'cause pretty boys deserve to die

by Galax_Dragon

Summary:

Everyone fears the mysterious Chaos Lord, but what is actually going on in his life? With his Chaos League? With his identity? It's not what most people would expect.

Notes:

i recommend not reading this unless you are already familiar with the au, at least read my fic "from the ashes of Goggles rises a Raven" for a bit of context behind this.

this takes place roughly parallel to "a little dagger in their hand", though it will probably only have 3-4 chapters.

idk i just. Wanted to write about raven lollllll raven me boy

also gay gay homosexual gayyyy

 

title from fukouna girl stomach book but i replace girls with boys

Chapter 1

In the abandoned, forgotten desert, a wooden stake painted yellow-green stuck out of the sand. The petals of the flowers placed at the base of it were beginning to wilt from the hot, hot sun. It beat down on the stake now, not a single cloud in the sky—only chaos forces that had escaped Inkopolis long, long ago.

The quiet tranquility surrounding the stake was suddenly broken, by a winged figure landing onto the sand, scattering its particles in all directions. The winged figure stood up straight, glancing around as he spread out his dark wings. Before long, his eyes—deep blue, with electricity deep within them—landed on the yellow-green stake.

It seemed it wasn't forgotten after all.

This person wasn't just any Inkling with dark, feathered wings. He was the feared Chaos Lord of Splatsville.

And yet, despite his reputation, he was back here, to visit an important piece of his past.

The Chaos Lord walked up to the stake, stopping just in front of it. He observed the dryness of the flowers for a few moments, before saying—

"Hey Riri."

The lonely grave of a person long dead didn't answer, of course.

"Uh…it's been a while, huh?" the Chaos Lord—Raven—said. "I've…I've been busy. I, uh, I'm the Chaos Lord now…did you know that, Riri?"

Raven paused for a few moments, as if waiting for a response.

"Everyone…everyone respects me now…they bow down to me with the fear that…uh…if they don't, they'll be killed."

Raven sighed. "Which…to be fair…that's probably something I'd do."

More silence.

"Yeah…I know, that's pretty tyrannical of me. But…I don't have much of a choice, now. They're scared of me, and it needs to stay that way. Or else, I…I don't know what would happen."

"I…miss you. I miss you, I miss my friends, and I miss the way things used to be…the closest to that I can get is the Chaos League. A group of…friends, though everyone thinks they're my henchmen or something."

"But the truth, Rider? I just don't want to be alone."

Rider. That was the name of his dead lover. Not Riri, that was just a cute nickname. Rider.

He had been strong. Stronger than anyone Raven knew. Stronger than anyone Goggles knew.

He had been strong even when he was bleeding out from that stab wound.

"I hope you're doing well, wherever you are." It had taken this long for tears to form in Raven's eyes. "If there's an afterlife…if you're up there with Team Blue…I hope it's better than this apocalypse. I hope you're happy, Rider."

"Also…I brought something for you."

In his hand, Raven had been holding another wooden stake—this one painted blue. He placed it next to the yellow-green one, planting it firmly in the sand.

Though there was no body to bury under this stake, it too marked a person who had died.

His name was Goggles.

And it was only natural that his stake should be right next to Rider's, because the two of them had loved each other so, so much.

"I…wonder if Goggles is up there, too," Raven said, wrapping his arms around himself as his gaze drifted up to the sky.

The tears were flowing out of his eyes steadily now, and he just stood there for a while, sniveling softly.

Grieving the loss of Rider. Grieving the loss of Team Blue.

And grieving the loss of Goggles himself.

Eventually, Raven found it in himself to at least rearrange the flowers a bit so they lay in front of both stakes.

He could almost imagine Goggles and Rider holding hands right below him. Lovers forever, even in death.

—

Army stared at the paper in front of him, a pen gripped in his shaking hand.

There were words on the paper, but what was the point of them? They were worthless, worthless, worthless—they simply wouldn't do.

Army took the paper in his hands, crumpled it up, and tossed it aside. It bounced off a pile of several other crumpled balls of paper.

He was about to pick up another piece of paper when somebody entered his room. Army turned around to see a familiar face—the one of his boyfriend, Aloha.

"Hello, dear," Army said, hoping Aloha wouldn't notice the pile of crumpled paper—

"I have…something to ask you," Aloha said.

"Oh, of course," Army said.

"I…" Aloha hesitated, as he sat down on a chair. "Y-you know Raven?"

"Uh, yeah? He's the Chaos Lord," Army said. Of course he knew that the Chaos Lord had changed his name to Raven recently—his name before was obsolete now.

"I…uh…" Aloha seemed very nervous for some reason— "I think I like him."

Army went silent and wide-eyed for a few seconds, before starting to say, "You mean—"

"Romantically? Yes."

"Th-the Chaos Lord—"

"I may have kissed him."

"You what?!"

After Army's exclamation, the room was silent for a few seconds.

"I mean…" Aloha continued, "we did say our relationship was open—"

"Yes. It's not about that, it's about the fact that you kissed the Chaos Lord, Aloha."

"I was wondering if—"

Army sighed. "You can date him if you wish, Aloha. I…I'm fine with that."

"R-really?" Aloha stammered.

"As long as you still love me, and don't ditch me for a powerful dictator."

"That won't happen, love," Aloha said, taking Army's hand. "I'll always love you, okay?"

At this, Army smiled and pressed a quick kiss to Aloha's lips. "And I'll always love you, Aloha."

There was one thing Army didn't admit—he wasn't ready to.

He didn't admit that he was jealous of Aloha…because he had managed to kiss Raven.

He didn't admit that those crumpled up papers had been several failed drafts of a written confession.

He didn't admit that he, too, was in love with the Chaos Lord.

Chapter 2

Vintage stood over the bloodied body of…somebody, they could barely even remember who the victim was. Who they were before Vintage's knife plunged into every crevice of their body.

The victim's blood was splattered all over Vintage's hands and jacket and knife, but the vampire squid barely gave a shit.

That's what corruption gave you. Murderous urges—and when acted upon, little to no remorse.

As Vintage stared down at the body and contemplated, they suddenly heard a voice behind them.

"Hey, good kill, Vin."

"Don't you dare call me that." Vintage turned around to see the person the smug, accented voice belonged to. "—Emp."

"What an undignifed way to refer to a king." Emperor's arms were crossed as he leaned against the wall.

"You're delusional."

"Thank you."

Vintage sighed. "And confusing," they said, before fishing a small box of cigarettes out of their pocket. Emperor simply stared at them as they lit one and put it in their mouth.

"What's that stare for? You want one?" Vintage said, before puffing out smoke into Emperor's face.

Emperor coughed at the cigarette smoke before wheezing, "You have got to cease that disgusting habit."

"I said it once and I'll say it again, the unhealthiness of smoking doesn't matter in the fucking apocalypse."

Emperor didn't say anything.

"What's the matter?" A smug smirk spread across Vintage's face. "Do you want to try again?"

Emperor scowled at Vintage, then snatched their cigarette away from them and put it into his mouth.

This angered Vintage. "At least ask first—"

Emperor didn't acknowledge the rudeness of this. Instead, he just took a drag of the cigarette and blew out smoke into Vintage's face.

"How does that feel? To be disrespected?" Emperor said.

Emperor laughed as Vintage fanned the smoke away from their face. And, once they were able to breathe, Vintage started laughing too.

"Emp, you're such a fucking idiot," Vintage said, elbowing Emperor teasingly.

"You're even more so," Emperor said. And then, as if he thought they wouldn't notice, Emperor took Vintage's hand in his.

Vintage did notice this, of course. And they blushed and gave Emperor a glare, but they didn't reject the gesture.

"We should get back to the Chaos Tower," Vintage muttered, glancing back at the corpse covered in stab wounds.

"And take care of that body, I assume?" Emperor said.

Vintage hesitated before saying, "Nah."

—

"This really shouldn't be this difficult," Shadow Goggles said, his ghostly form emitting static as he hovered above Raven. The Chaos Lord himself sat at a desk, a paper with messy handwriting in front of him.

"I'm not experienced in the actual governing part of all this!" Raven whined, slamming his face on the desk. He then lifted it slightly to squint at the writing he had down—writing about a new, tyrannical law to be put in place.

Being a dictator was all fun and games until you actually had to rule the city.

"C'mon, it's just making a new system for citizens of Splatsville to follow. Not that difficult at all."

"It is for an idiot like me…" Raven mumbled.

"Didn't that idiot die along with Ri—"

"Shut the fuck up, Shaggles."

"Not my name."

As Raven groaned and placed his face onto the paper again, somebody suddenly came into the room. He immediately sat up and glared at the person who had burst in—but his gaze softened when he saw that it was Aloha.

"Allie…" Raven said—

"I have good news, Ravey." Aloha had a smile on his face as he said this.

Raven raised his eyebrows. "Do you mean—"

"We can be boyfriends!" Aloha ran forward and suddenly wrapped Raven in a hug, and at this, Raven didn't know what to do. He just stood there, muscles tensed, as Aloha pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"S-so…are we official…?" Raven muttered.

"I mean, if you want to be!" Aloha pulled away from the hug but held Raven's hands in his. "Y-you did enjoy that kiss the other day, right?"

"Well, yeah, of course, but…"

"What's the matter?"

"Is this…okay…? Like, I love you too, but you're also technically my henchman and—"

"Pfft, are there suddenly rules about this? We can do whatever we waaant~!"

Raven hesitated, before leaning in and pressing a long kiss to Aloha's lips. Aloha leaned into the kiss, cupping Raven's face as they pressed their lips together passionately.

No tongue got involved in the kiss—at least, not before Raven pulled away and said, "Nobody but Army can know about this, okay?"

"Awww, why noooot~?"

"It'd ruin my reputation," Raven said. "The Chaos Lord…doesn't kiss members of his Chaos League."

"So the people of Splatsville wouldn't bow down if they thought you were gay?"

"I mean, they probably already know that, but if they knew that I was gay for you—"

"What's wrong with me?"

"Are you not hearing me? You're part of the Chaos League, you're supposed to work for me."

Aloha sighed. "Okay…fine, dear."

Raven couldn't help but to blush at the nickname. He didn't say anything else.

He didn't want to say anything else. What needed to be said had been said, and now—

Raven kissed Aloha again. And it wasn't long before this kiss did involve tongue.

And as Raven savored the feeling of Aloha's tongue against his, he could sense his shadow hovering above him.

"This is…rather unprofessional of you," was all he said. "Don't you care about being intimidating?"

Raven's mouth was too busy to respond verbally, but he did send a thought to his shadow.

They'll never know if it isn't public.

—

Soon enough, the makeout session was over, and Raven found himself alone with his shadow once again. He simply ignored said shadow as he walked over to his mirror.

His eyeliner was smudged, and there were remnants of Aloha's pink lip gloss on his lips and cheeks. He looked…quite unprofessional, but that was what having a boyfriend did to you, apparently.

As Raven redid his eyeliner and wiped the lip gloss off his face, he could hear his shadow talking behind him again.

"So…the people like this new Raven identity, huh?"

"Just one person," Raven muttered.

"But he likes you. He loves you. So much that he's willing to put his tongue in your mouth."

"What's your point?"

"You're not as alone as you thought you were, Raven."

Raven didn't say anything at this, but he did stop applying eyeliner, eyes widening.

He slowly turned around to face his staticky shadow.

"You…you really think so?"

"You always whine about missing your friends, missing Rider. But people love this new identity, Raven. They're worshiping you, bowing down to you…and I bet Aloha's not the only one who wants to kiss you."

Raven blushed at this, but Shadow Goggles just continued.

"My point is, you're not alone. Your new life is wonderful and full of love, and there's no need to even think about your old one."

At hearing this, Raven dropped his eyeliner pencil in shock—and realization.

He had always mourned his life before the apocalypse…

But he no longer needed to.

Because he was no longer alone.

Goggles was dead, and in his place was Raven.

Raven was an evil dictator, and yet…

People loved him.

And, standing there in front of the mirror, the Chaos Lord made another realization.

If Aloha and all those other people really did love him…

He could do whatever the hell he wanted.

There was no need to hold himself back anymore. He didn't need to seek love from people who were dead and gone—and from people who no longer mattered.

Even if, deep down inside, he still loved those people. It didn't matter anymore.

Notes:

raven me boy. me gayass boy. i love you raven

Chapter 3

Aloha's heart was still beating fast when he left Raven's room.

He could hardly believe it…he had pulled the Chaos Lord.

Aloha hummed to himself, a skip in his step as he walked to find Army. He wondered how his lip gloss looked right now—probably smudged, but Raven was a really good kisser—

His radio, stuffed carelessly in his back pocket, suddenly came on. And through it came Mask's voice.

“Uh, heyyyy, somebody wants to assassinate the Chaos Lord.”

"Again?!" Army exclaimed. That's when Aloha realized that in his thoughts about Raven, he had barely prosessed what Mask said.

He picked up the radio and pressed the button on the side. "Heyyy~ What's up, Masky~?"

"Did you not hear what she just said?" Army asked.

"Nope~!" At least Aloha was telling the truth, somewhat.

“Somebody wants to assassinate the Chaos Lord…multiple somebodies, actually," Mask said.

"Oh." Now that Aloha truly knew the situation, he became a lot more serious. "That's…not good."

"Barely an issue," Aloha heard Skull say. “The Chaos Lord is impossible to assassinate. He would never let that happen.”

"Not just the Chaos Lord," Army said. "We won't let that happen."

Aloha smiled at Army saying this—because he was right. The rest of the S4 all at least respected Raven, and with Aloha being his official boyfriend—cod, he could still hardly believe that—Aloha was not down to let him get killed.

Well, he does have lightning powers, Aloha thought, stuffing the radio back into his pocket. Ravey's really hard to assassinate. He'll be fine…

Right?

—

And now, Aloha had a secret to keep.

He may have been a little bastard, but if Raven asked him to do something, he sure as hell was going to do that.

Raven had asked him to keep the relationship between him and Aloha a secret. Aloha was certainly going to do that—yes, nobody else in the Chaos League except for Army knew about it.

Now Aloha was walking with the rest of the S4 through Splatsville, and he felt rather proud of himself. What a good secret keeper he was! Mask and Skull had no clue!

"Aloha, stop daydreaming," Skull said, snapping Aloha out of his thoughts. "We have a job to do."

"Oh yeah, of course!" Aloha said, pretending that said daydreaming was not about Raven…again. "We gotta…make sure everyone's being good, right?"

"That nobody is disrespecting the Chaos Lord's rule," Army said.

"Aloha, you know this. We do this patrol at least once a daaaay," Mask sighed.

"Yeah, of course I know!" Aloha said. "Who said I didn't know?"

Skull groaned. "You're exasperating."

"Thanks~!"

With that, the walk through the streets was awkwardly silent for a few more minutes. At least, until the S4 came across a group of Inklings, mint-green in color. In response to this, the S4 all hid themselves behind a wall, listening to the group's conversation.

"Pssh, I wouldn't worry about it," one of the Inklings said. This guy was wearing three pairs of sunglasses for some reason, two of them stacked on his head. It looked incredibly tacky. "The Chaos Lord barely even knows how to run a city."

"Y-yeah, but he's dangerous," another Inkling said. "He created an entire death game…"

"And it was horribly planned out and messy," the sunglasses-wearing one said. "Face it, he doesn't know what he's doing. He'd be easy to overthrow."

"Uh…lightning powers aside?"

"Okay, fine, he's strong physically, but not mentally. We just need to outsmart him."

The S4 had heard enough. They suddenly revealed themselves from behind the wall, and Mask and Skull went ahead and restrained the sunglasses-wearing Inkling, forcing his hands behind his back.

"Wha-what?!" the Inkling exclaimed. "Who-who are you guys?!"

"We're part of the Chaos League, under the Chaos Lord," Army stated, taking out a pair of handcuffs and latching them around the Inkling's wrists.

"Yeahhhh, and you know the laws around here~!" Aloha chimed in. "Talk shit, get hit! Or something like that."

"You know you shouldn't be disrespecting the Chaos Lord," Skull said. "There will be consequences."

"Especially if you do it so damn loudly. Are you stupid?" Mask added.

"Pl-please…! I didn't mean it…!" The Inkling stammered. Mask and Army held him back, and the rest of the mint-green group tried to fight against the S4, but to no avail—Skull and Aloha fought them back with ease.

Aloha loved the feeling of adrenaline in his veins as he fought against those three Inklings. But soon enough, it was over, and the S4 was walking back with the sunglasses man in handcuffs.

Their prisoner.

—

Soon enough, Mask and Army flung the prisoner onto the ground in front of Raven—the Chaos Lord. One of his sunglasses pairs fell off his head as this happened, but before he could grab it, Raven stomped on it, breaking it.

"M-my…" the prisoner stammered. On the way to the Chaos Tower, the S4 had learned his name was Trisun.

"Your precious sunglasses?" Raven said in a mocking tone. "Tell me, why do you need three pairs?"

"S-so I can look…dazzling…"

Aloha couldn't help but to chuckle quietly at this. Was this guy serious? Stacking three sunglasses on his head in an attempt to look dazzling? He didn't know the first thing about fashion.

If Trisun wasn't about to die, maybe Aloha would give him some tips.

As Raven called Trisun pathetic and sat upon his throne, Aloha couldn't help but to smile, subtly swooning at his beautiful, edgy boyfriend.

"You know he was defying your rule. Talking shit about you, or whatever you call it," Army said.

"Oh, is that so~?" Raven said. "Tell me, dazzle man, what did you say?"

"I…I'm sorry—"

"What the fuck did you say about me?!"

Aloha watched as Trisun shook in front of Raven, and wondered if the prisoner was going to confess. He wondered what Raven was going to do to him once he did—

"Just some stuff about how…stupid you are…"

Aloha sucked in a breath. He knew Raven hated being called stupid, it was a particularly sore spot for him—considering his past reputation. His heart then started to pound as the lights in the throne room began to flicker—even though he knew it wasn't a threat, at least not to him personally.

"Stupid…?" Raven said, his frown deep and dark.

"Your Evilness, what should we do about this criminal?" Army asked. "Is an execution in order?"

"An execution…sounds like a great idea," Raven said. "But…I don't think it's necessary."

This confused Aloha. "What do you mean? I thought you loved seeing people die."

"Well, our Chaos League could always be bigger."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Trisun stammered.

With a laugh, Raven said, "Trisun, have you ever wanted to work under the most powerful guy in the Splatlands?"

Trisun shook his head, but Raven continued. "Well, too bad! Show me your wrist, Trisun."

Trisun held out his wrist, and Raven proceeded to do the same thing he had done with every other member of the Chaos League—even Aloha himself.

In seconds, Trisun was branded with a lightning bolt symbol.

"Welcome to the Chaos League, dazzle man. Enjoy your punishment."

Cod…that badass voice made Aloha's heart swoon.

—

Army sat at his desk again, his pen flowing over the paper in cursive handwriting. Finally, he reached the bottom, and set his pen down.

Another love letter to that gorgeous, gorgeous Chaos Lord.

And as Army took the paper in his hands and started to read over the letter he had just written, his eyes widened when he realized that this one was actually good.

As in…presentable. He could show Raven this one…

…but should he?

Well, Aloha and Raven were dating now, and Army had been yearning for Raven for a long, long time. What did he had to lose…?

His dignity…his spot in the Chaos League…

Raven wouldn't kick him out of the Chaos League…would he? He had literally kissed another member of it.

Army signed and got up from his chair, love letter held delicately in his hand.

He then sealed it into an envelope—one unlabeled other than with Raven's name—because he felt shy going up to Raven in person…and letting him know that he was the Chaos Lord's secret admirer.

—

A mere hour later, Raven came up to Army, and Army jumped when he said his name.

"Y-yes, your Evilness?" Army said, panic rising in his chest. Why was Raven coming up to him? This must be about the love letter Army had dropped off by his bedroom. Did Raven know it was Army who wrote it? How did he know?! Was he going to banish him—

"You know how to read cursive, right?" Raven asked.

"W-what?" Army stammered.

Raven took Army's love letter out. "This is clearly some kind of love letter…but I can't read it…could you help me?"

Army sighed in a mixture of relief and…almost humiliation. Of course Raven couldn't read cursive…Raven used to be Goggles and that bumbling idiot had never learned how to read it. What was Army thinking?

"Oh! Uh…sure," Army stuttered. "But…shall we go somewhere more…p-private?"

"Sure," Raven said. With that, he took Army's hand—cod, Raven was holding Army's hand—and led him away.

Soon enough, the two of them were standing in Army's bedroom, and Army was trying to hide the fact that his heart was pounding out of his chest and he was sweating bullets. Here he was, in front of the majestic, beautiful, powerful Chaos Lord, about to read him a love letter that he had written.

"Here," Raven said, handing Army the love letter. "Read it aloud to me."

Army's hands shook as he stared at the words he had written just an hour ago. "U-uh—"

"Any day now."

Army sighed. Just do it.

 

"Raven…your name suits you…it seems you named yourself after a bird as darkly beautiful as you are."

"The people in Splatsville fear you, they bow before you, but I bow before you for an entirely different reason—and that reason is love, my lord."

"You're majestic and powerful, how could I not? Your lightning powers bring people to their knees in utter awe—and I fell in love as soon as you transformed into what you are now—terrifyingly beautiful. Even that smile that spreads across your face when you triumph…more corrupted than before, more evil…but it still makes my heart swoon, Your Evilness."

"I wish you would smile at me, a genuine smile, caused by more than just satisfaction. I wish you would feel the same."

"It's unlikely that you will, and I do not intend on guilt-tripping you to return my feelings. I simply wish for you to know them, to know that there are two people who love you in this Chaos League—Aloha, and me."

"And you must know that I would do anything for you, my lord. I would kill as many people as you please, I would create a trail of blood in your name."

"Because I love you, Raven. I love you ever so much."

 

Army's hands were noticeably shaking as he read the last line, and once he was finished, he couldn't help but to drop the love letter to the floor. He looked up at Raven with wide eyes—and cod, the Chaos Lord was blushing, blushing at Army, and it was almost as if—

"Army…do you know who wrote that?"

Army's heart almost flat out stopped in his chest. "I…uh—"

"It's really okay if you don't, I…" Raven hesitated, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm just curious as to who really feels that way about me."

Army's hands shook violently, and tears formed in his eyes before he dropped to his knees. He clasped his hands before exclaiming to the Chaos Lord,

"It was me, okay?! It was me who wrote that love letter to me, it's me who feels those feelings towards you…please please please don't kick me out of the Chaos League…don't kill me…I cannot control these feelings and who I fall in love with…please…!"

Raven stared at Army as he made his confession and begged to not be let go…until Raven interrupted him by saying, "That's enough, Army."

Army looked up at Raven with tears in his eyes. Raven looked at Army with utter confusion.

"Why…" Raven stammered, "Army…why would you feel this way?"

Army's breath caught in his throat. "I…I don't—"

"After all I've done…the Chaos Games…why fall in love with me now?"

"It started before the Chaos Games, my lord—"

"Don't…don't call me that."

Army hesitated, and for a few seconds, the room was silent other than the sound of Army's hitched breathing.

"And get off of your knees, you look pathetic."

I am pathetic, Army thought, as he stood up—and he couldn't stop the sob from escaping him.

"You may leave now," Raven said. "But before you do…"

He put his hand out towards Army.

"Give me that letter."

Army hesitated before he did what Raven asked of him—before he obeyed his Chaos Lord.

How he wished he could be taking his hand instead…

—

"I would create a trail of blood in your name…because I love you, Raven." Raven murmured this segment of Army's love letter to himself as he lay on his bed, the love letter resting upon his chest. Army was gone, of course—Raven dared not cry in front of him.

Which was what he was doing now. Crying.

Of course, he appreciated the love coming from Army. But it was just…so unexpected.

Why would Army, out of all people, fall for a murderous, tyrannical villain?

Why would he fall for Raven?

It perplexed Raven even hours later. After all he had done…even after the Chaos Games…Army still loved him?

And Aloha too…but everyone knew he had a strange taste in men.

"Don't go contradicting yourself, now."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Raven didn't even have to look up to know that it was Shadow Goggles talking to him.

"You just pledged to yourself that you didn't care about all your evil actions, because you're loved. Now you're doubting more love that is coming your way?"

"I'm just…surprised," Raven said. "Because…why Army? Doesn't he have morals?"

"Apparently they're skewed in some way if he's falling for you."

"I guess…" Raven muttered. He thought about when Army had been comforting him after the Chaos Games…

Do you consider me a friend? I’m…I’m not mad at you.

Army wasn't mad at Raven for the Chaos Games…

Maybe Captain Curry was less righteous than he seemed.

"You need to let go of the notion that you're horrible. You're just doing what's right for you."

"Yeah…" Raven said. "You're right…"

But no matter how much he said otherwise, or tried to believe otherwise, he would always hold this notion—himself being horrible—to be true to some capacity.

Because he felt like he had betrayed somebody. Somebody far from the past.

He had betrayed Rider…and he had betrayed Goggles.

…Would Rider be disappointed in him now, seeing what he had become?

Seeing that he had kissed Aloha…and that, maybe, he kind of wanted to kiss Army as well?

"No, no he wouldn't be. Even if he would be, why should you care?"

Raven frowned. "Because…I loved him…? He was my boyfriend…?"

"He's dead and gone now. He can't be disappointed in you, because he was stabbed to death by that bastard whom you killed."

"What are you saying?" Raven said.

"I'm saying kiss whatever the fuck you want. Aloha and Army love you, why should you reject that?"

"Because…"

"Because what?"

"It…doesn't matter."

"Good. You know no excuse would work in this scenario."

"Now…you know I've helped you a ton. How about you do something to repay that favor…?"

Raven looked up at his shadow.

"Okay. Fine. What should I do for you?"

Notes:

ok sorry if raven's thoughts are confusing and contradictory or if nothing makes sense i don't really know what im doing ngl

but i did get a banger idea for next chapter

this thing is def going to be more than 4 chapters...sigh...

Chapter 4

Notes:

GUYS I DID IT......I GOT OUT OF MY WRITING SLUMP KINDA.......(i only had to write 500ish words to finish this chapter and those 500ish words were kinda hard. but im posting good stuff to ao3 again this is a WIN)

"You want me to what?!"

"It really isn't that preposterous. Stop overreacting."

"I mean…" Raven's hands were shaking in surprise, his eyes wide. "Starting a cult in your name is kind of crazy."

"Not really."

"Cults aren't exactly common, Shaggles!"

"You're going to have to stop calling me that stupid nickname," Shadow Goggles said, his staticky form circling around Raven. "You've got to start respecting me more, for all I've done for you."

"All you've done for me…" Raven echoed. He looked up at Shadow Goggles with a glare. "You mean turning me into this?"

"Into a powerful, respected evil overlord? You should be thanking me, really. And this is how you'll repay me."

Raven sighed. "Fine. But how exactly do I start this cult?"

"I mean…the Chaos League is right there. How about you make them actually useful?"

The Chaos Lord's eyes widened. "Th-they are useful! What are you talking about?!"

"Ugh, we both know that it's really just forcing people to be your friends." Shadow Goggles scoffed. "Pathetic, really. But turning it into a cult under the shadows…under me…"

"Do I have to…?" Raven muttered. His hands were shaking again, but he clenched them into fists to stop the shaking.

"I mean, you want to repay me, right?"

Did he…?

"This life is much better than waiting for your friends uselessly in the bunker, admit it."

"Don't…remind me of that." Raven didn't like thinking about that period in his life—when he naively thought that Team Blue was alive.

"Fine. I won't…as long as you convince the Chaos League to worship the shadows."

Raven looked up at Shadow Goggles. Then he put out his hand, as if his shadow was a tangible being who could shake hands with him.

"Fine. It's a deal."

—

Raven focused on his breathing, as he sat in front of the microphone where he would make an announcement to be heard throughout the whole Chaos Tower.

In, out, in, out.

He didn't know why he was feeling so anxious.

"Just do it," Shadow Goggles said next to him. "Stop doing your stupid breathing exercises and do it."

Raven sighed, and then turned the microphone on and began speaking.

"Hello Chaos League," Raven said, trying his best to sound professional and intimidating. "Or should I say…Shadows of Chaos."

"Yes, I've decided I'm going to repurpose this group," he continued. He was glad the Chaos League couldn't see his nervous expression. "For you all know that the purpose it served before…was not very strong. Just a group of henchmen working under me."

"But now…we will all bow down under a higher power. The shadows themselves." Raven looked over at Shadow Goggles, and he gave him a nod and a smile. "I have my own shadow to thank for elevating me to this position, and you all have him to thank for letting you work under this group, under me."

"So going forward, the Chaos League is no more. It shall be known as the Shadows of Chaos…and we will all bow down under the beings who deserve the recognition."

"Of course, I'll still be your leader. I'll lead the worship of the shadows…and be your messiah, your savior."

"And if you resist…well, you can say goodbye to the privilege of staying alive."

As he finished his announcement, a smirk spread across Raven's face.

Maybe starting this cult wouldn't be so bad after all.

—

"Shadows of Chaos…?" Vintage muttered, as the announcement from the Chaos Lord himself ended. They then scoffed, rolling their eyes. "What bullshit…"

Vintage walked idly out of their bedroom and down the hall. They were…bored. There wasn't exactly much to do when you were part of a group working under an incompetent overlord—which was now a cult, apparently.

Frankly, it was quite ridiculous, this whole cult thing. Also, quite out of the blue. Almost like the cruel author of this universe decided to mix things up a little bit, maybe even getting inspired by a stupid video game.

*cough*

Vintage was just about to descend the stairs to the floor below, when they bumped into someone they knew. Skeptical frown still on their face, they craned their neck to make eye contact with this tall, tall person.

"Hello there, Vin," Emperor said. Cod, Vintage wished they could wipe that stupid smirk off of his face.

"And what are you so happy about?" Vintage grumbled.

"Not even a hello? How rude…" Emperor said.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Well, this new development that Goggles brought up—"

"Raven doesn't like being called that."

"And why do you care all of a sudden?" Emperor frowned down at Vintage. Vintage was barely fazed. Emperor was nearly a foot taller than them, but why should they feel intimidated by him?

Vintage rolled their eyes. "Whatever. Continue."

"This Shadows of Chaos thing should be quite interesting," Emperor said. "Will definitely mix things up a bit, huh?"

Vintage thought back to their analogy about the author. A horribly cheesy one, they realized. "I suppose."

"You suppose? I mean, we're part of a cult now. That's bound to bring some surprises."

"As long as it gives Raven motivation to be competent."

Vintage then pushed past Emperor to walk down the spiral staircase, and to their disappointment, the annoying yellow Inkling followed. A few seconds later, both of them landed in the living room, built for the Chaos League Shadows of Chaos to hang out in.

"How about some Tableturf?" Emperor said, gesturing to a nearby table for that exact purpose.

Vintage shrugged. "I'll kick your ass."

The two of them then picked up some cards and sat down at the table—but they never even got to start their game.

Because just as Vintage was looking at the cards in their hand—somebody pulled them out of their chair by their hood.

"H-hey!!" Vintage exclaimed, attempting to wrestle out of their captor's grip—they were holding them as if they were a rowdy kitten. "You…you can't—!"

Then Vintage was abruptly shocked with electricity—which made them realize that their captor was none other than the Chaos Lord himself.

This electric shock made Vintage's muscles weaken, and it became much harder to fight back. They tried to use their X-Zone—but at that moment, another electric shock made them pass out.

The last thing they saw before losing consciousness was Emperor's pretty face—laced with confusion and concern.

—

Meanwhile, the S4 were sitting around a table. An awkward silence sat in the air.

Mask idly fidgeted with her sleeve, eyeing the others with mild annoyance. "Soooo, what do you want, Skull?"

"We need to find out who is aiming to assassinate the Chaos Lord," Skull said. "You never exactly gave us a description, Mask."

Skull gave Mask a glare, and the cyan Inkling put her hands up, eyes widening slightly. "Man, don't blame me!"

"Do you want to give us a description of the assassins, Mask?" Army asked.

"First of all, they're not really assassins, they haven't done anything yet." Mask's surprised expression was quickly replaced with the default tired one, as she leaned her elbows on the table and her hand in her hands. "Also, to be honest, I don't really want to."

"Let's word this better," Skull said. "Give us a description. Now."

"Okay, geez," Mask said, rolling her eyes. "Welllll, there were three of them. They all seemed to be young, no younger than like, 16 or 17. Two Octolings and an Inkling…though one of the Octolings seemed to be wearing some kind of weird dragon costume—"

"Dragon costume?" Skull asked, seeming genuinely confused.

"Well, not like a full one. Just wings and a tail."

"Ink colors?" Army demanded.

"Uhhh…purple and two shades of green. The Inkling was light green, the dragon Octoling was purple, and the other Octoling was a darker green."

"Thank you," Army said.

Aloha was…certainly present at this meeting. He had just been paying no attention at all—absently doodling hearts on his arm with a pen.

And daydreaming. Daydreaming about him. Raven.

Aloha had honestly forgotten about the idiotic Inkling Raven used to be, he was too focused on how smitten he was for this version, the current version. He was so strong, so powerful, so handsome—

"Aloha?"

Army's voice. Aloha looked up, startled, to see Army, Mask, and Skull all staring at him.

"Huh?" Aloha muttered.

"Are you even listening?" Army said.

"He definitely isn't. Look at that look on his face," Mask said. Despite her face being covered, Aloha could tell she was scowling.

"I'm…uh…thinking," Aloha said. Not a lie. "About…uh—"

"You should be thinking about how we can stop the Chaos Lord from being assassinated," Skull said.

"I am!" Aloha exclaimed. "I don't want Ravey—"

"Ravey?!" Mask said.

"I MEAN THE ALMIGHTY CHAOS LORD WHO IS ALSO THE LEADER OF OUR WONDERFUL CULT—" Aloha's face was burning in embarrassment— "to be, uh, killed. And…stuff like that."

Aloha put on a nervous grin. There was still a huge blush on his face. Wonderful.

What if they found out that he was technically the Chaos Lord's boyfriend? Mask would never let him hear the end of it—Skull would probably hate him forever.

"Stuff like that…" Army echoed. "If you say so."

"Anyway," Skull said, "we need to do something about these rebels. We must not let whatever plan they have progress any further."

"Yeah, duh," Mask mumbled, rolling her eyes. "What should we do about them?"

"Uhhh, how about kidnapping them?" Aloha asked. "We put them in our dungeons, and from there they can't do shit. Maybe the Chaos Lord even kills them as a punishment for…their crimes."

Skull's eyes widened slightly, and he nodded. "That's a great idea, Aloha."

Aloha blinked, legitimately surprised. "It…it is?"

"For once," Mask grumbled, before Army glared at her. Aloha barely acknowledged Mask's remark, however.

An idea that he had was actually good. No longer was he just the pretty boy of the Shadows of Chaos—he was actually contributing for once.

That made him…strangely happy.

Raven would be proud.

"So who volunteers to do this kidnapping of the rebels?" Skull said.

"Why not all of us?" Army asked.

"There's only three of them, and I doubt they're that strong at all. Only one or two of us are needed for a quick job," Skull answered.

Army sighed. "Well, I suppose I could—"

The meeting of the S4 was interrupted by a short announcement over the loudspeaker. Aloha couldn't help but to blush a little bit as he immediately recognized Raven's voice.

"Aloha, Mask, and Skull, I summon you to the main throne room."

"Oh," Mask said. She barely seemed fazed by the announcement, while Skull seemed confused. "And why the fuck does he need us?"

"I dunno, let's find out!" Aloha exclaimed. He then promptly got out of his chair, eyeing Mask and Skull when they didn't. "C'mon!"

With that, Mask and Skull reluctantly got up and left the meeting room. Aloha followed them, but not before pressing a quick kiss to Army's cheek and saying goodbye to him.

However, Aloha couldn't help but to feel guilty for leaving his boyfriend alone.

—

Barely a minute after Raven's announcement, and Army was all alone.

Raven had summoned three out of four S4 members. All of them except for Army.

And Army had a theory about the reason.

Obviously Raven was utterly angered by Army's confession earlier—and so he was avoiding seeing him.

Raven now saw Army in a completely different light. He saw him as inferior. Horrible.

And maybe, just maybe, Raven was right.

What kind of person fell in love with an evil overlord, after all? Besides Aloha, but that was different, because the evil overlord loved him back.

Army was simply a pathetic loverboy.

But maybe he could redeem himself.

He thought about Mask's description of the rebels. The ones planning to assassinate the Chaos Lord.

He thought about the barely-formed plan to kidnap them and bring them into the dungeon.

If Army did that, if he kidnapped the rebels and prevented them from killing Raven…

Maybe Raven would find he was actually competent and capable.

Maybe he would even love Army back.

Army got up from the table, gathering the few manuals he had open during the meeting.

He decided that he was going to capture these rebels with ease.

An Octoling with dragon features would be pretty hard to miss, after all.

Notes:

should i make army x raven eventually requited or unrequited......put your opinion in the comments and i may or may not listen to it

also the video game i got inspired by was cult of the lamb. peak game btw

btw next chapter will probably have violence and i will probably have to put the warning on here. just so you know

Chapter 5

Notes:

Things to know:

- Violence warning will be added specifically for this chapter :)
- Vintage pov the entire time
- Hi empvin fans :)
- I love having a free period in school i get to write gay angst

When Vintage woke up, they realized they couldn't move their limbs. Something was binding them.

They opened their eyes, and the first thing they saw made them almost want to throw up.

It was Goggles Raven. Sitting upon his black and gold throne, in front of Vintage—who was tied tightly to a chair. A smug smile appeared on Raven's face once he saw that Vintage had awakened.

"What's the meaning of this?!" Vintage demanded, not meaning to yell as loud as they did.

Vintage then noticed that there were three people surrounding Raven. Aloha, Mask, and Skull. Their eyes fell upon Skull and gave him a horrible glare.

Skull glared back. "I don't know what's going on here either."

"Bullshit," Vintage spat.

"Well, I know!" Raven exclaimed. "Long story short, you're being punished, Vintage."

"W-what?!" Vintage exclaimed. "What for?!"

"You tried to kill me." The smile on Raven's face disappeared.

"That…that was forever ago!!" Vintage shouted. "I…you were still Gog—"

"You were so naive, really," Raven said, stepping off of his throne and towards Vintage. "Attempting to kill the Chaos Lord…what an idiot."

Vintage growled. "I think you're the idiot here, Goggles."

The lights above began to flicker. Raven's eyes began to glow golden, the light slowly becoming stronger and stronger.

Vintage could feel the chair they were tied to slowly rise off the ground. This genuinely scared them, but even when in danger, they tried their best not to show this fear.

They noticed that Aloha, Mask, and Skull were rising off the ground as well. All of them had varying degrees of fear and surprise at this, and Aloha turned to Raven with the most of it in his eyes.

"Ravey…what—"

"Shush, Allie. Let me deal with this," Raven said. His voice was almost uncharacteristically serious—at least, it was much more serious than it would've been before.

Vintage barely had a second to wonder about the nicknames before they were hit in the face by lightning. They were blasted to the ground, the gravity in the room seeming to go back to normal.

As they lay on the ground, they then realized that the ropes tying them had been loosened—probably by the lightning strike. Taking this opportunity, Vintage wrestled themself out of the ropes, and soon they were no longer tied to the chair. Raven's frown deepened when he saw Vintage shakily get to their feet.

"Seize them," Raven said, voice quiet yet powerful.

On Raven's command, Aloha, Mask, and Skull all charged towards Vintage, probably to "seize" them. But Vintage blinked, and the red fire of the X-Zone appeared in their eye as they dodged out of the way. With X-Zone activated, Vintage was able to accurately predict Aloha coming towards them, and they delivered a punch to his jaw as they dodged out of the way again.

Vintage heard Aloha cry out in pain, and a tiny smile appeared on their face. "How does that feel, Allie?"

Aloha blinked, before looking towards Raven with panic. Raven's eyes widened slightly, but he didn't say anything—even though the nickname had come from his mouth originally.

Vintage was distracted by this interaction for a split second, but then their X-Zone warned them of Skull coming up behind them. They whirled around and kicked Skull's feet from under him before bolting away—they had no idea what Raven's punishment would be, and they didn't want to find out.

Vintage was about to reach the door of the throne room before a bolt of electricity shot past them. They looked behind them to see Raven, hovering there with rage on his face.

The lights were flickering again.

"You missed," Vintage said.

They shouldn't have taunted the Chaos Lord again. That simple remark earned them another lightning strike, this one right into their eye aflame with X-Zone.

Vintage screamed out in pain, covering their eye as blood spilled out of the socket. They could hear Raven chuckling above them.

"Didn't miss that time," he said, smug smirk on his face.

The pain in Vintage's eye was unbearable—they were pretty sure that lightning attack had burnt their actual eyeball away. They struggled to breathe as they clutched at the wound, trying to prevent blood and gore from further flooding out of their eye socket.

After a few painful, painful seconds, Vintage managed to stand up straight, one hand still over their wound.

And their other, functioning eye managed to set itself ablaze with X-Zone.

Raven scowled when he saw Vintage's X-Zone activate, but Vintage could anticipate the lightning attack from him this time, dodging. They finally found it in themself to take their hand away from their heavily bleeding wound, and they ran forward and punched Raven with a gore-stained fist. Raven cried out in pain briefly, but then the punch was returned, far too quick for even Vintage's X-Zone to predict it.

"You deserve punishment for your sins!" Raven yelled out. "You should know better than to disrespect your savior!!"

"Savior? For what? Being the most idiotic dictator I've met?" Vintage said.

It was in that moment that they remembered their pocket knife. They got it out, the glint of the metal making them smirk.

They weren't going down without a fight.

"You don't get to call me that anymore," Raven said, lightning forming in his hand again. "I left that idiot behind me. He's dead."

Vintage sighed. "Just like your precious Riri, huh?"

They then ran forward, prepared to stab Raven, both with the knife and maybe some more insults—

Suddenly, the X-Zone in their eye went out—it was replaced by an electric, white-hot pain.

Vintage couldn't fucking see.

They could feel blood flowing from both of their eye sockets now.

The pain was everywhere.

Vintage couldn't take it, and next thing they knew, they were on the floor.

They could comprehend nothing but darkness and pain.

And, far far away, a familiar voice. Deep and soft.

"I'm sorry, Vintage."

That was Skull's voice.

That was the last thing Vintage recognized before passing out.

—

"Vintage?"

The voice felt so far away, almost like a dream.

"Are you awake? Are you okay?"

Vintage knew that voice.

They tried to open their eyes, but they couldn't. Everything was so dark.

"Why…" Vintage tried to speak, but their voice was weak and raspy. "Why can't I—"

"The Chaos Lord blinded you, Vintage."

Vintage sighed, reaching a hand out into the darkness.

They felt a soft, warm hand on theirs.

Even without sight, Vintage would know that touch anywhere.

"Omega…" Vintage muttered.

"It's me, Vintage," Omega said, their voice soft. "I'm here."

"Raven…blinded me?"

"Yes. He says it's to punish you for that assassination attempt all that time ago. He wanted to remove your X-Zone."

Vintage scowled. "Fucking idiot…he didn't have to—"

"Don't insult him so loudly. We have to be careful now."

Vintage savored the feeling of their sibling's warm touch, their comforting voice, their simple presence.

And Vintage supposed Omega was right.

Insulting Raven and trying to kill him had cost Vintage their eyesight.

"So…I'm blind now, huh?" Vintage said.

"Yep," Omega said. "But…I can help you adjust. We can help you."

"The rest of the X-Blood…?"

"Yeah. Hey Vintage," another voice said. Deeper, with a slight growl to it. Double Egg.

"We're willing to help you as much as you need!" a high-pitched voice said. Red Sole.

Vintage could feel a small smile appear on their face.

"How…how horrible are my injuries?" Vintage said. "The eye sockets…they were bleeding a lot. Do they—"

"Oh yeah, they're mad ugly," Double Egg said. "Omega cleaned them some while you were still unconscious, but—"

"Silence, Double Egg," Omega said. Then they addressed Vintage again. "The wounds the Chaos Lord gave you are nowhere close to healing…but there are remedies for that."

Omega hesitated before saying, "Red Sole, hand me the bandage roll."

Seconds later, Vintage felt something soft touch their face. Some kind of fabric, wrapping around their head, right up against their horribly injuried eyes.

Vintage felt Omega bandage their wounds for about a minute. Then soft hands landed in Vintage's again.

If Vintage still had tear ducts, maybe they would be crying. Sure, it wasn't becoming of an X-Ranker, but it wasn't like that mattered anymore.

They didn't even have their X-Zone anymore. The thing that had made them and Omega stand out from all the others, made them able to predict opponents moves, made them strong.

Vintage almost flinched when they felt a hand on their shoulder. Strong and calloused, they knew that the hand belonged to Double Egg.

"Sucks that you're, well, blind now, but we'll get through this, Vin," Double Egg said. "X-Rankers can adapt to anything, right?"

Could they even call themself that anymore?

Vintage sighed softly, before saying, "Where's Emperor?"

"Emperor?" Double Egg said. "Why do you want to see him?"

"Thought you hated him," Red Sole said. "Unless…you don't~"

"Shut up. I just need to talk to him," Vintage said.

"Emperor?" Omega hesitated for a second, and then said, "He's entering the room right now. You're in the infirmary, by the way."

"Hello, Vintage," that British-accented voice said.

For whatever reason, Vintage didn't feel as much resentment towards it as before.

"Emperor," Vintage said. "I just wanted to apologize."

Vintage could practically sense the surprise on Emperor's face. "F-for what?"

"For…everything, I guess," Vintage muttered. "Just, uh, being an asshole in general."

"Vintage—"

"I know you're still in denial about what that C- ranker is now. I know you still want to be the king, and I'm sorry for shooting you down. And I'm sorry for being a hypocrite, doing all that whilst pretending I was still high and mighty."

Vintage sighed. "I guess we've both been knocked from our pedestals now, huh?"

They then felt a warm hand wrap itself around theirs. Not Omega's this time, this one was bigger, the fingers longer and the palms calloused.

"I apologize too, Vintage."

Vintage chuckled. "Can't believe it took me getting blinded for you to say that."

"You're still a bastard, you know that? Even without your eyesight."

If Vintage still had eyes, they would've rolled them. "You're a bastard too, Emp."

"Thank you."

The next thing Vintage felt surprised them through and through.

A soft kiss on their cheek—undoubtedly from Emperor.

Vintage felt their face heat up, but if Emperor regarded this, he didn't say it. Instead, he just gently stroked the spot he had kissed.

"Even without those eyes, you're still so pretty~" he said.

Somehow, Vintage managed to reign back whatever emotion they were feeling, in order to flirt with Emperor back.

"I wish I could've seen your pretty face one more time."

With that, Vintage felt the same pair of lips kiss them again.

But this time, those lips were touching Vintage's own.

"Holy shit," Vintage heard Double Egg mutter.

Instead of giving any regard to Double Egg's remark, Vintage leaned into the kiss, savoring the feeling of Emperor's lips. They were plush and warm, and tasted vaguely sweet—maybe some kind of lip gloss.

Once Emperor pulled away, Vintage could hear Omega say, "Good job."

"With what?" Vintage asked.

"Getting a boyfriend, apparently," Omega answered.

"Is that what this is?" Vintage felt Emperor hold their hand. "Are we…together?"

"Don't see why not," Vintage said, shrugging.

They found it ironic—and maybe a bit sad—how they had only kissed Emperor after losing the ability to see him.

The face of their now-boyfriend resided only in their memories.

Chapter 6

Notes:

sorry this is so short lollll but i've been chaospocalypse-ing it new chapter of dagger should be out soon too :D

also i may start doing chapter titles here

"You don't get to call me that anymore. I left that idiot behind me. He's dead."

"Just like your precious Riri, huh?"

When Vintage said that, and then ran forward to attack as if it was nothing, Raven couldn't take it anymore. Rage had completely filled his body, he simply had to attack Vintage.

And Raven had felt a twinge of regret as he watched blood spill out of Vintage's eye sockets, as he watched them fall to the floor.

Only a twinge, though.

—

After Raven confirmed that Vintage was completely passed out—they were barely moving, and Raven had poked them with his foot multiple times—he turned to Aloha, Mask, and Skull.

"Don't you think that was a bit…harsh?" Skull asked.

Raven sighed. "It's what they deserved."

"You sure?" Aloha said. "I mean…they most likely won't be able to see—"

"Isn't that the pooooint?" Mask said.

"Not entirely," Raven said. "The point was to get rid of their X-Zone. And if I have to get rid of their eyesight too…" He shrugged. "Then that's a price I'm willing to pay."

Raven could hear Skull's breath hitch from underneath their bandanna. The purple Inkling knelt down next to Vintage, gently stroking their face…was that tears in their eyes??

"Get up," Raven told Skull. "We don't have time to feel sorry for them."

Skull sighed, and was about to get up when three people burst into the room.

Omega, Double Egg, and Red Sole.

"Wh-what—" Double Egg stammered.

"What did you do to them?!" Omega yelled, interrupting Double Egg. Their eyes were wide, their fists clenched in rage. It looked like they were about to give Raven another fight.

Raven sighed. "Do you want to be next, Omega?"

"Just answer their question!" Red Sole exclaimed.

"I punished them. Simple. You remember what they did," Raven said.

Raven stared down at Vintage with disdain, before picking up their unconscious body and carrying it to the three X-Blood members. He then dropped it in Omega's arms.

"Take them to the infirmary," Raven said. "Tell them that this is what happens when you mess with the Chaos Lord."

—

"That was a good move, Raven."

"Was it…?" Raven muttered. He was sitting on his bed now, alone in his quiet bedroom.

"Of course. This punishment will further strike fear into the hearts of anybody who ever thinks about messing with you."

Raven sighed as he looked up at Shadow Goggles. "Yeah, but…can't help but feel a little guilty…"

"And why the hell would you feel like that? All you did was punish somebody for their sins. They should know to respect you."

"But that attempt was so long ago—"

"Does it matter? You should've punished Vintage earlier, honestly."

Raven plopped onto his stomach, wings wrapped around himself as he lay on the bed. "I guess you're right…" he mumbled.

"That's the spirit." Shadow Goggles' corporal form gave Raven a staticky smirk. "Now, what's the next thing you're going to do as the Chaos Lord?"

Raven shrugged as he groaned quietly. "I dunno. Can I have a few minutes to rest?"

"The Chaos Lord never rests."

"Yes he does, now let me just chill here, okay?"

"Fine."

And with that, Raven no longer felt his shadow's staticky presence. Sighing with relief, he closed his eyes, trying to ignore the knot of anxiety and guilt in his stomach—

"Heyyy Ravey~"

Upon hearing Aloha's voice, Raven groaned again and slowly sat up to see the pink Inkling leaning against the doorframe and giving him a smirk. "What do you want?" Raven muttered.

"I just wanna see my lovely boyfriend, is that too much to ask~?" Aloha said, closing the door to Raven's bedroom as he stepped closer to the bed.

Raven sighed. "I suppose not…but is it true that you just want to see me?"

"Of course!" Aloha said, plopping next to Raven on the bed. "And maybe…give you some kisses~"

"After what I did back there?" Raven said, thinking about how he had blinded Vintage.

"I mean, sure, it was really harsh but I still love ya," Aloha said. "And Vintage is a bitch anyway. Maybe they did deserve it."

With that, Aloha pressed a kiss to Raven's lips, too quick for Raven to react in any way but surprise. The pink Inkling then cupped Raven's face and stared into his eyes lovingly, looking like he was going to kiss him again—

"Why do you still love me?" Raven blurted out.

Aloha's eyes widened. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean…why are you even here?" Raven said. "Why aren't you scared of me, why don't you hate me, why—"

"Because you're gorgeous," Aloha said. "And handsome and wonderful."

Raven blinked. "Does that really excuse me—"

"Blinding Vintage?" Aloha sighed. "Like I said, that was really harsh but…again, still love you."

"I mean…everything," Raven said. "The Chaos Games, the whole Chaos Lord thing, I…you…why do you even…"

"I'm gonna be honest, Ravey," Aloha said, "love is a really hard thing to explain, but—"

"Yeah, sure it is. Whatever. You…don't have to explain."

Aloha looked surprised at first, but then gave Raven a smirk. "Now, can we get back to what we were doing, love~?"

Raven chuckled, a blush appearing on his face. "Of course, Allie~"

This time when Aloha kissed Raven, it lasted for longer, giving Raven the time to actually reciprocate it. Raven savored the feeling of Aloha's lips against his—one of the only ones who actually cared about him.

He couldn't believe he actually got to do this.

After everything he had done…why did he deserve this?

The doubts in Raven's mind manifested themselves as sparks of electricity from his tentacles and fingers. And apparently his own lips had those sparks too, because he heard Aloha giggle through the kiss as he leaned in closer.

It wasn't long before Aloha had pushed Raven onto his back, the pink Inkling lying on top of him on the bed. Raven couldn't help but to giggle through the kiss this time, and Aloha opened his eyes and pulled away briefly to give Raven a smile.

"You're beautiful," Aloha said.

"Am I…?" Raven said.

"Aw, don't be like that, Chaos Lord~" Aloha teased, stroking Raven's face gently. "Of course you are."

With that, Aloha continued to kiss Raven with more intensity, and it wasn't long before the kiss involved their tongues dancing together messily.

But throughout all of this, Raven couldn't help but to think about Army's confession. He loved Raven in this same way as well…

…And that was the reason Raven hadn't summoned him to fight against Vintage.

For he still wasn't sure how he felt about Army's confession—and while he decided, he preferred to not have to talk to Army face to face.

—

I'm going to prove myself to him, Army thought to himself as he stalked through the streets of Splatsville, N-Zap 85 in his hands. I'm going to prove I'm a valuable part of the Shadows of Chaos.

More than just Captain Curry…and more than some pathetic weakling with a love letter.

Army entered an abandoned grocery store, looking around the dark corners for any signs of the rebels—the ones who wanted to kill his dear Chaos Lord.

And as he looked out the window, he soon saw them. The three young inkfish matched Mask's description perfectly.

Barely audible, Army chuckled to himself.

Soon, these horrible rebels would get what they deserved. A cell in the dungeon…and then, hopefully, death.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 15 of Chaospocalypse AU