kissing all over homelanders face while wearing bright red lipstick ššš id love to see how he'd react seeing himself in the mirror, hair tousled and face stained completely AAAA <3<3
While there are several things Homelander loves about you, by far his favorite is how you just can't seem to keep your hands off of him. Where he was accustomed to being the affectionate one, the needy one, you're apparently determined to make him seem downright aloof.
Already late to his hair and makeup appointment, you have him giggling like a goddamn school girl, your lips warm and ticklish at his neck, his jaw, his cheek. You have both your hands tangled up in his hair, holding him in place for your relentless assault.
Of course he could get away if he wanted to.
He just doesn't.
"Homelander, sir!" One of the PA's addresses nervously, a clipboard held up to their chest like a shield. "Sorry, sir, it's just you're dueā"
Before Homelander can threaten bodily harm on the PAāwho's shivering like an anxious little dogāfor the interruption, you relinquish your hold on him, laughing a little breathlessly. "Sorry, sorry, it's my fault. I have to get going, too. Go! I'll see you tomorrow, okay? I'll miss you!"
"Okay," Homelander answers with a dazed, lovesick smile. You're only going to be gone for the night, but it's your first night apart since things got serious between you. "Miss you already."
You kiss once more on the lips, and he can't help but watch as you go.
On the way to his stylist, people keep doing double-takes as he passes. He's used to attention, but he doesn't fully realize why they were looking at him like that until he sits down in front of the large vanity.
Just about every inch of his face is stained with distinctively lip-shaped red marks. His once neatly combed hair is mussed into a wild curve that makes him laugh as soon as he sees it. His stylist gasps softly, clearly having their work cut out for them today.
Homelander just leans back in his chair, admiring the undeniable proof that he belongs to someone. He huffs a little chuckle, lifting a gloved hand to almost reverently touch one of the kisses painted on his cheek.
Looking at his stylist, he just offers a giddy little shrug.
"Life of a man in love, am I right?"
Homelander grins through his entire appointment. Even after the lipstick is wiped away, he can still feel the lingering warmth of your love on his skin, in the beat of his heart, and in the butterflies fluttering about his stomach.
homelander | Imagine being the only person whose opinion truly matters to him.
The world worships Homelander. Crowds chant his name, cameras flash, and entire cities breathe easier just knowing heās watching from the sky. He smiles for them, waves for them, saves them.
But none of it ever feels like enough.
Not unless youāre watching.
Imagine standing in a quiet room high above the city, the distant hum of traffic far below. Heās just returned from another flawless rescueācape still fluttering slightly, uniform untouched, eyes searching.
Not for danger.
For you.
āDid you see it?ā he asks, voice carefully controlled, almost hopeful. āI stopped the plane from crashing. Not a single casualty.ā
You hesitate. Maybe youāre tired. Maybe the words donāt come quickly enough. Maybe you simply donāt react the way he expects.
And the change in him is immediate.
The air grows heavy, charged with something unspoken. His smile falters, just for a second, before slipping away entirely. The city lights flicker across his face as disappointment settles in, fragile and terrifying in equal measure.
Imagine the most powerful man in the world stepping closer, uncertainty creeping into his posture.
Then, slowly, he kneels.
Not out of humility.
Out of reverence.
His gloved hands hover near you, as if afraid to touch without permission. When he finally looks up, his expression is rawāeyes shining with unshed tears, desperation barely contained beneath the surface.
āTell me Iām good,ā he whispers, voice trembling with need. āPlease.ā
The plea hangs in the air, fragile and suffocating.
Because you know he doesnāt just want praiseāhe needs it. Your approval is the axis on which his entire world spins. Without it, the adoration of millions means nothing.
Imagine him resting his forehead lightly against your hand, seeking comfort like something lost and wounded, despite the unimaginable power he holds.
āIāll do anything to deserve it,ā he murmurs. āAnything you want. Justā¦ donāt look at me like Iāve failed.ā
And in that moment, it becomes terrifyingly clear:
**breaks through your inbox** Another madcom fan i see,,,**clears throat**,,,So, i got an idea for some headcanons: how would the main 3 (+ anyone else you'd like to add) reacts to the reader who uses chemical weapons against enemies, like gas bombs and poison bullets, they even crafts them! (Sorry abt any english mistake, it isn't my main language lol) Have a great day!
*Looks at Anon-shaped hole in my inbox* Damn, property damage huh lmao. This was another fun request to do, poison builds can be severely underrated imo. Decided to add 2BDamned to this again, because of his relevance to arena mode. :)
Their Reaction to a Reader who uses Chemical Weapons ft. Deimos, Sanford, Hank & 2BDamned
(TW: Violence)
First off, they all thought you were extremely intelligent. Someone with your level of knowledge on how to craft everything from ammunition, to explosives, to poison was extremely rare. They all questioned how you managed to learn your skills. They had yet to hear about anyone else who specialized in poisons, so you mustāve been self-taught.
Deimos was elated to find another person who liked to craft and tinker with things. It's not common, given how scarce materials can be. As such, he's also the first to strike up a friendship with you, both out of curiosity about your weapons and about you specifically.
Out of those in his group, he's the most interested in how you actually manage to make your weapons. He crafted things himself, but his expertise was related more to robotics and general tech. He could rewire almost anything and make custom attachments for weapons, but the way you easily mixed together substances that could kill anyone with a single drop was beyond him. Especially when you eyed the amounts instead of using any measuring tools.
Doc likely set you up with a small lab to fulfill all your needs when it came to creating your weapons and poisons, and Deimos often decides to visit you unannounced. He learned the hard way not to just barge in when he threw the door open one time and was assaulted by the smell of mustard gas and your frantic motions to shove him out.
He still remembers the long scolding you gave him as Skinner examined him, at your request of course. (It was still more pleasant than a lecture from Doc.)
He didnāt want anything to stop him from hanging out with you though, so he asks you what he should get to sit safely with you in your lab. From your point of view, it's really nice to talk to someone who kind of understands what you're talking about when you discuss your work.
He asks a lot of questions as you create your poisons and bombs. He just finds your craft really interesting and would love it if you imparted some of your wisdom to him. Sometimes you put him to work by having him copy what youāre doing with a spare set of tools you have. (You also have to keep a careful eye on him. You canāt remember how many times heās almost ruined his project by trying to copy your own fluid movements.)
After your time together, heāll return back to the base with the others, excitedly waving around whatever you helped him build and explaining all of its intricacies. Sanford has to stop him from shaking it too much if itās a bomb, though. That definitely wouldnāt end well.
Luckily you aren't too stingy with your materials, happy to let him have whatever he's managed to create with you. Sometimes you'll even make him things (though it's mainly limited to poisons to coat knives and bullets with, they're far safer for him to carry). And yes, he will gloat to the others about the fact that you crafted something specifically for him. It's always a lot better than what he makes, and it's a nice symbol of your growing friendship. (He's kind of sentimental, so he keeps the first vial you gave him in his pocket. It's for good luck!)
You should fully expect to him get you a special gun or offer to upgrade your own tools for you in return. You two even worked together to draft up new weapon plans, combining his expertise with tech and yours with poisons. (Hank is completely jealous when he returns to the base with one of them. Maybe he should check out Doc's new agent too?)
Sanford got introduced to you through Deimos (who wanted an opportunity to brag about his new friend). Honestly, he was kind of intimidated by you at first. Before you'd met, he had already heard others talk about how effective you are in combat. Poison might take a while to work in some cases, but itās useful for almost much any situation. You were a big topic of conversation in the SQ; the other agents constantly discussed the missions youāve accomplished flawlessly, from full-out assaults with your bombs to stealth-oriented ones where you managed to poison a single target and leave undetected.
Upon meeting you, he's relieved by how approachable you actually are. (Looking back on it, he should've realized you'd be easy to talk to. You're friends with Deimos, of all people.) He also visits you on occasion, just to take a break from everything and chill out for once. In a way, he begins to consider you a confidant. You give very good advice, and the relaxing environment your lab provides makes it easy for him to vent.
Sometimes he'll just choose to sit in silence and watch you mess around with your poisons. It's kind of satisfying to see you create something so powerful out of just a few chemicals and some scrap you were provided. You don't mind it either, if watching you work gives him some comfort, then that's good for him.
As time goes on, he grows worried about how your weapons can affect you as well. He knows you make sure your whole body is covered and wear a bulky gas mask as protection, but your gear isnāt exactly premium and itās not like you can keep it on all the time. On the rare occasions you go without gloves, heās stunned to see the number of chemical burns and other scars that cover your skin.
You'd been in the middle of a discussion the first time he noticed. He suddenly faded into silence in the middle of his sentence, and you look over to find him starring at your damaged fingers with a horrified expression. His eyes snapped back up to you before he recoiled and started spouting hurried apologies. Your reaction was simply to laugh and wave him off, explaining it as either something that happened when you were less experienced or just accidents that came with the job.
That didn't exactly get rid of his worry. Since then, he's made an effort to look for higher-quality gear for you to use. He and Deimos even get together to make custom pieces; dividing up the work so he goes to fetch the materials (or ask 2BDamned for some) while Dei works on the schematics for them. Ordinarily it'd be a pretty simple thing to do, but they wanted it to be absolutely perfect. They ended up scrapping a lot of it to start over a few times. Being even a millimeter off in their measurements could end up harming you, at least in their minds.
You were surprised to see them both waiting for you in the HQ when you returned from a job. They both had nervous grins on their faces as they approached and presented two clumsily wrapped packages to you. Sanford lets out a breath of relief when your inquisitive expression switched to elation, and you gave them a grateful thank you before launching into a discussion with Deimos about how great your new mask's features were.
He does brighten up when he sees you wearing the customized gas mask and coveralls they made you. And you do wear them a lot, they're certainly a lot better than the previous ones you had. (You don't even have to bother with taping the sleeves down to your gloves because of mismatched sizing, which was nice.)
Shortly afterward, he's given a large metal vial of poison from Deimos, along with a pair of bulky gloves. Too big for yourself, but perfect for him. Taped to the vial was a note, written in the curved letters he recognized from your own notes. "For your hook. Don't touch with bare skin. :)"
(When he and Deimos complete missions twice as fast, armed with your poisons, he can't help but feel grateful for having you as a friend. He should make you some food or something for his next visit.)
Hank also has a lot of interest in your weapons, but it's more on the side of how gruesome their effects are. Heās itching to try some out himself, but he respects you too much to outright steal them. Instead, heāll just have you come along on his missions and conveniently forget to take an effective weapon with him. And, because you're nice, you always lend him one of yours.
Given Hankās fighting style, he canāt work in close quarters with you all the time (he dislikes stealth missions and your AOE attacks arenāt the best for 2-person jobs). But heās fairly intuitive, and will find some way for you to tackle the same thing. Usually it involves dividing the facility in half so you can both take an end.
He finishes his side as fast as possible so he can head over and watch you work your magic. The way you can so easily wipe out rooms full of people with a few gas bombs, and shoot down MAGs with a couple of poisoned bullets is amazing to him. (Which you shouldn't take lightly; you're the only person who manages to constantly impress him.)
You're likely the most feared duo to the enemies of the SQ. Having to deal with Hank was bad enough. But now they have to choose whether they'd prefer being bludgeoned, slashed, or shot to death by him or have to deal with a slow death/suffocation and their flesh literally melting from your chemical weapons. (Most of them end up choosing Hank.)
Hank's actually fairly good at coming up with new ideas for you to try out. Not because he knows anything about chemicals or poison, but because heāll ask if you can make something that does a specific effect. Itās a good boost of inspiration when youāre dealing with a creative block. (He doesnāt understand why you get so excited when he suggests something, but heās happy to help you out.)
Unlike the others, he won't sit and watch you work, he doesn't have the patience for it. But he will volunteer to test your stuff for you (and quite excitedly at that). You find it kind of endearing to see him perk up when you present him with another weapon of mass destruction, his hands trembling as you gingerly place it in his grasp.
(It is kind of difficult to get him to give it back to you though. Eventually you just settle on giving him a duplicate of your finished prototypes. Congratulations! You are now Hank's favorite. Good luck on trying to get rid of him now.)
Imagine the other's surprise when he actually talks about you. Sanford and Deimos will make remarks to Doc about how they couldn't find you one time, and he'll smugly reveal that you were out with him on a mission. (2BDamned is facepalming in the background. Don't they understand that you have your own tasks to work on?)
Speaking of 2BDamned, he's the most grateful for your presence. Not only are you a complete menace on the battlefield (in a good way), but you've also managed to up the effectiveness of Hank, Deimos, and Sanford by lending them weapons and poisons. He considers himself lucky to have found you before any other groups.
You're very independent, so he doesn't really speak to you that often (he knows you can handle yourself anyhow). However, he's always happy to have discussions with you. He's found you to be very insightful, and your intelligence is a breath of fresh air compared to others in the SQ.
He actually runs a lot of ideas by you when it comes to the direction the group is going and what to plan for next. Ordinarily he'd be a lot more secretive, but you've proved yourself to be trustworthy. At this point, you even know more than Sanford or Deimos about the SQ's operations. (Who are subsequently baffled when they give you "new" information and are met with a questioning look and your response that you'd already caught wind of it.)
(You're fairly good at multitasking, so you don't mind 2B's random calls in the middle of your work. It is kind of weird to see Sanford and Deimos' looks of panic when you answer though. Didn't they tell him that they'd come to visit you?)
Of course Doc found out about the other's little impromptu trips and missions with you (eventually). At first he didn't consider that they would have such an interest in his newest recruit, and was shocked when they all asked for their own gas masks, no doubt to get closer to you. Gotta make sure they didn't inhale whatever chemicals you worked on in your lab. (Well, Hank didnāt. But you requested one for him. Someone had to look out for the man, especially since he didn't care about his own health.)
Considering your specialization, he's actually considered adding you to his own little group with the others. You already help them out so much already, and it would be more efficient to have you closer. It's unfortunate that he already has things in place for you to lead the SQ's business in Nevada Central.
Given your talent with chemicals, he has asked if you have any knowledge on making medicines. Unsurprisingly, you do. Someone has to come up with antidotes for your stuff (even if it's only used to blackmail the people you've already poisoned). The SQ can accredit most of their antibiotics and such to your "recipes" now. (Which only causes more talk about your abilities.)
Overall, 2BDamned is proud to have you with them. You're the best at what you do, and he doesn't question your decisions. He's glad that he's finally working with someone he doesn't have to worry about 24/7. Although, he does have to reprimand the others for taking up so much of your time. The last thing he'd want is for you to get overworked.
You kept a lookout for your friends after first hearing about 3, much to the annoyance of your protectors. You wanted to find your friends with you, hopefully with everyone getting along. You did find some more information after running into a small group of agents that recognized you. A fight ensued of course, but one of them yelled something to you that made you pause and keep Hank from killing him immediately. You got closer and asked the agent to repeat himself.
"Player 2, He told me that if I saw you, I was to tell you that he was with MERC."
This made you think, perhaps your friends could be with other factions? You hoped that 4 was safe, especially since she was so small and weak.
"Do you know where the other two are?," you asked the agent as you kept the ones you were with at bay long enough for you question the agent who was bleeding on the ground.
You could see Hank's clawed hand twitching with a need for wanton violence. Your strings only held him back so much.
"Two? I only know of one other, that one is in one of our facilities. Quite a venomous tounge that one has.," the agent replied, "That other one, I don't know. Bandits, some gang faction, hell the nexus?"
You knew where 2 and 3 were now, You just needed to find out where 4 was.
You were about to ask him for more information when Deimos killed the Agent. He made a quick quip about how you and the others needed to move instead of listening to an agent that was probably lying to you in order to prolong his life.
But you still had hope that he was telling you the truth, to the point that you wanted to investigate. Just in case.
You wanted to make sure your friends were safe.
:Player 2:
2 was just getting used to using the strings the fell from his fingertips to move his coworkers around. It was a useful ability, thinking he could probably use it to aid in fighting with straggling bandits or the occasional zed. He always asked the MERC boys if it was okay first before latching his golden threads onto them. A few agreed and allowed him to pratice with them. He got a lot better and found he could help them fight better with directing their movements to attack more efficiently. Whether by firearm or unarmed combat.
2 felt a lot more confident with this ability once he got it practiced. The cowboy hat wearing player kept helping with the mining or going on his regular patrols.
Sheriff did not seem to mind his newly found ability, in fact he seemed to be quite excited at the prospect. The sheriff told him about how he had heard of what the players could do from Jebadiah Cristoff. The almost godlike ability that players had, something that Jeb admired, or even downright revered. 2 was a bit cautious after hearing this, was his ability really that important to the grunts? Did that explain why the Auditor himself was looking for you?
2 was a bit taken aback when Sheriff asked to be controlled by 2. He wanted to see how it felt and what kind of things a player could help him do. 2, although hesitant, obliged and took control of Sheriff and had him shoot at the practice targets. Sheriff noticed a great improvement of shots with the brave player 2 helping him. Even if he cowered, 2 forced his hand to shoot at his target.
Plus the feeling of 2 was pleasant, it reminded him of the burning warmth of a campfire on a chilly night. This same feeling applied to just being around 2. The young human man seemed to give off a sense of warmth, like he himself was a campfire, keeping the dangerous animals at bay by his very presence.
2 kept working still, happily mining or doing patrols and taking out straggling bandits or the occasional zed. The cowboy hat wearing player was told one day to go further into the city to gather supplies. He walked and talked with the grunts he was sent with. They laughed at jokes that each other cracked and scrounged for any supplies that they could carry back to the MERC facility.
However, after a while of scrounging in a building, 2 heard some talking and motioned for his companions to be quiet. He snuck up to a window that he heard the sound coming from and listened to the conversation. The voices were familiar. He had heard them before, but somehow this was not familar. Like he was expecting these voices to say some set lines. After hearing these voices, he recognized them. Deimos and Sanford.
He then heard it. You.
He heard you talking, mentioning that they were close to the MERC facility. That they could check and see if they could find 2. He was happy to know that you were thinking of him like he had thought of you and the others. He decided to make himself known.
He left the relative safety of his hiding spot and motioned for his companions to leave after they warned him that Sanford and Deimos are dangerous and bas news.
"I don't care. I can handle this. I need you boys to get back to base safely, that is my job. I'll take their attention away from you guys.," 2 replied, "Besides. I see 1 with them. That'll make this easier."
2 made sure that the MERC men was able to get away by making enough noise to get the attention of the two mercenaries. He approached with his hands in the air, his hat casting a shadow over his face from the harsh light coming from an overhead streetlight.
"Hey, there's someone here!," Deimos said and raised his weapon quickly to try and fire at 2.
He was unsuccessful as 2's golden strings attatched to the chainsmoking grunt.
"Now that aint a friendly greeting. I thought you'd be happy to see me.," the taller player chuckled, "B'sides, Them bullets aint gonna do much to me."
"2! It's you!," You called out happily and ran up to your friend after he took off his hat, "Did you find 3 or 4?"
"Naw, I haven't seen hide nor hair of them.," 2 replied to you and shot a glance at the two you were with, "Must be a helluva story you got to share."
"You as well. I've heard that 3 is being kept at an AAHW facility. That leaves 4 unaccounted for.," you said to him, your brows furrowed, "She's so small and fragile, I'm worried about her."
"I am as well.," 2 replied, "We'll just have to look around for her. She's not the type to come out of hiding easily if she did get injured."
You pulled 2 over to Sanford and Deimos to introduce them to each other. You made sure to emphasize how much 2 and the others meant to you. 2 finally released Deimos from his control. You invited your friend to come back with you to the base, telling him about the other two who were still at the base.
2 accepted and you took him back to the base, Much to the annoyance of the grunts. 2 did not really care about the rude comments that the grunts made. He's heard worse.
All of the guys were not very pleased about the fact you found one of your best friends. Doc tried to argue that your friends would distract you from the mission, you shut that down with the counter that your friends could help complete the mission at hand. 2 was the most adept at unarmed combat and you trusted his cool head and ability to make snap judgements.
They saw that there was no point in arguing with you, and 2 was begrudgingly accepted into the fold.
[Player 2 has joined the party.]
{Strings: Unlocked}
{Secondary: Locked}
:Player 3:
The sounds of screams of pain and shouts for action followed 3. She held the handgun she stole from an agent close as she ran through the base. She could hear the sounds of boots following her steps. It probably was not the best idea to do her jailbreak when everyone was at the base or still awake, But she had enough and just wanted to leave. She stopped in her tracks as an agent rounded the corner and pointed a handgun at her.
"Drop the weapon and surrender!," He shouted, "Don't do something reckless!"
"Reckless is my thing!," 3 shouted back and called her whips to slash at the agent.
The agent shot at her, but she saw red threads weave in front of her quickly to block the bullet. Said bullet rebounded back to the agent and hit him in the gut. The man doubled over in pain, allowing 3 to rush past him. She noticed that her whips seemed to cut into the skin of these creatures, like she had attatched some sort of blades to it.
Her breathes heaved heavily, she was almost there. Her goal was in sight. She felt a thudding as the door opened and a Mag stepped in. He Reached for her, only for her to drop and slide between his legs before getting up and running again. She was almost there, almost to the vehicle bay. She could take one of the vehicles there to get out of the area. 3 could feel them watching her through the cameras, the reason for these grunts wanting to keep her at the base was not that known to her. But she felt there was a sinister purpose.
She hated shady shit.
3 finally got to the vehicle bay, she looked around and saw where they kept the keys. She rifled through the box before finding what she wanted, a motorcycle key. Now she just needed to find the motorcycle it goes to. She quickly ran to the motrocycles and tied her hair up with an elastic she had in her jacket pocket, before grabbing a helmet that would fit her that was on the rack behind the bikes. The bikes were all fueled and ready to go.
The red jacket wearing young woman tried several motorcycles before finding the one that went with the key.
"There you are, baby.," She chuckled and put the helmet on before getting on the bike.
She kicked the stand closed and drove off into Nevada. 3 felt the feeling of the wind whipping past her, a feeling she dearly missed. She finally felt free again. The freedom of being able to go where she wants to go. 3 still needed to find you and 4. She weaved past broken down cars and abandoned bandit nests. In the distance, she could see a tower reaching towards the crimson heavens.
"There it is. Nexus city.," 3 mumbled to herself as she drove forward, "Shit, I have to deal with Bandits."
The red jacket wearing young woman turned off to the road that went to nexus city. She sped up and drove as past as she could through the bandit nest before stopping at the wall. She gazed up at the wall as she saw some men walking on the catwalks above. The patrolmen saw her and pointed their guns at her.
"Stay back, we have permission to shoot!," one of the men said.
"I don't have time for this, Let me in.," 3 shouted back, "You can't kill me anyways."
"And who do you think you are?!," The other sniper yelled down.
"Player 3.," the young woman replied, "Listen, I gotta find players 1 and 4. You're not gonna stop me, so just let me through."
She had to keep her nerve, remembering that you and 4 were out there and in danger made her worry and frantic. She never liked it when her little buddies got hurt, even if she tended to act like she was not interested. But, her friends could see right through her from being with her for so long.
She made no attempt to move when the snipers took aim at her. She had learned quickly that bullets would not harm her from her previous escape from the AAHW facility. 3's eyes cut to the gate, noticing a hole that looked big enough for her to drive the motorcycle through if she ducked. Guess they did not fix the entire thing when that Mag bandit crashed through the gate. She looked up at the snipers before driving into the gate, ducking down to avoid hitting her head on the boards that had been put up.
3 almost ran into a worker but stopped short, she looked down at him before driving off into the city. Now she just had to find you or 4. She rode through the empty city streets, looking for any sign of you. For any sign of 4. Of 2. Of anyone. The uncomfortable feeling of loneliness scratched at her mind. Where were you and the others? She continued her ride and noticed a shape in the window of a building as she drove past, 3 circled back and rode by slower. The large dark shapes in the window looked back at her with red reflections on where the eyes were supposed to be. She was being watched as she watched them.
"Who are these chucklenuts?," she asked herself and passed once more before continuing on.
Those shadows did not attack her like she knew that bandits or zeds would. Did that mean they were part of the nexus corps?
Her eyes linger on the window as she drives away, feeling uneasy by what she saw. 3 felt her motorcycle sputter as she looked down and noticed she was almost out of gas.
"Well shit.," 3 cursed to herself and proceeded to look for somewhere she could fill the tank.
It was not long before she found an old gas station and found it still worked. She filled her tank while keeping a lookout for anything in the area that would threaten her. However, it was unusually clear. If she remembered correctly, this area should have been crawling with enemies. At least, that is what she would think from playing on her own for a while and actually beating the game while waiting for the others to get ready for the streams. 3 sighed and drove off once her tank was filled.
The empty streets felt otherworldly. There was no trash on the ground, nor were there corpses. She thought there would be corpses at least from what happened thirty years ago. It was like someone went back to clean the place up. Strange. 3 heard the unmistakable sound of an engine coming from around the corner before her. In an instant a truck flew around the corner and blew past her. For a split second, 3 saw you. She turned and skidded to a stop while looking back to the truck who also stopped. The passenger door opened and you stepped out.
"3!," You yelled at her in joy.
3 was overjoyed to have found you safe and got off of her bike as you ran up to hug her. She made a small wince as you ran into her with a big bear hug. You noticed her discomfort and stopped hugging her.
"3, what happened?! who hurt you? I can treat your wounds!," You said with great concern to your friend.
"No, I'm fine. Do you know where 4 is?," 3 asked.
you frowned slightly, "No, She is unaccounted for."
The red jacketed player furrowed her eyebrows and looked back to the truck that you came out of, Seeing Deimos poking his head out the window.
"Is that?," 3 asked.
"Yes it is.," You smiled.
[Player 3 joined the party.]
{Strings: Locked}
{Secondary: Whip Unlocked}
:Player 4:
4 pulled at the restraints that held her down, she could not break them from being so physically weak. Her eyes darted around as she looked for a way to get out of this situation. The steel table she was on was cold on her bare skin. A scientist grunt was deliberating what was the best scalpel for the job. The petit player felt her throat burn as she wanted to cry out but couldnt. The blistering cold feeling of fear creeped through her body as the scientist found the scalpel he wanted and approached.
"Now, lets see what's inside you.," He chuckled as he put his rough paw on her stomach.
The claws clung a bit to her skin as he pressed down as 4 squirmed. Burning tears pricked at her eyes. She felt helpless as the scalpel crept closer and closer towards her skin.
Right as the scalpel started to cut into her skin, The scientist's hand stopped. Violet strings pulled his fingers back. The scalpel struck 4's skin and cut her across her side as it fell onto the floor. The slice started to bleed as the Scientist was forced back. 4 saw the threads that attatched to the scientist lead back to her own tiny and delicate fingers.
'This is my doing.,' 4 thought to herself and twitched her fingers to make the grunt move again.
She made the scientist unrestrain her. She looked at his face, it looked terrified. She got up from the table and looked for her clothes to put back on. 4 found them in a locker and quickly put them on. She bandaged the large cut on her stomach and side. It was rather deep from the sharpness of the scalpel.
'I'll get 1 to look at this later.,' she thought and looked back at the scientist who was still under her control.
4 was rather disgruntled with the fact she was almost dissected alive and wanted to get the idiot back. But she knew that whatever she could do would be a lot worse than the cut she got. The little player made the scientist pick up the scalpel and walk out of the operating room with her following behind. Several other scientists turned to him and watched as he stabbed himself multiple times with the scalpel and throw the sharp instrument at another, jabbing into the other's eye. The scientist was quickly subdued by the security officers as he was screaming like a madman.
4 used this diversion to quickly run out of the labs and to the elevator, where she went down to the lobby. It took a little bit before the scientists realized that she was gone. She heard the alert be given out on the radio of a security officer in the lobby.
"Player 4 has escaped containment, AGAIN"
She could only smile slightly at the annoyance in the dispatcher's voice. 4 quickly avoided the Officer as he ran past her hiding spot to block the exits of the stairs and elevators. She scampered down the escalator and past the front desk. The concierge gave her a friendly, 'have a nice day' as she passed by, not looking up from his paperwork. The little player ran into the street and looked around, trying to determine where was the best place to go. Should she head for the residential sector, or to the MERC facility?
Maybe it would be safer to head to some of those apartment buildings she and the others explored during the Hank sections of Story mode when they streamed together.
4 shook her head and began to run in a direction. She knew she was vunerable, but she was not gonna go back to be dissected.
4 kept running and running, pushing past exhaustion and felt warmth on her stomach before becoming cold. She looked down and saw her bandages had soaked in blood. There was a trail of blood behind her, showing her path. 4 panted silently and kept moving, she had to find somewhere safe before she could repatch the wound.
She found that one plaza from the flashback cutscene, the one with the statue of Phobos in it. She slowed down and entered one of the shops to look for a first aid kit, hoping for one that was not used. 4 did not find an unused one, yet found some clean gauze that she could at least recover the wound with. She found the wound was torn open wider from her running and climbing over cars. The little player covered the wound as best as she could and rebandaged it.
Voices were outside. Bandit voices. Had they found her blood trail? Her answer was never answered as she heard gunshots and the Bandits' dying cries. 4 silently crept painfully towards the door, but kept hidden. She saw a large familiar looking grunt appear. The buff grunt looked around and stopped when he saw the blood trail.
"Player. I think there could be someone else here.," the teashade wearing grunt said while looking back.
"That blood looks fresh. Someone is injured.," you said.
"Then let's put them outta their misery.," Deimos added in.
"Hey 3, You hang back with Sanford.," You told the unseen other player and followed the blood trail.
4 felt a lot happier and kicked a chair near her, the item clattered to the ground, alerting the Grunts and players to her presence.
You and Deimos entered the building 4 was hiding in and look around, Deimos immediately raised his gun when he saw the fourth player. You made him put the weapon down as soon as 4 raised her hands to the light from the street lamps streaming into the dark shop. She placed a fist with an upwards thumb on her open palm.
You immediately ran to 4's side and motioned Deimos to come as well.
"4, we got you. I'm so happy to see you again.," you told her.
The smaller player smiled slightly and put out her thumb and pinky before shaking her hand back and forth. Her usually sullen looking, half lidded eyes widened a bit after looking at Deimos.
"Deimos, can you carry 4?," You asked the smoker grunt.
He gave you a grin, "Sure thing."
4 felt Deimos pick her up, His rough pads rubbed against her skin, his claws lightly running over her as he settled her in a more cofortable position for him to carry.
"Woah, rather light.," Deimos commented.
"Looks like she hasn't eaten in a while, so she may be a bit underweight.," you responded, "We got to get her back to base, She's injured."
"Roger.," Deimos answered with a nod as 4 clung to him as tight as she could. He felt so warm. It felt good.
3 gasped when she saw you and Deimos with 4.
"4! What happened?! Who the hell did this to you?!," the leather jacket wearing player asked, "I'll kick their ass!"
The mute player waved her hand and made some motions before clinging to Deimos again. 3 just chuckled and shook her head.
"Have fun 4.," She said, "Glad you're safe."
3 walked back over to help Sanford, who was getting the truck loaded with salvaged supplies. You and Deimos followed.
The static of a walkie talkie made 4 look over Deimos' shoulder to the Nexus Core officer that had came to the plaza. She waved at him slightly before Deimos got her into the truck and the group drove back to base.
[Player 4 has joined the party]
{Strings: Unlocked}
{Secondary: Locked}
Mostly follows the story of SAMAU. However, this time, it's not just you that gains the attention of the Employers. Your roommates do so as well. (This piece is basically just a description of your roommates; there's not any SAMAU in this. Sorry!)
One other thing to note: Although I use 2nd person in this, the Player has sort of grown into their own character over time. Oops?
Being a streamer often kept you up late. It took a huge portion of your time, and your schedule basically revolved around your streams.
Often you were unable to do your share of the housework, so it fell on your roommates.
You were lucky, then, to have roommates who were not just okay with, but happy about your work.
In fact, they even joined in sometimes. If the game allowed, they would play with you from their own computers; otherwise, they often sat on your bed and provided commentary from off-screen.
Your community had come up with silly nicknames and backstories for all of you based on the little information that you'd revealed.
All of this had begun as a series of running jokes. Your "brand" was something like a phoenix; your screen name was Firehawk, after all, and you really did adore fire. Thus, your fans liked to draw you with the traits of a firebird.
You'd even seen some very interesting, well-written fanfiction about yourself. Even if it was a bit odd to read about your own streamer persona kissing your favorite characters or, god forbid, your roommates.
Of your friends, the first to appear, surprisingly, had been Tickānamed for the antique pocketwatch he'd showed off on his first appearance. He was very busy and didn't show up often; he also had a very handsome voice, according to chat.
He wasn't much of a participant, either, preferring to sit and comment about your performance. Considering his love for math, he tended to approach things from that angle, sometimes discovering mechanics that you hadn't even noticed. Because of these traits, he was often portrayed as a mysterious and brooding timekeeper, with many secrets to hide.
(In reality, Markus was the only one of your roommates to have a traditional office job. He worked as an accountant, running the numbers for a construction company. He didn't really like the kinds of games you played; he said they were too stressful for him. You said that the way he played Stardew Valley was plenty stressful, but to him, there was a huge difference. He was also the calmest of all of you, although he was quite socially awkward, another reason why he didn't appear very much.)
Then came Rosebud, which came from the rose hair clip she wore 24/7. He was another fan favorite; sometimes you wondered if they liked him more than you. She was very charismatic, unhinged in just the right way to become adored by the masses.
He happened to be the most frequent guest on your streams, since his schedule matched so well with yours. She seemed to enjoy interacting with chat, often riling them up, much to your chagrin. Your fans seemed to think that she was a flower demon of some kind, which she delighted in.
(Honestly, you couldn't blame them for adoring him. Akemi's cheerful chaos really was infectious. Chat thought Tick was the most mysterious, but they had no idea just how strange Akemi was. She often simply... vanished into the night. Because of this, he was even more nocturnal than youāyou didn't think she'd seen the sunlight in at least three years. You were also fairly certain he ran a Twitter account dedicated to you, which you decided to take as a compliment.)
Finally, there was Chroma, who had gained the nickname because of her brightly-colored, ever-changing style. Especially her colorful wigs. She'd taken to wearing outfits themed around whatever game you were playing, so she was usually the first to learn of your plans for the week.
She mostly appeared at either the very end or the very beginning of the stream. She was incredible at video games, and sometimes you even recruited her to help you out when you got stuck. She also adored insects, so she'd always try to sit in when you played insect-themed games. Chat was, naturally, head-over-heels in love with her.
(As a line cook, Josie had become excellent at dealing with pressure, even growing to enjoy it. Her attitude, both in work and in personal life, was efficient to a tee. In the past you'd associated that with insufferable perfectionists... but she was so passionate and caring that it balanced it out. She was an optimist who saw the best in people. No, not just sawāconsidering the stuff you knew she'd been through, she fought tooth and nail to believe that there was good in the world.)
A sub AU of @saltymongoose 's AU.
What if Player had friends that were dragged into Nevada alongside them?
Part one.
You waited as the loading screen of your discord call lit up, Loading and making a chiming until some other faces filled the three boxes that your private group had. Your friends who played with you on your streams in games that had a multiplayer function. You waved with a friendly smile.
"Hey guys! how are you all doing?," You greeted.
You got different replies from the two who responded, One saying he was fine and the other gave a Careless wave.
The third Stayed silent and typed a 'Okay' in the text.
You smiled, Relieved they were okay after being worried about their radio silence for a few days. Especially the one who waved, as she had been in a motorcycle accident a few days prior. All of you knew each other from school, Highschool and college, and have been close ever since.
"So what's with the sudden call? Did you find a new game to play?," You heard one of your friends ask.
"I certainly did, Here, I'll send you all a link to it.," You replied and sent the link in text chat, "I Think we'll enjoy it."
"Madness: Project nexus?," You heard one of them ask.
Your eyes went to the fourth camera window with the face of the silent friend in it, She was signing a question, 'Can we play this on stream together?'
You beamed at her question, "We sure can. That is what I planned for us to do!"
She made a small smile, something that made you know that she was happy with this. You waited as they installed the game.
You reminisced about how you met all of them. The first one was the one who had the accident, she was and still is, a rough but reliable young woman, albeit with a bit of a hothead temper. Her Attitude is a bit aloof, yet she was a good person. She always wore her favorite red leather jacket for everything, it was her lucky jacket. You met her in high school after she moved in and you helped her feel more at home in an unfamiliar place. She became your player 3.
The second was in the first year of college, where you met a young man who had a bold, yet laid back attitude and a cowboy hat. He was an honest person who was hard working and strong. You found yourself talking to him after classes sometimes and became friends. His patience was able to break through to your other friend and he acted as her anchor. You also found that he also was very strong, something that may have attributed to the rumors on campus of him killing a man with his bare hands. He became your player 2.
The third was someone you met during your final years at college, someone that was dragged to your hangout place by 2 and 3 after they saw she was basically alone and getting pretty badly bullied (3 also already knew her from an incident in the past). It was soon apparent that something was very wrong as she would not speak. You decided to be her friend and found that she played some of the same games that you did. She comunicated more in the text chat of those games when you played with her, but she always dodged the question of why she did not talk. You knew she was not deaf as she would respond to you and the others asking her questions, but she only communicated with either texts or sign language. After becoming closer, she became your player 4.
You were brought back to the present by the others saying that the installation was complete. All of you continued to talk as the game loaded for all of you. You saw their faces light up when they recognized the characters in the tutorial stage. All four of you started streaming together after the tutorial stage. You started chuckling as 4 shook her hands in excitement as she saw who she was playing as. Player 3 immediately ran out of bullets from being so trigger happy and resorted to beating the enemies to death. Player 2 took his time while playing as Sanford and used both melee and unarmed. Player 4 kept back and shot enemies from a distance before using throwables to take out enemies. It was incredibly fun overall to play together. Plus your fans seemed to love it. It was even better for you since your friends loved it.
In the corner of your eye you saw a notification. Bigbadaud666 had given you 80000 bits on your stream. You of course had to reply to that overly generous new follower during the intermisson period while you and your friends talked. Player 2 was very happy about the gameplay and the music, his favorite track being Deputized. Player 3 discussed who was the best character to play as, getting into a bit of an argument with chat. Player 4 had to think of new sign language names for the characters as she would be talking about the grunts with you a little more regularly. Overall, the stream was a massive success. You did not have the heart to tell them that you had already played this game a little bit before getting them hooked on it. So perhaps they will encounter the same interesting bugs that you have found.
After a few hours, 2 and 3 signed off for the night, leaving you and 4. "Hey, Are you and 3 okay? She's been snappier lately.," You inquired about your friend.
4 looked away, more than likely looking at one of the jars that was on her bookshelf, then looked back at the camera and raised her hands to sign.
'That accident was a close enough call that I think she was reminded of...'
4 stopped and you waved your hands, "Hey, it's okay. I get it. Tell her that we should all stream together again, today was fun."
You got a nod from the silent friend who gave you a sad smile.
"Good night.," You smiled.
She signed 'good night' back to you and you both logged off for the night.
A few days later you all were playing the game once more on stream when 3 piped up, "Hey is it just me, or is this guy more difficult to play than usual?"
You and the others paused the game and had a quick intermission to talk and take a break.
'Want to switch?,' 4 signed, 'I can take him for a bit.'
"No, I just think it is strange.," 3 replied, "Plus it sounded like he was grumbling something. That's not part of the usual voice line pack that we can get from examining the data files."
2 Nodded, "Yeah, Sanford and Deimos have been difficult as well. It sounds weird but, it feels like they don't want to follow commands. Is something wrong with your copy?"
"Now that you mention it, There have been some odd occurances.," You sighed, "Something akin to side missions have been popping up for me lately, like for characters others have not even unlocked yet. Like a solo mission with Doc."
You noticed that 4 sat upright in her seat and leaned in close to the monitor to look at the characters onscreen while you and the others talked.
"That doesn't seem like something the devs would send to only one beta tester. If nobody else is reporting on it, there might be something up with your-," 2's screen cut off before he finished speaking.
3 piped up and got cut off too, "Hey wha-"
4 only pointed to the screen before she cut out as well. You looked at the screen and saw that the game had crashed mid stream. It did not respond to anything you were doing. So, you shut off your computer and went to do some chores. Your phoned pinged from texts from your friends asking what happend. You told them that it was okay, you had some issues on your end and that you guys could stream tomorrow. They all replied with different versions of 'okay see you then'. You sighed with a smile and walked away after putting your phone down.
You called your friends over to hang out on the weekend, deciding to forgo a regular stream and do a single collaboration stream with everyone involved. You were excited, they have not been to your home since college study groups you had together. You heard 2's truck as he pulled into the driveway. You opened the door to welcome him in. He tipped his hat to you after parking and walking up.
"Mighty fine to be here again.," He chucked, "Brought my guitar."
"Going to regale us with more cattle driving songs?," You asked teasingly.
"Perhaps.," He gave you a grin in return, "The ladies should be getting here soon."
"They always come fashionably late anyway.," You chuckled and let your friend in, "I played a little more of Madness: Project Nexus without you guys on a stream. Some odd things popped up on the chat feature."
"Strange. Need me or 3 to peek at the codes?," 2 asked.
"No, it should be okay.," You responded, "Make yourself comfortable."
2 walked inside and plopped himself on the couch, "You really refurnished this place, it looks good."
"You can thank some of my new followers for that, Bigbadaud666, Hookman, and Hotstuff.," You snickered at the names that have been giving you some ridiculous amounts of bits.
"That first name is very familiar.', 2 said and pulled his hat over his face to block the lights from his eyes as he leaned back, "Think I've seen it somewhere."
You shrugged and went to peek out the window, wondering what was keeping the other two. You did not have to wait long as You heard the sound of a motorcycle engine, before seeing said motorcycle pull into your driveway. The taller lady driving the motorcycle shut it off and took her helmet off.
"Hope we didn't keep you waiting too long.," 3 laughed, "She thought it was a sleepover or something and packed a lot of shit."
'Did not.,' you saw the smaller young woman sign behind her.
3 parked and pocketed her keys before unpacking some things from the Saddlebags on her beloved motorcycle.
"I brought drinks, so who wants cocktails?," The leather clad woman asked and brought some bottles and cases in.
4 walked in with a small wave and a bag on her back.
"You're riding that thing so soon after the accident?," you asked with much concern for your friend.
"Hell yeah. It'd be a waste to let my baby rot in the garage and gather dust.," She replied and began to pour different alcohols in a shaker, "Besides, It was not my fault. The other guy clipped me when he made that illegal turn. I had the right of way. That camera I got on a whim proves it."
"Glad to see you're.... okay?," You replied and looked at the bandages on her, "Do those scrapes need to be cleaned and rebandaged? They look like they could be getting infected."
"You know she hates hospitals after that incident.," 2 piped up, "That's why 3 hangs around you. Free healthcare."
"Oh hush Cowboy.," The biker hissed and took a drink of her cocktail.
You smiled at their bickering and looked down when you felt a tug on your shirt. 4 was standing next to you and holding something. She presented a cutely wrapped box.
"Oh? For me? Thank you.," You gaciously took the box and opened it, seeing the baked goods inside, "These are so cute. And you made them in Madness combat theme!"
You saw your silent friend beam a smile as wide as she could, She appreciated your acknowledgement of her efforts. You patted her head as thanks for the cute pastries. He put her hands and neon painted nails up to sign.
'I brought dinner for all of us, too'
"You did not have to do that.," You smiled, "3 already brought the bar. But I guess we will need some food to counter her alcohol."
4 nodded and followed you to the kitched to put the food out and reheat what needed to be reheated.
What you did not know was what or who was watching you from the phone camera you set on the counter. They saw you and your friends and listened to your conversations. Like a predator in wait, they watched and listened. After all, soon, they will have the prey they were hunting in their claws....
And the day they were going to pounce, was soon. After all, one can only be so patient.
[A/n]: This is based on a Madness Combat AU made by @saltymongoose! Go check out their work if you find yourself liking this ! A quick thank you to them for also giving me permission to write this, they're a real gem !
Pairing: Yandere! Hank x Player/Twitch streamer! GN! Reader
Fandom: Madness Combat
Type: Yandere + oneshot
CW/TW: yandere themes, obsession, possessiveness, w/ mentions of blood, gore and murder. Pretty much the average MC typical violence.
Word Count: 1619
Summary: Hank's beloved Player finally returns to control him once more across the vastness of Nevada for some slaughter.
āNo chat, Iām not putting the fucking cat ears on you absolute shitters.ā
The chat goes wild, spanning a wide range of customized emotes, many of them sad. You recline back in your chair, looking unamused at the camera. Dramatically, you shake your head before zooming in on your disappointed face, your eyes never leaving the cameraās unflinching lens.
āChat, if you want to see me wear them so badly, consider subscribing with Twitch prime, yeah?ā You waggle your eyebrows at the camera before laughing. āI would say Iām sorry Chat, but I like money.ā Once again, you chuckle before settling into a more comfortable position; you were going to be streaming for a while.
āOkay okay, we should actually start playing the game, we havenāt done anything for like ten minutes.ā In just a few seconds, you change your screen from your webcam to your screen, displaying Project Nexus. You had done a poll earlier in the day asking for what game to play later that day, and Nexus had won by a landslide, beating out the likes of RDR2, Minecraft and whatever the hell Monster Prom was.
After quickly reading out some donations, you start the game.
āµ
A sudden warmth fills Hank and a distant hum fills his ears. It sinks into his bones and fits snugly in his chest. He knows this feeling, this sensation of peace. His Player had returned to him again, finally. How many days had it been? A week? A month? Whatever the time had been, Hank was just glad that you were back, and welcomed the familiar sight of those translucent strings wrapping around his fingers. It felt so right after such a long time without it. Hank could not be mad at you for leaving, not for long at least.
The strings gently tug him in a random direction, and he obeys. Thereās an eager feeling to please that bubbles from his gut to his chest, to hear you praise him again like you had done before. His fingers clench at his sides both in excitement and to feel the strings tighten just slightly against his skin; just to remind himself that you had chosen him. Hank lets you lead him into the vastness of Nevada, keen on causing whatever chaos you wanted him to do.
āChat, I know you want me to play Deimos, but itās been forever since Iāve seen my boy Hank. Give me a break.ā
The familiar lull of your voice echoes around him, always feeling like itās been carried over from the wind, yet so close that it feels like youāre speaking right next to him. Hank canāt help but frown at your words though, even if your voice brought him great joy. Give attention to that little annoyance called Deimos? He wants to scoff at the idea; obviously he was the better candidate for receiving your attention. He was glad that you had chosen him over that smoker, and all negative emotions seemed to fade away as quickly as they had come. For now, it was just him and his Player against the entirety of Nevadaās unfortunate and unhinged population. After all, you had chosen him to be your vessel, you, his beloved Player had wrapped those strings around his fingers to lead him, not Deimos.
āChat, if you ask me one more time if Hank can get down sexual style I will start permabanning people.ā
Hank really didnāt understand what you were talking about, but he figured it was something inappropriate and thought you were so kind as to defend him from those comments. He wasnāt too sure who āchatā was, but considering how ethereal you seemed, he would not be surprised if they were your acolytes, worshiping your existence as he did. Though it seemed that they could test your patience. Did they know how majestic your presence was? How lucky they were that they could see you with their own eyes? Perhaps even feel you? The thought makes another ugly feeling swirl in his chest; why should they be able to do what he could not?
āHave people just consideredā¦ not approaching the guy whoās known to just murder everything in sight? Because I feel like that would solve a lot of the murders we commit on a near daily basis.ā
At this, Hank paused for only a brief moment before he followed the stringās command to continue shooting at the grunts that scrambled around. Were you perhaps unhappy with him? No, you couldnāt be. Your strings still commanded him to kill, to unleash hell upon the inhabitants of Nevada, but he still remained puzzled. Perhaps you were questioning the stupidity of the Nevadians? Praising him even in the same breath? You must have thought highly of him then, and Hank couldnāt help but push himself to do just a little bit better, to kill just a bit faster if only to impress you. His god, his angel, was watching him, and he did not want to fail.
When Hank had first felt the familiar presence of his Player, he had attempted to fight back against the strings that commanded his movements. Then, he grew to learn that you only had his best interest in mind, an angel guiding him through the hellscape that was Nevada. Your commands were effortless, the strings pulling him to cover to shield him from an onslaught of attacks, and making him move in ways that easily dispensed whatever enemies he faced. The beautiful voice that could have been an angelās choir always whispered in his ear, never failing to amuse him, or fluster him (the only time he would feel such an emotion from anyone).
His trust in you would never falter, because you had already proven yourself to care about him, and in return, he would obey your every command. It seemed to be an unspoken deal between you and him. You got to control him and lead him around with your delicate, yet beautiful strings and he got to bathe in your presence. There were times when your strings would take hold of someone else, and it drove him a bit mad at times. All he had to do was act just a bit reckless, and soon, those strings would wrap around his fingers once more, where they belonged.
āHank is obviously the best one. I love a good murder hobo. No thoughts, only murder.ā
The sound of laughter filled Hankās ears as he beat a grunt to death with the butt of the gun heād been carrying around since it had run out of bullets. At this comment from his Player, he couldnāt help but feel slightly offended. He was not a hobo, not even close, but he supposed that you had your reasons for calling him such. Maybe he looked too dirty to you? Were his clothes tattered? Suddenly, Hank felt self-conscious about his appearance, something that never occurred once; did he look too scuffed to you? Even as blood spattered against his face (thankfully his goggles prevented the blood from getting into his eyes), his thoughts remained on your words.
Your strings pulled him to and fro around the fight, keeping him safe as his mind became muddled. Did you only see him as a killer? A killer hobo at that? He had to fix this somehow, even if the comment itself didnāt seem like a critique of his character. Maybe when you left (as much as he didnāt want you to), he would look over his outfit and see what needed to be fixed, what needed to change. Or maybe while your strings still remained tied around his fingers, he would show you the different aspects of himself.
Hank only wanted your praise, your complete and utter attention, but perhaps not like this. He would change himself if it meant that you liked him better above all others. He would be better than Deimos, Sanford and all others in Nevada. Hank was your vessel, your most beloved and faithful servant. Hank only wished that you could see that better. No matter, he would show you it in time. You were a god, loving and caring; maybe not omnipotent, but Hank would help you understand.
āWeāve been going good for five hours now.ā
Has it really been that long? Time sure did pass when killing.
āI think weāll stop here, yeah? Iāll probably do this again tomorrow. I missed playing this game.ā
Oh. Hank hated this part. When you would say your fleeting goodbyes into his ear, promising to return. Sometimes you did, sometimes not; it was a gamble with you. But once again, he could never be mad at you for long. Even when your missing presence left him cold and hollow. The absence of you made him lose a sense of purpose and made him meander around Nevada looking for anything that could replicate you, and finding nothing. It drove Hank crazy when you went away. Couldnāt you stay longer? Then again, an important being like you was prone to be busy sometimes. Hank would just have to respect that.
āBye-bye Hank. Iāll see you tomorrow! Be good for me, okay? Chat, say goodbye to Hank!ā
So kind, so sweet, so loving. Hank loved you from his very core, from the depths of his heart; a feeling that he never thought he would experience ever. If only he could see you, hold you, his dearest Player. You better come back tomorrow he thinks, do not keep me waiting again. I only wish to be used by you again. Hank could only hope that you kept your promise. He would remain here as always, because he was patient for your return as always.
An AU of SAMAU that follows a Player named Lilith. It diverges from the original quite early on, when the Auditor decides to kidnap him and Lilith reacts... poorly.
More details on Lilith (any pronouns btw), the world they come from, and the general course of the story under the cut.
Lilith is a living weapon, stripped of faer purpose after being revealed as a deity's chosen. Frustrated and prohibited from fighting, they find different ways to relieve their stress. One of his new interests is watching Madness Combat and playing Project Nexus.
Her personality quickly endears her to her vessels. Although vir aim is... lackluster, ve makes up for it with sheer enthusiasm and bloodlust. Their strategic mind isn't half bad, either. And thus the AU begins as usual... until, of course, Lilith is actually brought to Nevada.
The Auditor decides to intervene after Lilith mysteriously vanishes. Unbeknownst to him, xe's been on the run for the last few months, and xe are not happy with being put in another cage.
Violence ensues. I have two ideas for how this goes from here, one where Lilith stays and one where it leaves.
If Lilith leaves, voi does so immediately. She is absolutely furious, and more than a little terrified that the Employers will trap her again. So he escapes into the wild and lives on his own for a while.
I imagine ve's very, very cautious at first. They aren't quite sure if they can trust... well, anyone here. And it's used to being on its own for months at a time, especially in hostile territory; there isn't an urgent need for allies.
However, eventually her lack of direction starts to get to her. He decides to try and carry out the original story. Fae begins by contacting 2BDamned, hoping to join as some kind of mercenaryāthe one-man-army fae was created to be.
I have no ideas past this point. At least for now. Sorry!
In the one where he stays, he's closest to Stygian. Their respectful mannerisms make fae much more trusting of them; they are the first Employer (and, if fae has faer way, the only Employer) who learns about what Lilith is and what that means.
Which reminds me: I should probably explain that in a bit more detail. Along with some more worldbuilding.
See, Lilith is some kind of magical/biological construct, designed for a very specific purpose. Like other living weapons, they're very efficient in energy use; they can go without eating or sleeping for weeks at a time with very few negative effects. Its biological aspects mean it can operate very independently on the battlefield, unlike actual machines. He can make his own repairs, and he gradually heals over time.
As for specifics... She's a close combat fighter. Xir small frame (well, compared to others like xem) make xem nimble and extremely fast.
Each living weapon is assigned a handler. Lilith's relationship with her own is somewhere between parental and military. Fae refers to them as faer commander. Lilith feels betrayed by them, but even so, he misses them dearly.
And what happened that made Lilith feel so betrayed? Well... Being a deity's chosen means that it's no longer allowed to fight. They're considered 'too valuable' to risk. It makes her feel weak, fragile, as if she can't take care of herself. Ve doesn't need to be protected, and yet everyone insists that ve does. Eventually, xe can't take it any more. He decides to break free from the gilded cage he's trapped in.
This is why she reacts so poorly to the Employers' attitude towards her. :D
An AU where the reader is the subject of a secretive experiment that leaves them the perfect Player... among other things.
Possible triggering themes for this AU/story include medical trauma, descriptions of chronic illness, ableism, depression, and death. If I've handled anything insensitively, please let me know.
A more 'formal' introduction, along with rambling about my thought process, under the cut.
Self Aware MadCom belongs to @saltymongoose. The concept is really interesting to me, even aside from the xreader stuff (although it's definitely also that lmao). So I thought I might explore that a bit with a concept that's already been floating around my head for a bit. The world that the reader is from is deliberately left a bit vague, but it's sort of magical realism. Most relevant to this AU: there are things like doctors and computers existing alongside curses and other magical ailments.
Also, this doesn't really include much MadCom or SAMAU... Well, no interactions with the characters, anyways. It's mostly just an introduction to my ideas for this AU, so it describes more of what your life was like beforehand and how you found the series. Do also note that I've never played either M:PN game, so there might be some inaccuracies.
All that being said... enjoy!
~~~
You, along with several others, were the subject of an experiment when you were a teenager. It was so secretive, you were never even given the details of why it had been conducted. That, or you had forgotten, given that one of the major side effects of the experiment was memory loss.
The experiment itself was something about deliberately letting specific kinds of contagions into the subject's body. You knew a few of them were fungal, and many were magical in some way, although they were different for every experiment.
Apparently if they chose the right infections for the right subject and 'balanced' them properly with the individual's immune system... they would stabilize. This led to the subject gaining supernatural abilities based on whatever magical infections they had.
Of course, most of the subjects weren't so lucky. The various infections would usually just take their courses; often the combinations would very quickly kill the subject. Those that survived were left with permanent problems ranging from aphasia to compromised immune systems to seizures.
You were their star subject, the one better off than all the rest. The staff made sure to remind you of that every time you complained about anything. "Be grateful," they told you. "At least you can still speak. At least you're still recovering. At least you're still alive." They never said it out loud, but you heard the implication. All of this is only happening because of us.
Bullshit. You were only 'better off' because of sheer dumb luck. Had they succeeded? Maybe. But their idea of success didn't even take you into account.
And their idea of success still left you with problems. Yes, you have sharper senses now, and you can draw energy from more than just food. But you're face-blind, and your hands and feet are numb, and you sometimes hurt so badly that you can't walk.
Not to mention how unethical the experiment itself was. They didn't even study people who already had these conditions; they deliberately induced them. Hell, one of your roommates was six years old! Why they let her participate still bothered you today.
...But it wasn't all bad. You cherished the friends you'd made there, even if you'd lost contact with most of them.
Not just your fellow patients, either. Most of the staff were... annoying at the very least. But a few seemed to actually have your best interests in mind. For example, your favorite nurse, Max, recommended an animated series that might help take your mind off of things when you were in the depths of depression.
You very quickly fell in love with Madness Combat. The simple graphics, where characters were denoted by outfit and style rather than facial features, seemed perfect for you. You grew to adore Hank, Deimos, Sanford, Tricky, and every other character, getting invested in their fights even when nothing else made you happy.
And the episodes were just plain fun to watch. Even when you had issues with your memory, the fight scenes interested you more than enough to make up for it. The community, too, seemed to welcome you, and you came to cherish the friends you made there.
Not only that, but you found a little game on Newgrounds. Although your numb hands made it hard to play, it really did capture the things that made you adore Madcom to begin with. Your favorite nurse approved too; after all, it was an exercise in hand-eye coordination!
Naturally, you were beyond thrilled when Project Nexus came out. By that point, you'd already left the facility. And your memory had recovered enough to get well and truly obsessed with the lore.
You smiled, picking the Tourist difficulty and sitting back to watch the intro cinematic. This was going to be fun.
(Unbeknownst to you, it would also be much, much more than you bargained for.)
