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maedarakat · 4 years

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Drabble: Risks

It was weird, how nobody was paying attention to what was going on.

Dagur had always admired his brother, how he always put the lives of his group and their dragons above the result of their missions. It was a trait he had exploited in the past many times.

Except now it was becoming apparent that Hiccup was very good at protecting everyone in his group from outside enemies ... but not necessarily inward ones.

And damn, could those inward ones be downright cruel. Dagur knew from experience that sometimes the awful brain-voices pointing out all his flaws, insufficiencies, and failures would just not shut up. Not even for a second.

Something was seriously up with one of Hiccup’s riders, and Hiccup either knew about it and was doing nothing, or he didn’t know about it at all. Dagur preferred to believe it was the latter.

They had all been flying south - the riders, himself, and Heather - summoned by stories of a subjugated colony of timberjacks. Once again some chucklefuck dragon hunters were keeping eggs and hatchlings from parents to ensure their obedience.

On the way they’d destroyed at least twelve dragon hunter ships (Snothat had kept score of how many they’d all done but Hiccup had forbidden him to keep individual scores because: “It’s not a competition!”)

Silly Hiccup. Of course it was.

So naturally, Snothat had kept individual scores anyway, just ... secretly.

It was all fun and games - literally - until one of the fleets they encountered sent a bola net at Barf and Belch, dragging both twins and dragon violently down to the deck. Dagur and Heather dove immediately, their dragons trying to grab the net and slow their rapid descent so they wouldn’t be crushed.

It was still with a sickening boat-shaking thud that they landed. The Zippleback lay still, tangled and dazed with pain, and Ruff slumped out of her saddle onto the deck, groaning and clutching her arm to her chest. Heather roared, jumping off Windshear with axe brandished, threatening the approaching hunters.

Dagur jumped off Sleuther quickly, ready to help Girlnut’s other half, but Tuff wasn’t anywhere near their dragon or his sister.

For a heart stopping second Dagur feared he had somehow missed Tuff falling into the water during their crash landing, but a fearsome roar of anger quickly grabbed his attention.

Tuff was on his feet in front of Barf and Belch - at the most vulnerable point of the group. Blood was running down one side of his face, grey eyes wild, breathing heavy, mace at the ready. He was obviously worse injured than Ruffnut, and that was based only on what Dagur could see , yet there he was - laying about him with the mace like his pain did not matter.

More specifically, like his life did not matter.

Oh boy ... yep, Dagur had definitely been there before.

There was nothing to do but let out a fearsome roar of his own and fight his way to Tuffnut’s side, grabbing the blond twin just as he crumpled from a savage blow to his ribs by a morning-star - really, like he needed another injury. Holding Tuff tight against his side, he attempted to shove the boy behind him, taking point himself in front of the fallen Zippleback.

Windshear sliced through the nets easily, nudging the stunned two headed dragon back to their feet and Heather grabbed Ruff, hauling both of them up into the saddle.

As Toothless and Stormfly offered cover fire, both girls and dragons managed to fly up to safety. Sleuther flung aside dragon hunters, fighting to get between them and the encroaching hunters.

The second his dragon got close enough, Dagur wasted no time, pulling himself and the semi-conscious Thorston twin up after him. By the grace of Odin, all of them made their escape and were now well out of range before another net cannon could be aimed and loaded.

Hiccup ordered them immediately into a defensive formation, which Sleuther picked up on without needing guided - aware that Dagur’s immediate concern was with the injured boy in his arms.

Tuff seemed aware of his surroundings, though shaking hard and his breathing was raspy. Gods, Dagur hoped he didn’t have a pierced lung or something. He considered himself fairly decent at the healing arts, but not that good.

“Boynut, can you hear me?” Dagur asked, opening Tuff’s vest and undoing his belt to relieve pressure on his ribs. He rolled up the green tunic and felt along his side. Two broken ribs with some lovely bruising puncture wounds from the morning-star, a dislocated shoulder, plus a deep gash on his forehead.

Tuffnut hitched, trying to push away Dagur’s touch. “Loki, you must be a healer because your hands are freezing cold!”

Dagur frowned thoughtfully at the redirection, but the others let out a collective sigh of relief.

“How’s Ruffnut?” he heard Hiccup ask Heather.

“She’s fine. Just a broken arm and a mild concussion - I’ll keep her awake,” Heather called back. Fishlegs and Snotlout immediately pulled out of formation to go fuss over her while Hiccup and Astrid flew closer to Barf and Belch, checking over the dragon’s injuries as well.

Nobody came over to see if Boynut was alright. Probably because he’d just cracked a joke like he was unaware of pain even as a concept.

Did he do that often? Dagur felt like he probably did that often.

Tuff had relaxed as soon as he’d heard his sister‘s injuries weren’t life-threatening and was trying not to make an agonized expression, but at every turbulent bump Sleuther’s wings absorbed, his facade of carefully controlled blankness cracked and he grimaced sharply.

“I know it hurts,” Dagur soothed him tenderly, pressing a clean wad of cloth over Tuff’s gash, trying to stop the bleeding. Tuff jerked, looking up at him in shock and automatically covering with a grin.

“Nah, I’m fine. Loki looks out for his own. Hey, do you Berserkers know how set broken arms in a way that doesn’t hurt? I mean, Ruff cried like a baby the last time Gothi did it, so hopefully you have more of a gentle touch.”

Redirection, yet again. What even ...

“Heather does, and she’ll be the one caring for your sister. What I’m worried about is your shoulder. And ribs. And whether you’re gonna need stitches for that enormous cut on your head.”

Dagur poured a little water onto a piece of linen and started cleaning the blood off Tuff’s face. He squirmed, complaining, but let him. “You don’t have to. Belch licks my face about four times a day, after meals and before bedtime. He’ll get all that off by lunch.”

“Pretty sure both your dragons and your sister would kill me if I let you go untreated until lunch. Hold still. At least it’s not my thumb and spit.”

“Um. Ew ...”

“Yeah, exactly. I’d rather not subject you to that.” Dagur rinsed the blood off and packed some honey and flax salve into the shallow groove, which had finally begun to clot. “So ... about that fight. You normally just jump right in full Berserker style when the chips are down?”

If he avoided putting a negative connotation to it, maybe Tuff would open up?

It worked; Tuff fairly glowed at the comparison. “Yeah, I was doing good until that one guy - ugh. He came up on my blind side. At least it gave you guys time to get Ruff and our dragons out though, right?”

Dagur’s chest hurt at Tuff’s clear ache for approval in those words. Oh man, Boynut was really not okay. Not by a long shot.

“Boynut, why do you think -“

A voice interrupted him mid-sentence. “Tuffnut, what were you thinking?!”

Hiccup was flying next to them now, frowning.

“That was incredibly dangerous, you shouldn’t have flown so close to the starboard - they always have cannons on that side! Didn’t you pay any attention during the lesson about hunter ship defenses?” There was a little concern in his tone, but it was dwarfed by exasperation.

Dagur felt his heart sink. This was not helpful, and Hiccup didn’t even notice what was going on with his friend. How could he not notice? A lecture about general safety - not even his, but everyone else’s - was the last thing Tuff needed right now.

Tuff looked at Hiccup with a calm expression, betraying nothing.

“Nope, I was actually far more interested in what Smidvarg was doing with that grasshopper. Turns out he was not, in fact, trying to make a friend.”

Redirecting again . Hiccup predictably started lecturing him on why listening to him during training was important, and Tuff’s laid back answers were designed to make him frustrated enough to drop the whole thing and fly off.

It didn’t seem to be working this time, and now Fishlegs was flying over, frowning, and clearly ready to back Hiccup up.

It was all kind of amazing to watch in terms of density alone, but Dagur had more than enough at that point.

He glowered down at the glinting surface of the sparkling sea and saw an out.

“Oh hey, look - flying fish! Sleuther’s favorite snack that he absolutely cannot control himself around,” Dagur stated, purposefully loud enough for his dragon to hear. His Triplestryke opened wide eyes, made a noise of intrigue, and dived down away from Hiccup and the group to investigate.

“Sorry, be right back!” he called cheerfully, leaving the others behind as they descended below the current. There was grumbling from up above - Fishlegs and Hiccup were now sharing their grievances about the issue. Granted, Tuff was a good actor, but still ...

Dagur continued his ministrations, wiping away the excess blood from Tuff’s injured side where spikes had slammed into his skin.

Boynut had relaxed in his arms, clearly relieved, though looking at him searchingly. “Thanks?” he offered cautiously. He sounded like he was trying to figure out if Dagur had done that for him.

He glanced at Tuff and, not knowing whether he should resume the talk they’d been trying to have just yet, gave him a confirming wink. The boy’s face reddened immediately and he turned his head away, directing his attention to the flying fish before Sleuther snapped up the entire school.

Dagur almost felt bad for letting his dragon snack on them so voraciously. They were pretty, silver and incandescent, almost matching Tuff’s eyes when the sun hit their scales.

The Berserker shook his head to clear it and pressed salve into the cuts, spreading it liberally across his bruises.

“You should save that stuff. Someone else might get injured later,” Tuff said quietly. “Snotlout usually.”

Gods, this guy ... maybe he had to be straightforward about this after all, before someone else came to oh-so-usefully scold him.

“You’re injured now, and I’ve got more than enough. Boynut ... “ Here it was, time to be blunt. “Why don’t you think you’re worth anything?”

The question came like an unexpected blow and Tuff flinched in his arms, eyes immediately closing. Dagur braced himself. The boy might redirect with anything right now, even anger. Gods knew, if anyone had dared to ask a younger version of Dagur this question, they probably wouldn’t have survived.

He’d had to ask it though - he’d had to let Tuff see that his pain was visible to someone .

Tuff didn’t lash out, but he was shaking. He tried to curl away and hide behind his hair so Dagur couldn’t see the tears spilling over.

It didn’t matter. He knew they were there.

Surprisingly, after a long tortured moment, Tuff answered the question, voice low.

“Because I’m not worth anything. I mean ... can you think of anything I’m good for? I’m just the spare. The whole family thinks I’m the spare. Look at our dragon. One body, with an extra head. Not that I really think Belch is a spare, he’s totally awesome, but ... you know what I mean, right?”

Dagur listened, and bit his lip, thinking for a moment about what to say.

“I always kinda thought of you as the heart and soul of the group, Tuff. I mean, when I first joined you guys, everyone was so suspicious of me - granted, with very good reason. But you were just like ‘oh, Dagur’s a good guy now? Awesome! I’ll give the guy a chance!’ And then you both sat with me. You talked to me as easily as if I was an old friend, showed me some cool dragon moves with your chicken, gave me a fresh egg. Never once did you judge me, or try to get back at me - not even when my own sister thought I was sent as Viggo’s spy.

“You made me feel human. Forgiven. Like I really could be part of the group if I kept up improving my behavior. And you show that same compassion to others too - even wild and dangerous dragons. The kindness you have inside of you is inspiring.”

Tuffnut was staring up at him, eyes wide and shocked. Dagur fidgeted, looking ahead of him, wondering if he’d said too much.

“Most people ... would have said I tell funny jokes.,” Tuff said hoarsely. “That I’m good for cheering people up. Or at least distracting them from all their problems by being irritating.”

“Well, you are funny. There’s certainly that. Though i don’t think it’s more important than the compassion and insight and empathy you show. Honestly, that’s something everyone in the Archipelago - in the world - struggles with. We need you around to be our best example.”

When he looked back at Tuff, the blond was staring at him, eyes wide and full of tears.

Oh no, he’d said something wrong, hadn’t he? Tuff reached up shakily to wipe at his eyes.

“But ... but ... I still mess everything up, don’t I? I don’t do what I’m supposed to do. Always holding my sister back, always d-driving everyone crazy, blowing stuff up -“

“So what? Nobody in this entire group is perfect. Certainly not me. I used to grab guys by the seat of their pants and toss them overboard for mildly irritating me. I personally caused the death of my sister’s entire village, ensured my dad would die alone on Vanaheim, and lost at least half of our tribe’s Armada chasing you guys around the globe because of a grudge. Oh and I’ve killed a lot of dragons. Still and always will hate all of those things about myself. I would never do them again, but I did once do all that, and I can never undo it. Do I deserve to die?”

“Of course you don’t,” Tuff answered automatically, still wiping his face. “Everyone makes mistakes, even awful ones - what matters is you took responsibility and - and you’re trying , every day, to still make up for it. It’s not easy to be good, especially if you think you’re a monster.”

... uh, wow. Dagur was not expecting that. He shook his head to clear it. “Okay. So why can’t you apply that same logic to yourself?”

Tuff looked at him helplessly. “I ... I don’t know. It’s ... I feel like I’m just not good enough all the time. Nobody ever seems happy with me, I’m not happy with me, s-so I must be doing something wrong. Right?”

Dagur thought for a moment, readjusting Tuff so he could lay more comfortably against his chest.

“You wanna know a secret, Boynut?”

He turned those pretty grey eyes up at him and carefully nodded. It was rare to see the normally distracted and wise-cracking twin appear so focused, but then Tuff and Ruff always seemed to give Dagur their full attention whenever he visited the Edge.

“I haven’t told this to anyone before - not even Hiccup - but after I escaped Viggo’s attempt to kill me, I wound up lost at sea. All alone, in a tiny little boat, with very little food and water. Days came and went. I went hungry, thirsty, sunburnt, sick. Every day I had the same question - why was I still alive? I was a villain. A monster. Surely Odin Allfather didn’t mean for me to actually make it in the end, because I hadn’t done anything right - since day one, I was always the problem kid.

“So this had to be it, I thought. Odin was surely going to kill me with the next storm or send a shark or Scauldron to pick me off ... but that never happened. I wasn’t exactly comfortable, but the sea remained calm, I was able to catch fish, and there was rainwater to drink.

“I started to think about it, until realizing - finally - that Odin doesn’t just kill people for making horrible mistakes. Or even if they think they’re worthless. At my core - all I ever wanted was my father’s approval. My sister to be safe. I had to learn how to change a few things to get there, but I got there.

“And now I have my sister beside me, along with some pretty great friends.” Dagur smiled winningly at Tuff, making it clear he counted Boynut in that category.

Tuff jolted in his arms again, not expecting that - so entranced with Dagur’s story. He stammered for a moment, blushing.

“You consider me a friend? Not just an acquaintance you have to put up with because they hang around the others?”

Dagur regarded him softly and wrapped his arms around Tuff. It was a firm hug, though careful of his injuries. “Yes. You’re one of my friends. And I don’t have very many, so that makes you very important to me, okay?”

Tuff’s eyes were again welling up. “You ... actually like me?”

That question hurt more than it had a right to. “Yes, I like you very much. I want you to stay right here on Midgard for as long as possible. I’d be devastated if anything happened to you.”

Boynut was staring at him like he’d never seen Dagur before in his life, face still flushed and tear tracks cutting through the grime and blood of battle. For half a second, Dagur wondered if he’d said too much, but then Tuff curled into his embrace, putting his arms around the Berserker’s neck and burying his face in his shoulder.

He was trembling hard, hitching, and Dagur hugged him tightly, rubbing Tuff’s back. He wanted very suddenly to yell at the others - Tuff was their friend too and he didn’t even know and he seriously thought he was worth less than shark chum and what the hell were they doing about it? Had any of them noticed?

“S-Sorry - I - I - nobody’s ever - I n-never thought -“ Tuff trailed off, hiccoughing.

“That you were good enough as is?” Dagur hazarded a guess. The despondent wail that followed was his answer and Dagur hugged him back tighter, murmuring soothingly.

It took a short while before Tuff calmed down, but he still clung to Dagur like a frightened kitten, pulling back to wipe at his face with a free hand.

Dagur didn’t discourage him, still cradling him close with an arm around the curve of his body. They were still flying below the air current the rest of the group was on, skimming across the surface of the water.

Absently he reached up, toying with a braid of Tuff’s hair. “It’s still a long way to where we’re going. Why don’t you get some rest, huh? It’s okay if you sleep - pretty sure you don’t have a concussion.”

Tuff looked up at him in shock, face going pink. He smiled at him, leaning his head tiredly on Dagur’s shoulder. “That sounds good. You’re very warm.”

Dagur thought he was going to say more, but after a long minute, Tuff’s head grew a little heavier and he began to gently snore. He was exhausted and injured, and it was hours still before they would reach land. Dagur decided to let him be, expression soft as he watched Boynut sleep.

#tuffnut #dagur #httyd #rtte #fanfiction #i forgot I was even working on this

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minyardfluff · 5 years

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Here is my gift for Megs @st-draco for the @tfc-net 1 Year Anniversary event! She requested something involving steampunk/dystopian society, so here is a graphic with an accompanying ficlet below the cut! I’m so sorry it took literally almost a year but I hope you like it! <3

Steampunk AU where The Fox is an airship in need of a pilot and Neil is an airship pilot who doesn’t need a crew (or at least that’s what he tells himself).

War has broken out between the upper and lower classes worldwide, leaving no inch of land unscathed and no person unaffected. In this new age, Nathaniel Wesninski has been raised an airship pilot. His father was a famous battalion leader, the right hand man to General Moriyama. Growing up, Nathaniel knew he’d one day have to join his father’s ranks, but he didn’t care too much. Mostly he was just happy he was being taught to fly airships, even if Lola did punish him when he did something wrong - he just learned to do it better next time. At 12 years old, Nathaniel and a few other boys his age were given the chance to fly a ship called The Raven. It was evident that Nathaniel and two of the other boys, Kevin Day and Riko Moriyama, were the best of the lot so they were invited back for an additional chance to fly the next day; however, before that day came, Nathaniel’s mom stole one of his father’s airships and ran away with him in the night.

Fast forward five years and you’ll have found Neil Josten, suddenly alone in the world, pushing his mother’s body out of the airship to fall into the flame-infested landscape. It gutted him, but he didn’t want to risk landing so soon after they were attacked nor could he bear to leave her lying on the floor of the gondola in a pool of her own blood. A few months after that, Neil was in a bad state, both mentally and physically. Having only one person on board meant every responsibility fell to him; keeping stock of food and parts, repairing the ship, navigating the ship, checking the radar for other ships, listening to the radio for insights on war zones, making sure he doesn’t accidentally fly into a wildfire zone so his gas cells don’t blow up. It was hard enough with two people, now that he was the only set of eyes, ears, and hands, it was downright brutal.

It happened when Neil was executing a plan he and his mother had run many times before. He learned from the radio about a skirmish nearby that resulted in three airships crashing to the ground with no survivors detected. It was the perfect opportunity to scavenge for parts.

Neil slowly lowered his ship as close to one of the downed ones as he could, stopping it so it was hovering just above the earth, then lowered his goggles, grabbed his satchel, and pulled his gas mask over his face. Any place with a recently crashed airship, let alone three of them, was sure to be filled with toxic gas. He opened the hatch in the floor and threw down a rope ladder, quickly climbed down, and scurried to the nearest ship.

He made quick work of loading up his satchel with different sized bolts and gears, when he heard a loud crash followed by some muffled swearing.

Neil jumped between the ship and a large piece of metal that had come off it and crouched down. It wasn’t long before the voices got closer, they were still muffled - most likely due to also having to wear masks like himself - but he began to be able to make them out.

“-d’you try to climb that, it was obviously unstable!”

“I was going for a higher vantage point! He has to be around here somewhere.”

All of Neil’s senses, already on high alert, went into overdrive at that statement, but he forced himself to stay calm. Just because they were looking for someone didn’t mean it was him. There were many dead bodies laying around that they could be searching through.

The thing is, though, that when you’re being hunted, you tend to keep track of the people who are hunting you, and it just so happened that there, standing no more than five steps away from Neil, was Kevin Day.

Neil choked on his breath and must have made a sound because Kevin and the man he was with both swung around and stared right at him.

Neil’s heart was rabbiting. The moment drug out and he could almost pretend that they hadn’t seen him, except Kevin took a step forward, “Hey are you a pilo-”

Neil shot up out of his crouched position and used his momentum to angle the piece of metal he was hiding under to fly in the direction of the two men. He took off at a sprint in the opposite direction, but he wasn’t fast enough. He saw the sun glint off the metal pole only moments before that pole was swung into his stomach. He doubled over and fell to his knees, his body trying to dry heave and pull in air at the same time and being unable to do either.

His attacker stood over him with a bored expression on his face, as if he hadn’t just sealed Neil’s fate.

“Dammit, Minyard! We need him alive!” The older man scolded as he and Kevin caught up to them.

The attacker shrugged and lifted the metal pole over his head. Neil glared at him in defiance and Andrew held his gaze. The moment stretched on, then, Andrew’s expression tugged down in a frown and he swung the pole like an ax down towards Neil.

“Andrew!” Kevin yelled and made to lunge at Andrew, but Andrew stopped the pole from hitting Neil just inches above his head.

Neil, through sheer determination, had managed not to flinch and continued to glare at Andrew.

“Oh no, you might actually be interesting,” Andrew appraised him, then threw the pole off to the side.

The older man came around to stand by Andrew and Kevin was a bit off to the side. Neil could make another run for it, but they were now in his path between himself and his ship. Besides, there could be countless others around here. He couldn’t stay here, but he was better off waiting for an opening. He slowly stood up and looked between the three men warily.

“Andrew can be a bit violent,” this was the older man speaking, who Neil guessed was also a pilot based on the cap he wore on his head accompanied by goggles. “My name is David Wymack, I’m captain of the-”

“Fuck you,” Neil cut him off, “I don’t care who you are, I’m not going with you!”

“You’d be an idiot to refuse us.” Neil shot his eyes over to Kevin, “your ship is in shambles. You clearly either don’t have a crew or anyone on it needs to be fired, but going by your own ragtag appearance I’d say it’s the former.”

“Your men killed any crew I ever had,” Neil sneered.

Wymack glanced towards Kevin, who had gone pale, and cautiously replied, “You know who we are?”

“Of course,” Neil glared at them, “Kevin Day, prodigy of The Raven Fleet who was honorably discharged a month ago after an injury.”

Neil noticed Kevin flex his left hand, but it was Wymack who spoke, “Kevin was discharged after he fell off his ship, he was lucky the ship had been grounded at the time. That’s the story you’re talking about, right?” When Neil gave a curt nod he continued, “Kevin didn’t fall. He was pushed.”

___________

so. I’m actually awful and can’t finish a fic (not even a ficlet) to save my life, but this is so overdue and has been weighing on my conscience since it’s a gift for someone and I want to be able to give them something rather than nothing who knows maybe this is worse than nothing so I’m being optimistic and decided to post this, incomplete as it is -- but Neil joins the Fox, ensnares Andrew’s and everyone else’s heart, Andrew gives Neil the adorable little fox figurine from the graphic, Riko and Nathan die in an airship battle, and everyone lives happily ever after~

#the foxhole court #all for the game #tfc #aftg #neil josten #mine

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neverwatchedonepiece · 6 years

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558-560: "The Noah Closing in! The Fish-Man Island Facing Destruction!", "Hurry up, Luffy! Shirahoshi's Life in Jeopardy!" and "The Fierce Fight Begins! Luffy vs. Hordy!"

This is like watching Hitler stab Elliot Roger. Can you even cheer for this?

I can’t because let’s just say I’m not the biggest fan of either of them. The most I could muster was a grim nod. “Yes, that’s brilliant. Now the other one needs to go.”

Luffy should step up in the next couple of episodes, so I’m looking forward to watching Hordy Jones chow down on a generous slice of Karma pie. It’ll be old and moldy too because Hordy’s comeuppance is long overdue.

I get the feeling that the (literally) biggest problem facing the Strawhats right now, though, is neither Decken nor Hordy. It’s Noah: the massive ship that is currently floating just above Fishman Island.

How big is this ship?

I’ll let Franky sum it up.

Noah: The Ship of Promise

The shots of Noah drifting straight for Fishman Island were weirdly beautiful. I mean, I know this thing was close to killing an entire nation full of people plus the Strawhats, but the art was so good. Dat perspective. Dat chiaroscuro. Dat cool shot of the surface tension stretching the bubble. The seaweed strung chains alone were so huge they demolished buildings and minor geological features with ease. Toei did a good job escalating the sense of threat here.

Another interesting thing is that, for the first time, Neptune has really freaked out with fear. But not for himself. It’s for Noah. Apparently, the ship has a nickname: the ship of promise. Neptune was worried because that ship was Not To Be Used before the appointed time. He even freaked out about the possibility of it being damaged.

Hmmm... Intriguing. I guess this means Noah is culturally significant to Fishman Island (or at least to the Royal Family/Neptune who is the only one who clearly understands its significance, as the princes called it “a relic from the past”). What did he mean by “the appointed time?” Why was it built in the first place? Starting to think it’s not an ancient weapon. Maybe it was built to transport Fishmen to a better place? It has loads of windows. I guess I’ll find out soon. :)

But first, there is a villain to be dealt with!

Long-Distance Roasting

Luffy scrapping with Hordy in 558 was glorious. I’m enjoying watching the new tricks he’s learned over his two year stint with Rayleigh. I love how surprised Luffy was that Hordy staggered upright after being punched through a wall.

He used hardening haki to obliterate iron shields, landed a blistering hardened kick and smacked Hordy with a hardened fist. Faced with an opponent who was levels above him, Hordy panicked and fired off water arrows indiscriminately. Luffy’s observation haki pretty much ruined that half-baked plan. It was hilarious watching Hordy get his ass handed to him. It must have really ground Hordy’s gears hearing the islanders praising the strength of the world-renowned Strawhat pirate captain.

Unfortunately, Luffy couldn’t finish the job because it was about that time the Noah Eclipse moved across the island. At that point, even the Strawhats were thinking, “Shiiiiiiiiit.....”

One of the smaller shadows belonged to the Sea Bonze dude that worked for Decken. It grew rapidly as he plummeted to earth. When he shook himself off, he looked up and freaked out because the ship was sailing without him.

“Stop the ship!” he yelled. “I slipped and fell off. I don’t wanna die!”

You know, I thought for one moment that Decken’s one saving grace was that he at least cared about his crew.

Turns out he doesn’t even have that. He said straight up to his Sea Bonze buddy: “Yeah, I’m gonna need you to become a sacrifice along with the rest of Fishman Island.” What a guy.

I mean, you’ve got to be a proper piece of crap when Hordy Jones, of all people, is pissed off with the psychotic shit you keep pulling.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

But Decken’s deeply creepy breakdown spurred one of my favourite moments of the arc.

When Decken made his appearance, he, of course, took the opportunity to harass Shirahoshi one last time. “SHIRAHOSHI, NO ONE CAN LOVE YOU LIKE ME! SO DROP DEAD ALONG WITH THE REST OF FISHMAN ISLAND.”

Logic? Nah. It’s in very short supply with this guy. Must have departed long ago with the last crumb of sanity.

When it became obvious that Decken was about to involve the entire island in his mad quest to “prove his love”, Shirahoshi did something very brave. Decken had thrown Noah towards his marked target, just like all the knives and axes before. Knowing this, Shirahoshi he put her life on the line and swam right up to the ship, stopping it from crashing into the island where she stood.

“If I am the only one who you want to kill, please do not harm the other people of Ryugu Kingdom.”

She was willing to endanger herself in order to protect her people. Shirahoshi is most definitely no coward. In fact, she’s as brave as Otohime, who threw herself in front of a bullet to stop a revenge killing.

Despite Decken upping the creep factor, “How beautiful you are, even your mind! You’re taking the matter into your own hands to save the country, aren’t you? You’re definitely eligible to become Vander Decken IX’s wife after all. You’d better die while you’re still beautiful and live in my heart forever.”

I have no words. Unfortunately, I know this is not unrealistic.

Decken hurled a dagger at Shirahoshi. But despite being injured, she still swam off and lured Decken - and most importantly, Noah - away from the island. She swam all the way to the open sea.

As far as I’m concerned, Shirahoshi deserves major props for quick thinking and saving everyone from being, as Robin said, smashed all at once. (lol)

Hordy Has a Little Moment

While this was going down, Hordy hauled himself upright and stood there like a lost lemon, grinding his teeth and raging at Decken’s “betrayal.” Hordy, the guy has several screws loose. If he is distracted by Shirahoshi in any way, he will drop whatever dumb scheme he’s involved in to pursue his main interest.

He watched Luffy be lauched after Noah by Sanji (that was cool, by the way. Sanji was about to join him, but Luffy pulled him back and said he had to take care of the plaza. Instead of insisting on running after the mermaid princess, Sanji agreed. Obviously the order from his captain, who he also respects as a friend, takes precedence. That’s much better, Sanji! :D)

Only then did his rage move him to action. He decided to hijack Decken’s plan. He leapt onto the hanging chains, even shooting at the islanders (who tried to slow Noah’s progress because they were so worried for Shirahoshi). I kept thinking, Luffy, now is the time to knock that dumbass off the chain.

But he didn’t. Shirahoshi broke through the bubble and Luffy emerged into open water. He had to use the Bubbly Coral Jimbei handed him. But he couldn’t use the full stretch and strength of his power confined in the small bubble.

Then Hordy swam up behind him and had a little moment when the tables turned. “How inconvenient it must be to be a human!” he gloated, using all his old favourite slurs. “You act so tough on the ground but you couldn’t even win a fight with a Fishman child in the sea!”

Of course, he forgot Zoro beat him in the water before he snacked on a fistful of Roids, but such thoughts are inconvenient. Luffy couldn’t replicate the feat because, as a DF user, he was at a major disadvantage and was forced to fight in the bubble. Hordy was straight up too fast and the water arrows pierced the bubble.

If it wasn’t for Fukaboshi, Luffy would have been screwed. I actually cheered when he showed up. xD It was also nice when Luffy asked how he was. “Thanks for rescuing me. You got hurt earlier. You okay?” (and it was funny when Fukaboshi told him off for being impressed at how Hordy was “almost like Zoro in the water”.) At least they have come to an understanding now. Fukaboshi apologised for suspecting the Strawhats, and Luffy, in his usual way, said, “Don’t mention it.”

They didn’t have time for a drawn out apology-fest, anyway, because Luffy had a plan and he was in a hurry.

Bye, Bye, Decken?

Now, I’m not sure if Ryuboshi and Mamboshi (is that how you spell his name?) gave Shirahoshi the best advice. She was swimming out into open sea away from the island. Instead, they advised her to swim upwards. I guess they couldn’t have predicted Hordy would spear Decken and, once the Mark Mark power wore off, the ship would come crashing down on top of Fishman Island, but still.

The betrayal scene was cool. Decken is obviously so detached from reality he had no idea Hordy was seething with rage when he hopped on deck.

“O hai, pal!” he laughed. “What happened to Neptune? Did you kill him? I’ve been tormenting Shirahoshi with the Noah. What do you think? Good idea, right?”

“Oh, I have an idea,” the shadowy figure of Hordy leered. “If you die now... what’ll happen to this ship?”

Then he stabbed Decken through the chest with his trident. That wasn’t the end of it. Decken hauled himself off it, blood dripping, then accidentally touched Hordy in the process, leaving a mark on him.

“I panicked a bit when Noah sailed over,” Hordy admitted. “But I can’t kill you yet. Then the Mark Mark power will be ineffective and the ship will fall onto Fishman Island and destroy everything. More than anything, I want the Strawhats gone. Thousands of my men will die too, but I can get as many human slaves as I want later.” Nice, Hordy. Thousands of your men will die, but it’s okay, they can be replaced with human slaves. What happened to Fishman supremacy, eh?

Decken told him to drop dead and threw a blade. I’m not quite sure what happened here, but Hordy either ducked or moved behind Decken and the blade sliced into Decken. Ohhhhhhh, the shot of that sweet, sweet long distance body fall. Decken landed right next to his rose axe (which is a bit suspicious, to be honest. As I have not yet seen a body, I bet he’ll use the axe to take revenge against Hordy. The mark has not yet been removed, so...)

Of course, counter betrayal accomplished, Hordy pressed on with his plan to hijack Decken’s psycho scheme. He caught up with Shirahoshi and grabbed her by the hair. Luckily, Luffy and Fukaboshi arrived fresh from a strategy talk. I have no idea what move it was Luffy pulled on Hordy, the snake shot one, but it looked like his hands were on fire? At any rate, Luffy said it didn’t work properly because he needed a bigger bubble, but it definitely hit Hordy hard. Looking forward to seeing it on a proper, ass-kicking scale! :D

“A fool like you can’t protect anything!” Hordy jeered.

“No,” Luffy said, absolutely dead pan. “I will protect them all. That’s what I’ve worked for over the past two years.”

For all Luffy adopts a happy-go-lucky attitude, I’ll never forget how low he was post-Marineford. It’s obviously affected him and this is one of the times he lets it show. He will never let something like that happen ever again. If anything threatens his crew, his friends or anyone he loves, they will regret it.

And speaking of...

Meanwhile... Back in the Plaza

Zoro and Sanji are having a great time!

I can’t wait to see Zoro kick that drunken Fishman swordsman’s ass. That guy is such a liability. Imagine killing all your allies just because you love cutting people. Great hire there, Hordy.

Classic Robin. xD

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alexboehm55144 · 6 years

Text

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 3 - Darkness Rises

Hope everyone had a good Halloween! Now can we please start celebrating Thanksgiving instead of Christmas? I'll leave you with that thought, and give you another heart-pumping chapter!

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The Chinese were wasting no time when it came to their military operations. Heroes had just gotten word of a Chinese base being set up in Chima. But they couldn’t understand why they would set up a base in Chima. Sure, Chima was an ally of the United States, but there was no rhyme or reason for the construction of a base in Chima as opposed to an area with more strategic significance. And it had quite literally sprung up overnight, with the structure of the base being constructed within hours, which was extremely remarkable. But no matter the reasons for the construction of this base, what was important was that it existed, and it had to be destroyed.

Luckily Heroes had some contacts in Chima, who were more than willing to help kick the Chinese out. On this operation, Heroes would be joined by Laval, prince of the lion tribe, and Eris, princess of the Eagle tribe.

The typhoon landed in a large clearing, in front of the lion temple, which was the home of the lion tribe. Above the temple rose the floating mount Kavora, from which the life-giving chi waters rained down into the lion temple, and allowed for the creation of chi orbs. Luckily for Heroes, Laval and Eris were already waiting when the typhoon landed and greeted the team as they left the ship.

“It’s good to see you again,” Alex said, hugging the red-maned lion.

“It’s always nice to have you here in Chima” Laval admitted while Alex and Eris shared a hug.

“I don’t believe you guys have met,” Alex said, looking towards Kion and Jasiri. “Eris, Laval, this is Kion and Jasiri. Jasiri, Kion, this is Laval and Eris”

Jasiri shook hands with Eris, while Kion and Laval did the same, both of them thinking it was nice to know another lion with a bright red mane.

“What have you two been up to lately?” Alex asked.

“The usual” Laval said “we went on a date the other night”

“And it was amazing,” Eris said, while Laval blushed slightly.

“That’s good to hear, I'm glad you two are happy”

“Say, Eris” Kion said “if you don’t mind me asking, how are you so big? You're the same size as Laval, but aren’t eagles supposed to be a lot smaller than Lions?”

“My ancestors were rather large by eagle standards, you should see the eagle legend beast”

“What the hell is a legend beast?”

“It’s a long story”

“But, why do you guys look the way you do? No offense, it’s just that your body structure is so much different from Zootopia mammals”

“The legend beasts looked more akin to the way you do, but it’s believed that evolving with the use of chi is what gave us this body structure, as opposed to the body structure you have”

“It’s not such a big deal,” Laval said “I can still do everything you can do, swing a sword, fire a blaster”

“Say, where’s Cragger, Worriz, and everyone else?” Alex asked

“Their all guarding their own tribes, making sure they aren’t attacked”

“Good thinking, but let’s now and go make sure the tribes won’t be attacked, by destroying that Chinese base”

The team, consisting of Alex, Toothdee, Kion, Jasiri, Eris, and Laval, raced off towards the location of the base, using speedorz to cover the distance. Speedorz were large, one occupant vehicles that were similar to motorcycles. They consisted of a large wheel from which a frame was built around. This frame had a platform at the back upon which the driver stood and operated the control handles. Speedorz could be equipped with weapons for use in combat and were a key part of vehicles used by Heroes, due to their speed and durability.

The drive through the forest to the base was uneventful, with Alex enjoying the fresh air, while Eris and Laval flirted with each other as the team drove down the trail. Then Alex noticed something up ahead, a concrete barricade, with 2 figures on guard. Figures that were dressed in Chinese military uniforms and equipped with Chinese military weapons.

“Everyone get ready! This is it!” Alex yelled drawing his pistol and pressing a button on his speedor, causing 2 circular saws to pop out on either side of the speedor. Other team members equipped swords, axes, and pistols, and if their speedorz were equipped with weapons, they activated them.

Alex spotted a downed tree and the team used it as a ramp to jump over the barricade, with Alex gunning down one of the Chinese soldiers on guard as he passed them. Toothdee dealt with the other soldier before the team continued racing down the trail, passing by military trucks and hardware. Going by a small group of Chinese soldiers, Alex drove close to one and wounded him with the saw blades on his speedor.

The team reached a small clearing in the forest, filled with military equipment, vehicles, and enemy soldiers. To one side of the clearing was a large dark colored building, that was the base itself. The group of speedorz broke formation and began racing around the clearing, dispatching Chinese soldiers with melee strikes and firearms. Kion cut an enemy soldier down while Jasiri ran over one with her speedor.

“Here! Catch!” Alex yelled to a group of Chinese soldiers while throwing a grenade. The grenade exploded, killing the soldiers and damaging a nearby Jeep.

The number of Chinese soldiers slowly dwindled, and soon they were all lying dead on the ground. Alex stopped his speedor and hopped off, making sure the coast was clear while the rest of the team disembarked.

“Ah, thank you for clearing them out my friend!” A high pitched voice said. Alex turned around to see a raven, Razar, of the Raven tribe.

“They were a pesky bunch, yes?” The raven said, shaking his hooked hand. “Too much for me to deal with”

“Oh, what do you want Razar?” Alex asked.

“I’m here to collect some high-quality items, yes? There must be some valuable weapons inside this base my friend. Thank you again for getting rid of all those guards”

“So you're here just to cash in on this Chinese gear?”

“Precisely my friend, anyway I’ll leave you to your fight, yes?”

Without another word, the raven flew up onto the roof of the base and tried searching for a way in.

“Such a character,” Alex said “let’s hope he doesn’t get killed”

Taking out their weapons, the team preceded into the base through the main entrance. They weren’t met by any resistance, probably because all the Chinese soldiers in the immediate area had run outside when the group was wreaking havoc with speedorz.

Heading down the hallway, they reached a 3-way junction and Alex instructed Eris and Laval to go left, Kion and Jasiri to go right, while he and Toothdee went straight.

Alex and Toothdee came to a room that appeared to be some sort of meeting area, with tables and chairs set up. 2 Chinese soldiers burst out of cover and opened fire, forcing the 2 heroes to dive for cover. When one soldier stopped firing to reload, Alex got out of cover and shot the other soldier, who was focusing his fire on Toothdee. Having the last soldier outnumbered, the pair slowly approached the cover their enemy was behind, and when he popped up to start firing, they shot him instantly.

At the other end of the room was another set of doors which Alex and Toothdee headed through, ending up in a large storage room. There were wide catwalks above Alex and Toothdee, on the left and right sides of the room, with the catwalks connecting to a balcony at the end opposite them. The room was filled with sounds of gunfire as Laval and Eris fought it out with Chinese soldiers up on the left balcony, and Kion and Jasiri battled with the Chinese up on the right balcony.

“Hey! Look who showed up!” Eris said while Alex and Toothdee got into a firefight with enemy soldiers on the ground floor.

“Finally decided to join the action,” Kion said as Alex tossed a grenade.

“Wouldn’t miss it!” Alex said as the grenade exploded, killing 2 soldiers.

All 3 pairs of heroes moved forward down the length of the room, taking out Chinese soldiers, but more continued to show up. The crates and equipment stored in the room were riddled with bullet holes and explosive damage, as both sides used grenades and plenty of bullets.

Alex felt pretty good about the progress the 3 teams were making, Chinese soldiers were dropping like flies, Toothdee and himself had already gunned down 7, but more just kept pouring into the room. The number of enemies coming into the room forced all 3 teams in cover, hiding from the severe gunfire. But they still continued to fight, with Kion tossing a grenade, taking out 2 soldiers, while Eris took down another soldier with her blaster. Alex and Toothdee painted the group of enemies in front of them with bullets, dropping 3 soldiers.

“STOP!” a booming voice yelled.

The gunfire stopped and all teams looked to the balcony at the end of the room, where the voice had come from. There was a dark figure, obscured by shadows, holding Razar hostage, with a gun to his head.

“DROP YOUR WEAPONS NOW OR I’LL KILL HIM!”

The Chinese soldiers had stopped firing, and instead kept their guns trained on The members of all three teams. Everyone looked at each other, wondering what to do before Alex spoke up.

“Do as he says”

All Heroes in the room raised their hands and threw their weapons to the floor. The shadowy figure ordered Chinese soldiers to led Laval, Eris, Kion, and Jasiri down from the catwalks to join Alex and Toothdee in the center of the room, with their weapons collected and thrown disgracefully to the floor below.

The figure, still obscured by shadows, kicked Razar off the balcony, and he hit the floor with a loud crash before a Chinese soldier ushered him into the group of prisoners.

“Who is it? Is that their leader?” Alex asked.

Razar had a look of shock on his face as he pointed at the figure and spoke. “It’s......”

The figure jumped from the balcony and landed on his feet, with everyone finally being able to see his face. The mysterious figure’s face looked exactly like Alex’s face, except his skin wasn’t tan, it darker and grayer, and a long scar cut through his face. While Alex had brown hair and green eyes, this figure had dark black hair and gray colorless eyes.

“This is..... new” Alex asked the figure, wondering how this figure looked so much like himself.

“Save your breath,” The figure said.

Toothdee got straight to the point and asked this look-alike who he was.

“I’m Alex. But not the one you know” the figure said shrugging “I’m not some sort of imposter, I’m not some sort of clone or person whose mind has been altered so he thinks he’s someone he’s not”

The figure looked captain Boehm directly in the eyes.

“Simply put, I am you. I’m just another Alex”

“What? How?”

“There is no way in hell you can be Alex,” Toothdee asked

“I mean there are billions of people in this world, someone else is probably going to have the name ‘Alex Boehm”

“You still misunderstand,” the doppelgänger said, shaking his head “you're overthinking it. Think of your friend here, but with a different set of goals in mind, a different set of ideas, that’s who I am”

“So... some sort of counterpart or something?”

“I guess you could call it that. It might be easier to think of it that way. We’re almost exactly alike”

Toothdee was still trying to wrap her head around this “How the.... how is this possible?”

“It doesn’t matter how it’s possible” Alex interjected, “What matters is that it’s happening”

“If you have any lingering doubts about my identity, then so be it. I didn’t expect you to believe me, ignorant fools” the other, gray-skinned Alex said. “Oh, and let me introduce you to some other friends”

More figures emerged from the balcony and jumped down into the light, revealing themselves to be Kion, Eris, and other members of Heroes, but just like Alex’s doppelgänger they were almost dark and corrupted, their fur drained of color and icy stares across their faces. Toothdee recognized every dark face she saw, even one that resembled herself. The resemblance was uncanny, short fur, 2 large protruding teeth, a pair of big eyes, a long tail with protrusions, and a similar body structure. The only thing that was different was that this while Toothdee’s normal fur color was light blue, this mysterious Toothdee had light gray fur.

But there was one face Toothdee couldn’t pin down, it belonged to a young female Zootopian wolf, who was dressed in a jet black dress, and whose hair was an extremely deep navy blue while her fur was the color of ash.

“This has to be a trick,” Kion said, looking his dark counterpart in the face. “This can’t be real”

“Oh but it is! As he said, we are you, only with a different set of objectives in mind” the darkened version of Kion said

“Such as?”

“Tell me, do you care about people’s well being?” Alex’s counterpart asked “care clouds judgment. Your experiences in life are what have shaped the ideas and values in your head. The same is true for us, only our values are different. And it would appear that they directly clash with yours in every way”

“Oh great, evil counterparts,” Laval said “and I thought I’d seen everything”

“You might think of us as wrong, but as I said, we have cultivated our beliefs over long experience. If our views don’t go together then that’s just the way the universe works. I will admit that we do want to prove that we are superior to you. And what better way to do that than by killing you. Luckily, this will also remove the US’s greatest fighting force”

“But why are you working with the Chinese?”

“Let’s just say the Chinese were more than willing to accept the help of powerful warriors who would bring them to victory. They even gave us ranking roles”

A radio call interrupted the dark and version of Alex, and he paused to give orders.

“Now that this base’s position has been compromised, I think it’s best if we leave, our enemies might send additional forces here,” Dark Alex said, ushering the other dark counterparts and most of the Chinese soldiers to leave the room. “I’ll take care of them, they won’t be bothering us anymore”

Now it was just Dark Alex and 2 Chinese soldiers left, with Dark Alex distracted by his ongoing radio call. Recognizing this was his chance, Alex quickly pulled out his knife and slashed his dark counterpart across the back of his hand and kicked him in the stomach, before sliding the bloody knife back into its holster. A DNA test might confirm if this guy really was who he said.

As Dark Alex recovered from being kicked, Laval and Jasiri attacked the 2 Chinese soldiers, forcing them down, while Toothdee threw a smoke grenade.

“Run!” Alex yelled as the group quickly collected their weapons and sprinted at full speed back down the hallway they entered from, reaching the outside of the base in less than a minute. Hopping onto their speedorz, everyone raced off at breakneck speed, with Razar joining Alex on his speedor as they fled.

As the smoke cleared, Dark Alex looked down the hallway his enemies fled through, they may have escaped, but this was just the beginning of their war.

000

What transpired at the base had left Heroes with more questions than answers, but at least the base was now abandoned, as a look at it via remote drone revealed there was no longer a presence of Chinese forces. The most perplexing conundrum was who these dark counterparts were, what they wanted, and where they came from.

Alex tested the DNA from his knife and compared it to his own DNA on file. Revealing it to be a match. There was still much debate over that the team should do to proceed, and they had gathered on the bridge for a discussion about their next step.

“Why would the Chinese come to Chima first?” Laval asked “it doesn’t make sense”

“Maybe our counterparts wanted to hit us here, somewhere important to us, to deal a devastating blow,” Alex said.

“But who are these people? Are they really just versions of us who instead of looking out for others, want to look out for themselves?” Eris asked.

“I guess? But they are definitely hostile to us. Our way of looking at things is different, and now they want to kill us”

“And they want to prove that their view on life is stronger”

“Evil doppelgängers sounds like something out of a comic book,” Kion said

“Who was that gray wolf?” Toothdee asked “She was standing next to you Alex, or rather that dark version of you. I don’t know of any Zootopian wolves that are a friend of us”

“Well I do know one”

“What?”

“You heard me, set course for Zootopia”

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Well, now you know where the title of this story comes from! I was a big fan of the sonic the hedgehog comics as a kid, and a major theme in those comics is that you have a hero character, and then you have an evil and dark version of that character. So that's where I got the idea of evil counterparts. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this revealing chapter!

#zootopia #the lion guard #Alex Final Wars 2 #dark alex #Alex final wars 2: dark alex #fanfiction #kion priderock #jasiri outlander #alex boehm #Laval #Eris #toothdee #creative writing #legends of chima #zootopia fanfiction #the lion guard fanfiction #legends of Chima fanfiction

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