Alright alright- if you haven't seen it, @one-joe-spoopy delivered a full course meal of their spooky penumbra au with a lil desert from @esquemeencanta a beautiful picrew for visuals (KISSES KISSES KISSES, i love it), so of course it is only right I return the favor with my abandoned monster hunter au with both the original and newest version (so it's like a Buy One Get One)

Basic details: I had plans to write a full length fic covering this au in my head, I never got around to it. This was supposed to be a Benten Lives au. Peter was originally a changeling in the first version (not a vampire like I originally claimed, in my defense my memory is shit sometimes). Juno and Ben were both monsters as well, based on the Greek maenad, devotees to Dionysus that drank until drunk and sang and danced up in the mountains. Rita is human (werewolf enthusiast), Vespa is human, Buddy is a solar elf, and Jet I never got around to.

I don't have much details on the origins of this au but from I can scrap together for the first version it seems like Benten and Juno were attending an art gala. Maenad in this world are terribly destructive when drunk and Benten didn't want to be that, so while he loved their Ma and hid her booze, he "loved Juno more and worked double time to hide the booze from him." To round out this full picture of the twins and maenad, "Maenad are hard to love. Benten is easy though."

Changelings are abandoned children of fae. Fae parents swap their child for a human child and the human parent raises the changeling until the changeling returns to the fae world one day, or until the child eats their face off. They have two faces, the face of the human child and their true face. They have sharp pointy teeth and eat flesh. What this implies about Peter’s relationship with Mag and Slip, I can't exactly say. I came up with this version and concept years ago.

The twins were attending an art gala and Juno notices a lady in a long dress. His image is flickering in and out of existence though. I believe this person was meant to be Peter. I had vague plans for the lights to go out, someone to scream, and when they come back on there's been a murder in the gala, an art piece stolen, and it's up to Detective Juno to solve the case with Ben at his side. They end up splitting up and reuniting, Ben did brief interviews, Juno was investigating the gala space. A big chase was to ensue across the event space and end with Juno cornering the person from earlier and watching in horror as their bones crack and their entire form shifts to match his twin. Their image flickers again. Peter finally reveals his true face and makes some snarky remark before escaping out a window into the night. The murdered victim was because Peter needed to eat, the stolen art piece was his heist, and Ben comes to find Juno down the corridor with a teary face as he explains that he just got done with only one interview... meaning Juno was not working with Benten the whole time. He was working with the changeling. He was conned.

In the newest version, Juno and Benten are no longer maenad they're human. Rita, Vespa, Buddy are the same as the original. Jet is a werewolf. And in this version Peter is a vampire (in my notes I refer to him as Vamp 'Reyev). Juno is a monster hunter in this world, no longer just a detective. Rita works still as his second hand. Ben is alive.

It was supposed to follow the same format as the original: art gala, black out, big storm outside, power returns, and people are dead. They're pale and bloodless. Juno was hired for that night to play security, scare monsters out and keep people inside safe. Ben was there as a guest. Rita is back at the office on standby. So when she gets on call she starts working with Juno to puzzle everything together. When they figure out its a monster amongst the human guests ("a monster thief Mistah Steel! A vampire monster thief!") Juno gets excited to start the hunt, but when he remembers Ben is with him he's torn between doing his job and getting out of there while they can together. If Juno leaves the other guests are likely to die. In the end, Juno and Ben stay. They stick close together even as more guests start dropping like flies and their bodies turn up bloodless. Ben never really knew or understood what it was Juno does for a living. Now he's learning too much.

It concludes with a big chase down a long corridor, thunder and lightening outside, the power goes out again, and Juno stops.  A figure illuminated by the moonlight streaming in through the window with their back turned to him. A metallic tang fills the air. Lightning fills the room and Juno catches glowing amber eyes. Dark liquid in streaks dripping down their chin. Juno raises his blaster in the dark. He can't aim. He only has one shot. In the blink of an eye, the figure is gone and suddenly here's someone next to him. He's engulfed in a heady flowery scent and a sharp pain pierces his neck. He cracks his blaster against the side of his assailant's head, but they clamp down harder. Juno is drained and left in the corridor to die. He's going to fall unconscious so before he does he takes the shot. He doesn't know if he hit anything as the world turns dark.

Ben finds him and gets them out of the art gala. Rita has a car come collect them and she meets Ben at a hospital. Juno recovers. He knows what hes going to hunt from now on. Rita and Ben are his anchors but they can only do so much as Juno's hunt leads him to an abandoned lighthouse where all hell breaks loose.

Vamp 'Reyev in this au is hungry and looking for his next meal of the century. He's blended in with society and concealed his identity going by different names for ages. He's evaded monster hunters before in the past but something about this one intrigues him. He's playing with fire. He doesn't care. Nureyev’s eyes have an amber hue to them. He's freakily fast and climbs up walls and ceilings. He's never out of date with the newest fashion trends but his vocabulary gives him away.

Monster-Human society are at odds with one another, they have been for what feels like forever. The humans want all monstered rounded up and eradicated. The monsters want all humans rounded up and eradicated. No one knows who fired the first shots or who's blood was spilt first or why. This is the way things have been. They've escalated so now there's monster hunters like Juno. On the flip side there's also human hunters, monsters that track down monster hunters and get paid to take revenge. Humans don't wander at night out of fear and old wives tales. Monsters don't mingle during the day out of fear and old fairy tales. There are multiple ways to become a monster hunter. Through the Academy, work for hire like Juno, apprenticeship. Sasha went through the Academy and that feeds into Dark Matters. Juno had no prior training beyond his time as a cop, monster hunting pays more so that's why he chose it.