Team (discontinued for now)

Chapter 65: Copycat

(This has got to be the latest I've ever been with a chapter. There's not really a specific reason either? I just,,,genuinely couldn't find motivation. Each time I woke up and thought "Today is the day I'll finish the chapter" and then I didn't. I will try my upmost best to come out with chapters sooner, I doubt my writer's block will last for 5+ months again?? It definitely won't be every Sunday anymore but I promise it won't take as long. btw I'll have to split The Nightmares fight into two parts cuz most of this chapter consists of banter+describing how the characters feel so next chapter will mostly be the rest of the fight.

Also I did some re-reading and I'm not a huge fan of some of the characterization of certain characters, I feel like sometimes they're really OOC even if it's an AU. So if the upcoming chapters have the characters act a little differently that's cuz I'm still trying to make them at least somewhat similair to their canon personalities. Also I'm writing in current POV now simply because I keep subconsciously writing in current while I'm trying to write in past tense :'') Anyways, I'd like to thank every single one of y'all for being so supportive and patient during the hiatus, and for sticking around and actively interacting with this AU, you guys are the best readers somebody could wish for and I'm glad ur all enjoying the story!)

Love y'all!

-HotCat

Oxy has no fucking clue as to why Abby has an extra pair of shoes with her, but he sure as hell won't complain about it.

Well, shoes being a bit of an overstatement. They're awful, light blue with a pink stripe flip-flops. They're a bit too tight on Oxy, mostly cuz he has ridiculously large body parts but they're already too big on Abby herself, so it's doable.

Beats walking around in puke-covered Nikes.

Oxy can't say he's mad about it exactly, Mai just woke up after all, didn't fucking die and Usagi already announced it would be normal of her to vomit. He's not wounded, for the matter. Not like the Nikes are his own to begin with.

Currently, the silver-haired girl lies half on top of the giant bear that holds an unnerving resemblance to Oxy, sleeping her ass off because apparently that's what you're supposed to do with a concussion. He and the other Nightmares will be going the next round, after the break is over.

Honestly, Oxy is excited about it. Fighting gets him fucking fired up, makes him feel satisfied afterwards. During a fight he could show he wasn't just a big-ass dog with only bark, he had bite too, and strength. He's always loved it, being the biggest and strongest one, ever since he was a kid. Being intimidating is useful. But then again, sometimes it hurt, when people took one look at him and decided he wasn't worth it. One look and they wrote him off as some bully and a no-good delinquent.

Granted, maybe that's what he is. Or used to be, at the very least. Oxy likes to think he's more than just a thug, though. He has a personality outside of being scary.

Which, is the one thing that threw him off about Mai the first time they met. When he and the rest of the gang walked into Moon's Mystery for the first time, even Puppet, the guy who wasn't afraid of anything, had somewhat cautiously narrowed his eyes for a second at the sight of Oxy. But his twin? Nah, if anything, Mai's creepy, unwavering smile had only widened when she spotted the ginger giant.

It's not like Oxy took one look at her and decided that "Oh I'm so fucking in love with you, silver-haired queen!" Hell, he didn't even like her at first, thought she was unnerving as hell. He'd thought about kissing her before, at random times, seemingly without any reason as to why. But it wasn't a crush.