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WILD TRILOBITE (other potential titles include - Wild Spark, Wasteland Princess, Wild in the Wastelands)

• Feral Agatha Clay/Heterodyne
• The locket suppresses Agatha's mind completely instead of just enough to block her spark
• Shortly after being left at the Clay household, Agatha begins to regress mentally
• She is still very intelligent, but becomes animalistic as a way to cope with the near constant pain
• Adam/Lilith are forced to lock her up while they try to contact Barry to return/help them
• They underestimate the 6 year old, and Agatha escapes into the wastelands
• Agatha becomes very good at surviving on her own, and avoiding any attempt to find/catch her
• Barry is never successfully contacted/is unaware of these developments (wherever he is)
• Agatha eventually stakes out a territory for herself, defending it fiercely
• She only wears furs from her hunting, and the locket necklace
• By the time she was older, and resentful enough of her uncle to try removing it, the chain was too small to take off
• It isn't quite tight enough to hinder her breathing or be dangerous, but she can't remove or break the chain with human strength
• When she is about 15-16, DaBoyz stumble across her territory
• She attacks Dimo to chase them away
• Maxim and Oggie expect him to have no trouble with a single random human, so they stay back
• Dimo almost fights back, but instead catches her scent and lets her pin him
• He goes limp and bares his throat, to his brothers great surprise; then they smell her too, and realize why
• Once they establish themselves as not a threat to Agatha, they try and explain things to her
• Agatha understands most of their words, but has been feral for so long as to forget how society works, so she misses the full picture
• She DOES understand that they will obey her, and there are more packmates waiting at their home den
• Agatha takes over as pack leader on the way to Mechanicsburg, using nonverbal communication, like growling, trilling, and body language
• Eventually, when the locket is broken or removed
• Agatha slowly regains some speech and enough sparky skills to fix Castle Heterodyne, but remains in a semi-feral state for the rest of her life
• She has no particular interest in expanding her territory, but is absolutely RUTHLESS against any attempt to attack what is HERS (as in no survivors ruthless)
• She tolerates the whole 'tourists' thing, as long as they play nice with her 'pack' (All permanent residents of the town)
• The Jaegers LOVE her, she goes out on hunts with them, and leads by example
• Dimo becomes her second in command overall, as the best at understanding/conveying her desires even before she regained a level of speech
• Agatha actually ends up making the wastelands in the areas around Mechanicsburg much safer by regularly hunting in it
• She never bothers settlements unless provoked, so the Baron has no conflict with her

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Bonding over Shellfish (other potential titles include - Criminal Informant, Schoolwork and Smugglers, A Matter of Knowledge)

• Hadrian attends TPU while Agatha is still a student there
• Agatha is curious about her parents/uncle's hometown
• When she sees him wearing trilobites like her locket, Agatha decides to ask Hadrian about Mechanicsburg
• The two become friends, with a shared interest in mechanics (canon diploma in 'Mechanical systems analysis)
• Eventually, Agatha shows Hadrian the pictures in her locket, and he recognizes the late Lord Heterodyne/wife
• After a brief internal panic attack, he decides to contact Vanamonde about what to do before telling Agatha who she is
• Van contacts Mama Gkika to have a jaeger sent over to confirm as best they can right now
• Once the jaeger arrives, Hadrian asks Agatha to meet him privately to 'introduce a fellow Mechanicsburger
• The jaeger (Jenka? OC?) confirms her scent, and they and Hadrian do their best to explain things
• Once Agatha has been at least partly convinced (she believes that THEY believe it) they go find her parents to look for more answers
• Hadrian doesn't recognize Punch/Judy, but the jaeger DOES
• Adam/Lilith explain about Barry leaving Agatha with them, but don't immediately reveal the locket
• They argue for keeping her hidden, after all, she 'isn't even a spark'
• Hadrian and the jaeger are certain Agatha will breakthrough as a Spark eventually (she's a Heterodyne after all)
• They compromise by putting Agatha in secret contact with the Von Mekkhans, to learn about ruling the town while they wait for her to breakthrough
• No one is fully happy with the compromise, but sending her into the castle with her headache problem would be a death sentence
• Gkika quietly informs the other Generals about the situation, they grudgingly agree to the need for patience
• Higgs manages to get himself assigned in Beetleburg as often as possible, starts feeding Agatha info about the Empire/Baron/etc.
• Once the canon catches up, Agatha is not successfully mugged, as Hadrian has taken to escorting her around town/to & from school etc.
• The Baron still takes Beetleburg, but with her locket still there, Agatha doesn't breakthrough = no rampaging search clank
• The Baron DOES remember wanting to talk to her about the electrical anomaly in the street, so he goes to the Clay household
• He finds his old friends packing to leave, and very hostile towards him
• Agatha is less convinced about the Baron being an enemy, given Higgs reports, the jaegers opinions, lack of specific evidence from her parents
• They end up sitting down to discuss things, and at some point the pictures in the locket are mentioned
• The Baron asks to see the pictures, and while holding the locket, realizes it is some kind of mechanism when it causes a stabbing pain in HIS head
• More explanations are dragged out, and things go from there

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Predators Don't Run - They Chase! (other potential titles include - Not Afraid, No More Cages, Then Let it all BURN)

• Agatha doesn't flee Castle Wulfenbach, instead she runs to the Jaeger Generals
• As she and the other students head toward the airship to escape, they pass a hall and hear the Generals voices in the distance
• Agatha remembers the stories about the jaegers serving the Heterodynes and takes a chance, changing course
• The Generals see her running from Dupree, who yells that the Baron wants her captured/back off
• They make it VERY clear that they will be doing no such thing
• Probably Dupree tries to fight them, she's crazy, but against 3 Jaeger Generals she loses
• Dupree is either killed or seriously wounded, the Generals know she won't be stopped by anything less
• Agatha has seen her parents killed horribly just minutes ago, she is feeling very vengeful
• The other students/Krosp catch back up with her, after being surprised by her sudden detour
• The Generals take the group into their rooms, Agatha decrees them to be under her protection now - she's not losing anyone else
• The Baron catches up just as Agatha commandeers the airship comm-system to declare herself to her people
• On the recommendation of the Generals, she doesn't call everyone to arms or declare the Baron an enemy right away, but it's clear that she COULD
• So now the Baron has no choice but to try and negotiate with her, as every part of the airship is now at the potential mercy of scattered Mechanicsburg natives (jaegers and townspeople/monsters who joined him)
• Unbeknownst to Agatha, if she called her people to arms, it would also trigger every hidden revenant on board, which terrifies the Baron
• A VERY tense meeting occurs, under a pseudo-hostage situation
• Could lead to a variety of results, depending on how that meeting goes, and what gets revealed/hidden

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Nothing Left to Lose (other potential titles include - Everyone Leaves, On One's Own, The Hell of Loneliness)

• Agatha is orphaned once again when her adoptive parents and teacher die
• At age 7? 10? 15? How old?
• No one else wants to take in the damaged/crazy child
• So she doesn't get the same high quality education at TPU
• Agatha develops SEVERE abandonment/attachment issues
• Very hard to earn her trust, but will do basically ANYTHING to protect those she loves
• Terrified of losing people again
• Connects more easily with others who are lonely
• Bonds with the jaegers, but if deeply against the idea of them dying for her; she can't handle losing more people
• Ends up bonding with Vole of all people, based on an understanding of feeling rejected/abandoned
• (Vole isn't going to trust another with his loyalty just yet, but if Barry ever came back, they would team up to make him pay)
• Wide variety of stories possible
• How old would Agatha be?
• Does she stay in Beetleburg, or go somewhere else?
• Does her locket ever get discovered or removed? If so, when?
• How do the jaegers find her? Which ones?
• Does she ever meet the Baron? In what state? When?
• Once she's vulnerable, do the Geisterdamen take notice?
• Who becomes her guardian? Does she go to an orphanage?
• And all sorts of other variables!

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Nine Lives Lost (other potential titles include - Emperor Lost, Missed by a Whisker, Terminated)

• Krosp says when he first meets Agatha that he was 'supposed to be disposed of as a failed experiment'
• He managed to escape and hide, but what if he didn't?
• What if Krosp HAD been destroyed as originally intended?
• Krosp makes a number of significant contributions during the story, so what if he was never there?
• Krosp is involved in the following, up to arriving at Sturmhalten

1. Warns Agatha to be careful around Gil
2. First to point out to Agatha that she's a spark
3. Tells Agatha about the Barons' brain core experiments-giving her reason to save Othar
4. Saving Othar led to Agatha being on the wrong side of the blast doors when the hive engine is activated=Agatha/Gil fight wasp warriors
5. Fighting the hive/the aftermath leads to Gil making his 'proposal' to have Agatha marry him
6. Krosp guides Agatha/the students to her parents comandeered airship
7. Agatha can't fly one, but HE can
8. Othar being free leads him to help prevent Agatha's escape from immediately being pursued
9. Helps Agatha knock Othar off their escape ship
10. Interferes with Agatha's choice of landing when the airship goes down (not the pond!)
11. Arguing with Agatha leads the lost circus kid to think they're also performers/trust them
12. Krosp spies on master Payne and learns about Moxana and other things
13. Stops Jenka's bear from attacking her long enough for her to free Maxim/Oggie/Dimo
14. Gets Agatha to shoot under the bridge to Passholdt, revealing the swarm of monsters
15. And many other things from there, Krosp is actually very plot significant

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Family Matters (other potential titles include - Discard & Draw, Protecting the Ones you Love, We Won't Lose Anyone Else)

• Krosp successfully retrieves his 'papa' while helping Agatha escape
• Agatha knows having him along will make staying free a lot harder
• But she just lost HER parents, and doesn't want Krosp to go through that
• Dr. Dim brings at least one of his little bears with; he keeps insisting he made them for Krosp
• Many heartwarming/heartwrenching moments
• Agatha tells the circus Dr. Dim is her uncle, that she rescued him from the Baron, but couldn't save her parents
• Lots of sympathy from the circus
• They can't fake Agatha's death without Dr. Dim being found, so they claim they went separate ways instead
• Gil therefore has a different reaction to Agatha being gone than in Canon
• The empire continues to be actively searching for Agatha, so she must remain in deeper disguise
• Dr. Dim makes friendships in the circus, everyone likes/feels bad for him
• Possible adorable moment when Dr. Dim sees Füst and decides he is wonderful, whoever made him is wonderful, his companion Jenka is wonderful, and would she mind terribly introducing him to this 'magnificent beast of a monster'?
• When DaBoyz join the group, they/Dr. Dim somewhat recognize each other (as jaegers/Master Saturnus' old schoolmates)
• Agatha ends up hearing some stories of her grandfather, from Dr. Dim's fragmented memories/the jaegers reminiscing
• Encourages Agatha to study the Passholdt monsters, he can't anymore, but SHE can
• Agatha therefore realizes the monsters used to be human, but doesn't know the workings of revenants to identify them as such
• With his creator along, Krosp spends a bit less time focused on Agatha
• Sturmhalten goes very similarly, except instead of Lars sacrificing himself for Agatha, Dr. Dim does
• He knows his Spark is broken, there is nothing he can do to fix it or get revenge on the Baron
• He sees Agatha opposing the Baron, and he knows what an angry Heterodyne is capable of
• His last words to a devastated Agatha/Krosp are a request to be avenged, that Agatha never let ANYONE hold her back or control her again
• Dr. Dimitri Vapnoople dies believing he has ensured the Barons destruction, and released the most dangerous Monster of a Spark into the world as his last act
• He dies smiling

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Skifander? Never Heard of it (other potential titles include - Seeking a Home, A Place to Belong, Wanting to be Wanted)

• Barry never tells his niece stories about his previous travels
• When Agatha meets the circus, she does NOT recognize Zeetha's homeland, or connect with her
• Zeetha never takes Agatha as a student, to repay her for restoring her hopes
• She does take note when Agatha rescues DaBoyz from the gallows/goes out of her way to protect her people
• Zeetha decides she no longer has the will to keep living for her own sake, having given up on finding her way home
• Zeetha is suicidally depressed at this point
• She doesn't want to die exactly; she is desperate to feel like she has somewhere to belong/return to, but no linger believes Skifander really existed outside her fever dreams
• Zeetha decides she needs to stop looking for an impossible goal, and find a new place to call 'home'
• Where better than a town known for being viciously protective of it's inhabitants and accepting of a warrior mindset
• Lacking the will to live for herself, Zeetha decides to look into the process of becoming a jaeger, belonging to the Heterodyne, and living for THEM
• She doesn't tell Agatha right away, she talks to the jaegerkin first
• Bodyguard!Zeetha
• Jaeger!Zeetha
• Untrained Agatha
• Zeetha does not directly encounter the Baron before Mechanicsburg, so has no idea he knows Skifander
• Otherwise things go similarly to Canon up until they reach the Dyne/Great Movement Chamber
• There they discover that there is a store of jeagerbrau, as that is the room where the ceremony would normally be held
• Agatha trusts Zeetha implicitly by this point, if this is what she wants, she will give her the chance
• Zeetha swears the Jaegertroth and drinks the brau
• The transformation is agonizing, but Zeetha survives it
• She becomes part of Agatha's unofficial honor guard, along with Dimo, Ognian, and Maxim
• Zeetha claims herself a Hat eventually - it's Dupree's
• She also still hooks up with Higgs
• Zeetha's jaeger appearance has the sharp teeth, green/gold scales, gold horns the same shape as the handles of her swords, slit pupils, and a barbed scorpion type tail (not venomous, just sharp), her hair is now a mix of green/gold strands
• As he would no longer recognize Zeetha as skifandrian on first glance, the Baron never speaks to her in Skiff
• Zeetha only finds out much later that her homeland was in fact real, and by then is content with the life she has found for herself
• In the end, Agatha and Tarvek replace the Empire with their own rule
• Gil ends up in Skifander, and has a mostly grown daughter by the time Zantabraxus is ready to step down, so Gils daughter becomes the next Queen

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(Baked) Good(s) and Bad (other potential titles include - Oh Shit, A Poor Introduction, This is Nuts)

• The Jaeger Generals really want to try and ensure they make a good first impression on the likely Heterodyne heir
• General Goomblast makes a bunch of baked goods, like he offers her in Canon 
• He uses nutmeg in some of it
• At this point in time, nutmeg would have been a rare, expensive spice, so Agatha has never had it before
• She turns out to be severely allergic
• Her throat starts to swell, and she panics
• The Generals are incredibly alarmed and guilty about this
• They rush her to the nearest doctor, scaring the crap out of everyone in their path
• (They may have run a few people over, who didn't get out of the way fast enough)
• After being reassured that Agatha will be fine, the Generals must have a meeting with Klaus
• He was obviously informed about their very out of character mad dash through the corridors
• They try to pass it off as just not wanting to kill their young guest
• Klaus doesn't believe that at all
• It might explain rushing her to the doctor, but not why all three of them felt the need to go, nor how aggressively they insisted on her care
• If she was really just a random guest, only one of them would have taken her, and would probably have brushed it off like 'Vell, dot din go so vell. Voopsies!'
• So Klaus figures out that Agatha is likely a Heterodyne while she's in treatment
• He has no particular reason so far to be alarmed by her existence besides the vagueness of 'Heterodyne'
• Klaus politely requests a meeting with both Agatha and the Jaeger Generals, once she recovers, to discuss her heritage and what it might mean
• Klaus at this point has no real reason NOT to hold to the agreement of returning Mechanicsburg and the Jaegerkin, once a Heterodyne is found and recognized
• Though he WOULD like some reassurance that the town/hoard will not immediately turn around and go back to sacking Europa, if you please
• Luckily for him, Agatha is not really inclined to such behavior anyway
• When Adam/Lilith come to save Agatha, they find her having a peaceful discussion about politics, and her place in it
• They are concerned, but they never WANTED to believe Klaus was working for the other, so they hear him out
• Also, with the Jaeger Generals sitting right there, they have no chance of taking Agatha against her will, so talking it is
• On the one hand, Agatha repairing the castle/taking over Mechanicsburg would go very smoothly here
• On the other hand, without the incident with the hive engine, they don't find out about the stealth revenants yet
• Oh, and while they're talking, Agatha asks about Othar Tryggvassen (GENTLEMAN ADVENTURER!)
• Klaus explains how Othar is actually a nutcase who wants to kill every Spark in the world, giving many, many examples
• Agatha no longer wishes to rescue him, and he ends up being brain-cored (It kills him, so sad....Anyway)
• As one of her requests during negotiations, Agatha takes Dr. Dim under her care/protection (the scene with him happens earlier)
• Krosp decides to go with the nice lady offering safety to his 'papa'
• Agatha never has to escape Castle Wulfenbach so she never meets the circus/Zeetha
• No Tryggvassen means DaBoyz don't get hanged in Zumzum
• Sturmhalten doesn't happen, so the summoning engine doesn't get discovered or destroyed
• The Geisterdamen start looking for a way to capture Agatha once they hear about her, but have little luck getting past her rabidly protective town
• Tarvek's family send him over to 'arrange political affairs between Sturmhalten/Mechanicsburg'
• He has secret orders to seduce the Dread Lady and bring her under control, but of course he ends up falling for HER instead
• Gil is already pretty smitten with Agatha, though his father despairs at this
• The circus does eventually reach Mechanicsburg, as per their regular circuit
• Agatha meets Zeetha, they bond and become Kolee/Zumil
• Gil meets Zeetha while visiting Agatha, Klaus doesn't find this out until later
• Things overall have a much more peaceful, optimistic beginning
• Then the various groups and villains reach readiness to enact their designs, and things get complicated again

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Wasps, Beetles, and Trilobites (other potential titles include - Sergeant* Slave, Queen of the Hive, Hive Princess) *when protesting his brother hitting Agatha, Moloch goes "you're out of line, sergeant!" so I assume that's his rank.

• When Agatha is mugged in chapter one, she briefly goes Sparky; shouting for them to "Stop! Give that back!" using her most commanding voice
• To Moloch's confusion, Omar freezes, looking terrified
• He'd hoped that the Other having disappeared meant that his being Wasped was now meaningless
• Omar immediately turns around and returns the locket, as ordered; begging for Agatha's mercy
• Agatha is pleased, but confused
• She asks why he suddenly changed his mind
• Believing she must be the Other, Omar answers honestly; he's one of her revenants, and didn't have a choice
• He pleads with her to let Moloch go, he doesn't want his brother to be enslaved too
• Moloch tries attacking Agatha to free Omar, but Omar is automatically forced to defend the girl he thinks is the Other
• Both siblings are now terrified
• Agatha is horrified to learn about the existence of stealth revenants, and even more alarmed that she can somehow control them
• She quickly decides to alert the highest authority she can find
• Agatha has Omar and Moloch come with her to Dr. Beetle
• While heading toward the university, they run into the Baron himself; visiting early
• On the way there, and while Agatha is explaining things to the Baron, Omar is quietly trying to convince Moloch to flee, lest they BOTH end up on a slab
• Moloch refuses, Omar is the only family he has left
• The Baron has all three taken into custody, ordering them guarded by jaegers only
• He doesn't want to risk any unidentified 'stealth revenants' being activated, and jaegers are immune to Wasps
• He DOES note that Agatha is being very helpful and cooperative
• The large rotation of jaeger guards while the Baron deals with Dr. Beetle (who still has a hive engine), means they eventually take note of Agatha's scent
• They don't know what to do about it, so they alert the Generals
• The Generals join the Baron in questioning the three, easily justified by their genuine concern about new revenants
• Questions about Agatha's heritage lead to her showing the locket pictures/describing her uncle
• Klaus offers his suspicions about Lucrezia being the Other
• The basic situation is figured out/explained
• Klaus now has three Jaeger Generals in the room with a newly discovered Heterodyne, who seems to be genuine and cooperative
• He takes a mostly gentle approach; if Agatha helps him identify and cure these new revenants (who still have a mind to cure, unlike the zombie type), he will help her claim her birthright
• Agatha has no reason to doubt the Baron yet, and is still wearing the locket, so she agrees
• Agatha want's to let her parents know what's happening; the Baron won't risk letting her wander freely right now, so he goes down to talk to them himself
• Agatha's parents have yet to realize what has happened, assuming Agatha is simply having her usual day at school
• They are incredibly alarmed to have Klaus show up at their door
• Klaus is likewise surprised by their identities, as Agatha had used their assumed names
• With Agatha already in custody and identified, they let Klaus take them in; hoping to be brought to Agatha and escape from there
• Except Agatha doesn't want to go, she wants to fix the revenant situation
• Hiding is no longer feasible, and she now needs every advantage she can get
• So they tell her about the locket
• No one is happy about this reveal
• Omar and Moloch are told that is they cooperate, they will be free once Omar is cured of the Wasp
• They will have a choice between: taking jobs with the Empire, working for the new Lady Heterodyne, or being released with enough funds to start over elsewhere
• Would be fun to do from Omar's POV as a long term revenant

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A Tussle of Jaeger Cubs (other potential titles include - JaegerPups, Leedle Keeds? Vat Fon!, Rewinding a Monster)

• Agatha is experimenting with a new time manipulation device
• A squads worth of jaegers (8) are in the room for some reason
• Maybe they needed to talk with General Dimo
• Two of them get in a fight with each other
• Before Dimo can knock heads together and stop them, they accidentally smash an important component
• Oggie snaps into action, and THROWS Agatha out of the room, just in time to escape the explosion of freaky, staticky smoke
• Agatha has the Castle vent the room immediately, rushing in as soon as it clears
• She finds the jaegers clothes, and almost assumes the worst, when she sees movement
• Ognian crawls out from under his coat, TINY, but not yet realizing it
• All the jaegers were knocked back by the blast, but Dimo was perched on an equipment crate (he seems to like perching ominously on stuff in Canon)
• Dimo ended up falling off the crate, through a table of instruments, so he's a bit banged up/cut up
• All the jaegers still retain their monstrous appearances, but are now the size they were as human children
• Their hats are HUGE on their heads, it's adorable
• The jaegers are slightly different ages
• Oggie looks the oldest, around 8; Dimo looks the youngest, around 4
• It seems like, the older the jaeger, the younger in age they've become
• The jaegers still have all their memories, but their mental states and emotional regulation are now that of their physical appearance
• This is first shown when Dimo struggles not to break down crying because he's hurt and stressed
• Agatha gently gathers them together and checks them over
• She has the Castle send for kids clothes and General Goomblast while she calms Dimo and treats his injuries
• Goomblast arrives (he's called as he is the General who's the best with kids) and learns what happened
• While Agatha and Goomblast discuss things, something very alarming happens; Oggie suddenly loses all memory of everything past the time of his physical age
• Oggie was raised with scary stories about the Heterodyne army, only changing his mind in his adolescence, so he panics
• He tries to run away and hide, freaking out
• The Castle catches him, of course, and a few minutes later his memories come back, but it's still a big concern
• They quickly assess possible reactions to expect from the rest of the group if the regression happens to them
• Maxim had never heard of Heterodynes as a kid, and was minor nobility (like, the 12th kid of some minor lord or something), so he would assume he'd been kidnaped for ransom or as some kind of hostage
• Dimo was raised by a (then) nearby village under Heterodyne rule, so he would know to be cooperative with Lady Agatha
• The others are somewhere in between for reactions
• They decide to keep the kid jaegers in Agatha's living suite rooms in the Castle, so they can't get hurt or lost while they look for a solution
• Each time one of the jaegers regresses, they retain the memories of their previous regressions, but don't remember their regressed memories afterwards
• It only happens every few days, and they never have more than two regressing at a time, but it's still stressful (cue comforting from Agatha!)
• Also, they discover from Dimo's initial injuries that their healing isn't working right
• It's faster than a normal human, but not as fast as a jaeger should heal; about in the middle of the two
• Agatha studies the kids and the equipment; she realizes the effects should wear off on their own in about a month, with no expected side-effects
• So she decides to let it run it's course and observe it
• Agatha gives the kids two options: they can stay in the Castle quarters, or they can accompany either Goomblast or herself during each day
• Jaegers get bored VERY easily, and they currently have the attention spans of small children; they pick going with them immediately
• Lots of cute/funny stuff, with meeting people they know while they're tiny
• On one day, while Goomblast is distracted by Gkika in the bar, a particularly dumb jaeger decides he can bully Jorgi while he's small/helpless
• He takes Jorgi's hat and holds it over his head to taunt him
• Jorgi tries to get it back but can't, it makes him cry
• The other kids see what's happening, and when he won't listen to Dimo pulling rank, they outright MOB the jerk
• They use the same tactics they normally would against a similarly bigger clank
• Eight jaeger kids against one unsuspecting fool; he goes down like a sack of bricks
• They get not only Jorgi's hat, but the bullies, which they gleefully claim as a prize
• Then Goomblast gets back and sees what happened (the Mistress has declared the kids off-limits until they're back to normal)
• He publicly shames the bully, and sticks him on some type of boring/unpleasant punishment duty
• So now the bully has no hat, and won't be getting the opportunity to claim a new one for quite a while
• {Remember! Any plan vere you lose you hat iz a BAD PLAN!}
• About a week in, they try giving Dimo some battle-draught, to see if it will help his healing
• It gives him basically the equivalent of a severe sugar rush/mania; everyone regrets trying it
• He gets loose and causes chaos/destruction until they can catch him and stick him in one of the 'little iron cages' until he calms down
• On another day, while following Agatha, they get to see Maxinia (Lilith's toddler daughter/Agatha's stepsister) que cute play-date
• Eventually, a month later, the effects wear off
• The jaegers return to normal suddenly, all at once
• They laugh it off, and insist everything is as it was before
• Later they quietly compare notes, agreeing that there IS, in fact, a subtle side effect
• Agatha took incredibly good care of them while they were young; she treated them like her own wards
• Now they're big again, but with lingering feelings of Agatha as a beloved mother-figure, especially those who lacked a trustworthy mother-figure in their original childhoods
• They see no reason to tell anyone, merely holding the feeling deep in their hearts like a treasure, it is nice

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Chains of Body, Chains of Pride (other potential titles include - Running Wild, Lost Fight; Ongoing War, Who's Really in Control)

• Klaus Wulfenbach has an even lower opinion of jaegers than Bill/Barry did
• He thinks they are all irredeemable monsters that can't be trusted
• Instead of hiring them, he takes Mechanicsburg by force, forcing the jaegers to flee to the Wastelands or die
• There are no 'Wulfenbach jaegers' only 'wild' jaegers
• Without the Baron's protection, the hoard is fair game to anyone who wants to hunt them down
• They try to stay together for safety, but must balance strength in numbers with staying hidden from threats
• Over the next decade and a half, it becomes a status symbol to have a captured jaeger under your control
• The few remaining free jaegers desperately continue searching for a Heterodyne
• They try to free their captured kin whenever possible, but rarely get the chance
• It doesn't take long for Beetleburg to have visitors with 'pet' jaegers
• Captured jaegers are kept heavily restrained, and sometimes drugged to keep them more docile
• The jaegers that retain their senses DO recognize Agatha's scent, but even hinting at who she is could get her murdered or worse, so they don't dare act
• The jaegers must endure the horrors of being captive war trophies, while their mistress is unaware of anything
• Agatha's parents are disturbed by what's going on
• They fear what could happen if Agatha was ever discovered
• Being a Mechanicsburger is extremely unsafe, so they disguise her locket with a plain cover
• They teach Agatha to avoid any kind of attention, limiting her socializing
• They also quietly pull her out of public school at a young age, secretly getting books for her to learn at home
• Unfortunately, Agatha is still an extremely pretty young woman
• Without the public stigma of seeming mentally deficient, from trying to attend TPU with her crippling headaches, she has a number of men trying to court her
• One of her suitors is an aspiring monster hunter
• They have not one, but three captive jaegers (They are of course, Dimo/Oggie/Maxim)
• The aspiring monster hunter suitor [AMHS] tries to show off by gifting Agatha Ognian as a guard dog
• If Oggie fails to keep Agatha safe, the AMHS will torture/kill his brothers
• Oggie recognizes Agatha's scent/identity, but can't act on it
• He's stuck in chains & a fancy muzzle, which can be partially opened so he can eat, but prevents him from talking or biting people
• (All jaegers are legally required to wear muzzles in public, due to sharp teeth)
• Agatha is NOT pleased by this situation
• Her parents are hidden constructs, and she is morally opposed to the jaegers being enslaved
• She can't publicly speak out without endangering her parents, so she just tries to be gentle with Oggie, and show she won't hurt him
• Oggie feels conflicted about the situation, he's restrained/silenced, but he's with his rightful mistress, who is kind to him
• He wants to return her to her rightful place as the Dread Ruler of an unassailable Mechanicsburg, but doesn't see how it could possibly be done
• Later, the AMHS becomes very ill
• Agatha pretends to be distraught about it, so she can stay close and prevent him from taking his poor feelings out on Dimo/Maxim
• The AMHS dies, leaving his 'pets' to Agatha in his will
• Agatha now 'owns' three jaegers, which are seen as unusually well behaved
• She starts getting approached by other jaeger owners, for advice on keeping their own jaegers in line
• Agatha starts encouraging people to take a soft approach to their jaeger 'pets'
• The jaegers that are brought to her usually recognize what/who she is
• They make a point of being more obedient after she looks them over, so their 'owners' will bring them to her again when they 'act up'
• Agatha still doesn't know who she is
• Adam/Lilith see Agatha gaining more and more notoriety, and fear for her
• They decide she needs to be told the truth so she can actively hide herself, instead of relying on passive ignorance
• Agatha doesn't want to hide
• Agatha is angry
• If she's the Heterodyne, then the jaegers are HER people, and they are SUFFERING
• This will not stand!
• Agatha takes off the locket
• She is now old enough that Breakthrough would not be too strange, and too well known to be easily 'disappeared'
• Agatha's Breakthrough project is a combination repair clank/VR headset
• She can send it into Castle Heterodyne to make repairs remotely, without being discovered
• She also makes a series of Ding-bots to be her public Breakthrough project
• She tells people they are meant to monitor any misbehavior from the many jaegers brought to her to 'train'
• In reality, they are meant for keeping the jaegers/Agatha informed about each other
• They also secretly release jaegers at immediate risk of being killed
• The released jaegers get in touch with their uncaptured kin, letting them know what's going on
• The remaining free Generals are Gkika, Koppelslav, and Higgs
• Zog, Goomblast, and Khrizhan were captured by the Baron
• Øsk and Zadipok died protecting/freeing Gkika/Koppelslav from the Baron's forces
• Higgs is the only jaeger who can move freely
• He tries to keep track of who's still alive, where they are, and what condition they're in
• He starts working with Agatha directly, as they make plans to restore/take back Mechanicsburg
• Eventually, the Castle is secretly repaired; it keeps itself looking outwardly damaged until Agatha gives the signal to reveal things
• Agatha is now in contact with the Mechanicsburg council/seneschal through Higgs
• When Agatha is ready, she will simultaneously free every jaeger/activate the town Castle/defenses, taking her place as the Heterodyne
• The grudges between Agatha/Europa will lead to a war between the Empire/a Mechanicsburg back at full strength
• Lots of horror/violence occurs

Chapter Text

A Jar-ing Revelation (other potential titles include - A Jar of Regrets, Just out of Reach, Beetles May Bite)

• Dr. Beetle is well aware of Agatha's heritage
• So he knows what could happen if a jaeger got close enough to recognize her
• He has his own plans for Agatha that he doesn't want interfered with
• So when he learns that a single jaeger has been spotted nearby, WITHOUT a Wulfenbach crest, he takes quick action
• Dr. Beetle ambushes the jaeger with a sedative gas left over from when the Heterodyne boys attended TPU
• Then he decides to dispose of them using one of the bell-jars meant for criminals, reinforced to hold a jaeger
• Dr. Beetle hopes the threat of this slow, painful death will cause the jaeger to offer information or secrets to save themselves (Clearly, he doesn't understand how jaeger loyalty works)
• He comes by each evening to see if they will sell out for a quick, painless death instead
• The jaeger spends each day coming up with new and creative threats and insults to offer up instead
• Since the bell-jars are meant to be a slow execution, they must allow fresh air in
• Since Agatha passes the jars on the way to school, her scent is regularly in the air
• It takes a few days to pinpoint the source of the scent after noticing it, but they DO identify Agatha
• The bell-jars let air through, but they are also meant to muffle sound; otherwise the constant screams from the dying criminals would be a big distraction for the classrooms
• The jaeger TRIES to get Agatha's attention, but her senses are suppressed by the locket, and she's used to seeing people in the jars, so she takes no notice
• Jaegers can go a lot longer than humans without food or water, but not forever
• This jaeger was traveling alone, as their search-mate is recently deceased
• No one is coming to save them, no one even knows they're in trouble
• They see their unknowing mistress at least twice a day, going to/from school, and sometimes between classes
• They are slowly dying, with nothing to do but reflect on their situation
• They continue trying to draw Agatha's attention until they're too weak to move, but fail
• They can see and smell their mistress, but can't reach her
• They slowly fall into despair, as they grow weaker and weaker
• Finally, they die, hopeless and alone

OR IN AN ALTERNATE CONTINUATION

• As a last ditch effort, the jaeger pretends to be willing to sell out and sacrifice their honor if Dr. Beetle 'stops the pain'
• They know that Beetle knows Agatha's identity, because he has been taunting them about it
• They offer to let Beetle study their biology, and answer any questions he has about the Heterodynes/Mechanicsburg, if he agrees to let Agatha be the one holding the knife for the vivisection
• Dr. Beetle believes the jaeger has broken, and is on the brink of death; they are actually playing it up a bit
• They ARE very weak, but they're still absolutely capable of killing an untrained human if they get the slightest chance
• Agatha is called out of class the next day, to assist the Master with 'research'
• She arrives just in time to see the jaeger wake up secured to a slab, having been sedated again to be moved. (Beetle's not THAT stupid)
• The jaeger is well restrained through the start of the vivisection, with a basic gag so they can't talk to Agatha
• Since it's Agatha's very first time operating on a living subject, she gets worked up partway through, getting a headache
• The pain causes her to fumble a tool, dropping it within the jaegers grasp
• They immediately use it to free one of their hands, tearing Dr. Beetle's throat out, from where he'd been leaning over them in interest
• Agatha is now terrified, her teacher/Master is dead, and the jaeger is now freeing the rest of their limbs/removing the gag
• She is cowering in fear and pain, expecting them to kill her next; she was the one cutting them open, after all
• But they DON'T harm her
• Ignoring their opened torso, they kneel before her, apologizing for upsetting her
• They try to explain what is going on/who she is, but Agatha is in shock
• Seeing this, the jaeger decides to grab a weapon for her to point at them, so she might feel more in control
• But as they get up, their time in the bell-jar, plus their injuries (they were in the middle of being vivisected) catch up to them, and they collapse
• To their immense surprise, they actually wake up again (their last memory was scaring/upsetting a Heterodyne, and Heterodynes do not historically react kindly to those who upset them)
• They are still in the same room, but are now stitched closed again
• Agatha has locked them back on the slab, wanting to get answers before she decides what to do about everything
• The proper Heterodyne heir explanation leads to a partly unrestrained jaeger being shown the locket pictures
• This particular jaeger was one of those Lucrezia was especially horrible to
• Seeing her picture causes them to unintentionally tighten their grip on the locket
• It cracks part of the casing, and causes the picture to pop out, revealing the mechanism inside
• Agatha is initially angry about the damage, but the sight of the Spark-work distracts her
• The jaeger is frantically apologizing for causing damage; she's barely willing to hear them out, they don't want her to reject them entirely
• But Agatha is more concerned with finding out why her locket has a device inside, and what it does
• By now, Agatha believes the jaeger when they say they won't hurt her, but doesn't believe she's a Heterodyne
• She tells them to escape the town before anyone else comes
• She's still upset about Dr. Beetle's death, but recognizes that being vivisected is valid cause for retaliation
• Agatha agrees to meet them outside town in a week or two, after the initial aftermath of Beetle's death has passed
• (Agatha tells people the jaeger got loose and killed Dr. Beetle, but doesn't mention that it was due to her dropping a tool, or that they talked to her at all)
• The jaeger takes this time before the meeting to send a message to the rest of the Pack
• They want at least one other jaeger to join them, to have a separate confirmation of Agatha's bloodline, to hopefully convince her
• Dr. Beetle was well known, and respected. When his death becomes known, there is public outcry for the one responsible to be found and punished
• The Baron sends one of his Questors to investigate
• They find Dr. Beetle guilty of violating the Empire's Construct-Protection laws
• As the jaeger in question had broken no laws/caused no trouble, capturing them for experimentation was illegal
• Being illegally detained means that the jaeger's killing Dr. Beetle to escape counts as self defense
• No official action shall be taken outside of smoothing the path for Beetleburg's new leadership, and the case is closed

Chapter Text

The Firstborn (other potential titles include - An Older Brother's Duty, Blood-Bound, Not Discarded After All)

• Lucrezia and Bill have a baby son about 13 months old, when she becomes pregnant with Agatha (Bill doesn't know yet)
• As Lucrezia is ready to leave Mechanicsburg to become the Other, she must decide what to do about her son
• She considers permanently disposing of him
• Her son isn't a viable host body, being male and not being modified to have the revenant controlling voice
• They could also become a potential obstacle to claiming the town in her daughters body
• Lucrezia finds she can't quite bring herself to kill him
• Instead of acknowledging any maternal feelings, she decides to take him to raise as a servant for her future body
• Lucrezia sneaks in a similar looking baby, injects them with a drug that gives them a temporary Heterodyne scent, and leaves them to be crushed by rubble
• It successfully fools Bill, who also sends the jaegers away before they have a chance to realize the scent is not a perfect match
• With baby Klaus-Barry's faked death accepted, there is nothing to stop Lucrezia from keeping him
• She leaves her son with a different base of Geisterdamen than Agatha
• They have orders to raise and train him to be a perfect guard and servant to the 'Holy Child'
• The Heterodyne boys then show up
• Bill and Lucrezia kill each other (physically at least)
• Barry attacks the Geisterdamen and escapes with Agatha
• He never learns about Klaus-Barry (K.B.) being alive
• K.B. grows up raised by Geisterdamen
• He is constantly taught that his sole purpose is to protect and serve the 'Holy Child'
• He and the Geisterdamen raising him end up being part of the splinter group that believes the current form of their 'goddess' is actually a demon trying to steal the 'Holy Child's' power
• So K.B. is NOT going to be helping with the body-jump, mind-replacement thing
• By the time he's around 18 (he's 2 years older than Agatha, give or take a few months) K.B. is a master swordsman
• He has never been given any materials or information unrelated to either the Geisterdamen way of life, or his purpose as Agatha's servant
• Therefore, his Spark-focus after his Breakthrough (at age 9) is almost completely martial in nature
• He is a master at learning new weapons or combat techniques
• K.B. can break down, analyze, and copy any fighting style he's exposed to
• His Spark most noticeably manifests when designing workout routines or combat katas; or when making a military strategy to defeat an opponent
• He becomes the strongest fighter among the Geisterdamen
• He rarely loses to the same opponent twice
• As soon as Agatha's existence is confirmed, K.B. is sent out
• He catches up just slowly enough to not be caught in the time-stop
• With Agatha inaccessable, K.B. must decide his next step for himself
• He considers each of the parties involved, and ends up making contact with the jaegerkin in the tunnels
• They are all completely STUNNED to find out he is still alive
• Some of the jaegers want him to take over as Heterodyne while Agatha is gone, K.B. refuses
• He has no knowledge of his own Heterodyne blood, and doesn't care
• His sole priority is reaching Agatha and serving her
• Dimo and most of the others who have MET Agatha are relieved at this
• They are very glad that K.B. is alive, but Agatha is the official head of the family since the DOOM-Bell rang
• When Agatha finally reappears, she is going to be in for a BIG surprise

Chapter Text

FATE 'HANGING' IN THE BALANCE (other potential titles include - A Life-Threatening Wait, Let Them Stew, Pivotal Decisions)

• When Jenka is told that Zumzum's gate is 'closed until dawn', she decides to wait instead of insisting
• Being strung up wont kill her idiot brothers, and it's their own stupid fault they're hanging, so they deserve to wait a bit
• However, she misjudged how much the town hates jaegers, enough to not want to risk them going free for any reason
• The town decides to kill DaBoyz before Jenka can retrieve them, then try to avoid retaliation by claiming the three escaped on their own, and they don't know where they went, honest!
• Jenka would of course not be fooled by this, as she could tell her brothers scents never left the town; but it would allow Zumzum to put ALL their defenses/guards towards killing Jenka without having to worry about the other three getting loose and joining the attack
• When the announcement is quietly made, so the townsfolk will know what is happening/be able to watch the execution if they want, Agatha has a choice to make
• She could keep her cover, letting DaBoyz die to avoid notice
• Or she could save them, which would require revealing her identity and possibly great violence (if they try to kill her jaegers anyway)
• Agatha decides she can't let more people die for her safety, so she acts
• She manages to convince the townsfolk of who she is in the end
• She shoots the top beam of the gallows to free DaBoyz, and gives them orders publicly (to fall in? Report? Kneel? something a jaeger wouldn't do for just anyone). They obey immediately, calling her Mistress
• Jaegers, especially 'wild' jaegers are well known to only show such deferential behavior to those with Heterodyne blood.
• Even the jaegerkin working for the Baron act up and argue with him regularly. And they NEVER kneel to him
• So now her identity is known and believed
• When asked what she's going to do (most Heterodynes did terrible things to those who harmed their people), Agatha brings up her father/uncle by declaring that she could not allow people to be executed for committing no crime (not recently anyway), and shame on Zumzum for trying
• She promises to do no harm as long as the town lets them leave peacefully
• The circus is shocked, now they REALLY understand why the Empire wants her
• Agatha, DaBoyz, and Krosp leave town right then, Zeetha stays a bit longer to gather travel supplies (that Agatha forgot in the heat of the moment), before following her Zumil
• Agatha's first meeting with Jenka is peaceful, Jenka feels somewhat guilty when she learns she nearly got her brothers killed/grateful that Agatha saved them (she would have taken bloody vengeance for their murder, but that wouldn't have made them any less dead)
• When Agatha leaves to report to the Generals, she takes a message from Agatha with her
• Othar stays behind for now, but that's not really a good thing
• Instead of being impressed by Agatha's heroic instincts to defend the town from Jenka in Canon, here he's disgusted by her invoking the Heterodyne Boys reputation to save 'irredeemable disgusting BEASTS (his words, not mine)
• He lets them leave because he is unsure of his ability to defeat all three jaegers in a fair fight without endangering the normal people of Zumzum; especially when they'd be at their most vicious defending their lost Mistress
• He starts plotting how to find and kill Agatha later on
• Othar is going to be a SIGNIFICANT problem later
• Agatha leaving the circus early means she never meets Moxana/gets Van Rijns notes
• Also, with no Agatha, Zeetha, or jaegers to help them when they hit Passholdt, they have a much harder fight. Some of the circus members get eaten before they can get away (none of your favourite named characters though, don't worry)
• Because she was forced to reveal herself in Zumzum, the Empire heard about it and is actively searching for her again
• So the group avoids entering any town, except for briefly sending in Zeetha a few times to refresh their supplies
• So Sturmhalten is bypassed completely
• They travel as fast as they can, but by the time they reach Mechanicsburg, Castle Wulfenbach has already arrived and blockaded it
• They eventually find an unguarded secret tunnel to sneak Agatha in, the one used by injured jaegers to reach Mamma Gkika's without going in above ground and breaking the terms of their Agreement
• Carson, Van, and Gkika are already in a meeting to discuss wtf the Empire is doing there, so the groups can jump right into catching each other up/planning what to do
• Now OFFICIALLY, the Baron wants Agatha to meet with him to discus returning Mechanicsburg/the jaegers, but his obvious heavy-handedness is making people skeptical
• Klaus is actually being genuine here; with time to calm down after Agatha's escape, and no Sturmhalten incident (no Spark-Wasping yay!), he's been more inclined to judge her by her actions instead of her mothers blood
• Things Agatha has apparently done so far:

1. Set a Breakthrough clank loose in Beetleburg (forgivable, Breakthrough is prone to irrational decisions)
2. Been a cooperative kidnapped individual on C.W.
3. Helped crash a flying engine into General Khrizhan (Gil's fault, and she helped fix the machine so they didn't fall to their deaths)
4. Helped defend against an activated Hive Engine (big deal, she's against the Other)
5. REJECTED Gil's 'proposal', is not planning to usurp the Empire/harm his son (when Klaus hears the full story of Gil 'proposing', he's VERY unimpressed with his son)
6. Be unaware she was a Heterodyne-did not INTENTIONALLY deceive him
7. Was judged to be a good person by the entire C.W. school
8. Sacrificed her own secrecy/safety to save three people she didn't know
9. Has caused no problems since escaping C.W.

• So Klaus is trying to make peace, Mechanicsburg is understandably suspicious, and Agatha is still afraid/angry at Klaus
• Zola is being held back for now, as Klaus has already met Agatha in person/won't be fooled
• Martellus is sent instead, to try to seduce Agatha/accomplish the Orders plans
• He makes a better impression than in Canon, but Agatha still doesn't fall for him
• Gil is not allowed to help with Mechanicsburg negotiations, he's meant to be focused on fixing Punch/Judy
• Gil sneaks out anyway
• Tarvek is still in Sturmhalten, and will remain there; he's currently trying to fix Tinka with Moxana's help/the Van Rijn notes
• Tarvek's dad/the Geisterdamen are plotting how to get Agatha for the Summoning Engine
• Current plan is to invite her as the daughter of Aaronev's old friends (Bill/Barry), then ambush her/her guards with drugs/overwhelming force
• But that's for later
• After a tense standoff, Mechanicsburg requests proof of the Baron's good intentions
• So he sends one of the jaeger Generals to vouch for him (they are not impressed with his methods, but do believe he really wants peace)
• Khrizhan and Gkika have a meeting about it with Agatha/Van there, there is much flirting between the Generals, much to Agatha's embarrassment
• Agatha eventually decides to give Klaus a chance, especially after she hears her parents are going to be okay
• Higgs came down with Khrizhan as part of the general Empire people escorting 'important individuals'
• He adds some extra information about things/introduces himself
• The meeting between Agatha/her people and Baron Klaus/his people is very tense. Agatha insists she be allowed to repair the Castle before signing any treaties to ensure she can't be strong-armed/pressured into anything she doesn't fully agree to
• Klaus doesn't like this, but it's rightfully pointed out that until the DOOM Bell rings, Agatha is NOT officially the Lady Heterodyne, and therefore cannot sign any documents on Mechanicsburg's behalf

Chapter Text

DON'T FORGET THE NANNY (other potential titles include - Confliction, Hers to Keep Safe, Constructed for a Purpose)

• Von Pinn does NOT kill Adam and Lilith
• When the Clay's come to get Agatha, Von Pinn hears the Baron's orders and decides her charge is not safe around him
• She helps the Clay (& Heterodyne) family escape Castle Wulfenbach instead
• Adam and Lilith understand the driving, compulsive NEED to fulfil one's purpose as a Construct, and are glad to have help, so they accept her easily
• Explanations abound, and some things are figured out early
• A larger group can't hide as easily as one person (+ cat), so they have more difficulty traveling/avoiding the empire
• On the other hand, Von Pinn is very familiar with the Empire's methods/abilities, so they remain uncaptured
• They meet the circus, successfully saving Olga from the crab-clank due to having 2 seasoned Heroes with them
• Zeetha meets Agatha, has her home recognized, and takes her as her student
• Adam/Lilith may actually remember how one gets to Skifandar, so Zeetha knows she can go home, but having already claimed Agatha as her Zumil means she can't leave until Agatha is trained/stable
• Zeetha doesn't mind this, as long as home is possible/exists, she can enjoy her time in Europa with her new companions
• Von Pinn helps Zeetha with improving Agatha's fitness levels, much to Agatha's dismay
• They can't stay with the circus, so they go on ahead; traveling a bit faster than the larger circus troupe
• The faster travel means they arrive in Zumzum earlier, later in the same day as DaBoyz getting strung up
• Adam/Lilith are reluctant to get close, fearing they are Wulfenbach troops, but Von Pinn is able to identify them as wild jaegers, and recommends recruiting them
• So Agatha sneaks down with Zeetha that night, after they've gotten what supplies they can in town
• They easily recruit DaBoyz and slip out of town before dawn, so they don't get caught
• Zumzum assumes they were freed by a fellow jaeger, so they don't bother reporting it

BLAST RADIUS (other potential titles include - Blowing Open Secrets, Intensive Care, Burned Innocence)

• Gil fails to deflect the bomb Dr. Beetle throws at him (actually at Agatha)
• The bomb Dr. Beetle threw had a very basic guidance system, but it was just enough to make it swerve around Gil's attempt to hit it back
• It goes off right in front of Gil/Agatha
• Gil is moderately burned and concussed, but Agatha is seriously injured
• As soon as Agatha's blood is spilled (which has a much stronger scent than her skin), all the jaegers in the room go ballistic
• They violently murder Dr. Beetle with much prejudice (good job Dr. Beetle, harming a Heterodyne near jaegers was a splendid idea)
• At the aggressive insistence of the jaegers (and because she's an innocent girl), Baron Wulfenbach has her rushed to the nearest medical care
• The jaegers go with her, looming around the edges of the room as the doctors work
• All of them are beating themselves up for failing to recognize Agatha soon enough to protect her, and are terrified they might lose her as soon as they've found her
• Gil is feeling extremely guilty about not stopping the bomb, he thinks Agatha only got hurt because she was standing near him when Dr. Beetle tried to kill him (they don't yet know that Dr. Beetle was aware of Agatha's identity, so the Baron's son seems the more likely target)
• Gil wants to go inform/retrieve Agatha's parents himself, as he feels responsible, but the Baron veto's that because he has a concussion; he's not letting his son wander around a hostile town while vulnerable
• So the Baron goes to talk to the Clay's personally instead
• Adam/Lilith are alarmed to see Klaus show up at their house, but since they don't know he's seen Agatha yet, they downplay their reactions (no accusations, no trying to run, just tense conversation)
• The Clay's are horrified to learn that Agatha has been hurt, and unsure if the Baron did it on purpose to capture her
• They are playing along as just being concerned for their daughter, so Klaus won't be expecting them to try and escape with her as soon as she's healed enough
• Klaus doesn't quite get why his old friends seem so hostile to him, but puts it down to them being worried about their daughter
• He hopes to get back on better terms with them, now that he knows they are still alive

Chapter Text

A Single White Sheep (other potential titles include - A Flip of the Coin, Black and White Brothers, Just Like Their Parents)

• The Heterodyne Boys mother only manages to teach ONE of them morals, the other taking after their father
• Very different stories based on which brother is good/evil
• The more likely story is with Bill being the evil one, due to Saturnus focusing more on him as the heir
• Saturnus is pleased by his eldest child's evil nature, and never tries to kill them
• Bill is the one who is going to be in charge, so he has plenty of time to try to 'fix' Barry
• Saturnus instead dies a few years later while raiding
• The Boys mother convinces Bill to let her return to her hometown/family if she visits them several times per year; so Teodora lives
• Bill is a standard Heterodyne in temperament, but still loves his brother immensely
• He doesn't really get angry when Barry argues with him, and sometimes lets him do things to minimize collateral damage from his raids
• While Bill hires tutors and kidnaps professors for things he wants to study, Barry leaves Mechanicsburg alone to get his higher education; meeting Klaus and having adventures with him
• Barry is followed by a small guard squad of jaegers; his older brothers condition for letting him leave the town
• Barry develops a reputation as an unusually merciful Heterodyne, but his brothers continued evil behavior prevents him from being seen as an outright hero
• Bill still marries Lucrezia, having a son
• Klaus is not sent to Skifander here; as Bill never adventures with him, Lucrezia doesn't see him as an obstacle to her marriage
• Klaus-Barry also has a different name
• Because of all the horrible, evil things Bill IS happy to commit, Lucrezia assumes he will approve of her slaver-wasps
• He doesn't. Bill nearly kills her in a rage for thinking to turn his people into puppets, but she quickly declares her pregnancy to save herself
• Bill's shock and indecision gives Lucrezia her opening to blow up the Castle from within and escape
• Barry comes back ASAP upon hearing the news, horrified to learn of his nephews death and his sister-in-law's betrayal
• Bill plans to hunt Lucrezia down for betraying him and killing their son, but is still reeling from the emotional devastation, because he still has feelings of love for her
• He puts Barry in charge temporarily while he's gone with most of the jaegerkin
• He leaves behind Barry's guards, one of the Generals (+ the Sneaky General; who is currently out doing his spy job that Barry doesn't know about), and a few other jaeger squads in case the town is attacked while he's gone
• Barry spends most of his regency fixing the Castle, but also making detailed plans for a hospital to try and convince Bill to approve construction once he returns
• Bill is eventually brought back by the jaegers
• Lucrezia is physically dead, but Bill is on the brink of death himself (poison maybe?)
• They have the location of Lucrezia's minions, and Bill begs Barry to go find his daughter and save her
• Barry swears he will, and Bill dies hopeful
• Barry is now the Lord Heterodyne, at least until Bill's child is retrieved and comes of age
• He takes his own adventurer friends, along with the jaeger horde, and storms the Geisterdamen city
• Agatha is found/saved
• Barry is in control of Mechanicsburg, replacing the Flesh-Yards with the Great Hospital
• The transition is less violent than in Canon, as Barry has enough time interacting with the cities monsters due to Bill's insistence, to know he can't just reject them/drive them away
• Agatha grows up in a Mechanicsburg ruled by her uncle
• The jaegers are never exiled
• Klaus may/may not build his Empire; but if he does, he runs his bigger ideas past Barry first, gaining his support

ALTERNATELY

• Their mother focuses mostly on Bill, expecting Barry to follow his big brothers example
• Bill and Barry stick together and are very close, but THIS Barry now has no qualms about committing atrocities
• Saturnus decides to kill Bill so Barry can be the one to inherit the town, his wife kills him, and is killed herself by the Castle for it
• Pre-Canon goes similarly, but with Barry playing devils advocate most of the time
• He's super loyal to his brother, but that doesn't stop him from suggesting the 'effective' (I.e. brutal) ways of solving problems
• They have some Mechanicsburg guards along with them on adventures, that Barry insisted on; not jaegers, but the 'rode with the jaegers' type of soldiers
• Bill still gets married/betrayed
• Barry still goes and rescues Agatha (with troops/monsters to help him)
• Barry fixes the Castle, raising Agatha as a traditional sort of Heterodyne, all while being in an on/off war with Klaus over the Empire Klaus is building
• The two have reached a cold war situation by the time Agatha comes of age
• Klaus can't take the town, but Barry can't get very far into the Empire before being driven back
• Agatha wants to go and explore the world, but can't safely leave the town as herself
• Gil feels restricted by all the expectations placed on the Baron's son, and wants to find people that will like him for himself, not his status
• They both sneak away from home to travel under false identities and join the circus
• Gil Holzfaller and Agatha Clay find each other fascinating, quickly becoming friends and slowly falling in love
• Meanwhile, Klaus and Barry are both panicking over their missing kids
• If the kids left notes saying they were leaving/not to worry, then the adults are looking for them, hoping to find them before their enemy does while being worried about why their counterpart seems to be searching for something too
• If the kids didn't leave notes, then both Klaus/Barry immediately assume the other has kidnapped their heir and launched an all out war to try and get them returned
• Agatha/Gil are mostly unaware of the chaos they have caused, when they find their way to Sturmhalten
• Aaronev is still a minion of Lucrezia, and has been obsessively looking for a girl the Summoning Engine will work on, while watching for an opportunity to capture the Heterodyne child, who he knows is the intended match
• He invites Agatha to supper at the castle, only for Gil to remember his feud with Tarvek and refuse to let her go alone
• The situation in Sturmhalten escalates, drawing the attention of both Klaus/Barry
• They both arrive to retrieve their brats just as things explode, revealing the numerous Hive Engines in the now exposed tunnels
• Barry and Klaus both hate the Wasps, and grudgingly work together to destroy the Other's forces/find their children
• At the end, Agatha is caught by Klaus, and Gil by Barry
• There's a dramatic moment where Agatha/Gil both loudly declare "Don't kill her/him father/uncle, I LOVE THEM!"
• Tarvek, who has proven a loyal ally in the fight with his father, does some fast talking to convince everyone that the best thing to do is to draft a ceasefire between the Empire/Mechanicsburg, and let Agatha/Gil set the path into the future themselves; together
• The adults are conflicted, but want their kids to be happy, so they reluctantly agree
• Gil and Agatha celebrate this by running up to Tarvek and kissing HIM in turn
• Europa becomes a united, if rather chaotic realm, under the combined rule of: a goody-goody Baron of an airship fleet, a conniving but well meaning weasel Storm-King, and an amoral and selfish, but not sadistic Lady Heterodyne

Chapter Text

Lucky Shot (other potential titles include - To Cut the Head Off the Snake, A New Emperor, Parents Only SEEM Immortal)

• Before Gil can make his proposal to Agatha, Gil finds out his father has been killed
• They have his body, but his head has been irreversibly destroyed
• Everyone is in shock
• Gil forgets all about his elopement plan in favor of mourning and trying to step into his fathers place
• The Empire will now be in chaos similar to during the battle of Mechanicsburg, but without having the Empire's resources crippled from that event
• Adam/Lilith are able to quietly pull Agatha away, slipping off the airship
• The other students don't end up leaving the airship, as they have no reason to, and Gil could really use his friends right now
• Gil and the students do not yet discover that Agatha is a Heterodyne
• The Generals are not pleased to have lost track of Agatha while they were distracted, but at least now they know she exists and have a lead to follow
• Othar still got rescued by Agatha's clank earlier, so now Gil must deal with Castle Wulfenbach also being on fire a little
• He does NOT know about Agatha being a Heterodyne. Theo never learned this, and never left C.W., so he never met/told Othar
• Othar only knows Agatha is a Spark, and that she is trying to hide it
• Agatha is a little confused about why her parents think she's in danger on C.W., so they explain some of why they think the Empire is a threat to her
• Agatha now knows her heritage, and that the Baron is apparently working for the Other.
• She explains that she heard the Empire's officials tell Gil his father was dead.
• Adam/Lilith aren't sure they believe this, and still think hiding is the best option
• Gil is also going through a period of denial, he thinks (hopes) his father faked his death in order to give Gil another 'test'
• The Clay family goes to ground in Zumzum, about a week before DaBoyz/Othar get there
• Now knowing about her heritage, Agatha is not pleased to see Othar trick DaBoyz into nooses
• She initially tries to peacefully diffuse the situation ("haha, very funny. You've had your fun, now let them down")
• When that doesn't work, she tries to shame him into backing down ("They haven't even DONE anything, they were being friendly with you, Constructs are still people" etc.)
• And when THAT doesn't work, she pretends to give up and comes back at night with her parents (they tried to talk her out of it, but she was determined) armed and ready to fight for her people
• She ends up not having to, Othar doesn't see her as being much of a threat, so he's not guarding the gallows
• The 6 of them leave town before Othar can notice the jaegers are free, Jenka is not yet close enough to tag along (they were originally hanging for 3 days before Jenka showed up)
• As Klaus is dead, and Gil only knows Agatha as a fellow Spark he was crushing on got along with, the Empire is not persuing them
• They make their way to Mechanicsburg unhindered (no Sturmhalten either)
• Agatha is able to repair/claim the Castle/Mechanicsburg fairly easily
• They do run into Vole, who reports Agatha to the Empire to try to cause problems/fights, but Gil has too much to deal with already/doesn't much care
• He figures Agatha is either not a Heterodyne/will be killed by the Castle; or she IS a Heterodyne, in which case the town will be owned by someone he thinks is a good, nice person
• Once the DOOM Bell rings, Agatha has many visitors/diplomats/assassins wanting her attention
• Gil gets the Empire back under control enough to make a visit to Mechanicsburg
• He needs to redo the Empire/Mechanicsburg treaty and return the jaegers as per the agreement his father made
• He learns that there are several Valois visiting (Tarvek, Martellus, a couple others)
• They claim to want to help Agatha as a new ruler, they are mostly lying/want to help themselves
• Cue arguing/accusations between Gil/Tarvek
• Agatha threatens to kick BOTH of them out of her town if they can't be civil
• Her parents are working with the other town officials to teach Agatha politics
• She has a great support network now, one that's not dependent on romance
• She can take her time to find someone she can trust/rely on, that will also respect her power on her own terms
• Strong Agatha, Untraumatized Agatha, Independent Ruler Agatha
• Zeetha can show up later, with the circus

Chapter Text

A Different Kind Of Service (other potential titles include - Headache Alert, Stress *[Det][Pro]tection, Alert and Respond)   *would work better if the det/pro could be in top of each other, like 2 words at once; detection and protection

• When Agatha was just starting puberty, the stress/big changes caused her headaches to explode in frequency and severity
• To help her cope, her parents got her a service animal
• It's a large dog, trained to alert to changes in Agatha's stress levels, to get ahead of her headaches as much as possible
• It also serves as emotional support, and can defend her from hostile strangers if she has an attack in public
• Agatha starts doing much better. She still struggles with her studies, but with the dogs reminders to take breaks when she starts stressing, she has fewer headaches and can study for much longer overall
• When Canon starts, Agatha runs into the same alley and meets the two soldiers; this time with her dog with her
• Omar starts to menace her, only for a large, growling dog to plant itself in front of her
• So Agatha is not mugged
• When Dr. Beetle dies, Agatha yells at the Baron and has a headache attack
• While the dog supports her through it, the Baron reminds himself that he is an accommodating despot, and tries to be civil
• In making himself calm down, he remembers he wanted to talk to Agatha about the electrical anomaly
• So he politely asks (orders) Agatha to show him where it happened/tell him about it as he walks her home
• Agatha does not WANT to be walked home by the Baron, but he's the one ruling the Empire, so she doesn't really have much choice
• One of the jaegers comes with, as the Barons guard
• Once they're done talking about the anomaly, he brings up Agatha's locket-tries to chat with her as a fellow Mechanicsburger
• Agatha notes that she's never been to Mechanicsburg, but at least one of her parents probably were
• She tells them that she never met her parents, and got the locket from her uncle Barry to remember them by
• Both the Baron/jaeger note the name Barry in connection with a trilobite symbol, but only subconsciously for now
• They drop Agatha off at home without seeing inside, and leave
• Agatha tells her parents about her day, and they decide to pack up and flee
• Since Agatha's locket wasn't stolen, they don't need to leave the house to look for it
• The dog alerts to Agatha's stress as they plan their departure, and they decide to wait for nightfall to leave, so Agatha can rest
• Agatha takes a nap without sleep-Sparking
• Meanwhile, having less to occupy their mind than the Baron does, the jaeger who helped walk Agatha home has made the Barry + trilobite = possible Heterodyne connection
• They sneak back to Clay Mechanical once they're off duty (they don't want to be mocked if they're wrong, so they're being 'sneaky')
• They find the Clay family about to leave, and both recognize Punch/Judy and confirm Agatha's Heterodyne scent
• When they see this, Adam grabs the jaeger, and Lilith quickly insists that the Baron MUST NOT learn of Agatha
• The jaeger is confused, as is Agatha (for different reasons)
• They go inside, and Agatha's parents explain most of what they know (except the locket, they do NOT explain the locket)
• The jaeger is doubtful of their belief that the Baron is in league with the Other, but agrees it might be better not to risk it
• He insists they take Agatha to Mechanicsburg; if there's anywhere she'll be safe, it's there
• Adam/Lilith reluctantly agree
• Agatha is reeling from this new information, having to step back with her dog to stave off a headache while the others plan
• The four (+ dog) leave town for Mechanicsburg that night
• According to the GG map, Beetleburg and Mechanicsburg are relatively close to each other, but with mountains around them
• So they start traveling
• The Baron notices one of the jaegers has gone missing within the next day or so
• He has one of the others track where he went, following his scent to the Clay's house
• The Baron finally makes the connection between the name Barry + Trilobite = possible Heterodyne
• He rightfully guesses they're heading for Mechanicsburg, and starts making plans for a hopefully peaceful meeting
• He alerts the Generals, asking for suggestions on how to approach the situation
• He alerts his more important agents in Mechanicsburg to be on watch/pass on his invitation to talk if they see Agatha
• Then he gathers all the paperwork that is likely to be needed to redraft the treaty between the Empire and Mechanicsburg, and prepares to watch and wait
• Agatha's group continues. If they pass through Sturmhalten, it is without incident (locket still on = no Spark = not of interest)
• When they reach Mechanicsburg, the jaeger takes them straight to Mama's
• The injured jaegers are extastic to meet her
• Mama Gkika is delighted, but cautions against rushing to repair the Castle when Agatha's not (yet) a Spark
• Cue Lilith going "Yes, about that..."
• Agatha is very angry to learn the truth about the locket, especially after she takes it off and is able to express that anger
• The poor dog is distressed that Agatha's distressed, alerting repeatedly until the lockets effects fully wear off
• Long habit has Agatha trying to calm down when alerted by her dog, helping her see things more objectively
• She's still angry but understands that her parents didn't see any better options
• So Agatha spends her Breakthrough fixing the injured jaegerkin at Mama's, with Gkika's help/guidance
• They then contact the Von Mekkhans, getting their help/information
• Van tells them about the Baron's messages to his agents, that he apparently wants to meet Agatha on peaceful terms
• Agatha is skeptical of her parents belief that Klaus is an enemy, due to everyone else being skeptical/lack of specific reasons for distrust
• But she would still prefer to make sure she is meeting him as an equal, with the Castle working and without being DEPENDENT on his goodwill
• So they send her into the Castle with Adam/Lilith staying outside to help prepare
• Getting in is much easier than in Canon; the secret gates are unguarded right now, so she doesn't have to pretend to be a prisoner
• Agatha makes great progress on repairing the Castle, starting in the areas away from the prisoners
• She finds the Chapel and gets confirmed
• She finds the library, and starts working on the areas closer to the prisoners
• When she meets them, they are disbelieving of her lack of collar, and claim of being the Heterodyne
• At least, until the Castle confirms it, offering to 'punish' them for their disrespect (it probably murders Merlot when he attacks her)
• The prisoners start helping her, while Tiktoffen secretly informs various people of Agatha's presence (he dies later, similar reasons as Canon)
• Because of the danger of bringing them into the Castle, Agatha must leave her dog behind
• She doesn't technically need the stress alerts anymore, and she doesn't want them to get hurt
• But she's literally never been further than a couple rooms away from her dog since getting them around age 12
• She doesn't want to abandon them, which is what leaving them behind feels like
• So instead, she uses her Spark to turn them into an intelligent, strong Construct; so she can at least explain her reasons for leaving them out
• The service dog Construct is excited to be able to talk to their Mistress, and learn new things; they are now able to understand everything!
• Despite being excited, they still take their duty to Agatha's health seriously
• While they accept that they can't join her in the Castle, they decide to spend the time studying how to help Agatha more in the future
• They end up studying psychology, becoming Agatha's therapist/support person
• They just want Agatha to be happy in life

Chapter Text

Flying Into Trouble (other potential titles include - Turnabout Is Fair Play, Crashing Into Discovery, Sorry About Your House)

• Due to mild boredom, General Khrizhan is taking a walk around the halls of Castle Wulfenbach
• He runs into Gil, who has just found time to test his latest flying machine
• Gil asks if Khrizhan would like to join him for a test flight
• Because he's bored, and feeling nostalgic for the years when he was the crazy risk taker, Khrizhan agrees
• They drop the machine from the airship and start flying, planning to loop around the nearest town before returning
• Castle Wulfenbach is near Beetleburg at this point, so that's where they go
• Unfortunately, while the test is initially very successful, partway through their loop around town, the steering goes on the fritz
• They lose control of the flying machine, losing height and picking up speed
• They crash into the top floor of Clay Mechanical, directly through Agatha's bedroom
• Agatha very narrowly escapes being run over, instead falling into the machine with them
• Before they can shoot through the opposite wall and into the next building too, Khrizhan grabs hold of both the machine and an exposed roof beam
• The beam snaps after several seconds of strain, but slows them down enough to only damage the other wall, not punch through it
• Khrizhan quickly checks the humans, to see if they're hurt; Gil being injured would mean trouble with his father, and a civilian being hurt would be a paperwork nightmare
• Gil is dazed, but already babbling apologies and oh craps
• Agatha is dazed and disoriented, but quickly realizing what happened and getting very angry
• Before anything more substantial than 'what the HELL' can be conveyed, Agatha's parents burst in
• While they frantically check if Agatha's all right, Khrizhan recognizes them and resigns himself to being shouted at/lectured
• Punch and Judy are not going to be intimidated by his size like most people would, and they've never been shy about giving anyone a piece of their mind when they mess up
• Now that Agatha is clearly alright, her parents turn to Gil/Khrizhan for explanations (and they better be good!)
• Gil sheepishly explains how his flyer malfunctioned, promising to pay for all the damages/repairs, and provide any assistance they need in the meantime
• He also offers an apology gift of their choice for basically running over their daughter
• Khrizhan apologizes for the broken roof beam, and notes that in unrelated news, he's happy to see them doing well
• Agatha and Gil are surprised to hear that, asking how they know each other
• As Khrizhan takes a deep breath for a lengthy explanation, he finally registers Agatha's scent, choking in shock
• Adam puts his guard up, while Lilith starts the whole 'she doesn't know anything, leave her alone' thing, but Khrizhan barely hears them
• He has found a Heterodyne!!!...He has found a Heterodyne by nearly crushing her and breaking her house...Damage control, he needs to do damage control
• Ignoring everyone else, General Khrizhan kneels before his unknown Mistress
• Identifying her as a Heterodyne, he solemnly apologizes for having caused her distress, swearing to do whatever he must to make amends for it
• Gil is surprised, but happy for the General; his years growing up on C.W. included getting to know the jaegers somewhat, (especially after being acknowledged as the Baron's son) so he knows what finding a Heterodyne heir would mean to them
• Agatha is confused and overwhelmed, the reality of almost getting crushed +all the new information is too much; she gets one of the worst headaches she's had in years, breaking down
• By now, a large crowd has gathered, drawn by the massive crashing sounds/flying debris
• Dr. Beetle is quickly informed about the accident? incident? and is on his way to investigate; interrupting his secret study of the Hive Engine
• In his rush, Beetle failed to completely secure the room, and a few reckless students wander in
• They don't recognize what it is, and accidentally set it off (they die almost immediately. Lucky them, not having to deal with the consequences)
• Now Beetleburg is being overrun with hive warriors, completely in chaos
• Khrizhan is immune to the Wasps, and can hold his own against the swarm of warriors; usually, he'd be heading into the fight with enthusiasm
• But he has different priorities today, today he has a sick, not Sparky Heterodyne and the Baron's heir to protect
• He scoops Agatha up, knocks Gil over the head when it looks like he's going to try and do the hero thing, and takes off running with them
• Adam/Lilith follow him, taking out the enemies in Khrizhan's path while his arms are full
• On the way out they run into Dr. Beetle, who is concussed
• Beetle starts ranting, demanding at deathray point that they hand over Agatha so he can use her against the Wasps and 'Show Them, Show Them ALL!!!'
• He's not making much sense, and more Wasp soldiers are approaching from behind, so Adam uses the expedient solution of putting a rivet through Dr. Beetle's arm
• No longer able to hold his weapon, Beetle is easily knocked out and tossed over Adam's shoulder (they have suspicions about where the Wasps came from after all)
• The group makes it out of town, and find a defensible place to hide while the still nearby Castle Wulfenbach launches forces to save/secure the town
• Much arguing/discussion between Adam/Lilith/Khrizhan while they wait
• Klaus is in for a big surprise once things calm down, but right now, he just want's to know where his son is

Chapter Text

Trying The Other Side (other potential titles include - I Can Do That Too, Changeability, Good Deeds: For Fun And Looting)

• Saturnus sees his children take after their mother, and instead of trying to kill them, decides to try it himself
• Saturnus is still an irredeemable villain, he's very bad at being a good person
• But he's trying? Kinda? And he seems to be having fun with it actually
• Everyone is soo confused, it's hilarious
• He keeps giving people emotional whiplash as he tries/fails to maintain his Good persona
• His wife is trying to give him lessons, but he's only doing this for fun, so he isn't listening very well
• As his sons get older/start heroing, he sometimes tags along
• Not often, but enough that people are starting to get confused about him
• He's also still doing raids when he feels like it, but with Good Deeds sprinkled in?
• Like, he'll attack a town and demand tribute, having his soldiers count/pack it up while he fixes their rundown orphanage or senior home to be top-of-the-line and fully supplied?
• Or he'll do the opposite
• He'll show up at a town that just got hit with a localized earthquake (rogue Spark caused), and bring relief supplies/fix the worst damaged or most important buildings, and then when he leaves they find out that while he was there he also stole all their money and rigged the town hall to launch out anyone who failed to wear a hat inside
• Bill and Barry are a bit different too
• They still have both parents, and are inherently Good at heart
• But their dad is still their dad
• He's been trying things their way, struggling to connect with them; the least they can do is hear him out/meet him halfway
• So a better connection between the Boys and the Mechanicsburg monsters (both literal and figurative)
• Upon meeting Lucrezia, Saturnus takes an immediate dislike to her, in fact, he hates her on the spot
• So he forbids his son to date her
• Which works about as well as forbidding your kid from seeing someone usually works; I.E. not super well
• Bill and Lucrezia are unable to get married, but now they've had a kid
• Klaus is named godfather; as Lucrezia was more focused on Saturnus being her obstacle, he was not shipped to Skifander
• Saturnus is happy to meet his grandson, it's not their fault he hates their mother, and he's a Heterodyne by blood
• It's not like Mechanicsburg has ever cared very much about wedlock, or the non-Heterodyne side of their blood
• But Teodora insists he can't separate the kid from his mother, and his sons would never forgive him if he tried
• So he grudgingly agrees to let Lucrezia live in Mechanicsburg with Bill
• Still no wedding allowed though
• The Canon attack on the Castle happens while Saturnus is out raiding helping confusing people for fun
• The jaeger hoard has been helping him do it (Vole is still a jaeger here)
• Then he gets news that his Castle has been attacked, and his precious grandson is DEAD
• Well, so much for playing nice

Chapter Text

Storm Host (other potential titles include - The Chosen Child, Summoning With the Son, Holy Substitute)

• Tarvek was apparently the result of Lucrezia helping the Knights of Jove ensure they had a 'Perfect' Storm King heir
• So Tarvek was a designer baby
• Lucrezia was already working on her 'live forever' plan, so why wouldn't she make a contingency for the worst case scenario?
• Lucrezia doesn't WANT to use a male host, but if her preferred host body she planned to make (Agatha) was lost or killed, she would need a different match for her Summoning Engine
• So she slipped in a few modifications to make him compatible with her mind
• Tarvek is unaware of this, but his father suspects
• After repeatedly failing to find a match among the random Spark girls they kidnapped, Aaronev decides to try using his own child
• But it's not Anevka he picks, but Tarvek
• It WORKS
• Anevka is horrified, but can't help her brother, or even act like she's concerned
• Tarvek is locked away in his own mind, but can still see some of what's happening
• His clever, twisty mind isn't strong enough to fight Lucrezia directly, but if he's careful he can influence things/encourage certain thought-lines
• Lu!vek would have no interest in Heterodyne shows when (s)he is busy making other plans, and Anevka isn't dying to prompt her brother to seek extreme ways to save her, so Tinka is never found/taken away from the circus
• Lu!vek would definitely do her best to make her host body more to her liking, so Tarvek now looks like a beautiful woman, probably
• In Canon, Tinka was apparently taken 3 years before the circus takes Agatha there
• So Lu!vek has 3 years to start working on plans before the Canon Plot kicks off
• Do they wait that long to act?
• Do they try going ahead with the Zola plan using Lu!vek?
• Do they find a male to play the fake Heterodyne since Lu!vek has been working to turn her host into a female form?
• Is Aaronev trying to hook up with his once lover again, despite the fact that she's wearing his son? (Oh, I really really hope not)
• What influence does Tarvek try, trapped as he is?
• Does Gil notice anything strange, given that he would have recent knowledge of Tarvek's normal behavior from Paris?
• Lucrezia doesn't seem to get access to her host's memories very well, but if she found out that Tarvek is currently under the impression that Gil is Teuful's kid (from the cover story he found) she definitely tries to blackmail Gil with it, leading him to hate Tarvek for it, and drawing the Baron's attention.
• The sudden change in Sturmhalten's young Prince is probably noticed by the Empire
• Maybe a Questor gets sent to investigate, but they just end up Wasped
• I really can't think of any way this ends well for anybody

Chapter Text

Revival Style (other potential titles include - Preservation or Progress, Zombie Ascetics, Resurrection Ramifications)

• A feud between a pair of resurrectionist Sparks
• The first thinks that when reviving someone, you must stick as close to their original state as possible, and minimize the marks/scars of the process
• That way, the person can carry on with their life as seamlessly as possible
• The second believes that's actually harmful; any resurrected person is almost guaranteed to carry feelings of disquiet/wrongness left over from being dead
• They think it's kinder to make some obvious alterations/improvements that the subject can point to and go "That's why I feel weird."
• Instead of leaving them to wonder if maybe they came back wrong to not be entirely happy about being saved
• The two Sparks write the thesis equivalents of diss-tracks about each other regularly
• The rest of the scientific community has been following them like a soap opera, it's great entertainment
• Eventually, some brave minion points out that they could just ASK their subjects if they were happy with how they'd been revived
• Both Sparks dive in to interviewing their past subjects
• Both Sparks come back insisting they have the most glowing reviews
• What neither seems to realize, is that they're dealing with confirmation bias
• Their very public stances have led people to ask for help from whichever Spark matches what they know of the deceased's preferred results
• In Europa, "If I came back as a zombie/construct/resurrection I'd want..." discussions are as standard as preferred method of burial or organ donation topics

Chapter Text

Squashed Beetle (other potential titles include - Overstepped? Overthrown, Born to Rule; But a Little Too Far Left, Double-Town)

• Agatha is a little younger than the start of Canon
• Dr. Beetle has spent most of Agatha's life trying to make sure she trusts and relies on him
• And she does
• However, her ultimate loyalty is to her parents, which Dr. Beetle decides is unacceptable
• He secretly makes plans to eliminate Adam/Lilith in a way that won't lead back to him
• That way he can take Agatha in himself; comforting and guiding her, and becoming her greatest influence
• Unfortunately for him, he's gotten a little too used to having Agatha as his secretary/assistant
• A position that has her dealing with his filing system, and sorting his paperwork
• So he accidentally leaves a couple pages of his plans where Agatha finds them
• At first, Agatha is in disbelief
• She doesn't want it to be real, but she's scared of provoking the Tyrant if it's true
• So instead of confronting him immediately, she digs deeper into his files
• Dr. Beetle needs a way to take the Clay's off guard, but he knows how skilled they are
• So he'd opened up much earlier records, from when the two first came to live in Beetleburg, when they took Agatha in, and even earlier; when they came to town with their creators, who were students
• Agatha has worked with Dr. Beetle's notes for several years now; she can read his codes
• She learns many things: her parents previous identities, the fact that her uncle was Barry Heterodyne, the LOCKET
• Agatha is feeling incredibly overwhelmed, but she doesn't have time to waste
• She no longer fully trusts her parents due to the secrets
• Without telling anyone, Agatha disables the mechanism of her Locket; leaving it's outer appearance unchanged
• She is expecting her Breakthrough this time, so she's able to hide it; working mostly at night with smuggled parts
• She mainly builds Dingbots, which are able to conceal themselves while they do her bidding
• First, she sets one to watching Dr. Beetle in secret; if he starts to set one of his murder plans in motion, it will signal the one Agatha now carries at all times
• The others make their way into the watch-clanks and other defenses; changing them, improving them, and putting them firmly under Agatha's control
• Then Agatha builds herself several small Death-rays, easily concealed
• Her parents are starting to get suspicious about her newly closed off behavior, and insistence of larger amounts of private time, but chalk it up to teenage moodiness/rebellion; behavior delayed by the effects of the Locket
• The moment Agatha gets the signal from her Dingbot that Dr. Beetle is ready to target her parents, she goes to confront him
• It escalates rapidly; They end up having a full-blown Spark battle, with Agatha's Death-rays, exploding Dingbots, and hijacked watch-clanks VS Dr. Beetle's flying beetle-bombs, remaining un-stolen clanks (Agatha only had a few days, she didn't have time to get them all), and greater experience
• They both drive themselves deep into the Madness Place, screaming defiance at each other, backlit by fire and mayhem
• Agatha keeps enough sense to avoid firing directly into the townspeople, Dr. Beetle does not care anymore; the townsfolk notice this
• Agatha strikes Dr. Beetle down in righteous fury for having threatened her family, and in a fit of Spark megalomania, declares herself the new Tyrant of Beetleburg
• Her parents are horrified
• Naturally, the Baron is quickly informed of the fight
• He hears about a newly Broken Through Spark that challenged Dr. Beetle and won, taking over
• Normally, he'd send someone to investigate, before either arresting them, or explaining their new duties to them if they are found acceptable
• But Klaus new Beetle personally, so he's going himself to investigate
• He first plans to take his usual mix of troops: human soldiers, clanks, jaegers, and of course Boris
• Gil is NOT there; he's in Paris right now
• Then he gets an urgent message that the new Sparks thorough survey/analysis of her new territory has turned up a HIVE ENGINE
• He promptly adds a jaeger General to his group, and switches the normal soldiers for more Wasp-immune jaegers
• A force that would normally give him the upper hand against most sorts of threats is about to find itself taken from his control
• When they arrive (earlier than they are expected, they pushed the ship's speed), they are greeted by Professor Glassvich
• He leads the Baron's group to where Agatha is using her clanks to make a quarantine room around the Hive Engine
• Her parents are with her
• They know she knows she's a Spark; they don't yet know she's aware she's a Heterodyne
• This Agatha is meeting the Generals and the Baron immediately after engaging in Old Heterodyne type conquest, but is taking steps to protect innocents form the Wasps in a Heterodyne Boys sort of way
• It's a dichotomy
• Agatha will have to find a way to balance rulership of not one, but TWO towns; not too far from each other, but not next door either
• I don't see her being willing to just 'give up' authority over the place she grew up in to anyone she's not extremely familiar with/trusts completely
• And that's not her parents anymore; she loves them, but no longer trusts them
• So Conqueror!Agatha, with a base of power from the very start