#9 The Petty Revenge Arc

small snippet from my WIP

Shards and Splinters | Weeping Embers

Dried leaves fluttered in the breeze, crunching amongst each other as if whispering secrets into the wind to be carried away. The streets lay abandoned, everyone still asleep tightly in their warm beds awaiting the dawn of yet another day like any other before. But today wasn’t going to be a usual day.

From the moment his eyelids opened, and he jolted out of bed breathing as if he had been chased around the whole world by an army of demons Archer Uberto could tell there was something different about today. The sun rose to the skies just like every other morning, drowning the world in light and warmth as it had done perhaps trillions of times before, yet still, the boy could not shake the feeling something was out of place. It wasn’t anything obvious, else he would have noticed by now, like how you’d know if someone had moved your socks from their rightful place, but not if a splinter was missing from your desk. The feeling, although persistent did nothing to deter him from entering back into his routine almost robotically, forgetting about the dream that had startled him awake, or of the pungent smell of creos in his home...

Archer paused repeating the thought that had just passed through his mind. Creos? What even were creos and why did he think of that? A puzzled expression flashed on his face before the shrill ringing of his phone broke his line of thought, pulling him back into reality harshly. His body moved on its own, traversing the neat and clean room all the way to the small bookshelf adorning the whole left wall of his room before turning off that blasted noise, so he could once more rejoice in the softer morning sounds.

A crow stood atop one of the branches that neared his window, silently observing the teen as he exited the building dressed in an old baseball shirt and dark green jeans. It cawed out twice before taking off into the mushy clouds in search of its morning meal.

The sudden flapping of feathers alerted a nearby mouse and sent it scurrying back beneath the dumpster it had crawled from, the dark feathered bird now taking its place, atop the lid that rested on the wall behind it. From there it had a clear view of the lanky teen as he scurried into the backroom, before coming out with a green apron and getting behind the counter, just as the doors of the cafe opened to let in a stream of groggy and grumpy customers who couldn’t be bothered with pleasantries at such an early hour.

Archer sighed in relief upon hearing the bell hung above the door ring one final time that day, the last customer exiting the small Starbucks, coffee in hand. With a sudden sense of accomplishment, the boy grinned to himself, returning to the backroom. He greeted the rest of his colleagues politely and made a bit of small chat before changing from his uniform back into his soft dark jacket and exiting the building while humming a soft tune and swinging his arms in

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the air as if he were conducting a band of invisible musicians. There were barely any people on the streets at the time to judge him, and even those who saw him as mad he could not be bothered to pay attention to.

Upon crossing the street, he stopped in the middle, waiting for someone to come out of nowhere and run him over, but after a few minutes and not even the sight of a bike, he let out an exasperated sigh and continued on his journey back to his warm bed and fluffy pillow. Perhaps next time he would have more luck, Archer pouted jokingly while swatting a few stray strands of mahogany hair out of his eyes, only for the evening breeze to blow them right back into his face, blinding him momentarily. And it was all it took, just that one moment, he smelled that same scent his room had that morning, and that feeling came back over a thousand times stronger.

He whirled around clutching his sides, as a stinging pain bloomed right where his ribs caged his lungs and the wind picked up, raising clouds of fallen and dried leaves into the air and surrounding him. Archer clenched his eyes tightly, burying his head into his chest, now fully aware that that feeling of something being awfully wrong had not been only in his tired mind.

“There’s no way I’m going to die to a cloud of leaves today” he screeched, before choking on something and falling into a coughing fit, his eyes watering and his ears ringing.

Fanfiction Authors: HEADS UP

(Non-authors, please RB to signal boost to your author friends!)

An astute reader informed me this morning that one of my fics (Children of the Future Age) had been pirated and was being sold as a novel on Amazon:

(And they weren't even creative with their cover design. If you're going to pirate something that I spent a full year of my life writing, at least give me a pretty screenshot to brag about later. Seriously.)

I promptly filed a DMCA complaint to have it removed, but I checked out the company that put it up -- Plush Books -- and it looks like A LOT of their books are pirated fic. They are by no means the only ones doing this, either -- the fact that """publishers""" can download stories from AO3 in ebook format and then reupload them to Amazon in just a few clicks makes fic piracy a common problem. There are a whole host of reasons why letting this continue is bad -- including actual legal risk to fanfiction archives -- but basically:

IF YOU ARE A FANFIC AUTHOR WITH LONG AND/OR POPULAR WORKS, PLEASE CHECK AMAZON TO SEE IF YOUR STORIES HAVE BEEN PIRATED.

You can search for your fics by title, or by text from the description (which is often just copied wholesale from AO3 as well). If you find that someone has stolen your work and is selling it as their own, you can lodge a DMCA complaint (Amazon.com/USA site; other countries have different systems). If you haven't done this before, it's easy! Here's a tutorial:

HOW TO FILE A COPYRIGHT COMPLAINT FOR STOLEN WORK ON AMAZON.COM:

First, go to this form. You'll need to be signed into your Amazon account.

Select the radio buttons/dropdown options (shown below) to indicate that you are the legal Rights Owner, you have a copyright concern, and it is about a pirated product.

Enter the name of your story in the Name of Brand field.

In the Link to the Copyrighted Work box, enter a link to the story on AO3 or whatever site your work is posted on.

In the Additional Information box, explain that you are the author of the work and it is being sold without your permission. That's all you really need. If you want, you can include additional information that might be helpful in establishing the validity of your claim, but you don't have to go into great detail. You can simply write something like this:

I am the author of this work, which is being sold by [publisher] without my permission. I originally published this story in [date/year] on [name of site], and have provided a link to the original above. On request, I can provide documentation proving that I am the owner of the account that originally posted this story.

In the ASIN/ISBN-10 field, copy and paste the ID number from the pirated copy's URL. You'll find this ten-digit number in the Amazon URL after the word "product," as in the screenshot below. (If the URL extends beyond this number, you can ignore everything from the question mark on.) Once this number has been added, Amazon will pull the product information automatically and add it to the complaint form, so you can check the listing title and make sure it's correct.

Finally, add your contact information to the relevant fields, check the "I have read and accept the statements" box, and then click Submit. You should receive an email confirmation that Amazon has received the form.

Please share this information with your writer friends, keep an eye out for/report pirated works, and help us keep fanfiction free and legally protected!

NOTE: All of the above also applies to Amazon products featuring stolen artwork, etc., so fan artists should check too!

No, I did not just spend over ten hours worldbuilding today! I have no idea what you mean and Campfire certainly does not have a feature that tells me so!

I need therapy and a cat...

Speaking from experience?

Zack: How do I deal with my enemies? Danny: Kill them Zack: That's a bit extreme, I was hoping for a more passive solution Danny: Kill them only a little?

Random person in J-High: Hey, Daniel? Can I get some dating advice? Danny: Just because I’m with Jay doesn’t mean I know how I did it.

Danny is in a genderbend loop again, but born in Japan also in a yakuza family that is well known underground fighter (basically like Kure clan in Kengan Asura)

And Danny being well known fighter underground, and Gun basically sends gifts as a proposal.

[ i should probably be doing my homework, but fuck it, here's another one-shot about Gun being a simp and Danny being done with life until Rapunzel's long-lost twin saves the day. Enjoy!]

Being a woman never gets easier, Danny sighed wrapping bandages over her chest. She was headed into the ring any minute now and needed to be prepared.

Japan was different than Korea, and she found herself often blindsided, despite apparently knowing the language. Oh, and she was also part of some super important and huge crime family? Yey.

Her biggest problem currently, however, was another thing: Gun. As usual, he was the root of her perpetual annoyance, by being not only a menace but an utter simp.

"You beat a guy into the hospital once-" She bemoaned quietly before the sound of a gong announced her entrance.

She stepped into the arena with a blank face and her chin held things, not once faltering in her pace. Her opponent, a mountain of a man with several years of fighting under his belt and numerous prizes was waiting with an equally somber look. He knew who she was, and he knew that he had no way of winning, but for the sake of his pride and probably his life, he had to try. The cheers were deafening. Behind a pair of shades, black eyes pierced her skin like burning daggers.

Boohoo~ Jay, my beloved, quickly come save me! she wailed in her mind while suppressing a shiver. Why did she have the worst luck in the world?! Danny shook such thoughts off and tried to concentrate on the fight, but she couldn't. Her mind drifted back to the quiet evening she had spent in her lover's arms before the loop had so cruelly ripped her from his embrace.

The sound of the gong snapped her from her thoughts. Before her laid the fallen body of her opponent, badly injured, but alive. Danny tuned out the voice of the commentator echoing through the arena with a bored look. In the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of blonde hair, but when she turned her head it was gone.

The girl was just packing her stuff to leave when she once again saw that flash of blonde going down the corridor. Quickly hoisting the duffle bag over her shoulder she hurried out of the locker room and sprinted down the hall. As she turned the corner she ran straight into someone and ended up sprawled all over the floor. Before she could regain he bearings, someone extended their hand to her to help her up. Oh, fuck me sideways!

Gun stared down at the girl with a polite smile, waiting for her to grab his hand so he could hoist her up. That didn't happen. Instead, the little spitfire got up herself and proceeded to book it past him without another word.

She had intrigued him from the moment he had first seen her fighting a few months ago. The girl was young but skilled beyond her years. She was quick on her feet and her hits spared no power, but she could still dish them out for hours without even breaking a sweat (he'd seen her do it in one match). There was just something so intoxicating about how she could turn her body into a weapon without even blinking and take out people three times her size like they were made out of straw.

Gun was determined to have such a masterpiece at any cost.

Danny was sulking. She had lost the mystery blond somewhere in the maze of corridors. A part of her yelled that that might've been her Jay and that she had just lost her chance, but the rational part reminded her that the blonde was in Korea, far away from her. She had done some digging and discovered that her brilliant beloved was an aspiring poet in this loop, which didn't surprise her that much. Her hubby had always been a sensible soul. It did however make her heart ache to know that their paths would probably never cross this time. I mean, I'm an underground fighter, and he writes poetry, she despaired mentally.

Another day, another fight. The routine was starting to grate on her nerves.

Another thing that bugged her endlessly was that the black-eyed maniac had apparently taken an interest in her, again. He kept sending her gifts and whatnot every day. Her parents (some random extras she had never met before) were ecstatic that such a highly regarded and respected man wanted to have their daughter, and kept trying to convince her to accept his proposal. She vehemently refused and threatened to burn down the whole house if they kept insisting. That got them to back off for a while.

Gun upped his game. Not only did he start bribing her extended family with gifts, but he also somehow go invited to the birthday celebration of the head of their family, Masashi Park.

If Danny was irked before now she was downright fuming. Every member of their clan had to attend this celebration unless they were pregnant and repairing to give birth or on their deathbed. There was no way for her to get out of attending.

"Gods willing I die before then." She cursed under her breath when her maid announced the news.

She shooed the confused maid and rolled into her covers, clutching a pillow to her chest. It was moments like these that she craved to be back in her lover's warm embrace, away from all the maniacs and bastards who sought to disturb their peace. Oh what she wouldn't give to-

"Would you stop throwing pebbles at my window, I'm trying to have a tearful inner monologue here!"

She stomped her way to the window and opened it. Before she could shout some more a small rock hit her right in the forehead. The fighting prodigy went down with an 'oof' bested by a flying pebble. She got up again, ready to give her attacker a piece of her mind before her eyes landed on that familiar mop of blond hair and all of her thoughts came to a screeching halt.

There in all his glory, like a prince come out of a fairytale to save his beloved, was her darling Jay. He waved at her, smiling shyly. Bewildered, Danny slipped through the window, landing on the grass silently (assassin skills for the win!).

"How?" The words came out before she could stop them.

Jay shrugged.

"You don't know?"

Nod.

"Then-?"

"Huh, you felt like you knew me? And you had a feeling I needed help?"

The conversation, although one-sided, brought tears of gratitude to her eyes. At first, Jay panicked seeing her cry but quickly calmed down when she explained the situation and held her as she let all of her piled frustrations out. He didn't let go when his shirt got so wet it stuck to his skin, just sat and listened to her ranting while drawing small circles on her back. He didn't ask her anything, as if he already knew everything he needed to. Her darling always had a knack for knowing things he shouldn't and she couldn't be more thankful for it now.

"Aren't you supposed to be in Korea?" Danny asked after she had finally calmed down a bit.

The two had moved to an area further away from her home, on a little hill overseeing the city. She was laying on his chest, their legs entangled over one another, his arms planted firmly around her smaller body like an anchor while she played with his fingers.

"Oh? You're here with your father who's on a business trip? That's-" she yawned "-really great."

Danny snuggled deeper into the warmth, trying to turn away from the blasted light that wouldn't let her sleep. Wait, light? She groggily opened her eyes to see the sun climbing over the horizon. The girl gasped, waking Jay up as well. The two shared a quick hug and she gave him a light peck on the cheek before they parted ways with promises to meet again as soon as possible.

When the servants saw their young miss practically skipping into the house they pinched themselves to check if they were still asleep. The young beauty who had been so morose and silent these past few days had a lovely smile painted on her face and her cheeks were the color of roses. She looked like a blooming flower and was gently humming a tune to herself. (Near, far, wherever you are~) [I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself! ]

Danny just ignored all of them and headed to her room, content to have her dearest once again by her side.

---------------

The day of the celebration came and with it the family drama and gossip. Who married who? Who killed who? The usual. And, of course, the news of the young raven-haired master of a good family courting the cold and skilled young miss of the 5th branch.

The girl in question listened to them spread the most ludicrous of ideas around, such as her being pregnant by Gun (the fuck?), and wanted to gag. Old people with little to do had the wildest imaginations!

And as if that wasn't already enough, right then the star of the show decided to make his appearance. Danny took a deep breath, mentally repeating a mantra about calm and patience. It wouldn't do to sully her new dress with his blood. Besides, they weren't allowed to kill or mutilate someone during the patriarch's birthday, lest they wish to face his wrath. And no one wanted to go toe to toe with that crazy old geezer!

To her momentary relief, Gun didn't approach her for the entire celebration, until the banquet.

Danny tried not to bite into her chopsticks as she cursed whatever bastard had been in charge of the seating arrangement for at least twenty generations to come. Why did it seem like their seats were purposefully placed closer to each other?! Patience, patience, patience, the girl repeated, trying to restrain herself from elbowing the shameless bastard whose sleeve kept brushing her side 'accidentally'. He would soon 'accidentally' end up with one less arm!

When the time came to toast, Old Masashi got up with his cup raised, prepared to give his speech.

"I wish to first and foremost apologize to all of you."

Murmurs ran through the dining hall as people became uneasy. The old man wasn't known as a loose canon for nothing. The room was once again reduced to silence through a single look from the patriarch.

"I have invited a guest to my celebration at the last minute. Due to my lack of foresight, I am afraid he's running a bit late. Nevertheless, I wish to introduce you to him."

The double doors engraved with tigers were opened by two servants. The guest walked in with elegant, deliberate steps, like a man merely taking a stroll through a shop, not entering the headquarters of one of the most feared clans in Japan. The hall waited with bated breath as he made his way to the old master, who hugged him like a friend and once again turned to address the crowd.

"This is Jay Hong, the son of a dear friend of mine and-" he threw a sharp look across the hall, his eyes settling on Danny "my future grandson-in-law!"

Everyone turned to look at the frozen girl, then back at the old master. Then again, at her and at Masashi, and finally at the blonde on his right.

Tick. Tock. Tick-

The hall burst into chaos.

#12 Jace be like

#3

Forget politeness, Danny was just downright feral. Simply put, he had woken up and chosen violence.

He made his way to school like he owned the place. Bought himself at the Slave Auction like it was nobody's business and went off into the sunset with a baffled Jay in his arms, being held in bridal style. Then he came back because he had forgotten that he had to sing with Duke and put the blonde back down remorsefully before making him promise to watch his concert.

Somehow, and because the universe was a bitch he had once again ended up in the parking lot with Crystal and Gun staring at him. Before he could walk away the girl opened her mouth and began berating him for "judging people based on their looks".

"I'm gonna stop you right there" He cut her off, something no one had ever done before judging by her gobsmacked expression. "I don't know you, nor do I care to so you should keep your hypocritical view to yourself, okay miss?"

Unfortunately, Crystal managed to recover before he could book it out of there.

"Just who do you think you are? Calling me a hypocrite?"

Daniel regaled her with a thoroughly unimpressed stare before opening his mouth.

"Siri, could you please tell me the definition of hypocrisy?"

"a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not; behavior that contradicts what one claims to believe or feel" The robotic voice came from his back pocket, echoing through the empty parking lot.

Gun had a mysterious coughing fit that ended with a pointed elbow in the ribs from the smaller girl, though even that didn't manage to wipe the grin off his face. He eyed the boy more closely, feeling suddenly intrigued about whether he had the skills to back his cheeky attitude.

"You judge people based on how they look. I saw how you looked at one of the other girls in the crowd." Crystal continued to press on stubbornly.

"And you don't?" He retorted without missing a beat. "Besides, the girl I was looking at was Lala Kim, and she's notorious for how badly she treats the dates she buys at the Slave Auction."

That at least seemed to have gotten his point across.

"But you still act like you are better than anyone else."

Spoken too soon.

"I am better than everyone else!" His cocky reply seemed to only infuriate the beautiful girl more.

"Prove it!"

"Sure!"

They were now shouting and so close to each other that it was just one shove away from ending up really awkwardly between them. Daniel didn't let his confidence waver when she suddenly revealed a sharp smile that promised pain and humiliation, instead, he gave her his own taunting smirk and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Gun, fight him."

If the command surprised the bodyguard, he didn't show it. In one swift move, he took off his sunglasses, revealing the black sclera of his eyes and plastered on his infamous insane grin. Crystal moved out of the way and Daniel squared his shoulders but didn't wipe off his mocking expression.

Before he could blink an all-too-familiar kick began heading his way and the boy slipped into his fighting mindset. He blacked the click with his own leg using a basic movement that made it seem ridiculously easy. Gun's eyes widened as well as his smirk.

"You're pretty interesting, huh?"

A fist flew towards his face.

"Uh, Daniel."

The boy in question dodged the blow and caught his attacker by the throat, lifting him in the air.

"Hm?" He hummed inquiringly, turning to see the cowering form of Jinho looking at him like he was a monster.

He let go of his opponent, whose body hit the pavement with a muffled thud and made his way toward his smaller classmate.

"Uh-uh, Duke's looking for you, he-he asked me to-to get you." Jinho stuttered, eyes glued on the predator before him and knees trembling.

"Oh right, the concert, I almost forgot!" It was like a switch had been flipped and Daniel's cold facade melted back into a friendly smile. "Thanks, Jinho."

The boy nodded so fast he almost knocked his glasses off his face and scurried back.

"Ah, sorry, we'll have to continue this another time." He told the pair who were still frozen in shock, either at his skill or his quick change in attitude, he found that he didn't care much either way.

Shooting them one final sharp grin Daniel jogged back to the school festival, ready to perform for the beautiful blonde who would be watching him. Once he was out of sight Gun's posture finally loosened and he leaned onto the side of the car, pulling out a cigarette. A drop of cold sweat trickled down his forehead and he absently brushed his fingers over the already-forming hand-shaped bruise on his neck.

"He could have broken my neck without breaking a sweat." He mumbled and Crystal blanched at the thought.

"That boy...", the fighting maniac took a drag of his cigarette and exhaled the smoke slowly, "could've killed me if he wanted to."

The pair shared no other words as they left, both slightly trembling, though due to different reasons. Daniel Park was a real beast and they were lucky he had been interrupted when he had. Gun massaged his neck again as he drove, an impossibly large smile on his face.

Zack: So are you two dating now? Danny & Jay: Yes. Zack: Why? Danny: I happen to find Jay very appealing. Zack: Yeah, I can understand that. I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with Jay.

Polite but feral was the best way to characterize Daniel Park on most days. Today, however, he was just plain flabbergasted. I mean, It's not every day that you wake up back on the day it all started and get to look at yourself in the mirror without being able to recognize your own body. Either of them, actually.

His original body lay on the floor, a soft lump of fat and regrets, while the one he was currently using bore none of the marks that had come from all the fights he had survived. As if the memories written in thin silvery lines across his skin had been washed away by an unforgiving cold wave.

The sink shattered under his tense fingertips but he did not let go of it. Instead, his burning gaze remained fixed onto the mirror as if willing it to admit it was wrong and revert to the reality it had seemingly abandoned in favor of this bitter-sweet illusion. To his dismay, it refused to relinquish the fake image no matter how much he waited. Instead, it was he who first lowered his head onto the cracked remains of his marble sink, stifling a sob as the reality of the matter came crashing down on him like an avalanche.

Denial was over, it came time for anger. But even then, he was much too tired to do anything, nor did he have anything to destroy in sight. At least, nothing he would not regret destroying later. Thus, he settled on clawing at the skin on his back until blood trickled from his nails and down to his elbows. As the blood dripped onto the cold floor below he moved his hands, dragging strips of skin along the entirety of his exposed back. When the pain no longer satisfied him he let his arms fall limply and sunk to his knees, banging his head onto the floor with a muffled thud that left him wondering if anyone was wondering about the noise. His neighbors had been awfully eager to stay out of his way, while expressing their displeasure by loudly banging on the walls in his past- life?

"Take me back."He pleaded into the darkness of his room. "I shouldn't be here."

The moon only stared down at him, cold and unresponsive.

"Please, please"He tried again, though it came out more as a gasp, his chest heavy with sobs he tried to keep at bay.

Failure had never tasted so bitter as when Daniel felt the tin strims of water going down his cheeks. Like a mockery, no matter how much he rubbed at his eyes, the tears never stopped, filling his mouth with the tiny drops of salty water that threatened to drown him. He gasped, clutching his chest as he cried like he hadn't since he was a babe, with tears and hiccups and snot that left him feeling like even more of a pathetic mess than before.

He couldn't tell you how long he laid on the floor, curled with his hands clutching his wildly beating heart and weeping for what was but what could never be again. Sure, he could try to repeat his past experience, sticking as close to the original actions as possible, but it wouldn't be the same. He wasn't the same. Something was fundamentally different about him. Something was broken that last time had been whole. His faith.

Finally, he rose his body and stumbled through washing his face, not quite there. For a second time that night, he rose his face and looked, really looked, at himself in the mirror. He traced unseen scars across his face, trying to commit to memory where each silvery mark and red splotch had been. His body felt so, so awfully wrong. So horribly alien yet familiar to him. Not how it had felt the first time, but similar in a way he couldn't express.

The boy displaced in time could not help but feel as if he had stolen something. Maybe a chance, or a life? It didn't matter.

Acceptance.

He would find his way again, he wasn't lost, merely trying to find his footing again on a path he had taken once already. He could do this.

But not today.

He flopped onto his ratty mattress and cried his heart out until his breathing turned to wheezing and his body felt like turning to mush. Then, he closed his eyes and opened them again, seeing the world from a different angle.

----------

In his last life (it still felt wrong to use the word, but he couldn't find a better way to put it) he had abused his ability to use another body. A body that was attractive and brought his positive attention wherever he went was addictive to him, who had only been even viewed with disgust and contempt by others. He would still use it, of course, but this time he would focus more on the body he had been gifted from mother nature and all of its qualities. Beginning with sewing a few new clothes for his bigger body.

Daniel made quick work of a couple outfits that he felt would suit his bigger body better than his smaller one. His chubby fingers moved swiftly with the needle, although his only source of light was the full moon that was slowly descending out of view and thus, making him have to change his angle several times so as to still keep it in view.

When the sun finally rose off the jagged line of Seoul's horizon he had adopted a calm and collected attitude that he hoped could fool his classmates (no longer his friends) for the day and changed his body. The clothes fit him nicely and although it was still mostly his uniform, with a few pieces changed here and there, like the blue pants that he had swapped out for a pair of black jeans. Adjusting his hair one last time in the mirror he departed, taking the familiar route to school.

He ignored the stares, the whispers, and the ridiculous, over-the-top reactions of the people he passed by, already used to it from the last time. However, he did not miss the hidden eyes of a certain blonde once he entered the class and presented himself (much more casually and without stuttering this time). Nor did he miss the daggers Zack was shooting him for Mira's reaction to his introduction.

When Zoe came and flirted with him he just gave her a small smile while internally cringing. How had he not noticed how bad that line was the first time?

The day passed by in a blur, a few familiar faces here and there, but Daniel was much more focused on that evening and the events to follow. He didn't fall asleep though and thus saved Zoe the embarrassment of being yelled at, not that it changed much of how the girl saw him.