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pappydaddy · 3 years

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Nurse Simon (s.k)

A/N: I had absolutely no idea what to name this. This is just a quick fic I wrote up for Simon to kick off my Fear Street Masterlist so it's not very long, just a little blurb. I wrote this all last night at one o'clock in the morning because I couldn't sleep with my mouthguard in (I had to get it because I chew the inside of my cheeks and lip in my sleep when I'm anxious) and I just rolled with it. Anywho, I hope you lovelies enjoy this very random Simon fic💛!

TV Show/Movie: Fear Street: 1994

Pairing: Simon Kalivoda x Fem!Reader

Not Requested

Simon Kalivoda Taglist: @maybe-alistair

Warnings: Anxiety is mentioned, anxious tick is also mentioned (chewing the inside of your mouth). Not proofread, I'm going to read through all my fics so I will edit this better then.

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- not my gif -

Laying in bed, Y/N groaned, flipping over dramatically as she pleaded with her brain to shut up. Mouthing the uncomfortable mouthguard around in her mouth, she cursed her brain for making her this way. “Stupid Anxiety.” Her words were altered by the lisp the mouth guard gave her as she flopped onto her back once again, staring blankly up at the ceiling as the silver moonlight flowed against it.

She was still not used to having to wear the mouthguard her doctor instructed her to get after their last appointment. To make things worse, it was a random unopened mouth guard found at the bottom of her brother’s duffle bag. So there was no way of knowing the true cleanliness of the plastic guard (even though she boiled it three times just to be safe). Letting out yet another annoyed groan, Y/N forced her eyes shut, trying to manually shut her brain off so she could get at least a few hours of sleep before school tomorrow.

Just as her brain began to slow down, the unexpected draft suddenly invading her room kickstarted her brain right into overdrive. She froze, trying to figure out if the sheer exhaustion she was battling the past few weeks had finally gotten to her - causing her to hallucinate - or if there was actually a murderer climbing through her window right then and there. Both were possibilities in Shadyside.

The stumble of feet tripping over her knocked-over cardboard cutout of Nick Lachey made her blood run cold, but in a moment of sheer stupidity, Y/N shot straight up in her bed, flicking on her lamp to uncover her murderer. Stunned, she sat there blinking at her boyfriend as he blinked back at her, for some reason scared that he had been caught sneaking into her bedroom at three in the morning.

“What the fuck, Simon,” She exclaimed, her mouth guard making her talk with a lisp. She didn’t realize it was still in, instead, proceeding to grab her pillow from behind her and hurl it at her boyfriend. “You can’t do that shit in Shadyside, I thought you were a murderer.” She wished she hadn’t thrown her pillow at him since she had a strong desire right then to smack him repeatedly with it, but at the same time, she didn’t want to throw both her pillows.

“I’m sorry,” He apologized, holding one hand in the air as he bent down to grab her pillow from by his feet. “Sheesh woman, you have good aim,” He muttered, rubbing his nose after being hit square in the face by her uncomfortably hard pillow. “How do you even sleep on these things? When I sleepover, I just use my folded-up t-shirt, it’s softer than this shit.” He asked, tossing the pillow to its rightful place at the head of her bed.

“Well I’m sorry that with all the great technology of the 90s, we as a human race have failed to figure out the perfect pillow formula, Simon,” She grunted sarcastically, still forgetting about the mouth guard. “Now why are you here,” She demanded, crossing her arms over her chest, inadvertently drawing her sex-crazed, always horny boyfriend’s attention to her boobs. “Simon!”

“Huh, what?” He snapped out of it before looking at her face, jumping back with a small scream.

“What?” She asked, looking behind her for whatever scared him, but there was nothing. Looking back at him, she saw the same look of terror on his face, his shaking finger pointed right at her.

“Don’t freak out babe, but there is something in your mouth,” He whispered, stepping hesitantly towards her bed, too scared to get close to it. “It’s all over your teeth and a tail thing is sticking out of it.” He pulled his top lip up, pointing to his top teeth before swooping it to indicate a tail.

Y/N rolled her eyes, pulling the mouth guard from her mouth, a string of saliva following it. She cringed, thankful their relationship was not new or that would have been mortifying. Simon had always been comfortable around her. At first, Y/N was more careful about what she did in front of him, not being her full self out of fear of him leaving, but being in a relationship with a person for over six months changes that. “It’s my mouth guard, you Baboon.” She told him, reaching over to place it in its case.

“Why do you need a mouth guard, scared of getting tackled in your sleep?” He asked, crawling onto her bed, flipping unceremoniously into the spot next to her, winching when he landed on the hard pillow.

“No, it’s so that I stop chewing the inside of my cheek when I’m anxious.” She barked, grumpy.

“Sheesh, someone’s a little grumpy.” Simon sucked in a breath, looking at her with gleaming eyes. She glared down at him, not wanting to admit that the wide, sparkling blue eyes he was giving her broke through her grumpiness instantly.

“No shit, I was just about to fall asleep when you came falling through my window, scaring me half to death and now you won’t stop talking,” She ranted, pointing at the still open window. “And you didn’t even have half the decency to close the window after you.”

He rolled off the bed, walking over to shut and lock the window. “Well, let’s go to bed together. Might help you sleep, then we can sleep in tomorrow morning.” He suggested, picking up the cardboard cutout, standing it in the corner of the room next to her extensive Cassette and CD collection.

“We have school in the morning.” She reminded him, not looking up from where she was fixing her bedsheets from him messing them up when he rolled out of the bed.

“You’re such a nerd that you want to go to school on Thanksgiving?” Simon asked jokingly, knowing full well that her exhausted brain completely forgot what day it was tomorrow (or today since it was the morning already).

“Shit-“

“It’s all right, I have the day off so I’ll nurse you back to sanity, babe.” He pretended he was doing her a great justice as he flopped back down beside her, pulling her down with him, pressing her back flush against his front.

“That’s not an overly comforting thought,” She grumbled, but he simply shushed her, petting her hair. “Fine,” She gave up, accepting it. “But the only reason I am not chewing you out for making me think I was gonna get murdered is the fact that I am too tired to argue.” Her words slowly became slower and more slurred as being wrapped in Simon’s arms made her feel protected and less anxious, basically shutting her brain off with the feeling of his touch.

Mustering up enough strength to battle against the sudden wave of sleepiness, she reached to turn her lamp off, bathing them in darkness that only the silver moonbeams broke up. Seconds later, her eyelids drooped, cutting out all light. “I love you, Simon.” She breathed out, forgetting her mouthguard.

“I love you too, babe,” He responded. She could feel him reaching over her to her nightstand, but she was too tired to care. “I love you so much that I can’t let you forget your terrifying mouthguard.” He whispered, thinking she was asleep. Gently, he managed to wiggle the mouthguard into her mouth before settling back down behind her pulling her farther into him, snuggling his face into the back of her neck affectionately.

#simon kalivoda #simon kalivoda x reader #simon kalivoda x fem!reader #simon kalivoda fear street #fear street 1994 #fear street #fear street 1978 #fear street fics #fear street imagines #fear street preferences #simon kalivoda imagines #simon kalivoda preferences

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makeste · 3 years

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BnHA Chapter 296: Ngl, This One Pissed Me Off

Previously on BnHA: Deku was all, “p.s. I actually activated yet another quirk several chapters ago when Kacchan got stabbed.” Compress was all, “[gets captured and passes out].” Spinner was all “[rifles through Tomura’s pockets and slaps a random Charbroiled Hand onto his friend’s unconscious face].” Tomura was all, “SOMEHOW THAT ACTUALLY WORKED” and woke up again, except it wasn’t really him, it was everyone’s favorite Final Villain, AFO. AFO was all, “time to escape finally” and summoned a bunch of Noumu and Absconded with Spinner and the DabiMarble in tow. Skeptic was all, “Horikoshi forgot I existed, but I’m actually Absconding in marble-form as well.” Deku was all, “ATTENTION WORLD, I WOULD LIKE TO ANNOUNCE THAT I OFFICIALLY WANT TO SAVE SHIGARAKI TOMURA.” And then the arc just sort of ended lol.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all, “but when you think about it, do we really need literally any female teachers at U.A. at all?” and for whatever reason doesn’t stop to wait for an answer. Midnight, who absolutely did not need to die, Dies, and I’m pissed about it. Ochako wanders the ruins of Jakku for what feels like hours, rescuing small children while her adult hero compatriots fall to pieces around her, because apparently the U.A. kids really are the only people who have their shit together. The citizens of Japan are all “damn that’s wild, wonder how fucked we are now,” but are actually super casual and chill about it which is oddly realistic. The chapter ends with AFO in Tartarus being all “lol time for the prison break arc,” without giving us so much as a chance to catch our breath, like holy shit. Are we on the clock or something now, goddamn.

lmao it’s like 7pm on a Sunday night and this is out already. this is like the worst possible timing lol. there goes my nice, relaxed evening. unless of course this turns out to be a nice, restful, soothing chapter, as chapters coming on the heels of traumatic, earth-shattering battles so often are. yeah, break out the Pina Colada song and the little drink umbrellas, I got a good feeling about this one

(ETA: I mean, I was obviously being sarcastic here but damn, Horikoshi.)

-- fff why did I laugh

it’s the crumbling city ruins in the background that really does it, I think. JUST LOOK AT THIS MESS THAT YOU HAVE MADE, EVERYONE. FOR SHAME

also, the title is dramatic af and I am so fucking excited you guys, like holy shit. BnHA’s In-Between arcs have always been my favorite part of the series, because it’s when all the character development and angst and/or catharsis happens. just, those little breathing spaces in between the action when everyone gathers to recuperate and compartmentalize their fresh new traumas lmao. bring on that angst!! but also, let’s please have some Comfort to offset all of this Hurt too, please and thanks

blah blah blah so the survivors were evacuated, good good, can you actually show us though?

AHHHHHHH

PIXIE BOB SURVIVED!!!! WASH IS STILL ALIVE LMAO HOW. THIRTEEN’S FACE, OMG SHOULD I LOOK AWAY. IS IT LIKE MANDALORIAN RULES. IDK HOW IT WORKS

HOW THE FUCK ARE THEY ALIVE. LOLS ANYWAY I’M HERE FOR IT. FEEL FREE NOT TO KILL ANYONE ELSE HERE HORIKOSHI, I THINK WE’RE GOOD

(ETA: it’s like talking to a brick wall.)

oh my god do we really need exposition about how the heroes tried to stop TomurAFO from escaping and OF COURSE failed completely because they suck lmao. oh my god I am shocked, that is such shocking news

wow they only managed to defeat three of the Noumus. holy shit. again, all of the Not-Kid Heroes are only slightly more useful than cardboard cutouts of heroes at this point, MORE AT ELEVEN

so Tomura may have lost the PLF, but he still more or less has an army then, huh. I really don’t know how anyone could expect a timeskip with that threat looming over everyone’s heads

oh nvm lol there are only seven Noumus left. wait so you’re telling me there were only ten Nearly High Ends in that last chapter?? felt more like fifty but whatever lol I’ll take your word for it

COMPRESS YAY YOU’RE ALIVE TOO

MAYBE THEY CAN EVEN REATTACH HIS ASS. I’M SERIOUS LOL, BECAUSE HE STILL HAS IT, DOESN’T HE? OR IF NOT, THEY CAN REBUILD HIM WITH A PROSTHETIC ASS. he’ll be more powerful than ever

WHAAAAAAT YEAH BOIIIII

WOOO, EDGESHOT, WOOOOO. THAT’S HIS WAY OF THE NINJA

YEAHHHHH SUCK IT, PLF

(ETA: for the record I don’t think Cementoss is dead here, just badly wounded. if he had died he would have been included in the forthcoming In Memoriam page along with the others.)

GET BENT LOL. TRUMPET I FOR REAL FORGOT YOU EVEN EXISTED. I NEVER WANT TO SEE ANY OF YOU LOSERS AGAIN PLEASE. ONLY INTERESTING CHARACTERS MAY PROCEED PAST THIS POINT

dsflksaldkh;l

that’s... holy shit. that’s a bigass mansion, that’s what that is. also so does this mean there are still eighty thousand PLF members still at large, because that’s a plot line I very much do not care about in any way whatsoever lol. can’t we just retcon to say that Re-Destro was exaggerating? I mean hell, a CEO criminal pulling some Enron-type bullshit is pretty believable, isn’t it? those poor bamboozled shareholders

“makeste, here’s an idea, what if you scrolled down to read the rest of the page” lol gtfo of here with your logic and your sense

well those 132 people have made it onto my enemies list, but at least it sounds like they more or less took care of the rest. good riddance

and Toga escaped, as we knew already, and is now on the lam. hopefully she reunites with the League again at some point. although her doing her own thing could also be very interesting. idk what I want lol

anyway so there’s another big panel showing how fucked up the city is, just in case it hadn’t already been hammered into our skulls yet. there’s a car dangling off a roof somehow. how does that even happen. did Machia pick it up and put it there or

NOOO OMG RANDOM SMALL CHILDREN IN PERIL WHAT IS THIS

OCHAKO PLEASE SAVE THEM OMG

“if it falls on me, I want you to have my Endeavor pouch” OH MY STARS. HIS MOST PRECIOUS POSSESSION. NO MY CHILD YOU CAN’T GIVE UP HOPE YET

LMAO

“FOR THE LAST TIME NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOUR DUSTY-ASS POUCH, KYLE” fffff these children are dying and I am cracking up so hard my eyes are tearing up what is wrong with me

YAY THEY SAVED THEM

but listen. not that I don’t love seeing the girls kick ass, because you know I do. but I also really, REALLY need to know what’s going down with the Musketeers, and I’m not looking forward to waiting three whole weeks for that so please Horikoshi. please hurry this along so we can get to them

goddamn it Tsuyu is saying she’ll take the boy to the shelter to get first aid, and I was all “okay great because that’s probably where Kacchan and the others are too”, but now someone else is shouting for help and Ochako’s all “I’ll go” and it’s like OKAY BUT PLEASE? this chapter is already more than half over omfg. ‘bout to start wringing some hands here

oh my god

is this Toga again??? WHAT THE HELL, THIS CREEPYASS HALF-DEAD DUDE BETTER BE LEADING UP TO SOMETHING INTERESTING, I AM REALLY GETTING IMPATIENT

OR, I GUESS, WE COULD DO THIS INSTEAD

“SO AS IT TURNS OUT, NOT EVERY CHARACTER WHO NEEDS HELP SAVING THEIR SPOUSE FROM FALLEN RUBBLE IS ACTUALLY TOGA IN DISGUISE” HUH, OKAY. DULY NOTED. FILED AWAY FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

but fucking... okay, look. I love Ochako, I do. but I like her a whole lot more when she’s interacting with other characters I actually care about, as opposed to running around in the rubble rescuing random people while the fate of my other children is still up in the air. like okay, I get it, shit’s bad, now if you don’t mind we really don’t have to spend all day here though

...anyways but nope, we’re still staying with her. she’s bouncing around rescuing all of these other people. omg. I literally have no patience here at all and it’s terrible, I know, but oh my god

omg finally something interesting is happening!!

look at that, an adult hero standing around being useless while the kids are busy getting shit done. why is this becoming a recurring theme

MY DUDE, THIS IS SERIOUSLY NOT THE TIME THOUGH

I GET THAT IT’S OVERWHELMING AND THAT YOU’RE TRAUMATIZED AND SHIT, BUT GUESS WHAT, SO IS EVERYONE ELSE. THAT’S WHAT YOU SIGNED UP FOR. JUST LOOK AT OCHAKO! SHE’S SO EXHAUSTED HER HAIR HAS EVEN LOST ITS FLOOF, AND YET SHE’S STILL OUT HERE DOING HER BEST. ONE SAVE AT A TIME MY MAN. GET IT DONE. LITERALLY A SMALL CHILD IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT CALLING FOR THEIR MOMMY AND YOU’RE JUST STANDING THERE ALL “WAHH IT’S TOO MUCH” LIKE COULD YOU PLEASE POSTPONE YOUR CRISIS UNTIL AFTER YOU SAVE THEM PLEASE

OH MY GOD

MAYBE YOU SHOULD!! oh my god I really cannot, like wow. oh no I actually have to save people and do my job, god forbid. jesus christ, at least the other heroes tried. but Moping Hero: Bellyache here is just throwing in the towel and fuck everyone who still needs his help I guess. you are like the anti-Deku my dude

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD NO OH FUCK

THAT’S MIDNIGHT’S HAND OH FU -- SHE BETTER NOT -- HORIKOSHI I SWEAR TO GOD --

I’M GONNA LOSE IT I REALLY AM!!!!

HOLY SHIT HOW INTENSE OF A RAGE DO I NEED TO BRACE MYSELF TO BE FEELING HERE. THIS CHAPTER WAS ALREADY TRENDING TOWARDS DISAPPOINTMENT, DO WE REALLY NEED TO GO AND COMPOUND THAT

WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON

you’re telling me Tomura wasn’t brought back by that electric shock, but by his “fuck you” attitude? why are you explaining this to us now, again??

......

HEY, SO UM, FUCK ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS, THOUGH. (: OH MAN. OHHHHHH MAN. I HAVE... I HAVE GOT A LOT OF WORDS FOR THIS AND HERE ARE SOME OF THEM

FUCK

THINGS THAT SHOULD BE IN THE DICTIONARY NEXT TO “SOME BULLSHIT”: THIS

FUCK

GET FUCKED HORIKOSHI

AND ALSO PLEASE FUCK RIGHT OFF!!

AND SERIOUSLY THOUGH FUCK YOU

NO BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THOUGH!! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED OFF ANYONE. LITERALLY ANY CHARACTER. YOU HAD TWELVE FEMALE PROS. TWELVE. YOU COULD HAVE MADE MORE OF THEM. PROBABLY, IF THERE ACTUALLY WERE SUPERHEROES IN REAL LIFE, THERE WOULD BE MORE THAN TWELVE OF THEM IN AN ENTIRE NATION. BUT NO, YOU WERE ALL “TWELVE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH.” AND THEN WHEN IT CAME TIME TO KILL PEOPLE OFF, YOU WERE ALL “WELL ALL RIGHT THEN, LET’S SEE, I PICK... THESE 18 RANDOM SIDE CHARACTERS WITH LITTLE TO NO DIALOGUE, PLUS THE ONE SINGLE FEMALE U.A. STAFF MEMBER WE ACTUALLY HAD. YEAH THAT OUGHTA DO IT”

AND BY THE WAY, HORIKOSHI, I PICKED SOMETHING UP FOR YOU ON MY WAY HOME, HERE IT IS, ┌П┐(・＿・) do you like it it was on sale. I saw it and was like, “Horikoshi would really like that.” so there you go. sorry it wasn’t gift-wrapped

p.s. I hope y’all can tell that that’s supposed to be a middle finger and not... something else lmao. er. anyway

(ETA: so I got a few asks from people who were really put off by this part of the reaction post, and so I’m just adding an extra note here to make it clear that I do not actually wish harm on Horikoshi in any way or even particularly dislike him. I wasn’t happy about Midnight’s death and I wanted to convey that, and so I went with my usual LOUD CAPSLOCK REACTION tone, but looking back on it I can see that it’s kind of a lot, lol.

so just to be clear, the “fuck you” stuff is almost entirely tongue-in-cheek. that’s on me, I forget sometimes that there are people who share these sentiments unironically and so I didn’t think to make sure my intended meaning here was clear. anyways, killing Midnight was still a really problematic decision for numerous reasons but it is what it is. Horikoshi is not perfect, the story isn’t perfect, and I’m not gonna pretend like it is, but again just to be clear, I don’t harbor any actual ill will toward Horikoshi here.)

shit. and wow this man really went and killed off fucking Mystic too on top of that. have you ever seen a character fail so spectacularly at living up to their hype. r.i.p. Mystic you were like the Star Wars sequel of characters

(ETA: I have no fucking idea why I keep thinking Majestic’s name is Mystic lol. rest in peace you old scarecrowy bastard.)

and poor Momo, though. fuck. lost two mentors in a single day. and do not even get me started on Aizawa holy shit

so now we’re cutting to some random townspeople who are gossiping about the Todoroki drama. this is actually interesting in spite of my newfound determination to hate this chapter lol

ngl I am kind of heartened to see that not everyone fell for Dabi’s bs hook line and sinker though. Jeanist returning from the dead literally two seconds after Dabi was all “I SWEAR ON MY HONOR AS A VILLAIN THAT HAWKS MURDERED HIM” probably helped with that a bit! but there will doubtless be many other people who do believe him, or are at least still inclined to side-eye the heroes in general either way given how much they sucked in this arc. very, very interesting

so it seems though that even more than the whole Endeavor reveal, at the end of the day it’s going to be the heroes failing to live up to their end of the “put your faith in us and let us use our quirks and in return we’ll protect everyone and keep them safe” implied social contract that’s going to have the biggest impact on people’s opinions moving forward. basically this was always going to be a disaster no matter what

OH MY GOD FINALLY AHHHHH

Horikoshi really tapped into some of the real-life political energy of the past few years huh. Fuck Him Still for killing off Midnight, but I will admit that so far this is hella intriguing and I am really, really curious to see where things go from here

OH MY GOD THE LITTLE KIDS FROM THE BABYSITTING ARC

“FIVE PEEPEE MAN WOULDN’T LIE TO US” YES CHILDREN YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. at least the little ones still have faith

( •̀ へ •́ )

that’s great. that’s really keen. all we need right now, amirite

GOOD FOR YOU, YOU PIECE OF SHIT

let’s just wait for him to explain what he feels. you know he likes to drag it out

is that Dabi crouched down there next to Spinner? looks like they got him out of the marble after all. but why has his hair changed colors again lol what

anyways. your turn to what??

:’) excuse me what

hahahaha are you fucking kidding me. and that’s where we’re going to end the chapter then. lol okay

so let’s recap. Midnight died. we spent ten hours watching Ochako dig people out of rubble for no apparent reason and were then introduced to my new least favorite character, and because Ochako is so nice she didn’t even punch him in the face even though she really should have. we did not get any Kacchan or Shouto. we got one panel of Deku, who is Finally Asleep. and the chapter ended with AFO ordering his Noumus to go set free, AND I QUOTE, HIS “MAIN BODY.” and now I gotta wait an entire week for Caleb’s translation to confirm that last part. omg

but it sounds like a prison break is imminent, which is very, very interesting. ...and actually, is it weird that I’m actually rooting for it to be a success? I have no idea what this guy is planning, but I do know that as long as the main part of his soul is still residing in Tomura’s body, Tomura’s chance of surviving the series is close to zero. and villain though he may be, I’m still rooting for his redemption (nice to have Deku on my side now too), and so yeah. so like if AFO feels like using some latent Exorcism Quirk or something that he’s been saving for just such an occasion, be my guest lol

meanwhile this doesn’t bode well for All Might though. or anyone else aside from Tomura, really. shiiiit

anyway. [slaps roof of chapter] this baby can fit so much bullshit in it

#bnha 296 #midnight (bnha)#uraraka ochako #all for one #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #sorry this took so long to post lol #I really need to learn to add an extra 2-3 hours to any time-sensitive estimates I make #anyways

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itsbenedict · 4 years

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Kingdoms and Koopas: Ep. 11

K&K is a Fate Accelerated campaign set in the Mario universe, which I’m running for three players:

Bee @thebeeskneesocks, playing Kandace Koopa

Jovian @jovian12, playing Cozmo Naut

Malky @sleepdepravity, playing Dr. Chevy Chain

Last time | Archive | Next time

Previously on Kingdoms and Koopas, the crew went and shot a movie with acclaimed actor/writer/director Zip Toad, and were wildly successful! However, they did this while ignoring the fact that there was a war going on between the two magic schools, which means that a war between the two magic schools happened without them.

This time, they deal with the aftermath of that event- and end up breaking someone dangerous out of jail for reasons.

(“Pull the lever, Cozmo!”)

So, fresh off the shoot, Kandace gets a phone call from Kammy Koopa, headmistress of Kammy Koopa’s Academy for Young Witches and Wizards. She’s heard of the party’s success in recovering the Music Key from the Orbital Doom Casa, and so she asks Kandace to hand it over. Kandace agrees to do so, but here is the thing: she’s lying. She is lying a lot and does not intend to give Kammy the last Music Key.

Instead, the party hatches a scheme. They want to make Kammy think they’ve handed over the last Music Key, when instead they’ve kept it for themselves. They also want to find out where she’s keeping the rest of them, and maybe figure out what her nefarious plan is- and who she might be working for.

So they need a fake music key, right? Where are they going to get a fake music key? It’ll need to be... round...

I cannot for the life of me believe that the following was Chevy’s idea that she volunteered for, but... a plan is hatched to disguise Chevy as the last macguffin and hand her over to Kammy. Hm! That’s. Going to be. Easy?

Surely it will be easy to do this, All they need to do is make her translucent and blue and the size of a cantaloupe and have a little music note floating inside her and give off a distinctive magical signature. That’s baby school stuff.

Smallening can be achieved via one of Kandace’s spells- she’s got one for the occasion, but the drawback is that while it decreases size, it conserves mass- so small Chevy is very dense and heavy. Thankfully, Kandace has another spell, one she’s used several times in the past- it’s the spell that makes things lighter but softer/rounder, used to allow Chevy to ride along on her broom. By combining the two, the size issue is solved. They now have an appropriately-sized Chevy.

Magic is also the answer to the problem of the magical signature. Since they’re in contact with the princess of the Magic Kingdom, they’re able to call up Opal and ask if she knows the appropriate spell- and she does. Kandace can now smell the magical signatures of items and swap those smells around. (The Music Key magic-smells like mint-flavored sugarless chewing gum, and Chevy smells like formaldehyde.)

The problem remaining is... making Chevy translucent and blue. Kandace doesn’t have a spell for this, so the party heads into town to find something that might do the trick. Legitimate Merchantson is selling some translucent blue paint which surely works the way they’re hoping it does. Chet Rippo has a magical spell he claims will do the job. But what ends up catching their eye is a badge being sold at a badge shop- the Ice Ice Badge, a cosmetic badge that makes the wearer look like an ice sculpture. They walk up and attempt to exchange currency for goods and services, like a bunch of fool idiots.

The badge shop is manned by what appears to be a cardboard cutout of a glamorous-looking Squeek.

youtube

“𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢?”

“We’d like that badge there, please.”

“𝚆𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙻, 𝙱𝚄𝚈, 𝚘𝚛 𝙿𝚄𝚁𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚂𝙴 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚖?”

“What?”

“𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚖!”

“Um- buy. We want to buy that Ice Ice Badge.”

“𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝙱𝚄𝚈 𝚊𝚗 𝙸𝚌𝚎 𝙸𝚌𝚎 𝙱𝚊𝚍𝚐𝚎? 𝚃𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚖, 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗!”

“Please repeat the- what? Um, we want to buy that Ice Ice Badge?”

“𝚃𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚖, 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗!”

After going on in this manner for an obnoxiously long time (getting into the weeds of the button order system and stupid phone-bot behavior), the party finally manages to purchase the dang thing, which gets them most of the way there. The last element- the music note floating inside- is accomplished by cutting one out of construction paper and having Chevy swallow it. Don’t... don’t ask how that works, digestively speaking.

Point is, they now have their decoy Music Key. Kandace’s shadow, Carbonado, objects to attempting to deceive the headmistress, but Kandace patiently explains that he can’t prove Kammy isn’t being mind-controlled by a space alien, which makes it okay. That’s just logic. That settled, they head to the school to drop off their mole.

On the way to Kammy’s office, the party is accosted by Jr. Troopa, the school valedictorian- who attempts to steal the key for himself. The party opts to deliver a beatdown, but Cozmo gets Worfed and hurts his hand trying to punch through Jr. Troopa’s implausibly sturdy eggshell. It’s up to Kandace and the currently-disguised Chevy to get this joker out of the way- and Kandace has a brainwave.

“Okay, you want it? Catch!”

Kandace throws Chevy at Jr. Troopa, and then mid-throw- after she’s picked up speed- dispels the magic that makes her light enough to carry. Chevy is restored to her full density, rolls an attack, and just absolutely beans the dude with a massive crit that fills up all his Stress boxes immediately. That was... kind of supposed to be a boss fight, holy crap. [pokemon stadium announcer voice] IT’S A ONE-HIT KO!

With the jerk dispatched, the party proceeds to Kammy’s office. Waluigi, looking bitter, shows the party inside.

Inside, the party sees Kamek- the headmaster of the rival school across the street- unconscious and imprisoned in an anti-magic cage. Apparently, while they were shooting a movie, Kammy won the underground school war and took Kamek prisoner. But that’s all perfectly legal and normal- Kammy’s the right hand of the king, she can do what she wants.

The party hands over Kandace, and with the bonuses from their elaborate deception... manage to beat Kammy’s roll to see through their scheme! She’s fooled, and accepts the Chevy-Key. As promised, Kandace is allowed to take three magic items from the Artifact Storage Chamber behind her office. For Cozmo, a combination broom-backpack that functions as a jetpack. For Kandace, a book called Lifehex that lets her nullify her spells’ drawbacks once per session. And for Chevy... well, Chevy can’t talk or indicate what she wants, so Kandace picks out a prize she assumes Chevy would want: a magical pair of stick-on springy boxing glove Arms. With Arms, Chevy can finally do surgery, fulfilling her lifelong dream! Which she couldn’t do before! Is what Kandace assumes.

So Kandace and Cozmo are sent away... and Chevy is carried through a secret door in Kammy’s office, hidden behind a statue. Inside, Kammy and her hench-Waluigi Yzma and Kronk their way down a rollercoaster and into a massive underground chamber, containing a vault labeled “NOT The Actual Artifact Storage Chamber, The One Upstairs Is The Real One.” This vault contains shelves lined with actually powerful magical artifacts- the sort of thing she wouldn’t risk giving out to students as prizes.

Inside is also a table, on which sit three real Music Keys. The pink key from Gourmet Guy, the orange key from Jojora’s temple, and a green key presumably won from Kam Ekademy by Kammy herself. Chevy, ostensibly the fourth key, is placed on the table alongside them.

Kammy then begins a magic ritual with the four keys- but it becomes quickly apparent that Chevy does not hover or glow, like the other Keys do during this ritual. It’s sort of a dead giveaway that she’s a fake.

That said, though, Chevy passes her Careful roll to hold very still and not give away that she is an alive fake, and so she is left on the table as a very angry Kammy Koopa leaves to go discipline a troublesome student of hers.

Chevy is now alone in NOT The Actual Artifact Storage Chamber, The One Upstairs Is The Real One. Unfortunately, her chain was scaled way down so Kammy wouldn’t notice it, and she’s still the size of a cantaloupe, so... she’s sort of stuck. She can’t fly or climb, which means the only way to get up and out is...

oh my god an actual platforming segment in a Mario game, i can’t believe we finally managed it

So Chevy is hopping her way up the spiraling shelves lining the walls of this chamber, knocking dangerous magic artifacts off and onto the floor. She eventually makes it out a hole in the roof of the vault, and begins the arduous climb up the rollercoaster tracks- hanging on by the skin of her teeth. Literally. Or, well, no, not literally; teeth don’t have skin. Whatever. You know what I mean.

Meanwhile, Kandace and Cozmo get a firm knock on the door of Kandace’s dorm room, and wisely opt to flee out the window. They decide to loop around and sneak into Kammy’s office to free Kamek- they use Kandace’s stunt, Cantricked (use her animate broom to distract someone once per session) to send Waluigi (who was guarding the door) on a wild goose chase, while they themselves crash through the window of her office to get in.

So there’s Kamek in a cage. The cage nullifies magic, which is necessary for containing a Magikoopa of Kamek’s abilities. This means Kandace isn’t going to be able to magic up a solution- so it’s up to Cozmo. Kandace orders him to pick the lock.

Cozmo has never picked a lock before and does not know how to do it. He tries anyway, and as you might predict from the fact we recently established about his lockpicking skills, fails.

But all hope is not lost! Kandace has one more ally- her shadow, Carbonado! He hems and haws about the legality of freeing the headmistress’s prisoner- but Kamek is also technically an authority figure in the Kingdom, so he acquiesces and attempts to use his shadowy form to pick the lock from the inside.

Carbonado has never picked a lock before and does not know how to do it. He tries anyway, and as you might predict from the fact we recently established about his lockpicking skills, fails.

Also he messes up the mechanism so bad that even if they had the key, it wouldn’t work.

Which... is a useful hint, actually. Apparently this lock, though impervious to magic, can still be damaged by mundane means. This is all the encouragement Cozmo needs to start using his head- specifically, his Crystal Skull (Thanks Kandace) aspect, the thing where Kandace transmuted his skull into sapphire as part of a magical experiment. He headbutts the thing so hard it explodes.

They free and revive Kamek, and then... tell him practically everything. Mostly everything. They don’t mention that they still have one Music Key- but they do tell him that they sent Chevy in to scout. And as luck would have it, that’s exactly when Chevy finally makes it up the rollercoaster and knocks on the secret entrance door. They let her out, and she heals up Kamek’s injuries after they return her to normal.

Kamek asks them to help steal the Music Key back from Kammy, which of course they agree to. Kammy’s been acting super shady! And probably mind-controlled! So Chevy leads the party plus Kamek back down the rollercoaster, and into NOT The Actual Artifact Storage Chamber, The One Upstairs Is The Real One.

As soon as they arrive, Kamek begins laughing maniacally. He prepares a big teleport spell, and using it teleports away all of the magical items in the vault including the Music Keys, bwa ha ha! And then he thanks them for their help, because yeah that was pretty much exactly what they said they were going to do, was help rob Kammy. And since they did that exactly as promised, their business is concluded and he teleports away.

So, um. It’s unclear whether it is a good or bad thing that a different arch-Magikoopa assistant to the king is now in control of three out of four Music Keys, but that is now the situation. And at least this one isn’t actively mad at them!

...Unlike the other one, who’s probably going to find out about all this pretty soon and be totally furious at them. Hm. Well.

This seems like an excellent time to go run and hide somewhere, yes? The party heads off to lay low in Duck Hospital, Chevy’s place of work, while they figure out what exactly they’re supposed to do about all this.

Next time: nothing goes horribly wrong at the hospital, probably!

Last time | Archive | Next time

#kingdoms and koopas

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ahitworldshift · 5 years

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Now all his friends have been pushed away, Because a caricature is all they know.

Chapter 2, Part 10: ...The Devil Freezes As Well

“Three... Two... One... PUSH!!”

The shadow-like fox barged her shoulder into the strange mist with all of her might, many citizens copying her action and continuing to push. How long have they been doing this, you ask? Well, really, probably since the fight began. So an estimate would be about thirty minutes or so. In their time, though, it felt like it could of been hours since they began! They were unsure if the ones inside were still alive or not, but they just had to see, or else they may have a restless night, knowing that someone so young could be in such danger.

“Come on, it’s going... To... BREAK-!!” A sudden yelp escapes her as she fell through the strange ‘force field’, landing face first as others continued to rush forward, soon bumping into the walls of the studios in unison, confusion arising in all of them. “...Okay, uh, that broke more easily than I thought. For some reason I thought we would have to pray to a heaven or something to be able to enter. Oh well.” She picks herself up, beckoning others to follow her through the entrance of the studios.

“It’s now or never, she’s gotta be in there somewhere, I just know it. Let’s go!”

Back down within the depths of the studios, Gella and Vanessa were currently hanging from a rope, with Vanessa holding the rope with one hand, keeping the girl close to her with the other by holding her waist. The blonde hero continued her task, throwing bombs made of blue ice at the poltergeist, a more confident and angered look on her face as his attacks towards them rage on.

“Yeah, you can’t reach us up here, can you?!” “No, but I can certainly do THIS!!” Thanks to her smart mouth, Samuel soon dives into the ground, sprouting up from the shadows beneath them and slicing the rope that Vanessa was holding with his bare hand. They fell to the ground, a loud thud escaping as green ‘shock waves’ began to form.

“Dear child, look out!” Vanessa managed to warn her in time, the child jumping into the air avoiding the possible damage that could of been taken. The actress herself, though, was put into a paralyzed state because of the shocks, a shaken gasp escaping her as she fell limp against the floor.

“VANESSA!” She grits her teeth, landing on her feet as soon as his attack was over and dragging her off of the ground, managing to pull her to the side for the moment. Looking back to Samuel, she huffs, lighting another bomb and tossing it at the spectral director. “Why don’t you SOD OFF?! You’re making everything much more of a mess than it should be!”

The only response she got was a laugh, the darkness around her growing and only showing his glowing eyes, along with him winking with his... Left eye? Why did he do that? Really? And with there being two figures looming over him, she realizes that basically- “Wow, you’re stupid!” She throws her bomb to her right, a flash of red being seen as he backs away, the other figure falling back and turning out to be a cardboard cutout. “Seriously, telling someone where you’re going to attack? That’s the stupidest move that anyone could ever pull! I mean, imagine if I told someone about my moves! Oh, I’m going to throw a bomb to the left! Then you dodge it, and then I’m just like-” Her comment was stopped the moment she was smacked in the back of the head, falling forward and letting out an ‘ow!’ in pain.

“You know I’m supposed to be written like this, right? Whoever’s writing this doesn’t want me to look TOO smart.”

“Whatever! Let’s just continue!” She gets back onto her feet, backing away from him and lighting another bomb, aiming directly for his head.

“HEY! KID WITH THE MUSTACHE, WHERE ARE YOU!” The ‘Snatched Fox’ began to climb over abandoned boxes in the basement, holding a flashlight in one hand and making sure others stay back and follow her with the other. So far, it didn’t look as if anyone was in the room, but she swore that, in the distance, she could hear the sounds of explosions. Lifting her flashlight up, she soon saw that there was some sort of hole in the ground, swirling around like a vortex and inviting the most curious and brave people in. “Well, it looks like we may of found where they went...”

“To think that they’re both some sort of monster in their own way!” One of the Subconites following behind spoke up, climbing past the boxes and standing near the hole in question. Looking down, it looks as if they could get a Birdseye view of the fight that was going down. “And that they hate each other! Were they just staying together so they can get more money, because if so, can I say yikes?”

“Man, I’M saying yikes, and I’ve seen some awful stuff before, so say it.” “Yikes!” “There we go.”

“Should we go down, down, down~? Should we help, help, help~?” A Fire Spirit sung, twirling towards the hole and peeking down, so close that their head ends up going through. “She looks so brave, yet so alone, especially with the lady knocked out of her senses!”

“...” A moment of silence. Should they help? It looked as if the kid could do it on her own, but she knew they could do something to give her an advantage. Looking around the room so more, her light soon settles on a large crate of what seems to be blue chemicals, all packed within flasks and ready for... Something. Of, course, ‘something’ was a plan to her.

“Everyone move outta the way and help me move that thing! Trust me!” She runs over to the box in question, pressing her shoulders against it as the Subconite and Fire Spirit followed after. It was surely heavy for just a few chemicals, but it’ll be worth it in the end, especially when the satisfaction of hearing something heavy fall down could be heard a few seconds later... ...Followed by the loud ‘crunch’ of wood breaking over something. Or even... Someone.

After the crunch, they all jumped down...

...And right next to Gella’s side. “Ey, are you guys alright?” The purple fox asked, ignoring the fact that the spirit was now engulfed within blue. He looked rather weak and fragile now, considering how much he was shaking and trying to wipe it off of his skin.

“Yeah, I am, but get Vanessa out of here. His attack managed to shock her, and she’s weak!”

“Got it. You two! The Subconite and the Fire Spirit! Get her out!” The two citizens nod and run over, picking up the lovely lady and beginning to run out before they got caught in any more trouble. With those two gone, the fox simply smirks down at the hero, her tail waving from side to side. “So, hey, how many bombs do you have, especially of those icy ones?”

“Quite a lot... Why do you ask?”

“...I have a terrible idea.” She chuckled, soon chuckling and whispering into Gella’s ear about her plan. Before she could reply to such whispers, the fox snatched away her ‘inventory’, beginning to tie bombs up by their fuses and casually spreading them around the center, with Samuel looking down in shock.

“N-no, you... You wouldn’t dare... YOU...”

“Toddlers cries that grow louder and louder, everyone rushing to disavow him, all alone in a black and white scene, the one and only Candle King...”

At the sight of the bombs, Gella already knew she had to run out, and as she began to make a dash towards the building’s exit, a scream escaped her lips, one that was a mix of anger and terror after what she had just witness.

“Hurt by the flames that grew higher and higher, clutching a broken crown of fire, all alone in the final scene, the one and only Candle King...”

She soon took out a match, placing it along the trail of icy bombs, the flame hitting a fuse that connected with others and letting the room be filled with a loud hiss.

“No, no, no no no no no NO NO-”

“What a pity...”

She began to walk away, back turned towards the man as the fuses ran low. Only three words left her before the bombs would explode, leaving them both within an icy tomb that no one would dare stay in;

“The Candle King~”

Outside of the studios, Gella and others could only stare up in horror as the building soon succumbs into ice, shiny crystals and shards blocking entrances and making sure everyone would stay out. She didn’t know as to what happened to The Director and that strange fox, but she could only assume the worst for both of them at this point. “Oh... Oh my god...”

“Hey, lady, are you okay?” “We’re glad you’re safe, saaaafe~” “And the actress is here, too! She looks out cold, though! Eheh, get it? Cold!”

“...” She only sat in silence as the chill of the building began to fill the air of the city, with unknown citizens now arriving into the scene as emergency vehicles began to arrive as well. She closes her eyes as she wrapped her arms around herself, gritting her teeth and letting herself fall asleep after the long and unexpected battle.

Justice is a dish best served cold.

#A Hat In Time #ahit #a hat in time au #ahit au #Once Upon A Broken Time Rift ⌛STORY⌛

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diinofayce · 6 years

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Like A Whisper In The Night - 10

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OFC (Layne Hardin) | Word Count: 5,494 | Warnings: Swearing (probably), Violence, Angst, a dust bunny amount of fluff | A/N: I hope this chapter flows okay. I’ve been having a rough time getting my brain to do brain things. I re-read and re-wrote this like eight times. Scrapped like a whole 6k words to get this even remotely okay-ish. | PREVIOUS CHAPTER

If anyone can guess what song Layne is using in this chapter to help her block Hydra from her head gets a prize of some sort. Like a cookie or a prompt request. No using Google though!! That’s cheating!

It had been four days since FRIDAYS emergency alert sounded through the tower notifying everyone of Layne’s distress. The team had all rushed to the conference room, everyone looking confused and wild eyed. Bucky looked around at the others who mirrored his concern and all had the same question: how the hell did she get taken? No one knew she had even left the tower after the interrogation which had only been about fifteen minutes prior to the alert sounding. It all seemed to happen so fast, the enemy must have been waiting positioned outside of the tower looking for the perfect opportunity and Bucky was acutely aware that he had given it to them. Tony had pulled up the tracker that was in her bracelets and it said she was in Central Park. Steve and Bucky took off and found her things sitting neatly on a park bench. Bucky picked them up with slightly shaking hands and Steve watched his best friend carefully because it had been a long while since he had seen the man so distraught.

The days following had been filled with extensive searching of the surrounding areas and keeping an eye on all the nearby airports. They were coming up empty day after day and Bucky was starting to get more and more combative with the rest of the team. It wasn’t until breakfast on the fourth morning when Bucky nearly ripped Clint’s head off, throwing a ceramic mug at him, for taking the last cup of coffee without starting a new pot that Steve grabbed Bucky and pulled him aside.

“What has gotten into you?” Steve asked harshly, his hands locked on Bucky’s shoulders holding him in place.

“I just, I’m pissed. Why wasn’t a tracker in her suit? How are we not finding her?” Bucky asked trying to brush Steve off of him.

“We’re all frustrated, Buck, but none of us are attacking each other over it.” Steve countered. “Look, I know you have feelings for her or whatever is going on, but I need you to calm down. I need you level.”

Bucky let out a huff of air and carded his fingers through his hair, thumping his head on the wall behind him. “Steve, it’s my fucking fault she was out there. What if she was so pissed at me that she left with them willingly?”

Bucky had been crippled by that fear for the last couple of days. He kept replaying the day of the interrogation over and over in his head. It was stupid, flirting with Agent Mahoe, but he was just trying to see if he felt any sort of spark with someone like he did with Layne. He hadn’t been into it and was at the point of just going through the motions out of courtesy until he could get the chance to ghost the agent when Layne had graced them with her unfortunate timing. Bucky still had that fifty in his wallet, burning a hole in his back pocket reminding him of his idiocy, anxious to be able to give it back to her and ask her to go on an actual date with him.

“How is it your fault? She probably just needed to clear her head after the interrogation. She should have known better than to leave the tower on her own, she knows we always go in pairs,” Steve clapped his friend’s shoulders and stepped back, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Bucky took another deep breath and chewed on his bottom lip, looking at Steve hesitantly. He was going to get chewed out for his confession, good ol’ Captain America would have plenty to say on Bucky’s behaviour. “We slept together. The Thursday before the mission,” Bucky admitted, not able to meet Steve’s gaze.

“What?” Steve asked perplexed. “That’s incredibly unethical, Buck.”

Bucky frowned and raised his gaze to glare at his friend. “As unethical as you fooling around with Natasha? Does she know you went to coffee with Sharon?”

Steve flushed, thinking that him and the red headed assassin had been more discrete. But Bucky had always been more observant than Steve was, even before the training. “Of course she does. Natasha trusts me.” Steve blushed brighter remembering how in between coffee with Sharon and the interrogation Natasha reminded Steve exactly which relationship he was apart of. Steve paused, realization dawning on him and he looked at Bucky with a mix of incredulity and disappointment. “You were flirting with Agent Mahoe.”

Bucky dipped his head in defeat and pursed his lips, shoving his hands in his pockets and kicking his heel against the wall. “Layne didn’t want to talk about us or make anything official until after the mission and then we got so swept up with helping the new recruits…I just never bothered trying to talk to her. I figured she was over me or was not into me in the first place or I don’t know. I don’t have a line of thought for anything that’s happened the last couple weeks.” Bucky groaned closing his eyes and thumping his head back onto the wall.

“That’s crap, Bucky, and you know it,” Steve said and pulled himself up to full height, ready to give Bucky one of his Captain America lectures when FRIDAY’s automated Irish lilt filled the air.

“There is a woman on the main floor demanding to speak to Sergeant Barnes, Captain Rogers, and Mr. Stark. She is getting quite persistent and is claiming it has to do with Agent Hardin.” FRIDAY informed.

Bucky and Steve looked at each other, Steve still looking at his friend very sternly. “We’re not done with this chat,” Steve said with a bit of a threatening note before grabbing Bucky’s jacket collar and tugging him off to the elevator.

Steve and Bucky met Tony coming off of another elevator in the lobby. They exchanged confused glances before their attentions were redirected towards the main commons of the lobby. There was a bit of a commotion and both tower employees and tourists who could come and take pictures with cardboard cutouts of the Avengers in the main entrance were standing around staring at an aggressive argument happening between two agents and a woman.

As Bucky got closer he immediately recognized the red hair, bandanna, and bright sleeve tattoos of Layne’s best friend; Susanna Sweet. She was wearing a black T-Shirt with a ripped denim vest covered in patches and leather pants. Her motorcycle boots were sans heels this time but she had a motorcycle helmet and leather jacket tucked under one of her arms as her free hand jabbed a finger into the chest of one of the agents. It was the tourists sudden excitement and flashing of cell phone cameras that alerted Susanna to the arrival of the three men. She looked up at them, her green eyes flashing with anger and it caused the men to pause.

Tony finally stepped forward waving off the agents who had also paused at their arrival. “Agents…you. Go back to what you were doing. We can handle this from here.”

“Johnson and Ramirez,” Steve whisper-hissed at Tony.

“What? Oh. Agent Johnson, Agent Ramirez. Good work, thank you.” The agents looked at each other and then back at Susanna who quirked an eyebrow at them. They quickly stepped out of her way as she stomped over to them.

Susanna raised her chin as she stared at them with controlled rage, when drawn up to her full height she stood nose to nose to with Tony and to the man’s defense only the muscle in his jaw twitched at her aggressive stance. “Do you want to take me somewhere private so I can tell you all how you fucked up or do you want me to let you know here?” She bit out through clenched teeth.

Tony cleared his throat and clapped his hands together. “Conference room then? Right this way, Ms. Sweet.” He reached out to guide her, but retracted his hand when she gave him a look that threatened to leave him needing a permanent iron appendage. Susanna quietly fumed the entire elevator ride up and until Bucky closed the conference room door behind them. She tossed her bike helmet and jacket on the table with a loud clatter and pulled her phone out of her vest pocket.

“So, one of your team members gets kidnapped and you can’t open your phone lines up? I have to come all the way out here from Minnesota to do your job for you?” Susanna seethes at them.

“Phone lines?” Bucky asked stepping forward, placing his palms flat on the table, his face knitted in confusion.

“I have FRIDAY block all encrypted calls to the tower. We’d get basement losers with voice scramblers calling the tower all the time reporting fake catastrophes,” Tony explained, leaning against the far wall and crossing his arms. Steve stood next to him with his hands on his hips, eyes trained on the woman in front of him.

“I got this call three days ago and I couldn’t get any of your agents to listen to me when I tried calling, eventually they blocked my number,” Susanna explained, hitting a few buttons on her phone and setting it on the table.

White noise crackled through the speaker before a soft hint of labored breathing could be heard. “Suzu? It’s Layne,” her voice was strained and quiet. “I have to be quick. You have to get a hold of Tony or Steve - I can’t - FRIDAYS defenses wont let me through. I was taken and I sneaked a phone from a guard but they’ll figure it out soon. Tell them I think I’m north of border, tell them I’m outside of any major cities and I heard one of them say something about a river and I heard rushing water when I was outside. There’s a complex of old bunkers. Please? I’m sorry.” There was a scuffing noise just as a sound of a large heavy metal door was thrown open. There was yelling and swearing and the sound of flesh against flesh before the line went dead. Sue’s fists were clenched around the back of a chair, her knuckles ghost white as she glared down at her phone on the table.

“There’s an old Hydra base on Moose River in Ontario, they had a meltdown at some point - I think in the seventies - and abandoned it,” Bucky said softly, his voice cracked and broken. He felt like someone had reached into his chest and clamped around his heart as he listened to her message, the thought of someone laying a hand on Layne made the acid in his stomach roll.

Steve nodded looking from the phone to Bucky. “I’ll get Natasha and Clint out there scouting ahead immediately. The rest of us will be wheels up in two hours. FRIDAY?” Steve called, immediately going into Captain America mode.

“Already alerting the others, Captain,” FRIDAY answered as Steve left the room, clapping Bucky on the shoulder as he went by.

Tony looked from the phone to Susanna to Bucky before clapping his hands together again, a nervous reaction he was never able to shake. “Right. Barnes, why don’t you show Ms. Sweet to Hardin’s room? You’ll have moderate access around the living and common areas. I’m going to go pick a suit.” He nodded to Susanna politely before also taking his leave.

That left Bucky and Susanna alone in the conference room, he looked up from where he had been staring a hole into the table to her through his chestnut hair. She was still radiating anger as she looked furiously at him. He stood and tucked his hands in his pockets, “Um. I guess if you want to follow me?” Bucky said reaching for the door. Before he had a chance to grab the handle Susanna had made her way to him in two strides, her fists tangled in his jacket and slamming his back against the wall, the plaster cracking on impact.

Bucky stuttered slightly, staring at her with disbelief. Sure she had caught him off guard, but he wasn’t exactly the lightest guy on the team and the walls of the tower weren’t exactly made of flimsy drywall.

“I’m going to level with you, Robocop. I don’t like the fact that I get a text saying you’re an asshole one second and a voice mail saying my girl is in danger the next. I like to think I’m pretty goddamn calm, but I’ve watched you stand here and scuff your toes in the carpet. So if you do not man the fuck up and bring her home safe I will personally make sure that you’re no longer able to shit without a bag attached to your side,” Susanna stated, sounding ever so calm and level headed.

Bucky reached up to carefully grab Susanna’s wrist with his metal hand to pry her grasp from him, but she redirected the grab slamming his metal arm into the wall next to him. The vibranium plates that made up his arm groaned and more spider cracks appeared around the impact point. Bucky raised his eyebrows at her in surprise, “You didn’t need help unloading your truck, did you?” She gave him a cheeky wink in response. Letting go of Bucky, Sue stuffed her phone in her pocket and grabbed her things from the table. “You going to show me to my room or what?”

~*~

Natasha and Clint had confirmed activity in the bunkers off the Moose River, so the rest of the team dropped the second quinjet down behind the tree line a mile out. When they converged Nat and Clint informed the others that it seemed like a fight had broken out in the complex. Bucky’s heart swelled with both pride and worry knowing that the only thing that should be causing a fight in there was Layne. They had decided that Bruce would stay on one of the jets unless there was a Code Green, so that they would have him for emergency medical if needed. Steve and Natasha were going to take the left couple of bunkers while Loki and Bucky were going to pair up and take the right. Sam, Tony and Clint would be running air interference. Wanda and Vision were tasked with finding any other hostages and getting them to safety.

Bucky hadn’t had the chance to really work with Loki yet and having both an unknown force with him and against him had his nerves on high alert, but he knew that if anyone was going to have a chance to help with Layne it was going to be him. Only Loki knew the full extent of Layne’s powers, even more than she did. All comlinks active in their ears the team dispersed, knowing their directions they started to make quick work of the complex.

Bucky and Loki made it through a bunker, taking down a handful of Hydra agents, but seeing no sign of Layne or Daniel. They weren’t necessarily here to rescue Daniel, but they figured if they came across the man they would bring him in. They didn’t even know if he needed rescuing or capture, but they knew Layne would never forgive them if they had a chance to get him and let him go. As Bucky and Loki approached the second bunker Natasha’s voice came over the comlink. It sounded strained and disgusted.

“I doubt we’ll find hostages. I have a bunker full of bodies, all various states of decay.”

Bucky’s heart caught in his throat and he almost ran to where Natasha was, willing to dig through corpses to make sure Layne wasn’t in there.

“Stay on target, we’ll go back to that building after if needed,” Steve’s voice responded, sounding just as distraught as Nat. Bucky couldn’t bring himself to picture what they might be looking at. After having been captured in the forties and dealing with that prisoner camp, he knew what a pile of rotting death looked like and he steeled himself hoping that he wouldn’t have to go foraging for Layne’s body.

“We need to split up,” Loki said tersely. He would never admit the affinity that he allowed to grow for Layne. He admired her quite a bit and the thought of her lifeless in that bunker terrified him more than he would ever let on. “We can’t risk them disposing of her or leaving with her. I’ll take this one, you take the last.”

Bucky nodded in understanding and shifted his hold on his gun. He trudged through the ankle deep snow, making barely any noise as he approached the last bunker. The door had already been blown off it’s hinges but no scorch marks or blast damage could be seen around the sight. Leading with his gun, one eye down the scope Bucky checks both directions and hears voices down the left hallway. Stepping carefully, wary of any traps that were activated with their arrival, he froze as a Hydra soldier was physically thrown from a room to his right and collided against the opposite wall crumpling to the ground.

Bucky could hear a man’s voice talking softly, as if trying to placate a child, as another’s voice screamed in pain before being silenced suddenly. Bucky peeked around the corner, gun risen, to see Layne with her back to the doorway and a man with a shock of brown curls approaching her carefully with his hands up, a Hydra agent lying still on the ground at Layne’s feet. Layne was dressed in a white hospital gown, bruises bloomed bright against her pale skin on her legs and arms. The man was in dark jeans and a blue t-shirt with a black tactical vest on. What drew Bucky’s gaze was the small metal box that seemed to be surgically attached to the left side of his head, small red scars roped out of the sight across his shaved scalp.

“Stand down,” Bucky barked appearing in the doorway, gun trained on the man. He looked up over Layne’s shoulder and raised his hands more.

“No, you stand down. You don’t know what you’re walking into,” the man barked back. Layne turned slowly to Bucky’s voice and his chest clenched in pain as he saw the left side of her head shaved and the same box attached to the side of her scalp. The rest of her long brown hair was swept to the side, held off the fresh looking surgery sight with a braid and some pins. A trail of blood ran from Layne’s left ear and her upper lip and chin had blood crusting to them as well, a sign that Bucky has come to notice that she was overexerting her powers.

Layne assessed Bucky, her head tilting to the right and she took a slow careful step towards him. A small light on the silver box activated and Layne’s brown eyes melted into a fiery gold. Bucky felt a strong flutter in his chest, it was like the training session when Layne was forcing his consciousness out of his body. He tried to suck some air into his spasming lungs but the feeling just intensified. Layne’s expression hardened and she raised her hand, another light switching on on the little box.

It happened suddenly, the last four days of memories pulled to the surface of Bucky’s mind. The initial conference that had everyone full of confusion and concern before they dispersed to try to find her. The hopeless searching, Bucky sneaking into her room at night to surround himself in her comforter and smell, finding a small stash of her booze and finishing it himself. His encounter with Susanna and being over powered followed by the antsy flight to Canada. But then it went further back and Bucky winced at the feeling of his mind being invaded. It wasn’t like Hydra when they would wipe them from him, it was more like she was flipping through the pages of a book. Layne landed on the coffee shop with Steve, Sharon, and Lola. The memory played like a movie, every comment Bucky made to Lola and every little touch; Bucky could feel Layne’s jealousy rip through him like fire and Bucky tried to push back with his own lack of feelings towards the other agent.

Then memories that weren’t his filled his head. Layne sitting on a park bench alone in Central Park, feeling sad for herself, when suddenly her brother sat down next to her. The long car ride where Danny would refuse to talk to her and a Hydra agent getting fed up with her questions and knocking her out with a blow to the temple. Layne sneaking a phone from a guard and trying to get through to the tower before finally calling Susanna in a fit of desperation - the beating that followed her discovery. How she was strapped down and forced to project into different girls, they were trying to get Layne to separate their powers from them and put them into Hydra agents. Bucky watched as every girl died at Layne’s forced hands twenty odd girls in the three days she had been forced before a woman, not much older than Layne, declared she would get the same enhancement as her brother. They did it to her while she was awake, they couldn’t risk putting her to sleep or she ran the risk of going brain dead. Bucky felt everything she felt in that instant, searing through his head, and it dropped him to his knees.

Layne released her mental hold on him and wobbled slightly, Danny rushed forward and caught her elbow - worry etched on his face. Bucky growled at him and stood shakily. Layne brushed her brother off and approached Bucky, running her fingers along the scruff of his jaw.

“She doesn’t know but when she’s gone I sit and drink her perfume. And I’m sure she’s drinking too, but why, where and what for and who?” Layne muttered and Bucky looked at her with confusion, but the opening of a door distracted the three of them. The doctor from Layne’s memories stepped forward, pistol raised and pointed at them. Layne and Daniel bristled instantly, Daniel stood with defiance while Layne almost shrunk back from the woman trying to make herself small.

“Whisper, the activation words,” Doctor List ordered simply, her black hair falling stick straight to her shoulders in a shiny sheet. Daniel had rooted through Layne’s memories for List on Layne’s first night here, he had told the doctor that Layne knew the Winter Soldier activation words but he couldn’t quite get a hold of them. Her dark eyes were crazed and menacing and Danny took a step to the side to put himself in between her and his sister.

“That’s fine, Specter. Give me the Winter Soldier, Whisper or I kill your brother,” she demanded again, pulling the hammer back on the gun.

Layne whimpered and shook her head. Her eyes were screwed shut tight and her teeth clamped down on her lower lip. A light was blinking on the box on her head and she started humming some song. Blood starting dripping from her nose and down her lip. Bucky growled and raised his gun to the woman. There must be a control in the little box and the thought of her being a puppet for Hydra like he had been for so many years made him even more furious.

“That’s not gonna work, sweetheart,” Bucky responded harshly, grabbing Layne gently to pull her behind him.

“Forced fed, forced meds ‘til I drop dead. You can’t defeat her, when you meet her you’ll get what I said,” Layne whispered behind him. Bucky glanced back at her quickly, worry flooding his eyes before refocusing on the woman in front of him, gun pointed back at her.

“What did you do to her?” Bucky demanded, clicking his comlink line open.

“I gave her brain an enhancement, the same as I did her brother. She’s stubborn and strong willed, she just wants to fight. Daniel was such a good boy, compliant and strong, but now he wants to fight too. No bother, once I bring the Winter Soldier back to Hydra I wont need two little ghost children,” She fired her gun, and Daniel fell to the ground. Bucky responded by landing a bullet in between her eyes. Bucky felt Layne rush passed him and watched her fall to her knees next to her brother. Daniel let out a groan and moved to sit up.

“I have Layne and her brother, I need an evac immediately - Daniel has been shot. The doctor is dead,” Bucky said into his link and strode over to the two siblings. The bullet connected with Daniel’s shoulder just to the inside of the strap finding the soft spot under his collarbone, Bucky looked to the wall behind him and saw the bullet impact. “It’s a through and through, you’ll be okay. Can you stand? I have a good doctor on the plane,” Bucky held his hand out for the man and Daniel looked at it warily before reaching up with his good arm and taking it.

Bucky looked down at Layne who was still kneeling on the floor, her hair hanging in front of half her face. Daniel put a hand on her shoulder, rocking her softly and she looked up at them.

“Come on, doll, we need Banner to look at you. Let’s go home,” Bucky said bending down and picking her up carefully. She responded by burying her face in his neck and letting out a soft whimper. Bucky and Daniel met the rest of the team outside and everyone loaded into the jets. Bruce immediately went to work on Daniel’s shoulder, Natasha and Clint stayed behind to make sure there was no intelligence left in the base.

Bucky sat towards the back of the jet, waiting for Banner to have a moment. He still had Layne in his arms, she made no move to get out of his lap when they got into the jet and he didn’t move to let her go. As selfish and guilty as it made him feel, he was relishing this contact with Layne. He buried his face in her hair and could smell the underlying scent of blackberries lingering under the sweat and blood. He softly ran his hands up and down her back in soothing motions as he closed his eyes to shut out the world. He could feel Steve and Wanda watching him carefully, both the only two that probably had an insight to what had been going on between himself and Layne, but he didn’t care. Bucky felt hot tears on his neck and he rocked side to side softly, making soft shushing noises in her hair.

He felt like such a fool, wasting time avoiding Layne after they got back from the mission and then messing around with Agent Mahoe. One big week of bad decisions led to Layne getting taken and experimented on and it was all his fault. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter as tears pricked at the corners.

“Who’s jealous, who’s jealous, who’s jealous of who? If I get busy then I couldn’t care less what you do. But when I’m by myself I think of nothing else than if a girl just might be getting through and touching you,” Layne whispered against his throat and Bucky sucked in a sharp rattling breath.

“I’m sorry, doll. God, I’m so sorry. We’ll get this all fixed and then we’ll talk. I promise, I’m not leaving you,” Bucky whispered into her hair, squeezing her to his chest.

Banner and Daniel approached the back of the jet where they were sitting. Danny had a bandage wrapped around his shoulder, the arm up in a sling. “Does she still have the block up?” Danny asked, looking at his baby sister with concern. Layne looked up at Danny sharply, betrayal evident in her gaze as her eyes started to shift. Danny held his good hand up and stepped back.

“Block?” Bruce asked looking cautiously between the siblings.

“There’s a control in these boxes. I broke mine a while ago, I kept playing the part of their puppet and they never questioned. Layne is blocking their command signal, knowing her she’s probably playing some really annoying song playing over and over in her head,” Daniel responded. “She, for obvious reasons, doesn’t trust me so I don’t want to break into her mind to pull her barrier down. She’ll do it when she feels safe again.”

Layne continued to glare at her brother, not seeming pleased that he was speaking for her. A yellow light lit up on Layne’s box and she made a snarling noise, flicking her eyes over to Wanda. Wanda sucked her bottom lip in between her teeth and held her hands up, remorse evident in her eyes.

“I just wanted to see if I could help,” Wanda explained softly, a soft sob catching in her throat.

Bucky could hear the little mechanisms turning in the little three inch by three inch box, the yellow light going out and he could feel Layne’s muscles relax. He watched as Loki, Steve, and Tony all exchanged glances before Tony stepped up and clapped Daniel on his good shoulder.

“You wouldn’t mind working me through those little boxes of yours?” Tony asked.

Daniel looked at Tony carefully, taking in the iron suit that he had yet to take off. “They’re enhancers and I’m not exactly sure I want to hand over the secrets to them to the one other person who could replicate them. You already manufactured warfare once.”

“Well, I’m probably the most suited to getting them off of you.” Tony snarked, folding his arms across his chest. His stance was was a weird combination of offensive and defensive. He hated having the weapons thrown in his face and he was disgusted by the notion that he would mass produce an Inhuman control device. Tony was having serious thoughts about throwing the man out of the jet.

“Get them off?” Daniel scoffed. “That’s the last thing you should be doing. Hydra did us a favour with these, I just need to get Layne to let me take the control monitor out and she’ll be fine. The power mutation that runs in my family’s line is more of a burden then anything, there’s no way to actually control it all of the time. Now we can; pull memories selectively, remove souls from our opponents without leaving our bodies vulnerable, flip a mental switch and be able to read the auras. There is so much we can do now because of these enhancers. Besides it was brain surgery to get them in, it’ll be brain surgery to get them out.”

“And you just offered your sister up to them freely?” Bucky growled softly, he felt Layne knit her fingers in his jacket, but kept his glare on Daniel.

Daniel narrowed his eyes and licked his lips. “I had to play my part, I’m supposed to be their little puppet. If Hydra had told you to go kill your mother when you were the Winter Soldier - would you have?” Bucky tried not to wince at his question, knowing that he was right in that regard. “Besides, as horrible as getting the damn things put in is; she needs it. Once she gets the hang of it, no one kidnapping her or forcing her to do anything ever again.”

Everyone blinked at Daniel, Bucky looked down at Layne who was now blankly fiddling with a zipper on Bucky’s jacket. Tony pursed his lips as he looked down at the newest member of their team. When he had flown out to Minnesota to recruit Layne it was for a motley of reasons. He figured her intensive research into the DNA behind Inhumans would prove invaluable to Banner’s research and maybe give a break in the mystery behind the boy’s serum. He figured her powers would not only be good at keeping everyone in check, especially Barnes, but he also could see the asset behind her meticulous work and planning that was evident in her research papers. Tony, however, for all of his infallible planning never saw the girl getting taken and tainted like the rest of them.

“Yeah, well, I know a guy who could have those out in two seconds,” he finally spit out and turned away, bottling his emotions deep down inside like he was one to do.

“Wheels down in five minutes,” Steve called back from the pilot’s seat and Layne burrowed herself into Bucky more, still keeping a wary eye on her brother. Daniel looked down at his sister and frowned, she would forgive him eventually, she’d have no other choice.

NEXT CHAPTER

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