want me to be, don’t you?” Anti whispered the damning truth into existence.

The words had been stolen out of Chase’s throat. He wanted to deny those words with all the vehemence he could muster. He wanted to yell more, scream more but he couldn’t. He couldn’t spit out such a heavy lie.

So instead he obfuscated, avoiding the harsh truth as he always did. He could’ve pushed Anti away, could’ve rolled over to the cold floor to get away from the touch that was making his skin crawl but he didn’t.

“I hate you… I hate you…” Chase continued whispering those words until his throat had grown hoarse and his eyes were swollen shut with how much he had been crying.

Anti never said anything, never moved to do anything other than letting Chase lay on top of him. He continued to treat him carefully as if he was glass that would shatter at the slightest pressure.

…

All these gentleness probably hurt Chase more than if he had laid his knife on him or taunted him with his weakness.

He fell asleep to the feel of those hands gently wiping his tears away.

Secrets Don’t Make Friends || Ariana & Layla

timing: Tuesday night (6/16) after Layla Hypnotize’s herself. parties: @letsbenditlikebennett & @laylacooke summary: Just a girls night out. NBD.

While it was becoming more and more apparent to people that there was something different about Layla, she had been trying to keep it from Ariana. She did promise her, after all, that she wouldn’t experiment with the fidget spinner, and Ari knowing what Layla had done would mean someone trying to take her freedom away. Instead, she decided a nice girl’s night out was the answer and invited her best friend to Quarter to play some games. Leaning against the door waiting, Layla flirted with a nearby guy who had been waiting for someone as well. However, when she saw Ariana, she stood up, put on a smile, and walked over to her friend, “Hey, I was wondering where you were. You ready for Girl’s Night Out?”

Ariana had no idea what was going on, but she was already sick of it. Ulfric made it sound as if something had happened. Even so, that didn’t justify how she had treated Blanche at all. She tried to keep Ulfric’s advice in mind, but she still had this gut feeling that she’d done something with the fidget spinner. From what she knew of Layla, she could even hurt a fly. Hell, she wouldn’t even eat a cheeseburger or drink a glass of milk. No amount of hurt would drive her to hurt others without reason. She needed to see for herself and try to reason with her. Whatever she was going through, she needed to lean on the people she cared for instead of taking it out on everyone else. She walked into Quarter, leather jacket on and scowl fading when she saw Layla. “Girls night, it is,” she said, looking her over carefully for any sign of something being out of place. She lacked a certain warmth she’d grown used to, but she was acting mostly normal. “Any favorite arcade games? I always love the basketball one since I’m really good at it.”

Since shit had hit the fan with Blanche, and the girl had blabbed to Ariana, Layla knew things were going to be awkward. She could see it in her friend’s face, when she entered the arcade. But it didn’t really phase the teenager. Causing a commotion had been fun, and when she pushed buttons and people pushed back, the redhead felt like she was accomplishing something, “Never been a basketball fan. Not after one of the team members from high school hit on my girlfriend. Was more a Dance, Dance Revolution type girl. Although tonight, I’m really feeling Street Fighter. Maybe we start with basketball and work our way back to some fighting?” The grin on her face was apparent, but there was something different about her eyes. They were almost hollow.

Something was decidedly off and Ariana really wasn’t liking this. She was in a Street Fighter mood? Was that supposed to be some sort of joke? Like punching Blanche and trashing her car hadn’t been enough of a fight for her day? She cocked an eyebrow at Layla, trying to fight off the annoyed look present on her face. Ulfric said she was going through a lot and she believed him, but this wasn’t okay. She was going through a lot, too, and she still had common fucking decency. She let out a huff of air and said, “Let’s go for Dance, Dance Revolution. Think I’d rather skip the Street Fighter. Plus, I think you had enough of that today.” Shit. She hadn’t meant for the pointed comment at the end to come out. 

Layla had been willing to play the game. Be the same weak animal that Ariana knew and loved. Arcade night was something the old Layla had wanted. Something to bond her to the people she felt probably didn’t give a rat’s ass about her. And when the other teenager was down for Dance, Dance Revolution, the redhead was willing to follow; at least until the comment at the end came out, “Huh? What was that, Ariana?” She had known exactly what was said, but she wanted to see what her friend had to say. Cocking her head to the side, she waited patiently for a response arms now crossed over her chest.

Ariana could feel her fists clenching as Layla cocked her head all coyly and asked her to repeat herself as if she didn’t have fucking werewolf hearing. Everything in Ariana was screaming that she had definitely used that fidget spinner. She wasn’t herself at all. She rolled her eyes and repeated, “I said I think you’ve had enough street fighting for one day. Which what the hell anyway? You’re not a violent person. You won’t even eat a damn omelet because chickens or whatever.” 

“That’s what I thought you had said.” Layla’s eyes shifted downwards to Ari’s clenched fists. Letting her gaze move back upwards, a smile remained on her face, “Oh, sweet Ariana. Ulf didn’t tell you, did he? Or Simon. I mean, Clifford, I can understand, because I asked him not to. Simon...Simon just blabbed to Salva. Which, it’s funny, I haven’t seen Daddy Dearest around lately. Might need to go pay him a visit soon, but I digress.” Glancing around, she noticed the arcade had been nearly empty, “Wanna know a secret?” She leaned in and whispered, “I killed somebody.” 

Everything about the way Layla was looking and talked to her just felt wrong. Ariana knew she could probably hear the spike in her heart rate if her clenched fists and red cheeks hadn’t given her away. Then she spoke of Simon and Ulfric not telling her something and the previously stony glare softened. That was why Ulfric told her not to push. She reached out but hesitated and brought her arms back to her sides. “Layla,” she started softly, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. Was it--” She stopped herself, not wanting to push too much. Knowing how hard it was still for her to talk about what happened on prom night and remembering the small gift Nell gave her of not making her talk about it. “You don’t have to tell me what happened, but you also don’t need to lash out at people. We’re here for you. We want to support you, it doesn’t have to be like this, Lay.” 

She was thriving off Ariana’s anger, but when she noticed that the girl had changed her demeanor, it confused Layla. Why wasn’t she wanting to fight her? She had killed somebody. Ripped them to shreds. When the fidget spinner had taken her conscience, any and all moral direction had gone out the door, but the look in Ariana’s eyes had angered the werewolf. She didn’t want to feel anything. Were the effects of the device wearing off? Surely not. She had hypnotized herself. That she could recall. But the way Frankie had left her mid conversation, earlier in the day, hadn’t felt good and those feelings were pouring into what was supposed to be an entirely different experience for her and Ariana, “Why aren’t you mad at me, Ariana? I killed a man. I ripped him apart. Limb from limb and listened to him scream and beg and plead for mercy.” Yes, Layla had done those actions, but it was before she had ever used the fidget spinner on herself. She didn’t like this. She just wanted to cause chaos and be what everyone had made her out to be; a monster. And without giving it second thought, she ran her fist through one of the nearby machines.

Her eyebrows knit together in confusion as Layla questioned why she wasn’t made at her. Ariana knew it had to be during the full moon. Something must have gone wrong with chaining herself up and she knew it was an accident. She knew how that had to weigh on her. She’d been so concerned with making sure she hurt no one and then to kill someone. Sure, she didn’t like how she was handling this, but it wasn’t something Ariana could relate to either. She’d killed someone who deserved it, who killed Celeste and intended to kill her, and she would do it again, except this time she’d do it before he ever got the chance to hurt Celeste. That didn’t matter right now though, Layla was clearly hurting, and she wondered if maybe she used the fidget spinner to help. “Why would I be mad? You didn’t do it on purpose, right,” she asked, hands fidgeting in front of her, unsure if reaching out would be welcomed, “Look, all we can do is make sure it doesn’t happ--” The sight of Layla’s fist plunging into Pac Man cut her short and she reached for her arm, trying to hold it in place. “I get that you’re upset, but you gotta chill with the property destruction before you get yourself arrested.”

Layla’s breathing was heavy. She was mad. Mad at the world. At her parents. At herself. But it just didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. At least it shouldn’t have, and then she remembered it. The fidget spinner that was lingering just in her pocket. Even in all the destruction she had caused, she didn’t want to be alone, and maybe she didn’t have to be. Jerking her hand away, refusing to listen to her friend, she pulled out the device, “Sorry, but not sorry, Ariana. It’s never fun when you have to play alone.” Holding it up, she flicked the toy with the hopes that she could hypnotize the other wolf, but she had to remember not to watch it herself or all her hard work would be for not.

Every suspicion Ariana had about the fidget spinner was confirmed when she spoke and pulled the fidget spinner out of her pocket. Absolutely the fuck not. She’d just barely avoided herself or Ulfric arrested for murder. She wasn’t about to be under the control of Layla and a damn fidget spinner. Her eyes immediately averted away from the spinner, making sure it didn’t draw her in, and she lunged on Layla, bringing her down to the ground. “I knew it,” she growled, trying to pin the other wolf down and grab the spinner from her hands, “Give me that fucking thing.” 

She kept her eyes clear fighting the urge to look at it, but when Ariana caught on and shoved her to the ground, Layla growled, “No!!!!” Gripping it tightly, while the other wolf tried to pull it from her hands, she fought back, “Let. Go. Ariana!!! This is the only thing I have giving me any fucking reason for still being here!” The words slipped out. Deep down in her heart, the day she did it, Layla was crashing. With the way Frankie had come to see her, and the feeling of never being able to get past killing a man, the fidget spinner had been a last resort, before thinking about other means. Refusing to let go, she gave Ari a good hard shove in hopes that it would get the young wolf off her.

Of course, she couldn’t make this easy. Ariana didn’t want to fight her for it, but it was looking like she’d have to. When Layla said it was the only thing keeping her here, Ariana felt a surge of both heartbreak and anger hitting her. She hated that Layla was going through all of this but running away from what you were feeling was never the answer. Plus, what she was doing was destructive and dangerous to others if Blanche and her car were any evidence. She growled as Layla pushed her off her and immediately lunged again, but missed and hit the pinball machine instead, sending it toppling over. “You think you’re the only one hurting right now? Come on, Layla,” she jumped up off the ground, adrenaline making her ignore the pain in her side, “You can’t just use this thing to run away from your emotions and take me down with you. Give it to me.” She did her best to back Layla into a corner, pushing her toward the back of the arcade where the security guard wouldn’t see them. 

When Ariana was off her, Layla scrambled to her feet, the fidget spinner tight in her grip. She wasn’t going to give it up. It was like a drug she never knew she had needed. However, the pinball machine hitting the ground made her jump back. With adrenaline racing through her veins, she was getting exactly what she had wanted; a fight with Ariana, but it felt different. It felt off. She had wanted to start some chaos. Not chaos with a purpose. But before she could even think of leaving, she felt Ariana pushing her away from the exit and towards the back wall, “But that’s just it, Little Wolf. I don’t feel anything. And you could have that too, if you’d just let me use-” Before she could say anything, she felt her feet get tripped up, and Layla went falling backwards into the Street Fighter machine, her head hitting the control panel pretty hard, along with her hand containing the toy. Unable to hold onto it, the fidget spinner flew out and slid under one of the machines nearby. In a daze, she slowly looked around for where the device had gone but couldn’t find it.

As much as she wanted to listen to Ulfric and try to understand, Ariana was fuming. Her features were etched in a glare and her fists were up, ready to continue fighting. Maybe having no feelings felt like the right answer for Layla, even though it clearly fucking wasn’t, but Ariana didn’t want her own feelings taken away. Already, there were so many days where her grief felt crippling, but it was hers and she wanted to feel it. And she wanted to feel the love, the anger, the joy, and the hope that life still had to offer. “No,” she retorted firmly, “I want to feel this. This and everything else. You can’t take that from me, and you shouldn’t be taking it from yourself.” Her eyes lit up as Layla fell back with her shove and dropped the fidget spinner. She propelled herself forward, using the advantage of her small frame to wedge herself between machines so she could reach for the fidget spinner. With it in hand, she intended on crushing it, but she felt herself being pulled out from the small space she squeezed herself into. 

Coming to her senses, she watched as Ariana squeezed into the space where the fidget spinner was. Scrambling to her knees, she reached out and grabbed the girl’s leg. Digging claws in, she made sure the grip on Ari was tight, but as the fidget spinner was on the verge of being crushed, Layla faltered feeling an immense amount of pain shoot through her head of all the guilt she was facing if the toy was destroyed. Letting out a howl, she knew what the other wolf was trying to do. Pushing through the pain, she yanked Ariana out and crawled up on top of her towards the girl’s hand. Without holding back, Layla produced fangs and bit down on the brunette’s arm to get her to release the toy.

Ariana let out a yelp of pain as she felt claws digging into her leg. “Bitch,” she grumbled, trying to fight being dragged out from between the machines and keeping her fist clenched tightly around the fidget spinner. The howl Layla let out definitely had the attention now on them. Fuck. Layla was on top of her now and she couldn’t exactly throw a punch without risking giving up the fidget spinner. Without a beat, she thrusted her head forward, colliding it into Layla’s face. It left her own head throbbing and Layla’s nose bleeding. She kept the spinner clenched in her left fist as she tried to crush it in her palms. The teeth sinking into her arms caused her to loosen her grip and drop the damn spinner. “Layla, stop,” she groaned, trying to grab the spinner before she could reach it again.

The headbutt came as a shock and left tears in her eyes and her nose throbbing fiercely as Layla released Ariana’s arm from her mouth, “You fucking bitch! I think you broke my nose!” Trying to shake off the pain, she could feel blood coming out of her nose leaving her stunned. However, through clouded eyes, she saw the light reflecting off the fidget spinner. Launching herself onto it, she grabbed the toy and felt relief come over her tense body, “I’m sorry, Little Wolf, but no. This is my only lifeline, and the only way I’m gonna survive.” There was an ounce of humanity in her voice, possibly as a result of the cracked device. Pulling her arm up to her bleeding face, she looked at the toy before looking at Ariana one last time. Slowly getting to her feet with the assist of a nearby gaming machine, she took off towards the front door.

With Layla heading toward the door and the guy running the prize counter quickly approaching, Ariana leapt off the floor, her leg still searing in pain from the wound Layla’s claws left. She rushed out the door, but Layla had been too quick, and she was beginning to feel lightheaded. The trail of blood she left behind her was indication that she probably shouldn’t be walking home or chasing anyone right now. She groaned and suppressed the urge to cry. She hadn’t loved that she’d been right or that Layla was still putting herself in danger with that thing. She hobbled away from Quarter in case the cops showed up and tucked herself quietly into an alley. She’d get Ulfric to pick her up. For now, she ripped part of her shirt so she could apply pressure to the bleeding claw marks on her leg. This girls’ night out had been far from successful.

Sirens In The Forest

 The sun was starting to come down with dusk starting to appear. I had gotten a late call about some missing hiker. Oddly enough they never gave me a name for the person. Saying that it is a white male in his early 20s with dark brown hair and a scruffy beard. Apparently they were able to see through security cameras that he walked into the Pine Ridge Hiking Trail. We had cameras around incase of any suspicious activities like with arsonists, drug dealers, punks, you name it. The oddest part was the rangers back at the base said they never saw him walking back. The trail has no end. You would have to go out the way you came in. Pretty much everyone knew that around these parts. So we either had someone that was very new to these woods here or he was from another state.I was the one they called since I was the closest to the Trail. So I took my truck and went over to the gate. I parked close to it as I took my keys with me and got out of it. I had no need of locking the doors. Plus I had nothing worth stealing in the car so it would be dumb to try to steal a forest rangers car. I walked forward and I hopped over it. This was more of a barricade to stop any cars from driving. So you had to duck under or hop over it. It was all we could do for now. The budget was tight after all. So me and my other rangers called them gates.With dusk approaching, I had to bring my flashlight and turn it on before I could walk down to the trail. I only brought the flashlight besides a flask and a pack of crackers since I had no need for anything. I didn’t need no gun since I had the knowledge of the animals by heart. It was better to be smart and not cause trouble to them. Especially the bears. Although to add, bears seemed to be less around now that I think about it.Usually we get reports of bears doing the ‘Yogi Bear’ tactic of them stealing food from people’s picnics and scratching and knocking down the signs for the Pine Ridge Hiking Trail and other Trails as well. But something got them spooked. Mainly because I never saw a bear here. Usually when I do, I see a dead one. Gruesome as all hell, but bears do fight after all, and they gotta eat for their cubs. I walked down and followed the trail as he swished my light back and forth slowly to keep track of anything that was moving. Any sign of any animal. Or a person hopefully. I wanted to get home soon and have dinner with my family. I kept forward as I then notice a few steps away was a backpack. A blue canvas backpack with straps being of a light leather color to it. Clearly odd but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. With how rarely people come here during the Spring season, there is no worry of someone taking your bag so obviously, he must have set up a camp close by. People tend to camp on trails like this. Obviously he must have been new to this and most likely someone that knows of our place. I looked into the backpack. Nothing but a map, some water bottles, and a pack of peanut butter crackers. Nothing appeared off. Maybe this was just a hiker and must be either those “influencers” or a nature loving fella. I walked to the left side which continued the trail while I left the backpack where it was. It felt like the barely lively sun was starting to make the scenery dark so my flashlight was working somewhat more efficiently. Yet I also had that feeling of eyes looking at me. Granted, I always remember it is the animals of skunks, squirrels, raccoons that tend to stare at me. The trees were lively. The wind slightly blowing to cause some of them to move their branches full of green leaves, so I had no worry of anyone watching me. Only the animals. I kept going as far away I started to pick up the sight of something. It looked big. It looked messy. I swallowed my fear away as I pretty much was seeing something that looks of a bear having to have had a person for dinner. I kept going though. I had to be sure. As I did, the mess appears to seem too odd. A lot of blood. Yet with big four dashes on the ground. Maybe five. It looked too bloody to tell. I could handle the smell of metallic thanks to my odd young years of sniffing coins in my hands. Yet I felt sick. This wasn’t fresh either. This had been days. When was the last time someone came here? Before I could even think of a theory in the corner of my eye was a bush by my left. It had a torn cloth of a blue shirt stick on its tiny branches. Maybe light-ish blue or aqua. I got no idea. But that made me feel wary of my surroundings. Something felt really off now.The reason was because of the fact that the person I was looking for had a light gray hoodie with his shirt looking green. This was somebody else. Yet again they never did say anything about other people going in. Just this one person who could be a killer. With my determination to see if this was just some prank by fellow kids and cuff them for trying to scare me, I set foot and continued on. I know it had to be a joke. I mean it made sense. It was dark, a missing unknown person, blood stained mess. Yet in my head, I was swimming with thoughts. No one could ever make fake blood looking strong like that. The scratch marks even were deep. No normal shovel or knife could make lines like those. But my mind also was remembering something I heard about.There were reports of missing people in the woods. We haven’t heard of anything happening to our Trails, yet we might have a few people slipping through our cameras or our rangers seem unfit for keeping a watch on things. People rarely come to this one since it is just short with the end being a bunch of trees blocking the way. We never did get the chance, either due to budget or situations that halt us from removing the trees in winter to make a longer trail for people. I kept going until I saw another mess on the dirt wall that the rangers and I made to let people stay on the path and know where they are going.It looked as if it was the same blood smear with claws. The flashlight showed that it was true. In fact the sickening smell of old dried blood was hitting my nose again. The same dashes. The same smell. It looked disturbing to me. Hell, I even felt eyes staring at me. Making me want to keep going as if I was to turn around I would be killed. Something wanted me to keep going. I took a breath and I walked forward with my body starting to shake out of fear. I called to the woods. To see if anyone was here. I could handle a damn killer, I just didn’t want to be alone in these woods. Feeling the eyes on me. Watching my every move. I swear I heard twigs breaking yet I moved on. I blamed it on raccoons, yet my arm was ready to swing on the killer and have my flashlight meet his skull.I turned right and as if I was being messed with I saw another bloody mess. This was was longer and on the ground. Walking closer, I saw the same number of dashes. More longer though. Oddly, it looked as if it was leading me somewhere. I gulped to swallow my worries and fear away. Whoever wanted me to keep going, I gladly accepted their invitation and walked. I felt the feeling of being watched again. I swing my flashlight to shine the light and I was met with just the wooden oak of the trees. It felt like it was getting darker by a couple of steps. It could have been my sanity toying with me. Or maybe my gut, heart, and brain in union was telling the truth. That someone or something was out in the woods stalking me. I heard nothing. I shouted out again to the only response was the wind blowing and leaves rustling. It felt odd. It felt scary. To be alone in these woods now. I usually am around at day time but never when it was close to night. My neck hairs on the back side were up and I never felt more alert. I walked at a normal pace. I was near the “dead end trees” as I nicknamed them. No way someone would go through there. Especially with bears and poisonous snakes roaming around. My light seems brighter. Either due to the strange batteries or how the slowly rising night was taking away every drop of sunlight it had left. I saw the trees. Yet again, my sight saw something not an average person sees. The wood on a couple of trees looked darkly red. As I marched forward with every bit of courage in me, I saw clear as day what the color was. Blood. So much blood. On the trees and on the ground. This was something non-human. Infact, the blood mess on the ground had the dashes again. I knew slowly but surely that no human could do a work like this. I walked closer to be hit with the strong scent of the blood. But yet it smelt worse. Like the blood was rotten. Like raw meat on a hot summer sun. I almost puked from that stench alone. But I aimed my flashlight and eyes down on the ground. There I saw it. A torn apart broken in pieces human body. Some of its skin was ripped off, barely the veins show which were not covered in blood. Barely a broken torn apart arm and scratched up in half leg as all I could see of the limbs. My stomach was turning inside out and flipping upside down. I have seen dead animals torn apart. But that was nature. This wasn’t nature. Not something God would allow. This was unholy work. For a non-human being. I looked to the left side of the unknown torn apart person since it seemed naked with all clothing just ripped apart and bloody. A piece of a light gray cloth. This was the guy. The poor bastard was chased by something. And this was his fate. His guts didn’t even seem there. Like it was all gone. No liver or intenses. Not even a god damn stomach. I had to go. I had to head back to the station.As my body was ready to turn as I was going to make a book to the truck, I heard a noise that slowly was starting to grow in sheer loudness and terror. The sound of a static noise. Like a television acting up when the satellite was out. I turned slowly and pointed my flashlight towards it. All that I was meeting with, in God’s honest truth, was something I couldn't even describe. It was tall. Like, really tall. About the size of a telephone pole. Its body looked like rusted metal. Skinny and dried up like it was mummified. Skinny long arms that were almost as long as its body. Everything looked so off. Its head was the oddest part of this bizarre mass of dehydrated flesh. It was of a siren. Two speakers on the pole that looked to be connected to the flesh and even the veins of this thing. It was still emitting the loud static sound at me. My flashlight looked over at the tilted siren as the speaker was facing me. Pure white human teeth. This was not Satan's work.No God and no Devil would ever make something like that. This was a true monster. A creature with no reason to live. Just to have more reasons of fear. It stopped its loud screeching and started to emit a new sound. The sound of the speakers started to make the sound of a warning weather alert. It started walking towards me in big steps. With my ears covered to prevent hearing damage, I quickly started to run in the right side to avoid its skinny hands. I ran with my tired feet sore and aching as I just kept going. The flashlight was still in my hands, covering my one ear as it was cold and metal as I felt the ground shaking as the creature was slowly but in big steps, catching on to me.My heart, my mind, my everything. It was all rushing in union. But only because as I was running down the path I started to remember that haunting sound. Months ago we heard this sound before. Us rangers weren’t so focused on it. Mainly due to how we knew of an old siren from so many years ago that used to be for signaling big tornados or hurricanes. It would quickly die off every thirty minutes or an hour before it would start up so months later. The pieces were hitting my face like hard bricks. We rarely have people come over here in this trail. Maybe one or two in those few months. We then hear that sound. This thing has been in the forest for an unknown amount of time. Using that deathly howl as a way to block the screaming of its victims. To not have anyone else intervene with it. I looked back and it still was taking big steps to try to get me. I was faster, but it still wouldn’t give up. It started to lower the volume of the alert as I turned my head forward and kept running. I was close to the truck. I could see the backpack from far away now. That is when the new sounds started to startle me. It was one of the most oddest things I ever heard. It started to speak. Not in basic human function. But static like. I couldn’t remember much due to my heavy breathing and my heart pounding but it was shouting words at me. “Don’t” and “Come”. The words were different voices. Like it had no real voice. It either was from radio stations that it was able to pick up and understand or it listened to the victims to gather more information to understand human speech.I was close. I was so damn close. It kept spewing out words. “Do not go”. It wanted to eat me. To tear me apart and slurp up my guts like spaghetti. “Stay here”. I wasn’t going to stay and die. I had to live. I ran past the backpack as I was closer to my truck. I looked back to see it was far behind but still catching up to me. This thing would never stop. I run harder as I see the gate. In one big jump, I was able to hop over the metal gate and be right next to the car door. I opened it in such speed and force as I threw my flashlight and almost myself in. I slam the door and reached into my jacket pocket to pull out the key. I grab and quickly slide the metal key into the ignition and turned it to start the engine. Within seconds I heard the car purring and in a mere couple of seconds I put my foot down on the gas pedal and my car went forward. I drove without ever looking back. I can still hear those voices. That loud alarm. That horrific creature. I still can see it. Can hear it. The back of my brain will always have me remember that monster. Something that will never go away as the years pass. It will haunt me forever in my broken and terrified mind. (Case #19-9-18-5-14) Report: Forest Ranger having to be in his older 30s rushed into police station at around 10:13 PM. Acting hysterical with his body shaking and looking out of the windows most of the time as officers got him to calm down. Saying a creature in the woods had chased him. Tall as a telephone pole with the head being of a siren. After roughly thirty minutes, we drove him off to his home where he exclaimed he would do an interview tomorrow for the sake of the ‘Missing People’ (See Case #8-5-1-4 for more detail) At around 10:30 AM he came down to be interviewed to give more information of what he witnessed yesterday evening (See the ‘Witness Report’ from the Forest Ranger). After about a two hour interview with the Forest Ranger we were able to get him to show us ‘Pine Ridge Hiking Trail’. He did show some hesitation until we were able to persuade him by offering more officers to the scene. He stated ‘With bigger numbers, the creature might just stay far away.” At the crime scene at the ‘Pine Ridge Hiking Trail’ several officers were able to find the clues and pieces told from the Forest Ranger’s story. We took the blood samples of the blood we discovered and some tissue samples from the torn apart body the Forest Ranger had discovered yesterday. A day later at around 1:54 PM the forensic lab was able to confirm that the blood samples and tissue samples do belong to the people in the  ‘Missing People’  case, but also to the person the Forest Ranger was looking for. ( See the Update for Case #8-5-1-4 to see the listed names.) The Forest Ranger was able to provide multiple alibis: - Video surveillance with a timestamp of when the hiker had appeared and seemed to be missing and the time the Forest Ranger had appeared after getting contacted by another Forest Ranger. - Other Forest Rangers were able to show proof as they had recorded audio of him speaking into their radio dispatch of the report of the creature and to not let anyone near the woods. -Gargled audio from the video camera planted by the “Pine Ridge Hiking Trail” sign of the sound of a weather alert system going off as the Forest Ranger had said in the interview. -Pieces of the cloth and of the hoodie showed no DNA of the Forest Ranger’s finger prints. We do know the backpack has the fingerprints of the Forest Ranger, but since he had admitted in the interview he did opened and looked into the bag to see if the hiker had planned to camp out the trail, there is nothing more to further add him as a suspect. -The Forest Ranger was submitted a urine test before he was sent home yesterday night to see if he was under the influence of drugs. The urine had shown that he had no drugs in his system. -The Forest Ranger was also able to give us his medical records to prove to us that he was not acting crazy nor has any mental problems. His medical records show of a clean bill of health which was last checked several days ago. Due to the witnesses and alibi’s, we had to remove the Forest Ranger off the suspect list for now. (Additional Note #1: The blood from the Forensic Lab appeared to be weeks old. The only type of somewhat fresh blood was from the hiker the Forest Ranger was sent to find) (Additional Note #2: The Forest Ranger had exclaimed that he does not want his name to be mentioned nor said in either news coverage or reports. Due to the evidence showing that he was not the culprit of the crime scene and because of how well known he is in town we had respected his command and kept his identity private until further evidence list him as a main suspect.) (Additional Note#3: During the time at the crime scene many officers had reported hearing a faint ‘white noise’ coming from the woods. Several officers checked but saw nothing that could be making the noise. The Forest Ranger explained after the officers and detectives finished up the crime scene that the creature could most likely be asleep.  White Noise is a type of sound that is combined with different sound frequencies together. It is known to help people sleep.)

(Credits)

-Siren Head was created and belongs to Trevor Henderson  https://twitter.com/slimyswampghost Also on Tumblr @slimyswampghost -This story was based on the Siren Head short game  https://modus-interactive.itch.io/siren-head

The Miss’ Friends

@grotesquegabby

@post-itpenny

Gonna take a small-ish break from the angst/bittersweetness, kind of, so I went and wrote this useless but I guess...nice thing X3 Some of yours are in this

This takes place after the fic where Lennie talked to Ula in the future uwu

After the other day, Ula had been feeling quite awful because of everything that had happened. Or more like, what she did and caused.

Technically, this is an introduction X3 These will be written more hopefully~

Her emotions took over her and had gone to her physical state and had even started to drain out her colors; this was something certain people sensed very clearly.

Basil himself after the other day, oh boy, he felt like a million bucks.

He had felt it whilst in his own timeline, laying in bed before a rush of adrenaline hit him and he quickly sat up in bed(even managing to surprise his sister who had snuck into his room to attempt to steal his knife). With this, Basil didn’t have to look for clues or even wonder what had caused such a feeling, he very well knew what it was.

“Look, I know that we typically agree on things but...this is one of the worst ideas you have ever suggested.”

Basil walked down the path that lead to the house owned by his grandparents, a hand in his pocket as his other hand held onto a bag that was at his side. On his other side was his sister who looked at him rather apprehensively for once in a while.

“Basil, Basil please.” Flora tugged on her brother’s jacket, even sinking her heels into the grass that now grew and wrapped around her legs. “Basil!”

Flora’s brother was far too strong and not even pulling him back was enough to make him slow down, his walking continuing as if nothing. The grass around Basil’s sister now ripped as she was now being dragged by Basil who walked up to the front entrance.

“Audrey!”

At this Basil immediately stopped, slowly and menacingly turning his head to look at his sister who frowned up at him.

“Don’t you think mom’s gonna notice the-”

Basil then turned and continued on his way, ringing the doorbell as his sister pinched the bridge of her nose while standing up. The boy looked straight at the door as footsteps were heard, then the locks being undone before the door opened to reveal an extremely familiar face.

“Hey there bud.” Basil looked into the face that his basically resembled. 

“Hello Schrader.” Flora answered for her and her brother. “Is Ula home?”

“Oh yeah. Well, there’s actually a lot of people home.” Schrader chuckled as he invited the siblings in as they now saw that the living room was somewhat filled with relatives.

“What did I tell you?” Flora whispered to her brother who replied with an elbow nudge. “Where’s Ula?”

“In her room, talking to Amaranthus and Mr. Cecilio.”

“Frabjous.” Flora smiled at Schrader who gave her a weird face, smiling nonetheless.

“Well if you two need me, I’ll be over here with the guys.”

The siblings nodded before they watched Schrader walk away and towards one of the couches where the band boys all sat, chatting with each other with smiles and laughter. However, Basil knew better, clearly sensing the anger they all felt, with the exception of Schrader. He then turned to look elsewhere, the ‘Space Moth’ family sat together with the moth father feeling guilty of himself. On another side was the ‘Bunny’ family, the parents somewhat upset as one of their children was missing. Basil knew exactly why.

“Maybe we should leave.” Flora grabbed her brother’s arm to drag him away, then stopping in her steps as somebody else now stood in front of her. She looked up as Basil looked in front of him, both seeing a smiling woman.

“What a surprise that you’re both here! But a welcome one.~”

“Hello Mrs. D’Vitt!” Flora waved before she and Jelly embraced, Basil then following after as they stood before Jelly.

“What brings you two around here?” Jelly smiled before Flora glanced at her brother.

“Well, we wanted to see if we could maybe make Ula cheer up.”

_____________

“Look, I honestly think that I’m...feeling better.”

“I know, I know, but you can never be too sure.”

Ula gave a sigh and playful roll of her eyes as she sat in bed, Ama on it as well while hugging her best friend.

“You don’t need a joke? A prank?” asked their grandpa who sat beside the bed, Ula shaking her head.

“Grandpa, I think I’m fine, really. Sure, I am still upset about the whole situation…”Ula quieted down as she looked at her hands. “But...well…”

“Have you seen him yet?”

“No, he’s still gone. But it doesn’t matter, I understand it was because I-”

“Don’t play the blame game.” Cecilio then took Ula’s hand to give her a comforting squeeze. “You heard your mom and dad. It’s not your fault, it’s not Atlas’ fault. You both just need to have a talk is all, with both sides speaking.”

“You guys should stop playing the therapy game.” Ula gave a bit of a huff. “I’m okay, really. I just don’t know how I’ll be once Atlas is back and I talk to him. That is, if he...even talks to me.”

“Ula…”

“Seriously, I don’t know why so many people came to check on me. I’m fine.”

“You weren’t fine when Schrader left…” Ama quietly stated while hugging Ula tighter. “Or when he came back...or when he and I found you…”

“Well, I’m fine this time.” Ula stated as her relatives could only stare at her with a now silent worry and as they stared at her, Ula’s doorknob jiggled before the door was opened. All three turned to the door where they saw Lennie, and he gave a small smile before speaking.

“Hey Ula, you have some more visitors.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Ula made an irritated face. “As much as I’m grateful for the visits, I really don’t see why I matter right now.”

“I think you’ll like these visitors though.” Lennie gave a small shrug as well as unsure smile. “Maybe you should get out of bed, join everybody else.”

“Not if uncle Vespers is there.” Ula managed to cross her arms. “I...I can’t look at him right now.”

“I know, I understand...but...well...Ula, please, do it for me and your mother.” Lennie sighed. “Especially your mother.”

“Alright, alright.” Ula nodded before Ama released her, both climbing off the bed before Cecilio stood up from his chair before they all walked out of the bedroom. As Ama and Cecilio exchanged yet more concerned looks, they followed Lennie into the living room where everybody else was gathered.

As they entered, Ula turned away after her eyes met with Vespers’ own, then looking over to where her mother stood with two familiar kids.

“Basil? Flora?” Ula tilted her head before said kids turned to her, Basil tilting his head as well before all three approached each other. “What are you guys doing here? I-I thought Basil and your mom-”

“I’m better now.” was what Basil signed after having taken out his hand from his pocket.

“And our mother and baby brother are now healthy! Well, baby brother is unfortunately missing some limbs but...he’s fine, he’s finally okay.”

“Well, I’m so glad to hear that.” Ula smiled at the two before noticing that Basil had a bag in his other hand. “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s with the bag?”

“Oh! Right, we thought this would make you feel a little better for now.” Flora’s expression brightened before her brother turned to her with a glare. “This will be just for a while since we of course  have to return them home.”

“Them?” Ula raised an eyebrow before Basil brought the bag up, opening it as only a darkness could be seen.

Ula peered inside before being slightly startled at the sound of a chirp, then backing up once something flew out of the bag. Her eyes widened as another chirp was heard, now realizing that it was almost bubble like, and from above an adorable smile was directed down towards her.

“I am so glad you finally opened that darn bag!” a voice shouted in an irritated tone, everybody and Ula now looking at the bag as a leg appeared and was followed by another. And then, two puffy buns that looked like pom poms attached to a black and white head with four yellow eyes. 

“It was stuffy being in there with all those-” the voice continued before the entire figure was now out of the bag and on Basil’s arm. “Oh, hello there.”

“What is that!?” sounded Phoebe’s voice as she now hopped off Vespers’ lap, attempting to take a closer look at the spider who crossed her arms.

“Excuse you, it is, who is that? The name is Posey.” the spider stated with a scoff before turning to the obviously surprised Ula. “And I am here to serve you Miss-”

“Ula, her name is Ula.” Flora gave the spider a look.

“Of course, Miss Ula.” Posey turned to Ula again with a limb now held up. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Um, the, um...the pleasure’s mine.” Ula blinked a few times before the bag shook, Posey nearly falling off before Flora caught her. “There’s more?”

“Of course! That one is Flubby.” Flora pointed to the bubbly one who now hovered over several guests, everybody quite amazed by this new creature. “And this next one,”

Basil tipped the bag over before his possum rolled out, giving a screech before wrapping his tail around Basil’s leg.

“Not that one! The other one!”

Basil rolled his eyes before a head popped out, one with big eyes. Soon the creature crawled out and Ula saw how it was almost like a cat, with a flat face.

“This is an-” Ula then stopped herself once the creature’s head went up as its face was now right in front of hers, for its neck and tail had now elongated. “-interesting one.”

“Whoa! What’s this little guy’s name?” they all heard, turning to see Cecilio who now leaned down to look at the creature who now wiggled its neck.

“Wiggles!”

“Wiggles?” Cecilio grinned before petting Wiggles’ neck, the creature then opening its mouth in a strange way that made Cecilio laugh. “No way! It opens like a trash can.”

“That’s what Wiggles basically is! They love to eat trash!”

“Oh, if only the old hag were still here.”

_____________

“Okay, okay, another picture.”

Cosmos and Vespers chuckled to themselves as they sat on a couch, all three of their kids sitting between them as Cosmos took Phoebe’s camera.

“Say, cheese.”

“Cheese!” they all exclaimed before hearing a bubby sound, the children laughing as Flubby appeared from behind to photobomb their picture, once again.

“Flubby, you stop that.” came a voice that made all the family and Flubby turn to the table beside them where they found Posey with her arms crossed. “Stop bothering this family.”

“Oh, they’re not bothering at all.” Vespers poked the bubble that Flubby was inside of, making them give a giggle like sound before doing a sort of back flip in the air. “What’s your name again?

“Posey! It means small flower bouquet, because my Miss says that I am exactly that.” Posey flaunted her colorful body. “Are you supposed to be a moth?”

“Well, I am a moth.” Vespers chuckled before the twins jumped up.

“Us too.~” they stated in unison before Posey backed away with a disturbed expression.

“Daddy.”

“We’re gonna go see the possum.” 

“Yes, the possum.~”

“Okay boys, you go on ahead.” Vespers gave a nervous chuckle before the twins floated up into the air, levitating away before he turned back to Posey.

“They’re creepy.”

“Well, I...um…”Vespers gave a bit of a shrug as he didn’t know how to reply to her. “ So, who’s your ‘Miss’ ?”

“Nobody that concerns you.” Posey crossed her arms again which made Vespers chuckle. “Who’s your Miss?”

“Don’t think I have one.” Vespers shrugged before feeling Cosmos’ hand on his shoulder.

“I’m gonna go make sure the twins don’t make the possum disappear into another dimension.”

“I say you sit down and let them do just that.” Posey giggled before the couple looked at her in surprise. “He’s an annoying little thing who only shrieks.”

“Alrighty then.” Cosmos cleared his throat before walking away, now leaving Vespers with the little spider who stared up at him.

“Did you get into a fight?” 

Vespers looked at Posey in confusion.

“No, why?”

“Your sleeve is ripped.” Posey climbed onto his arm before tugging on the ripped area. 

“Oh, probably got that when we pulled the twins apart since they actually had a fight.”

“Of course.” Posy shook her head, then grabbing the ripped spot before making a few movements here and there, some tickling Vespers.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing since I’m done.” Posey climbed off his arm and turned away. Vespers looked down at his sleeve and was surprised to see that it looked completely normal, now realizing that the spider had stitched it up and made it look new. 

“You’re welcome, bug boy.”

______________

“Go far!”

On the other side of the living room, Ula sat in between Basil and Flora who watched the show before them. They saw as Cecilio stood on one end of the view with Lennie beside him, then Ama on the other with Jeff as each side had a trash can.

“Wiggles over here!”

“They seem to be having fun.” Ula commented as she felt Basil lean his head on her shoulder, so she responded by running a hand through his hair.

“Are you glad we brought these friends over?” Flora turned to Ula with a hopeful expression. “Are you feeling better?”

“Of course, I have been for a while.” Ula smiled down at her before holding her face. “You guys are really great.”

“Ula! Catch!” 

Ula turned and reacted quickly as a crumpled up paper landed in her hands, then noticing as Wiggles ran over to her and opened its mouth. She giggled to herself before dropping the trash inside, the creature then happily running off to continue its game with the others.

“Thank you, Ula.” Flora now snuggled next to Ula who embraced her as well as Basil who buried his face into her.

“Nah, thank you guys. You’re always here when I need it.” Ula caressed Flora’s hair.

“Just like Schrader.” Flora whispered to herself as she glanced to the side to see said young man talking with the guys, all in awe at the sight that was Flubby floating between them all.

“I bet your parents are so proud of you both.” Ula hugged both of the siblings, Flora smiling with a nod before mumbling to herself.

“Yeah, I hope they are…”

Nexus of Time - 01

Fanfiction: Nexus of Time Story Summary: Gohan trapped with in the depths of time! Now, Trunks needs to save Gohan and allow him his three years of training… for yet unknown to both of them, Gohan is the future saviour of Earth! But how can Trunks save somebody whom he doesn't know needs saving? Fandom: Dragon Ball Z Characters: Gohan, M!Trunks, M!Bulma Pairing: Gohan/M!Trunks, M!Gohan/M!Trunks Rating: T Warnings: Violence, Character Death, Angst, PTSD, Universe Alteration Author’s Notes: So! I'm just doing some touch ups to the story, so the first twelve chapters may have a different feel to them.I'll probably end up adding in more warnings as necessary. This is a very long story! (I set up a ko-fi account guys! Feel free to donate! Link in blog description!)

(Check source for ao3 link!)

I am sorry to put this here, but due to people who have been stalking and harassing me for a certain type of content: THIS WORK WILL NOT CONTAIN SHOTA. NO, I AM NOT GOING TO WRITE YOU A SELF-INSERT FANFICTION. Leave me alone, you are not welcome here.

Chapter 1 || Chapter 2

As they waved goodbye to the man who had saved them from Frieza, Gohan watched in awe. Strong, this man was so strong… He wondered more about this mysterious man. Part of him wanted to know more. Like who was he? How did he become a super Saiyajin? Where was he from?

And his feet, they had a mind of their own. The crept forward – step by step – quietly answering to his curiosity. That is, before a blow hit the back of his head. When Gohan glanced backwards, he could see that it was Krillin’s elbow. Accidental…

Weak… he was weak. And sick. His stomach… it was churning. The world, it was spinning, and Krillin’s form was blurring.

And why? Why did he seem like he was staring at the other for minutes? Why? Why did it feel like it would take him hours to reach the ground as he fell?

And why? Why did it feel like his body was being ripped apart?

.+++.

When he awoke, the first thing he noticed was the smell. First and foremost, he could smell vomit. Next, dust. That old… stale dust. And burning. Smoke... and when he opened his eyes, the ground beneath him was filled with rubble.

Where am I?

Gohan pushed himself up, rubbing his eyes and looked around.

His eyes widened at the sight that he was greeted with.

What…What had happened? His neck snapped around frantically.  The whole city was destroyed, fires burning around him. Cars were crashed into one another, into walls and the ground, long abandoned… and… was that blood under him?

(He was about to check himself, but realised that it was old. Dried and caked on.)

He was not in the desert where Frieza landed, nor near the crater his father landed in when he came home. Cautiously, Gohan wandered through the ruined city, searching for any sort of life. It seemed that this place had suffered a recent attack and… ones before. Yet, nobody was around, except very weak ki’s – even compared to a normal human.

“Boy!” A low, cautious voice hissed at him and Gohan turned in response. “What are you doing? It’s dangerous out there! Come in! Come in!”

There was an old lady frantically gesturing him in. However there was the calculated way that her eyes would shift to the sides - almost paranoid.

Gohan could not sense any malice in her ki, and so he followed her in. He needed to know what happened anyway. When he entered her crudely made shelter (it was just a pile of rubble cleverly camouflaged) he sat down on a chair offered. “I am sorry to intrude.” He said softly, looking down at his folded hands. “But… may I ask what happened here?”

“Oh boy, have you lost your memory? Did those abominations make you hit your head too hard?” She asked before letting her hand brush over his head.

Gohan hissed as her fingers pressed into the bruise Krillin left on his head.

“My poor dear. It seems that you have.”

Gohan looked up at the woman in a clueless manner. “But–”

“But I suppose that is for the best… nobody can remember the good days anymore, when the world ran peacefully and normally. When the worst of our worries were humans running around with guns or poverty. Not even King Piccolo caused the world to be this bad.”

Gohan’s eyes widened. He remembered the story of King Piccolo. He was the father of his mentor, Piccolo, and he was evil, pure evil. His mentor, however, was completely different. “What… What happened?” Gohan asked cautiously. Perhaps it was best if he played amnesiac, that was until he was sure what was going on. Something bad had happened while he was out. It wasn’t nice to lie, and even though he wasn’t really lying, he was letting the old woman believe something that wasn’t true. Yet, it seemed better to… and what she believed wasn’t far off from the truth. He didn’t remember because he didn’t know what was going on, and perhaps he really did have amnesia but didn’t really know it, but it only blocked his most recent memories. He couldn’t remember how he got here and what happened.

“Think of it as a blessing that you don’t remember young lad.” The old woman said with a worn smile and ruffled his head. “Just stay with me and it’ll all be fine. Oh, would you happen to remember your name?”

Gohan frowned slightly but forced it away. “My name is Gohan.”

The old lady’s smile quivered and fell, a soft longing in her eyes. “So your parents named you after that tragic hero? He must have saved their lives… oh it’s a pity that he had to die so young…”

Gohan’s eyes widened. What..? What’s going on?  I was named after my great-grandfather… and he died as an old man. “Um…” The child murmured.

“You probably wouldn’t even know him, even if you had your memory, would you? You would just be a wee little lad when he died. It was four years ago since that tragic day in this city. Why! You even look like him.” She said with another worn smile. “He was our hope in this desolate Earth. He fought off those monsters, yet they always seemed to overpower him. He was our strongest fighter. His hair would turn gold – just as the sun, his eyes would turn the blue-green of the seas. He would hold off the monsters as we would run away to safety...”

Gohan’s eyes widened even further. Super Saiyajin? There’s… there’s only one Gohan who can do that, only one Gohan with the Saiyajin heritage… None of this was making sense. The amount of damage that had been done… (Even if he had been out for months it certainly couldn’t amount to what had been going on here… and four years? Gohan looked down at his body. He couldn’t have been unconscious for that long… There… there really was only one other option, and even that was reaching at straws… but...

“Wh-What age is it?”

“Age 784 dear.” The old lady said as she took a spot on a chair near him.

Twenty years… Twenty years.

How?!

He was twenty years into the future…What was going on?! Gohan tried to concentrate on all of the information: There were monsters, abominations, something threatening Earth and they’ve been terrorizing the world for years. Something that even a Super Saiyajin could not defeat. There was only one fighter – and that was him, an older him, a him where he grew up in this land, fighting those creatures. That meant, his dad, Krillin, Vegeta, everybody was dead! Even Piccolo, and with Piccolo dead, the dragon balls were useless! And now, with Gohan’s other self dead… there were no fighters left for Earth. Earth was doomed…

“Oh dear, did I scare you? Maybe this is enough for the day. How about we get something to eat?” The old lady smiled. “And you may call me Lodi.” She said. There was something off about her smiles…. they never truly smiled...

Gohan gave a weak smile. “Thank you Grandmother Lodi.” He said. Something told him that he had to solve the mystery, but he didn’t know what to do. Maybe, once he was sure that Grandmother Lodi would be fine on her own, he would head home. Hopefully his mother was still alive…

.xxx.

“Trunks! So how did it go?” Bulma said as she ran out to greet her son.

Trunks smiled. “I gave Goku the medication and gave him a warning. I uh… kinda changed time a bit too much though.” Trunks said with a slight laughter. “I killed Frieza because I didn’t know Goku knew instant transmission.”

“Well, Frieza died in the end, didn’t he?” Bulma said with a smile. “But Goku will survive, and then the world will be saved. Isn’t that great?”

Trunks nodded. “Mother, do you think I can go back, on the day that the androids attack… I, I just want to make sure.”

“Hmm, well… let me see the tanks.” Bulma said as she looked at the energy levels before letting out a whistle. “It’ll take awhile to charge the machine, but I don’t see why not. Just,” Bulma said and shook a wrench at her son, “don’t go dying on me, you hear? You’re our only hope in this timeline.”

Trunk gave a sad smile. “I know that Mother, I won’t.”

“Now, I made some supper, you go on and eat it. I’ll start charging this thing right away. The sooner it starts, the sooner you can go.”

Earth’s only warrior chuckled. “Alright Mother.” He said before entering the house and walked over to the kitchen. As he walked in, a memory surged of when Gohan had told him that before - before the androids attacked - people would remove their shoes upon entering a house. People did a lot of things differently in fact. The memory made him smile, as it prompted others. Of Gohan teaching him etiquette and manners… Back then, huh?

His trip to the past had many things that he didn’t expect. He saw his father – the man whom he never got to meet, he met Goku, Krillin, all of the other fighters that Gohan had told him about. He even got to meet his young mother. There was Gohan’s mentor – Piccolo, and even Gohan himself, at the tender age of seven.

He wanted to make the world safe for that boy; he didn’t want him to grow up like he had in this time. He wanted Gohan to live a happy life, never having to fight an enemy he could never defeat over and over. He didn’t want Gohan to lose a limb and almost his sight, to lose his father, his friends, his mentor, and even his life. Then, there was his unborn self, a person yet to be. He wanted that Trunks to live in a world of freedom and peace, one where he didn’t have to look at every corner twice, one where he knew his father. He wanted his mother to live happily with his father. He wanted his father to live. And yet, all of this depended on a simple medicine and a warning. Goku was the strongest man alive, the first to achieve the state of Super Saiyajin. If he couldn’t destroy the androids…

No, Goku would, Goku could. There was no doubting that.