Was talking about this elsewhere, but Victoria really was the worst possible thing to happen to Chris plans for Breakthrough
He was banking on Breakthrough being easily manipulated, not prying about any of his excuses, too busy about getting a team running to really have to deal with any genuine oversight
Jessica would be out of the picture, Tristan and Ashley out of their depth, heâd have free reign to explore and do what he wanted
Victoria appearing was a curveball to his plans.
Sheâs methodical, sheâs keen, sheâs *questioning* and she *cares*
Absolutely horrendous combination for someone who has secrets to hide and who did not want that to happen. Still, he tried to make it work, maybe hoping sheâd not look too hard at things that donât make sense.
But he doesnât know Jessica poisoned the well, telling Vic that someone was acting with ill intentions.
And Victoria naturally cares about children. And then she hears from others that Chris is scaring workers and kids.
So of course she investigates and he flips out. This is the closest someone has come to his genuine secrets and he panics
You can literally see him throw everything at the wall to try and keep Victoria off balance. The Amy comment works, but he accidentally lets slip something about his power that Victoria notices: changer powers *donât act that way*
Had he not tossed out the Amy comments, Victoria may have put the pieces together sooner
I loved the little blurb you recently wrote about Quaritch and Spider having that conversation in the cell about hiding his ability from the RDA. But the whole time I was reading it I couldn't help but think about how there might be hidden mics in the room...
If you wouldn't mind continuing it, could you write a follow up where Ardmore listens in on a hidden mic, and as soon as Quaritch leaves, they take Spider to the labs. Spider believes Quaritch betrayed him and Quaritch has no idea it's happening.
Part 1!
đ Lab Rat, part 2 đ
Finally, Spider pulled away. Quaritch mourned the hug as soon as it finished, but at least his son was nearly back to normal.Â
âNo oneâs telling them anything, so you got nothinâ to be worried for,â Quaritch reiterated.Â
Spider nodded, fiddling his hand around the kuru Quaritch knew was still hidden amongst his locs. âYeah.â
âNow just wait here while I go talk to Lyle.â Quaritch rose to leave, but turned before he got to the door. Something uncomfortable was nudging against his insides, but Quaritch didnât know what to make of it. He frowned. âDonât go anywhere.â
Spider scoffed. âTrust me, I wonât.â
With that, Quaritch turned on his heel and let the door close softly behind him.Â
What he didnât know, what the source of his strange niggling feeling was, was that next door General Ardmore was staring at her second-in-command Sergeant Korman in shocked silence.Â
For he had no idea as he strode down the hall to the mess that the hidden microphone planted in his comms collar was transmitting every word he said.Â
âWhat. The. Fuck.â Korman said, stunned.Â
âThis changes everything,â Ardmore muttered, eyes darting along the floor in time with her racing thoughts.Â
âBut that canât be true - the boy canât actually breathe here?â
âWe need to confirm.â Ardmore didnât know if what the two had discussed was true, or some sort of code, or lies between the boy and the colonel, but they had to find out. Her mind went straight into planning mode. She addressed Korman with an order. âTake him to a more secure cell while I talk to SciOps. We need to get him tested as soon as we can. And Sargeant - keep this under wraps. Especially from the First Recom Squad. We need to figure out how to deal with that little problem.â She nodded in the direction Quaritch had left. She didnât know what to make of the Colonelâs decision not to alert SecOps, but clearly his loyalty was compromised. And that was a serious problem.Â
Korman nodded solemnly, and headed out of the secure observation room to gather a security unit.Â
**********
Spider hopped up onto the bench Quaritch had just vacated, thinking over everything the man had said. He couldnât believe heâd allowed himself to break down like that in front of Quaritch. Heâd never live it down.Â
At least now he knew that Quaritch wasnât going to tell the RDA about what Kiri had done to him. It was a massive relief - coming back here was risky enough despite Quaritchâs promises - and he wondered what else Quaritch would or wouldnât do to protect him. He just needed to stick it out, sit tight until the plan was complete, and hope that nothing went wrong.Â
The sound of the door opening should have been his first sign that his hopes were in vain.Â
Had Quaritch forgotten something?
âMiles Socorro do not resist!â shouted one of the four men that stormed into the room, tasers raised and handcuffs brandished.Â
Oh shit-
âTurn around and put your hands behind your back!â
Spider scrambled to get off the table, but was shoved face first against the wall, pressed fiercely into the metal. âWhat are you doing? Whatâs going on?!â
It was only once heâd asked the desperate question that the answer dawned on him. Quaritch had never left to speak to Wainfleet.Â
âWhat are you doing?! Get off me!â he yelled against the hands that gripped him too tightly, cuffing his hands behind his back.Â
Quaritch couldnât have done this. He wouldnât haveâŠ
No one bothered to answer, not as a soldier each side of him linked their arms through Spiderâs, frogmarching him out of the room and down the corridor. Spider gave them all heâd got, bile rising in his throat and panic coursing through his bloodstream.
âGet OFF!â he shouted, using his full strength to bend the soldiers each side of him by the elbow and force them to let him go. He dug his bare heels into the floor and bent over, resisting their efforts with all his might.Â
âKeep moving, kid!â
âDonât make this difficult-â
âGod damnit!"Â
The soldier to the left of him cursed as Spider jerked on his arm and the three of them all momentarily lost their balance. Spider didnât miss a beat and kicked out with his right leg against the soldier to his right, aiming for the groin but hitting the knee. It almost worked, Spider could feel the manâs grip loosening on his armâŠ
âTaser! Taser!â Someone shouted, spilling cold fear into his insides. Before he could help it, the two soldiers had released him and pushed him away from them. Spider lunged to grab hold of one of them, if he could just keep physical contact-
A burning, stinging shudder wrecked its way through Spiderâs system, radiating from a point in his lower back. His jaw locked shut and he lost control of his limbs, crashing to the ground and bashing his head against the floor. Pain bloomed from the point of impact. Then it was over, and he couldnât breathe. Heâd never felt more pathetic than realising that all he could do for those few seconds was lie there, incapacitated as he struggled to find a way to get air into his lungs.Â
Quaritch had done this. Quaritch had lied through his teeth as Spider cried.Â
The realization hit him like another taser.
Hands were on him again, heaving him up, uncaring that his legs barely supported him or that he was still completely winded.Â
âWe warned you not to make this difficult, Miles,â one of the soldiers spoke from in front of him. Spider recognised him from his last rendezvous with SecOps. Sergeant Korman, he thought his name was.Â
âFffuck youâŠâ Spider slurred, finally finding his breath.Â
âCome on,â Korman said to the soldiers. âGet him to the holding cells.â
âNo,â Spider grunted. He was weak all over but heâd be damned if he let that stop him. His efforts were truly feeble, because by the time theyâd travelled to the RDA detention centre underground he hadnât so much as caused the soldiers a bead of sweat.Â
Spider barely saw any of it. He couldnât fathom the truth that was staring him in the face. Quaritch had betrayed him.Â
He was dragged down the long corridor that felt far too familiar, dread mingling with the horrible sense of deja vu from the last time heâd been here. Cells with large glass windows lined either side. He could have pointed at the one he was kept in last time. Right at the end, outside the last cell of the lot was General Ardmore.Â
The group halted and those that werenât holding Spider saluted her.Â
âWell, well, well, Miles,â she said slowly, appraising his limp form.Â
He looked up at her through heavy eyelids, and rather than deigning her with a response, he spat on the floor.Â
She smirked. âTurn him around.â
The soldiers obeyed, spinning Spider so his back was to her.Â
Confused, Spider braced himself. He was sure this would only mean pain.Â
Instead he felt feminine hands between his locs, gently parting them as if looking forâŠ
No.Â
No, no, noâŠ
âGet off me!â Spider yelled, his voice suddenly back to full strength, though his limbs werenât quite as quick. The soldiersâ grip tightened, and Ardmore pulled the kuru free from where Spider had folded it away.Â
âOh my god,â she breathed.Â
Spider growled, noting how Kormanâs eyes widened at the sight of the tendrils encased inside.Â
âGet off me, please!â Spider switched tactics, not caring if begging made him weak. The feel of her hands on it, it made him squirm, the intimacy of it making him feel dirty, unclean. It was pure instinct to protect the appendage - heâd do whatever it took to protect that part of him.Â
âLet go! Donât touch it!â
She motioned for the soldiers to turn him back around to face her. She stared at him long and hard, and Spider poured everything he had into the look he gave her, silently begging her to just let go. Eventually she dropped the kuru and let it hang down over his shoulder.Â
Without a word, she jerked her chin at the soldiers and they shoved him into the cell. He stumbled, hands still bound behind his back, but managed to remain upright as the door slid closed behind him. The sound of beeping told him he was locked in. He glared through the glass at them, at the security unit, at Korman fronting them, and lastly at Ardmore. He exhaled through gritted teeth, wishing there was one more pair of eyes there he could glare into, if only to search for a reason why.
This Au was super fiun to play around with! i was able to do fullbody concepts, a small poster style scene, and some sketches! More info below :3
-This takes place in an AU where Crooked, Magdalena, Twist, and Valeria had died in different times and live on as what i can only descirbe as undead supernatural monsters
-Grey, Tayson, Valeria, and Lex, are college-age students who explore abandoned buildings for fun and to releive stress, and after a mysterious disapperance of 2 people around the groups age, and attracted to explore an abandoned school, where they meet these ghouls.
-In my head, they're paired off in 2s, as seen in the art (did you notice? all the pairings I had in mind are always vertical of eachother!)
-All ghosts died sperately, and have their own origins (and design inspo!)
-Because the lore fron the original universe doesnt completely cross over, Allen actually gets his scar from Valeria, not Crooked!
and woe.begone weirdfur wsunday also. been wanting to draw a piece (wether wbg or not lol) with an anti wolf collar as part of it for a while ^-^ finally got a flasg of inspiration