#i have been constantly thinking about nova for a few days now and only today did the comparison to eve come up

[whatudottu]

You know I’m starting to fixate on something where I actually care enough about it to ramble something something- so let’s give it up for NSR! *tiny applause of me doing whatever the hell i want to do on this blog*

An odd thing for me though is that I’m specifically doing a whole character ramble and practically ONLY a character ramble so no biology stuff here (only slight astronomy). Please welcome to the stage, my scrimblo bimblo: DJ Subatomic Supernova!

As I once again shove aside my not only in-progress work but the ‘actually read to post’ work too, I’m here to spew words about my favourite egotistical space orb and not only am I going to do that, but also compare them to someone else of a unique mind. Because of both of their particular quirks about identity, self-importance, and ultimately expression of art, I like to think DJSS may share some grounds with Eve, perhaps enough to decently get along with each other if not even form a friendship.

If you’re one of my typical followers interested enough in reading this to get to here - the second paragraph UNDER the readmore - I will give a summary of the DJ and the Diva. DJ Subatomic Supernova, a space themed NSRtist with an ego so dense it can cause a singularity (which may or may not be an actual literal thing that has or did happen) and underappreciated ex-professor of university grade astronomy, strives to preserve their name and music to extend not only beyond their own time but for the future beyond humanity’s own existence in order to stave away fading into obscurity and truly becoming everlasting. In this battle of existential dread and their entire ‘Avatar of Earth’ schtick, we have a character who’s ego comes with a twist of not being selfish even though it is significantly self-centered, their motivations though using the medium of themselves being to create a legacy for humanity that will spread to the furthest reaches of the galaxy and back.

Eve meanwhile - real name Nadia - views the world in ways that seems only she can, seeing herself as the only one to understand the way she thinks and feeling so incredibly lonely in that fact - a realm of existentialism in of itself - especially since the one person that had begun the attempt had ended up losing thanks to his hair being set on fire. Expressing herself not only through her psy-dub music, Eve is an artist of multiple mediums from sound to visual, of sculpture, fashion, and paintings, many themes of her work centering on her personal experiences and insecurities, of eyes staring at her peculiarities and of turning those eyes against the viewer.

And what do you get when you cross an egotistical existentialist with a suffering surrealist? Maybe you get a little common ground to stand on. Perhaps not enough to satiate Eve’s personal desire to find like-minded brothers and sisters, perhaps not enough to bring Nova back down to Earth to appreciate the present for what it is. But perhaps enough that at least among coworkers, there’s even remotely enough broken ice to hold a conversation, perhaps enough that if in friendship, Eve may look towards the stars and Nova may look at the self of another.

Of course, this is not simply a character analysis based solely on canonical information, as it is now that I will elaborate (at least from the perspective of DJSS) with some headcanons of my own.

I’ve always been particularly an NSR lurker, not really doing much of actual engagement with the fandom but certainly sitting by the wayside and looking in. A thing that I have seen for folk’s take on a younger Nova is that they weren’t always a supernova one Bunkbed Junction away from going singularity- instead, they were a star. It’s always been one of the larger blue stars, but here I’d like to just go out and make it an O-Class main sequence star and be essentially a miniaturised equivalent; and when I say equivalent, I mean EQUIVALENT!

If you were an object head of maybe a G-Class main sequence star (the star itself significantly smaller than what it would actually be), you’d have on your head a miniature sun that would be a little portable and ultimately dimmer version of our very own Sol (or specifically if you had a G2-Class star which is more accurately our own sun). But if you had the misfortune of having an O-Class (O2-Class in this case for reference) star, with 800000 times the luminosity of the sun you’ve got a very VERY significant issue about just existing if you don’t wear something for the protection of literally anyone and anyTHING with eyes or cameras.

The ‘not yet named Nova’ Nova had to grow up early on wearing a super shaded helmet for the entire time they were star - already a thing one might be self-conscious about - up to and including the very moment they went supernova, another thing I must touch on. Depending on the size and general energy output of a particular celestial object - such as; a star - the point in time in which it collapses in on itself and, in the sake of stars, supernovas changes. And this particular case, let’s change a rather heard of saying for the sake of elaboration; the bigger you are, the faster you fall-

Not only was most of Nova’s early life spent hiding their star for the sake of other’s, anyone from astronomers themselves to any old star object head would say it was simply an inevitability that their star would collapse in on itself and become someone completely different, not a matter of if but when... and most certainly ‘young’ while it’s at it. Insecurities from being beheld a wonder to being seen as weird to even having adults already mourning their existence as a star, Nova may in fact turn to the stars above and retreat from the stars below in order to even begin to attempt to cope with their inevitable demise, embracing the existentialism and relying on their inherent knowledge of the astral sea to pursue a career in education. To teach people not to fear the end, the whatever theorised death of the universe, the collapsing of stars. To say that they shouldn’t be feared and shouldn’t be mourned just because they will change - and they will - and that the supernova that has been the subject of so much misplaced misery is in fact a dispersal of resources that can build to something much greater than the some of its parts.

And they are left unheard in the vast emptiness of space, of the classroom, of the home.

The inevitable happens, sparked early (far too early even for an O-Class) by a numeral amount of factors that would cause their world to spin, the light to bend, and an insurmountable level of stress and pain and misery and insecurity influenced supernova.

Too many lights and sounds and senses, DJ Subatomic Supernova particularly hates the design of Akusuka and Metro Division. Cast Tech, the district they hold Charter to, is low lit for a reason. Natura does not induce the swirling of senses, but DJSS has no particular interest in the gardens, for all the worth they put into Earth as a whole. And Dream Fever, something about the eyes that stare and the oddities that twist and turn.

Perhaps it is not their first choice to take in the work of Eve - of Nadia; the artist behind it all - it is not a reflection of their own story, nor does it reflect where they stand now. But there is meaning, meaning they can take in, take pieces of and relate them back to the past. The past that no longer exists, not if they have anything to say about it, not that they had any say in the first place. The artist Nadia, the diva Eve, the balance of the insecure and the expression. Reveling in the dual tones a much younger Nadia tried to hide (concealer rubbing off to reveal a hot pinkish red), the criticism of the viewer, to make the audience feel what had been felt constantly not entirely that long ago. A desperate plea to find someone that will listen, someone that will understand, someone that will hold their memory and share their story ad nauseam.

Perhaps there is something to share solace in, knowing that back on Earth there was another like Nova themselves seeking to engage to the world beyond them.

Though for different reasons, perhaps the two find even a slight solidarity with each other, whether friends or simple coworkers.

[writtengalaxies]

Hi Nova! I was thinking if you could write a captain × head engineer mark where captain has been overworking themselves yk not eating and sleeping the usual angsty stuff and they pass out and mark eaither finds them or catches them and panics at first and tries to wake em up but then takes them to medbay stuff

Oh ho, the angst! Also don't catch me forgetting to eat and sleep like the chronically ill mess I am too I swear I'm trying

Mark was getting...worried.

That is to say, that despite their new, barely there relationship, the Captain was...distant. This wasn't anything terribly new, what with them both struggling to still process the events of everything after all, and then starting this relationship but also trying to keep it quiet just in case, because there was a whole mess of trouble about power imbalances and relationships and hierarchy--

If it wasn't for the fact that he knew that you loved him despite everything that happened, he'd think you were avoiding him.

Well, you weren't.

Maybe you were busy and he just hadn't seen you that much? Maybe you were just working opposite shifts? But he saw you often enough, constantly trekking through the ship to make sure that everything was in order, nothing was an emergency. That made him worry a little about how much you were working, but...that should be fine, right? Since the first scouts down planetside, since that final morning in the cryopods (and if he never had to wake up in a damn cryopod again, he would cry tears of joy), you were everywhere, working hard. The two of you had taken just a few stolen moments to really understand what you wanted from each other, and then...

Mark was just worried.

At least today he actually saw you as you paused in the Bridge. The daytime crew was heading off to dinner, a brief break of roughly an hour before the night shift started. Your hands curled around the edges of the main console, bracing yourself. Mark frowned, reaching a hand out, gently placing it between your shoulder blades.

"Captain? You don't look so hot."

"Wow, thanks."

His frown deepened, leaning in to whisper your name. "You're really pale. And you're...you're trembling. Are you sick?"

"No, no I'm fine..." The words slurred out of your mouth, and it was only because of his close proximity that Mark caught you before your face hit the console.

"Captain? Captain?!" Without another thought, Mark scooped you into his arms, holding you tight to his chest as he all but ran through the halls to the medbay.

-----

Everyone knew how close he was to the captain. Whatever form that understanding took, there was no question from any staff that he would be by your bedside. Mark held your hand in both of his, his thumb brushing over the back of it.

How had he not noticed? Or was he so caught up in the idea that you would avoid him rather than you had fallen prey to the very thing you had been trying to stop him from doing.

Before it all, the Captain was one of the strongest proponents for regular mealtimes and sleep, regardless of when they happened. If you didn't eat or rest, how were you expected to excel in your sector of the ship? That was something you had drilled into him, keeping his own mind from devouring itself with blame and guilt.

According to the doctors, you hadn't had a goodnight's rest in likely months now, and you hadn't done more than eat maybe a quick snack once or twice a day.

"Why. Just...Why?"

"I...I couldn't stop thinking about..." You swallowed, unable to look at him. "I couldn't stop thinking about how I failed everyone. How I couldn't do enough. Every time I sat down to eat, I just...couldn't. What if something happened. I couldn't sleep, just...plagued with so many thoughts about what would go wrong. So...I just...didn't."

"Don't do that again. Please." He pressed his lips to your hand, looking up at you with tears in his eyes. "It's not just the two of us any more. We have the whole crew, we...we don't have to bear that responsibility alone. If...if things get too much, don't try to do it by yourself. I'm here for you, I should be helping you with this."

"You...you're right. I'm sorry. I promised you I wouldn't do this."

"It's alright. You've pulled me back from my lowest point before. It's my turn to help you."

"I love you too."

[malk1ns]

you can find the fic tropes mashup game here! i am still taking prompts, btw—either from this list or of anything else! just don’t be shocked if it takes me months to get to them 😂

love these prompts together 🥰

75. Bed Sharing

97. Sleep Intimacy

As soon as Zhenya sees the hit, he slips out of the press box and makes his way down to the locker room.

Mario beats him there, but only just—he’s running his hand through his hair when Zhenya rounds the corner and almost smacks into him.

“No, Geno,” Mario says, holding his hand up when Zhenya immediately opens his mouth to protest. “You know they won’t let you near him until they can confirm he’s…safe.”

Zhenya presses his lips together. “He’s not do anything,” he says, trying to keep his voice level. “You know. That’s not…”

Mario sighs. “I know. I agree. But that kid’s an omega. It’s league policy. If anyone found out I let you in there after he just practically threw an omega into the boards, there’d be a riot. The game’s basically over, Geno. Just go home. I’m sure this will get resolved quickly.”

—

It’s not resolved quickly.

Zhenya wakes up the next day to the alert—Sid’s been put on mandatory rest for one game. The statement’s language is coy, but by now Zhenya can read between the lines, even though PR spin may as well be yet another foreign language; someone with the League determined that Sid’s experiencing breakthrough rut, and he’s too dangerous to be on the ice.

Bullshit.

Anybody who’s been on the team for a season with Sidney Crosby knows what he looks like, how he acts, when he’s careening towards rut. Zhenya’s been around for sixteen years. That wasn’t Sid mistiming his pills and manhandling the first omega that got in his way.

Zhenya goes to the rink for his workout and meeting with the medical staff. Everyone’s happy with how he’s progressing, making noises about him maybe being ready by Christmas, but the team’s doing ok, and Zhenya’s determined to not rush this—he doesn’t want to think he’s ready and end up hurting himself again.

The gym session feels a little lonely, a little quiet without Sid constantly yapping in his ear, critiquing his form and gossiping about players from other teams. Zhenya tries not to think about it. He’ll have to get used to finishing his rehab alone.

After he’s done for the day and showered, he mooches around the player’s lounge for a while hoping to pick up on some gossip about Sid, but nobody seems to quite know what’s going on. Kris tracks Zhenya down as soon as he’s out of the PK’s video review session, but neither of them quite know what to say. It’s obviously shit, and they both know it.

Kris shrugs after a few minutes of pointless, but cathartic, bitching about the refs and the league and how Bettman’s had it out for Sid from day one, how they’ve been just waiting for anything they could call a slip-up to put him on the shelf. “And you know he’s driving himself crazy, stuck at home,” Kris says leadingly, eyeing Zhenya.

Zhenya sighs. “I know, I’m already go today. Mario says last night I can’t see him, but…”

Kris rolls his eyes. “Stupid. He’s not going to hurt you, even if we’re wrong and they’re right.”

Zhenya preens a little. “No, of course I’m best for Sid.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kris says, knocking their shoulders together. “Go, then. I’ll settle the boys down, you tend to the captain. Make sure he’s not clawing his way through the walls.”

—

Zhenya thinks about texting that he’s coming over, but he figures Sid would try to talk him out of it, so he just drives straight there after practice, punching in the gate code and parking haphazardly in Sid’s driveway without announcing himself.

He eyes the Nova Scotia flag fluttering over the front door fondly while he fumbles through his keyring for Sid’s spare, then lets himself in. At least Sid hasn’t turned the flag upside down.

“Sid,” Zhenya calls, kicking his shoes off to the side. “Sid, you have food? So hungry, they’re not have anything good for lunch today.”

The house is quiet for a minute, and then Sid comes thundering down the stairs. He looks frantic, wild-eyed with messy hair. “Geno?” he says, half a question, his voice breathy.

“Hi, Sid,” Zhenya says, a little bemused. Sid rarely looks so disheveled even when he first wakes up—Zhenya privately hates him for it just a little—but right now he’s flushed and messy, a little dazed and unfocused as he steps—way too close, their chests are practically brushing.

Zhenya takes a step back. Sid follows.

“Did you say you were hungry?” Sid asks, tilting his head up, eyes darting back and forth. “I can—I made lunch earlier, way too much of it, I don’t know why I—anyway, there’s a ton leftover, if you want? Or, if you don’t want pasta, I could make you chicken, or those omelets you like, or—” He’s talking faster and faster, tripping over his words, leaning forward like he wants to press his whole body against Zhenya’s.

Zhenya grabs his upper arms, holding him steady, and it’s a good thing, because Sid sways alarmingly just as he does so, nostrils flaring like he’s trying to get more air. “Sid, calm down, whatever you make is fine. You’re not look so good, you go lie down and I’ll—”

“No!” Sid bursts out, looking just as startled as Zhenya feels by the volume. “No, I’m fine. You—go into the living room, I’ll heat it up for you, okay? It’s better if—I need you to just let me.” He pulls free from Zhenya’s grip and runs a hand through his hair.

Zhenya wants to protest, because something about Sid is not fine, but Sid looks so jittery, like he’s half a second away from physically handling Zhenya into the living room (Zhenya does not think about that), so he nods and makes his way to the living room, sitting in his usual corner of Sid’s outrageously comfortable couch and looking around.

Everything looks the same—no sign that Sid’s been pacing and fussing with his things like he did during his concussion, and nothing banged up or broken like you’d expect from an alpha in rut who didn’t have an omega to spend himself into.

sid fine, he texts Kris. we right, league doctor so stupid.

He wants to wait for a reply, but the sound of dishes clattering announces Sid’s arrival, so he puts his phone in do not disturb and sets it on the coffee table.

Sid rounds the edge of the couch, balancing two plates and a mug. “I heated up the pasta I made, and then I remembered I had some of that tea you brought left still, so I made that—I hope I did it right, you’ll have to tell me if I messed it up, I can make more—and then there was still some ice cream cake from the Halloween party, and I remembered you liked it a lot, so I—you did like it, right?” He looks at Zhenya anxiously, chewing on his lip.

Zhenya reaches and carefully extracts the mug from where it’s threatening to slip out of Sid’s grip. “Yes,” he says cautiously, taking a sip—it‘s perfect. “I do like, but you like too, is why you steal whole extra cake after party, so you should—”

“You should have it, then,” Sid says in a rush, setting both plates on the coffee table and dragging it closer so Zhenya can reach. “I mean, you probably won’t want all of it now.“ He pauses, looking doubtful. “Do you?”

Zhenya has to laugh. “No, can’t have whole cake for lunch, trainers get mad, say I’m too fat for skate. Thank you, Sid.” Sid’s apparently made that cheesy pasta that Zhenya loves more than almost any food in the world that isn’t his mama’s cooking; Sid rarely makes it, claiming that neither of them need that much cholesterol at their age, so Zhenya’s not sure what prompted him to make it today, and in such vast quantities, but he won’t complain.

He digs in happily, trying to ignore Sid’s eyes on his face as he chews.

“I’m glad you came over,” Sid says, when Zhenya’s pushing the empty plate away and eyeing the piece of cake. Sid had cut him a truly enormous slice. “I’ve—I wanted to call you last night, but Mario said that I couldn’t, not after the league decided I—well, it’s stupid, they’re wrong, that’s not what’s happening, but I didn’t want to…scare you, or anything.”

Zhenya reaches for the tea and takes a drink. “Not scare,” he replies. “Just worry a little. Don’t usually do that, like, get so angry on ice. What’s happening?” He watches Sid out of the corner of his eye, noting how tightly Sid’s gripping his own leg.

Sid’s silence feels significant. “It’s…I’m sure it will pass,” he finally says unconvincingly. “Hey, eat your cake before it melts.”

After Zhenya’s done, and vaguely regretting the cake for how full he feels, Sid won’t let him help clean up. Then, he forces blankets on Zhenya until Zhenya feels practically swaddled on his end of the couch.

It’s when Sid hands over the remote and insists that Zhenya pick what they watch that suspicion starts to build.

He’s seen teammates act like this before. Kris had been borderline intolerable right after Alex was born, his fussy caretaking spilling out onto the team, too.

But that’s impossible. Zhenya would surely notice if…

He flinches. It’s something he doesn’t let himself think about, hasn’t for years. He’s not going to start now just because Sid is acting a little strange.

“Are you okay?” Sid asks immediately, scooting closer on the couch. When Zhenya looks at him, his eyes are bright and focused. “Are you cold?”

“No, Sid,” Zhenya groans, tilting his head back so he doesn’t have to look at Sid’s face, so utterly honed in on him. It’s too much. “Am so warm, like, it’s so many blankets. Makes me sleepy.”

Sid doesn’t reply; Zhenya can feel him fussing with the edge of one of the blankets, tugging it out towards himself and then tucking it back closer to Zhenya’s body. “You can nap,” he finally says, voice soft. “Neither of us have anywhere to be.”

Zhenya wants to protest. He should leave, before whatever mood Sid is in pushes him into saying or doing something he shouldn’t. But he had a lot to eat, and Sid’s couch is really comfortable…maybe he’ll just close his eyes for a little.

—

He wakes to a hand splayed over his belly, rubbing gently, and a hot body plastered up against his back.

Sid had somehow gotten them both stretched out on the couch without waking Zhenya up, and now he’s spooning up against him, nose tucked into the crook of Zhenya’s neck.

Zhenya thinks he might be dreaming still, one of the soft warm dreams he has whenever he approaches heat that always leave him achingly lonely when he wakes, but Sid’s breath is damp on his skin, and one of his arms is tingling and numb. He keeps his eyes firmly closed just in case, though.

Sid’s hand moves up a little, resting over his chest. “You’re awake, aren’t you?” he says softly, pressing down over Zhenya’s heart. “I can feel—I could tell when you woke up.”

“Mmm,” Zhenya says, pressing back a little against Sid’s solid body. “Sid, you—what’s happen?” His heart rate picks up, and he can tell when Sid notices, because Sid sighs against his neck and cradles him closer, resuming the soothing petting motions.

“I’m sorry,” he says, tangling their legs together. “I didn’t—I thought that if I spent this stupid game rest away from you, I could stop it, but I think it’s too late.”

“Stop what, Sid?” Zhenya asks, arching his back a little. Sid’s hand feels so good on him, and his mouth is right over Zhenya’s neck, and he’s been scenting Zhenya, the whole room smells of it, of them, and Zhenya can feel himself start to get wet in response.

Sid notices that, too, if his sharp intake of breath is any indication. “It’s…” He swallows, loud in Zhenya’s ear, like his mouth is watering. Zhenya bites on his own tongue to keep from whimpering. “It’s a bond. I think it started while we were doing rehab. Seeing you hurt, trying to help you, all the time we spent while the team was practicing and traveling…I didn’t mean it, but it started. And then I started to play again, but you weren’t there, and that kid was being such a brat, he was saying all this stuff he had no right to say to me, and—” He cuts himself off, spreading his fingers over Zhenya’s chest. “I’m not in rut.”

“I know that,” Zhenya says, a little affronted. “I see, like, two hundred times before.” Sid’s hard, Zhenya can feel it when he shifts. He wiggles in Sid’s hold.

“Stop,” Sid groans out, his grip going solid on Zhenya’s torso. His voice is halfway to an alpha growl, and it makes Zhenya want to bare his neck and spread his legs. “God, G, you can’t—I can feel that, I can feel when you’re thinking—we need to talk about this. I didn’t mean to do it, and if you want we can break it before it gets to you, but…” He opens his mouth over Zhenya’s neck, just a little, and this time Zhenya doesn’t hold back the sound he makes. “Is this—do you actually want this, or is this just—”

“Stupid,” Zhenya mutters, thrashing in Sid’s grip, trying to turn so they’re face-to-face. Sid holds him firm, though, and Zhenya shivers in his grip, finally going limp, docile like his instincts are screaming at him too. “Is not just…instinct, react. It’s…I’m never say, never think about because it’s crazy, you know, you’re never want this before but…well, I think about sometimes.”

Sid’s tongue on his neck is a slow wet drag. “When is sometimes?”

Zhenya tilts his head as far to the side as he can. His teeth itch, and his mouth is watering too. “Like, I have heat-dream sometime, it's always you,” he gets out, gasping when Sid rewards him by sneaking his hand up his shirt, skin-on-skin. “And, sometimes when I’m awake, even if I’m…I think, it’s better if it’s you.”

Sid slides his hand over Zhenya’s chest, thumbing at his nipple until he squirms. “Me too,” he says softly. “I’d bring someone home and close my eyes and picture you.” He bites at the base of Zhenya’s neck, just a tease, not enough to leave a mark of any kind, but Zhenya wants, and the scrape of teeth is enough to trip him over into begging.

“Shhh, baby,” Sid hushes him, petting soothingly down his torso, down and down until he can slip his hand into Zhenya’s sweatpants. “I’ll take care of you. Let me?”

“Yes, anything, please,” Zhenya gasps, as Sid’s hand closes around his dick and his teeth close around the nape of his neck.

—————————

this, and all my other prompt fills (and a few other snippets!) are here on ao3 :)

[amberwild420]

one step back, two steps forward (pt. 28)

masterlist

A wolf’s howl

No!

 Many heroes jumped at the scene. Wonder woman saw the destruction before her knees buckled. Robin was clearly shocked at the amount of destruction. Superman was willing to go himself, he was barely holding his rage at bay. Superboy was gripping the chair so tightly that it was crushed into dust but no one paid attention.

 The camera focused on ladybug and her team or what was left of it. The three were frozen in shock. The dust settled and they could see something. It was chat, hands in front of him like he was bracing himself for the hit.

 Problem? He was frozen. Not like the people who had their energy sucked and had a layer of frost on them. No. He was completely turned into an ice sculpture.

 There was no sign of Luna and Ryu. They were nowhere in sight. Ladybug could feel herself hyperventilating.

 That was close.

 A familiar voice said making them turn around. Luna put Ryu down before wiping a thin layer of frost off of her elbow. A sigh of relief came out of their mouth. They wanted to smile but the frown on her face turned them serious.

 She looked at chat who was frozen before gritting her teeth.

 She can’t be allowed to remain. We need to take her out one way or another. Right. Now.

 She hated chat. Yes. But she wasn’t completely heartless. The sculpture could mean only one thing. The akuma didn’t hold back on taking on his energy.

 The watchtower was filled with many cheers. Luna quickly got out of the trouble with her teammate. Though they should feel guilty about chat being caught in crossfire, but they didn’t paid much mind to it. Karma is a bitch.

 Superboy looked at Luna who didn’t even spare a glance to the drone. Her eyes were cold. Colder than ice. She was done with everything.

 She barely managed to take Ryu out of the way, slightly grazing her elbow on the beam. The shock she felt, she knew she was losing her very life energy. Should she feel lucky that this amount of frost was nothing for her or should she feel guilty for not saving chat?

 Ladybug, we need a plan. You saw what has happened to the end. So now we need a plan to end this one and for all.

 Ladybug felt like she was about to hurl. There was too much pressure. If not for Luna, she would have lost a lot. The pressure was getting to her. Before she went into spiral, the pain in her head brought her out. Honeybee hit her on the head.

 If you think you have all the burden, just so you know you aren’t the only one who’s carrying it. Have a little faith on us, ladybug.

 Ladybug looked around before gesturing to the drones.

 Please stay here. We need to recharge. We will return after we’re done. With a plan.

 And they all went in different direction. Away from akuma.

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Honeybee jumped in her room before transforming. Pollen looked around both pleased and sad at the change. There is no way he didn’t miss this room.

 Let’s recharge and get some work done.

 Pollen smiled at the snacks and went eating.

 I hope we can win. This will get even more destructive if the akuma used that destructive attack in our direction.

 We’ll win. We’ll give our best.

 Chloe smiled before looking out.

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Marinette put a macaroon in front of Tikki as she paced around. The akuma was destructive. More than she initially thought. She did saw the victims. The count was not as high syren but still high. The only living would be the one in the shelter.

 Picking up her phone, she saw the default text she had send her parents about her hiding in a safe place and telling them to stay safe.

 What a hypocrite she was. Telling them to be safe when she is the one putting her life in danger every day.

 Marinette.

 Should we go Tikki?

 The exhaustion was clear in her eyes. They were all tired of being hostage of their own emotions. She could have fallen long ago if not for the soul of balance finding the soul of creation. But they still need a soul of destruction.

 Let’s do it. Together. Like we always do. Not just you and me. But with every friend of ours.

 Marinette smiled before calling for her transformation and flying out.

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Daybreak.

 Calling off her transformation she quickly pulled the stack of jerky for her Kwami. She had been on her guard since the whole destruction beam incident. Nova wanted to say something but stopped herself and ate her snack.

 Kaylan paced around before her eyes fell on a pouch. It wasn’t there before she left for school. Looking through it, she felt her heart jump at a familiar sight but put it in her pocket.

 She might need it in the fight. A bitter smile came on her lips.

 I couldn’t hide it after all.

 She whispered looking out of her window. The house will be fine. With her in here, she doesn’t need to worry about her. Looking at Nova, she nodded.

 Full moon.

 Feeling familiar transformation passing over her, she looked at the mirror before jumping out. Uncoiling her whip she swing it at the nearby chimney before swinging towards the regroup point.

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Just as everyone regrouped, they saw the akuma opening fire again. This time the main blaster was not being used. The small amount of people that were still out were being attacked.

 Let’s do it.       Ladybug said before calling for her lucky charm. A magnet fell in her hand. Silently looking around she saw a few things lit up. Or rather people.

 Her teammates and the akuma.

 Let’s begin. We will follow the plan but if we are not in the position to follow, let’s improvise, whatever you think is alright.

 They looked at the drones in distaste. Like they wanted to tell them what they go through every single time.

 Getting into positions one more time, they stared at the akuma. Luna grabbed something in her hand, before running towards the akuma on the signal. Jumping left and right to avoid getting hit, she uncoiling her whip, she grabbed the nearby debris before hurling it towards the akuma.

 Though it didn’t do much damage as it was broken before it could touch her. But that was all the plan, as Luna dropped from above from the cloud of the dust. The roundhouse kick threw it off guard. Before she could gather what happened, Luna started her onslaught.

 Not giving her time to recover, Luna kept hitting with her whip. She needed to distract her enough for the rest to grab the akumatized item. Just as it looked like the akuma was nearly to the point.

 Lightening dragon!

 Ryu attacked from above like a lightning strike, rendering akuma unfocused. Just as bee was creeping closed to use her ‘venom’ the akuma laughed like a madman. The blasted on her chest powering up.

 She could feed on lightening?!

 Ladybug yelled in disbelief. She was wrong in her assumption.

 “She uses life force from a person and use it as an energy. If I’m not wrong she hasn’t use any form of electrical energy. It could be because she can’t feed on that. Otherwise, the power gird would have been the first to struck.”

 Ladybug said before pulling out the magnet. They looked at the akuma wincing slightly as another person froze.

 “Any metal when charged, exhibits a magnetic field. If we feed her a large dose of something she doesn’t digest it would be making her slow. That’s when we paralyze her and get the akuma.”

 Ladybug trembled at the maniacal laughter. She was wrong. She was so wrong in her evaluation. She forgot that human also have electrical energy aside from just life force.

 She has been feeding on electrical energy all this time. She messed up. She messed up so bad.

 All over.

 This is all over and it’s all her fault.

 Silicus milez sasitatio!

  Ladybug looked up, Luna had used her magic once more. This time it was three stone creatures. The humanoid creatures attacked the akuma, physically overwhelming her. Luna unwrapped her whip, walking forward, passing Ryu.

 If you think I’ll just give the satisfaction of winning against me. You have a lot coming for you. Because I would rather die than to give you that satisfaction.

 Uncoiling the whip, she attacked again. Combined with the effort of the stone creature she brought, the akuma didn’t have time to focus on the attacks.

 Her attacks were all fueled by rage. After winning constantly, the despair that she might lose today was fueling her rage even more. The unexpected events that had turned the about to win battle in a may lose this battle. And she was not having it.

 Honeybee stood there tense looking for a moment to attack, beside her ladybug stood, the magnet tied to the end of her yoyo. She couldn’t do much in the battle, and she’ll be damned if she didn’t take off the necklace.

 Python waited for when he might need to call for second chance. There is no way he would let them get hurt.

 But that happened in an instance. The akuma got away from the stone creatures, charged the blaster and fired.

 ........directly towards the ladybug and other two.

 It was like, the whole world slowed down. She could hear her heart beating in her ears. Feel her body tremble. It was like the fear she had pushed down for long started to grip on her.

 Not noticing her throat glowing, she ran in front of the beam. Opening her mouth she howled. But instead of a sound, it was a beam of magic that came out.

And then the clash happened. Both beams clashed, and then nothing, except for the dust cloud.

 Gritting her teeth, she shouted.

 Get her!

 The akuma struggled against three giant creatures. Honeybee also snapped out before using her venom. The creatures let go of the akuma before making their way towards Luna who fell on her back panting. This akuma took too much of her energy. She was exhausted.

 The stone creatures shrank until they were the size of a normal dog and rubbed against her. Ladybug grabbed the necklace before breaking it and purifying the akuma. Throwing the magnet in the air, she witnessed how a million ladybugs swept over the city, reversing all the damage that occurred.

 The drones came near the team before showing the holographic screen.

 How about we study the whole battle again and discuss how could we possibly help you before our meeting?

 Ladybug nodded and waved as the drones flew away. The office woman sobbed as she realized that she was turned in the akuma.

 Soon enough she was consoled. Ladybug sat next to Luna who was staring in the distance. Petting the dog like creature, she cleared her throat bringing the girl back to her senses.

 I realized just today, how much I have to learn.

 And I need to learn I can also lose.

 ..........thank you. If .........i-if it wasn’t you.......

 Tears filled her eyes but she wiped them before they can fall. Grapping her hand, she squeezed it.

 Even if it wasn’t me, it would have been you instead. For the first time I have people to care for....................and now.....I’m ready to go to hell and back just to keep them safe.

 .......You’re an idiot.

 So are you.

 A giggle left her lips before tension left her shoulders. But that was short lived, as chat dropped in front of her, ignoring Luna and smiling silly at ladybug.

Luna rolled her eyes at his behavior. Looking at ladybug from the corner of her eye, she saw her sighing before looking at his goofy smile. It was like he forgot that he had nearly died once again in the akuma attack while recklessly jumping in.

 Chat meet me at Eiffel tower at midnight. We need to talk.

 Anything for you bugaboo!

 Ladybug grimaced before leaving them. Luna sighed before standing up as well. The stone creatures glowed before floating and shrinking to the size of marbles and landing on her palm. Pocketing it in her space she left as well.

 They were doing it tonight. It’s happening tonight.

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[blueberrypossum]

Hit Me with Your Best Shot

A Nova and Shiki short

Hey yall! I'm back with a little short of just @greaser-wolf and I's ocs Nova and Shiki! This one is set after the No One Does It Like You Do fanfic and also is based off the sparring drawing wolf drew!! Hope you guys enjoy!!

⚠️WARNING⚠️: There is usage of adult language and also mention of blood and abuse, viewer discretion is advised.

Word Bank: Rhubarb- An argument or fight 

Shiki looked down at her phone at the address Nova had texted her. After the boar yokai healed from the mountain mission, the cop asked the feline if she would be down to spare. And with Nova being the competitive and boastful yokai she is, accepted the offer. 

Shiki knew what she was getting into, if she lost Nova would rub it in her face for weeks on end, but the cop was a little rusty when it came to cats and if her and the Mud Dogz were going to keep running into cat like yokai, she needed to be prepared. 

As the brown furred yokai went towards the front door, two figures started to head towards her. 

“No way,” she whispered to herself as she finally made out the two yokai that decided to show up. 

“What are you guys doing here?”

Dastardly Danny was practically dragging the ogre next to him as he caught up with his girlfriend. 

“Did ya really think we would miss this rhubarb? Not a chance!” The rat exclaimed as he brushed back the few tufts of hair on his head. Both of the men wore more casual outfits than their usual gang outfits so they could blend in with the crowd. 

Shiki was a little excited to have the boys here after all the battles and adventures they had gone through, the cop never recalled Danny ever seeing her spare one-on-one with someone, and maybe with the guys being there than her and Nova will give all they got into the fight. 

“You sure you want to be here?” Shiki asked as she opened the door and looked over at Leonard, who’s tired eyes and messy hair in a bun indicated that he was forcefully dragged to this. 

“I really don’t believe I have a choice.”

As Shiki asked for Nova at the front desk, the rat yokai leaned in and said something about the feline in question and the ogre just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. 

 The gym worker led them to one of the large rooms that could be rented out for dance or sparring practice; the rooms had a glass barrier around it so yokai’s could watch from the outside without getting hurt. 

The tabby was sitting on one of the mountain's piles of folding mats, her claws scrolling through her phone as she drank from her water container. She wore a long grey thermal and workout shorts, sweat barely dripping down her face and her hair stuck to her back in its ponytail. The worker that led the three knocked on the door and the feline walked over to unlock it, a poised smile on her mouth.

“Well, not only do I get a sparring partner, but she also brought cheerleaders as well! This must be my lucky day!” Nova laughed out as she let her three friends in and waved at the worker. 

“You would just love to see us in skirts, wouldn’t you?” Leonard asked and Nova stuck her tongue out at him with a wink.

“Well of course.”

Nova placed her phone and drink over in one of the corners of the room and then strolled over to her friend, her multi-colored eyes scanning over the boar’s workout outfit. 

“Do you expect to bleed today, Munchkin?” Nova asked as her eyes landed on Shiki’s handaged wrapped hands. 

“Didn’t the police academy teach you how to fight cats?”  

The tabby flashed her fangs in a bright smile as she turned tail and over to one of the mats, her feet barely pressing into the soft floor. 

“It taught us how to fight almost all different kinds of yokai, I’m just a little rusty in the feline department.”

“More like I don’t want to get my hooves dirty.”

Nova tightened her hair tie and pushed the bangs out of her eyes as she stretched her long arms up towards the ceiling. She then turned to the guys. 

“Well, the cheerleaders can’t be this close to the players,” she chuckled out and then pointed to the row of seats that were outside of the room. 

“Alright, boss.”

 The two members of the Mud Dogz walked out of the room and sat up against the cold, metal bleachers, the only sound coming from the room was the vibration of the speakers that popped out Nova’s songs. 

“Okay, I believe that the most important thing you must know about a cat is their flexibility, most small and nimble cats are flexible, except for lions and such,” Nova started as she sat down and reached for her toes while Shiki popped a few of her tight joints.

“How flexible are you?”

It almost seemed like the cat was waiting for her friend to ask that because stretched out onto her hands and did a handstand and then split her legs away from each other, all while giving a cocky smile. 

“As flexible as you want me to be.”

In the stands Danny had to elbow his friend in the stomach who seemed to have cottonmouth. 

“Would ya like me to get ya a drink? Ya looking kind of parch.”

“Oh shut up I saw you staring at Shiki’s ass on the way in.”

The tabby then did a front flip to land on her feet, her arms now crossed behind her back as she looked over at the stacks of soft mats. 

“Most cats will use height to their advantage, to jump off of or use the hard surface to bring more power. So, that’s what I’ll be using,” she explained and then took a fighting stance.

“Alright, Shiki, got any questions?”

“I’ll ask along the way.”

“Then hit me with your best shot.”

The boar yokai grinned under her fist as she charged, her fist flying towards the feline’s stomach but the tabby dodged quickly, her hands not even coming up to protect herself. Shiki frowned and then lifted her leg to roundhouse kick her but the feline ducked down and then used her own leg to trip over Shiki, who hit the ground with a thud. 

Nova leaned down to look at her, her brown curls creating waves at the end of Shiki’s vision. 

“Your moves are predictable, if you’re fighting a criminal then they’ll know what moves you’ll try to pull since you’re a cop.”

Shiki responded with a grunt as she got herself up and they both took their fighting stance once more, this time Nova was the one to take the first step forward. She turned left and then a hard right at the last second, her paws digging Shiki’s arm as she came up to block.

"Cats will use their claws when they can," Nova grunted as Shiki's strength started to take over her arm.

"So, you'll need to protect yourself whenever they attack."

"Okay, how do I do that?"

Nova took her hands off of the boar’s arm and had the cop grab her by the wrists. 

“You can usually see a cat about to attack with their claws when their claws come out and they’ll look for a perfect angle to attack, so grab them before they can do that.”

With Shiki’s grip on Nova’s wrists she then flipped her off her feet and then onto the ground, a forceful bust of air coming out of her white chest as the cop smiled. 

Shiki helped the mountain cat up and they took a fighting stance once more, the fire boar edging closer to Nova until she had enough room to attack, her bandaged fist raising up to hit Nova in her freckled cheek. But the feline held the fist with her white paws and bounced off the momentum of Shiki’s power and strength, and with her tongue sticking out she flipped over the cop, her own power pushing Shiki to the ground. 

“Jeez, Nova, you know the force could use someone like you.”

“Yes I’m sure they would love someone who’s been in their jail cell to have access to their private information,” Nova cooed and swayed from side to side. 

“I’m barely breaking a sweat, Shiki! I said hit me with your best shot!” The cat challenged and Shiki raised her eyebrow in irritation, but she lifted herself up and went rogue from her usually fighting techniques. 

The tinge of shock that danced over Nova’s eyes was pleasing to see as Shiki swung an underhook into her side, the cat barely dodging it before the fire boar went in for another hit, hitting her knuckles deep into Nova’s thigh. 

A hiss parted between Nova’s teeth and she backed away, her strong legs leaping on top a five stacked mattress and then higher and higher onto the stack of long pillows. Shiki watched closely as Nova rubbed her thumb over the spot that was hit. 

“I’m guessing that you take the legs down, you take the whole cat down?” The officer asked, confidence and arrogance leaking throughout her tone. 

The feline laughed at her comment as she stood up. 

“Their legs are their backup plan, if things aren’t working out for them, they can at least jump out of the situation.”

The mountain cat then jumped from one of the hanging poles and landed on one of the smaller pile of mats and then leapt towards Shiki, the female dodging the attack and Nova rolled to a complete stop next to her, her hand taking hold of her okay colored ankle and flipping her onto the floor. Shiki let out a snort as she felt her lungs hit against her back and her hand went flying towards Nova, bringing her down with her in a single pull. 

They both instantly got up before either of them could get in another hit. Sweat was dripping at the corner of Nova’s face and Shiki’s palms started to feel clammy. But the brown mammal charged after the cat, Nova’s arms constantly going up to use as a barrier and then raised her knee up while Shiki was invested into trying to go for her top. 

But even through the pain that Nova’s knee brought the shorter female slammed her elbow into the middle of her thigh and the fishing cat reeled back as Shiki turled and had her foot make contact with Nova’s flat chest and stomach. 

The feline took a few steps back, her snowy paw gripping her stomach as she took in a few gulps of air and for a second fear traveled over Shiki as she saw spit drip from Nova’s mouth. 

Maybe she took it too far? This was just supposed to be practice.

As Shiki raised her hand closer to the feline her white hand seized her wrapped hooves and twisted it behind her back in remarkable speed all while the tall cat was letting out light chuckles. 

“You can’t hurt me that easily,” she growled and then released the fire boar, her white foot slamming into her back and sending her onto her feet. 

Shiki could taste blood in her mouth and realized that her tongue was between her teeth and she thrashed her head around as she got herself up from the ground. 

‘Cats sure do like bringing their opponent to the ground,’ Shiki thought as Nova came racing towards her, the force of her legs threw her up to the point that her foot could make contact with the Shiki’s face, who rapidly blocked it by shoving her her fist into the sole of her foot. Instead of it hurting Nova, she used it as a boost and did another front flip over the fire boar and once again used her powerful legs to kick her face down into the ground. 

This time a snort of anger erupted from Shiki’s mouth as she felt a bruise start to form on her back for how many times she was kicked. She didn’t even notice the blood that soaked her wrapped hand and how Nova was leaving little pawprints of blood over the mats. 

The two guys that were watching were each growing their own amount of concern as they noticed the drops of crimson that stained the blue mats and how Shiki’s and Nova’s face had changed from friendly to almost cutthroat death glares. 

Nova winced as she walked over to Shiki who was getting up, the feline overhearing that she was done for the day. 

“Oh we are not done, little piglet,” Nova reported as her paws enfolded over Shiki’s ankle and instant panic reaped over her body as flashes of her father crossed her mind. 

“Shiki! Get your ass back here! We are not done yet!” 

“But Dad, we've been at it for hours! I have homework to do!”

“And you have to show that you’re not weak! AGAIN!”

The years of fighting, if never having a break and going to bed bloody and bruised to the point others thought she was a brown and black spotted boar. The cop couldn’t hear the fake giggles Nova was pushing out as she playfully dragged her back to the center of the room, all she could hear was her father’s heart stopping screams trembled in her memory. 

Shiki could feel it bubbling at the edge of her throat, the uncooked and fresh rage that started to take form as a living thing inside of her. And when she turned to look at Nova the feline stopped in her tracks, her white paws letting go of her friend’s ankle as she took a step back. Tusks were now growing out the side of the boar’s mouth and they curled towards her dark eyes. 

“Hey, Shiki, I was only playing, if you need a break-”

“You wanna fight? Let’s fight then.”

Nova narrowed her eyes as puffs of smoke started to leach out of the corner of Shiki’s mouth and the feline took a step back in fear, she had seen Shiki mad before but nothing like this, nothing as dangerous as this.

The blur of smoke and dust was upon Nova in a blink of an eye and Nova was on the floor, Shiki’s body hovering over her as a harsh gargle and shriek boiled from her mouth. 

‘Shit, shit!’ Nova thought as she kneed the boar in the stomach and then rolled away before the fire could spill over her, the liquid flames pinching into the floor where she was laying. 

Back in the stands, both Leonard and Danny started to realize that this wasn’t just friendly training anymore, but a full blown war. 

“Okay, we have to stop this before they kill each other,” Leonard said as he got up to head over to the door, but he came to a stop when the door didn’t budge and the ogre turned back to the rat in panic. 

“They locked the door.”

Nova climbed onto one of the mats as her friend eyed her like a predator to its prey. 

“Shiki! You need to calm down! You won, is that what you want to hear?”

“I want to hear your face bashed into the wall!”

Nova leapt onto another patch of mattresses as the fire boar spat a fireball at her, the sparkling orange sphere engulfing the gym equipment as the feline had to pull her tail closer to her due to the heat. 

The mountain cat vaulted off of the pile and tried to slip past Shiki to head for the door, but the cop was instantly on her, her strong hands gripping the back of Nova’s shirt and panic fizzled throughout the feline’s body at the thought of her scars showing. The feline realized that her friend was targeting her back with how her hands pulled at the fabric, she was the only one who knew about them.

“Shiki, let go! Please!”

“I’ll show you what I can do! I’ll give you my best shot!”

 Without even thinking, Nova’s claws came out and she swiped, a loud roar of pain seizing the room as the grip on her loosened. 

“Shiki! Oh my gosh!”

Nova looked over in horror to see three small cuts over the fire boar’s cheek, not deep enough to scar, but enough to where the scent of blood hit the humid air once again. 

“I’m so sorry-”

“You’re weak.”

Nova’s eyes rose with shock as Shiki licked at one of the cuts that was near her mouth, her tusks now fully grown out and fire leaked from her mouth like a volcano, the liquid fire pooling at her feet. 

‘She’s playing at your emotions, Nova. Don’t fall for it.’

“Shiki, you need to calm down, we are going to get hurt-”

“You’re weak!”

‘Don’t fall for it!’

“You’re weak for hiding it!”

Nova couldn't help but rub the back of her neck, the faintest scar barely poking out from her shirt as Ashur invaded her mind. 

The fury that started to simmer in Nova’s gut was almost too much to bear, she had tried to reason, and even though the cat saw regret flash across the fire boar’s face it was too late and the feline let her full set of claws come out. She heard the hard bang of the door and guessed it was the two men trying to get in, but she gladly ignored it as her tail lashed back and forth. 

“You know, you don’t have to project your sad little daddy issues onto me.”

Shiki let out an offended snort as she watched the long nails from Nova’s feet grow out and tap against the floor as the two of them started to circle each other, as if they were back in the days before yokai, before humans, just animals trying to survive. 

Both of the females could hear the muffled screams from outside the room but Shiki kicked a mat in front of the door without looking as they continued to go around each other. 

“At least it made me stronger, and not a fraidy-cat who can’t show herself.”

With a low roar Nova charged, her extended claws digging into the soft floor as she headed straight for Shiki, at the last second edging herself towards the left and then leaping upward with all four of her limbs, her claws sinking into her friend’s thigh. 

A shriek echoed into the room and Shiki encased Nova in her arms and threw her off, sending the feline into a pile of mats and it falling over due to impact. 

Back outside, Danny had gotten a worker to come and unlock the door while Leonard watched as Nova became a living nightmare. Her tail growing in fur size and her pupils were barely visible from where he stood and she had grown a few inches and he couldn’t help but wince as the feline hid from Shiki and then pounced from the shadows, her hands digging into the boar’s shoulders. 

When Danny and the worker came back, the key was useless due to the mattress blocking the door. 

“What do you think happened?” Danny asked no one in particular as Shiki slammed Nova into the glass wall to get her off her back and all three yoakis took a step back as they could finally hear the hollering and screams that were traveling between them. 

“Daddy’s girl!”

“Weakling!”

“I’m afraid to ask.”

“These yokai’s are unstable in their powers, we are going to have to wait until they calm down,” the employee instructed as Shiki took a hold of Nova’s shirt and threw her into the window, the clear sheet bouncing against her, the feline taking a few seconds to get up before she pounced at the fire boar, using her long legs to kick into her stomach and sent the officer rolling across the floor. 

“They’ll kill each other if we wait!” Leonard reported as he eyed Nova’s long fangs, they were even longer than his as they passed her chin. 

Both members of the Mud Dogz were beyond concern at what the girls could do to each other, with Shiki’s fire power and Nova’s flexibility they could go at it for hours, neither of them wanting to give in. 

The women had attracted a crowd as the commotion extended past the semi sound-proof room and the two men had to keep yokai’s from recording it. But with them having the criminal look they had to give one death-glare and the mammal would put its phone down. 

A long yowl bounced off the windows and the ogre and rat yokai turned just in time to see Shiki send Nova through the glass, her body sending the million shards of mirrors scattering across the gym floor as her beaten up body slid with it. 

Her curled body stayed still as Shiki climbed through the broken glass, the smoke and fumes that flooded the room she was in as she threw herself onto the hard ground, the glass under her hooves as the yokai’s who had crowded around started to slowly back away. 

Danny started to make his way over to his girlfriend but with one look he stood stiff in his spot. The fire that stormed in her eyes could barely scratch the surface of her powers, the cuts and bruises that coated her didn’t seem to bother her as she looked for where Nova had landed. 

The rat couldn’t tell if he was utterly terrified or if he should make her mad more often. 

“Restrain her!” 

Two of the buff workers came up behind Shiki and held her arms back, then instantly wincing at the heat that radiated off of her. 

Leonard had raced over to where Nova was laying and he could feel the harsh growls that were rumbling in her chest. 

“Nova..”

Her eyes instantly opened and he was caught in the sunset of her face as she rose from the ground and her pupils landed on Shiki, and with one grunt she was on her feet and past the ogre. 

“Move.”

The leader of the Mud Dogz swallowed as the feline took a stance and charged towards the fire boar, taking out the worker on the left with a kick and the one on the right with a shove as she took Shiki all for herself. 

She had the officer in a dance as her lengthy body crawled over the cop like a bug, her nails digging into any part she could find before Shiki would blow a fireball at her. 

“Should we...Should we do something?”

“I really don’t want to die today.”

Shiki finally got a hold of Nova and launched her across the building, the feline letting an earthy scream as her body came into contact with the front desk, the computer and paperwork flying as her body disappeared behind it. 

Her white paws curled into the desk as she pulled herself up, her curly hair out of its ponytail and spilled over her face. 

“You throw like your weakass mother!”

A wave of heat was jetted over to Nova and she quickly scaled the walls indented grooves of the gyms design, her nails creating long marks into the stainless wall. 

Just as Nova pushed herself off the wall and reached for Shiki, a small grunt of surprise escaped her throat and she looked down to find a dart in her thigh. Shiki let out a squeal of shock as one lodged into her leg as well and they both started to wobble. The boar was the first to go down, her body crashing into the floor as the fire that was tussling around the corners of her mouth extinguished. 

The tranquilizer that hit Nova was having a harder time making her fall asleep, her pupils shaking within her eyes as she fought to stay awake. 

“Jeez, it’s like she’s been dosed before,” the worker who shot them said, making Leonard frown as another dart was poked into her other leg and the feline finally went down, her long fangs slowly shrinking back into her mouth and her tail going back to its thin length. 

Both of the yokai were heavily wounded, Shiki was covered in scratches and bruises, a few bite marks were even covering her arms and blood mixed within her brown fur. Nova had burn marks over her, the tips of her fur in certain areas were singed off, both were breathing heavily, both were exhausted to the bone. 

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

It had been over two weeks since that fight, and Shiki hadn’t seen or heard from Nova. Danny had taken her back to her apartment (after him and Leonard had to pay for the damage the girls had caused). 

Shiki brushed her hand over one of her bandages and rolled her shoulders, the pulsing of the bruises that covered her back hisses with dull pain. 

The fire boar sat on the stair of her fire escape as the city roared under her, the casual conversation of passing yokai poking into her hearing range.  

The officer didn’t know what to do with the situation, even if she went up to Nova what would she say? I’m sorry for throwing up your trauma into your face like an asshole?

Of course the things that the feline spat back were...hurtful, they tore into Shiki’s heart like her claws, squeezing every drop of blood out. 

Maybe this was a sign that Shiki couldn’t have friends, she was somehow lucky enough to have a healthy relationship with a criminal, the cop didn’t think that her luck would run dry with any friendship. 

“Need some company?”

Shiki looked up to find the mountain cat hanging off the railing of the rusted fire escape, a grocery bag hanging off the tips of her fingers. 

The feline had a healing black eye and even though she wore her usual wine colored jacket, Shiki could see the bundles of bandages as they pushed outward due to no room under the sleeves. 

“Sure.”

Nova settled herself on the fire escape and sat on the ledge next to her, the boar yokai seeing the redness that poked through her torn leggings from the burns. The lights of the city blurred around Nova’s sides as she placed the bag next to Shiki’s legs. 

“I brought your favorite.”

Shiki peeked into the bag and saw chocolate covered strawberries along with two handmade smoothes, one being a mixture of purple and the other was a bright pink. 

“Did you steal these?”

Nova let out a snort as she reached down with her tail and picked up the purple drink. 

“I don’t steal food, that department is taken by Mickey.”

It went silent between the two friends as they ate and drank in silence, Nova moving from the railing to sit next to Shiki on the step. 

“How are your wounds?”

“They’ll heal, nothing I can’t handle. Yours?”

“You definitely got claws, you’ll make some yokai happy one day.”

The feline bit into one of the strawberries and stared at it in her hands. 

“I want you to know that I’m not using these treats as an apology,” Nova started and as Shiki looked up at her the cat looked away. 

“I don’t know what exactly happened with your dad, and for me to remind you of him or even bring him up to coax you into fighting. I don’t even know how to begin the word sorry for what I’ve done.”

“Nova-”

“Leonard was scared of me when I came to, like I was a different animal. When I...when I get like that I don’t recall much of what happened. I just know what I said was wrong, what happened was wrong. I’m sorry, Shiki.”

The fire boar was silent as she took in the somber words and she finished her fruit to push the tears back. 

“I’m a lot alike with my father than I would like to admit, and I shouldn’t have let my rage get in the way, I shouldn’t have been like him during that battle.”

“He hurt you, didn’t he?”

The tears that were silent against the cop’s face were now loud and clear and shined bright like shooting stars. 

“Yeah...yeah he did.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Who hurt you?”

Nova leaned into her friend’s arm as she let out her own shaky sigh, her own eyes trying to keep the tears at bay. 

“His name is Ashur… You can call him my ex or whatever, but uh...He didn’t like it when I disobeyed his rules,” the female choked out and she buried her face in Shiki’s arm as a sob got caught in her throat. 

“I’m sorry, Nova.”

Shiki rested her head on top of Nova’s as they took in each other’s presence, the comforting stillness between them was like a bank full of snow; quiet and undisturbed. 

The fire boar decided not to press Nova any further about her past, just like the feline didn’t press on what her father did to her. 

“Maybe you should tell, Leonard. Out of all of us, I think he would understand the most.”

“You know,” Nova coughed out, the side of her fingers wiping the corner of her eyes to conceal the tears and forced a laugh out. 

“You and Leonard are a lot alike.”

“Really? Why do you say that.”

“You both want to be stronger because your shitty dads wanted to be assholes for some reason. But, it’s their loss, those weak excuses of men don’t deserve you both in their lives.”

Shiki let out a shifted chuckle as she took a long drink from her smoothie. 

“You’re not weak by the way. This Assur guy better watch his back if he ever comes around, because not only will he have to deal with you, but the rest of us as well.”

“Did….Did you just call him Assur?”

"What's the difference?"

Their laughter hit the night sky as they continued on to eat their snacks and went onward to talk about other things and even talked about the fight they had, going over the strategies and techniques that they can share with each other in the next round.

With Leonard and Danny in the room next time, of course.

[starcityhq]

WHAT: The whole city is watching the following live feed of Joker and Superman. As the choice is put to Clark, he hesitates, and Joker shows Clark just how serious he is.

WHO: Superman & Joker

WHEN: January 31st, 2021

SUPERMAN: It had been nearly a year and a half since he'd left Metropolis behind and relocated to Star City, simultaneously shedding his acceptance and cooperation with the hero ban in order to wear the cape again. He'd made that first appearance in a big way, but after years of Superman being off the map, acceptance of his return wasn't granted automatically. Long weeks had passed before he got even a trickle of what he'd once known in Metropolis - people calling out to him, asking him for help because they knew that he would come. It built from there. For every cry for help he answered, for every appearance he made doing his own work or the League's, more came. Now he was back to listening constantly and sometimes having to make the choice of what he could respond to and what had to go to someone else.

So it wasn't strange when a sharp, panicked voice cut through the noise just the night after Lois, Kara, and the others had left the city. If anything, he welcomed the distraction. Without them around, he had nothing to focus on but work. Within seconds, he'd gone out the window of his apartment in a streak of blue and red. The voice, a young woman by the sound of it, seemed to be retreating out of the city. The closer he got, the further it seemed, and soon he'd left Star City behind altogether. Some kind of kidnapping. That had to be it. As long as he could still hear her, he could reach her.

On he went until most signs of civilization had dropped away on either side of him. There was still a road, the voice, and power lines, though. It turned out that he was following all three. When he finally reached what seemed to be the place he was searching for, it led him to a warehouse situated by itself. Trucks were parked outside, though he couldn't see anyone moving among them, and a glance through what walls he could see through yielded nearly nothing.

"Help me, Superman!"

He broke the lock on a loading dock door in order to get inside and continue his pursuit.

JOKER: It was all in place. Today, the curtain rose and the show would go on and Joker was elated. He'd get his little peanut back, he would teach Superjerk a lesson and deal with Batman's continual distraction all in one fell swoop. It was time, after the puppet show, to do something that really put him back on the map. After all, he was tired of NOVA stealing the regard and attention that was rightfully his. Plus, he was beginning to think that people underestimated him and he wasn't having it. Why should he? He'd simply make them all see what a mistake that was.

Luring out Superman was a simple task. These noble types were always trying to save someone. And so Joker had given him someone to save. Of course, there would be no one in the warehouse but he and Superman. He and Clark Kent.

The moment he breached the dock, Joker sat at the control panel. Flicking a switch, he brought the live broadcast that was currently playing all over the city away from his prerecorded message and onto the man himself. Another button on his controls and the room that Clark was in, a holding room between the dock and the main building that had been specially rigged for this purpose--he needed to give Chuckie boy a raise--sealed both doors and clicked shut.

"My my, here he is. The man of the hour. You got that cue without me even having to prompt you." Another button and a clear hissing began as a thick green aerosol suddenly filled the room. "And now we can get one with the show, can't we?" Leaning forward to speak into the mic, Joker grinned with a sinister edge as he asked, "Tell me, Superman... what do you fear?" If only Scary were here to play along. He'd have to do him justice.

SUPERMAN: The young woman's voice fell silent as he actually reached the building. He was still scanning the walls, already working through where to search first, when the doors closed audibly behind him. Clark turned, brows furrowed. Getting out of that would be easy enough, but that wasn't the concern. Someone was watching him. Power plant or no, he'd detected no sensors on the door, and the place wasn't sophisticated enough for that.

The voice that answered him just moments later made him set his jaw. "Joker. What-" There was no time to finish the thought. As the gas poured into the room, Clark immediately began to cough. The sensation was nearly instant, and part of it was familiar enough by then that he recognized it. Nothing made him feel the way Kryptonite did, and the realization was like having ice water in his veins. It worked through his body quickly enough to have him doubling over in mere moments. The question went unanswered, though his head was swimming.

JOKER: No response. Not fun. Well, he would show Joker what he feared. The gas would act quickly on him. Now, to start to escalate. The door in front of him opened and he gave a bright grin. “Aaaaand showtime.”

“How will you ever get out, Superman? I guess the only way is forward.”

SUPERMAN: One of the most profound effects of Kryptonite was how heavy it made him feel. The sheer exertion moving his own body was like dragging himself through thick tar. Everything seemed like it was in slow motion, and it was all painfully exhausting.

It didn’t take him long to realize that there was more to it this time. As soon the shadows danced at the edges of the doorway, his mind was already playing tricks on him. Whispers of voices, all familiar, filled his head as he took those first few steps toward the door.

This is all your fault, Clark. It was Lois, Jon, his parents, Kara, Bruce, Diana...so many...all variations on a theme. You did this. He’d just stepped through the door when he spoke aloud, seemingly unaware that he was responding to people not there. “I didn’t mean it!”

JOKER: "Oh dear oh dear," Joker answered. "I'm sure you didn't. Not at all." Joker flipped another switch, grinning as he did so. The lights dropped out into complete blackness before the strobing began--bright, white and oppressive. All the things he needed to watch Clark Kent writhe. "But sometimes good intentions come up short."

In front of Clark, another door opened as Joker watched intently, ensuring that his feeds captured it all.

SUPERMAN: Clark lifted one arm to try to shield his eyes from the light, which had him quickly pressed against one of the walls. It left spots in his eyes, furthering the disorientation that already had him reeling, and the voices grew louder still. He alternated between muttering what sounded like pleas and practically shouting, “I thought it was the right thing! I thought-“ and so it went, until one of the doorways and the pulsing shadows grew and twisted until it looked like a body on the ground. He didn’t recognize it right away.

His Ma’s voice came to him again, disappointed and deafeningly loud in his ears. “You were supposed to help these people, Clark, and all you did was abandon them. You abandoned all of them.”

Another staggering step forward, past the shadow that wasn’t a shadow, finally let him see its face. Lois. Clark stumbled backward, falling the rest of the way through the door.

JOKER: And with Clark in place, Joker couldn't help but laugh over the intercom system as he watched the infallible 'Man of Steel' crumble into a crying little boy. And it had been all too easy. It had just taken a little watching. A little knowing and scheming. Not difficult at all, really. And now they'd see just what the Joker could put on. Funny, he had thought he'd been showing them all along, but apparently they had needed a refresher. So here he was.

When the lights came up, there was a simple set up. Large screen on the far end of the room, and two podiums evenly spaced apart featuring big red buttons. Option A and Option B. Either was sure to make a splash.

"Now that we're all warmed up and our mind is playing fuzzy tricks, how about we play a game, Superman? Whaddya say?" Leaning into the mic, his voice dropped into something dangerous. "Give you a hint: the only answer is yes."

SUPERMAN: Once he’d managed to tear his gaze from the shadowy figure of Lois on the ground, he squinted toward the podiums. He felt sick, like his very bones hurt. It took tremendous effort to pick himself up from the floor and more effort still to try to focus and figure out what was happening. He couldn’t, really.

Clark shook his head and closed his eyes, not wanting to see anything there. It all kept distracting him. Even with his eyes closed, though, there were still voices. “No...games.”

JOKER: "Ahhh, see it wasn't really a choice," Joker said before his grin turned mean. "That's so irritating, isn't it? When someone takes your choices away? When they decide for you?" He watched Clark through the screen he had set up before finally reaching the crux. "I, unlike some people, am a compassionate man. I know how hard it is to be told no even if the thing I want is natural as, say, a father and his daughter. So here's what I'll do for you, buddy. I'm gonna give you a big choice. So pay attention."

"Behind door number one is obvious. Superman is a man of the people, isn't he? So of course we should show him what he loves." Click click and the screen displayed the gathering of people standing in the center of Star City with their faces fixed on the large screen he had erected earlier that day to do the largest part of the broadcast. Every smaller screen connected to the cable he'd hijacked would also be showing his performance, but this one was the most substantial. "Here's Star City, Superman. Would you do anything you could to save it?"

SUPERMAN: As the screen turned on and he saw the small crowd, Clark shot a panicked look back over his shoulder, but the body he’d seen before was gone. Lois wasn’t there. Tricks...just tricks...He shook his head, trying again to force himself to focus, but he could only manage it for seconds at a time. In those few seconds, Joker’s words settled in. Lucy...Lucy, Lucy, this was about Lucy...

He walked sluggishly toward the screen like he meant to reach up and touch it. You were supposed to help these people, Clark. “...Always.”

JOKER: “Yes yes, always. Always the hero, aren’t you Superman?” Superman had a different modus operandi than Batman, and Joker was far more accustomed to the less emotional and more stoic responses he received from Bruce. With Clark, it was all new experience. Still, improv was one of the highest forms of comedy, wasn’t it? He learned on the fly.

“But a choice’s not much of a choice with only one option, right? You see, you have door number one, but what could be behind door number two?“

With that, the screen in front of Superman changed, and before the audience’s very eyes, an image of Harley came up. But not just Harley, because that wouldn’t be much of a reveal, would it? After all, Harley was always with Joker. “I’ve come to learn,” he said, more for the benefit of the onlookers than Clark Kent, “that Superman is really more of a family man than any of us could ever have guessed. So yes, he’ll save the city, but always? I guess we’ll see, because here we have my lovely Harley Quinn with Gazette journalist, Lois Lane, known attachée of Superman himself. Then we have Supergirl. And since this is a family affair we couldn’t leave out the kids. Lois Lane’s son, Jon, and Supergirl’s own little bundle of joy, joining us for her first appearance. As you can see, Harley’s strapped them up with high grade explosives. The button for Choice B will set them off. And Choice A? Choice A will set off a little present delivered by Joker’s hands from NOVA’s hearts: a nuclear bomb that’s been planted right under the city. You can only save one, Superman. The family you have left or the city that depends on you. Choose neither and they both blow.”

He paused, long and dramatic for effect, before leaning into whisper: “So... what’s it gonna be?”

SUPERMAN: Clark had only just really focused his eyes on the screen and the faces of the citizens when it changed. Joker’s words didn’t matter, they didn’t even really fully sink in. As Lois, Jon, Kara, and Eva came into view, he moved forward with heavy, sluggish steps and reached up toward the screen as though it might disappear like a mirage.

The Kryptonite was still in full effect, and whatever else had been in that had his heart and mind already racing. Clark looked back to the open doorway again. The flickering lights made him wince, and the sickening fear and dread he felt quickly conjured up new images with them. Lois, again, with lifeless eyes, holding onto Jon whose face he couldn’t see. A blonde figure with its back to him that could only be Kara was similarly motionless. The darkness that should have been only shadow was blood instead, rapidly spreading across the floor until it was nearly touching his feet.

He left his spot in front of the screen and stumbled back toward the bodies that weren’t really there to kneel by them. His hands caught only air when he reached for them and he pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. He’d made so many promises. Protect the city. Protect his family. He’d sworn to Kara not two days before that no one would hurt her, Eva, or any of them. He’d sent them all out of the city to prevent it, even. Sent them to...this. To Joker and Harley.

“You’re not getting away with this,” he said after what felt like ages of kneeling there on the floor, fighting for a brief hold on his own mind again. He glanced around the room for a second door, anything that might lead him somewhere else. If he could just...get back to the city...

JOKER: Joker watched, utterly rapt, as Superman pawed at nothing and--dear God, was he crying? These emotional types. He shook his head, but the words spoken only made him bark out a laugh. "Ha! Oh Supes... I already have gotten away with it. And I think you're aware of it, too. Now, are you going to choose in a timely fashion... or should I start a countdown?"

SUPERMAN: Clark set his jaw, refusing to let himself look at the ground again. Nothing there. Nothing there. But the feed on the screen had been real. His family needed him. The city needed him. “I’m not playing your game, Joker.”

And so he kept telling himself as he moved away from the podiums and the horrible visual of Harley with the people he cared about most. When he found no new door, he threw himself against the wall instead. Again, and again he did it until he felt the ache of it run all down his arms and legs. The Kryptonite had left him weak enough that he couldn’t do more than that. He slammed a fist against it, pointlessly, and clenched his eyes closed again. So many people depending on him. If he stalled...if he stalled, maybe someone would figure it out.

JOKER: "Oh that's a shame. No one likes a spoilsport, Supes. But I'm a man who does love a good twist." The screen split into two, one side showing the city where people looked fearfully to the billboard or incited panic through panic themselves. The other showed Superman's family. Between them, a counter began, starting generously from 100 and counting down.

He seemed a bit too cognitive for Joker's liking. He hadn't been able to test the doses, after all. Fortunately, he had planned for that too.

The door on the far end of the room opened for the space of about two seconds, hidden by Superman beating against the wall. A telltale hiss was the only precedent to another dose of the gas.

"Now that you're good and doped up yet again, Superman, I think we'll try this again," the Joker said, leaning forward. The suspense was killing him. "Either you make a choice for me, or that timer gets to zero and both the city and your beloved Superbrats go Ka-Boom. Even the sweet little baby."

SUPERMAN: Clark looked only briefly at the screen again, long enough to see his son's face and Eva's. He didn't need to look at Lois. He knew the expression she wore. Determined. Probably angry. There was nothing in the world she hated more than feeling helpless, was there? But she wouldn't be able to get them out of this. Joker wasn't the type to hesitate, and if Harley was far gone enough to put even Eva in that room with them, then she was no solace. They'd kept her daughter safe, even if it had been apart from her, and this was the response.

The number started to count down and the first few seconds ticked horribly by before the gas deployed a second time. It was so much worse than the first one. The effect of the Kryptonite was crippling, but that was nothing compared to where his mind went. As Joker spoke, it was like the words willed those things into reality. Clark could hear the explosions and the screams, the dust from fallen buildings that weren't really there was choking. He could hear people calling for him, just like the voice that he'd followed to the power plant. Superman, save us!

But even those desperate cries were nothing to what he saw when he looked at the side of the screen again where his family waited. It was an unspeakable thing, the vision that he had. His heart was beating so loudly in his ears that the sound of it eclipsed everything else, and several precious seconds ticked by as he stood paralyzed by the things that he was seeing that weren't really there. They weren't there, but they would be. They would be if he didn't do something.

JOKER: The longer Superman stalled, the more exciting it caught. "The fear gas makes it hard to think, doesn't it Supes?" he asked gleefully. "But you're strong, aren't you? You'll have to push through it." His Harley girl had. Helped him gauge the dose, too. If she could do it, Superman could do it.

"You're losing time, pal. One or the other. Or both, if you're willing to go for maximum carnage. Never took you for the type but there's surprises everywhere, aren't there?"

SUPERMAN: On the other side of the split screen, he could see people moving away. Running? Running, waiting to be saved...If he didn’t, how many people would die? Clark closed his eyes against the screen, the room, Joker’s disembodied voice, and all he was greeted with was the sound of screaming again. The air felt like it was burning around him, and something (no, someone) clutched at his ankle in a desperate, panicked way.

When he opened his eyes again it was to the red glare of the timer, down to a minute. Eva was crying on the other half of the screen, her tiny face scrunched up and afraid. He could feel bile rise in his throat with a sickening burn. If he let them die- No sooner had it entered his mind than he saw it again, as horrifying as before. Lois said his name before the explosives were triggered, and it rang in his ears. Harley clapped her hands next to them, shrieking with glee.

The room came back into focus again and he found himself clutching the sides of the screen.

JOKER: "Tick tock, tick tock," Joker cut in at Clark's little meltdown. "This is all very touching, Superman, but I don't think you realize how serious I am. How about a little demonstration?"

He had anticipated, after all, that this might happen. That the Man of Steel may be paralyzed by his own fear and what Scary liked to call the Trolley Problem. Joker had thought of that and now he had a way to sweeten the pot. Or sour it. It was all the same to the clown, who simply wanted a bit of fun. Well, Harley would get her fireworks. He had rigged some for this twist, should he need it. "Everybody loves a good plot twist," he said before hitting a button on the control panel which would signal his boys to hit an even larger button within Star City.

Said button was attached to a detonator and that detonator was rigged to a number of fireworks and charges that were connected right to Liberty Bridge. "Watch the birdie, Superman," he said with a laugh as he slammed another button to abruptly change the screen from Star City and Superman's family to the bridge, where hundreds if not thousands of people were currently trying to get out. Silly silly. Didn't they know that Fate had a funny--frankly hilarious way--of getting what she wanted?

"Boom."

[theartofimaginaryfriends]

Chapter 5 - Catalyst

Fic series: The Final Straw (HP/PJO Crossover Fic)

Premise: A fight breaks out during first period.

Masterlist

Taglist: @ilvermornymascot, @lukecastellandeservedbetter

Word Count: 1,540

A/N: Back to our regularly scheduled programming! I was up all night last night working on the chapter because honestly sleep isn’t a thing anymore. I think this is my personal favourite chapter by far and yes it is absolutely because I made a “my father will hear about this” reference. Might bring that one up again, but we’ll see XD Hope you enjoy!

"What do you think it means?" Harry asked at breakfast the next day. "The prophecy. I mean, the bridge? What tether? The one I had to deal with wasn't this hard to decipher." 

"Our prophecies never mean what you think," Nova said. "Whatever the bridge is, it couldn't mean a literal bridge. Maybe it's a person. Someone that acts as a bridge to connect both sides." 

"So, you?" Percy raised an eyebrow. 

"Or, it could mean a God," she gave him a look. "Like Janus."

"I never want to deal with him again." The son of Poseidon complained.  

"You never wanted to deal with a prophecy again. Anything's possible." Annabeth said. Percy glared at her and scowled. Things hadn't been patched up between them since the previous night. "I wonder which of us will be the heroes. I hate to say it, but Percy and Harry are guaranteed to be involved." 

"It could be anyone," Hermione snapped. "Harry couldn't possibly be involved in another prophecy. Not so soon." Annabeth opened her mouth to respond until Nova held up a hand. 

"I'm going to stop both of you now before this gets out of hand." The rule Ilvermorny had about students sitting with others of different years and houses expanded to the wizards and demigods. So far Nova was overwhelmed by all the fighting happening around her and wanted to keep that at bay at her table at the very least. Especially while she was still waking up. "We should just drop talk about the prophecy for the time being. It's not helping anyone, and parts won't be figured out or revealed until the right time."

The table agreed and fell silent. Around them, were groups of students having the same conversation Nova just cut-off, or arguing with each other. It seemed that the various rooming situations either worked out really well or went very wrong. Rachel and Luna, in particular, had gotten along right away. "What's a wrackspurt?" 

Hermione scoffed, and Ron groaned at Rachel's question. Harry and Ginny, on the other hand, tried to suppress giggles. Luna's eyes lit up as she explained what they were to the redhead and barely looked up when Professor Lieberman, the Pukwudgie Head of House, handed over their schedules.  

When the Professor got around to Nova, she handed her a small envelope as well. "The Headmaster asked me to give this to you." 

"Thanks, Professor." 

After scanning the schedule, she headed to combat and duelling in the training grounds. The class had a mixture of students from all four houses, a few of which were the transfer students. She tried to mask her annoyance when she noticed Clarisse and Draco were in the class together. Something was bound to go wrong.  

The students made their way to the two professors teaching the class and listened to the introduction. "Hello, class. For those that don't know, I am Professor Sullivan, the flying and duelling instructor. I will be sharing a class with Professor Beaumont as it is vital we teach you, students, every form of fighting." 

"But demigods can't use magic," An Ilvermorny student called out.  

"And wizards don't have any weapons!" A demigod added.  

"Please leave questions and comments at the end of the lecture," Professor Beaumont commanded. The class quieted down, and the ones that were speaking out looked sheepish. "You both make good points. Although some Demigods can use magic, it is just different from the wizards."  

"Our goal in this class is to teach you how to fight against an opponent you would have never expected." Sullivan continued. "However, for today, we will have the wizards with me, and the demigods with Professor Beaumont. Is that clear?" 

"Yes, Professor," the class chorused.  

"Any questions?" 

Nova raised her hand, trying not to feel stupid. "For those of us that fit into both categories – because I know I'm not the only one – where do we go?" 

"Fan of flying?" Sullivan asked.  

"You know I'm not." Nova sighed.  

"Go with the demigods." The Professor smirked. "If you're not afraid of flying, you'll be with me today. If you are, join Nova." 

The groups split off, and Percy made his way next to Nova. "Flying?" 

"Yes, we can fly on broomsticks," Nova braced herself for the teasing. "No, they aren't the basic straw brooms in media." 

"I'm pretty sure I'm the first person to ask you about that," Percy mused. "And yet, you already sound annoyed." 

"I know you well enough to know that I'm aware I'll never hear the end of it," she rolled her eyes. 

"You two!" Professor Beaumont interrupted their banter. "Have something to share with the rest of the class?" 

"No," they said, sheepishly.   

"Great, then I'm going to assume you were listening to instructions," Cassia said. "I don't care who you partner with, just try not to kill each other." 

"Frank, what were the instructions?" Percy leaned over to his friend.  

"Get into groups of two, and practice combat," he told them. "We have an uneven number, though." 

"We could be a group of three?" Nova suggested. "Take turns fighting each other. Third person watches and dictates who wins each round." 

"Sure, why not," Percy shrugged, grabbing his pen from his back pocket. "You and me first, Nova? I miss training with you." 

"You’re on, Jackson," she removed a bronze hair clip and flipped it to reveal Harpe. Percy got into position facing her, and uncapped Riptide. Nova was a bit nervous facing off against Percy. He was the only one able to match Luke in a fight when they were twelve, and she remembered it well. He was skilled, and Nova planned to give him a real challenge.  

The demigod made the first move, almost losing his balance when Nova dodged him. She moved forward, forcing Percy to back up from where he stood. She managed to stay in control of the fight until Percy deflected her blade, and forced it out of her hands. Grabbing the hilt, Percy shrugged and tossed it back to her. Nova easily caught it, and they continued on.    

They parried for quite a bit, neither of them willing to give up. Weaving through the other teams, they swiftly moved across the grounds and stayed evenly matched with one another. Without realizing it Nova and Percy had moved closer to the castle walls. The roles of offence and defence were switching between them constantly. It was as though they were silently communicating as they continued to train.  

Percy was offence when he realized they were closer to the castle and saw it as an opportunity to overtake Nova. He maneuvered their fight so that her back was against the wall, and rested his blade against her throat. His left arm braced against the wall right above her head. "You know if you don't apply pressure, I could easily get out of this hold."  

"If I drew blood, I'd get in trouble," he replied. "And seeing as you have an advantage, why not use it?" 

"Catching my breath, I suppose." Nova lied, blushing.  

"We could stop the fight here." 

"What would be the fun in that?" 

"Touche-" 

"BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU THROW THAT THING!" Nova's attention moved from Percy to the students up on brooms. Draco was descending from his position and angrily marched up to Clarisse who had gone to collect her spear.  

"Better go deal with this," Nova groaned.  

"Clarisse may not listen to you, I should help." Percy insisted, moving away from the wall to let her go.  

"She won’t listen to anyone but Will," Nova shrugged. "Go train with Frank, I'll be fine." 

The Head Girl made her way to the two, as they began a shouting match. "I should be allowed to throw my spear wherever the hell I want, Pretty Boy." 

"And I should be able to have a friendly competition with my classmates without worrying about being killed!" He argued back.  

"Dude, a bludger has the potential to kill you," Nova intervened. "I get your point, but think realistically. Wizard sports are about as safe as weapons." 

"No one asked you!" Clarisse and Draco chorused.  

"Yeah, I don’t care," she crossed her arms. "Here's what's going to happen. Clarisse, you're going to throw your spear in any direction away from the wizards. Malfoy, your father will not hear about it, so shut up and stop being dramatic."  

Both parties stared at her completely speechless, Clarisse reeling in anger. Draco just looked shocked, not having said that phrase since his fifth year at Hogwarts. Harry tried to suppress his laughter as the crowd watched, but failed. "Seriously, Potter?" 

All the Chosen One could do was nod, too busy laughing to say anything. Everyone stood around awkwardly, not sure what was so funny. "Thank you, Nova, but we'll take it from here." 

Nova stepped back, and let the professors talk to the two of them and sort something out. "Since it's the first day, I won’t give either if you detention. However, I will deduct ten points each from Horned Serpent and Wampus."  

"Professor!" Draco whined.  

"Five more points!" Sullivan snapped. "Now get back to your activities and no more arguing for the rest of the period."

[foretolds]

CASSIUS MORALES BAPTISTE called into ORACLE FM. They were a little bit HEDONISTIC & RECKLESS at first, but we kept them talking until they got a little PROTECTIVE & WORLDLY.  They said they’ve been working as CHEF AT OBSCENITY, and thinking about aligning themselves with NA since they have been living in Nova Satus for FORTY ONE YEARS, and from what we can tell, they still give off huge THE SLOW LOWERING OF DESIGNER SUNGLASSES TO MAKE A POINT, THE PRIDE IN THE CLAIM OF BRUISES LEFT RIGHT AT THE CORNER OF COLLAR BONES, & BASS IN THE BOTTOM OF A HEARTY LAUGH THAT MAKES AN IMPRESSION vibes . [Y'LAN NOEL, HATIAN LOA (PAPA GHEDE), CIS MALE, UNKNOWN , HE/HIM ]

While taking a vessel is usually a process that is more inviting, Cassius has occupied this one for as long as he cares to remember (or tell), for more intimate reasons. The story changes depending on when and how he is telling it, but few have managed to settle him enough to garner the real account of the way things happened. Some are given the tall tale of ritual sacrifice, a dramatic rendition of his ceremony, others are told the long winded yet rewarding story involving a lover with a dream to keep whatever was left of a broken heart.

The truth? The truth was that the man he occupied now was the cemetery keeper for the body of one of his greatest lovers. This usually wouldn’t have made him particularly special, but it was watching the way the man continued to work through, or passed, his own needs to give to the dead that made him appealing. His loneliness was so palpable at one point, that the gift of possession seemed like it would, and could, come as a relief. So, they had made a deal.

Cassius sat with this man for awhile, days turning into years, until finally he had agreed to preform the ritual that would allow him to live forever, even if he was forced to shove over for the needs and wants of a loa that was fickle yet somehow still honorable, in some sense. When they joined, he allowed the man to occasionally slip through, to have a few days, a few moments, a few memories that would and could be his alone. In a sense, some would say that he loved his vessel, and they wouldn’t be wrong. Where they were, wrong, though, was in thinking that this gave him some kind of weakness.

That was years ago, though. Years, decades, centuries. He has been here, watching, operating, living his life. Throughout those decades he has indulged all of his whims, whether it be working as a doctor and enjoying the irony in being the one that would decide if sickness would bring them to join the dead, or would they bounce back better than ever; or a coroner for his people, specifically, because America was never warm enough to them, and they died on the street far too often for his liking.

When he was coroner, and when he deals with the dead, he is the pillar of guidance and assistance. They don’t deserve to feel fear when they pass, the simpler parts of humanity can bleed away to make way for the after life that is often more welcoming than the world can be. That’s the caveat, isn’t it? He knows celebration intimately, even in the fact of despair, but that doesn’t mean that he is always the poster boy for this years fuck boy Olympics. No, you just have to know how to talk to him nice, to ask him to be serious for a moment, and you’ll always get a seriously answer, lecture, or piece of advice.

As the stories go, he has always had an issue with food. The glasses that usually adorn is features are not needed, but we’re once used as a tool to hide the way he watched those who much steal it from him. Now, they are more of a dramatic accent, but that doesn’t mean that he is particularly forgiving for anyone that steals from him, or his following, considering it a large offense, and one well worth holding a grudge for.

At the advice of a very specialized therapist, he would open the restaurant behind his love of said food. He learned that making it, that giving that gift back to people, eased that anxiety and began to quell his need to constantly run away with sustenance that he did not need. Eventually, his passion became the restaurant that would stand today. It gives him a chance to deal with his own bullshit, but it also seconds as a chance to bestow his own blessings on people - through charity donations, catering funerals (an obscenity special that is always pro bono), or just lifting the spirits of those that enter the front doors.

He found Nova Satus to be the right place for that years ago, and when he was approached about their potential return to full power, he jumped on it. The man might be partially dormant, but he misses the way that belief flows in the blood, the way it sets your body on fire. The way appreciation tingles right under the skin, the way adoration feels when it’s whispered against your lips. All of it he has chased on a small scale, but now, now it has to return full force.

Cassius goes by Baptiste and very rarely allows or enjoys anyone else calling him by his first name. Much like the truth behind his origin story with his vessel, this is a privilege for a select few, rather than a standard setting.

Baptiste often is found wearing all black, almost to the point where it is comical that the man even owns any other colors. However, alternatively, if anyone makes the mistake of telling him that he looks like he’s dressed for a funeral, he simply grins while explaining that a funeral is the most important party you’ll ever have.

Baptiste is extremely sex positive, and will throw hands over anyone who decides to slut shame, kink shame, or otherwise. Because of this, he also hasn’t had too much of a history in committed relationships. It’s not that he is not open to them, they had to just be worth the while, and keeping both his interest in personality and his need for filth in the bedroom can be...well, a task.

Baptiste is almost always wearing a pair of glasses, most frequently they are sunglasses that are either pushed on his nose dramatically, gestured with, or otherwise.

Papa Ghede is well known for the obscene, both generally and sexually. That being said, he is always going to be the first one to say something vulgar to some degree. He is unapologetically shameless, and smooth in a way that is both attractive and irritating, depending on the day and person. Alternatively, catch my guy with a very popular only fans account, the number one fan of whatever day myst gets new shipments in, and rolling through every single amateur's night at the local strip clubs.

Last but not least, at least for now, he also tends to be jovial, in a sense, dancing words in circles or saying shit just for amusement value or to get a reaction. I apologize in advance for whatever nonsense is going to come out of his mouth, truly. That being said, that is just how he operates. However, if you want or need him to be serious about something, the solution is simple: use your words. If you ask him to be serious or take something seriously, he will, and he will offer a solid response.

POWERS

death force manipulation

vodou magic

necromancy

healing

enhanced charisma/sexual inducement/sex deity physiology

underworld lordship

possession/aspect manifestation 

contract bestowal/summoning/power bestowal

wish granting/blessing inducement/curse inducement

immortality

WEAKNESSES

contract/blessing/curse negation (including prolonged use of blessing, power, contract or misuse)

may also need to present offerings, complete task or favor, or user must have certain qualities to obtain curse/blessing.

all wishes come with price and balance, all wish, curses and blessings come with loopholes and twists.

can be bound by high level magic (usually requiring several covens/witches/magic beings)

weakness creation/inducement/empowerment

spicy healing (aka he has to take on some portion of the sickness he is taking away, or suffer some consequence in order to do that)

possession can be negated by rune, certain protection spells

life balance - lives saved have to equal lives taken, so if he saves one person, he also has to kill someone to maintain the balance

[star-spangled-eyes]

Winner Take All: Part 7: The Keys

This alternate universe fan fiction uses characters created and owned by Pixelberry Studios. Character names, descriptions and likenesses are owned by Pixelberry Studios. The MC, Bragnae Bennett, and story is created and owned by this author.

Book: The Royal Romance (Alternate Universe)

Alternate Universe Theme: Senior Year of College for Drake, Leo, Bragnae and Madeleine in the United States  

Pairing: Drake Walker x MC / Leo Reese x MC (Bragnae Bennett – *pronounced Brawn-yah)

Warnings for this series: NSFW, Adult content, suggestive and strong language, sex

Series Description: Bragnae Bennett sought adventure when she first went off to college. Now, navigating through her senior year, she finds herself befriending two gorgeous guys, Drake Walker and Leo Reese, who engage in a seemingly innocent bet with her during a game of pool that leads to a surprising threesome.

Their intimate evening prompts deeper feelings than they all expected to arise, and Bragnae is suddenly swept up in both of their charms, unique to each man himself. Through the pressures of college, work and maintaining a social life, which man will prevail and win Bragnae's heart?

Master List

A/N:  This chapter flowed out of me! It needed to be told. I hope you enjoy this.

Warnings for this chapter: NSFW, Adult content, suggestive and strong language

Word Count for this chapter: 3691

Setting for this chapter: Drake leaves for the hockey camp, and Bragnae is faced with a persistent Leo.

Permatags: @burnsoslow​​​​ @cora-nova​​ @dcbbw​​​ @thorfosterlove​​​​ @emceesynonymroll​​​​ @edgiestwinter​​​​ @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld​​ @msjr0119​​​​ @notoriouscs​​​​ @drakewalker04​​​​ @pedudley​​​​ @desiree-0816​ @choices-lurker​​ @kingliam2019​​ @loveellamae​​​ @drakexnadira @flutistbyday2020​​ @indiana-jr​​ @moonlightgem7​​

Series Tags: @yukinagato2012​​ @marshmallowsaremyfavorite​​ @nomadics-stuff​​ @ravenpuff02​​ @texaskitten30​​ @themadhatter1029​​ @randomfandomteacher​ @queenjilian​ @princessleac1​ @seriouslybadchoices

Part 7: The Keys

“Do you have everything you need? Did you get all of your assignments from your professors?” Bragnae asked while Drake zipped up his big duffle bag. It was the night before he was supposed to leave for the hockey camp. She took the night off from work so they could spend time together after school before he had to leave the next day.

“Yep. I got it all,” he said, walking over to kiss her on the forehead. “Thanks for double checking.”

“Well, you don’t want to fall behind with school. You’re so close to graduating.” She looped her arms around his neck.

His hands were immediately drawn to her hips keeping her close. “I’ll be fine, Miss Goodie Two-Shoes.” Drake smirked as she rolled her eyes at him. Bending down, he captured her lips in a playful kiss.

Two weeks without being able to see Drake in person would be tough, especially in the beginning of their blossoming relationship. He was constantly on her mind, and they didn’t get much time to spend with each other over the past few days because of Bragnae’s work schedule. She was pleasantly surprised when Drake showed up at Mikey’s on Tuesday night with a friend. She liked the effort he put into seeing her even while she was working.

“I’m going to miss you.” Damn it. She didn’t want to say that, thinking it was too soon in the relationship to mention.

He brushed a wisp of hair out of her face. “I’ll miss you, too.” He smiled. “Believe me, I don’t want to leave you for two weeks. But I’ll call you tomorrow night when I get there, and we’ll find ways to talk while I’m gone.”

Bragnae rose up to kiss him again. “I can’t believe you’re making me go two weeks without these lips.”

“I’ll be back before you know it, kissing you all night long.” They melted into another deep kiss that heightened her senses. She knew he was giving her something to remember him by.

~

It was Wednesday, and Drake had already spent a few days away at the hockey camp. He called her like he promised, and they had a few good conversations that brought them closer. They weren’t just the superficial things any two people could discuss. Their talks would lead deeper and more meaningful with each one. It was nice to get to know him better, and perhaps having him out of her reach allowed them to do so. Being physically apart, they could focus on their personalities instead of getting distracted by how well they could kiss or touch one another.

Bragnae finished reading a text from Drake. He said he had finished one practice already, but now was in the gym working out with still another practice before the day was over. She sent him a cute, go-get-‘em type of reply, and plopped her phone back into her purse. In between classes, she had taken a seat on a concrete bench outside to eat a quick lunch and to enjoy the fresh air.

Looking at her watch, she decided it was time to head to her next class. She got up to take her trash to a garbage can nearby. When she turned to face it, she saw Leo standing there. Her feet halted her in place. He was looking at her with an almost pleading expression.

Bragnae didn’t have time for his games. Her class begun in twenty minutes, and plus, she didn’t want him to detect an ounce of hurt on her face. Seeing him last Sunday didn’t help the wound that still tore her apart. She had chosen to take a fun risk when she agreed to the threesome with him and Drake. That she could accept as a one-nighter with no attached feelings or expectations. But when he pursued her and said all those wonderful things… when he made her feel beautiful and cared about, she took that intimate moment to mean more. And it hurt her so much to realize he didn’t feel the same way about it.

Keeping her eyes on the trash can, she hurried her steps to look as if she was in a rush in hopes that he’d leave her alone.

“Hi, Bragnae.” His voice was soft and cautious.

“Hi,” she said dismissively, throwing her garbage away. Immediately following, she turned in the opposite direction, but then he spoke again.

“Can we talk?” He asked from behind her. She could hear his footsteps trying to keep up with hers.

“I’ve got to get to class.” She said firmly, keeping her head straight forward.

Leo must have taken bigger strides because he was suddenly in front of her causing her to stop walking. “I want to talk about what happened between us.”

Bragnae scoffed. “Oh, now you want to talk about it? Is it, perhaps, because you saw that I’m with Drake now? And that you lost the opportunity to be with me? Is that it?” Her eyes narrowed at him as she waited for his response.

He sighed, looking down at the ground briefly before returning his attention to her. “That’s not exactly the reason, but it has something to do with it.”

Her eyes scanned his face. He had the nerve to look sad – sad like a lost puppy. She wasn’t buying it. All of the hurt and anger inside her bubbled to the surface. Bragnae took a step closer to him. “I was wrong about you, Leo. You’re not the sexy bad boy I thought you were.” She paused, seeing a hint of hope in his eyes. “You’re just a bad guy. You had your chance to talk to me, and you blew it.”

His face falling was the last thing she saw before pivoting towards the direction of the building that housed her next class. Her body shook and her heart raced from the confrontation. She’d be lying if she told herself she wasn’t curious about what he had to say to her, but he had ample opportunities before now to do it. And that infuriated her. Was she just supposed to wait around for him to finally make a decision as to when he wanted to talk to her? She deserved better, and she had better now that she was with Drake.

Luckily, he hadn’t followed her, but he had done enough. Even with that short conversation, Leo had warped her mind for the rest of the day.

~

Later that evening, Bragnae was finishing up some homework when Drake called her. She remembered he had that extra practice, so she had texted him earlier to call her when he was free. She couldn’t wait to talk to him, plus she needed him to lift her spirits after seeing Leo.

“Hey, you,” she said gleefully as she answered the phone.

“Hey, Bennett. How’s it going?”

She exhaled a breath. “Just peachy.” Now definitely wasn’t the time to tell him about Leo. She didn’t want to have that conversation over the phone, and didn’t want to distract him while he was at his camp. “How was practice today?”

“Intense. Our coach is really pushing us hard to get ready for the season.” She could hear him sigh. “I’ve been thinking about you all day. Wish you were here right now.”

Almost a week since she’d last seen him, she really missed him. “I wish I was too.” An idea immediately dawned on her. “Hey, Drake?”

“Yeah?”

“I have Saturday off work. Maybe I could drive up to see you. You know, only if you wanted me to.” She hoped she wasn’t being too forward.

“Bragnae, I’d love it if you did.” She heard a rustling of papers on the other end. “I have practice sessions until three o’clock on Saturday, but then I’m free for the rest of the night. Want to meet me at the arena around that time?”

She smiled brightly. It felt wonderful to know he wasn’t opposed to the idea. A few of her past boyfriends would have taken her suggestion as moving too fast, but not Drake. She loved that. “Of course!”

“Awesome. I can’t fucking wait.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “You should take my truck instead of your car, though. I didn’t get a chance to look at it yet, and you’ll need something reliable to get here.”

Feeling a bit stunned by his offer, she took an extra moment to think about it. “That’s… a great idea. I hadn’t thought about my car not making it.” Thoughts raced in her mind. “Oh, how am I going to get your keys?”

“Easy,” he told her. “I’ll just ask Leo when he’ll be home, and he can give them to you sometime before you leave.”

Her eyes closed in disappointment. That meant she’d have to face him again, and she knew he’d try to talk with her. She wondered if this trip to see Drake was worth another confrontation with Leo. He had worked her up into a frazzled mess with the little she allowed him to say to her today. She could just imagine how she’d handle it again, which was to say poorly. Deciding Drake was, indeed, worth another round of being mentally fucked over, she agreed.

“Sounds good. I work tomorrow and Friday, but I could pick it up on Saturday around 10:00am if that works for him.” Bragnae gritted her teeth. This was yet another thing she’d have to rely on Leo for that could backfire on her, and she hated it.

“Alright. I’ll let you know what he says.”

~

With a new paper to work on and two shifts at Mikey’s, the rest of the week went by fast. It was Saturday morning, and she was freshly showered, and had a small bag of just-in-case items packed for the trip. Drake told her he was rooming with a fellow hockey player at their hotel, so she couldn’t stay with him overnight – and that was fine by her. Staying the night could have led to them having sex, and she still felt they should wait – at least until he came back home where they could take their time and make it special.

Bragnae was both looking forward to and dreading this day. When her brain ran down the list of her to-do tasks before she had to leave, nervous butterflies would flutter in her stomach. In order to get to Drake, she’d have to go through Leo first. She didn’t sleep soundly last night because of the thought of having to see him again.

She had arranged an Uber to pick her up and take her to Drake and Leo’s apartment. With a purse and small tote bag in tow, she climbed in and was chauffeured to her destination.

Taking a few deep breaths, Bragnae walked up to their apartment and knocked three times. As she waited, her hands fidgeted with the handle of her tote bag. Soon, she heard the locks being turned, and straightened her posture to prepare herself to see him.

Leo opened the door, flashing a bright smile at her forgetting himself. Her stony expression must have reminded him she wasn’t equally happy to see him. “Hi, Bragnae. Come on in.”

Her leg twitched in the forward motion, but her brain took over before it could act. “Actually, I’m just here for Drake’s keys. I can wait here.”

“I know. It will only take a second. Just come in.” His insistence was casual. It wasn’t the pleading tone he had earlier in the week when they were at school.

Against her better judgment, she sighed before walking into the apartment. He shut the door behind her, and then disappeared into Drake’s room. Her grip on the bag’s handle grew tighter while her body became tense as well. He was gone just long enough for her to regret her decision to be there.

“Here they are,” he said walking towards her at a deliberately slower pace.

“Thank you,” she said reaching out for them, only to be surprised when he pulled them back with hesitation. “Leo, what are you doing? May I have the keys, please?”

He looked at her trying to decide something before he slipped the keys in the front pocket of his jeans. She sighed again, shaking her head as her eyes shifted away from him. “Bragnae, I really need to talk to you.”

“I knew you were going to do this.” She turned to him again. Her tone was full of disappointment and frustration, but it did lack the anger that fueled her words during their first confrontation. “Please, just give me the keys. I have somewhere to be.”

He took a step closer to her. “Come on. You’ve got a few minutes to spare, don’t you? Just hear me out, and then I’ll give you the keys.”

It irked her to have to admit that she did have spare time. Drake was only two hours away, but she wanted to give herself extra time to fill the truck up with gas, if needed, and take her time finding the arena he practiced in since she’d never been there before. Her damned curiosity piqued again, and she felt herself warming up to the idea of hearing what he wanted to tell her.

“Okay, fine.”

“Can we take a seat in the living room?” He held out a hand for her to join him, but she just brushed past him instead. She dropped her bags by the side of the couch and sat down. He followed a few seconds later.

Not wanting to waste any more time there, or worse, letting him dredge up her feelings for him, exposing all of her weaknesses, she decided to speak first. “So, enlighten me, Leo.” She turned to him coldly. “Tell me your version of what happened between us. Because from where I’m sitting, I can already tell you it’s a completely different story.”

Leo adjusted on the cushion to face her more. He inhaled a deep breath before he spoke. “I know what I did to you was wrong. It felt wrong… and I didn’t mean to hurt you that way.”

She glared at him. “How could you say you didn’t mean to hurt me when you knew it was wrong to just ditch me after we had sex? I mean, for God’s sake, it was like a freaking switch had been turned off inside you.”

He opened his mouth to reply, but took another moment to think of a response. “Bragnae, I want to explain this to you, but I need you to hear me out. I’m going to sound like a real asshole, but I just need the chance to say it without you dissecting everything in between.”

She narrowed her eyes, but sat back against the arm of the sofa. He wasn’t really in the position to make demands of the conversation, but if she wanted to get this over with, she’d let him say his peace. She waved an impatient hand in front of her to get him to continue.

“Thank you.” He visibly relaxed. “The night we had at the club was unforgettable. I really enjoyed being with you.” He swallowed to give himself a moment. “Look, it’s no secret that I don’t really do relationships. I’ve conditioned myself to just… have a good time, and then move on. I can’t say that wasn’t my intention with you in the beginning, but then we became friends. We got to know each other. And that was different for me. I don’t have friends who are girls. Not like you.”

He looked to the sofa cushion for courage. “After the night of the bet, I thought I’d be satisfied that I was finally able to be with you. But I wasn’t. Even though Drake was there too, I felt something spark between us. And when I took you to the club, and we had sex,” he paused to reflect on the memory. “It shook me. That whole day was amazing with you. And then watching you fall apart in my arms, I felt drawn to you. Like I wanted to keep seeing you day after day, making you come, making you smile. I… wanted more than just that night. And it scared me.”

“Why would being with me be so bad? Why would it scare you?” Leo was revealing raw emotions with her for the first time. She had never seen him like that.

He exhaled another breath, cracking his knuckles as he prepared to speak. “When I was a senior in high school, I had been dating this one girl for about a year. We were very close, and I even told her that I loved her. We had talked about going to the same college, and being together forever. And then one day, she broke up with me. She told me she was going to a different college and thought it was best that we break it off, so we could start fresh somewhere else.”

Bragnae felt empathy towards him. Break ups were hard, especially when a lot of time and feelings were invested.

“That devastated me. It just made me feel like I meant nothing to her. All those talks, all of our plans. I had no idea what I did to make her change her mind, but she didn’t let me in on it. She broke up with me with ease. Not a single tear was shed. I didn’t even get a goodbye hug from her.” He squeezed his eyes shut and grimaced as he seemingly fought back the rush of painful memories.

“So, I decided then that I wouldn’t allow myself to get hurt like that again. Before any girl could pull me into an emotional trap, I’d have my fun and then I’d leave her. It was the only way I knew how to protect myself. It took a good year and a lot of different women to help me get over my ex. I didn’t ever want to go through that pain again.”

She understood him better now. Not that she condoned his actions, but she understood.

“And the night at the club with you, right after I came harder than I’ve ever come before, I looked into your eyes and felt the same feelings I had for my ex before she ended things. Only this time, it was much more. I really like you, Bragnae, but having that familiar feeling creep back into my life made me want to run. If I allowed you to pull me in – even more than you’d already done – there was a chance I’d get hurt again. So, I shamefully pushed you away.”

Bragnae hated his ex for hurting him this way, but in the end it was Leo who could make the choice to move on from it instead of letting the past dictate his life.

“Leo, how many women are needed to get you to take a risk with your heart again? You are missing out on so much because you’re afraid of being hurt. If you would have just allowed yourself to feel what your heart was telling you that night at the club,” she paused, feeling emotion creep into her throat. “Things could have been very different.”

He moved closer to her on the sofa. “I know.” He picked up her hand, sandwiching it between his. “And when I saw you kissing Drake the other night, all I could think about was how mad I was at myself for missing the chance to be with you. I’ve thought of you every day since we were together. I can’t deny my feelings for you, Bragnae. Not when they’re this strong.”

His ocean blue eyes peered deep within her. They looked at each other in silence for another moment as he brought her hand up to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on the back of it. “I was an idiot. You didn’t deserve that."

Her eyes glistened. “No, I didn’t,” she whispered.

Seeing the effect his words had on her, Leo slowly shifted towards her again. He extended a cautious arm so he could cup her cheek. “I’m so sorry, Bragnae.”

Her breath had quickened during his speech. She believed every word he said. There was nothing on his face that implied he was lying or making excuses. And she could feel their shared pain weighing heavily on her heart.

“What can I do to make this right for you?” The pleading look was back in his eyes.

“I really needed to hear this, Leo. It makes complete sense, and I’m sorry that you were hurt so deeply in the past.” She pulled her hand gently out of his grip. “I wish you would have told me about this that night at the club. I could have helped you through it. But you chose fear over your desire to be with me, and I am no one’s second choice.” She stood to gather her bags. As she blinked her eyes, rogue tears fell down her cheeks.

“Bragnae, please don’t go. Wait.” He grabbed for her arm, but she moved out of his grip.

“Thank you for finally telling me this, but I have to go. May I please have Drake’s keys?” She held her arm out with an open hand.

He sighed, fishing in his pocket for the keys. He pulled them out and dropped them into her hand. Leo quickly covered her hand with his, looking at her with a regretful and hurt expression.

Another moment went by before he released her. She gripped the keys, slung her purse and tote bag over her shoulder and turned to leave the apartment. Somehow, with the truth laid out before her, Bragnae still didn’t feel better. She thought knowing why he treated her so badly would make up for the pain she felt, but it didn’t. All of the ‘why’s’ she asked herself before now turned into the “what if’s”, and she had a two hour drive ahead of her to contemplate them all.

[starstwinkleplanetsshine]

The Call of Resistance Chapter 3

I’m not sure if anyone is reading this, but I’m having a lot of fun writing it and wanted to get it out in the world! So here’s chapter 3 of The Call of Resistance! This is a fun, action-packed chapter so I hope you enjoy :) 

Read on AO3

---

Chapter 3: The Liberators 

I woke up as the light of the first sun came blazing across the horizon, wide-awake and not weighed down by my usual morning sluggishness. I had never been a morning person, and the past few months of late night meetings made this even more true. 

But this morning was different. 

“Whoa, have you ever seen the sunsrise before?” Lux, who had woken up with the Twins since he was a child, always made fun of me for my habit of sleeping in. I brushed off his remark, rolling my eyes, as I continued to walk into the kitchen and sat down across from him at the table.

“Just because I’m awake doesn’t mean I want to be” 

“Then why are you up so early?” His tone shifted ever so slightly, but I picked up on it. This time he was serious, truly wanting to know. 

Wanting to know what I was hiding from him. 

Ever since he caught me sneaking back in a few weeks ago, he had paid more attention to my actions and was skeptical of nearly everything I did. Now I felt like I had to constantly be on edge around him, and I hated that. Lux used to be the one person I could relax and let my guard down around, and now he was the person I had to have it up for the most. It was the only bad thing about me leading the Resistance.

“I told you I’ve been having trouble sleeping. I figured I’d come join you, since what's the point of just laying awake in bed if I’m not going to be able to fall back asleep.” He nodded, and it seemed like he believed me.

 It was becoming too easy for me to lie to him. I used to never lie to him. 

“Well, so long as we’re both up, we can get to work early and then we can finish earlier than normal. Sound good?” He smiled at me, his big, sweet smile, and the pang of guilt from keeping secrets from him grew bigger, jabbing my heart. 

“Sounds great.” I returned his smile, and after a few moments we got up and began our work. I was hoping he would suggest that, because the plan was to attack the Storm Troopers later in the afternoon, when our informants from the city said they were the least active and off their guard. 

The whole day I couldn’t think of anything else but the plan that would unfold in just a few hours. I was unfocused and distracted all day, and Lux repeatedly called me out and asked what was the matter. Each time I came up with some different excuse, but each time I sensed he believed me less and less. 

“Nova, I don’t know where your head is today.” I looked up from where I had been staring at the sand, my mind entirely on the plans for this afternoon. I didn’t know when I had zoned out, or for how long I had been staring.

“Sorry, Lux. I guess I’m just tired.” He shook his head and came over to finish repairs on the Vaporator I was working on. Suddenly he stopped and looked me right in the face, something that always took me by surprise. Lux was soft spoken, gentle, and non confrontational. But whenever his deep brown eyes locked on mine, with that too-familiar intense, determined gaze, I knew he was about to say something he didn’t want to, but felt he needed to anyway. 

“You’ve been acting really strange for the past few months, Nov. I’ve tried to ignore it, but especially the past few weeks, after you came home super early that one time, you haven’t been...you.” 

I couldn’t hold his gaze anymore and looked down at my dust-covered boots. His stare, however, held firm. 

“You’ve been lying to me.” 

My shock must’ve shown on my face.

“Did you really not think I wouldn’t know? You’ve been like my sister for almost half my life, and you really thought you could just lie to me so easily?” 

My shame rose so quickly I could feel my face redden. 

“I don’t know what you’ve been doing, or where you’ve been going, but it hurts that you aren’t being honest with me and that you don’t trust me enough to let me be a part of your life. I miss you. I miss how we used to be, before you got all distant and secretive.” 

If I was honest with myself, I knew I missed that too, but the words caught in my throat. All I could do was stare at the ground.

 Lux and I were never silent together. 

“I didn’t want to bring it up like this, but I needed to sometime.” I knew I should say something, but I couldn't. 

After more silence, he spoke again, clearly frustrated and upset with me, “I’m not gonna scavenge today. You can go without me, or not, I don’t care.” He began to turn back to the hut, but only got about half way before he turned around. “Are you really just going to stand there? Are you not going to say anything?!” 

I had never heard him yell like that. I had never heard him sound so angry. And hurt. It cut me to the heart, and I felt like I had fallen into a deep hole that I could never get out of. There was now a divide between us, a chasm that had never been there before, and I wondered if it could ever be crossed. 

“Lux, I’m sorry. You’re right, I have been keeping secrets, and I have been distant.” When I finally mustered up the courage to look at his face, his burning eyes made me feel even worse, and the cut deepened. 

“Why?” With a simple word, he turned my whole world upside down. He asked me the one thing I hoped with everything I had he wouldn’t, the one thing I knew would blow everything up. 

There was more silence. 

So much silence, as I wrestled with how to answer him, and as he waited for me to speak. 

“I can’t tell you.” I broke my own heart with those words, and I can only imagine what I did to him with them. 

I wouldn’t know, though, because at that he turned and stormed into our hut, but not before I caught a glimpse of his eyes. They had turned icy. Stony. Cold. So full of anger and betrayal that I hardly recognized them. The sound of him slamming the door that echoed across the desolate landscape shocked me out of my suspended state, and I was left staring at the spot where my closest friend stood moments ago, before he turned his back on me. 

But really, I had turned my back on him first, weeks before, months before. It would've been so easy for me to be angry at him right back, to say he was overreacting. But I couldn’t. I knew the fault was mine, that I was the one causing the rift between us. To Lux, the most important thing in the world was honesty, and I betrayed that. He knew I did, but even worse, he didn’t yet know how. And that made it even worse. 

But I also knew I couldn’t tell him the truth, I couldn’t risk it. He didn’t agree with the Resistance, he never had, and I didn’t know what he would do if he found out there was one on Tatooine, and I especially didn’t know what he would do if he knew I led it. This was just another sacrifice I had to make. 

I sat down where I stood in the heat of the blazing suns and cried. 

----

Time passed without me realizing it. My tears had been dry for a while, my face was being burnt by the unrelenting suns above, but I just sat there trying to make sense of the mess my world had quickly become. My mind was a tangle of thoughts about the war brewing, then flashes of Lux’s outburst, scenarios of everything that was going to take place that afternoon, then again, Lux. 

If I wasn’t worried enough about our plan, going into it without a clear head made me even more apprehensive. Just when I wanted time to slow down, it seemed to move quicker than ever, and before I knew it, it was time to head toward the closest thing to a city you can find on Tatooine, Mos Eisley, where our plan would be put into motion. The whole walk I went over the plan again and again in my head. I told myself that everyone knew their positions and their designated roles, we went over that in detail at our meeting last night. 

Our informants told us that most of the Troopers congregate in one of the local cantinas around the same time everyday, and that would be where we strike. One by one, members would file into the cantina pretending to be patrons, all spread out and inconspicuous. Then once given the signal, they would fire on the Troopers with their blasters, careful to avoid anyone else in the room. Almost the rest of our group would be stationed outside the cantina, ready to fire upon any stormtroopers that flee. I organized a small group to disable their racers and speeders so they couldn't escape and get intel to backup units, if there even were any in close enough systems. Most importantly, a few of my most trusted members and I would sneak into their makeshift headquarters and destroy their communications systems so that they can’t alert any nearby First Order Starships of what is happening. Going over it to myself, walking towards the place where the plan would take form, I realized how many things could go wrong. 

There was so much room for error and potential disaster despite our best efforts to come up with an air-tight plan. The only thing certain was that it was too late to turn back now. As the bustle of the seedy city center of Mos Eisley came into view, one thought began to boom in my head, over and over, louder than my worries and fears about what was about to take place. A phrase I remembered my parents teaching me and using when I was younger. The phrase my mother spoke to me with her last breath, right before I felt her hand go cold and limp in mine. They told me it was the battle cry of the Rebellion, and it signified hope and an ancient, sacred power that ran through the whole universe. I didn’t know the words came out of my mouth until I heard myself speaking them, almost as a prayer out to the galaxy, and to my fellow Resistance members who were getting ready to fight for freedom. 

“May the force be with you.”

I walked into Mos Eisley with my head held high knowing that when I walked out of it nothing would be the same. 

There were so many people milling about in the grimy, dirt streets of the city center, much more than I thought there would be. I tried to see this as a positive thing, that it would be easier to blend in this way. But it also worried me, since I didn’t want any civilians to be caught in the cross-fire of what was sure to be a firefight. I tried to shake this thought out of my head as I continued forward, catching glimpses of familiar faces. Other members of the Resistance. We would make brief eye contact but made no other indication that we knew each other, no one wanted to tip anyone off that something suspicious was going on. I saw people get into their designated positions, and I knew the time was getting nearer. The first part of the plan was the trickiest, and most dangerous. 

And it was about to begin.

“Hey!” A large man pushed me from behind, causing me to stumble forward and spin around, locking eyes with him. “You’ve got some nerve showing your face around me!” Isaary Sinwor was a valuable and trusted Resistance member around my same age, he was tall and strong, and most importantly, he had a flair for the dramatic. This meant that everyone was in position and ready. 

The plan had begun. 

“I have nerve?” I shouted back at him, as loud as possible, “If I recall, you’re the one who sold me faulty parts!” I pushed him away from me forcefully. Two more Resistance members joined the fight, one woman, Baillee Fulred, and one man, Kamdeon Stoyar, who pretended to try to break us up. We needed to make as big of a scene as we could if we were to get the attention of the Stromtroopers that patrolled the area. The two of us kept screaming back and forth at each other, and the other two kept struggling, as we slowly got increasingly more violent. I began to worry that this plan wouldn’t work when three StormTroopers came around the corner straight toward us. 

I took a deep breath and readied myself for the interaction. 

“Break it up!” Yelled the Trooper on the right side, but we ignored him. They advanced quickly, calling out for us to stop fighting, and they became increasingly more agitated as we ignored them. Finally, they reached us and two of them grabbed Isaary and I aggressively by the arm, pulling us apart. The other pointed his blaster at Baillee and Kamdeon to stop them. We struggled as they kept barking commands at us, and that was the key. 

“Okay trouble makers, we’re going to have to settle this somewhere else.” They were taking us in for questioning and to try to settle the dispute, and as they marched us away towards their headquarters Isaary and I shared a brief knowing look.

We were one step closer. 

I could feel the fear rise in me as we entered the First Order headquarters flanked by StormTroopers holding blasters to us. Little did they know, we all concealed our own weapons as well. There were not many Troopers in the building, at least not that I could see. It was clear our informants were right--they had gotten lazy. After months on Tatooine with nothing to do but stir up trouble, it seems they stopped taking their jobs too seriously. 

They were about to learn that was a mistake. 

But despite this, and the fact that all of us knew how to fight and defend ourselves very well, the nerves within me continued to grow more and more. Kamdeons cough brought me back to reality. That was the signal. 

We had to act now. 

Quickly, Kamdeon knocked out the Trooper that was holding the blaster to him and Baillee, while the rest of us whipped out our weapons. The two other Troopers were surprised, but quickly sprung into action. Isaary began to fight one of them and quickly disarmed him, while I turned to the other one. He fired his blaster and barely missed my side, and instinctively I fired mine. 

He was down before I even realized it, and I had to push the reality of what I’d just done out of my mind. 

By the time Isaary took care of the Trooper he was fighting, Baillee was at the end of the hall, motioning to us that the coast was clear. We quickly and quietly followed her, knowing that more Troopers would be after us soon. We had to find their main communications room, and while we had a general idea of where it was, it still took a while to locate it. We encountered a few more Troopers on our way, but each time we took cover and fired at them until the coast was clear. We had a couple of close calls, but so far we were successful. Finally we reached the room we were looking for, and I knew it would only get more difficult from here. I looked at my team one more time.

“We do this together. We stick to the plan. Clear the room, disconnect the servers, get the hell out of there, and blow it into the sky. Ready?” They all nodded and I took a deep breath. 

Again I whispered to myself, “may the force be with us”,  as I swung open the door, ready to fight. 

Before it was even fully opened my team was already firing at the few Troopers stationed inside. I began to fire as the room became chaotic and loud, a mess of energy and heat from the blasters flying around. Suddenly I heard a loud cry of pain next to me, and I turned to see Baillee on the ground, clutching her arm. 

“I’m okay! I just got hit in the arm, I’m okay.” I was thankful her wound wasn’t fatal, but this did complicate things. After a long couple of minutes, and more close shots than I was comfortable with, all of the Troopers who were in the room lay on the ground. I looked around and saw that our whole team was still intact, a little battered and Baillee with an injury, but we were all left standing. 

“Close the doors and make sure no one can open them.” Isaary quickly closed the door and figured out a way to lock them from the inside. I walked over to Baillee, tearing off a piece of my shirt as I did. I knelt down to tie it around her injury, and I could tell she was in a lot of pain. “Baillee, can you still shut down the servers?” 

She nodded slowly and I helped her up and over to the main control panel. She began typing away quickly, as if she hadn’t just sustained a blast to her upper arm. I was impressed by her ability to push away her pain. 

Suddenly I was struck with the realization of how we had made it this far: our resilience. Growing up on Tatooine forces you to be hardened, and to have skills that beings on other planets wouldn’t need. But here, you had to fight everyday to survive, and it made us strong.

For the first time, I truly believed we would be able to pull this off. 

“Done” In a matter of minutes, Baillee had cut off any chance of the Troopers communicating with anyone off-planet. “And it doesn’t look like they were able to send any transmissions alerting the First Order of our attack. We’re in the clear.” I could feel our morale soar, as Kamdeon hugged Baillee and Isaary beamed at me, and I returned his smile. “They can still communicate with each other for now,” She continued, “but that will end when we fry this place.” 

“I think we should get out of here soon, we’re about to have company” Isaary pointed to the security cams which showed a group of almost ten StormTroopers headed our way. 

The sense of fear came back.

“Well if everythings ready, then I’d say it's time to make some noise.” The others smiled as they moved towards the door. As I turned from the screen a medium sized book caught my eye, with the words “Information” on it. I quickly grabbed it and stuffed it into my bag, thinking it could be valuable to us. 

“Ready?” Isaary questioned as he stood by the button that would open the doors. I looked around to the others, Baillee nodded and Kamdeon raised his blaster. 

“Ready.” 

Silently, the doors slid open to reveal an empty hallway. I was suspicious, but we cautiously made our way out of the room. Isaary was the last to leave, as he planted the explosion device that would destroy the building. I could hear him activate it, and then he closed the doors, quickly sliding between them, and caught up.

“We have three minutes or we’re going up with this place.” This made us move quicker, all the while wondering where the Troopers that we saw on the cams were. 

As we were about to round a corner, I got a nagging feeling that I couldn’t shake, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I held out my arm quickly to stop my team, and held a finger to my lips. Quickly, I handed everyone small pieces of dried Dewback skin to shove in their ears, as I demonstrated. They were confused, until they saw me take out a small device out of my bag. I had taken it from Lux’s farm before I left, just in case. 

They all recognized the old gadget that moisture farmers used to use to disorient any Sand People who would try to come to their farms and damage Vaporators, or worse, and they knew why I had handed them the odd item of Dewback earstoppers. When activated, it emitted a sound so loud that it caused pain and confusion to anyone who heard. The only thing thick enough to block the sound was Dewback skin. Once I knew the other three were safely protected, I activated it and threw it around the corner. I motioned for them to go as I faintly heard the high-frequency sound, accompanied by the sound of screaming and clanging of metal. My plan had worked, the Troopers dropped their weapons and would be easy targets. We came flying around the corner, blasters blazing upon the incapacitated Troopers, and took out every one of them. Once I knew the coast was clear, I picked up the object that had saved us, switched it off, and stuffed it back in my bag. This way, hopefully Lux wouldn’t notice I used it. 

I didn’t know how much time we had but I knew it was getting close. We began to sprint toward the doors we came in, firing wildly at any Troopers that crossed our path. Finally the door was in sight, and I felt a surge of success. That's when I heard the scream.

“NO!!” I heard Baillee’s voice cry out. We all turned just in time to watch Isaary crumble to the floor, a blaster hole in his chest. Instinctively, barely even looking, I shot my blaster at the head of the Trooper who killed him before he even had a chance to revel in his victory. 

That was the first time I had killed without feeling remorse. 

As I began to move towards Isaary’s body, Kamdeon had to drag me away. 

“We have seconds, Nova! We don’t have time!” 

I couldn’t even protest, I was in shock from the loss. I kept my eyes on the body of Isaary, the man who had become my friend over the past few months, the first of many of us to give our lives in the fight for freedom. In my mind I knew we would suffer losses today, but it was so much harder now that I was staring that fact in the face. 

I didn’t realize tears were flowing down my face until I felt the warmth on my cheeks and felt a few drops on my hand. Eventually Kamdeon brought me back to reality, and we all sprinted out of the doors just in time. We kept running and didn’t look back, even when we heard the explosion behind us. I could feel the heat on my back as I ran. And then I heard the blaster fire. 

They had seen the signal. 

The second part of our plan had begun. 

I had no way of knowing what was going on inside the cantina. Once we reached it, we joined the other Resistance members who were assigned to wait outside and take care of any fleeing Troopers. I could see the group of people who were disabling their speeders, and there were even some standing at the main entrance to the city, ready to ensure none could get away. I was proud of them for thinking of that and taking the initiative. It let me know everyone was taking this seriously, and desperately wanted the plan to succeed. 

All at once, Troopers began to run out of the Cantina and the firing began. There were screams from civilians running away in fear and confusion, and blaster fire whirring by, seeming to come from everywhere. Some Troopers ran for their speeders, only to find them destroyed, and then they were immediately shot down by the members waiting for them. Everywhere I saw white suits of armor dropping to the ground, as well as some Resistance members. I had to try to ignore the pain and feeling of guilt that plagued me when I saw my brave friends make the ultimate sacrifice. 

Running towards the edge of the city, I saw a Trooper desperately try to use his comms to call for backup from the nearest Star Destroyer, only to see him throw it on the ground in frustration when he realized that was now impossible. I quietly thanked Isaary for his sacrifice, for I knew the only way this plan would work was if there was no way for the Troopers to let anyone know this was happening. I then saw that Trooper fall to the ground at the hand of a Resistance member at the edge of the city. 

And in that moment, I knew we had already won. 

The fighting seemed to last for hours, but in the end it was all over in just one. It ended as quickly as it had begun. Suddenly the blasts just stopped firing. We all slowly looked around, blasters still raised and ready, but the only StromTroopers in sight were lying dead on the ground. Our members on the perimeter quickly ran to meet us, and said that none of them saw any Trooper get away, and no starship had taken off, as that would have been very visible in the open, blue sky.

I almost couldn’t believe it. We actually did it. 

But our victory came with a steep price. After the initial celebration of our victory, we all broke away from our hugs soberly, looking around at our friends who didn’t survive the fight. 

There were too many of them. 

With tears brimming, we gently gathered their bodies and organized for a burial to take place. Slowly, cautiously, people began to peek out of their homes and hiding places and step into the streets, silently taking in the carnage and the reality of what just took place. 

Then suddenly, one by one, the clapping began, which turned into cheering, and before I knew it, everyone was approaching us, the “brave Resistance fighters who rid the city of evil”, “The Liberators”. They began to hug us and shake our hands feverishly, thanking anyone with a blaster in their hand. I had no idea the beings of the city felt this way, but it appeared that everyone was suffering under the heavy hand of tyranny, and now they were finally free. 

Seeing everyone celebrate, a new light in their eyes, almost made all that we had lost worth it. 

----

We reveled in our success for a while before we turned to what we all knew needed to be done, but no one wanted to do. Some people who lived in the city offered us carts that we could use to carry those that had fallen out of the city so we could have a proper burial ceremony for them, and we thanked them as they helped us move our dead.

By the time we had moved everyone to a reasonable distance into the vast expanse of the desert, the twin suns had already begun to dip below the horizon, and the darkness was falling fast. We built a large bonfire quickly, and those who didn’t began to dig the large grave that we would soon lay those who sacrificed everything to rest in. Those who still weren’t working scoured the area for large rocks and stones so we could build a structure at the gravesite. I needed to ensure that this spot would always be remembered and revered.

Once all the preparations were complete, we began the solemn task of moving the bodies into the newly dug grave. I had never heard the desert so silent. The only noise that could be heard was the occasional sniffle as everyone cried silently, or the sudden loud sob of one of the survivors looking at the face of someone who was their friend. 

We all leaned on each other for support, and there was something healing about going through this experience together. Once everyone was finally laid to rest, one by one people began to turn to me. They were waiting for me to say something, but I felt that I was the least qualified to speak at this moment. It was my fault we were even having a funeral. If it weren’t for my plan, no one would’ve died today. But even though I knew no one saw the situation like that, I couldn’t shake the guilt.

I wondered if I would ever be able to. 

Drawing a shaky breath, I looked at the faces of the crowd and let my thoughts pour out of me. 

“I want to thank everyone here for your bravery and courage today. Thank you for choosing to stand for freedom and for what is right, when it would have been so much easier to hide in the shadows and keep your head down. 

“Because of you, every single one of you, the Resistance is one step closer to bringing down the First Order. I have no doubt that we are not alone, that all over the galaxy small bands are rising up to take back their cities and their planets. Our actions today started a ripple that will expand and grow far beyond our horizon, our sector, and reach the whole galaxy. We are the hope and fuel of the Resistance, and this day will not be forgotten.” I looked down into the no longer empty grave just feet from me, and swallowed the lump that formed in my throat. 

“And the sacrifices made today will not be forgotten. Our friends and family that we’ve lost today were not afraid to die. They were not afraid to stare death in the face and recognize it was for a greater purpose, that everything we do is for a greater purpose. Be comforted by the fact that those who we lost today did not die in vain. It is because of them that we were able to rid Tatooine of StormTroopers, and of the tyranny of the First Order. Those lying before us, now ascended to a new realm, will forever be remembered for their bravery and selflessness, for giving up their lives so other’s lives could be saved, so that we and the generations that follow us can live in freedom and without the pain of war.” 

My words may have been filled with hope, but there was turmoil within me as I tried to reconcile what all this loss was truly for. 

“We mourn those we have lost, and our grieving will take time, and it will not be easy. But those we mourn would not want our tears to fall forever. Instead, we should honor their death by continuing the fight they died for, by taking down the First Order, one step at a time. But most of all, we honor them by living lives worthy of their sacrifice, and remembering that we now carry the flame that they have passed on to us, the flame of hope that we must never let be extinguished.” 

There was a long moment where nothing happened, no one moved or spoke. It was as if everyone was frozen. Then, slowly, a small, frail figure hobbled to the edge of the grave. 

Deliberately Dya, our oldest and wisest member, who had once again narrowly bested the hand of death, bent over, grabbed a handful of sand, and gently tossed it into the grave. 

One by one, people followed her, until everyone had paid their respects. The grave was then filled all the way, and people began to slowly converse, as life seeped back into the crowd. There was still a weight that hung in the air, but I could feel it lighten, even if it was just by a little bit. 

As the fire grew faint people began to head back to their homes. But unlike the systematic, spread out, lonely treks that were undertaken after our Resistance meetings, now people went away in groups. With arms around each other, voices speaking loudly, no longer whispering in fear, but now letting their laughter reverberate across the dirt. We no longer had to cower in the darkness, constantly afraid of capture. Fear of the First Order was now in the past, destroyed along with the Troopers. 

Our days of living in the shadows were behind us, and we were finally free to bask in the light of the twin suns.

[princessselene126]

I Have Some News

There aren’t any Supernova spoilers in this one. Shocking I know.  So someone requested Nova telling  Adrian she’s pregnant. hat can be read as individual fics or one big one. If you’d like to read them in order, please go to the second masterlist linked below. 1034 words of fluff. TRIGGERS: pregnancy, nausea, throwing up. It’s not graphic at all, but I still thought I should include it just in case.

This is part of a larger series that can be read as individual fics or one big one. If you’d like to read them in order, please go to the second masterlist linked below.

masterlist We Rise with the Sun masterlist

Nova drummed her fingers against the small dining room table, anxiously waiting for Adrian--her fiance--to get home. Normally he was home before her, but today was different.

Being a terrible cook, she picked up some Italian from the little restaurant down the block and set up the table. Candles cast a soft glow around the room. This lighting helped to calm her nerves ever so slightly, but not enough. 

Nova’s heart pounded in her chest. She wasn’t sure how Adrian would react. The wedding was only a month away, but they didn’t plan for… well, this. It was completely unexpected, not necessarily unwanted though.

At first she thought the signs meant something else. She assumed it was the flu or she’d eaten something bad, but the symptoms lasted too long for that. Nova soon realized what it meant and made an appointment with the doctor who quickly confirmed what she assumed.

Her eyes darted to the analog clock hanging on the wall. Adrian should be home any minute. 

She took a deep breath, then immediately regretted it. The food smelled good, but at the same time made her nauseous. Quickly standing up, Nova raced across the apartment to the bathroom. She flipped the lid up, then started dry heaving into the bowl. Her abdomen ached with every movement.

Nova must have been in the bathroom for a while because suddenly there was a hand on her back. Startled, she whipped her head around.

“Easy, star,” Adrian said. His hand stayed on her back while the other pulled her hair out of her face. His brow was furrowed with worry, but he didn’t say anything about it.

Nova groaned, slumping against him with her head on his chest. 

“Nova, I think you should go to the doctor,” he whispered, Adrian pulled her even closer as they sat on the bathroom floor. “You’ve been sick for weeks now.”

Now would be the time to tell him. He thought she should go to the doctor and she did. She knew why she was getting sick so she should just spit it out. Any second now. Why was she just sitting there and not saying anything? It wasn't that hard. All she had to do was say two words.

Nova took another breath to try and steady herself. Her heart pounded in her chest like a caged bird trying to free itself.

“Nova, honey,” Adrian said. He gently cupped her jaw and tilted her head up to look in his eyes. “Please? You’re not okay. I can come with you if you want me too, and if not that’s fine too.”

“I already went,” she whispered.

“Are you okay? What’s going on?” He looked so worried for her, his brow furrowed and eyes full of dread for what could be wrong with her. His hand moved from her jaw to comb through her hair instead. He always did that when he was worried about her.

“I…”

“Nova?”

She couldn’t meet his eyes. Instead, she stared at the collar of his shirt, clenching her jaw so hard it would give her a headache later.

“So I have some news….”

Adrian held his breath. 

“I’m pregnant.”

She felt him freeze and her heart stopped, worrying about what he was going to say. It wasn’t planned in the slightest, but he’d never leave her over something like this. He might panic though. She definitely expected him to panic.

What she didn’t expect was for him to kiss her soft and sweet and... happy.

“Thank god,” he breathed. “I thought you had cancer or something.”

Nova couldn’t help giggling at that. “No. I’m fine. Just nauseous and hungry at the same time. And my breasts are really sore. And I'm constantly tired and sometimes dizzy or faint. And I feel like crying all the time. I was trying really hard not to cry at that movie we watched the other night. It wasn’t sad but I still felt like crying which is ridiculous.”

“It’s not ridiculous, star.” He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear again. “Is this why you got us dinner from my favorite place?”

“Yeah. I thought it would be the best way to break the news, but then I got sick again and here we are.”

Adrian hummed. “How’s your stomach now?”

“Hungry.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, Adrian. And if I throw up again then it is what it is. I’d rather try eating than not.” She pat his cheek and pulled out of his arms. Standing up, she held her hand out to him. He took it. Together they walked back out to their kitchen and sat back down at the table.

The smell of the food still made her stomach uneasy, but she managed to eat just fine. Adrian smiled at her the entire, his grin adorably dopey and enamored at the same time. The last time he looked this happy was when they got engaged last year.

“We should start coming up with names.”

Nova hummed. “I’m only six weeks along… I could lose it still.” That was something she’d been thinking about a lot the past few days. She thought that maybe she shouldn’t tell him until she was further along. That way if she lost it, he wouldn’t be disappointed and would never have to know. Nova didn’t want him getting attached to something so fragile. She knew that was a bad idea to keep it from him though, so she told him.

“Nova,” he said delicately. Adrian reached across the table and wrapped his warm hand around her colder smaller hand. 

Her eyes were once again drawn to his.

“Look at everything we’ve been through, Nova. All we’ve done is defy odds together. It’s going to be just fine, and in the unlikely circumstance it isn’t, we’ll get through it together. Okay?”

He spoke with such confidence that she couldn’t help hanging onto every word he said.

Nova’s lips pulled into a smile. He was right. She wasn’t going to dwell on the could bes right now. She was going to live in the moment and be happy about the fact that the little family they built was going to get even bigger.

“Okay.”

[purplesurveys]

1013

surveys by -thoughtlessdork

Have you ever had the chicken pox? No. I’m constantly in a place of waiting for it to pass by, because everyone tells me all people are bound to have it at one point in their lives (idk how true that is, though). I am also told it gets a lot suckier as one gets older, so...not too thrilled about it at all.

how often do you do laundry? I don’t handle that chore myself, but it’s done 1–2 times a week in our house.

Have you ever been evicted? Nopes.

would you grow your own garden? I don’t see that happening. I’m a magnet for killing plants.

do you know anyone who snores? I do.

Trigger warning kinda, by the end.

what is your favorite font? Proxima Nova. It’s the default font that my org used for all documents and works-in-progress, and it ended up becoming my actual real-life favorite. I’ve always picked out that font even outside of org matters.

do you know what a wombat is? Sure.

would you make a good movie critic? Not at all. I don’t know enough about different filmmaking elements to make a reliable critic. I’ve criticized things like acting, plots, and dialogues in the past, of course; but there’s still so many things that go into films that aren’t overtly projected like lighting, symbolism, hidden meanings, etc. I don’t have a very good nose for those.

what goal are you aiming for this year? In the last 8 weeks of the year? Hmm...avoiding corona would be at the top of that list, lmao.

are you currently reading any books at the moment? No. I’ve stopped opening the book I used to constantly mention on here.

when i say foxy lady what comes to mind? Beyoncé’s character in the Austin Powers movie she was in lol; her name was Foxxy.

would you have liked to have lived during the Victorian times? Wasn’t this era like a golden age of sorts for the UK? I’d love to visit for that purpose; but given the still-horrible hygiene and living conditions for most people of the time, I wouldn’t choose to live there.

would you own a Siamese cat? No.

have you ever had an ultimate adrenaline rush? I don’t think so. I’ve had bursts of energy in the past, but I wouldn’t call any of them an ultimate adrenaline rush.

do you like deviled eggs? I’ve never had them; it’s not a common dish here. But they always look so good in the American shows I watch??? I really hope they taste as good as they look.

what tends to upset you? Hearing anything about animal abuse.

what's the farthest you've walked? I can’t give you a distance, but my parents opted for us to walk the whole time we were in Bali (except if we had a tour day which included transportation). Walking in an unfamiliar - and very humid - country and not knowing where anything is (this was before food and travel apps got as detailed as they are today) and ending up walking long stretches because you can’t locate any good local spots is a very easy way to run out of patience, apparently.

what is your favorite horror movie? Carrie was pretty fun.

what does your favorite shirt look like? It’s a twist on the Chicago flag, made black and red and with a raised fist in the middle. At the back it says “CM Punk: Best in the World.” Been my favorite and most overused shirt for the past 9 years. My friends tease me about it sometimes, but I don’t care lol, the shirt is very significant to me.

is your life like a daily routine? It is, but I prefer that it is. I like when things are in my control and, for the most part, predictable. I enjoy spontaneity in short bursts.

were you ever told as a child if you eat carrots you'll have pretty eyes? So many times.

what career are you most interested in? Communications and media, so it’s great that I’m headed there so far.

have you ever seen a rooster? Sure.

what time do you usually wake up? I wake up wake up by 7:30 or 8 AM, but I usually also wake up for a bit any time between 4–6 AM. Sometimes I choose to stay up from then, and sometimes I’d want to go back to sleep.

what do you think about religion? It’s good when people use it for good, or if it has helped save a person’s life. In my own personal experience, though, it’s beenhard to find Christians who aren’t hypocritical. So even though I see religion’s potential, I don’t have a lot of trust in believers themselves.

what made you feel most accomplished in your life so far? Graduating college.

have you ever seen a lunar eclipse? I saw the super blue blood moon two years ago, which according to a quick Google search is a lunar eclipse! So yeah, I’ve seen one.

what are you allergic to? No allergies.

do you ever feel like people hold things you do or say against you? Only my mom does this.

what can't you afford but wish you could? Front-row Wrestlemania tickets. My childhood (and now adulthood) dream is to go to Mania 50 which is only 14 years from now, but at least I still have more than enough time to save up for it. 

--

what is one word that sums up this year so far? Revelatory. ever felt like you were putting your life in danger? [trigger warning] Yes, it’s called suicidal tendencies. what do you like with your eggs? If scrambled, with cheese. If omelette...stuff that crap up with everything lol. Tomatoes, bell peppers, mushrooms, cheese, ham, bacon, and onions are all good in my book. what remedy do you partake when experiencing the common cold? The good ol’ wait-for-it-to-go-away life hack. would you ever spend a weekend in the mountains in a log cabin? That sounds amazing. I sure would. have you ever been called a psycho? No. have you ever taken martial arts? would you? No but I was always a little envious of my cousin who was taken to taekwondo class every weekend when we were kids. Sure, I’d take classes if I had the chance. who is someone you look up to? Nacho, but he’s gone now. is there something you're anxious about? I have work jitters for tomorrow, but they’re manageable for now. Otherwise I’m feeling pretty good. what is the longest you've gone without sleep? A little above 24. what is the longest you've been on the phone? This makes me cringe now, but it was like 8 hours long or something like that. It was still the ~honeymoon phase of that relationship and we were still clingy. We never did it again after that. do you care about calories? No. do you know someone with a really annoying laugh? Nah, can’t think of anyone. what band do you mostly always listen to no matter what mood? Paramore.  have you ever been to Indianapolis? Nope.

--

what type of bread do you like to eat? I eat white bread all the time, but my favorite kind is brioche. do you have any great great grandparents still living? Two greats is a bit too much don’t you think? Lmao. Anyway, my last great-grandparent died in 2010. I never knew my dad’s grandparents, and my great-grandfather on my mom’s side had died all the way back in the 70s. what is one country that you really want to visit someday? India. who usually cooks or what do you usually crave the most? Those are two different questions haha. My parents take turn cooking; and as for my craving, I find myself seeking sushi most of the time. ever been associated in a program that was a complete waste of time? Yep, like that one time I had to attend this 5-hour mandatory program/seminar before my driver’s license could be issued to me; it taught me nothing I didn’t already know about driving, and it used driving tutorials that I’m pretty sure were recorded in the 90s. This seminar took place in 2016. do weird numbers call your phone? Not regularly. Occasionally an unknown number will come in, but I reject all those. where are you right now? Sitting up on my bed. do you tend to care about other people's feelings more than your own? Yes. I really shouldn’t. what type of lifestyle do you want to obtain? if you haven't obtained it [trigger warning] I haven’t even figured out yet if I love life enough to want to stay in it. A type of lifestyle isn’t much of a priority for now. what was something that use to frighten you as a child? Getting lost at the mall. have you ever been on a train? Just once. who's been in your life the longest? did you expect this person to still be around? Apart from family, Angela. Yes, she’s here for the long haul. how do you feel about anatomy? Fascinating. I’d take a class on it. Insert interesting fact here: Read this on Reddit a few days ago, so I’ll just copy-paste the whole thing: “When Jadwiga, the King of Poland (medieval Poland referred to every ruler as King regardless of gender), was considering a marriage proposal from the Grand Duke of Lithuania, a chief concern among her court was that said Duke was rumored to have massive genitals to the point that they would kill his wife on their wedding night. Two of her councilors volunteered to travel to Lithuania to try and discover the truth of these rumors, which naturally meant they would watch the Duke as he bathed. They returned and happily reported that not only weren’t the Duke’s genitals fatally large, they were in fact a tad smaller than average, so nothing to worry about. Thus Poland and Lithuania were united, and the rest is history.” Got a chuckle out of that one when I read it that I just had to scroll through the entire thread again just to be able to share it here lmao.

[chwrpg]

It’s about time. We’ve been waiting for you guys. -- Nova Lisbon

A NOTE FROM ADMIN B: If anyone can hear screaming in the distance don’t worry it’s just me!!!!!!!!! It’s no secret the Lisbon sisters are the loves of my life so I’ve always wanted to have the full set on the dash to really get into that family dynamic of theirs. And now, thanks to resident angel™ Tiff, we’re one step closer! I love the way you’ve written Nova-- like the other sisters she has that enigmatic manic pixie dream girl facade, but there’s so, so much more behind what everyone else projects onto her. I cannot wait to see her finally get the attention she deserves.

OOC NAME/ALIAS, PREFERRED PRONOUNS, AGE & TIMEZONE:

That Bitch FKA Tiff . 26 . CST

DESIRED CHARACTER:

Nova Lisbon

HOW ACTIVE WILL YOU BE?

7

SECONDARY CHOICE:

-

DESCRIBE THE CHARACTER:

If John Green had ever met Nova Lisbon he would have had a field day with that one. Everything about her from the way she walked with a little skip in her step to her more arbitrary habits like the way she dotted her i’s with hearts and took Buzzfeed personality quizzes when she was bored in class was more than enough material for her to inevitably become someone’s manic pixie dream girl. It wasn’t even that there was necessarily anything special that made her stand out from everyone else, people were just naturally attracted to her because she was an enigma; an experience that they could talk about at class reunions in the years to come. The Lisbon sisters were known in town for the air of mystery that followed them, enticing those who enjoyed a challenge to go to great lengths in hopes of catching the attention of one of the elusive sirens. Catching the eye of one of them was like winning a lottery ticket or climbing Mount Everest. While her sisters preferred to shy away from this portrayal that had been placed on them since their move to Rosewood, just trying to live normal lives, Nova reveled in all of the extra attention, more than happy to take her sisters’ share. Being caught smack dab in the middle of so many personalities made it so that it could be difficult to not get overlooked and that soon became one of her biggest fears, being forgotten and ultimately left behind, even by her own family. A fear that she never shared with any of them out of fear of sounding more irrational than her mother often made her feel. How could she tell them not to be themselves because it made her feel small compared to them when their parents had already stifled almost all enjoyment out of their life? Instead she began doing outrageous things and getting into unsavory habits for the sake of standing out. And in a way showing that she had control over her life, that no one told her what to do, even her parents. Though as mature as she tried to come off she was still a naive, hopeless romantic who could easily be taken advantage of. She fell in love easily. It seemed almost weekly. Unfortunately all of those people were out of her life about as fast as they had come in. But in that desperation to become a person of importance in others lives, in fighting so desperately to not become just another passing flavor of the week, she gave pieces of herself. Until she had given so much there was nothing left to give. Until all that was left was for her to get her shit together and pick up those pieces herself. And slowly but surely she was learning to do that. No offense to Alaska Young, but she was going to become the one who would control the narrative to her own story.

SAMPLE WRITING:

When Nova had first proposed the idea of a peer counseling program she had been met with a couple of chuckles, little bouts of amusement which soon took an awkward turn when the realization hit that she was completely serious. They were completely in their right to believe that she had been joking of course. Up until recently she wasn’t known for taking anything too seriously, much less known to dabble in humanitarianism. How on Earth did this girl, the same girl who throughout high school threw fits mid lecture over something as simple as a break up note think she was equipped to share any kind of advice with anyone? But that was exactly why Nova thought she was a prime candidate to participate in a peer counseling program. While, yes, she had been raised in an extremely sheltered environment she had somehow managed to find herself going through certain hardships that weren’t universally shared in such a short amount of time. Sure, as the whispers around town had led everyone to believe once the girls had all effectively left their time in captivity in their house, there probably wouldn’t have been so many speed bumps along the way if she had just listened to her parents. But she also wouldn’t have learned any of the life lessons she had if these experiences never occurred. For as much as she had been shamed at the time for her mistakes she felt no regrets. These moments and lapses in judgement that she was demonized for, especially by her mother who constantly berated her for being a free spirit, had molded her into the person she was today. The thing with Nova was that she stopped letting herself be bound by the rules the moment they settled down in Rosewood. Which really should have come as less of a surprise considering the compounding frustration that had slowly built up in the girls, passing on the baggage from the sister before them like a rite of passage.

Being part of such a tight knit family had always felt like both a blessing and a curse. The Lisbon sisters had always been as thick as thieves, so close that growing up Nova even believed they all shared a soul. That they all took different parts of it and together completed a whole person. Tessa had snatched up the compassion and understanding, Marina the brutal honesty and vicious protectiveness, Bridget the loyalty and adaptability, and Cecily the courage and patience. At least that was how she coped with their situation, by doing what she always did and romanticizing everything. Perhaps that was where the real problem lied though, that their codependence ran so deep they lost their sense of individuality. But what else were they supposed to do when their growth had already been stunted so severely by denying them the ability to form any true relationships outside of their own household? Even Nova had always been more open to the public than her sisters left a lot of things unsaid, things she didn’t think were of much importance but explained a lot about her character. Things she wanted people to find out about her by looking deeper than surface level. She left hints here and there, little moments with different people, like a scavenger hunt waiting to be solved. It was a path many had tried to venture but very few actually made headway along.

These who truly got to know Nova knew she was like a hurricane; calm and still at times like the eye of the storm, the still point in the turning world as one of her many suitors once stated. But destructive in passing, wearing her heart on her sleeve, and often making a scene when she felt  like she was being played. Maybe that was why no one could quite understand why it was she felt the need to start the peer counseling program. Was it to gain some kind of karmic retribution for all the lives she had turned upside-down? Or was it to live vicariously through the lives of others by listening to their stories like they were retellings excerpts from books in some vast library of life? The truth was much more simple than that. Nova just loved people. And she liked to help them, not out of self interest despite this desperate need to be loved in return, but because she was fundamentally a caretaker.

This was how she found currently herself the only running some errands for colleagues and shopping for holiday decorations to spruce up the little office they used as the peer counseling center. She had taken a bit of a detour in the beauty department when the wails of child snapped her out of her own thoughts. Turning to scan down the aisle and see where the ruckus was coming from she spotted a little girl, no more than two or three years old. Around how old her child would have been had things turned out differently. The kid seemed to be lost and crying out for her mom but there was no one in sight who seemed to be coming to her rescue. She shuffled back awkwardly to the end of the aisle, looking all around to see if anyone was making their way back over for her or even if there was an employee whose attention she could get, but there was no one. Part of her told herself to just go and pretend like she didn’t see anything, it wasn’t her business anyways. But this wasn’t something she could overlook, it didn’t sit right to not do anything. Seeing this tiny person so upset because she was lost and didn’t know what to do reminded her of herself, and how she felt growing up.

“Hey sweetie…Did you get separated from your mom?” She asked timidly, slowly making her way closer to her, crouched down slightly so she was level with the kid to not make her feel too intimidated of this stranger coming up to her. The little girl simply nodded in response, wiping at her eyes and nose with the sleeve of the jacket she had on. “Okay. I’m gonna take you to some people that are gonna help find her, alright?” The Lisbon girl offered in the most reassuring tone she could muster up to reassure the child that things would be okay. Gracelessly she led the little girl through the store towards the front, to the customer service area where she knew the girl would be safe and there were people who were more trained on what to do in this kind of situation. Whose hearts probably wouldn’t be on the brink beating out of their chest from anxiousness of having someone else’s safety in their hands, especially when the girl reached up to clutch her hand only managing to hold onto a few of her fingers as they walked.

As awkward as she herself felt, the unknown leading the unknown, she did her best to keep a brave face all the same. The same forced smile she plastered on whenever she went back home, which she hadn’t been back to since her miscarriage. Nova had never been great with kids. They were a huge responsibility, they required lots of time, they were very dependent. They asked for much more than she currently had to give, more than she thought she would ever have to give. And quite honestly she hadn’t had the best examples of parenting. The fear of screwing up another life because of her own damage was real. It was why as shitty as she felt thinking it she was actually sorta relieved when she miscarried. It was a sad situation knowing there had been a life inside of her and losing it from one minute to another. But it didn’t feel sad to her. To be honest she didn’t really feel anything when it happened other than a weight off her shoulders. It felt like she had been granted a second chance at life. A chance to do everything over but better this time. But currently this tiny person was being so strong and entrusting her whole life with someone she didn’t know. The least she could do was act like she had her shit together for a few moments. 

When they made it to the service desk the employees got straight to making an announcement calling for the girl’s mother. Nova turned to head back to finishing her errands but stopped in her tracks when she felt a tug on the back of her shirt. It was the little girl. She begged for her not to leave and Nova didn’t have the heart to tell her no. So she stayed and played the few schoolyard games she remembered, like patty cake and rock paper scissors, with her until her mother arrived. 

The mother’s face was covered in tears as she scooped up her kid and held her close. She thanked Nova over and over again. “I don’t know how to repay you.” She said through her tears. 

“That’s not necessary, ma’am. Seeing how happy you two are is enough repayment for me. Just remember to cherish her the same way you are now always. Even when she gets older and starts giving you a hard time.” She said with a soft laugh and warm smile. As happy as she was for the happily reunited family she felt a pang in her chest as she thought about how broken hers currently was, everyone going in completely different directions once they had left home. It pained her heart to see someone have the kind of relationship she had always wanted with her mother, to see someone be revered simply for existing and not looked down on as if she was a mistake.

Maybe this was a sign. She had overcome every other problem in her life. Maybe it was time she faced the last one holding her back. Letting go of the anger she felt towards her parents. Or at least confront the issue instead of running from it. She pulled out her cellphone and dialed the number of the one parent she wasn’t scared out of her mind to talk to.

“Hey, Dad…How are you?” She asked softly into her phone.

ANYTHING ELSE?

1985

[stars-and-rose]

a.s.h.es, ashes (we all fall down) chapter one

Jesus take the wheelie HERE WE ARE

(huge thanks to @broadwaytheanimatedseries​ for helping me with some of the finer/ kinda fucking important details for this fic! and shoutout to @fuzzylittleb​ for editing this for me!)

Fandom: Thomas Sanders/Sanders Sides

Pairings: Eventual Logicality, Eventual Prinixety, RED (Remy/Deceit/Emile)(it’s pre-established but it’s in the back seat for a bit), So much platonic Analogical and Royalty oh my god-

Summary: After a recuse gone wrong, SuperHeroes Logan and Virgil find themselves with mysteries on their hands- but most importantly, who in their organization A.S.H. wants Logan dead.

Word Count:4,506

Trigger Warnings: Fire, Injuries, Unconsciousness, Panic Attack, Violence, Cursing 

Next>>

Chapter One: Smoke in Your Lungs

Pushing open the glass doors, Logan Cosmos scanned the busy café. He adjusted the bag over his shoulder as he walked towards a booth in the far left corner. When he sat, he snapped his fingers in front of the boy seated across from him. The startled boy jumped, pulling off his headphones and glaring at Logan.

"Hey! You didn't have to do that."

Logan cocked an eyebrow. "Really? You were wearing your noise-canceling headphones, Virgil."

Virgil Tempest shrugged. "They aren't exactly noise-canceling. I mean, for anyone else, I'd bet they would be but for me-"

"Your abilities get in the way?" Logan finished in a hushed tone.

"Yeah. One of the many woes of being a Super. Anyway, how was your class?"

Logan groaned. "To put it simply, my professor is a dumbass."

Virgil winced. "Ooof."

Then Logan sighed, leaning against the table. "Well, a positive. We do not have a mission tonight."

"Thank god."

"Negative: We still have a patrol."

Virgil groaned. "You win some. You lose some. I'm going to need caffeine for this, I'll go order."

   Logan glanced at the cash register, where a green-eyed boy was handing an older woman a muffin. "Ah, he's working today."

   "Yeah. He's annoying, but I'm more comfortable around him. It makes ordering less stressful when I crack a bad movie joke and he fires one right back." Virgil replied, standing from the booth.

   Logan nodded, watching as his best friend walked away. He was so proud of Virgil, he didn't know how to put it into words. Watching Virgil battle his anxiety- watching Virgil win the battles with his anxiety- made Logan smile. As much as being a Super was difficult and tiresome and vexing, at least joining A.S.H. had given Logan his best friend. Through long nights and battle scars and mental breakdowns, Logan and Virgil managed to keep each other in one piece.

   As Virgil ordered a dubious amount of caffeine and battled the cashier over some hidden plot in a children's movie, Logan pulled out the tablet A.S.H. provided its Supers, digging it out from under his textbooks and notebooks. A flick of Logan's wrist turned the device on. Another flick opened up a map of their city. Sure, Logan could have done it manually, but sometimes the ease of using his abilities made the irritation of having them dissipate a bit. Logan drew his fingers over the screen, mapping out the area the duo would have to patrol that night.

   A few minutes later, Virgil sat down, pushing a large drink across the table to Logan. Virgil barely touched the thing, yet it nearly fell off the table. The grey-eyed boy glared at the cup, and muttered a phrase that was probably "Fuck super strength."

   Logan let out a hum and took a sip of his drink, which was the same London fog latte he always ordered on patrol days. Virgil chugged his espresso, then looked down at the map. "Where do we gotta patrol?"

   "Few blocks in Southside. It's a residential area, mostly apartment complexes and a convenience store." Logan replied, zooming in on the map.

   "Crime rate?"

   "Pretty low. A mugging a few weeks back, and other crimes of that sort."

   Virgil let out a sigh of relief. "Easy night. Thank god. I have a gig tomorrow afternoon, and honestly, I don't know if I could go through with it if we had a rough night."

   Logan arched an eyebrow. "Another wedding?"

   "Another fucking wedding. I hate weddings, Lo! Overpriced and tons of strangers."

   "Well, usually wedding guests don't hold much conversation with the photographer. Also, some of the expenses of a wedding go to the photographer. Besides, you only need to continue doing these gigs until we retire from A.S.H."

   Virgil ran a  hand through his messy dark hair; Logan could see the blonde roots Virgil hated so much starting to peek through. "Speaking of A.S.H…." Virgil lowered his voice. "Have you found anything?"

   Logan leaned across the table a little more, suddenly aware of how busy the café was. Too many people meant too many ears, and too many ears were too big of a risk.  "Some files of old SuperHeroes who died in combat or retired, various recordings of meetings, and a few marked-up articles, all written by the same guy. Why are you so invested into looking into A.S.H.'s files, anyway?"

   Virgil shifted in his seat, his eyes flitting around the room. "Just a hunch, okay? I feel like something's up."

   The first time Virgil had brought up looking into the organization's files, it had been late at night during a patrol. Logan had tried to convince Virgil there was nothing that A.S.H. would be hiding, but the other Super was invested in the idea. To calm Virgil, Logan had started using his abilities to hack into A.S.H.'s database. At first, it had been simply to placate Virgil, but Logan had been digging for over a month and had only come up with a minuscule amount of information. There was more information, all of it heavily locked, and now Logan's own curiosity and pride were invested in decoding all the files.

   Logan glanced down at the clock on the tablet. "We should make our way to Headquarters. Our patrol starts in less than an hour."

   Virgil huffed, taking another sip of his drink and shifting in his hoodie. "Can we walk? I really don't feel like taking the bus."

   Sliding out of the booth, Logan nodded. "Some fresh air would be nice. Do we need to stop at your apartment for your medicine?"

   "I have backups with my suit, I'll take them when we get there if I need to."

   Leaving the cafe,  they walked through the streets of Azotha to the A.S.H. Headquarters, only stopping once for Virgil to capture a shot of the sunset's light reflecting off a skyscraper.

For the second time that day, Logan opened a pair of glass doors, holding them open for Virgil. The lobby of A.S.H.'s headquarters was mostly empty. The only people in the room were the receptionist who was playing a game on his phone and a pair sitting on the bench. Logan recognized them: a set of first-year partners he and Virgil had helped train. Eliza was a flyer and her partner Kris was the human equivalent of a magnet. Eliza was holding an ice pack on Kris's forehead, angrily scolding them. After quickly checking in quickly with the bored receptionist, Logan and Virgil made their way over to the younger SuperHeroes.

"Is everything all right?" Logan asked.

Kris looked up, their eyes gleaming despite their injury. "You'll never guess what happened! I ran into Knight and Nova!"

A panicked looked passed from Virgil to Logan. Knight and Nova were labeled the most dangerous SuperVillains of their time. The duo had been active for five years, and not a single Super had been able to catch them. A.S.H. sent missions to search for the SuperVillains constantly (Logan and Virgil had been assigned to that particular mission a few times) and yielded no results.

The strangest part was, Knight and Nova didn't associate with other SuperVillains, nor did they cause large scale destructions. They were a mystery, striking every few months, stealing from a major corruption or leaving cryptic warnings in the mayor's office, then disappearing again. They were an enigma, an enigma Logan wanted to solve.

Virgil did a quick scan of Kris. "Did they hurt you?"

Eliza sighed, "Not exactly. Kris, tell them how you got hurt."

The younger Super pouted, an embarrassed flush covering their cheeks. "Well, we found them on top of the Whynter Building, right? We didn't know what they were doing but they were unprepared so we attacked them!"

"I didn't attack them, that was Kris on their own!" Eliza complained. She pointed at her partner. "They thought we could capture the SuperVillains by ourselves."

"I surprised them, and the SuperVillains flew down into the alley. Knight used his abilities and I got confused. I thought I was chasing after Nova, but in reality, I crashed into a wall."

A beat of silence, then Virgil let out a laugh. "You crashed into a wall?"

"They crashed into a fucking wall." Eliza huffed. "Fell for one of Knight's illusions."

"To be fair," Kris said, moving Eliza's hand and fixing the ice pack on their forehead. "Other people, older and higher ranked people, have fallen for Knight's illusions too. They're so lifelike it's hard not too."

Logan bit his lip. "But neither of them injured you directly?"

"Nope!"

Eliza twisted a lock of her curly hair around her finger. "Knight actually looked apologetic, watching this loser slam into the wall."

Logan glanced at Virgil, who had his nose scrunched up in concentration. Most SuperVillains would have taken the opportunity to take out a first-year SuperHero before they could truly harness their powers. But not only did Nova and Knight let Eliza and Kris go, but they didn't try to hurt them either?

That was something to think about later. Virgil and Logan had to get suited up for their patrol.

"Take care of Kris, Eliza. Vee and I have a patrol to go on." Logan announced.

Eliza mock-saluted as the older SuperHeroes walked away. Logan glanced at Virgil, "Elevator?"

"Yeah."

Luckily no one else was riding the elevator, so they got the tiny shaft to themselves. Logan pressed the button for the fourth floor, and the doors slowly shut behind them. Music Logan swore was older than the building poured out of an old speaker. Virgil glared at the speaker as if he was trying to make it explode. Luckily for the janitors, Virgil lacked that ability, and the doors opened before Virgil could decide to smash it.

The fourth floor was a little bit more active than the lobby, with a few Supers suiting up for patrols and missions, and a few more packing their bags and heading home. Logan led Virgil to their lockers, placing his palm against his, while Virgil did the same next to him.

The touchscreen connected to his locker opened, and Logan grabbed the black material hanging in it. If Logan ever took over A.S.H., the first thing he would do was change the uniforms. First of all, the material was irritating, which made fighting uncomfortable. Logan swore he had more welts from the fabric of his uniform than from actual combat. The suit was built for protection though, not comfort. That aside, each uniform was identical, making it difficult to tell the difference between Supers. Each SuperHero had their unique logo stitched right above their hearts, but could you see that during a battle? No. Not at all.

As Logan pulled the suit over his clothes, his fingers brushed over his logo. Virgil had designed it for him. It was the letter G, and Virgil had designed it to look like the letter was glitching, to associate with Logan's codename. Virgil's own logo was a spiking heart rate, stitched into his suit with careless caution.

"Lo? Can you untangle my earpiece?" Virgil asked, struggling to pull up his suit. Logan sighed and grabbed the communication device hanging from Virgil's locker. Logan had not an inkling of a clue how, but Virgil had managed to get the earpiece twisted with his eyepiece.

"Virgil? How- how did you mess this up so horribly?"

Virgil sighed, zipping up his uniform. "I just threw it in there on Monday, I don't know how it got so tangled!"

Logan groaned, finally pulling the pieces apart and tossing them at Virgil. His friend caught them with ease (damn his powers). Logan pulled on his own, untangled eye and earpieces, snapping his eyepiece on his glasses. Then, he snapped his finger to activate both pieces. Virgil rolled his eyes, manually turning on his equipment. "We online?"

"We are indeed."

Virgil gave Logan a wicked smile, his teeth flashing in the electric light. "I'll beat you downstairs."

Then, Logan blinked, and Virgil was a blur in the corner of his vision. A swear escaped Logan's lips and he closed his eyes, picturing the outside of the headquarters. He felt the familiar fizzling in his gut, and when Logan opened his eyes, he was standing outside with the night breeze blowing in his hair.  Seconds later, the glass doors next to him were thrown open, and Virgil skidded to a stop next to him. "Damn the people on the stairs."

"We're making excuses now, Vee?"

"Damn you too." Virgil flashed Logan a set of double-birds.

"If you kept doing that, I'm not going to let you teleport with me to our patrol location."

Instantly, Virgil had his arms thrown around Logan's shoulders. "No, no hey, you're my best friend Lo! I love you!" He announced, dragging out the 'o' in love.

Logan rolled his eyes, a fond smile forming on his lips. "You only love me when you need something from me."

"If that was true, would I have shown up at your house with mint-chocolate chip ice cream when NASA released the black hole image and you freaked out for three hours?"

Instead of responding, Logan pictured the convenience store he'd seen on the digital map earlier. Virgil yelped and dug his nails into Logan's shoulder as the two of them teleported.

"Hey!" Virgil snapped. "That wasn't cool!"

"My apologies."

"Hmph. For that, I'm taking the eastern side of this sector."

"Why?"

Another wicked grin passed over Virgil's features. There are fewer buildings on the Eastern side. Less work for me.  Stay out of trouble, Glitch."

Logan rolled his eyes. "Same to you, Adrenaline."

Virgil gave his partner a mock salute, before speeding off into the distance. Logan watched him go, then pressed his fingers against his eyepiece. A map of the western side of the sector glowed to life in his vision. Logan zoomed in on an apartment complex, memorizing its features, then teleporting there.

The patrol was uneventful. For the past three and a half hours, Logan teleported from rooftop to rooftop, searching for any suspicious activity. With only thirty minutes left on patrol, Logan was sitting on the rooftop of a building, mentally going over the notes his physics professor had given that day.

Then, he smelt the smoke.

Instantly Logan was on his feet, eyes searching the horizon as a scream echoed from a nearby building. Smoke was pouring out of an apartment window, and flashes of red and yellow were visible through the smoke. Logan concentrated on his comm, turning it on. "V- Adrenaline?"

"Issue on your end?" His best friends voice crackled through the comm.

"Fire. Anderson Street, third building on the left. Requesting back up."

"On my way, Glitch."

Logan shut off his comm, glancing at the ground below him and teleporting down. He spirited down the street, stopping in front of the building. The flames were starting to grow, and people were running out of the complex in a panic.

Logan didn't have the time to explain he was with A.S.H., which was against protocol, but if he did, he would have lost valuable time. Logan entered the building, gagging on the smoke in the air. The first floor was clear but on the second floor, Logan found a younger girl trapped behind a cabinet. Teleporting behind it, Logan knelt next to the girl. Her dark eyes were wide, and she was shaking.

"I'm going to assist you, may I lift you up?" The younger girl stared at him for a brief moment, then gave him a brief nod. Logan scooped the child into his arms, and she gripped his arm tightly. "Close your eyes now, all right?"

The girl obeyed, and Logan teleported them outside. The girl opened her eyes, staring at him with wonder. "You have magic?" She whispered in awe.

"No, it's a gene-. Nevermind. I do indeed have magic."

The girl's eyes widened with glee, but before she could reply, a man ran up to them. "Alina, darling!"

The girl looked at the man and smiled brightly. "Daddy! The magic man saved me!"

The man gave Logan a small smile. "Yes, he did. Now the magic man has to go save other people, okay?"

The girl nodded, and Logan handed her off to her father. The man muttered a quick, "Thank you," into Logan's ear before he walked away with his daughter.

Logan teleported back into the building when his comm was activated again. "G, there are a few more people on the fourth floor; there was someone on the third but I got them out. " Virgil announced.

"On it." Logan dashed through the building, making his way up the stairs until he reached the fourth floor, which was where the fire started. The heat was biting and ash started to stick to his clothes. Logan hesitated, looked around for which room held the most flames.

That was his mistake.

A cracking sound filled his ears, and before Logan could turn around to see what it was, something hit him in the back. Logan fell to the ground, his body held down by something heavy. He squirmed, trying to get free from whatever was holding him down, but he couldn't. He tried to teleport, but his mind was too frazzled from the hit and the heat to form the image Logan needed to teleport. Using the last of his concentration, Logan activated his comm, connecting with the A.S.H. Headquarters.

"This is Agent Glitch." He wheezed out. "I'm requesting back-up. There's a fire... I'm trapped in the building and my partner cannot get everyone out on his own."

Radio silence. Then a faint, "Cut him. He was getting too close to the truth." Static filled his ears, and Logan tried to reconnect to the comm, but the other end had severed the link. Understanding filled Logan's muddled brain. A.S.H. was leaving him to die.

Logan struggled against the weight on his back, but he was getting sluggish. The flames were closing in, the heat starting to overwhelm him. A hoarse scream roared from Logan's throat, but he doubted he could be heard over the roaring fire.

This was it. Logan was going to die.

He laid his head against the burning ground, gasping for air. He was going to die. He was going to die. Who would grieve him? His poor mother, who'd been abandoned by everyone else in her life? Virgil, who had just started getting to a place in life where his anxiety was livable? His friends from college? The other superheroes from A.S.H.?

The flames were closing in. Logan closed his eyes, accepting his fate. Before the flames could reach him, he heard a crackle of energy, and a soft, "Don't worry, I got you."

Then, the heat become too much, and Logan passed out.

-. --- - .... .. -. --. ... .- ... .. - ... . . -- ... -. --- - .... .. -. --. ... .- ... .. - ... . . -- ... -. --- - .... .. -. --. ... .- ... .. - ... . . -- ...

Beautiful blue eyes, the color of the sky at its absolute clearest, glowed slightly behind gray-tinted goggles, filled with something that looked like concern. Then, surprise bloomed, and Logan's eyes closed again.

-. --- - .... .. -. --. ... .- ... .. - ... . . -- ... -. --- - .... .. -. --. ... .- ... .. - ... . . -- ... -. --- - .... .. -. --. ... .- ... .. - ... . . -- ...

"Logan? Oh my god, oh my god please wake up, I can feel your heartbeat but you need to wake up, come on Lo." The voice was shaking, holding back tears. Logan opened his eyes, looking up at Virgil's gray eyes. His dark makeup was smeared and tears were streaming down his face. "Oh my god, you're okay."

"What happened?" Logan choked out, his lungs feeling heavy and his head fuzzy.  He remembered the fire, his comm getting cut off (oh, oh hell, they had left him to die) and the beautiful eyes.

"I do- don't know." Virgil was talking fast, his chest rising and falling even faster. Suddenly, Logan was so much more worried for his friend then he was for himself. He grabbed Virgil's arms, attempting to ground his best friend.

"Name five things you can see," He instructed, voice still hoarse.

"You, my hands, the wall, I think that's a rat, and dirt."

"Good, four things you can hear?"

Virgil closed his eyes, a shaking breath coming out of his mouth. "My heartbeat, your voice, cars, that rat moving."

"You're doing so well, Vee. Three things you can feel?"

"Your hands, the breeze, and this  god damn suit."

"Two things you can smell?"

Virgil's breathing was starting to slow. "You smell like a campfire. And we're really sweaty and it stinks."

"Fantastic, one thing you can taste?"

"Salt- I was crying, wasn't I?"

Logan ignored the question. "Are you all right?"

"Am I all right? Holy shit Lo, I'm worried about you, not me! You were missing for three days."

All the air exited Logan's lungs. "What? What are you talking about?"

"The fire. A.S.H. told me you died! But I went back into the apartment and looked for your body. It wasn't there, and I don't trust A.S.H. so I've been looking for you since. But, Lo, where were you?"

Logan closed his eyes and thought about it. His mind was hazy, but one image stuck out: blue eyes behind gray goggles. Familiar gray goggles.

"Give me the tablet," Logan demanded. Virgil tilted his head in confusion but slipped the device to his partner. Logan's fingers flew over the screen, the tablet working faster than his fingers. Soon, he had an image on the screen, and when Virgil looked over his shoulder, a gasp escaped from his mouth.

"That's Nova." Virgil breathed. It was indeed the SuperVillian. The Super was standing with blasts energy surrounding him, and bright, blue,  glowing eyes shone behind gray goggles.

"That's a correct observation." Logan took a deep breath. "And as impossible as it sounds, I believe he was the one who saved me from the fire."

Virgil, to Logan's surprise, didn't shout in denial. Indeed, he took in a deep breath of his own and replied, "Well, it kinda makes sense, since Knight brought you to me."

Logan looked over at his partner, a bit shocked. Virgil raised a hand and started to tug on a loose piece of hair. As he was about to scold his partner for the bad habit, Logan noticed a smudge of glittery red on Virgil's glove. "Is that lipstick?"

Virgil glanced at his gloved hand, and his ears flamed. "No. Its blood."

"It is glittery."

"Vampire blood."

Logan decided to move on. "You said Knight brought me to you?"

"Yeah. I came into this alley to take a breath, and he appeared from the shadows. I almost punched him the moment I saw him, but I saw you in his arms, out cold. I might have jumped to conclusions, but he told me he wasn't the one who'd hurt you. He told me to make sure you took care of yourself and to make sure all the smoke was out your lungs. As soon as I took you from him, he was gone."

"And he kissed your hand?"

"Ignoring you." Virgil leaned back against the brick wall, rubbing at his eyes and making an even bigger mess out of his eyeshadow. "What's going on here? SuperVillains aiding SuperHeroes?"

"Would it be a bad time to mention that A.S.H. cut my comm while I was in the fire?"

Virgil whipped his head around to stare at him. "Explain."

After giving Virgil the synopsis of what had occurred in the burning apartment, his partner took in a shaky breath. "This isn't happening. It's just a dream."

"I'm afraid we are awake Virgil."

As Virgil was processing the information, Logan looked through the notifications on his tablet. One caught his eye- a news report from two days ago, labeled "SuperVillains Nova and Knight Spotted Aiding Victims of a Fire."

Intrigued, Logan clicked on the link. He was brought to the local newspaper's website, but instead of an article, there was a notice from the newspaper. The notice claimed that the article had been taken down. Logan glared at the screen but noticed another article at the bottom of the page, this one reading "Local Reporter Reported Missing."

Another click led Logan to a full article, discussing the disappearance of Remy Morpheus, a reporter for the same newspaper. The article revealed that Remy was the writer of the deleted article on the SuperVillains, and had written many articles on controversial topics. The name was familiar to Logan, and it soon hit him: the articles he'd found in A.S.H.'s secure files were also written by Remy Morpheus.

Logan nudged Virgil, who looked like he was on the brink of losing his mind. "Read this."

The darker hair boy took the tablet, reading the article, his nose scrunching up as he read. "A missing reporter?"

"A reporter who reported on a supposed rescue attempt by Nova and Knight. A reporter who wrote controversial articles, some criticizing A.S.H. A reporter whose articles I found covered in notes when I was hacking into A.S.H.'s files."

"You're saying you think there's something going on?"

Logan nodded. "I hate to speculate, but there is a mass of evidence that points to foul play."

Virgil's fingers made their way back to his hair, his eyes slightly unfocused. His lips were moving, but Logan didn't have Virgil's enhanced hearing to be able to discern the words. Before Logan could comment, Virgil shook his head quickly, snapping himself out of his thoughts. "So, we've got a missing reporter who might know things he shouldn't, two SuperVillians who might not be pure evil, and a fucking massive organization who might be hiding something and seems to want you dead."

Logan leaned against the wall next to Virgil. "It seems we have a mystery on our hands."

"Please do not Sherlock our situation."

"Ignoring you."

"And hey, don't you mock me." Virgil huffed, laying the tablet in his lap and crossing his arms. "You know, things were going well."

"We never did have an abundance of luck," Logan mused.

"And I know you aren't going to let this go."

"I wasn't planning on it."

"And no way in hell would I let you do this on your own."

Logan glanced at his friend.  "That means you'll assist me?"

"Mmhm. But first, we're going home, you're changing, and we're both going to sleep."

Logan looked down, and it hit him that he was still wearing his charred A.S.H. uniform. Virgil was too, but his uniform was in better shape.

"Reasonable. Then, I think we're going to visit The Times's office."

Virgil raised his eyebrow again. "We're starting with the reporter?"

"Indeed. In the morning, we start the investigation on the disappearance of Remy Morpheus."

Virgil stood, slipping the tablet away. He offered his hand, and Logan took it, getting to his feet. The two SuperHeroes stumbled out of the alley, heading home under a starless sky.

TAGLIST

@another-sandersidesblog​ @nye275​ @faithfreedom​ @dodos-in-damnation​ @storytellerofuntoldlegends​ @mavros-lykos​ @dall-off-weekes​ @the-fandoms-are-takin-over​ @rosesisupposes​

@rebeyerfdog @average--human @icequeenoriginal @mferge7

@benjaminclareyrobar

[kryptsune]

Senpai! Any tips on world building? :D

🌼Whooooo boy, that’s a lot of talk about Mambo X’D and I love you so I will do my best!

Worldbuilding is a lot of work and is constantly an exercise of questions and answers. A lot of times worldbuilding happens at random. I never thought that I would worldbuild half the universes I was messing with. I just have this drive to connect the dots, so to speak. It usually starts with a character for me. I will use Nova as an example since he seems to be the catalyst of my now fully fleshed out Outertale. Nova was just design at first but with every design I do, I have a need to tell a story. A lot of times people overlook the importance of clothing in their storytelling and being from that background I definitely put hints and lore into what the characters wear. 

Sometimes even scrapping old designs to fit an overall narrative later on or fitting it to that mold. I originally drew Nova in a varsity jacket and as I developed the story I realized that I either had to make that choice believable or scarp it all together. I decided that his personality would be more rambunctious and trickster like this also led me to make him based off Loki. I decided to keep his jacket because his kind of uncaring and aloof attitude toward how the Monsters conduct themselves and their traditions made him a huge contrast. He prefers comfort over symbology basically. 

The first question you have to ask is why. That is super vague but why are you making this world? What purpose does it serve? Is it something that answers questions about characters? There are four specific pillars for storytelling, plot, setting/ environment, character, and emotion. All of these are used to make a lot of the stories we see and hear today. 

Nova, my OT Sans, needed kind of a purpose. I wanted my Outertale to be different in that way. I wanted to answer the question of why the monsters would leave in the first place. It turned into a rabbit hole of constant back and forth. It doesn’t really matter where you start on these four pillars but questions are so important. I know I keep saying that but it’s true. I will give an example.

Starting with Character/Environment: Characters are important to any story. They are the ones that your readers or watchers will be attached to. They are a mirror almost. Someone relatable. Now that doesn’t mean they have to be this pure bean. I would argue that making those kinds of characters actually makes it difficult to relate to. We all mess up so having a character with flaws that overcome them are even more relatable. Not to mention it will add to the emotional component. Our responses and our social skills revolve around our environment. This includes the “mechanics” of the world and genre. 

WTU is a great example of this, though the world of Undertale is relatively well established there are a lot of loose ends. Even more so when you make a Fell variation. In order to be a little more unique with how I handle my verses, I tend to start at ground 0. The original. I will use Grillby’s as an example. Grillby Magmaran is one of my favorite side characters in the story but due to his personality and the world, he is set in I had to change some things around. The setting of WTU is odd. Most people tend to make Underfell this gritty, dark, and violent place but I wanted to add a few more... let’s say real-world layers to it.

Grillby to me was always kind of set in stone, character-wise. I wanted him to be kind of a playboy. One who just seemed to care about only his own self-interest, on the surface. A lot of characters I have “re-written” have this mold. That they can’t outwardly express what they want to because it makes them vulnerable. A vulnerability that is mirrored in the fact that Asgore doesn’t really rule over the Underworld like most think. (A side note on calling it the Underworld as well is this idea of underground and shady dealings.) The most power is actually given to three characters. The third I will stay quiet on due to spoilers but the other two are Muffet and Grillby. Each with their own industries capitalizing on the hopelessness of the inhabitants. 

 Grillby is all about vices which is why I changed his usual restaurant into a multistory nightclub and bar. A place for the monsters to blow off some steam so to speak. It also plays into his kind of sleazy outward appearance hiding behind liquor and vices. Muffet’s Black Widow Casino plays on greed. A rather fitting industry for her character since the original is also obsessed with profit. It is little things like that I would continue to dig deeper on. Why is Grillby this way? Heck, why would he stay in Snowdin? The answers sometimes take some time to really think about but it’s something I really enjoy doing. The answer I came up with was simple. Contrast. Grillby and Muffet used to have a very 1920′s don and mistress vibe in their original relationship but Muffet’s personality was a little too much to take for Grillby who fell into vices after his own grief. Snowdin vs Hotland. I think you can pick out the contrast. He wanted to be as far away from that spider as possible.    

The town of Snowdin is actually a place that monsters can find sanctuary. It is not like Undyne’s monopoly of Waterfall or Muffet's rule of Hotland, why though? Well sticking with the original source material I still wanted Papyrus to be a character that you could love even if he was a little more rough around the edges. He is Head of the Royal Guard already so that decision led me to think more about how he would use that power. He basically becomes the protector of Snowdin Town and the townspeople reward him by placing a statue of the Captain in the town square. That boosts his ego but he still has noble intentions, protection. This also adds to his character since Papyrus in my version is the older of the two brothers. The only reason he is harsh on Sans (or Red in this case) is that he knows of the cruelty outside their little town.  

This also explains why there are so many deadly traps all over the place leading into town. Very few monsters live outside the center of the town. It is his way of putting up defenses against any of the monsters that may be entering from outside the town. They have been used to kill humans, sure, but their main purpose is to create a blockade. 

I am going to kind of get on a soapbox a little bit in this so just bear with me. I think that a lot of Underfell creators do a huge disservice to the universe and its concept. *shakes head* It is one of the reasons that I decided to finally put my story into the public. It took a long time to muster up the courage to do that. Making things for the sake of darkness or edginess to me is... very... uh... how do I put this? Well, it’s a huge pet peeve of mine. Dark storytelling can be talked about effectively if the elements are there and other things balance it out. I see this a lot between Red and Boss. Specifically their relationship and how that is handled. There are plenty of stories with characters being close in a dark and harsh environment. They don’t turn into abusive a-holes. WHY!? Why would you take something like the original skele-bros and their relationship and do that? Granted. If there is some reason behind it. If there is a well thought out answer to the question of why then that is perfectly fine. What I find more and more, however, make these kinds of choices just for the sake of it. IT DRIVE ME BANANAS. 

Now I am not saying my story and verses don’t have plot holes. Most of the time when you dig deeper into a project you realize that closing one could open a few lesser ones but it just upsets me that people just randomly make these choices just for the sake of it. Shock value. There has to be a purpose. Good storytelling is about relatability and believability. Small things can sometimes take you out of it if they seem out of place. Remember that everyone goes about these kinds of creative choices differently. Mine is pretty much all question based or design-based. I am by no way saying that my way is correct. It is just something I have worked on for a very long time. I can kind of come up with my answers on the spot. 

I know I got away from this ask a little bit but I am happy that you are interested Mambo! If you want to know more specifics then just ask. There is so much more I can talk about. I was actually was asked to make a video on it so I may do that in the future. Just remember to have fun while doing it. Stories are fun to read but at the end of the day the world is yours and you should enjoy it! 

[twilightxcx]

Finding home

Part 11 - "So there is nothing that you wanna ask me?"

NOVAS POV

"So apparently, you seem to be the Cullens new shining toy? Correct?" Emily asks placing down a bag of apples in the cart as I push it walking towards the vegetables. In my left hand I also hold Claire's hand, since her daycare is closed today Emily insisted she could take her for the day instead. I sigh at Emily's question, looking down at Claire as she holds strongly onto my hand, half afraid, and half exited about the new area she is currently in.

"I guess you could call it that. The thing that freaked me out the most though was that Renesmee tried to follow me and Paul into Pack land, making everyone stop breathing for a moment. And that Alice saw mine and Paul's future. Call that the surprice of the year" I speak, stopping the cart as Emily walks away to grab atleast two big sacks of potatoes, some carrots, a few sallads, a cucumber and two peppers.

"Ah yes, the baby. Sam told me everything last night when you all had gone home. Must have been scary for you to hear a woman you don't even know talk about your future like that. Especially when it involves children. You don't believe her do you?" Emily's tone is calm but serious as she speaks. I shrug my shoulders, unsure of how to answer.

"I don't know Emily, what if she is right? I mean Edward seem to have seen it too, and why would she lie? But I don't know, I mean I and Paul just met and we aren't even married or anything like that." I speak, a little bit conflicted about how to feel about it all as Emily takes the cart moving further into the store, with me and Claire following closely behind. Claire starts to jump in excitement when we walk past the toys section, only to get even more eager to look at all the shiny toys when Emily stops right in front of it.

"I knew it! You are planning to get married! Is it soon? Omg please let me be a bridesmaid. Will your family be there? I'm-" Emily starts to say before I interrupt her. "No Emily no, no wedding. It may look like me and Paul are taking it very fast right now but we are NOT getting married this year! You hear me? No Mrs Lahote this year and definetly no mini Lahote this year.." I speak with a determined tone as she stands there with a smile on her face and a glimt in her eyes giving me the you-are-lying look. As I feel Claire draging me towards the cars in the toy section, Emily quietly follows us pushing the cart infront of her. Claire points at a purple car with red air horns on top of it whilst jumping excitedly up and down, making me sigh.

"Please please Emily, Nova pleaseeee I need it. It looks so cool!" Claire almost screams out as I take it in my hand giving Emily a look that says we are done talking about mine and Paul's relationship as I put the plastic car in the cart, letting Claire get the shiny new toy. Claire tightly puts her arms around my middle in a thank you hug as Emily just gives me a teasing look back saying nothing but that she will get it out of me eventually. I roll my eyes at that.

-

"And that will be 257 dollar and 39 cents. Thank you, do you want a recipt?" Emily stands by the counter paying as I stuff all the heavy bags into the cart ones again. Damn these boys can eat, why isnt it them that are buying all this instead of us?

Looking down at Claire I find her already running around with her new toy on the floor, making me smile a little at the little girl's excitement. While holding my last bag of food my phone all suddenly starts to vibrate, and just a second later Emily's does too. Placing down the heavy bag on the floor again I take up my phone from my pocket only to realise half a second later that it is Paul calling me. I answer.

"Hey Paul, had a goo-" I only have time to say before he interrupts. "Where are you? Are you okay? Sam said you were supposed to look after Claire all afternoon with Emily but none of you is here." Paul implies with a worried, almost panicked tone, making me feel bad about not notifying them about our trip to Port Angeles. Especially when all of the imprints constantly are under a high treath its good to maybe have mentioned it to them before we left.

Just a few feet a way I can now hear Emily have the exact same conversation with Sam as she in slow steps walks over to me and Claire.

"We just went shopping some food baby, I'm sorry, we should have told you. We are actually on our way home now, we'll be there in 20 minutes." I speak as I hear Paul speaking with Sam and another one of the boys before I hear his voice in the speaker once again.

"Me and Sam are on our way, stay where you are. I love you." He says with a stressed tone before he adruptly ends the call, which surprices me a little. When I look up Emily is already done speaking with Sam and is on her way to push the cart out to the parkinglot. Claire stands right infront of me with a worried look on her face, the purple car in her hand.

"Has something bad happened?" She asks quietly, with a sad look on her face, putting me at unease that she is so young but already so aware of how a big part of the people she knows and cares about are in some sort of danger. I shake my head with a sympathetic smile, crouching down to the little girl's face level.

"Hey, nothing has happened and nothing will happen. Sam and Paul just missed us so much they wanted to come see us" I lie.

"And if something ever were to happen we will always protect you, whatever that something may be. Okay?" I speak with a soft voice. Looking into the little girl's brown eyes they now don't look as dull as second ago, she smiles at me.

"Okay. Do you think Paul and Sam would like to see my new car?" She asks, back to her normal happy self. I smile at hear, nodding. "Absolutely, now how about we go out to Emily and see if she need any help packing in the groceries into the car?" I speak as Claire nods in excitement. "Good, let's go" Whilst taking Claire's hand in my bigger one we walk out to the parkinglot and over to where Emily is already on her way putting in groceries into the grey car.

-

"Wow you really came here fast." Emily states as she leans in to hug Sam quickly whilst Paul almost runs over to me and have in milliseconds put his arms around me. Just a few minutes after me and Emily finished packing in the groceries into the car, Sam and Paul arrived in Paul's car and parked just a few meters away, Paul almost running out of his seat to be able to run over to me.

"Hi Nova" Paul speaks a little bit calmer now in comparison to when we spoke on the phone.

"Hi to you." I smile as Paul presses a kiss to my cheek and mouth. I put my arms around his neck pulling him further down to my face to be able to give him another, longer kiss this time. As we let go Paul pulls me - if even possible- more to his chest as he places his face in the crook of my neck, breathing in my scent. I shiver at the feeling, placing one of my hands by the back of his head.

"I was so worried something happened. We found two leaches just a fucking mile from the house. I just got so worried. I mean what if they would have got you? " He mumbles out, telling me what probably set his mind at unease during our call on the phone. His face is next to my ear while speaking and i hug him tighter when he says the last sentence, knowing that a vampire getting to me is one of his worst fears.

"Don't worry Paul, I am right here. Here with you, in your arms" I say, letting him hold me for as long as he needs. Based on the silence from Sam and Emily I can imagine they reason the same way. Paul is easiest the most emotional of the wolves, and that isn't something you should ignore neither joke about. We stay like that for a few moments, just hugging, him ocationally leaning down to kiss different parts of my face and neck.

After I don't know how long, Paul feels stable enough to let go of his strong hold on me, giving me a apologizing look while doing so. I shake my head, giving him a understanding smile as I caress his cheek. He leans into my embrance.

"Look Sam, I have a new car! Its soooo fast, look!" I hear from behind Paul as our eyes stays locked, making me laugh a little at the little girl's words. Paul smiles too, just before he places a open kiss to the palm of my hand, then taking my hand in his.

"Let's go, don't want Claire to wait far to long until she gets to show the rest of the guys her cool car. You riding back with me, right?" He asks, holding my hands in his. I smile, looking down at our connected hands, before I look up once again.

"Ofcourse. Are they taking Claire?" I ask, looking over at the couple who still seems to be looking at Claire showing of her new car. Paul calls to Sam, getting the attention from his packleader only a second later.

"Who takes Claire?" He asks and gets directly an answer from Sam. "We do, see you at home." Sam speaks as me and Paul nod at his words. In hand in hand we walk over to Paul's car to soon be siting inside of it.

"I'm sorry for my reaction earlier, I just got a little worried." Paul explains with a quiet tone driving out of the parkinglot behind Sam and Emily's car. He's eyes stayes locked at the car infront of us almost as if I were to yell at him about earlier.

"Don't worry Paul, really. If a long hug is what you need after some tough hours in patrol then I am all up for it. It is much better than taking it out on your bothers or yourself. Plus, I've missed you today so nothing bad with getting a extra long hug, right?" I assure him with a smile as Paul quickly glances at me before focusing back at the road.

"Thank you, the other guys would have just teased me about it, but you didn't." He says with a sad tone in his voice. Even though I know the pack members would always be there for each other, I can visualize them teasing Paul about exact situations like this, and unlike Sam, he needed more then just a hug and a kiss to be assured that I was actually here with him, and that I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. In a soothing matter I place my hand on his warm bicep, making him look up at me once again.

"Joking about it doesn't make it better or easier for you. And If they ever joke about you like that when I am there you know I am gonna make their lives hard, don't forget I got your back." My tone is serious while speaking making Paul do nothing but smile, and laugh a little at the mentally picture of me punishing the guys probably displaying in his mind.

"Thank you babe, that's so sweet, but I doubt you could fysically fight any of the pack members. Not even if you so used a bat." He laughes, making my stomach go wild with butterflies over how wonderful his laugh is. I roll my eyes at his statemet, even though he absolutely is right.

"Who said I was gonna use a bat? I have something more powerful than that. I would deny them food." I smile teasingly, making Paul laugh even more. He takes my hand in his, it's a little bit bigger than mine, almost rougher, but I like it in some kind of way.

"Okay, you are right, you would win." He smiles before he continues. "Thank you babe, really, I needed that." He tells me, meeting my gaze one last time before focusing back on the road entirely. I shrug my shoulders.

"You deserve the best, and I think you should be treated like so"

-

PAUL'S POV

Arriving at Sam's house, Sam have already parked the car and are on his way together with Emily about to empty the car of groceries. Together with them I see Jared, Jake and Embry helping to unpack the car.

Turning to my right, I find Nova answering a text on her phone. She smiles a little at the screen, completely forgotten about the rest of the world around her. She might not even know we the car isn't moving anymore. I unbuckle my seatbelt.

"Who are you texting?" I ask, trying not too seem all to obvious about that I am jealous of the whole situation. She looks up at me, her beautiful grey eyes meeting mine, carrying that beautiful spark of hers.

"My mom, she asks if you are as handsome in real life as on the pictures." Nova laughes, making me feel both guilty about even thinking of her cheating on me, but also releved since she only talked to her mom and they talked about me. Gosh I am so stupid.

"Aha, okay, then what did you answer?" I ask shyly, feeling a blush creeping up on my face already. I'm not even embaressed anymore to say that Nova has the biggest influence on me, just by calling me handsome she gets my body all warm and a little electric.

"I told her you are even more gorgeous in real life. And that I miss her." Her voice is as always so kind, gentle, but this time also a little bit sad. I take her hand in mine, stroking it calmingly with my thumb across the back of her hand.

"Do you wanna visit Sweden soon?" I ask with a sympathetic tone very noticeable in my voice, taking in her red full lips and cute nose several times during the time she keeps her gaze locked at our intertwined hands, thinking. She soon looks back up at me.

"Only if you come with me." She offers with honesty and vulnerability, sighing just as she finishes the last word. "You dont, forget it, it's stupid." She tells me, adruptly changing her mind, waving it of as nothing.

"I would like to go with you, to Sweden. We could even move there if you'd prefer it that way." I respond, probably feeling just as vulnerable as she does right now. She raises her eyebrows at my statement.

"You mean that?" She inquires, I nod. "Ill go wherever you go. Always." I answer, making a very big smile take place on her beautiful face.

"You are such a sweetheart do you know that?" She asks, pulling me into a hug I am not late to answer, not late to shrug my shoulders at the question.

"For the right person, yes." I flirt, winking at her making her roll her eyes, taking my hand in hers again.

"You are also such an idiot." She beames.

-

Walking into Sam and Emily's house Claire is as expected on her way to show of her very cool, purple and red car.

"Hey you two lovebirds, are you always gonna make out in the car when we carry the food into the house?" Jared jokes, coming into give me a hug as Nova takes of her jacket. He then does the same with Nova.

"Ha ha, very funny. No. We were actually talking about my home country and about how much I miss my mom, nothing else. " Nova implies taking my hand in hers, sending shivers up my arm in an instant. Jared nods at her words.

"Alright, fine. Anyways, did you come to any reasoning in who you are gonna ask to come with you to the hospital?" Jared questions, looking at our both with a excited gaze. Nova nods.

"Sure did" She answers. "So there is nothing that you wanna ask me?"Jared implies with a cocky smirk as Nova simply shakes her head, looking up at me. "Nope, Paul and I came to the agreeing that we should take the one I first of all feel the most comfortable with, but also the one we know for sure can handle being around a few vampires without freaking out"

"That must be a joke since no one of the pack can handle the Cullen's without sooner or later having to freak out on them" Jared argues, probably disappointed because of mine and Nova's choices, placing his arms over his chest in a defensive manner.

"You are right Jared, but I stand my case and you will not be the one to join us in the car when I get my medication this Wednesday" Nova says as Jared just rolls his eyes, clearly giving up on winning this fight.

"Anyway, I suppose Emily needs help preparing the food, I'll be in the kitchen if you need me" Nova continues with a smile, placing a small kiss on my jaw before she leaves the hall and enters the kitchen.

-

NOVAS POV

When the food is almost done and I'm on my way to make the table together with Paul, Quil, Leah and Seth enters the house. Both Leah and Quil gets called over by Claire siting on the sofa with her toys, telling them to sit down with her whilst Seth takes a seat at the dinner table in the kitchen. Paul offers me to take a seat while he finishes up the last parts of making the table.

"Hi" Seth breathes. With a tired look on his face he looks at me, but the smile he puts up is nothing but fake. The bruises covering his forearms and legs I know he resently fought a vampire, or atleast chased one, but that still doesn't tell me why he seems so sad. "Hi Seth" I answer siting down next to him. "Long day?" I ask.

"Yeah" He nods, looking down at his hands with freshly cut open wounds before he looks back up at me with a small smile, a real smile this time. "But now La push stays safe for a little while longer and that's all I'm here for" He continues as I scan him tip to toe, realising he must have been the one to come face to face with the vampire the most, if he weren't the only one to fight the vampire.

"Do you need stitches? Or something else, I'm sure we could work something out?" I ask, friendly taking his both hands in mine. He shakes his head. "No I'm fine I promise, I'll heal soon, we always heal" He says hurriedly, his mouth then continuing to say something I can't interpret, mumbling. Paul sits down next to me, placing his hand calmingly on my thigh, feeling my worry towards one of our closest friends.

"What happens Seth?" Paul asks, Seth imedietly meeting his gaze, mouthing words I once again can't understand, but Paul seems to understand.

"What did he say? Before you killed him?" Paul demands, making Seth close his eyes for a short second before looking back at me.

"It could just be a loose treath, I don't know" He starts, looking back and forth between me and Paul. "Tell us" I speak. Seth sighs.

"He said there are more of them coming, for revenge." Seth explains, I turn to give a quick glance at Paul but his expression seems as clueless as my thoughts.

"Revenge for what?" Emily asks, seeming to have been listening to our dialogue all along as she is making dinner. Seth looks down at our connected hands, mine kinda small grasping at his definitely bigger ones. Their roughness that still provides such gentle gestures reminds me alot of Paul.

"It seemed to have to do with the Cullen's. But since he crossed packland on his way there, I finished him before he got to them." Seth responds.

"Does Sam know about this?" Emily asks as Seth nods his head. "Yeah, we were about to finish our patrol when I caught it's scent. Sam was the one closest away from me, and after I killed it he came and ordered me to come here, taking help from Jake to get rid of the body." Seth explains as Emily places this big pot in the middle of the dinner table, telling Paul to go get the others whilst the food is still hot. He leaves my side after placing a quick kiss onto my cheek.

"I recommend you to let him take care of it, since you both were on patrol at the same time he must have heard the dialog between the two of you and if I were you I would let him decide what to do next." Emily tells Seth in a soothing voice as he nods agreeingly at her words. Emily sits down at the table just seconds before the whole pack enters the kitchen.

"It smells good in here" Sam says, hugging his wife from behind as she tries to hug back as good as possible siting on a chair.

"Yeah it definitely does. I'm starving!" Jake exclaims siting down next to Seth, giving him a gentle pat on the back whilst doing so. "Sam and I talked and we will stand by for now, so don't worry." He tells Seth in a calming manner. Seth sends him a thankful glanse as we start digging in on the food.

-

"She is coming this Friday, and not to exaggerate but she is really excited to meet you Nova, like really excited." Jared beames whilst talking about his girlfriend and Imprint Kim, you can really tell how much he cares about her just the way his eyes lit up talking about her. I nod with a smile, saying that I also can't wait to meet her, knowing that it probably would mean alot for not only Jared but also Paul if his imprint and his best friends imprint actually liked eachother.

"What happens this Friday?' Claire asks confused siting in my lap, looking up at me with her back towards me so that she almost hits my chin with the back of her head. From the corner of my eye, siting beside me on the sofa, I can see Paul jump a little at that, but he lets it go since no one were damaged.

"It's the weekly bonfire Claire, you know the one with all the hot dogs and hamburgers, where we tell all these cool stories about wolves, and you eat alot of marshmallows." Quil says standing up from the sofa opposite of us, walking over and crouching down in front of me and Claire, poking her in her little belly. Claire laughs at the ticklish feeling his finger made on her belly, smiling up at him as she spreads out her arms for a hug, and the second she's in his arms he runs off, with her and her toy off to the backyard as I hear both his and her laugh echoing through the house. She may only be five, but he may probably be the love of her life.

"So, have you asked the person you wanted to come join you to the hospital yet?" Jared questions with a raised brow and a smirk, impatiently waiting for an answer. Imedietly I turn to Seth across the room, watching him play a videogame with Jake, Brady and Collin. His back is facing my direction, and so I cannot tell if he is secretly listening to our dialogue or not. Paul rolls his eyes.

"I thought we cleared that you are not gonna be the one joining, Jared." Paul empathizes, putting an arm around my shoulders as I lean into his embrace, thinking this might be the best chance I'll get to ask him all day.

"Seth?"I ask, as not only Seth but the rest of the guys siting by the TV turns to me, obviously irritated that I disturbed them in their game. During the same second I can hear Jared whisper 'No way' under his breath, probably since I am about to ask one of the smaller wolves with not the biggest experience in vampires to come join me in a situation where being able to defend not only himself but me is the highest priority.

"Would you like to come join me and Paul in the car when I visit the hospital next time?"I ask genuinely, as Seth suprisingly stands up from his spot at the floor, walking over to where Paul and I sit before he sits down next to me.

"I would never have expected you to ask me, but yes, I'd love to." He smiles, pulling me into a hug.

-------

Yooo so apparently I DISAPPEARED for like 6 months. I'm so sorry, I had a personal crisis(like every year) and I also finished another semester of high school! Yay me!

Anyhow, hope whoever is reading this are having an amazing day and that your tomorrow is even better!

See you again when I have inspiration and I'm hopefully feeling less tired.