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darthstitch · 4 years

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Say Something

(Or I finally grab my ailing old laptop and decide to write a longer version of the prompt: “Thorin keeps telling Bilbo how much he adores him in Khuzdul and Bilbo does’t know”)

1. Dwalin has had a long time to get used to Durin-caused bullshit.

Yes, he’s aware he’s ALSO a Durin. But his Amad was descended from the ruling family of the Broadbeams and he likes to think that he and Balin got the common sense and intelligence that ancient Dwarrow house was known for. Because Mahal only knew that the Durins didn’t have it. At all.

Case in point: Thorin falling furry arse over boots for that Hobbit.

So all right, Thorin showed uncommon good sense in that respect. Bilbo Baggins was a fine cook and the cookies would make any intelligent, self-respecting Dwarf fall on his knees and propose marriage on the spot.

(Okay, Dwalin didn’t, but that was because he took one look at his King and the Hobbit and just knew....)

But did Thorin have to go about the whole business like a complete clotpole?

Hence:

“Mahal’s balls, Thorin, REALLY?” So all right, he was sorry that he’d spewed ale all over poor Kili but the lad should really be better at ducking at dodging at this point.

Thorin’s suspiciously red ears were the real answer but his King had to snarl, “Shut it, Dwalin!”

There had been an argument. Something something Elrond, pointy-ears, not trusting them, better manners.... whatever. Master Baggins was apparently not the meek and mild little creature they had all taken him for and it was quite amusing to watch the wee one stand up to their grumpy stormcloud King.

Who apparently found it appropriate to blurt out, in Khuzdul: “Why are you so confoundedly irritatingly ridiculously ADORABLE, Hobbit?!!”

Master Baggins had no idea what was actually being said, but the Hobbit simply assumed, based from the surly tone, that Thorin was being Disagreeable and Rude. So he simply put his nose up in the air and responded with: “Bless and confound you too, Master Dwarf!” Then followed this up with a magnificently dramatic exit.

He did not see Thorin turn all the way red, nor the way Dwalin reached out to grab him by his collar because his royal Durin cousin was suddenly wobbly at the knees. Look, Thorin was an idiot, but he was still Dwalin’s king AND idiot. Durin-caused bullshit, right?

Also, Bilbo did not see or hear Fili grumpily handing a bag of coins to Kili.

All Kili said in response was: “Told you so, Fee. Absolute goober.”

2. About that bet - Fili and Kili were not stupid.

Yes, they were young. And occasionally made some silly decisions. But that came with the territory and a little silliness added some fun and excitement to one’s life.

But yes, the brothers both observed their uncle falling for their Hobbit.

The nature of the bet was HOW Thorin would go about wooing the Hobbit.

Fili was of the opinion that Thorin would behave in a manner befitting his status as a King and of the House of Durin. In short, Thorin Oakenshield would be every brooding, swoon-worthy, romantic hero in those Dwarrow romances that their Amad adored and that Fili claimed he never read (nope nope nope - never - what are you talking about).

Kili knew better. He knew his Uncle Thorin would be a complete and utter walnut. A total goober over their Hobbit.

And yes, Bilbo had become “their” Hobbit in very short order. The sons of Dis knew how to recognize a true treasure when they found it. So it was easy for them to adopt Bilbo Baggins as part of their family and had no problem telling him so.

Bilbo’s smile, the hugs he bestowed on “you dear, dear lads” and the extra portions of stew with mushrooms that they got for dinner that night, confirmed that it was the right decision. Also, who knew that mushrooms could be so amazingly delicious?

Bilbo giggled, “I’ll make hobbits of you lads yet. Or since you’re still dwarves, hmm... maybe dwobbits would be better?”

“Dwobbits?!!” was the exclamation of nearly every member of the company. Because of course they were listening in, the nosy buggers.

“Dwobbits,” Ori said thoughtfully. “Has a nice ring to it.” And of course, this immediately went into his journal.

“Dwobbits... that would explain much about the Line of Durin,” Balin mused. He twinkled at Thorin, whose ears were once again, that tell-tale shade of red. The erstwhile King of Erebor looked rather gobsmacked, as a matter of fact. “It has been said that Durin’s beloved was not a Dwarf...”

“Maybe all that hair that should’ve been on your face has gone to your feet, Kili, let me check...”

“Oi! Leave off, Fili!”

“If Mahal and Yavanna would bless us with dwobbits, I would pray that they would all have your beautiful curly hair and your adorable, kissable nose...” Thorin muttered absently in Khuzdul, not seeing the collective facepalming and coin-purse exchanging of the Dwarves close enough to hear him.

Bilbo, not understanding of course, frowned at Thorin, even as he absently separated the squabbling boys, gently cuffing them by the ears. “It’s a bit rude to be nattering about in a language one can’t understand.”

“No, Master Hobbit, I’m simply coming up with some suitable way to explain to my sister how I’ve finally tricked some poor unsuspecting soul into adopting this pair of scamps.”

“Oi!”

Bilbo calmly handed Thorin his own stew - with a generous helping of mushrooms - and said, “I’m sure you’ll manage, Your Dwobbit Majesty.”

Bilbo was going to learn Khuzdul eventually. In fact, he was fairly sure that “Irak’Adadith” meant “Hobbit.” Yavanna knew that Kili and Fili used the word to refer to him often enough.

Also, he was quite proud that he DID get all three royal Durins to enjoy mushrooms.

3. Nori and Gloin were sensible Dwarves and thus, they mostly contented themselves by running the various betting pools that had sprung up over the romance (yes, Mahal damn it, it WAS a romance and an EPIC one at that) of their King and Hobbit.

Hilariously, it was Bifur who kept winning most of the bets. It was almost as if the axe in his head granted him some sort of seer-related powers, enough to rival even Oin’s.

And yes, Oin was Gloin’s secret weapon as the canny old healer employed his gifts of selective hearing to gather all the needed information.

“Thorin Oakenshield, WHAT did you just call me? Bunnanunê? If that means ‘halfling’ - might I remind you, I am a HOBBIT and NOT half of anything, you confounded Dwarf!”

“My tiny treasure, eh?” Oin muttered. “He’s getting creative with the endearments.”

“Reminds me of my darling mizim and how I wooed her...” Gloin mused.

“Gloin, EVERYTHING reminds you of your darling wife,” said Nori.

“And so what if it does -- !”

Bifur interrupted the argument with a smug grin and a clear request for money. Yes, he won the bet again.

4. At this point, Bofur decided to start making toys for any future royal dwobbits. Bifur was quite, quite sure that Bilbo and Thorin would end up having a tiny, dark-haired and blue-eyed dwobbit at some point. Maybe there was something to the stories about Hobbits springing up from cabbage patches. Maybe Bifur really was developing Seer abilities.

In any case, “Uncle Bofur” would be happy to spoil any dwobbits with toys, while also aiding and abetting in mischief.

5. Look, Bombur did his part in all these shenanigans. He and Bilbo traded recipes throughout the journey and he was definitely NOT imagining the pink in Bilbo’s cheeks when Bombur gleefully disclosed Thorin’s favorite foods.

He also wasn’t above nudging the odds favorably when Bilbo invariably came up with something new and delicious that Thorin would enjoy. And yes, he was right there when Thorin inadvertently blurted out an utterly twitterpated marriage proposal to Bilbo that the Hobbit had mistaken for a “thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Bilbo had said with a sunny smile. He wasn’t quite sure why Dwalin was suddenly at Thorin’s side at that point, but he did give them both second helpings of dinner.

He did chalk up Dwalin’s hand on Thorin’s collar as some sort of Dwarvish shenanigans (really, Dwalin and Thorin sometimes gave Fili and Kili a run for their money when it came to ridiculous mischief).

Bombur just beamed as he caught the money bags coming his way. He was actually second runner up to Bifur when it came to the betting.

6. There was an ongoing argument between Dori and Balin.

Balin was of the opinion that Khuzdul was still their sacred, Mahal-given language, and as such, could not be shared with non-Dwarves.

Dori was of the opinion that Bilbo was a true Dwarf-friend and for Mahal’s sake, SOMEBODY had to do something regarding the truly pathetic pining of their King over his Hobbit. Yes, it was romantic and adorable but really!

Somebody had to take Bilbo aside and get him to realize what Thorin was really saying, so that their poor king could be put out of his misery.

And anyway, the Consort-to-Be of the King Under the Mountain should really learn Khuzdul.

Of course, Balin was merely stalling, because he loved a good argument and he was storing up all these wonderful, wonderful points because he was a good adviser and wanted to aid Thorin in giving any old, conservative, useless, greedy nobles collective apoplexy.

He also knew that he could count on Dori in throwing any potential threats to Bilbo off the Mountain.

7. All right, Ori had enough of this insanity.

Really, he was as avid a Storyteller as Bilbo was and he simply couldn’t end this tale of fighting dragons, regaining Erebor, tricking woodland Elves etc. etc. with: “And our King Under the Mountain was a complete and utter walnut who let his Hobbit go back to his Shire without ever letting him know how much he was loved. The End.”

Yeah, nope!

So Ori waited and watched for his opportunity and Mahal deigned to bless his efforts.

They were all currently engaged in the tedious work that scribes and historians generally left out of the tales, but were still important in rebuilding Erebor. The scene was thus - Ori and Bilbo and Thorin Oakenshield and a pile of paperwork that needed to be worked on.

It was most peculiar how Bilbo turned pink as he watched Thorin Oakenshield pull out a pair of spectacles from his pocket and put them on.

“Is there something on my face, ghivashel?”

Oh. OH.

“Well, yes, there is. Something. On your face.” Bilbo flailed.

“Surely you’ve seen glasses before, amrâlimê,” Thorin teased.

“It is STILL not polite that you keep calling me all these absurd things that you refuse to translate,” Bilbo retorted.

And at that point, Ori was absolutely DONE. “I think I would like a pot of tea. Bilbo?”

Bilbo eagerly took the offered “out” and all but pulled Ori out of the room, both of them ignoring Thorin, who was definitely not pouting. Bilbo did assure the King Under the Mountain that he and Ori would return with tea for him as well. The not-pout was erased with a brilliant smile. Bilbo waved weakly at him even as it was Ori’s turn to drag him away.

As soon as they were safely out of earshot, Bilbo slumped against Ori. “Glasses, Ori. GLASSES.”

“I know, Bilbo.”

“How does he still look so MAJESTIC and HANDSOME in GLASSES? This is most unnecessary, Ori. This is RIDICULOUS. And why am I telling you all this? I’ve gone and lost my mind, that’s it. Mad Baggins, Mad Bilbo Baggins...”

“There, there, Bilbo. If it helps, he feels EXACTLY the same way about you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous - he’s your King and -- “

“ Amrâlimê means ‘my love,’ Bilbo.”

“What.”

“Ghivashel means ‘treasure of all treasures.’ They’re endearments. Words of love. Every last one of them.”

“WHAT.”

Ori smiled. And anyone else who would have seen the smile on the quiet little Scribe of Thorin Oakenshield’s Company would have called it bright as the sun and terrible as the sea.

“I’m going to teach you Khuzdul, Bilbo Baggins.”

8. There was something comforting in confessing his love using his mother-tongue.

Thorin Oakenshield was quite resigned to the fact that he had lost any hope of gaining his One’s affections after the whole debacle with the Arkenstone and the dragon sickness. Yes, apologies were made and yes, the friendship had been mended.

And yet, Thorin was too shamed, too angry at himself to even ask for more. Bilbo had his home in the Shire, his books, his armchair and the memories of his family. There was an acorn in his hobbit’s pockets that deserved to be planted at Bag End.

Bilbo deserved all that, his own happily ever after. Thorin could never be part of that. He didn’t deserve it.

“I wish you would stay with me forever,” Thorin said one day, as he and Bilbo sat together by the hearth in the King’s own private rooms. He smiled as he shaped the words in his language and prepared to give Bilbo some excuse, a chance to banter and tease.

“I want to stay with you forever,” Bilbo suddenly said in near-perfect Khuzdul. “But you have to tell me why, Thorin Oakenshield.”

Oh, Mahal. Mahal have mercy on him.

“Please say something... ghivashel. Amrâlimê.” His darling Hobbit had turned this enchanting shade of pink and suddenly, Thorin found his words, the right words, at long last.

“Because you’ve had my heart all along, Bilbo Baggins.”

Also, kisses had to be done here. Because hearing those words from his Hobbit’s lips meant kisses, kisses that were eagerly returned, that had Hobbit hands twining in his hair and Thorin murmured a heartfelt apology as he saw tears gather in Bilbo’s eyes.

“I love you too, you confounded, ridiculous Dwarf.”

9. Bilbo eventually learned that Fili and Kili had been calling him “Little Uncle” the entire time. He laughed, he cried and then gave the boys extra helpings of pie for dessert.

A certain Dwobbit with curly dark hair and big blue eyes would always love the stuffed plush dragon that his Uncle Bofur made for him. Yep, Bifur won the betting pool again.

No, Fili and Kili absolutely did NOT have furry feet. But yes, they were proud to be Dwobbits of the Line of Durin.

Gloin had to be reminded that the Line of Durin tended to find their Ones in the most unconventional ways. This was the only logical explanation as to why his darling Gimli would eventually end up married to Thranduil’s son, Mahal save them all.

Many, many generations later, it was said among the Dwarves of Erebor that leaving knitted things and flowers at the feet of the statue of Ori, the Scribe of Thorin Oakenshield’s famed Company, would lead to blessings and luck in love.

- end -

#thorin you walnut is the best goddamn tag i’ve ever found - you guys are AMAZING

#bagginshield #thorin oakenshield #bilbo baggins #thorin you goober #fili and kili #dwalin #ori is a BAMF #i crack what i want

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crionsbelt · 4 years

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This may or may not go up by the time midnight hits or slightly after for me, let’s see what happens! I’ve been working on this since 9:30 PM EST, I expect it’ll be done by 12:50 AM EST. Hopefully I’m right so it ain’t too late gjnhg

For starters: Happy New Year everyone! Hard to believe we lived in the decade where this beauty was created. Nonetheless, there are multiple people I want to thank -- along with a much needed personal note from me. Everything will be put into a read more, but trust me, it’s long. Thank you all for making the final days of this decade very welcoming for me!

@kiidreamu & @theabyssalmuses

It’s rather silly for me to start with you two, because I’ve got quite a bit to say; so here goes! I’ve known you two for...quite a while huh? I can’t recall the exact time, but I know we’ve been mutuals since I went by Phantom -- which was a long while ago. Regardless, I’ve always enjoyed you two on my dash; and I’ve always really liked interacting with y’all OOC! I’ve always had a blast speaking with you two (specifically now w all this fuckin Bear Ass shit). I really enjoy the way you two write your muses, I think you both should have a lot more faith in them because they’re very fun to see on the dash! It’s pretty clear y’all put a lot of effort into your writing, even if you say you don’t, I for sure notice it. Hime, I know you said you admired me - but there’s nothing to admire! You and Kii are equally as good as me, but I’m definitely not much. However, I never posted it (because I had it in my drafts and still do) because it meant a lot to me. I’ve never been told something like that aside from Norgie, so it made me feel happy in a dark time. Thank you both for continuing to be my friends, truly.

@fantasyacrossworlds

Awoo! You and I have known each other for a long time, too (most people tagged here I’ve known for 2 - 4 years hujhj)! I’m VERY happy that we’re mutuals again, I’ve truly missed interacting with you! I’m so glad that it seems Orion and Cass are going to have a chaotic friendship that will always end on Orion running to Artemis LMAO. I’m looking forward to more interactions!

@sanzenxsekai

I already gave you a super long post explaining how much me and Norgie are thankful for you, so I’ll remind you in a tl;dr version. WE ALL LOVE YOUR STINKY GREMLIN + YOU!! Please keep writing Nobu in 2020! Thank you so much for being such a good friend to me.

@mcphistcples

You don’t even realize how much of a positive impact you’ve had on both me and my girlfriend. You’re absolutely hilarious and I’m incredibly happy you chose to start interacting with a disaster like me. As a Dies fan, I fucking love your Rein. You write him fantastically and it’s always fun to see your interactions with BB’s JAlter. I am looking forward to the dramatic reading of My Immortal: Bear Ass Edition : )

@stxrdust-pxper

We haven’t talked much OOC properly, but we’ve known each other just about the same time as me and Norgie have been dating - so almost 2 years! You’re a pretty cool person, I’m happy you joined my new server because it’s given myself and others a chance to chat with you more. Thank you for all the kindness you’ve given me throughout the time we’ve known each other, I’ve never said it until now, but it truly has stuck with me and helped me become happier.

@bloodsoakedsakura / @idoldragos

There’s actually a lot I’d like to say, some I’ll leave out for now. For starters, thank you for having my back for three years straight. Seriously. You’ve been there for me through a whole lot, honestly surprised you’ve stuck with me for as long as you have. You’ve stood up for me when the time came for it and I’m honestly so thankful you did. Every time you hop in call with us it’s usually always fun and stupid (in a good way), so thank you for being part of my band of misfits as long as you have Sades. Even though you’re a boomer who didn’t stop me rolling 200 of my Quartz, I forgive you... dontkillmepls

@yuichiroswife

Speka, you’ve been a great help to me and Norgie a great amount of times as of late. Thank you so much, you’re an incredibly kind person and I’m glad we became friends!!

@muniificus

I’ve known you for 3 years too I’m 90% certain, it’s insane how long I’ve known a lot of you - it feels like forever but it also feels like time has gone by so quickly! Much like Sades, I’m very thankful you’ve stuck around for as long as you have Icarus. Thank you for putting up with my dumb ass, and ultimately having fun in return! alsoihavethereplyforanastasiadraftedipromise

@fakepriest

I’ve sent you an ask with a lot of what would’ve been said in here, but I want to let you know that I’m extremely grateful that you’ve kept being my friend to. I enjoy our conversations a lot, especially when we talk about things like Heaven’s Feel because they’re usually always such fun things to talk about.

Much like the ask I’ve sent you, your Kirei is so scarily accurate it nearly simulates his actual personality flawlessly. That’s how scary good at writing this tofu loving fake priest. I’m so happy it’s you who’s writing him, not to play the pedestal game, but I genuinely can’t see anyone else (not even myself) coming close to how phenomenal your portrayal is. #kireisquad

@arkdiia

Though our first conversation first chatting again wasn’t expected, I’m super glad you came back to Tumblr and I’m thrilled to be friends w you again! Hopefully for 2020, you and I /both/ catch a break lmfao.

@saintguine

Much like Anna, I’ve already told you what I wanted to here in the form of an ask a few hours ago - however, I do wish to say smth that I’m sure a lot of people feel. Regardless of how you think about yourself, you’re a very good person BB and we’re all very blessed to know you. You’re absolutely one of my best friends, and though there was a point where we lost communication for a bit, I’m very grateful our friendship is the exact same.

We all care u BB, thank u for bein gud to all of us

Kayla & Sere

This post is incredibly long already, luckily I’m just about done -- but I’ve got three people to go starting with you two!

Sere, you’ve heard me vent a lot and you’ve known me (Kayla has known me this long too) for a pretty damn long time if you ask me, 3 years may not seem like a lot to people, but with all the stuff we’ve all gone through these 3 years? It’s been a LOT and I can’t say I’d be the person I am without you hearing my dumb ass vent and creating Cursed Night. I appreciate all of your icons, thank you for giving us (Hell) special treatment with them. Seriously! While you are a best friend for sure, you’re also practically family to me. Thank you again for everything.

Kayla, the same of what I said for Sere is said for you. You’re legit like my older sister, you’ve been there for me for just bout the same amount that Norgie has; you’re someone who means a lot to both me and Norgie, so thank you for giving talking to us a chance way back when you were shy (I think that’s what it was!). There have been a lot of ups and downs for all of us, but I’m glad the downs at least had the positive effect of giving me a second family who I love dearly. I actually teared up on this part, so god help me when I write for Norgie.

@letoborn / @uwuwrote

I’m going to save a lot of what I want to say to you for our anniversary in June, but I will say a few things because I love you so very much.

When I met you, I was not expecting you’d turn out to be the woman of my dreams. You’re genuinely my better half, and I have never been as happy as I am than I am with you. You’ve truly had the biggest impact in my life Norgie, you’ve made me laugh, cheered me up when I’m sad, called me out when I was dumb and helped me better myself.

I’m so incredibly happy I got to spend the rest of the last decade being your boyfriend, and now, going into 2020 - a whole new decade with you. Like I said, you’re my better half - I can’t see myself with anyone else but you. You’re the greatest treasure in my life, I’m so happy we’ve had all this fun with roleplaying.

Thank you so much Norgie, for giving me Orion/Artemiis, all of our other ships - being my soulmate (at least, I think so). I hope 2020 treats us both well, but I’m willing to go through whatever as long as it’s with you.

Now, that’s the end of that -- but I have a few extra things to say.

My 2019 has been...quite possibly the hardest year of my life, at least on the internet. For a very long time, I was fearful of interacting with others - I made mistakes that I wish I could take back, I got put through hell for nothing...man, I don’t wanna go back in and say what happened, what is and isn’t true -- the long story short is, shit happened, but it’s the past now.

I want to go into 2020 just..as positive as I can be, I’m tired of the drama, I just want to have fun with my friends and my girlfriend you know? So, I’m finally choosing to move on and just...try having fun again. This choice would be impossible without the people mentioned in this post.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you to all of you who have stuck around through it all for me. I’m so incredibly thankful to be part of the friendgroup I’m in, to know everyone I’ve met who’s put up with me. I’ve had so many times where I wanted to leave this site, but I wanted to keep trying to write with everyone -- to have fun with everyone. You all have no idea how genuinely happy you’ve all made me, just by writing with my Orion and Norgie’s Artemis.

Though I couldn’t think of anything to say specifically for the others tagged below here, thank you all for everything as well -- just following me makes me happy. I’m sure I’ve forgotten some people, but trust me, I’m so very happy to know all of you.

@dekirukoto @wisesteyed @lacobscur @akhilleuskcsmcs

#ʕ•͡ω•ʔ ✦ ✦ ✦ 𝙄𝙏'𝙎𝘼 𝙈𝙀‚ 𝘼𝘾𝙏𝙐𝘼𝙇𝙇𝙔 𝙎𝘼𝙏𝘼𝙉 / OOC #i missed my time budget BUTTTT ooh wel #herre's this

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popculturebuffet · 5 years

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Analysis of X: Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn

In honor of britan’s premire superhero team returning today, we take a look back at the original team. Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler must team up with a drunkard magical british superman and his chipper shapeshifting sorta girlfriend to save their old teammate from an alternate dystopian future with the power of a god from both a squad of skin stealing wolves sicced on her by a sinsiter reality show producer from another dimension and a group of intergalactic weirdo bounty hunters after her due to an entirely separate omniversal dictator who wants to bang british superman. Somehow, Grant Morrison didn’t write this. I would like to, if I may, take you on a strange journey after the cut.

Excalibur has always been the odd mutant out of the X-Men franchise.And that’s in part because the bulk of it’s mythos and characters come not from the deep wells of the X-Men comics of the time, but from another character Chris Claremont had a huge hand in: Captain Britain

Created shortly after Claremont got his start on the All-New All-Diffrent X-Men, redefining the X-Men forever and making them into the sales juggernaut they were for the 80′s and early to mid-90′s and are again today at long last, Captain Britan was Brian Braddock, a scientist who, while escaping a hired goon who torched his workplace, crashed his motorbike. He was saved by, of all things, Merlin... yes exactly the one your thinking of.... and his daughter and omniveral guardian Roma. They choose Brian to be their champion choosing either the staff of right or the sword of might and, not really being a fighter, Brian chose the staff and a hero was born.

Cap was created for the UK Divison of Marvel and while Claremont did a sizeable amount of work on the character, including introducing Brian’s sister and future X-Man and as of this week Captain Britan herself Betsy Braddock, it was two other men who made most of his mythos and the stuff that would end up being the backbone of Excalibur: Alan Davis, an absolutely monsterous talent of an artist and all around nice guy and... your going to want to sit down if you don’t know this I sure as hell was surprised, Alan Fucking Moore... and if that’s not his actual middle name it should be. Yes he of long beards, genere definting runs and yelling at the young people to get off his lawn and DC to stop hurting his baby Watchmen, THAT Alan Moore worked for marvel breifly. This was his only work with them shockingly. Not so shockingly he and Davis redefined the character, created most of the concepts that would be carried over to Excalibur, and gave the character a spiffy new costume seen above, one so good it’s stuck even into the modern era. Moore, and some other artists in addition to Davis, crafted a long epic about Cap going up against Mad Jim Jaspers, a reality warping mutant who was as insane as his name suggested and introduced many things that would become the backbone of the character, as well as establishing Moore’s habit of taking a less than sucessful B-List hero and utterly turning him on his head. Their also the ones who dubbed Marvel’s main universe 616, a fun fact I honestly had forgotten. But of course after Moore left Cap fell by the wayside, making a cameo or too in other marvel books in the US while Betsy made her way to the X-Men just when they needed new blood most. More on that in a bit. But he wouldn’t stay on the sidelines for long. See Chris Claremont has a habit of taking characters he created and using them later if they’d been forgotten somehow or put off to the wayside. Mystique, one of the x-men’s most iconic enemies... was a Ms.Marvel (The carol danvers one before she got the rank up), enemy. Sabertooth? An old iron fist villian he’d created and taken a shine to. Arcade was inveted for a team up of Spider-Man and Captain Britan before primarily becoming an X-Men villian for most of his life. And of course Betsy was a a supporting character who became one of the x-men’s most iconic members through a weird mind swap with a japanese woman before recently getting her old body back. Claremont dosen’t like leaving his charcters to twist in the wind and thus brought most of them into the x-men mythos. Even Spider-Woman, depowered at the time, ended up as a major Wolverine supporting character. One of Claremont’s strengths as a writer to me is that he never truly forgot anything he created or worked on, and the X-Men benefited greatly from it. So while it probably surprised american readers who only thought of Captain Britain as a c-list hero who teamed up with Spider-Man and Captain America, it’s no surprise in hindsight that for his second X-Men ongoing, having also made a TON of mini series, he choose to bring Brian to the big time. While I can’t find much background on Excalibur, I conjecture that Chris wanted to go a bit lighter.

The X-Men were in a DARK place at the time. I mean the X-Men were never all sunshine and roses but most of the humor of the book and lighter moments were gone at the time thanks to the Mutant Massacre, an event where the Morlocks, a group of disfigured homeless mutants who felt at odds with society and thus lived in the tunnels under New York, were slaughtered by professional hitsquad the Mauraders who killed all but a handful of them and during the fight with the X-men took 3 of them out of commission: Nightcrawler had fallen into a coma after overtaking his already crippled teleportation powers defeating one of the mauraders, Kitty Pryde slowly started to disappear, unable to phase back to solid after taking an electric spear for Rouge, and Colossus was heavily wounded in ways I forgot and since he rejoined the X-Men, aren’t really relevant here anyway. The X-Men were up against the wall against a barrage of ruthless opponents, working with longtime foe magneto since Xavier got trapped in space, as you do, and were not in a really happy place. So it feels like, even if the angst was still present because Claremont would go into withdrawl if there wasn’t some form of angst to work off, Excalibur was created as a way for him to do something different in the X-Mold and lighter so he could go as dark as he needed to. So by injuring Kitty and Kurt, he took them off the board and had a starting point for the team, and by adding Captain Britan and his girlfriend Meggan, a shapeshifting empath brought back one of his own creations and brought him into the american side of Marvel, and gave him an almost complete team. It also had the bonus of likely enticing Alan Davis, who in one of the few background things I could find about this book, didn’t really want to work on an established title like X-Men where there were expectations how it was supposed to look etc. But they were still about one member short of a team... but thankfully chris claremont had squared away a spare x-man for just such an occasion.

Enter. Phoenix, aka Rachel Summers. The daughter of Jean Grey and Scott Summers from the Days of Future Past timeline, Rachel ended up in our timeline, bonded to the Phoenix Force like her mom, and struggling with the power, eventually running away after attempting to kill Selene, an evil sorceress who hunted her in an attempt to drain her power. She fled, not sure wether she should rejoin her team or not, and was instead lured into joining Mojo on the promise of a new start. Mojo.. is this guy.

Strap yourselves in for this one: Mojo is the dictator of another dimension that runs off TV, essentially crafting shows for the media hungry populous and kidnapping the X-Men every so often to show up on his programs, to the point he once swapped Psylocke’s natural eyes out with robot camera eyes that looked like the normal eyes so he could record the X-Men’s adventures as it happened, which itself isn’t a bad concept. He didn’t show up to Rachel in person of course, partly because he’s too lazy and partly because he looks like what happens when lightning strikes a pile of twinkies and exposed wiring and somehow brings them to life. She was sent here for the same reason as Kurt and Kitty: to keep her off the board and set up her return here. It’s one of Claremont’s strengths to me: While he ocasionally forgets a subplot or dosen’t realize how wonky one is, more often than not he knows where the story is going and has a plan for it, and thus set up Excalibur a year in advance in the pages of Mutant Massacre.

Speaking of setup there’s one final thing to cover before we begin, the second X-Men crossover event and the one that directly leads into this: Fall of The Mutants, aka one of the worst days in the life of one Kitty Pryde. First her best friend and human google translate Doug Ramsey died while on a misson with the new mutants, sacrificing himself to save the life of his girlfriend Wolfsbane.

As if someone was challenging god to make her days worth, at the same time as this tragedy the X-Men, at the time made up of Storm, Wolverine, Psylocke, Rouge, Havok, Dazzler, Longshot and with tag along Madeline Piror whose story is too much to get into here, were locked in a battle with force of chaos and actual demon Nemisis, a being summoned by their sorta ally Forge by accident. Forge can also build any device he pleases but since every fifth x-men character has magic ruin their life, someone had to take the bullet caked with demon blood. At any rate the only way to stop him.. 9 souls were part of the ritual that brought Nemisis in, 9 souls were needed for the ritual to seal him up. And the X-Men, being true heroes determined to do whatever it took, gladly offered up their lives to defeat the demon and save the world. As the world looked on, the X-Men died, for once not feared and hated, but honored and mourned as heroes. Of course this being a comic book Forge’s method of saving the world was turning the X-Men into pure soul energy and throwing them at the demon but that somehow makes it more epic. And of course, it’s no suprise one of their dearest friends was watching from Muir Island, which was serving as a recovery ward for the surviviors of the massacre and was run by longtime X-Men Ally and lynchpin of Hickman’s run Moira Mactaggert

Thankfully, Kitty got one tiny sliver of sunshine on the worst day of her life: Kurt woke up from his coma... just in time to tell him the only family he’d ever known is dead. And that’s where we pick up, with our two heroes trying to figure out what to do now they’ve lost everything. But before we FINALLY get started, this bit was way longer than I meant it to be, your probably curious how long the X-Men stayed dead as well.. this is comics and they were the hottest team int he world. This wasn’t going to stick even if Claremont was serious about ending the series. And the answer, and i’m not making this up I counted, is two pages. Yup, TWO PAGES. Not kidding. Ironically enough Roma, the omniversal goddess daughter of merlin I mentioned, got wrapped up in all this and, moved by the X-Men’s bravery, gave them the chance to come back and start over however they like, and the X-Men choose to be unable to be picked up on tape and let the world think they were dead so they could strike back at their mounting enemies. Granted I feel that while the “play dead and take out our worse foes while we have the advantage” is a good part of it, not telling the new mutants or kitty and kurt is not only cruel, but just paints a target on a bunch of teenagers backs. Sure teenagers who’ve faced worse but still. But I digress, that’s a rant for when I cover Fall of the Mutants at some point and this exposition has taken far longer than I wanted it to. And so here we are at the one shot that would forge a team and finally, we can get into it: The cover, way up there is decent. It shows a nice right melee between Excalibur, the Warwolves and the Technet, though it makes it look like Gatecrasher is part of the team when she is in fact one of the issue’s main antagonist and is overall a bit weirdly composed. It doesn't help the proper Excalibur #1 has one of the best x-team covers of all time.

As you can see the comparison dosen’t help the far messier above cover. It’s just average in comparison to the creative and funny covers Davis would provide throughout both runs and the majestic one above. WE open on Kitty Pryde, understandably, having a nightmare, being dragged by a crew of makeup people just off screen and smack into

Oh good marvel’s already working on the new X-Men movie. Thank god I thought they really WERE going to take 5 years to do it. Naturally she is curious why their in hollywood but dosen’t suspect fowl play because well... to put it in a personal persepctive if I saw my grandpa I lost a few years ago or my dog I lost in high school that was the same age as me, alive healthy and back, i’d be confused as hell but mostly? I’d just be relived and hope beyond hope it was real, as poor Kitty is diong. Unfortunatley the illusion something isn’t up lasts all about a panel before this happens.

First of all: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!. Second. as AHHHHHH! as it is.. it could’ve been worse.

It soon becomes clear something is up as Kitty wails around confused, wondering why Rouge’s powers don’t work and why the X-Men are acting as if nothing is real before action is called and they run off.. it’s then Kitty finally encounters a freindly face.

It's now from context clear just what the fuck is going on: this isn't JUST a dream: Rachel has somehow dragged Kitty into Mojoworld through her dreams, warning her, as seen above that with the X-Men gone, their image can be twisted and exploited by those wanting to use it for their own image. This warning is cut short when Fake Xavier starts shouting and soon we get this lovely image.

As we can see Rachel deeply regrets running but Mojo won't let her go.. fortunatley Kitty phases the chains and lets Rachel go, with Rachel promising to see kitty again soon as she flees.. unfortunatley Kitty's pissed off Mojo's actors...

Again, it could’ve been worse.

Kitty wakes up and naturally angsts a bit over that fucked up dream she had and then sees a phoenix in the sky, wondering what could it mean and what could the dream mean.

A lot to unpack here. First off... Perverso...

Second, my heart breaks at that last line.. and it’s true. Kitty likely feels, like a lot of people going through grief, that maybe they could’ve done something. Maybe if she was there she could’ve stopped their deaths and saved the day or failing that, she could’ve gone with them. So she wouldn’t have to feel awful about being here while they aren’t, so she wouldn’t feel the unbearable weight of being one of the last X-Men. But the sad truth is, she wouldn’t of made any diffrence. None of them would’ve taken the last slot and would’ve given it instead to their tagalong Madeline Prior so she could see her family again. They died selfilesly, and nothing she could’ve done would’ve stopped them.

As seen above Kitty tries to take solace in petting her dragon Lockheed. Yes Kitty has a dragon for those who didn’t know about him or were only familiar with her from the cartoons.. though why X-Men Evolution never thought to introduce Lockheed is beyond me. He’s a space dragon that stowed away when the X-Men returned from well.. space, and saved Kitty’s life, taking up residence as her pet. He was later revealed to be far more sapient than he seems, but still hangs around Kitty because it’s an effed up world, but it’s a two player game. But as demonstrated Kitty’s powers have inverted. While she has gotten better, as I talked about in my Mauraders #1 review she was fading from existance shortly after the massacre, her intangiable state is now her natural one. She has to concenrate to turn solid. So in addition to having lost just about everything, her powers are broken too. Kitty then sees a picture of her shortly after she joined the X-Men before having a good cry about how most of the people in the picture are dead and professor xavier got shot up into space. Thankfully he dosen’t have to watch cheesy movies.. unless it’s Cho’d turn to pick the movie. For some reason it’s ALWAYS Cool as Ice. no one knows why.

Meanwhile, in the seas of mood whiplash, we meet Meggan. Meggan, like most of the cast, is a mutant, something I was unaware of until now even though the I just thought she was some sort of magical creature, but no, she’s a mutant and the naration outright calls her one. I’m just stupid or thought they just classifed her wrong I guess. Unlike most mutants, who manifest powers at puberty, she manifested hers at birth. Megan is an empathic shapeshifter, basically meaning that she shifts based on those around her’s perception of her. And sadly her upbringing was not a happy one as, since she was born with fur, her parents saw her as a monster and left her in a caravan alone, with the rest of her romani community making up rumors about her.. and due to being unable to control her powers shape shifted into the monster they thought she was. She was raised on televisoin and thus has a rather naive sense of the outside world, and later bonded with brian after he took her in, her home having been destroyed due to lots of stuff I don’t have time to go into, and she later took up her current default form after realizing she was a shapeshifter in the first place. But yes our bubbly shapeshifter is swimming with the dolphins and due to her emphatic ablites, she can commuincate with them learns how to swim like them and, thanks to her ablities, has shifted to do so the best. She’s lost track of time though and heads home to the lighthouse she and Brian live in. She returns home to find the place ransacked, and since she didn’t feed her mogwii after midnight.. this time, she searches for the cause.. and the cause turns out to be similar to the reason Kitty is crying her eyes out miles away in scotland.

When Kitty and Kurt lost their surrogate family, Brian lost his too. As stated far above Betsy was his sister, and they were very close from the looks of it, and the loss of her naturally shattered the man. Meggan tries to comfort him but.. it goes about as well as you’d expect, especially since Brian has been heavily drinking on top of his grief.

This scene.. is really damn sad but really well written. Brian, as I joked in the teaser, has the powers of superman basically minus the add ons like heat vision and frost breath.. yet he couldn't save Betsy. But as Meggan accuratley puts things, he couldn’t of known she was in danger and she was a grown woman. As I said, she choose to sacrifice herself, and as I didn’t fill in, the spell only works with WILLING participants. All that would’ve changed had he gone is Madelyne Prior would be alive and not him. And it’s things like this that also made me take such umbrage with the X-Men faking their deaths: their causing, real genuine greif to people... while I joked mildly about the telpathy thing, i’m not sure betsy’s range, I AM sure that being a telepath one of the simpliest trick is masking your presence. It’d take a lot of effort and be mildly invasive, but keeping yourself hidden to tell your brother goodbye is hardly more morally grey than faking your death and leaving him in a drunken stupor. This is especailly bad once they get a teleporter shortly into their australian stay, as Gateway could SEND HER to him, with no risk of detection, and have her explain it in person with storm in tow. Instead they hurt their friends and loved ones for a plan that ultimatley didn’t quite pan out.

Meggan herself mopes for a second, understandable as Betsy was her friend too and she's hurt she's gone and blames herself.. before snapping out of it, realizing that Brian is just lashing out and needs help, but unable to face him like he is, she leaves him a pictoral note, since she's functionally illiterate, and goes to get advice from Kitty and Kurt, wanting to help him open up the way he helped her do the same. Meanwhile...

Jesus christ this comic loves abrupt tonal shifts.. but yeah Kurt is excercising, but then reflexively teleports after he takes a hit. As I mentioned earlier Kurt’s teleporting is strained, having gotten injured in a battle with Nimrod, who really hickman you couldn’t of come up with either a better name or a reason he’s called that when you brought him back in House and Powers?, and as a result comaed himself defeating one of the mauraders. And while the coma thing cleared up nicely his powers are still a fraction of what they once were and one teleport while injured no less leaves him too shaky to continue and reaching for the saftey panel. Thankfully Kitty phases through it while checking up on him, having been told through the island’s backup alarms that he was doing this borderline suicidal shenanigan. Kitty naturally lays into him over it.

Kitty's rage is entirely warranted: She just lost her surrogate family and her best friend. Things with her parents are strained. She dosen't want to loose the only family she really has left because he feels the same things she feels and is nearly killing himself to try and deal with it. Kurt apologizes, admitting the painful part of it: that he was HAPPY when he woke up from his coma, overjoyed to finally be alive again, to live again.. only to find out his family is dead from one of his closest friends. And with this i'm reminded of Steven Universe.. just go with me. There Pearl mourned for a good decade about loosing Rose because well.. she was everything she had. She , literally and metaphorically, freed her, she was her world.. and Rose moved on to someone else romantically and then decided to up and leave the mortal coil. Her entire world left her and she had no idea to cope or as she put it in song, "Who am I now in this world without her?" That's what our heroes are dealing with: for Kitty and Kurt the X-Men were their world.. not in such a co-dependent way as rose but for Kurt, it was his family: through them he went from a monster in the world's eyes, hiding from it and tired of having to do so, to a bold hero who refused to hide who he was anymore and who had family and a purpose. For young Kitty, she found parental figures in a time when her actual parents, particularly her dad, were going through a messy divorce, found strength she never knew to the point she EARNED her right to stay on the X-Men after Xavier started a junior class and wanted her to go there, and really came of age. The X-Men made them who they are today and without them.. just who are they? But before they can dive into that themselves our heroes find out something disturbing: they had the same exact dream about rachel, complete with helping her escape. Maybe they really did or maybe it was just a warning, the conculsion our heroes reach, and while Kitty does resolve to do something about it, determining that just because their injured dosen’t mean they’ve stopped being X-Men, but before they can deal with this they get a guest.

No but she’s just as weird and abrubt:

This is Gatecrasher, leader of the The Technet, a group of interdimensional mercenaries and bounty hunters. She wants to speak with the lady of the house but that’s not really and option as she’s kinda on a schedule. You know people to grab, drinks to be drunks, sapient racoons to bone.. that sorta thing.. and the last one isn’t something I pulled out of nowhere the recent Rocket Racoon solo not only brought in the technet but had her fancy the guy. Guess it’s the fuzzy, as Kurt himself will tell you chicks dig the fuzzy. It’s why he’s Krakoa’s orgy meister. Before Kitty and Kurt can find out who Gatecrasher is and why she’s here, Meggan soars in.. and hisses at Gatecrasher. See The good captain and the Technet have a history: they’ve been both enemies and reluctant allies, so naturally Meggan is worried their here for Brian. But this time they have no buisness with the good Captain... and when asked by kitty why she’s here Gatecrasher uses a telecom crystal, some sort of magic hologram recording, to explain herself:

Saturnyne is , as she says an omniversal majestrix. This basically means she runs the day to day operations of the Captain Britan Corps, basically the Captain Britians for every reality, helps give underdeveloped words nudges toward advancment and general multiversal maintince stuff. Sorta like a combination of Omnitraxus and Hekapoo from star vs the forces of evil but without being a racist asshole. I mean she’s still an asshole, just not a racist one. She and Brian have a romantic history. As you can also see each of the team is having a different reaction to her: Kurt is popping a boner just off screen, maybe he can invite her to Krakoa orgy night hmm?, Meggan is pissed because she and Brian were a thing once, and Kitty just found out she likes ladies AND she likes guy. What i’m saying is it dosen’t take an intellectual to get that she’s bisexual. And yes I know she turned down Karma off screen later on but that was A) the result of another writer changing things after the previous writer on both character, Chris Claremont himself, apparently had sizeable ship tease for them. and B) if her ex boyfriend iceman can be retconned to have been a heavily closeted until very recently gay man this whole time, Kitty can also have been sticking to the closet or just simply have not explored that side if we want. Anyways it turns out there here for rachel at Saturnyne’s orders, because she’s apparently a theat to the multiverse.. not too much of a stretch when in one reality her mom going dark phoenix destroyed damn near everything and even here the phoenix force has snuffed out entire galaxies. She’s apparently on her way back to earth, and it’s the Technet’s job to catch her. As for the specifics.. Gatecrasher has no idea. And frankly when an omniversal goddess asks you go fetch someone for what I assume is a yak that has a comparentment in it’s back with millions of dollars stashed inside, you don’t really care. Kitty being Kitty, refuses to help her find their friend and until she knows more, she’s willing to fight her on it. Unfortunatley, as you can probably tell, Gatecrasher wasn’t dumb enough to go after a being that can eat an entire solar system alone.

It's here we meet the Technet proper and a fight between two former teammates, a shapeshifter they only just now met and who only Kurt recognized, and a team of weird as shit but highly trained bounty hunters goes about as well as the classic matchup of Wolverine vs "Anyone trying to get between him and his beer stash". Kitty is quickly taken out by the yellow girl with green hair, scatterbrain, whose power is.. just that: anyone she touches has their brain go all spacey and weird and kitty knocks herself out falling over when Scatter shuts her thinky parts off. And as for Meggan..

This is Bodybag. And his power is exactly what it looks like: he gulps people up and then keeps them in his sack on the back. It’s weird but i’ts my kind of creative weird and it makes sense for a team of bounty hunters to have a member to store their quarrry. Kurt wisely BAMF’s the fuck out of there, but Gatecrasher decides not to persue him: He’s not their target, and if he wants his friends he’ll have to come back for them anyway, so it’s not like chasing him all over is really worth the effort. She does have Bodybag snag kitty though, and plans to use her and Meggan as bargaining chips.

Meanwhile Rachel finally returns to the story, as seen above a bit discombobulated given you know, she just crossed dimensions or whatever hapepned. She then ends up at a charity masqurade party , just poofying out of nowhere and when she tries to you know, leave...

I just... what the fuck kind of charity event IS this? The chains she brought with her but “no one leaves without permisson. “ I just... THIS IS A CHARITY BALL NOT VIETNAM. And who, besides racist assholes, thinks holdiing someone down with chains is a good idea. Just WHAT IS THIS SCENE. Thankfully we get some other party crashers.

These are Warwolves, a new, as far as I can tell, creation and basically Mojo’s literal hunting dogs. Rachel tries fighting them off but naturally, their Psi-Proof so just blasting them with telekenisis won’t work and uses the objects around her, including her own chains to duck them. But she mutters what’s the point it’s just another sound stage.. except as I said, it isn’t. She’s in foggy london town.

Rachel continues her run through the urban jungle eventually ending up in a subway. No not the restraunt, she’s not that unlucky. Duckign onto a train one of the warwolves globs on.

To be fair most hollywood contracts are basically slavery, but Rachel as a point.. she was basically tricked into singing it, again not exactly uncommon, and refuses to take this bullshit.

This bit is awesome, and doubly so as I left out a bit of Rachel's backstory on purpose earlier: she was a hound. Basically it meant she was enslaved and conditioned to hunt down other mutants, only escaping shortly before days of future past happened and then escsaping into the present. So naturally the thought of being enslaved and forced to do some asshole's bidding again, to loose her free will? She'll die before that happens and slaughters the warwolf to prove it.. though also scares her fellow passangers in the process. While Rachel tries to explain thing the warwolves greeve.. and Teleporter, Gatecrasher's lizard thing, has located Rachel. Meanwhile Madison is grappling with the fact that not every issue can be settled by comittee... Meanwhile Kurt arrives at the Lighthouse to find Brian stinking of booze and asleep, so he decides to do the only logical thing he can think of.

I fucking love you Kurt. So since Godzilla is too busy at his tax audit to save him from the depths of the ocean Brian wakes up himself pissed and assuming someone tried to kill him. Which granted Kurt outright admitted he might drown but given the only two friends he has left in the world and an innocent he just met who fought beside him despite having no reason to besides it being the right thing are in mortal peril, he has no time to play nice. Kurt’s responses to Brian’s outrage are fucking amazing.

Fucking brutal and accurate: Brian’s alcoholism is killing him and is just as borderline suicidal as Kurt’s play session with largely the same intention. Kurt has no time for wallowing in self pity, no time to baby Brian, as much as it might be warranted, through his grief. Kurt Wagner needs a hero, and since the avengers and fantastic four would likely take hours he dosen’t have, Brian is his best bet at saving his friends. He has no time for pity or sadness, he only has time to save what he has left. He explains the situation to Brian as well as how the hell he found him: since he at least knew of Brian, likely due to Betsy as she was staying with the X-Men prior to joining and just before the massacre, he dug up the X-Men’s file on him and spent the rest of his time getting to him. Brian is, unsurprisingly, in no real mood to help and mopes that there’s really no point in it… and that’s when Kurt somehow gets even more pissed off and 20 times as awesome, with a speech worthy of Sir Patrick Stewart himself.

And as I’ve made abundantly clear that’s the point of this story: The X-Men’s temporary death was unfair, left a lot of pain in their wake and left our heroes scrambling to figure out where do they go from here? And it’s here Nightcrawler is the first besides Meggan, whose simple world view means it was a lot easier to process things and took her three panels to get herself in gear to help Brian, to really turn a corner on his grief. He’s sad his friends are dead, he wishes more than anything that he could’ve died a hero like them instead of living with the misery and sorrow of them being gone.. but he’s alive. And he’s going to honor them the best he can by being the kind of man they wanted him to be. And to me this is why Kurt became leader: out of the five he has the most experience, with only Brian rivaling him in that, but also the most drive. He may of lost everything, but by god he’s going to keep moving. Sure his friends died, it’s the risk of the trade.. but they’d want him to live, to take up the sword and keep fighting so that the dream dosen’t fade out. It’s why, as much as I don’t agree with it, they kept hteir resurrection a secret: because the safety of all mutants, of their friends, is more important than one man. And Kurt is going to honor that. But not before giving Brian another verbal bitchslapping.

Of course it’s not easy as Brian DID die to become captain britan.. and the memory haunts him. And he wonders when it’ll come from him.. and he’s afraid of it. But the question is will he let his fear of the reaper swallow him whole or live like Kurt, fighting on anyways. To truly live.

Meanwhile Rachel is the only member of the forming team to not have had a full on mope sesh so she gets on that, but it only lasts for about a panel and like most of the angst in this comic is warranted: Rachel comptemplates if she should go back to the X-Men.. but realizes despite running out on them , their family, and she has no other options. But before she can learn the truth the technet are upon her and bodybag scoops her up. Gatecrasher plans to release Kitty and Meggan and one thing I like that I hadn’t noticed in previous reads is Gatecrasher is a fairly intresting antagonist. She’s not “evil”, she’s just a merc wanting a payday, and in this case was hired by a legitmate if pompus source. While she takes Kitty and Meggan, it’s more out of pragmatisim and as noted she plans to release the two when she could’ve let Bodybag digest them, and when first showing up is perfectly cordial to Kurt and Kitty, and only fights when it’s clear our heroes won’t let her just walk off with their old friend. It makes me glad there’s far more of her and the technet to come as the series goes on and a ton more in Alan Davis run when I get to that. Their intresting characters with unique power sets and inject a sense of fun into what would otherwise be a fairly dreary story. Anyways before she can do that the warwolves strike and are too dumb to know when to quit so a fight breaks out and Gatecrasher beats the piss out of one while Kurt arrives, watching from the shadows. As for why no one’s spotted him... i’ts simple: One of his powers is to blend into shadows. It’s not used often and it’s forgotten quite a bit, but it is one he’s used on ocasion and even IF Claremont just retconned it out, his foes are too busy to notice. Kurt once again shows how awesome he is and tricks one of the wolves into slashing the bags containing his friends open. Gross but oh so triumphant.

Unfortunatley his victory is short lived: Meggan and Kitty are still woozy as, while I didn’t mention this earlier, Bodybags bags contain a paralyzing goop so they still aren’t quite ready to fight and while Rachel is, she can’t psy zap the dog. Luckily for Kurt gatecrasher yanks it away. Unluckily, she prepares to beat him into furry blue chunklets on the ground. Luckily...

Brian has finally gotten his shit together to save the day.. for all of a panel…

While Brian is fighting who or whatever that is Rachel and Kitty try to get into things but are blindsided by ringtoss and joyboy whose powers well...

Yeah while ringtoss, if still weird isn’t TOO out of the ordinary for Marvel, Joyboy seems like he’s some sorta lost Jojo’s bizarre adventure stand. It’s also another reason to love the technet as again, their powers are just so fucking creative and weird. But that’s also what makes them such a threat: Their powers aren’t what most heroes usually deal with, and thus they have the element of surprise, helped by the fact their all from separate dimensions, meaning even in space, where their likely more ready for nonsense, they still have the upper hand by being races most space peeps aren’t ready for. Speaking of not ready,w ehave two last members to cover...

They speak for themselves, and while they do so Brian tries to rescue Meggan but is stopped by scatterbrain. Nightcrawler notices their asses are getting kicked and figures out WHY: The Warwolves and The Technet are teams. They work together regularly. Excalibur at this point is three former teammates in a disorienting situation and two british persons they just met. And if they don’t’ start working together they aren’t going to last. So Nightcrawler decides to fix that by knocking a warwolf into Ringtoss, who then collapses into waxwork whose touch takes out both and leaves Rachel free. Rachel quickly takes out Joyboy and with him out of the way, Kitty and Kurt can focus on Gatecrasher:

And with that Gatecrasher knows when to fold em and teleports the team away to fight another day, while the Warwolves slinked off in the confusion. Both will be back, obviously, but for now our heroes have one, Brian and Meggan make up and make out, and with the chaos settled Kitty, Rachel and Kurt have a tearful reunion.

Our heroes celebrate with a campfire and memories of their fallen comrades, with Rachel admitting she’s not sure what’s real or not after her experiences with Mojo. Brian prepares to leave and take care of the Warwolves himself.. but Rachel objects. The three others don’t have lives to return to, and just because the X-Men are gone dosent’ mean Xaviers dream should die out, likening them to the symbol of King Arthurs sword Excalibur. Kitty and Kurt start to agree, pointing out their dream taught them that if theirs a vacuum left in the X-Men’s legacy, someone will use it for their own ends. Rachel affirms her reasons for staying as a team, saying she’s tired of running: She’s done so all her live and she wants to , for once, stand for something. Meggan, having had similar problems in the past, agrees with her and the rest of the crew quickly come on board and thus we close on this image as a new team, and a new legacy, is forged: Excalibur is born.

Final Thoughts: The Sword is Forged is an utter classic and a great way to start things off. Our heroes are established, Rachel, who I felt was a bit thrown around by the plot during her time on the X-Men, is fleshed out a bit more and given purpose while Brian and Meggan are decently introduced to the audience. My only real complaints is that Davis and Claremont sometimes forget that American audiences won’t know who half these people are and while they introduce the Technet and Saturnyne well enough, they still never backtrack to explain them better later and what history I DID get I had to dig up for myself online. That aside the story, while having a lot of angst, is well done and has a good flow to it and ends on a high note, the characters are likeable enough, the villains are all creative though the Warwolves feel slight next to the Technet and will get fleshed out a bit more in the series proper. And of course I’d be a moron if I didn’t compliment Alan Davis wonderful art, which captures the whimsical tone well, the emotion in certain scenes perfectly and holds up beautifully years later. Overall The Sword is Forged is a great team origin story and if you liked what you saw here I’d recommend checking it out. Next time, hopefully tonight, we finally get to to the new Excalibur as Brian and his sister and thrust into the shit and a new Captain Britain is born. Until then, courage.

#analysis of x #excalibur #captain britan #meggan #nightcrawler #kitty pryde #rachel summers #the technet #gatecrasher #warwolves #mojoworld #x-men #chris claremont #alan davis #dawn of x

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differenttriumphdragon · 5 years

Text

My Dream Last Night: The Apprentice Witch's Home for Cookies

This dream revealed a lot about imaginary Cookie Run lore so buckle up

There was a witch named Garnet who owned a small bakery with her young apprentices Ruby and Sapphire

They were NOT the Steven universe characters, but that is absolutely where their names came from (The dream briefly invented characters named Amethyst and Pesrl before forgetting about them)

Garnet was a sweet black lady with honey-blond star-bit-shaped hair (kind of like a short, spikier afro, but smooth and not hair-like. Think like a Mii hairstyle). She looked like a combination of The Sun from Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls and @shimmeringsunlightcookie's titular character

Sapphire wore mostly light blues and had black/dark blue/purple hair in a hime-style haircut; straight and long with bangs. She was usually holding a stuffed bunny.

Ruby looked uncannily like Cherry Cookie but human, only with darker pink hair as opposed to Cherry's near-white shade. Her outfit was certainly Red-Riding-Hood-like, maybe even more than Cherry's.

Sapphire was more shy and reserved, while Ruby was generally more happy. Not nearly to the extent of Cherry, though.

One of Garnet's possessions was a secret case which contained something magical: Cookies imbued with souls and life. Ruby and Sapphire adored these Cookies, and would talk and play with them every night when the bakery closed.

Sapphire in particular became attached to one specific young Cookie: One made with chocolate cake batter, with long, wavy black hair and little black feathery wings.

This Cookie felt the same way about her, and he loved to dance and play. The two spent a lot of time together through the years.

Eventually Sapphire grew weaker, and it was discovered she didn't have long to live. The Cookie watched her slowly pass before her time, and was devastated by the loss. The Cookie crumbled, himself, shortly after, possibly of a broken heart (it's not made clear, just shown that he also died young).

During a montage/song about how close the two were, there's a shot of Sapphire singing underneath a violet spotlight/filter. This turned out to foreshadowing...

Remember Sapphire's physical description, from earlier? Her long, straight hair, and always carrying a stuffed animal?

If you haven't caught it by now, Sapphire was the past life of Onion Cookie.

As for the Cookie she befriended, [REDACTED DUE TO MAJOR SPOILERS FOR A CERTAIN BLOG]

When she grew older, Ruby opened her own fancy restaurant, and brought the Cookie Box with her.

Ruby eventually got the idea to create her own living Cookies. Unfortunately, Sapphire was the one of the two who had the most baking experience, so this was easier said than done.

Her first attempt was a haphazard mess; poor ingredient measurements and hasty tape-over fixes lead to a poor result, who could barely speak and always hungered: a Cookie who would eventually be named Zombie.

Her second attempt was much more successful: a constantly lethargic Cookie nicknamed Dozer.

As more customers came to her restaurant, it became harder to hide the Cookies from the wider world. Eventually, one particular man hounded and stalked her to the point that she had to get rid of him.

So she used him as the subject of an experiment: creating a Cookie from a living human.

The experiment went horribly right: Mac n' Cheese Cookie was created from the man, but the process left him completely insane, and spawned in him a love/hate obsession with her. His creation/rebirth was interspersed with bodies that had been gutted, and their insides absolutely buried in mac n' cheese.

After an intense action sequence where Ruby uses a chain-link grappling hook to reach the upper floors (like, a chain from a necklace launched from her left wrist to attach to pipes and high wires), she escaped into the snowy twilight on an airship, looking for something else to fill the void in her heart from her surrogate (?) sister's death.

Eventually, Ruby would become corrupt from her dark methods, and became The Witch. Later, she'd perfect those methods, and eventually [ALSO MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE SAME BLOG AS ABOVE].

I guarantee this isn't even close to canon, but I thought it was a really interesting story.

#my dream last night #cookie run #cherry cookie #onion cookie #zombie cookie #dozer cookie #the witch #there are two more cookies that would've been mentioned #but would give away said massive spoilers #so i wont tag them #for now

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constellationsadvocate · 4 years

Text

The Constellations Advocate

Book One

Prologue

“Time is always a fickle thing when you’re running against it and it’s already beating you to the punchline. It’s really not something to laugh at, but the idle irony of the stars aligning and time freezing- coming to an absolute standstill- just for the mere amusement of one's boredom.”

“Boredom?” An amused, deep and half-laughed question asked. “I don’t believe it was so. Maybe, out of coincidence, it was out of revenge?”

“Well, then it took them awhile. To plan revenge just so you can fix your own fate because one may or may not have been, shall I say, screwed over.”

“Not screwed over, friend.”

“No? Then, dear, what would you call it?”

“Double crossed.” They gruffly, briskly called back. They laughed lightly, a charming smile on their lips. “But, do continue, doll. The story is just beginning to get good.”

“Now that you’ve shut your big mouth, I will gladly do so.” The first voice coolly replied. “Like I said, Time came to an absolute standstill for the sake of one’s boredom. It wasn’t always boredom, no, but it was anger. Anguish. Pain, grief, heartbreak, guilt, longing. Our story didn’t start at the beginning, but at the start of the end.”

“This isn’t some children’s story is it? You know, the one with the colorful pop-up pages?”

“Just because your one molecule brain can’t break down big words, doesn’t mean you can’t follow along.” A third voice chimed, causing the other two to look back at the mysterious being.

“Why I oughta-!”

The first, smacking the back of the second’s head, reeled their hand back again only to stop and grab their cup of whiskey. “Put a sock in it before I knock your teeth out. We have a story to tell and I will gladly do so by myself if it’s by the means of removing your teeth and cutting out your tongue.”

“Whatever.”

“Anyways, it all began when it ended.”

“Doesn’t it always?” The third laughed softly, only to go quiet as a killing glare was sent their way.

“It was a destructive timeline. There wasn’t an end to finish and a start to begin. Therefore, something more constructive, crucial, was born.”

“Didn’t it fail?”

“Honestly, the first three thousand times it did.” The first signed disdainly. Then smiled mischievously. “But, what’s the harm in one more chance?

The other’s glaced to one another, then smiled cruelly. In harmony, “Născuți din focul Fenixului, constelațiile vor avea protectorul lor.”

Adeodatus, Patavium

“Aye, cad e mar a bheifea ag suil le fear dall a asal a fhail san aimsir seo?!” An aging, balding, middle aged man with refined attributes of a square jaw, straight nose, and oblique pale once blue eyes yelled out to a young man. The man, a simple farm hand stumbled through the rain and mud behind the old man, Maddox, looking frantically for the lost mule. Maddox, the blind man, stopped in his tracks causing the farm hand to slide to a stop. “Erivan!”

“For the last time, sir. People will think you’re a mad man yelling out in your old language!” Erivan sternly warned. He calmly walked to stand beside Maddox, placing a firm hand on the mans shoulder. “The mule can’t be far at all. You know how he gets during thunderstorms.”

“I know this. But that stubborn mule is getting on my last nerve.” Maddox replied briskly, tired of the same old routine. “And yes, I know what you’ll say. ‘He’ll find his way back home, Maddox.’”

“Aye,” Erivan smiled warmly, slicking back ebony wet hair from his forehead. “Now, can we please go inside before we both get sick again?”

Maddox nodded, turning back the way he came from. Erivan smiled assertively and followed behind. Only a few steps in, when in a short distance behind them, a mule brayed and stomped it’s hooves in the thick mud. The pair turned sharply, Erivan’s eyes landing on a cloaked figure and the mule itself.

“Maddox,” An enchanting, smoky female voice called out. Maddox smiled brazenly, chuckling.

“Aye, Taarini.” Maddox greeted warmly. “What are you doing in this horrid weather?”

“Ag feachaint ar asal do dhuine dall.” Taarini laughed warmly as she answered in the old language. She turned her amused gaze to Erivan. “You shouldn’t assume there isn’t a fair share of people who still speak the old language. It may be dead or dying, but nothing stays dead forever.”

“Of course, Taarini. How foolish of me.” Erivan sassed, sarcastically rolling his eyes. “Thank you, oh great one.”

“Sarcasm. Funny most of the time, but when it comes from you it's just simply rude. Maybe if I cut your tongue out, it’ll stop rolling off.” Taarini sneared, smiling devilishly as she walked the mule to Maddox. “Do you not remember the last time I gave your ass a lesson?”

“Children,” Maddox chimed. “This is not the time. Maybe when the weather is better and we can have spectators on a warm, sunny day. Aye?”

Maddox laughed robustly, taking the reins from Taarini and turning back for the farm. “Come on, Erivan! I can’t always walk by myself. So, kiss the pretty lass goodbye and move your feet.”

“You’re a mad man!” Erivan shouted after him, scurrying to catch up. A few feet behind Maddox, Erivan turned around to gaze where he once was standing with Taarini. She was still standing there, the rain seemling becoming heavier and something unnatural hanging in the air. His gaze rested on her for a moment longer. Taarini everything is shrouded in mystery and questions. No one knew exactly what she looked like, except the bold, rosy pink lips, the slender and strong jaw and jawline. The high cheekbones and the gray and gold mix-matched eyes that rested upon them. Everything else was covered with the hood of a cloak and a black fox mask.

In a blink of an eye, Taarini disappeared behind a caravan passing through town. Erivan blinked rapidly, searching around him before he sighed and shook his head. “You’re going crazy Eri. You’ll go completely insane hanging out with Mad.”

He continued mumbling to himself, breathing easier as the rain and air lightened up in the surrounding area as he hastened for the farm.

A scream erupted from the inside of Solas De Danaan as Jericho, Armazi, and Gemini reigned in their paint mares and gelding. The three snapped their attention to the guild, unmounted and tied the reins to the post, busting through the front door of the guild.

Inside the fortified guild, the pale ashen oakwood floors were spacious with dark red mahogany tables and chairs. A bartop that had a matching wood stain, the shelves behind it, just as dark with mirror essence casted behind them. From the main floor, pale ashen oak stairs spiraled to the second floor and led to the library and a secondary storage room and office. Magical orbs of pure light floated and bobbed above the heads of the guild members who had immersed themselves in the situation at hand.

Asena, a sun kissed woman with golden blonde hair that curled at her mid back and eyes that could set your world on fire. Her fiery hazel eyes rested upon soft cheekbones that were dusted with freckles. Her physic was lean and curvy, but be no fool, she can out drink any man and leave him under the table. Despite her feminine and goddess like beauty, she can and most likely will put you in your place. Lesson, never dirty your hands if it means crossing someone who can literally light your ass on fire.

Asena shrieked again as the figure of Taarini glitched out of sight again, appearing next to her. Arealla, the assisting bartender and right hand to the master of the guild, gasped as she quickly grabbed the bottle of bourbon from in front of Asena before she got coated in the sticky, fraganted liquor again and rapidly took a few steps away from the fiery woman.

“No! Stop it!”Arealla yelled abruptly, looking from Asena to the glitching figure of Taarini. Asena glared at her desperately.

“You act like this is my doing!” She snapped. “Make her stop tormenting me every time she comes around!”

Armazi, Asena’s brother, scoffed. “Sister, are you sure the drink isn’t finally going to your head?”

Armazi,who has the build of a boxer, a strong and sharp jaw, golden brown shoulder length hair, the same fiery hazel eyes as his sister’s, bold cheekbones and a well kept beard. He leaned forward over the bar, taking the bottle from Arealla. Asena and Arealla locked baffled glares onto the brother, questioning his own sanity.

“You know damn well, very well, it takes us both to have downed the whole store to get even remotely drunk before our bodies burn it off!” Asena growled. “So either someone else makes Taarini stop or I will burn her alive!”

Like speaking of the devil, Taarini appeared physically behind Asena with a bucket of water and ice mixed with thick honey. Followed hastily after, she dumped a sackful of white feathers on the sun magic mage. Asena screamed like a banshee once more. Golden flames licked up her calves, slowly. Within milliseconds, her whole body was engulfed in the pure flames. Armazi clapped amusedly as everyone dove from the bursting flames.

“You vile vixen!” Asena screeched, the hatred rolling off of her tongue. “How dare you!”

“Cool it, hothead.” Taarini laughed coolly, strolling to the other side of the bar nonchalantly. “I thought you just needed to be a little cold to feel the burn of the drink.”

Asena growled, blasting golden flames at the mage who became consumed by them. The surrounding guild members gasped, only for confusion to cross their faces as a shadow figure of Taarini pushed Asena against the bar. The flames died down from Asena and Taarini, the masked mage coming out unscathed.

The shadow figure dissipated in a puff of smoke that traveled along the ashen oak floors. Taarini sighed doubtfully, “We do this every time I come back to the city. We used to be friends. What happened?”

Asena frowned disapprovingly. “You kept leaving.”

Taarini grinned cheekily. “But I got you something this time.”

“And let’s see if Asena can be bought back.” Jericho laughed out, taking a seat at a far corner table, Gemini joining him.

“I don’t know whose side I’m on.” Gemini chuckled lightly, watching intensely. “I love them both dearly.”

“Hon,” Lyra, a fellow guild mage with a curvy body, tanned skin, long white hair with ombre gold ends and silver eyes with flecks of black in the iris, full lips and a slender profile. “I don’t even think you know what side of you you’re on.”

“Aye, I second that.” Jericho and Armazi agreed in harmony. Gemini gasped, looking between both men.

“I’ve been good!” She squealed. “I promise!”

“Here, Gem.” Arealla smiled genuinely. “Have a drink.”

Gemini slid her gaze to Arealla, who handed the girl a bottle of ale. She smiled appreciatively and took a long drink from the neck.

“Or you can just continue to hate me for something I have no control over.” Taarini mused, sliding her mix-matched eyes to Asena. “You also have the option of brawling it out with me. It’s not healthy to bottle your emotions.”

“Says the one that never vents to anyone about anything.” Lyra shot back in an undertone.

Asena grinned maddeningly, standing from her seat. “Oh, I’d really love the chance to burn that mask away.”

“I’d like to see you try, firebreather.” Taarini replied confidently, removing her hood from around her head, revealing her silver hair and gold streaked dreads. “I’ll even make it easier and more tempting for you.”

“Oh,” Kaimana, a male mage with silver and blue hair and aqua eyes muttered. “This just got interesting.”

“I don’t know what you want.” Faolan chuckled. “The flames to lick them or you to lick the flames.”

Kaimana looked at him with a perturbed glare. “Neither, you perv. I want the fight.”

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the-zodiacs-written-in-the-stars · 5 years

Text

Chapter 9: James Saint John

Jamie was tired. To the bone tired, not just didn't sleep well tired. Being a superhero was more exhausting than cartoons had made it look. Especially when one had to keep up appearance for the private, secret identity. But Ally, Andy and Jessie could absolutely under no circumstances be pulled into whatever this mess was. Jamie had always been the big brother, protecting his little sister – and now he was also a father. Ally and Andy would only worry about him.

“You look sad”, hummed Leo and nudged Jamie's face.

Honestly, the over-sized kitten was absolutely adorable. Jamie smiled faintly and wrapped an arm around the lion cub, pulling him closer. Leo started purring and pawing at the pillow, rolling over to bare his soft, light-red belly. Whenever Leo was not actively on fire, he was very cuddly.

“It's just... stressful”, sighed Jamie absentmindedly. “And now, with the new guys popping up... Aquarius, Taurus, Sagittarius, Cancer... They've been all over the news lately.”

“And you're worried”, noted Leo, ears twitching adorably.

Jamie smiled faintly and traced the Leo-symbol on the lion's forehead, causing Leo to bump his head up into the caress. “I just... When Libra first showed up, I thought we could trust her... and it nearly cost me my life. I can not be that careless again, Leo.”

“You're right”, agreed Leo worried.

“But... why can't we? I mean, why would one of you turn their back on the rest?”, asked Jamie. “I just... I can't figure it out. Why would they turn evil.”

Leo made a curious noise as he rolled over to look Jamie in the eyes. “It's not that they're evil. It... the whole thing isn't black and white, Jamie. Who knows who got to them first before we did? It's about territory, about control. It... It's complicated.”

“What territory?”, asked Jamie confused. “California?”

“Bigger”, chuckled Leo, nosing Jamie's cheek. “We're aliens, Jamie. The planets aside from Earth do have a bit more going on. Territories all over the stars and moons.”

“Magic in the stars”, whispered Jamie with a note of longing in his voice. “But why Earth?”

“Earth is... wanted. It's neutral territory, it's a primitive planet – no offense. But you don't have galactic travels, you don't have magic. You're... a baby-planet and while most agree that Earth needs to be kept out of the loop until it's ready to venture out into the galaxy themselves, some planets think that it means the primitive planet should be claimed and used as a... colony, essentially. But other planets, mine included, think that Earth needs to be protected, given the chance to grow on its own. The Zodiacs, we're kind of... a protective force, sent to protect Earth from alien threats and meant to cover the tracks so humans don't learn the truth. Hence the tales of gods and goddesses.”

Leo crawled on top of Jamie, sprawling out on his chest and pawing at him so Jamie would continue cuddling him. “We twelve are meant to protect the Earth, but sometimes... things fall apart. We've been doing it for so long. Sometimes... I don't know what's going through Libra's head.”

“Libra's your friend?”, asked Jamie gently, scratching Leo behind his ear.

Leo closed his eyes and purred as he leaned into the touch. “Of course. We've been comrades for so many millennia now... We've been on so many missions together. I... I really don't wanna fight him. Or any of the others. And I really hate the tension of not knowing who I can trust...”

Sighing, Jamie wrapped his arms around Leo and hugged the lion-cub close.

~*~

“I'm going to the store. Anyone need anything that's not on the shopping list yet?”

Jamie raised both eyebrows as he poked his head into the living room. Ally and Andy were playing Mario Kart and accusing each other of cheating, while Jessie was... dead? Judging by the uncomfortable angle in which she was sprawled out on the couch, not moving. Which wasn't entirely unusual after a long shift. Being the loving brother he was, he threw a pillow at her.

“Urgh. What?”, grunted Jessie, clutching the pillow.

“Store. You need anything?”, asked Jamie and rolled his eyes.

“Yogurt?”, asked Jessie slowly. “Yeah. Yogurt.”

“Candy”, called Andy out. “And chocolate.”

“I'm good. Unlike other people, I put what I need on the shopping list”, grunted Ally.

Andy huffed and mimicked Ally, earning himself a gentle jab in the ribs. Rolling his eyes fondly, Jamie grabbed his dark-red leather-jacket and left the apartment. Babs was working and Jamie felt like doing something very, very normal again for a change. Somehow lately his life had been far too hectic. So doing their weekly shopping sounded like a nice change of pace. There was a nice deli just around the corner. He would just go there, get everything from their list and--

“Ah!”

...Never mind. Heaving a sigh, Jamie turned toward the source of the screams. People were running down the streets and, not really surprisingly, there stood the Hydra. A mighty beast with dark-red scales and five heads, roaring. The first time Jamie had seen her, he had been in awe, had been thrown back to his childhood and Disney's Hercules. Now, after having been battling it for two months, it grew a little stale if he was being honest.

“Leo”, whispered Jamie. “We're gonna take a little detour, okay?”

The red pearl on his necklace glowed in response. Walking around the corner into a back-alley, Jamie transformed. He straightened the hood of his costume before charging sword-first at the monster. Well. Monster. At its core, it was an alien fused with a human, so Jamie had to be careful.

“Come on, big H, we've already danced this routine. Why don't we just cut it short and you quit?”

“Le—eo”, hissed one of the heads.

“Little lion snack”, snarled another head.

“Actually, I'm the big lion. Leo Major. Not Leo Minor. There's a difference. Let me show you.”

With that, he charged ahead and aimed for the Hydra's heart. Only that Jamie, as a fire-user, was a horrible match-up for the water-spewing Hydra. The sword glowed as it singed the Hydra's skin. The beast snarled and swatted at Jamie. With Babs at his side, he'd have someone to have his back, but instead... instead Jamie took the claws to the back. In the end, he wasn't a well-trained Chosen One. He was just a dumb kid from Dublin who'd only been training for two months.

“Wo—oah. Watch out, Leo!”, called a blue-clad guy – one of the new... heroes – out.

That was the last thing Jamie saw and heard before he hit his head and went out.

~*~

Jamie's head was fuzzy when he woke up. The ceiling he stared up at was not his own. Frowning, he turned a little. It was a bedroom, but not a bedroom he had ever been in before. Bedroom however was good, because if the bad guys had captured him, he'd probably be tied-up in some dungeon or something. The walls were a warm yellow, while the bed-sheets were dark-blue. It looked nice, expensive and also very cleaned-up.

“You're awake. He's awake. Mattie! He's awake!”

Frown deepening, Jamie looked at the very excited Mike Maguire in the doorway. Like a happy puppy, only missing the wagging tail. Jamie shook his head. Wait. Why was he in Mike and Matt's... bedroom? Was that where he was? But the last thing Jamie remembered was a fight... He had been in his superhero-get-up, fighting the Hydra. With wide eyes did Jamie frantically touch his face, to make sure he was wearing his mask. He was. Confusing steadily raising, he looked down at himself. He was wearing his costume. So what was he doing in their bedroom?

“Hello, Leo. Mister Leo?”, tried Mike. “Uhm. You're probably confused. We found you, in an alley. Unconscious. Since none of your partners were around, we... we couldn't just let you lay there. I'm Mike, Michael Maguire, I'm a cop – so I'm one of the good guys too. And this here is my fiance. Matteo di Girasole. Look, he's awake.”

“I... I can see that, amore”, chuckled Matt fondly, kissing Mike's cheek before he turned toward Jamie. “Hello. We don't mean you any harm. We just found you and couldn't leave you laying there. We called a friend of ours, a doctor. Who... Wait just a second...”

Matt left the room again and Jamie used that opportunity to sit up some. He groaned at the ache in his... body. Narrowing it down further seemed not possible at this moment. Instantly, Mike was at his side with concerned eyes. It was kind of odd, seeing them like this. They were behaving so differently from how he was used to. Then again, they didn't know it was him.

“You okay? I mean, of course not, you got slapped around by a giant lizard”, grunted Mike. “But, uh, what hurts exactly? Just, wait a moment, my fiance is getting the doctor.”

“You like saying that”, accused Jamie softly. “Fiance.”

“Uh. Yeah”, admitted Mike with a slight blush. “Is it that obvious? It's only been not even half a year and I dunno, I really like the sound of it, I guess.”

“It's... cute. You love him a lot, huh?”, asked Jamie fondly.

“Ye—eah”, sighed Mike, a content smile on his lips. “I just... never met anyone like him.”

“World-famous billionaires are rare”, agreed Jamie dryly.

“I didn't even know he was a billionaire until we were dating for like a month and the first paparazzi attacked”, grumbled Mike with a frown. “Cheeky little shit just... pretended to run his father's old business. Sports-equipment being 'a family business' and all...”

“Mh. I think I read about that in a magazine before. From rags to riches stories do sell”, hummed Jamie. “Worked in his dad's small shop and then started developing his own equipment.”

“Basically, yeah”, confirmed Mike with a small smile. “He's really hard-working, you know. He sets his goals and... and then he's reaching that goal. It's kinda insane.”

Jamie smiled at himself at that. Mike really was very in love with Matt. It was... cute. At times a tiny bit obnoxious, but overall Jamie wished someone would love him the way Mike loved Matt.

“Ah. My... patient is awake. Not something I say usually.”

Looking up, Jamie saw a tall, broad-shouldered, dark-skinned man approach. He ran a hand over his bald head as he approached Jamie while scowling at Mike rather pointedly.

“Uhm, that is a bit... concerning for a doctor”, grunted Jamie.

“I'm the ME. My patients are normally dead”, countered the doctor. “And I usually don't make house-calls. You'd think, married to a billionaire, you could just call a private doctor.”

“I could”, agreed Matt. “But I don't trust a stranger. You, I trust, Doc.”

“I do not make house-calls”, repeated the doctor very slowly and pointedly. “Now get outta here so I can check on my patient. Both of you, get lost.”

With small protests did Mike and Matt leave the room and close the door. Jamie stared wearily.

“Hello. I am Doctor Charles Jones. You have a mild concussion and... at the very least bruised ribs, but I can't be entirely sure. You should go and visit a hospital, out of costume.”

“Yeah. Right. Should do”, nodded Jamie awkwardly. “Thank you, for... helping me.”

“Here”, sighed Doctor Jones and got a card out of his pocket.

“Your... business card...?”, asked Jamie curiously after a look at the small paper. “But didn't you just say you don't do house-calls and glared those two down like there is no tomorrow?”

Charles huffed at that and shook his head. “Can't have the knucklehead call me outta bed at every sniff of his boyfriend. Maguire, he's a good kid, but he's fussy when it comes to Matt. And I got better things to do than that. They can afford their private doctor. You however... if you get hurt on a mission and require a doctor, you can call me.”

“I can? You don't... even know me”, grunted Jamie surprised as he was being examined.

“True, true”, hummed Charles, gently running his fingers over Jamie's ribs. “Yeah, I don't think anything is broken there. See, I don't know you, but... I'm fairly certain you don't know my wife, Laureen, and yet you saved her life the other week, when a giant snake attacked the grocery store she was shopping in. She... would have died if you hadn't saved her. Many, many people would have died and gotten seriously hurt if not for you and Scorpio. You do something that... no one else can. And while I can't do that, I can offer you help if you need it.”

“...Th... Thank you”, whispered Jamie, blinking as he pocketed the card.

Somehow, he had never really considered it. Not like that. He knew what he and Babs were doing was the right thing, but he had never quite considered just how they affected people. The families of those they saved, people who were not alive only thanks to them.

“Thank you. For saving my wife”, countered Doctor Jones with a soft smile.

With that, he left the room. Moments later and Mike and Matt returned. Matt was better at schooling his features, but Mike still looked like he had a billion questions burning on his mind.

“What exactly happened after I got knocked out...? The Hydra...?”, asked Jamie slowly.

“Oh. Cancer and Sagittarius totally took care of that!”, declared Mike with a broad grin.

“Mh”, grunted Jamie with a deep, thoughtful frown. “They did, huh...?”

“Yeah! I mean, they're heroes too, right?”, asked Mike, with one of his very charming one hundred watt smiles. “They're like you, aren't they? I mean, aren't they part of your... team?”

For a second, Jamie just stared at Mike. He loved that blindingly optimistic, happy smile. It was so... carefree and Jamie found that absolutely captivating. He knew carefree people. But Mike? He was a whole new class of carefree and it was infectious.

“They're not part of my team”, grunted Jamie and shook his head. “Scorpio is my team. They... I don't know who they are. But they're not part of us.”

“Why... not?”, asked Matt cautiously. “I'm sorry, you have no reason to share this with us, you don't even know us. But the thing is, to all of Los Angeles, you and Scorpio are the great heroes and those two, they seem like you? So how come they're not with you?”

Jamie shrugged and averted his eyes. “Scorpio I trust. But those two, I don't know. They just appeared, together with the two women.”

“So you could like... get to know them? The more heroes on a team, the more effective, right?”, asked Mike curiously. “I'm a cop. I have my partner – my Scorpio, I guess. But the two of us can't just... do everything alone. We often need our squad to help out. Wouldn't a squad be more effective for fighting supervillains too? A superhero team?”

It made Jamie smile a little, before he shook his head. “One could say I have trust issues.”

“Why?”, asked Matt warmly.

The better question was, why did Jamie trust them? Talking to Mike and Matt like this was... easy. Somehow, the mask helped. Them not knowing that he was James Saint John. When he was Jamie, he found it hard to have an honest conversation with Mike and Matt, even though he trusted them. Maybe his crush was in the way? And more than that, he still didn't understand why he had come to trust them. But like this, behind his secret identity, he could actually open up to the men he trusted.

“Scorpio is trusting. Very trusting. We ran into another supposed hero before and she betrayed us. At this point, we can't know who is actually good and who isn't. Being a Zodiac isn't a guarantee for them to be good, even if they fought against the Hydra”, replied Jamie with a sigh.

“You... You should rest some more”, offered Matt gently. “You can stay until you feel good enough to leave, but please don't push yourself now to make things worse. You're safe here.”

Jamie bit his tongue to keep from saying that he knew that. If this weren't Mike and Matt, Jamie would have been out the window the very moment he had woken up. Because yes, he did have trust-issues. Even before Libra had betrayed them. The thought of Libra still made Jamie frown. The goal was to take the gem away from the woman and find someone trustworthy to carry Libra. Or at least that was the goal Jamie had set himself. The way Leo had told him, it wasn't the Zodiac himself who was evil. It was the human influence. So they had to get Libra the Zodiac away from the human host, to give to someone worthy of being a hero. Jamie's eyes wandered to look at the retreating forms of Mike and Matt. Would perhaps one of them...? Shaking his head, Jamie leaned back again. Just a little more rest before he would leave.

“I like your chosen mates”, stated a perky, curious voice.

Blinking, Jamie saw how Leo materialized from his marble. “They're not... mine, Leo. And really, how did you allow for me to just be taken away by random people?”

“No—ot random”, huffed the red lion and shook himself. “They're your humans. I wanted to go and get Scorpio really quickly. But then they showed up and I knew you would be safe with them and they brought you here and got a human doctor to make sure you're alright.”

Jamie sighed and reached out to pat Leo between the ears as he closed his eyes. Just a little more rest and then he would be on his way back home. It wasn't a good idea to stay too long, it might tempt him into saying things he wasn't supposed to say. Not even necessarily his secret identity, but more so the fact that he knew things about Matt and Mike – things the friendly neighborhood superhero was not supposed to know about them.

“They really are good people”, whispered Jamie lowly, with the smallest smile. “I mean... they took a total stranger home to patch him up. Sure, I'm a hero, but still... they endangered themselves by doing so. Hydra could have followed them.”

“Yes”, purred Leo, pawing at the blanket. “Good humans. You picked well.”

“Speaking of picking well”, drawled Jamie reluctantly. “I had a thought.”

“Mh?”, grunted Leo, rolling onto his side so Jamie would scratch his belly.

“Libra. You say Libra isn't a bad guy, that either their human is... a bad seed, or the bad guys got to them first and got into the human's head”, started Jamie, staring up at the ceiling.

“Ye—es”, nodded Leo as he waited for Jamie to get to the point.

“Say, theoretically, if we can get to them and get the gem from her, can we give Libra to a more responsible human, an ally?”, asked Jamie. “I mean, how deep is the bond between a human and their Zodiac companion? Could you theoretically rebond to someone else?”

“Yes. We can always only bond with one human at a time – so not grand our powers to multiple humans at the same moment. But... we can cut the bond and once we're unbound, we can find a different human to bond with”, confirmed Leo with a thoughtful frown. “But the thing is, we can only bond with a human who was born under our star-sign.”

“Okay. So, just have to find a Libra to bond with the Libra”, hummed Jamie. “I wonder when Mike and Matt's birthdays are...”

Leo huffed at that and shook himself. “You are a strange human. You can't court your chosen mates but you could ask them out to become superheroes with you...?”

“I trust them”, shrugged Jamie with a frown. “There... aren't many people I trust. Ally and Andy are kids, they're not being dragged into this. Babs already is in this and... Jessie... I can't do that to her. She's my baby-sister. I'm supposed to protect her, not put her in danger.”

“I think your sister can handle way more than you give her credit for”, stated Leo.

“Just because she can handle a lot doesn't mean she should have to handle it”, countered Jamie and raised both eyebrows. “She's already been through enough, losing our mom and home and... and it's enough. We fought hard to make this life for ourselves.”

Leo hummed at that, not commenting but looking at Jamie softly. Jamie sighed and rolled onto his side as much as his ribs allowed it, closing his eyes to nap. Not Jessie, for the past years he had done everything in his powers to shield her. He'd find a way to solve this without involving her.

Read here on AO3!

Previous Chapter <- || Masterpost || -> Next Chapter

#Leo: James Saint John #Story: Written in the Stars #Project: Written in the Stars #Own Story #Superheroes #Zodiac Superheroes #Zodiac: Leo

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welshwoman1988 · 6 years

Text

A Thread In The Tapestry - The Doctor Is In

(Sorry, sorry!! I know that I haven’t updated in a while, but Life and other projects caught my attention... Here’s hoping this makes up for it!)

Beginning - Previous - Next

It takes a few minutes before everything is calm enough for Julia and Talia to make their way back to the house, John is careful not to make too much noise behind them. It’s not that he thinks that they’ll lash out at him for this, but the tension in the air has become almost palpable and John really doesn’t want to risk accidentally setting anyone off…

…well, no more than he already has.

After being rushed past the living room too fast for him to really get a good look at it, John is met at the kitchen door by Peter, who informs his mother that Deaton has been brought up to speed and that he is on his way. Julia nods distractedly at him before pushing John into a chair with a firm hand on his shoulder and a commanding, “Wait here while I get something for us all to drink.”

Turns out Derek didn’t get that forceful tone just from his mother after all…

The twins, having been sent to bed and knowing that there is grown-up stuff going on right in their kitchen, are peeking into the room from where it leads out into a hallway. John must smile at the way they try to smother their giggles each time he catches them looking into the room - which, they’re only what, five? It happens a fair bit - and he concentrates more on ‘catching’ them peeking in than anything else that might be happening right now.

It’s… it’s a lot, and John is still fighting the urge to either start rambling in a way that would put Stiles’ previous long-winded rants to shame or start apologizing for letting something that had always sat with him wrong go for years, until Laura Hale ending up in pieces in the Preserve, Derek came to town looking for revenge and found betrayal instead, then there was the whole thing with the kanima…

“Hey! You two were sent to bed! Don’t make me duct tape you in there!” Talia finishes off her words with a playful snap, making the twins giggle like mad before they hightail it up the stairs, sounding like a pair of rhinos as they go.

“You’re going to have to teach me how to do that, Stiles barely listens to me as is and always tries to sweet talk his way out of trouble when he does get caught.” John mutters a soft ‘thank you’ towards the cup she places in his hands, a light sip telling him that it’s hot chocolate.

“I’m pretty sure that it’s mostly because I’ll actually duct tape them in there, despite Mom yelling at me for it.” Talia remarks with a wolfish grin. “Stiles, huh? That’s an… interesting name. Are all names like that… where you’re from?”

It’s a little heartening that someone else is thrown by all this as John is, and he must shake his head at the constant question concerning his son’s name.

“Well, his real name is even more of a mouthful, and it’s less likely anyone that knows how to say it properly. Hell, even I have a bit of trouble with it some days, giving how rarely I say it. It was a bit of a hassle at school, with kids being how they are, and then one day, my son comes home announcing that he’s going to be known as ‘Stiles’ now.”

“And he’s friends with…?”

Talia trails off, seemingly unable to say ‘my son’ and again, John can’t really blame her. From what he remembers of her, Derek and Laura had been a bit of a surprise, and he’s pretty sure that all she’s been thinking about now is law school and finishing top of her class.

“Well, they had a bit of a bumpy start-”

Which is a rather gross simplification of ‘Peter bit his best friend after they were wandering around in the woods looking for a dead body, which turned out to be your daughter, who they then dug up and got Derek arrested for’, but John really doesn’t want to get into that part of the story right now…

“-but I think that they’ve really learned to rely on each other.”

Although, given the way that Stiles was leaning into Derek when all of this started, and that Derek was one of the focal points for this spell, John is suspicious that there might be more than just friendly feelings there… at least, where Stiles is concerned.

Talia hums thoughtfully, looking down into her cup like she could see the future that John is talking about inside of it. “And… what about me? Am I… am I a good mother to Derek? Does he have any siblings? Or is he an only child? You haven’t mentioned anyone else…”

John stalls at this, knowing that his heart has sped up at those questions from the way that he can see Julia’s back tensing up from over Talia’s shoulder. What is he supposed to say here?

Yes, Derek had a whole bunch of siblings, but they all died in a fire he feels responsible for?

You were a wonderful mother to Derek, he’s constantly wondering if what he’s doing or saying is something you would be proud of. He can never ask, though, because you also died in the same fire that took the rest of his family?

He did have Laura, his sister, for a little while afterward. Unfortunately, she was killed by your brother, who was stuck in a waking coma for ten years and went insane?

Thankfully, before he can say any of that, there’s the sound of tires on gravel and Peter intones, “Deaton’s here.” with a slightly ominous flair that John is sure the little shit is doing to wind them all up even more than before.

Julia also seems wise to Peter’s dramatics, as she gives her son a look that John remembers seeing on Claudia’s face when dealing with Stiles a few times, before leaving the kitchen to greet Deaton as he knocks on the door.

“Ah, Xavier! Thank you so much for coming on such short notice!”

John blinks. Xavier? He thought that they said Deaton-

That’s as far as that thought gets before a tall, dark-skinned man wanders in the kitchen, a shock of white at his temples the only thing that hints at his age. The crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes crinkle as he speaks to Julia, a boy darting out from behind him to make a beeline for Talia almost before this ‘Xavier’ even makes it past the threshold.

“Hello, Talia.”

“Hello, Alan. I didn’t realize that you were home this week.”

“Yeah, we managed to get back a little earlier than normal and I thought I’d stop by with Dad when your brother called-”

John only has a moment to absolutely gobsmacked at the fact that a young Alan Deaton sounds almost eerily like Stiles did back when he was trying to get Lydia Martin to notice him before his attention is pulled away by a sudden gasp that has him looking back at the first man again.

The man – Xavier, apparently – looks at John like he’s both intrigued and deeply worried by his presence, something that does nothing to sooth the fear that has been plaguing John since this entire thing started.

“You’re not supposed to be here, are you?”

John smiles, holding out his hands in the universal sign of ‘you don’t say’ and states, “Yeah, just another day in the life of a sheriff in the know. Think you could help me with that?”

The crow’s feet are back as the man looks at him in that penetrating way that seems to be a family trait, although this one has the distinct feeling of wanting to help rather than seeing where the chips are falling behind it.

“I most certainly will try.”

#pre-teen wolf #Alive!Hales #John Stilinski #Teen!Deaton #Original Characters #Who-ho! A new chapter suddenly appears!#fic: a thread in the tapestry

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hunchbearing · 6 years

Text

The Sonic Guys’ Story

“I’m heading to Sonic with TJ, baby. See you later.”

Peter had said those words to his wife at least twice a day for the last sixteen years. He was forty now, almost old enough for his age to justify the dark circles under his black eyes. Janice had loved him once. They used to sneak up to the roof of Peter’s old apartment building in the moonglow of the steamy summer nights of L.A. They talked about their darkest secrets, their greatest hopes. They made love like animals on those sandpapery shingles so many times, the roof had an oval-shaped section worn bare by their writhings. Janice’s incredible yoga-sculpted ass could have been used to hammer the nails back in, if she’d been so inclined.

But that was long ago, and these days her rear end reminded Peter of a stocking full of cream cheese. A mud baby that never grew grass, save for the few scattered stray hairs. Peter always told her where he was going. He made it a point to announce it to her zombie-like face every single time. He didn’t know why he bothered. A diseased part of his mind hoped that maybe, just once, she would doubt what he said. After all, who goes to Sonic every single day? She might suspect an affair with some eighteen-year-old cheerleader who thinks cum tastes like Cinnabon icing. Yeah, that would stick it to the saggy old hag. But alas, she would always wave it off with a generic mumble. “OK, babe. Have fun.” She wouldn’t even extend him the courtesy to look up from the Lots-o-Slots game on her phone. She thought her husband was just going to Sonic. And she was absolutely right. Their last sexual encounter was a drunken blowjob on Valentine’s Day. Peter’s aunt had died that morning. Janice cooked spaghetti for dinner. After they ate, she took off his pants and told him to sit in the table. When he felt the crumbs of his children’s morning Pop Tarts on his bare cheeks, he had to hold back tears. And like an angel of mercy, his own mind came to his rescue. Erotic images flickered across his psyche. Two dollar happy hour.tomorrow. Vanilla blueberry slushie. Fifty cent corn dogs all day long on Saturday. Just fifty cents! Such sweet savings. Such value. It was his first erection in five months. It was his first orgasm in a year. Janice knew Peter was having an affair. An affair with a woman named Sonic. Her sister Audrey would always make jokes when Peter was gone. “Peter is off with his boyfriend TJ again? They’re going on another one of their Sonic dates?” Janice would always offer a weak smile. If only. If only he were fucking a man. But to do that, you have to be alive. Peter was a corpse. An M&M with no chocolate inside. As for his balding blonde friend TJ, she had her suspicions that he was mentally challenged. The three of them went to a movie together once. While Peter was out in the bathroom, Janice took TJ’s hand, gently ran it up her thigh, and pressed it hard into her matted pubic hair. He giggled like a schoolboy. “That’s squishy!” Peter could have that dunce. Those two spent most of the 21st Century at that Sonic place, eating that repulsive cheap garbage. So many nights, Peter came home with that smell on his clothes. He was like a human onion ring. When the odor started to linger in the sheets, she made him sleep in the living room. Whatever his fascination was with that grease hole, she wanted no part of it. She just wanted someone, anyone, to give her a moment of attention. As for TJ, he was perhaps the only human being who enjoyed Sonic more than Peter. In TJ’s youth, Sonic was his refuge from the constant beatings delivered by his shrill mother. “Why can’t you do math!?” She home schooled him, unwilling to put him in special needs classes. “No son of mine is going to Tard School,” she’d often proclaim. “Why can’t you spell your own name? Your own name! You stupid bastard! You worthless stupid bastard!” After hearing the words “stupid bastard”, TJ knew The Belt was coming. Theodore Joseph Jr., in a desperate attempt to please his mother, started going by TJ around age 11. After all, he could spell TJ. Mother was enraged. The beatings only got worse until finally she punctured his right lung. He was placed into foster care. His new mother, Ms. Gladstone, was a 400 pound chainsmoker from Louisiana. She had no children of her own, and treated TJ with a kindness he hadn’t known before. Her restaurant of choice was Sonic. She ate all her meals there and would take TJ to every single one of them. She’d request her chili on the side, so she could slurp it like morning coffee. At home, they would talk and play games, and she would always give him a quarter when he scraped her feet with her pedicure kit.

But of course, paradise didn’t last.

Mrs. Gladstone choked to death on her favorite sandwich: a bacon cheese toaster topped with tots and coney chunks. It happened right in front of TJ, and after he laughed at the way her face changed color, he realized the gravity of the situation and attempted to resuscitate her with a few punches to her flabby stomach. The courts decided that TJ’s mother, who was now fresh out of rehab, was ready for a second chance at raising him. She regained custody, and resumed the savage beatings. But TJ’s heart was warmed by fond memories of Sonic. His church. His promised land. His universe. He wore Sonic like armor, and it dulled the sting of the large rodeo championship belt buckle. When TJ was 25, his mother died of lung cancer. On the day she began her permanent hospital stay, he was sternly informed that he could not sleep in her bed with her. He was enraged, as was Mother. The altercation that followed was thereafter known as “The Mommy Incident” by the staff. The veteran doctors still occasionally retell the tale in the breakroom to put a scare into the new interns. They were legally obligated to let TJ stay in the hospital, so he was banished to the waiting room. During the many days TJ spent there, he made friends with Peter. Peter’s grandfather had colon cancer. When Peter and TJ would sit in the huge, quiet waiting room, TJ would crack wise about his favorite cartoons on Nickelodeon. Peter’s sides would split in laughter. He was charmed by TJ’s juvenile sense of humor. It wasn’t until weeks later that Peter realized TJ was just flat-out juvenile. Peter stood by TJ’s side at his mother’s funeral. They were the only two people in attendance. The funeral director’s two sons had to fill in as pallbearers. “Pretty heavy for a little bitch,” one of them griped. After it was over, Peter turned to TJ and shrugged, “Wanna get something to eat?” TJ paused. For the past 15 years of his life, he hadn’t tasted anything but ketchup toast and boiled cabbage. TJ wrestled with the concept in his mind. Get? Eat? Peter helpfully chimed in. “There’s this one drive-in place I saw on the way down here. Ever been to Sonic?” TJ’s hapless moronic mouth split into a gaping grin. “Let’s go!” And go they did. TJ was in heaven. As they pulled into the space, he was thrilled by the bright colors on the walls and the sleek chrome trim on the signs. It was like arriving in a city of the future. The carhops rolled around on skates with platters of food. They were like angels on wheels. Looking at the menu, he hardly recognized it from his childhood. There were so many more choices now. Thousands of them, in fact. Milkshakes. Malts. Slushes. Cream slushes. Coneys. Cheese fries. Cheese tots. Chili tots. Hamburgers. Toasters. Chicken strips. French toast sticks. Mozzarella sticks. Breakfast burritos. Onion rings. Not to mention the thousands of possible combinations of flavors you could put in your drinks. Chocolate. Vanilla. Cherry. Blue Raspberry. Lemon. Lime. Orange. As if by magic, he never wet the bed again after that day, and only seldom shit his pants. Right there, TJ decided to go to Sonic every single day of his life until he had tried the entire menu. When Peter pointed out to him that it was impossible, that he could live several lifetimes and never try them all, TJ just smiled and affectionately stroked his Wacky Pack toy. In a few short years, he would have a massive collection stashed in his house. Whenever he needed shelf space for a new toy, he threw some of his mother’s old clown figurines onto the front lawn. With the Wacky Pack kids in his house, Mother’s voice could never get back into his brain. Peter also had an immediate attraction to the place. You drive up and pick your spot. You look at the menu. There’s no pressure to decide, because you press the button when you are ready to order exactly what you want, down to the last detail. He was aroused by the level of control he had. Perhaps it was because he felt he had no control at home. At Sonic, he was God and he ruled with an iron fist. It was even better with TJ. Peter was fascinated with TJ. The big idiot could grate on his nerves a little, but he would be damned if he didn’t find his ignorant innocence charming. He had such a zest for life. At least the parts of life that involved Sonic. It wasn’t long before their weekly trips there became daily. They talked about the food, the drinks, the service. TJ would often make a comment on the meal that bordered on insane, and Peter would try to correct him, then ultimately throw his hands up in defeat. “Popcorn chicken? How do they make the popcorn into chicken?” “What do you mean? It’s not popcorn. It’s chicken.” “Right, but how did they turn this popcorn into chicken?” “They didn’t. It’s just chunks of chicken that you can eat like popcorn. Popcorn chicken.” “Oh, so they just feed a lot of corn to a chicken and then cook the chicken.” Was this what it felt like to love a son? The years flew by. TJ remained a child, and Peter ignored his own children. The strange couple learned everything about Sonic. They became the Encyclopedia Sonnica. If you told them what you were going to eat, they knew exactly what kind of drink you should have with it.

“Bacon cheese toaster? Get a blue coconut slush. Squirt of chocolate, squirt of lemon. Oh, hold the bacon? In that case, orange cream slush, squirt of strawberry, and get some real limes in there, and a cherry. Yeah, they’ll do it. They have to do it for you if you ask.” They knew the names of all the kids in the Wacky Pack; first, last, and even middle names. They had written letters to Sonic’s CEO asking for their backstories, and when their letter was returned, they were disappointed with the flimsy answer.

“The Wacky Pack all live in ‘Wacky Land’? What the hell? That’s not even canon!”

They took it upon themselves to create a detailed universe for the characters - one that actually made sense. Their submission to Sonic Headquarters never received a reply. TJ often dreamed he was in the Wacky Pack, running and playing in a world of jungle gyms and smiling tater tots. They would make their pilgrimage to Oklahoma City and visit Sonic headquarters a few times a year. If a new product was coming out, they knew about it before anyone else. If Sonic announced a new dipping sauce on social media, TJ and Peter had posted about it 5 hours earlier on their own Sonic fan-website, along with a 1000-word critique. TJ baffled Peter in this department. Despite the fact he was illiterate, he could dictate a fast food product review that hit the ear like a Shakespearean sonnet. His words on the honey mustard dip actually made Peter weep. For once, TJ was exceptional at something. His mother’s cigarette burns were fading, both from his skin and from his memory. As for the carhops who delivered the food to them, their opinions were divided. Several of them affectionately called Peter and T.J. the Dailies, because they always showed up at least once a day. They called them by name, and Peter and T.J. knew their names too. That was the carhops who liked them. The others referred to them as “The Menu Fags”. Peter was “Coney Cunt”, and T.J. was “Tater Tard”. Trixie was their favorite carhop. 20 years old, chubby, a front tooth missing. Hearing their Sonic trivia was always the high point of her day. And Peter would stay up all night researching mind blowing fun facts, just so he could recite them to her the next time she served them. She was impressed with him, for God’s sakes. No way would he let her down. On the rare occasion he made love to his wife, he imagined her with a visor and rollerskates. One night as he crudely thrusted into her, he blurted, “Did you know Sonic was originally called Top Hat? They had to change the name because it was already taken - Unnng!” Janice was taken aback. “What are you talking about?” But by that point, Peter had already climaxed. Even his loads were starting to smell like fry oil. “God, I’d like her to sit on my face,” Peter pined as he spotted Trixie delivering to another spot one afternoon. “But how would you breathe?” T.J. laughed. “God, never mind. I need new friends.” A few minutes later, Trixie showed up with their food. “Hey, guys! I saw you got grape, coconut, and whipped cream in your lemonade. What’s the occasion?” Peter smiled bashfully. “No occasion. It’s just that I got extra onions and ketchup on my coney this time, so I figured it would hit the palate just right if I complemented it with something exotic.” “Interesting! Broadening your horizons, huh? You’re the expert I guess. So what have you got for me today?” Peter coyly raised one eyebrow. “Well, just out of curiosity, do you know what Sonic used to be called?” Trixie’s face brightened. “No way. It used to have a different name?” “Peter wants you to sit on his face!” Peter stared ahead blankly. TJ looked at him with an openmouthed smile. Trixie was frozen. “That’s 24.57,” she finally spoke. Peter didn’t turn his head. “Here’s a fifty. Keep the change.” “Hah! He wants your big fat butt on his face.” They didn’t see Trixie again after that. They tried several locations over the next few weeks, thinking maybe she transferred, but she was nowhere in sight. Peter’s libido officially collapsed. Once their favorite server was gone, they took more and more long-distance trips. They called it “Sonic Surveying”. They took notes. Which place has the freshest fries? The cleanest parking lot? Even better, which locations had menu items that nobody else had?

During one trip, TJ stuck his head out the window and struck a mailbox. Even though his scalp bled like a fountain, he held a towel to the wound and insisted they press on. His health could wait; he had to know if the El Caldera branch really did leave their corn dogs on one side for too long. Eventually, Sonic took up so much of Peter’s time that he had to quit his job at the water department. He signed up as a customer service rep for the sole reason that he could do it at home. As he sat at the computer, his eyes frequently flitted to his framed photograph he took of his neighborhood Sonic. Trixie was holding a Route 44 Dr. Pepper with blueberry flavoring, waving to the camera. Peter would occasionally run his finger over her breasts. As for TJ, he hadn’t had a real job his entire life. His mother was a wealthy heiress, and when she died he became a wealthy heir. But he had no desires beyond Sonic. The family accountant took care of the bills, and when TJ was home he watched his beloved cartoons with the Wacky Pack arranged all around him, all facing the TV. When women saw him in public in his Gucci sunglasses, they would often saunter over and flirt with him. But his childish attitude drove them away like the stench of a dead dog. Many of the would-be gold diggers assumed Peter was some kind of caretaker to the boy. After all, how could a man look so sullen, so empty, unless he was changing adult diapers 7 days a week? Peter was somewhat aware of their reputation among the Sonic workers. Through the windows, he’d occasionally see the fry cooks snicker and point at him. When he walked inside once to complain about his mozzarella sticks, he overheard one of them call him a “gaylord”. Since then, he often made it a point to mention his wife and kids while he bantered with TJ. “My kids would love these dino-shaped cookies.” “I should get another of these Valentine slushies for my wife.” “Wow. With these half-price root beers, I can get enough for my whole family. And fuck the ol’ wife later, if you know what I’m saying.” TJ never knew “what he was saying”. It wasn’t directed at him, anyway. It was just in case the Sonic twerps were listening. There was never a “moment of epiphany” when it came to Sonic. There wasn’t one specific day when Peter realized the restaurant had consumed his entire identity. It came little by little. The only thing was, he didn’t care. Where else would he be if it weren’t for Sonic?

Would he be back in his miserable cubicle reading meters 40 hours a week? Wow, sounds great.

Would he be playing with his kids? Fuck that shit. Those girls never loved him. Even when they were toddlers, they cried when he held them. They rejected his presence like an amputee can reject an arm transplant. He wasn’t their hero. He wasn’t even an authority figure. He was just a stranger in their house who paid the bills and kept their cell phones in working order.

His wife Janice? She’d never admit it, but she was just as hollow as he was. The fun, smart, challenging, sexy girl he fell in love with in college was as dead as Princess Diana. Buried in the casket of a fat old bitter woman, but dead all the same. Who had the right to say he was wasting his time, anyway? What do other people do? Watch sports? See movies? Play games? Listen to music? Everyone on the planet was killing their time as far as Peter was concerned. Sonic was just his own version of wasting time. Entertaining himself with cheap food as the world spun around. As the faint lines on his face became deep wrinkles. As his hairline faded back like a tide. As his pooch became a pot belly and his teeth rotted. As the french fries under his seats got as hard as wood. As his daughters grew older. As they had their own children. As the world’s countries collapsed into themselves. As the continents collided back into one. As the earth’s water baked into the sky from the heat of the sun. As the galaxy swallowed itself. We’re just killing time, at the speed of sound.

#fanfiction morbid originalstory

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bloodvbonerpg · 6 years

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BASICS :

Name: Aurora “Rory” Wolfgang-Child Age: 25 Race: Vampire Occupation: Hunter Faceclaim: Eliza Taylor Sexuality: Demisexual Status: Taken

TRAITS :

+ : spirited, buoyant, approachable

- : temperamental, artless, impetuous

THE STORY :

Her people were cave dwellers, living their lives between crags, hunting game and fishing in rapids, hiding their tracks and their smell and retreating behind easily-defended entrances amongst dizzying labyrinths of stone. Even as a human, she’d rarely seen the sun, and so learned to appreciate it all the more, whenever she ventured outside with foraging parties. She grew up learning to move as a shadow, able to see in the dark, trained to sharpen her hearing to detect the smallest flutter in the leafage, to track the path of the tiniest dislodged pebble. She learned what plants were good to eat, and what plants were good for healing. Like most people in this new world, hers was a life of bare necessities, of skills learned from need, where smiles were fleeting and laughter almost entirely absent.

At least, that was true enough for most of her tribe, moving like ghosts, taciturn and solemn, but silence had never came easily to her, not as easily as laughter did – she delighted in the smallest things, almost hell-bent on enjoying herself, fabricating small adventures and begging stories out of her older siblings to keep herself entertained during the long days bleeding into night inside their caves.

She was young enough to have no memories of the plains, and that transient existence, fraught with danger that came from such exposed places, and while she knew, like everyone else, of the Upyr and vampires, she had never witnessed an attack upon her own. They were protected by the heights they inhabited, by the foul weather and treacherous paths – easier prey was to be had further down, and they’d reasoned it’d have been a dire need indeed to prompt those creatures to scale such forbidding mountains for so meagre a bounty.

They’ve found as much peace as could be found in the world, but it was not to last. Spring was often a more dangerous time in the mountains than the coldest winter, for the snow turned soft and treacherous and the most inane of movements would summon an avalanche to bury them all. The rivers, too, swelled dangerously, their cave turning damp and cold. Dry wood was not to be had anywhere, and fire was slow to catch, and was more trouble than it was worth, smoking too much and barely giving off any heat. They had to leave the relative safety of their sanctuary, lest they all sickened and died. It was better to run, and return on better days, for catastrophes such as this did not happen every year.

Having lived in the forest for so long, they knew how to be quiet, how to cover their tracks, and they were not planning to leave the mountain range completely at any rate, just go low enough to keep safe from the fury of nature. It had not occurred to them that if the weather had so avenged itself upon them as high as they were, that the plains had suffered from flooding as well, scattering the already scarce human population and the vampires hunting in those parts had felt compelled to turn their sights to higher ground.

Aurora was awake when the descended on their small party, staring at the stars, cold and damp and so miserable she could not sleep. She didn’t even realize what was happening at first, they moved so fast, she thought herself so exhausted that her vision had begun playing tricks on her. It kept her still for long enough to be almost unnoticed under the bundle of furs, it saved her from the brutality of the first wave, where killing was foremost in their minds. By the time she rolled out of her makeshift bed, she was convinced she was going to die. Such certainty did not dim her outrage, even if it was mainly born out of desperation.

She’d always been reckless, a daredevil who gave her older siblings no small amount of grief with her antics, with a complete lack of self-preservation, just as quick to anger as she was to laugh. She didn’t want to die, but if she had to, she preferred to go down fighting. Capricious by nature, ever in the grip of her emotions, Aurora let them rule her, as she always did, and right then she was trapped by a sense of surrealism at the scene around her – one could never truly fear creatures they’ve heard of only in stories, not from the very first. And a few seconds of insane courage was all it took for her to make her move.

It probably wouldn’t have worked if she’d been the target, but as still as she’d been, she must have seemed beneath their notice, so she grabbed a burning log from the fire and tossed it into the melee of blurring forms. She always did believe fortune favoured the brave, and her act of defiance proved fruitful. Not a killing blow, but one of them tripped over it anyway, and she gasped, elated and feeling avenged, even though they saw her then, even though she’d just brought death closer.

She was certainly prideful enough to meet her end with a snarl on her face, an expression that froze, and slackened as one of the vampires slowed down enough for her to see his face. She’d always assumed she could tell monsters apart, a childhood belief she never grew out of, but the sight that greeted her looked close enough to her own kind to give her pause. Not that struggling would have made much of a difference, but by the time she recovered, his teeth were already breaking skin, sucking the life out her.

She remembers the moment mechanically, the pain dulled by shock, how she only realized she’d burned her hand when she tried to push him away, and she remembers feeling thirsty, swallowing salt by the mouthful, making it worse with each gulp. The sickness, the kaleidoscope of nonsensical images, an impression of being moved, her indignation at the ingloriousness of death, at the blinding agony of it, wondering when it would end and failing to figure out the answer.

She remembers her vicious, ineffectual struggle only distantly, her desperate flailing and kicking, the realization that while most of her blows connected they seemed to hold no weight. She thought it a dubious honour to be told she’d been turned by the Blood King himself, might have even blurted it out loud in the first few moments of waking to find the world unbearably sharpened, so alarmingly loud she shied away at first (noise still meant death to her, it would keep on worrying her for months), and she half-heartedly swiped at those closest to her, surprised to find herself so steady on her feet. Other than a maddening thirst, her throat so raw she could barely make a sound, she felt surprisingly whole, quite a contrast from her most recent memories, but none of the small pains she had expected troubled her.

“This one’s got nerve,” someone had said and Rory narrowed her eyes at the words, unsettled to find herself the centre of attention. Her sister called her foolish once, during one of their worst fights. Foolish, and mule-headed and selfish because she had vanished for two days into a snowstorm and returned dragging the half frozen carcass of a stag on a makeshift sleigh. Bravery was seen more as a curse, a threat to those around her and to find someone who appreciated her flashy bravado was disconcerting.

“I’m thirsty,” her gaze settled on the single face she recognized, and her voice croaked with disuse, and she did not know why she’d even chosen to speak, or why she’d decided he was the one she should address. It took all the iron in her veins to not flinch at the way he smirked at her.

Although Aurora was most shocked to comprehend she continued on, it was even more shocking to realize she didn’t mind being a vampire at all. She’d been keen-sighted before, now she was one of the best scouts in the Blood Hunt. What she’d learned of stealth as a human couldn’t hold a candle to how silent she’d become now. And it was exhilarating to feel so strong and so fast, if only the hunger wouldn’t so easily drive her to distraction. It was hard to control herself, harder still when no one else encouraged it. She tried, though, and when she failed and killed, she tried again the next time.

When word of Sanctuary reached the Blood Court, she was amongst the first who wanted to go, the most disappointed when the king refused, and when it finally looked like he’d finally decided to join this settlement, she pleaded with her maker to take her with them. She wanted to know if there was any hope of humans and vampires coexisting peacefully, she dearly wished it would turn out to be more than a foolish dream.

CONNECTIONS :

Wolfgang Arcturus-Child : Part of her is terrified of her maker and uneasy in his presence. Vampires might not put much stock in bloodlines, but when one’s sire is the Blood King, the others’ scrutiny is a heavy burden to bear, especially to someone with her mercurial moods. She’s constantly torn between deference and defiance, between her desire to be loyal to him, and her inherent urge to rebel against authority. Her devotion is absolute, but grudgingly given, and she cannot say how much of it is genuine, and how much is a by-product of the bond formed on one’s turning. It is the first time she has had to face these doubts head on, for it is the first time she’s not in accord with him – she wants Sanctuary to thrive, she truly believes vampires can survive on the blood the humans donate, and it’s disheartening to know that given the chance, he would break the truce as soon as it suits him.

Ayanna Cadeyrn : Aurora likes her more than she probably ought, and she feels mildly guilty about that. She cannot help but admire the Sanctuary’s Keeper, and want to be near her, content to just talk about plans for the compound. She’s not entirely comfortable in her presence, though, and questions the wisdom of bringing the Upyr in on the truce. In her view, what Ayanna demands of them for the citizenship is nothing short of a slow, torturous death. It isn’t that she pities the creatures, she hated them as a human, and her animosity wasn’t quenched by her becoming a vampire. She’s worried about everyone else’s safety, though. She cannot help but judge the world through her own perspective, and she would never accept starving to death for the sake of peace, herself. The Upyr are doubtless planning something, and while it will be the humans who suffer the brunt of their uprising, she does not want to see her kind caught in the crossfire.

Reginmund Wolfgang-Child : She finds him somewhat distant, too placid and absent-minded to really put her at ease, but she’s endlessly curious about all the things he tinkers with, curious, like him, about how things work. She wants to learn to read and write, and while she’s too restless and boisterous by half to enjoy spending much time coped up with only books for company, he’s proven to be quite a restful presence on the few occasions she seeks out peace and quiet.

Ragar Wolfgang-Child : Training with him is the one thing that helps distract her from the hunger, from the constant sound of rushing blood and beating hearts. His unconcerned charm is a source of delight for her, and she finds him easiest to talk to out her new found family of undead hellions. Not terribly discerning by nature, she was quickly won over by his smooth talk, and readily believes much of what he tells her.

FC is NON-NEGOTIABLE

#eliza taylor fc #bvb: aurora wolfgangchild #bvb: takenf #bvb: takenv #r: vampire #c: aurora wolfgangchild #fc: eliza taylor

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sassasquashedgrapes · 7 years

Text

Another Story: A Glee x Kissed by the Baddest Bidder Cross-over

It’s me again! Your friendly neighborhood, Squashed Grape.

It’s been a while since I got into the fanfic (or any literal stuff) and decided to do some fan service today. This is an old post but a goodie. You see, I’ve been a fan of Glee during the early days and was also a huge Otome player (lol. the closest to player I’ll ever be). And made this fanfic cross-over of sorts inspired from the Voltage Inc story, Kissed by the Baddest Bidder. Actually I *might* have switched the names a bit and the plot line is from the intro except for a few tweaks. Anyway, I just wanna lay it all down there so nobody starts yelling bloody murder.

After all, wasn’t 50 Shades like some fan service to Twilight, so haters can just move along now, Nothing to see.

So without much further ado, a short story cross-over for y’all!!

By the way, be prepared for a series of long fanfics of Glee coming at your way. This is only just the beginning of the Hargreave brothers.

click below

Another Story: Kissed By The Baddest Bidder/Glee Fanfic.

I’ve always been a huge fan of the otome game and the delicious notion of having someone used up for bidding, using the Glee characters seemed absolutely too good to resist. How could I? So shall we? Elian “Ian” Hargreave – Eisuke Ichinomiya Mike Chang – Soryu Oh, the cool mobster Noah Puckerman – Mitsunari Baba, the philandering theif Kurt Hummel – Ota Kisaki , the artist. Lol I know, Ota doesn’t swing that way but I always pegged Ota as a closet anyway. Cooper Anderson – Mamuro Kishi, the lazy detective and of course: Lucy Quinn Fabray – MC

Quinn Fabray is different in this storyline. I made a parallel universe of sorts, changing a bit of her past to make her come to her present future. So instead of moving to McKinley High, Lucy Q. Fabray’s father, Russel, dies of a heart attack and thus her mother remarries another man who worked as a hotel concierge manager in one of the most prestigious hotels in New York, the fictional hotel/casino Wyndham, (loosely based on the Waldorf Astoria) which is owned by then the family of Elian Hargreave’s grandfather who eventually takes over the hotel after graduating from high school. Quinn has grown up in the hotel, pretty much understanding and loving every detail and aspect of it, treating it as if it were her own family since she pretty much lead a lonely life in New York, being a small town girl from Ohio who turned out to grow into a beautiful young woman. This storyline is inspired by the Otome route of Eisuke Ichinomiya, whom I think was the best storyline for someone like her. I’m way too biased that I don’t think I want to share Soryu Oh with her, hahaha. Fast forward to the present, Quinn just graduated from Yale, but is now working he as a chambermaid in the hotel to earn extra cash at the same time pay for her college loans while she looks for a job.

Prologue: As I feel a trickle of sweat behind my back while being in the middle of the spotlight, I start to wonder as I stare into the crowd facing me “how on earth did I ever come to this?”

12 hours earlier

“Good morning,” I greet cheerfully as I swing open the door in locker room of the female changing hall as if I’ve done so many times over. I’m working during the summer as a maid at a hotel owned by the Hargreave Group, which is a large company that owns banks, trading companies, locally and overseas.

“Good morning, Lucy,” greets Marley, one of the maids who also works part-time in the hotel. I know for a fact that she looks old enough to still be in highschool, but I’ve never bothered to pry into matters like gossip. As long as they keep to their business, I keep to mine. But despite it, I feel like I could confide in her because she seems so open and nice.

“The VIP convention starts today. I am super excited,” Marley grins as she mentions one of the annual big events the hotel/casino throws.

“I’ll bet you’d be way too busy to get excited since you’ll be working at the casino floor,” I grin back thinking how exhausted I’m going to be once this convention is over. I’ve been living in the Wyndham since I was 15 after my dad died and my mother remarried. I’d come to love it as if it were my own family and was familiar with its daily routine until 4 years ago when it underwent a massive renovation into becoming the first hotel/casino in New York. It had been quite a scandal at first, with government officials opposing the idea of bringing “Las Vegas” to the metropolis, but the whole issue died down after a while and for the last two years, the Wyndham, became New York’s first legal casino and hotel.

“Don’t you wish you could work at the IVC?” Marley was referring to the International VIP Convention, one of the newly annual conventions frequented by Hollywood A-list stars, World leaders, socialites and big time businessmen who gathered once a year to play at the casinos and have a go into dabbling in a world of glamour

“Yeah, that would be great.” I agreed quietly.

“Well, that’s the goal of everyone who works here.” Marley sighed as she hunkered on the bench and rested her elbow on her knee as she propped her head on her hand. “I’ve been dreaming about it ever since I saw it on TV. Seeing movie stars, top athletes, and other super famous people all over the world gathered here in this party. I even heard Perez Hilton was so pissed that he didn’t get an invite.” She pursed her lips conspiratorially.

“You know, when I applied for this job a few months ago, I didn’t think I was going to be hired that I thought I was dreaming when I actually did.” Marley grinned happily. I smiled feeling how infectious her mood was, she was so upbeat by the whole thing, I didn’t want to look like a kill joy so I agreed.

“Oh my god.” She stopped suddenly as if she had thought of something of real importance. “What if some rich, famous guy falls in love with me at first sight?” I hope he knows you’re barely 18, I mentally think and almost utter it out loud but I stop myself and….

“Haha, keep dreaming.” I just say instead.

Whew, that was close. Our VIP guests are important, but I also value working for our regular guests, too. I had just graduated in a Marketing degree at Yale, but with the recession, jobs were scarcely handed and I didn’t feel the need to dabble in doing freebies as an Intern in a big corporation, when I could be earning much more doing it here in Wyndham. It really isn’t so bad. I really didn’t care that much about image anyway since moving to New York. Somehow the anonymity of it all had liberated me from the confines of the shallowness that I had experienced living in Lima, Ohio that I didn’t give a damn anymore.

I thought about the IVC, the International VIP Convention, Wyndham’s largest annual event is today and the international publicity with the media hanging around the area was totally insane. Unlike Marley, I had actually dreaded this more because I knew things were busier and a lot more tense than usual. My step-father, Charlie was one of the managers of the hotel and was in charge of the VIP guests lounge and had direct connections to the owner, Mr. Elian Hargreave. I heard a lot about the new owner, how accomplished he was despite his young age. He was featured in Forbes magazine as the most successful businessman under 40 years of age (rumors had it that he couldn’t be more than 30 years old.) He reminded me of a true-to-life Bruce Wayne, ridiculously handsome in a dark, mysterious way and was always surrounded by beautiful women. I knew my sister, Fran was crushing on him big time that she even begged Charlie for an introduction, but to no avail.

As we left the locker room and head to the hotel lobby, where a crowd of reporters and onlookers gathered, people whom I’ve only seen on TV or on a movie screen started appearing, strutting as if they were meant to walk down the red carpet and enter the magnificent lobby as if it were from a Hollywood movie scene.

“Oh. My God.” Marley’s mouth literally hung wide open. “Look who just got out of that limo.”

I crane my neck and look around thinking that she just saw the famous TV actress who was in a popular teen show. What was her name again? Elena Davenport? She was famous for being in this TV show about a love triangle between a vampire and a cyborg. It was insane how people were shouting her name as if it were part of her entourage. She looked stunning with her black hair and her golden skin that had obviously seen the tropics recently. She was then accompanied by an equally handsome young man who stood well over six feet tall and had a shock of black brown hair.

“That guy’s always on the VIP list. They call him the King,” Marley whispers as if we’re in church.

“I thought that was Elvis,” I quipped chuckling at her disgruntled look. I knew what she meant. I wasn’t one to get caught up in celebrity gossip, but that King she was referring to was no other than the owner of the Wyndham, Mr. Hargreave. He gallantly bowed offering his arm to Elena who gave him a dazzling smile as she took his arm. Hanging on the other side of his arm was also someone famous. I heard she was the new Broadway superstar and her name was Rachel Berry. Behind him was another famous model who often graced those ads in Vogue and a famous British reality show actress.

All the women around him are famous, I think dully as I look down in my frumpy uniform. For some odd feeling I felt a pang of something that I couldn’t understand wash over me. Before I had time to even think about it, Marley again interrupted my thoughts by whispering again on my ear.

“He’s been living in the penthouse suite for a while now.” “Of course he does, he owns the hotel.”

“But it costs tens and thousands of dollars to stay there for the night.” Marley argued.

“Maybe it’s a lot more convenient to keep tabs of work here than living on Park Avenue or at the East Side.” I shrugged watching as Mr. Hargreave pays no attention to the huge crowd and walks straight ahead.

I realize that I can’t take my eyes off him. I’ve heard the how the female hotel staff would gush about how hot he was, but seeing him in the flesh just took my breath away.

“Aaaah!!! Over here, Elian!!!” one of the women from the mass crowd screams holding a phone camera hoping to get a picture of him.

Suddenly, a group of women, thinking about doing the same thing start running towards him and bump into me and I feel myself being pushed right into the crowd and on to the red carpet.

SMACK!

I feel like I just hit a wall and close my eyes bracing myself for the pain to follow after the impact. Instead I feel a band of steel arms hold me close, as if to steady me from the madness. I then pry my eyes open and find myself staring into a pair of steel gray blue eyes that were placed like jewels on a handsome chiseled face.

Mr. Hargreave!!

“Aah, I- I’m so sorry,” I stammered, feeling the rush of blood flow straight at my face and into my brain as I continue to look at him, almost mesmerized yet horrified by what had just transpired. I still feel his arms around me and I could just tell that this multibillionaire really does work out because he’s practically hugging me right now.

“What do you think you’re doing?” a haughty voice belonging to the new Broadway ingénue pipes up beside Mr. Hargreave. She sounds almost disgusted by the sight of me. I can see from the corner of my peripheral vision that Elena Davenport was smirking as if amused by what was happening. God, I didn’t think she was such a bitch until now.

But instead of voicing that sentiment out, I knew I had a job at stake and right now it was totally hanging in the balance. I had just publicly humiliated myself in front of the owner of the hotel and his guests and was drawing unnecessary attention right now and it was more than I could honestly bear. I swallow and gather myself before bitchy Quinn Fabray comes out and try to mutter an apology again but am cut short by a curt, masculine and surprisingly sexy voice.

“Get out of the way,” Mr. Hargreave says as he suddenly pulls away from me, and pushes me not quite gently aside.

“What?” I mutter in disbelief as I lose my balance and fall flat on my butt to the ground.

Owwwww..

I look at slight disdain at the man who apparently was also my boss, but his muscular, tapered back was the only thing that could see that look on my face as I watch walk further away. He brushes off his suit as if he had just encountered a speck of dust and before I thought he had finally dismissed me, turns his head and shoots me a glare and then suddenly disappears into the casino hall.

I suddenly realize with a shock that I still had that look of displeasure on my face and grimaced as I rubbed my lower back, trying yet again to stead myself as the crowd disappeared into where Mr. Hargreave and his entourage were headed. Marley quickly comes rushing over to my side.

“Are you okay, Luce?” She asks me, totally concerned as she called me by my nickname. I haven’t been called Lucy for a while, I had been using Quinn since I had come to New York, but somehow there was a comfort in still being known as Lucy while here in the confines of the Wyndham.

“Yeah, my butt and my pride are fine,” I say.

“Oh my God. Mr. Hargreave caught you in his arms. I am so totally jealous! Did he smell nice? Was he really as buff underneath that suit as they say?” Marley was acting like a puppy dog fawning over that jerk.

“I don’t know, I don’t even r-remember,” I lied because I had just mentally scratched Elian Hargreave off as a completely cold, aloof, unfeeling human being. The nerve of that man! He didn’t even bother to defend me while I, one of his staff members, was berated by that Broadway bitch Berry.

Hmm. That had a nice ring to it. I feel tons better knowing that the girl could have used a plastic surgeon as good as the one who did my nose.

Come to think of it, Elian Hargreave was actually pretty frightening. I’ve seen how New Yorkers glare sometimes, but that cold look was totally at subzero levels worthy of the Artic.

I smooth out my clothes and hear the click clack of high heels behind me.

“Just what were you thinking, making a fool out of yourself?” a cold, voice tinged with an Italian accent snapped me back to reality. “And in front of such important guests and even the owner of this hotel?”

“Miss Thelma, “ I say coolly plastering a smile at one of the hotel managers. Thelma Caparano has been on my ass since the day I started working at the Wyndham when she found out I graduated with honors on my Marketing degree from Yale. Perhaps it was that and because I’m Charlie’s kid that she thinks I deserve to be more ill-treated than a worn-out mule from a third world country. She stands imposingly before me, all dressed up in her expertly tailored uniform as she clacked impatiently on her Prada heels waiting for me to answer her.

“I’m sorry, Ma’am. It was an accident…”

“You are at fault for not paying attention to what’s going on around you,” she clucked her tongue at me, looking at me disapprovingly under those heavy glasses that framed her would-have-been pretty-if-she-wasn’t-such-a-bitch face. She was probably a few years older than me, but the harshness of her demeanor just made her look like petulant and almost bratty for a woman in her mid-thirties.

“Aren’t you in charge of the regular guests, Fabray?” She asks with a smirk on her face.

Oh boy, she does enjoy torturing me.

“You have no business even being here in the lobby. Not unless you get promoted to handling the VIP guests. But you won’t get that chance, would you? Not even if you begged your stepfather.” She laughed as if she had just thought of that joke and it was funny.

Ugh. I am totally so close to slapping her but instead I reply setting my gaze downcast hoping that she won’t see me seething as I meekly reply “Yes, Miss Thelma.”

“Well, since you’re here,” she motions to one of her hotel assistants who was following her like a dog who hands over a box as she shoves it towards me. “Go to every floor and drop off these announcement letters while you’re at it. These are for the guests who wish to avail of the spa promo package we are having in honor of the IVC.”

“Okay,” I say since arguing about doing a herculean task is going to go nowhere anyway since this angry vampire is out for my blood. She’s always been a bully and since I would never dared complain of this to Charlie even though I could have, I decide I might as well just shut up and deal with it. I turn and nod to Marley, saying my goodbyes and head towards the elevators.

As I walk by, I see a man, about my age arguing with a young woman about something in front of the elevator. The woman is wearing a dress that looks like something from the recent Fashion Week runway as she throws a mask at the man at the same time spewing a litany of curses in fluent French.

“Connard!! Baise toi!” she screamed as the man looked back in her as if in shock. “You lying, cheating scum! I never want to see you again.” With that, she gave him a resonant slap in the face for added effect before she walked out of the hotel.

This is awkward. I turn my attention instead to the mask that looked as if it were something one wore to a masquerade ball. I suddenly got an image of 50 shades of Grey and find myself staring at the mask lying on the floor. I was about to pick it up when the man who was slapped earlier moves quicker than I could and in a blink of an eye was brushing it off as if were the only precious thing that mattered to him.

Wow, his hands were fast like those of a magician. I turn to look at him and realize that he wasn’t bad looking either. He was of above average height and was muscularly built, but a bit thicker than Mr. Hargreave. He also had dark hair and had the most dazzling pair of emerald green eyes I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t tell what his hair was like underneath that Fedora hat that just made him look like the epitome of 1920’s gangster cool in a modern way.

Fedora Hat sighs dramatically. “Great, now I don’t have a date.” He says as if talking to himself then realizes I’m watching him. When our eyes meet, I quickly look away self-consciously because I didn’t want him to know that I had been caught staring at him. I try to act cool despite the awkward tension but know that he saw me witness the whole thing.

“You saw that, didn’t you?” He smirks, as if reading my mind.

“Yeah. I-I’m really sorry.” I backed away slowly as if avoiding being pounced by some agitated animal.

“Aw, come on. Don’t run away,” Fedora Hat laughs as he gently takes my arm as he leads me towards the elevator, completely ignoring the fact that I’m in the hotel maid’s uniform with a box of undelivered fliers on the other arm. “I’ll explain everything when we get there.”

“S-Sir?”

Before I know it, the man ignores my protests and continues to guide me, half-dragging me into the elevator with him. We’re alone in the elevator and to be honest, this is the first time I’ve been to the basement area. I’m surprised that the basment’s elevator looks just as elegant as the regular floor elevators. It sort of reminded me of going into a secret lair of some evil villain but at the same time being cooped inside a glass bird cage of sorts. I tried to avert my attention to the man beside me and look instead at the buttons of the elevator as the blinking lights affirmed our descent to the unknown.

“Whew! I’m lucky I found you,” Fedora Hat grins at me, still holding onto my arm having no intention of letting me go. His grip isn’t painful nor in any way gentle, but it’s firm enough to hold me into place. As if wanting to distract me from thinking of it, he adds “coz there’s no way I could go to the party without a beautiful woman on my arm. That would be a total buzzkill.”

Buzzkill? Who says that sort of thing these days?

“Party? You mean, the IVC?”

“The One and Only. Isn’t it obvious how I’m dressed?” He opens one free arm to show his expensive Italian cut suit. Definitely Armani now that I got a closer look. And definitely custom made as it fits him perfectly.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that you—“

“Hahaha. I’m kidding, babe. Man, you’re kinda uptight for a pretty thing. Were you raised in some Christian Bible thumping school or something?”

“Uh, that’s because I work at this hotel,” I say slowly almost as if trying to hint that I’m still in my maid’s uniform, completely ignoring the fact that he’s actually right about me being Christian. “So technically, I can’t go with you to the party as your date, sir.”

“What are you talking about? The reason why that woman earlier left was so you could be my date, Lucy.” He smiles in the most seductive, sexiest way possible as he finally noticed the name plate on my uniform.

Whoa, this one’s pretty dangerous. And a hopeless flirt as well. I try not to show my fear when grabs my chin and lifts it up to meet his face as he peers down, bringing it closer to mine. I can feel his breath grazing against me as he looks into my eyes.

“Definitely my type. Angel blonde hair, mesmerizing green eyes, and luscious lips…” he trails on softly as I sort of feel his face coming closer. He moves way to fast and I try to squirm away, backing off thinking now I understood perfectly why he got dumped in the first place.

DING! Saved by the bell of the basement floor. The elevator arrives at a full stop at the ballroom and Fedora Hat quickly backs off and casually straightens himself as if nothing of importance was about to take place. He could even care less whether he kissed me or not. Jeez.

“Let’s rock and roll, Princess.” He announces and gives off a broad smile as if putting on a game face. And contrary to his calm demeanor, he drags me out into the ballroom before I can protest as I’m lead into the glamorous ballroom that reminded me from a scene of a Hollywood movie.

I gaped in awestruck fascination, marveling how I could have possibly missed out the new renovations at the Wyndham. The renovations had still managed to maintain some of the old architecture, paying detail to preserving its original Art Deco state, but added with contemporary minimalist design, it’s mixture was astounding and beyond words. I had no means of any background in architecture, but this was like walking into the Hall of Fame on architectural immortality. I was shocked that everyone present were almost nonchalant of the genius behind the design and how lavishly decorated the ballroom was to the point that even the catering was handled in the most A-list of ways. I turn my attention to the gorgeous Swarovski crystals that were adorning the chandeliers that were hanging from the high ceiling.

The entire floor was jam-packed with the rich and famous that I wasn’t even sure if I was hallucinating because it was too much sensory overload to be true. I turn my head and notice Cristian Renaldi, the famous World cup soccer player from Spain to my right. And that’s the famous Hollywood actress, Julie Moore. And even the former President of the United States is over there? I feel like Alice in Wonderland being wrapped around the surrealness of it all being around these celebrities that it takes me a moment to get back to earth and finally notice that Fedora Hat who had dragged me here in the first place was gone.

Huh? Where’d he go?

Suddenly, I hear a womanly voice from behind me.

“Hey, do you have any champagne?” I turn around and am surprised that it wasn’t a woman, but a young man with an angelic face whose skin was as flawless as fine bone china. He had soft, brown hair and bright blue eyes. He looked so familiar because his face was on the cover of this month’s issue of People Magazine being tagged as one of the 25the most beautiful People of the World of this year.

“K-Kurt Hummel!!!” I gasp, recognizing the mega hyphenate National artist/ Pulitizer prize winning Children’s Novelist/ Socialite.

“Oh, you know who I am.” He smiles brightly, happy to have been recognized in a sea of famous faces. “Thanks!”

“I-I’m sorry, I’ll look for the champagne now.” I mumble apolitically frantically looking for a bottle of Dom Perignon and Mr. Hummel chuckles behind me, as if thoroughly amused.

“You sure you work here, Alice?”

“P-Pardon?”

“You remind me of Alice in Wonderland when she fell down the rabbit hole and stumbled into the Mad Hatter’s party.” He moves away from me and reaches over the table behind me and lifts a bottle of Moet et Chandon and pours himself a glass. He then thrusts his newly refilled glass towards me nudging me to take a drink.

“Here. You could use one more than me,” he grins. I was about to protest but there was something harsh in his eyes telling me not to defy him as I emptied my glass.

“T-Thanks,” I was about to take the bottle and refill his glass for him when he shakes his head and takes the glass from my hands and pours himself another.

“Now, go on to doing whatever it was and I hope you get back home safely, Alice,” was all he says as he raises his champagne glass, giving me a wink of good luck for whatever it was I was about to partake. He leaves with a wave.

He definitely was spot on about what I was feeling right at that moment.

I should definitely get out of here before I cause any more trouble.

But before I do, another man stops me from my tracks. He’s over fifty, overweight, and perhaps a bit slightly drunk as he grins at me and grabs my hand. Ugh, he also seems really sleazy. “Aren’t you a pretty one?” He slurs and I inwardly flinch from the smell of alcohol and sweat coming from him. “You wanna come with me and give me room service? I’ll make it worth your while and give you a big tip afterwards.

Ewww. His head is shaped like an egg and his pock-marked face is flushed as he looks me up and down.

“I’m sorry, sir but we don’t offer that kind of service here.” I answer politely, knowing that we had been trained beforehand on how to deal with rude perverts like this guest.

He completely ignores me and starts going on how rich he is and how much is net worth is.

To be honest, it wasn’t really much.

He then slips his arm around my waist and is about to pull me towards him when…

“This party just got really trashy.” A familiar masculine voice announced icily. I turn my head towards my savoir and realize that it’s Mr. Hargreave. He ignores my gasp of surprise and scowls at the sleaze holding me.

“I’d rather appreciate it, sir, if you kept your attention from the hotel staff and settle instead for the bevy of beauties surrounding you,” Elian Hargreave grinned sardonically nodding his head towards a group of runway models who flirtly waved back. And just when I thought he couldn’t intimidate the sleazebag, he looked at me as if I were a piece of trash marring the ambience and added cruelly. “Besides, you could totally do better than THAT. This one’s hardly a raving beauty.”

“I-I’m really sorry, Mr. Hargreave, sir! Pardon me!!!” Sleazebag bows apologetically quickly letting go of me as if he had been burned and kept his distance from me like I was infected with Ebola or something. He furiously wipes away his sweat and runs off.

“T-Thank you, Mr. Hargreave,” I say, totally ignoring the pain that he had brushed me off as a ugly and unattractive. But then again, men like him are probably used to just dating models that even ingénues were all blasé for him.

“Let’s go, Elian,” one of the pretty models whom he nodded to a while back approached him and casually hooked her arm around his, totally ignoring me.

“I can’t stand people who don’t know their place,” another one of those long legged giraffes piped in hooking her arm around his other free one as if she were about to die in a desert and he was her oasis.

As if he didn’t even acknowledge my existence and hadn’t even heard me, he turned his back as if nothing had ever happened a few minutes ago before being led away by the Amazonian Brazilian bimbos. He starts walking still surrounded by women and I’m completely overwhelmed as I watch him walk away. I suddenly notice a purple handkerchief on the floor behind him. I remember this being a part of his suit and realize that he dropped it.

Almost without thinking, I picked it up and started going after him.

“Uhm, sir! Excuse me, I think you dropped this—“ I try to chase after Mr. Hargreave but he gets lost in the crowd and I can’t seem to find him.

Oh, wait! There he is!!

I make my way through the crowd and follow him as he makes an exit to the far end of the ballroom.

A long, deserted hallway stretches out behind the door that Mr. Hargreave enters.

“Wait. Where did he go?”

There are several doors on either side of the hallway and I didn’t catch up with him in time to even know which doors did he enter. However, I hear voices coming from the far end. But somehow, as I strain to hear from the distance I get the feeling the conversation wasn’t even in English. I shake my head, thinking that I really have to return this handkerchief back to Mr. Hargreave, I strengthen my resolve and make my way towards the door where the voices were coming from. I note the door is slightly ajar, which explains why I could hear them. I peek through the gap and see several briefcases lying on a table surrounded with guns and large sums of money being packed by three Asian looking men dressed in all black discussing where to put the money in perfect Cantonese and before I could see more, I feel a large hand grab me by the shoulder and roughly pulls me away, swinging me around and forces me up against a wall…

Fear and surprise of being caught seeing something I shouldn’t have take over that I feel like I just might have suffered my first heart attack.

But unfortunately, that doesn’t happen.

Instead, my heart starts pounding again in fear as I’m facing a tall, Asian man of slim, yet muscular build with broad shoulders and powerful muscles who is now glaring at me and asks in in slightly cold, yet scarily threatening voice. His hair is slicked back and even though I know he’s actually quite good looking, I’m paralyzed with fear to hardly even notice.

“What are you doing here?” He demands as he pins me against the wall as his sharp eyes look at me.

Oh dear, God.

It happened so suddenly my body starts to tremble as I start to realize that maybe he is one of those gun men and those men aren’t just hotel guests. But Mafia? Triad?

What on earth should I do?

I breathe and swallow but it’s way too hard to even do so. Instead I focus on his face and answer.

“I-I- w-w-ork h-he---“ He completely ignores me and says instead, “you’ve got give seconds to walk away, disappear and forget everything you just saw. Got it? Otherwise, I’d hate to think what would happen to you after.” He also said it in a way that sounded like he was talking to a five-year old. A not very bright one at that too.

I nod wordlessly over and over, desperate to get away and he immediately lets me go. I run so fast my legs get tangled up with each other at first and don’t even think of where I’m headed. I just run to the point of exhaustion and find myself at the basement storage room. I close the door behind me and try to catch my breath, relieved with the fact that I have just barely escaped with my life as I offer a silent prayer and make the sign of the cross in complete gratitude that the scary Asian Mafia guy just let me go.

I ruminate over the thought of how it was possible for the Triad, one of the notorious Asian Mafias could be tied up to an event like the IVC? Were those guys even part of the Triad? Maybe they weren’t even mafia.

Get a hold of yourself, Fabray. Keep it together. I have just realized right at this moment I had actually lost the box of flyers I was holding earlier. I wasn’t sure if I had lost somewhere from that struggle between me and Fedora Hat, or that Mad Hatter encounter with Kurt Hummel, or even with the Middle Aged Sleazebag . I try again to get my body to function properly as I compose myself thinking over again where I had last left it and realized that it was on the table where I had been with Mr. Hummel.

Just as I swing the door open, I hear a loud crashing THUD.

The door I just swung had collided into something and I could hear a group of men scream “Watch out!!!”

I see two mean-looking men peeking at the other end of the door looking helplessly as the box they were carrying drops to the ground.

“Shit! That was the Winged Victorian Angel!”

Oh no. I remember from the news that this 300 year old museum artifact was meant to be raffled off as the grand prize at the IVC. It had been shipped all the way from the Louvre in Paris as a gift from the newly elected French President to the United States. The proceeds of the IVC’s funding and the raffle were meant to help the victims of Typhoon Haiyan somewhere in the Philippines.

I quickly open the crate box and find the statue was broken in half and my heart just drops to my stomach in nameless shock.

I am way too shocked to even mutter an apology. Not only did I just destroy what might have been a National Treasure, millions of homeless Filipino children were going to starve and suffer.

“Hey, this was a very important piece that was going to be auctioned off.” The slim mean-looking guy barks at me, ignoring my shocked state. Did he just say auctioned? Didn’t he mean it was going to be raffled?

“How are you gonna pay for this?” Asks the Fat Meanie beside him.

“Uh…..Sorry?”

“You think an apology is gonna cut it? You owe us, bitch!”

The men reach out to me and….

……………..

And I find myself being auctioned off. The host of the eveing had just announce d that the next bid was me, a healthy fit young Caucasian American.

Is this even legal? I think as I swallow in fear hearing the bids knock from $2 million to higher. I got put up in place of that Winged Victory Angel.

The mere fact that someone just started the bid off at $2 million was unreal.

I could barely make through the crowd as everyone was wearing masks similar to the masquerade mask Fedora Hat had with him when his date dumped him. But somehow I felt with a sinking dread that the person who placed the initial bid was the Middle Aged Creep from before. Oh crap, is he really going to buy me? I definitely do NOT want that at all.

“$2 million, going once……going twice……”

I heard the announcer say that I’d be a slave, or a toy, or……God knows. This is horrible. I try to shake myself off this nightmare, but I know what I’m going through right now was just as real as everything that partook 12 hours ago.

Oh God, how did I get to this? I fall to my knees, hang my head in shame as I feel the tears well in my eyes start to overflow.

I start praying hoping that Charlie, or my Mom or Fran could find me before it’s too late…..

Just then….

The auction hall suddenly buzzes with commotion as the announcer stops from closing the deal.

“Seat number 100 with a bid for $20 million cash.”

The crowd is drawn into complete silence.

I peer through the gates to look for 100, but whoever was bidding was not in the crowd. All I could do was stare up at the sum of the winning bid, completely dumbfounded as a bell sounds, calling the auction to a close.

“Sold to Seat Number 100 for $20 million. Thank you!!”

Someone bought me for twenty million US dollars?

My cage is carried over to the edge of the stage. As I get off, I’m greeted by two masked men. They weren’t the mean jerks from earlier but something about them looks vaguely familiar. One of them looked to be wearing a Fedora Hat.

Fedora Hat bought me? Before I even get the chance to ask, Fedora Hat in the mask grabs my arm and says” This way….”

Wait, what the heck am I being so nervous for? At least it’s Fedora Hat who bought me and not that Middle Aged Creep. But where are they going to take me now?

And who bought me?

I feel totally numb from this crazy situation that I don’t even notice that I’m brought up into the penthouse.

I gasp in marvel looking at my surroundings, knowing that out of all the hotel employees, only Charlie and a few other managers were ever allowed to come up here.

Wait, speaking of Charlie, does he even know about those weird auctions happening at the basement?

“We brought her, boss.” Fedora Hat announces to the man in the immaculate tux seated on one of the elegant sofas. Like Fedora Hat and the other man, he was also wearing a mask, but something about him looked made me sense that I’ve also encountered this man before. Even the other man seated beside him also with a shock of black hair was also wearing a mask also seemed vaguely familiar.

“Wait. You’re----“

“We bought you,” Mr. Hargreave says indifferently, removing his mask as if he didn’t even hear what I was about to say. The other man beside him followed suit.

“Guess we did end up seeing each other again,” the Asian Mafia guy remarks in the same casual, yet cold tone.

“You know this woman, Mike?” Hargreave raises his eyebrow almost as if in disbelief.

“You can say that.” He shrugs, not really giving a toss.

“Wait. You bought me? In that auction” I stammer, trying to still make sense of it all.

“He means WE won you, Alice.” Kurt Hummel corrects as I turn around in disbelief as he removes his mask as well.

“For $20 million, Princess. The boss must have it bad.” Fedora Hat grins as he casually throws his mask and lays it on the next empty sofa.

“M-Mr. Hummel?” I squeak, not sure if I was asking if Fedora Hat was referring him as ‘the boss’ or if I was just asking a reaffirmation that I knew at least another familiar but friendly face.

“Pffft!!! She doesn’t even know you’re name, Puck.” Kurt laughs.

“That because I didn’t have the time to tell her,” the man named Puck crosses his arms as if he were a pouting kid who wasn’t included in a game of tag.

“Isn’t this some form of human trafficking? I shouldn’t have even been up for that stupid auction in the first place.”

“Hey, anything and everything’s for sale at that auction.” Puck grins matter-of-factly, completely oblivious to the fact that I had stated it being against my own free will.

“Absolutely,” Kurt agrees. “You can buy almost anything there. Like stolen art, government secrets, and even hire a hitman!”

“That was last year, wasn’t it?” Puck asked as I noticed that he and Kurt were the only chatty ones in the group while the other two men watched silently.

“Anyway, this was the first time anyone was sold off in the manner of fashion you had earlier,” Kurt says tilting his head as if trying to understand what was really going on. “You must have done something really bad to put yourself up there, huh?”

“Well…….I accidentally broke the Winged Victory Angel….” My voice trails off and I realized that something wasn’t right here. Wait a minute, weren’t they just talking about selling black market things in a legal casino that by the way just happens to be in a highly publicized area? Was this even legal at all? “Who in the world would approve of these things? Do the police even know?”

“Well, to answer question number one. I did approve of it.” Mr. Hargreave says as if bored by this whole conversation.

“What?”

“If it’s worth anything, it’s here.” Hargreave scoffs and laughs coldly.

“Reckless as always,” Mike shakes his head. “This woman isn’t even worth anything.”

“Think about it for a moment,” Hargreave looks at me up and down as he folds his arms looking at me as if he were the predator toying with his prey. “Won’t it be fun coming up with ways to use her?”

“What gives you the right to decide that?” I ask exasperated.

“Who gave you permission to speak?” Hargreave asks coldly, merely raising an eyebrow.

“Huh?”

“Not another word unless I. SAY. SO.” Hargreave says, savoring the last three words, enunciating them slowly as if threatening me to not disobey him.

“If you’ve got a problem, we could always send you back to be auctioned off.” Mike sneers as if finding this even more amusing.

These guys are so scary. I’d rather die first than be sold off again.

I shake my head looking at both men, pleading them that I won’t disobey.

“Come on Boss……Mike……You two should be nice to the girls,” Puck quips, trying to lighten the mood, but honestly it fell a bit flat. Not that I’d feel better either way.

“We need to figure out who gets to keep her,” Kurt says, as if now he’s the one who was bored by the whole turn of the conversation. Though he acts as if he wants everything finalized, I get the feeling that he’s not entirely happy with the idea of having me for a slave. In fact, he looks rather…….reluctant. I’ve heard rumors that Mr. Hummel was gay, but I didn’t think now would have been the best times to actually confirm that. So instead I ask the second question that’s been nagging me.

“What do you mean, who gets to keep me? Didn’t you all buy me?”

“Yes, that’s true. But that’s really not your concern now.” Puck says. “If I were you, I’d choose me. I’m the only good guy here, so you can rest easy.”

“Says the world-famous thief and con-artist,” Elian Hargreave snorts derisively.

“Now, now Elian, you’re just trying to make Puck look bad.” Kurt says as if coming to his friends defense. “You’ve already got tons of groupies, why don’t you just play with one of them and let the rest of us have our fun?”

And to think I thought Kurt Hummel was safe because I assumed he was gay.

Guess again, batman.

“Mike Chang’s the one who could have his pick,” Hargreave threw a smirk towards the cool Asian mobster guy’s direction. “Women would do anything to be the lover of a Hong Kong mobster.”

So he really was part of the Mafia.

Who ARE these people? I’m speechless but I try to pull myself together and try to shake some last-minute common sense in them.

“Human trafficking IS illegal, you know. I’m going to report this to the police and I don’t care who you are.”

“You see a cop anywhere?” Elian Hargreave throws his head as if calling out to no one in particular. I follow his gaze and see a worn-out looking man standing by the window smoking a cigarette. He looks to be the older of the bunch, probably around 35 in age. Rather good-looking, in fact he sort of reminds me of that guy who plays a thief on TV except that he looks disheveled and hasn’t shaved in a week.

“Damn it, don’t just blow my cover like that,” he groans as if he didn’t even want to be a part of this conversation.

“Better now than later, right Detective Cooper?” Kurt giggles as if enjoying himself.

“Shut up, Hummel.”

“Oh, don’t be so mean. Just because I’m dating your brother doesn’t mean you have to be so rude.”

“Wait, you’re a cop?” I ask incredulously, ignoring the fact that Kurt Hummel just confirmed he was openly gay.

“Yup.” Apparently, the Detective spoke the fewest words possible.

I seriously CAN NOT believe that even the police are in on this.

“Well, it looks like we’re not going to reach a decision any time soon.” Kurt announces, really emphasizing on the obvious.

“Well Boss, at times like these….” Puck begins but Elian Hargreave cuts him off immediately.

“Right. I don’t want to waste anymore time.” Hargreave nods and stands up with Mike Chang following suit. All the men except for the Detective stand up and saunter over to me with Mr. Hargreave standing in the center of the group with his arms crossed looking down at me with cold eyes.

“Make a decision,” he says. “I’ll let you choose who buys you.”

---END---

Elian Hargreave. Be ready to hear more of another Hargreave, Elian was just the prototype of my OC in the next series of fanfics.

#glee #glee fanfiction #quinn fabray #voltage otome #otome guys #kissed by the baddest bidder #kbtbb #kbtbb eisuke #kbtbb soryu #kbtbb baba #mike chang #kurt hummel #noah puckerman #kbtbb ota

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arthuradrien · 7 years

Text

My characters:

Rubella Gwen Sorktcher: Looks: dirty blonde hair, blue eyes Specific features: lost left eye as a young child, always keeps her bangs covering up her stitched together left eye socket Backstory: her dad was very abusive, which in return caused her mother to become an alcoholic and abusive. Lost her left eye as a one year old due to her mother becoming angry and accidentally throwing a broken wine bottle at her. Her brother Caleb had to take the bottle out carefully and go to a neighbor to get help for his little sister saying that their mother was “at work” and that Rubella had been playing with the empty wine bottles. The hospital ended up having to remove her left eye completely and sea up her left eye socket due to a disease that had infected her eyeball because a piece of glass had got caught in her eye.

She and her brother ended up running away when Rubella was seven and Caleb raised her from then on.

Chantel Emily Snape (or McGucket to we are talking about the gravity falls version)(just saying there are many different Aus of Chantel so when I fluff fic an au that I haven’t told you guys about, I will tell you that Chantel’s backstory along with the fic): Looks: dark brown hair that becomes greasy if not washed, dark chocolate brown eyes. Specific features: a childish twinkle in her eye and an ability to somehow know when one of her friends is in trouble. Backstory: Hp Version: She was born to Severus Snape and Alice Longbottom (don’t ship it just makes sense for her looks(I made her looks before I figured out her parents)) with a twin sister named Taylor. Chantel mainly lived with Snape while Taylor mainly lived with Alice. Shortly after her birth, Severus and Alice got on very bad terms due to Severus insisting that he wouldn’t be able to take care of a child due to his on going crush on Lily Potter/Evans and Alice arguing saying that the twins needed their biological father in their life. They eventually came up with the agreement that Chantel would mainly live with him while Taylor would mainly live with her. After Lily Potter was killed almost a year later, Severus begged Alice to take full custody of Chantel, but Alice once again refused. This time, because Chantel had already developed a close bond with her father and cried everytime Severus brought up the custody issue. Alice was tortured to insanity less than a week later and Augusta Longbottom was given full custody of both Taylor and Neville. Taylor was given the surname Longbottom as Augusta assumed that Severus wanted nothing to do with Taylor since he and Chantel were not able to be contacted.

Severus raised Chantel in his childhood home, completely forgetting about Taylor for years.

The summer after Chantel and Taylor turned eleven, Chantel got her acceptance letter from Hogwarts and Taylor was sent off to Beauxbatons since they were born at the beginning of October.

Chantel was sorted into Slytherin house like her father despite her desperately wanting to be in Ravenclaw and Chantel spent most of her time studying for finals (being absolutely devasted when the exams were canceled almost every year because she had spent so many hours studying).

When fourth year rolled around, Taylor was transferred to Hogwarts according to Augusta’s request and the twins were reunited.

Taylor was sorted into Ravenclaw and Severus automatically recognized Taylor when Taylor walked into the great hall, suddenly feeling regret for basically abandoning his second daughter in a family she no longer belonged in.

Chantel was introduced to her twin and they basically competed for the amount of hours studied.

Skip to Seventh year and Chantel and Taylor went back to school for their final year and it was absolutely miserable for the both of them. When it came time for the battle of Hogwarts, both fought on the side of Hogwarts and fought bravely. Chantel cried when her father died and clapped for Neville when he killed Nagini.

In the nineteen years after scene, it’s is revealed that Chantel had gotten with Justin Finch-Fletchley and they had had a child together.

Gravity Falls Backstory: Chantel was born to FiddleFord and his wife a month before Fiddleford ran off to study creatures in Gravity Falls, Oregon with Stanford Pines. Every summer, starting up from the year she turned 6, Chantel would visit her father in Oregon. The first summer she went there, she figured out she had a little sister by the name of Kristine Pines (not my character but my best friends). Kristine was the child of FiddleFord and Ford through Ectobiology (if you’ve read homestuck, you will understand that that means(my best friend ship FiddleFord and Ford and I do as well)) and was about a year younger than Chantel.

Over the years, Kristine developed a crush of Chantel (technically not incest, Kristine’s wasn’t made the conventional way)) and Chantel was completely oblivious. Chantel, however, had a crush on a boy from the town, Blood Dupre (I really love that mafia boss, alright?(he’s only four years older in this(this au is an ongoing rp))).

When Chantel turned 12, she and Blood started hanging out more and more and they eventually became boyfriend and girlfriend.

Two years later, Chantel visited Gravity Falls during the winter time and fell pregnant with Blood’s kid. Chantel was too scared that Blood would breakup with her that Chantel ended up not telling Blood about the pregnancy until a week after she found out and he was very excited. The day before Chantel went home to her mom’s house, Chantel announced to Ford, Fiddleford, and Kristine that she was pregnant. Ford seemed somewhat surprised, and yet disappointed. Fiddleford was regretting letting Chantel hang out with Blood and Kristine was just straight up heartbroken, and yet her crush stayed.

The next summer, Chantel returned to Gravity Falls with a pregnancy stomach.

Skip to next September eighth l, Chantel gave birth to a bouncing baby boy that she named William, Will or Willy for short. (That’s all that I can put into words for right now)

Taylor Paige Snape (she also has many aus and I will introduce the rest as I fic them(her Gravity Falls form hasn’t really been decided yet)):(also the same looks) Basically the same story as Chantel except in the epilogue, Taylor is not shown as Taylor had become the Transfiguration Professor and Ravenclaw Head of House at Hogwarts.

April Quentin Summers: Looks: Light brown hair, hazel eyes Specific features: pigtails and a childish look about her. Backstory: born as an only child to Yolanda and Quentin Summers on April 20, on her fathers birthday (explaining her first and middle name)

She grew up as a spoiled child, got everything that she wanted and was beloved by her close family. She was always a bit childish, making the most out of life and making life a lot better for her parents.

When she was thirteen, her mother fell sick with breast cancer but told no one so the focus could stay on April’s upbringing. What Yolanda did do is write a letter for her family to read to make sense of her death when she does die.

April was sent to an expensive boarding school not long after so April wouldn’t have to be there when her mom died. A year after her mom found out about the breast cancer, she died peacefully in her sleep.

April received a letter of her mother’s death and ran from the dining room of the Boarding school, tears rolling down her cheeks. (That’s all I’ve got of her Backstory, I’ll update as I get more)