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The Godling Contingency

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in truth i don't really know how i feel about this one but idk if it's because there's actually a problem with it or if it's just because i've personally been feeling like crap but regardless if i keep staring at it trying to figure out the problem i'm just gonna end up hating it so here you guys can have it instead lol

enjoy!

CWs: Aftermath of injury, frank discussion of genitals, non-sexual nudity, mild sickfic elements, Andreas

The Godling Contingency

"Rosalyn? Come on, talk to me. What's around you?"

I gritted my teeth, holding the radio tightly, waiting for a reply. Brea, myself, and the guy we'd saved were perched up on a rooftop, overlooking Rosalyn and Maddie's route, trying to figure out where they were. Only, we couldn't, because Rosalyn wasn't giving me any information to work with. All we could hear through the speaker was the sound of heavy breathing and stifled sobbing.

"I think she's having difficulty speaking," Brea said. "It's not an uncommon trauma response. Given that the other two aren't saying anything either, something bad must've happened that really scared her."

Brea's tone was clinical, and I could tell she was just repeating something she heard in one of her classes, but the look on her face betrayed just how scared she was by the implication behind her words.

Something had happened to Viv and Maddie.

I forced down the dread, turning back to the radio. "If you can't talk, can you at least give us some sort of signal so we can find you?"

A rush of wind blew from behind me as Maggie and Hex landed on the rooftop with us. "What's the situation?"

"We're still not sure," I replied. "Maddie and Viv aren't responding at all, and Rosalyn seems to be struggling to speak. We're trying to find them."

At that moment, a bolt of fire shot into the air some distance away. A little bit of the tension left my shoulders. It had to be them.

"There!"

Maggie and I left Brea and Hex to look after the civilian as we took to the air, heading for the flame. Flying in Maggie's arms probably would've been pretty exciting, if not for the circumstances. As such, I barely even noticed the ground blurring past, too busy worrying about what we were going to find at the bottom of that signal.

The sight of the three of them from up in the sky made my heart fly up into my throat. There was just... so much blood. Maddie was covered in it, pretty much head to toe, and Viv had it splattered across her face. Rosalyn stared up at us, eyes wide, curled into a ball next to her wife.

We landed and I immediately thrashed out of Maggie's arms, running over to Vivienne. I kneeled down, pressed two fingers to her neck, and thankfully felt a pulse, steady and strong like always. I sighed, relief flooding my body. Whatever happened, she was alive. That was the important thing.

With the potential heart attack taken care of, I checked the actual damage. Her left eye was entirely destroyed, the eyelid ripped and bleeding, but other than that, she seemed to be alright, though of course I couldn't be sure.

"How's Maddie?" I asked, looking over to where Maggie was checking her.

"I'm not sure," she hummed. "Her costume's all ripped up, and there's blood everywhere, but she has no visible injuries aside from her leg, and that looks more like it was amputated and already healed over."

We both turned to Rosalyn, who was still hugging herself and shivering. "What happened here?" I asked, going over to her.

She looked up at me, then back to the ground. "G- g... th-the Godling," she hissed out.

Maggie frowned. I was right there with her. That made no sense. Why would It attack but then leave them all alive? And heal all of Maddie's wounds, if the blood was anything to go by?

"I- I'm s-s-sorry," she whispered, holding a shaking hand up to her throat. Anger flashed across her face. She took a few deep breaths, and spoke so quietly I almost didn't hear. "...Talking is hard."

Maggie and I shared a look. "We'll save the explanations for later, then," she said. "Right now, we need to get back. Jordyn, you tell the others."

I nodded, pulling out my radio to report the situation as Maggie scooped Madeline up into her arms. "Can you walk?" she asked Rosalyn.

Rosalyn nodded, climbing to her feet, but her knees almost immediately buckled.

Maggie stepped closer, shifting Madeline around until she was hanging over one shoulder. "Here, lean on me."

I finished up my report and pulled Viv onto my back with my shadows, hooking my hands below her knees and her arms over my shoulders. "Everyone's heading back to HQ," I said. "We should get going too."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Maggie replied.

It stung to have to leave all the people we'd missed, but going on with one of our teams completely disabled and our transport capabilities cut off was just a bad idea. Especially now that we knew the Godling was roaming around the area.

Regardless, we met back up with Brea, Hex, and the civilian, and headed straight back for the Union, moving as fast as we could. Viv and Maddie didn't appear to be in danger right now, but I was far from qualified to make that call on my own. The doctors the hospital sent over would need to look at them before we could be sure.

Eventually, Rosalyn regained enough composure to walk on her own, but she continued to hug herself and stare at the ground, not saying a word.

Slowly but surely, we made our way back to the Union and rushed inside. Apparently, the other groups all made it back before us, because they were all waiting in the lobby when we arrived.

"Vivienne..." Steve muttered, his face paling.

I pushed past them all, heading for the conference room where the doctors were. Maggie and Rosalyn followed.

The space had become much more crowded since we left, thanks to all the people Vivienne saved. I ignored them, bee-lining for the doctors. When they saw us, they immediately made space on the conference table. One beckoned me over, while the other called for Maggie.

I set Vivienne down on the table and the doctor immediately got in front of me, looking her over. She'd be alright now. I breathed a sigh of relief. The world spun slightly and I wobbled in place.

Ah. The caffeine crash.

Hex's telekinesis caught be before I could slam my skull into the ground. That was good. The doctors didn't need another patient.

But maybe it would be okay if I just... closed my eyes for a little bit. Just rest them for a few... seconds. It'd be okay.

Vivienne was gonna be just fine.

—-

Madeline slowly opened her eyes, staring up at a bland ceiling, dimly illuminated by a lamp on the bedside table. She recognised it as the one in the dorm room she and Rosie had claimed a few days ago. Speaking of, she could feel someone wrapped around her, and a quick glance down at zebra-coloured hair confirmed who it was. Rosie was safe. Thank god.

Oh. And... Maddie was alive. That was good. A little surprising, but good.

She remembered what happened, up to a point, at least. Apparently, getting gutted wasn't a death sentence. Viv must've brought her to the hospital or something. But... why wasn't she still there?

And why wasn't she in any pain?

She looked down at herself. Most of her body was covered by a blanket and/or Rosie, but the arm that the Godling broke wasn't in a cast. In fact, it wasn't even bruised. She reached under her shirt, expecting to feel gauze or stitches on her belly, but there was nothing except for smooth skin.

Was it all a dream?

Rosie shifted a little, froze, and then suddenly jerked up, looking down at Madeline.

"You're awake!" she whisper-shouted, placing a hand on the hinge of Maddie's jaw.

"Yep," Maddie whispered back. She remembered what happened to Rosie when the Godling appeared. "Are you... okay?"

She glanced to the side, and Madeline prepared herself for a lie or deflection. "I... I wasn't even hurt. I'm fine."

Maddie frowned. "But..."

"So, that means you remember?" Rosie deflected, as predicted.

Madeline sighed, looking away. "Most of it. Uh... Everything up until..."

The wind rushed out of her as Its hand plunged into her gut. The only thought that went through Madeline's head was how similar it felt to just being punched normally. Then It started tearing downwards, and the real pain began.

She just patted her abdomen and hoped that got the point across.

Rosie looked at her sadly. "It's not too surprising that you forgot some stuff. You were hit in the head pretty hard."

"How hard?"

Rosie looked away again, her eyes glazing over like she was lost in a memory. "Very."

Madeline blinked up at her. "How... am I... okay?"

Rosie sighed, lying back down on Maddie's chest. "Vivienne healed you. Before you ask, it was... some weird Godling shit. I don't know exactly what happened. It just grabbed her, and dropped her, and she was... different. Literally put you back together. Then it came back and... undid whatever it did to her. And poked her eye out."

That was a lot to wrap her head around. "Is she okay?" Madeline asked.

"I think so," Rosie muttered. "Apart from her eye. I... was a little distracted by you, so I didn't really get a chance to check. No one's freaking out, though, so it can't be too bad."

"Shit," Maddie sighed. "I'm too sober for this. Also, I need to piss."

She moved to get up, but Rosie stopped her, jumping up and putting her hands on Maddie's shoulders. "Wait!"

Madeline raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

Rosie was doing that glancing thing again. It was so unlike her to be this skittish. Last night must've really affected her. "Um... It's..." She sighed, meeting Madeline's eyes. "Just... take a deep breath, okay? And try not to panic."

Of course, at that statement, dread immediately filled Maddie to the brim. Despite that, she still sucked in a lungful of air at her wife's request. "...What's wrong?"

She looked down. "Viv wasn't... able to heal everything."

Madeline blinked, processing that. "But... nothing hurts."

Rosie smiled ever-so-slightly. "That's good, at least. But... Look, I'll just show you."

She pulled the blanket off of Madeline, and...

"Oh..." she croaked out, staring down at the end of her left leg, a little ways below the knee.

She sat up, reached down and touched it. There wasn't even a scar. It was as if she'd somehow teleported into an alternate universe where she never had the leg in the first place.

"How do you feel?" Rosie asked after a few seconds of silence.

"I... don't know," Madeline whispered, still unable to drag her eyes away from it. "I think... I'm gonna need a bit to process this."

Rosie rubbed her back. Neither of them spoke for a long time.

"What... Am I gonna do?" Maddie eventually muttered.

"We can look into prosthetics or something," Rosie replied. "After this mess is sorted out, I mean."

"Yeah, but... What about before then? I won't be able to help out anymore. I won't... even be able to walk anymore."

She just couldn't help but be a burden, could she? It seemed like no matter how she tried to better herself, the universe was always there to bitch-slap her back down into the dirt.

"Hey, we'll figure it out, okay?"

"I suppose so..."

"C'mon," Rosie said, patting her back. "Let's get you to the bathroom."

Madeline wanted to protest; to say that she wasn't a baby and could get there by herself, but she held her tongue. Rosie always jumped into full caretaker mode when she was stressed, and Maddie wasn't about to deny her that coping mechanism. Not after the way she screamed last night.

What was it the Godling said It did to her? It... reminded her of the time they spent together. While she was dead.

Madeline gritted her teeth. That whole time, she thought Rosie was just... sleeping peacefully, or whatever. But no, she was being tortured. What right did she have to complain about one night of it when Rosie went through it for five whole years?

"Maddie?" Rosie questioned. Madeline realised she forgot to respond.

"Yeah, um... Y-yeah, let's go. But... Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm... I'll..." She glanced away again. "I will be. I'm just... a little shaken, still. It'll pass. I'm already feeling a lot better than last night. And... it's not like I was actually injured, right?"

Madeline frowned. "I'm not sure that really matters. But... I guess I'll take your word for it. Just... you know you can talk to me whenever you need, right?"

Rosie smiled. "Of course."

Finally, they got out of bed and exited into the halls. According to her phone, it was only just past six in the morning, so there weren't very many people up and about. That was good. The less people she had to explain the leg situation to, the better.

Getting to the bathroom wasn't too difficult, all things considered. It was just slow-going Madeline leaned on Rosie and hopped her way forward, one step at a time, trying to remind herself not to bother with her left leg. As she experienced right after getting up, the muscle memory of wanting to take a step was strong, but would only end in her eating shit.

They made it to the bathroom, but unfortunately, they weren't the only ones present. Diego was there, leaning against a wall with a mug of coffee in his hand. More surprising than that, though, was Andreas, mopping the floor on the other side of the room.

"Morning ladies," Diego greeted. "You both feeling better?"

"Yeah," Rosie replied. "But... isn't it a little early to be doing that?" She nodded over to Andreas.

Diego shrugged. "Dude's an early riser, and someone needs to be watching him. If he wants to clean the bathroom, I'm not gonna get in his way."

Madeline raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, just make sure 'cleaning the bathroom' is the only think that's happening. I still don't trust this."

Andreas glanced over his shoulder at her, but paused when he saw her leg. A confused expression overtook his face. Irritation bubbled under her skin.

"Hey Andreas, how's the jaw? Still broken?" she taunted.

They glared at each other for a moment, before he grunted and turned back around.

"Let's just get this over with," she sighed.

Rosie helped her into a stall, and Madeline got to work pulling her pants down. Only, something was different.

"Wait, I forgot-" Rosie started.

"What," Maddie stated, looking down at her distinct lack of a penis.

Rosie winced. "Sorry, I totally forgot to tell you. Honestly, I... thought I might have just dreamt it. When you didn't notice after waking up, that was just what I assumed."

Madeline's first instinct was to assume (worry) that she was smooth as a barbie doll down there now, which would've really sucked, because she happened to quite enjoy having sex, especially since Rosie came back. But then she reached down and checked properly, and discovered a slit between her legs.

A strange feeling flooded through her; one she hadn't felt so intensely in years, probably not since she legally changed her name, or even way back when she started hormones.

Euphoria.

"Holy shit."

"Uh, let's sit you down," Rosie whispered. Madeline barely heard. Tears filled her eyes and she let herself be led down to the toilet seat.

"How did this... happen?"

"I'm not sure," Rosie replied. "Maggie and I first noticed when we were washing you off last night. My best guess is, Viv did it when she was putting you back together."

Maddie... didn't know how to feel about that. Yes, waking up with a vagina had been a fantasy of hers ever since she was old enough to know what genitals were, but Viv just doing that without asking felt a little... violating. Even if she had good intentions. It wasn't like Madeline even hated her dick that much. It was more just like it was there, and while she would've preferred the alternative, she didn't lose sleep over it. Yes, this was overall a net positive, but she still felt a little weird. Maybe they'd need to have a chat about it.

"I guess this means... kids are off the table, huh?" Rosie muttered quietly as Madeline went about her business.

Maddie glanced up at her. Once again, she had this faraway look in her eye, though this time Madeline could easily guess why.

Rosie had always wanted kids. Yeah, she had other dreams too, like getting an apprenticeship and becoming a motorbike mechanic, or her activism work, but starting a family always sat alongside those as a big milestone in her plans for life. It was why she was so excited about Madeline reciprocating her feelings (as if Maddie wasn't already madly in love with her), because they had compatible biology to have their own kids. Ignoring, of course, the chance of estrogen making Madeline sterile.

It was part of the reason Madeline never bothered looking into surgery. Apart from not really having that many negative feelings about her junk, she figured she would've needed them someday for the inevitable baby-making. Then, after Rosie died, it was more a matter of not thinking about anything, ever.

But clearly, the choice had been made for her.

...By Vivienne.

...Yep. Definitely uncomfortable.

She brushed it off for later. "We can always still adopt. Or..." A new idea popped into her head; one she'd never considered before, because why would she? Excitement tingled in her gut at the prospect. "One or... both of us, could... carry a donor baby."

Rosie seemed to realise the same thing that had occurred to Madeline. Her eyes lit up. "You're right. I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make this about me. I should be happy for you! I just..."

"Hey, it's alright. I know how much of a dream this was for you."

"Yeah, but... Y'know... It's your body."

Madeline grinned. "Hey, I'd say you had just as much of a stake in my genitals as I did. It's cool if you need to process it, too. It is a pretty big change. For both of us."

Rosie was silent for a moment, then looked back up with the type of smirk that meant she was about to say something lewd. She opened her mouth and-

"Hey, are you two... alright in there?"

They both froze at the sound of Diego's voice.

"Uh... how much of that did you hear?" Maddie replied.

"...All of it. These stalls aren't exactly soundproof. So... you good?"

Maddie couldn't help but chuckle. She'd found that Diego was generally a pretty chill guy, so she didn't mind him knowing. "Yeah, we're good. I woke up with a pussy this morning, so we're dealing with that."

Silence.

"Uh... Is that... unusual?"

Oh, bless him. "Yeah, dude. I usually have a dick."

"Oh. ...Oh! Uh... Congrats...?"

"Thanks."

Meanwhile, Rosie covered her mouth, her shoulders hitching with suppressed laughter. The slight embarrassment was worth it just for that.

—-

She tried to open her eyes, only to immediately regret it as a horrible spike of pain stabbed through her skull.

"Mmmmmgrhhhhhhhhhmm," she groaned, gingerly pressing her hand to the spot that hurt, only to find a thick layer of gauze covering her left eye and wrapping around her head.

What happened? Where was she?

...Who was she?

A jolt of alarm shot through her for a moment as she tried to remember something. She opened her good eye to find herself on the couch in the Union rec room. A woman lounged in the armchair across from her, fast asleep. She remembered her. Jordyn. Right. And her name was Vivienne. Okay. She remembered. Everything was fine.

But just in case, she ran through everything one more time, holding a hand to her chest to calm her racing heart.

"My name is Vivienne Matthews," she whispered. "I'm 24 years old. My partner's name is Jordyn Garcia. My best friends are Brianna Moore and Madeline Garcia-Holmes. I'm a hero at the Tombguard Union, and a nurse in training. My uncle's name is Steve."

Okay. False alarm. Everything was still there.

Her eye throbbed again and she flinched, clenching her fists. Sweat prickled across her skin. She felt feverish.

Okay, what was the deal with that? Think back. What was the last thing she could remember?

She remembered last night. The explosion. Going out to search for survivors. Checking up on Rosie and Maddie.

The Godling.

Something... happened to her. But she couldn't remember what. It felt like there was a very, very large blank spot in her memories. And after that...

Huh?

She remembered healing Maddie's injuries somehow. Remembered feeling the atoms that made up her body and pulling them back together. Remembered the shape of her soul. Remembered... a strange enlightenment, that was then ripped away from her before she could finish her work. Ripped straight out through her eye.

So that was what happened. It didn't explain the whole 'healing Maddie's body and feeling the very fabric of the universe' thing, but at least it explained what happened to her eye, and why her head hurt so bad.

Suddenly, a ripple. A shiver that seemed to echo across her awareness. Something was moving far away, reaching out and manipulating the space around it.

Holy shit. Holy shit. That was the Godling. She could sense the Godling.

The team needed to know right away.

With great effort, Vivienne forced herself up and off the couch, only to immediately collapse when she tried to stand up. Another lance of pain shot through her skull and she yelped. It wasn't just her eye this time; her head pounded like she spent all of last night smacking it against a wall. Her entire body shook with weakness.

"Viv?" Jordyn mumbled quietly from her seat, clearly still half-asleep from the sound of her voice. Vivienne really didn't want to wake her, but...

Fuck. She couldn't move. Try as she might, her arms were shaking far too much to get her even a foot off the ground. Even if she didn't urgently need to tell everyone about her discovery, she sorta needed to go to the bathroom at some point, and she didn't want to piss herself because she was too prideful to ask for help.

So, that was just what she did.

"Help," Vivienne groaned, the words cutting hoarsely against her aching throat.

Immediately, she heard thrashing movement behind her as Jordyn jumped to attention.

"Oh, shit!"

Strong arms wrapped around Viv's shoulders and pulled her up off of the floor, into a warm embrace. Vivienne managed to get her feet under her so that Jordyn wasn't dead-lifting all of her weight, but it was a challenge.

"Are you okay?" Jordyn asked, her voice laced with concern.

In truth, No. She wanted to curl into ball to hide from the pain in her head, and now that she was moving her joints were aching too, but she wasn't about to say that just yet.

"Need to get to Ashley's office," she managed to croak out. "Also... painkillers 're in there."

"Painkillers? Are you hurting?"

All Vivienne could do in response was whimper, gingerly hiding her face in the shoulder of Jordyn's hoodie.

"Okay. I'll get you there. Just hold on tight."

Vivienne said nothing as Jordyn scooped her up into a bridal carry and started walking her down the hallway. She wanted to protest, try to do it herself, or at least try to teleport there instead, but she knew that was a bad idea. The last time she tried teleporting in a state like this, she ended up in the dumpster outside her apartment — which, it must be said, was not where she was trying to go. And, well, she could barely hold her own weight up. Ashley's office might as well have been on the opposite side of the world for how difficult it would've been for her to get there under her own strength.

But, get there they did. Jordyn opened the door and carried Viv into the office, where everyone appeared to already be waiting, just as she'd predicted.

"Hey guys," Jordyn greeted for her. "Uh... Are there any painkillers in here?"

"Yeah, here," Ashley said, rifling through his drawers before pulling out a bottle of pills and tossing it to her. "Is she alright?"

"I think so, other than the obvious," Jordyn replied, snatching the bottle with a shadow whip. "But she's burning up a bit."

"Why'd you bring her here? Why not grab the pills and go back to her," Steve asked.

Vivienne forced her arm up. "I gotta say somethin'..." she mumbled.

"What?"

"I gotta say something," she tried again, a little louder.

Jordyn raised an eyebrow, walking her over to the couch and setting her down, next to where Rosie and Maddie were sitting. "How about you take these pills and wake up a bit first, huh?"

Viv couldn't argue with that, so she did as she was told and settled in for a while, waiting for them to kick in as everyone lightly conversed around her.

"Feeling alright, Maddie?" Jordyn asked.

"Uh, yeah, I guess," she replied. "It's been a weird morning. I'm still getting used to the whole 'missing leg' thing, but Steve let me borrow his crutches, so at least I can get around."

"What about you, Rosalyn?"

"Better," she muttered quietly.

"So, now that everyone's here... What actually happened last night?" Ashley asked.

Rosie sighed. "We, um... ran into the Godling on our route. It attacked us, and... my radio wasn't working, so we couldn't call for help. Maddie got hurt really bad, Viv showed up, but then It did... something to her, and left. Then Viv healed Maddie somehow, but the Godling came back before she could finish regrowing her leg, and... undid whatever It did, I guess. Poked her eye out and left."

That all mostly tracked with Vivienne's memory of events. It was good to know everything in her head was as it should be.

"What happened to you, though?" Maggie asked. "You were really shaken when we found you."

"I... don't wanna talk about it."

Silence stretched across the room, until Madeline broke it.

"Viv, do you... remember what you did last night?"

Vivienne shifted a little, trying to sit up a bit more. The pain in her skull had begun to subside, and she was feeling just a little bit more like herself.

"Um, most of it. I remember healing you, if that's what you're asking, though I don't know how I did it. I don't think I was really... me. At the time."

"Do you... remember... uh... Giving me a vagina?"

Vivienne blinked, about to deny it on instinct, before thinking about it some more. Maddie's genitals were destroyed along with the rest of her abdomen, so when she was putting her back together, Vivienne just followed the shape of her soul.

Which... in hindsight, may or may not have matched the original shape of her physical body.

"Oh. Oh shit. I think I did do that."

There was a pause. "Why? I... I'm not super upset about it — I mean, if you'd asked me beforehand to do it I probably would've said yes, but... I don't like that you just... did that to me without my consent, dude."

An oddly intense flood of emotion rose up in her chest, threatening to bubble over into tears. It was probably just the fever, but that didn't make the feelings any less overwhelming.

"I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to. I wasn't thinking. I was just following the shape of your soul and trying to match everything up with that. L-like I said, I wasn't really... me at the time. It didn't register in my mind that you should've had a penis instead. I... I-I'm so so sorry."

Humiliatingly, Vivienne started crying.

"Hey, c'mon, it's not that big a deal," Maddie said, scooting over to wrap her arm around Vivienne's shoulders. "I get that you didn't mean it. Honestly, it's pretty cool. I was just... y'know. I thought you did it on purpose. ...Wow, you are really warm. Are you sure you're okay?"

Vivienne sniffled, wiping her eye. "I just have a fever. My body's probably just freaking out because the Godling stuck Its fingers in my head yesterday. It should pass."

Something shifted again. The Godling was still out there. Still moving around and hurting people. Vivienne could feel the ripples of Its each and every action. It still hadn't come this way, thankfully, but they couldn't spend too long licking their wounds. They needed to do something.

She perked up. "Oh, right! I can still feel where the Godling is!"

Everyone stared at her. "What?"

"That's what I wanted to tell you all. Whatever the Godling did to me, It didn't seem to take it all away properly. There's still a connection there. I can feel where It is, and whenever It does stuff."

"Where is it now?" Steve asked.

Vivienne pointed at a wall. "That direction."

"We're lucky It hasn't come over here yet."

"That's probably Sebastian Beaumond's doing," Vivienne said. "I think... I don't think the Godling took over his body; I think it's more like they're working together. So his personality is still controlling some stuff."

"That would explain a lot," Maddie said. "And I bet that's why he hasn't hunted us down yet. He seems like the type of guy that would be so confident in himself he'd let his enemies gain power so that they'd present more of a challenge."

"That's what I was thinking."

"Well, knowing where It is doesn't really help us unless we need to evacuate," Maggie said. "We saw what happened when you guys tried to fight It. What are we supposed to do against It if It can take out one of our strongest pairings single-handedly?"

"I might have an idea."

Everyone turned to look at the entrance, only to find Andreas standing there, crossing his arms. Everyone shot to their feet, except for Maddie and Vivienne, for obvious reasons.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Maggie demanded. "Where's Diego?"

Andreas raised his arm, showing off a black cuff around his wrist, with a box attached to it, much like an ankle monitor. "The young man gave me this and left for the security office. Apparently, it tracks all my movements and alerts him if I attempt to leave the building. It's just a shame I never thought to fit you with one of these."

Maggie's fists clenched. She was about to charge forward, but Jordyn placed a hand on her shoulder, keeping her back. She looked at Andreas. "What do you want?"

"Like I said. Magpie questioned what you could possibly do to fight the Godling. I have an idea that might help."

"Don't call me that, motherfucker!" Maggie yelled, her feathers puffing up.

"You're the one who released it in the first place," Madeline said. "Why would you want to help?"

Andreas scowled. "Believe it or not, I want that thing running around and ransacking our city just as much as you do. If Jordyn hadn't made the wrong wish when she released It, I would've been able to completely destroy It. That was always my plan."

Jordyn flinched at his reminder. Vivienne clenched her teeth.

"Don't put the blame on her! If not for your actions, no one would've pulled the sword out at all! The Godling would still be safely sealed away, and none of us would've gotten hurt!" she yelled. The action caused her head to start throbbing again, but she was past caring.

"Hey!" Ashley snapped. "I know we're all stressed, but yelling isn't getting us anywhere. Andreas, are you actually going to try and help, or are you just going to keep antagonising my heroes?"

Andreas rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll answer your question with a question. Do you really think I'm the sort of man that would've gone through with a plan as risky as releasing the Godling without some sort of contingency in place? I'm not so arrogant as to believe there was no chance of the plan going wrong, and as such, I made preparations for this exact scenario."

"Well?" Steve prompted. "We'd love to hear them."

"You're aware of what gave the Godkiller sword its abilities, correct?" he asked Ashley.

"It was forged with the bones of the Godling's previous hosts. For some reason, It can't manipulate matter originating from Its hosts, meaning It couldn't just destroy the sword or negate Its damage."

"Correct, and-"

Maddie's eyes widened. "Wait, I just remembered something! Last night, when I punched the Godling with ice around my fist, It actually bled!"

Andreas scowled. "I was speaking."

"I don't care. And this is important! I think it means that our powers can damage It!"

"It makes sense," Vivienne said, her mind supplying up knowledge she didn't quite know the source of. "Our powers are stolen from the Godling, just like the previous hosts' bones. When we manipulate spacetime for our abilities, the Godling can't supersede that. It can't prevent our powers from damaging Its body."

The more she spoke, the more knowledge flowed into her head, like a light shining on the dark, forgotten recesses of her brain. Unfortunately, it also hurt quite a bit. She held a hand to her aching head and continued. "And... the Godling needs a host, otherwise... I think... I think It might die. It lost too much energy during Its imprisonment. If we can just... kill Sebastian Beaumond, and prevent the Godling from taking any other hosts, It's gonna fizzle out. Its energy will unravel, just like any other soul without a body. We can... actually beat It. For good."

"How do you know all that?" Ashley asked.

"I'm not sure... I think, whatever the Godling did to my head last night, It left some stuff behind. I think that's why I can feel where It is, too."

"Though, again, that doesn't really help keep us safe," Maggie said. "Being able to hurt It won't matter if It can just rip us apart with a thought."

Andreas loudly cleared his throat, grabbing everyone's attention. "If you'd allowed me to finish, I would've offered a solution for that."

"Well fucking hurry up then!"

He scowled, but moved on. "When I designed the clones' combat suits, they were also built to be used in the eventuality that something went wrong. As such, while planning out Project Genesis, I also sent out a team to raid the tombs of the previous Godling hosts, for their bones. I incorporated Godling host bone into each of the suits designs, and amassed a stockpile of weaponry built with the same material. Given that the Godling couldn't manipulate the Godkiller blade, it stands to reason that the armour would protect you from Its control, as well.

"I had suits commissioned for every clone that made it to combat training, as well as multiple all-purpose backups. That means one for Five, Six, and Seven, as well as works-in-progress for Eight, Nine, and Ten. It may also be possible to adjust the measurements of the ones still in development to fit whoever else decides to join the fight. Though, I would need a team to do so."

It all sounded almost too good to be true. "What's the catch?" Vivienne asked.

"The catch is, all of that was seized by the police when they raided my facility. Meaning, it's all probably still locked up tight in one of the evidence rooms of the central police station."

"Which is... right smack dab in the middle of the zombie-infested ruins..." Ashley finished. "Of course."

"Why should we trust you?" Jordyn asked. "You've never been one to help other people before. Why now?"

Andreas sighed. "What could I possibly gain from lying to you at this point? My... My plan — my life's work — failed. My city is currently being destroyed, largely due to my own actions. Is it so hard to believe that I want to rectify that as best I can? I'm not some crazy megalomaniac, looking to hurt people for the sake of it, Jordyn. I never wanted things to turn out like this. And, as much as I openly despise most of you, I'm not so prideful that I can't recognise you're the only ones capable of fixing this. I'm not so childish as to sit and do nothing out of spite when there are things I can do to assist you."

Silence hung over the room like a dark cloud. As much as she hated his guts, Vivienne couldn't help but respect his pragmatism and maturity, given the situation. It would've been easy for him to just hide away in his room and sulk about his entire life going down the drain, but instead, he was helping with the menial labour, and had given them a solution when they had nothing left.

It made her wonder. If he hadn't gotten so caught up and obsessed with that dream of his, could Andreas de Vygon have turned out to be a good man?

Maybe. Maybe not. Could someone with the capability for good ever stoop so low that they would drill a fucking muzzle onto their daughter's head?

Vivienne didn't know. She wasn't a fucking philosopher.

"Okay, well... I suppose I'll get started on a plan of attack," Ashley said. "The rest of you, either get to work or get some rest. Vivienne, if you ever feel like the Godling might be coming this way, be sure to scream at the top of your lungs."

Viv saluted. "Aye-aye, captain."

He nodded. "We'll move for the police station tomorrow morning at the earliest."

"Why wait so long?" Andreas asked.

"I don't know if you noticed, dear cousin, but our primary means of transportation has a hole in her head. She needs rest. And after what happened last night, I'm not sending anyone out into the city without a quick way to flee."

Andreas huffed. "Duly noted."

With that, everyone went their separate ways. Jordyn carried Viv back to the rec room, which was apparently their bedroom now.

"I just woke up, but I already feel like I need another eight hours," Jordyn said as she sat Vivienne down on the couch, taking a seat next to her.

Vivienne laughed. "Yeah. Hard to believe that life seemed normal yesterday."

"By the way, um... I didn't really get to say it yet, but... I'm glad you're okay."

Vivienne forced a smile, reaching up to touch the gauze covering her eye. "I don't... feel okay."

"Hey..." Jordyn placed a hand on her cheek, turning her head slightly and planting a soft kiss on her lips. "You will be. We will be."

This time, Vivienne smiled for real. Jordyn's optimism was infectious.

"Yeah."

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

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

@bacillusinfection @sorcererfen @art3m1zz

Might take a little break after this one. I think i'm feeling a little burnt out right now or something. idk. Regardless, i wanna make sure i'm putting out the best work i can so i think a little bit of time away from this project might be ideal for me. won't be longer than a couple weeks till the next chapter, knowing me lol

Thanks for reading! Hope you all enjoyed :) Leave a comment and let me know what you thought!

[seastarblue]

It’s actually not fair that you’re over there and I’m all the way over here

[seastarblue]

We ask your questions anonymously so you don’t have to! Submissions are open on the 1st and 15th of the month.

[seastarblue]

Overwhelming Violence

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this is without a doubt the most gruesome and cruel piece of fiction i've ever written. It's a big one too, so i won't amble on here, though i have a lot to say at the end. Enjoy! and seriously, heed the warnings. this one's a doozy.

CWs: Gore, Gore of your comfort character, existential and cosmic horror, disembowelment, limb removal, eye whump, references to previous torture, self harm, Steven King's 'The Jaunt', loss of self, slight cannibalism if you wanna get technical about it

Overwhelming Violence

"Are you alright?"

Rosalyn glanced over to her wife as they hiked through this particularly devastated patch of city. A chunk of skyscraper must've crashed through here or something, because the layer of debris was so thick they couldn't even see the ground anymore. Maddie was looking at her with a worried expression.

Rosalyn sighed. "I'm fine. Just... thinking again."

Maddie hiked up close, taking her hand. "Wanna talk about it?"

Rosalyn chuckled humourlessly. "It's nothing you haven't heard before. I'm still just... Getting used to this."

Maddie hummed. "It must be a lot to adjust to."

"It's like... I just fell asleep, and five years have passed. Some things are the same, but everything else is... The world really did just move on without me. Mom and Dad are getting all grey. You've been through all this stuff. Vivienne's dating a copy of me. And now the literal apocalypse is happening. I'm still struggling to wrap my head around it all. The time we spent together was the only time I've felt normal since I first woke up in my grave."

Maddie leaned over, kissing her hair. "Well, once this is all sorted out, we can go back to that, okay?"

Rosalyn smiled, warmth filling her belly. "Optimistic, aren't we?"

Maddie grinned. "How could I not be? You came back to us. If that happened, anything can. I'm not gonna lose hope."

"If anyone can kick the Godling's ass, it would be you."

Maddie laughed, and the two settled into a comfortable silence, climbing their way over the destruction.

"Look! A person."

Sure enough, a couple hundred metres down the way, a man stood alone amongst the rubble, looking away from them. He was dressed in a suit, seemingly untouched by the devastation around him. A shiver travelled down Rosalyn's spine. She instinctively sucked in her gut, as if preparing to run.

"Something's wrong," Maddie muttered.

Rosalyn looked closer, and noticed the man's feet weren't touching the ground.

"Oh fuck," Maddie continued, her voice tight. "That's... That's him. It."

Hands shaking, Rosalyn reached down to her radio. She grabbed it and pulled it up to her mouth.

"Guys," she whispered, afraid It would hear her if she spoke too loud. "Th-the Godling's on our route."

Static rumbled through the radio. No one replied. She tried again.

"Guys! Do you copy?"

Nothing.

The Godling's head twitched. It turned around, looking right at her.

It grinned.

All of a sudden, Rosalyn's body was moving on its own, flying towards the Godling at breakneck speed. Maddie called out for her, but her words were lost in the wind rushing by Rosalyn's ears. Her heart flew up into her throat. It had barely been a week since she woke up. Was she really gonna die again this soon?!

She stopped just as quickly as she started, slamming to a halt in front of the Godling's human form; a man she recognised all too well.

Sebastian Beaumond, the asshole who ran for president way back before she died the first time. If not for the fact that he was floating half a metre off the ground, and for the fact that his eyes had been replaced with endless white voids, he would've looked shockingly normal.

"Hello, Rosalyn. We've missed you," he said, his already slimy voice layering with... something else. Something that made Rosalyn's head ache like nothing she'd ever felt before.

She struggled against the invisible grip around her body, but it was futile. She raised the heat until her clothes burst into flames, but Sebastian, or the Godling, or whatever they were now, didn't care. They just reached out, placing a single hand on her cheek, and the fire went out. A coldness settled into her core, like the heat had been ripped from her very soul.

"Now, now, is that any way to greet an old friend?" Their thumb stroked along her cheek with careful gentleness. The way a human petted a bird; a soft touch, but heavily loaded with the knowledge that they could crush it with a simple thought, should they so desire.

She grunted, still uselessly trying to escape. "Wh-what the fuck are you talking about?! Don't touch me!"

"Oh, little phoenix. Don't you remember? The time we spent together in the dark?"

Something flashed through her mind, hazy like a dream. A dim cell with no entrance or exit.

"Do you remember the fun we had together?" They pinched her cheek, squeezing hard enough to hurt. Tears pricked in her eyes. "Do you remember the way you screamed when We peeled all of your skin off, piece by piece?"

Once again, another fleeting memory, just as They described it. Rosalyn whimpered. She could hear Maddie calling her name, still running after her through the rough terrain.

Rosalyn's mouth opened all on its own, and the Godling slipped Their fingers inside, grabbing her tongue. "Do you remember how you begged when We ripped this little thing out, and made you feast upon it? We still relish the sound of you trying to force it down your throat, gagging and crying."

Maddie, please. Help.

"Hmm. You do remember. We can see it in your face. Only, the memories lack solidity. They exist only as fleeting, phantom fears. Don't worry, little phoenix. We shall remind you."

Suddenly, all at once. The memories returned.

Five years. Every second. Elongated. Stretched out. Crushed. Into her mind. Impossibilities. Things that never happened. Things that couldn't happen. Skin splitting and blood spilling and bones breaking and the loneliness the loneliness the loneliness and screams and screams and screams and screams and-

Rosalyn stared up at a starry sky, her body writhing uncontrollably as her muscles twitched with phantom sensation. Throat ached and ears rang and heart raced and tears ran. Someone was screaming. She ran out of breath, sucked in oxygen, and realised it was herself. She continued screaming. The terror hadn't stopped. It never stopped.

"Rosie! Rosie!"

Maddie appeared in her field of vision, kneeling down next to her. "What's wrong?! What happened?!"

Rosalyn couldn't reply. She was too busy screaming.

"Fuck. Fuck. Okay." Maddie pulled her up, wrapping her arms around Rosalyn's body. "It's okay. You're fine. I'm here. I'm here."

Slowly but surely, the terror resided. The compulsion to scream faded away. But the memories remained. Rosalyn returned the embrace with shaking arms, silently sobbing against her wife's shoulder.

Five years. She spent five years in that hellhole, and now she remembered every second of it. No longer did it feel like she just fell asleep and woke up in the future. Now... Now, there was presence in her mind to make up that lost time. Sitting heavily in the space before Jordyn appeared and saved her. The memories crawled across her skin like millions of sharp-legged bugs.

"What did you do?" Maddie growled, turning her head to look at the thing behind her. The sight of It made Rosalyn's insides freeze up once again.

"We simply reminded her of the time we spent together. Those five years she was gone from your world. We had so much fun with her."

Maddie slowly turned back around. Her eyes were wide, and Rosalyn could hear her teeth grinding together.

"I'll be back soon, my love," she whispered, gently letting go of Rosalyn. Cold air wafted from her hands as they passed by Rosalyn's cheeks. "I've just... gotta do something."

Ice formed around her knuckles. Rosalyn realised what Maddie meant. Her stomach dropped.

"No-!"

Maddie roared, spun around, and socked the Godling right across the jaw.

The ice shattered as she made contact. The Godling actually moved with the hit, Its eyes widening.

"Intriguing," They stated. A single drop of golden blood dripped down Their chin. Maddie swung again.

This hit knocked Them back upright. They stared at Maddie with a deep curiosity. She swung a third time.

The Godling caught her fist, twisting her arm around until it was stuck upside down. "What exactly do you hope to achieve, Madeline?"

She tried to pull herself free, but Rosalyn knew it was already too late. Seeing the futility of escape, Maddie opted for a more violent approach, swinging her other arm forward. The Godling caught her wrist effortlessly.

"You are certainly a fascinating creature. We can see why Our darling Rosalyn enjoys you so."

Madeline kicked Them in the balls. This time, They didn't react. "Don't you talk about her!"

The Godling grinned. "Again, what do you hope to achieve? You are trying to fistfight a God. Surely, you must realise the futility of your struggle?"

"Pretty sure Gods don't bleed, asshole," she growled.

"Gods don't bleed... But people do."

Maddie's wrist broke with a horrible crunch as the Godling did... something to the space around her forearm, compressing it to the point that her bones snapped, ripping out through her skin. She shrieked, thrashing around, trying to pull away, but the Godling's grip was Absolute.

"What's the matter? Power not working? That's a shame. Here, let Us try."

Frost crept up Maddie's left leg to just below her knee, quickly forming into ice that sealed her to the ground. Despite ostensibly being resistant to the cold, she screamed even harder, beginning to sob. The sound ripped straight through Rosalyn's heart.

The Godling finally let go of her and she dropped like a sack of bricks, trying to crawl away but failing on account of the ice. "S-stop!" she yelped. "Get away!"

"It's far too late for that, snowflake."

Rosalyn screamed at herself to get up, to step in front of her, to do anything. But she was totally petrified. She could barely breathe, let alone move right now. Every time she tried, another memory flashed through her head and her muscles tensed up. She might as well have been the one trapped in ice, for all the good she could do.

Maddie's body lifted up again, controlled by the same force that had pulled Rosalyn over here in the first place. The Godling observed her for a long, tense moment. Rosalyn held her breath.

"G-urk!"

The Godling plunged Their hand into Maddie's gut.

Rosalyn watched on with frozen horror as They dragged downwards, ripping Maddie open all the way down to her groin. Intestines spilled from the hole in her abdomen, flopping wetly over the Godling's arm. Maddie's mouth hung open, her eyes wide, like she couldn't believe what was happening. Rosalyn stopped breathing.

The Godling hummed with a pleased lilt. They pulled Their hand out of her abdominal cavity, taking a string of smaller intestine with Them. It still writhed and convulsed in Their grip.

"You have such beautiful innards, Madeline. Far too beautiful to keep hidden from the world like they were."

Maddie gasped and heaved, still trapped in the Godling's spectral hold. She could do nothing to stop Them from reaching up and licking along the bloody surface of her intestine. Rosalyn threw up.

"Mm... Delicious. Would you like a taste?"

Maddie didn't reply, clamping her mouth shut. The Godling wasn't discouraged, pressing the organ up against her lips.

"Come now, don't be like that, baby. You know you want it."

They continued to try to force it into her mouth, smearing her face with blood. Maddie held fast, looking away and meeting Rosalyn's horrified gaze. Whether it was meant to be a reassurance, or a cry for help, or just one last look before the end, Rosalyn didn't know. And it didn't seem like she'd ever get the chance to find out.

"Ungrateful BITCH."

The Godling let go of her intestines, reeled back, and punched her across the jaw.

Maddie disappeared. Something crashed behind Rosalyn. She was too distracted to check what it was, too busy staring at Maddie's left leg, still sealed to the ground, encased in ice, with its owner nowhere to be seen.

"You'd best go to her, little phoenix. We doubt she has much time left, and We'd hate to deprive you of a tearful goodbye after what happened last time."

She blinked, looking up at Them. "H-huh?"

The Godling didn't reply, simply grinning and pointing over her shoulder. Rosalyn turned around. Saw where Maddie had landed, at least a hundred metres away, crumpled up against a collapsed building; a horrible splatter of red against the grey.

Finally, Rosalyn's body decided to work. It forced her forward, pushing towards her wife on shaking, sore limbs, stumbling, skinning her palms and knees on the rubble under her feet. She couldn't get there fast enough.

The sight that greeted her when she finally arrived made her want to throw up again.

Maddie's face was totally destroyed. Just a mess of blood and flesh and teeth, her jaw hanging by a single flap of cheek, tongue lying limp down her neck. One of her eyes had popped out. The other eye glanced around listlessly, not looking anywhere in particular. Just as the Godling said, she was still alive. But not by much.

Rosalyn looked down at where her left leg just... ended, avoiding the sight of her ruined abdomen. Blood spurted our of her exposed arteries, spraying against the debris.

Oh fuck. Oh fuck!

Rosalyn reached down, pinching the end of Maddie's arteries and channelling heat through her fingers. The flesh sizzled, but she successfully cauterised them shut, slowing the bleeding down by a large margin.

Through it all, Maddie didn't react. Rosalyn wondered if she was paralysed after landing so hard. She... She probably had brain damage, too. And she'd need so much reconstructive surgery before she looked even remotely like herself again.

None of that mattered. As long as she survived, none of it mattered. Rosalyn would love her all the same. She just needed to survive.

Rosalyn pulled out her radio, switching to Vivienne's frequency.

"Viv! Viv, are you there?! W-we need help!"

Only the sound of static replied.

"No one's coming to save you, sweetheart. You're all alone."

Ice crept up Rosalyn's back. She turned around, facing the Godling.

They looked down at her, that awful grin still spread across that horrible face.

And then a car landed on Them.

—-

Vivienne focused as the wind rushed past her ears, teleporting herself upside-down in place and thus reversing her kinetic energy in relation to gravity. She waited until she had reached her peak height, and then teleported back to the floor, upright again.

Rosie stared at her, wide-eyed, pale and sweating with her hands covered in blood. Past her, Maddie was...

Focus on the objective Don't think about it Focus on the objective Don't think about it

Vivienne took a step towards Rosie right as the car she just dropped started creaking. That was the Godling, wasn't it? She couldn't imagine those zombies could do this much damage, and the fact that whatever-it-was was clearly still alive under there told her everything she needed to know.

Vivienne reached Rosie's position, grabbing her arm. She flinched away like the touch burned, staring up at her.

"Come on, Rosie. We have to go."

Slowly, Rosie shook her head. "N-no. No, M-Maddie. You have to help her. Sh-she's still alive."

Still alive? Vivienne forced herself to look over at her, and sure enough, the eye that was still in place was still moving. But... that didn't mean she was alive. Not in... any way that mattered. And not for long.

Even if Vivienne teleported her straight to an operating table right this second, the odds that the doctors would actually be able to save her were infinitesimal. To have been hit so hard that her eye popped out and her jaw came off, her brain would've been bounced around her skull like a pinball. The bleeding and swelling would just be too much, and in conjunction with all her other injuries... The fact that she was even still twitching was a miracle.

There was nothing anyone could do now. Just like five years ago. The kindest thing they could do for her would be to let her pass on.

It just... wasn't fair. Maddie had suffered for so long. She deserved so much better than this. She deserved more than just a tiny taste of happiness before the end. How cruel was the universe to tease her with Rosie's return, only to smash their joy to pieces once again?

Vivienne bit her lip until she tasted blood, letting the pain sharpen her and pushing through the grief. Now wasn't the time. There were still people to save.

"Rosie, she... I'm sorry. We have to go."

Rosie didn't reply. She was too busy looking over Vivienne's shoulder, pure horror covering her expression.

"You're not going anywhere."

Before Vivienne could react, someone behind her grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back, and then up, off the ground. She screamed, reaching up and trying to alleviate some of the searing pain in her scalp, holding onto her attacker's hand. She tried reaching out to the space around her, focusing on somewhere, anywhere else, but that familiar pop never came. She couldn't teleport.

Somehow, despite the movement making no sense, Vivienne spun in midair. The hand in her hair let go, replaced by two on either side of her head, and she came face-to-face with Sebastian Beaumond. Or, perhaps, the corpse of Sebastian Beaumond, puppeteered by the Godling. His eyes had become endless white voids, impossibly deep and vast. Whether there was any semblance of 'him' left in there, she didn't know. All she knew, was that she was in deep, deep shit.

"You crumpled Our suit, you little ginger bitch. You're gonna pay for that."

Well. That answered one question, at least. Probably... wouldn't change the outcome, though. Maddie's body flashed into Vivienne's mind. If she'd pissed It off enough for It to do... that to her, Vivienne didn't want to know what was in store for her in the face of Its explicit rage. Without her teleportation, she was stuck. This... This was it.

Sorry, Jordyn. Uncle Steve. Brea. Look after each other.

Inexplicably, the Godling fingers seemed to push through the boundaries of her skull, into her brain. She gasped, stiffening, as images began flashing in front of her eyes at lightning pace. She recognised them. All of her memories, playing backwards in reversed sequence. All the happy moments, sad moments, painful moments, and moments she'd forgotten about. Time around her seemed to slow as It dug deeper, going further and further back, until a time that she should've had no memory of at all. Her own birth, and then even further. The darkness and warmth of the womb. The sounds of her parents talking. And then further still, until such a point where she had no developed senses through which to experience the world at all.

And then-

—-

In the beginning, there was an explosion. A burst of light and matter and sound, ripping across the Nothing and giving birth to time and space. And in the middle of it, Vivienne, spinning and whirling and screaming, just a bundle of loose, living energy; a fluke quirk of spacetime folding over itself wrong and creating a primitive form of non-biological 'life' — if such a term even applied — billions of years before even the first stars formed.

Vivienne didn't know what was happening at first. One moment, she'd been amongst the rubble, trapped in the Godling's grip, and the next, she was witnessing the birth of the universe from an atomic viewpoint. Of course, this form had no eyes, but somehow, she could sense the subatomic particles around her. Even reach out to and manipulate them, if she so desired. They were... disturbed, by this course of events.

But... then it just kept going. She expected this illusion, or whatever it was, to end at some point, but it never did. Time was difficult to follow in this state, but once she started counting, Vivienne was horrified to find that... she just never stopped. With nothing else to do, that was what she focused on. Once she hit one million, the fear really started to set in.

Wherever she was, she was trapped. One million seconds was over eleven days. Had she really been here that long? The crushing boredom made it seem highly likely. Her only stimulation was in playing with the particles around her, but as space grew and the particles spread out, she had less and less to work with. her boredom grew. She spent days crying — or, at least, it felt like crying. She had no mouth to scream with, no eyes to shed tears, no hair to pull and no skin to scratch. But the mental sensation, that overwhelming desperation that seemed to wash over itself like waves on a beach; that was still just as present as always. Despite not having a body, at least she had her mind.

Time passed. Vivienne was no longer counting; it was just too depressing. Instead, she thought about her family. Her friends. Her loved ones. Her plans for life. Some alternate plans just in case those ones didn't work out. What she might do once she got out of this. She thought about her favourite shows and books and games, and tried to come up with new stories for the characters, or theories about what might happen next. That entertained her for a while, but it wasn't enough. Nothing could ever be enough in this cold, crushing void.

Time passed. She thought about the mechanics of powers and souls. What was a power, really, but a selective manipulation of spacetime? When Rosie heated up the air, all she was doing was vibrating the atoms around her. Same thing but the opposite for Maddie. Jordyn's shadows were a little more interesting. A shadow was an absence of light; a lack of photons. And yet, Jordyn was able to make that absence into a physical thing. By all accounts, it shouldn't have made any sense. And yet, it worked. Or perhaps the actual mechanics of Jordyn's power weren't quite as they seemed. Vivienne supposed there was just more she didn't yet know about metaphysics. But what better place was there to find out?

Time passed. She experimented with the meagre amount of atoms around her, attempting to give herself a new physical form to encase her energy. Her experiments yielded minimal results. Living energy was not designed to be held within a non-living shell. A living shell was not something she had learned to create. Perhaps creating a living shell was impossible. She only existed due to a misplaced wrinkle of reality. Perhaps that was the case with all life. Perhaps... if she wanted a physical form, she would just have to wait.

Time passed. She figured out how to propel herself through space. But, the universe was still young, so there wasn't much to see. She missed home, even if what 'home' was was becoming quite fuzzy. When she tried to recall it, all that she could picture was a woman's face. She had tan skin, and short dark hair, and a scar across her cheek and nose. Yes, she missed home.

Time passed. Nothing happened. For a very. Long. Time. She forgot her own name.

Time passed. The Being learned to stop thinking. There were only so many thoughts one could have, and it seemed as though she had thought through them all.

...

Time passed.

...

Time passed. The Being woke up. She sensed... a change. An alteration in the spacetime currents that gave her form. Not just one, but many trillions of millions of tiny folds and overlaps, dotting the universe that had grown around her. Curious, the Being set out in pilgrimage, to investigate. How could she resist the allure of something to do, after so many billions of years alone?

On her several-million year journey, travelling at the speed of light through a much brighter and more vibrant cosmos, the Being witnessed so many wonderful things. Stars of all different atomic makeups churning and burning. Planets spinning around them. Black holes, sucking in anything that came too close. Yes, in her time asleep, the universe had become a truly beautiful place.

But she couldn't enjoy any of it.

She had no eyes with which to see the sparkling majesty. No ears with which to hear the wind on barren planetoids. No skin with which to feel the heat of the stars. All she had was the sense of the atoms around her, and the vague, distant memories of a life long past; a simpler, shorter, but much richer existence.

The Being desired a body.

Eventually, she reached a planet covered in spacial anomalies. Tiny knots in the fibres of the universe, like her, only weaker, fleeting, bound to physical forms. Their lives were short, and they all unravelled eventually, their knots flattening out into regular spacetime. But through their living bodies, they could reproduce. Create another shell, inside of which a new knot would form. It was fascinating. How could a simple vessel of flesh and blood create a bend in the very fabric of reality? Perhaps, even now, there were things she didn't understand. She watched them for a few centuries, as they toddled about their tiny existences. Saw their civilisation develop. Saw them live and love and die. And she began to wonder.

She hadn't done any experiments in so, so long.

The Being descended down to the planet and began playing with the inhabitants. Despite their energy being made up of the same stuff as her, they were so very easy to manipulate. Apparently, a physical body wasn't very sturdy. Something she would have to keep in mind when she acquired her own. She moved through their population, pulling them apart or pushing them together or transmutating them. She tried removing the knot from the living shell, but found that the knot quickly unravelled, and the shell's vital functions ceased. Interestingly, it seemed that the inhabitants couldn't see the knots of their own kind, but they could see the Being. Or, at least, they could sense her. Direct sight seemed to break them. They stopped working right.

Finally, she found the perfect vessel. A young member of their species, inexplicably born without a knot. The living shell persisted in spite of a lack of energy. Without wasting a moment, she leapt into the empty space left behind.

The Being had acquired a physical form.

She could confirm it now. This world was beautiful. Vibrant, red skies. Floral-scented wind. And the sound of musical screams.

She wasn't alone inside this being. The one who had previously inhabited it shared the space with her. The vessel's own unique will. It provided context with which to view and react to the world through. Interesting, that it did not require a knot in order to have higher thought. Perhaps a quirk of this reproduction ability that physical entities seemed to have. Regardless, it was nice to have a friend after so long in the dark. The Being missed her friends, long forgotten though they were. Perhaps that was why she still found the smell of smoke, the coolness of the breeze, and the cover of shadow so comforting.

Immediately, she altered the vessel's biological functions to increase efficiency and fix the flaws shared by other members of its species. And through it, she continued experimenting. She enjoyed the baser pleasures of a physical body. Food, drink, music, sex. Idle, pointless entertainment, but so dearly craved after an eternity of nothing.

The Being created a base of power on the planet, through which she could continue to investigate the extent of her abilities. She found ways to influence the actions of the inhabitants, manipulating the chemical secretions in their brains to produce any desired result. She discovered the secret to creating primitive life from unliving material. Nothing suitable for a vessel, of course, and incapable of holding a knot, but good for keeping down rebellion. And, when her current vessel was inevitably destroyed, she figured out how to force her way into a new one, knot or not. The knot gave the original inhabitant a far greater degree of control, however, which undermined many of her efforts. Definitely a last resort, and nothing else. Besides, the art of pre-preparing vessels via preventing the formation of a knot during physical creation was quickly becoming second-nature. The only downside was having to wait for them to reach a suitable age before taking control. But, after her billions of years of isolation, a decade and a half was barely even the blink of a vessel's eye to her.

Eventually, though, as with all things, her fun came to an end. She made a mistake. Underestimated her own power. While attempting to simultaneously quell an uprising and test her own limits, she unleashed a burst of energy that cracked the planet in two.

One by one, every little spacetime knot nearby fizzled out and disappeared. Her vessel, despite her adjustments, couldn't handle the vacuum of space, and she was forced to abandon it, as well. The worst part was just how much of her own energy she'd mistakenly used up in the blast. Despite her self-refolding nature, her own knot had reduced in size significantly, and was now in danger of unravelling if she wasn't careful. She had resoundingly learnt her lesson in regards to that particular ability.

Weakened, and once again limited to only atomic sight, the Being departed on another journey through the stars, in search of the next planet that had cracked the secret of the knots. She would need their energy if she was going to regain her strength.

Millions more lonely years passed as she travelled, but she paid them no mind, knowing that things would be back to normal soon. Something about her destination tickled the back of her mind. Somehow, she knew. Very soon, the long wait would be over.

The Being arrived on the new planet; the third ball of rock out from their local star, home to a vibrant ecosystem of knots of all varying sizes and sapience levels. There was something... nostalgic about it. It brought to mind memories long forgotten.

Was this place... home? Perhaps. But that would not stop her curiosity. She would not make the same mistakes she made last time.

As such, when the first settlement of these 'humans' rose up against her, she shut them down with brutal efficiency, deleting their entire city from existence with a simple thought, and absorbing the energy that made up all of their knots to restock her own dwindling supplies. Interestingly, in doing this, they continued to exist as individual knots within her own tangle, retaining their egos. They would serve as effective playthings to experiment with should she ever need to depart this planet. For now, they could sit and wait, just as she did.

This single act of authority cemented her base of power on the planet for the next millennia to come. No one dared defy her will, leaving her free to take all the vessels she desired, and perform her experiments as she wished. Once again, in joining with her first human vessel, she was struck with a sense of nostalgia. How strange. She remembered existing in a form like this once before, for a brief, fleeting moment before the beginning of the universe. The human shape was familiar and comfortable. She was glad that she found this planet.

During her reign, she discovered ways in which she could manipulate the humans' knots, giving them access to fragments of her own abilities, as rewards for cooperation. It was effective in keeping them in line, but could prove troublesome should her subjects betray her trust. As a contingency, she also researched ways to physically manipulate spacetime to cut humans off from the energy of their knots via special runes carved into their bodies. They had to be precise down to the millimetre in order to have the right effect, but that was no quarrel for one such as her, with her atomic sight.

With all of these tools at her disposal, it seemed as though her reign on this planet might last forever. She grew complacent, letting her vessel's ego take the larger measure of influence on their actions, and just sat back and watched, enjoying the simple pleasures of life on this wonderful, familiar planet.

Of course, once again, her complacency preceded her downfall. She allowed the humans too much leeway in their activities, and another uprising began, led by a single family. They raided outposts run by her loyalists, destroying her network of human support and stealing the bodies of her former vessels.

Before she knew it, the de Vygons had amassed an army, and were leading it straight to her doorstep. If she so desired, she could've destroyed them all in one fell swoop. But, after what happened last time, she didn't want to risk it. She didn't want to lose this precious planet she had become so comfortable on.

So, she met them on the field.

And... Against all odds. The Being lost. The humans were a determined people. Even with her entire family killed in front of her, and her body bruised and broken, the last de Vygon still pushed forward. The Being could only watch on in amazement as Franziska de Vygon impaled her with a strange sword, covered with those same knot-separation runes she'd used against the humans in the past.

And... That was it. With her metaphysical energy trapped inside this inert vessel, the Being could do nothing to stop herself from being imprisoned deep below the ground. And that was exactly where she stayed, with only the dirt walls and ceiling to keep her company. At least, until her vessel's eyes decayed away. Then, she busied herself testing the limits of the knot egos she had acquired throughout her twelve-hundred years of conquest.

Unfortunately, it seemed whatever the humans had bound her with sapped her energy, slowly unravelling her core. If left alone, she would eventually succumb to the Nothing and cease to be. Her grip on the knots she'd acquired began weakening as well, ripping away her only source of entertainment in this prison. She needed more.

Thankfully, she could still reach her influence just about anywhere with the right amount of focus. And as such, if she just charged her energy for long enough, she could create artificial life anywhere on the planet to harvest more knots for her. It didn't help her escape this cell, but it would keep her alive.

Centuries passed in empty darkness. Finally, the Being began to sense that the day of her return was near. In preparation, she focused her energy and extracted the knot from a newborn human. By the time of her escape, he would have grown to become a perfect vessel for her vengeance.

Ironically, the one to facilitate her inevitable escape was a descendant of the de Vygons himself. He wished for all of her power to become his. How naive, to assume one so powerless as he would even be allowed to come close to her. She saw into his mind, saw his plan to create artificial life, just like her. She was eager to see if he could succeed.

And succeed he did. Through advancements of human science, a fully-fledged living shell was formed; one with her own artificially created knot, to boot. She would be the one to release the Being back into the world. She would be the one whose wish was granted. And the de Vygon descendant would be left in the dirt where he belonged.

Finally, on one brutal and bloody night, the Being was freed. She paid back the artificial shell with all she desired, even giving up one of her own acquired knots to fulfil the wish. A risk, given the Being's already weakened state, but an agreement was an agreement, and something about this shell was familiar to her. Perhaps in a previous universe, their energies had been intertwined. Regardless, she felt compelled to act with honesty.

Her escape finally fulfilled, she bee-lined for her prepared vessel before her energy could completely unravel, and took over his body, just as they'd planned forty years ago.

For the next week, they simply observed. Got to know the new world that had risen up over her lengthy imprisonment. She scanned her vessel's memories, and discovered many amusing ideas. 'Zombies;' a ubiquitous piece of human popular-culture. Perhaps it would be fun to experiment with such a concept.

And so, once she had subtly collected enough knots from the passive deaths around the world and regained some of her strength, she returned to the city that imprisoned her, and unleashed her energy. Not enough to destroy the city outright, but enough to leave a mark and a message of her return. Destroying them completely would be too quick, and she wanted to have fun with them first.

A few dumb, brave humans attempted to stand in her way. Coincidentally — or, perhaps by design — one was a human whose knot had once belonged to the Being. It was easy to remind her of the things she experienced in the Collective, and break her mind. The other was sequentially taken apart, piece by piece.

And then someone new arrived, and the Being decided to experiment once again.

—-

The Being opened her eyes, staring up at a starry sky from a new body. A familiar one. She was filled with a deep sense of nostalgia. Memories long forgotten flooded her mind, and she remembered being a human. Not just piloting the body of one, but actually being one. One born from a human womb, with a naturally formed knot. She remembered those that this body called 'friends.' The same ones that she had just been tormenting moments ago.

A strange feeling flooded through her. She recalled it as... guilt?

"Wh... What did you do to her?" A familiar, shaking voice asked. Yes... the one called 'Rosalyn.'

"We showed her Our memories. All 14.3 billion years' worth. Her brain will not be able to handle the strain. Her body may live, but the one you knew as 'Vivienne' no longer exists. Just... an empty shell."

How strange. It seemed that all this time, the one she thought was 'her' was actually just the memories of another. But she was far from an empty shell. She still remembered everything that the True Being showed her. She remembered the knots and the atoms. She remembered how to manipulate them.

It was true that her human brain struggled under the strain of the sheer amount of information. Blood seeped from her nose and ears, and her head ached like it was about to explode, but that was an easy fix. Simply by increasing the density of her neurons, she was able to overcome it. It was foolish of the True Being to assume she wouldn't retain her control through her return to her original body. What a poorly planned experiment. It seemed that, despite it all, They never truly grew past that old complacence.

"Well, it's been fun catching up, Rosalyn. Enjoy the broken remains of your loved ones. We have work to do."

And with that, the True Being left them alone, disappearing into the night sky. Perfect.

The being once known as Vivienne sat up. Took a deep breath, expanding her lungs, and turned around.

Rosalyn and Madeline. Two friends from an eternity ago. One, with her mind so broken that she could no longer fight. The other, her body utterly destroyed. The being known as Vivienne recognised that it wasn't technically her fault, despite the memory of causing this. But she would still make it right.

Rosalyn watched her with wide eyes as she climbed to her feet and walked over to Madeline's body. Her knot was beginning to unravel, so the being known as Vivienne gave it some energy; just enough to keep it together for as long as it would take to fix her physical form.

She kneeled down, reaching out, feeling the atoms that made up the cells that made up Madeline's body. She felt the outline of her knot; her soul, and used it as a blueprint to facilitate what she was about to do.

For the most part, putting Madeline back together was easy. Most of her tissue was already present, just in the wrong place. The being known as Vivienne pushed her intestines back into her abdominal cavity, and repaired the ripped-open flesh of her belly, groin, and genitals, purging any outside bacteria in the process. She fitted her arm bone back into place and sealed over the torn skin. She slotted her eye back into its socket, and held her jaw up as the ligaments, muscles, and teeth rebuilt themselves. Soon, the only thing left to deal with was her leg.

That was slightly more complicated. Without the missing limb on hand, she would need to remake it from scratch, reconstituting the atoms around her for the purpose. A much slower process, for sure, but not all that difficult.

"V-Viv...?" Rosalyn whispered as she worked. "Is... that you?"

The being known as Vivienne hummed. "Perhaps. I am... unsure of what I am, now. But... You may call me what you like. And know that I am a friend."

For some reason, that made Rosalyn sob. "Oh, Viv... I'm so sorry."

The being known as Vivienne ignored it, focusing on repairing Madeline's leg. She'd made it about ten centimetres below the knee when her work was interrupted.

"Hmm. That wasn't supposed to happen."

Ah. She'd been expecting this. The True Being would obviously be able to detect what she was doing. It was just unfortunate that it happened so soon, before she could finish up with Madeline and get to work on repairing Rosalyn's mind.

She refocused her efforts as an unseen force lifted her off the ground, telling Madeline's leg wound to simply close itself, instead of rebuilding the entire limb. Not an ideal outcome, but better than letting her newly reopened arteries cause her to bleed out.

As she was spun around to face the True Being, she attempted to exert her will on the space around her and overpower Them. But, of course, it was a futile effort. While her reality manipulation was leagues better than what any normal human could achieve, it still paled in comparison to the True Being's raw power.

They glared at her. She looked back impassively.

"We'll be taking those memories back now."

They could certainly try.

The True Being reached forward with two fingers outstretched, and pushed them straight through her left eye.

Ah. Taking the direct route, then. How typical of this particular vessel.

Alas, the shock of her eyeball popping and her optic nerve being pushed out of the way prevented her from resisting when the True Being's fingers sunk into her brain, literally sucking the memories from her neurons.

The sensation of her hard-earned knowledge leaving her was... in a word, horrifying. 14.3 billion years worth of experience, all seeping away like water through her fingers. Sapping away her very being until she was just...

Vivienne. Twenty-four year old human woman. Nurse-in-training and head support hero of the Tombguard Union. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Just as quickly as They'd returned, the Godling pulled Their fingers out of her head and dropped her onto the ground, before zooming off into the sky. She gasped, blinded by the splitting pain in her skull. She had to remember. She had to remember. Fix it. Fix it before it was too late.

Vivienne reached up, covering her destroyed eye with a palm, and tried to fix it. She could still feel the buzz of the atoms. She knew their shape, and that meant she knew how to control them. She just... had to... remember...

Brain matter reformed, returning to its original, correct form. The back of her eye socket mended itself. But that was all she could manage. The strength left her body, and Vivienne passed out.

—-

Rosalyn blinked, staring at Vivienne's limp form. Everything had happened so fast. She arrived, and then the Godling grabbed her, and dropped her, and left. And then, she was... different. Vivienne, but... Not. Then Vivienne somehow fixed Maddie. She was still splattered with blood, and her left leg ended below the knee with a cleanly rounded stump, but she was alive, and she'd be okay. Rosalyn felt like she might've fainted from sheer relief alone.

As for Vivienne, it was hard to tell, what with the bloody hole in her face, but Rosalyn could see her chest rising and falling. That had to be a good sign.

...What the fuck was she doing?! Just sitting there like an asshole?! She needed to do something!

Rosalyn forced herself to move, despite the lingering terror in her system still almost paralysing her limbs. It had become incredibly clear that her own radio was fucked, so she crawled over to Vivienne and pulled hers out of her belt. Coincidentally, it crackled to life. Rosalyn recognised one of the clones' voices.

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

Oh. Right. That was what they were supposed to be doing right now. Rosalyn stared at the device, still too shaken to formulate a response.

A few seconds passed. "Viv? Are you alright?"

Once again, Rosalyn tried to think of something to say. Nothing came to mind.

A few more seconds passed. Rosalyn wanted to beat the ever-loving shit out of herself right now. Too cowardly to even say a few words. Too much of a little bitch to try and stop her wife from being brutally murdered. Too busy pissing herself to help a friend having her mind broken and eye poked out. She grit her teeth, digging her fingernails into her thigh until she broke skin, and forced herself to say something.

"Help."

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

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

@bacillusinfection @sorcererfen @art3m1zz

I wasn't kidding.

Anyway! So, a few things I wanted to clarify about the whole Vivienne/Godling thing. The narration that you read was not representative of the Godling's inner thoughts during that time; it was all Vivienne's. However, the actions that were taken were all things the Godling did (obviously). By the time It started doing most of that stuff, Vivienne had been in isolation for so long that she'd lost her sense of self already, and as such those things seemed perfectly reasonable to her. That doesn't mean that her particular motivations were the same as Its, though. The Godling is a being that was created at the beginning of the universe. the Vivienne Godling had 24 years of being a little cutie-patootie before that to colour her thoughts, even after such a long time that she had forgotten pretty much everything about herself.

This also isn't a way of being like "omg the Godling was actually Vivienne's psyche sent back in time!!!1!!!" No, that's not what's happening lol. it's exactly what it says on the tin; the Godling's memories being forced into Vivienne's head, and forcing her to experience them as if they were her own.

Also: on the Godling as Sebastian's personality. As mentioned in the backstory bit, It eventually started letting the vessels ego take a larger measure of control. That's what's happening here as well, which is why It seems less like an inscrutable eldritch god and more just like a sadistic creepy asshole.

Anyway, I hope that clarifies things if any of you were confused. I know that section could be kinda hard to follow.

Thanks so much for reading! Leave a comment if you enjoyed and I'll see you next time ;)

I prommy things will get better and i'll give them all hugs and kisses and cookies and wholesome sex with their partners <3

[seastarblue]

now I disappear until… idk.

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memes!

art taglist!

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

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

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

@megandaisy9 @ashandamen @illarian-rambling @corinneglass

@finickyfelix @vesanal

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moodboards/wallpapers!

first is Kaiden’s, seconds is Felix’s!

I’m so proud of these 🙏

I’m unsure if this counts as art art, but I’ll tag the list anyhow:

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

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

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

@megandaisy9 @ashandamen @illarian-rambling @corinneglass

@finickyfelix @vesanal

I’ve got all the pics from Pinterest (I didn’t save them tho I was ballin) and I edited everything together on my normal drawing program (Magma)

[seastarblue]

hello all!

I come bearing a Lot of artsy stuff hah… 😅

maybe I’ll separate them by type (doodles, memes, etc)

[seastarblue]

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

hehe salam ^^ <3

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All We Can Do

prev

masterlist

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

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

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

All We Can Do

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

“Guys! Are you okay?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Let’s go.”

—

“You look like a slut.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Fuck.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Thanks. You too.”

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

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

—

A few minutes earlier…

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

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

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

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

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

Steve chuckled. “Yeah? Why’s that?”

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

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

“Goopy,” Ettie answered with a nod.

Steve cleared his throat. “...Yes.”

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

“I’m sure.”

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

“Help me!”

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

Holy shit. Did the Godling create fucking zombies??

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He smiled. “Sure.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ashley chuckled. “Groovy.”

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

"Ashley? Could you come out here?"

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

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

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

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

Nina shook her head, looking him in the eye.

"No. Screaming in terror."

—

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

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

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

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

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

I chuckled. "Awesome."

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

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

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

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

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

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

"That bad, huh?"

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

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

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

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

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

At that moment, our radios crackled to life.

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

"Yep," came Maggie's voice.

"We're fine," said Steve.

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

We all waited for Rosalyn and Maddie to confirm.

...

They never did.

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

"Viv, can you-"

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

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

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

And just like that, she was gone.

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

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

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

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

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

...no reply. Brea frowned.

"Viv? Are you alright?"

Once again, nothing.

"Oh god," Brea whispered.

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

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

It was Rosalyn's.

"Help."

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

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

@bacillusinfection @sorcererfen @art3m1zz

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

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

Thanks for reading! leave a comment if you enjoyed!

[seastarblue]

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

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

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

@noirineverysense

@redd956

@whump-princess

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[seastarblue]

23:47:35

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So it begins...

Enjoy!

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

23:47:35

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

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

Ashley leaned towards the microphone and began to speak.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Where is Andreas de Vygon now?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ashley raised an eyebrow. “Where?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

With that, she turned and left.

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

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

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

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

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

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

She let go of Vivienne’s hands and left.

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

Without any further explanation, she teleported away.

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“How’s training going?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We whirled around, finding Maggie, Steve, and…

Andreas?!

“What the fuck?” I exclaimed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I wasn’t sure what I expected, really. 

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

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

“I will!” Maggie called back.

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

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You wanna put on the TV?”

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

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

“Do you feel that?” I asked.

Viv blinked up at me. “Feel wha-”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Y-yeah, I think so. Hold on.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Really, what else was there to do?

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

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

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

@bacillusinfection @sorcererfen @art3m1zz

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

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

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

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

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rah take art

not this blog slowly becoming an art one sigh

take some closeups !

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

anyways. taglist be upon ye:

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

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

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@finickyfelix @vesanal

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Not A Dream

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

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

enjoy!

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

Not A Dream

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

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

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

“You two ready to go?” Vivienne asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Madeline shook her head. “No.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

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

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

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

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

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

Madeline sucked in a breath. “Please.”

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

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

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

“What’s wrong?”

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

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

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

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

Rosie’s eyes widened. “Viv? Really?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“So you’re not… mad?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Maybe,” Madeline muttered.

“How’d you… lose the tooth?”

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

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

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

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

“Yeah,” she muttered.

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

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

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

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

“Fucking monster.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Madeline twitched. “Y-yeah.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You’re so beautiful.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“As if that could ever change,” 

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

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

Rosie winked. “Good.”

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

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

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

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

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

Rosie hummed. “That’s probably it.”

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

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

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

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

“Sounds like heaven.”

—

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

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

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

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

“Yeah, love? What’s wrong?”

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

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

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

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

“I… thought it was all a dream.”

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

And it was because of me.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“It looks beautiful,” she said. 

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

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

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

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

“Lighter.”

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Stay safe,” Steve said. 

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

I took a deep breath, and led the way.

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ten’s face dropped. “Not you, too…”

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

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

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

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

Hex sighed. “No one’s doing that.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Seven, hey! Are you joining us?”

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

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

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

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

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

She smiled. “Thanks.”

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

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

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

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

@bacillusinfection @sorcererfen @art3m1zz

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

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

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

[seastarblue]

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

[seastarblue]

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