Shattered Bonus Content

[butterflyslinky]

 Many, many thanks to njdoodler112  and sailor_tardis  for their lovely bonus content!

First, from njdoodler112 , this lovely art:



Next, from sailor_tardis , this wonderful mix:

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Notes:

1.    Dearly Beloved (Instrumental)

 

Craig drained his glass and waved to the bartender for the tab. He needed to get home—he was already late, though he doubted either Spoony or Linkara would notice. They were both busy with their own projects, which was why they hadn’t accompanied him to the bar tonight.

It was just as well. Craig loved his boys, more than anything, but they had both been rather snappish lately since they had so much on their plates. Well, so did Craig, truth be told, but it was just his usual workload. Linkara was trying to get Comicron-One repaired, and Spoony had been on a month-long work binge to try to have a good backlog of videos to release soon. Between the two of them, Craig had been run ragged trying to keep them happy (well…functional), and he was grateful to have a night off.

 

2.    Organization XIII (Instrumental)

 

“Oh, Craig,” someone said softly. Craig froze. He knew that voice, and the dark figure that appeared out of the darkness. “Did you really think we’d forget?”

“How did you find me?” Craig gasped.

“You weren’t hard to find,” the man said. “You plaster yourself all over the internet…new name or not, tracking you down hasn’t been a challenge.”

“Why now?” Craig asked. “Why wait all these years to come after me?”

He couldn’t see the man’s face, but he could feel the scowl. “You were lucky we got jail time,” the man said. “It kept us from coming sooner…but that’s over. It’s time for revenge, Craig.”

 

3.    Stand By Me

 

When the night has come

And the land is dark

And the moon is the only light we'll see

No I won't be afraid

Oh, I won't be afraid

Just as long as you stand, stand by me

So darling, darling

Stand by me, oh stand by me

Oh stand, stand by me

Stand by me

 

Linkara gave him a small smile and stumbled over to the bed. He pulled off his hat, shoes, glasses, vest and tie before he fell onto it. Spoony chuckled and went over, curling up next to Linkara and kissing his cheek. “Think he’ll find us?”

“He will,” Linkara murmured. “Leave room for him.” They shifted until there was space for another person on Linkara’s other side. “Good night, Spoony.”

Spoony hummed and soon both were fast asleep.

 

4.    Hell Frozen Rain

In your mind's eye

Lives a memory hard to find

Blinded by sorrow

And a strange voice sings a melody

Hear it sing

Hell frozen rain falls down

Everything is wrong

This is not my home, is it?

Do I know your face?

Does my mind wish to forget?

 

When Craig came to, he was sitting up. He groaned—his entire body ached from the beating he’d received and it took several minutes for his brain to recalibrate enough to figure out where he was.

It seemed to be some sort of storage room, dimly lit by a bare light bulb overhead. There were boxes piled all around him, a few odds and ends scattered around. Craig was tied to a chair, because of course he was, and he seemed to be alone. He groaned again and spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Oh, good, you’re awake.” Craig turned his head to see a small, dark and unpleasant man step out from behind a stack of boxes, followed by two other, larger men. “Do forgive my boys…they tend to play a bit too rough.”

Craig growled. “What do you want, Scott?”

Scott laughed. “Oh, good, you do remember me,” he said.

 

5.    Thnks fr th Mmrs

One night and one more time

Thanks for the memories even though they weren't so great

He tastes like you, only sweeter

One night, yeah, and one more time

Thanks for the memories, thanks for the memories

See, he tastes like you, only sweeter, oh

 

“You can’t make profit out of me,” Craig said. “I gave up on that life.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” Scott said. “Gave up on that life, and now you’re living a nice, normal life in the suburbs with two very nice young men.” He grinned at Craig’s look of shock. “Oh, yes, I know about them.”

 

 

6.     Villains of a Sort (Instrumental)

 

“Yeah, probably.” Spoony turned and started washing as Linkara went upstairs.

A moment later, Linkara reappeared. “He’s not there.”

Spoony turned sharply. “What do you mean, he’s not there?”

“He didn’t come in last night,” Linkara said. “His bed hasn’t been slept in.”

“Could he have gone somewhere else to sleep?”

“He’d have called.” Linkara’s expression was quickly changing from worried to panicked. “Oh, god, Spoony, what if he got hurt or was hit by a car or…?”

7.    This Broken Soul

I've lost my way

Your voice is silent

I need you here

To remind me

Show me now

How to find my home

All I am

Surrender

 

“One of your lovers?”

Craig nodded again. No point in lying.

Scott walked to Craig and started going through his pockets. A moment later, he produced the phone and hit the green button. “Talk to him.” He pressed the phone to Craig’s ear.

“Craig? Are you there?” Spoony sounded concerned.

Craig coughed. “Y-yes,” he gasped.

“Are you okay? Where are you? Linkara’s going out of his head!”

“I…” Craig glanced at his captors. “I’m in trouble.”

“What? Craig—”

The phone was taken away. “As he said,” Scott said. “He’s in trouble. And it’s going to be more trouble if you don’t do exactly as I say.”

 

8.    The Scarf of Sorrow (Instrumental)

 

“Okay,” Linkara said. “I know that, it’s just…having him in trouble…having him hurt…and…and it’s an ordinary person, isn’t it? Someone who actually wants to hurt him, personally. If this was Vyce, or Mechakara, or even the Entity, I could deal with that. If it was just someone using you or Craig to hurt me, I’d know how to handle it. I’ve spent months preparing myself for that. But this…I don’t know what we’re facing, I don’t know why they took him, and…and I don’t know what to do, other than find him and keep him safe…” He broke off in an angry sigh. “But I can’t keep him safe. I’ve been doing everything to keep you two from getting hurt and it wasn’t enough, he’s still out there, with people who want to hurt him…and I can’t help but wonder how many enemies the two of you have that I need to worry about on top of my own, what I can do to keep you both safe…”

 

9.    Sacrifice

You can't have my life.

I'm not your sacrifice.

You can try, but I'm free,

And you won't conquer me.

 

I won't crawl,

Most of all,

I won't fall,

For you.

 

“He…he is a superhero,” Craig mumbled. “He has magic, and friends…and a spaceship.” He forced himself to look up, squinting through his swollen eyes. “He’ll beat you. Easily. You’re nowhere near the scariest person he’s gone up against.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” Scott said. “But he won’t bring his full arsenal down on a normal person, will he? Heroes tend toward proportionate retribution.” He clicked a few more buttons. “And then there’s the Spoony one. Let me guess—he’ll come at me with a gunblade like I’m another one of his video game foes.”

“He’s not a fucking hero,” Craig said. “He doesn’t have the same morals Linkara does. He’ll fucking kill you.”

 

10.  Blast Away! -Gummi Ship III- (Instrumental)

 

“Perfect.” Linkara got to his feet. “ALL HANDS!”

His team came running, bringing the items he’d requested. “We’ve got him,” Linkara said. “Linksano, what are we looking at?”

“Warehouse,” Linksano answered. “Not too well guarded, but isolated.” He tapped a few computer keys. “Four lifesigns inside, no other guards. Should be fairly easy to stage a full-frontal assault.”

“Good,” Spoony said. “Get in there, shoot them down, grab Craig, leave. Simple.”

 

11.  MEGALOVANIA (Instrumental)

 

Inside, there was shouting and several gunshots. Linkara decided the banter could wait and pulled out his Magic Gun to join the fray, Spoony at his heels.

It was chaos. There were bullets and laser blasts going off but Linkara couldn’t see Craig or their enemies behind the piles of boxes. He looked at where the shots were coming from and aimed his gun at a stack of boxes.

The boxes disintegrated with the shot. Spoony followed up with a shot from his gunblade, knocking down the man behind the boxes. Before he could move, though, a bullet came from behind and hit Spoony in the arm.

 

12.  Born from Decision (Instrumental)

“Let him go,” Linkara said, fighting to keep his voice steady. He didn’t look at Spoony, who had collapsed to his knees, clutching his injured arm. “Let him go and we won’t kill you. We won’t call the police. Just let him live. Please.”

The man chuckled. “That’s adorable,” he said. “You’re the hero, right? You think you can appeal to my humanity…you think you can bargain for his life.” He pressed the gun harder against Craig’s temple. Craig didn’t move, unconscious or already dead, Linkara didn’t know. “Thing is, I don’t want to be bargained with. This little whore took everything from me. He’s had this coming a long time, and nothing you say will stop me.”

Linkara nodded slowly. “Nothing I say,” he repeated. “Fine.” He cocked his gun.

“You won’t shoot me,” the man said. “You could hit him.”

“I know that,” Linkara said. He glanced at Spoony, who nodded once. Linkara raised his eyes and pulled the trigger.

 

13.  Martha’s Theme (Instrumental)

 

The next few hours were a blur of police and paramedics and other official people asking way too many questions. Linkara almost regretted letting Harvey call for official emergency services, but then he looked at Craig, broken and bleeding, and he knew that they needed professionals to deal with that.

Eventually, the police accepted the explanations they were given and Linkara was allowed to go home, Spoony and Craig both still in the hospital.

14.  Acceptance

Why should it matter

Your dreams of a child

Innocence is gone

Only fear to play with

Faces are changing

But nothing is changing the pain

Too late

 

He finally staggered home around three in the morning and collapsed into bed almost immediately, grateful that he was too exhausted to worry about his lovers before sleep overtook him.

In spite of his exhaustion, though, Linkara did not sleep well. Every hour or so he’d start awake from some nightmare and lie in bed, staring at the ceiling, worrying.

He knew that Spoony and Craig got into scrapes fairly often—hell, he’d patched Spoony up from battles in the past—but this…this was different. There had been no need to involve professionals in the past, no need for lengthy hospital stays. If only Spoony and Craig could be here, with him, safe in Linkara’s arms…

 

15.  Home (Instrumental)

 

Coming home was so strange.

Everything was as it had been when Craig had gone out that fateful night. A few components of Comicron One were different, there were different video games and comics scattered about, the weapons had all been moved, but otherwise it was exactly the same. Familiar. Home.

 

16.   Painful History (Instrumental)

 

“Yes.” Craig looked down, clearly ashamed. “I was a fucking whore, Linkara, and you can’t just file that away as something we just ignore. Not anymore you can’t.

“Afterwards, this guy said his name was Scott and if I wanted, he could set me up on more jobs like that. I took it…I was desperate, not just to finish my art, but just to survive.

“It went on for almost two years. He was…awful to me, but you could probably guess that. At first I thought it didn’t matter as long as I was getting the money, but then…one day I accidentally picked up an undercover cop. She was nice to me—she sympathized. She said that if I helped her, she’d let me go. I told her everything, where to find Scott, who I’d seen…she told me to get a head start out of town, and I did. I ran, and I kept running until I was well and truly away from there.

“I didn’t know what happened after that until they caught up to me again. I thought I was free of them, of that life…I had changed my name, my patterns, everything.” He sighed. “Well…I was wrong. They did catch up…but it’s over now. He’s gone again, and if he comes back…”

 

17.  You're Not Alone ~ katethegreat19

 

Look into my eyes

All eternity you will find

In this fragile heart,

know that you will always belong

Shout into the night

Show the darkness that you will fight

Hopeless you may feel,

but inside I know you are strong

 

Keep me in your heart

So we'll never be far apart

Let the bonds of love

break these chains imprisoning you

Always you will find

Shadows lingering close behind

Lift your spirits now,

We shall be together soon

 

“Relax,” Spoony whispered, as though he could read Craig’s thoughts. “You’re fine, we’re all fine…we’re not going to lose you, I promise. And you won’t lose us.”

Linkara looked up. “Maybe not promise,” he said gently. “No one can promise anything.”

“We can promise this,” Craig said. He pulled Linkara up and kissed him. “We can promise to love each other, always. We can promise to save each other as best as we can…I know you guys are two for two on that, but I’m working on it. We can promise to understand each other, and we can promise to pick up the pieces whenever we break. No, you can’t promise you won’t lose me, or that I won’t get hurt…but we can all promise that in the end, we’re part of each other and we won’t let that go.”

 

18.   Everything's Alright

 

When this world is no more

The moon is all we'll see

I'll ask you to fly away with me

Until the stars all fall down

They empty from the sky

But I don't mind

If you're with me, then everything's alright

 

Linkara sighed. “Spoony said I need to stop being a hero,” he said. “But I don’t know how to do that. And I feel guilty, because you’re the one who went through a horrible experience but I can’t help making it about me and my personal insecurities and…”

“Hey,” Craig said. “It’s okay…it happened to me, yes, but it also happened to you. You’re used to saving everyone, and we love each other.” He twined his hand in Linkara’s and kissed his cheek. “And you did save me. Both of you did, in more ways than you know.”

“I shot you.”

“Yes,” Craig said. “You shot me to save me. And I’m fine, because it’s magic.” He smiled. “And you don’t have to explain any of it. You can stop worrying about a hero…because you are one, always.”

 

19.  Dearly Beloved -Reprise- (Instrumental)

 

“No rush,” Spoony said. He stepped out on the porch and sat down on Craig’s other side, wrapping his arm around the smaller man’s waist. They stayed there for a long time, watching the sun come up.