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wowee another muslim in whumpblr!! so nice to see u :-)

hehe salam ^^ <3

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All We Can Do

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this one was a little difficult, but only because i was very distracted while writing it (i was reading deltarune fic i won't lie to you)

regardless, i'm very happy with how it turned out! enjoy!

CWs: apocalypse vibes, vague descriptions of gore, crushed bodies, body horror

All We Can Do

Vivienne and I teleported into the Union conference room, still holding each other and shaking. The reality of the situation had only just begun to set in for me. I’d never owned anything before, and most of the stuff I did technically own was actually just Viv’s stuff that she was letting me use. The idea that it was all just… gone made no sense. All my paintings and art supplies, our TV, our clothes, Viv’s book collection. That stuff was supposed to be ours for the rest of our lives. And now, in an instant, we’d lost everything. I couldn’t comprehend it.

“Guys! Are you okay?”

Madeline and Maggie ran over to us. Looking around, we realised everyone was in the conference room, no doubt having been woken up by the explosion.

Vivienne shook her head. “Our… Our apartment. It was destroyed. We got out, but… All my neighbours…”

“The Godling finally made Its move,” I said. “A huge explosion just destroyed the entire CBD. It was like a nuke.”

Maddie pulled us both into a hug. “I’m just glad you two are okay. When we felt which direction the shockwave came from, we were worried.”

Rosalyn walked up from behind her. “If your apartment was destroyed, ours probably didn’t fare much better.”

Maggie ran a hand through her hair. “Fuck. I’m so glad we got Diego to move in here before tonight.”

We pulled out of the hug, Viv still clinging close to my side. “What are we gonna do?” I asked, looking around. All of the civilians we’d taken in were staring at us, scared expressions on their faces.

“Reconvene in my office,” Ashley said, a serious frown marring his usually laid-back visage. “These people don’t need to be hearing this.”

He turned and stalked into the hallway. With one last look at each other, we all followed.

—

“There are two things we can glean from this situation,” Ashley said, sitting at his desk with his hands steepled. “The first is fairly obvious; the Godling is now in Tombguard, meaning we know Its general location and can use that information to launch a counterattack. The second is that it took an entire week of inactivity for It to charge up that attack, meaning we likely don’t have to worry about anything similar happening any time soon, especially if It’s making moves on the ground now.”

“Except, because of the explosion, all the internet and phone lines are bust,” Maddie said, holding up her phone, which displayed a ‘no service’ symbol. “We’re cut off from the outside world.”

“Maybe for now, but someone outside the city would’ve seen the flash and reported it,” I said. “It was too bright for them not to.”

“We can hope for that, but until we know for sure, we’re on our own,” Steve said. “We need to be prepared to deal with this by ourselves.”

“So, what’s the plan, then?” Maggie said. “We can’t just fling ourselves at it. We don’t even know exactly where it is.”

“Just… Just gimme a minute, okay?” Ashley said, rubbing his temple. “I’m thinking.”

“There’s nothing to think about,” Vivienne muttered, her voice low and even. She stood up from the couch we were huddling on, fists clenched. “How can we hide away in here when people outside are dying? How can we just let that… thing have free-reign of our city? We’re meant to be heroes, for fuck’s sake! Right now, Tombguard doesn’t need us to fight the Godling, it needs us to protect its citizens, like we always do! We don’t even have any way to hurt It right now, so it’s pointless to think about! We just need to get out there and save people.”

Everyone stared at her. She wilted under their scrutiny. “Look, I… I just don’t want any more people to get hurt.”

“No, you’re absolutely right,” Ashley said. “We need to focus on what we can do. But that doesn’t mean rushing out without a plan, either.” He remained silent for a moment, pondering, before looking back up. “Alright. We all go out in groups of two or three, spreading out across the city to search for survivors and investigate the situation. Vivienne, you’ll act as an intermediary, teleporting between the groups to check in and transport any civilians we rescue. We’ll communicate via walkie-talkie, and if you see even a hint of the Godling, you call it in and run in the opposite direction. Do not engage under any circumstances. That sound good to everyone?”

“Yeah, sure,” Maggie said, “but I couldn’t help but notice your use of the word ‘we.’ You’re not saying you’re coming with us, are you?”

“I am,” Ashley replied. “At a time like this, we all need to do our part. If the triplets are going out as well, they’re going to need someone that knows the city going with them. Also, over the past few days I’ve been stockpiling weaponry just in case something like this happened, so I’m not going to be going out there unarmed, either. I know I can’t do everything that you all can, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help out, either.”

“If you’re going, I am too,” Steve said. “Ever since Jordyn’s wish, my injuries have pretty much healed. I’m not gonna let a bunch of kids show me up.”

“Won’t that leave HQ unguarded, though?” Rosalyn asked.

“I’ll put Maggie’s man Diego in the security seat,” he replied. “I’ve been showing him the ropes since he moved over here. Other civilians have offered to help out, too.”

Rosalyn whirled around, turning to Maggie. “Wait, you’re straight? How does that work?”

Maggie shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I guess Andreas just put me together wrong. I don’t have any programming like Jordyn and Hex, either.”

Ashley cleared his throat. “Anyway, does anyone else have any more questions? Because if not, we shouldn't waste any more time.”

Vivienne grinned. “Alright. Suit up, everyone. It’s time to earn our paychecks.”

—

Those of us with hero costumes all quickly got dressed. Ashley had costumes commissioned for Maggie and myself over the winter months, so we got to join in the fun as well. The reason we wore them despite our identities being public knowledge was for civilian morale, apparently. According to Ashley, studies showed that heroes being easily identifiable on the scenes of disasters made the victims feel like help was truly on the way, which kept their spirits up. It also had something to do with the perception of heroes in popular culture such as movies, and how that translated to real life, but I didn’t know a lot about that.

Regardless, my costume was a black bodysuit with a long, billowing cloak designed to create a large pool of shadows for me to pull from. It made me look mysterious and foreboding while still leaving enough room to express myself, which was a vast improvement over my old armour, at least. I just wished the designers weren’t always so focused on making me look scary.

Once everyone was dressed and had retrieved a weapon from the stockpile, we split into groups, trying to balance recon ability and combat potential with personal relationships. The groups ended up being: Brea and I; Rosalyn and Madeline (getting those two to separate was an impossible task that none of us cared to even attempt); Maggie and Hex; Ashley, Ten, and Nina; and Ettie and Steve. We were all a little surprised at Nina volunteering to go out, but with her superhuman hearing, she would no doubt be indispensable in finding survivors trapped under rubble.

Routes were devised using the conference room’s big map of the city. We would fan out from the Union HQ, each heading for the crater (now dubbed ‘Ground Zero’) via different paths, spreading apart and exploring the increasingly ruined cityscape in search for survivors and useful supplies. Once we reached the crater edge, we would turn around and take a different route back, maximising the amount of ground we could cover. Of course, this was all assuming nothing went wrong, and even if we did succeed, we’d only have scouted our half of the city. The ruins on the other side of Ground Zero would have to wait for another expedition.

Even then, it was inevitable that we’d miss people. We could try our best, be as thorough as possible, but in the end, there were only a dozen of us – most of us untrained for these sorts of rescue operations – without any proper rescue equipment. We would need the outside aid of professionals if we wanted to achieve any sort of efficiency or mass success with this plan. But, with the internet and phone lines down, that wasn’t an option right now. We just had to put the morbid knowledge that some people couldn’t be saved behind us, and do the very best we could for those within reach.

With our preparation out of the way, there was nothing left to do but depart. Vivienne took a scopalomine pill, kissed me like it might be our last ever touch, and disappeared with a pop, teleporting away to scout ahead.

“Nothing to it but to do it, guys,” Ashley said, opening the front door and stepping out onto the deserted street. He pulled back the bolt of his rifle, checked that it was loaded, and turned back to us.

“Let’s go.”

—

“You look like a slut.”

Maggie blinked, turning to her little sister. It had been the first words uttered by either of them since they left the Union some thirty minutes ago, heading towards Ground Zero. By now, the buildings around them were beginning to show signs of damage from the explosion, but not to the point where they had to go looking for survivors yet. The real ruins were a bit further ahead. “Excuse me?”

Hex briefly glanced at her before looking back forward. “Sorry. It was too quiet. Also… you kinda do.”

Maggie looked down at herself. Alright, she’d be the first to admit that her hero costume was a little on the risqué side, but that was only because it was shoulderless to facilitate a full range of movement for her wings, and that meant that the ‘neckline,’ if such a term even applied, was pretty low on her chest, showing off a not insignificant amount of cleavage. But she didn’t mind being a little sexy for the public, even if her little sister was endlessly embarrassed by it. She’d spent two years in hiding, so sue her if she wanted to show off a little.

…It was a little cold, though. Maggie pulled her wings in tighter around her arms to block the breeze.

“You’re just jealous that you’re not old enough to get an official costume yet,” she shot back. Hex was just dressed in a simple jacket, jeans, and boots combo. 

“Okay, first of all, it’s bullshit, because I help out just as much as the rest of you, and I’m literally older than Jordyn if you wanna get technical about it. Secondly, as if I’m jealous of your corny ass getup. You look like the actress in a bad superhero porn parody.”

Maggie’s eyebrows shot up. “You’ve been spending way too much time on the internet.”

Hex shrugged. “Well, you won’t have to worry about that anymore, will you? Nothing but human contact for us for a while, huh?”

Maggie sighed, looking out over the devastation. “It seems that way.”

They continued on in silence for a little while, until they reached a point where the buildings had started to collapse. Maggie took to the air, doing a quick scan of the area.

Oddly enough, there were a few people milling on the streets around them. From her aerial perspective, none of them seemed injured – or even really bothered, for that matter – so Maggie elected to let them find their own way to safety, and focus on those that needed more immediate help. If they were still there on the return trip, Maggie would advise them to follow along.

She swooped down, landing next to a collapsed building. “Yo, anyone alive in there?!” she called.

“H-hello?” A voice called back, muffled by the debris. “Can you hear me?”

Maggie called Hex over with a gesture. “Don’t worry, we’re gonna get you out. Are you injured?”

“Um… N-no, not seriously, I don’t think. B-but I can’t move.”

“Just hold on. And, uh, don’t be alarmed if you start floating.”

“What?”

Maggie nodded to Hex. She put her arms out and strained.

Bit by bit , the collapsed pieces of the building began lifting into the air, spreading out in a wide area above them. There was a lot to sift through, but eventually, Maggie heard a cry as a man was lifted up along with the rubble.

“WHAT’S GOING ON?!” he cried, flapping his arms in a clear instinctual attempt to remain balanced.

“Don’t worry, I gotcha,” she said, beating her wings and flying up, plucking him out of the cloud and setting him down on the ground. “Just stay here and you’ll be safe, alright?”

He blinked up at her and nodded shakily, covered in concrete dust. “O-okay.”

“Uh, Maggie?” Hex said. “He wasn’t the only, uh… person-shaped thing I picked up. Could you take another look?”

Dread settled deep in Maggie’s gut, but she ignored it, turning around and taking flight once more. It was a little hard to see clearly in the dark, but sure enough, there were other people floating amongst the wreckage, eerily silent. By now, Hex had pulled pretty much all the rubble up, meaning that everything here was everything she had to check through. Oh boy.

One by one, she grabbed the people and brought them down to the ground. Some were still alive, just unconscious. With others, it was difficult to tell with her limited medical knowledge. But most were definitely dead; their bodies crushed and twisted in ways that left no possibility for life. Maggie clenched her teeth as she transported them, trying not to look too hard lest she throw up.

Their families would come looking for them, she told herself. She couldn’t just leave them in the rubble, even if it was too late to save them. So she soldiered on until all that was left was the uncaring stone.

Hex dumped everything back in the husk of the building with a grunt before doubling over, breathing heavily. “Fuck me, that was hard.”

Maggie left her to her recuperation and pulled out her radio.

“Viv? It’s Maggie. We’ve got some civvies here for transport. Could you meet us on our route?”

After a few seconds, the radio crackled to life, and Viv’s voice came through. “Roger. Give me a minute to find you.”

She’d memorised all of the routes beforehand, apparently. Maggie couldn’t help but be impressed by the sheer intensity of her work ethic. And sure enough, after about thirty seconds, Vivienne appeared. She looked at the scene in front of her and grimaced.

“Fuck.”

“Yeah,” Maggie replied. “This one guy’s good to head to the Union, but the rest of the, uh… most of them are knocked out. I’m not sure what to do with them.”

“I was just at the hospital,” Vivienne said. “It’s still running, thankfully, and I let the administrator know about our plans. They’ve agreed to take in anyone seriously injured. Though, given the sheer number of injured people in the city right now, they’ve sent a handful of doctors to the Union and asked us to deal with anything minor ourselves.”

“Oh. Well, that takes care of that, then. Could you…?”

Vivienne smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “I’ll handle things here. You press on.”

Maggie sucked in a breath and nodded. “Alright. Good luck.”

“Thanks. You too.”

At that moment, Steve’s voice echoed from both of their radios, layering over himself.

“So, I’m just curious, but… Has anyone else encountered the zombies yet?”

—

A few minutes earlier…

Steve and Ettie walked side by side down a ruined street. Or, in Ettie’s case, slithered down the street. She was a strange one, that was for sure.

In truth, he wasn’t quite sure why he’d volunteered to come along. Ettie was as efficient as a machine when it came to saving the people under the rubble. All she needed to do was goop her way between the rocks, locate them, and then wrap them up in her body mass to protect them while she slithered out. Viv had already made several round trips to transport their survivors. Steve was practically just there for moral support. 

Oh well. Walking under his own strength again was enough to make the trip worth it all on its own. Also, he had a sword sheathed to his belt, which made him feel a little bit like a samurai from a Kurosawa movie or something. Ignoring, of course, that the sword was of western design and not a katana, and that he was profoundly white. Also, he had his trusty Colt 1911 holstered on his other hip, and he actually knew how to use that, so the sword was mostly for decoration. But, again, ignoring all that. Steve felt pretty cool.

“So, uh…” he mumbled, trying to think of some way to make conversation. “You’ve been at the Union for a week now. How are you… finding things, so far?”

Ettie hummed. “It is far more comfortable than Father’s hideout, and I enjoy the freedom to spend my time how I wish. But… All of the people in the conference room are annoying.”

Steve chuckled. “Yeah? Why’s that?”

“They can’t tell me apart from my sisters. I don’t understand why it’s so difficult for them. Father never had an issue with it, and neither have any of your people, for that matter.”

“It’s easier for us because we know you better,” Steve replied. “Yes, you may all look just the same, but we know that Nina’s shy, and Ten’s aloof, and you’re…” He trailed off, not sure how to describe Ettie.

“Goopy,” Ettie answered with a nod.

Steve cleared his throat. “...Yes.”

“I suppose that makes sense. It’s still annoying, though.”

“I’m sure.”

A scream echoed from around a corner. Steve’s heart leapt into his throat. He and Ettie shared a quick look before bolting in the direction the sound had come from.

“Help me!”

A man ran at them from down a side street, being chased by a group of four… people? At a glance, they looked like regular humans, but as they came closer, Steve got a better view, and saw that there was clearly something wrong with them. Firstly, their hands and mouths were covered in a red substance that Steve could only assume was blood. Secondly, those aforementioned hands and mouths were all horribly misshapen. Fingers elongated, jaws widened to the point of looking dislocated, teeth and nails sharp and jutting. The worst part was their eyes. All bloodshot, rolled into the backs of their heads, with their eyelids peeled back as far as they would go. Their skin had turned several shades bluer, as well.

Holy shit. Did the Godling create fucking zombies??

Regardless of what these things were, Steve couldn’t just stand around and let them kill this guy. He drew his gun, taking aim and pulling the trigger. A bullet ripped through the kneecap of the zombie in front. Its leg buckled and it collapsed, but quickly climbed back to its feet, continuing to run even with the internal structures of its leg destroyed. Steve knew just how much an injury like that hurt, and he knew that no living, conscious person would be able to just ignore it to such a degree.

He didn’t know if it was possible to save the people that had turned. But he had to prioritise the ones he knew for certain he could save. Steve aimed higher and fired, hitting the next closest zombie right between the eyes. It dropped, and didn’t get back up again.

By this point, the man had reached their position, so Steve stepped in front of him and let Ettie take the lead. She moved literally like water, engulfing the zombies in her body before… tightening? The mechanics of the action weren’t exactly clear, but when Ettie reformed into her regular shape, the zombie’s head had been removed from its neck and placed in her hand. She discarded it behind her without a shred of remorse as its body fell to the ground. Despite being unattached, the head continued to thrash and snarl ineffectually in the dirt.

Well. At least that confirmed that these were zombie zombies, and Steve hadn’t just killed a living person. That was a weight off his chest.

Regardless, he sat back as Ettie dealt with the rest of them with ruthless efficiency, finishing up in under thirty seconds. She returned to his side, eyeing the man. “Are you going to call it in?”

“In a minute,” he replied. “Where’d you, uh… learn how to do that?”

“One of the first things Father taught us was how to effectively kill a person using our powers. Thankfully, we’ve had no reason to actually use that knowledge until now.”

Steve hummed, frowning. These poor kids. He grabbed his walkie-talkie and pulled it up to his mouth.

“So, I’m just curious, but… has anyone else encountered the zombies yet?”

—

Ashley grunted as he pulled his hatchet out of the skull of the zombie he just put down, reaching for his radio with the other hand.

“Affirmative. Ten and I just got jumped by a horde of about seven. We’re fine, though.”

He looked over at the young woman right as she punched straight through the last zombie’s head, splattering herself with gore. Her eyes were wide and she was panting heavily, but otherwise she seemed unhurt. Ashley doubted the zombies would be able to get through her stone skin, anyway.

“Good to hear,” Steve replied. “Just so you’re all aware, these are actual zombies, so don’t feel guilty about taking them out. Ettie took the heads off of three of them and they’re still moving.”

…Fuck. That was good to know. Ashley had been forcing himself not to think about it as he frantically tried to recall his self-defence training and everything he knew about zombie media.

“Anyway,” Steve continued, “Viv, if you’re listening, I’ve got a civvie here in need of transport. No injuries.”

“Give me a minute. A little busy right now,” Vivienne replied. Ashley put his radio down, confident that his input in the conversation was over.

“Nina, you can come out now! It’s safe!” he called.

Nina crawled out from within the collapsed building she’d sought refuge inside. Not really suited for combat and easily overwhelmed by loud noises and intense smells, it’d been decided early on that she should keep clear should anything happen.

“Wh-what… what were those things?” she asked, covering her nose.

“Zombies,” Ashley replied. “Basically, dead people brought back to life. Though, I’m not sure where they came from or why they’re here. I can only assume the Godling has something to do with it.”

Nina grimaced, staring at the bodies on the floor. Her eyes shifted over slightly, and widened. “Ten, are you alright?”

Ashley turned around. Ten was still sitting on the floor, breathing heavily. She held up her hand. “I’m fine… Just… Gimme a minute…”

“What’s wrong?” Ashley asked, walking over to her.

“Ten’s always had poor stamina because of her heavier bones,” Nina answered. “She’s good for short bursts of activity, but all the walking plus the fight just now must’ve worn her out.”

Ten scowled. “Don’t tell him that, bitchhead!”

Ashley smirked. She must’ve picked up a few curse words from one of the civilians at HQ, but without any of the context to use them right. Nina, who obviously hadn’t been around such bad influences, just tilted her head, confused. “What?”

He pulled a bottle of water out of his backpack and handed it to Ten. “Drink this. It’s probably about time we took a break, anyway.”

Ten grumbled under her breath, but did what she was told, and that was good enough for Ashley.

Once she had recovered enough to move, they walked a few hundred metres down the road, until they couldn’t see the bodies anymore, and settled down next to a mostly-intact hardware store.

“You two rest here. I’m gonna check for supplies.”

“Yell if you get into trouble,” Nina said. “Or… just call out in a normal voice. I’ll hear you regardless.”

He smiled. “Sure.”

Ashley stepped up to the doors. Thankfully, the explosion earlier had smashed the glass, so reaching in and unlocking them from the inside was a simple matter. The metal shutter behind them, however, took a bit more elbow grease. He bashed the lock with his hatchet until it gave way, and pulled the shutter open, grinning at his success.

Was this technically looting? Yes. But he felt it was justified given the circumstances. The distribution of supplies in the city would no doubt fall apart now that the Godling had arrived, so he had to take what he could get. They had a decent stockpile of stuff at HQ, but it would only last so long. If they were going to stay in the city, this was likely just the first of many supply trips they’d need to go on. Who knew if outside aid would ever even reach them? Knowing the Godling, It could’ve intentionally cut them off with some sort of illusion so that It could take Its time in picking them off. It wouldn’t be the first time It had besieged a city that had scorned It like that, according to the records his mother gave him.

Ashley moved through the dark hardware store, searching through the shelves with his phone flashlight, shoving anything potentially useful into his backpack. There was a fridge next to the counter stocked with soda and energy drinks, which he quickly snatched – mostly for Ten’s benefit, but extra calories were always valuable in situations like these.

He passed by a chainsaw on display, thought about it for a second, reversed his course until he was back in front of it, and picked it up.

It was a little heavy, but not cumbersomely so. Ashley recognised it as one of the battery-powered models. There was no battery plugged in right now, of course, but a quick search around netted him one from the shelves. He slotted it in, and gave the starter cord a hearty pull.

The chainsaw rumbled to life, and he gave it a few test revs.

Ashley chuckled. “Groovy.”

…A fun thought, but ultimately not a very good idea. He turned off the chainsaw, removed the battery, and put everything back in its place.

"Ashley? Could you come out here?"

Uh oh. That didn't sound good. He quickly wrapped up what he was doing and made for the doors. Outside, Nina was on her feet, staring into space with wide eyes, shivering slightly.

Ashley handed Ten an energy drink. "Drink this. It might help." He turned to Nina. "What's wrong?"

She took a deep breath. "I... I hear... screaming. From far away. A woman."

Ashley frowned, dread seeping into his gut. "Someone calling out for help?"

Nina shook her head, looking him in the eye.

"No. Screaming in terror."

—

I grunted, stomping on the head of the zombie I just took down, wincing as brain splattered on my shoes. Maybe that was overkill, but whatever. It got the job done, and I was a still too antsy at its sudden appearance to care that much.

Brianna let out a war cry, flipping a zombie over herself onto the ground. Her hands then de-materialized, re-materialized at the knife in her holster, and stabbed the blade right through the zombie's temple. Badass.

"Wow, you've really gotten good," I said, smiling.

She stood back up, huffing, but with a huge grin on her face. "Thanks! I can react so much quicker now that I don't have to move my arms."

To illustrate her point, she let her arms up to her shoulders turn to smoke, aside from the hand holding the knife. She then tossed the knife up into the air, de-materialized her hand, and effortlessly caught the knife again on the way down by reforming her fingers around its hilt.

I chuckled. "Awesome."

"Your advice to stop thinking about my smoke as a specific body part really helped. Look at this!"

Her smoke coalesced around her shoulders and formed into hands. She flapped them a few times. "See? I'm Maggie."

I snorted. "Don't let her see that."

She giggled, turning her hands back into smoke. She'd been using her arms' supply to keep a constant cloud around her at all times, making her aware of the immediate environment and alerting her of anything that came close; really just a refined version of what she used to get around the Union before, except that now she could instantly re-materialize her hands anywhere in the cloud to react to threats.

All things considered, this expedition really hadn't turned out as bad as I thought it would. Sure, the desolation was pretty grim, but Brea and I were doing what we could to help people, and the few zombies we encountered were pretty easy to take out

The air popped in front of us, and Viv appeared, looking ragged and rundown. She sighed and flopped towards me, and I automatically reached out to grab her with my shadows. On a night like this, there were enough to call on to completely cocoon her in soft darkness. She sighed again and snuggled into them.

"That bad, huh?"

"I'm so fucking tired," she groaned. "How are you okay, Jordyn? I know you didn't sleep tonight either."

I glanced to the side. "I may have forced myself through like five cups of coffee before we left."

It was the truth. My heart may have been racing for the past twenty minutes, but at least I was awake and aware. I just hoped we finished the expedition before the inevitable crash.

"Fuck, why didn't I think of that?"

Brea came over, patting Vivienne on the head. "Don't worry, we'll carry you for a little while."

At that moment, our radios crackled to life.

"Everyone check in?" Ashley's voice said. "Nina's reporting some weird sounds. Are you all alright?"

"Yep," came Maggie's voice.

"We're fine," said Steve.

I pulled the walkie-talkie up to my mouth. "All good over here."

We all waited for Rosalyn and Maddie to confirm.

...

They never did.

Vivienne sighed once more, wriggling out of the shadow-burrito as if this was a mild inconvenience and not wildly concerning.

"Viv, can you-"

"Already on it," she said into her own radio, before slotting it back into her belt. "See you guys later, I guess."

"Be careful," I replied. "Something doesn't feel right."

Viv gave me a soft smile. "You know me, babe. Nothing can keep me down."

And just like that, she was gone.

"...Shit," Brea said. "Hope they're alright."

"Those... Those two are tough. They'll be fine, I'm sure," I replied, mostly to assuage myself.

Brea and I continued on our path for a while, trying not to think about what might be happening, until we found another crumbled building with people calling out for help. Brea did her thing, searching through the rubble in smoke form until she had their precise locations, and then I did my thing, reaching into the shadows between the rocks and turning them solid, holding the debris in place to prevent further collapse while pulling the people out.

Once we'd checked them over for injuries, I pulled my radio out again, tuning it to Viv's specific frequency. Hopefully she'd sorted out whatever was wrong with Rosalyn and Maddie by now.

"Hey, Vivi, are you available? There are civilians here in need of transport."

...no reply. Brea frowned.

"Viv? Are you alright?"

Once again, nothing.

"Oh god," Brea whispered.

No. I refused to give in to despair so quickly. And, sure enough, the radio crackled, filling me with hope.

Only, it wasn't Vivienne's voice on the other end.

It was Rosalyn's.

"Help."

Taglist: @steelandblood @sapphicwhump @urnumber1star @alsolucakairomi @thataquaticwhumper

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

@bacillusinfection @sorcererfen @art3m1zz

hehehe i'm so so excited to write the next chapter (literally been planning it word by word for weeks)

i've moved all of my writing over to ellipsus in the wake of all the g-docs controversy but i've yet to find a spellcheck option on there so if there are any typos i apologise

Thanks for reading! leave a comment if you enjoyed!

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Hey Monti! I've been searching for Black creators to follow within the whump community, do you have any recommendations?

HEY IF YOU'RE A BLACK CREATOR IN THE WHUMP COMMUNITY PLEASE INTERACT WITH AND RESPOND TO THIS POST!

The ones I know of are, me (of course),

@noirineverysense

@redd956

@whump-princess

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23:47:35

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So it begins...

Enjoy!

CWs: sexual references, digging up old trauma, collapsed buildings, trapped under rubble, loss

23:47:35

Ashley took a deep breath, looking out over the crowd of reporters that had formed when he announced he was doing a press release about the state of the Godling. He hadn’t expected it to be this big, but the Union had been garnering a lot of attention lately, in dealing with all of the clone stuff, so maybe it was to be expected. Also, this was the first time they’d ever had to announce anything regarding the Godling. No doubt people were expecting something big. They wouldn’t be disappointed.

Jordyn, Vivienne, Maggie, and Steve sat behind him, more as a show of support than anything else. They might have to come up and say a few words, but that remained to be seen. He wasn’t planning on sharing that Jordyn specifically was involved in the attack, but who knew what the reporters would ask after being told the world as they knew it was ending? They had to be ready for anything.

Ashley leaned towards the microphone and began to speak.

“Yesterday afternoon, at roughly 3pm, Andreas de Vygon came out of hiding and kidnapped a liberated clone, one who was a registered member of the Heroes’ Union. He implanted a chip in her neck, designed to make use of the programming all of the clones were created with to completely control her movements. He then used this clone to launch an assault on the Union in an attempt to free the Godling and make a wish.” Ashley grit his teeth, swallowing down his nerves. “He succeeded.”

Immediately, the crowd exploded with camera flashes and shouting, so much so that Ashley couldn’t hope to make out any individual question. He put a hand up to calm them down a bit, but it was only marginally successful. He pressed on.

“The Godling was released at approximately 8pm last night, and as of this moment we have no confirmation of Its current whereabouts. However, according to what we know of the Godling, Its first target will likely be the world’s major population centres, and based on Its vengeful nature, we expect Tombguard will be at the top of Its list. If you live in Tombguard, it is the Union’s recommendation that you evacuate immediately, as we have no way of knowing when It might strike. If evacuation isn’t an option, we recommend that you arm yourself and your loved ones and stay indoors, preferably underground or on the first floor. I will now be taking questions.”

Once again, the volume of the audience peaked in Ashley’s ears. There was no way he’d be able to answer anything like this, so he picked a reporter at random, pointing at them and holding up his other hand to quiet the rest of the crowd. “Yes?”

The man stood up straighter. “If the Godling is really free, why hasn’t It destroyed us all already?”

Good, one he could answer. “The Godling’s bindings were designed to sap Its energy. To destroy the Earth, or even just all life on it, the Godling would require multitudes more energy than It currently has. This is also likely the reason It hasn’t attacked yet. When It does, I have no doubt it will be devastating, but it will be nowhere close to presenting a threat on a global scale. That is why there’s still hope that we might be able to defeat and re-imprison It before It can cause too much damage. 700 years ago, my ancestors fought without any modern technology, understanding of magic, or inherent powers and managed to imprison It. Today, we have centuries of advancement to fall back on, not to mention the fact that the Godling is weakened. Even if our infrastructure is damaged in Its attack, our modern methods of communication ensure that the entire world will present a united front against It. What I mean to say is, this is not the end of the world. This is not the beginning of a new era of Godling subjugation. Humanity has persevered and endured through two hundred thousand years of hardships. This will just be one more for the books. The only way we lose is if we lose hope.”

Pride flushed through Ashley as the crowd erupted into scattered applause and frantic discussion. He picked out another reporter, holding their hand up with a question.

“What sort of defences did the Union have prepared for this sort of attack?”

Ah. Ashley knew something like this would come up eventually. He sighed. “Unfortunately, we never predicted someone would be stupid enough to actually try something like this, so the only defences we had were ourselves, and the door to the prison itself. I should mention that that door was both magically and physically sealed shut, but de Vygon came prepared with explosives and the pre-requisite knowledge to disable the runic protections. He took us by surprise, and almost killed every Union member present at the time, including myself. The only reason we’re still alive is because de Vygon didn’t account for the wish not actually going to him. He planned for the clone he captured to make the wish for him, to get around the fact that only someone with a power can get close to the Godling, but for whatever reason, that didn’t work. The clone wished to heal everyone injured in the attack, which saved us.”

“Where is Andreas de Vygon now?”

“He’s currently in Union custody. We’ve converted one of our dorm rooms into a cell, and we’re keeping him there. Aside from a small incident in the aftermath of the attack, he has largely cooperated with us. We’re willing to discuss his situation with the police, but we are also willing to hold onto him until the situation settles down if need be.”

“Do you think this had anything to do with Sebastian Beaumond’s mysterious escape from prison last night?”

Ashley blinked, tilting his head. He heard Jordyn gasp behind him. “I- I’m sorry, I hadn’t heard about that.”

“He was reported missing from his cell just after 8pm, and the body of his cellmate was found stabbed to death. Camera footage showed no one coming near the cell, and nothing unusual outside. He just vanished.”

They were right in that it was unusual, but Ashley wasn’t sure what it had to do with the Godling. “I’m afraid I don’t have anything to say about that. All I know is what we witnessed here last night.”

“How are you going to take responsibility for your negligence allowing the Godling to escape?”

Ashley clenched his fists. “The prison itself was perfectly secure for its purpose. The Godling never showed any sign of attempted escape. We just never anticipated an attack from the outside. Yes, the wish was a tempting prize, but we never predicted anyone would come along with the determination, callousness, and resources to be able to actually break in. This situation with Mr. de Vygon was a freak occurrence that no one could’ve seen coming, especially after he went on the run.”

Thankfully, the crowd seemed mostly satisfied with that answer, though there were still a few hecklers, as was to be expected in a situation like this. Regardless of his excuses, this only happened because he and his family had grown complacent. Had he just been a little more proactive, maybe he’d be at home enjoying a regular morning right now.

The press release wrapped up quickly from there. Most of the important details had been covered, and people were eager to begin their evacuation prep. A few more photos were taken, but before long, the group of them teleported back to the Union to decompress and plan their next move.

“Uhm, I think… I think I know where the Godling went after it escaped,” Jordyn said as they reconvened in Ashley’s office.

Ashley raised an eyebrow. “Where?”

She sat down, staring at the floor. “What that reporter said… about Sebastian Beaumond, and how he disappeared from prison. There was always something… strange about him, but I could never put my finger on it. I just… always got this sense of unease whenever I looked into his eyes. And it wasn’t just because he was complicit in what happened to me. Even when he hurt me, Andreas’ eyes never made me feel weird like that. But Beaumond’s, just… It’s like there’s nothing behind them whatsoever. And that feeling, it’s exactly what it feels like when the Godling gets inside my head. It always seemed like he knew more than everyone else about Andreas’ plan, so maybe… I don’t know. Maybe he was working with the Godling? Funding Project Genesis because he knew it would result in the Godling being freed?”

Siobhan hummed. “It’s not unheard of for It to prepare ideal hosts ahead of time, stealing the souls of newborns to leave room inside of them for possession once they come of age. I just never assumed It would be capable of such an intricate action from within Its bindings. Though, I suppose it explains the quiet period we had when I was a young girl, where no monsters attacked anywhere for an entire decade. It must’ve been the Godling saving up energy to extract a soul.”

Ashley rubbed his eyes, sitting down at his desk chair. “We should’ve been prepared for this. All those fortifications to the prison itself yet we barely set anything up to prevent an attack from the outside. If we just had a single blast door somewhere in the hallway that we could close in an emergency, none of this would’ve happened.”

“Andreas still would’ve stormed through and hurt all of you,” Jordyn said, her voice rough. “Only, then I wouldn’t have been able to save you. Yeah, the Godling wouldn’t be free, but… you’d all be dead. And… I’d rather live in a shitty world where I have you guys, than a safe one alone.”

Vivienne rubbed Jordyn’s back. Ashley sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Enough of this shit,” Maggie growled, standing up. “Wondering what could’ve gone differently isn’t gonna change anything. What we have right now is the reality, and we need to accept it. Now, unless you guys need anything else, I’m gonna take Hex and start training, because we need to be ready when shit hits the fan. Anyone who wants to join me can meet me in the gym. Otherwise, figure out some other way to be useful. We all need to pitch in now.”

With that, she turned and left.

“Someone’s been watching a few too many movies,” Steve said under his breath.

“She’s just stressed,” Jordyn replied. “And… I get where she’s coming from. For all the formative months of our development, we had it drilled into us that the only thing we were good at is violence. And now, at a time where everything seems to be falling apart, it feels like the only thing we can reliably fall back on to keep us and our loved ones safe. I… feel exactly the same. It sucks, because we just finished telling Eight and Nine that they wouldn’t have to fight anymore, but we might not have a choice.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to Jordyn,” Vivienne said. “Maggie even said, find some other way to be useful. There is so much you can do to help people without having to fight.”

Jordyn shook her head. “No. I… I know what you’re saying, but… I can’t accept that.” She stood up. “I know you all think this isn’t my fault, but like it or not, I did cause this. And, like it or not, I’m the strongest person in this entire city; you all saw that last night. I can’t justify not fighting. I was literally made to fight, and… I have to do something to make up for what I did. So… I’m gonna go join Maggie.”

Vivienne stood up, taking her hands. “Okay, Jordyn. Just… Don't push yourself too hard, okay?”

“I won’t,” she replied, leaning in and planting a quick kiss on Vivienne’s lips.”I know how to pace myself.”

She let go of Vivienne’s hands and left.

Vivienne looked around, cheeks slightly pink. “I, uh… I’m gonna…”

Without any further explanation, she teleported away.

Steve huffed a tired laugh. “Those kids, I swear.” He turned to Ashley. “Unless there’s anything else, I’m gonna get back to my post. Gotta keep an eye on things with all the chaos that’s about to be unleashed.”

He walked out the door, leaning much lighter on his cane than he used to.

And with that, only Ashley and Siobhan remained. He leaned back, looking up at the ceiling.

“What am I gonna do, mom?” he asked after a long pause.

“Your best, sweetie,” she replied. “Just like you always do.”

—

The news broke not long after, and predictably, the city immediately descended into chaos as people decided between evacuating and holing up. Stores were looted and crime skyrocketed. Maggie, Viv, and I headed out onto the streets to try and quell some of the pandemonium, trying to stop people from getting hurt. But, in a city as big as Tombguard, there was only so much ground the three of us could cover. It made for some halfway decent training to shake off the rust, but that was about the only positive that could be gleaned from the situation. In the end, we had no choice but to retreat back to the Union and leave the civil protection to the police.

Maggie and I started a training regime in the gym for anyone else who wanted to learn how to fight. Brianna showed up pretty much every day, as did Eight (now going by Ettie) and Ten. Nine (or, Nina, as she preferred to be called) spent most of her time helping out around the place, such as in the kitchen. We’d begun setting up a shelter in the main conference room for those with nowhere else to go, so food was a pretty big need for everyone.

The city government had taken temporary control of the local grocery stores, to ensure that food was still being distributed while allowing the workers the opportunity to evacuate should they wish to do so. Vivienne’s job was largely to transport food and other important supplies to the Union from wherever she was getting them. Thankfully, due to her power, she could also source from outside the city if need be. As such, we didn’t really get to see much of each other for a few days as preparations continued, catching brief moments together as we rushed between different jobs, and when we settled down back at our apartment at the end of each day, falling asleep from exhaustion before we could really enjoy each other’s presence. I missed her. 

Rosalyn and Maddie finally showed up after their little three-day honeymoon ended. It wasn’t hard to guess what they spent most of the time doing, judging by the hickey-covered state of their necks, but I could hardly blame them for that. Regardless, they both seemed in good spirits when they arrived; eager to help out in whatever way they could. Maddie had that look in her eye like she still couldn’t believe what was happening, but as long as she and Rosalyn stayed attached at the hip, she seemed happy. 

Apparently, they’d taken the time to tell Rosalyn’s parents what had happened before they came here, and helped them evacuate. I knew they weren’t really… my parents, but it was comforting to know they’d be safe away from where all the action would no doubt be happening. And I could only imagine how happy they’d be now that their real daughter had come back to them.

About four days after the Godling was freed, I found myself wandering into the kitchen one afternoon, seeking out my girlfriend after training had finished. She was washing the dishes that didn’t fit into the dishwasher after lunch, getting things ready for dinner prep to start. At this point, about half a dozen people had moved into the conference room, so kitchen work was quickly becoming a round-the-clock job. The civilians were thankfully volunteering to help as well, which took the load off of Vivienne and Nina a bit, but cooking for such an increasingly large number of people always required extra helping hands, so they were never too far from their stations.

“Hey,” I said, approaching her in the brightly lit kitchen. No one else was around, but the radio was playing. “Need any help?”

She glanced over at me. The bags under her eyes had grown heavy again, like they were back before Maddie and I got her to relax at the cabin. The sight sent a pang of sadness through my chest. “Oh, hey! Yeah, would you mind drying these for me? We’ll get it done quicker.”

I sidled up beside her, grabbing a teatowel and getting straight to it. “Sure.”

We worked in silence for a while. Vivienne hummed along to the radio, occasionally singing quietly when she knew the words, and I just listened and enjoyed the sound of her voice, drying off dishes and putting them back in their places. Eventually, the radio switched from music to commentary, and Vivienne spoke.

“How’s training going?”

I sighed. “It’s going. Brea’s making great progress, at least. She figured out how to keep her extremities materialised while her arms and legs are smoke, so she basically has floating hands now. Combat applications are still pending, but she’s really proud of herself. I am, too.”

“That’s good,” Vivienne replied. “She needed a win after the other night. But, what about you? Don’t think I didn’t notice you dodge the question.”

“I’m trying not to think about it too much,” I answered truthfully. “If I can just push the meaning behind it out of my mind, it just feels like a regular workout. But… It’s not always easy. Especially when I’m with Maggie, too many things are just… Familiar.”

Viv took her hands out of the water, quickly dried them off, and pulled me into a hug that I gratefully sunk into. “You don’t have to keep doing this if it’s hurting you, Jordyn. You’re already the strongest person here.”

I shook my head against her shoulder. “It’s not enough. Ettie, Nina, and Ten still beat me. The whole reason all of this is happening is because I slacked off and let myself slip.”

She pulled back slightly to look me in the eye. “Do you think Maggie’s been keeping up with the same training schedule she had back under Andreas for the past two years? Of course not, so you can’t blame yourself for that either.”

“Maggie doesn’t count, she’s super strong already.”

Vivienne sighed, tracing her hands up to cup my cheeks. “Oh, Jordie…”

Something felt off about them. I reached up, gently taking one to examine it. Her skin was bleached; raised, cracked, and bleeding around her nail beds from being submerged in the soapy water for too long. I gasped.

“Vivienne, your hands! Why didn’t you wear gloves?”

She winced, glancing to the side. “I… I couldn’t find them. The dishes needed to be done. It’s fine, it doesn’t hurt.”

“You can’t get on my ass about pushing myself too hard when you’re doing stuff like this,” I quietly huffed, gently kissing her fingers. “You have to take care of yourself, too. That’s the deal.”

Viv rolled her eyes, but a smile spread on her lips. “Fine. I can’t argue with you. We’ll swap places.”

I grinned. “Sure. But first… can I get a kiss?”

Viv leaned in until I could feel her breath on my skin. “Of course.”

We came together softly. Her lips were dry, a little chapped, but I didn’t mind in the slightest, sighing against her, putting my hands on her hips and gently squeezing. She smiled against my mouth, teasing me with the slightest brush of tongue as the kiss lingered on. I’d only intended for a quick peck to refill my energy, but now that we were intertwined like this, I didn’t want to pull away. It seemed Vivienne felt the same.

Unfortunately for us, our fun was short-lived, as someone in the doorway cleared their throat and startled us apart. 

We whirled around, finding Maggie, Steve, and…

Andreas?!

“What the fuck?” I exclaimed.

Maggie smirked. “Keep it PG in the kitchen, ladies.”

She had one arm behind Andreas’ back, presumably keeping hold of him. The man himself had his hands cuffed in front of him, staring past me at the far wall. His face still bore the bruises from the night of the attack, and every movement he made seemed to bring him pain. He was dressed in what I recognised as the spare sleep clothes we kept on hand. Without all of his military gear or the slightly crazed frazzle he had going on at his hideout, he just looked like a regular, weak old man.

“What’s he doing here?” Vivienne asked.

“Believe it or not,” Steve said, “he said he wants to help out. Right now, we’re not in a position to deny that, so we figured you kitchen workers could use a hand with all the new residents.”

“I don’t believe it,” I replied. “There’s no way this isn’t just another one of his schemes. Don’t let your guard down.”

“As if,” Maggie said. “No, whenever he’s out of his cell, Steve and I are gonna be keeping a round-the-clock eye on him. He doesn’t do anything without us knowing about it.”

Vivienne hummed. “I’m not sure this is a good idea. Even just for Nina, she won’t be able to work well if he’s around.”

“Already considered that. We’ll make sure there’s no contact between him and the triplets unless they initiate it.”

I bit my lip, staring at him. “Well… If you guys think it’ll work. But…” I took a step closer to him. “Why do you want to help? Why not just stay in your cell where you don’t have to do anything?”

Andreas kept his eyes on the wall behind me. “My reasons are my own.”

I wasn’t sure what I expected, really. 

“Either way, you two clearly need a break,” Maggie said, “So Andy here is gonna handle the rest of the dishes while you two relax. Consider it his way of making up for the other night.” She smiled widely, patting him on the back and definitely enjoying this a little too much. Andreas’ eyebrow twitched, but he otherwise didn’t react.

“I won’t argue with that,” Viv said, taking my hand and leading me out of the room without any further ado. “Have fun!”

“I will!” Maggie called back.

I laughed, more out of nerves than anything, letting go of Viv’s hand to wrap an arm around her waist as we walked. “Wow. I don’t even know what to say to that.”

“I know, right?” Viv replied. “So, what do you wanna do? We’ve got a bit of time to kill.”

I grinned, moving my hand down from its strategically chosen position to squeeze Viv’s ass. She squeaked.

“I can think of a few things,” I said with a wink.

She smirked, turning and pulling me close until our faces were inches apart. “That’s all I needed to hear.”

The world around us popped and we fell into bed back at our apartment, ready to enjoy some proper quality time together.

—

A few more tense days passed as we waited for the other shoe to drop, but it never did. It had been an entire week since the Godling was freed, and apart from Its presumed rendezvous with Beaumond, there had been no sightings of it the world over. Life in other cities continued on as if nothing was amiss. In Tombguard, barely half of the population still remained in the metro area, all hiding away and preparing for an apocalyptic eventuality that, at this point, seemed like it might never come. 

Vivienne and I laid in bed, both pretending to sleep. The digital clock on the nightstand displayed 11:45pm. We went to bed at 9. Something about falling asleep just wasn’t clicking tonight.

I sighed, rolling over and resting my head on her chest, forgoing the pretense and just accepting that we were awake, and we had to deal with it.

“Do you think… we made a mistake?” I asked quietly, whispering into the dark.

Vivienne took a moment to reply “...About what?”

“Announcing it. Half the city evacuated. There’s all this chaos. What if… What if the Godling never actually attacks? What if it was all for nothing? What if It just… got sick of humanity after being imprisoned for so long, and decided to leave?”

Viv reached up, threading her hand through my hair and lightly scratching my scalp. I shivered, sinking into her. “What if we did nothing, and Its attack killed half the population? A little bit of chaos is a small price to pay for peace of mind against something like that. Even if It has decided to leave. There’s no way for us to know.”

“But how long are we gonna be stuck in this holding pattern? We’re just… waiting. How long do we wait before we decide to go back to normal? What if Its waiting for us to do that before It attacks?”

“Jordie…” Vivienne sighed. “You gotta get out of your own head. Overthinking like that won’t do any good. All we can react to is what’s in front of us. If we’re wrong… then we’re wrong. It’ll be no one’s fault.”

“I know, I just… I can’t sleep. And every time I close my eyes it’s all I can think about.”

First it was Andreas’ drill and all the horror from the attack, and now this. If not for the intensive training exhausting me enough to knock me right out most days, I’d probably be neurotic by now.

“You wanna put on the TV?”

Distraction was usually the best medicine in these cases. I shifted a little to look down the end of the bed at the TV. “Yeah.”

Vivienne reached for the remote on her bed-side table. Goosebumps shot up my arms. My spine tingled. I sat up.

“Do you feel that?” I asked.

Viv blinked up at me. “Feel wha-”

A light bright enough to burn straight through my corneas flashed through the window. I grabbed Vivienne, pulling her close and summoning any shadows I could find to wrap around us as the shockwave hit. We were thrown from the bed, slamming into a wall as the world crashed down around us. All I could do was squeeze my eyes shut, hold her, and pray as I reinforced my shadows just in case it wasn’t over.

Eventually, the rumbling around our little cocoon ceased. By the feeling from the darkness around me, it seemed like the roof had collapsed on us, along with all the apartments above ours. We were trapped deep under the rubble.

Vivienne’s entire body shook, and she clung to me like a scared cat. Her whimpering would’ve broken my heart, if it wasn’t beating so fast.

“It’s okay,” I whispered into her neck, trying to keep my composure for her. So long as she could teleport us out, we’d be fine. “We’re okay. We’re safe.”

“Wh-what… What j-just happened?” she stammered quietly.

“I… I don’t think we have to worry about whether we made the right choice or not anymore.”

Vivienne sucked in a breath. “...Fuck.”

“Can you teleport? I don’t think we have much oxygen left.”

“Y-yeah, I think so. Hold on.”

After a moment, the environment beyond my shadows changed. I felt open air above us, and slowly released my hold, letting the darkness dissipate.

We were on a rooftop, some ways away from our apartment. Vivienne and I stood up, taking in our surroundings. Vivienne cursed.

Everything in a massive radius around where the central business district used to be was completely destroyed. In its place sat a huge crater. Most of the buildings surrounding it had crumbled, just like our apartment. Even here, a good few kilometres further away from the impact site, every window was shattered. Cold wind blew from behind us, nipping at our skin and making us shiver. Car alarms blared in every direction. Smoke filled our nostrils as fires lit up across the ruins. 

Total, complete devastation. This was the power of the Godling.

“Our apartment…” Viv whispered. “It… It’s all gone. Everything I owned, it… It’s gone.”

She broke down, dropping to her knees and sobbing into her hands, staring wide-eyed at the collapse of everything we’d built.

Really, what else was there to do?

I joined her on the floor, holding her close and crying along.

Taglist: @steelandblood @sapphicwhump @urnumber1star @alsolucakairomi @thataquaticwhumper

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

@bacillusinfection @sorcererfen @art3m1zz

The Godling War officially begins! and the horrors are only just getting started >:)

Thanks for reading! leave a comment if you enjoyed! if you wanna support me further, buy me a coffee at my Ko-Fi here :) it's very appreciated.

next chapter might be a little wait, i have a lot of stuff to sort out about this arc and the coming chapters lol. cya!

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reblog this and tag your silliest, gayest oc & i will come invade ur inbox with asks

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rah take art

not this blog slowly becoming an art one sigh

take some closeups !

and the line art (I liked it a lot) and the initial sketch (minus the beginning guidelines bc they’re ugly lel)

anyways. taglist be upon ye:

@bamber344 @inspirationallybored @leahnardo-da-veggie @cepheusgalaxy

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Not A Dream

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this chapter is a prime example of why this arc is gonna be so long lol. I pretty much had to cut it in half and it's still like 7k words. There's just so much that needs its dedicated pagetime and i don't wanna skimp out on anything

also! this is the first (and probably only) smut scene that contains some sort of kink elements! so those will be included in the content warnings for your viewing convenience :)

enjoy!

CWs: explicit sexual content, minor foot kink, body worship, references to previous self-harm, references to the drill thing, references to madeline's torture

Not A Dream

Before they left, Rosie wanted to get properly introduced to her clone sisters. Madeline just waited in the corner and watched from afar, still trying to figure out if this was all just a dream. 

Rosie came back. She could still barely believe it. Five years spent trying to accept the fact that she was gone, and now she was just back. Like it was nothing. Madeline still couldn’t comprehend it. The very idea felt fuzzy in her mind, like she might blink and discover she imagined the whole thing, totally cracked from the stress of everything that happened in the last few hours.

Rosie made the rounds, hugging just about everyone in the room and making sure she remembered her new sisters’ names, before returning to Madeline’s side, taking her hand. Butterflies filled Maddie’s stomach, even at this small touch. Like she was 15 again. She… didn’t know how to feel about that. She didn’t know how to feel about any of this. It was all too much. Too many life-changing events in one day had completely burnt out Madeline’s emotional receptors. Her brain just felt like soup. A few hours ago, she was trying to process the deaths of pretty much everyone she loved. After that, it was processing the beginning of the end of the world. Now, she was expected to process this? No. No thank you. Madeline was logging off for the day. Autopilot would take her home, and tomorrow morning – granted this wasn’t all just a crazy dream – she’d wake up in Rosie’s arms and they’d figure it out. Together.

“You two ready to go?” Vivienne asked.

“Take us home,” Rosie replied. Maddie just nodded along.

Viv reached out, touched Madeline’s shoulder, and brought them to Maddie’s- no, their bedroom.

“Have a good night, you two,” Viv said quietly. “We’ll talk more tomorrow.”

A slight pop, and she disappeared. Madeline and Rosie were alone at last.

Rosie sighed, flopping down on the bed. “Fuck, what a night.”

Madeline hummed an agreement, sitting next to her and taking her shoes off before lying down in her usual spot. Rosie did the same, and crawled up the bed to join her

“Are you alright? You’ve been quiet,” she asked softly, placing a hand on Madeline’s cheek. Tears sprung up in her eyes at the touch.

“I… don’t know,” Maddie replied, cradling Rosie’s hand and leaning into it. “I feel like I should be happy, but I just… can’t feel anything.”

Fear overtook Rosie’s face for a moment. “There’s not… someone else, is there?”

Madeline shook her head. “No.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

Madeline sighed, staring up at the ceiling. “I… So much of me just wants things to go back to the way they were before you died. I want us to be happy and pretend like everything’s okay, and pick up where we left off. But, I… I don’t think that’s possible, and it… hurts. Too much time has passed. Too much has happened. The grief, being without you, it… it feels like it destroyed me. I… I don’t know if I’m even capable of happiness anymore. I’m… scared to try, in case it gets ripped away again.”

She idly rubbed the scars on her arm. Grief hadn’t just broken her mentally; it left its physical marks, too. Marks that would never go away. The grief was a part of her now, just as fundamental to her being as her power. Just because Rosie was back didn’t mean it would disappear. The last five years still happened, whether they liked it or not. Nothing could ever change that.

Rosie sighed. “Oh, love.” She crawled on top of Madeline, straddling her hips and leaning down until their foreheads were touching. From this distance, Maddie could see the tears in her eyes. This must be just as hard for her. “I don’t know if I can make everything better. But, I want to try. I know it’s been a long time, but it’s still you and me, okay? You might be different, but you’re still the same girl I fell in love with. Still the same girl I love now. I want to get to know you again. I want to see you smile again. I want… I want you, Maddie. Whoever that you is now.”

Madeline’s bottom lip quivered. She blinked the tears out of her eyes. How could she ever say no to her? “Okay, Rosie. Okay. Let’s… give it a try.”

Rosie smiled. “May I kiss you, mi corazón?”

Madeline sucked in a breath. “Please.”

Rosie’s lips were just as soft as she remembered. Maddie sighed into her mouth, wrapping her arms around Rosie’s body. This was it; exactly what she’d been missing. It felt like coming home.

But she couldn’t let herself enjoy it. Not yet.

“Mm- wait,” Maddie said, gently pushing Rosie back just enough for their lips to separate.

“What’s wrong?”

Madeline bit her lip, looking away. “I… I know I said there wasn’t anyone else, but… You should still know… I haven’t been entirely faithful to you.”

Rosie’s face dropped. “Oh. Right. I, um… I knew about you and Jordyn, since I was kinda… there. I… assume there were others?”

Rosie… was there? That… actually explained a lot about what happened that night. Huh. That was another thing for Madeline to process later, though.

“I, um… went on a few dates with people. Nothing ever went anywhere, though. And, I only really did anything remotely sexual once. With, um… with Viv.”

Rosie’s eyes widened. “Viv? Really?”

Madeline’s cheeks burned at the memory. Both of them had agreed afterwards to never mention it again, but… Rosie deserved to know.

“Yeah, um… she was over here. We were drunk. She sorta… discovered my foot thing.”

Rosie paused. “Y’know, I was preparing myself to feel hurt, but I kinda wanna hear about this now. How did she even find out?”

Of course she’d wanna know more. Ugh. “She had her feet in my lap. I was… staring. She noticed.”

Rosie giggled. “Aw, cute. You always did suck at keeping your eyes to yourself. What happened next?”

Madde wanted to roll her eyes at how much Rosie was enjoying this, but she couldn’t bring herself to, seeing that grin. It’d been five years since she last saw it, and she wanted to savour it for as long as possible. “She teased me a little, but then kinda got into it a bit, and let me… um… y’know, enjoy myself a little. Anyway, things got a little steamy, but it never progressed under the clothes. Then, the next morning, we both agreed to never speak about it, and… that was it.”

“Huh,” Rosie said, dropping to the bed next to Madeline. “Y’know, I don’t hate the idea of that as much as I thought I would. I… I think it helps that it was with Viv and not a stranger. I know she’s a friend.”

“So you’re not… mad?”

Rosie sighed. “I understand it, Maddie. It… does still hurt quite a bit, thinking about you with someone else, but I get it. You thought I was- No, that’s not right. I was dead. No one could blame you for trying to move on.”

Madeline rolled over, pulling Rosie into a hug. “Still. I’m sorry.”

Rosie hummed. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

They spent a while just holding each other in silence. Madeline closed her eyes, breathing in and savouring Rosie’s scent as much as she could.

“I like your new haircut.” Rosie whispered, stroking through Madeline’s hair.

Maddie smiled. “Thanks. I like your zebra stripes. Where’d they come from?”

“Ugh, it was like this when I woke up. No idea why, though. Maybe a side-effect of the resurrection?”

“Maybe,” Madeline muttered.

“How’d you… lose the tooth?”

Maddie shivered, tucking herself in close under Rosie’s chin. She needed comfort if she was gonna remember that sort of thing.

“De Vygon caught me while we were trying to get Jordyn away from him. He wanted information on where she was, so… He tried to get it out of me. Only, my dumb ass wasn’t paying attention, so I had no idea where she was and couldn’t give him anything useful.”

Rosie’s arms stiffened around her. “He… tortured you?”

Madeline didn’t like putting it into such… explicit words, but… there was no other word for it, was there?

“Yeah,” she muttered.

“I’ll kill him,” Rosie stated with absolute certainty in her voice.

Madeline grinned, despite herself. “Funny. That’s exactly what I said when I found out Jordyn was a clone of you.”

Rosie sighed. “She seems like such a sweetheart. I just can’t understand how anyone could do what he did to her. To all of them. And… to you.”

“He was just… hellbent on getting his wish, I guess. Didn’t care who he hurt in the process.”

“Fucking monster.”

Maddie sighed, sitting up. “I guess you should probably see…”

She pulled her shirt and bra off, exposing her chest to the cold night air. The electrical burns had long since healed, but the scarring from Andreas’ rough treatment with the jumper cables remained. Rosie sucked in a breath.

“I don’t… wanna keep talking about him,” Madeline said. “But, I figured you should see this sooner rather than later. So you’re not surprised.” 

“Oh, Maddie…” Rosie whispered, gently stroking Madeline’s stomach. “Does it hurt?”

Madeline shook her head. “Not anymore. They’re just… kinda sensitive.”

She laid back down. Rosie traced a hand up, softly cupping one of her breasts. Maddie shivered. Such a familiar touch, yet it felt so new.

Rosie pulled away. “Sorry. I should’ve asked first.”

Madeline took her hand, placing it back where it was. “It’s okay. I’m just not used to it anymore. But… I want to get used to it.”

Rosie smiled. “I can help with that. If… you want me to.”

Was Madeline emotionally well enough for that right now? Probably not. But, this might’ve been the only chance they would get. She sure as hell wasn’t gonna waste it.

“I’d like that,” she whispered in response.

Rosie hummed, gently kneading the breast in her hand. Maddie breathed out, trying to relax into the sensation as Rosie’s fingers oh-so expertly pressed all of her buttons, like five years hadn’t passed since the last time she felt her touch.

“Good?” Rosie asked, tweaking Maddie’s nipple with a finger.

Madeline twitched. “Y-yeah.”

“Good,” was all Rosie said in response. She leaned in, taking Madeline’s other nipple in her mouth and lightly sucking on it. Maddie groaned, arching up into the contact, trying not to hiss every time she felt the flicker of tongue against her scars.

She looked down. Rosie opened her eyes, glancing up to meet Madeline’s gaze, even as she dutifully continued pulling Madeline apart.

Oh. Right. Pressure built behind her eyes as the realisation hit. This really wasn’t a fucking dream. Rosie was back. She was here. This touch wasn’t enough, Maddie needed more. She needed everything Rosie had to give. Fuck this touch-starved bullshit; there was no time for that. Maddie needed her now.

She reached down and cupped Rosie’s face, pulling her up into a feverish kiss right as the tears that were building fell down her cheeks. Rosie froze for a second but quickly matched her rhythm, parting Madeline’s lips with her tongue. She always knew exactly what Maddie needed.

“Fuck, I missed you so much,” Maddie whispered between fiery kisses that spread between lips and jaw and neck. “Every single day. I could never stop thinking about you. I thought- I thought I’d never see you again. I thought…”

It was no use. She had to pull away to cry again. “Fuck. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, love,” Rosie said, softly rubbing Madeline’s chest. “Would it… help if you had something to focus on?”

Maddie could see where her wife’s mind was going. She sniffled and wiped her eyes. “Y-yeah… I think it would.”

Rosie got up on her knees, straddling Madeline’s hips again, and slowly stripped down, piece by piece. Madeline watched on, enraptured, as she parted first with her tanktop, then her bra, before sitting up to unbuckle her pants and pull them off. Last to go were her socks, and Rosie used the opportunity to shift around so that she was instead sitting in Maddie’s lap, legs sticking out next to Madeline’s sides. The fact that her feet were now that much closer to Maddie’s face did not escape her attention. 

She swallowed thickly, feeling her lower lady harden at the sight in front of her. Rosie’s boobs. Her arms. Her belly. Her thighs. Her feet. All these gorgeous things Madeline hadn’t seen in so long. Her mouth started to water.

“You’re so beautiful.”

Rosie grinned. “Well, why don’t you…” she trailed off, her eyes flickering down. “Are you fucking kidding me? I seriously have zebra pubes?!”

Despite herself, Maddie laughed. It was the truth; the white streaks in her hair had indeed also appeared in her bush. Madeline couldn’t help but wonder if the same thing happened to her armpit hair as well. She’d just have to go check while she was worshipping every single inch of that lovely body, wouldn’t she?

“I wonder if they taste salt-and-pepper to match the look?” she joked.

Rosie huffed a laugh. “Come and find out.”

“In a minute. I wanna enjoy you first.”

She picked up one of Rosie’s legs, pulling it closer, and planted a wet kiss on the sole of her foot, breathing in her delicious scent. Fuck, she missed this.

Rosie rolled her eyes fondly. “Of course that’s where you’d start.”

Maddie grinned. “Don’t act like you don’t love it.”

Rosie smiled, wide and lovestruck. “Yeah, I do.”

Madeline continued, taking her time with her guilty pleasure; licking along her arch, sucking on her toes, showing her love every centimetre of skin and very much enjoying the tiny gasps and sighs Rosie made in response. How lucky was she to be someone who loved to worship, married to a woman who loved to be worshipped? There was truly no one else for her.

Alas, a feast consisting of only one thing was no feast at all, so once she’d given sufficient love to both of Rosie’s feet, Maddie moved on, shifting them around to facilitate the movement before climbing Rosie’s legs. She could feel Rosie’s anticipation getting higher as she worshipped her way past her ankles, her calves, her thighs, getting closer to that heady, salt-and-pepper prize, but Madeline hadn’t had her fill of the appetisers yet. She moved around Rosie’s pussy, kissing the junction of her thighs and her pubic mound, before heading upwards to her belly. 

Rosie let out a frustrated breath. “Aw, come on.”

“Patience, my love,” Maddie muttered, licking a stripe across her soft abdomen. “I’ll get there eventually.”

‘Love.’ That was the first time she’d said it out loud since Rosie came back, wasn’t it? Why had it taken her so long?

“I love you, by the way,” she whispered, nibbling the underside of Rosie’s boob.

Rosie chuckled, putting a hand in Madeline’s hair. “I love you too, mi amor.”

She spent several minutes around Rosie’s chest, showing her wife just how much she missed her; sucking on her nipples and leaving at least a dozen little lovebites scattered around the place. Also, yes, she confirmed that Rosie’s armpit hair had indeed turned zebra colours as well. Maddie took a deep breath, savouring the smell. She didn’t know if it was pheromones or what, but the scent of Rosie’s body after a full day out always sent her head spinning, and today was no different, even after all this time apart.

“Maddie, pleeeease…” Rosie whined, pushing her hips up.

Madeline grinned, planting one last kiss on Rosie’s collarbone. “Fine, fine.” She shifted downwards, settling between Rosie’s legs, inches away from the height of her arousal. Rosie lifted her legs so that her thighs wrapped around Maddie’s head, locking her in place. Luckily, there was no place Maddie would rather be.

She leaned in, buried her face in Rosie’s bush, and got to work. 

Rosie’s reaction to just the first swipe of Maddie’s tongue might have very well just fixed everything. The shift of her body as she arched into the pleasure; the sighing moan that came out of her mouth, like music to Maddie’s ears. Shivers ran down Madeline’s spine, shooting straight to her dick, still woefully trapped inside her pants as it was. Rosie’s warm thighs pressed in close against Maddie’s head, quivering slightly as she circled her clit with her tongue. The hand in her hair gripped and pulled, keeping her face pressed firmly against Rosie’s cunt. She was so real. So physical and reactive. So alive. Maddie still couldn’t believe this wasn’t a dream.

It didn’t take long to refamiliarize herself with all of Rosie’s buttons. Madeline had been worried that, after so much time, she wouldn’t remember how to get her wife off properly. Thankfully, it barely took a minute before she was pulling keens and moans out of her lover’s mouth; licking, sucking, and humming with nary a second thought. Apparently, eating pussy was like riding a bike. Once you knew the ropes, you could never truly forget.

She fell into a sort of trance, surrounding herself with nothing but Rosie. The tart taste on her tongue; the shrill cries in her ears; the soft touch of her skin. Her entire body tingled. If she kept going, Madeline didn’t doubt she could probably make herself finish from this alone. It was pure bliss.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Rosie was already pretty worked up from the foreplay, and it didn’t take long before she reached her peak. Her thighs tightened around Madeline’s head, muscles clenching, gasps reaching new heights. Maddie dutifully licked until it seemed like the last tremors of orgasm had left her body, and then licked some more, just to clean things up a bit, because she was good like that.

“Hhmnn, fuck…” Rosie muttered, panting hard. “Fuck. You’re so good.”

Madeline smiled, lifting her head up and resting it on Rosie’s thigh. “I live to serve.”

Maybe… she’d been wrong. Maybe it was possible to go back to how things were, at least in some small way. Nothing could erase the last five years, but the way Maddie felt right now… Her entire body was glowing, buzzing, sparking with more positive emotions than she’d felt in half a decade combined.

Rosie being back wasn’t going to fix everything. This elation wouldn’t last forever; Madeline knew that. But, just for tonight, none of that mattered, because tonight was all there was. The last five years didn’t matter, because Rosie was here in her arms now. All the pain, the loneliness, the cuts on her arm and the empty bottles in the bin didn’t matter, because right now, Madeline was happy. 

Rosie had been correct. Maddie just needed to stop focusing on the lost time in her head, and start focusing on the things in front of her. And, what better way was there to do that than to spend half an hour kissing every single inch of skin on her wife’s body, until she was so focused on her that nothing else in the universe existed?

“I love you,” Maddie whispered, caressing her cheek against Rosie’s thigh.

“Love you too,” Rosie said, grunting as she sat up. “Now, turn over and get those pants off. It’s criminal that you still have clothes on.”

Madeline laughed, doing what she was told and chucking her pants to the other side of the room. Her lower lady flopped out, still achingly hard and leaking pre. Fuck, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this turned on. Rosie eyed it eagerly.

“Good to see I still have the same effect on you after all this time.”

“As if that could ever change,” 

Rosie grinned, reaching out and taking Maddie’s dick in her hand, giving it a few light pumps. Madeline shivered as a drop of molten pleasure dripped straight onto her core.

“F-fuck. Be careful. I don’t know how long I’m gonna last.”

Rosie winked. “Good.”

She leaned down, taking Madeline’s length into her mouth, and… fuck. Maddie groaned, arching her hips up as that silky soft heat overtook her entire nervous system. Rosie bobbed up and down, expertly running her tongue along Madeline’s dick, reaching between her legs to gently caress her balls. Maddie melted into the mattress, completely and utterly overwhelmed by the warmth of Rosie’s mouth.

Just as she’d predicted, she didn’t last long at all. Within seconds, pressure was already building at the base of her spine, tugging at her strings like a million morning stretches in one. Rosie picked up on it, lightly squeezing Maddie’s balls to add the perfect pinch of pain into the mix. 

Stars flickered in her vision as she reached her peak, thrusting upwards, spurting cum down Rosie’s throat. A tingling buzz spread across her skin, sapping the energy from her muscles, and she dropped back to the bed totally limp, breathing through the twitching aftershocks as Rosie returned the favour of licking her clean.

Rosie smacked her lips as she crawled back up the bed to lay at Madeline’s side. “Hm. Tastes a little different than I remember.”

Maddie blushed. “Well, I, uh… don’t exactly eat as healthy as I used to.”

Rosie hummed. “That’s probably it.”

Madeline took the chance to look at her, properly this time, without the clouds of grief or horniness obscuring her vision; her entire system reset after that wonderful experience. Highlighted by moonlight through the window, it really was like time had just… stopped for her. Her face had a more youthful affect than that of the clones, though whether that was because she hadn’t lived through the trauma they had, or because she was still physically 21 while the rest had been aged beyond that, Maddie didn’t know. 

She sighed, pulling Rosie close, breathing in the scent of her hair.

“Is it okay if I just… never let go of you ever again?”

Rosie snorted. “It’s going to make going to the toilet a little awkward, but… Sure. Let’s just stay in bed forever.”

“Sounds like heaven.”

—

When Madeline woke up the next morning, she was alone in the bedroom. It took a moment to recall the events of the night before, but when she did, her heart flew into her throat. She shot up, scanning the room with her eyes, but Rosie was nowhere to be found.

Had it really all been a dream? No. No, surely not. Please.

“R-Rosie?!” she called out, desperation cracking her voice.

The toilet flushed. Maddie heard footsteps, and the bathroom door opened as Rosie stepped out.

“Yeah, love? What’s wrong?”

Relief flooded Madeline’s body so quickly that tears filled her eyes. “I thought you said you’d stay in bed!”

Rosie smiled sadly, sauntering over and crawling onto the bed. “Aw, sorry. I didn’t go far.”

Maddie eagerly wrapped her up in an embrace as soon as she was within range. “Just… wake me up before you go next time. When I woke up and saw you weren’t there, I thought…”

“Shh, corazón,” Rosie soothed. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I… thought it was all a dream.”

“Not a dream, my love. Never again. I’m here for good now.”

Madeline felt like cracked glass, desperately holding herself together with sticky-tape and glue. How weak had she grown that one little trip to the bathroom was enough to almost break her?

She supposed this was just… what it would be like now. The last five years had left a heavy toll on her. There was no going back to the way things were before. 

They’d just have to make a new happiness instead.

It would be okay. But it would be different. And that was okay.

—

Despite the exhaustion tugging at every cell of my body, I couldn’t sleep a wink that night. How could I, after everything that had happened?

Vivienne and I went home not long after Maddie and Rosalyn left, falling straight into bed, but I couldn’t keep my eyes closed. Every time I so much as blinked, I would see Andreas coming at me with the drill, or Vivienne dropping in the conference room, or Maggie’s limbs being broken. It all just seemed like too much to have happened in such a small amount of time. And that wasn’t even touching on the fact that Rosalyn came back. The original; the one we were all created from, walking among us like I hadn’t dug up her dessicated corpse a few months ago. 

And it was because of me.

I dragged her soul back out of that strange place during the monster attack. I kept it with me for months as I tried to learn how to be a normal person. And I pulled the sword out of the Godling, wishing for everything to be better and subsequently fixing Rosalyn’s body and giving her soul a place of its own to return to. If there was any solace to take in this whole fucked up situation, it was that at least I got to do that little piece of good with my unimaginable sin. 

All that was to say: sleep was an impossibility for me that night, and I knew it well. Viv, on the other hand, desperately needed it, so I left her to her rest and searched for something else to occupy my time until the sun came up and I needed to pretend to be a person again.

To that end, I fell back into my old habits and sought peace through art. The inside of my head was a whirling typhoon, and the only way to sort it out would be to solidify its contents somehow; get it out of that abstract space and onto a canvas, where it could stay until I felt confident enough to analyse it.

Thankfully, we still had a few canvases left over from the last shopping trip, so I quietly set everything up in the spare room and got to work, letting my body take the lead as my mind fell into the background.

By the time I came back to myself, my arms ached from the repetitive brushstrokes and my butt hurt from sitting on the wooden stool for so long. The door behind me opened and I blinked the strain out of my eyes.

“So this is where you were,” Vivienne said, coming up behind me and kissing me on the cheek. Was it morning already?

“Couldn’t sleep,” I replied, my voice rough.

“It looks beautiful,” she said. 

It was the truth. The canvas was covered in bright pinks and oranges and paler blues, swirling around like a liquid sunset. What it meant, I couldn’t even begin to guess, but looking around, it seemed to be the last in a line of finished canvases drying against the wall, each one lighter and more abstract than its predecessors. The first one in the line was far enough away and at such an angle that I couldn’t make out its exact image, but the dark reds and sharp lines covering the image painted a picture that I wasn’t sure I was ready to see just yet.

It wasn’t that I didn’t remember painting each of them, of course. Time just… seemed to blur a little, and the edges of each painting in my mind became undefined and hazy, as did whatever I was feeling while creating them. All I knew was that my eyes didn’t just hurt from lack of sleep.

“How’re you feeling?” Vivienne asked, rubbing my shoulder.

I took a breath, considering the question. Unconsciously, I reached up and grabbed her hand.

“Lighter.”

—

After a quick breakfast, Viv and I headed back to the Union. My hands and clothes were covered in dried paint, but I really couldn’t be bothered cleaning up, knowing that I’d only have to be in the presence of friends. Once we arrived, Vivienne quickly teleported off to collect Maggie and Hex as well. We chose to leave Madeline and Rosalyn alone for now, unless we needed them. They would no doubt call if they needed a pick-up, and far be it from us to disturb their reunion for no good reason.

“I have a speech written up to announce what happened last night, but I don’t want to do it until we’re certain we’re ready,” Ashley said. “So… Are we ready?”

“We still need to go and bring Eight, Nine, and Ten back here,” I said. “They’ve been waiting at Andreas’ hideout all night.”

“Alright,” Ashley replied. “Who’s gonna go?”

“If they kicked your ass that bad, we should be prepared for a fight,” Maggie said.

“Though, they might be more agreeable without Andreas ordering them to attack,” Steve suggested.

“Maybe… we bring Madeline along?” Hex said. “She would probably help to keep them calm.”

Ashley raised an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

“I think it’s something to do with being cloned from Rosalyn,” I said. “I was totally enraptured the first time I saw her, and I bet it’s the same for the rest of us, too.”

“Yeah, I don’t even like girls and I still felt some type of way when I first saw her face on TV,” Maggie replied. “Good idea, Hex.”

“I’ll go over there and see if she wants to help out,” Viv said, right before she disappeared with a pop.

She reappeared a few seconds later, a bright red blush on her face. “They’re, um… they’re busy. We should just leave them be.”

I could only imagine what she saw in the scant few moments she was gone. “So, who’s coming, then?” I asked. Obviously, I had to go. The three clones knew me, and they saw what Andreas… did to me last night. My presence would help prove our claim, and there needed to be at least one familiar face in the retrieval party. It wasn’t like we were gonna send Andreas out to get them.

“I’ll go,” Maggie said. “The more of us clones show up to convince them, the better. And, if they get rowdy, I’ve got experience kicking my little sisters’ asses, so I should be able to keep them in check.”

I rolled my eyes fondly. She was never gonna let me live that down, was she?

“I’ll come too!” Hex practically shouted, as if she was afraid we’d leave before she could say her piece. 

Maggie looked like she had an issue with that, but whatever it was, she kept it to herself. No doubt, she was just afraid for her. And who could blame her, after what I did to her last night?

“That should do, then,” Vivienne said. “I don’t wanna teleport too many more people than that, especially including the three we’re going to collect.”

“You better get going, then,” Ashley said. “The longer I put off this speech, the worse it’s gonna be. The world needs to know what’s happened.”

Viv nodded, reaching her hands out to Maggie and I. We both grabbed hold – Hex grabbing Maggie’s other hand – and prepared to teleport. I’d already told Vivienne about the location where I first ran into Nine, so there was no need to worry about that now.

“Stay safe,” Steve said. 

“We will,” Viv replied. And just like that, we were back out on the street where it all began.

I took a deep breath, and led the way.

—

The warehouse Nine originally led me into was still unlocked, so we went inside without issue, and I immediately bee-lined for the opposite door, remembering the reverse path we took last night when we left for the Union. How Andreas managed to stay hidden in the back room of an empty warehouse for three months was beyond me, but apparently, it worked.

I shivered as we entered the room; the place I woke up in, with all the monitors and the big X-frame that I’d been restrained to. The place where Andreas drilled that muzzle into my skull. Bloodstains still covered the dusty concrete floor where it happened. I did my best not to look, but I could feel the others all staring at it, no doubt coming to their own conclusions.

Eager to get out of there, I quickly walked over to the door I saw the clones shuffle into before Andreas and I left, signalling the others to get ready before pulling it open. They’d already been informed as to the clones’ powers, so there would be no surprises today.

Crammed into the room were two beds, a minifridge, a folding table with four folding chairs around it, an open suitcase with clothes spilling out of it, and a portable hotplate, along with various other utensils one would expect to find in a kitchen all scattered across the floor. Eight and Nine sat on one bed, playing a card game, while Ten did push-ups in a clear spot on the floor. Looking at their living conditions, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. 

But that didn’t mean I’d be holding back if push came to shove. The bulb on the ceiling barely gave off any light, which meant I was right in my element. No more of my loved ones would be hurt.

Ten looked up, her eyes widening. “Seven?! How… What?!”

She jumped to her feet, dropping into a combat stance. “How are you here? Where’s Father?” Her eyes travelled past me, taking in my companions. “Wh…what? More of us?”

The other two got up from the bed, though not as cautiously as Ten. I put my hands up. “We’re not here to fight you.”

“I asked you a question!” she shouted. “Where’s Father! What did you do to him? And… How’d you get out of that… that thing?”

 I sighed. “Andreas lost. We’re keeping him at the Union, where he can’t hurt you or anyone else. As for the other thing, it’s a long story. I’ll explain later.”

“R-really?” Nine whispered. “You captured Father?”

“Yep,” Maggie said. “And if you come with us, we can give you a proper place to stay. You won’t have to hang out in this dingy shithole anymore. Seriously, were you all sleeping in the one bed?”

“The only reason we’re here and not comfortable back at the facility is because you forced Father into hiding!” Ten shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at me.

I frowned, clenching my fists. She’d been manipulated and groomed to love him since the day she was born; I couldn’t blame her for her attitude. Damn if it wasn’t annoying though. 

“Andreas was forced into hiding because of his own actions,” I replied. “The way he treated me – us – it’s wrong. It took me a long time to accept that, but once I did, I wasn’t just gonna let him get away with it. We’re just weapons to him.”

“If… if we go with you… will we still have to do combat training?” Nine asked. “Or punishments?”

“We can do whatever we want,” Maggie said. “No one tells us what to do anymore. No one hurts or punishes us, either. Your life will be yours to live, and yours alone. You can pick your own name, too.”

Nine’s bottom lip quivered. She looked over at her sisters, then back to us. Then, slowly, she took a step towards us.

“Nine, no! What are you doing?!” Ten yelled. “We owe Father our lives, we can’t just abandon him!”

Nine clenched her fists, looking down at the floor. “I know, but… I just… I can’t take this anymore.” 

I held out my hand. “C’mere, Nine. It’s okay.”

She looked at my hand for a moment before rushing forward and taking it. I pulled her into a hug.

“I-I’m so sorry for lying to you,” she said, breaking down into tears. “B-because of me, you got-”

“Shhh, it’s okay.” I whispered, cutting her off. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“Nine!” Ten snapped. “Get back here right now!”

“Ten…” Eight said in that soft voice of hers, stepping closer to her sister. “We need to go with them.”

Ten’s face dropped. “Not you, too…”

“He isn’t going to stop hurting us if we stay here. You saw what he did to Seven last night; his own daughter. Our sister. What’s stopping him from doing that to us? One bad day?” She reached down, taking Ten’s hands. “Every day here is a bad day. We’re starving, Ten. Look at them, look how healthy they look. That could be us. Maybe… Maybe we could learn stuff, too. They might know why we all look the same. Remember how we used to wonder about that? And… even… Even if none of that is enough to convince you… what about Nine? She’s not like us; she can’t keep up with Father’s demands. Eventually… it might kill her. She needs this, and I don’t want to let her go alone. I don’t want to leave you alone here either. It’s always been the three of us. I don’t want that to change.”

Wow. Eight was apparently a lot more clued in than I originally thought. I assumed she just wasn’t paying attention.

Ten blinked at her, eyes wide and watery. “I… I…”

She stepped back, ripping her hands out of Eight’s grasp. “No. No! One… One of you must have a mind control power or something! You’re getting in their heads! Stop!”

Hex sighed. “No one’s doing that.”

Stone formed up Ten’s forearms. I subtly reached out to the shadows in the room, preparing to restrain her.

“Ten, please!” Nine shouted. “Just come with us! Father isn’t even going to come back! They said he’s at the Union, remember? So… if you come with us, you can see him again. If… that’s really what you want.”

“We might have to keep her locked up with him until she calms down a bit,” Viv whispered in my ear. Nine turned her head as if she heard, but if she had an opinion about it, she didn’t say it.

“I… I just… I don’t want to betray him!”

“Don’t you think he’d want you to look out for your sisters?” I said, tapping into my knowledge of the man. “You’re the heavy hitter out of the three of you. Has he ever trained you to let the others go off alone? Eight and Nine have decided they’re coming. The only way you can betray him now is if you don’t come with them, to look out for them.”

“You wanna stay here so bad, then stay,” Maggie added. “But your sisters are coming with us, and you’re not gonna stop that. It’s their decision, just as much as it’s yours.”

Ten’s resolve wavered. Her arms dropped. “B-but… But Eight! You said you didn’t want to leave me alone! You’ll stay with me if I don’t go, right?”

Eight sighed. “I don’t want to. But… you’re strong. You can survive on your own. I don’t know if Nine can. And… I don’t want to stay here, either. I don’t want to live like this anymore.”

“There’s nothing here for you, Ten,” Hex said. “Andreas isn’t coming back. Your food will run out. Either you come with us, and we teach you how things on the outside work, or you’re forced out once you can’t stay put anymore. And, believe me, the last thing you want is to be trapped in the outside world with no idea what’s going on. I was there, and it was the worst few weeks of my life. You need people. Family. We can be that family for you.”

Ten’s lips thinned. A few stray tears rolled down her cheeks, as though she was trying but failing to keep them in. I couldn’t help but be reminded of how young she really was. “F-fine. I’ll go. But don’t think it means I’m on your side! It’s just… to keep those two out of trouble. And to see what you did with Father!”

I sighed, dropping my shoulders. Finally. “If those are your conditions, then so be it.”

—

We transported the three of them back to the Union, and for the most part, they settled in okay. Ten was, as expected, a little snippy, but her sisters kept her cowed. Brianna showed up, putting on a smile that was just a little too bright to be genuine, and offered to give them a tour, leading them off while everyone prepared for the official press release. I needed to catch up with her, sooner rather than later.

To that end, I slipped away while Vivienne was doing her makeup, following Brianna’s footsteps and finding her in the gym, as the three sisters explored the space with wide, sparkling eyes.

“Hey,” I said, sidling up beside her. “Are you alright? We haven’t gotten a chance to talk yet.”

Brea blinked, turning her head towards me. “Oh, Jean Shorts? Hey. Uh… I’m okay, I guess. Just… have a lot on my mind.”

I chuckled humourlessly, taking her hand. “I’m right with you, there. Do you wanna talk about it?”

Brianna squeezed my hand in response, running her thumb along my skin. Physical touch always seemed to sooth her. Not that I’d ever really seen her like this before. She’d always been such a bulwark of positivity in my life. Though, I supposed after last night, anyone would be feeling a little shitty.

“I just… felt a little useless last night. I’m thinking about what I can do about it. Vivienne suggested asking Maggie or you for some combat training, but I’m not really sure how good at it I’d be. Or, maybe I could figure out a new way to use my power or something. I don’t know. Things are gonna be different now. Just… helping search through rubble isn’t gonna be enough. I need to do more.”

Teaching someone else how to fight? I’d never considered it before, but… it would probably be pretty important that everyone could defend themselves in the days to come.

“I’d be happy to help, and I’m sure Maggie would, too.”

Brea smiled a little. “Thanks. Though, who knows if we’ll even have time?”

“Yeah,” I muttered. The Godling hadn’t attacked yet, but that didn’t mean It wouldn’t. It was only a matter of when.

The three sisters returned to us, no doubt ready to continue their tour. Ten glared at me, because of course she did, but Nine’s eyes lit up when she noticed me.

“Seven, hey! Are you joining us?”

I smiled. “No, sorry. I’ve gotta go prepare for something. We’ll catch up later, though. Oh, uh, also… I much prefer to be called Jordyn, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, sorry. Um, I’ll come up with a name soon, too.”

I nodded. “I’m sure. I’ll see you all later, yeah?”

“Bye, Jordie,” Brea said. “Thanks for the chat.”

“No worries, Brea. Good luck with the tour!”

She smiled. “Thanks.”

With that out of the way, there was nothing left to do but get ready for the press release. Ashley wasn’t at fault for what happened last night, and as such, it wasn’t fair that he should have to face the public alone. 

We’d all be right there with him, ready to announce the apocalypse.

Taglist: @steelandblood @sapphicwhump @urnumber1star @alsolucakairomi @thataquaticwhumper

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

@bacillusinfection @sorcererfen @art3m1zz

Hi hi! hope you all enjoyed that! I very much enjoyed writing it lol. This was very much the 'character cleanup' chapter, as we sort out all our character based stuff in preparation for the final arc. Next chapter will be that but for larger plot stuff, and (hopefully) some plot will start happening

OH YEAH also before I forget (because i keep forgetting lmao), i now have a Ko-Fi! so, if you like my work and wanna support me, you can do that here! I super appreciate every little bit :)

Thanks for reading! leave a comment and let me know what you thought!

[seastarblue]

cute girl with eyepatch is the best character design it can't be beat

[seastarblue]

girl help I’m drowning in procrastination (I SWEAR I gotta start attacking ppl on AF)

[seastarblue]

cute girl with eyepatch is the best character design it can't be beat

[seastarblue]

welcome backkkkk!

thank you anon ^^

[seastarblue]

rah Kaiden art bc I lov her

art taglist!

@bamber344 @inspirationallybored @leahnardo-da-veggie @cepheusgalaxy

@urnumber1star @melodxi @write-with-will @teratheo @bioniclechronicles

@oros-ash3s @satohqbanana @ominous-faechild @sunflowerrosy

@megandaisy9 @ashandamen @illarian-rambling @corinneglass

@finickyfelix @vesanal

[seastarblue]

Rosalyn: Rebirth

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masterlist

time to hang out with our girl!!! subject G-0!! the original!! ROSIEEEEEEEEE!!!

enjoy :3

CWs: buried alive, grief, gross men, stabbing, cosmic horror

Rosalyn: Rebirth

It was total chaos.

The whole of downtown Tombguard had transformed into one giant, city block-shaped mass of flesh, gnashing its jaws and swinging its tentacles wildly. The death toll was already in the hundreds. The support heroes were doing their best to get as many civilians out as possible, but the entire Union was only 16 members strong, and the support group made up only a quarter of that. There was just too much ground to cover. Too much monster to kill. It wasn’t just the ground; any building in the radius had been converted, too. The world had never seen an attack like this, and it likely never would again.

Rosalyn stayed determined through it all. Her expertise was area control, so that’s what she focused on, slowly but steadily burning through meter after meter of eldritch flesh, defending herself with her Rapid Oxygen Combustion technique to blast away any tentacles looking to get a cheap shot. Maddie was somewhere else in the carnage, piercing deep into the monster with her icicles, focusing on disabling the building-types. Rosalyn couldn’t wait for this all to be over; to go to her and fall into her arms, which would no doubt end with them passing out together on the sidewalk.

Because, truly, she was exhausted. Every muscle fibre in her body quaked with fatigue. Her hands stung with countless burns. Her eyes streamed tears from the smoke and the stink of burning meat. What she wouldn’t do for just one moment of respite…

Her knee buckled slightly, but she forced it under control, stopping herself from falling. In doing so, she briefly unfocused on keeping the temperature raised and the fire flowing. Apparently, that was all it took. One single second.

And it all went black

—

Rosalyn opened her eyes.

The first thing she did was blink. Nope, still pitch black.

“What the fuck?” she exclaimed, voice rough from disuse. Where was she?

She tried moving her arms, but they quickly knocked against the wooden sides and roof of wherever she was. The space was only just barely big enough to fit her. When she rapped her knuckles against the wood, the resulting sound was dull. No hollowness behind it whatsoever.

Was she in a fucking coffin? That would explain the stink of death all around her. Had she actually been buried alive?

Rosalyn sorted through her memories while trying to think of a way out of this. She remembered the fight with the monster, but… nothing about what happened after. She must’ve passed out from the exhaustion of it all. It felt like she’d been asleep for a very, very long time.

There were also memories that didn’t fit. They felt hazy, like a dream. She remembered pain. Isolation. The feeling of her bones breaking and reforming over and over, of her skin being stripped from her muscles. The crushing loneliness of a cell without a door and the knowledge that no one would ever come to save her. Until someone did.

She remembered the girl that looked just like her, save for the scar across her face. Seeing her through the mirror, and then again when she appeared in Rosalyn’s cell. She remembered being liberated from that horrible place, now bound to her identical counterpart. Seeing through her eyes.

She remembered… a whole lot of sex with Vivienne. Huh. What a weird dream.

Anyway. Getting out of this coffin now.

There probably wasn’t a lot of oxygen left, so she needed to act fast. One good ROC explosion should do it, though. Her clothes would be ruined, but that was hardly important right now.

Rosalyn closed her eyes, focusing her energy on the air around her without letting it loose, building it up inside of her.

And… Pop!

Heat washed over her as all of the oxygen inside the coffin ignited at once, blowing the top right off with a powerful shockwave. Dirt rained down on her and she scrambled out of the way, clambering up the grave wall until she felt damp grass under her fingers. She gripped it, dragging herself out of the hole she just made. Freedom. 

Rosalyn rolled onto her back, looking up at the stars, breathing in the fresh night air. It felt like a lifetime since she last felt like this. So… hopeful. 

What was going on? Who buried her? And where was Maddie?

Rosalyn spent some time just lying there, catching her breath, before finally summing up the courage to look around.

She recognised this place. It was the cemetery in the neighbourhood she grew up in. Her grandparents were buried here.  Weird.

But what was more weird was the fact that the headstone above the grave she just crawled out of was adorned with her own name, complete with the current year as her date of death, and the whole ‘beloved blah blah’ stuff. Whoever pulled this stunt put some real effort into it. It even said she ‘gave her life for the people of Tombguard.’ So, what? She was supposed to have died in the attack?

…Did she die in the attack? She certainly couldn’t remember the end of it. 

Of course she didn’t, because dead people didn’t come back to life, and that was stupid. She just needed to get home. Maddie would be able to explain everything. 

Cold air nipped at the bare skin on her arms, so she focused the heat and created a warm bubble around herself. She looked down, examining her clothing situation. What remained of her dress after the explosion was in tatters, but there was enough left to cover the important bits. It fucking stunk like death, though. And… This was the dress she only ever pulled out for formal occasions. She couldn’t imagine a reason she’d’ve been wearing it when she got nabbed.

…Either whoever kidnapped her literally pulled out every single stop to make her burial realistic, or she actually died and came back somehow. 

Woah, okay, that was way too much of a mindfuck to think about right now. Priorities; get back to her apartment and find Maddie. That was all she needed to focus on.

Oh. She didn’t have her bus card. Or her wallet. Or her phone. In fact, she had no pockets whatsoever.

This was gonna suck.

—

Rosalyn huffed, pulling herself up off the fire escape and onto the roof of the building opposite her apartment. After already walking for an hour through the city to get here, climbing a fucking building was the last thing she wanted to do. But, she didn’t really have much of a choice. She wasn’t getting into the building without her key, and she had no way of calling up to Maddie – if she was even home – so this was her next best option. It wasn’t like she hadn’t done it before. It was just a pain, because people always called the cops on her thinking her ROC explosion was gunfire.

Nothing to it but to do it, then. Rosalyn backed up to the opposite edge of the roof, took a breath, and broke into a sprint, aiming for her apartment balcony. The second she jumped, she focused her heat behind her and ignited the air. The resulting shockwave from the explosion propelled her all the way across the street, and she landed in a practiced roll on her balcony. Alright. Mission accomplished.

“Hello? Anyone home?” she called as she entered the apartment. The lights were off, and there was none of the usual ruckus that would ordinarily accompany Maddie, so she must’ve not been around. That was fine. Rosalyn could use the chance to shower the corpse stink off of her.

A vague sense of unease washed over her. Something was… different. She couldn't place exactly what it was at first. The couch was the same one they bought when they moved into the apartment. The TV was the same, too, as were the framed pictures on the walls. But the old rug they inherited from Rosalyn’s parents had been replaced. There were unfamiliar game consoles in the TV stand. There was a new bookshelf against one wall. And, most oddly, at the end of the bench there seemed to be a shrine to Rosalyn. At least, that was what it looked like; the framed picture of her surrounded by candles. 

…How much time had really passed? Her heart started to race. Come to think of it, Tombguard certainly didn't look like it was still recovering from that attack when she was walking here.

What the fuck was going on?

She needed to get to the Union asap. Whatever was happening, it was clear that Rosalyn had been missing for a while. Everyone needed to know she was okay.

She jogged over to the ensuite bathroom, stripping down on the way. On the last step before the shower, however, something in the mirror caught her eye.

Her hair was full of white streaks, running from her scalp all the way to the ends. She looked like a goddamn zebra. 

“What the fuck!” 

—

Going a little salt-and-pepper was the least of her issues right now, so Rosalyn elected to ignore it as best she could. It honestly didn’t look that bad, all things considered. It was more just the principle of the situation she was upset with. With her shower finished, hair quickly dried with some haphazard heat and then thrown up into a ponytail to hide the subsequent frizz, Rosalyn returned to the bedroom to begin rifling through the drawers, searching for an outfit that didn’t smell like dead body.

Just as she’d begun to suspect from the fact that all of her usual toiletries were gone from the shower, the only clothes she could find were Maddie’s. That wasn’t too big of an issue, as she was used to sharing clothes with her wife, but shoes might be a problem. Would Maddie have thrown out all of her stuff? She couldn’t imagine it, what with how well maintained that shrine in the living room looked.

Rosalyn threw on a band tanktop and some jeans with the cuffs rolled up and moved to check the closet.

Ah. There it all was; all of her old clothes. Tucked away where Maddie wouldn’t have to see them all the time, but where she could still hold onto them. Rosalyn didn’t know how long it had been since she disappeared, but Maddie was clearly struggling with it. Rosalyn’s heart hurt for her. They needed to reunite quickly. She needed to figure out what the fuck was going on, and fix this.

She grabbed her favourite pair of boots and laced them up, bouncing up and down a few times to test how they felt. Just as comfortable as always.

A gnawing sense of sadness ate at Rosalyn’s gut as she left the apartment – the normal way, this time. Just how much time had she lost? Months? Years? All those opportunities for happy memories, just… gone. She and Maddie had been talking about maybe trying for kids soon. Would that still be on the table? What if Maddie had moved on? It seemed unlikely, given the shrine, but she could just still be trying to honour Rosalyn while falling in love with someone else. 

Tears pricked at her eyes as she stepped onto the street. No, don’t think like that. Maddie’s wedding ring was on her bedside table, and there was no dust on it whatsoever. It was a bad sign that she wasn’t wearing it, but that could just be due to grief, like with the clothes, and either way it was clear she touched it a lot. It wasn’t like it was hidden away in a drawer somewhere. That had to mean something. Rosalyn rubbed her own wedding ring with her thumb, trying to summon some hope from it. Everything would be fine. It had to be.

—

“Move! This isn’t funny!”

“Nobody’s joking here except you. Come on, stop playing hard to get, baby.”

Rosalyn frowned. She didn’t like what she was hearing coming from that alley next to the bar. Peaking around the corner, she saw three men crowding around a woman. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on.

“I’m not ‘playing’ at anything. Get out of my way! I wanna go home!”

“Well why not come home with us? After that display inside, you can’t act like you don’t want to.”

“Hey jerk-off, she said no,” Rosalyn said, coming around the corner. “Get outta here and stop embarrassing yourselves.”

The three of them turned, looking down at her. It was times like these Rosalyn wished she was taller. 5’3 was nice when she was hugging Maddie and didn’t need to do anything extra to get a faceful of boob, but it didn’t exactly have much intimidation factor.

“This isn’t any of your business, little missy. Unless you wanna join us?” the one at the front asked, prompting sleazy laughter from his friends.

Rosalyn held out a hand and ignited the air. The three grunts recoiled. “No thanks. I’m not a fan of unwashed asses.”

“Dude, don’t you recognise her?” one of the guys said. “I think she’s one of those freaky clones.”

…Huh?

“Yeah, I heard those things are unhinged,” guy #3 (as he was labelled in her head) replied. He grabbed guy #1’s shoulder. “Come on, this skank isn’t worth it.”

Guy #1 scowled, but she could see the fear in his eyes. “Fine, whatever. Let’s go.”

With that, the three of them turned and sauntered off. Good riddance. But seriously, what was all that stuff about clones? And why did they seem to think she was one? 

“Thank you,” the woman said, approaching. “I’m not sure what I would’ve done if you hadn’t shown up. And, don’t listen to them. You’re not a freak.”

“What did they mean ‘clone?’” Rosalyn asked.

The woman cocked her head. “Are you not… one of the de Vygon clones?”

What did Ashley’s family have to do with this? “Not last I checked.”

“Huh. You look just like her.”

“Like who?”

“Rosalyn Garcia-Holmes. The one the clones were created from.”

A shiver ran down her spine. “That’s… That’s my name. That’s me.” 

A strange look of pity came over the woman’s face. “Oh, sweetie. You can’t be her. She died five years ago, in that big monster attack. Whoever told you that you were her wasn’t telling the truth.”

What?

Five years? Died? That couldn’t be right.

But… she did wake up in a grave. One marked with her own name.

But that still didn’t make sense! If she died, how was she here?! And what the fuck was up with the clone thing? What the hell was going on?!

What if… What if this woman was right? What if she wasn’t actually Rosalyn? What if she was just… some sort of clone implanted with Rosalyn’s memories? Oh… Oh god.

“Woah, hey. Just take a breath,” the woman said, touching Rosalyn’s shoulder. “Are you alright?”

Not for the first time that night, tears pricked at Rosalyn’s eyes. “I… I’m sorry, I think I’m a little lost. Could you… Could you explain some stuff to me?”

The woman gave her a sad smile. “Sure. It’s the least I can do after you helped me out. You wanna grab a burger? We can talk while we eat.”

Food sounded nice. Apparently, she hadn’t eaten in five fucking years. Her stomach felt suitably empty. “S-sure… But, I don’t have any money.”

“That’s alright, I can handle it. The name’s Tammie, by the way.”

“Just… Just call me Rose, for now.”

—

“So, you actually woke up in your own grave? Damn, that must’ve been crazy,” Tammie said, taking a sip of her drink.

“This whole night’s been crazy,” Rosalyn replied. “I still can’t wrap my head around everything. I don’t… I don’t even know if I’m the real Rosalyn. What if I’m just… another one of those clones Andreas de Vygon made, implanted with the original’s memories?”

“Can’t see how it’d be possible, based on what you’ve told me. From what I’ve heard, none of the clones had any memories when they were created, and even if you were one, why would you be in Rosalyn’s grave in the first place? And where’d her body go? You being a clone just doesn’t add up.”

Rosalyn sighed. “You really think me coming back from the dead after five years is more likely?

“Girl, we live in a city where the fucking ground regularly comes to life. A little touch of resurrection doesn’t strike me as all that far-fetched.”

Rosalyn couldn’t help but laugh as she stole another chip from Tammie’s tray. “The Godling is the only thing that can do stuff like that, though. Are you saying It resurrected me?”

Tammie shrugged. “Could be.”

“Geez, I’d hope not. That would mean something was wrong with Its restraints, and that can’t be good for any of us.”

“Well, there were a bunch of sirens and shit blaring around the Heroes’ Union building a few hours ago. Maybe something did happen?”

…Oh god. Something definitely happened.

“That reminds me, I should probably get going. My wife’s been waiting five years to see me again. Don’t want to leave her hanging any longer.” Rosalyn said, standing up.

“Oh! Yeah, no worries. Thanks again for your help!”

“I should be the one thanking you. Get home safe, okay?”

Tammie smiled. “Sure. Give your wife a kiss for me, yeah?”

Rosalyn raised an eyebrow, but she couldn’t help but grin. “I’ll give her a kiss for me, thank you very much.”

Tammie laughed. “Go get ‘er, tiger!”

Rosalyn left the 24-hour diner, and began heading for the Union. It was around midnight now. Wherever Maddie was, she was probably asleep. That was fine; Rosalyn would find her regardless. And the walk gave her time to reflect on everything she’d just learned about the world she was trying to rejoin.

Five years had passed since she supposedly died. That was… so much time. So many lost memories and opportunities. Would she even still know her friends after such a long time away?

She squeezed her fists, pushing down that pervasive ache of grief for the lost time. Stuff like that didn’t matter. If she didn’t know them anymore, she would get to know them, whether they liked it or not.

But, the revelation that she died shined a new light on those weird dreams she had. All of the suffering, and her little adventure with that body double. It must’ve been real. Rosalyn didn’t know much about how souls worked, but she guessed that those dreams were what her soul experienced while her body lied dormant. That girl must’ve been one of those clones Tammie talked about. Apparently, she’d scored herself a relationship with Vivienne. Good for them. It seemed like things were getting better for all of the clones, according to Tammie. It was oddly relieving to hear, despite Rosalyn having only known of their existence for maybe an hour now.

The idea that her body was exploited like that left a slimy feeling in her chest. Someone stole a piece of her and used it to create copies, just so they’d have soldiers to do their dirty work. It was despicable. If she ever got her hands on that Andreas guy, he was gonna get it. 

It was just a good thing the clones were safe now. Rosalyn couldn’t help but feel a sense of companionship to them, even though she’d never met one, aside from in her long dream. Maybe it was just a fact of sharing an appearance. If Rosalyn pushed the reality out of her mind for a moment, she could almost imagine they were long lost sisters of hers. She was an only child, but she’d always wanted a sibling. Maybe this was just the universe granting her wish in the most convoluted, fucked up way possible? She couldn’t help but wonder how her parents had reacted to it all.

Five years ago they lost their only daughter. Then, a few months ago, they gained a bunch more. Now, their original daughter was coming back. How strange this must be for them.

And that was to say nothing of how Maddie was doing. Rosalyn remembered something from her dream; kissing Maddie through that clone’s body. She couldn’t find it in herself to hold it against Maddie. Five years was a long time, and it must’ve been doubly hard to deal with that grief when a literal copy of Rosalyn was hanging around.

It still stung a bit. But, how could it not? From Rosalyn’s perspective, she and Maddie were happily married just yesterday. And now, she was finding out the world had moved on without her. There was no rationalising that to make it hurt any less. She would just have to deal with it.

The Union HQ looked the same as it ever did when she arrived. That was a small comfort. Rosalyn pressed her hand up to the scanner and went inside.

“Mrrow!”

She looked down. There at her feet was a very familiar bald little creature, wrapped in a cute little vest to keep him warm.

“Muffin! You’re still here!”

Muffin chirped happily in response, leaping up into Rosalyn’s arms. She smiled, a comforting warmth filling her for perhaps the first time since she woke up. Despite it all, some things never changed.

“Hey, you little scrunkle.”

He attempted to knead on her breasts, purring like a bike engine. She raised an eyebrow. “Still a pervert, huh?”

Muffin meowed. She put him down. Clearly, he didn’t miss her that much, because he seemed fine with that. Instead, he followed along behind her as she continued deeper into the building, searching for any sign of life.

It was only coming up to Ashley’s office that she heard it. Voices. Familiar ones. Ashley. His mother. And… something that sounded oddly like her own voice, but not quite. Ah, Tammie had said the Union was taking care of the clones now. Perhaps she was about to meet one.

She stepped up to the doorframe. No one noticed her, so she took the opportunity to look at everyone.

Ashley and Siobhan looked mostly the same, as did Vivienne, though she appeared a bit older, and had a real shiner of a black eye going on. The age thing was probably to be expected. She’d been 19 the last time they saw each other. Now she was, what… 24? Maybe even 25? Teenage to mid-twenties was quite a gap. Also, her uncle was here, for some reason.

Then there were the clones. One with wings, holding one that looked oddly young close to her side. And, of course, the one with the scar; the one Rosalyn had been stuck to for all those months while she was dead. That one was cuddling up to Vivienne. It was so strange, observing them. Like looking in a mirror to some alternate dimension, where her life had turned out very very differently.

And finally, there was Maddie. She’d… changed. A lot. Her hair was short now, cropped into a shaggy mullet. Her nose had a bump in it, like it had been broken. She was skinnier, almost gaunt around the cheeks. Her eyes were sunken in, underlined with heavy bags. A tooth was missing from between her parted lips. But, most of all, she looked…

Sad. Gone was the sparkle of hope she used to hold, from finally building a happy life with Rosalyn after her rough childhood. In its place was pure resignation. Like she knew deep in her soul she would never truly be happy again. It broke Rosalyn’s heart to see her like that.

She had to fix it.

Rosalyn knocked on the doorframe, clearing her throat as they all turned to look at her.

“Uh, hi guys. Been a while, huh?”

—

Rosalyn sat on the floor, holding Maddie in her lap and rubbing her back. She was like a dog that was pretending not to notice it’d grown too big to be a lapdog anymore, but Rosalyn didn’t mind. She was just happy Maddie was here. The poor thing had been practically catatonic since the tears stopped. She could probably use the comfort.

“So…” she said. “Does anyone have any idea how I’m here? I, uh… I’m aware that I came back from the dead. I just don’t know how it happened.”

For some reason, everyone looked at the clone next to Vivienne. Her eyes went wide. “I don’t know! Don’t look at me!”

“Jordyn, what exactly did you wish for?” Ashley asked. Rosalyn filed her name away.

Jordyn looked down. “I… I don’t really remember. I just know I wanted to fix everything.”

“Maybe ‘everything’ included the fact that Maddie gets kinda depressed whenever we’re around?” the one with wings suggested.

“I’ve noticed most of the pain from my old injuries went away after the wish, so it definitely wasn’t just about the consequences of Andreas’ incursion,” Vivienne’s uncle said. Rosalyn couldn’t quite remember his name.

“Sorry, uh… What wish?” she asked. Jordyn seemed to wilt in response.

“To make a really long story short, Andreas de Vygon forced Jordyn to free the Godling,” Vivienne said. Rosalyn prayed she had misheard. “He thought he could get her to make his wish for him, but clearly, that didn’t work.”

Rosalyn stared at her. “You’re… you’re kidding, right?”

Maddie shook her head against Rosalyn’s shoulder. So it was true. The Godling was free.

“What… What do we do now?”

“Tonight? We recuperate,” Ashley said. “Prepare and plan as best we can. Enjoy what could very well be our last few hours on earth. Tomorrow, we’ll figure out as it comes.”

“I can… take you guys home, if you want,” Vivienne offered.

Maddie finally pulled away, shuffling out of Rosalyn’s lap. “That, um… That’d be appreciated, Viv,” she said with a rough voice.

Rosalyn couldn’t argue with that. It’d been five long years since the two of them got to spend a night together. She wasn’t going to wait even a minute longer.

—

Sebastian Beaumond stared up at the ceiling of his cell as his moronic cellmate yapped on about something unimportant. The hair at the back of his neck stood on end. Tonight was the night; he could feel it. No more blue balling bullshit. Little Andy’s plan would finally be complete, and the day Sebastian had waited his whole life for would arrive.

He felt the moment it happened. The instant the sword was pulled free, he gasped; lightning shooting through his body. So this was his master’s true power. It was delicious. 

“Hey, are you good?” His cellmate asked from the bunk below. Oh, yes. He was good. He was brilliant. 

Sebastian reached under his mattress and pulled out his toothbrush shiv. His master was approaching. It wouldn’t be long now. A sacrifice was in order.

He hopped off of his bunk and turned around. Greg stared at him, eyes wide.

“No, hold on, wait-!”

His words cut off abruptly as the sharp end of the shiv pierced the hollow of his throat. Sebastian grinned, watching him gurgle on his own blood. Greg’s hands weakly scrabbled at him, but it was useless. There was no saving him.

Sebastian shuddered, a shiver passing down his spine, as he watched the light disappear from Greg’s eyes. His soul departed from his physical form, returning to the great Nothing from whence it came. What a beautiful pleasure he’d just been granted. Sebastian envied him.

There would be no such salvation for a soulless being like himself. His body existed only as a vessel, through which his master would enact Its vengeance. As it had been since the day he was pulled out of his mother, as silent as the dead.

His master had arrived. He could feel Its presence all around him, like a comforting hug. If he turned around, he would gaze upon Its true, unadulterated form. The urge was strong, but he resisted, as doing so would destroy his mind; his neurons unable to comprehend the information they were processing. He would need his mind in the days ahead, to best serve as his master’s host.

It was a sad fact of the matter that his master’s imprisonment had left It weak and malnourished of energy, so much so that without a vessel to hold It together, what little of It remained could cease to exist entirely. It knew this, of course, which was why It reached out and gave this soulless husk life 41 years ago. To act as the perfect host, eagerly orchestrating his master’s return from behind the scenes. And, of course, a vessel without a human ego was no vessel at all.

What was the fun in destroying the world if you had no capability to enjoy yourself? No, his mind was a crucial piece of his master’s puzzle.

It is time, Child. Submit your body to me.

Sebastian grinned, his whole body shaking with excitement.

“Yes, my lord.”

Freezing cold, burning hot hands, with too many and too few fingers gripped his face, forcing his mouth open and scalding everywhere they touched. He closed his eyes, and felt his master’s presence contort itself, forcing Its way inside of him through his throat. His jaw dislocated, and his windpipe split, but it didn't matter. Minor injuries would mean nothing when his body was home to a God.

The Godling entered Sebastian’s body, filling the empty space left behind by his missing soul. They were Complete.

Taglist: @steelandblood @sapphicwhump @urnumber1star @alsolucakairomi @thataquaticwhumper

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

@bacillusinfection @sorcererfen @art3m1zz

Gonna take a lil break here! been working solely on this for a couple months now, and i wanna devote some time to my other projects for a bit. Also re-editing what i'm calling the first book of this (up to the end of the union arc) for a print version for one of my mates. If there's demand for that i might print more :)

when next chapter comes, be ready for some more smut! mads and rosie have a lot of catching up to do ;)

thanks for reading! leave a comment if you enjoyed :)

[seastarblue]

wOOT WOOT LAST MINUTE ARTFIGHT STUFF

YAAAAAAAY

[seastarblue]

the timing of this is very funny to me yall listen:

I recently got an ask from a certain @vsnotresponding about playlists for my characters and WIPS

i dont really do playlists for that stuff :[

BUT THEN I FOUND THIS:

AND IT FITS A CHARACTER SO WELL

his name is Lloyd and he’s a jerk 😤

song is a banger tho ☝️🙂‍↕️

[seastarblue]

Do you want to tell some things ab Lloyd?

oh ho hooooo

———

do I want to tell you some things about Lloyd. Oh hell YES I do!!!

Some small things first:

His favorite color is blue

He likes raspberries

Torturing people brings him joy

Perfectionism is his biggest weakness but it’s also his biggest strength

gay probably

an expert archer one of the best of the century

cursed

may or may not be an abomination to society

has a god complex

the villain

^ but he doesn’t think that

^^he thinks he’s 100% correct for doing the things he does

he’s terrified of death

and abandonment

but he brought both of those upon others

he’s convinced he’s being haunted

but he can’t understand why

despite being one of the most powerful people in the country he’s being blackmailed

by who??? idk yet

yeag

he hates the Gang

but especially kaiden

but its cool bc Kai hates him too

the end :>

so I lied that’s pretty much it 😭 His full name is Lloyd Thais Santhuff, and he’s the current First Justice of the Azari. I also like calling him Lah Loyd bc Lego Ninjago. Here’s how he looks like:

———

this was fun!! if you’ve got any questions then plz lemme know @cepheusgalaxy

[seastarblue]

been offline for a bit however.

guess what they’re looking at!