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letitrainathousandflames-archive · 4 years

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Fighting What We Hate - A Fix-It AU Finn Minific

“The cannon is charged, it’s a suicide run!” Poe screamed over the comm line “Finn, retreat, that’s an order!”

“I’m almost there!” Finn barked back in defiance, eyes trained on the massive barrel of the First Order’s weapon, watching its ridges seeming almost distorted by the heat they generated

“Finn, it’s too late!” Rose whined

“No! I won’t let them win!” Finn steered the controls, pushing the engines to their limit

Rose’s pleading and Poe’s anger-turned-despair became static in the back of Finn’s mind as he moved faster and faster towards the weapon. He could see a red haze forming from inside it, a bright, sharp glow in the very center of it like a sun.

Neither of them could understand his feelings. Poe had grown in the resistance and lost people dear for him to the First Order. So had Rose. But to be stolen from your people from an age so young one could forget their people’s faces and voices...

To be put into the stormtrooper cadet training program as soon as you’re able to stand and talk, to have your hair shaven into a soldier’s crew cut without your consent, to be told to stand in perfect formation so that if one of you falls, another can close the lines again by standing where they stood... To have a number for a name, to be a slave of a system of violence and oppression that forces you to enact more violence and oppression, to hate your comrades and what they do, and even still ache and grieve when they die...

When General Leia introduced Finn to the clone wars veteran General Rex, the clone - a living relic in these times - had told him that only those who were ever forced to don the plastoid white armor could ever understand the unique pain of it. And he was right.

The one teaching Finn hated the most in the academy was to be willing to die for the cause. His fellow soldiers would follow it to the letter - gladly jumping in front of blaster bolts to protect a higher rank of even just precious equipment. Finn hated this. He hated that the stormtrooper he held as he dragged his own blood over his helmet was most likely proud of himself for dying for the cause.

Now he understood it, the willingness to die for something. Nothing would make him happier in this moment than smashing the muzzle of that death machine, destroying it and at the very least denting the pride of the the First Order, the power that subdued him, brainwashed him, enslaved him.

He glanced to the side, saw Rose approaching clearly attempting to crash against him and take him off course along with her. He sped up, gritting his teeth.

“Finn, we’re gonna win by saving what we love!” she screamed in the comm “Not fighting what we hate!”

Finn, pressed every button in the panel to remove extra weight so that he can be light enough to dodge her. His fingers were squeezing the controls to tightly ached. The entire ship was shaking as the red haze grew brighter, engulfing him in heat; sweat ran down his face as he blinked it away.

“If we don’t fight what we hate, there’s not gonna be much of what we love left!” he screamed back

He narrowly avoided the collision with Rose, keeping his course ahead as she zoomed past behind him, her damaged ship turning back towards the base after the failed attempt to stop him. Finn’s chair shook as he flicked the levers to every coolant system in the ship, redirecting them all to the wings even as they beamed incandescent and ready to burn.

He was close enough now. The ship was definitely going to hit the cannon and at the very least cause a significant damage. Finn closed his eyes and slammed his fist on the ejection button over the panel at the very last possible second.

Everything happened in a matter of seconds. The plastisteel cover of the cockpit cracked off the hinges with a rain of broken glass that gleamed like hundreds of little stars around Finn’s head. His seat was flung off the aircraft, sending him into the scorching hot wave that shot out of the cannon. Finn screamed, feeling his flesh ache and burn, nearly certain he could hear it sizzle even as he was already out of the weapon’s range.

Then came the blast - the concentrated power of the cannon exploding against the now-obstructed exit and recoiling into the highly volatile kyber crystals powering it. Finn opens his eyes, his body now reaching the peak of an elegant curve in the air. His vision is slightly tilted but he sees the bright red turn into green, and then blue. A blast that only growed, and now he was coming to terms with the fact that he really might not make it. He thought of Rey. Of Poe. Thought of how fate seemed to have twisted and turned to make the three of them meet.

He thought of the Force, the energy that binds and surround us all, and wished it could save him. He smiled fondly thinking of Han for a fraction of a second: ‘that’s not how the force works!’. He heard his comm crackling, Poe’s voice too distorted to make any sense, and he was impressed that the damn thing still had somehow managed to survive all of this.

“Wish I could’ve seen your smile again...” Finn muttered, waiting for the flames to engulf him

And engulf him they did, bright colors alternating all around him like a rainbow; But the pilot remained safe, what seemed like a transparent bubble surrounding and protecting him. His mouth dropped open, his fingers tingling under his gloves. A gentle sense of serenity settled in his mind and he waved his hand, steering the bubble so that it’ll send him farther from the explosion and the subsequent fires that still raged. Finn gracefully floated to the ground back at the base’s defense lines, his feet reaching the ground. He stumbled some, feeling some small glass shards from the crash tumbling out of his hair on the salt dirt.

The foot soldiers jumped out of the trenches, rushing to him, and Finn recognized Rex as the clone slung Finn’s arm over his shoulder.

“You’re okay, kid? Can you walk?” Finn nodded, but he was grateful for the help because his legs didn’t seem to stop shaking “Good, so now I can scold you. What the kriff were you doing?! Not even when I worked with general Skywalker I had ever- oh, wait.” Rex pressed the button on the side of his comlink “This is Commander Rex, over. Positive. Positive. I got our pilot. He’s okay. What?!”

Rex helped Finn back down into the trench, laughing out loud all the way as he did. Finn bit his lip and regretted it immediately - it had been cut and swollen at the collision.

“What?! What happened, Rex?”

Rex called over his medic friend, another clone veteran named Kix, to take a look on his wounds.

“Well, you simply blew over half of the First Order’s firepower with your stunt. And Rey just arrived with the Falcon, laying waste to the rest of them. Looks like we’re on the verge of kicking these osik’e out of here with few casualties, all thanks to you.”

Kix was muttering something about how the minute he witnessed Finn’s insane plan, he knew he had to be one of these ‘kriffin’ force-user lunatics’ with ‘no sense of self preservation’ all the while he dressed Finn’s wounds. His left arm had a large patch of burned skin that would most likely scar, and some of the glass had cut him over his cheek and jaw.

Poe only got back after they had all made sure that every last one of the First Order ships, especially Kylo Ren and General Hux’s was either retreating or completely destroyed, of course. He had enough runs with these bantha-shits to know you can never be too careful.

Finn knew he was the one to be loudly stomping his way to the medbay back in the base right as Kix was finally done wrapping the large bacta patches over the burned skin of Finn’s arm. Something about the timing of every stride just made it easy to know. Not that all the yelling didn’t help.

“Where is my- my pilot?!” Poe barked out with a little stutter, squeezing himself through the narrow opening of the door as if he couldn’t bear to wait for its mechanism to be done sliding all the way through “Where’s Finn?!”

Kix moved out of the way, pointing a thumb over his shoulder to Finn, who stood shirtless behind him - he had refused to lie down, much to Kix’s disapproval, his entire arm and some spots over his torso covered on bacta patches.

“He’s here, but take it easy on him because he’s still-” Poe ran past the medic, throwing his arms over Finn’s shoulders pulling him into a hug; Kix sighed heavily “I don’t know why I even bother trying.”

“Are you okay?!” Poe asked, breath shallow as he pulled back, one hand moving over the bacta patches and smaller wounds while the other was placed on Finn’s jaw, thumb running over the cut on his lip that had just started to heal “Please tell me you’re okay!”

Finn felt his face warm, and he nodded, placing his hand over Poe’s.

“Yeah, I’m... I’m fine.”

Poe gave him a small shove that Finn barely registered, too busy noticing the tears collecting at the corners of Poe’s eyes. Poe’s lower lip trembled, pulled down in a pained scowl that showed his gritted teeth.

“How dare you make me watch you nearly blow yourself like that!” Poe’s voice still had some strenght at first, but it was shaking at the last word “I thought you were.... I thought you were going to...”

And this time it was Finn who pulled Poe into his arms, wincing some as the patches on his arm shifted with the movement. He could feel Poe’s breath going staccato with small sobs, his voice almost a whisper.

“I don’t wanna live... in an universe without you...”

Finn pulled back some, staring wide-eyed at Poe. There were wounded, medics and other soldiers in the room. The medical equipment emitted beeps here and there. Medical droids strolled by, their engines whirring. All that seemed to fade for the former stormtrooper, surrounds blurring out. Poe’s bloodshot eyes, the still-wet lashes and the single piece of his tousled black hair falling messily over his forehead are all that Finn can stare at. His beautiful face, his rosy lips, the shadow of a beard darkening his features some.

Finn just stared at Poe’s dark eyes, and time seemed to stop for a moment as Poe stared back at him, breath slowly calming down. Poe hesitated to then drew closer, eyes flickering at Finn’s full lips. Finn drew closer as well, their noses bumping together. Well Finn’s eyes fluttered shut, Poe closed the distance between them, pressing a soft kiss to Finn’s lips.

The mighty explosion from before had nothing on the blast of pure joy that Finn felt in his chest. His hands went to Poe’s jaw, and he pressed his lips up against him some more. Poe opened his mouth some, pulling Finn’s upper lip between his own. Just as softly as they had started, Poe slowly pulled back, his nose brushing against the side of Finn’s own on his way back. The two of them blinked their eyes open.

“I...” Finn’s voice was raspy, and he cleared his throat; his sight was blurry with tears that he blinked away “I don’t wanna live in a universe without you either.”

The two of them kissed again, fingers moving to grab and caress at the back of each other’s neck. At this point, of course the bolder ones started clapping and screaming something along the lines of ‘Finally!’ and ‘hah, told you! You owe me twenty credits!’; Finn laughed into the kiss, feeling Poe smile against his lips as well.

Finn could understand Rose’s pain and her attempt to stop him. She had lost her sister in a ship explosion and she didn’t want to lose a dear friend the same way. But sometimes, Finn thought to himself, fighting what we hate is the only way to save what we love.

#fix-it fic #long post/#FN-2187 #finn #poe dameron #finnpoe #stormpilot #in human age rex would be 66 years old in sequels time line #(yes 66 pls laugh. its FUNNY)#but my au says 'surviving clones got an antidote for their accelerated aging so #shuddup

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mrneighbourlove · 5 years

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Red Typhoon: Ch 9. The Storm

The battle for paradise island had begun. Onslaught had plunged the waters into pure chaos, and ships sailed to engage one another. Lex and Liz were struggling in the water, when they felt someone tugging at them. Revy had dived in after them, struggling to swim. "Will you two please kick!"

"Take the bitch down!!!" Corsaire shouted his orders, the age old command of his arm thrust forward in an indication to take aim. "FIRE!!!"

"The girls!" Seer stood on the ship, trying to find his balance. "Bakura! The girls!!!"

Bakura dove into the water, and as he was underwater, he noticed one of Adda's counter measures. Breed Gyrog were unleashed into the waters, and one in particular was massive. Swimming to intercept the fish from reaching the girls, Bakura took a bite to leg. The sheikah struggled under the water, stabbing into the monster to let him go. Revy was able to get Liz and Lex onto the side of the boat. "UNCLE SEER! BAKURA NEEDS YOUR HELP!"

"Cap'n, there's something inhuman in the water." Seer's heightened senses were picking up the Gyrog zipping through the sea. He did not notice it before, the blast having stunned his senses. "Hold on, I'm coming!"

"SEER!" Corsaire exclaimed in exasperation. "I just fished you out of the water! Don't make me jump in there again!!!"

"I'll be fine! The chains aren't constricting me anymore!"

He dove back into the water and started to shift. When he was fully transformed, he bit the Gyrog in half and maneuvered to where Bakura could hold onto his fin. Then, he swam in the direction of Lex, Liz, and Revy. Squeaking at the ladies, he swam underneath them, letting them crawl onto his back.

All of them crawled onto Seer's back. The ocean was turning into a blood bath. Pirate and Navy ships pulled up against each other, tearing one another apart with cannon fire. Bakura patted Seer's back. "We need to get on the ship old friend."

"Taaaaaakeeee... brrrrrreaaath." Seer's voice sounded so strange in his whale form, much deeper and sort of harsh. "Hoooold oooonnnn." With that, he dove under the water and hurriedly swam back toward the ship.

Adda's capital ship veered around the island, focusing cannon fire on Corsaire's support ships. "Tear them all apart. I want every one of those fuckers rotting in the ocean floor."

Using the Wind Waker, Adda started to call upon storms to ravage her enemies.

With the sails, Corsaire's ship was able to dodge the cannon fire. However, the Hylian and Danjuran Navy were having locked in battle with the other ships of Adda's. The captain expected Adda to play dirty despite any deals. Still, he had one final idea that could possible take down Adda's ship and get that blasted wand out of her hand.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!!!"

Adda wasn't expecting a full on tackle by Corsaire, but it certainly worked. She fell backwards, dropping the Wind Waker, and felt her ship tipping slightly to the right. With a growl, she grabbed her shotgun, inserting the shells. "Bastards. Come on. Come get me."

Adda's crew members were getting reorganized when Corsaire's men and woman invaded the Pirate Queen’s Capital ship. It was the size of a massive cruise vessel. Scarlet deliberately attacked the non Gerudo members of the crew, using her battle axe to rip apart a few Zora and Lizard men. Looking down at Gerudo engineers, she spoke in their native tongue. "Lie on your hands and knees, and you'll be spared."

Some did. Others didn't. "You're the traitor!"

Bakura took his sai, and made quick work through the light hitters. He had to find Adda before Corsaire, but as he was pushed back by an Iron Knuckle, he knew that would be unlikely.

Corsaire was old, but he was still damn sneaky. His ship was holding onto Adda's, and she could not reverse out of the situation. His ship could go forward or backwards, despite the sails, for in the bowels of his ship, there was an engine. The Sea Witch was his own creation, and he knew he'd be damned if he didn't cover all the potential bases of a battle at sea. Finding Adda, he took aim with his pistol.

KA-POW!

His shot went straight through Adda's hat and knocked it off.

Adda reeled back, and she shot towards Cosaire with her buck shot. Cocking the next shell in, her blood was pumping. She shot as Corsaire as he dove for another spot of cover. As Corsaire shot again, Adda hid behind a pillar.

Once Seer had ensured the girls and Bakura were safe on the Sea Witch, he decided to finish his task that he was unable to the last time there was a battle. Come heaven or hell, he was determined to sink that awful ship of Adda's. Swimming at full speed, he rammed against the ship, the wood breaking in the hull.

Adda rolled, firing at Corsaire's cover with two shots.

"Will someone take that deranged woman out?!?!" Corsaire loaded his gun while the mast covered him. "Mojo! Shoot at----WHOAH!!!"

Seer ramming the ship caused it to started to turn on it's side. It was sinking.

Adda took the change of the ship in stride. With gravity on her side, she jumped kicked Seer, her foot driving into his chest. Up close, she wore her Gerudo Golden Gauntlets, amplifying her strength to ludicrous levels. She wore a fine black sea coat, and her hair was wild like fire. Drawing her sword, she smashed Corsaire's gun out of his hand by directly cutting the revolver. "Let me give you the kiss of death Corsaire."

The blow stunned Seer in the water, but luckily, just for a moment. In his Direnor form, he was able to take a hit much more effectively than when he was a human man. There were broken bones, but no pain he had not known before. Before Adda could shoot his captain, this time, Seer was not going to show any mercy. Lunging out of the water with his mouth wide open, Seer attempted to chomp around Adda's midsection.

"MOTHER FUCKER!" Adda dodged, throwing herself away, and giving Corsaire enough time to grab his sword, and Seer to transform back into a human and not leave himself exposed.

In the sinking ship, Lex, Liz, and Revy were fighting other Gerudo. It disturbed them to be fighting girls their age, some even younger. The three tried their best to avoid killing them if they could.

Scarlet threw herself between Adda and Corsaire. "Sister! This needs to stop!"

Adda eyes glared with sadness and fury. "You lost the right to call me a sister of the tribe when you left me alone."

Another explosion from a Hyrulian Cannon rocked them, sending Scarlet sliding away. Adda grabbed her sword, and barely intercepted a strike from Corsiare. Bastard was aiming for her neck.

The transformation and back exhausted him, but Seer had to help fight. His crew was outnumbered. Corsaire and Adda were sword fighting from what he could hear. The captain was using his arm as a shield, yet Adda was just as good as Corsaire with a sword. He had to end this. Feeling on the ship, there was a dagger beside a body. He grasped it, charged toward Adda... and sunk the blade into her back.

Adda gasped, the stab knocking the wind out of her. With a quick motion of pure adrenaline coursing through, she got a hit one Corsaire's leg, getting him to one knee. She gave him a kick to the face to hurtle him away. Whirling on Seer, she punched him with the hilt of her blade, and amplified by the gauntlets, she broke one of his ribs and threw him against the door to the bridge. Grabbing her revolver, she cocked it, and fired. She no longer had any hesitation. Seer wanted her dead. So she’d end his life first.

The girls had fought their way to the deck of the ship. They'd still have half an hour, maybe more, until it sank. Revy couldn't believe her luck when she found the Wind Waker. She smiled at her mom, who was being guarded by Bomba. "MOM! I GOT THE WIND WAKER!!!"

Liz saw her father being throttled by Adda. When her mother pulled out that gun, she moved on instinct. Jumping, Liz threw herself in front of Seer, taking the bullet. No one saw where it entered, but Liz's body landed with a thump against the deck.

Adda froze, her world going cold. Her blood drained from her face as she saw her daughter, limp on the deck. She dropped her gun as she lost sensation to her fingers. What had she done. "No.... oh god no."

"LIZ!!!" Halvar screamed when he saw his lover get shot. He tried to make his way to her, but the Gerudo woman kept him back.

Seer was on his knees, gathering Liz into his arms. His breath hitched. She was not breathing.

"No, no, no, don't you die on me!" Seer shook her hard. "Liz! Wake up! Wake up!!!" He laid her flat on the ship and pressed his mouth on top of hers, trying to force air into her lungs. Feeling of her body, he gasped when he felt blood on his hands. Her chest, she was bleeding, there was blood, if he did chest compression and pushed the bullet closer to her heart… "Liz!!! Please! Please wake up!!! Answer me!!!"

His little girl.... was she gone? She could not be gone. Seer's despair turned to rage. He snarled at Adda, "You... you did this!!!" Slamming her against the mast, Seer had always been rather meek in person. But now, he was a completely different man. His hands were gripping her shirt holding her off the ground. The features of his Direnor side were showing, but were horribly distorted. He was going into what the Direnor's called a 'Berserk Hold', unable to hold onto rational thought. "You murderer! Your quest for power killed your daughter!!! Killed my Elizabeth!!! I'm going to rip you limb from limb and make you pray for death!!! Tell me, Adda," His voice was starting to become distorted as well. "Was it all worth it?!"

Adda looked blankly down at Liz, reaching a hand for her when Seer easily threw her about. Her voice cracked, as tears left her eyes. She realized how much of a monster she grew into. "No."

Bakura saw the whole situation play out from Seer stabbing Adda to her shooting their daughter, but was unable to interfere in time. As Seer threw Adda against the wall, Bakura was rushing to his daughter, intent on saving her life. "Seer, you need to calm down!"

When a Direnor was in a 'Berserk Hold', it was as if a veil was pulled over their eyes. Seer could not think rationally. The only objective on his mind was to kill Adda for taking his precious Liz away from him. With the massive amount of strength surging through his body, his other hand grasped Bakura around the throat and brought him closer to his face. Half of Seer's face resembled a twisted version of his Direnor side. There were jagged teeth coming from his uneven mouth and his eyes were almost black.

"Don't interfere unless you want to die alongside this filth."

With a heave, Seer tossed Bakura halfway across the ship. Then he dragged Adda by her throat over to the side of the ship, taking her overboard with him. He intended to make good on his threat of tearing her limb from limb.

Idiot. Bakura was in the middle of surgery on Liz when was pulled from her. Seer didn't even notice Liz coughing blood from the wound as the bullet Bakura was getting out was slightly moved. The man ran as fast as he could to Liz, his adrenaline kicking in. "No, no, no, no."

Diving next to her, Bakura focused, praying for a miracle. And he was given one. The knowledge Seth kept from him on teleportation magic was free to explore now. Taking a deep breath, Bakura felt the bullet fall from inside Liz's body into his hand. Gasping with relief, he quickly applied what healing herbs he could to put inside his daughter's bullet hole.

Adda was gasping, her hands around Seer's hand. She was feeling her life drain. Taking a small dagger, she stabbed it into his hand, desperate for him to free her.

Seer felt no pain. Nothing registered in his mind. He was not himself, he was going to live up to his name; a killer whale. The Direnor was halfway shifted and opened his large jaws to bite off Adda's head.

"I won't let you succumb to your demons." Bakura dropped two portals. One sent Seer hurtling into the sea by some enemy ships. If he wanted to bring destruction, he could do it out there, and not biting Adda's head off in front of Lex.

The second portal dropped Adda in front of Bakura. She looked up at him, terrified of the look of anger in his eyes.

"NO NO NO NO!!! DAMN YOU BAKURA!!!" Seer was screaming profanities and frustrations as he headed back toward the Sea Witch and Adda's ship.

The moment Adda was back on the deck, Corsaire pulled a gun and held it point blank to the back of her skull.

"Give me one good fucking reason why I shouldn't blow your head off right here."

Bakura didn't look at Corsaire as he spoke, his eyes deadlocked with Adda. "Because you'd be executing her in front of my daughter."

Lex was watching in the near distance, knowing she couldn't stop her uncle even if she wanted to.

Adda slowly stood, her body slumped against a beam. Bakura grabbed her by the collar, and with Corsaire’s gun pointed to her head, Adda was sure she was going to die. Instead, Bakura’s expression softened. “Liz is going to be ok.”

“…I never meant to hurt her.”

“I never meant to hurt you.”

"Do you think she deserves to live after all she's done?" Corsaire was angry. This woman had kidnapped his brother. She had hurt so many innocents. "Nothing justifies the torment of the innocents. That is what my men and I have always lived by. She," He knocked the end of this pistol against her head. "Has killed those who did nothing against her. I've had to explain to many families of why their loved one is not coming home. I had to search for years to find Seer, and now, she has hurt her own flesh and blood. She is a killer. Not just for the incident that happened in Uskar, but Hyrule, Danjur, and Labrynna too. If she lives, she'll cause more destruction and death. Scarlet begged me not to harm the innocents on this island and I won't, but the same cannot be said for Adda."

Adda fell on her hands and knees, not making a move to defend herself. She merely looked at Bakura. "I never stopped loving you. I want you to know that in the end. I’m sorry for being so petty."

"I know. And despite you hurting me by protecting the girls from Seth, despite all the pain you brought about with the destiny I threw you down, despite all the destruction for the sake of power.... I could never find the will to stop loving you."

Adda was stunned. Everything she did, and he didn't stop loving her back. Her defeat was now final. "You foolish man..."

Bakura looked to Corsaire, swallowing the bulge in his throat, causally speaking. "She can be my responsibility. Locked up in Hyrule. It was Seer who shot my daughter indirectly by stabbing Adda in the back. I can look past that because Liz is going to live. She's going to grow up with the fox prince. And Lex is going to find so much fortune in her life. Shoot her here, now, in front of them, and they'll never forgive you for that."

"Seer did nothing, this monster shot Liz." Corsaire snapped at Bakura. "Adda cannot be your responsibility if you're in love with her. Too many conflicts, Bakura, you know that. Take Lex and Liz away, and step aside. She's meeting a bullet right here and now. I can live with the girls hating me, but I cannot live with the fact of knowing Adda might try to hurt my loved ones again." He ordered the assassin. "You pledged your loyalty to Uskar and Hyrule all those years ago, and to my ship, my crew, and myself. I order you to return to the ship with the girls."

"It was an accident on her part. I won’t let you execute her here. " Bakura spat back.

Lex was going to run to her mom if Scarlet didn't stop her. "UNCLE CORSAIRE! DON'T YOU DARE!"

"We can't stop him Lex..."

Adda stood up again, looking Bakura in the eyes. "It's ok.... we should let this happen. This is what I deserve."

Bakura shook his head in denial, but slowly, it was dawning on them they had no happy way out of this. "You and Seer. You're acting mad, you know that?"

"Says the crazy man." Adda's voice was defeated, even when she traded humour.

"Got that fixed."

"Did you now.... we could have been so happy together, couldn't we?"

"We could have..."

Adda walked forward to give Bakura one last kiss. If this was the last time, at least she would have it with a man that loved her.

Before Corsaire could execute her, a floosh of air rushed behind him, and he was sent flying by the claw of Onslaught. The dragon grasped Adda and Bakura with his claw tail, squeezing them together. "How touching. But you've let your weakness drag you too far down. Goodybe Captain Adda!"

Onslaught threw the two of them at the end of the ship. Seer looked from the water, Liz was just opening her eyes, and everyone else starred in horror as Onslaught's mouth charge up his plasma. Releasing his fire, a beam headed straight towards Bakura and Adda. They took one last look at each other, than, everyone witnessed as they were caught up in a massive explosion.

"Long live the Queen." Onslaught flexed his wings out, giving a roar of victory. With the only person who knew how to conduct the Wind Waker dead, he would finally rule the oceans uncontested.

Revy saw this armoured dragon. He radiated death, his aura making her legs shake. In an instant, he blew Bakura and Adda up, and possibly killed Corsaire. He saw the monster smiling down at Liz with a toothy grin. So, with all the courage she could muster, she jumped to attack. Throwing her axe, she sent it flying at the unprotected foot of the dragon. Onslaught at didn't care at first, until Revy snapped her fingers, and a bolt of lightning flew down from the sky into his foot, the axe acting like a lightning rod. It certainly shocked him awake. The dragon growled as he got over his first bout of pain. "Magic?! Shame you can't pierce my heart little snack!"

Onslaught walked towards her on two feet, and reeling his arm back, swiped at her with his claws.

Corsaire was knocked unconscious, and floating in the water. Luckily, at the last possible moment, he had lifted his metal arm to protect his chest from the sharp claws. He still had a sizable knot on his forehead and some scratches. Seer swam over to his captain and held him, above the surface for air. Corsaire coughed and sputtered, groaning, but still alive. The Direnor could sense the dragon's presence and decided the best thing to do for the moment was to look after his captain. He did not have the best fighting abilities and would just get in the way.

Revy, was not so lucky. She drew her sword, protecting her body from three out of four claws, but Onslaught slapped her across the ship, one of her eyes being cut out by the one claw that reached her flesh. With a toothy grin, he looked towards Rat. "Adda told me you begged for Scarlet to stay and raise her kids. Did you know I was the reason she had to fight her little war? And tell me, was this brat I just hit yours or Adda's?"

Rat's breath hitched when he saw Revy tossed around by Onslaught like a rag doll. It took every fiber of his being not to rush to his daughter. He had to keep his cool. Years in the gladiator rings were starting to pay off now. He never thought he'd be grateful for it, but now, he sure as hell was.

"Aye, me did, but me's not ashamed of it." Rat had to think quick on his feet. The dragon had an armor-like body. His bullets would not pierce it. He had to have something with more power behind it. The gunpowder barrel... Onslaught was close to it. If he was fast enough, he could draw his gun and shoot it. Maybe the blast would at least stun the dragon for a while so the crew could get away. His fingers twitched, ready to react. "You's just a big, fat lizard who's a bully. Why don't you go a-crawl back into your hidey-hole and stay there?"

"How about this instead?" Onslaught swatted the barrel Rat was eyeing with his tail towards the gladiator, and fired a bolt of plasma as got close, igniting it near Rat. The dragon was intelligent, having followed Rat’s eyes to the barrel. His feet and wings were the only exposed parts of his body. Explosions and firepower could hurt him, but he could regenerate. His foot was already stitching itself together from the axe the brat threw. Magic was his only weakness, but he wasn't concerned. That's why he had the near indestructible armour around him. It was almost invincible from the outside.

Lex rushed to her sister, looking on in terror at Revy being injured. "Sis! Get up! We need to help them!"

"I... I can't... I'm too weak."

Lex saw Halvar making his move against the dragon. "Our best friend is dying! Your boyfriend is gonna commit suicide being out there! Get up!"

Rat was knocked overboard by the explosion, the fire burning various parts of his skin.

Halvar, however, reacted by shifting instantly. His huge fox form leapt across the ship and onto Onslaught's back. Growling, his teeth pulled at the armor, trying to rip it off the dragon to expose a weak point on his neck. His claws dug into the metal, the horrid screeching sound filling the air as Onslaught tried to shake him off.

Onslaught roared, thrashing about, until he used his tail to reach up and grab Havlar by the fur with its claw. Throwing the fox onto the ground, the dragon turned on him, and bit down into his neck. He would have applied more force for a killing bite, if Scarlet didn't slam her axe down, cutting deep into the dragon's right wing. He released the prince with a roar of fury, and blasted at Scarlet. Her armour kept her alive as she was shot down a floor into the sinking ship.

"Liz! Scarlet said we're Twinrova. We have to work together to beat this guy!"

"I'm feeling too weak Lex. We're nothing..."

Lex squeezed Liz's hand, he magic radiating. "No. We're a team. That's what we are."

Liz looked back into the hopeful eyes of her sister, and she pushed her own magic back towards her. Their energies combined, and a beauty of blue and red light radiated from them. Stepping from the light was a singular woman. Her hair glowed of fire and ice. With a smirk of confidence and courage, she fired a beam of the two elements at Onslaught, just as he was about to dig into Halvar. The blast sent him flying through a mast, and the whole beam fell on him. Throwing it off him, he felt his armour effected by the intense temperatures of their magic. The bitch actually made Onslaught worried for his life. Flying into the air, he gave a roar, and fired a stream of plasma at the witch. Twinrova fired her magic back, and the two streams collided, forming a ball of energy in the middle, until they both detonated. The magic backlash nearly tore the ship in half. As Onslaught was pushed back by the explosion, Twinrova went over Halvar, shaking him awake. "Halvar? You ok?"

Halvar's thick fur had protected his neck, but Onslaught's teeth still had cut through to his skin. With a nod of his fox head, he signaled he was all right. Nudging the fused twins onto his back, the Direnor showed his teeth to Onslaught, growling.

The remaining crew members were trying to help some of Adda's leftover girls. Mojo and Juju were helping those who could walk onto the Sea Witch, while Pockets carried the injured. Acrobat was readying the sails, knowing that the Sea Witch was their best chance to try to outrun this dragon. Seer had climbed up the side of the ship with the unconscious Corsaire, taking him below deck to a bed. Bomba, however, had been hurt pretty badly. During the ensuring chaos, a stray shard of metal from the dragons blast had struck him, piercing his liver. He knew he did not have long, having already lost too much blood.

Onslaught roared, charging towards Halvar on wings of death. Twinrova jumped off Halvar, delivering a punch of fire that exploded against the dragons face, revealing a side of his skin as his armour was torn from his head. As she shot a blast of ice close range, freezing his chest and arms so he couldn’t grab her, Onslaught's tail snatched the woman by the leg and threw her next to Revy. Knowing the wolf would intercept, he flexed, breaking the ice, and shot a blast of plasma at the girls.

Halvar did the only thing he could do. He ran toward the girls, grabbed them both in his massive mouth and dove into the water.

Onslaught was already flying next to them, a cruel smile as his plan had been calculated perfectly. Grabbing Halvar, he held him close, and pile drived him directly onto the Sea Witch. The girls were sent rolling to either side of the ship, and the dragon kicked the wolf away with his clawed foot.

Scarlet grabbed Bomba and jumped off the sinking ship back onto the Sea Witch. "Stay here. I'll get you medic once I tear this things head from his body."

Onslaught looked upon all the faces of the crew, plasma simmering from his mouth. "Pathetic. Once I'm done here, know that I'll raid Hyrule first."

"GO TO HELL!" Scarlet swung her axe, smashing it against the dragon's face in series of heavy blows. Onslaught's skull was even split apart as she swung directly downwards. It was not enough to kill him, however. No steel could. Firing a bolt of plasma at her feet, he knocked Scarlet down. With a snarl, his tail grabbed her and smashed her against the deck of the Sea Witch, breaking her armour apart. His wings flapped hard to make wind gusts that kept the twins and Revy down. His jaws opened wide, ready to snap down on Scarlet. "Time to die Gerudo!"

Bomba was wheezing and already starting to see black spots. He knew his time on this earth was not much longer, yet, his friends were in danger, his brothers needed help. Watching as Scarlet tried to battle Onslaught, Bomba got to his feet. Coughing, he spat up blood in his hand. Then, with a determined grunt, Bomba wiped the blood from his mouth and saw Onslaught getting ready to make dinner out of Scarlet. He was never a big man, nor was he considered one of the stronger crew members. At that moment, however, Bomba was the strongest force on earth as he rammed into Scarlet, Onslaught's jaws snapping around his midsection instead. The blood splattered everywhere, on Scarlet's face and ran down the dragon's jaw.

"Oh, me lovely lassie... how me wishes we had more time." Bomba choked on words. "You're... quite the woman."

Scarlet looked at Bomba, complete terror filling her face. "B-Bomba! NO!!!"

Onslaught, with no hesitation, threw Bomba into the air, and bit down into him as he came down. SNAP!

His jaws cut Bomba in two, his upper half being swallowed, and his legs dropping to the floor. The entire crew went silent with terror initially. With a disturbing chuckle, Onslaught scooped the legs up and gobbled them down.

Mojo and Juju were screaming for their fallen brother. Pockets was too stunned to move, paralyzed by shock. Acrobat was yelling at the others to do something, to fire upon the monster, to avenge Bomba. Seer heard the broken wail from Scarlet and rushed back to the deck after making sure Corsaire would be fine. He smelled blood. Bomba's blood.

"No..." Seer felt his heart clench in his chest. "Not... not Bomba!!!"

Revy and the twins felt hopelessness as Onslaught roared with laughter. The dragon scraped his claws against the ships deck, then stood tall. "Show your respects for your fallen man! Know that he'll be digested, and become part of me! But don't worry, you'll see him all very soon!"

Onslaught flew just above the deck, and charged one final beam of plasma to tear the ship apart.

Bomba always used to joke that when he died, he was going out with a bang... either that, or death by tit suffocation. Though, what the crew did not know was like all good bomb makers, Bomba had a self-destruct option should the worst ever happen to him. He refused to ever be a burden to his crew, and boldly declared that he would gladly take down the enemy with him. In all their years together, never did he have to act upon that promise.

Until now.

Inside of Bomba's necklace, he kept the deadliest powder on the planet. A pinch would bring any palace to ruins. He kept a teaspoon of it inside a small metal rod on a string around his neck. Every crew member assumed it was just a necklace and never knew of the true contents inside of it. If he pulled the top of the rod out, it would cause a spark and ignite the powder.

So Bomba got his wish. He was not going to be dragon food. He was going out... with a bang.

The plasma from inside Onslaught's stomach ignited it, and his body exploded. A massive detonation tore his body apart, his metal shell having no protection from a blast that came from the inside. What was left of him was almost a skeleton of burning muscle fibres. Half his head was gone, and 90% of his body was lost, scattered across the sea. What was left of his brain generated the simple thought over and over of how this could have happened. He was Onslaught, Terror of the Sea and Sky. Wasn’t he invincible?

Twinrova and Revy saw a heart beating, pulsing with dark magic. Already, yet at a sloths pace, the dragons body was trying to repair itself. He would get no chance. The Gerudo ladies poured their magic together, and with a scream of righteous fury and grief, fired a blast of lightning, fire, and ice which launched the rest of the body out to sea, and a second denotation rocked the battlefield. An explosion of magic blew what was left of Onslaught to atoms and scattered him into the wind. The war out on the ocean had come at many prices too terrible to speak, but with the word of Adda falling and disappearing, and Onslaught detonating, the morale of the remaining pirates plummeted. They either surrendered to the navies, or fled. The war on the sea was won.

Twinrova took a few deep breathes of exhaustion, than split apart, a bright light singling the defusion. Liz and Lex both fell unconscious, while Revy fell back, finally feeling the sting of her missing eye.

Meanwhile, Scarlet fell to her knees where the blood stain of Onslaughts first explosion took place, where her Bomba laid. She looked to Seer, and a part of her wondered if it was all worth it. So many lives lost, all to save one blind man.

"... we... we need to get the girls taken care of." Seer tried to keep his emotions in check. "And get the Sea Witch away from this sinking one." He pulled Scarlet to her feet. "Come on... our work isn't done yet."

#So sorry not sorry #crossover #ridersoftheapocalypse #Captain Adda #Seer #Bakura Saibot #Corsaire #Liz and Lex #Twinrova #Revy #Scarlet #Rat #Bomba #Gerudo #Pirates #Onslaught: Terror of the Sky and Sea #Red Typhoon #Please share thoughts with comments!

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brazenautomaton · 6 years

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I got derailed and then rerailed onto something else, so the next bit of the fight was delayed

this part of the scene would almost certainly be cut from the movie because this is just a long-ass fight and the end is mostly “back to zero”, but I need it because my mission is to show off everyone doing cool things with their powers and tell a story with the fight choreography, and with eight of them that means a lot of fighting to go around

Thanos appears with the Space Stone, nearly on top of Sailor Mercury. In each hand he has a massive cylindrical, shielded chain gun clearly ripped off of the ship -- point defense guns.

Her gem is Searing, and a halo of delayed ice spears are hanging in the air all around him. As their timers go off and they strike the most obvious place for him to warp back to, engulfing him in an extremely localized, howling blizzard. Mercury smiles at him, says “Frozen Rhapsody,” and steps backward off the cliff to safety.

Bombarded with frost attacks and encrusted in rime, Thanos and his gear are frozen solid momentarily, tinged blue. Venus throws her Love-Me Chain to the cliff and yanks herself upward, cresting it into a spinning flip. Her chain reforms into a giant sledgehammer, and she mutters “breakoffbreakoffbreakoffbreakoff…” as she comes in to a somersaulting strike at Thanos’s left elbow. It doesn’t. Her attack is deflected, but the hammer keeps going and she smashes through the left side cannon.

She mashes the head of her sledgehammer into Thanos’s left palm, where it melts and forms around his hand, forming a mold. She twists the handle out, and as Thanos thaws out, forms it into a spear.

Venus: “Don’t you know not to bring a gun to a magic fight?”

Thanos puts his guard up and she immediately starts jabbing toward his face with her spear. He divides his attention between protecting his face, and keeping her from lunging toward his remaining cannon -- he manages to shove it behind him. Venus and Thanos slowly circle each other, Thanos feinting, Venus jabbing into his face in between theatrical twirls and spins. Uranus crests over the ridge, storms raging around both hands, and begins shooting narrow cyclones at his head like lasers.

Thanos: “You think this is a game.”

This continues with Thanos on the defensive, circling, until suddenly he grabs Venus’s spear, yanks it from her hand, and slaps something behind him -- he’s circled around until the gun is pointing between his legs at her! A storm of anti-missile flechettes erupts from the cannon, and Venus flails and sputters like someone is spaying a fire hose into her mouth. She conjures a tower shield, which is shredded, the front of a steam train, which is shredded, and a car hood, which is shredded, as she is pushed back with her gem glowing brighter and brighter until it’s Searing.

“Cyclone cleaver!” Uranus shouts, conjuring a wall of wind to deflect the gunfire -- now the flechettes are flying EVERYWHERE. Venus manages to duck out over the ridge. Thanos now is able to pick up the cannon, mash the firing mechanism with his still-pinned Gauntlet, and aim it properly. He sprays a line of suppressing fire below him over the ridge, then turns his attention to airborne Uranus. Wind whipping through her hair and clothes, Uranus flies at top speed, darting into and through the floating rocks above them as she narrowly avoids the trail of gunfire. The finned heat sinks on the sides of the cannon glow red hot, white hot, until Thanos mashes the Gauntlet into it, and melts off the orcihalcum block in his palm like a stick of butter. Uranus vanishes from sight behind a large asteroid-like floating rock. Power! Thanos is enclosed by a purple dome of force. He takes a second to get his bearings. In the background, the same angle as before, we can now see Saturn off in the distance, on the ship, chopping the remaining cannons in half.

Venus and Mercury are underneath Thanos’s vantage point, in the shadow but pinned down. They look up, awaiting an overhead attack and Mercury has her finger to her ear.

Mercury: “...looks like a point defense gun. They, ah, they shoot lots of tiny flechettes, so they can blow up incoming missiles and asteroids…”

Further out, Moon, Jupiter, Mars, and Ceres are hiding behind a large rock outcropping as cover. Mars is spinning together fire spells, sticking them to her fingertip, and leaning around the corner to take pot shots at Thanos’s shield. Occasional bursts of cannon fire sweep over or at them. Next to her, Moon has her finger to her ear and is nodding and saying “uh-huh” a lot. Ceres and Jupiter peek around the opposite corner.

Jupiter: “One, two… I think he just activated all three, but he didn’t go anywhere. What did--”

As she is saying this, the Thanos Spectre flickers into existence. It looks like a 3-dimensional outline sketch of Thanos made of purple neon tubes, and its left eye is missing but its right one is glowing. It wastes no time announcing itself -- it dashes forward, grabs the unaware Mars and Moon, and HURLS them upward as hard as it possibly can. They go flying in Titan’s low gravity. It then mimes the position of holding and firing the cumbersome PD cannon, match cut to Thanos actually holding it, with his right eye closed. He begins to spray them with fire.

Moon conjures a silver bubble around herself with a cry of “Moonlight Protector!” Mars tries to regain her balance and rocket-dash away, but the air turbulence in the low gravity has her spinning too much, and her explosive burst sends her spinning out of control. The stream of fire from Thanos is erratic and jerky, but she’s nicked and grazed by several shots her magic doesn’t stop. As she flies across Sailor Moon’s position, they extend their hands to catch each other and pull Mars to safety, wind whipping their hair all about… and are too far apart, only able to graze fingertips.

Below, Jupiter and Ceres crack their knuckles. “Oh now this is amateur-hour magic,” Jupiter says before delivering a hammerblow to the Thanos Spectre’s gut. The Spectre tries to fight back, but as its attention is being split between two bodies and this form is Thanos without the Power stone, Jupiter and Ceres completely dominate it. Jupiter shoulder-throws it, sweeps its legs, and punches it into the wall; every time it collides with a surface, it’s impaled by Ceres’s summoned stone spikes, causing more and more of the lines that define it to flicker out. Its attacks are easily deflected and countered.

Falling, Moon grits her teeth and rips out one of her weird white hair barrettes, chucking it to Sailor Mars. Mars catches it, and clutches it to her body in the fetal position as Moon conjures another silver bubble shield around it, just as Mars gets fully targeted by the cannon and blasted with fire. Their barriers deform as they hit the ground, breaking their fall, and Jupiter and Ceres have the Spectre in an arm-hold when they do.

Thanos dismisses the Spectre and opens his eye. Looking down at the battlefield, he can see Mars, Ceres, and Moon advancing over the open ground, all underneath a large hemisphere force field. He sprays it with fire, but it just makes “water droplet into pond” effects. He looks up, no Uranus in sight, and Space! A twisty distortion appears in his field of fire. He fires into it, dragging his aim back and forth.

And below flechettes start raining from a hole in space onto Mercury and Venus. Venus conjures a pair of metal bollards to hide behind, deflecting fire away, but they dig nasty divots out of her shield, even though they can’t focus fire accurately. The Mars / Ceres / Moon trio speed up, approaching the cliff. Ceres trips and falls as she runs, taking Moon with her, dropping the barrier. Thanos stops firing to dismiss the Space effect, then aims down at .the undefended Moon, realizing a fraction of a second too late that Ceres’s arm is buried in the ground and a stone hand is now grabbing the barrels of his cannon. The weapon explodes with the barrels unable to rotate. Space! Thanos takes himself down to their level behind them--

-- where Mars and Ceres, holding hands, are shouting ”LAVA BLOSSOM!” the moment he arrives. A flower of molten lava emerges from the ground, not QUITE directly under his left hand, and engulfs the Gauntlet leaving it unable to open, encased in glowing lava.

Moon, Mars, and Ceres stand before him. “It’s clear I underestimated you.” he says. He looks like he’s going to say something else, but he lunges with his glowing lava fist. Ceres pulls up a barrier of stone, but she yanks it from the ground starting with Mars, and it isn’t to her when Thanos mashes the lava fist into her.Her gem glows, brighter, and shatters trying to hold back the damage; she is sent flying backwards and her formal suit coat she wore as a civilian bursts into flames.

She tears it off her, looks to Sailor Moon, and shouts “Finish the mission!”

#fanfic #Marvel's Sailor Moon

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ellanainthetardis · 6 years

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Let the 75th Hunger Games begin! I hope you enjoy them more than Haymitch does :p

|FF] or [ao3]

Chapter 27 : Slow And Steady Wins The Race

His own reflection was staring back at him a hundred times over.

There was nothing else.

Haymitch was trapped in a circle of mirrors and all he could see was his own face, his own body, distorted in a thousand of weird shapes…

He was so surprised and disoriented he almost stepped back, almost tripped… He steadied himself at the last second, before he could fall off the platform, before…

There was an explosion to his left.

A detonation coupled with the sound of shattered glass.

Someone had left the platform before Claudius Templesmith could give the signal. Haymitch’s ears were ringing – from the sound of the blast or from fear, he wasn’t quite sure – but he forced himself to focus.

The mirrors ran high to a white ceiling. That was unusual, he could only remember one Game that had taken place indoor. A castle-like arena that hadn’t been that popular.

There was no point trapping tributes in a circle of mirrors. They weren’t just mirrors, he deduced, they were walls, which meant there must have been a Cornucopia somewhere, probably at the center of what he suspected to be a maze.

“Ladies and Gentlemen…” Templesmith’s booming voice joyfully exclaimed. “Let the Seventy-Fifth Hunger Games begin. And may the odds be ever in your favor!”

The cannon boomed twice.

Once to launch the Games and once to mark the death of whoever had stepped off the platform too soon. His money was on Woof. Poor guy.

Sympathy wasn’t at the forefront of his mind when he stepped forward, hands outstretched, feeling around for a mirror that wasn’t a mirror. He needed to find Katniss or the Cornucopia before the Careers did. Preferably both.

If the arena was an indoor one, they would need water and food because there would be no hunting. Tributes had starved last time.

The glass was cool under his palms. He fought the feeling of claustrophobia, pushed it at the back of his mind.

There was a way out.

There had to be a way out.

Eventually, his hand found emptiness and he stepped forward. He tried to keep to the left, to where the explosion had come from, hoping he would be able to see more clearly in a field of shattered glass.

It was slow progress and it was frustrating.

He heard other people grunt in annoyance or hitting glass but he couldn’t tell if they were close or far. He caught glimpses of their distorted reflections sometimes. Enobaria, once. Mags too.

Eventually, he stumbled on another empty platform. Or maybe it was his he had circled back to. It was impossible to tell.

Someone screamed in rage somewhere. The sound was followed by broken glass. It was soon echoed in different directions and Haymitch cursed and kicked one of the mirrors to his left himself. It was a method like another, after all.

Shards flew everywhere, nicking his skin, clearly designed to hurt when shattered. And, more dangerous, the piece of mirror attached to the ceiling came down like a guillotine. He avoided it but barely.

Too dangerous.

Breaking glass wouldn’t work so he came back to his initial plan and felt around for a path.

Slow and steady wins the race.

What an idiotic saying.

After a while, something odd caught his eyes in the mirrors on his left side and he tried to follow that lead until he stumbled out in a sort of… It was like a clearing of shattered glass. A nice circle of broken mirrors. The smell of burned flesh made him gag and he tried not to look at the body parts scattered here and there. He crushed the glass under his boots as he took advantage of the absence of mirrors to wander deeper in the maze.

After five minutes, he saw a flash of gold.

Cornucopia.

The reflections were misleading but if you remained calm and thought… Ignoring the increasingly frustrated shouts from someone he suspected to be Brutus, Haymitch went on. Every time he lost sight of the gold, he retraced his own steps, searched for another path…

After what felt like hours but couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes, he found the center of the maze.

The Cornucopia wasn’t as big as usual and it was full of weapons, not food or water bottles – which told him there must be access to that somewhere else in that place.

It wasn’t what caught his eyes though.

A few people had beaten him there and there would probably be a bloodbath after all.

Tilly Johnson, Five’s female victor, lied on her back, open brown eyes staring into the emptiness, in a puddle of blood.

Two people were fighting on the other side of the Cornucopia. There were grunts and the unmistakable sounds of punches being thrown. It wasn’t until he heard Katniss’ sharp cry that he rushed forward though, rounding the golden thing in time to see Beetee dart back into the maze, dragging Wiress by the hand.

They weren’t Katniss’ problem though.

Finnick was.

He saw everything but barely registered any of it as he ran.

The boy had found a trident, his weapon of choice, the one that had made him famous… Finnick had a gash on the forehead and Katniss’ lip was split. Four’s victor was making the trident twirl in front of him in a threatening manner. Three blows were all it took. Her stomach, her knee, and her head. She fell on her back, exposed and defenseless.

Haymitch was too far.

Too far.

“I’m sorry.” Finnick said when he lifted his weapon over his head, clearly intending to stab her with it.

Haymitch tackled the boy hard. The trident flew away and clattered on the floor. They struggled for a moment but Haymitch was on top and he was heavier. It wasn’t that hard to pin the kid down…

“Don’t you fucking…” he warned, shaking the boy once. “Just go your own way and we…”

He heard the hissing sound and then Finnick grew limp.

Haymitch stared, shocked, at the arrow jutting out from the boy’s eye.

“Come on.” Katniss said, her tone flat. “Grab something. We need to get out of here.”

But he couldn’t move.

The air smelt of blood and death.

“Haymitch!” she insisted. She grabbed his arm, struggled to haul him to his feet. He kept staring at the body of Four’s victor. “Snap out of it! We don’t have time.”

“You didn’t have to do that.” he said at last. “He…”

“He was going to kill me and he would have killed you.” she cut him off. “You know that. It’s the Hunger Games. Come on.”

She was right. He knew she was right. But…

His hands were shaking so much, he could barely hold the knife she thrust his way. She kept looting everything useful she could find, keeping her bow at the ready. The quiver full of arrows hung from her back and he tried not to wince when she got her arrow back from Finnick’s body. She strapped two knives to her ankles and wedged a cutlass in her belt.

The sounds of shattering glass were coming closer and Haymitch did snap out of it then, realizing they only had minutes before a Career broke his way to them.

He grabbed a cutlass too and as many knives as he could carry. Some were light, ideal for tossing, but his fingers closed on a sturdy handle and it was that one he kept in his fist, trying to get as tight a grip on it as he could.

“No water, no food.” Katniss cursed, her eyes darting in the direction of the broken glass. “We’ll figure it out. Let’s go.”

There was no other way out but to dive back in the maze.

Katniss’ method was similar to the one he had used. She tried to catch sight of something that could be used as a landmark and pushed her way forward, going back when she lost it. It was a patience game. One that had them both on edge but that was necessary. They walked around in circles. Sounds of fighting floated to them now and then. Every time it got too loud, they switched directions – the louder it got, the nearer they were to the center, they figured.

They moved in silence, sticking close to each other so they wouldn’t lose the other in their ever changing reflections. Eventually, they caught a glimpse of something that looked like a door.

It took them fifteen minutes to find the right path that led to it.

They exchanged a look before Haymitch pushed it open, not quite sure what to expect.

“Well, shit.” he spat, once he caught sight of the room the door led to.

“What?” Katniss frowned, peeking over his shoulder. It was a big dining room. Framed paintings on the walls, a huge rectangular mahogany table in the middle with expensive chairs all around, big windows with heavy blue curtains, dressers full of delicate plates in the corner, sculptures and luxurious potted plants. There were two doors at the other side of the room. “Where the fuck are we?”

“The Presidential Mansion.” he offered without a single hesitation.

“What?” she asked again.

“Replica, I guess.” he frowned. He looked back at the maze thoughtfully. “Makes this the library.”

It made sense. It was big enough to welcome a maze. Well… The ballroom was too, he supposed, but the ballroom was on the ground floor and that would have been too easy.

“You know the layout?” she enquired, taking that in stride.

“Pretty much, yeah.” he shrugged. He was about to take a step in the dining room when he froze. He wasn’t sure what had alarmed him until he realized… The floor should have been gleaming floorboards, not… cobblestones. And the way some of them were jutting out a little… “Anything looks odd to you?”

She crouched to take a closer look and then made a face. “Mines?”

“The flat ones or the others?” There was no way to tell.

Katniss was more interested in the windows. “The arena can’t just be the mansion. It’s too small. There must be a way out. Something else outside.”

“Food and water.” he nodded.

“If it fails we can try the kitchens.” she suggested.

He snorted. He didn’t relax but he took a deep breath and considered the problem at hand. Someone would show up sooner or later. The maze was close range, Katniss’ bow wouldn’t be of much use and it would fall on him to protect them.

He really wanted to avoid that.

“We could try to find another room.” she sighed. “There must be several entrances to the library if it’s that huge.”

“Wanna bet the whole place’s booby-trapped?” he countered, shaking his head. “Okay. Let’s be smart.” He unstrapped one of his knives and took the time to calculate before tossing it on one of the stones that was jutting out. The explosion was small and localized, weak enough not to trigger a chain reaction but strong enough to take off a foot or a leg. “Better keep to the flat ones.”

Assuming the Gamemakers were playing fair and the mines weren’t randomly scattered around…

“Where do those doors lead to?” she asked, stepping around him to go first.

“If we’re aiming for the gardens, we want the left one.” he said, pointing it out. “Gives out on a corridor.”

“And then?” she insisted, jumping from one flat stone to the next.

It was a lot more difficult for him. He didn’t have her stealth and he was heavier. The stones were narrow.

“Then we go right until we find the stairs. One floor down, two doors on the left, through the other dining room to the patio.” he explained.

“How do you know this place so well?” she frowned. “The tour Effie gave us was short.”

“Yeah, well… I’ve been here a lot.” he retorted. He almost lost his balance and grabbed the huge table to steady himself. “Library’s a good place to hide. Or to bring a lady if you want some alone time with her.”

Katniss shot him a disgusted look that he answered with a wink.

It wasn’t difficult to imagine Effie huffing and stomping her foot in annoyance in front of her screen. Or was she still in the launch room? How much time had passed since the first cannon had boomed? He chased her away from his mind.

Still, it was lucky they had sneaked out of boring parties so often.

They made it out and into the corridor eventually. In one piece.

It was too quiet.

Where were Beetee and Wiress? Would they ambush them? Three’s victors’ fighting style were deadly traps and their surroundings were ideal for that. He wasn’t the only victor who knew the Mansion well enough to take advantage of it.

“Be careful.” he told her, even if it wasn’t unnecessary.

Katniss kept her bow ready and he clutched his knife.

He led the way to the stairs without them encountering any trouble. The staircase was polished as always, empty, and far from inviting.

“Too easy.” she commented.

He could only nod.

They went down the stairs carefully, one step at a time, attentive to everything.

When a piece of wood gave in under Katniss’ boot, they both ducked at the same time, narrowly avoiding the huge blade that swayed above them. It hung there for a second and then slowly went back in the ceiling in a clogging noise, ready for its next victim.

Haymitch let out a deep long breath.

“See, I’m not sure I didn’t like the classic setting better.” he muttered.

“On the bright side, Brutus is never getting out of here alive.” Katniss mocked.

“Depends if Enobaria finds him.” he objected. “She’s not stupid.”

They kept close to the wall without discussing it, avoiding the purple carpet that wasn’t wide enough for the whole corridor. They preferred to step on the narrow path they could see. Who knew what was hiding under the rug.

There was a loud thud upstairs followed by screams of agony. They abruptly stopped and a cannon boomed. It occurred to him, then, that it had been a while since the last one.

“Bloodbath must be over.” he commented. “We need to hurry.”

If there was a trap in the downstairs dining room, they managed to avoid triggering it. They found the door to the gardens and stepped outside…

Only to freeze.

“What the…” Katniss swore, letting her sentence trail off.

Haymitch shared the feeling wholeheartedly.

The Mansion was at the center of the arena, that much was clear. But the arena itself…

He had expected gardens, woods… something.

Instead, what was surrounding them was a clash of landscapes that didn’t match or blend together. It looked like the drawing of a small child, a weird distorted collage. It was as if someone had jammed together portions of different arenas. To the left, there were cotton fields that gave on wheat fields that abruptly ended on flat arid plains with reddish mountains looming in the distance and a few dark shapes that might or might not be cows or bulls or something like that…

They walked around the Mansion in silence, taking in their surroundings. The plains morphed into orchards that abruptly morphed into more familiar woods and mountain-like ground with dark openings that seemed to give into undergrounds caves. Or mines.

Haymitch shook his head when his brain finally caught up.

The next portion looked like a ant hill with holes leading down. He was ready to bet those caves were full of gems and diamonds. It gave on stone quarries where dust seemed to perpetually float in the air. The next part… He had no idea what it was. A factory? A lab? A huge round building with a glass ceiling that definitely belonged in District Three. Then a beach. Water as far as the eye could see, waves crashing on the shore… Then a dam that made the junction between the salty water and an abandoned railway full of rails, dust and shipping crates. More woods, towering trees that shot toward the sky, and they were back to the cotton fields.

“It’s huge.” Katniss commented eventually, eyes wide. “Have you ever seen an arena that huge?”

“It’s Panem.” he said in case she really hadn’t figured it out. “The arena’s Panem.”

#hayffie #effie trinket #haymitch abernathy #into that good night

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