#it's both her feeling sad that she unwilling made Link into the hero because she became friends with him BUT it's her saying that doesn't

[skyview-temple-spring]

Zelda fandom stop misinterpreting Zelda's "I'm still your Zelda" challenge

[attllhak]

Hey, uh, @lemonlurkrr I uh, I saw you asking about FD stuff a few days ago, and I remembered I wrote a thing based on the mythology my best friend and I came up with a while ago, so I dug through my google docs and found it again. I dunno if you’re still looking for stuff, but uh, here you go regardless, I guess

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Termanius huffed, hands on her brother’s shoulders. The Fierce Deity was groaning, bent double and grasping his middle to stem the flow of dark and tarnished ichor originating there. His left hand was still wrapped around the grip of his sword, the massive double helix blade buried in the ground.

Majora stood a few feet away, cackling like a maniac. They found this whole thing hilarious, as only something born of Chaos could.

Termanius grit her teeth. No help would be coming, Hylia and Lolia both busy with their own Chaos entities, fighting their own demons. This was a battle she and her brother must face alone. And she was done sitting back.

Termanius was a Guardian Goddess, a protector of the Triforces. Termina was her domain. Time, Light, Protection, each Guardian Goddess was all three, though they each embodied one more than the others. Hylia was Light, magic poured and focused through her harp and sword, her smile and laughter bright. Lolia was Protection, her scepter and shield dangerous weapons when raised to defend others, and she was unwilling to ever back down when people needed her.

But Termanius was Time, and time was a passive force. It passed no matter what occurred, and it’s flow was impossible to stop. Termanius had no harp and sword, no scepter and shield. She had no artifact to wield against evil, because she wasn’t active like Hylia and Lolia, she just watched and oversaw. All she had was an ocarina, an instrument and not a weapon. Instead she had her brother, her precious twin, the terrifying War God, the Fierce Deity. He was meant to fight for her, his double helix blade wielded in battle in her name. Termanius was not a fighter, and so that was all the Fierce Deity was. They were meant to be a balance.

He was not supposed to die for her.

He was not supposed to die doing her job.

Termanius was the Guardian Goddess of Termina. She was meant to guard these people and their Triforce from evil. The Fierce Deity was only meant to support her.

She would just have to guard him too.

“Terma,” Fierce Deity reached out to grab her wrist as she stood, lifting his head to her, glowing eyes full of pain and worry. “Stop, what are you,” he cut off with a cough.

Termanius reached down and set her hand over his, ignoring the warm and wet feel of his ichor on her wrist from his grabbing her. “Relax, Oni,” the nickname rolled off her tongue with a pain she didn’t understand just then. Time was a fickle thing, and seeing through it a curse as much a blessing. She remembered giving it to him like she’d lived it again just seconds before. “I’m just going to be doing my job,”

“Hey, Fierce Deity!” Hylia waved the towering man over, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “I just realized, Terma has a nickname since her name is so long, but your name is two words and you don’t have one. What gives?”

The Fierce Deity shrugged, confused. “Do I need one?” His voice rolled over the plains like a rumble of thunder, powerful and wild.

“Cut the dramatics, Fiercy,” Lolia waved, rolling her eyes and adjusting the bracers on her arms. “You don’t need the voice with just us,”

“Fiercy?” Termanius repeated.

“No,” was the only response from the Fierce Deity, though he had dropped the voice.

“I’m with Dea here, that sounds like something an 11 year old human would come up with,” Hylia smiled, even as her sister stuck her tongue out at her.

“Dea?” Termanius echoed.

“No,” Fierce Deity repeated himself.

Hylia threw up her arms as Lolia laughed at her.

“What about Oni?” Termanius offered, both her sisters giving her a weird look.

“Doesn’t that mean ‘demon’?” Lolia asked. “I thought I read that somewhere,”

“Oh, but he’s our demon!” Hylia cooed, leaning over to him. “A demon to fight the demons.”

“I can fight demons just fine on my own,” Lolia huffed.

Hylia waved her twin off. “Sure, you can. And I’m no pushover myself, but Terma’s not a fighter. She could use a demon to help her out,”

“True,” Lolia agreed.

“Well,” Termanius looked at Fierce Deity. “How about Oni?”

Fierce Deity hummed, then nodded. “Acceptable,”

The girls cheered, then Lolia and Termanius convinced him to sit down, shortly before Hylia started draping him in flower chains without letting him know. She got to ten before he noticed he was wearing flowers this time.

It seemed so long ago, that life belonging to another person now, though her domain over time made it seem like it was mere minutes ago, simultaneously. Now, her older sisters had both been slain by demons of Chaos themselves, Demise and Ruin stealing the twins from divinity and trapping them in mortal reincarnations. And now this Majora threatened to steal not just her brother in the same way, but threatened all she was meant to protect. Termanius would not lose anything else. Lolia may be the Goddess of Protection, but Termanius was meant to protect this world and its people. Hylia may be the Goddess of Light, but Termanius had magic too, and she planned to use it. 

She reached out her hand, pulling forth all the power in her possession, her might and desire and desperation and hope pooling together and spilling forth with a cry. She wouldn’t let this demon hurt her people, her brother, her home. She was the Guardian Goddess of Termina, and she would guard her plane.

Majora stopped laughing.

When the light dimmed, all that was left was a barely visible goddess and a floating mask, Majora’s twisted and grotesque visage in all it’s markings. Termanius couldn’t seal like her sisters, but she could do something they couldn’t. She could transform.

The mask that used to be Majora dropped, their screams still echoing in Termanius’ mind. She dropped to her knees a moment later herself, weak and tired. She wasn’t meant to do so much at once.

“Terma,” there was a cough and a soft thud, and Termanius twisted to see Fierce Deity collapsed behind her.

“Oni!” She crawled to her brother’s side, turning him over, struggling as her hands clipped through him. His injury had grown. “Easy, easy there brother. You’re gonna be okay,”

“No, I’m not,” the amount of words used had Termanius pulling back. He wasn’t usually so vocal. “Neither are you,”

“Don’t be so pessimistic, we’ll be fine,” Termanius tried to smile at him to reassure him.

“No,” his voice was firm, and he grabbed Termanius’ wrist, the fading appendage not affecting his grip. “No, it’ll be back. You can’t fight it when it does. I can’t heal from this. A reborn god alone can’t beat a demon. You know what needs to be done.”

Termanius would deny the tears started here. “No, we��ll be fine, you’ll see, we’ll, we’ll be fine, you just have to hold on,”

“Terma,”

She broke, sobbing into her brother’s chest, desperate for another way, but knowing there was none. “I’m sorry,”

A bloody hand in her hair. “I am too,”

She hid Majora’s mask, deep in the woods of her world, hidden and buried where none would find it if they were lucky. Her brother she took up to the moon with her, the plains within it where they and their sisters used to play a fitting last place for them to be, she felt. The Moon Children hovering around, waiting. They knew what would come, and what she would ask of them. They had agreed.

Termanius pulled her brother close, sobbing into his chest as she held him in her lap. He cried tears of his own, silent and sad and accepting, holding her in turn.

The siblings were engulfed then in light, a final act of protection from the both of them for their people.

When the light faded, all that was left was a white haired mask with blue and red markings sitting on the ground where the twins used to be.

...

Eons and eras later, after a violent split of the timelines in Hyrule, Majora’s mask was found and donned. With a heavy heart, Termanius looked out and knew there was no one in Termina now who could host her brother and defeat him.

She needn’t have worried, as when she heard her name cried out in desperation, looking down had her noticing a small deku scrub, no a Hylian, who was strong enough. A fairy called out for her aid, and that’s when she realized this small Hylian had her ocarina. A savior sent to her by her sister when she needed one most.

He made it to the moon, spoke with the Moon Children. He took her brother’s mask.

He put it on, and he and Fierce Deity defeated Majora, finally and forever.

This boy, this Hero chosen by Hylia, saved Termina. This eleven year old Hylian boy named Link who did with her brother’s power what the two gods could not.

He called Termanius’ brother ‘Fiercy’.

[wedreamedlove]

Bai Qi’s Vitality [Character Study]

Essay train chugging away at full speed here, haha. This comparison came into my mind while I was ruminating over Xu Mo's post and it was actually what made me jump the gun to push out Xu Mo's before I read his Prison Date (more accurately Imprisoned Dreams Date...) because this essay for Bai Qi jumps off of Xu Mo's post.

Disclaimer: I use CN translations and also spoiler warning for R&S synopses for end of Season 1.

First, I want to quote some lines from weibo user @我写文太差被关了起来 (lit. "My writings are so bad I got locked up" LOL) whose post I don't really agree with, but she wrote these three lines for Bai Qi that sunk its claws into me and won't leave:

"If I can only choose one word to describe Bai Qi then I would choose 'vitality'."

"He doesn't wish to love this world."

"He has always loved this world."

If Xu Mo both yearns for companionship [Loneliness] but is innately separated from the world [Into Your World] and ruthless to himself in accepting that furthering his goals may continue to keep him alone, then Bai Qi is separated and aloof from the world by choice.

If Xu Mo has a detached view and an intellectual curiosity or fixation on the abstract concept of survival of humanity, then Bai Qi is down on the ground experiencing the world in its natural state and trying to protect it, individual by individual.

I'm not saying one is better than the other (they're both my biases) but it's neat to contrast them. I've mentioned here and there that the LovePro men are foils for each other in interesting ways.

Anyway, I wrote this piece [Price of Freedom] but there was a missing link I had a hard time articulating and now it's been delivered to me! So, while Bai Qi has made MC his home and the North Star he always goes towards, he can actually survive on his own because of his innate core of justice.

I know it's a common thought that Bai Qi revolves around MC too much and she's like a goddess placed on a pedestal because she gave him a new life, but what I want to argue is that while she did give him a new lease on life she isn't the sole meaning of his existence.

MC is incredibly important to Bai Qi, but the quote below shows what she really gave him when he awakened his Evol from her piano playing.

"His existence didn't need a so-called father, what people called friends, or an accepted meaning." [Campus Date]

He becamse self-actualized right then and there. He doesn't need to rely on anyone or anything to live now except for what he himself decides on.

Now, I'm going to plop an entire scene from his [Fullmoon Date] because it's going to lead into my next points. Please keep in mind the words from the weibo user at the top:

(But also, why did Elex translate the entire date into present tense? Ballsy LOL. Not only does it break consistency from their previous dates but the source text was in past tense and not written for present tense.)

The full moon was reflected in his eyes and in my muddled state I could faintly hear the growl issued from his throat.

His claws slowly grew and tore into his palm. A blood-red light gathered in the center of his hand and it became a sparkling crimson heart-shaped crystal.

Wizard: Bai Qi, do you really think you can defeat me?

Wizard: If you could, then you wouldn't have chained yourself here together with me for so many years.

Bai Qi: It's different now.

Wizard: What?

Wizard: Haha, don't tell me you're going to throw away your humanity? Then you really will become a monster that is neither human nor beast!

Bai Qi: I don't care.

Bai Qi lowered his head and looked deeply at the girl in his embrace, a tenderness in his eyes that he never had before.

He softly brushed the hair on her forehead and leaned close to her ear, gentle but unwilling to say goodbye.

Bai Qi: I'm very lucky.

Bai Qi: That, right before I fell into the darkness, there was someone who caught me.

Bai Qi: Whether it was apple pie or lemon pie, the things you made... they were all delicious.

Bai Qi: I wanted to lie down on the grass with you and take a nap. I could have also lent you my tail as a pillow.

Bai Qi: I wanted to be able to grab your hand every time you ran, not as a hunter and their prey and not for training.

Bai Qi: Thank you, [MC].

Wizard: What are you mumbling about?

Bai Qi didn't concern himself with the wizard's provocation and he carefully placed the girl's body in a safe corner. The next time he raised his head, his face was filled with resolve.

In the next second, he crushed the crystal in his hand.

Pausing here to point out the epic callbacks Papergames always does. I checked the ENG and while there was no problems there, the CN text echoed the same structure entirely.

"Then I'm very lucky. There was someone who caught me right before I hit the bottom." [CH7.18]

"And you saved me. Don't lower your head, look at me. Don't feel insecure and don't feel like you're useless. You caught me again right before I hit the bottom." [CH15.7]

"The day I met her, there were gingko leaves drifting and falling slowly through the air, and it was the most beautiful time in late autumn. It was also the darkest time of my life. But she was the one who caught me tightly when I fell." [Spring Festival Date]

Returning back to the [Fullmoon Date]:

I slowly stood up, shivering uncontrollably, but I did my best to keep up a smile and carefully walked towards him.

Bai Qi: Stay away from me!!

MC: ......

His voice was hoarse and rough. The snow gradually lightened and softly fell onto that enormous body, like a sad but gentle embrace.

Bai Qi: Don't...

Bai Qi: ... Don't look at me.

My mind was filled with Bai Qi's face and, before today, I couldn't have imagined the close calls and fights he had experienced.

He would wag his tail in happiness and, when he was displeased, his ears would twitch back and forth, selling him out.

His hair was soft and his hands full of calluses, but when squeezed they were warm.

MC: Bai Qi, now I finally know why you were trapped here.

MC: You locked yourself up, right?

Bai Qi: ......

MC: All these years, it was to protect the townspeople and to fight that wizard.

Bai Qi tensed his body and I slowly raised my voice, repeating my conclusions again.

MC: You chained yourself here to protect others.

MC: In order not to let people come close, did you spread the rumors about eating Red Riding Hood yourself?

MC: Everyone is terrified of you, hates you, and calls you a monster, but you still protect them.

I approached him, bit by bit, and the snow fell into the corners of my eyes, slowly dripping down.

MC: This Big Bad Wolf of yours... you aren't qualified at all.

Bai Qi: ... These are just your guesses.

MC: Then you can tell me.

MC: No matter how many times it's said, as long as you talk to me, I'll listen.

Bai Qi: NO ONE WOULD BELIEVE A MONSTER!

MC: I believe.

MC: Besides, you aren't a monster.

MC: Let's go home. I'll bring you your favorite apple pie tomorrow.

Bai Qi slowly turned around and the snow fell into his pained eyes. I saw him remain in place.

Bai Qi: ... You aren't scared of me?

MC: I'm scared.

Bai Qi: Then why...?

MC: But I... want to understand you, little by little. I want to understand the real you.

It was impossible for me to imagine how many times he had once been misunderstood and been attacked. He sifted through this heap of suffering, again and again, but all he managed to save up was a bit of sweetness.

Yet he relied on this sweetness to solidify himself into a voiceless and silent blade, standing up steadfast in the abyss and never wavering.

My hand finally touched Bai Qi's "hand". His claws were pointed and held no warmth.

MC: You defeated that wizard, right?

Bai Qi: ......

Bai Qi: Mm, he's gone.

MC: Fairytales always write about knights and a prince on a white horse defeating the evil wizard and protecting the peace of the country.

Bai Qi: I'm not as great as you say and I've never thought about changing the way others look at me.

Bai Qi: I just use my own way... to be who I want to be.

Bai Qi: I'm not that prince on a white horse written in fairytales.

MC: Prince Charming certainly wouldn't be like how you are now.

His ears trembled and it was like he suffered a bit of a blow.

MC: Prince Charming always has to ride on a horse, wear a stylish cape, and wield a golden glittering sword.

MC: He has to always be graceful and maintain a heroic appearance.

Bai Qi: ......

MC: He wouldn't be like you, in such dire straights and so miserable, even giving up your own freedom.

MC: Even being beaten black and blue, with a bloody nose and swollen face, and yet crawling up out of the mud to go and protect other people.

MC: How is this a prince on a white horse?

His claws trembled slightly and his tail drooped down. His gaze was stuck to the ground, as if he were waiting for some sort of judgment.

MC: Bai Qi, you're a hero.

After he heard my words, his head shot up and those amber eyes were filled with doubt and shock.

MC: Even when you're covered in injuries and your clothes are ripped and torn, you still continue to stand in front of everyone.

MC: Even if there was no glory or reward, you would continue to use your own way to protect them. To protect me.

MC: You're the most foolish of heroes.

MC: But you're also... my hero.

First, more callbacks to Bai Qi's view about other people:

"At that time he said to me, 'Since you can't change the way others look at you, why not just follow your heart and do what you want to do.' These words had a great impact on me." [Campus Date]

"When did I ever care about other people's views? Except for yours, I don't care about any others." [Wish Date]

HONESTLY, the entire prince vs. hero speech the MC gave was just so darn good. The bit about how he crawls through the mud, battered and bruised, to continue protecting people? I had to take a moment after reading that and recalled the weibo user's line about how she would describe Bai Qi with just the word "vitality". The crazy thing is that they wrote this BEFORE Halloween was even announced.

Now, coming back to this essay, this is showing how he can live without the heroine. That was exactly what he was doing in [Fullmoon Date]; she gives more meaning and softness to his life, but he wasn't living an empty life before her either. Like he said, he was just doing what he wanted to do and being the person he wanted to be.

(whispers) He doesn't wish to love the world. He has always loved the world.

The winter world version of him shows this incredibly well. Yes, he was cold and curt towards MC throughout the whole thing but he also had that unchangeable core of kindness and justice and, as I mentioned in my Xu Mo post, MC draws her strength from how Bai Qi is always the same.

[Rumors & Secrets: Lost]

"How is he?"

Bai Qi's voice sounded and everyone in the rehearsal hall turned their heads to look in the direction of the door. The man's wounds had already been treated simply and there was a small gauze taped on his left cheek.

The female team member, who was in charge of comforting the man, gave a forced smile: "Not too good. I think he still needs..."

Before she finished speaking, the man suddenly shuddered violently. He gripped the blanket on his body tightly and tried to hide himself inside. His eyes shook and his expression was guarded as he carefully stared at Bai Qi's movements. The look in his eyes was as if he was watching a monster. The female team member nodded her head, a bit awkwardly, at Bai Qi and hurriedly brought the man away. When they passed beside Bai Qi, she heard that man muttering to himself.

"Monster..."

Bai Qi also heard it, but he only looked at the piano beside the window indifferently. That spotless white color was stained with blood, looking extremely wrong.

"Clean everything up."

Everyone who was stunned in their place came back to themselves and rushed to resume their actions. The short man sidled over to Bai Qi and it took him a long time before he could say: "Captain Bai, don't mind that..."

Bai Qi didn't say anything and only lightly nodded his head. He really didn't put what had happened just now in his mind, or perhaps one could say he was already used to it.

He saved many people under the hands of different criminals: some would thank him, others would be terrified to the point of being unable to speak, but the majority of them, after seeing his power, would see all Evolvers as monsters.

Look! LOOK! He continues doing his job even without knowing the MC and protecting others, despite whatever people think of him and say about him.

MC's presence in his life gives him:

"She's the one who told me I could live more strongly, and she's also the one who told me I could live more gently." [Spring Festival Date]

Her love gives him the sweetness his world is lacking, but he doesn't need it either. Again, I want to emphasize that it doesn't make it any less important and they're probably both halves of the whole that makes up the Bai Qi we all know and love, but he won't have the gaping hole and conflict that Xu Mo is going through LOL.

Okay, now we're going into extreme spoiler territory where these R&S synopses show Bai Qi's perspective before the end of the world and Season 1.

[CN Weibo Topic: Before the Comet Strike]

Looking up at the clear sky, before the world was displaced, the memories imprinted on our minds would not be erased.

[Frontier: A Message Unable to be Passed On]

At the last second, he was still quietly organizing and protecting this city.

The words he ordinarily wouldn't say in front of you turned into gentle whispers that melted into the night breeze.

The answer and door at the end of the world would surely be revealed in the near future.

[CN Fearless ER - Rumors & Secrets: Frontier]

Bai Qi leaned against his motorcycle and suddenly felt that what he had always protected in the past—what that girl had always protected in the past—was not only the entire city and this world, including the people who weren't willing to give up on anything, but also the most ordinary and small things in life.

It was to have a not-so-big place, a hot steaming breakfast in the morning, a light for him when he returned home late, and the one phrase "Welcome home".

"It would have been nice if that could have lasted a bit longer."

I can't translate this entire R&S because there's too much context and build up missing, but the important takeaway is his utter conviction in the MC and how he wants her to continue running forward without looking back and his belief in how their destinations will always overlap. If they continue to move forward, he believes they'll definitely meet again.

MY HEART. BECAUSE HIS DESTINATION IS ALWAYS HER!

I've always mentioned that MC and Bai Qi parallel each other so much that they're almost like mirrors. They both prioritize justice, the lives of ordinary and innocent people, and they are each other's source of courage, motivation, and determination to keep moving.

They add to each other's lives, but they don't need each other in order to keep getting up after falling and fighting for their belief of protecting the world and their loved ones.

Lastly, to finish off my new ode of love for Bai Qi, I'm going to end with the weibo user's words again:

"He doesn't wish to love this world."

"He has always loved this world."

[lilacmoon83]

Lightning in a Bottle

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 23: Whatever it Takes, Pt 1

David entered the kitchen that morning, after he finished getting ready for work, only to see his wife at the stove.

"Wow...omelets on a weekday?" he asked, as he put his arms around her waist and kissed her neck.

"Well...you have a busy day ahead being a sleuthing accountant. You need your energy...especially after last night," she purred.

"Yeah...it was pretty amazing," he agreed, as she put the eggs on five plates and then turned around in his arms, so they could kiss properly. They slowly swayed together and then pressed their foreheads together once their lips parted.

"Besides...you don't know how much it means to me that I have my husband and my son back and how much I love taking care of my family," she said, as he kissed her again.

"I know...and I promise we're not going anywhere ever again, my love," he promised, as Emma and the kids came into the kitchen.

"It's way too early for romance, you two," she grumbled, as she went for the coffee.

"You just hate mornings," Margaret mentioned, as she delivered the plates to everyone at the table.

"Ohh omelets...you're forgiven," Emma said, as she started eating with the kids, while David and Margaret sat down with them.

"So...how was date night?" she asked.

"Wonderful...but it was sort of a working date night," David replied.

"What does that mean?" Emma asked.

"Well...when I was digging at my new job, I learned that Unified Dynamic Systems is one of the clients at JP Williamson. UDS is funding something known as the Singularity Project, which is the research of this woman," David replied, as he showed her an image on his tablet.

"A passenger?" Emma asked.

"Yes...one that was studying something called mirror neurons. It's a fringe study that believes there are ways for human brains to link up collectively," Margaret explained.

"Uh...that sounds familiar," Emma said.

"We thought so too...so we cornered her after her symposium and questioned her about the missing passengers. But I don't think she knows anything about that," David replied.

"And you believe her?" Emma asked skeptically. He shrugged.

"She agreed to try to find out more information about her funding source, especially since it looks like they may be using her research to experiment on unwilling victims," David replied.

"I believed her too...trust me, she would be in bad shape if I thought she had anything to do with the plane's disappearance," Margaret assured. Emma snorted in amusement.

"Yeah...she'd be in a body cast right about now," she teased.

"Well…I'm protective of the people I love," Margaret said, as she kissed her husband, before gathering their plates.

"What about you? I heard you made a big arrest. It's all over the news," David mentioned.

"Uh yeah...we got that guy that killed the brother of the owner of Darkstar Pharmacy," Emma replied.

"Good...that was so sad and a little too close to home," Margaret mentioned quietly. It was not lost on any of them that Ruth had been killed in a similar type situation.

"Yeah...something else happened too. It was a Calling," she mentioned. Margaret turned off the water and sat back down with them.

"You didn't tell us that part," she said.

"It just happened," she pointed out.

"Anyway...when I was around the store owner, I kept hearing this heartbeat. Long story short...I found out that Tom Clark had a heart transplant almost six years ago…" Emma said, as she looked them in the eyes.

"It was Lily's," she said, causing Margaret to gasp and David looked at his son.

"Hey buddy...where's that drawing you were working on?" David asked. Henry dug through his backpack and produced the illustration of a man with a heart on his chest.

"That...looks like Tom Clark," Emma replied.

"And you helped catch his brother's killer," Margaret said in amazement.

"That's not all I helped him with. He was going to take justice into his own hands...but I convinced him not to, identify the killer, and let the justice system take over," Emma replied, as Margaret squeezed her hand.

"Then that's more confirmation that these Callings are doing something good," she said.

"I don't know MM…" Emma replied.

"I mean...even if they are good…" she said.

"I mean...what is this?" she added in frustration.

"I don't know...but we will figure this out. All of it," David assured them both. With that, they quickly cleaned up and started the day.

~*~

Emma arrived at the station and sat down at her desk, only to look up and see Killian standing there with a bakery sack in his hand.

"Picked up an extra bear claw," he mentioned.

"Uh...thanks," she replied, as she accepted the bag and he leaned against her desk.

"So...how's Henry?" he asked.

"He seems to be fine for the moment. We're keeping a close eye on him," she replied.

"But you don't think this is over?" he asked.

"Do you?" she asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Honestly Emma...I have no idea. I mean...it's pretty out there," he mentioned.

"Yeah...that's what I thought too at first. But then it happens to you and it gets real, no matter how out there it seems," she said.

"I mean...last night, our victim's brother in this latest case just happened to be the recipient of Lily's heart? That's some out there stuff, but it happened," she reasoned. He sighed.

"Yeah...that was pretty wild," he agreed.

"Which means, whether I like it or not, these things that are happening to passengers are real and something," she said. He nodded.

"Fair enough...so what now?" he asked. She shook her head.

"I'm not sure...my brother is playing his own version of detective at his new job, so I guess we wait to see what he turns up and pray he's not discovered," he replied.

"Ah…I knew there had to be more to that. Your brother is way overqualified for a low level accounting clerk," he said.

"Yeah and from what I've heard his boss probably has an IQ that's half my brother's, so it shouldn't be too hard for David to find whatever he's looking for," she replied, as he sat down at his desk and they worked on the recent paperwork from the previous night's case.

~*~

After dropping Henry off with her father-in-law, Margaret arrived at her classroom that morning.

"Ms. Nolan?" a voice called, as a man peered into her classroom.

"Yes, can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm Sidney Glass...from the New York Times," he replied. She sighed.

"A reporter," she muttered.

"Yes...and I'm sure that doesn't make you feel comfortable at all," he said.

"You mean because a dozen other reporters at your paper have run hit pieces on me and my family for the last week?" she asked. He nodded.

"I understand that...but that is not my intention. No one has really told the story from your side," he replied.

"And why should I trust you?" Margaret replied, as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"You have no reason to...I get that. But this would be an opportunity to tell yours and your husband's story. I'd even let you read it before I publish," he offered.

"David and I don't care what people think of us...we never have," she said.

"Fair enough...but in case you change your mind, here is my card," Sidney said, as he set it on her desk and quietly left. She scoffed, as she looked at the card and then stuffed it in her purse, forgetting about it.

~*~

Upon arriving at work that morning, David sailed through the stack of work left for him on his desk with ease. This job was not challenging at all, but then that wasn't really the reason he was there. He took the stack and walked into his boss' office and he wasn't sure what Doc was doing on his computer, but he doubted it was work.

"Oh hey...828," he greeted, as David put the stack on his desk.

"Done already?" he asked and David shrugged.

"What can I say? Numbers are my thing," David replied, as another man stuck his head inside the door.

"Hey...are we still on for the game tonight?" he asked.

"Of course...hey Billy, this is David. You know, the guy from that plane," Doc said, as David shook hands with the tall African American man.

"Nice to meet you...man, what a story," he said.

"Yeah…I get that a lot," David replied.

"This is Billy from IT," Doc said.

"Nice to meet you," David replied.

"Hey numbers guy...do you play poker?" Doc asked.

"Yeah...we could use one more tonight," Billy agreed. While he loathed the thought of not going home to his family the moment the day was over, he knew how valuable it could be to persuade an IT guy to unknowingly let him in the backdoor and straight to the files on the Singularity Project.

"Sounds great," David agreed.

"Great," Doc said, as he patted him on the shoulder.

"Until then...maybe you can help me out with these, but don't tell anyone," Doc said, as he gave him another stack and his own badge since these had a higher clearance. David smirked.

"Don't worry...I'll get these done and you can have all the credit," he replied, as he returned to his desk. He didn't know what else he could find, if anything, but he knew that accessing the backdoor through the IT guy might yield even more results.

~*~

Mr. Gold entered Vance's office, only to interrupt him with another man, whom Gold recognized as one of his senior agents.

"Mr. Gold...please join us," Vance said.

"This is Special Agent Arthur King. He was just delivering some very interesting Intel," Vance said. Mr. Gold ignored the agent, but nodded curtly to Vance.

"You mean the Intel where David Nolan has just been hired on at an accounting firm for a job that he is ridiculously overqualified for?" Gold asked.

"How do you know that?" Agent King asked suspiciously.

"I have my ways, Agent King...but I do not think Mr. Nolan has ill intentions," Gold replied.

"More hero talk?" Vance questioned.

"He seems to be taking that role...yes and he may be the keystone to breaking all of this wide open," Gold replied.

"Or he could be committing corporate espionage," Arthur countered.

"David Nolan is not our enemy. In fact...I believe our enemy is within," Gold said.

"Are you accusing a government agency of being behind the disappearance of this plane?" King questioned with an edge in his voice. Gold smirked.

"Oh no, Agent King...but I am pointing out that there are those within that may not have the passenger's best interests at heart," he added.

"These people may be a threat to National Security," Arthur pointed out.

"They don't know what happened to them, Agent King. They are in the dark as much as we are. Locking them up will yield no answers," Gold warned.

"This guy is a crackpot," Arthur hissed to his boss.

"Mr. Gold's insight is valuable...but we will monitor Mr. Nolan's activities. Bug his phone," Vance ordered. Arthur seemed appeased by that and quickly left.

"He's a hothead...and not in a good way," Gold mentioned.

"He's a good agent," Vance countered.

"If Nolan does commit espionage...I can't ignore it," Vance warned.

"Perhaps not...but arresting him will get you nothing. In fact, it may cost lives if you do," Gold warned in return. Vance was silent at that, contemplating his words.

~*~

"It's okay, baby...this sounds like an opportunity you can't pass up," Margaret said, as she put the groceries away while talking to him on speaker phone.

"I know...I just hate getting home late. But if I can get a way into this account through the backdoor, I might be able to get a location or something," David said.

"I hate it too...but I know you're doing this for Henry. I'll feed the kids and wait to eat with you," she said.

"Thanks...but you don't have to do that," he replied.

"I know...but I want to," she said.

"Then I can't wait. I'll see you soon and I love you," he replied. She smiled.

"I love you too," she gushed, as they hung up and she saw their son come into the house with her father-in-law.

"Hey sweetie...did you have a good day with Grandpa?" she asked.

"Yeah...we had lots of fun," Henry replied, as she hugged him and she and Robert shared a smile.

"But I was wondering…" Henry said.

"Wondering what?" she asked.

"When can I go back to school?" he asked.

"Oh...well, we want to make sure you're out of the woods from that most recent scare, honey," she replied.

"I know...but I feel fine now and Dad is trying to find out where those missing passengers are, right?" Henry asked. She smiled.

"He is...and we can talk about school more later, I promise," she replied, as he went upstairs.

"I know David is doing what he needs to...but corporate espionage is no joke if he gets caught," Robert said in a worried tone.

"I know...I'm worried too, but David thinks this might be the only way to save Henry and those missing passengers," Margaret replied. He nodded.

"And there will be no stopping him," Robert said. She smiled softly.

"You know David...always the hero," she said fondly.

"That's our David," he agreed.

"Do you want to stay for dinner and eat with the kids?" she asked. He smiled.

"You know I'd love that," he replied.

~*~

David entered the conference room, which had been turned into an after hours poker game. He was not looking forward to this at all, but he put a smile on and was introduced to the other players that he had not met yet.

"So 828...were the aliens at least hot?" one guy asked and the others busted up laughing. David forced a chuckle and shook his head.

"No...but then there's only one woman for me and she's right here on Earth," he replied.

"Dude...your wife isn't here. You don't actually have to say that stuff," Doc said.

"I say it because it's true," David replied.

"Don't mind Doc...he can't get a woman to save his life," Billy joked, as he dealt the cards.

"Very funny," Doc said.

"So David...he tells me you're a numbers guy?" Billy asked.

"A Master's in mathematics. I did a bit of coding in college, but ultimately decided to teach instead," David replied.

"So you know some coding?" Billy asked.

"It's been a long time...I probably need a refresher," David replied.

"I could help with that...if you're interested. Doc says that you're bored," Billy said.

"Actually yeah...that would be great," David replied.

"After you finish tomorrow's work load," Doc instructed, as they picked up their cards.

"So...that should be about nine in the morning," David said, as they all laughed. Getting in with the IT guy had been easier than he thought…

~*~

As Margaret waited for David to get home, the kids watched a movie and she found herself walking down memory lane in the form of one of her many photo albums. She flipped the page and smiled at the photo of them on their wedding day. She remembered that day so well, for it had been one of the happiest days of her life.

~*~

Flashback

"Wow...you look like a fairytale Princess for sure," her friend and one of her bridesmaid's, Ruby, said.

"Well…I'm marrying my Prince Charming so I should," Margaret replied, as Abigail adjusted her veil.

"Are you ready?" Emma asked, as she stepped forward. Her future sister-in-law and best friend was her maid of honor, of course. Margaret smiled.

"I've wanted to marry David since we were eight. I can't wait…" she replied. Emma smiled.

"Neither can he. He's been telling everyone he was going to marry you since then too, so let's finally make it official already," Emma said, as Robert poked his head in.

"Ready?" he asked. Emma nodded, as he came into the room.

"You look beautiful, Margaret and I already considered you my daughter," he said, making her smile.

"I know that I was a terrible father to my kids and you were what helped them both get through some very rough times. I can never repay you for that and when you asked me to walk you down the aisle, I was blown away," he admitted.

"You made mistakes and struggled with your own demons, but you got better and we forgive you. Even at your worst, you were more of a father to me than my own ever was," she said, as he offered his arm and she hooked her hand on his elbow.

By then, the music had intensified. Her bridesmaid's and Emma were already at the altar and everyone stood, as they exited the small garden house and outside into the beautiful garden where they had chosen to have their wedding. It was near the wooded area and the bridge they had frequented for years. They had played in this garden and park for years, so getting married here seemed perfect.

David was in awe, as she floated toward him like an angel, carrying a bouquet of snowdrops, much like the ones he had picked for her when they were children. Even then, the idea of marrying her was firm in his young mind and now that the moment was finally here, he knew that his life was complete with her by his side. The ceremony was a mere formality, for they had bonded their lives together long ago…

~*~

"That was an amazing day," he mentioned and she looked up, finding him leaning over her.

"You're home...I was so absorbed by the memory of this day that I didn't hear you come in," she mentioned, as he kissed her tenderly.

"It was one of the best days of my life," he said, as he squeezed into the chair with her.

"Mine too," she agreed, as they shared another kiss.

"Did you find anything?" she asked.

"Not yet...but the IT guy promised to show me some coding. If I can manage to get in the backdoor to the account of the Singularity Project, I'm hoping I can find something like a location or more names," he replied. She smiled and kissed him again.

"I know you will...you're our hero, after all," she said, as she rested her head on his shoulder and they gazed upon their kids fondly.

[glitchinthesystemspiderbyte]

[43] Glitch in the System - Heroes Never Die

I hope you’re happy.

By E.

Goodbye happens.

The interception had gone rather well, all things considered. It was a small sting, barely even a mission, really - just sweeping away some small arms dealers that had gotten under Akande’s skin lately. Sombra hadn’t bothered asking why. Akande wasn’t known for his candid nature regarding his motives. Besides which - she didn’t really care. She was just glad to be out of the house.

“Target locked,” Widow said from her perch on the roof of one of the many outbuildings lining the lumber yard. It was expansive and open, but more cluttered than a teenager’s bedroom. Stacks of cut wood and metal scrap littered the ground, providing ample cover and an easy route through the yard. Sombra was on the ground, scanning for tech she might use to their advantage. It was slim pickings - they only truly mechanical thing around were some idling trucks and hoverdrones mindlessly carting boxes around.

Their targets were gathered around the flatbed of one of these trucks, slowly removing crate after crate of what Sombra knew were high-tech weaponry meant for some unknown competitor. Their goal was to secure these weapons, and, if that proved to be impossible - destroy them. Sombra figured they had a better chance of the former if she could find a way to separate the crew from their goods.

She slipped towards one of the drones, grabbing it from behind. It made a shrill, metallic sound of protest, and before it could initiate any defense protocols, she’d neutralized its neurotechnical network and began the process of reprogramming. Unlike an omnic, with complex internal processes and autonomy, the worker drones were straight machine, made for one job and with zero cognitive function. It was like hacking a lawnmower.

“Get ready for some chaos,” Sombra announced over her comms, finishing up with the robot and patting it on its chassis. “Get on out there, champ,” she said. The drone trilled again and sped away from Sombra into the center of the room, following its new protocol.

It hit the first smuggler with a wet crack of metal on flesh, slamming into it with the force of a thing created for brutality, not tactics. There was no finesse, but that didn’t matter to the bones it shattered on impact. Its target, a grizzled man holding a pulse rifle, fell to the ground with a pained shout.

“Next!” Sombra announced, hacking a second drone and sending it to join its companion. At the appearance of a second hostile omnic, the smugglers stopped their stunned stares and sought cover.

“There you go,” Sombra said.

“Par excellence, as per usual,” came Widow’s response, echoed by the first ringing shot of the night. “I do prefer a moving target.”

“Not sure whether you’re sassing me, but good luck,” Sombra replied, laughing as she vanished from sight. Leaping over a bench, she intercepted one of the fleeing dealers, clotheslining her with her gun and filling her chest with bullets as she fell.

Two more shots pinged into the room, both finding a mark.

“How’s it looking?” Sombra asked, scanning the area herself.

“Two left. One behind a pile of lumber to the left of the truck, one behind the crates on the right.”

Sombra tossed her translocator behind the stack of wooden boxes in the corner, appearing behind Widow’s unsuspecting target with an electric crack.

“Out,” she said, pushing him into the open. The man had enough time to stumble and look back at her in confusion before Widow sent him to the ground in a spray of brain and blood. “Lumber?”

“Oui,” Widow replied. Sombra heard her gun reloading. “Unarmed.”

“Perfect,” she laughed. With unabashed confidence, Sombra stepped out from the cargo and started for the table. “Come on out, amigo,” she said, crooking her finger. “Talon needs us back before dark.”

There was the sound of shuffling, and Sombra saw a face peer out from behind the table cautiously: a pair of frightened blue eyes framed with scraggly dark hair.

“Olivia?” the man said, keeping his head low as he hid behind the lumber. Weapons were splayed across the floor and she stepped over them gingerly on her way to the cowering operative.

At the sound of her name, she stopped dead in her tracks. “Excuse me?” she said, voice deadly quiet.

“I can take the shot,” Widow said.

“Wait,” she said, holding up her hand.

There was a pause. “Ok,” the sniper said, and Sombra could hear the reluctance in her voice. There was nothing Widowmaker hated more than waiting on a kill.

Sombra vanished, slipping behind the man and reappearing with an arm around his neck and a gun pressed to his temple. “Hable,” she threatened, “o yo te voy a matar.”

“Soy yo!” the man yelped, not expecting her to vanish, let alone appear behind him with a choke hold and a death threat. “Miguel.” Sombra could feel him swallow nervously. “De Dorado?”

Sombra felt a jolt of adrenaline shoot through her like ice in her veins. She dropped her arm and her gun, grabbing the man by the shoulder and turning him to face her. “En serio?” she asked incredulously, eyes scanning the lines of his face. He was older, to be sure, and had a scar she didn’t recognize, but there was no doubt it was him. “What are you doing here?”

“Working,” he replied, still nervous. “Or I guess I was working until you murdered my coworkers.”

Sombra laughed, uncertain if it was the best response, but the situation had rapidly descended into something she’d not prepared herself for. “Consider it a promotion,” she replied, smiling. Then, before Miguel could respond, she pulled him in for a hug.

“Sombra?” Widow said from her perch through their comms. “Are you hugging the target?”

“It’s ok, Widow, I -” she paused, stepping back from him, and finding her words startlingly difficult to come by, “I know him.”

“Oh?”

“Just...hold position. I’ll be up soon.”

“Oui, cherie,” she replied easily, and Sombra saw her leap across the space between buildings and take up position above them, keeping an eye on the location.

Miguel stared at her for a long time, taking his time choosing what to say. “So, Talon?” he said finally. “From one group of bullies to another.” There was no malice in his voice, but Sombra winced regardless.

“You know I only work for myself,” she replied. “Organized crime is just a means to an end.”

Miguel laughed, offering her a smile that reached his eyes. “Yeah, you always were great at playing the players. I knew you’d be destined for great things if you ever escaped Los Muertos.” He looked at her closely for a moment, eyes roving over her face, clearly trying to find the words to speak. “You know, I’d always wondered,” he said finally.

“Wondered what?”

“If it was you,” he said.

Sombra stiffened. “If what was me?” she asked carefully. Her identity had been cracked once, and only once before, and that leak was safely plugged behind a wad of nationalist guilt and existential crisis named Alexandra Zaryanova. Any more cracks and she might start having a hard time keeping the flood at bay.

“The mysterious hacker plaguing the world. The one who could vanish from sight; the shadow that saved Mexico from the thumb of LumériCo. ‘Talon’s new pain in the ass,’ the boss would say every time he heard some new intel on la sombra. We made jokes back home, you know?” He laughed, shaking his head. “That you’d somehow escaped Los Muertos and gone undercover. Sombra’s a fuckin’ hero back home, and, I dunno,” he shrugged. “I guess it felt nice to maybe know a hero.”

Sombra felt her throat close up, dry as a bone, leaving her speechless and with a growing knot of fear forming in her chest. This was not a link she’d wanted anyone to make. In fact, it was a link she had gone out of her way to eradicate, and here was Miguel - the blustery kid always getting himself into fights - making the connection because of a chance run in on a throwaway mission.

“I wouldn’t exactly call me a hero,” she replied finally, unwilling to admit what he said was true, but knowing it was useless to waste breath denying it. “Maybe a dead legend.”

“I don’t know that I ever really believed it until now. We all thought you’d died,” Miguel said, looking at her as though she were a ghost. She supposed, in a sense, she was, to him.

Sombra laughed. “Good. That was sort of the point.”

“We held a funeral,” he said, no trace of mirth in his voice. Sombra sobered quickly; she’d never considered the effect of her disappearance on her friends. Everything had been so fast, so dire for her then. Friends had been an obstacle in the way of success, and cutting those ties seemed like a more than reasonable sacrifice for the power she craved. She maintained business ties with Los Muertos and kept in touch with enough of them to keep them in her back pocket, but the orphans who saw her through the death of her parents and the fall of her city?

No, they were a bridge better left burned. At this point, it was for their own safety.

“It wasn’t really a choice,” she countered lamely, unwilling to divulge any details about herself. She was uncomfortable enough as it was facing down her past like this; talking to it, catching up on old times. There was nothing about Olivia she wished to reclaim. Like Amelie, there was nothing about her that was Olivia anymore, and it was a reality she was content with.

“You always have a choice,” he replied, sad smile creeping across his face.

Sombra looked up, frowning. “How can you say that?” she asked, feeling a spark ignite inside her. “We never had options. We just had to make the least shitty decision.”

“And yours?” he asked, eyebrow raised. “Did you make the least shitty decision when you disappeared?”

Sombra bristled, the desire to run creeping up inside her like nausea. She couldn’t begin to explain the myriad reasons behind her choices: why she left, why she changed, why she killed Olivia and buried her too far for anyone to find.

Until now, at least. Every corpse is dug up eventually, she supposed.

“If you knew the alternatives, we might not be having this argument,” she replied finally, voice low.

Miguel opened his mouth to respond, then closed it and shook his head. “Listen, I’m sorry, I just...I’ve missed you, Olivia,” he said, reaching for her hand. “Forget the hell of the past. Maybe we’ve found each other by fate?”

Miguel’s smile was genuine, and a little bit sad. He’d held his torch for so long, from the day they’d met until this very moment. She’d always known; even in the darkest days on the streets of Dorado, it had burned beneath the shadow of the omnic plague and through all the terrible decisions they’d had to make. He had been one of her very best friends, and she would have done almost anything for him when they were kids, but she’d never carried the same flame.

Sombra let him hold her hand for a moment longer than she otherwise may have, in tribute to nostalgia and the shared pain of their past.

That was all they shared, though.

“Cruel fate, in that case,” she replied ruefully. She glanced up at the rooftop where Widow waited, staring absently at her nails, rifle leaning against the wall behind her. “I am unavailable in so many senses of the word.” She squeezed his hand and let it go, knowing it would be the last time they met.

Miguel raised an eyebrow, following her look. “Work or girlfriend?”

“It’s complicated.”

Miguel laughed. It wasn’t a bitter, or even remorseful laugh so much as a rueful acceptance of the inevitable. “Por supuesto, Olivia. With you, everything is.”

Sombra looked at the ground, resisting the juvenile urge to kick at the dirt. She’d looked up to Miguel, once. He’d been stronger than her when they were younger; stood up to bullies, pulled her out of more than a few scrapes. She preferred that version of him to whatever bottom-feeder scraping by he was doing now. She didn’t want to know; she’d rather remember what he’d meant to her before.

“I should go before she kills you,” she said, smiling and jabbing a thumb up at Widow. The sniper’s gaze flicked down at her as though summoned, and she offered her a raised eyebrow and a small, thin smile.

Miguel chuckled, hands stuffed into his pockets, almost managing to hide the disappointment in his voice when he spoke. “She the jealous type?” he asked.

“No, more like the career assassin type.”

“Huh,” he replied, nodding in a mixture of approval and concern. “You do know how to pick ‘em.”

Sombra stepped back, smiling. “I’ve always had good taste.” Wrapping her hand around one of her translocators, she spun it absentmindedly around in her palm. “I gotta go. A lifetime of intrigue awaits. Take care, Miguel.”

“You too, Olivia.”

She turned to step past the flatbed to meet with Widow when she paused and looked back.

“Hey, Miguel?”

“Si?”

“If anyone asks, don’t tell them you saw me?” She looked down at the device in her hand, flickering with purple lights under the shiny stolen tech. “I think I’m better off dead.”

Miguel laughed. “You’ve always been dramatic. Sure,” he agreed. “Never saw you.”

He offered her a final, rueful smile, and turned away to walk across the yard. Sombra watched him leaving, waiting until he got out of earshot. He’d been her friend; he’d stood with her for so long when everything had gone dark. And now he knew who she was.

Perhaps it was best he left still thinking of her as a hero.

“Hey, Widow?” she said quietly through her comms.

“Yes?” she replied.

“Take the shot.”

*Read from the beginning or check out our intro post! All stories tagged under #glitchfic. Table of contents located here.

[notadonutshop]

Ok, let’s talk Endgame

SPOILERS AHEAD SO PLEASE DON’T READ UNLESS YOU’VE SEEN IT!!!

So when I walked out of that theater I was ecstatic. I loved it so, so much. I had cried like a baby, cheered like I was at a freaking football game, and just been so pumped full of adrenaline over the last three hours. But, I still had my critiques. 

My main critiques at first were too much humor in the beginning, Thor’s PTSD and depression should not have been treated like the joke it was, the way Ant-Man is brought back from the Quantum Realm is contrived, and what was the point of having Iron Man almost die out in space if you’re going to save him three minutes into the movie? 

Ok, let’s break these down: 

Too Much Humor

Now this one if very much a personal opinion, so I do not blame you for disagreeing with me here, but I just felt like the first two acts were way to stuffed with jokes. Quips and call backs and comments galore and it just took me out of it too often. From Korg playing Fortnite to Steve saying “yeah I know” to past Steve saying “I could do this all day” (not the right time for that call back btw), it all just felt over stuffed. Now, I will say that I understand why they did it, especially with how that third act played out and how many consequences there were in this movie, but nonetheless I think they could’ve toned it back a lot. Especially that Fortnite joke. Get rid of that, please. 

Thor’s PTSD

Speaking of unnecessary humor, this actually would’ve gotten rid of about 50% of the jokes. So Thor is mad from the start because he feels like he failed (which Rocket points out he did, but so did everyone else) and so when they go find Thanos and he tells them he destroyed the stones, Thor in a rage of anger, cuts of Thanos’ head. This is maybe one of the most gruesome things we’ve seen in Marvel’s history and it was just done by one of our MAIN HEROES. From this he goes to New Asgard and exiles himself to a small cabin with Korg and Meeg (who thank GOD are still alive I would’ve been so sad.) Now this is all fine and well, and in fact I love this idea. I love the idea of Thor being so depressed about what’s happened and being in his absolute lowest moment, but what I don’t like is that they put him in a fat suit, made him an absolute drunkard, and played it all for comedic relief. This should’ve been intense and emotional and upsetting to see one of our greatest heroes at their lowest point. Make him mad, sad, unwilling to go along with plans, until finally he has that talk with his mother and is given the inspiration needed to fight again. 

Ant-Man’s Return

I’ll admit this one may feel like a bit of a nitpick, but it’s still a big problem I had with the beginning of this film. So Ant-Man was lost to the Quantum Realm at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp and it was a big cliff hanger that made us all wonder how he was going to return. And then a rat stepped on the controllers, just so happened to turn on the return switch, and boom he’s home... Why? Here’s what bothers me about this. 1) It feels incredibly convenient that this rat perfectly stepped on the controls in the right sequence order. 2) Why didn’t he just fall through a time vortex in the Quantum Realm and end up five years in the future?? We know they’re there, Janet Van Dyne even mentioned them before Scott got stuck in the Quantum Realm! And if he had come back through a time vortex but five years later, it would’ve made his return even more sad AND give logic to his inspiration to do a time heist. It’s a little thing but it took me out of the movie, not gonna lie. 

Lost In Space

I don’t really have much to say about this one honestly. I just find it weird that they’d go through like, three minutes of making us think Tony is gonna die in space with Nebula only to be somehow rescued by Captain Marvel. Like, ok. 1) How did she find them? Did she just happen to be in that corner of space? 2) Why make it such a big deal that he’s stranded out there if you’re just going to save him in the very beginning of the film? Like, I get it, it’s an intense situation, and i’m not saying he should’ve gotten home safe and sound, but why couldn’t he have been just stranded, recording a message for Pepper, and getting despaired because the distress beacon he whipped up wasn’t getting any results? And then, right as he finishes recording and maybe has a bit of a melt down, BOOM, Captain Marvel shows up. 

Now, those were my critiques, how about I talk about what I loved before moving on to more?

Five Years Later

So I LOVED the fact that Thanos destroyed the stones. I loved it. It added so much to the weight of what’s happened, to the depression of our characters, and more importantly, it lead to the five years later. This means that the world has had to go FIVE YEARS with half of it’s population missing. Now, while I wish we had seen how the world was doing with this a bit more, just the idea of it is like cake to me. And even better yet? THEY DIDN’T CHANGE IT IN THE END!!! THE WORLD IS STILL FIVE YEARS LATER THAN IT WAS!!! This was so surprising to me because I did not expect them to do something like that but my GOD what a consequence!! And, in fact, that’s actually the next thing I want to talk about. 

Consequences

One of my biggest worries going into Endgame was that it would end with everything back to the way it was. The world back at the exact moment before Thanos’ invasion like nothing had ever gone wrong, and all of our heroes are safe. But nope. The Russos gave me exactly what I wanted. Heroes are dead, the world will forever remember the five years of half the population, and consequences are kept in place. It really did feel like a war had taken place and that the world (hell, the universe) would be changed forever. 

The Time Heist

So we all knew time travel was going to be used in this film, and particularly time travel back to the battle of New York as we saw set photos, but I did not expect the awesome time travel we got. I love, love, LOVED, the fact that they all went back to three different events in the Marvel Universe to retrieve the infinity stones before Thanos could. I loved the set up of alternate realities, I loved the things that went wrong, I loved Tony and Cap having to go back even further and Tony getting to see his dad, it was all just so damn good. It was such a fun way to deal with how they save the day and again, consequences galore. That bit with Bruce talking to the Ancient One? Oh, so good. Her face when he tells her that Strange gave up the Time Stone? Fuck, marvelous. 

The End

From the final fight onwards, I was just in fucking awe of it all. From the HQ being demolished to Dr. Strange bringing EVERYONE into battle, to Tony’s death and Old Steve’s goodbye, it all just hit home so hard. I was crying like a baby from the moment Peter ran up to Tony talking about what happened, through Tony’s death and “We’ll be ok, rest now” and through “I love you 3000″. I especially loved Steve giving Sam the shield because hell YES Captain America is gonna be Sam! AND VALKYRIE WAS IN THE FIGHT!!! I LOVE VALKYRIE SO MUCH!!! AND NOW SHE’S THE RULER OF NEW ASGARD OH MY GOD!!!! And Thor’s with the Guardians??? Sick??? 

And then the adrenaline started to wear off. I started to think more about the story and I read an article or two. Now I have a few more issues with Endgame. Oops. 

Captain America

So I could never articulate the issues with Cap’s ending better than this article, so I’ll just link to it because honestly? It makes 100% sense and I couldn’t put it better myself. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/captain-americas-ending-ruins-avengers-endgame/1100-6466487/

Iron Man

So you know how I said I loved his death and cried like a god damn baby? All of that is true, but then I started to think. The death of Tony Stark is so interesting because both sides of the camp make logical points. His death was a perfect way to end his story! It was him finally being able to rest after saving the world, something he’s been trying to do since day 1, and he’s finally done it. He did the thing that he never thought he could do and sacrificed himself. OR his death was unnecessary! He has a freaking daughter and a wife! Why does Hawkeye get to survive with his family but Tony can’t?? Why can’t Tony have just retired and the movie have STEVE, the soldier who’s never stopped fighting, be the one to sacrifice himself!!! At first I was team “Tony’s death rocks” but I have very much now landed on the side of “Tony should’ve gotten the happy ending and Steve should’ve gotten the bad ass final death.” Because honestly? It just makes sense. Steve has always been fighting and what better way to die then ending THE war. A war that’s taken them over five years to finish. And as for Tony, let him live a normal life. All he wants is the world protected and to be happy with Pepper and Morgan, why can’t he just have that? 

All Those Other Things I Mentioned

All my other critiques still stand, especially those about Thor’s whole storyline in the movie. While I love the way it ended with him going off into the stars again and Valkyrie leading New Asgard (Although fuck i wanted a Valkyrie movie), his whole fat boy story line just did NOT do it for me and felt wrong and like a cheap laugh. 

All in all, I think I enjoyed Endgame?? A lot of it felt like a fitting ending for the MCU and while I do have big problems with Tony and Steve’s endings... I’m still somehow ok with them?? I don’t know, my feelings toward this film are weird. I’m happy with it but also feel like they could’ve put a bit more thought into it?? The final fight was awesome but was what came out of it worth it?? I don’t know. All I know is that I cried, I laughed, and I groaned, but most of all I’m looking forward to what the future has in store. Not to mention the fact that this film has been one of the most anticipated films of my life. I’ve never felt more intense excitement for a movie then I have for Endgame. I mean my god, we’ve been building up to this since I was 10. A little over half my life has been building up to this. I don’t think any other movie can replicate what Infinity War and Endgame have done to us this generation. 

I’m looking forward to the new heroes we’ll meet, the new enemies we’ll face, and I’m looking forward to the fact that the next time we get an Avengers movie, the team is going to be completely different from what we know. 

Oh and I’m super looking forward to the next Ant-Man movie because Cassie’s just 16 now?? I don’t know why but I really wanna see what they do with this. Can she get powers?? Pretty Please??

[ben-j-man]

Secret War: Upon Blood Sands- Chapter 1

A sequel to my 40k fanfiction Secret War.

Link to chapter 1- http://ben-j-man.tumblr.com/post/180097372453/secret-war-chapter-1

After his organization is hired to hunt down an influential ganger on the Hive world, Omnartus. Attelus Kaltos is embroiled deeper into the complex world of the Assassin. This is the job which will change him, for better or for worse, forever more.

‘I am not a partier; I am an assassin who kills people for a living. And being the dangerous job it is and that I would quite like to live past my twenties, I spend every waking hour for training. Making sure I have the necessary skills to live to see the next day.’ -Attelus Kaltos Bursting from the seams with action, intrigue, suspense and full of twists and turns. With a character driven narrative which delves deep into the mind torn asunder by war as he tries to find purpose in the grim-dark universe of 40k where there is only war.

A Sanction for Sanity: Chapter 1 link a prequel

http://ben-j-man.tumblr.com/post/181441697383/secret-war-a-sanction-for-sanity-chapter-1

"This is accurate?" asked Attelus Kaltos as he looked up from the data slate, his hazel eyes wide with surprise.

"As much as it can be," said Interrogator Arlathan Karkin who reclined back in his seat, smiling.

They sat in Arlathan's office on the Audacious Edge, the room was large, a good fifteen by thirty metres. The walls made of shining adamantium and Arlathan's desk was inbuilt with an advanced cogitator. A very long Nalwood cabinet sat against the right side wall, keeping Arlathan's liqour bottles.

ge collection of Amasec and other alcohols. Behind the Interrogator was a window taking up the entire width of the office, allowing a good view of Scintilla, the sector's capital world below. The smog covered hive world reminded Attelus unnervingly of Omnartus.

Shit, it'd been three years, three frigging years since the destruction of Omnartus. So much had happened since then and yet so little, Arlathan's promotion as Inquisitor Enandra's Interrogator, the death of the Space Marine chapter responsible, The Destruction Inculpators and Attelus' ascension to master assassin by Glaitis' old cult.

It'd taken Vex six months to decipher the data downloaded from Taryst's cogitator, and Attelus had travelled far and wide, investigating into the leads it gave. Adelana working with him as his apprentice. But all of it had been for nothing, no true clue of Etuarq's whereabouts.

Until now, perhaps.

"And it'd been seven months since it'd occurred?" Attelus asked, trying to keep the anger from his tone.

Arlathan shrugged, looking at Attelus with weary eyes. Much had changed, Arlathan now sported an impressively thick, neatly kept beard and his once pitch black hair now speckled with bits of grey. His pale skin, marked with scars, two crossed on his right cheek and, one ran from his brow onto his left cheek. Scars said given to him by the traitor Inquisitor, Devan Torathe on the bridge of the Imperial Crusher, so long ago.

What had gone on there, Attelus still didn't know. Arlathan and Inquisitor Enandra seemed determined to never talk about it. Something which he didn't like, but had to respect.

At the thought of scars, Attelus absently touched the huge, ugly black scar just under his left eye. The scar he still refused to have covered by false flesh unless the job needed it, instead electing to hide it underneath a thick fringe of brown hair.

"You know more than anyone how slow information in the Imperium of Mankind can move," said Arlathan. "This occurred in the Gothic Sector, way to the galactic south-east, we're bloody lucky we received it this soon."

"Of course we were," Attelus sighed, placing a palm over his face.

"Let me have a look," said Karmen Kons as she got up from one of the couches and approached.

Attelus smiled and handed it to her. Karmen's attractive features didn't smile back. She wore a black bodyglove, her shoulder-length blond hair dead straight and parted in the middle. She was truly attractive, beautiful, perhaps. Her face heart shaped and high cheek boned. Without a word, she took the data slate and began scrolling through it.

"Taryst's records indicated a tenuous at best connection," said Attelus.

Arlathan raised an eyebrow, "to general Tathe? Yes, I know you're unwilling to pursue this thread. They are from your homeworld, they were your heroes as a child, Estella's too."

He furrowed his brow and looked pointedly at Karmen, she ignored him continuing to read the data slate.

"You've been avoiding it," said Arlathan. "But now you can't afford to any longer. A world was put to the sword at general Tathe's behest, Attelus."

"The information is lacking," stated Karmen. "Doesn't even say the world's name, nor even where it is."

Arlathan sighed, "that was beyond our accessibility, that information is classified. Vermillion level."

"But it did happen?" said Attelus.

"Do not know, the information was taken from the Gothic sector's Inquisitorial data banks by one of our long-range operatives, but it still seems worth investigating," said Arlathan. "The Elbyran contingent is taking part in a campaign subduing worlds still held by the archenemy in the Orar subsector since Abaddon the Despoiler's 12th Black Crusade. With the sector highly weakened by Abaddon's forces, they've been importing Imperial Guard regiments from other sectors to help."

"Where are they now?" Attelus asked.

"The last we heard, the Munitorum had sent them to retake the mining world of Carkeath, in the Savath system," said Arlathan. "That was a month ago, but there were problems."

"And what are they?" asked Karmen, looking up from her dataslate.

"A day after they were scheduled to arrive, the system was cut off by a freak warpstorm," said Arlathan. "We know that the Orar astropaths received a message from the invasion force just before the system went dark..."

"And let me guess," Interrupted Attelus. "The contents of that message too was Vermillion level."

Arlathan nodded.

"Isn't that a little strange," said Karmen. "Only bits and pieces of that information being classified."

"All of it is classified," said Arlathan. "Our agent isn't high enough on the totem pole to be able to access just the Vermillion level encoded information."

"And fair enough too," agreed Attelus with a shrug. "But Karmen's right. It is strange. Why not all of it being Vermillion?"

Arlathan smiled, "does this stink as much to you as it does me?" he said.

Attelus smiled and raised his eyebrows, which said, 'of course I frigging do.'

"How does it feel?" said Attelus.

"How does what feel?" asked Arlathan, his eyes narrowing.

"Since being made Interrogator you've become quite the uhh, exposition teller," he said.

"Exposition...teller?" said Arlathan, with a bemused furrowed brow.

"Never mind," said Attelus quickly, shaking his head. "What does the Inquisitor want us to do?"

Arlathan tapped his desk with the tip of his fingernail as a guilty expression crossed his face, "she wants you to travel to Sarkeath to investigate the Velrosian 1st and general Tathe. Find out the why and how the Exterminatus happened and if it's connected to Etuarq. Also to find out the fate of the Elbyran contingent."

He took out another two data slates from under his desk.

"We've got a team lined up for you and, a ship readied to take you to the Gothic Sector," said Arlathan.

"Yeah, that's all well and good and all," said Attelus leaning back in his seat, folding his arms across his chest. "But that's going to be hard, because, y'know it's cut off due to a warp storm and, it's also so frigging far away."

"Yeah," sighed Arlathan. "But she also said that isn't her problem. That if you have to wait on Orar for the warp storm to clear, then you'll wait on Orar for the warp storm to clear."

"What!" both Karmen and Attelus exclaimed at once.

"That could take frigging centuries!" cried Karmen, the showing the most amount of emotion Attelus had heard from her in a long time.

"The Inquisitor also said that's what rejuvenant treatments are for," said Arlathan. "She also said during that time you could set up a better spy network for our organisation in the Gothic Sector."

Attelus frowned and looked at his data slate, scrolling through the list of agents, he really liked what he saw but...

"Yeah and how can we do that with a squad of ten people?" said Karmen sullenly, verbalising the question Attelus wanted to ask too. "Including us."

Arlathan shrugged, "she said you'll also be well funded. You can hire your own agents once there."

"Of course she did," Attelus said as he shook his head with a smile. "What else did mamzel Enandra say?"

"She also said that Attelus would say 'of course she did,' a few times and would be quite happy with at least one member of the squad," said Arlathan, then he looked at Karmen. "She also said that Karmen wouldn't be..."

Karmen's narrowing eyes made Arlathan quickly shut up.

Arlathan cleared his throat and straightened, "all the rest of the information you need is in your data slates. She also said that it's up to you to brief your squad members."

"Of course...," Attelus started to say, but smiled and stopped himself. "We're done?"

Arlathan nodded, "the mamzel wishes for you to be gone in as soon as two days. She'd also like you to give us a call over the vox when you're ready to leave. So we can see you off."

Attelus got off his seat with a sigh and, they turned and started toward the door.

"Attelus," said Arlathan causing Attelus to stop in his tracks. "About Adelana..."

"You've already said enough on her," Attelus snapped. "I don't want to hear anymore! Okay?"

Arlathan expression creased with sadness before he nodded and lowered his gaze to the cogitator in his desk.

The door slid closed behind Attelus as he stepped into the corridor. Karmen stood, her arms folded over her ample chest, her full lips pouting in annoyance. There was no sign of the horrid, self-inflicted scars on her face anymore, the false flesh that covered them was grafted perfectly by Inquisitor Enandra's best surgeons.

Attelus met her gaze for a few seconds before he turned right and continued down the corridor, studying the data slate, his feet silent as they walked over the steel grating.

Karmen fell in step with him, her footfalls clanging in contrast to Attelus' complete silence.

"What do you think?" she said.

Attelus sighed, stopped and lowered his data slate, turning to Karmen.

"That this assignment is a right royal pain in the arse," he sighed, before continuing on again.

He'd only made a few metres more, before Karmen's voice said in his mind, +can your other benefactor help us in this?+

Attelus shrugged, I'll ask her, see what she has to say. It wouldn't be the first time Farseer Faleaseen had provided them with a literal shortcut in their endeavours. Only Adelana and Karmen knew of his connection to the Eldar, but it seemed that was going to change.

Temporarily, perhaps.

Karmen nodded, "we have better get the others together," she said, reaching for her vox bead, but she stopped as Attelus raised his hand.

"No," he said, "Inquisitor Enandra seems to know everything about everyone. Let's see if we do. We'll try to find them."

"Sounds like a complete waste of time to me," said Karmen, folding her arms again.

Attelus grinned, "come on Karmen, just humour me here, please."

She rolled her eyes, but was smiling as she groaned and said, "fine! Have it your way! I swear you're like a child sometimes. If we're delayed because of it, it's on you, alright?"

"Don't you worry, we won't," he said.

"Where to first?" she asked.

Attelus smiled, "the training area, of course."

Attelus had lied, of course. Along the way, he just had to stop at the kitchen to get himself a cup of caffeine.

They walked side by side, Attelus with one hand in the pocket of his black flak jacket, while sipping from his cup with the other.

Karmen couldn't help but smile. She remembered the little, stick thin but deadly teenager she'd found in the ruins of Varander ten years ago. Now Attelus was an exceptionally handsome and accomplished young man. He was thin but svelte. His skin pale white and lips deep red. His sharp-featured, elfin face was quite feminine made even more so by his shoulder-length brown hair. Karmen always felt he'd look even better if he had his hair cut short, she'd suggested it once or twice, but was promptly ignored. Attelus was far older than he looked, being twenty-seven, but looking perhaps, eighteen, nineteen. How he managed to look so youthful after everything was quite beyond her. Karmen knew more of Attelus Kaltos than she'd cared to admit, she knew how hard a life he'd had and couldn't help marvel at how well he'd pulled through it all.

He'd had help, Karmen supposed, Inquisitor Enandra and the little bitch had given him much in the way of moral support over the last three years.

Attelus quickly noticed Karmen looking at him, his five senses were always as sharp as Karmen's sixth and gave her a smile.

Karmen forced away her own smile and looked away, she hadn't forgiven him, she would never forgive him.

He frowned sadly and fixed his attention forwards, he'd seemed to have got the idea of their relationship a long time ago. There was to be no friendship, they were acquaintances, professionals and that was that.

It was his own damned fault, as he would say, in all honesty.

They turned and walked through the doorway leading into the training facility

All around dozens upon dozens of elite soldiers under Enandra's command were practising hand to hand drills, bayonet techniques and disarming and wrestling style fighting on blue soft mats

Almost everyone was a large bastard, as muscular as Attelus was thin. Their every technique was brilliant and practised almost to perfection. She tried not to stare, many men were stripped to the waste, their sweat-slicked torsos corded with muscle. Some were women, but only a few.

In the corner of her eye, Karmen saw Attelus looking on with a small measure of an amused, half smile, his brow furrowed arrogantly.

None of them could even come close to taking him and, he knew it. Attelus was one of the most dangerous individuals Karmen had ever met and, that was saying a lot. His arrogance was almost justified, almost. He must never forget, that there was always someone, somewhere better.

Karmen looked over the Stormtroopers training but saw no sign of anyone on their list.

"Try the sparring cages," Attelus said, scratching the back of his head before slipping his hand back into its pocket and taking another sip of caffeine.

They moved through the thoroughfare, many a soldier noticed them and stopped to salute or make the sign of the Aquila.

Attelus and Karmen nodded or saluted back politely.

They eventually came to the five large sparring cages set at the end of the huge hall. In the first one figure was a complete blur of speed and skill, fighting off five close combat servitors with blunted blades at once, so much so Karmen couldn't even make out who it was.

"Hey, Darrance!" Attelus yelled quickly as they stopped to watch. "A frig head says what?"

It was Darrance, how the hell Attelus was capable of telling that was anyone's guess

Darrance didn't deign to reply he just continued his battle.

"Hmm, was worth a try," said Attelus with a smile and a shrug, looking sidelong at Karmen

Karmen was about to reply when abruptly there was a loud buzz and, a servitor's flat toned voice said, "horizontal slash to sternum a fatal blow, end of session."

Darrance let out a frustrated growl as he spun away flourishing his long, two-handed sword to whip off the imaginary blood and stalked toward them. Darrance was very pretty as well, but his features were grimmer, much more gaunt and haughty. His white hair was once long but now he wore it close-cropped and short. He was also thin and long-limbed but was much taller than Attelus being just under two metres. Darrance was obviously highborn, Karmen had been a lord's daughter back on Velrosia, she had to have many dealings with the upper class as a child so she knew his type well.

Spoilt and totally up himself but he wasn't without his merits, he was a swordsman of equal skill to Attelus but was also an extensively talented pilot and held much in the way wisdom and intellect, he was usually more correct than not in his statements and assumptions. He and Attelus were once mercenaries working under the same assassin sect, they still did but were permanently outsourced under Enandra's command.

But, Karmen was sure both of them were truly loyal to Enandra.

"I hope you are aware..." Darrance gasped but stopped himself and frowned; he was obviously going to call Attelus 'apprentice' but, that title didn't fit him any more. "Attelus, you made me frig up then."

Attelus grinned as if it was the greatest achievement of his entire existence; it proved infectious and, Karmen couldn't help smile along with him. After Omnartus' destruction, it'd taken a long time for Attelus to be able to smile again, a very long time. He had a nice smile and, she'd missed it greatly.

Darrance smirked, shook his head, turned away and barked, "training simulation! Level ten, start!"

Attelus took another sip of caffeine and, they walked on, idly gazing into the sparring cages. In the next were two more assassins from the cult, Delathasi and Kerlia were sparring. Delathasi was wielding dual short blades while Kerlia, she fought with a two-handed axe.

Both were a blur, but not quite as quick or skilled as Darrance. They were young, seventeen so inexperienced. Delathasi was apprenticed to Darrance and Kerlia was under Hayden Tresch. Although Hayden was nowhere to be seen. Kerlia was like Hayden more of a sniper, but she still seemed intent on practising with close combat weaponry.

Attelus and Karmen stopped, watching them. Karmen, a long time ago, before she had focused on her gift, was quite the swordswoman and she could see Delathasi was holding back.

"Hmm, pretty good," said Attelus, his words tinged with melancholy and Karmen knew why they both reminded him of Elandria.

It was in the third they found two of the people they were looking for, Adelana and Helma were locked in combat. They wielded blunted practise long swords and Karmen couldn't help but be impressed by their skill. Both had only started to learn the blade three years ago and both had learned under Attelus.

Attelus smiled like a proud father and drunk back the rest of his caffeine in one long gulp.

"Still got a long way to go, though," said Attelus absently. "To catch up with Delathasi and Kerlia."

"And those two will just keep on improving as well," said Karmen. "I don't think they'll ever catch up, Delathasi and Kerlia have been training since they were really young."

Attelus grimaced and shrugged, quickly seeing her point.

Karmen felt a very familiar presence, a very familiar feeling, this despite her trying to suppress her gift and she turned to see two women in black singlets and combat pants walking toward their way. Karmen recognised them as trainees on the mats and quickly remembered their names, troopers Salantha and Olianthis. Both were drenched in sweat and looking at Attelus as they walked past. The emotion which radiated from them like a blindingly powerful lamp pack was attraction, but Karmen didn't need to be a telepath to tell that. It was a regular occurrence and Karmen fought back her annoyance, women were just as bad as men at objectification, if not even worse. With her gift no longer so suppressed she started to sense at least twenty of the men around in the room were attracted to her, looking at her. Their thoughts ranged from disgusting to moderately respectful, some were even somewhat nice.

Hissing through clenched teeth, she pushed away the thoughts whirling through her mind, then gave the two woman a withering glare which caused them to look away and continue quickly onward.

Karmen looked back into the cage, and she glanced sidelong at Attelus. He was so entrenched in watching he hadn't even noticed them checking him out, which was uncharacteristic. Karmen knew why, he was really looking at Adelana, who was also only in a sweat-slicked singlet and combat pants. Adelana was a pretty thing, beautiful in fact, her face diamond-shaped, with a long nose and full, lusciously red lips. Her skin was very pale and covered in freckles, she tied back hair red with brilliant blonde streaks.

As Attelus has said, Adelana was truly beautiful, but in an understated way, like many of the bird species back on Velrosia. They were coloured with dark greens and blues unlike the birds of the Elbyran continent of Aluthisa where they were bright, overly ostentatious. Velrosian birds were no less pretty but in a different way. As Attelus was popular with the women, she was just as popular with the men and, there were many competing for her affection in the organisation.

Karmen frowned and folded her arms, they didn't have time for this.

+Helma! Adelana!+ she sent, with a bit more force than necessary, causing them to stop and flinch in pain. +Get out here, we've got a mission!+

Both Helma and Adelana, glared at her but quickly Helma opened the door and they stepped out.

"A mission?" growled Helma, she was a short, plain-faced woman with ruddy brown skin and a large, ugly scar on her left cheek. Her blonde hair was close-cropped short and her build more muscular than many men. She was a soldier, hard-edged and unsentimental, a leader. She'd been a captain in the 51st Fenksworld regiment and so was a captain in Taryst's mercenary forces which was modelled on the Imperial guard. Over the past three years she'd proven a masterful military tactician, and a dependent, ruthlessly effective long-range fighter, but lacked a true talent for undercover work.

"Yes," said Karmen and looked to Adelana, she was the exact opposite to Helma. While she too was an excellent shot and only average close combatant. Adelana seemed to have a natural affinity for undercover and stealth work. Only after three years of training, she was already one of their best. Karmen had to admit her and Attelus made for an excellent team, both having skill sets that complemented and contrasted each other well.

"It's a pretty big one too," said Attelus.

"We finally have a lead on Etuarq?" asked Adelana sounding excited and looking at Attelus intently.

He shrugged and met her gaze. Adelana was one of the very few native Omnartisians left and, so was one of the most eager to bring the rogue Inquisitor to justice.

"Perhaps," he breathed, Karmen knew out of all of Adelana's features, Attelus appreciated her large sea-blue eyes the most. "But there's no guarantee."

Adelana pursed her lips and nodded in disappointment, but continued to look at Attelus.

"Anyone knows if anyone else on the list is here?" said Karmen and she read from the dataslate the list of squad members assigned to the mission.

"No," said Helma bluntly and she furrowed her brow. "Why do you ask? Why not call them over the comms?"

Karmen smiled and waved a thumb at Attelus, "Mr weirdo here wishes to waste time tracking all of you down. I thought I'd humour him."

"I'm right here, you know," said Attelus, but still grinned.

"Says it's a test," said Karmen. "See how well we know the people who are to work with us."

"And I was right," said Attelus proudly. "I knew they would be here."

Karmen raised an eyebrow, "it hardly takes a genius to think that someone might be at the training room, Attelus."

Attelus raised his hands, the empty cup hanging from his index finger, "alright! Alright! Is it annual take the piss out of Attelus day, is it?"

"Everyday is take the piss out of Attelus day," Adelana laughed.

"Story of my life," said Attelus with a good-humoured sigh.

"We may as well come with you," said Helma, "try to speed up this farce a bit."

Attelus pursed his lips and tore his attention away from Adelana to Helma, trying to see if the ex-guardswoman was joking or not and frowned as he quickly saw she wasn't.

He sighed, slipped his free hand into its pocket, turned on the balls of his feet and started back.

"Alright, alright," he said. "Can't waste any more time, we've better head on then."

"Where to first?" said Adelana as they started after him.

"I'm taking a wild guess," said Karmen. " And saying...the shooting range."

Attelus, with his back to them, muttered something indignantly.

"Yeah," said Karmen, smiling. "We're going to the shooting range."

Much to no one's surprise, the shooting range was indeed, their next destination.

Attelus was the first through the door and, they approached the desk of the range's custodian, a grumpy middle-aged and going to seed ex-guardsman named Gorres. Gorres sat back casually in his worn leather chair, reading a data slate. Karmen knew how much of a sleaze the old bastard was and had no wish to know what he was looking at.

"Yo," said Attelus as they approached and he held up his cup. "Mind if I give you this?"

Gorres sat up and glared Attelus up and down as though he'd just asked if he could lay with his daughter. (Calestia Gorres was a pretty little trainee just starting in the Stormtrooper corps)

"Please," said Attelus, grinning and shaking the cup.

"Ahh give here!" growled Gorres and snatched it from Attelus with impressive speed. "You may be a big mighty Throne Agent now, but I've been workin' in this organisation before you were even in ya daddy's sack! I ain't ya bloody servitor, got it?"

"Fair enough," said Attelus, raising his hands in diplomatic supplication. "Never would've even considered you were, not for a second. Thank you by the way."

"Yeah," growled Gorres. "If ya gonna go into the range, don't forget to wear your damn ear protectors."

"Of course," said Attelus as he approached the wall the ear protectors hung off and, he began to take them down and started to hand them to the others.

They walked through the thick glass steel doors and into the range and even with the ear protectors on, the discharge of weapons fire was horrid. Causing Karmen to involuntarily wince.

The firing range was huge, easily as large as the practise area, but despite this, it wasn't large enough, as they passed by a long line of soldiers waiting to take their turn at the range. Most of them gazing appreciatively at Adelana and Karmen while they walked.

They were halfway through when they found another assigned to their team and Karmen wasn't surprised at all to find him here. Trooper Jelket, stood, las gun braced as he took shot after shot at the target. He wore his Stormtrooper carapace but went without a helmet. Jelket was an average looking man of average height and average build. His skin was tanned and his black hair curly, scruffy. He'd lost his right arm from an Astartes bolter round back on Omnartus, now it was replaced by an advanced augmetic. That seemed almost normal at first glance. But at a closer look, one could see the joints in the fingers.

Karmen liked Jelket, he was an intelligent, forward thinking, observant character, but also strangely dumb in other circumstances. He was awkward but always pleasant, kind but more than a little bit paranoid. A real conspiracy theorist, in fact, he was one of the first people who'd figured out about Taryst's secret before anyone else.

Most of his other theories were a bit beyond reality, even for Attelus' taste who too was paranoid beyond belief.

Jelket paused in his shots and turned to them as they approached, grinning widely.

"Hey! What are you guys doing here?" he said.

"You caught up to Hayden yet?" asked Attelus.

Jelket shook his head, he was one of the best shots in the organisation, but Hayden Tresch was the best and, the two had a friendly rivalry. Karmen had never felt any bitterness from Jelket for being second best (in fact he held that position with at least three others, depending, as it would change constantly, but Jelket was always at least fifth, there was fierce competition for second place)

"You guys here to support me?" asked Jelket, sounding legitimately hopeful. "Cheer me on?"

"No," stated Helma, folding her arms across her chest, her tone implied she thought such a thing would be the biggest waste of time in the galaxy.

Jelket pursed his lips and grimaced, looking highly disappointed.

"We're here because we need you for another mission," said Karmen, trying to abate the young ex-guardsman's frown.

"Oh? Really?" he said. "Something about that shit-head Etuarq?"

"Perhaps," said Attelus. "Can't guarantee anything yet."

"You know I suggested we look into Marius Hax, right?" said Jelket. "He must be involved being the lord..."

Attelus raised a hand, causing Jelket to cut his sentence short, "yes," he sighed. "You've said that on numerous occasions now, but there is no true evidence that he's involved, there was no mention at all of him in Taryst's records. Anyway, Omnartus was a hub world, its production of minerals was huge and served the sub-sector and even the entire Calixis sector well. It'd even supplied some excellent Imperial Guard regiments, many still in service now, I really doubt, even if he is a traitor he was involved at all."

"But that's what he wants you to think!" insisted Jelket.

Attelus sighed and rolled his eyes, then checked his wrist chron, "and how do you propose we find that out? Burst into his office, put a laspistol to his head and get him to spill his secrets? We maybe Inquisition now but we haven't the right without sufficient evidence and even if we did every Amalathian from here to Thracian Primaris would be on our arses faster than you can say, 'you idiot.'"

Attelus sighed, "just please meet us at briefing quarters 56a at 1600, got that?"

"Yes sir!" said Jelket with a salute.

They pushed past Jelket who continued on with his practice.

"You and I are both aware that we have, as we speak, spies investigating into Marius Hax and his underlings on Scintilla," Karmen whispered in his ear.

"Of course," said Attelus with a small smile. "But I wouldn't admit that to him, would you?"

Karmen smiled, seeing his point.

"Besides," said Attelus, while stretching his long arms over his head and intertwining his fingers together. Karmen was sure that he didn't even know he was doing it, the instinct so entrenched in his psyche. "It's just a necessity, we're doing it with pretty much all the rulers across the sector, or at least trying to. You know, just in case."

They only had to walk a few metres more to find another member of their squad. Torris was waiting in the line, shotgun slung over his shoulder his arms folded over his chest.

Torris was a large, muscular man with very dark brown skin. He was once one of Taryst's most capable employees and before that a member of the Adeptus Arbites on Malfi. With his background of law enforcement he was incredible at reading people, so much so Karmen couldn't help suspect he might have some latent psychic ability. He had after the Omnartus incident, in respect to his murdered friend, Jeurat Garrakson taken up training for heavy weapons and due to his size and strength proved a natural.

He'd once been a charismatic, cheery caring person, but after Omnartus he turned grim and ruthless. Torris still blamed Attelus for the death of their friend and would never forgive him for it, which Karmen couldn't help feel was a true tragedy. If Adelana could forgive Attelus for his role in the death of her homeworld, why couldn't Torris forgive him for what Garrakson did? What also made it sadder was Karmen was sure it wasn't really Attelus' fault. They'd been good friends, and Attelus had needed that friendship over the last three years. Karmen had attempted to talk with Torris in private once or twice about it but the ex-arbitrator wouldn't hear of it.

Despite this, Torris was pragmatic enough to put aside this for the mission. He still respected Attelus somewhat for his skill as a spy and an assassin, but that was that.

"Marcel," said Karmen as they approached.

Torris sniffed and looked them over, "we got a mission?" he asked.

Karmen nodded.

"Good, about frigging time," he growled and looked at Attelus from under a hooded brow. "And you're the leader, I assume?"

Attelus frowned and said, "I am."

Torris nodded but showed no emotion.

Adelana stepped past Karmen, her hands balled into fists.

"We're to meet at briefing room 56a at 1600," she growled through gritted teeth. "Alright?"

Karmen pursed her lips, it was generally well known that Adelana really disliked Torris. For obvious reasons.

Torris grimaced slightly, looking down at Adelana and folding his thick arms across his wide chest.

Karmen didn't have to be a telepath to tell it meant; what right do you have to order me around, little girl?

Karmen cleared her throat, causing Torris to look her way.

"We're looking for Verenth, Hayden, Vark and Halsin," she said, ignoring Attelus' glare and pouty look. "You know where any of them are?"

Torris shrugged, "where Hayden is, is anyone's guess, could be with the Tech-Priests, could be in the armoury, could be at the frigging library. Verenth's probably in his quarters, he isn't here so he's most likely there. Vark's probably in the Ecclesiarch. Halsin, well he's most definitely..."

"Here," a voice interrupted him, and Torris turned to reveal Halsin who approached them. A laspistol held confidentially in his left hand.

With his bulging thyroid eyes, beneath his thick-framed glasses, he always looked like he was in a constant state of surprise.

Halsin was once a tall, scrawny, awkward junior medicae under Taryst's employ but over the past three years, he'd grown. Volunteering as a front line medicae he had served on many assignments since they were taken under Inquisitor Enandra's wing. This, as well as countless hours of training with the Stormtrooper Corps, had hardened him, giving him some confidence. He wasn't as good as any of the elite soldiers, but could still hold his own in a fight. Unless it was close combat, he was still gangly but only a little less now. But his supreme skill with a scalpel, bandaging and ability to keep calm under pressure more than made up for that.

"Halsin!" said Attelus. "Good to see you."

Halsin was one for few words, he simply grimly nodded in reply.

"Been practising at the range?" Attelus said. "What's your percentile now?"

Halsin grimaced in distaste and answered hesitantly, "seventy-nine."

Attelus shrugged, "still better than me."

"Well, even a cross-eyed Grox could shoot better than you!" said Adelana, but with a playful grin causing both Torris and Helma to chuckle with amusement. Karmen couldn't help roll her eyes. She hated their flirty, playful banter.

Attelus furrowed his brow and pursed his lips before a wide smile crossed his face, "I do get seventy to seventy-three, I doubt a cross-eyed Grox could do quite that well. We all can't be good at everything unless you're a freak called Hayden Tresch."

"The only freak around here is you," said Helma making mostly everyone, even Karmen chuckle.

"I am presuming we have an assignment," said Halsin, as humourless as ever.

"You presume correctly," said Torris. "You seen Verenth, Tresch or Vark?"

"Verenth and Hayden I wouldn't have a clue," he said. "But I saw Verenth not long ago when I was leaving the medicae. As I understand it, he's getting a tattoo."

"What? Yet another tattoo?" exclaimed Adelana.

"Yes, another tattoo," said Halsin, sharing none of Adelana's astonishment.

"Well!" said Attelus. "Next stop, the medicae."

"Or you could, you know, call them," said Helma. "Because that's what Vox links are for."

Attelus shrugged and sighed, "alright, we'll go get Verenth, then call the other two."

"That's not what I meant," muttered Helma, although Helma had been a captain and older than Attelus, she'd never begrudged his more senior status, but she had little patience for his eccentricities.

"You guys wanna come with?" said Attelus, ignoring her.

Halsin and Torris exchanged a look.

Torris shrugged, "yeah I'll come, don't want Attelus having his own bloody harem, do we?"

"What? You jealous, Torris?" said Attelus with a wide grin.

"Correction," said Torris. "Don't want him thinking he's got his own harem."

"I think, therefore I am," said Attelus.

Torris pursed his lips and shrugged, conceding defeat, "you make that up now, or get it from somewhere?"

Attelus shrugged back, not rising to the bait.

"I guess I will come too," said Halsin. "Will need to retrieve some equipment from there anyway."

"Alrighty," said Attelus. "Let's get going, then." 

It didn't take long for them to find Verenth in the large medicae, they just had to follow the loud buzzing sound to its source. Verenth sat stripped to the waist as surgeon Solvik applied the ink to his bicep.

If Adelana could describe her fellow Omnatisian in one word it would be, 'snake.' She'd never actually seen a snake, not first hand, but she'd read about them and seen illustrations. Verenth was a tall, very thin and long-limbed young man, but that wasn't what was most snake-like about him. That was his eyes. Stark, pitiless and coloured a strange, light green. His plain, gaunt almost chinless face was hard, perpetually frowning. His head shaven, allowing everyone to see the numerous tattoos covering his skull.

Adelana was never sure how to act around the passionate, intense ex-hammer, he too was one of the few remaining survivors of Omnartus, that made any and all interaction out of assignments very awkward. Not just that but he scared her, constantly it felt he was going to explode into a rage in any second, especially when around Attelus. Adelana had once thought it was because of the part Attelus had played in the destruction of their homeworld. But she'd learned from Attelus that it wasn't just that, but the assassin had also killed Verenth's brother, Verenth had even witnessed it first hand. Unlike Torris, he had a very good reason to hate Attelus but despite this, the ex-hammer still worked under the ex-mercenary. Like Torris, he was pragmatic and saw the big picture enough to know there was more at stake.

"Hey Verenth," said Attelus with a small wave as they approached, causing the ex-hammer's attention to snap at him, his perpetually frowning face somehow frowned even more.

"What is it?" he growled, eyeing them from under his hooded brow.

"We've been assigned a mission," said Attelus, still sounding cheery despite Verenth's demeanour. Verenth never seemed to intimidate Attelus or Attelus never showed the intimidation he felt. Out of everyone in their group, besides, maybe, Tresch. Verenth had the highest chance of killing the superhuman. He was a gunslinger, his hands faster on the draw with his autopistol and Stubbrevolver than thought, inhumanly fast in fact. He was also one of the five top contestants for the second best shot in the organisation. If he could somehow catch Attelus off guard...

Adelana glanced at Karmen who stood next to her, the psyker's expression was unreadable her arms folded across her ample chest. No, Adelana corrected herself, if anyone here could kill Attelus it was Karmen Kons. Adelana knew she didn't like her, hated her in fact and she knew why. This despite Adelana never intending to ever have any kind of relationship with him, in spite of...

Adelana should've been utterly terrified by the psyker's enmity, knowing what Karmen Kons was capable of, but she wasn't. The Psyker was not petty, in fact, she was one of the most reliable people on the team, she'd saved Adelana's life on countless occasions over the past three years. In fact, if it wasn't for her Adelana would've died with Omnartus.

"If you haven't guessed yet," said Attelus knocking Adelana from her train of thought.

Verenth sighed, shook his head and rolled his eyes, "yeah, I guessed, boss. I was just hoping it wasn't, that somehow not saying it would make it untrue."

Attelus smiled, apparently ignoring Verenth's sarcasm when he said 'boss.'

"Fair enough," said Attelus, he never seemed to begrudge Verenth of his immense dislike toward him. He understood it and was genuinely regretful for the injustice he'd perpetrated. "And as much as I respect anyone who fights fate, the frigging bastard. I'm sorry to say it's won this day."

Verenth groaned, "alright, just let Solvik finish my tattoo."

"Can he do it in..." Attelus checked his wrist chron. "Fifteen minutes? We've got briefing room 56a booked at 1600."

Verenth scowled and looked pointedly at the tattoo on his left bicep. Adelana was no expert, but it seemed far from finished. From what was done it looked like the starting of a winged, green-robed, faceless figure holding a sword to its chest, tip downward.

"Hmm," said Attelus, stroking his thin chin. "Dark Angels, right?"

Verenth stiffened visibly.

"They saved my homeworld from invasion," said Attelus. "They've interested me ever since."

"Funny," growled Verenth. "Space Marines saved your world but destroyed mine."

Attelus frowned, "that's why I find it ironic that you would..."

"Last time I checked," interrupted Verenth. "It wasn't the Dark Angels who did it, it was the Destruction Inculpators or The Desolation Inculpators, whatever, they're gone now, faced justice. Just because they did it doesn't mean all Space Marine chapters are the same."

"Besides," said Verenth. "I think it just looks frigging cool."

Attelus nodded, "sorry to interrupt your tattoo but if it's any consolation this mission may or may not involve our enemy."

Verenth's snake-like eyes widened briefly, "you mean the enemy?"

Attelus shook his head, and he turned to walk away, "perhaps an emphasis on perhaps," he said with another brief wave. "See you soon."

"I'll be there," said Verenth as Attelus lead them away. "I'll frigging be there."

Adelana could see Attelus was smiling slightly and Torris, glaring at him in disapproval. That was another reason why Torris didn't like him, he could be so very manipulative.

If anyone scared Adelana, truly scared her it was Attelus Xanthis Kaltos. She knew he'd been through hell, and couldn't help admire that he didn't come out of it worse off, but she knew he was constantly teetering on a precipice between sanity and insanity. That in any second he could fall permanently into the metaphorical darkness, into his murderous, manipulative mentality. It was only sheer force of will that prevented it. That was one the many reasons she didn't want more, to be more than just colleagues, she knew he dearly wanted that but...

"I'll get Hayden and Vark over the vox," said Helma interrupting Adelana's thought process and she reached for her microbead.

"Yes," said Attelus. "You do that."

After Halsin collected his equipment, they left the medicae.

It took them about five minutes to walk through the thin, gunmetal grey corridors and Adelana's mind wandered. She'd been through much in the past three years, fought alongside Space Marines on two separate occasions, the first time was with the Space Wolves, second the Death Watch when she and Attelus had allied with the Ordo Xenos Inquisitor, Lorris to stop a Genestealer cult on Sinophia. She'd even travelled all the way to Segmentum Ultima via Attelus' 'connections,' and back. She'd faced down mutants, heretics and even daemons. But most of all she'd killed, she'd killed a lot of people, more than she could've imagined. The first time it'd been traumatic, on the flagship the of traitor Inquisitor, Torathe. During the initial boarding action, she'd taken the top off a Stormtrooper's skull with one well-placed shot. She hadn't felt anything at the time due to the adrenaline but after the fight, when recovering from her injuries, she'd wept.

Attelus had helped her through it, he was unusually open with his emotions and told her he'd felt the same the first time he'd killed too. A chaos cultist invader during the invasion on his homeworld when he was fifteen.

Despite never enjoying the killing, she felt right, she had a purpose and a truly worthy one at that. A far greater one than if she'd wound up working in the Magistratum as she'd initially intended. She just wished that it didn't need to start with the death of her homeworld.

She'd never get over that, not truly. Not even after they hunt down that bastard Etuarq and bring him to justice

Adelana eyed Attelus as he walked ahead of her, in his usual pose, hands in the pockets of his black flak jacket. She'd forgiven him for the part he unwittingly played in Omnartus' fate, it'd been frigging hard, though and taken her awhile. He'd saved her mostly due to selfish reasons, all just because she'd been nice to her.

It was pretty damn pathetic, pitiful, almost. In fact, it'd taken her longer to forgive him of that, than the role he'd played in Omnartus.

She'd learned a lot from the now master assassin over the past three years, and despite some initial hiccups he'd proven a pretty damn good teacher. Eventually.

Adelana had often wondered why the Inquisitor had promoted Arlathan to Interrogator over Attelus or Karmen Kons or the many other more senior candidates. But so far Inquisitor Enandra had led them exceedingly well, she'd made very few mistakes. She'd helped Adelana through the depression after the death of Omnartus, Enandra must know what she was doing.

She'd worked exclusively with Attelus for so long she'd never actually seen Arlathan (who worked exclusively with the Inquisitor), So she didn't exactly have the best knowledge of his abilities, but surely they paled in comparison to the superhuman Attelus or the extraordinary psychic abilities of Karmen Kons?

Adelana had never approached Karmen on the matter, but she had once asked Attelus. He'd just shrugged and said.

"Arlathan knows his shit, he used to be a selfish arsehole but has changed for the better. I respect him, and I really don't envy him the responsibility. Besides, I think it's also more uhh personal if you catch my drift."

Adelana did 'catch his drift' (a saying she'd never heard before, must be native to his homeworld) Arlathan was a very handsome man, even with the beard and it was well known that Arlathan and Sergeant Kollath, the leader of Enandra's personal bodyguard, were in constant competition for the attractive Inquisitor's affections but Adelana had hoped it was more than that. Attelus seemed to believe it, so maybe it was, but it wouldn't be the first time he was wrong and it definitely wouldn't be the last.

In silence, they turned the corner headed toward 56a, their footfalls clanging on the metal grating. Everyone's beside Attelus' and Adelana's.

Three men stood waiting at the entrance Jelket, Vark and Hayden Tresch.

Vark was dressed in his Stormtrooper carapace and took up most of the corridor's width with his bulk. Vark had been long ago designated as Karmen Kons' bodyguard, accompanying her on missions to watch over Karmen when she'd leave her body in her incorporeal form. An effective soldier of all-round ability, he'd once served in Taryst's elite Stormtrooper corp. A deeply religious man (a rarity amongst mercenaries, even before he became a former mercenary) Adelana, who'd never been terribly religious and recognised the more secular nature of the organisation found it disconcerting. He could proselytise often and it got on her nerves. He and Karmen were both quite religious and that, Adelana guessed, was one of the reasons why they worked together. Vark's was plain of face, his skin a ruddy brown and his small beady eyes light blue. His closed cropped hair blond. Vark's most unique feature was his large cleft chin, it was hard for Adelana to keep her attention away from it when in conversation with him.

Tresch, unlike Vark, didn't need to wear Stormtrooper carapace to dominate the corridor. Broad shouldered, long-limbed. The large, two-metre tall sniper wore a grey bodyglove and leaned against the wall, arms folded across his wide chest. He was perhaps one of the most talented individuals she'd ever met. As Attelus had once said Hayden was, 'a jack of all trades and a master of quite a few too.' (Attelus was always fond of his rhymes) Tresch was an amazingly good sniper, an explosives expert, a hacker they were only a few among many skills under his name. A former Adeptus Arbite, he was a grim man, one of few words. Many of the women in the organisation described Tresch as a 'grey fox or 'tall dark and handsome' due to his once brown hair mostly overtaken by grey. Adelana didn't understand this sentiment, she'd never found him particularly attractive, she preferred her men younger.

She could help look briefly at Attelus, and well, more pretty.

Tresch was at least in his late forties. His square-jawed face lined and weathered. Attelus had once said both his eyes were augmetics, but they looked so normal she'd never have guessed it. She'd always thought it was a bit of a cheat, surely they'd aide him in his inhuman accuracy?

"Hayden, Vark, Jelket," said Karmen. "Good to see you are here already."

Vark shrugged, "mamzel Helma said this may involve that bastard Etuarq so I got here as quick as I could. We may finally end him, God-Emperor willing."

"Emperor willing," echoed Karmen, making the sign of the Aquila. "We just have to wait for Verenth then we'll start the briefing."

"Let's head in, shall we?" said Torris.

In silence they started to file through the door, Attelus in the lead, but he stopped and straightened briefly, seeing two more in the briefing room.

"You," said Attelus sternly and stepped aside, allowing Adelana a clear view.

It was Darrance and his apprentice, Delathasi.

"What are you doing here?" said Karmen, perplexed. "We have this room booked."

Darrance grimaced and exchanged a look with Delathasi, "when I saw you walking through the training facility. I thought something was up, so I gave Arlathan a vox and guess what? There was, he said that it might involve that shit stain Etuarq, so there's no way in hell Delathasi and I are not taking part."

"You are aware that I'm going to be in charge, right?" said Attelus.

"I am," said Darrance. "But I'm willing to swallow my pride and follow your lead, this time."

Adelana could've sworn she heard Helma mutter something along the lines of, "I bet that's not the only thing you'll swallow."

Darrance obviously overheard her as he treated Helma a dark look.

"I'll be your new designated pilot," said Darrance smoothly. "Delathasi can help you on the ground. I am sure you don't want to be the only close quarters specialist, do you, Attelus?"

"Who was going to be our pilot?" said Vark. "Originally."

"Ulysses," said Darrance, "but Interrogator Arlathan superseded it."

"He must've owed you one hell of a favour," said Torris. "For him to do that, what did you do? Give him a blow job? Must've been good, I'm sure you've had a hell of a lot of practice."

Everyone, even Delathasi laughed, Darrance's face darkened, but it didn't last long before he just shrugged.

Adelana realised that Delathasi was looking appreciatively, almost gapingly at Attelus. This caused Adelana to smile and shake her head in amusement.

Delathasi would've been pretty if it wasn't for the very present acne on her tanned skin and boxer's nose. She was shy and kept to herself constantly, but when in battle she was a force to be reckoned with her dual monomolecular blades. Tall and lanky she had plenty of power in her limbs.

The door behind them abruptly slid open, and Adelana turned to see Verenth step into the room. His piercing gaze silently travelled over them, before finally sitting himself down on the nearest desk.

"Well!" said Attelus rubbing his hands together excitedly. "Now everyone's present and accounted for, let's get this party started."

[das-roog]

Mutants in the MCU

Before I get into this, I’d like to point out that this article is pure speculation. I highly doubt any of this is going to happen and it isn’t really based on any solid facts. Also, please be aware that there are going to be spoilers for various Marvel comics/movies so if you don’t want any spoilers, turn away; go back to your home and keep living your life the way you want. Otherwise, now that that’s out of the way, on to the show. Or the…the article, or…you get what I mean.

I recently came across this article while perusing Facebook. For those unable/unwilling to follow the link, here’s a tl;dr: It’s long been thought that Marvel has been phasing mutants (X-Men and such) from their universe for some time now. The big theory here is that Marvel is doing it mostly as a big middle finger to Fox, who has the rights to the X-Men movies and is loathe to share. This makes sense. Despite their pseudo-agreement about Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, Marvel would have to pry the X-Men movie rights from Fox’s cold, dead hands. So, you know, cooperation seemed out of the question. Thus, Marvel would phase the X-Men out to take away any potential storylines or potential revenue from Fox as far as the mutants are concerned.  However, the article claimed that at the very least, Marvel doesn’t seem to have it out for the children of the atom as much as we thought, considering the slew of new X-titles coming out. And yeah, as a huge X-Men fan that’s exciting. But the reason I’m writing this article isn’t to talk about that. What I want to talk about is a point made by the writer of the article I linked to earlier: that a reversal on a possible phasing out of the X-Men (and mutants in general) could mean the X-Men coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (or the MCU) in general. 

This is a wonderful prospect that fills my heart with joy while triumphant music swells in the background. The thought of someone doing the X-Men right–whether it be MCU proper or Netflix or some combination of both–is enough to make my fanboy heart flutter. I mean, yeah Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is the shit and the recent movies with McAvoy are pretty cool but I mean, just imagine if the House of Ideas could make their own movies or series, the way they want to. Shut up and take my money. And so on, so forth. However, as the initial wave of ecstasy starts to fade, reality sets in. X-Men coming to the MCU is unlikely. Let’s talk about why.

Why It Probably Won’t Happen

The biggest reason: Fox. LOVES. MONEY. 

According to the numbers I’ve found, and after I did a little bit of math, the X-Men movies have made a worldwide box office of $4,384,477,711 against a budget of $1,271,000,000. That’s a profit of more than $3 billion dollars ($3,113,477,711 to be exact). That’s not counting box office from Wolverine’s solo films OR Deadpool. That’s a lot of money, guys. Fox intends to keep making that money as long as they humanly can. They’d puppet Patrick Stewart’s body using an elaborate system of pulleys, strings and a ventriloquist if it meant more money. 

Superhero movies are big money right now. Keeping X-Men is the move that makes the most business sense. They tried to cash in with Fantastic Four in 2015 to dismal results and they STILL want to keep trying to beat every last penny from that dead horse’s not-so-fantastic corpse. So yeah, them giving up a franchise that IS actually making them money is a long shot at best. 

Likewise, Marvel has no real reason to pursue the rights at this point. I mean yeah, the current arrangement isn’t a great deal for them but they don’t need the X-Men to succeed. They have the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, their critically-acclaimed Netflix series, freaking Spider-Man. They’re not hurting. 

As sad as it is to say, I don’t think this status quo will be changing for quite some time. 

Well, That Was Depressing…

Yeah, it was. But you know, that’s reality, I guess. But who said we have to accept reality? It’s way more fun to speculate about what it would be like if the X-Men and other mutants did show up in the MCU? 

So, put on your bright yellow spandex, hop in the Blackbird and let’s talk about the challenges of fitting the X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

So What are the Problems?

The X-Men have always been a weird franchise. They’re the children of the atom, the next stage of human evolution. They fight to defend a world that hates and fears them. Their whole deal hinges on the idea that people are super OK with–even enthusiastic about!–giant robots being sent to kill them. It’s a racism allegory, or a homosexuality allegory: mutants are the minority that is viciously persecuted by the old, white politicians in charge of the status quo.

Aaaand in the same world, the Avengers are on the news every other night, the Fantastic Four are bonafide celebrities and superpowered indidivuals are not only common, but popular and accepted. Sure, Spider-Man has bad press but he seems to be the exception. So, in this world, why are the X-Men so hated? It doesn’t make a lot of logical sense to me and it never really has.

Introducing them into the MCU at large would require some finagling to get around this fact. The comics can ignore it because the comic status-quo is akin to the Gospel to hardcore fans. Things are the way they are because that’s how it’s always been; we just accept it. But putting it into the movies? They need to at least address the problem or at least put a lampshade on it. 

Also worth considering, where have the X-Men been all this time? Where have Professor X and Magneto been? What about Wolverine? Why hasn’t Tony made a smart-alec comment about the Sentinels? Why didn’t Nick Fury contact the X-Men or any of the other mutants about the Avengers project? 

Also, in the comics, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are Magneto’s kids. In the MCU, they got their powers from crazy HYDRA experiments. Sooo….yeah, that’s a little awkward. They even bring up Quicksilver being Magneto’s son in the newer X-Men films.  

So Where Were They?

Getting around the “where were they?” question is relatively simple: mutants have existed for decades at least, considering that Xavier and Magneto are at least middle-aged, but nobody knows about them.

It might seem weird at first, but it makes sense in the broader scope of the MCU. After all, everybody seemed kind of surprised about the Inhumans in Agents of Shield, so nobody knowing about the existence of another naturally-powered species existing seems plausible. Hell, maybe SHIELD did find out by Xavier wiped their memories? Who knows? 

A World That Hates and Fears Them

Either way, in our movie, the existence of mutants would be relatively recent; in essence, the world would find out about mutants at the worst possible time. 

Think about it. The world in the MCU is undergoing some extreme changes. The world’s nearly ended twice. The Avengers did a lot of damage while they’re out saving the world and the Sokovia Accords aren’t making things any less tense. There are vigilantes running around Hell’s Kitchen, a spider-kid swinging around Midtown, and SHIELD is struggling to keep the Inhumans under wraps. Superpowered people are coming out of the woodwork left and right, explosions and city block-destroying super-fights are happening commonly, the entire US Government was recently overthrown by secret HYDRA agents and nobody quite knows how to process it. 

Take this scene from Netflix’s “Jessica Jones” (spoilers for episode 4, “aka 99 Friends”): 

For those unable to watch the video, the takeaway here is that Audrey and her husband have lured Jessica to this abandoned apartment to kill her because they are terrified of the changes wrought by the emerging superhuman culture. Or as she puts it, “gifted”.  

“Gifted. Stupid word. It’s like calling someone ‘special’; they’re not special, they’re retarded. You’re not gifted, you’re a freak….you ‘saved the city’.That’s what the newspapers said. You were ‘heroes’….but I was there. I saw what really happened. I saw my mother crushed to death under a building that you people destroyed…I was trying to pull my mother out of the rubble…while all around me you people were raining down hell.”

Jessica points out that she had nothing to do with the Incident (referring to the events from the first Avengers movie) but that doesn’t matter to Audrey. She just wants to kill Jessica because she’s “gifted”, an act she calls a “preventative measure”. 

I’m willing to bet that Audrey isn’t the only person who feels that way. I also bet she isn’t the only person who’d try something like that. Hell, there are some who’d take it even further. The world is scary, uncertain and changing. People are afraid and they just want some security. 

Now imagine if people found out that there were thousands of “gifted” people and not all of them wore American Flags on their chests or worked with SHIELD. Some of them look just like me and you. There’s no way to tell who they are or if they’re dangerous. They could be anybody and they could do anything.

That’s the atmosphere of our X-Men movie. Fear and propaganda that paint mutants as inhuman monsters who want to eat your babies. The powder keg that the Avengers lit has finally exploded. 

Xavier and Magneto

The Xavier Institute is not a school. It’s a safe house; a sanctuary for young mutants with nowhere else to go. The mansion is a safe haven protected by both Charles’ telepathy and Forge’s technological marvels. 

Sure, Xavier teaches them to control their power but his primary focus is on helping them accept themselves and embrace their gift. He’s a hippy, the eternal optimist, espousing philosophy and understanding like a Buddhist monk. He believes that with some understanding, humans and mutants can live together in peace. He does not believe in violence. Love is stronger than hate. He is crippled, a solemn reminder of his previous failure with Magneto.

Speaking of which, Magneto is angry and bitter and so are the young radicals who follow him. They’re ready to fight and to show mankind that they’re not going to take it anymore. Mutants are the next step in evolution and they’re not waiting around for nature to finish making its selection on its own. 

Magneto is a shadowy figure who has the utmost loyalty from his followers. They’re almost a cult in their fanatic devotion to him and Magneto is almost a Messianic figure. He knows that war is inevitable and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to be on the winning side of it. 

A note here is that neither Xavier nor Magneto were alive during World War II. Even if they were each 60 years old, that’d mean they were born in the 1950′s. Lucky for us, humanity has a long tradition of inhuman cruelty, so any time period works for Magneto to experience those horrors. I vote we make them a little younger (both around their mid-40s). 

Xavier’s background doesn’t have to change much but Magneto’s will, since being in his 40′s means he isn’t a Holocaust survivor. I’d suggest perhaps having him grow up in South Africa during Apartheid, but there are other options. Regardless, he doesn’t have to be from Nazi Germany. I’ve never heard him voiced with a German accent so why not go with it? 

I’d also have another reason Magneto is pissed is because his son, Quicksilver, died in Age of Ultron. But wait, what? Yeah, you read that right. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are still his children. They didn’t know that they were mutants and the HYDRA experiments simply activated an X-Gene that was already present. I mean, you don’t have to include it but that would give Magneto yet another reason to hate and resent SHIELD. 

The Brotherhood of Mutants

Magneto’s mutant supremacy cult is made up of angry, young mutant radicals with a fanatic devotion to Magneto. His movement is relatively young but its numbers are already impressive. Most prominent (ie, actual characters) are: Mystique, Toad, the Blob, Mastermind, Avalanche, Domino and Rogue. As a group of mostly punks and anarchists, they are vicious, ruthless and destructive. 

The X-Men  

Beside Professor X himself, the first team of X-Men are the main focus of this story. Xavier is the leader of the team and Forge is his tech guy; Forge made the mansion’s security system, he made the Danger Room, the Blackbird, the X-Men’s uniform (which hides their mutant gene in public) and he helped Charles make Cerebro (which functions like JARVIS in addition to boosting Xavier’s psychic powers to locate mutants). Alternatively, Beast could replace Forge.

On the team proper are: Marvel Girl, Cyclops, Iceman, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Storm. Why them? Well, because they’re the coolest. They’d have a sweet dynamic and they all have interesting powers, aesthetics and personalities. 

The Story   

Our story is in the chaotic first days of mutants being known to society. Magneto and his Brotherhood have committed a few acts of terror and public outcry to do something about the “Mutant Menace” is at an all-time high. 

Our protagonist is Jean Grey, a young woman from New York with the power of telekinesis and limited telepathy. She’s a little socially awkward and is borderline unable to control her ability. In fact, she thinks she’s got mental problems. The Inciting Incident has Jean’s telekinesis bringing attention to her status as a mutant, introducing Jean and the audience to the world’s hatred and fear of mutants firsthand. Luckily, she’s saved by the timely intervention of Cyclops. 

While I could write a beat-by-beat outline of the entire movie (which I will absolutely do in another post), I’ll stick to an outline here. 

The main story revolves around the X-Men working to stop the Brotherhood’s assassination of controversial politician Senator Robert Kelly. There’s at least one fight with the Brotherhood early on when the X-Men go to recruit Nightcrawler. The X-Men aren’t soldiers and they don’t want to fight their fellow mutants; Xavier’s way is one of peace. But in the end, they need to protect innocent lives and Magneto will not bow and will not move from his path. Thus, Xavier reluctantly realizes that if Magneto is choosing to be an unstoppable force, he and his students must be an immovable object. 

The final battle of the movie is a big, drawn out, all-out fight between the X-Men and the Brotherhood in New York (probably) or Washington DC. During the fight, Rogue nearly drains Jean to death. However, Jean’s telepathy is stronger than Rogue anticipated, and it is also revealed that Jean has something else inside of her: the Phoenix. Rogue is overwhelmed and loses her memory from this incident, which will lead to her switching sides in the next film. Or at the very least, a short scene after the main fight where Rogue wakes up without her memories and Xavier essentially takes her in.

While the X-Men are victorious, the people still see the Brotherhood as proof that mutants are dangerous and something needs to be done. The Sentinel Project is approved but the movie ends with Xavier and Jean having a hopeful conversation. Maybe humanity doesn’t accept them yet but love is stronger than hate. Tomorrow is another day, after all.

The post-credit scene would be Magneto talking to an off-camera figure. 

“It seems Charles Xavier and his camp are more of a threat than I originally thought. I need someone qualified to…dispose of the problem before he can convert any other young mutants to his naive, integrationist agenda. Can I…rely on your skills and discretion in this operation?”

The figure replies, “I’m the best there is at what I do.” 

The camera reveals the Wolverine and he is rough; wicked, almost feral looking. He smirks, the claws revealed from one hand. “Just point me in the right direction, bub.”

Bam.

The X-Men Will Return…

Where do we go from there?

Obviously, we need a TV series to go with this right? New Mutants on Netflix. While the main X-Men are becoming public figures, this series would focus on a new group of mutants who come to live with the Professor, though they aren’t involved in the main team’s work. Xavier would be in the show, which would involve a plot surrounding Mr. Sinister in its first season.

The Netflix series could also possibly be the Jamie Madrox-era of X-Factor, where he and his associates essentially have a private-detective agency. Jamie is a former student of Xavier’s from years ago in our tale and essentially opens the business with a few friends to “make a living” but that might be a bit too much like Jessica Jones (who is also a private detective).

The second movie would focus on the Sentinel Project and the rumors of the Mutant Registration Act. Evidently, the Sentinels will only be hunting down unregistered mutants. This is a divisive point among the X-Men themselves. 

To help foster a better public image for mutants, Xavier has the X-Men intervene in natural disasters and other such incidents; they mostly stay out of politics and other superhero situations because Xavier doesn’t want the X-Men associated with any political movement or faction (thus explaining why the Avengers, SHIELD, etc. aren’t really involved in these movies). Rogue is the newest member of the team, struggling with the fact that she’s lost all of her memories and old personality. She remembers bits and pieces, but struggles telling them apart from the memories of the people she absorbed.

Jean is still our protagonist who has a will they/won’t they with Scott but that’s challenged when Wolverine rolls in. Logan is kind of our second protagonist. He’s there undercover to kill the Professor. Yes, that’s an Ultimate X-Men storyline but it works here. Wolverine pretends to be the good guy until a combination of Xavier’s unyielding philosophy and Jean’s innate goodness actually make him defect to their side by the end. We can also introduce Kitty in movie #2 or #3. 

Jean and Logan have a bickering relationship. They can’t stand each other. Of course, this means they’re attracted to each other. Emotionally, Scott represents safety; he’s a good guy. Logan is wild, dangerous; he’s a being of pure id. The love triangle is not the main thing but it’s definitely a solid Plot C that helps further the development of all three characters.

As the movies go on, we introduce Emma Frost and the Hellfire Club and go into the Dark Phoenix saga, the Messiah Complex, X-23, the Morlocks, and maybe even Apocalypse. The latter could be done like a monster movie and even necessitate the assistance of the Avengers and/or Dr. Strange! I mean, the dude’s called Apocalypse. SHIELD Might want to intervene with that one. I know we had an Apocalypse movie already, but if we can reboot Spider-Man eight thousand times, we can do another Apocalypse movie, especially if it’s done right and has other Marvel characters in it. 

Eventually, when the Avengers line-up inevitably changes, we can always bring Wolverine in, just like they did in the comics. How awesome would it be to see Wolverine and Spider-Man both on the Avengers, alongside Captain America and Iron Man? 

In Conclusion

X-Men is at its best when it’s an allegory for racial or societal tensions in the modern day. Emphasizing the atmosphere of fear, blind hatred and propaganda against “an enemy that could be anybody” is perfect for this day and age. Build that on the foundation of the Sokovia Accords and the tension that’s been building up throughout the Avengers movies and the Netflix series and bringing X-Men into the MCU would not only be easy, it’d make narrative sense. 

I hope you enjoyed this (admittedly long) breakdown of Mutants in the MCU. Thanks for taking the time to read this and let me know what you think or what you’d do. Do you agree? Do you think I’m an idiot? Let me know! 

Thanks again for dropping by!

In my next post, I’ll go into more detail with the MCU X-Men movie and we’ll even hash out a cast! See you next time!