#cannibalstalker

Benjamin Poindexter x Cannibal! Mutant! Reader

𖦹｡⋆ Summary: Dex finds himself in your coffee shop and expects to be in and out. Instead, you awkwardly try to make convo. Your friend, Priscella, definitely sees something going on.

𖦹 WC: 2.3k

𖦹｡⋆ Tags: Fluff. Neighborly talks. Coffee shop. Awkward interactions. Priscella trying to be your wingman. DDBA S2! Dex.

𖦹 Warnings: none!

A/N: I feel like Iron Man with all that technology in front of him right now ngl. I hate writing filler plot for the life of me. This took like 20,000 rough drafts before I can get this one out straight. I want to pace this as nice as possible because I don't want to rush this. SOON, we'll get to the nitty gritty of her desires. lol

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You could say routine was one of the last things Dex had that was true to himself. Everything else had been torn and taken from him until there was nothing left. All he could be grateful for was the fact he got out of that...place.

This apartment building was a new life. A beginning towards that balanced that he craved. To balance the scales. Why else would he have survived from falling four stories? Something else is keeping here for one specific reason.

Now, he was sitting in a coffee shop, in a back corner watching you serve customers with a smile just a little too wide for it to be comfortable. At first, it really was to stay for a half an hour, move on with the rest of his day, but it was like watching you put on a show for everyone. The way everything was so calculated, a steady rhythm to be seen normally.

Dex reached for the toothpicks placed in the middle of the table, shaking one out of its container. He placed the toothpick in his mouth before raising his head up towards the TV that was planted into the corner of the cafe.

"Police still are on the lookout for the vigilante, Bullseye, who had escaped prison a few months ago. Task Force claims that this individual still wreak havoc across New York, killing individuals with bizarre makeshift weapons," Dex could only smile at that. "If you see this individual, please call Task Force immediately and do not engage with him."

He dropped his head down from the TV with a smirk still present on his lips. He decided to take that as his sign to leave the cafe and start looking around for Task Force.

However, as he was about to push his chair out, a voice called out to him. Your voice. "Uh--Tony, right?"

Looking over to where your voice called out. Your face shifted into something more genuine. A genuine, amused face scattered across your face.

That was what made Dex stay.

He quickly pushed himself back into his seat, taking out the toothpick from his mouth.

He raised an eyebrow to act confused before calling out your name, "Hey, yeah that's me. What are you doing here?"

"I work here," You pointed to your clothes. "It's nice seeing you exploring what's around here."

Dex placed both of his hands onto his lap, taking in a deep breath, "Yeah, it seems quiet around here. Not much issue."

You nodded you head at him, letting out a soft chuckle. You felt that you could relate to him more as you continued to talk to him. He seemed to just fit into the middle of your puzzle piece after decades for trying to find someone who would.

"Yes. That's why I like this area. You know...quiet and peaceful, but still in the city around other people," You say as the words you've been trained to say spilled out.

Dex leaned into more towards you. His eyebrow flicking slightly at the wording of your statement. He nodded his head towards at you before asking, "Yes, well...now Task Force is on every corner. Soon this one."

You raised your hand from your sides to say, 'that's how it is'. "I don't approve of it as the next person. It's just...unnecessary."

Dex hummed at your answer, placing his hand on the bottom of his chin. Then you just sighed, shrugging your shoulders, "I just hope it all works out in the end."

"Of course..." Dex nodded his head, making a promise to you that you didn't even realize.

Taking in a deep breath, you placed your hands back at your side and then looked behind you. You could see Pris looking back at you with this all-knowing look. You quickly snapped out of your trance with him and opened your mouth to speak, stuttering as you try to form the words.

"I should...get back to work before I get a write up or fired," You pointed you thumb back towards the kitchen.

Dex immediately stood up from the table. "Oh, right. Your duty calls."

You nervously laughed, starstruck at how tall he really was in front of you. Not to mention how extremely buff he was. Jesus. "Yeah...uh. See you soon? Or, whenever we bump into each other again."

Dex placed his hands in front of him with a smirk, nodding down at you. "I'll see you soon."

"Yes, great," You answered back in a bad attempt to act normal. "Bye."

Then, as quick as you were there, you immediately walked away from him. From behind you, Dex placed the toothpick back into his mouth with an amused glint littered across his face. You were just so...abnormally normal. Just moments when your true emotions would come out, you snapped back into this routine.

That's what he was so interested in. What was wrong with your neighbor that you needed to behave a certain way in front of people? To perform for them to please society. What were you hiding under that personality?

Dex pushed open the cafe door to enter back into the street with that question filling his mind. However, he did know one thing about you. Task Force was much of a thorn at her side as it was for him. Of course, for different reasons.

In Dex's mind, it was the fact he was Bullseye. Wanted for multiple counts of murder and attempted assassinations. Not to mention his recent prison escape.

But for you...it was because they were disrupting the peace in your neighborhood. The peace that seemed to be routine for you to surround yourself with for years.

But Dex couldn't be more wrong than that.

For in your own mind, Task Force was two steps closer to finding out about you through a background check. You heard from pass of word about the conditions they were holding individuals with the status as "vigilantes". The idea being thrown into a cage, treated as something less than a human just broke you internally.

You started to make sure you were taking your medication more regularly with timers at the very second you needed to take it again. You couldn't be seen as yourself in public anymore. Not with Fisk as the mayor of New York.

"Who was that man you were talking to earlier?" Pris questioned with a teasing glint in her eyes.

You were sitting at an empty table with most of the cafe now being empty during your slow hours. You raised your head that was resting on your fist to look at her.

You blinked as you were trying to register what she was saying to you. "Hm?"

"That guy that came in during the rush in the morning. He was really tall with scruffy, blonde hair," Pris explained while placing her hand above her hair to mimic messy hair.

"Oh, you mean Tony," You responded back, your posture immediately straightened and turned to fully look at her.

Pris immediately noticed your behavior and smiled, "Oh, yes 'I mean Tony'. Who is he?"

"My neighbor. He just moved in next door," You explained.

She let out a little coo at your words. "And you find him attractive too, huh?"

"What? Pris, I just met the man yesterday," You shook your head, immediately denying it.

"And now he was here in the coffee shop! That's your literal sign it's meant to be!" Pris responded back to you with a bright smile.

Your eyes slightly dropped at her words, your shoulders dropping down and heart settling in your chest. Meant to be. It was fate he came in here. There are millions of other places that he could have chosen to enjoy coffee, and yet, he chose here.

Your eyes squinted with your mouth mimicking a smile. "Maybe it is."

Pris pointed at you. "Now that's the attitude we need! You should get to know this guy more. You know, more than his name is Tony and lives next door."

You raised an eyebrow at her in confusion. "Isn't that enough?"

"You need to get out of your shell," Pris sighed out your name. "He looks totally into you."

"Into me?" You questioned.

"Attracted to you." Pris elaborated.

You blinked at her, thinking you heard her wrong. "Attracted? From one interaction."

"Call it a blooming love," Pris giggled while wiggling her fingers for the added effect.

She started to go off more on a tangent about how you were looking at him and how he was looking at you. However, your mind was just hooked on the idea that it wasn't just all in your mind. That someone, you believed to be a close friend, was saying something was there.

An alignment of the cosmos to bring you together.

Another chance to be able to be yourself with someone you wanted to cherish.

You placed a hand on your heart. Feeling something wrapping in your mind. Something twisting reason into pure logic. Something set in stone on what you had to do.

What was destined for you.

When you did get off your shift, you were traveling up the flight of stairs, paying no mind to your surroundings. Somehow, even with the bare minimum of social skills, you were still mentally drained from having to deal with customers all day.

And yet, you still need a way to make a steady living in order to keep your apartment.

You got to do what you've got to do.

Climbing up the last steps, you walked out into the hallway leading towards your apartment. This time, you were actually paying attention to where you were walking, but he wasn't out in the hall as you expected.

You were a little disappointed at the idea of him not being there, but it was five o'clock. He must be working or something about this hour. Letting out a sigh, you grab your keys from your back pocket as you approach your door.

Just as you slotting your key in the keyhole, you heard someone turning the locks on their door. Your heart skipped a beat at the sound before seeing Tony walking out of his apartment. He looked like he was in a rush to leave, mindlessly walking out to wherever he was going, but when he caught your eyes, he stopped.

He called out your name, causing you to smile, before he said, "I'm starting to think you're stalking me with how many times we run into each other."

For a second, you were trying to stutter out how you were just coming back from work and you weren't, but he just stared back at you with a teasing smile.

Seeing that teasing looks on his face, it registered to you that he was just joking. You snapped your lips shut at the realization before a small chuckle escaped from your mouth.

You shook your head and shrugged your shoulders to play along with him, answering back with, "It might just be fate."

He stared at you for a few seconds, observing your words as they were uttered out. He squinted his eyes and nodded before saying in a scruffy voice, "Yeah...it might be."

You placed your hands in your back pocket, feeling your keys there, and crossed your legs. "Ah, so are you heading out for tonight?"

"Yeah, just on my way to work actually," Dex responded back, making you widen your eyes.

"I must be making you late. I'm sorry," You immediately placed a hand on your chest and began to walk away, so he wasn't obligated to stay.

He placed his hand out to make you stop and said, "Oh, don't worry. My boss is very lenient."

In actuality, his boss was just himself. Under his coat was his Bullseye costume as he was just about to head out to scout out Task Force agents that were close by. However, he spotted you before even making out the door. It didn't matter to him, anyways, he had all night to look for agents.

"Still, you don't have to listen to me rant for hours," You answered back.

"I don't mind your talking. Haven't had a lot of people to talk to in my last building," Dex explained, knowing the real reason was because he was in a prison cell.

You smiled at his words, feeling something fluttering in your chest. You couldn't believe that someone like him wanted to listen to you. You looked down to avoid eye contact with him, causing your hair to come in front of your face.

You looked back at him while flipping your hair back to say, "Well, I guess that makes two of us. Not many friendly faces around this building either."

"Glad we share a wall together then," Dex answered back with a smile appearing softly on his lips.

"Yes, it's very good," You answered back to him. "You make good conversation."

He dipped his own head down to avoid eye contact with a soft chuckle. He brought his hands together while you waited for him to reply.

"You do too," Dex answered back with a huff coming out as a soft chuckle. "But, as much as I hate saying it, I should probably head to work."

Your eyes widened at his words and took a step back again. "Right. Work. Important."

Dex just listened as you spoke like what you said was the most complex and fascinating thing to ever grace his ears.

He nodded, echoing you, "Important."

"I'll see you soon, then?" You pointed a finger at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Soon," Dex nodded his head before backing away from you. "Enjoy your evening."

"You too, Tony," You replied back before he turned around to head out.

For Dex, it hurt for him to hear you utter a fake name that didn't belong to him. He knew what he was doing was just for now. He still needed to make sure you couldn't be a loose end. He needed to make sure you weren't to have the same path of Julie.

You were very interesting to say the least.

cannibalstalker

a gender connected to being a cannibal and a stalker!

for @mousesquared's mogai coining event day 1: "a gender that gives your blorbo vibes". also tagging @gender-job-archive

needs image ID! any help is appreciated

old anims i made from august-september last year

Benjamin Poindexter x Cannibal! Mutant! Reader

𖦹｡⋆ Summary: Your feelings for Tony (Dex) only spirals faster. What happens when you try to learn more about him by following him? Be careful what you wish for.

𖦹 WC: 4.2k

𖦹｡⋆ Tags/Warnings: canon inaccuracies. Stalking. Reader is a little insane, but we still love her. Stalker gets stalked. Blooming romance. Graphic scenes. Cannibalism mentioned/depicted. Medication. Reader is spiraling. Not proofread/spelling mistakes.

𖦹 A/N: Finally being able to post this chapter with a bunch of buildup. I'm so happy :P. If I missed any tags, please let me know.

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You didn't believe that this could be considered stalking.

You were just listening for the sound of your next-door neighbor leaving his apartment and hoping to maybe see where he works.

You know, learn more about his neighbor in a neighborly sense. Nothing wrong with that!

You made sure to dress in all black, ready to head out whenever he decided to get up. You were planning to stay up the entire night. You wanted to make sure that you caught exactly when he woke up. With that, you would be able to mentally note it and catch him a little more sooner than fate would have wanted it.

All you were truly doing was speeding up fate. You waited too long to wait any longer anymore. Was it selfish for you to speed up fate? Maybe. But, it all will make sense eventually on why you needed to do this.

Plus, would this really be considering stalking a person if you knew them? I mean, you technically knew his name and he also doesn’t like Task Force. Who’s to say you two don’t share similar taste. Call it your public duty to help your city.

Protecting your neighbors from harm that might come their way.

That’s exactly what you were doing.

You sat at the edge of your bed, just thinking. Staring at the wall in front of you with blank, expressionless eyes. The world around you began to blur, with the sounds of New York fading away and your ears listening to just one specific sound. Him.

The only thing your mind allowed you to hear was the creaking and cracking sound of the floorboards moving. Some were above you. Some were to the left of you. Yet, there was stillness to the right of you.

You placed your hands on top of your thighs, just to get yourself situated and "comfortable" on the bed. You were just sitting there in the dark, waiting for that sound next door.

In that silence, your eyes began to adjust to the darkness around you. The corner of your eye managed to catch where your medicine bottles used to rest on the vanity. Slowly, your head creaked over to look at your vanity to see that one just laid there on the table.

It was your night dose.

Then, your eyes twitched over towards the time. 1:10 AM.

You were now a day late from when you were supposed to take your medication. The one that rested on the vanity was one you didn't throw away in your spiral. It was just staring back at you to fight back for its control.

This one was supposed to make you able to sleep at night without having to worry about thoughts. You blinked towards the one medicine bottle, thinking on what you should do.

You rose from the bed and made your way over to your vanity. The floorboards creaked below you, making you blissfully aware that your mind was contemplating on what to do. As you stood in front of your vanity, you grabbed the one bottle and held it tightly in your hands.

The pills rolled around in the bottle as you turned to look at the label. Although it was pitch black in the room, you still knew the label like the back of your hand now. Your thumb grazed over to where your name would have been.

A simple reminder that this was for you. That you were seen as different and needed something to "tame" yourself. Like a literal dog.

You tightened your grip on the bottle as your mind fought with itself on what to do. However, there was a routine set in stone that needed to be done. You couldn't just not do it. You know, for the sake of others.

You raised your right hand to open the cap--

Creakkk!

Your head shot up towards the room right in front of you. The room right beside yours. His.

He was walking around.

You slowly edged towards the wall connecting your two rooms. Walking up to the wall, you pressed your ear to it, hoping to hear more movement. As if fate destined it, the walls were thin enough that you could hear him pacing around his apartment with his TV turned on. A smiled pressed to your lips as you leaned your body closer to the wall.

You could hear him grabbing multiple things from different areas of the room. Most making to sound of clothes rustling together or a belt clinging against itself. It sounded like he was getting ready for something.

As you brought your hands up to keep yourself balanced, you heard the sounds of your pills rolling around in its bottle. Your mind snapped back to what you were really doing, and you immediately looked down at the bottle in your hands. Control. Routine. Everything that which everyone stood for was right here.

Beside you was something new. Different. Unknown. You didn't have to live in the way other people did. That normalcy people expected you to be. For once, this was something that your own mind fabricated and wanted. It felt...natural to you.

Your own Pandora's box was just next door.

The sounds of him still walking around in his apartment were still whispering into your ear. Like the devil tempting you away from good. Your eyes flashed from your pill bottle back towards the wall in front of you.

You could hear the sound of him jingling his keys and making his way over towards shutting his TV off. It was such a little human habit that most people did, of course, but to you...it made him more real to you. A real person who had a heart, brain, blood just like yours.

Your mind let you lock onto that; causing the corners of your mouth lifted into a bright smile.

You loosened your grip onto the pill bottle while dragging your arm slowly across the wall. You extended your arm all the way out, right above the trash bin beside your vanity. There, you let your fingers tip down to roll the bottle of your hand and down into the trash can.

It's not like you were planning on staying late anyways.

You pressed both of your hands against the wall in order to keep yourself balanced. From the other room, you were able to listen in to the sounds of him slowly walking around his room, as if he was doing a last final check. That was something that you did too.

You could keep note of that. Meticulous.

Then, you could hear the creaking of the wood floors and him making his way towards his door. In that moment, you pushed yourself off the wall and quietly rushed over towards your own door. You pressed your ear against the door before catching the sound of the locks being turned.

Pushing the door open, Tony came out of his room and turned to lock the door behind him. You could hear him softly turn the key into the keyholes, trying to be quiet as possible to not wake anyone around them. He pulled on the door hand to make sure that it was closed before walking away from the door.

You could hear his footsteps slowly fading away as he headed down the hallway. You waited a few seconds before you began to unlock your own door. Quickly opening it, you looked around the hallway to see that he was long gone from the hall. You stepped out in the hallway and locked your door behind you before making your way towards the end of the hall.

Making your way towards the staircase, you peaked your head through to hear the sounds of him traveling down the flight of steps. He sounded to be able on the 3rd or 2nd floor by this point. You waited until the sound dissipated before making your way down as well.

Making your way down the steps, not one thought had crossed your mind that this was a bad idea. To you, this all made sense on why you were doing this. This was to make sure that he was okay. To know more about him. To understand how similar he was to you that you two would be a perfect fit.

You didn't need to question why he was up so late and heading out at such a time. It just made sense why he was because you were up this late sometimes too. Maybe, he needed to get a breath of fresh air, something that you do all the time too.

See? Totally normal.

When you pushed the front doors of the apartment open, you stepped outside to the brisk night air and began to look around for him. The street was very quiet at this time of night with most people trying to sleep to wake up for their jobs tomorrow. However, something that just pierced through the area was the sound of Task Force sirens racing around the streets, trying to arrest those who were considered "vigilantes".

The noise was just piercing. A deadly contrast to your neighborhood.

Well, all in the name of keeping the "peace" in your city as Mayor Fisk called it.

You turned your head towards the right of you to find him walking, fairly quickly, a block from where you stood. Stuffing your hands in your pockets, you made your way down the stone steps and quickly followed behind him.

By where he was walking, he looked to be walking towards where the sirens were playing. Maybe he was investigating on what was happening at this time of night. He could be a journalist. Interesting.

Your eyes watched at how he took one step after another. Your mind, as if habit, began to walk in the same rhythm that he was in. A little dance between the two of you that he hadn't realized he was in. Smiling to yourself, you placed your hands in your jacket, as if shy by the action, while intently watching him.

When he turned a corner, you quickly followed a few seconds later. Your eyes were laser focused on him that you failed to realize that you were getting closer towards the action. The sirens started to get louder; people were rushing past you to get away from the situation. Instead, you kept pushing through the groups of people with your eyes just watching him.

Not too far from where he was walking, there seemed to be someone else up ahead. You tilted you head to look in front of him to see that it was three Task Force agents that were patrolling together. They all were in tactical gear, strapped with large weapons in, and looking around like they owned the place.

In your mind, you were trying to figure out on what to do. If you were to get caught with Task Force, they would surely run your fingerprints and link you back to the incident. There would be no legal trial. They would throw you into jail and lock the key away forever. You would never see Tony again.

However, if you did follow him, you knew you had a fair chance to understand him better. You wanted to be able to appreciate the man who accepts and understands you fully. You should be able to know him inside and out, flaws and all. You would never be ashamed of what he did. Not after being able to know, you.

Your curiosity dragged you to follow him, forgetting about the consequences. You followed him until the sirens were only a distant noise once again. Turning your eyes away from him for a second, you had realized that you had entered into a whole separate neighborhood on your walk together.

Still, from all of this, the Task Force agents were still blissfully unaware about him being behind them.

As more timed went on, your mind began to question what was going on. If he was a journalist, why was he just following them around? If he really wanted to get more information, he should be back towards the sirens, right? Something did not make sense.

You were trying to justify the means in some way because you knew there had to be an explanation as to why he was doing this. You knew it. You continued to walk down this neighborhood with your intent on fully knowing what he was doing now. Something that seemed so different from your own routine.

You couldn't mind the fact that your legs were starting to ache, and your back was hurting from keeping up with his pace, your mind was focused on knowing more about him. You noticed how the further away you were getting from the sirens, the darker the streets would become. Less and less streetlights would illuminate the streets and quieter they would get too.

You would have to be more careful with where you stepped in order not to alert him or Task Force that you were behind them. You continued your journey of your walk together until the Task Force agents turned into a corner, and a few seconds later, Tony would too, then you.

As you turned the corner, you quickly realized that you had reached a dead end. A street that had been closed down for years and now considered an area to throw out trash and lead behind apartment complexed. In front of the dimly lit dead-end was a large fenced off gate.

Whatever they were trying to keep out of the public's eyes was failing as there were ripped holes across the fence peaking inside. However, the Task Force paid no mind to the holes and walked off to the right of the fence. There, they approached this fenced door that had a large lock that prevented people from entering.

In front of you, you watched as Tony hid behind a trash can to watch them from a distance. You quickly followed suit from a different trash can, not wanting to get caught either.

You raised your head above the can, and you see the leader of the group approach the door and began to place in the code to let the group inside.

The agent on the left of him was moving his head to get a look at what he was doing. "Hey, boss, you know why we're here?"

"A lot of calls have been dialed relating to an incident that has been happening for nights here. They believed that a vigilante has been facing off people right here, so we're here to beat him to the punch. We'll get here before he does," The boss explained before pulling the lock off the door.

"I understand, thank you sir," The one on the left spoke before the leader pulled open the fenced door.

He entered first, followed by the one on his left and the last one being from his right.

As the last man entered, he asked the two other agents, "Should we lock this door?"

"Nah, too much work when we get out of here," The leader spoke up, waving his arm at him.

The last agent quickly stepped into the gated area before closing the door behind him. However, not too far after, Tony got up from the trash can and made his way through the door. He looked through the holes, looking for where they were, before quietly entering the area himself.

You rushed over towards the fence, but you didn't step inside to follow him. Instead, you peeked inside the closed off area through the holes poked through the fence.

From what you could see, it looked like an abandoned subway track. On some of the tracks laid abandoned subway carts that had been heavily graffitied on. The tracks have been rusted with age and the area just felt eerie. The tracks went on for a while before leading into a tunnel of darkness.

On the floor, there was this white gravel that helped with keeping the tracks "clean" when they were in use. As the Task Force agents were traveling towards the tunnels, Tony was following quickly behind them. However, the crunch and kick of each stone made it almost impossible for Tony to remain inconspicuous. However, it looked like he knew that and wanted them to notice.

As if they could read his mind, the leader of the group found himself hearing another pair of footprints that where quieter than the two beside him. He jolted to a halt.

The two next to him quickly stopped their pace as well, wondering why he had stopped. However, in their silence while stopping, Tony's footprints stopping a second later than they did immediately alerted the three of them. The main leader of the group quickly turned around with his gun pointed directly at him.

"Freeze! Put your hands in the air!" He commanded at him.

Tony stood there for a moment but didn't dare to raise his hands up. Instead, he slowly began to remove his jacket off of him.

The other agents started to follow suit as they realized that he wasn't following orders. "This is a restricted area! If you don't leave immediately, you will be shot!"

Tony grabbed something from his jacket pocket before throwing the jacket off to the side. You quickly realized that he had a mask in his hands and began to pull it over his head.

He grabbed a weapon from his belt, causing the agents to stiffen their posture and point their weapons straight at him.

"Put the weapon down or we will--!"

In a split second, you see that the weapon gets lodged in his skull.

It takes for the other agents to react before trying to shoot at him. You expect the worse and began to turn your head away from bearing witness to that. However, your eyes managed to see that he quickly grabbed one of the agent's guns to shoot it into the air. He grabbed another small dagger from his belt and launches it towards the other agent's hand.

He screams out in pain, causing him to drop his gun to the ground. With the guy in front of him, he brings his foot up and sends him launching to the ground. Looking back, he grabbed the dagger that was lodged in the first agent and sends it flying towards the other agent's head.

He limps to the ground, and Tony turns to the last agent alive. With the weapon that he dropped, he grabbed it before pressing on the trigger on him. In only a few seconds, the neighbor returned back to silence.

Not too far from where he stood in the middle of the three dead agents, you were staring through the cloth of a fence. Your mouth was slightly agape at the whole sight, your eyes fully dilating to get every detail of what you were seeing. You could feel your heart pounding in your chest and in your ears.

Your eyes wandered down to the three people he had just killed, and your mouth immediately started to water. Your eyes softening at the sight of him trying to catch his breath from his kills.

You stood there, fully knowing what that meant.

That he was exactly like you. The same needs and wants. The same way your own brain worked. This was perfect. He was perfect.

You softly began to chuckle to yourself while watching him take out his own weapons from their bodies. Tears silently poured from your eyes as you watched on knowing there was someone like you. Someone who didn't care what others deemed wrong in society because...he was doing a good thing.

He was getting rid of those agents because they're disrupting the peace in these neighborhoods. They were close to finding him as they were to you. They would be forced to stop what they were doing for the name of "justice". One less of them would be considered the "betterment of society".

Now, you got to keep this secret of his locked into your heart. Like a real friend would. You continued to just smile harder and harder to yourself until you watched him turnaround from the bodies and make his way out.

You quickly rushed behind a close enough trash can and hoped he wouldn't see you. As you crouched behind it, your eyes trailed back to the fence where your mind couldn't stop thinking about the three bodies lying there. If he were to leave them there, he could be found out. He could be traced back to these neighborhoods.

He needed someone to be on clean-up crew. Looking down at yourself, you held onto your stomach as your mouth began to water again. You could feel yourself getting more and more hungrier by the minute. No matter how hard you swallowed, your hunger still came back. All you could think about is how you had eaten nothing all day.

You thought you would have had this buried beneath you now, but having missed your pills for one day and now this happens? What did those pills really do in the end? Nothing.

All they were trying to do was stop you from being you. You knew who you were and why you were craving this. You were shunned out because of it...but you couldn't sit around and do nothing anymore. You didn't want to be numb to all this. You wanted to live.

Turning your head away from the fence, you could hear the sound of the fenced door being opened. You looked to see him with his jacket back on with that amused smirk he would give you littered across his face. Your eyes just looked at him like he was a saint.

You knew how much he did for you without him even realizing it.

There was still so much about him that you didn't even think about before. How was he able to do that with a small dagger without them even laying a finger on him? What was your neighbor hiding from you? Who was he really?

You noted to yourself that you needed to do research when you had gotten home.

As you see him turn back into the crowds and sirens, you turned your head back to the gated off fence. You slowly rose from the trash can, looked around for any sign of anyone before making your way towards the gate.

You quickly walked in to find the three men laying there on the ground. The smell of iron immediately hit your nose like a freight train. Your mind immediately brings you back to when you were small. That small girl that was being misunderstood for her capabilities.

Now, there was no one holding you back from what you wanted anymore. There was no one for miles and they were already dead. No one would be able to hear them scream. This was the reassurance you ever needed. A sigh of relief would fall on your lips before you continued walking over to them.

When you stood in front of them, your eyes scanned through all three of their bodies. Seeing how blood seeped out of their skulls from the impact just made you excited. The way it was slowly exiting their bodies just was so fascinating for you. You remembered how much it made you excited to talk about with the other kids when you were little.

Dropping down to your knees, you got closer to their bodies, dragging them closer to get a better look at them. When you stared closer, your mind began to warp reality in front of you. In and out your mind went back from the bodies in front of you to a giant dinner table filled with all different dishes.

Your mind was now starting to feel its withdrawal from your medication all at once right now.

You examined the dishes right in front of you, wondering if there was a chance you shouldn't do this. You turned around to look if anyone was near to join you. However, you found yourself just surrounded in pure silence. A deafening, quiet silence.

In that, your mind fixed back to the dinner table in front of you. The way the smell seeped into your nose like a homecooked meal you always desired to enjoy. For once in your life, you were craving something to eat. Wanting to eat more and more until you were stuffed, worried when the next time you would have a real meal would be.

As you reached out in front of you, you pulled something that resembled like a drumstick from a plate. Pulling it closer to you, your mind flashed between that of chicken to a finger. You stood there with an expressionless face, trying to understand which one was it until you brought it up to your mouth.

You bit down hard enough that you were instantly hit with the flavor hitting your mouth. Immediately, your face shifted into genuine bliss. In an instant, you began to chow down more of the drumstick before grabbing something else from another plate.

Then another, and another and another. Your hands had something in each as you switched between both as you ate. You hummed out in pure bliss continuously eating.

The neighborhood around you was completely silent, not noticing that the only thing that was disturbing the noise was you tearing apart the agents one by one . . .

consuming them.

Benjamin Poindexter x Cannibal! Mutant! Reader

𖦹｡⋆ Summary: Trying to be sneaky challenge in Dex's apartment goes incredibly wrong. Well, if you're already here, confess your true nature.

𖦹 WC: 4.7k

𖦹｡⋆ Tags/Warnings: canonical inaccuracies. Stalking. Breaking and entering. Dex's room layout is different, but still the concept of it. Getting caught. Probably ooc Dex. Graphic depictions. Cannibalism mentioned. Food being used to describe cannibalism. Conversations. Matching each other's freak. Not beta read.

𖦹 A/N: check at the end!! Important message for this series!!

⌯⁍ masterlist 𖦏 previous part 𖦏

Your trip out onto the fire escape was less graceful than you could have imagined.

You had to, as carefully as you could, take off the tin foil that you had placed onto the window yesterday. The amount of tape that you had to scrape off of the wall made you surprised that you hadn't used the whole roll of scotch tape.

By some miracle, you didn't manage to peel off the paint, which would have been a bigger disaster with your grumpy landlord. You threw the clump of tin foil onto the floor before looking back at your window.

You debated doing this for one last time, murmuring to yourself, "This is crazy..."

Immediately, you just shook your head to yourself, answering with, "Well, so is knowing your neighbor is a wanted criminal and doing nothing about it."

You just sighed to yourself before raising your arms towards your window. You grabbed onto the handle and pushed it all the way up. Next, you pushed the screen up, feeling the brisk night air hit you fully.

You found yourself looking at the fire escape you were just on a few days ago. You let out a soft exhale from your lips, not realizing that you were holding in your breath this entire time.

It was peaceful.

You could almost forget about the crime you were going to commit next door.

Looking around at the fire escape, you could see one droplet of blood on the metal floor. In your in and out state of mind, you must have not seen the blood when you were cleaning up the mess.

You stared at it for a minute or two, remembering what you had done, but you felt yourself only feel the sensation to eat once again. It had been two days since you had that encounter and the last time you actually ate something.

You had no idea how you were standing right now, but you were still going to persevere.

Leaning yourself into the window, you leaned your head out and used the wall to push your upper body out onto the fire escape. When you managed to get your chest out, you pulled grabbed onto the window frame with both of your hands and pushed again.

You trying to muffle out a grunt that came from your mouth. You were much weaker than you had realized before. Even with your intake of flesh, it was not enough to sustain you fully yet. You understood what that meant and you noted that soon you would need to look out for more food.

Switching your hands from the frames, you grabbed onto the railing and pulled one last time. Finally, your whole body was out of the window, but your stamina was immediately low.

"God..." You hissed out to yourself. If you were really going to be a part of this "vigilante" life you really needed to lift some weights.

Pushing yourself off of the metal flooring, you tried to be as quiet as possible while also not wanting to move the structure too much. One wrong step and you would make a noise too loud that he would immediately know you were out here.

But you still were working on the hypothesis that maybe he wasn't in his apartment at all. I mean, you haven't heard from him all day, so it wasn't a bad working theory.

Still, you continued to slowly walk over towards the staircase that would have led to the next level. You grab onto the handlebar, keeping yourself balanced to the right of the staircase. Leaning your head to the side, you did your best to peek inside to only to see yourself staring at blinds.

You immediately shut your eyes closed and let out a soft groan from your lips. Of course, the prisoner on the loose would have blinds covering his window, how smart.

Smarter than your failed attempt with tin foil.

You were left to think on what your next move would be. You couldn't be able to tell where he was in the apartment, leaving you "blind".

Slowly dropping to your knees, you sat yourself beside his window frame. Placing your palm onto the screen protector, you slowly began to push it up. You were focusing all your attention to making sure that the window would not squeak and alert him inside.

Slowly, but surely, you managed to pull the screen up to where you could enter through and quickly shut behind you. Peeking your eyes around the frame, you were focusing your eyes to allow you to look through the gaps of the blinds.

However, you only found yourself staring into darkness.

You assumed that your hypothesis was correct and began to crawl right in front of his window. Sitting right beside his window, you slowly began to try and think this through. It was your last attempt to back yourself out of this.

You were so close.

Closer into the mind of Benjamin Poindexter and this is his space.

The space you were hearing through your walls. The space where you heard him living life with every creak from the wood floor. You didn't have to guess anymore on how it looked inside. You would be able to peer closer into his mind.

Inching yourself towards the window, you could feel all logic go out the window (no pun intended).

Instead, your mind fixated on the fact that you were going to be in his space. His space where he lived and breathed just like you did. You can just understand him. The way that you knew how to.

That was all you needed to convince you to head inside.

As careful as you could be, you slowly entered into his apartment. One foot after the other, you dropped into his apartment without making a single sound.

When your feet were placed onto the ground, you slid your arm through to hold onto the blind above you. Then, you were able to smoothly get the rest of your body through the window and into his apartment.

Finally entering into his apartment, you placed down the blind carefully behind you, but your eyes did not leave the space that was right in front of you. It took a second for your eyes to adjust to the dark room, but when it did, you were amazed.

His apartment was so similar to your own.

You couldn't believe that you two even had similar living arrangements. It just couldn't be denied how much you two were meant for each other.

Smiling at your thought, your eyes scanned thoroughly through the apartment in order to take it all in. His apartment was very clean; there wasn't a speck of dust or dirt in sight in his apartment. Everything seemed precise and had its proper place.

Honestly, you didn't know where to look first in his apartment. Everything seemed so interesting.

Then, your eyes fell to the living area that was to the left of you. He had a small couch and a TV. What you noted was that the TV was an older version just like yours was. Even fate made it possible for you to be looking at the same screen.

Making your choice to start there, you slowly began your walk towards the area. Your walk was slow, making sure not to make the floorboards creek, as you knew how creaky his floors truly were.

As you inched your way closer towards the TV, your eyes focused on the TV stand a little harder. As your eyes adjust to what you were seeing, a prick of moonlight shined onto something.

It was a plastic covering to a CD.

It was tucked between the CD player and the TV stand that it was placed on. You crouched down to the stand and reached your hand out to grab it. Slowly, you pulled it out from the corner and held it out in front of you.

Suddenly, your eyes adjusted to the words on the CD.

Your name. April 23rd, 1996. Bullet Removal Surgery.

Your missing CD.

You could feel you hear skip a beat as you read those three lines over and over again, making sure you weren't dreaming. You had sworn that you had thrown it out by mistake and it was lost forever, but here it was, in Benjamin Poindexter's apartment.

You started to think back to that moment. You swore that before you went to bed that night, it was on your TV Stand with the rest of your CDs. However, when you woke up that morning, it was gone.

You have stared at that TV more times than you could count. You knew the layout by hand. I mean, how else were you able to notice something was off the moment you had woken up?

If that was the case, though, the CD would have gone missing during th hours of when you were asleep.

Now that you were thinking about it . . . your mirror snapped open.

You had awakened to that sound and before you could fully investigate, Pris had called you. You stopped yourself from opening your shower curtain.

Oh my god.

He was in your apartment.

Your breath hitched at the realization. A little too loud within the dark apartment.

You quickly clasped your hand around your mouth, hoping that wouldn't have alerted anyone (still, however, believing that no one was home).

As you stood there to listen to the sounds of the apartment, you could hear a door being pushed open. A door coming from a bedroom.

Your heart sinks.

Why does your luck fail you constantly?

You quickly duck behind the couch, holding your CD close to your chest, praying that he wouldn't come over here. You lean yourself onto the bottom of the couch with your legs folded close to your chest as possible. The less visible, the more of a chance you wouldn't get caught.

You can hear him leaving his room and beginning to walk around his apartment for the noise. You could hear the sounds of one foot landing onto the floor before a couple of seconds later, his other foot would hit the floor.

He was carefully waiting for the sound to appear again. Immediately, you knew that he wasn't going to let up easy on the idea that it was just a house settling noise. He knew that you were in here. Squeezing your eyes shut, you could only hope he didn't come towards you.

But, to your surprise, he makes his way towards the kitchen instead. You could hear his footsteps getting further away from you and inching towards something else.

Eventually, he would stop himself in front of something. Then, you hear a switch being flicked on. Opening your eyes, you tried to pick up what he turned on the lights for.

However, before you could react, you hear clinggg! thunk! fwiiipp!

Your body jolts back and into the couch harder. Immediately, you feel something pouring down your chest and onto the floor. Looking down, you see a knife lodged into your shoulder.

The impact of the knife immediately caused you to let out a grunt. Immediately, you tried to get yourself away from the spot, crawling away with the CD still tucked into your hand. You knew his aim was insanely accurate, but you believed that if you moved, it would be harder for him to get an accurate hit on you.

As you stumble away from the couch, you heard another swiiishhh!

You duck your head in habit but find yourself falling onto the ground again. You let out another grunt as you realized that you were hit in your lower back. You bit your lip at the stinging sensation pulsating to your new wounds.

Stumbling yourself up onto your feet, you can hear him leaving the kitchen to run towards you. As you managed to stumble onto your feet, you were trying to keep yourself balanced before turning around to look at him.

His arm was raised high to throw a butter knife at you, but when his eyes caught you in the light, he stumbled to a stop.

Trying to catch your breath, your grip on the CD tightened as you stared back at him. The knives stuck out of you like two thorns stuck into you.

You placed your free hand onto your pulsating wound on your shoulder. "I didn't realize you were home."

He immediately drops the knife onto the ground and as if reacting like a normal person, started to worry about how you were still standing. He uttered your name out of his mouth, but you held your hand out. That same hand held the CD, causing him to pause.

"Where did you get my CD?" You asked him, not too occupied at the fact you had knives sticking out of you.

He tried to ignore you, shaking his head. "You need to get to a hospital."

"Fuck the hospital, Poindexter. How do you have my CD?" You spat back at him, shaking it in front of him.

His eyes focused on your change of manner and immediately dropped his shoulders. You weren't putting up a front. This was the real you. The real you he has been waiting for to come out. The real you that decided to sneak into his apartment to learn more about him.

He expected a reaction, yes, but he never expected this to be it. Not like he wasn't happy about it, though.

He didn't have to hear the name of some fictional guy he had made up coming from your lips. Hearing you say his real name just sparked him with a certain joy he never had expected to feel ever.

Yet, seeing you here, bleeding out from two knives you had thrown at him and not caring about it, it made him feel reassured. He knew there was something about you that was different from other people.

Looking at you, he answered back with, "I took it from your apartment."

You immediately looked away from him, sighing to the ground, and dropped your hand back down to your side. "I knew it..."

You squinted your eyes back at him, "Did you...did you watch it?"

"Yes." He answered back to you.

"All of it?" You questioned him.

"Yes." He nodded his head.

"So, you know what I am?" You pointed to yourself with your free hand.

He tilted his head to the side, raising an eyebrow at you, "And you know who I am."

You looked to the side, a little ashamed, "Only just learned a few hours ago your real name, but I've known you were hiding something for a few days now."

"I've known for about a few weeks that you're---"

"A mutant, yes," You responded back while glancing down at the knives sticking out of your shoulder.

You began to try and pull out the knife from your shoulder, but Dex quickly steps forward, grabbing your hand to stop you. "If you do that, you'll bleed out."

Looking up at him, you raised an eyebrow back. "I can't just walk out like this forever."

He thought for a moment, still holding your hand, before looking back into your eyes. "If I remove it, then you need to immediately close it up with your ability."

You scoffed at him, shaking your head and pulling your hand away from him. "I thought you watched the full video."

"I did," Shaking his head at you for even doubting him for not watching it.

"My ability to increase muscle density drains the more I use it. For example..." You point to your wound.

"Taking the attack," He sighs with his eyes focusing on the wall behind you.

You click your teeth, "Atta boy."

His head snapped back down at you, furrowing his eyebrows.

You two stood there in a silence for a moment. You both were basking at each other being in the same room. A room where you two didn't have to have walls up to protect the other.

You finally could be yourself without worrying about him thinking you were strange. His mind was wrapping around the same concept.

This was the real you. That glimpse he had gotten momentarily the first time you had met. The time at the cafe. The time in the hallway.

You were here.

"So, how do you get more 'energy'?" Dex asked, causing you to immediately snort.

"That's the thing, we don't. If I do, Task Force will surely pound down my door," You explained to him while pointing towards your shared wall. “Mayor Fisk already wants my head.”

He pauses for a moment. “Why does he want with you?”

You snapped your head at him. “You don’t know?”

“Know what?” He questioned back to you.

You let out a sigh looking around for any sign to stop yourself from admitting this. “I’m who they’re searching for. I’m the Maneater.”

He stood there for a moment, looking you up and down. It clicked into his mind what that surgeon and nurse were talking about. The reason why it was so confidential was because she needed to consume people. Her genetic makeup created the appetite because that's how it functioned.

He would have guessed the government wanted to keep that under wraps in order to not cause an uproar on superhumans.

Hearing his silence, she held her hands out and slowly said, "I...I know it sounds crazy, but when I saw what you did to those Task Force agents, you made me want to act."

"That stupid Safer Streets Act is just...wrong. More Task Force agents in this neighborhood doesn't solve anything. When I saw you that night, I never felt so seen in my entire life," You continued on, placing your hand on top of your heart.

"You're a good guy," You softly smiled at him. "I've never seen someone act the way you do, Poindexter."

"Of—Of course I didn't mean to get caught up in the mess I did," You placed your hands behind your back, careful not to touch the knife in your back.

His head snapped to look deeply into your eyes. The only thing he could hear from your ramble was that you thought he was a good guy.

Those words came out of your mouth.

Something that he has been searching for ever since he escaped from prison. He wanted to find a way to balance the scales. To correct his mistakes for once and for all.

You knew who he was. You found out what he did and what landed him into prison. However, you were able to face him and say to his face that he was a good guy.

You is something so different about you.

“You did that…" He pointed at you before back at himself. "For me?"

You seemed to brighten at his words. "Yes. I did."

You shook your head with a smile appearing across your face. "I just never met anyone like you. Someone just like me."

"And...you think you can't...eat?" Dex questioned.

"I'm not experienced in this whole crime thing. I can't really go after someone," You shrugged back at him.

"I can," Dex responded back, immediately approaching you. "I can get what you want."

You had your mouth agape at his words, feeling your heart skips a beat. He was offering to help get you what you needed. Feed you like no one had ever dared. He was acting like this was a normal grocery run, not taking someone else's life.

Hearing that you didn't speak up, he continued with, "You said that I was good, right?"

"Yes," You nod you head.

"Then let me be good for you," Dex softly spoke down to you, causing you to immediately soften the look on your face. "I want to do this for you."

You slowly nod your head at him, knowing the man next door to you was offering to help you. The real Benjamin Poindexter was offering to help you in the name of being considered good.

You never had anyone wish for your approval.

"Okay."

"Okay. Stay here until I come back, then we'll continue talking," Dex answered back, holding his finger out to you.

He walks past you, heading towards his bedroom to grab something, before leaving the apartment. Suddenly, you were left back in the quiet sounds of the apartment.

Looking down at your own body, seeing his own knives dug into your skin, you feel something else immerge in your skin. A soft sigh escaped from your lips as you slowly walked away from the living area and towards his dining area.

Stumbling yourself onto the chair, you plopped yourself down and let out a soft groan from your lips. Placing your hand on the knife, you slowly began to caress it, knowing he had placed his hands on it. He left you in his apartment and never questioned why you had snuck in the first place.

Everything you had just experienced was something you wished you an experienced all those decades ago. Who cares what everyone else thought about you? He was going out of his way to help you.

No one in your entire existence wanted to learn more about you.

Then, there was him.

You bumping into him in that hallway led you to this moment. This moment of...want.

You bite your lip, knowing that the one true act of kindness was going to be delivered to you on a silver platter. All as an act to for using his gift against you.

It was like a dog licking the spot where it bit you too hard and held its head down to show you it was sorry. You softly chuckled at the analogy, ignoring the searing pain coming from your body.

You sat there, completely still, for a couple of hours. Waiting.

Never once did you complain about how long he was taking or when would he return. You just sat there, spacing off to look at the droplets of your blood that had fallen onto his wooden floors.

If you really were desperate, you could have feed of your own blood, sparing you a couple of seconds. However, knowing there was someone out there who want to do this for you, you waited.

You waited on his chair and in his apartment until you could hear the shuffling of the door handle. Snapping your head over, you immediately regret it with your eyes immediately flooding with darkness. You squeeze your eyes shut, trying to ease the fact your blood pressure was extremely low now, before quickly returning your eyes back to the door.

You can see him entering into the apartment once again with something in his hands. Squinting at it, you found it to be a black bag. It wasn't a big one, like you had assumed it would be, but more to be the same size as a take out bag.

You sat there, waiting for him to walk towards you, before he dropped the bag in front of you.

"I grabbed what I thought you would like," He explained while walking away to go into the kitchen.

You start to untie the bag. "What about the rest?"

"In the river," He explained from the kitchen.

You could feel yourself starting to bite back a smile while opening the bag. "Smart."

He hummed in response before turning away from you as you opened the bag.

In your own mind, you still couldn't see the difference between food and people. For you, when you looked inside the bag, all you saw was, well, take out!

Pushing yourself closer to the bag, you began to start digging into the food. The space was back to its silence with slight sounds of you eating.

You hadn't expected him to watch or even be in the same room as you were eating. However, there he was, leaning from the kitchen counter to watch you eat.

I mean, this was the first time ever seeing someone eating another person, he was curious. Also, the smell that came from the bag really couldn't be ignored. He watched as you carefully ate as if it was just a normal meal that someone would eat. He started to picture back to the moment back on those abandoned tracks.

Somehow, he hadn't realized that he was helping you. All those instances of wanting you to reveal your true nature had paid off without him truly realizing it. He had opened that door, and he never intended on closing it for you.

Once you did finish and push the bag away, you let out a soft sigh before looking back down at your wounds. Grabbing the first knife, you pulled it out of your shoulder with a grunt. Immediately, you began to close it with your abilities, squeezing your eyes in the process.

When the stinging sensation went away, you let out a deep sigh before moving to the one on your back.

As you were reaching for it, you heard him call out, "Let me help."

"You don't have to. I think I've got it," You softly responded back.

However, he lightly shoved your hand away from the knife. Holding onto your shoulder, he gripped onto the knife. You felt a shiver down your spine as he grips onto the knife. Something that he could easily take your life with it he wanted to.

Yet, with one strong yank, he pulls it out of you. Once he does, you quickly began to close up the wound, something he stands behind you to watch. He stares at it closely, reminding him of what he saw from the CD.

It was much more different seeing it in person. Something about it was more...intimate.

Gently squeezing her shoulder, he answered back, "Easy. It wasn't a problem."

"Yeah...thank you," You nod up at him as he walked beside the table. "For, uh, everything I mean."

"Well, I still got questions about you," Dex asked back to you.

"Well, ask away, Poindexter," You stretched yourself on your chair, testing out your new muscles and feeling full once again.

"Dex."

"Hm?"

"You can just call me, Dex," He explained to you, causing you to soft smile at him.

"Alright, Dex. What is your first question?" You asked him, leaning yourself on his table.

"When...I was in your apartment, I saw you taking pills," Dex began before clasping them together. "What were those for?"

"Suppressors. Things to keep me from being me," You explained to him. "Recently, I had stopped taking them...I just couldn't handle it anymore."

"Which is why you ate those agents?" Dex questioned you.

"Somewhat. They suppressed the urge, but they were always there...just I felt the need not to act," You explained to him.

"I couldn't...deal with it anymore. Everyone expects you to act a certain way because what? Society tells you that?" You scoffed and rolled your eyes.

Then your eyes shifted to where he stood, "But, when I saw you...defying society, doing the right thing that was necessary. I knew there was something I could do as well."

"I'm so glad I trusted my gut about you," You sighed towards him. "You could understand it."

"I mean...we can't control these things within us," You shook your head while looking down at the floor. "We didn't choose to be like this. We just are."

Slowly you looked up at him, "We are, who we are."

"We are, who we are," He echoed back to you, feeling something flutter within his chest.

"I want to work with you, Dex," You rose up from the table. "Whatever your mission is, I want to help. I want to correct my mistake and never let it happen again."

"You sure about this?" Dex responded back to you, tilting his head with a smirk across his face.

He knew he would say, yes, but he wanted to hear you say it again. To hear that your loyalty remained by his side and his only.

"Yes, I'll work beside you. Help clean up the streets, the right way," You stood up from your chair, extending your arm towards him. "Together."

You can hear him softly laugh at your extended arm before extending his own arm towards your hand. You gave him a firm handshake before brightly smiling at him.

This would be your start to your journey. Together.

A/N: Yello guys, I'm finally back from everything. Okay, some good news and bad news

Bad news: I'm considering this to be the ending of this. Only because I suck at writing filler plot and feel like I'm dragging this out more than I should be.

Good news! : This will be considered their origin story together and I'm considering writing oneshots about their adventures together. You know, ones that actually lead into the plot of DDBA S2 and meet some new character, wink wink.

So, don't worry, they'll be back. (Dex and Reader will return in Avengers: Doomsday) LMFAO.

jeff n rira as anime girl sprites :>>