Winter Whumperland - Tumblr Posts

Winter Whumperland Day 1: Santa Claus (Claustrophobe/Panic Attack)

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Summary: Echo falls into a hole in a cave while on a mission. Memories of Skako Minor flood his mind.

    Echo had liked small spaces before being captured by the Techno Union. Fives thought he was crazy for it. There was something comforting about small, dark places. Echo never could explain it.

    One wrong step sent him into a panic. 'Watch your step' Tech had said. 'Caves are unpredictable' he said. The cave was dark and cold. Echo would have loved it. He should have.

    Instead he looked around at the small space he found himself in. "Echo!" he heard Wrecker tell out. "You okay!?"

    The clone couldn't find his voice. It caught in the back of his throat and became a sharp breath instead. He looked at the walls of the hole but couldn't find them. He started to slam his hand and scomp into rock. His breathing speed and he wanted to cry.

    It was just a cave. It was just a dark hole in a cave. It was just a memory. It was just cold. It was just him, in a hole, in a cave, his family above him, ready to get him out of there.

    Or was it a pod? Was it just a memory? Was it just a pod he had been trapped in for over a year? Was it just the cold? Was it just him, in a pod, captured by the enemy, his family below him, waiting for him, ready to welcome him home?

    "Echo!" Omega yelled out. But he didn't answer. He just stood there, hyperventilating, terrified of the past. He felt so small and the rock wall felt like it was closing in. He didn't even notice when a set of hands pulled him up from his place in the cave.

    "Echo, breath." Hunter spoke. He looked at Tech for answers.

    "Claustrophobe, likely attributed to his time on Skako Minor. Move." Tech practically kicked Hunter out of the way before kneeling down in front of Echo. "He is having a panic attack. I will deal with it."

    Tech looked at the man in front of him. He felt uneasy but felt the others would be incapable of helping Echo breath calmly. Still, he wondered if he was the best person to take care of him.

    The clone stood in front of his brother. "What you are feeling is scary, but not dangerous. Focus on your breathing not the memory." Echo looked up at him. "You need to breathe slowly." Tech started to slowly to encourage him to do the same.

    Slowly Echo started to breathe earlier. "Can you tell me five things you can see?" Tech asked patiently. Echo looked around.

    "Tech I don't think that's going to he-"

    "Hush" Tech cut off Hunter. "Now tell me five things you see."

    Echo looked around. "There's some, Stalactites, some standing water, bats, yo-you, and the others."

    "Good job. How about four things you hear? Can you do that."

    "Well I hear you" Echo slightly chuckled. He was still so tense. His breathing was slower but still irregular. "There's water dripping into that puddle, the bats, and the humming of the, the light."

    "Good. You are doing good. Now can you tell me three things you can smell?"

    Hunter and Wrecker watched the two. They didn't know that Tech could be so, gentle? Omega stayed near Hunter.

    "It's musky, the cave water, and the cologne Phee gave you." He sort of smiled, "it sort of smells like Kamino."

    Tech smiled softly. "Two things you can feel."

    "The rocks are kind of smooth." Echo reached out to Tech, "and you."

    "One thing you can taste?"

    "The smell of the cave." Echo sighed. He felt safe again. He was just a man, in a cave, with his family.

    "Can I do anything for you?" Tech asked calmly.

    "You already have." Tech helped Echo up. "Thank you Tech."

    "It is no problem. We need to finish the mission now. Do you think you will be alright?"

    "Yeah, I think I will."

Winter Whumperland Day 2: Krampus (Sensory Overload)

Fandom: The Batch Batch

Summary: Hunter is sent to meet the leader of a cartel so they could take the cartel down. However the meeting place was one of the city's most popular bars and well, Hunter doesn't do well in crowds.

    Hunter wasn't ready. He hadn't expected to be told to meet such a prominent cartel member at such a bright bar. It was crowded, people bumping into each other on the dance floor and a million different conversations happening all at oncs.

    Every now and again the batch would be assigned to more civil cases. Most of the time the other party would agree to help in the war effort if someone helped them in a civil dispute.

    This time, a wide spread drug cartel was getting out of hand on a back world planet. Hunter had been instructed to meet with the owner of the cartel with a deal that was too good to refuse. The rest of the batch was to hold onto the fake drugs the Republic had been trusted with.

    When the man walked into the bar, Hunter almost wasn't sure it was him. He was a human and stood at about 6'2. He had a tan completion. His hair was short and a dark shade of brown and he wore a very put together outfit consisting of some black dress pants and a lavender vest with a loose, but nice fitting, black jacket. He had a matching lavender pocket square and pocket watch.

    Hunter sighed. He knew this man would be a piece of work. He seemed impossibly nice as he walked towards him. "You must be Hunter, right?" His voice was smooth.

    "Depends, who's asking?"

    The man chuckled. "You're tense. Henry is asking." He sat down and waved over a waiter. "I'll have a dry martini and get my friend here a dark and stormy."

    Hunter tried to listen around him. It was so loud. Not that he wasn't used to loud, but this kind? This kind of loud was new. There were women screaming as 'thier song's came on. There were pushy men asking those same women to go home with them.

    Drinks clicked as some group in a corner were celebrating an engagement. Henry was talking up the wayter, trying to talk hims way out of paying his tab that day. The bright lights hurt Hunter's eyes. They changed from color to color without a pattern or a warning.

    And it was loud. To loud. The clone couldn't think. The bar smelled so strongly of alcohol and of cheap perfume. It was overpowering. Focusing felt almost impossible.

    "Look at that woman. I need to feel her up and soon." Some man said.

    "Ahhh! Girl! Give him a chance! He is so into you!" Someone said. "

    Drinks clicked and one glass shattered. "I knew you'd been fucking her! That it I'm leaving!" "Baby please!"

    "Hey girl, wanna dance?"

    Loud music drowned out most of these conversations to everyone else. But not Hunter. He listened to every crude comment some man made about the women at the bar. He hears every bit of drama and every happy memory.

    It was overwhelming. He physically shook his head slightly to try to clear him mind. "Something in your mind?" Henry asked. He took Hunter's hand and handed him his drink. "We can talk about the deal later. Now, we drink!"

    Hunter took a sip of the drink. Not his style. He wasn't supposed to drink anyway. It didn't take long before Henry was done with his first drink. "We need to talk about the deal. That's what I'm here for" Hunter pushed.

    "Come on Hunter, relax. Our deal will be made but let's take some time. Maybe I'd like to know you a bit first. Where's your family from?"

    "Here."

    "Oh? Never got to get off this rock."

    "Nope."

    "Well mine are from Coruscant but that just seems boring now."

    "You know me, let's get this deal done."

    "Not so fast, let's dance maybe you'll meet a girl, or guy, if you swing that way." Before Hunter could fully comprehend what he said or disagree, Henry had pulled him onto the dance floor.

    'Kriff.' Hunter tried to go back to the table. He tried to avoid everyone. It was already too bright and too loud. Now the smell was harsher and now there were bodies in the equation. And he couldn't have his armor.

    Normal clothes weren't bad but when there are people all around you, armor would have made Hunter more comfortable. Instead he was in nicer black pants and red shirt with a less nice black shirt. It was hot so he had put his hair into a half up bun.

    Someone bumped into him and their drink spilled slightly onto his sleeve. A loud Twi'lek girl yelled "sorry" and kept dancing with her friend. The drink was sticky, making the jacket cling to his arm a little.

    That was it. Everything was too much. The lights were too bright, the smell too strong, the people who kept touching him, the sticky drink on his sleeve, and the noise. The noise was the worst part. It was too loud, it was to fucking loud.

    The man needed a way out. He couldn't breathe. There was too much. The thought of the mission pressed in his mind. Hunter needed to find a way back to the table. He looked around at the sea of being, all having a good time.

    Henry danced with some girl. He noticed that Hunter looked lost and excused himself. "Hey buddy!" Hunter jumped then looked at him. "Why don't you come chat this girl up?! Maybe she'll even let ya-"

    "The deal. Now." Hunter's voice was shaking but his tone was stern.

    "What are you, afraid of fun?" Henry chuckled. "You seem nervous." His voice dropped. "Something you're not saying?"

    "Come to the table and find out."

    Henry smirked. "You know how to get attention." He flowers Hunter to the table.

    When they arrived, the clone wanted to sink into the chair and hide. Instead he sighed and sat down. "It's getting late. Take this seriously."

    "Okay okay, but what is your problem?"

    Hunter wayed his opinions. He had to give him an answer. "I don't do crowds. Too many people."

    "You know, we can leave. I'll take you back to my place and-"

    "No. We finish this here. Do you want the drugs or not?" Hunter kept his head tilted down. He looked back up and watched as Henry looked around.

    "Alright, let's seal this deal. You have the stuff around or?"

    "My guys are just waiting for my word." Hunter stood but was pulled back into his seat.

    "If I learn this is a set up, so help me you will never see the light of day again. I won't kill you but you'll wish I had. It would be a shame, you're hot." Hunter pulled out of his the man's grasp.

    "Don't do that again." Henry stood and smiled.

    The music got louder as a voice came over the speakers. It said something about happy hour starting. Before Hunter could think to stop himself he slammed his hands over his ears. The lights changed more frequently and the occupants of the bar got louder.

    "Let's get out of here." Henry grabbed Hunter's hand and led him out of the bar. It took being outside and a few feet away from the bar before the clone even realized he was outside.

    Hunter felt stupid. How could he let the enemy drag him out of the bar like that? How could he be so overwhelmed by something so simple as a bar? He was a soldier, a crowded bar should be nothing.

    "Where are your buddies? I'll get my girl to bring your money. You really can't stand crowds can you?"

    "They'll be here and no, I can't."

    "Well you know what, that's fine. Not like you need to be around them anyway. Hey, let's wait over here."

    Hunter listened to his surroundings before walking over to the corner the man led him to. Now they wait.

Winter Whumperland Day 3: George Bailey (We've lost everything we've had!"

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Summary: After the events of season two, Echo talks to Phee on Pabu

Phee hadn't expected to only see three people get off the Marauder. In fact she didn't expect to see the Marauder so soon. It was too soon.

"Where's Brown eyes and the kid?" She asked.

Wrecker tried to answer but looked like he might cry. Echo stood in front of her but Hunter bet him to it. "Techs gone and Omega was taken."

"Gone? Taken? What?" Phee hadn't expected that. She was unsure of what to say now.

"He's dead. Empire took her." Echo spoke. He looked down and realized she had probably already known what that meant.

"Do you know anything about where she could have been taken?" Phee tried to stay calm. She had really liked Tech. Actually she had liked him a lot. Now he was gone, without so much as a warning.

"No." Hunter walked passed her and to a set of stairs. "I'll be back."

Wrecker walked over to Echo and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Me too. I'm going to find Shep, fill him in." Then he walked away.

Echo just stood there with Phee. He wasn't sure what to do anymore.

"It's going to be okay." Phee tried to assure him.

"We've lost everything we've had! We've lost our home, our purpose, our brothers, our employer! It doesn't seem like it's going to be 'okay'!" Echo started to pace a little.

"You have each other."

"Really? Because I'm pretty sure Tech's in the bottom of a ravine, Omega and Crosshair are who knows where, and Hunter and Wrecker have gone off on their own too! That doesn't seem like we have each other!"

Phee took a step back, stunned. "Don't you have your rebel friend? Or anyone else? Maybe some you knew from before?" She tried.

"Rex is too busy. The rest are dead, they are all dead. I told you, we've lost everything." Echo stopped and stood in front of her. He tried to keep tears from falling down his face. "I've lost everything but them. I can't-" his voice broke, "I can't lose them too."

"Oh honey." Phee moved and hung Echo. "You won't. We'll find her okay? Reach out to your friend, Rex right? Call him. Even if you just talk to him. It might help."

"Maybe you're right." Echo raised his scomp up and commed Rex. He spoke with him for a while before he started to feel better. Rex told him he would be there to help find Omega and Crosshair and that he was sorry about Tech.

The cyborg walked back up to Phee when he was done. She had made herself a cup of Tech's favorite tea and had sat in the chair by the beach he had called his.

"You know, you're not the only one who has lost something."

Echo hadn't expected to hear her say that. He stood beside her as she started to talk.

"Why do you think I'm here? I love this place but I didn't always have a place here. I didn't lose my family exactly the same way, at least not all of them. I thought that Tech was finally getting the hint but, I guess we'll never know." Echo looked down before looking back at her.

"I know. I'm sorry. I just- there's only so much you can deal with before you have to tell someone. I shouldn't have blown up at you I just, can't do another death." Echo sat beside the chair, ignoring the one he could have sat in on the other side of Phee.

"I understand, just try to be calmer next time?"

"Hopefully there won't be a next time."

Phee smiled softly, "your right. Let's hope. Now we should probably find the other two parts of you."

Winter Whumperland Day 4: The Grinch (Sedative)

Fandom: Spider-verse

Warnings: Drugs and drug related jokes

Summary: Hobie is sitting in the clocktower, watching the city, when a young villain decides to ruin his fun.

Part two soon

    Spider sense was helpful. Hobie sat at the top of the clock tower in his city just watching the people. Sure it wasn't peaceful but something about the way they crowded the street reassured him.

    It had been a while since everything was so calm. Even if calm didn't mean the same thing in what seemed to be every other universe. Hobie looked at his watch for the time. Even though he was on the clock tower the face was well, under him.

    Then it happened. As his spider sense went off, Hobie slipped on his mask before turning around to see the villain of the week. Before he could say anything, the villain had already started her attack.

    The villain was around 5'6 with blonde hair that was in two messy buns. She had bright red eyes and an unnerving smile. Her clothes were mostly dark blue and blacks with her weapons in two thigh holsters and a knife in her long black shoes. She looked to be around his age.

    Standing, Hobie made his way towards the girl. He wondered what made her this way for a moment before deciding to tire her up and ask. It wasn't worth it to turn her in if she could change. Not with his government and he'd hate to see someone so young die.

    The villain grabbed her weapon to relieve a box. She grabbed a needle from the box and placed it in her palm.

    Needles were never a good sign. Most of the time they were used as some scientific power up that was a real pain in the ass to deal with. But something seemed different this time.

    After a moment, Hobie started to grow more anxious about the needle. He realized it couldn't have been for her or she would have used it already. That only left him.

    As the girl grew closer Hobie tried to grab the needle from her hand. He missed her hand and she stabbed the needle into his skin. The clear liquid flowed into his body. Then she jumped back and threw the syringe.

    "That's some dangerous litter now. Might wanna pick that up."

    "You're funny."

    "What? There's a lot of junkies around here! Plus littering is a crime." Hobie tried to laugh off the incident. He smiled a little under his mask and took another swing at the villain.

    Then he started to feel the drug. He didn't feel bad, just tired. Very tired. The world was thrown off balance. Everything felt somewhat foggy, like he hadn't slept for days. He needed to wrap this up.

    The girl smiled. "Feel'n funny?" She giggled.

    "Wouldn't you like to know." Hobie started to stumble over his feet. He felt his body give as he fell to the ground. He watched the villain walk towards him.

    "Nighty night."

    Then the world went black.

Winter Whumperland Day 5: Ebenezer Scrooge (Time Loop)

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Warnings: Multiple character deaths as well as suicide.

Summary: After being killed by the empire, Tech finds himself stuck in a time loop.

It had been six months after the end of the war. Tech had been with his family when the empire came to Ord Mantell.

Sitting at Cid's bar, clone troopers in gray and white armor entered. Then Crosshair had. His armor was no longer its familiar red and black.

Wrecker was the one to go down first. He pulled his gun, ready to shoot. Then he was gone. Omega leaned in closer to Tech who grabbed her unconsciously.

Echo was next. Then Hunter. Everything happened too fast. Before Tech could react he was on the floor, trying to protect Omega. Then she was gone. He had been shot in the side.

Tech looked up at

But when he opened his eyes it was morning again. He listened to the sound of Wrecker laughing and Echo telling him "don't do that! Hunter and Tech are still asleep."

That wasn't possible. They had just died didn't they? Was it all just a twisted nightmare.

What Tech knew for sure was that he needed to get up. It had all felt so real. But that was impossible. Or at least that's what Tech thought.

As the family went though their day, the clone slowly got more and more nervous. He wasn't able to shake the feeling of the nightmare. No matter what he did, even when the day seemed to be over, Tech couldn't calm down.

That was until it happened again. The clone reacted differently this time. As soon as the door opened and he heard the footsteps, he told them they needed to go. They needed to leave.

But it was too late. This time Tech had grabbed Omega sooner. He tried to get her behind the bar. As Wrecker was killed, Tech pushed Omega behind him. If anything he wouldn't let her die.

Hunter tried to move to Echo's side. He ordered Tech to take Omega and get her out of the bar.

"I'm trying" Tech shot back.

Echo shot a few of the troopers down before he was killed. As his body fell, Hunter instinctively tried to catch him. He didn't even know why he tried to. He knew he was gone.

For a moment time seemed too slow for them. Hunter sat on the ground, stunned. Then they shot him.

Tech had gotten Omega out the back door. He looked down at his comm to see what time it was. It seemed so insignificant, yet like something he should do. 2100 hours.

As the two turned the corner, Crosshair was waiting for them. Tech grabbed Omega and tried to get her out of the line of fire. Once more his efforts were in vain.

She hadn't been killed immediately. This time, Tech couldn't do anything but watch as she died. He held herz trying to figure out what to do. Crosshair had paused his attack, realizing the girl was still alive.

What was maybe thirty seconds felt like hours. Tech has never been good with the dieing. But he held her. He looked at Crosshair when she had stopped breathing and went to stand. A bullet met his skull.

Then he woke up. He didn't understand what was happening or why it was happening to him. Wrecker was laughing again.

"Don't do that! Hunter and Tech are still asleep." He heard Echo say.

It was morning again.

Tech remembered the time that the attack happened. Unnerved, he went to find Omega. When he found her he just pulled her into a hug. He only held her for a moment but she was still confused.

"Are you feeling okay Tech?" Echo asked.

"Yes" Tech answered quickly. He then walked back to his bed. What did he do about this? The day seemed to be repeated. Every time he died, the day started over. He walked back to the others.

"How about we, go somewhere" Tech proposed.

"And where should we go Tech?" Hunter asked.

"Somewhere."

"Are you sure you're okay? You're acting kinda funny?" Wrecker stood to walk over to him.

"Yes I am."

"We could explore more of Ord Mantell?" Omega said excitedly.

"No!" Tech said loudly. "How about the, near by moon?"

The others looked at each other. "how about we do that tomorrow?" Echo said.

"No. We should go now."

"How about we go see if Cid needs something?" Hunter suggested.

"Fine" Tech answered. Then the group left the Marauder. Cid told them to run a few on world errands for her and despite Tech's protests, they did.

2100 hours came around quickly. For an hour before that, Tech has been trying to get them to leave the bar. But Wrecker was having fun talking to someone, Echo and Hunter were throwing darts, and Omega had been talking to Cid until a few minutes ago.

When Tech hears the footsteps, he pulled his gun, ready. As soon as he could confirm it was the empire, he started shooting. It helped this time.

They got to Cids office before they started to die. Tech couldn't remember what happened when he woke up.

"Don't do that! Hunter and Tech are still asleep." Echo sounded annoyed as he tried to get Wrecker to stop whatever he had been doing.

Over and over Tech tried to stop them from dying. Over and over he failed them. It felt like fighting a fire with matches. As he grew tired he tried to find different ways to deal with the attacks. He tried almost every angle he could to get them off Ord Mantell. No matter what they seemed to stay.

It had been so long. Why had he been chosen for this? What even could cause such a time loop and why were they so important? It had to be something like the will of the force but why were they the ones to live?

"Don't do that! Hunter and Tech are still asleep."

Tech didn't get up this time. He had tried and tried and tried. After a few hours of trying to come up with a plan, he walked out to the others. He tried to get them to listen to him. He tried to get them off world. But they were still at the damn bar by 2100 hours.

Before the others knew it, they were going out the back door. The fight was taken to the streets. One by one, they fell. First Wrecker, then Echo, then Hunter, then Omega. It was just him and Crosshair.

Diving behind some building Tech, with shacking hands pulled his gun to his head. Every memory of every attempt flooded his head. Before Crosshair got the chance to take him out once more, he shot.

He woke up on the Marauder as he knew he would. He fell asleep for a while.

Hours after he was supposed to wake up, he walked to the cockpit. He made sure everyone was in the ship before simply taking off. He didn't care when they asked where he was taking them.

When Cid commed the group to warn them to not go back to Ord Mantell, the batch asked Tech how he had known and asked why he didn't just tell them. Tech shook. Even though he wanted to explain, it all sounded too crazy.

Instead he walked back to his bed and laid down. He tossed his gun to the other side of the room, trying to find the strength to not circum to the memories of something that no longer existed.

The batch watched him carefully for a while. Slowly Tech tried to recover. He felt like he had.

Now he was hanging off of a rail car. As he realized what he had to do, Tech thought of the cruel irony of the situation. He had saved them so many times by dying. It was time to do it again.

But something told him he wouldn't be waking up again. This was it. Tech had saved them all so many times just to die one final time.

As he shot the only part of the car that held the other on to the rail, he sighed. Maybe he would just get to rest this time.

Winter Whumperland Day 6: Jack Frost (Amnesia)

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Summary: After a reg attacked Hunter, he finds he can't remember anything.

  When Hunter woke up, he couldn't remember how he had gotten to this white room. He wasn't sure who these people around him were. He didn't remember anything.

    "Hunter, you're awake!" The tallest  man yelled.

    "Don't yell." The man that talked looked robotic.

    Someone stood nearby. He looked worried but didn't say anything.

    "Who are you?" Hunter asked.

    He watched the tallest man hold back tears. "I'm Wrecker, your brother. Do you not remember?"

    A man with the glasses walked to the other man's side and put a hand in him. "Hunter hit his head extremely hard when he was attacked. Amnesia is not a surprising result."

    The man in the corner spoke up, "I'm going to kill the mother fu-" he was interrupted by the man with glasses.

    "That won't help." He sounded robotic, like his voice should belong to the cyborg standing by the tallest of the group. Still something was comforting about it.

"What's going on?" Hunter asked as he tried to sit up. He noticed how bright the lights were and laid back down for a minute. His head hurt. "What happened?"

"One of the regs hit you with the butt of their gun" hissed the gray hair man.

"Regs?" Hunter wasn't sure why that stood out the most. "What?"

"Let's introduce ourselves. I'm sure it's not very fun being surrounded by a bunch of people you don't know must be unpleasant. I'm Echo. I work with you."

"Alright." Hunter sat up this time. He looked around and shook his head. "Where are we?"

"This is the Kaminoan cloning facility. It is also our home. I am Tech, one of your technically millions of brothers."

"Don't break him" the gray hair man spoke.

"I'm Wrecker! I'm one of your brothers too!"

"Yeah I remember you saying that earlier." Hunter tried to make sense of the knowledge he had. He was a clone. That wasn't the most surprising part. What surprised him the most was how many clones existed. Why did they exist? What purpose had they been made for?

The others looked at the gray haired man, trying to get him to say something. When he didn't, Tech took over. "This is Crosshair. He is also a clone. We are your batch mates and work with you. Echo joined after being turned into that."

Hunter tried to look at Echo. "Okay." Slowing the group explained the war and how he was a sergeant in the army of the Galactic Republic. They explained some of their relationships with him and how they grew up together.

For a long time Hunter felt empty. These people around him had so many memories of him but he barely knew who they were. He watched them grieve over a man who he didn't know; over a man he had been.

It took time. Recovery always takes time. The clone that had caused the trauma to Hunter was never punished. The Kaminoans didn't have the time. Hunter grew strangely close to some regs, despite never liking them before.

The batch started to think he would never remember who he was before. But with never remembering, Hunter could forget the blood and death he had seen before. He could forget all the ways the regs had done them wrong and he was growing a relationship with some of them. He seemed happy.

Then he remembered. Slowly, Hunter had been getting back little memories. Small things like short memories from when he had been younger. But one day he just knew who he had been before.

It had been months. The memories were overpowering. Hunter felt confused and lost. He felt both frozen and on fire. The memories of who he once was seemed like a distant lifetime ago. He remembered he had liked red more then blue and how he hadn't liked lemonade, even though he loved it now.

It was strange. It felt like he was a completely different person now. Hunter liked talking to the regs, or at least most of them. He had known a life that wasn't on a battle field, even if he was preparing for war. His biggest problem had been the regs and not the droids on the other side of the war.

The first thing the man did was tell Echo. He had grown closer to him then before. Soon he told the others. They seemed overjoyed to have their Hunter back but Hunter wasn't so sure. He still liked lemonade and the color blue more than orange juice and red. He still wanted to be friends with the regs he was around.

As time moved on, Hunter got used to being himself again. He felt more confused then anything. At first he wasn't sure that he wanted his memories back. All the death and destruction his two eyes had seen was overwhelming. But he got used to it.

Hunter finally felt normal again. After months and months of not knowing who he was and not know what to do with who he had been, he grew to like the person he was now but also who he had been. He liked knowing about his brothers and who they had been. He learned to cherish his memories. After all, nothing is permanent.

Winter Whumperland Day 7: Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer (Self Sacrifice)

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Summary: During an akuma attack, Cat Noir decided he had to protect Ladybug. No matter what.

Part 2: soon. Part 3: soon

    Adrien was never good about self preservation. It only got worse when he became Cat Noir. It seemed that  sometimes the only way to win, was for him to take the fall, for him to die.

    Monarch was a terrible man. No matter how you looked at it, he was a horrible human being. All of his morals must have left his body as soon as he started to torment Paris. Maybe he never had any at all.

    It felt like a normal day. Then it wasn't. As Adrien walked out of the school building, the sky erupted with fireworks. He looked at the sky then looked around.

    Ducking into an alley, he put his bookbag in a safe spot and transformed. The Cat Noir was off.

    When he arrived, he saw Ladybug was already there. She looked at him and back to the villain. "We have quite the ordeal going on" she joked.

    "Don't they just have an explosive personality." Cat Noir laughed.

    Paris started to catch fire. The fireworks ashes cought on the dry leaves. That's when Ladybug and Cat Noir started to panic. They couldn't get the villain under control.

    Explosive started to grow more violent. He started to shoot the fireworks are bistanders. The heros did their best to keep them safe. Ladybug called her lucky charm and was given a fire extinguisher. She almost immediately knew what to do. Out out small fires as she fought.

    As the two tried to maintain some sort of damage control to protect the citizens, they soon lost the extinguisher. Explosive had taken it and thrown it into the water. Well they tried to find it couldn't.

    They stood on top of buildings trying to find a large parking lot or maybe a large skate park. The heroes tried to ignore the sirens and house alarms all caused by the fires.

    "Kitty" Ladybug had yelled, "there's a skate park over there! Maybe we can keep the fires down."

    "Good idea m'lady. Lets see if he'll just roll with it." Cat Noir answered, laughing at his own joke. Then they left for the park.

    When they arrived, the heros used the ramps to their advantage. They were able to use them to duck behind.

    But when Explosive came up behind Ladybug, Adrien's heart sank. He went to get her away from him but she had been thrown to the ground.

    As soon as he took his aim at her, Adrien expected his fate. He wasn't sure if his miraculous could protect him this time. He knew that her lucky care was gone so if he died, that was it. He jumped down to her, his back turned to the villain as he shot.

  Black cats are said to be bad luck. And maybe he was. Maybe this was it.

    But Adrien didn't care. She was his lady. He was her side kick, he protecter. He was meant for destruction, didn't it only make sense that he was destroyed?

    Even with the protective powers of the miraculous, fireworks could be a death sentence. But out of the two, Ladybug was more important. She could fix things. He just broke them.

    The pain was extreme. It was a smaller firework, one that would likely be allowed in most US states. It still burned. All Cat Noir heard was Ladybug calling for him. Her voice was shaky and she sounded so scared.

    It would all be worth it if she was okay. That's all he cares about. After all, why did Paris need Cat Noir when Ladybug didn't even need him sometimes. As he slipped unconscious he smiled. He had done what he was supposed to and nothing could change that. Ladybug would save Paris again. The sun would rise without him.