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Uh, hi. This is the OP of that thread. Not that I can prove it. Probably shouldn't give your contact info out online?

Your Secret Santa assignment is Mysterio and he's really cool, so you're in luck. He's into the classics. Good guy. Talks about films a lot. Funky lil fella.

( everything is fine and normal and, no, eddie isn't going to talk about the time his alien attempted to murder this dude. )

[Delivered to Huvrye's hotel room is a wrapped package. Inside are two books 'The Greatest Meals of Central City: 2023 Edition', and 'A Visitors Guide to Central City']

[A neatly-wrapped package will be delivered to Huvrye shortly before Christmas! Otto never used to be that great at wrapping, but it turns out the actuators are; who knew?

Anyway, contained within are a couple books: Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot and Devotions by Mary Oliver. The attached note reads:]

Merry Christmas, Huvrye! I guess you probably don't have that holiday in your world, but I'm glad you signed up for the gift exchange anyway.

My late wife was a poet, and while we don't know each other well, I believe she'd have thought you could use some poetry in your life. These were some of her favorites. I hope you enjoy them.

- Otto

Hi, my name is Dylan.

Sorry to bug you, but are you a friend of Hunter?

Do you always go around asking people questions in public that they maybe don’t want to answer because people are stupid? Everyone’s not as cool as Dylan and Hunter.

[Leo isn't sure when coming over to Huvrye's to do his homework started being a normal thing, but now he's doing it more days than not. It started as an attempt to get out of his homework by bothering him instead, but Huvrye hadn't let that slide; he feeds Leo, though, so it's not all bad.

The problem is that he tends to get sleepy in the evening, after all his homework is done and the food is eaten. It's not really a surprise - Leo's been going without sleep as much as possible since he came here, so it stands to reason that at a moment in time when he feels safe and full and isn't focusing on anything that it would catch up to him.

Despite the offer to nap on the couch last time Huvrye caught him yawning, Leo always took that as his cue to trek back to his room. Because the simple reality is that every time he goes to sleep he has nightmares and wakes up screaming, and he does not want to have to explain that, no thanks.

But he's really pushed it this time: almost two full days without any sleep outside a few micronaps, a stomach full of takeout food, a couch and some TV show running in the background. The perfect recipe for Leonardo to conk right out, before he's even realized he's dozing off.

Then Leo's floating through space, and he already knows what's coming before it does.

You've ruined everything, you wretched little PEST!

The fear grips him, and he tries to run, tries to hide, but he can't move. The sky is awash with red and pink, gravity keeps him pinned to the rocky ground. He's getting hit, over and over, and his vision swims and bounces and he just wants it to stop, he just wants to go home-

He crashes backward through the stone, spinning around, adrift in space with no way to save himself, and he clutches-

-the picture, the picture, where is it, it's not in his hands anymore, he let it go, he lost it-

The Krang slams into him again, tearing straight through him, and Leo jolts upright on the couch with a feral scream, clutching at his chest like he can feel a hole there.

He isn't fully aware, yet.]

Uh, sorry to say I'm going to have to cancel on having you over for dinner this week. Can't cook. Sorry.

[When Huvrye sleeps to heal, he sleeps lightly; evidently the idea behind that design was to be able to wake up easily and get away if whatever hurt him was still around. He sleeps lightly after being shot, but eventually still heals. He doesn't need to sleep often after that, and he's been putting it off for as long as he can manage. The first time he sleeps after healing, it's easy and dreamless.]

[The second time he sleeps, his luck runs out.]

[He's strapped to the chair again, bindings tight across his wrists and elbows, blood dripping down his face along the lines of his alchemy. His guts aren't in his lap yet. They're not that far yet. Something to look forward to.]

[Hopefully he'll wake up before that part, because he does not want to do this again.]

[(Hopefully everything after this hasn't been a dream. Hopefully there's reality to wake up into, and that it hasn't all been a pain-fueled hallucination and he's still here-)]

[He hears a giggle - if he never hears that voice again it'll be too soon - and lifts his head, knowing what he'll see. The members of Interground that he knew - his friends - Joba - dead in a heap on the floor, tortured and murdered thanks to his failure. He looks up, and-]

[It's not them-]

[It's not them-]

[It's worse-]

[It's Hunter, broken and bloodied, chest stilled, facing away from him (he can't see Hunter's face; he doesn't want to see it, because he knows what he'll see). It's Mark, facedown on the floor, spine twisted in a way he knows a human can't survive, shattered glasses a few feet from his head. It's Leo-]

[It's Leo, slumped over a chair, bleeding from dozens of wounds. His right arm is missing, wound hastily tied off but still dripping; his legs are shattered, bent the wrong way; and a deep crack runs up his shell, threatening to spill if forced any wider. His shell moves, up and down slowly, as an agonized breath rattles out of his mouth.]

[Leo is still alive.]

[Leo's alive-]

[Huvrye's gaze snaps upwards, from the perfectly manicured but gore-spattered hand holding Leo in place on the chair, to the beautiful stained-glass rainbow wingspan, to the bright, awful smile on the face of Kyriena Ketta. First lady. Chief interrogator. Main player in Huvrye's nightmares.]

No-

[That smile widens as she gets his attention. "You knew this would happen, didn't you? You got too close. The other two didn't last nearly long enough, but this one is fun." She curls her fingers into the crack in Leo's shell and squeezes. A ragged gasp breaks Leo's breathing, but nothing else - he's too far gone to fight back, but still very much awake.]

No- please-

[He's begging- it won't do anything, but it's all he can do-]

Let him go- he's a kid, Kyriena, let him go!

[That predatory smile widens even more, sharp at the edges. She's enjoying this, and there's nothing he can do to get her to stop- he can't help- he can't save anyone- this is his fault-]

["This is what happens when a weapon thinks it can be anything else," she says brightly, adjusting her grip on the broken edge of Leo's shell before she yanks-]

[A sickening series of cracks splits the air, not loud enough to cover the sharp gasp that fades into a death rattle-]

[And Huvrye screams-]

NO!

[The scream follows him into the waking world as he bolts upright, overbalances, and nearly collapses off the bed. He scrabbles to right himself, shaking off the dream (it had better have been a dream- it had better have been a dream-) and yanking blankets and sheets off of him. He's not there. She's not here. He's in his apartment, in Michigan, in the wrong dimension, and she can't get them here.]

[It's still going to take him a minute to catch his breath and convince himself of that.]

[So Accelerator has Huvrye's contact info now. He hasn't added him to his contact list (that list will forever consist of only two people), but thanks to the group chat Leo started he has it now. Which is good, he supposes. It at least isn't terrible.

It's a couple of days after the incident with the museum that Accelerator decides to text him. There's something that's been bugging him, so he might as well ask.]

Yo.

Why did you join the fucking Society?

metaheroes Inbox

Phone Call

UN: Venom

[A Christmas Gift]

Secret Santa! December 25th!

Phone Call

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actioooon