#I would like to visit the cube dimension | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

otterskin · 3 years

Text

Inverted Mobius, Mr. Tesseract and The Avatar of Truth

The mystery of the weird collar has deepened, thanks to @nebulousfishgills - by which I mean they totally solved it.

To those just joining me, I noticed this in my previous breakdown of the Loki trailer here.

Mr. Mobius, played by Owen Wilson, has an ‘inverted suit’. His collar is an indentation in his suit, rather than going on top of it.

So, first, a scene from Endgame that I seriously did think of when we learned there was a character called ‘Mobius M. Mobius’ in Loki (played by Owen Wilson). And yet I didn’t put this together. Thanks again to nebulousfish for making me realize that these things might not be coincidences.

When Mr. Stark is inventing time travel, he asks his AI to create a depiction of a Mobius Strip, inverted.

Which gets him this:

Anyway, what is a Mobius Strip, and who is Mobius M. Mobius? (Not to be confused with Morbius the Living Vampire, though wouldn’t it be funny if he was mistaken for Mobius M. if this show gets big first?)

I am not a quantum theorist or comic book aficionado by trade, so let’s do a Wikipedia-Fu on it.

In mathematics, a Möbius strip, band, or loop (US: /ˈmoʊbiəs, ˈmeɪ-/ MOH-bee-əs, MAY-, UK: /ˈmɜːbiəs/;[1]German: [ˈmøːbi̯ʊs]), also spelled Mobius or Moebius, is a surface with only one side (when embedded in three-dimensional Euclidean space) and only one boundary curve. The Möbius strip is the simplest non-orientable surface.

An example of a Möbius strip can be created by taking a strip of paper and giving one end a half-twist, then joining the ends to form a loop; its boundary is a simple closed curve which can be traced by a single unknotted string. Any topological space homeomorphic to this example is also called a Möbius strip, allowing for a very wide variety of geometric realizations as surfaces with a definite size and shape. For example, any rectangle can be glued left-edge to right-edge with a reversal of orientation. Some, but not all, of these can be smoothly modeled as surfaces in Euclidean space. A closely related, but not homeomorphic, surface is the complete open Möbius band, a boundaryless surface in which the width of the strip is extended infinitely to become a Euclidean line.A half-twist clockwise gives an embedding of the Möbius strip which cannot be moved or stretched to give the half-twist counterclockwise; thus, a Möbius strip embedded in Euclidean space is a chiral object with right- or left-handedness. The Möbius strip can also be embedded by twisting the strip any odd number of times, or by knotting and twisting the strip before joining its ends.

A Möbius strip does not self-intersect but its projection in 2 dimensions does.

Uh....right. Well, that clears everything up, doesn’t it?

Let’s crib off someone else’s work. Thanks to Thomas Wong on Medium, I was able to understand this a little better.

A Möbius strip is just a strip of paper, turned and taped together. It it only has one side, so an ant walking along the strip eventually returns to where he started. If we metaphorically interpret the ant, not as returning to a point in space, but a point in time, then it alludes to time travel.

...

As previously discussed, after a measurement, the quantum mixture (half born and half never born) becomes a definite state (born or never born). Finding the “spectral decomposition” is to find all the possible energies (eigenvalues) and states. Using these, one can determine how a quantum object evolves with time.

Combining this with the metaphoric interpretation of the Möbius strip, it could be that Stark found how to make quantum objects evolve such that they revisit a point in time, hence time travel.

Okay, that’s a little easier to understand. So how does this relate to the character Mobius M. Mobius, aside from him being named after the strip and the (apparently antiquated) ideas about time travel?

Well, he was based on Marvel Comics Legend Mark Gruenwald, a guy known for his passion for the lore of the comics, which he knew in innate detail. He even wrote the Official Handbooks and whatnot. Likewise, Mr. Mobius is a stickler for detail and one of the few members of the TVA even allowed a face - although it is off the rack, as he’s one an infinite number of clones (god I love the TVA so much already, it’s heaven for a Douglas Addams fan like me).

Despite being a clone, he rose through the ranks and is nearly the top guy, serving only underneath Mr. Alternity (and I am not familiar with these comics so feel free to correct me). Mr. Alternity has almost no comics history, but is based on editor Tom Brevoort.

There are several other misters, all of them near-identical to ‘Moby’. Mr. Orobourous, Mr. Paradox, Mr. Tesseract (!) and Mr. Oburos. They are also minor characters, but let’s look at all these names.

Clearly they are named after quantum theories of some-sort or another.

Mr. Mobius: Mobius Strip Theory - the idea that, essentially, is about the shape of time itself and the theory of traveling along that shape.

Mr. Alternity : Alternative universes

Mr. Ouroboros: A divine figure representing the beginning and the end of time in an endless cycle of death and rebirth.

Mr. Oburos - I’m not sure, but I think this is a variant of Ouroboros.

Mr. Paradox - Temporal paradox, causal loops - ex. The Grandfather Paradox

Mr. Tesseract - An object that exists in 4 dimensions. Time is often called the fourth dimension.

Obviously that last one is interesting, considering how the Tesseract will be the start of our adventure. The Cosmic Cube was renamed for the MCU, and in the comics has no relation to this minor character.

But what if it now does?

What if Tony has caused a change in the very appearance of Mr. Mobius when he inverted the Mobius Strip - literally inverting his clothing because he changed the shape of the Mobius - does that mean that these seemingly human-looking misters are in fact some sort of avatars for aspects of time itself? And if Mr. Tesseract is representative of how space and time intersect in the fourth dimension, wouldn’t a rogue god twisting space and time with the device that shares his name cause him some affect? Perhaps why the TVA noticed something was amiss to begin with.

This would be a departure from the comics, but the characters have almost no history there. They are ripe for new ideas.

Or, then again, since Loki will be working for the TVA - perhaps he’s the one who becomes ‘Mr. Tesseract’?

But continuing with that ‘Avatar of Aspects’ idea, let’s get away from this sausagefest for a second and visit my next newest favourite character -

I’m guessing she’s one of the Justices of the TVA. What gives it away? The imperious look, the giant oaken table, or the fact that I’m suddenly self-conscious when she looks at me? It’s the last one, of course. She’s a natural judge.

Of the named TVA judges, there’s :

Justice Goodwill, Justice Hope, Justice Liberty, Justice Love, Justice Might, Justice Mills, Justice Peace and Justice Truth.

Could they also possibly be avatars of their respective aspects?

If I had to guess, I’d say this is Justice Truth, as pairing up Loki with an avatar of Truth seems like it’d be a smashing good time, similar to how he was paired with Verity Willis in the comics. She might even be a composite character with Verity.

Verity’s power is detecting and seeing through all lies and illusions. I think this powerset will be given to Justice Truth, except instead of deriving it from a magic ring that she swallowed, she’d simply be the actual ‘Embodiment of Truth’ - and let’s get real here, when I said ‘Avatars of Aspects’, I was using that clunky phrase because the more obvious one - God of - is already ‘taken’. So Justice Truth may well be the ‘God of Truth’, as it were.

I think she’ll end up in something of a buddy-comedy with Loki, giving him someone to bounce off against who literally cuts through his carefully crafted veneer.

I’m reminded of a great quote from Taika Waititi when he was talking about what he wanted to do with Loki in Ragnarok:

“(He’s) someone who tries so hard to embody this idea of the tortured artist, this tortured, gothy orphan...It’s too tiring trying to be like that,” he says. “And, most humans, we get over ourselves, we get to that point where we’re like, ‘man, being a tortured artist is actually, like, a lot of work. Maybe I should just be real and present, and just be me, and I don’t have to be a tortured artist to be interesting, I can just be a f*cking weird New Zealander and that’s enough.”

...I think Taika is a living Loki, tbh, ha ha. No wonder he gets it.

Waititi, Yost, Pearson and Kyle did great work to cut through Loki’s illusions, both with dialogue and the visual allegory of his projections being dispelled by handy thrown objects, culminating in the very sweet ‘I’m here,’ scene at the end of the film. Loki seems to be much more open and expressive at the end of that film, and it seems like a weight has lifted off his shoulders.

But while this new Loki (Loki 2.0? Loki’s Show’s Loki? Loki II? Lokii? Lokii.) is shown a clip show of Ragnarok (one I previously theorized will be deliberately incomplete), that’s quite different from actually experiencing it, and he’ll be as performative as he was in Avengers and Thor 2. Instead of processing that ‘lack of presence’ as he did in Ragnarok, which came about as a result of Thor finally seeing through Loki’s illusions (guess he doesn’t fall for it anymore) as a result of their long history together, I suspect the band-aid will be torn off much more harshly by a total stranger who nonetheless simply sees through him.

Loki in general has a bad relationship with the truth (see the famous Vault Confrontation scene), and literally putting him on trial before the Truth Herself would certainly be enough to get him to switch from this phony expression:

To this one:

That’s not much of a facade there.

It’s not the same character arc as Ragnarok, but it does get us to a similar place, albeit in a darker and less healing way for Loki. I mean Lokii.

Anyhow. That’s what I got out of this thing.

#tva #loki #mobius #mobius m mobius #mobius strip #THE COLLAR #trailer #anaylsis #theory #loki trailer theory #justice truth #verity willis #loki trailer #loki trailer analysis #lokii

61 notes · View notes

440mxs-wife · 3 years

Text

The Hunter’s Princess - Chapter 6: Getting Complicated

Pairing: Dean x OFC Kira (eventual), Prince!Dean x OFC Lady Kira. Other Characters: Sam Winchester, Prince!Sam Winchester, Castiel, Rowena, Gabriel, King!John, Queen!Mary, Lucifer and assorted minor characters.

Chapter 6 Word Count: 2800+

Warnings: Feelings. Otherwise, none really.

A/N: This is from some material that’s been rattling around in my head from another project that changed direction. Couldn’t let all this content go to waste, though, so here it is. It’s a work-in-progress, and I will try and update as regularly as I can. If you want to be tagged in this series, send me a message!

A/N2: I would like to thank everyone for your support and your comments so far. I hope you are enjoying this as much as I am having fun writing it.

Thank you and happy reading!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kira opened the door to her room in the castle and her bed was the most welcome sight she'd ever seen. She removed her leather gauntlets and her knee-high boots, then crawled under the covers. As the urge to sleep crept through her body, Kira's mind drifted back to her first meeting with Prince Samuel.

When she met him at the pub, he'd seemed a bit stand-offish, detached. Since the incident with Danielle, Prince Samuel's attitude towards her has appeared to have changed. He'd shown more of an interest in her, and she wasn't quite sure what to do about it yet.

All because there was....Prince Dean. Kira had felt the spark with him the moment he asked her for a beer in her pub in that deep, sexy voice of his. Of course, that was no surprise to Kira, given how she felt about the Dean she hopefully still had waiting for her at home.

The Dean Winchester she loved showed her the same playful, cocky attitude as the princely version, at least on the outside. But Kira knew her Dean had a softer side as well, like the one that knew all about her because he listened. How Kira liked her coffee, how thunderstorms sometimes scared her, her favorite flower. Knowing that he paid attention to those things about her made her feel seen, like she mattered to him.

Sometimes when she was alone with him, she'd turn just in time to see something in his face. A look that, if she didn't know any better, could easily be mistaken for fondness, adoration or even love? Why not? she asked herself. She definitely felt it for him, why was it so hard for her to believe that he would feel it for her?

Prince Dean also seemed to have found a way into her heart as well, going out of his way to spend time with her. For example, he offered to finish the marketplace tour Kira had started with Castiel. He introduced Danielle to his mother instead of brushing the child aside. He even asked the king to postpone the first event of the Princes' Challenge for a couple of days while Kira recuperated.

The situation was starting to get more than a little complicated. It was becoming clear to Kira that wherever or whenever a Winchester is involved, complications are bound to arise.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dressed comfortably in the sweatpants and sweatshirt she found in her room, Lady Kira wandered into the library. Sam was at one of the tables, making notes from the book he was reading, but Dean was nowhere to be seen.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw Lady Kira approach him, so he rose from his seat and gave a quick bow. "Lady Kira, is everything all right?" he asked.

She chuckled a bit at his formality, and motioned for him to sit back down in his chair. "Please relax, Sam. You don't have to do that," she informed him.

"Okay, I'll try to remember. Are you settling in all right? Finding everything you need?" Sam inquired.

"Yes, everything is fine. The clothes I found fit perfectly, no surprise there. The tub was heavenly, especially with the lavender bath salts, thank you," Lady Kira remarked. "Although, I think the scent triggered a memory. It wasn't mine, but I think it was from the Kira that belongs in this timeline," she said.

"Really? What did you see?" Sam asked.

"People mostly. You, an older gentleman with a beard, two ladies, one with dark hair and one with blond hair. And something with just Dean and future-Kira," she replied tentatively. "It brought to mind a question. What exactly is the relationship between her and Dean?" she asked.

Sam took a deep breath and exhaled before answering. "The answer to that question is more complicated than explaining how she got sent there and you got sent here," Sam answered.

"Please, I need to know, Sam. Every time Dean looks at me, I see a flicker of sadness in his eyes. He looks at me, but he sees her. I can't imagine how much that hurts him," Lady Kira murmured.

"That would most assuredly cause our Kira concern, and she’d want to get to the bottom of it, if she were here," Sam grinned. "That's one of the many ways you are definitely alike, and that's in how much you care about others," he remarked. Sam went on to explain about how he and Dean grew up with Kira and had parents who hunted. Then he talked about how devastated Dean was when their dad made them leave town and Kira behind.

"Did Dean know then how much he loved her?" Lady Kira asked.

Sam shrugged. "I think Dean's known it for a long time. For him, though, knowing it and doing something about it are two different things. Actually, that goes for both of them, because she's loved him for as long as I can remember, but won't say anything to him," he remarked.

"Hmm. And they've been friends for so long, they think that if feelings are declared and something happens, there goes the friendship," Lady Kira surmised.

"Exactly. And let me tell you, it's extremely frustrating seeing two people you love going through so much pain for so long. Especially when it doesn’t have to be that way. Just because they're both too stubborn to accept that they deserve something good, or they're too afraid to take the risk," Sam replied.

She nodded in agreement. "I should tell you that there's a Sam, Dean and Castiel in my world as well. Not to inflate your ego, but you and Dean are the crown princes of the land," Lady Kira giggled. "And Castiel is your best friend as well as head of security for the royal family," she added.

"Huh. Crown princes? Really?" Sam gaped. "Well, I guess you could say that's how it should be," he teased.

"Ha ha Sam, very funny. Did you by chance find out when the next lunar eclipse is? The sooner it is, the sooner I can be restored to my native dimension," Lady Kira said.

"Next one is in five days, which why I'm researching like crazy to try and see what we need to make it happen," Sam responded.

Lady Kira picked up one of the books from the pile in front of Sam. "Five days? Then we haven't a moment to lose," she remarked.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Excuse me, Miss? Beggin' yer pardon, but it's time to rise," Sarah said as she nudged Kira's shoulder.

"Go away, Sarah, I just went to sleep. It can't possibly be time to get up," Kira grumbled.

"Please, Miss!" she urged. "It's time to get cleaned up and dressed for dinner! It would not look good to the king and queen if you were late," she added.

"All right, all right, Sarah. I'll get up," Kira promised. She maneuvered to a sitting position and swung her legs over the side so her feet touched the floor. Her head was pounding and it felt like the room was spinning. Kira suddenly felt a wave of nausea crash over her, so she grabbed the nearest receptacle and emptied the contents of her stomach.

Rowena came through the door in time to see Kira sitting on the side of her bed, shaking and holding her head. "Och, what's the matter, Kira dear? Not feeling well?" she asked.

"No, Rowena, I'm not. But, I need to make an appearance at dinner, because I don't want anyone to think there's anything wrong," Kira explained.

"You stay here and rest. Sarah will wait outside your door and make sure you're not disturbed. I shall send your regrets to the royal family. I will inform them that you will not be attending dinner, that you are under the weather. Not to worry, dear, I shall make sure to convey your deepest apologies," Rowena declared.

Kira didn't have the heart to disagree with Rowena, so she turned back around and got back under the blankets. "Thank you, Rowena," she mumbled as she fell back to sleep. Sarah took a chair out into the hallway to make sure Kira was not disturbed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sometime after midnight, Kira woke up feeling much better. She no longer felt nauseous and her headache had all but disappeared. Kira also couldn't get back to sleep, so she pulled her boots on again, then tiptoed to the door. She eased it open to see that Sarah had fallen asleep in her chair. Kira slipped past her on the way down the stairs.

The next event in the Princes' Challenge was an equestrian event, so Kira thought she'd wander down to visit the horses. Collins said the stables were at her disposal, and that she could stop by at any time.

Kira walked quietly among the horse stalls, carefully peeking in each one. Most of the horses were sleeping, but there were a few awake. Those not sleeping nuzzled her shoulder as she walked by. Kira chuckled lightly and lovingly patted each one on the head, making soothing noises. She made a mental note to bring some apples or sugar cubes with her the next time she decided to visit.

She walked to the last stall and there was a black Arabian stallion that she recognized at once. It was her faithful horse, Midnight. He seemed to recognize Kira as well, because he came right to the half-door and laid his head on her shoulder, just like he used to do.

"Hey, Midnight," Kira whispered. "It's so good to see you, boy. I can't believe you're here. It's been a long time, my friend," Kira said. She closed her eyes as she stroked down the front of his face, lost in memories of her Aunt Brenda's farm.

"Good evening, Lady Kira. I hope you're feeling better," a husky voice said, interrupting her thoughts. Kira gasped and her eyes flew open, but she wasn't startled enough to spook Midnight. Prince Dean. Her hand flew to her chest to calm her hammering heart.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he apologized, holding up his hands. "I just wasn't expecting anyone to be around here this time of night," he explained. "We missed you at dinner. Well, I missed you at dinner," he remarked softly.

Kira could feel the blush rise in her cheeks as she gave a quick curtsy. "I'm sorry that I could not attend the evening meal, Your Highness. I think I got a bit overwhelmed after the competition," she explained.

"I recall thinking that you did not look well, surrounded by so many people," Prince Dean remarked.

"Afterwards, I went up to my room for some rest. I woke up to get dressed for dinner, but I had a massive headache. The room was also spinning, which I think caused me to get sick in the nearest wastecan. When Lady Rowena left for dinner, I crawled back into bed and fell asleep again. I should probably head back to my room," Kira replied.

As she walked past Prince Dean, he gently caught her hand. "Wait. Please don't go just yet. I've been having trouble sleeping these past few nights. Usually I find myself here, alone, but it would be nice to have some company," Prince Dean pleaded.

"As you wish, Your Highness," Kira responded.

"And how about we drop the titles, hmm? Tonight, right here and right now, just between us we're Dean and Kira, having a lovely chat, getting to know each other," he suggested.

"I can live with that, Your--Dean," she said with a giggle. They walked from the stables and wandered into the garden. They sat down to rest on the stone bench where Kira had first met Castiel.

"So, how do you know Midnight, or I should ask how does he know you? The reason I'm wondering, is because he's a recent acquisition. He didn't arrive here until after you did," Prince Dean asked.

Kira looked down at her hands in her lap. "It may be a simple question, but it's a rather complicated answer," she started, gazing into his vibrant green eyes. When he didn't say anything, she continued. "I am from a world where on your calendar it would be the year 2020. I first met Midnight on my Aunt Brenda's farm, where we used to go riding together all the time. I'm here because my mother's locket--" she held it up for him to see--"transported me here."

"It's a lovely locket. A family heirloom?" he asked.

Kira gaped at Dean's nonchalant reaction after she'd just told him she's from the future. "Um, yes, it is. It belonged to my mother, Ava. In my world, I am from a long line of hunters, including both of my parents. Werewolves, vampires, shapeshifters, ghosts, ghouls, you name it, we hunt it," she explained. "This locket and its secrets have been passed down through generations from mother to daughter. Unfortunately, my mother was killed on a hunt before she could tell me anything about it," Kira finished, tears threatening.

Dean reached over and took her hands in his. "I'm so sorry, Kira," he murmured.

She gave Dean a watery smile in return before she continued. "My hunting partners are two brothers named--wait for it--Sam and Dean Winchester," she finished, lowering her gaze. Kira waited for him to either burst into laughter or call the guards to lock her up for being insane.

Prince Dean's index finger tilted Kira's head up so he could look into her eyes. "For the record, I don't think you're crazy. That night my brother and I walked into your pub? We had just finished taking out a vampire nest in another part of the Eastern province. Us being hunters is something we keep within the family. Collins and Castiel know, but we've known them so long, it's like they're family," he grinned.

Kira grinned as well. "Castiel is an important part of the family in my world as well, only he's an Angel of the Lord," she replied.

Prince Dean threw his head back and laughed at that. "Really? Oh, wait until I tell him that," he remarked. "So....do you have a husband in your world?" he asked.

"No, I'm not married. I'm the best of friends with Sam and Dean and have been since we were children, but....it's complicated as well. Even though they both mean the world to me, I have to admit that Dean has always had my heart. I just don't know how he feels about me, if he feels the same," Kira answered.

"Hmm. I can see what you mean by complicated," he began as he put a hand to her cheek. "But speaking for myself, the one in this dimension? I would consider myself the luckiest man in the world to call you my own. I would be sure to tell you every day what an amazing, kind, strong and beautiful woman you are," he declared.

Dean's eyes flitted up to Kira's hazel orbs down to her plump, pink lips. He slid his hand to Kira's neck, pulled her closer and moved to capture her mouth with his. At the last second, Kira turned her head and cast her eyes downward.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. Dean, I cannot deny how attracted to you I am, but you've only known me for a few days. Besides, there's still the matter of my not belonging here. At some point, we'll figure out how to bring back the Lady Kira that belongs here. I'll go home to my own dimension, to the Dean that I love. If our love is meant to be, it will be, regardless of time and space," Kira explained.

A soft smile graced Dean's face. "I understand, sweetheart. If you want, I'll walk you back to your room so you can get some sleep," he offered.

Kira nodded. "That would be lovely, thank you," she replied.

Once the pair had reached the door to Kira's room, Dean took her in his arms again. He brushed his knuckles on her cheek with one hand as he pulled her close to his body with the other. "Just promise me that at the ball, if you're still here, you will save every dance for me," he said huskily. Prince Dean lowered his head and pressed his lips to Kira's forehead in a lingering kiss.

"For as long as I'm here, I promise. Every dance is yours," she repeated. Kira opened the door and stepped inside, but before she closed the door, she whispered, "Goodnight". Kira leaned her back against the closed door and she heard Prince Dean softly say, "Goodnight" in return.

She closed her eyes as she thought back on the events that occurred after sneaking out of her room. A smile slowly spread across her face as Kira turned on the light so that she could find her sleeping attire.

Part 7 here!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tags: @janicho88 @akshi8278 @magssteenkamp @swiftlymoniquesblog @lyarr24 @miss-nerd95 @distefano123 @hobby27 @deanwanddamons @jessica-noel94 @wayward-mikaelson @jawritter @gabrielslittleangel @jensengirl83 @deangirl93 @ellewritesfix05 @supernatural-jackles @babygurltt @flamencodiva

The Hunter’s Princess Series Tags: @supernatural-love14

#dean x ofc #dean winchester x ofc #au!dean winchester x ofc #au!dean winchester #spn #au!supernatural #The Hunter's Princess series

14 notes · View notes

tired-college-student-writing · 4 years

Text

Tim’s Secret Weapon pt. 10

I’ve been slightly obsessed with @ozmav ‘s Damian Wayne/Marinette Dupain-Cheng pairing as of late, and just saw a post that has inspired me more than anything else has in months, so I felt the need to write it

Summary- Tim has always seen the numbers floating above people’s heads, been able to perceive their threat levels with a single glance. After being a hero for so long he thought he was desensitized to seeing high numbers above people’s heads until Damian brings a new friend home. Part 1 Part 9 Part 10(HERE) Part 11 This will probably be the last update for awhile, I start student teaching this coming week and I’m nervous as all hell right now ____________________________________________

“We have so much to do,” Marinette mumbled as she stood, stretching her shoulders out.

“Such as what angel?”

Adrian raised his hand, “Letting Paris know that there’s more heroes here is probably near the top.”

“Got it in one Kitty,”

Kim snorted, “They might flip out otherwise when they see so many new masks running around and think we have a Scarlet moth incident on our hand.”

The team groaned out agreements from around Chloe’s room as the Bats looked over them with mild interest. It was closing in on midnight, each of the teens remaining having gotten permission from their parents to stay at the hotel for the night. The Kwamis had taken the plate of cookies, camembert, sugar cubes, sashimi, honey, bananas, and celery Chloe had ordered, and promptly ignored the strange look the room service personnel had given her, for them to the closed bedroom, excited to have so many of them together and free to talk openly without hiding or disappearing into the hidden dimension of the miraculous box.

“What’s a Scarlet moth?” Tim asked, trying to remember if he had seen the name anywhere in his research, “Hawkmoth’s apprentice?”

“Nope,” Chloe groaned, rubbing her eyes with an exhausted air, “It’s when Hawkmoth akumatizes someone, Mayra probably so that their power is to power him up so that he can akumatized multiple people at once. The akumas turn scarlet when he does this so we nickname him Scarlet Moth when he pulls that crap.”

“First time,” Marinette sighed, “He had someone make an illusion of me akumatized, killing Chat Noir in front of all of Paris. Most of the city was distraught enough to fall prey to the akumas and it took Chat, me and three other temporary heroes to take him out. Since then he’s pulled Scarlet Moth out eight times with various levels of success, and twice they’ve done something similar but with Mayra’s amoks, we call those Crimson Peacock events.”

“It’s a ridiculously long day every time,” Chloe groans, “Akumas usually take anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour to fight, Amoks usually take an hour or two, both will be three to four hours, but crimson Peacock and Scarletmoth? The quickest we’ve taken those out is six hours.”

The Gotham heroes groaned in sympathy, images Joker, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and the Court of Owls bigger plays flashing through their heads. Telling the citizens that there wasn’t a major issue to deal with would make their jobs easier.

“What we’re just going to knock on that Ladyblog chick’s window then?” Jason asked only to see the Paris heroes' faces scrunch up in disgust.

“No, Never,” Kim spat, “Not in a million years. Not after all the fucking stunts she's pulled.”

“Language Master Kim,” Alfred chastised with a raised brow, “You can express your distaste for the young woman without resorting to such vulgarity.”

“Sorry,” Kim blushed sheepishly, “But she really has pulled a lot of things that tick me off, don’t even think I could list them all. Harassing people over not agreeing with her ‘professional’ opinion, taking the side of Lila even over Ladybug telling her, reporting anyone else trying to share miraculous news for not going through her.”

“Chasing us down when we’re about to change back to harass us about our identity as if we hadn’t already explained to her why we keep them secret,” Alix added with a tired frown, “The amount of times I’ve had to use Burrow just to get one of us away from her is ridiculous.”

“Dragging her little sisters into the middle of the Akuma attacks for footage,” Adrian hissed, anger causing his eyes to nearly glowing, “I can’t even begin to count every time our jobs were made harder because we had to rescue them…or how many times those little girls got hurt… ”

“Not to mention the shipping wars and rumors she starts just for views,” Chloe grumbles, “If I have to hear another take on how I’m either in love with my superhero self or trying to murder her to take back the bee miraculous, I’m going to gouge my ears out with a rusty spoon.”

“So yeah,” Marinette concluded, “We don’t interview with Alya anymore. She used to be a really good friend but Lila has spent years twisting her ambitions and changing her into someone toxic.”

“Take the Bee miraculous?” Dick asked, dislike for the reporter growing more with every word but decided to take the safe route and change the subject, no need risk akumation, “Why would they think that?”

Alix snorted, “Oh cause out of everyone in Paris the last person anyone would think to have the bee miraculous is Chloe.”

“Yes,” Max agreed, eyeing the blonde, “I’ve been meaning to ask, how did Marinette decide to give you your miraculous back after the Miraculous Queen incident?”

“Because she only did as we planned,” Adrian said with a slight smirk making the other's jaws drop, “Hawkmoth was already watching her and trying to get her to go dark with the promise of the Bee miraculous he had taken from us.”

“Chloe actually reached out to me,” Marinette laughed, “Remember when she made that big deal about allowing me to do commissioned work for her that year?”

“Well yeah,” Alix said slowly, “But she does that like once a year… Even when she was at her worst Marinette Originals were hot ticket items.”

“I was really trying to get into contact with the mangy cat, or at least that’s what I said. I kinda… knew Marinette was Ladybug..” Chloe grumbled, not looking at them.

“WHAT!” The mentioned heroine squeaked, “How on Earth-”

“After getting Pollen,” Chloe cut in, “I realized she bore a striking resemblance to a certain red and black toy I stole from you when Prince Ali visited when showed up Princess Perfume.”

“You knew this whole time?” Adrian asked, “And said nothing even while akumatized?”

“I mean, duh,” The blonde scoff, “Don’t be ridiculous, I might not have done my homework back then but I’m not an idiot. I just focused on my hate of Ladybug and didn’t think about Marinette at all, he was too giddy to have such a powerful Akuma he didn’t go digging in my head.”

“So you what,” Alix asked, as Marinette struggled to reboot her mind, pulling the conversation away from chaos “Just let her get akumatized?”

They nodded, Adrian taking over again, “M’Lady, Chloe and I decided that that could work in our favor and we could just draw him and Mayra out and take back the miraculous they had stolen”

“Of course,” Marinette sighed, coming out of her stupor, “We weren’t expecting it to be right after such a hard Akuma, or for her powers to be just as devastating. Luckily she gave the miraculous to different users so Hawkmoth was none the wiser about each of your identities. After her staged meltdown at me, Chat went to check on her and offered to let her build a new Bee hero as we had retrieved that miraculous. With a quick illusion from the fox miraculous a month after Abeille hit the scene, we have video evidence of those two making peace with the Bee changing hands, and Chloe wishing Abeille luck even if she could no longer be Queen Bee.”

“Impressive Strategy,” Kagami hummed, “I believe if Lover Eater and Miraculous Queen hadn’t been such unusually hard foes to fight then you could have won. It was unfortunate that the circumstances were such.”

“It sounds like you overlooked some variables in your plan,” Bruce hummed, “but overall it sounded like a decent plan for having only been fighting for a little under a half a year at that point if you were expecting the usual level of difficulty with the Akuma before Chloe instead of a much tougher opponent like the one you faced.”

Marinette smiled, “It was a mess in practice,” She admitted with a small smile, “But it made it clear that even if Chat and I could use multiple miraculous for short periods, we couldn’t continue any longer without help, not to mention the previous guardian was lost.”

“Lost!” Max yelped, paling drastically, “I was under the impression that the miraculous cure brought back any fatalities that are caused by miraculous related events. How did it fail on the guardian?”

“Not like that, I’m sure, Master Max,” Alfred broke in, “Duusu explained once that the guardians have a… failsafe, if you will, to prevent the identities of the holders from being found out through them.”

Marinette nodded, eyes growing distance, “He resigned as he guardian handing it over to me. Doing so the magic of the miraculous wiped their very existence from his memory. He didn’t even know that the turtle bracelet he wore was magical let alone know the secrets the miraculous held any longer.”

The room grew cold as the teens' faces fell. The Bat’s grimaced as they looked around the room, knowing the uncertainty that was coursing through all of them

Marinette shook her head, “It doesn’t matter, he’s enjoying life with an old flame he had to abandon to take care of guardian business, but that does bring me to the next thing we have to do.”

Chloe smirked widely, “Got an extra on you then?”

“No, We’re just going to loan them for a few minutes”

“Seeing an Akuma or amok isn’t a skill that is inherent, it’s how so many people don’t realize someone is possessed until they transform,” Adrian explained, “Took us a while to realize why some people could see the butterflies and feathers and others couldn’t.”

“There are four ways you can see an Akuma that we have observed,” Max took over, “The first is if you are the intended target of the Akuma, next is if you’ve already been akumatized, we all thought that it was just PTSD of being akumatized, but their accuracy was more accurate then simply being observant would allow. Third and… most unsettling is those that parish during an Akuma battle and are brought back by the miraculous cure can view them.”

Eyes snap to Marinette, who is looking at her hands with a bone-weary sadness that any hero can relate to.

“You can raise the dead?” Jason asked, a little edge of unease in his voice. The bats knew he was thinking back to his own death, Tim reached out a hand to squeeze his knee. Being brought back to life wasn’t pleasant in their experience.

“Yes,” She tells them, “All damage is repaired as if it never happened, that includes any death or injury that may happen during the fight. If I’m transformed I can also do some healing but it’s likely to knock me out quicker then I can heal something more serious than a broken rib unless I have an energy source to pull from.”

“That’s fucked,”

“Jason!”

“Nah he’s right,” Marinette brushed off Damien’s growl, “but the last way you can see the akumas is the way we’re sticking with. Using a miraculous and the miraculous ability it possesses.”

The Bats blinked at them but they glanced over to see the other Parisians already rising to their feet.

“It’s about time for patrol anyways,” Chloe groaned, “It’s Adrian’s and Kagami’s night,”

“It’s Friday and we’re already sleeping over,” Marinette hummed, “We could all head over to the training area and get this over with, then let you two go out while we train for a bit. I’m thinking miraculous swap drills.”

“Should we suit up?” Bruce asked with a raised brow.

“Would probably be a good idea,” She suggested, “It’s not far from here so no need to use Voyage to get there, we’ll just take the rooftops.”

____________________________________________

An abandoned warehouse on the edge of the Seine, and the Paris team entered with an air of happiness, as the Bat’s took in the space. Half of the floor empty for sparing, while the other half appeared to be made into an obstacle course. Old couches and chairs were grouped between the two zones, most likely placed there for breaks in training.

“Not bad,” Dick commented as he looked around, “So how are we doing this?”

“I’m keeping the earrings, but you guys will each try one of the other miraculous”

“I call the Cat!” Jason yelled before Marinette finished, causing Dick to pout.

“No fair! Selina likes me best!”

“No way circus boy!”

“Selina,” Bruce cuts in, “Likes me best, that’s why we’re engaged. These aren’t toys, stop arguing over them.”

“It’s alright,” Adrian laughed as he removed his ring, “We were the same way when M’lady first suggested training with each other’s miraculous. They can be exciting.”

Tim was only half listening as around him the Paris team other than Marinette were pulling off their jewelry, numbers draining of color as they dropped down, except for one.

“Kagami isn’t a true user.” He said offhandedly, as her burgundy refused to falter even as her number dropped to a still formidable 8.

“What?”

Longg glared at him, “Even if she was not blessed by my hand, she is still my chosen wielder and no less a worthy opponent for the corrupted holders, do not forget it.”

“I didn’t mean to offend,” He offered, “Merely observing. Her number didn’t lose its color and dropped down to an 8 instead of a 12.”

“What is a true user?” Kagami piped in, “and why are you aware of it?”

“Short answer,” Plagg piped in taking his ring from Adrian, “Reincarnation is real and we blessed souls who are more linked to our aspects then anyone else in the world. Yadda Yadda…”

Pollen smacked him upside of the head with her comb

“Hey!”

“Someone had to do it since Tikki isn’t here,” She told him with a slight huff, “You forgot to mention that just because they have been blessed by us doesn’t mean that they’re going to be a good holder, nor does it mean that if they’re not blessed that they’re going to be a poor holder.”

“Well duh!” He complained, “Kags is one of the best dragons we’ve had in the last millennium, and Mayra sucks at her role! I didn’t think I needed to mention it.”

“It would probably help if Mayra was a true peacock instead of just a true holder,” Kaalki hummed.

“Whatevas,” Plagg brushed off floating lazily over to Jason, “I want the zombie anyways.”

“Rude,” Jason snarked but took the ring gently from the small cat, “How do I do this?”

“Just put it on and say Plagg Claws Out,”

Tim raised a brow as his brother put the miraculous on and his 10 bled from it’s usual rust to neon green, “Wait.”

The room froze.

Jason raised a brow, “What replacement?”

“Take the ring off,”

“Why?”

“Your number…” He winced, still unused to mentioning the floating digits.

Jason brushed right by it, “What did it jump up to a 15 like Marigold’s or something?”

“No… Just changed color. I really hope it’s not permanent.”

Jason slid the ring off and the rust returned allowing the younger man to breathe a sigh of relief.

“It go back?” Dick asked gently.

“Yeah, back to the normal rusty red. Looks like the miraculous turn then user’s color to something associated with them,” He breathed, “Good, I was worried I’d be staring at neon green over Jay’s head forever.”

“Hey!” Plagg snapped, crossing his tiny arms, “What’s wrong with green? It’s always been my color.”

“It’s also the color of people suffering Larzath sickness,”

The bats flinched and Jason held the ring with a grimace before slipping it back on, “Let’s get this over with then so I can go back to red, Plagg claws out!”

The sickly green light overtook him and the number started to climb.

Finally, the number disappeared and Jason was left standing in clothes similar to his normal hero outfit but tweaked.

Everything he wore was now jet black, from his boots to his helmet, with neon green accenting his boots, fingernails that had grown out into long wicked looking claws and eyes. A thick black belt wrapped around his hips and hung behind him, flicking softly on its own accord and on top of his helmet the metal was shaped into delicate-looking cat ears. The silver baton attached to the small of his back, right over his leather jacket

Dick let out a low whistle.

“Impressive,” Damian muttered, “The transformation somehow made you look even stupider than normal, Todd.”

“Like you can do better,” Jason countered, bouncing on the balls of his feet, “But also, holy shit I feel like I just got pumped full of caffeine and really want to test out what I can do.”

“Transformation does that,” Kim snickered, “You get used to it after a while, but that’s why we brought you all here instead of letting you transform in the hotel.”

“Wait until the others transform and we can give them a test run around the warehouse,” Marinette told him, before turning to the other, “Let’s get a move on boys,”

Tim found himself moving towards Max, who was sliding on an extra set of glasses he had with him, no doubt his original ones.

“May I?” He asked earning a smile from the other boy.

“Of course,” Max agreed, “Right Kaalki?”

The tiny horse eyed him, “Famous and world renown in both identities, how could I say no? The transformation phrase is Kaalki, Full Gallop.”

He nodded, turning to look back at his family. Xuppu while Damian was examining the dragon choker, asking questions of Longg and Kagami. He was surprised to see Bruce accepting the bee miraculous from Chloe however.

“The hair comb?” Dick laughed slightly, “Thought you’d go for the Pocket Watch, B.”

His father sent him a bland look, “I don’t do blue.”

The bats all cackled.

“Super doesn’t have to know,” Dick teased, placing the circlet on his head, 10 glowing and shifting to a soft tan, “we can keep a secret.”

“I don’t have a single son that I can trust not to tell the Boy Scout I was wearing his color if I took the rabbit,” He spoke evenly attaching the comb to the side of his cowl, his 11 flickering to a golden honey.

“I’m hurt Father,” Damian said as he Hastened the choker around his throat, his 11 burning to a fiery red, “I would never willing talk to Superman.”

“You’d tell Jon,”

“I never denied that fact, merely that I wouldn’t tell his father,” The youngest Wayne cheeked earning an eye roll from Bruce.

“Pollen, Buzz on,”

The Bat suit changed more than jason’s, with the gloves and shin guards now coming to hard points stipped with yellow, and the cape was gone, replaced by large translucent wing fluttering restlessly. His cowl no longer came to the classic bat ear peaks, instead long thin antennae like fixtures replaced them and the white eyes changed to dark green compound eyes. Around his hips were his utility belt usually lay, the same bee themed top that Abeille wore was wrapped.

“Alright we can all agree that the old man looks stupider then me right?”

The Paris team eyes blew wide at insulting the Batman to his face but his sons just agreed easily earning an infamous batglare that they simply shrugged off.

“I will send all of you home and bring Cass and Duke to assist instead,”

“No you won’t,” Tim mocked as he slide the glasses on, repeating the transformation phrase he was told. Energy spiked within him too an ungodly level and at the same time pain seared through his head, knees buckling almost instantly under the pressure.

“Are you alright?” Max yelped catching before he crumbled to the floor.

Blinking rapidly the pain slowly faded to a low pounding right behind his eyes, Tim glanced up and froze.

Bruce and Dick were on him almost instantly, pulling him to one of the couches to sit down, rapid fire assessment questions about how he was feeling, just like they did any time someone got hurt in field flying at him. Bruce all but pounded into them to never lie to these questions after Dick nearly fell into a coma his first year as Robin. Even when on auto pilot he could tell the truth to them.

He vaguely heard “Changes in vision?” and simply nodded.

“What changed, spots? Blurry? Colors weird? tunnel vision?” Bruce questioned softly, sliding the glasses down his nose to look into his eyes, but didn’t remove them.

“They’re gone,”

“What’s gone?”

Tim never let his eyes drift from above their heads.

“The numbers, my numbers are gone.”

____________________________________________

Taglist: @vixen-uchiha @iggy-of-fans @mewwitch @roseinbloom02 @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @mochinek0 @royalchaoticfangirl @09shell-sea09 @mystery-5-5 @derpingrainbow @aloha-posts-stuff @hauntedfreakdeputyhero @maribat-archive @blue-peach14 @kae690 @zazzlejazzle @vincentvangoose @be-happy-every-day-please @xxmadamjinxx @celestiacq @peculiarlylostdreamer @dani-ari @melicmusicmagic @themcclan @nyctamaximoff @nataladriana9 @drama-queen-supreme @miraculousbelladonna @urbanpineapplefarmer @graduatedmelon @lexysama @hecate-hallow @ki117h3dr4g0n @vinerlover @interobanginyourmom @bluefiredemon @imanerddealwith @tinybrie @clumsy-owl-4178 @shizukiryuu @whogavemeaninternet @schrodingers25 @lunar-wolf-warrior @urbanpineapplefarmer @xxmadamjinxx @crazylittlemunchkin @littleredrobinhoodlum @rougemme @dur55 @phantommeow12 @kand-roo @silvergold-swirl @officiallyathiana @completelypeccable @redhoodsdoll @nataladriana9 @mariae2900 @northernbluetongue @sturchling @thesunanditsangel @reyna-avila-ramirez-alreanaldo @bobothyross @taoiichii @magnitude101999 @magicalfirebird @nataladriana9 @panda3506 @aquariusrunes @woodland-queer @sayarock121 @mindfulmagics @magic-miraculous @my-name-is-michell @naoryllis @slytherinqueen2432 @ilovefluffbutsmutisalsogreat @captainartsypants @nanakeid @legendaryneckjudgestudent @smolplantmum @the-real-ginakid @nyaabinch @elmokingkong @gentlemanoftimetravel @whitennerdiest@imbrium-mare @tired-butterfly @corabeth11 @aestheticnpoetic @amirahevens @sassakitty @letterlust

234 notes · View notes

artreflectiveblog · 3 years

Text

An Introduction to Contemporary Art

This blog is dedicated to my experience surrounding Contemporary Art as a first year undergraduate student at Liverpool John Moores University. Throughout this assignment I will use this blog as a platform to record my expanding knowledge of Contemporary Art through the module lectures, in conjunction with my own experiences and research.

My name is Eve, my pronouns are she/her. I am nineteen years old, living in Liverpool.

What does Contemporary Art mean to me?

When first considering what does Contemporary Art mean to me, I found no singular answer. To put a definitive label on Contemporary Art would contradict the nature of it, as it does not fit into any particular artistic category - there is no conformity to concept, the materials it uses or the way in which it is displayed. It seems to me that it is a shape shifting term.

However, there does seem to be one link that runs throughout all Contemporary art and artists. What seems to be persistent is the focus on the ‘concept’ relating to the time in which it was made - the relevance and the idea of a piece often being paramount to the aesthetic.

My Experience with Contemporary Art

My first glimpse into the Contemporary Art world was not a positive experience. Like a large group of the general public, I did not always have interest or perhaps the respect that I do now for the seemingly elite group of art, artists and galleries that are branded as ‘Contemporary’. Growing up in a non-artistic, non-academic background, there was a general consensus that there was ‘good’ and ‘bad’ art. The ‘good’ art was that which showed great technical skill and ability, something that only those most gifted could produce; the ‘bad’ was ugly, hard to understand and pretentious with no rationale for being so -Contemporary. When I initially became interested in art, I began to visit Contemporary ‘white cube’ galleries and I felt fraudulent standing there, silent, contemplating a work, which truthfully, I could not cultivate a deep or meaningful relationship with. Contemporary artwork felt very inaccessible to me, I felt left out of the secret, as much as I wished to be initiated in the club.

However, over time I broadened my horizons. I was struck so forcefully by my discovery of leading Contemporary artist of the 20th Century- Jean Michelle Basquiat. For me, this was the beginning of my own exploration of the Contemporary Art world. Basqiuat’s raw and intense excitement shown in his paintings, drawing and graffiti spoke so clearly of the social injustice he experienced. The narrative of those marginalised shown within each scribble, clashing colour and line, attacking the structures of power and and speaking of his experiences within the black community in New York in the 1980’s. The relevancy is still felt so much today, transcending the time in which it was made.

Bird on the Money (1981) Jean-Michel Basquiat

Acidquiat (1980) Jean-Michel Basquiat While Basquiat was the first Contemporary artist that sparked my interest, my most recent curiosity is with Felix Gonzalez-Torres. More specifically, the work Untitled (Perfect Lovers) which consists of two battery operated clocks, set at the same time and are placed touching on the wall. At the time of conception of the piece, both Gonzalez and his boyfriend Ross Laylock were dying of AIDS. Gonzalez said that creating the work terrified him, he used it as a way to face up to the fleeting time he had left both with his love, Ross, and of his own life. The idea being that the clocks would eventually go out of sync (as lovers do) and eventually one would stop completely. This work, without any painting or particular skill exists only as a concept, still so poignantly expresses the meaning which all humans can relate their lives to - a great reflection of the transience of life. Another work that fascinates me by Gonzalez is (Untitled) Portrait of Ross in L.A. which was recreated a series of times. This installation is a pile of colourful wrapped sweets, which the public are encouraged to take away with them. Dimensions vary with installation however it ideally weighs 175lb, which was Ross Laylocks weight when healthy. The concept being the depiction the effect AIDS had, causing the decline of Ross’ health over time, reflected in the diminishing sweets - it is as if the viewers are taking a piece of Ross Laylock away with them.

(Untitled) Perfect Lovers (1991) Felix Gonzalez-Torres

(Untitled) A Portrait of Ross In L.A. (1991) Felix Gonzalez-Torres

A love letter from Felix Gonzalex-Torres to Ross Laylock (1988)

3 notes · View notes

rainsonata · 3 years

Text

Doppelgänger 14/15

Chapter 14: The Cataclysm

Fandom/Pairing: Elsword; none Rating: T Word Count: 6,968

Summary: It was like looking into a mirror. What happens when one’s reflection talks back and throws uncomfortable questions? El Search Party struggles to find entrance into the Demon Realm, but Dominator has a plan.

Alternative Title: Dominator fucked up and now everyone meets their alternative selves

AO3 Link / FF.NET Link

— [Chapter 01] [Chapter 02] [Chapter 03] [Chapter 04] [Chapter 05] [Chapter 06] [Chapter 07] [Chapter 08] [Chapter 09] [Chapter 10] [Chapter 11] [Chapter 12] [Chapter 13] [Chapter 14] [Chapter 15] —

----------------------------

Class Notes:

Canon Path: Knight Emperor, Aether Sage, Daybreaker, Rage Hearts, Code: Esencia, Comet Crusader, Apsara, Empire Sword, Doom Bringer, Ishtar and Chevalier (Innocent), Bluhen

Alternative Path: Rune Master, Oz Sorcerer, Anemos, Furious Blade, Code: Ultimate, Fatal Phantom, Devi, Flame Lord, Dominator, Timoria and Abysser (Catastrophe), Richter

Transformation Path: Immortal, Metamorphy, Twilight, Nova Imperator, Code: Sariel, Centurion, Shakti, Bloody Queen, Mad Paradox, Iblis and Anular (Diangelion), Herrscher

----------------------------

Code: Ultimate

Henir’s Time and Space existed in a separate plane of its own, balanced between all dimensions and existed at a point where time did not exist. A portal cracked open from the side, forming an enclave big enough for their group to squeeze through.

Ultimate entered first. She forced her wings to fold back to avoid crushing the person behind her. It was the same as it was the last time she had visited. They all landed on the familiar blue platform shared by parts of Elrianode. Electric circuits glowed beneath their feet. Blue cubes hovered around their platform among the stars. A dark sun eclipsed by the moon floated above their heads.

Despite gaining access to knowledge from the libraries and databases from her journey, Ultimate had little understanding of Henir’s Time and Space and its existence. Its architecture bore strong resemblance to that of the corrupted monsters and machines in Elrianode. The administrator of the facility was placed in what appeared to be a form of punishment. Ultimate felt her circuits hum into mild stress at the thought of being locked into one place.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE DIMENSION WILL COLLAPSE?”

Loud chatter disrupted Ultimate’s train of thought. The queen of destruction closed her eyes and allowed her programs to run scans in the background. Glave was nowhere to be seen, but Ultimate needed to update her database on Henir’s Time and Space.

“I’m sure she was joking.” Knight laughed nervously. The red knight fought to restrain Aether by placing his hands over her shoulder and gently nudging her away from Metamorphy. The elementary mage did not back away and had her staff out with a dangerous look in her eyes.

Ultimate recognized that expression. It was the one humans had when frustrated and confused. Aether was both.

“I don’t joke,” Metamorphy said with a bright smile. She was unaffected by her counterpart’s outburst and stepped out of the portal with her arms behind her back.

Her sensors notified Ultimate that other organic beings were present. Orange and red light filtered through her ocular lens to let her know there were a few dozen warm bodies. Metamorphy was correct in that they were the last group to have arrived. The platform they were on was one of many. Small stairs connected each platform and formed a chain of them to travel in between them.

Ultimate heard their names being shouted by the others that saw their arrival. It was too much for the Nasod in keeping track of them all. She allowed herself to ignore them and instead watched her friends interact with each other. Their reunion would be short before they learn about their fates.

A figure appeared from the mass of people. Ultimate’s scans shot up in response to the high energy levels emitted from Paradox. The time traveler’s energy level was unstable, making it difficult for Ultimate’s systems to keep up with the changes. It was as if Paradox wasn’t human.

“Of course it’s you causing all the noise.” Paradox was in his adult form and covered his mouth to hide a snide smile. He said to Metamorphy. “So you told them your intentions. Didn’t think you would become the harbinger of bad news.”

“I don’t remember asking for your input,” Metamorphy’s expression soured. “I doubt your group took it any better than mine did.”

“You took us here knowing we were going to react like this?” Knight protested, “You’re okay with us watching the world be destroyed?”

“Reborn,” Metamorphy corrected.

“Explain,” Ultimate looked at Paradox and Metamorphy with cold eyes. She noticed more people crowding around them and listening in to Metamorphy’s explanation. Did they know about this before they did? “I don’t quite follow what you mean by rebirth.”

Destruction and rebirth were two concepts humans liked to bring up through history. Their religion and cultures were built around both. When one group had fallen, another would rise, sometimes stronger than the last in ways Nasods wouldn’t be able to.

Ultimate was placed into deep slumber because her creator feared that his race had once again fallen into the cycle of death. He was correct, but Adrian failed to recognize that humans were just as compatible with creation as they were in destruction. For she had seen her teammates come up with plans and concepts that helped others. However, Ultimate began to understand his sentiment when Metamorphy showed glee in explaining the death of a dimension the Nasod queen had only come to known for a few days.

“Rebirth makes it sound grander than it actually is,” Metamorphy said. “It’s more like a soft reboot. Having everyone into the same dimension is stressing the system and forcing it to shut down to reset itself.”

“You’re saying it’s going to come back?” Phantom asked.

“Yes,” Metamorphy hummed. “Maybe not one-hundred percent. It should be restored to the state before the dimension broke down.”

“We’re really doing this.” Bangs covered Knight’s eyes, “We’re letting people suffer again.”

There was tension in the red haired man’s features. His shoulders rose and a hint of blue flickered over his glassy eyes. Ultimate frowned and questioned the El’s influence over Knight. Did the El have a stronger presence with Knight than it did for Rune?

“I’m sorry we had to resort to this,” Rage offered Knight an awkward pat on the back.

“So this is what happens when too many timelines intersect,” Bringer mumbled to himself. “This is the end.”

Being a few hundred years old, Ultimate wasn’t one to be as sentimental as most were in occurrences such as the soft reset Metamorphy was suggesting. The end wasn’t a foreign concept to her. According to numerous history books, many Elrian civilizations documented the Nasod war as the death of a prosperous era and the end to the benevolent relationship between Nasods and humans. Rune’s sacrifice to the El was the end of their search for the El Lady and the El Masters. A soft reset would mark yet another ending of a story arc in human history.

Was there truly an end?

“Resetting will fix everything?” There was a bite to Flame words and sharpness in the look she exchanged to Metamorphy and over to Paradox. Biting the bottom of her lips, Ultimate could see the flame user trying not to get excited.

“I don’t know about that,” Paradox scoffed. “No one has done a reset before. I’m not sure if Glave can even do it.”

“Is that why you brought us here?” Abysser asked. “I knew Glave deals with time and space, but do you really think he’s going to agree to helping us?”

“Didn’t he already help you in Elrianode?” Crusader had his arms crossed, “He gave us information about the corrupted Elrianode monsters and about the Dark El.”

“I suppose it could be too soon to ask for help again.” Empire said, “We’re already here, so we should at least try.”

Empire had what humans called “cautious optimism”. When Ultimate expressed her confusion, Rune explained that people wanted to see the bright side of something, but remained careful out of the fear of being wrong. The knight captain remained so, putting on a composed mask but smiling as a way to reassure the others. Flame did the same, but her enthusiasm was more overt and offering loud cheers.

Crossing her legs, Ultimate examined a floating cube reflecting her face back. She hadn’t noticed before, but some of them acted as monitors and showed the viewer different worlds. Each surface focused on a different part of Elrios, but one caught her attention. Ripples formed over its otherwise smooth surface and offered her a glimpse of a moving figure.

A woman sharing Devi’s face darted across a muddy terrain with a toothy grin. She wore white outfit similar to that of the warriors from Fluone's Northern Empire, followed by a white fox with many tails. Behind her was a blonde man in a white suit covered by equally pristine armor and a destroyer. An elven woman was with them. Her hair was tied back into a long braid and hoisted a sword and a bow. The sky was red and they were fighting a monster several times their size, covered in spikes and baring sharp teeth.

An emotionless face reflected back at Ultimate from the screen. The Nasod queen froze, waiting for her circuits to process the face of her twin. Pale blue wings sprouted from the back of her counterpart from another world she didn’t know of. Were these people her friends from another dimension?

“My, my. There are more of you than usual.” A male voice mused, “Your group gets bigger each time we meet, but this is the biggest I’ve seen.”

A single orange eye peered through the metal mask Glave wore. His voice made it impossible to tell his age, a quiet chuckle followed by a light toned statement that placed many people on edge. The locks placed around his collar were for a man who had committed unspoken crimes.

“You took your time,” Paradox sneered. “Where have you been?”

“Hello, Add.” Glave chuckled, “I see you have made use of the knowledge I have given you.”

“Cut the crap and tell us what we need to do to undo this idiot’s mistake!” Bringer growled.

“It looks like there’s three of you now,” Glave looked at Bringer, Dominator, and Paradox. “I suspected this day would come. How can I help you?”

Bringer fumed as Bluhen commented about the brawler being singled out with his other selves. Dominator was less pleased of being grouped with his alternatives, crossing his legs and sitting on Dynamo in a silent sulk. Paradox became a sitting duck as soon as Glave showed up, glaring at the administrator of Henir’s Time and Space with distaste.

“We need your help,” Crusader explained. “The Demon Realm where we came from is falling apart. If we don’t do something, we won’t be able to save Elrios.”

“Is that so?” Glave looked at the mob, “Is that because all of you were involved?”

“Yes,” Anemos said. “Add said there were too many of us and it’s causing problems for everyone and the people living in Demon Realm.”

“I expected this to happen for some time,” Glave admitted.

“Because you taught someone how to time travel?” Nova raised a brow.

“Yes, but he isn’t the only one learning to open portals.” Glave said, “I’m sure you remember the demon invasion in Velder?”

“That’s right, they were trying to open portals to invade Elrios!” Aether exclaimed, “But what are you trying to say? Metamorphy said you could reset the dimension and return us back to where we were supposed to be!”

“Did she now?” Glave said, “That is a heavy task you are asking of me.”

“Please, Glave. You helped us before and you gave us all the information you knew about the Dark El.” Knight lowered his head, “I don’t know what we can offer this time, but you’re the only person I know who can help us.”

Ultimate looked back to Knight, trying to understand his intention. He led a massive group, yet maintained the humbleness Rune had. There was no humor in his intonation, coated by shame and guilt. She was confused about where the unnecessary emotion came from. He was no different than Rune.

“What can you offer this time?” Glave chuckled again, “Resetting a dimension so I can send all of you on your merry way? It will only take time before all of you find each other again.”

“I know it’s our fault this happened, but that’s why I want to change that.” Knight said, “I only want-”

An arm blocked Knight from getting closer to Glave. Immortal stepped up and shook his head to Knight, effectively silencing his counterpart with a tiny smile. The sword user beamed at Glave and offered the man a forced grin.

“Yo, Glave! I got a better deal than myself over there,” Immortal nudged Knight to the side. “Why stop at resetting one dimension? You’re right, we might try to see each other again and that means you’ll have to fix our mess again. So why don’t you sit down and listen to what I have to say?”

“Oh?” A smile could be heard in Glave’s raised intonation, “What do you propose?”

“Why don’t you make it so that dimension traveling is stable across our three dimensions?” Immortal nodded, “You won’t regret this because you will never be bored!”

Anemos once proposed to Ultimate that Glave’s strange requests were done out of boredom. She kept her voice low and hushed with a snide comment that was uncharacteristic of the elven woman. Ultimate couldn’t relate to the emotion as Nasods did not get bored, but she knew that humans had a tendency of finding ways to entertain themselves when placed in isolation. She could see why Glave would go to such lengths to reach out to the El Search Party when his traveling was limited to a few spots.

“Never get bored, huh?” Nova laughed to himself, “That’s so Elsword.”

----------------------------

Chevalier

In contrast to the cold weather in Varnimyr, there was nothing in Henir’s time and space. It was warm yet cold. Big, yet small. An infinite sea of platforms floated in space, small stairs suspended in midair and connected to one another. Just big enough to fit all twenty nine of them and its administrator.

The first time he had visited Henir’s time and space was by Glave himself, who had a tendency of showing up at resting spots in Elrios. A strange light in his eyes gave away that the man had plans of his own. He wasn’t one to share his intentions and Chevalier didn’t want to do with any of it. Chevalier didn’t lack strange people in his life after he formed a pact with Ishtar.

It has been weeks since Chevalier last saw the administrator of Henir’s time and space. With a look of boredom and a shrug, Glave offered useful information on the Dark El and a quick history lesson of the Henir heretics involvement of it. Their dependence on Glave brought discomfort to the half-demon butler.

“Are we nothing more than entertainment for this man?” Ishtar scowled, “Fixing someone else’s mistake in exchange for our livelihood. What kind of nonsense is this?”

Chevalier hushed the former demon ruler. He had seen the hasty plan wrapped together by the newcomers as if it was second nature for them to dimension jump at a last minute’s notice. There was no reason to give Glave a moment of doubt in handing over a gift to their group.

“How would we travel to each other’s worlds?” Apsara asked.

“I gave the coordinates to the nerd and the musclehead,” Paradox snorted. “I think that’s enough.”

“This is a good idea?” Chevalier wondered aloud, “Demons have tried to cross into Elrios through portals in the past. What makes you think they won’t find out about our new access to them?”

“It’s only a problem if you blurt it out in the cold open like the amateurs you are,” Paradox grinned. “With twelve of you, that surely won’t be a problem, would it?”

Chevalier couldn’t make head or tail(s) about the man who shared Doom Bringer’s face. The time traveler had two forms he could use however he pleased. That was how he tricked Knight into believing he was harmless, yet they were expected to take Paradox’s words as truth. The butler’s gaze locked into Bringer, who nodded as a confirmation.

“That’s right, he gave us the coordinates for each other’s dimensions.” Bringer said, “Is that all you want to say?”

“You’re not the type to have idle conversations, are you?” Dreadlord chuckled, “I suppose it can’t be helped with our situation.”

Was the Demon Realm they came from beyond saving? It wasn’t their world, but it was the one the El Search Party promised to protect. It was a relief to make amends with the dark elves and the other creatures living there. Despite the poor relation between demons and Elrios inhabitants, there were civilians living in both. Most importantly, it was Ishtar’s home. Behind her sly smiles was sadness and nostalgia for a place that no longer accepted her.

Chevalier and Ishtar poured blood and sweat into fighting their way into Demon Realm to restore her reign as a ruler, only for all that effort to go to waste. He couldn’t imagine the thoughts going through Ishtar’s mind in watching her world be reduced to ashes.

“It’s fine,” Ishar placed a hand over Chevalier’s left forearm. She said with a forced smile, “It doesn’t bother me. Everything will be okay.”

“Are you sure?” Chevalier disliked how childish he sounded when he asked a seemingly simple, yet personal question to the one he was supposed to protect.

“Metamorphy said it would be reset, so I’m sure of it.” She closed her eyes, “My people are no strangers to rebuilding themselves. We should be thankful Grave is agreeing to help us again. This will be the second time we owe him.”

“That’s already several times less than some of us,” Immortal gave a light chuckle. “Are you ready then?”

All this talk about portal and interdimensional travel was a familiar topic that gave Chevalier a migraine. He could understand why the ability to do so was so appealing to demons. With that sort of power, Chevalier would gain access to stronger allies, multiple versions of himself that would likely share the same objective as he did. It took the effort of many people to prevent such power from falling into their enemy’s possession.

Meeting their alternates added an extra layer of complexity on top of the original intention to seek out the Dark El. The butler knew they wouldn’t hear the last about portals after the first time they attempted to cross a dimension over from Lanox. Chevaliar had doubts that their group would return to Elrios any time soon.

“You all right, there?” Abysser’s annoying voice popped into his vicinity. “What’s going on in your mind?”

“Nothing,” Chevalier said.

“No one thinks about nothing,” Abysser snorted. “Hey Ish, what’s he thinking?”

“Don’t call her that!” Chevalier growled. Why was being around himself so grating? Ishtar gave Abysser a small smile, but the demon monarch mentally cackled at the exchange between the two butlers. Chevalier sent glares at the tiny demon, struggling not to fill his mind with profanities. That only made Ishtar laugh harder.

“Did I say something funny?” Abysser was concerned, “You look like you ate something bad and Ishtar is giving me a weird look.”

Chevalier stared ahead, focusing his thoughts and eyes on Glave. The administrator’s lips were moving, but he couldn’t hear the words. For the first time, he wished Ishtar didn’t have to share the same mental space as him. The demon monarch was usually good about backing off and giving him privacy, but Ishtar was taking delight in picking at his thoughts whenever Abysser was around. Her Cheshire grin was one that was usually reserved for teasing Bluhen.

“Ciel was telling me how much he likes you!” Ishtar dared to speak a complete lie. Her lips couldn’t have spread out even further if she tried. The demon monarch bore a mischievous smirk that was more in line with her appearance age.

“Aw, I think you’re cool too!” Abysser beamed.

Chevalier groaned.

He spied a camera shot of Varnimyr from one of the reflective cubes floating nearby. They functioned similar to the Nasod technology used in Elysion to monitor the city. Red clouds swirled in a dangerous haze, obscured by dark portals consuming the rest of the sky. Demons trekked across the fiery path, seeking for shelter in confusion to what was happening to their world. The demon realm was a mirror to what Lanox was weeks before the demon invasion. So this was how Glave always knew where to find them.

Past his former days as a hitman, Chevalier pondered on how he would use them. How easy would it be to find his target before they realized he existed and... Chevalier didn’t allow himself to complete the thought. Those days were over. He would have easily picked to live in the present than in a bloodtorn past where he too often scraped the bottom of the barrel for less savory jobs.

“It’s okay if you don’t know what to think about any of this,” Abysser read his silence as uncertainty. His eyes glazed over the cubes. Anger appeared in a short moment before he said, “I don’t think anyone would know how to react.”

“You think?” Chevalier gave a dark chuckle. At least Abysser’s voice was good at distracting him from those troubling thoughts. “I was questioning my sanity when you introduced yourself.”

“I can’t be that bad,” he feigned a hurt expression.

“It’s like a dream,” Chevalier said. “Everything gets resolved as quickly as the problem came.”

“We must be blessed because we now have three Elswords,” Abysser smirked. “Lady Luck seems to like them.”

“I wouldn’t call it luck if it means having to sit through the world crumbling before us,” Chevalier said.

“You’re welcome to join them,” Abysser grinned.

“I’ll pass,” Chevalier scoffed.

“Don’t you ever get bored of acting cool all the time?” Abysser asked.

Chevalier shrugged, wondering what the demon meant by that. While he was troubled by the idea of watching a dimension reset itself, Ishtar did not need to add his premature death to her list of growing worries. Having sympathy for demon realm civilians wasn’t going to make him into a martyr. He was not Knight.

“What needs to be done to begin the reset?” Anemos asked.

“Your visit was unexpected, so I won’t be able to start immediately to fix your… mishap.” Glave said. “For saving the dimension, I expect a token of exchange shortly after. I’m sure it won’t be difficult for one of you to acquire it.”

Chevalier was sure the first part was a lie, but he didn’t have the proof nor motivation to say otherwise. He took Glave’s word for it and nodded in agreement. His mind glossed over the mention of payment, mildly interested in what the administrator of Henir could want. Glave had previously formed exchange services for them running errands. The requested items were often unique objects obtained from strange circumstances and battles.

“You can tell us about the price after you finish saving the world,” Immortal said impatiently.

Similar to Knight, he carried weight in his steps and was terse in his words. He had a sharp look in his eyes, hazy from the effect the Dark El had. Chevalier could feel the Dark El radiating from the sword user, yet he retained his reason and intelligence.

“There will still be limitations on how many can visit different worlds,” Glave added. “Your dimensions will no longer collapse under the new laws, but having large groups together will cause a delay in regular timeflow.”

“As in…?” Flame squinted.

“Try not to visit in big groups,” Phantom finished for her.

“Having big groups does make it harder to avoid detection from the enemies,” Daybreaker remarked.

Being forced to arrive as small groups sounded cumbersome, but it was more than what he expected from Glave. Impressed by Immortal’s ability to sway the administrator of Henir, Chevalier quietly thanked the redhead and offered a pat on the shoulder. Immortal backed away, as if the young man had seen a ghost. He kept looking at the butler’s face with a careful expression before moving his eyes over to Ishtar. Fear struck across Immortal’s gaze before he apologized to Chevalier for staring.

Confused by Immortal’s reaction, Chevalier accepted the apology but frowned. Was it something he had said? Did Immortal have a bad relationship with the other Ciel from his world? It took a split second for Chevalier to force himself away from drawing out his gunblade because of the way Immortal looked at Ishtar, an expression he was quick to recognize. It was one of fear mixed with anger. What did the other Lu do to make Immortal respond like that?

“Forget it.” Immortal rubbed the back of his head, a trait he shared with Rune and Knight when frustrated. “I need to let the others know what’s happening.”

“I know you have a lot on your plate, but Glave won’t be ready any time soon.” Chevalier said. He wished there was something he could do to help the young man. “You should take the time to rest.”

“Lucky for us, time doesn’t exist here.” Immortal let out a dark chuckle.

“So after this, we’ll return to where we were before like nothing happened?” Chevalier asked.

Immortal nodded.

Rune’s group would go back to Elrianode before they entered Demon Realm. Would they once again attempt to enter their Demon Realm or would they change plans and remain in the ancient city? Chevalier and his friends would return to a restored Varnimyr with its inhabitants being none the wiser, still in danger because of a strong demonic presence they have yet to identify. Where would Immortal and the others go?

“Don’t waste your time thinking about the things that don’t exist in your world,” Immortal said. He gave the butler a critical expression, “I’m sure you’re curious about what my world is like, but that’s our problem to figure out.”

Problem? Chevalier realized he was judging a group of people he had only met a few hours ago and felt guilty. It wasn’t his place to make opinions on something he didn’t understand.

“Perhaps we’ll meet again under better circumstances,” Chevalier said.

“Maybe,” Immortal’s expression softened. Despite his young face, there was age in his eyes. Chevalier didn’t understand why, but he sympathized with Immortal’s struggle to hold the team together. That was something he could relate to. “Maybe not.”

“Can you at least tell me if you found the Dark El?” Chevalier asked when Immortal excused himself.

The redhead broke into a burst of genuine laughter, “Would I be here if I knew the answer?”

----------------------------

Immortal

Resting his head back against the palm of his hands, Immortal took deep and controlled breaths as Shakti had taught him. He felt his chest hover before deflating, letting his mind wander off into the distance and blocking out the pointless chatter around him.

More waiting. Nothing he could do to speed it up. Time didn’t exist in Henir’s Time and Space, which was great because that meant the stakes were lower, but made the extraneous delay worse for the sword user. Immortal was itching to get up and find something to do.

Paradox didn’t trust Glave, but it wasn’t a question about trust. Glave was useful. He had access to knowledge and power that could easily switch their position in their current battle against the demons. Immortal wasn’t going to ignore a viable resource, not when Glave was so eager to offer his services.

It was torturous sitting around and waiting for Glave to do his thing and send them back. To hell with Glave saying their visit was unexpected. He knew the guy was keeping a careful watch on his group. Something about them having “potential”, whatever that meant. Glave was never confused when his team visited the administrator, often offering them valuable information they needed. There was no reason for Glave to begin being surprised by their appearances.

Immortal’s concentration was broken by girlish giggling. Scowling at nothing in particular, he opened his eyes to see Metamorphy pointing at Paradox while talking to Devi. The magical girl motioned a pair of cat ears with the use of her index fingers. Devi had a similar expression as Immortal, confused by Metamorphy’s chatter. Flame was amused and mouthed a few words Immortal couldn’t hear over the rest of the mob.

“It’s hard to hear your own thoughts,” Nova commented. The older man settled down next to Immortal. “I’m surprised it took effort to find them.”

“I’m surprised too,” Immortal mumbled. “We should have let Aisha lead.”

“She would be happy to hear that.” He could hear the smile in Nova’s tone without looking at the former mercenary. “Convincing Glave to let the paths crossover more than once was a bold move.”

“So was letting the Dark El take over.” Immortal balanced one of his blades to see his reflection shine over its glossy edge and smirked, “I’m a bold guy.”

“If you say so,” Nova chuckled. “I understand wanting to restore their dimensions, but why take the extra steps to let them transverse to our worlds?”

Portals weren’t a novelty for Elrios. Humans and demons alike have spent centuries toying with the idea of interdimensional travel, fighting to ignore the barriers placed by the gods to prevent them from mingling. In many ways, demons held very human qualities in wanting what couldn’t be obtained. If it wasn’t Knight or Rune’s teams attempting to use portals, Immortal was sure the demons would make additional attempts to break into another dimension.

“I like to call it a haunch,” Immortal said. “Just in case something like this happens again. Besides, they could use the extra help.”

“In fighting Rosso?” Nova raised a brow.

“Not so loud!” Immortal shushed him, “I don’t think they know about him yet, at least that’s what Paradox told me.”

“Letting them know won’t hurt them,” Nova gently told him. “They already know they will make it because of us.”

Immortal questioned if it was wiser to let the other El Search Parties know what they were getting themselves into. His team had barely scraped out of the battle with bloodied cuts and bruises that took days to heal. Unlike Knight’s team, they had no healers and relied on potions crafted by their alchemists.

What would he tell Knight and Rune? That they were going to be ambushed by a burning midget with a giant blade? Immortal sighed, frustrated by the dilemma. Their timelines were already tangled up thanks to Paradox. There was no use in hiding knowledge from each other, yet he hesitated.

Their small team of eight grew at Rosso’s awakening. Paradox showed up when the first blood was drawn. When asked why, the time traveler shrugged with a mischievous smile. Immortal could never understand what went through Paradox’s mind and wasn’t sure if he wanted to.

It was one of the rare fights that summoned Iblis and Anular from the depths of hell. Iblis’s face was twisted with madness and delight in the pain she was able to inflict on their enemy, dragging Anular along on an invisible chain formed by their twisted bond. Their party was down to the last of its members able to fight when Immortal thought he saw red hair and a claymore before passing out. When he woke up, Bloody Queen was nowhere to be seen.

“You think our help will be enough?” Immortal pondered on the implications of being able to regularly interact with his alternates. They were just a walking distance from him, but he couldn’t bring himself to face them.

Nova noticed his hesitance.

“You should check on them,” Nova followed his gaze over to the two red haired men talking to each other. “I’ll let you know when it’s time for us to leave.”

“What if they hate me?” Immortal was surprised by his own doubt, annoyed by how honest he sounded.

“Before you finish that thought, I think they’re more concerned about their problems than about you.” Nova said without heat in his words, “They followed you through this plan because they believed in you. I think your appearance might be a breath of fresh air for them.”

“You sure put a lot of faith into this eighteen year old,” Immortal laughed.

“If age was a concern, I wouldn’t have followed you when we first met.” Nova smiled. “If they give you trouble, I can talk to them too.”

“I don’t think that will happen,” Immortal laughed again. Knight and Rune were foolish, but had good intentions. That made three of them. He gave a mock salute to Nova with a toothy grin, “I won’t be gone for long.”

It wasn’t hard to find Knight and Rune. They sat huddled together like they have known each other for years, speaking hushed whispers that raised Immortal’s radar. He forced those thoughts away, putting on a big smile as he was supposed to. Relaxed, waving at the two as if he wasn’t bothered by the idea of being the bringer of bad news that they were going to have to deal with a half-demon brat in a matter of hours, two weeks in Rune’s case.

“Yo!” Immortal heard himself speak. He waved to them, “Fancy seeing you two here!”

“You’re the one who brought us here,” Knight waved back with a sigh.

“I know,” Immortal kept smiling. “I told you I would help you guys get home!”

“That felt a little too easy,” Rune said. “Do things always go smoothly for you?”

“No,” Immortal heard Knight’s voice alongside his. He stopped to look at Knight, who wasn’t as surprised. “Really?”

“Yes,” Knight stressed. The look on his face was one of someone who was exhausted from all the interrogating from others. Impatient, he pressed his hand against his forehead when he saw doubt in his alternates. “Maybe the things I went through weren't as long and strenuous as it was for you, but I have struggles too!”

“Never said I didn’t believe you,” Rune patted Knight on the back. “Just surprised, that’s all.”

Even if Immortal had purposely avoided talking to Rune and Knight up to this point, he was envious of how easy it was for them to talk to each other. Knight and Rune lacked the tension in their shoulders, relaxed and eager to trust others. It wasn’t that Immortal couldn’t relax, but there was a constant nagging voice in the back of his mind. Conwell urged him to take the next step to avoid the uncertainty of death.

“Did you make Raven worried again?” Rune asked.

“Me? Worry him?” Immortal smirked at the idea,“When isn’t he worried? He’s going to get white hair if he keeps fussing like that.”

“Ours already has white hair,” Knight said without humor.

Having only caught a short glimpse of Rage from a distance, Immortal was only able to recognize the former mercenary by the monstrous arm. It was nothing like what Immortal was used to, a strange mesh of machinery and organic compounds.

Rune threw his head back and let his hair flop over his face in uncontrolled laughter. Covered in runes, his appearance was a sharp contrast to Knight’s conservative armored look. It was amazing how consistent their looks were to their personalities. If not for their shared names, they could have been different people.

“Anyway, I think it’s only fair I share some information about what’s coming up for both of you.” Immortal ran one hand through his hair.

“You mean what was causing the earthquakes in Varnimyr?” Knight asked, “Yeah, Paradox mentioned something about that. Rune and I were talking about that.”

“Did Paradox mention how strong the next enemy was?” Immortal asked.

“We’re going to have to fight something stronger?” Rune laughed, “When is that not the case?”

They were taking the news better than Immortal thought, maybe too calmly. He didn’t like how quick Rune was to accept his word. No hesitance or questioning involved. Maybe Paradox was right about him needing more caffeine. Knight blinked, letting the new information process before nodding in agreement to Rune. He looked at Immortal with interest and ushered him to keep talking.

Well, that’s why Immortal was here - letting them know what they were getting themselves into. It wasn’t going to stop them from going after Rosso, because they were Elsword and none of them could ignore someone’s cry for help. If no one was going to fight Rosso, who would? The ones who felt the most connection to the El. Good gods, why did all of them have to be big damn heroes?

“The enemy will be heavily protected from outside its tower,” Immortal explained. “You need to take down the barriers quickly before they overwhelm you. Make use of everyone’s abilities and distribute your strengths. If one person gets shot down, let someone else take over.”

“People died?” Knight looked alarmed.

“No,” Immortal realized his wording and stepped back. “But you’re going to need all the help you can get.”

“Is that why you asked Glave to let our dimensions overlap?” Rune asked.

Immortal cocked his head to the side, “Am I scaring you yet?”

“Not really.” Knight’s brave front was betrayed by his face losing color. Clearing his throat, he said, “Telling us what you know will make the fight easier.”

“Will it be easier?” Immortal asked more for himself than to the others. “I doubt things will ever be easy for any of us, but you’ll continue?”

“Of course!” Rune bumped his fist up, “Who the hell do you think we are?”

Knight nodded in agreement.

“Figures,” Immortal smiled. “Then I see no point in stopping either of you from doing what you have to do.”

He sat with his legs crossed with his body leaned back, looking up to the stars surrounding Henir’s time and space. No wonder Glave kept finding excuses to leave this bubble and interfere with his group. There was nothing to see once the novelty in the monitor panels and space wore off.

“What’s your team like?” Knight asked.

“You already saw half of them,” Immortal said. “What do you think?”

“Blunt. They have a lot of energy,” Knight after some thought, clearly putting careful consideration into his response. How cute.

“They have a lot of powers we haven’t seen before,” Rune commented. “Where did Paradox learn to use portals?”

“None of us know,” Immortal shrugged. “Metamorphy thinks Glave is involved, but that’s besides the point. Paradox does what he wants.”

“You mean he isn’t with you?” Knight asked.

“Yes and no,” Immortal said. “Our team is a little smaller than yours because we don’t travel together.”

Immortal saw the wheels spinning in Knight’s head, taking in the new information and forming new questions to throw at the sword wielder. He caught the red-haired knight tongue-tied on whether to probe further. It didn’t matter to him. If Knight asked, he would let the other know that their team functioned differently. Having a smaller team didn’t bother Immortal. It made traveling easier and drew in less attention.

“It must be hard fighting that enemy if you had a smaller group,” Rune said.

“We’ve managed,” Immortal replied.

Although Iblis, Anular, and Paradox had joined for the bigger fights, he wasn’t sure if they counted as allies. Their loyalties laid elsewhere, not in him. Anular followed wherever the corrupted queen went and Paradox had a separate agenda unrelated to the El. It was better than no help at all. He wanted to offer the two El Search Parties more than that. No one deserved to barely scrape by with burns and blisters on their sides.

“I hope we get to see each other more after this,” Knight spoke up. His voice was quiet, but firm. There was determination in his tone. “Not just to help each other, but to talk. It would be nice to stop thinking about saving the world for once.”

“You need to come visit!” Rune exclaimed, “Not sure how similar our worlds are, but it would be nice to take a break once in a while.”

“That sounds nice,” Immortal closed his eyes.

Yeah… he liked the idea of that. When was the last time Immortal rested and didn’t stop to think about the state of the world? Traveling with his friends for the last several years was fun, but it’s been months since Immortal got to enjoy himself. Maybe he could ask COBO services for suggestions.

“Elsword!’ Nova’s voice forced him to blink and look up. “Glave said he’s ready!”

“What do you know, it’s already time.” Immortal murmured to himself. “Guess it’s time to watch the world end.”

“It’ll be okay.” Even Knight sounded unsure. He turned to Immortal for help, “Right?”

“Guess we’ll find out very soon,” Rune had an uneasy smile. “We have the front row seats to watch it unfold.”

Immortal wondered what went through Rune and Knight’s minds as they passively sat there and witnessed a cruel image. Displayed on multiple screens was the same climatic scene of a redden world. Varnimyr was already red from the chaos caused by Rosso, but the portals have crushed the mountains and trees that made up the region. They dissipated into fine dust and sucked into the portals. The inhabitants’ cries were silenced by the light.

A blinding light flared from where they stood, beaming downward into a distant galaxy containing the demon realm. Immortal watched the light consume what was left of the crumbling dimension with a promise of starting anew. His very being felt electrified in response to the Dark El in the demon realm inverting on itself.

Glave remained standing in silence. His fingers traced over a diagram of portals overlaying between different spheres of galaxies and interdimensional planes. The display of writing and symbols meant nothing to Immortal.

“I look forward to watching the three of you make use of the reset” He heard Glave chuckle, “Don’t let it go to waste.”

He watched as Glave manipulated something to make the lines intertwine before his body snapped into shock. Unable to hold his head up, Immortal lost his focus and closed his eyes. Glave’s laughter echoed in his head.

#elsword #eltag #elsword fanfiction #my writing #mywriting #doppelganger #Elboy (Elsword)#Rena (Elsword)#Aisha (Elsword)#Raven (Elsword)#Eve (Elsword)#Chung (Elword)#Ara (Elsword)#Elesis (Elsword)#Add (Elsword)#Lu (Elsword)#Ciel (Elsword)#Ain (Elsword)

3 notes · View notes

sweetdejun · 4 years

Text

medical!au x nct 127

I was reading a post about a doctor!doyoung and was inspired to do this... if nct 127 were workers in the medical field, I think..

taeil would be a pediatrician. he seems like he would be very good with kids, and I could see him distracting a patient with like funny voices and shit while he gives them a shot. when occasionally, a child is being fussy, he proceeds to sing to them, and that distracts the kid to a whole other dimension (as it does for the most of us lmao). he also seems like he’d end the day by giving his patients those big ass stickers. the kids love him, because he’s not scary, the parents love him because he’s amazing with their kids and he loves his job as a pediatrician.

honestly, taeyong gives off dietician vibes. yeah, I see him coming into the office, telling his patients like, “it’s true, an apple a day really does keep the doctor away,”. when he calls his patient into his office, he has like a food scale and measuring cups and shit and he’d show his patients like comparisons of how much the average person eats versus how much the average person is supposed to eat, and he uses sugar cubes to measure grams of sugar in front of his patients and he just LOVES the look of astonishment on their faces when the realization dawns on them.

it’s fitting to see yuta as a dentist, because in all my visits to the dentist, they’ve always had a shining smile, which is exactly what yuta’s patients see as soon as they walk in. he understands that some people are afraid of the dentist, so to ease their nerves, he tries to make them as comfortable as he can. this includes him cracking jokes, singing, but most of the time, he’s usually telling stories about his crackhead friends and how in college, they’d draw dicks on his face when he was asleep, or embarrassing stories of his assistants (who don’t mind because it’s yuta, c’mon).

I think johnny would be a obstetrician-gynecologist. I say this because he just feels like the doctor who’d say reassuring things during important things like ultrasounds for pregnant women, or just women who come by to get check ups. again, the patients he sees, especially those coming to him for the first time or after a long time, are coming in super nervous. so he finds ways to calm their nerves: maybe by talking about what books he’s reading currently or a little “segment” he has called “johnny’s fashion evaluation” and the patients really seem to enjoy his comforting persona. perhaps that’s why he’s usually the most requested doctor in the department.

doyoung as an otolaryngologist is something I feel like we’ve all known indirectly. I think I would see him taking that career, if he wasn’t a singer, tbh. like when patients come and sit, and they tell him about a pain in their throats, he’s able to deduce the symptoms down to two or three diagnoses, and once he takes a peek in their throats, he’s got it all figured out. the same goes for the nose and the ears. the patients are always so shocked, wondering how he figures it out right away, and doyoung is filled with joy as he tells them it’s his privilege, and loves his job. and he’s honest every time he says it, because he really does love his job and it’s unconventional, but it’s him.

but yoooo.... jaehyun as a neurologist... can you imagine him analyzing brain scans, glasses perched on the bridge of his nose and twirling a pen between his fingers in his hand? wow. no but seriously it’s his passion to understand how all sorts of things can have an impact, large or small, on the human brain. he’s worked with big people, which has given him opportunities of recognition and he’s spoken at medical schools (and he gave a ted talk that had assloads of comments talking about how hot he is ok i’ll stop). he doesn’t really know what else he sees himself doing, if he wasn’t a neurologist.

it almost felt instinctual for me to see winwin as a pharmacist, because that’s the kind of job that requires a lot of knowledge and patience which I firmly believe winwin has. he just has this constant curiosity of knowing what medicine cures what, or at least lowers the symptoms for a certain illness. he’s so interested in them he’s learned all and every detail about what his pharmacy sells, and he can even eyeball the right dosage without having to use a scale (of course he still uses one just to be sure) and that always leaves his coworkers so dumbfounded. the job fills him with a sense of pride, that he’s confident he doesn’t wanna ever let go of.

maybe it’s because he’s such a fragile-looking squish, but I see jungwoo as an anesthesiologist. that is a stressful ass job and trust me, jungwoo definitely knows that. but it’s just one of those things, you know how some people work really well under pressure? yeah, that’s what it is for jungwoo. he performs his best under stressful conditions and when he knew he wanted to do something in the medical field, he knew that this was the job for him. he doesn’t have to worry about being the person that operates, and all he does is make sure to maintain the correct amount of anesthetics based on whatever’s happening in the surgery.

mark matches being a physical therapist the best to me. I’m pretty sure mark would be the kind of physical therapist that’s like buddy-buddy with his younger patients, like the teens. he’s always making tik tok references and always does his ‘let’s get it’. they think he’s pretty cool, and they all only ask for him. he’s just that good, too, like he doesn’t want to let the patient go until they’ve shown a sign of improvement. he keeps track of all his patients, and remembers all their details each time they come for their appointments. once they’ve completely healed, he also provides his patients with prevention tips, and always urges them to stop by and say hi. and they do; after all, he helped them do what they love again.

last but certainly not least, I see haechan as a surgeon. I know that sounds like some crazy shit, but I have always felt that he’s very meticulous about certain things, and he’s very precise. not only that, he’s always been very interested in the human body, and how if something’s wrong on the inside, how can it be fixed? haechan always loves seeing the expression on people’s faces when he meets them for the first time, and he tells them what he does. when he asks why, they say, “you just seem so young, and you don’t seem like someone who would enjoy the job.” but it’s very much the opposite. he loves what he does, and the fact that he’s also helping people? what other job can offer him the same, if not more, satisfaction? he has yet to find it.

a/n: lmk if y’all want a scenario or something based on one of these! I’d love to write them!!

49 notes · View notes

nemobookaholic · 4 years

Text

What if…

I don‘t know if this is a mistake or not, but it feels like the universe is giving me signs to do this,… so here I go.

Recently I‘ve started to write a Loki fanfic. I was so anxios about the english grammar, that I asked a friend to check on it. She read it and told me, it‘s not that bad. But she‘s still very busy and even if I asked her, to check on the grammar and send it back to me, it feels like it takes like forever. And this happens to me with all my betas and all the storys I gave away. I‘m still afraid to do this step, but I want it out there. Today it feels, like I have to or miss the chance, so here is the first part of ‚What if…‘ I hope it‘s not that bad and I would be happy about constructive criticism.

What if... Loki where a 21st century woman?

Scene 1

‘I hate this place! Not that I haven’t seen worse, but it’s dangerous, even for me. I’m starving, this whole planet is inhospitable! It’s more than time to leave. Only that using the Tesseract to teleport, takes a lot of power... wouldn’t be that hurtful, if I hadn’t had to escape from, in my opinion, this way too annoying bastard. And he still follows me somehow. By Odin's beard, I should have killed him the time I had the chance. Stabbed him in the back, of course, just without the expected result. Since I’ve left my originally realm, a lot of things happened, mostly not to my satisfaction. Me sitting on the throne I deserve wasn’t one of it. The only higher court is this piece of stone I am sitting on. Would be utterly boring, to rule this world. It doesn’t even deserve that name, it’s a desert. Thinking about it, why not go and visit Midgard again? I haven’t seen my brother in ages and I guess that’s the place to meet him. I gain all the power the planet spare with me and use it, to start a new, different adventure. One that might bring some mischief!’

We see Loki disappear from the stone dessert. Where he sat seconds before, like it would have been the throne of Asgard, legs open and hands on the rocks that surrounded him. Eying the environment with disgust, out of a pale face and dark rings under his bloodshot eyes.

Everything he leaves behind is a blue gleaming, which last for a while, until it fades completely. In the end there is nothing left to proof his short residence.

Scene 2

We are inside a crowd. In a well known theatre, that has an open roof and reminds us of an wooden O. It’s dark outside, but the crowd standing around us, keeps us warm. We stare up to the actors on stage, who are playing a fairy tale in a midsummer night’s dream. Suddenly the people around us start to whisper and raise their heads. We follow their sight to the balcony where a man, bound in leather and with golden horns on his head, stands. Obviously he isn’t part of the cast. Voices, about some promotion gag, becoming louder. How well do we know about Loki from all those movies and comics? But this guy is new and definitely not Matt Damon. As we can see, he isn’t just playing a role and his behaviour is far from method acting. His fascial expressions are extraordinary, like a man who literarily came from another dimension. We can read from his body language, how much he enjoys the crowd cheering at him. Until a sudden change on his face shows us a second of fear, like he had just remembered something. Indeed he is hiding it pretty well, as we start to question our power of observation, thats how fast he got back control.

Loki is leaving gracefully, walking backwards and that’s the last thing we see of him.

‘Those puny mortals are staring at me. They seem pleased by my appearance. It’s joyful to have them cheering at me, quite different to my last visit. Thinking of it makes me realise, I’m not out of danger yet! How could I forget about this stupid Agency, that is somehow connected with Thor. It wasn’t a good idea to show my face to all those people. Maybe one of them is in the crowd, already calling for the bloody Avengers - this time I don’t have an army to my support. Even if I’d decimated their number last time, who can tell if they didn’t recruit more, since I’ve been gone? I’ll have to go now! I’m able to get out of here without losing my face. A god doesn’t run away, even though it would be wise to get disguised for a little while. Of course I could become an animal, but that’s what Thor would expect of me and probably figure it out quickly. No, I have to do something he would never expect. Speaking the spell, I think of all the women I know, with mother leading the way - for fathers sake am I tired! Didn’t even realise it until this very moment. I feel the darkness coming closer, as I slide down some wall, sense my body transforming right before the darkness takes over.’

We caught Loki again, sitting on a corner, head leaning against the wall behind him, eyes closed. His body looks strange. It’s difficult to see the shape of it, like you would try to see trough some fog, surrounding his skin. His hair becomes lighter every second until it reaches the colour of sand. We can’t see it, but even his body shrinks a little. The wardrobe changes from asgardian to, probably stolen out of Natashas closet. Loki wears black jeans, a green t-shirt and a also black leather jacket now. Underneath the shirt a breast starts to grow, while other ‘things’ become less until they disappear. This is so much more than a simple illusion and Loki can be happy about being unconscious, so he doesn’t have to feel the pain of his transformation.

Scene 3

As for Loki, we know he is a clever fellow. Maybe that’s what brings doom on his own occasion. We remember, he is a she now and she’s still sitting there, holding the Tesseract, which slowly slips from her hand.

To give us certainty, yes he used it as a source of power to make a true transformation, not willingly though. He was at a state of weakness, where he didn’t think much about his actions. And he needed the support, as for this world we can sense slight traces of magic. Of course every use of sorcery has it’s price and we can assume, that if Loki had seen the bill, he probably wouldn’t be willing to pay for it.

Anyway, events have been started and we will have to live with the consequences. For Loki it means, that there is an orange circle appearing out of nothing, not noticed by her mindless shell. Just a small one, producing a quiet sound, like wind howling trough grass. Out of this hole in time and space, we see a hand appearing, grabbing for the blue glowing cube. Taking it out of reach for the mischievous god.

She will sleep now, for a long while. Trying to regain some power. What she doesn’t know is the fact, that the dimension she slipped in so careless, doesn’t contain much witchcraft. What, well hopefully, will keep her busy, so the other realms can recover, at least, from her evil deeds.

And her slumber won’t be broken. Not even as two strangers cross Lokis path. For them it’s a broken, but still beautiful woman, sleeping in an unusual place. We sense the compassion on their faces. They share a long moment of silent conversation, just by expressions. The woman, a goth girl, seems to be wary about what she reads in the face of her companion. The guy indeed seems to be unafraid. He gets closer, grabbing Loki at her shoulder, shaking her. She shows no reaction at all.

‘Is she dead?! We should get help,’ the female says.

‘Still breathing. Don’t be such a chicken! I think she might be one of our kind … let’s take her home and allow her to rest,’ the guy replies.

‘You are serious, aren’t you? I can’t believe, I even consider helping you … come on then!’

The both of them take the girl between them, pulling her up, slowly starting the long walk home. It looks rather funny, for Loki is a tall woman and these strangers are smaller than her. They haul her more as you could describe it as carrying, but at least they’ll reach a house that they get into.

Meanwhile Loki still doesn’t move any bone, would have been helpful with the stairs actually. We don’t know if she realises anything of what is happening, but according to the abuse done to her body we may doubt it. Even when they drop her into a bed, she’s like a corpse.

‘Kevin, do you really think this was a good idea?’ the woman asks.

‘Come on Beatrix. Don’t you think it’s what humanity claim from us? I will sit with her and wait until she wakes, if it brings peace to you. You can go to bed if you like.’

The guy smiles at her and she can’t help herself and smiles back.

‘You are too kind for this world, you know?’ she kisses him on the forehead and leaves the room. Giving the burden of a long night’s watch to him, as he’d requested.

Scene 4

‘This must be a dream, I guess it by the fact, that mother is with me. Her soft touch, the calm voice and the love I feel while she looks at me, are far away from me these days. I miss her, knowing well what’s going to happen once I’ll return to Asgard, keeps me away from there. It isn’t my home anymore and that’s what will make her safe. We always had a strong connection, that’s why I believe her, when she tells me, to find my own way. Even if I know perfectly that it’s just a dream, her next words are predictable as she tells me to seek happiness in what I have. Only that I own nothing at all, I was promised a throne! Mothers eyes darken, like she could read my thoughts. She turns her back on me. I call out to her, knowing what’s going to happen next. As in all those dreams before, I see her dying.

No matter how hard I try, I can’t change her fate. It’s like I’m cursed, every time I come close to her, she’s dying.

“Mother …,” it’s just a whisper of disbelieve on my lips, yet it’s enough to wake me from this horrible dream. Watching myself causing her death again and again, doesn’t lose any of it’s horror. Through a shroud of tears I blink my way into reality. I can’t remember what happened. The ceiling I’m staring at, doesn’t look familiar to me. My tong licks over my dry lips, don’t know the last time I actually drank something? My stomach hurts, food seems to be even longer ago. I’m weak and I hate knowing so. I use all my senses, to get more informations about my whereabouts, as I am unable to move. There is some comfort in the way I lie, a pillow under my head and a blanket that keeps me warm. Knowing all this, doesn’t really help me to figure, where I am or how I get here. The try to sit up and have a better view got amiss, I’m far to weak. A sight of surprise escapes my throat and I fall back into the down.

‘Are you finally awake?’ a voice from my right asks and I manage to turn my head, to see who was talking. A redhead caught my sight, he looks quite young. It’s not easy to tell with those Midgardian folks. ‘How are you? Feeling a bit better?’ he smiles at me, trying to make me trust him, I suppose. NOBODY ever ask me, how I feel!

‘Am I your prisoner?’ is the first thing I need to know.

‘No, god no! Why would you think … never mind. Of course you are free to leave any time. But you are also allowed to stay, if you need help,’ is the reply.

I try to figure out what kind of game he’s playing, but it doesn’t occur to me. It makes no sense. I’m staring at him in silence.

‘Don’t know what you had to go trough till now, however I promise you’re perfectly safe with me. Uhm - maybe it calms you - if I tell you that I’m gay? I won’t touch you. And if that isn’t enough, I could call for my flatmate. She helped to bring you here by the way.’

Does that little scum really believe, I, the god of mischief, would be scared by a mortal?! And how does it make things any better, if he adds his sexual interest - oh wait - I completely forgot about the disguise I’m in. Of course he must mistaken me for a weak creature like himself.

‘I am a goddess and not afraid of your puny, gay presence!’ I tell him to demonstrate how less I’m impressed.

‘Uuuuhm, ‘kay?’ now the redhead is staring at me. Not the effect I had in mind. He seems more fascinated than afraid. There is more, even when he’s hiding it well, an expression of anger crosses his mimic for a second. ‘Listen, if I where you, I would think carefully about my next words, cause if you are one of those homophobic assholes, you can go back from where you’ve come!’ Now we have context.

‘Ehehehe. You have no idea who you are talking to, do you? Where I come from, nobody cares about the gender of your love. I didn’t meant to make an insult on that topic, you insisted on being so. I wanted to warn you, that I am dangerous. But as words seem to have no effect on you, take this!’ with these words I grab for the Tesseract in my magic pocket, just to find it isn’t there. ‘Where IS IT? Did you maggots dare to steal the stone from me? I am Loki of Asgard and you are a dead man, if you don’t tell me where you’ve put my belongings!’ I yell at him, this time pulling out a knife. The mortal keeps his hands up in defence.

‘First of all, you didn’t carry any belongings with you, as we picked you up. Second, you really believe all those shit you are saying, don’t you? That’s quite of interest to me and I may be able to help you. Third and last, threaten me with a butterknife hasn’t the impact on me, you might think. I’ve experienced worse, you know,’ he looks at me, like I’ve gone mad. I however look down at my hands to find , well not what I’d expected. What is wrong with this dimension? The knife disappears.

‘Take me back to the place where you’ve found me,’ I press the words through my lips, trying to stand up, failing again.

‘If I promise to get you back there, would you behave for the rest of the day?’ he’s waiting for an answer. As I’ve said enough already, I just mutter my approval. ‘Good. Anyway, you’ll have to wait, cause it is closed right now. We’ll be there by the time it opens, to search for your stone.’

‘Tesseract! It’s a blue glowing cube.’

‘Yeah, whatever. We’ll seek for it, I promise.’

‘Sounds like the stuff Hina keeps talking about,’ a rasping voice comes from outside the room, ‘what kind of freak did we brought in here Kevin?’ a woman appears in the door, examining me and so do I. She has a strange colour of hair, that is somewhere between grey and light blue - but not the right age for it - half of her head is shaved, while on the other side the hair grows over the shoulder. She looks skinny, not in a very healthy way. She might be a warrior. At least her clothes look like she had a fight, all black and ripped into pieces. Now that I’m on the case, I get a closer look on the redhead too. He appears neat and well-fed, nothing unusual about him. Even his style is screaming: “I’m like everybody else.” Maybe except the golden ring in his right ear. I can’t understand, how both of them can be friends, not to talk about the third party, in which room we obviously are. There are colourful pictures all over the walls, a lot of books and art supplies spread across the desk next to the window. How can anybody life here on free will?

‘Does she has a name?’ the woman breaks the silence, asking her friend but still looking at me. He seem uncomfortable with the situation, that’s why I introduce myself.

‘I am Loki of Asgard.’

‘Sure and I’m Jesus Christ! What’s wrong with you?’ she waves her hand in front of her face, I do not know for what reason.

‘I beg your pardon, daughter of Christ, everything is completely fine with me! It’s not my fault, your tiny brains can’t keep up with a god.’ If looks could kill, we would be dead by now. She indeed has something of a warrior.

‘Woah, bitchfight! Calm down ladies,’ Kevin tries to ease the situation. I don’t know if it’s him who finally breaks the ice, or my stomach, that is rumbling loudly into the silence. I’m ashamed because of the betrayal caused by my own body. My cheeks feel hot all of a sudden.

‘See? Maybe we should all have breakfast first, afterwards we can come back to the topic,’ another short silence follows to Kevins words and he must have taken it as agreement, cause he gets up, leaving the room, gently pushing the girl aside. She follows him, not without giving me a last evil look.

My leg slips out of the bed, carefully, followed by the other one. It takes some effort to get up, in the end I stand on my unpleasant feet. Looking down, the difference isn’t to suppress. It was easy with the female voice, as I’m used to different illusions. The new point of view however, let me figure out some things. On my way out of the room I walk past a mirror. After a short glance I have to stop and walk back, to get a closer look. The spell I’ve used works perfectly, way to perfect! I can’t trust mine eyes. My hand wanders across my new face and I can’t but accept the tiny differences. Not that it would bother me, how familiar I still look to myself, it’s more the fact that everything is so damn real. I’ve tried this kind of magic more than once, it never worked quite well. So how come, I was able to work such a difficult spell on the edge of my powers? Something is going on here and I need to find out about it. Plus I need to get the Tesseract back. Thinking back, I’m already sorry, I’ve left the last planet.’

Scene 5

Loki is sitting inside a small kitchen, sipping on a cup of tea, so do his new flatmates. The atmosphere is in low spirits and all we can hear is the noise of their dishes. It’s obvious, the Midgardians don’t believe a single word she had told them, oddly enough they want to help her, for reasons we shall find out, as the story continues. Yet here they are, remain silent, until we start to wonder who’ll be the first one to talk again?

‘Do you feel better now?’ of course it would be Kevin, what did you think? ‘A nice little cupper and some beans with eggs always have been the best way to have a good start into the day, isn’t it?’ he grins like a Cheshire cat, obviously food is his guilt pleasure. Loki just sits in the corner, raising one eyebrow, while Beatrix seems to relax a bit.

‘That’s what I love you for, you know. Just that stupid grin,’ she giggles.

‘What you mean stupid? Is it a crime to be happy after some good food?’ Kevin looks puzzled and Bea starts to laugh. They fill the room with joy, but can’t pass it on to Loki, who still sits in her corner, without moving, or even showing some empathy. There is just this sad look on her face, we can only guess about. Maybe it is, because she’s reminded of all those times she saw Thor and his friends, having fun like that. Or it is, cause she never was a part of the group, but always watched from aside. Probably she doesn’t know it herself, nonetheless it makes her aware of the big gap between them and how impossible it seems, to ever be on that side of the table. To be the one who laughs with friends.

She can’t get away soon enough.

‘Is it time now to seek for my lost item? - Please,’ she adds after a short break. Must have come to her mind, that they’ve shared their food with her, so the try to be a bit more kind isn’t all waisted time. Not that it make her care.

But how can we know, by just watching the expressions on Lokis face? Well we don’t, but we know her well enough to interpret every tiny movement, ain’t we?

‘You see, it wasn’t that hard,’ Kevin smiles again and takes a look onto his watch, ‘we’ll need a bit more patience. One more hour and we can go,’ he tells Loki, who’s wriggling on her chair.

‘I probably shall not feel like it, but I’m still hungry. Glancing at the girl, who has barely even touched her food. I can’t help myself, but staring at her plate in desire. I can’t remember, the last time I have been that hungry, to forget all my manners.

‘Bea love, are you eating any of this yet?’ Kevin must have followed my sight, what makes me look away in shame.

‘Nope,’ is all she says. That’s when he takes the plate and slide it into my direction. I take the offered food and eat it as fast as possible, to not extend this annoying situation. I’m even more ashamed, that I’ve just behaved like my brother would, how pathetic!’

Scene 6

We see Loki and Kevin at the Globe, on the corner where they’ve picked her up. Seeking for the cube, while we can see on her face, how, with every second, she becomes more desperate.

‘It must be here! I’m stuck in this bloody realm if we can’t find it …,’ she mutters in distress.

‘Maybe some stranger picked it up? We can ask, if it was handed over down there?’ Kevin offers.

‘That’s impossible! It’s nothing a mortal could handle!’ she yells at him, throwing her hands in the air.

‘Fine! What would you suggest to do next?!’

‘I DON’T KNOW! I need to think,’ she turns around, walking away.

‘Take your time. I’ll be in the big building next door, if it’s of any interest to you.’

We look after Kevin, as he disappears in the Tate modern, while Loki is taking a walk along the Themse.

‘How? I definitely had escaped the guy and he can’t be that fast in tracking me. It’s impossible. Somebody else must have taken the Tesseract. But who? There is nearly no magic in this world and according to Kevin, nothing like gods or celestial beings to ever be seen. New York wasn’t attacked by the Chitauri and the Avengers are heroes out of comic books. What ever that means. Sure there are a few individuals, who would like to steal the Tesseract, but none of them could come here without it’s powers. What plan could this person follow? It makes no sense … unless … unless they want me to be stuck here. Like a very luxurious prison, I bet Thor or Odin are involved in it! Can’t stand, that I’ve escaped their judgement. To teach me a lesson, probably. Who else would want to keep me here? A world where no ‘harm’ can be done. Pah! Don’t they know me at all, they should know better. A planet with any kind of population can be ruled. Only, this time I need to be smarter. Watching the subjects, learn their habits and find a possibility to submit them. In the end, all of them are going to kneel! Ehehehehe.’

We can’t hear Lokis inner Monolog, but by her evil grin and by the fact, that she turned around and walks quickly into the direction she just came from, we can submit, she has something mischievous in mind.

Scene 7

Loki is entering the Tate, with a couple of tourists. It’s a mystery the guards doesn’t stop her, well maybe not, she must be already aware, of how to use her body the right way. Finally she’s in the building, surrounded by people, who stop, not far from the entrance, to admit the great hall. We can tell from the look an her face, that she isn’t impressed at all. No wonder, there are much bigger buildings in Asgard. Anger is crossing her face. As of course the building is still big and she’ll have to seek for Kevin. She wanders around, visibly relaxing. That’s the magic of art and maybe the place. We follow her, slowly now. Studying one painting after another, strolling through the halls. We might get the impression, she completely forgot about Kevin. She already made it through a few levels, when she spots him. He’s sitting in an armchair, in front of a big glass-wall, staring down at the people walking around downstairs. Loki slips into the chair next to him.

‘Did you find your cube?’ Kevin asks.

‘No …,’ she braces her head into her hands. They sit in silence for a while, watching the people who have the size of ants, from their point of view.

‘Why don’t you look at the paintings, instead of staring down there?’ Loki can’t find much amusement in doing so.

‘I like to study people. That’s my job and I can’t turn it off. Right before you’ve joined me, there was a couple sitting next to me and I’ve been listening to their fight. It was pretty interesting and I might had followed them, if I didn’t figure, you should be up here every minute. I saw you enter the building. Took you a while to find me, aye?’ Kevin leans back in his chair, finally looking at Loki.

‘I have been learning about the midgardian paintings. Some of them are quite beautiful,’ she shrugs her shoulders, ‘so you get payed for spying on people?’ We recognise interest flickering on her face.

‘Hahaha, no. Not in the way you might think. I’m a psychologist-to-be. People come to me and tell me their problems and I’ll analyse how to help them. Explains my manic interest into other peoples behaviour. Talking of it, I thought, you would be an interesting case. Would you allow me, to have a few sessions with you? You don’t have to do it for free of course.’

‘Now he comes to the point, about what he was hiding from me. I knew, this guy was up to something. Waiting patiently for his offer, so I can see, if it’s worth my time. He seems to think for a moment, probably about how to formulate it, before he speaks again.

‘As I’ve figured, you don’t have a place to stay for longer?’ he asks and I nod, ‘so in case you agree, we could come to an arrangement. You can stay in Hinas room, she’ll be away for a while. In return I want an hour every second day, where you will answer my questions honestly. Without any pressure, I promise. How does that sound to you?’

What an unique offer, he surly doesn’t know much about me.

‘I agree, but under one condition, you’ll have to answer my questions too. Do we have a deal?’

We shake hands, no more words needed. This was way too easy.’

#loki of asgard #marvel #loki #fanfic #mcu #mcu fanfiction

7 notes · View notes

tony-starkrogers · 5 years

Text

rec week day five

For the Cap-IM rec week 2019 day five: Fix-It Friday! @cap-ironman

There are so many good fix-its out there - this list is divided into categories to make it easier if you’re looking for a specific type of fix-it. Be sure to go show these writers some comments and kudos love!

CACW FIX-ITS

Last Train Home by erde (T, 10.9k)

Steve writes letters to Tony that he never sends. By the time he hands them to their rightful owner, Tony has had a brush with death, has retired as a superhero, and now has a small town workshop of his very own. But it's okay, Steve has gone into retirement too.

Over Sea, Under Stars by vorkosigan (T, 36.6k)

Tony gets the phone, but he never uses it and he never intends to. Or, he doesn’t until Steve starts texting him, asking strange questions about medication and mental health, which is when Tony gets worried.

(A texting fix-it that grew beyond all proportion. Deals with depression and anxiety quite a lot. There is even some plot in there somewhere.)

If I were a Bell by Annie D (scaramouche) @no-gorms (E, 4.2k)

Officially, Tony hasn't seen Steve since the Sokovia Accords were ratified. Unofficially, Steve is a sneaky bastard who keeps taking risks to see Tony whenever he wants.

Dear Tony, by sirona (T, 5.9k)

Once the dust after what no one is referring to as "The Break-up" has settled, Steve starts writing and doesn't seem to know how to stop.

Even My Phone Misses Your Call by rainbowninja167 (E, 10.8k)

Steve makes it all the way to Ohio before conceding that the post-Chitauri road trip might’ve been a mistake.

Or, ten times Steve has to call Tony to come pick him up.

An Infinite Number Of Monkeys At Typewriters (Or, Steve and Tony Finally Get It Right) by JenTheSweetie (M, 18.6k)

Tony blinked up at the face staring down at him. This was impossible. This was definitely 100% not possible, he had not just started giving a good morning handy to -

“Steve?”

After the events of Civil War, Tony and Steve wake up in bed next to each other in an alternate universe. It goes about as well as you'd expect it to.

Like a Postcard Phrase by isaksara (T, 8.6k)

How to say ‘wish you were here’ without actually saying so, as done by Captain Steve Rogers.

IW FIX-ITS

The Future is Yet in Your Power by @festiveferret (T, 14.9K

"Now." Wong leaned back in his chair. "What would you do to save this world from Thanos' attack? What would you sacrifice?"

"Anything," Steve said. "Anything at all."

Wong considered him for a moment, expression unreadable. "There's one thing, maybe."

Recognize Fate (A Dramedy of Manners) by vorkosigan (E, 25.4k)

During the horror that was the Infinity War, Tony has somehow managed to fall in love with Steve. No, really, his timing's always been stellar, in all things. He would like to pursue his feelings, he would; only, this doesn't mesh so well with his other resolution: Steve must never ever know.

It's been a year since the victory, and the time has come to celebrate. Everyone is about to meet again at a big gala.

live wire by spqr (M, 7.8k)

The marks are a welcome distraction. The media fixates on them, the mystery of them, because it's a lot less daunting to think about big thumbprints on your back or your side or your thigh than to think about how the planet's population just dropped from 7 to 3.5 billion overnight.

(as a side effect of Thanos’ culling, everyone who’s left gets a soulmark)

Lost With You (Might Be All I Need) by ann2who (E, 22k)

Tony and Steve fall through a portal just after defeating Thanos and his army. Stranded in another dimension, the two have to finally face what happened—and what could have been.

The Future Is Ours (Whether We Want It Or Not) by ann2who (M, 30k)

After a hit from the Time Stone, Steve switches places with his future self.

when i run out of road, you bring me home by quidhitch (M, 18.4k)

“Oh, I won’t bother you.” The tone of Steve’s voice implies that he definitely will be bothering Tony, aggressively and frequently. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll keep to my farm, you keep to yours. Solitude together.”Tony opens his mouth to argue that that’s not how this works, but he snaps it shut at the realization that Steven Grant Rogers is fucking with him. That twinkle in his eye has accelerated into a full-on glimmer, and the ends of his lips are twitching. Jesus, he hates this man. Or maybe he wishes he did. Tony can’t really tell the difference anymore.

A New Way For Us by ann2who (M, 24.4k)

They fight Thanos—and they’re losing. And before Tony knows what’s happening, he’s standing with Doctor Strange in front of the Eye of Agamotto and gets send back in time. Can he find a way to fix things this time around, or are they doomed to fall apart all over again?

ENDGAME FIX-ITS

Five Seconds by @elcorhamletlive (unrated, 3k)

From the moment Steve suits up, he knows what he’ll do.

brave new world by @nasafic (T, 2.7k)

Steve visits Peggy first. But he doesn't stay.

And Time Can Do So Much by JenTheSweetie (M, 11.1k)

"I really shouldn’t be talking to a figment of my imagination,” Steve said. “Sam would be reading me the riot act. I can hear him now. Therapy works wonders, you know.”“Sounds like Wilson,” Tony agreed. “And therapy does work wonders. You might want to look into it, once it becomes a thing in a couple of years.”“I’ll keep that in mind,” Steve said.A few years after Steve moved permanently back in time, he started having conversations with Tony again.

Something Beautiful by Annie D (scaramouche) (T, 5.2k)

In one universe sideways, it’s 2012 and the Avengers have just defeated Loki and the Chitauri. Steve Rogers, who has been out of the ice for almost ten years, wonders if his retaking the shield for this event was a one-off, or if he’s ready to keep it again. It depends on Tony.

Same old story. by spqr (T, 7.4k)

“We’re toasting our regrets,” Tony explains. “Your turn."“Oh,” Steve says.It takes him a long minute to think of something. Or, more likely, it takes him a long moment to work up the courage. But then he turns and raises his bottle to Tony. Looks him dead in the eyes, a sad, sort of wistful smile on his face, and says, “You.”

The God of Solid Life Advice by kehinki (T, 1.5k)

It's 2012. Steve is just informed by Loki that Bucky's alive.Loki also tells him some other things.

Symmetry Breaking by Annie D (scaramouche) @no-gorms (E, 10.8k)

After the Battle of New York, Steve rode off on his motorbike. That's how it went the first time.This time he rides back, all the way to Stark Tower, where he asks Tony for help.

The Butterfly Effect by @itsallavengers (T, 20.5k)

While fighting with Loki, Steve Rogers from 2012 hears the two simple words: "Bucky's alive."And the whole universe ripples with the aftershocks.

616 FIX-ITS

Yours, Steve by soniclipstick (veriscence) (T, 8.3k)

Tony has read the news, he’s seen footage of the infighting and the arrest and Steve’s bloody body on the courthouse steps. He might not remember, but he understands why Steve can barely look him in the eye anymore.But there’s a ring on the chain of a set of dog tags that have no business being in Tony’s safe. And it fits his finger perfectly.

Your Name on Every Wall by @sineala (T, 17.8k)

The Time Gem throws Steve into the past rather than the future, and in doing so, it gives him the opportunity to undo his past mistakes. But when it turns out that all of his mistakes involve Tony Stark, Steve begins to wonder if he's ever going to be able to mend things between them.

Highest fall you'll ever grace by @laireshi (T, 5.2k)

“You’ll probably want these back,” Tony says at last, and it hurts almost physically to pull the dog tags over his head and offer them to Steve. But they never really belonged to Tony, did they?

Steve seems to hesitate for a second, but then he takes his dog tags with a weird expression. “Yeah,” he says. “They’re mine.”

Double Time by @sineala (E, 123.3k)

Cassino, Italy, December 1943. Special Agent Tony Stark, former Marvels adventurer, is sent to investigate a Cosmic Cube found by the Invaders -- and it's the perfect opportunity for him to rekindle his secret romance with Steve Rogers. But when Hydra attempts to steal the Cube, an inadvertent wish for help leads to the appearance of a Tony from the future of another world: Director Stark of SHIELD. This Tony is a man with a lot on his mind. He refuses to tell them anything about the future, but he seems to know much more than he should about Captain America. And something's happened that's clearly killing him inside, but he's not talking. When Director Stark's failed attempt to return home leads to the unexpected appearance of another visitor from his universe, all the lies come undone. Now there are two wars to fight, and the second one could ruin all of them.

Transmission by laireshi (T, 29.1k)

The incursions are stopped. Steve hopes for things to go back to normal. Instead, he finds himself stranded in an alternate universe with Tony.

Getting home won't be easy. There are too many things they haven't told each other, too many arguments they've never solved.

Now, with just each other for company, they might have to face them all—especially as they seem to be telepathically bonded, and can't keep anything unsaid anymore.

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE FIX-IT

Moments by captainshellhead, vibraniumstark (G, 5.4k) (avengers assemble)

After being trapped in a pocket dimension, Tony tries to find his way home - and ends up lost in the multiverse.

#capimrecweek #stevetony #stony #stony fic rec #superhusbands

268 notes · View notes

ghastily · 4 years

Text

I struggled transitioning into this. But I got it done. How did Anakin get here? I dunno, how does anyone get anywhere these days.

Thankfully, a fight was avoided. You imagine it was out of curiosity as to why there were duplicates on the ship and not because of the General’s levelheadedness. You were escorted to a side room, one meant for mission debriefings given the sparse decorations.

That’s where you got a crash course in this new universe. Ratchet modeled himself after a medic named Kix, and it turns out Rodimus was parading around as something called a Jedi.

“We’re all connected by the Force,” Obi-wan had mentioned. And Rodimus was in awe, “Space wizards.”

There was a lot to take in; clones, a war, Jedi and Sith, Republic and Separatist. There was obviously more to it you figure, but for now these short explanations would have to do. You were just grateful the ‘good guys’ were the ones who found you first, found being you appearing unconscious and a little singed on their ship.

"I'm Rodimus, that one over there is our medic Ratchet, and this is our human," Rodimus gestures to you with his arms outstretched and a soft 'tada'.

You sheepishly wave a hand, "Hi. I'm the human."

"We noticed," Obi-wan comments dryly, one hand stroking his beard, "Now the pressing question is -- how do you look like me? As far as I'm aware I never had a twin."

"Thank the Force." Anakin whispers to Rex, who smirks in response. Cody shoots them a disapproving glare from his spot behind Obi-wan.

You look toward Rodimus, brows drawn together in worry. It was a tough call but ultimately it would be up to him if he wanted to reveal himself and the other bots to some unknown organics. He meets your look and offers a reassuring smile, for a moment it seemed Rodimus wanted to reach over and squeeze your hand but it never came. His fingers twitch at his side.

"I'm only telling you this because you seem like good guys. You saved our human, and according to Ratchet you wouldn't even know they'd been hurt. So," Rodimus squares his shoulders, "We're autonomous robotic lifeforms and this isn't even our bodies. It's a projection." To drive his point home the holomatter figure shimmered and there stands the human form Rodimus prefers, all reds and flashy. A form you were more familiar with. He would always switch to it when he visited your 'human space' on the ship.

“There was a tiny little accident on our ship--”

Ratchet huffs loudly and you bite the inside of your cheek.

“-- Captain talking here. Brainstorm, one of our science crew, he was working on something and uh.. It exploded.”

“He was calling it a multiverse engine,” You pipe up, and Rodimus looks over at you, “Really? That’s what he’s calling it?”

You shrug, “It’s a working title. He was moving into testing using inanimate objects. Guess I was a little too close..” Too close as in you were sitting on the aforementioned object (an upside down, empty cube of energon) and Brainstorm didn’t give much of a warning before pushing the button.

Their reaction was surprisingly calm, you had expected them to be more surprised at least. It might also be that you were being just as casual about being zapped into another dimension by a giant mechanical being.

They probably thought you were all insane.

"Well, we appreciate your honesty," Anakin begins to speak but is cut short when his communicator goes off. The voice on the other end filled the room informing them of an unidentified ship approaching them from nearby.

"Oh hey. Our ride is here!" Rodimus grins, bumping his shoulder against yours, “Let’s get you home, sweetspark.”

#transformers #star wars: the clone wars

10 notes · View notes

aweebwrites · 4 years

Text

Move on Dragons Ch 15

"Any luck yet Sensei?" Lloyd asked from the bridge of the Bounty, watching Little G eat his fill from the small bowl of wild berries in his palm, the others next to him.

"Yes and no." Sensei Wu admits, something akin to frustration in his slitted golden eyes. "I managed to get closer this time but your father is a slippery man who insists on not being found. He has taken traveler's tea to leave the realm so I must follow him." He told them, shifting the view of the device to the sight of the small camp with an empty teapot there, the outed campfire still burning.

"I will still have to figure out just which realm he escaped to but there are only so many he's willing to visit. I may be unable to contact you all for some time longer." He forewarned them.

"That's cool Sensei. Everything's pretty chill on our side still. Nothing too major has come up and our tech team is getting closer to figuring out how the device works." Cole says as he glanced at Zane, Nya, Pixal and Jay close by.

"Indeed." Zane nodded at the screen showing their Sensei. "We've already learned how to turn it on and off but we're getting closer to figuring out how to activate its interface." He reported.

"That's good. Having a direct line to Vortica will prove to be most helpful." Sensei Wu nodded then looked to Kai who was a little jittery if his shifting wings and flicking tail wasn't enough indication. "Is something the matter Kai?" He asked him and Kai blinked then shrugged.

"Nothing's actually wrong but…" He says then grinned. "Wu and I will be checking the Dragon Dimension today. We hit the 2 month mark since the dragons left so we're gonna see how things are doing. We aren't expecting much progress so quickly, even though 5 years have passed there, but we're looking for small signs that the planet is recovering." He told them.

“It won’t be in its best shape but… I’ve missed the place, you know?” He added with a shrug and the others could relate.

They haven’t been there for long but it really was beautiful.

"I see. Be careful however. Extinction usually brings forward evolution in both animals and plants alike." Wu warned him and Kai nodded.

"I will be. We'll let you know the news of what's up next time we chat." He promised and Wu nodded.

"Then I will contact you once I am able to." He promised them.

With that, their conversation ended with well wishes and goodbyes.

“This infernal device is highly frustrating.” Pixal says glaring at the small device she held in hand.

“But it’ss pretty fun to sssolve! It’ss kinda like a rubix cube!” Jay grinned, taking it and looking it over, his flicking tail almost tripping both Zane and Cole, all of them used to he and Lloyd’s tails to know to stand clear of the area behind them.

It took a lot of adaption to work around their individual changes, especially both Jay and Kai’s changes as theirs was permanent. It didn’t bother either of them much anymore- Kai didn’t have a problem with, too used to it as he was- but there were days when they did miss being human and on days like that, their much bigger family was there for them.

“Are you ready Kai?” Wu asked, looking down at the team’s ship from where he sat near by.

Somewhere in the past week, they began being able to speak like them. Zane knew better than to question how they were able to what with the structure of their mouths. Pixal knew better not to as well, not after almost short circuiting trying to figure out how Zane too got the ability to shift. Both nindroids decided to call it magic and left it at that.

“Yeah.” Kai says as he walked over to the edge of the ship, pulling out the dimensional crystal.

“Don’t forget the camera so we can keep track of the planet’s progress.” Nya called and he turned around catching it with his tail.

“Thanks sis. I’ll get all the footage you guys need.” He grinned then hopped over the edge of the ship, using his wings to catch him.

“You guys sure you don’t need us to come along?” Lloydie asked, stepping forward from where he and the others stood.

“Nah. It’s just a quick in and out. We won’t be more than 5 minutes tops.” Kai reassured.

“Just make sure to stick close to my father.” Morro cautioned and Kai smiled, flying over to stroke his snout, bumping his forehead against his.

“Don’t worry Mor-bro. We’ll be fine.” He reassured and Morro wasn’t ready to admit he needed the reassurance.

He knew their world was in a bad state, knew it was dangerous to go as they weren’t even sure what the oxygen levels were like right now and with both Kai and his father going there… He blinked once Kai held the crystal out to him.

“Why don’t you send us off huh?” He grinned and Morro blinked at the pink gem then balanced on his hind leg and accepted it, the crystal tiny in his paw but he picked it up between his claws and glanced at Kai as he flew back to where his father was. “Just hold it up and it’ll do the rest- but make sure not to do it twice or else the portal will close.” Kai warned and Morro nodded before holding up the crystal as instructed, a large portal opening up close to the two as he did.

“Sit tight. We’ll be back in a jif.” Kai winked before he flew in as Wu walked through.

The first thing Kai noticed once he stepped through was that the sun was setting- which was good since the air was uncharastically hot. That combined with the obvious decline in air quality made it a little difficult to breathe. He glanced up at Wu as the dragon looked around at what once was a lush, bountiful planet, now reduced to desolence, nothing but broken and dead trees standing around the base of the mountain they called home. The sky held a noticeably redder colour and it was quiet. So uncharastically quiet. Kai turned the camera on, moving forward still, looking for any signs of life thriving here. There were bones of animals passed, decomposing still and fungi. Well. At least they were clear signs of life.

“We won’t be able to ascend the mountain. The air gets thinner the higher you go and it’s already difficult to breathe at sea level.” Wu spoke up as he too walked around, keeping his pace slow and his breathing even.

He couldn’t afford to get even slightly winded. As a dragon of his size, his lungs demand a large amount of oxygen with each inhale, amounts that the planet could no longer satisfy. He couldn’t stay for very long still, else he collapses from oxygen deprivation. But their future depends on any signs of life. Fungi was a good start but he was hoping that more complex life survived the decline in the planet’s environment. If not, then they would be in Ninjago for far longer than he originally thought.

“Nothing. Maybe we should try in a different area? This is still kinda on a slope so maybe if we head to flatter land…” Kai suggested, turning to Wu.

“Perhaps.” Wu says in consideration. “However-” He was cut off by a cough that quickly descended into a coughing fit.

“Wu!” Kai yelled, alarmed as he flew over.

“I’m… Afraid I cannot… Stay any longer here…” He rasped, barely able to prevent himself from coughing further.

“Then go back!” Kai urged, looking back to the portal and he nods, heading towards it. “I wanna look around for a minute longer but I won’t go far.” He told Wu as he paused to see if he was coming.

“... Be careful.” He warns and Kai nodded, watching as he returned to his world.

Kai looked up, the moons, rings and stars in the night sky holding a reddish tint from the oxygen deprived atmosphere before he looked around again, hoping for even the softest glow of an insect but finding none still. He sighed, turning the camera towards himself from where he had still been filming.

“Five years past here and no signs of complex life. I’d look around a bit longer but it’s not exactly easy to breathe here, despite my body needing less oxygen than the dragon’s. It’s dark but it’s still pretty hot out and the air is thick and heavy. Maybe things will be in better shape after five more years. We could probably even chek different locations then.” Kai shrugged at the camera recording him. “Might as well head back now.” He says quietly, looking at the reflective lense before he frowned, spotting something strange.

He glanced back and up, looking at the sky suspiciously. Strange. He could have sworn he saw some kind of light- It flickered in again, growing brighter and larger this time. Kai’s eyes widened at the familiarity of the phenomenon in the sky. No way… He turned the camera towards it without much more thought, on the defense as he narrowed his eyes at the swirling multicoloured vortex above. Suddenly, two figures came tumbling out and Kai’s eyes widened before he darted forward, dropping the camera and catching one- then two, before they could hit the ground. Oh man were they heavy! A small sound from one of the two figures caught his attention and he really looked at them.

“Oh boy.” Was all he could think to say.

Wasn’t this a situation.

Outside the portal, Morro was fussing over his winded father, creating a gentle but oxygen filled airflow around his head as he caught his breath.

“Kai’s still in there. What’s taking him so long?” Cole says with a frown, wings out and opened, ready to perform a rescue mission if he must.

“If he doesn’t come out in the next minute or two then we go in.” Lloyd says, looking across at Cole and he nodded.

You better be ok Kai…

____

“Ugh!” Pixal growled in frustration.

“I agree! This is hopeless! Almost two months and we’re hardly any close to figuring this thing out!” Nya yells, resisting the urge to throw it down to instead place it on the table.

“I feared we wouldn’t be able to uncover the mysteries of this advanced technology. It appears this is becoming reality.” Zane says with a tone of frustration as well.

“I don’t know guyss, maybe we’re overthinking thingss.” Jay spoke up and they looked at him, both parts unimpressed and curious.

“Have you even interacted with this device? I think overthinking is quite necessary.” Pixal pointed out.

“No no.” Tempest says as he took over, Jay on the back burner. “I think Jay’ss got a point. Doess Vortica ssseem like the type of persson to use anything overly complicated? Doesn’t matter if complicated is within her knowledge basse, I think ssshe’d use sssomething that only takess a touch or two to activate.” He says as he used his tail to pick it up and bring it closer.

“Maybe turn it on then swipe?” Tempest mumbled as he did so, sliding his thumb against a pink panel before he blinked once a holoscreen and keyboard popped up, an image of Vortica sticking her tongue out at the top, making it clear this was a messaging interface.

Tempest smirked at the surprised, borderline angry looks both Nindroids and Nya wore, Jay yelling up a storm in the front of his mind.

“Well. I’ll be damned. Looks like the mystery is solved at lasst.” Tempest huffed.

____

“Alright. Let’s go in.” Lloyd says as he walked forward, Cole on his tail.

Before they could get any closer however Kai walked through the portal, struggling with the weight of the figures in his arms.

“Is that-” Blaze says with wide eyes as he and the others walked over.

“They are…” Wisp whispered, not sure if he should go on the defense or assist.

“Well. There’s two faces I never expected to see again. Especially like this.” Mist spoke up as Morro closed the portal.

“... Indeed…” Was Wu’s contemplative hum.

Perhaps… This was for the best.

____________ (I'm trying for updates every 2 days now for this fic. Also I cannot write the name Green Bean/Greenie and take it seriously so I updated Dragon!Lloyd's name to just Lloydie. They still call him Greenie and he's still annoyed by it but that's kinda in the background. Can you guess who came through the portal? ;)Thanks for reading!)

#ninjago #lloyd ninjago #kai ninjago #jay ninjago #cole ninjago #nya ninjago #pixal ninjago #Sensei Wu #morro ninjago #original characters #aweebwrites' work

6 notes · View notes