Elsword: Base Add + (PT, AT, TT, MM, DE, LP's body and screams.)
(request: Base Add reflects on the family dynamics of their group while MM goes on a killing spree after receiving flowers on Mother's Day.) I took some liberties with this because I decided to have fun with it? Hopefully this is okay. If it's not you're welcome to ask me to try again, anon!

When Add arrives at Mastermind's house for his monthly visit, the house is like the aftermath of a huge wildfire: silent and devoid of life. Add wonders if someone let Esper cook again.

The last time Esper tried to cook, half the kitchen went up in flames. How does someone make the oven and the coffeemaker explode, and let alone at the same time? Then again, it was Esper, and Esper couldn't be trusted with anything that was time sensitive.

The door is unlocked, and when Add enters, no one is there to greet him. So naturally he closes the door behind him and locks it on habit. Maybe they were out? But then why would they not the door? Add scowls, if this was a practical joke and he was the butt of it—

"Psych?! Arc?!" He yells. No response. He chews on his lip, "Time? Lusa?"

As he walks into the kitchen, he doesn't see Lusa or Esper. Weird, Lusa was always in the kitchen working on something or eating all the snacks, and Esper's more or less attached to the area from the kitchen to Mastermind's room. Neither of them linger around, though. "Huh," Add mumbles quietly, folding his arms, "Where the hell are they-"

He steps into the dining room, and notices Arc and Time hiding under the living room table. A closer inspection reveals Psych covering himself underneath Arc's coat, shaking and eyes welling up with tear. Time's got his hood pulled up, cat ears poking over his head, while he tries to pull the tablecloth in a way that reveals as little of them as possible.

What strange experiment are his weird cousins conducted now? He doesn't finish the thought because there's a blood-curdling scream in the direction of Mastermind's room, and Add jumps out of his skin. And what the hell was 'Mom' working on now?

Arc notices him standing there blankly, and whispers harshly, "Get over here! Don't Mastermind see you!" Add blinks, but obliges his panicked looking cousin, crawling under the table as well. It's cramped, and he can't stretch without bumping Time or Arc out from the safety of the wooden structure. Psych tries to throw Arc's coat over him, and Add shoves it off.

Immediately he launches into a series of questions, "What the hell are you guys doing? What happened? Where's Lusa and Esper?"

"We're hiding-," Time replies, looking calm and composed, but his hands are shaking. "-From Mastermind." Then he nudges Psych, who lets out this heaving sob as he throws his arms around Arc.

Psych sniffles. Time hands him a tissue, and he blows his nose before speaking, "Lusa and I gave Mastermind flowers together, since they were on sale and they were nice and-"

"And forgot it was Mother's day." Arc finishes, patting Psych's back, "And then Mastermind—well to put it simply, Mastermind kind of lost it. Lusa shoved Psych out of the way dramatically yelling 'Run' and we took that cue to skedaddle. We assume that's Lusa up there screaming."

As an afterthought, Arc adds: "I have no idea where Esper is, I haven't seen him all day."

Was it Mother's Day? Add didn't realize, and pulls up one of his Dynamos to check. Oh. Remembering that Mastermind had a problem with being called mom, it probably just rubbed salt in the wound that Lusa and Psych would give him carnations on Mother's day. It made sense, but weren't they over-exaggerating Mastermind's reaction?

He doesn't even remember how Mastermind and Lusa settled into this pattern of Mom and Dad, or how his cousins somehow always entered into this sort of weird, ambiguously gay relationship with each other where they probably slept with their limbs tangled with each other. He's never seen them talk about any girls, now that he thinks about it.

A shiver runs up his spine and he nearly hits his head on the top of the table when he straightens his back.

He had moved as far back as he could manage with Psych and Arc and Time squeezing him on all sides. It still wasn't far enough to avoid the goosebumps forming on his flesh whenever his arm brushes up against them by accident, though.

"Shouldn't you guys find like, separate hiding spots?" Add whispers, "Or, I don't know, leave?"

"We can't leave Lusa here all by himself!" Psych whines, and both Arc and Time shush him. He goes back to hiding under Arc's coat.

Right on cue, Lusa screams.

Or they could, and Add could go back on his quest to looking for the Queen and the tracers could go back to doing whatever they did. Lusa would be fine, probably, but Add can't deny there's a certain bit of worry for Lunatic Psyker in the back of his mind. Not that Lusa was a good 'dad', he was dumb and reckless, but he was still there for Add whenever Add needed someone to patch him up.

He was getting feelsy. Damnit.

"Well," Add sighs, "If Dad's being tortured by Mom I'll break in and remind them I'm over since he doesn't know, right? You guys can de-strap Dad from the table or whatever while I'm talking to Mom and make a break for it."

Arc, Psych, Time all look stunned. Add frowns, "What? Did I say something wrong?" They all shake their heads, and snicker, waiting for Add to recognize his mistake.

Add's frown deepens; he's got no idea what they're laughing at. "Stop laughing! If I said something wrong, tell me!"

Arc recovers first, between snickers he manages to say, "You didn't say anything wrong. It's fine. Your plan will have to do, we'll improvise the rest." Then Arc bursts into laughter again, clapping his hand over his mouth so he doesn't make too much noise.

Psych finally detaches himself from Arc's coat, giving Add a noogie before agreeing. Time's finally stopped pulling on the tablecloth, so Add supposes his plan is acceptable for now.

Really, was Mastermind that scary, or did Lusa just scream a lot? It must have been a bit of both, and Add doesn't want to find out the answer to either.

*

Add collapses against the back of the couch in the living room, the three tracers (and now extricated from Mastermind's lab, Lusa) follow in tow, all with burnt smelling clothes and singed hair. Lusa's covered in bruises and cuts and foaming at the mouth, but he's breathing and Add decides this is a successful rescue.

He underestimated how terrifying Mastermind was. It would put him into shock to even try and remember everything that happened in Mastermind's laboratory and all the skeletons and bones and specimens just hanging overhead. Add swallows. His knees are still shaking.

Mastermind steps into the living room a moment later, his clothes and hair all crisp and pristine. When the Tracers open their mouths to scream and attempt to flee while dragging Lusa with them, Mastermind just shoots them a glare that freezes them in place. Mastermind looks exasperated. He then shoots a slightly less murderous variation at Esper.

"Have you been here the entire time?" Mastermind asks, obviously irritated.

Esper blinks several times, and realizing that Mastermind was speaking to him, pulls off his headphones, "Yeah. Did something happen-" Then he leans over the back of the couch, noticing the three tracers and Add all huddled together over Lusa's body, trying to protect his possibly decaying corpse.

Mastermind shoots Esper a gaze that says, "That happened". In response to everything around him, Esper just laughs, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye.

"Did I miss an adventure? You'll have to fill me on the details on this one over dinner, Mastermind."

Mastermind rolls his eyes.

Add then promptly decides he hates his monthly visits to Mastermind's house and that he hates his "family" even more.