#jokes on them i never left that phase it was just on standby

[makemeimmortalwithahug]

with every passing minute that I think about it, I feel absolutely gut-punched by how well edwin and charles' story fits the myth of hero and leander. It's like an alternate universe where they didn't make it but in a different than Orpheus and Eurydice

will be explained at a later date, I need to process

[psychemeanscure]

PART 4 { I think I forgot to tell this, but I guess I just have to mention it now. This story is purely fictional. Places, names, things may or may not be related with each other. Nor to do harm. Just be reminded that this is all fiction. In case a sensitive issue might arise, since I only rely to what google give me as well. Hehe. Anyway, happy reading :)}

“Boss! I got the de--- Boss?”

He’s too preoccupied by his thoughts that even the voice of his people can’t even get through him, for he is still moved from the yesterday’s happenings. “Boss.” Another hoping call for him, and still no response indeed.

-

“Okay! Can we talk about us, now?”  

His first word the moment he ended the settled deal by call with the Spanish gambler as he steps in the driver’s seat facing her who’s already waiting from the passenger seat. “Shut up. I’m still not in the mood for you, Jang Taeyoung.” Thus he starts the engine as they continue to bicker throughout the ride.

“Come on. Is this still about the prompt proposal? I told you, even I has no clue about it as I thought we’re going to deal with the gun transactions only.”

“Exactly. And it’s your fault.” crossing her arms again as she looks by the window instead. “Tss. You accusing bulldozer. I should have sided the old man instead. I could have enjoyed his humor better than you do.” And that made her turn her head to him. “Well, just make sure to inform me if you plan to betray me soon.”

“Jeez. You really can’t distinguish a joke, are you? What do you think of me? Low-cost? Tss. Besides, there’s no way I’m going to clasp a hand with that geezer, either. I hate him even.” Curious from what she heard. She starts to ask him the usual. “Oh, wow. That’s new. What makes you decide that easily, though?”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. As expected, you’re too focus of revenge that you’re unable to see his suspicious look on you.” And it made her forehead crease. “What?” received a shrugging shoulder from him then. “He keeps watching you the whole time whenever your eyes are not on him. Like he had something to remember by you. And it’s too fishy. Too fishy something. I hate it.”  By gripping the steering wheel, he accelerated their phase from the broad road of Seoul while she had to deal with his daydreaming assumptions. “Can you stop your dreaming haughtiness like as if we were even a thing? Tú apesta.”

There she is finally with her curses as she had to roll her eyes up because of him. Yet in the other side, he’s just simply excited to play his cleverness on her again. “Ooh… So you are open considering us as a thing, huh? That hasn’t slip in my mind, though. Shall I say my pleasure, then?” only to receive a glare coming from her.

~

“Send me the details tomorrow. I’ll get back to you once I finish all my meetings.”

Her firm business remark after they went out of the garage, snatching back her car key from him. Went straight to the entrance door to enter her passcode but frowned after realizing that he still around, nor even calling his assistant to fetch him. “What? You’re not leaving? Don’t tell me you’ll somehow get me obliged to call assistance for you?”  yet, he was just there just few meters from her standing, both hands in his pockets while giving her a meaningful stare as if contemplating his words to say to her. 

“Nah. I’m just going to do this.” And he did it, indeed. Occupying the remaining distance between them, swiftly cupping her cheeks by his hands as he deeply claims her lips with wholesomeness. Kissed her under the night sky of darkness and only moon as their witness. 

She was left off-guard that even the sudden tiptoe of her feet is oblivious on her sane, and when she was about to protest, he already pulled away. “You’re too stubborn to talk about your indebtedness from me a while ago. So why not a surprise paycheck will do.”

“Good night, my sweet volatile.”

His last whisper on her ear before guiding the still struck her inside her premise. “Joder esta! Get yourself together, Sung Eunyoung.” She ends up scolding herself indeed after closing the door of her apartment as she was still on her doorstep gripping the doorknob with so much vigor. Heart’s racing with bafflement. She doesn’t want to assume any from him for she knows what kind of man he is, but… “But that look. Mierda!”

She blurts it out indeed. That certain look he never gave to anyone, not until today. Not until with her.  

-

“Boss!”

With one last hope from his assistant, he finally snaps back to reality. Turning his head to face the owner of the voice. “U-uh?” his absentminded out of sane answer still, only to be handled a catalog envelope to his hand. “The details you requested Boss.”  As he only checks what’s inside and thank him. “You may go, Jae.” His final bid indeed but seems to confuse the latter. “Uh. Boss? Should I send it also to Ms.--- “

“No, it’s okay. I can handle.”

“Yes, Boss.”

Thus the assistant went out just as he wanted. While he was left smirking, swirling on his swivel chair with a silly thought in mind. A silly move he always enjoys.

~

The sound of a thrown golf ball elopes the entire walls of her personal sports room for she just finished a previous meeting calls only to receive another incoming. Thus she had pause for a moment and accept it from her smartwatch again.

“Yes, Director.”

“Yes, the honor is mine. I hope the girls on standby made your day, though.”

“I’m glad to hear that. In fact, the prospectus you sent is quite my interest.”

“Oh no. You don’t have---“

Her conversion cut off by a sudden barging from a person she already knew. She almost cusses if only she’s not fast to realize that she’s still conversing to someone over a call, that even the caller had to ask if there’s something wrong. She composes immediately somehow, except that her glaring eyes were darted to the unwelcome visitor though.

“Anyway Director, thank you for trusting your business on us.”

“My pleasure. Expect the response of my secretary by Friday.”

“Yes, please.”

With one last bid of goodbye and a put off of her bluetooth earbud, she indeed fuming mad imposing the great Jang Taeyong who’s just comfortably sitting on the couch. “Didn’t I tell you I get back to you once I finish my meetings? La mierda. You almost ruined everything!”

“But I did not.”

Only to receive a quirky statement from him anyway, that she had no choice either but to entertain, occupying the opposite seat from him. “What now?” thus he showed her the catalog envelope his assistant gave a while ago, while she starts to check the moment she received it only to groan after learning what’s inside. “You really don’t listen, are you? I told you to just send me the details. Email, Jang Taeyoung. I don’t have to see your face just for this.”

“Ah. Uhuh… So that’s what you mean by that? You should have been more specific. Shall I say sorry?”

His quirky answers continue even he always do understand her sentences. And just by looking her unconvinced gaze, he knew she knows as well as he does. “Forget it. You’re here anyway. And since you’re here, better elaborate this asustando papel for me instead. That’s the least you can do.”

Her mocking words indeed by which only made him a cringing brows. “You, woman. You’re always pulling me down. Tss. Fine.” As much as she wants to laugh by his sudden yield, she chose to suppress it anyway. Thus, he started after some fixing with his suit.

“Zilo Alcaziar, the troublemaker son of Veeros Alcaziar. An elite from underground Castellón, Spain. If not with his father’s power he could have rot in jail because of its involvement in many drug activities such as cocaine, cannabis, MDMA and his most favorite…” he intended to halt his words to see her expectant reaction. “What?” her impatience indeed.

“Heroin.”

“Esta mierda! And he’s only 20?! Don’t you dare tell me that it’s even included to the said transaction?”

“Uhuh. Sadly, Yes. No doubt his father is trying to be a good Samaritan for his son.” And so he swears, if only curses can kill. He’s probably the first on the list for he is currently catching every kind of curses from her mouth right now while she takes a deep breath preparing for another information that may stress her somehow. “Okay. Fine. What more should I have to suffer to hear?”  

He can’t help to sneak a laugh by her witty-like remark that he follows anyway and proceeds to another information for her. The rest of their conversation then just became a constant throw-catch disputes of details or rather been said, a matter of question and answer bickering between a lion towards his lioness.

“When was that again?”

“Next month is his arrival. Together with the second cargo entailed of powders obviously as what I have told you. The old man said it will be the same process with the guns next week, so by dawn I and my boys must be on the port on time.”

With the look of her brushing her face. He knows she’s starting to get lost from her thoughts, frustrated. “Dios Mio. A father who’s even letting his son involved. Urgh. Do you really think I can absorb all of this, Jang Taeyoung?”

“Then you better not. You don’t need to get involved with the transactions though and just leave it to me. It’s too dangerous. You do trust me, right?” scoffing from what she heard, she had no choice anyway. “Are you sure?” only to be responded by his groan. “You only reciprocated my question, Sung Eunyoung. I said, do you trust me?” seeking for affirmation from her, she knew his being serious right then that only thing she could do is sigh.

“I should, is maybe my right response to that, Jang Taeyoung. Don’t force me.”

Giving her a stern look doesn’t work somehow, so he gives in anyway. “Fine. Even that isn’t the answer I’m expecting.”  

“Whatever. Can we just end this for today? I had enough headache already.”

As she stands up, picking its golf club from a stand bag, after deciding for another round of play. “You too, should go. I had enough of you as well.” But the latter didn’t even get a hitch to move from his seat and were just watching her from behind. “It’s so unfair. You have your own sports room while I don’t.” his set of grumpiness indeed. “Then get one. You have all money to do that. Why bother patronizing mine. As if you’re into sports. Your sports room will be useless anyway.”   

“Tss. Bulldozer. Who says I don’t? And I love bowling!”

With a hit from the golf club, she finally heard the shut of the door, left by a grumpy still Jang Taeyoung. For she only gives in a deep sigh, still remembering yesterday. She really has to be careful around him. Does not like to admit, but…

“He’s the death of you, Sung Eunyoung.”    

Reminding herself certainly.

[sprnklersplashes]

heart of stone (5/?)

AO3

Janis will always remember this morning.

The sun is just about up as she stands in her bedroom, fighting for dominance with grey clouds that promise a shower later on. Across the city, kids are groaning and pressing the snooze buttons, getting dressed and brushing their teeth, packing their bags and making sure they have everything for the day ahead. Janis is doing the almost same thing, but instead of packing for school, she’s squashing as much as she can into her bag, trying to take as much of home with her as she possibly can. They’re all headed off to school and will see their homes again tonight, she won’t see this bedroom for another two weeks.

Her teeth dig into her lip and she pushes another sweater into the bag. It’s a little like going on vacation; she has no idea what’s enough pairs of underwear and if she’ll need a sweater and if she really needs this t-shirt she hasn’t worn in two years. Maybe if she pretends it’s a vacation she can get through it.

She picks up the small stuffed kitten that lay across her pillows. He’s been her constant companion since she was five, accompanying her to sleepovers and overnight field trips and Girl Scout retreats. Wherever she slept, he slept. Which is why she doesn’t hesitate in putting him in her bag. She drops a little kiss to his forehead before she packs him, though, and decides to put him in the side of her backpack instead. To let him look out at everything. And so she can grab him if she needs him.

She hasn’t eaten anything. Her stomach has twisted itself into knots and tied those knots together and folded in on itself. She picked at oatmeal downstairs but despite her parents insistence, she couldn’t eat any of it. Her dad had reminded her that she’d need her strength for the day ahead and Janis had stifled a laugh. She doesn’t feel strong at all right now and doubts oatmeal could help. Her parents had only allowed her to go upstairs to finish packing when she agreed to take her breakfast with her.

To kill time, and to avoid the cold oatmeal glaring at her from her nightstand, she looks through the open drawers, trying to find something to add to the mass in her bag. Her doctor had advised her to pack what she’d be most comfortable in. He of course meant PJs and sweatpants and stuff Janis can lounge in during her treatment, but the two of them seem to have different versions of ‘comfortable’. For Janis, comfort means being happy with herself, and what she wears is sort of like a manifestation of her own soul. After all, it did take longer than she thought to find out what she likes wearing. So in that vein, her bag is filled with fishnet tights and graphic tees and shorts and denim skirts. And a few pairs of leggings, just to keep her mom happy.

As she looks through the drawers and tries to block out her parents’ muffled conversations, she pulls out a hoodie that’s far too big to be hers. She pulls it out, falling back against her bed as she does so. She knows who owns it before she opens it up, and her breath catches in her throat. It’s Damian’s; originally plain white but she had tie-dyed it for him and sewn little a little rainbow under the hood as a birthday present last year. He must have left it here and a while ago and she had always intended to give it back. But now…

She holds it against her body, burying her face in the soft fabric inside the hood. She knows how it sounds, but having this sweater is the next best thing to having Damian with her. It feels like him, his big teddy bear body pulling her into a hug that lasts for ages, making her feel more safe than she does anywhere else.

Hopefully, he’ll understand.

“Janis?” She jumps a bit before turning around, her dad having caught her off guard. He stands awkwardly in the doorway, his shoulders hunched over and his hips moving back and forth like someone is pulling strings on both sides. “You okay?”

“Fine,” she replies, thankful that her eyes are dry. She pushes herself up and heads to the bed, wringing the sweater in her hands. “Just went to get this.” She manages to squish it into the bag and zip it up, catching on clothes along the way. Her dad does offer to help but she shakes him off and manages to get the thing closed, even if it is straining and reminds her vaguely of an overstuffed Christmas turkey.

“That’s everything,” she says. “Right?”

“Is it? You got the essentials?”

“Yeah,” she nods. “Um, underwear, PJs, clothes, laptop, notebook, pencils, chargers, phone, toothbrush, hairbrush…” She rattles them off on her fingers, the monotony of it somehow calming her.

“I see your little kitty’s coming too,” her dad points out, tapping under the toy’s chin. “Didn’t want to miss out, did he?” Janis chuckles at that. Despite her having grown out of that phase, her dad has kept on treating Purrlock like he’s real. She loves him for that.

“He said two weeks without me was too long,” she replies. Two weeks of sleeping in a different bed and eating food that wasn’t cooked in their kitchen, not seeing her friends and instead getting medicines pumped into her body because her body is being wrecked from the inside.

She comes back to herself just in time to see her hand reaching to grab Purrlock out of her bag.

“Hey.” Her dad takes the toy and gently presses it into her hand, his free hand rubbing up and down her arm. She can’t be imagining him trembling. Even so, she rests her head on his shoulder and lets him hold her tight. They stand in silence for a while before her dad whispers “Come on, it’s time to go,” in her ear. He has to pull her out of her room and takes both her bags with him. In the back of her mind, she wishes she could help, but she feels a little like her brain is on standby.

Her mom is already waiting in the car, her own bag packed. Her parents agreed that her mom would stay in the hospital with Janis while her dad stays at work, promising to visit her every night. ‘They’re going to have to extend visiting hours just for me’ he had promised. She slides into the backseat and places her backpack on her lap for something to hold on to.

“Everybody say ‘bye bye house’,” she says. It’s barely a joke, just something her parents liked to say when they would go on road trips when she was little, but it gets a laugh out of both of them.

As the car pulls out of the drive, she gives a minute wave goodbye to her house. Suddenly two weeks seems a lot longer than it had.

                                                                                               *****

Janis will never understand how people who work in hospitals are so damn cheerful. The receptionist who greets them, the nurses who guide her to her new room and give her a medical bracelet, they all have such a peppy, wholesome demeanour that makes them feel unsuited for the job they have. Like they should be on the side-lines of a football game instead,

Her room is identical to the other ones they passed; pale blue walls and a large window, in her case overlooking the parking lot, and a bathroom attached. Little Janis is jumping up and down with glee. She always wanted an en suite. Then there’s the bed, the one thing she doesn’t want to look at. With its sturdy grey frame and spotless, perfectly made white sheets it looks even more impersonal than the rest of the room. The worst part by far is the white bar above it which has outlets and hooks along it. All to house her various medicines and drugs.

Ward 3, Room 21. Her new home.

“Okay, let’s get you settled in,” the nurse begins. She did introduce herself, something beginning with an L, but it didn’t stick. “And then Doctor Wiley will be down to see you in a few minutes.” Again, the all-too-happy manners feel more like they belong in a hotel lobby. Like she’s just gone on vacation for a week. So, as though she’s on vacation, she wanders over and sits on the mattress, pushing herself up and down.

“Not very bouncy,” she concludes.

“I’ll put in a complaint with the manager,” her dad replies and she laughs, really laughs.

“You’re such a Karen,” she chuckles. “Not my Karen. Just you know… the species Karen.”

“I’ll get a bob and amber highlights,” he goes on and she leans back on the bed, still laughing. “Start ordering ice Frappuccino’s at Starbucks. Those are what Karens drink, right?”

“No, that’s what Regina George drinks,” her mom corrects him. “A Karen would have a latte, skim milk, no cream, half a pack of sweetener and then bring her own organic chocolate.” Janis’ cheeks almost hurt from smiling and laughing, but it fades almost instantly when she sees the doctor appearing behind them, the same one they spoke to before. Doctor Wiley, she assumes, but she’ll almost always be calling him Mr Doctor Man in the future.

Her parents take notice of him and in one motion, move away from the door and next to her, flanking her on either side.

“Well, I wish I was seeing you under different circumstances, Janis,” he says, a grim edge to his voice.

“The feeling’s mutual,” she replies. The corners of his mouth turn up at that. For her, the air turns chilly and she pulls her cardigan tighter around her.

“First thing’s first, we’re going to take a little blood test-”

“I already did one,” she interrupts. “Isn’t that the whole reason I’m here?”

“Well, yes, but this is a different one,” he explains. “That was to determine the type of cancer you have; this will be so we know how best to administer the chemo. We’ll also need to do a quick physical exam, check your height, weight, breathing, all so we know how to tailor your treatment to you.”

“Treatment that’s personally tailored to me,” she says. “What a dream.” Mr Doctor nods, a knowing smirk on his face that lifts Janis’ head. They lock eyes for a fraction of a second before he looks at her parents, as though he knows something they don’t.

“She’s going to be a fighter, I can tell,” he says. At that, her dad squeezes her hand and for a second, she wonders if she might actually make it through this.

Doctor Man’s comment and her parents’ pride both give her the strength to make it through the physical exam at least. It’s all quick and easy, even when he gets the needle out to draw her blood. Unlike Karen, who balks at the mere mention of one, she’s not particularly frightened of needles. She doesn’t love the idea either, but the only reaction she gives is her hand tightening on the arm of the chair.

So before homeroom ends for her friends, she’s standing with a cookie in one hand, juice box in the other and a tiny bandage on her arm.

“We’ll hope to get you started as quickly as possible,” her nurse explains. “In the meantime, why don’t you go check the place out? There’s a good teen lounge down the hall. There’s TV, games, movies. The whole shebang.”

“The whole shebang,” Janis echoes, a faint smile on her face.

“Do the kids not say ‘shebang’ anymore?” the nurse asks innocently.

“Not since the 90s, I think,” she replies. She kicks the ground with the toe of her boot, her hands plunged into her pockets. When she takes a tiny look up, she sees her parents deep in conversation with the doctor. If she doesn’t go to the lounge, it’s back to her room and that isn’t appealing to her. Besides, been there, seen that. “Sounds cool. Where do I find it?”

She probably could have found it without the nurse’s directions, but the sunny smile she delivers them with does something to calm Janis’ nerves. It’s a bit down past her room, honey-coloured double doors open revealing a bigger area with three baby blue walls and one white and covered in pencil doodles. They’ve clearly gone all out to make it cheerful and inviting, from the yellow sunshine rug on the floor to the overstuffed bookshelves and equally overstuffed DVD and game cabinet, to the large plush armchairs, each one with a brightly coloured cushion on it that looks like it was brought in a thrift store. A cool thrift store, though. One of the chairs is occupied now by what appears to be the only person in the room besides Janis.

“Wow.” Janis jumps, and then surprisingly, she supresses a sigh. She simply assumed her parents were still talking to the doctors, but that was probably a stupid assumption. Of course they’d be on her heels. Why would they let their illness-stricken daughter out of their sight? “Well this is cool.”

“Yeah,” she mumbles in reply. As her parents take in the room, the other kid looks up at her. She can’t be more than fourteen, legs folded beneath her on the chair, clad in rainbow-stripped leggings and a pink hoodie with who she recognises to be Princess Aurora on the front. And a beanie on her head, made from purple wool. Janis’ hand clenches in her pocket, her mouth running dry.

“Hey, sweetie,” her mom says, appearing at her side. “Do you need anything? There was a little store downstairs and the doctors said you might want to eat or drink something before your treatment starts.”

Relief hits her like a water balloon being thrown and guilt quickly follows. Not enough to make her refuse, but enough to make her notice and hope this doesn’t become common.

“That’d be great, Mom,” she replies. “I didn’t really eat breakfast.”

“That’s fine, we’ll get you something. Anything in particular you want? I can get you some candy if you want, or some-”

“It’s fine,” she says, plastering a smile on her face and patting her mom’s hand. “I trust your judgement. I’ll be here.”

Her mom cups her face before she finally leaves and Janis lets out a sigh before she can stop herself. Her eyes move to the other girl out on instinct and she finds her giggling. Should she be annoyed by that? If so, she’s doing the opposite. She pauses for a second before moving towards her and sitting on the arm of the chair next to her.

“Hey,” she greets. “I’m Janis.”

Damian’s voice whispers ‘and je m’appelle Sasha Fierce’ in her ear. She shakes her head to get it out.

“Hey,” she replies, putting her tablet by her side. “I’m Maddie.” Her eyes are green and there are braces on her teeth and dimples in her cheeks and as cute as Janis finds it, there’s an air of discomfort that she hopes Maddie doesn’t pick up on. She doesn’t appear to, instead looking at her with inquisitive eyes. “You’re new here, aren’t you?”

“How can you tell?”

“Well, first off, I’ve never seen you. And I know everything that goes on in here.” Janis chuckles.

“So you’re the all-seeing eye,” she states and Maddie nods excitedly. “No one gets in or out without you noticing.”

“Nope.” The smile on Maddie’s face falters and her fingers fidget in her lap. “And you look… well…” As her voice trails off, the pieces click together in Janis’ mind. Even despite the height difference, there’s a visible contrast between her and Maddie that she can’t ignore. Her hand twitches to touch her hair.

“Scary? Yeah, well, I’m 5”9’,” she responds, bringing the grin back. “Plus the dye job makes me look tougher than I actually am.” She leans back so that she sits on the seat, her feet dangling over the arm.

“Oh, I love your boots!” Maddie squeaks, her eyes going wide.

“Yeah?” There’s a rush of protective affection in her chest, slightly similar to when she saw Cady looking helpless and hopeless in health class, but she’s certain it won’t develop the way those feelings did. She wiggles her legs, letting the light catch her boots. “$15 at a thrift store.”

“Woah,” she breathes. A sheepish look crosses her face, a question on her mind that may as well be written across her forehead.

“You want to try them on?”

“Can I?” Maddie’s mouth has fallen open and her eyes bulge in a perfect picture of delight that warms Janis’ heart. That feeling doesn’t go away when she toes off her boots and only swells when Maddie steps into them. Even in those boots, she barely comes up to Janis’ chest. She looks up at her with so much giddy excitement that Janis wouldn’t be surprised if she started singing.

“Oh they suit you,” she says.

“Thanks.” She looks down at them, clumsily tapping the heels together like Dorothy. “I’ve always wanted a pair of shoes like these but my mom always said they’re too adult for me. Though she has been whittled down from ‘not until your 18’ to ‘maybe for your birthday’.”

“You must be quite the negotiator.”

“Well, I guess. But she finds it hard to say no to me these days,” she shrugs.

“Ah.” Suddenly the light in Janis’ chest begins to dim and she finds herself cold again. “Well that’s fun.”

“Yeah…” Maddie must have picked up on the mood change because she sits back down and Janis follows her, once again picking at her nails. “So… what are you in for?”

“You sound like we’re in prison,” she jokes. She puts on a gruff voice and a stern expression and says “I’ve killed a man. I killed a man for a jar of pickles. And I’d do it again.” Maddie chuckles again, the sound sweet and light and well… happier than Janis thought possible given the circumstances. She picks at her fishnets, her chest heavily. “I’m in for leukaemia.”

“Oh,” is Maddie’s response, as well as a nod. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, it sucks,” she sighs. She considers what she wants to say carefully, reasoning that Maddie asked her the same. Maybe boundaries don’t exist here, or at least they’re different. Maybe discussing your cancer here is like discussing your test scores at school. “What about you?”

“My stomach,” she replies. “I started feeling weird two months ago, went to a doctor and I’ve been here ever since.”

“Two months?” Janis asks, astonished. She can barely imagine being here for a week, let alone two months. Her heart aches for herself and for Maddie, but there’s also a small spark of hope. Maddie’s been here two months and she seems strong enough. Who says she can’t?

“Yeah. I’m scheduled to finish soon though.” Maddie ducks her head, but it doesn’t stop Janis from seeing the sad expression on her little face. As she shakes her head and gives her a false-looking smile, Janis feels like she’s watching a replay of her own life.

“You’re incredibly tough,” she tells her and she watches the smile become real. She looks around the room, noticing things she hadn’t picked up on like the pile of board games in the corner and the flatscreen TV mounted on the wall. “So this is where you guys hang out?”

“Yeah. It’s usually more crowded than this,” she explains. “But you know… teenagers.”

“Hey, miss,” she says. “I’m a teenager too. And so are you.”

“Fair.” She taps her fingers on her knee in a rhythm Janis can’t quite place. “So your parents are with you?”

“Yeah,” she answers. “They just went to get me some food.”

“They seem cool.”

“I guess,” she says with a shrug. “You know. For parents. Speaking of, where are yours? Or do they just let a little kid like you sit alone in here with all the valuables.”

“I’m not a kid. I’ll be 13 in six weeks,” she tells her rather sternly. “I told my mom my feet were cold, so I asked her to go get me my fuzzy socks.” Janis nods, but quickly catches on to the flaw in Maddie’s idea.

“Those wouldn’t be the red fuzzy socks that you’re wearing underneath those boots, would it?” she asks.

“Shh,” she commands, finger to her lips. “She doesn’t need to know that!”

Janis throws her head back laughing at that. It’s like God took everything she could like about a human and condensed it into one little kid.

“Sneaky little brat,” she says approvingly. She’s keeping this one.

“Janis.” She turns and finds her parents right behind her chair, both with their hands full of goodies from the store. Definitely more than she can stomach now.

“Wow,” she says. “Did you leave any for anyone else?”

“Well we didn’t know exactly what you wanted,” her mom admits, flustered. “We did text you but you didn’t respond.”

“Sorry,” she shrugs. Her phone is both off and in her bag. There’s probably a lot she’s missed by now.

“It’s okay hon.” The three (four, including Maddie) sit in a tense, awkward silence in which everyone’s eyes avoid everyone else’s. Embarrassment flurries in Janis’ chest and she squirms in the chair, grappling in the empty air for a conversation topic.

“So what did you get?” she asks and everything comes back to normal again.

“Well, I got you… rice cakes, chips, candy bars… oh and we got you some water as well.” Janis stifles a laugh. Her parents are more than well-intentioned and her heart is warmed, but they’ve never gone this far before.

“Thanks,” she says, pulling a rice cake out of her mom’s arms. Out of the corner of her eye she notices Maddie shifting in her chair and she shares look with her mom, who drops another candy bar into her hand.

“Hey.” She barely has to stretch to poke Maddie in the arm with the candy. Her mouth falls open, the most sweet-sounding gasp that’s ever existed emitting from it and her eyes lighting up. Janis had no idea there was a way for a gasp to sound cute, but there is apparently. “Here. Take some sugar, kid.”

“Thanks!” she says. She takes the bar and weighs it in her hand, a decisive smile on her face for just a second before she slips the bar into her pocket. “For later,” she says.

Janis’ parents ask Maddie stuff Janis wouldn’t care for, about her school (as it happens, North Shore Middle School) and where she lives (again, as if happens, Edgewood Drive). All the while skirting around the obvious.

“Oh, my girlfriend lives there,” Janis remarks, breaking a rice cake in half. An empty packet is already sitting her lap; she hadn’t realised exactly how hungry skipping breakfast had made her. “Caddy Heron, you know her?”

“Heron? Is she the girl whose parents are zoologists?”  she asks.

“The very one.”

“Oh yeah, I met them!” she answers brightly. “After they moved in my parents brought them a pie. You know, the neighbourly thing…” She leans on the chair, her eyes wide and glittering as though she’s about to drop a huge secret. “You know they used to live in Kenya?”

“Yeah,” Janis chuckles. “Yeah I knew that.”

“Oh right.” That doesn’t deter Maddie though. Quite the opposite, she shuffles closer to her, eagerness written all over her little face. When she speaks, it’s in a hushed, low voice that trembles with excitement. “She’s your girlfriend?”

“Yep. I got lucky, didn’t I?”

“Yeah. She’s really pretty. Well, she was the last time I saw her.”

“Oh she’s very pretty,” she says matter-of-factly. She reaches for her phone to show Maddie all the photos of her, but the thought of turning her phone on freezes it in its path. Turning her phone on means anyone in the world can contact her…

“I thought her name was Cady though,” she goes on, oblivious to Janis’ conflict. She shoves the phone behind her and turns to Maddie, finding it easy to get lost in conversation with her. “Not Caddy.”

“It’s Caddy in my world,” she replies, making Maddie giggle.

“So how long have you two been together?”

“Since the end of school.” There’s a blush creeping across her face that’s warm and no doubt pink coloured and her insides feel warm and gooey like a melted brownie, the way she always feels when she talks about Cady. “I asked her out and then we got dinner and saw a movie and then… you know…” She wiggles her eyebrows, Maddie’s laughing face half hidden between her hands. “Okay actually it wasn’t like that. But our first date was dinner and a movie.”

“Cool,” Maddie breathes. “I can’t wait to get my first girlfriend. Which might not happen for a while…” Oh no Janis thinks. “I mean, I don’t know how to talk to girls.”

“Neither do I,” she tells her, letting out a breath. “My friend had to push me to go talk to her. If it weren’t for him we’d probably still be friends right now.” She reaches out and playfully punches Maddie’s shoulder, the pull in her gut too big to ignore. She can almost hear Damian telling her not to meddle. To which she would reply ‘how is this meddling?’. “Tell you what, kid. If you ever need a wing woman or a gay guru, you come straight to me.”

“You mean that?” Her eyes grow ever wider, to the point where Janis starts wondering if they have limits. Just like with Cady’s equations, the limit does not exist.

“Of course. Us gays have to stick together. Like Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

“Who are those guys?” she asks, wrinkling her nose and confusion clouding her eyes. Janis opens her mouth to explain that it’s from some old (and not that good but still culturally relevant) movie, but her dad lets out an offended gasp before she can.

“I’m sorry,” he says when he’s met with one confused face and two amused ones. “I just can’t believe kids these days have never heard of Star Wars.”

“Oh, Star Wars,” Maddie says, as though it should have been obvious. “My brother loves them. Especially the old ones.”

“Which old ones?” he asks. “The old ones or the old-old ones?”

“There’s a difference?” she mumbles, looking over to Janis with an expression that says, ‘help me’.

“It’s not that important,” Janis tells her. When she sees her dad’s face, she can tell that to him it very much is. As they keep talking, they compare each other’s favourite Disney movies, finding they both have a deep love for Tangled and Frozen, but Maddie’s love for the mouse seems to far outweigh Janis as she lists off her favourite Princesses, which one she thinks she’s most like, which one she thinks Janis is most like (“you give off kind of an Elsa-Belle vibe” she tells her, which Janis is more than happy with). She also enthusiastically tells her about her plans to visit Disney World soon and Janis tells her the one in Paris is way better.

“You’ve been to Paris?”

“A few times,” she replies, nodding towards her dad. “You probably can’t tell, but he’s French. I have a whole army of cousins out there. You seen the Hunchback of Notre Dame?”

“Of course.”

“I’ve seen Notre Dame. Before it caught fire, obviously.” She blesses herself and presses a quick kiss to her fingertips. “May she RIP in peace.”

“Cool,” Maddie says. “The coolest vacation I had before this was New York.”

“Oh, I love New York,” Janis nods. “My aunt lives out there. Ever seen Broadway?”

“Yeah, we saw Lion King!” she replies. “I was like nine years old and my dad got them-”

“Janis?” Their conversation is interrupted by her nurse, who hovers in the doorway holding a clipboard and of course, a smile. “Your doctor’s ready for you.”

“Hi Nurse Lucy!” Maddie pipes up, leaning forwards in her chair.

Lucy. That was her name. Really, how could it have been anything else?

“Hi Maddie,” she says warmly, looking at the pair of them. “Making new friends?”

“Apparently, she’s the eyes and ears around here,” Janis says as she gets up. She turns back to Maddie, giving a quick wave. “See you around, kid.”

“Bye Janis.”

She stretches her legs out and hops as they walk, her body stiff from having folded itself into a chair for that long. She finishes off the rice cake and saves the other one in her pocket for later and is reminded how much she loves these little guys. Low calories (not that she cares about that), covered in chocolate and deliciously delicate. She needs to get back into these bad boys.

She also slips a bit on the floor and realises that she left her boots back with Maddie. She shrugs and makes a mental note to get them later as she steps into her room.

Her eyes land on the IV next to her bed immediately, barely acknowledging Doctor Wiley next to it. All at once, every good feeling she had built up with Maddie, every ounce of comfort and happiness is abruptly and cruelly yanked from her and she’s reminded why she’s actually here. She’s left feeling cold and winded and frozen.

Back there she could almost have tricked herself into believing she was here for a fun little vacation. So much for that.

“Janis.” She hadn’t noticed, but she’s stepped back. Where’s she going? Back to the lounge with Maddie? To the school, where Damian and Cady are? Back home?

Her mom’s hand wraps around hers and the other rubs her shoulder.

“It’s okay baby.”

“No, I know,” she says. “I know.” She forces her feet forwards, over to where the IV is. She feels her sleeves wrapping around her arms and sticking to her skin. Her arm is encased by her hand. “Okay so what’s the drill, doc?”

“Well, we’re planning to have you get a few sessions each day,” he explains. “Between two and four really. Now that we know the type of leukaemia you have and where it’s at, this is the best place to start.”  

“Sounds like fun,” she mumbles. She lowers herself on to the bed, her hand still around her arm.

“Unfortunately, it’s going to make you feel pretty bad most days,” he confesses. “But it’s going to kill the leukaemia cells as well.” She nods minutely, passively listening to him explaining the process to both her and her parents. She’s not scared of needles. At all. And she thinks that she shouldn’t be scared of this, since it’s the good thing. So why is her heart pounding so fast?

She takes off her cardigan, exposing the white t-shirt and its skull print and most importantly, her bare arms. Beneath the lights they look almost translucent. At least Nurse Lucy doesn’t have any issue finding the vein. They could be seen on Google maps like blue rivers running through a snowy mountain.

“You ready?” the nurse asks. She’s not and she never will be. But the world won’t wait for her to be ready. Nor will the cancer in her body. She twists one of the rings on her hand, a little plastic thing Cady won in an arcade game. Her fearless girl. Wouldn’t Cady want her to be fearless too?

It takes a while, but the words “I’m ready” fall from her lips and the needle goes into her vein.

“You probably know all about the sound effects by now,” Lucy explains. “Might make you a little tired, might make you feel nauseous. Or it could go the other way and make you feel stronger than normal.”

“I hope it’s the other one,” she remarks as tape is secured over her arm. “I want superpowers.”

“Wouldn’t it be lovely if it worked that way?” she replies as she straightens up. “Okay. This is going to take around two hours to-”

“Two hours?” she echoes in disbelief. She looks up at the little bag at the top of her IV. There’s no way there’s two hours’ worth of medicine in there.

“Afraid so,” she says sympathetically, patting Janis’ shoulder.

“What am I meant to do for the next two hours?”

“There’s a TV,” the nurse reminds her. “Normally we’d let you do this in the lounge, but since it’s your first go we want to monitor you.”

“Consider me monitored,” she replies dryly, sneaking a glance up at the bag. Absolutely no change.

“You’ve got your TV in here,” her nurse reminds her. “And I’m sure there’s loads of gadgets in your bag to keep you occupied while you wait.” She turns more to her parents than to Janis, no doubt trying to ease their worries. “I’ve got a sixteen year old. She’s never off that phone.”

She leaves with the instruction that Janis keep hydrated throughout and a promise to call back in later. Her mom turns on the TV and flicks through channels even though it doesn’t have half the channels it does at home. She settles on some cute home renovation show that should normally get her creative buzz going and lead to hours on Pinterest, but instead she only half pays attention to it, the rest of her mind jumping from the IV above her head to the flowers she’s doodling in her sketchbook to her still-off phone that sits coldly in her lap.

“How’s everyone in school?” her dad asks, likely aware of what he’s doing. She taps her fingers on the screen as though it were on and takes a swing of water.

“I’m sure they’re all fine,” she says, adding another flower to her doodle. “Damian can keep me updated with the tea tonight.”

Janis never thought she’d miss school. Even disregarding the ugly history that’s followed her around the halls, she just never grew attached to it. She’d rolled her eyes at people who told her she’d cry on her last day and swore up and down to Damian, and later Cady, that they’d be the only things she’s miss. It wasn’t like she was counting down the days to graduation, but at the same time, she wasn’t going to lose any sleep over moving on.

But now North Shore is the only place she wants to be. For the first time she wishes she were in physics writing about gravity and mass or in history learning the severely edited version of the Civil War. She’d take the cafeteria food and its health violations over corner store rice cakes any day and at least at school there’s a change of scenery every forty minutes or so. And more than anything, she misses her friends. Going this long without Damian’s warm hearted words of wisdom or Cady’s soft spoken support has been physically painful, but she’s even found herself missing Karen and Gretchen too. Who knows, maybe if this year was going normally, they’d have even become friends. She could never imagine not being in North Shore would hurt as much as it does, but here she is, sitting in near-silence with a deep, harrowing ache in her chest that’s not from the cancer nor the medicine. Like a lot of stuff she’s come across today, it’s something she’ll have to get used it.

Even with that agony it takes almost an hour for her to work up the courage to open her phone, just as the medicine is beginning to cloud her head. She presses the screen into the bed until the buzzing and pinging and ringing stop, the corner of her mouth twitching up. She’s never been so popular.

On Facebook and in all her DMs are messages from people from every cafeteria table; the band geeks, the debate team, the dance team and both sets of jocks all send her good wishes. The messages range from the stilted and awkward to the over-emotional; some offer her two to three lines hoping she’s okay and some give her miniature essays telling her how horrible it yes (tell me something I don’t know she thinks)  and how brave she is and if she needs anything, anything at all, they’re here for her. Even the Christian believers have sent her little prayers, despite the clashes she’s had with them over the years. She guesses she appreciates it, despite what her inner atheist-slash-witch thinks. Isn’t it nice to have people thinking of you?

When she goes back to her feed, her face is the first thing she sees. Not her own post and not one of her friend’s either, but one put up by the North Shore account. It’s her standing in the art room holding the prize she got from the art expo, grinning at the camera so proudly you wouldn’t guess she’d just fought with someone the night before.

‘Shout out to our brave student Janis Sarkisian, who is battling leukaemia this year. Janis is a bright star in our art program and co-founder of our new LGBT+ society. The North Shore Lions are roaring with you every step of the way, Janis!!’

Well that’s almost sweet, she thinks. Even if the idea of lions roaring at her is a little off-putting. What’s even more off-putting is the comments on it, all sobbing about how awful it is for her, people she’s never met preaching about how brave she is and how they know she’ll fight like hell. Even though she’s alone in this room, she feels hundreds of eyes on her, none of them familiar, and the attention makes her squirm.

Biting her nail, she clicks out of Instagram and takes in a breath before checking her texts instead. She hopes to find some sanity and order in there and she almost does… until she finds a text from someone. The contact isn’t saved in her phone, but she knows who it is, and it sparks fury and disgust in her gut.

“Hey Janis. Hope you’re doing okay. We all got told about it in school. We’re all thinking of you. -Regina xx.”

“Seriously?” Janis sighs, not realising she’s spoken out loud.

“Seriously what?” her mom asks with poorly masked concern. Her cheeks grow warm as she shows her mom the text and an uncertain look spreads across her mother’s face.

“Well that’s nice, isn’t it?” she says. Asks, more like.

“Not at all.” Regina George isn’t nice, ever. “And does she need to sign off her texts like that. This isn’t Gossip Girl.”

Thankfully, there are texts rom Cady and Damian to restore balance to the universe. At some point last night, she and Damian stopped using words and started using GIFs. The last thing in their chat is her sending him one of two kittens cuddling, obviously meant to be them. And after she fell asleep, Cad had texted her a sweet good night she managed to miss. Followed by a voice message, one that’s earnest and quiet and sent at 2:31am. She pops her headphones in, a myriad of emotions stirring in her foggy brain, and presses play.

“Hey. It’s me. Of course it’s me who else would it be? I just um…. This is scary. I don’t know why I’m telling you that, you know. You know more than anyone. Anyway I just wanted to let you know that I’m not going anywhere. I meant it. And whenever you get scared or it gets intense… just call me. Or text me. Or even think of me, okay? Just think of me. I miss you. A lot. I know I saw you today but I miss you. I… you mean a lot to me, Janis. And I know you’re going to kick this thing’s butt. I know you will and I hope you know that you know you will. I also really hope you’re asleep right now instead of listening to this because if you’re not asleep I’m coming over there. I wish I could come over there. I wish I could come with you… Okay, okay, I’m getting too sappy here, so I’m going to go to sleep now. Bye, Janis. I’ll see you as soon as I can.”

Janis lets out something that’s halfway between a laugh and a sob. It reflects what’s going on in her head perfectly; all those bubbling and complex feelings boiled down to ‘half happy, half sad’. She’s fairly confident that’s the way she’ll go on for the next few weeks, and some days will have more sad than others. And she bets that the happiness is going to be harder to come by and harder to fight for on those days. So she makes a start. She sends Cady a quick ‘lol that’s gay’ message, followed up by a thank you and a little gay message of her own. Then she replays the message and feels the smile on her face grow a bit wider each time she does.

[thoughtlesstales]

Come Home to Me | Chapter Four

Title: Come Home to Me | Chapter Four Word Count: 2211 Rating: Mature Relationship: Oliver Queen x Felicity Smoak Characters: Felicity Smoak, Oliver Queen, Sara Lance, John Diggle, Thea Queen, Roy Harper Triggers: Angst, violence 

“Thea, it’s Felicity I’ve got another favour to ask...”

“Okay so where in Australia did the footage come from?” Sara asked before taking a long drink from a bottle of water. They were so many thousand feet up air and it was only eight AM. When they had complete confirmation that it was Oliver in the camera footage, all systems were a go. Both John and Sara had gone home to pack a bag and Felicity was straight on the phone to Thea seeing if she could have cohen while she was away. Once Cay was settled with Thea and Roy, who didn’t look to pleased about being woken up that early since in the morning, she headed to airport where she would meet Sara and Dig.

“It came from a warehouse just outside Perth,” Felicity answered. “But he’s not there now,” she clarifide. “I think he was being moved so I tracked the car he was being put into and it went to this creepy place,” Felicity brought up a satellite image of run down building, to be honest it looked pretty similar to the ones he had been moved from. “I’ve got the blueprints here,” she loaded a new image on the screen and showed them to John and Sara.

When they landed, they headed straight for a run down motel that was only ten minutes down the road from there Oliver was being held. They were all itching to just get out there and bring him home, but they knew they had to plan what they were doing and be careful. After paying for three nights at the checking in desk and earning a very confused but amused look from the owner to why all three of them were staying in the same room. They set up shop in there new ‘Arrow-cave’. Since they had managed to get their hands on QC’s private jet, they had been able to bring what they needed without having to go through security checks like they would have done if they were flying commercial. Felicity used the small table as her desk, setting up laptops and her tablet. Dig and Sara had dragged the curtains shut and bolted the door before laying out their arsenal on the bed.

A few hours later and about thirty or so coffees between them, the trio had come to some sort of plan.

“Okay so Sara and I will take out the guards and as many others as we can,” Dig was pointing to heat signatures on one of the computer screens, there had to have been close to a hundred heat signatures on site so they knew they were going to be out numbered. “Felicity your job is to get in there and get Oliver, you may not be as trained as Sara and I, but you can do damage,” Dig grinned proudly at her hand clamping down on her shoulder. “Me and Sara will find you when we can, keep to comms at all times and don’t get yourself killed,” he nodded letting a long sigh scrubbing his face.

“Lets get some sleep, we’ll head out when it’s dark,” Sara said softly flicking off the screens to the computers. “That means you Felicity, you’ll be no good to Ollie if you’re passing out from exhaustion.” Felicity had been awake the longest, she had barely slept on the plane from planning their routes in and out the warehouse. After landing they had been able to get more satellite images with heat signatures to where people were and what the patrols were like, and where Oliver was being held.

Sara and Felicity took the bed, and Dig took the armchair beside the door, then for ten solid hours they all slept before taking on their biggest mission yet.

“Felix,” Sara called to Felicity using her nickname she has picked for her. “I have something for you, I would have liked to give you this under better circumstances, but none of us can be recognised tonight so it seems fitting.” Sara held up a black duffle bag, pushing it into Felicity’s arms.

“What is it?”

“We all have our masks, this is yours,” Sara grinned. “We’ll come with a name later.”

Opening the bag Felicity looked inside and folded up was her own ‘superhero costume’ “So cool,” she squeaked a grinned spreading across her face.

“Go change,” Dig called from where he was cleaning his guns, we need to be heading out soon.

When felicity stepped out the bathroom she was a new person. Sara had done a good job designing her outfit, like hers it was black skin tight leather with heavy boots. She had a belt which would allow her to clip things on to, like the gadgets she had been making. Seriously all badass superheroes needed tech on their belts. Sara had been listening to Felicity the day she said if she could be any other hair colour it would be purple, so what had Sara got her? A deep purple wig. “You listened,” Felicity laughed curling a lock of the fake hair around her finger.

“Of course,” Sara grinned back waggling her eyebrows from under her own mask.

“Here, since you got on so well with Sara’s staff I thought you might like your own, except yours has addons,” Dig drew a white staff from behind his back, it was broken in two but when put together it was about a meter and a half long. He grinning like a fool and Felicity had never felt more like one of the team than she had there.

“Guys I’m gunna cry,” she laughed waving her face as she bit back tears. “This is amazing, but how about we go kick some ass,” she put on her best, deep throaty kick some ass voice which she may have practiced in the mirror, but if she was ever asked that, she would deny it.

“Let’s get Ollie back,” Sara nodded picking her own staff up. “Hey Smoak, here,” she grabbed a small black rectangle and threw into Felicity’s waiting hands. It was her mask. It was slim and curved, with sharp looking pointed ends top and bottom then the elastic to wrap around her head under her wig.

“Comms check,” Dig spoke softly from his spot behind a brick wall as they waited to storm the building, could you call it storming when there was only three of them?

“Here,” Sara’s disembodied voice came over the comms floating in their ears.

“Here,” Felicity’s came next.

“All right we go in hard and fast, Felicity get Oliver and just make sure he stays alive long enough to get home,” Dig she gruffly his voice coming over distorted on the comms. “Move!” the sharp command came clear and Sara and Dig made a beeline for the building, while Felicity scaled the fire escape to the flat roof. She was after and door which would lead her on the second floor and then just down the hall from that was Oliver. But that would mean going through a handful or armed guards first.

She took out the only guard on the roof with ease, he wasn’t even paying much attention so when she surprised him from behind, he was knocked unconscious with one swift hit to the back of the neck. Felicity knew the lights would be down. Dig’s only other job was to shoot them out on his way past, so when she flung the door and was met with a corridor of blackness and shouts it didn’t phase her one little bit. The outfit seemed to give her a new wave of confidence and bravado because she moved down the thin hall with speed and agility taking out attackers like she had been trained to do by John and Sara.

Breathing hard and adrenaline pumping through her veins Felicity turned to look at the seven men she had taken out alone, the immense feeling of pride overwhelming her.

“I’m badass,” she whispered to herself grinning like a fool. “Oliver!” she suddenly remembered hurrying towards the door. Pulling the duffle she had been carrying over her shoulder she unzipped it and pulled a small explosive from the bag. Placing it in the points Dig had told her too, she took a few steps back and crouched, but that wasn’t before calling ‘Fire in the hole!’ as a warning to Oliver.

The bang was deafening, but Felicity was back on her feet and pulling the door open with ease now that it swung freely on it’s hinges.

“Oliver Queen, I am taking you home,” She spoke loudly changing her voice, she couldn’t help but have a little a fun, yes they were in a rushed situation, but she had just taken seven armed men, blown a door of it’s hinges and she was now rescuing the man she had thought left her, a joke or two wouldn’t harm.

“Who are you?” he asked stepping from the shadows, fists clenched ready to fight.

“You don’t recognise me? That’s awesome,” Felicity cheered fist pumping the air, her voice falling back to normal.

“Felicity?” Oliver asked voice laced with disbelief. He moved out of the shadows and Felicity finally got a good look at him, he wasn’t very different except from needed a good shave and a proper meal, all in all who ever had taken him wasn’t looking to kill him. “Is that really you?”

“The one and only,” she laughed. “Saving your behind like usual,” she teased. “Oliver we need to get moving before they send more up here I don’t know how much longer Dig and Sara can hold the ground,” she spoke hastily, scanning the room he had been holed up in. There was a bed and toilet, much like a prison cell, what she did notice was that he had all of his gear apart from his bow and arrows, were they taunting him? Had the people who took him, put the disguise he used to save the people of Starling City in the cell with him to mock that he in fact couldn’t help anyone.

“Dig, Sara?” Oliver questions following her out the cell after he had grabbed the green suit.

“Time for reunions later, we need to get moving!” she said more forcefully.

“I’ve got Queen Bee, we’re heading your way, standby,” Felicity touched the comm in her ear and waited for a reply.

“Really Felicity?” Sara and Dig laughed together, both of which sounded like they were having too much fun taking out the enemy.

“What I’m enjoy this superhero stuff,” she laughed catching the confused look on Oliver’s face. “See you in a few.”

Turning her attention to Oliver she reached inside the duffel bag and brought out a bow and quiver full of arrows. “Suit up,” she grinned throwing them in his direction. Moments later Oliver was running by her side as the Hood. They were down the stairs and joining Dig and Sara in the midst of the battle.

“Ollie!” Sara cried when she spotted him, Felicity was sure she would have hugged him if she wasn’t in the middle of grappling with someone. Felicity crossed the space and with a swift kick to the back of the head he was out cold. “Thanks,” she grinned moving onto someone else. They had stopped using guns it seemed and move to engaging them in hand to hand combat.

Felicity moved back to Oliver who was taking his own target out, three years locked up only seemed to make him angrier. Losing herself in the battle Felicity worked on taking out whoever she could, blows were landed on her, she knew she would be going home with a black eye and cracked lip, but it was all worth it.

“I know!” Oliver shouted over the noise they were all making. Felicity looked at him briefly before smacking one of them around the head with her staff.

“Know what?”

“You moved on and had a kid!” he said moving away out of earshot for Felicity reply. A little struck by his words Felicity was knocked off balance and pushed to the floor. An arrow came flying from her left taking the attacker out before he could do more damage and after Oliver, Sara and John dispatched the ones they were fighting, that was it. They had got Oliver back and and were heading home as a family again.

Sara came over and offered her hand to Felicity. “I’m so proud of you sister,” she whispered pulling Felicity in a brief hug before realising her. Dig and Oliver were having a manly hugging session with few words and lots of looks.

“Before you starting throwing theories around,” Felicity called out stalking across the large room, her awesome walk being interrupted by unconscious bodies. “Get the facts Queen, I had Cohen eight months after you left!” she seethed narrowing her eyes at him. She wasn’t sure why she was so angry, but it annoyed her that he just assumed she had moved on and forgotten about him and then had another kid with some guy. It made her feel like all those times before he had been taken were insignificant and forgotten.

“Cohen is yours Oliver...”

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Wad rescue

Keith! You're late, I nearly sent Hunk to find you!"

"Sorry Pidge. I lost track of time in the shower"

"Of all the days to be late"

"I know. Is she ready?"

"More than ready. We're going to unlock her restraints, but do you want to be in her?"

"In her?"

"Like inside? In case she takes off"

"What about Black?"

"Keith, if Red takes off, we'll tow Black along ourselves if we have to. If it means getting Lance back, there's no way wouldn't take the chance"

"Then I guess I'll be inside her"

Pidge grinned, her already wide smile turning slightly creepy

"Matt and Shiro are on standby in case something goes wrong with coding. Well, Matt is on standby and Shiro is doing an amazing impression of your brooding face. Hunk has triple checked all of Red's connections. Now, come on already"

Pidge walked him to Red's mouth Ramp, no doubt she'd be annoyed she'd been left sitting around with her mouth down

"Alright. Well, we have no idea what happened, but if you get electrocuted, it's Matt's fault"

"Of course it is. Pidge, you would have checked and rechecked everything, and so would Coran"

"None of have been the same without Lance around. It's so lonely. I even miss his lame arse jokes and stupid puns. Red might reject you and might not even move, but she'd never leave Lance out there"

"Yeah. I know. She's got a lot to catch up on"

"Well good luck!"

Swallowing, the steps of Red's ramp never looked longer, and they'd never felt longer either as he made his way up. Hunk had done an amazing job cleaning out the blood, but for a moment, that was all he saw. Swaying, he shook his head to rid himself of the memories. Lance would be just fine. Crossing to Red's pilot chair, Keith sank down. It was all so familiar and all so wrong. He wasn't Red's pilot now, and he wouldn't be surprised if she rejected him outright

"Keith! We're starting her now!"

With a vibrating rumble, Keith felt Red to return to herself... right before she let out an earsplitting roar. Her pain and confusion made his heart ache in sympathy for her

"I know Red. I know girl. You don't know what happened, but I really need you right now. Lance is missing. Red, he's been gone for over a phoeb, and I can't find him. I can't... I can't bring him home. I know you're lost and confused, and I know you know how much he loves you. You're his best girl. You're his... his friend. That day, he woke up and he... he wasn't feeling right so I told him to go with you. It's my fault you were hurt. I'm so sorry Red. I failed him and I failed you. So please. I need you to help me bring him back. I don't care if it costs me my life. I can't leave him out there"

With his hands on Red's controls, Keith cried earnestly. His body shook with emotion and pain, and he wasn't even sure she was listening to him

"Red... did you know? Is that why you stopped? Why you... why you let yourself be hurt? Were you trying to make sure Lance wasn't hurt? The Galra took him, while you were offline, they took and he could be anywhere. Please Red"

Instead of giving him a reply through feelings, or even with her lights, Keith found himself forcibly ejected from her, his shoulder crunching as he hit the hangar floor and slid across the room limply. Placing her shields up, Red sat, her while aura screaming she didn't want anything to do with any of them.

"Keith!"

Running across the hangar, Shiro was the first to reach him

"She doesn't... she doesn't want him..."

"Keith"

Extending his hand to help him, Keith smacked it away

"Shiro. She doesn't want him. He's fucking pregnant and she doesn't want him!"

"He's what? I thought you guys were being careful"

"Apparently not fucking careful enough. Though it's probably too fucking late now. He's probably lost another fucking pup, and it is her fault!"

"Keith..."

"Don't even fucking bother. If Red isn't going to help, I'll take Black and I will slaughter Lotor"

"Keith... is he really?"

Pushing himself up, his shoulder was definitely dislocated, and his neck... was in a bad way

"Yeah. Coran found it in his blood. Low levels, so he wasn't far along... it wasn't planned. Especially not after his surgery. Some day... but not right now"

"How long have you known?"

"Since Coran took the swabs"

"And you didn't say anything"

"How could I? Everyone's worried enough as it..."

When their conversation trailed off, the rest of the team made their way over, after keeping a respective distance

"Keith?"

"She doesn't care. I'm not her Paladin and she doesn't seem to want to help Lance"

"I didn't see anything wrong in her diagnostics"

"You did what you could. The problem is with her"

Despite everything he was feeling, and the anger he'd felt when Shiro approached, Keith was amazed how clear his head felt now. Red had turned her back, so he'd just have to rely on Black

"Uh, Buddy, I think your shoulders busted"

"It's definitely dislocated"

"I'll put it back in place"

"Shiro, that could do more harm then good"

"Shiro knows what he's doing"

"Keith, I really think you should let a professional"

"Pidge, this isn't the first time it's happened"

"You should have seen his first stack... lost his both front teeth, busted his shoulder and he had the happiest smile on his face"

"Don't tell them things like that"

"Aw Keef! To think you had a cute phase"

Shiro moved to his right side, taking his arm in his hand as he placed the other on his shoulder. Snarling, Keith ground his teeth together

"Ready"

Even with his teeth together, Keith still screamed. He couldn't forgive Red for abandoning Lance, but he hoped she'd feel some guilt over seeing him in such pain. After a very long tick or two, Keith finally let took a shaky breath

"Thanks"

"No worries. As now, what do we about Red?"

"Leave her. She's made her feelings clear"

"Keith"

"No. I'm sick and tired of feeling hope and then having nothing work out. If I'm going to get Lance and Toral back, I need to take Black and search for them myself"

"Keith, you're not going anywhere except up to the medical bay. Your neck's clearly infected, so we need to change that dressing and we need to start you on antibiotics"

"I'll go later"

"You'll go now. You're pain is setting all of us on edge, right now we need to stop and think"

"Shiro's right Keith. Please, if not for your sake, do it for Lance's. He needs you to stay strong"

Allura gave him a brave smile, desire the tears rolling down her cheeks

"Allura's right. He's going to flip out when he sees how sick you look"

"Fine. You can change the dressings, then I want absolutely everything we have on Sendak's attack, and what Lotor was doing at the time of the incident"

*

Curled up in the same dream bed, Lance was trying to remember the faces of all his team. He found no matter how hard he concentrated, he was already struggling to remember. Hunk and Keith he'd know in a heartbeat. But Allura and Coran... even Pidge... they were slipping away from him, and despite his outwards bravado, he was so scared. In his "dreams" Lotor's face would morph to Shiro's, and sometimes even Keith's. His favourite nightmares were the ones with Keith, and it didn't matter how violent or horrific they were, he still relished the time he spent in them, when it was just him and his husband. That's not to say he didn't treasure the rare good dream he had, dreams where he was with Keith and the boys, but the nightmares always hit closer to reality. They made him feel alive. They made him feel connected to Keith, even though Lotor had tried to cut his bonding mark off... hell, the man had even tried to mark him. He'd always considered Lotor much more intelligent than he was proving to be. Even his mind games were boring. He'd woken up to find himself back in the same room, this time without Toral, but everything around him was perfectly clean, as if it had been "reset". The "rules" this time had changed in other ways too. His hands were still bound, but he now only had one ankle chained, and he had enough chain to make it into the bathroom to relieve himself. While he was still missing his eyes, and his stomach was ever so slightly swollen, he attributed that just to Lotor getting his own back for denting his ego.

Thinking of the devil made him appear. The door sliding back with the same ever so slight scraping that sent his heart racing, and his stomach rolling

"How are you fairing?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Not particularly"

"Well... my neck hurts and my legs really sore..."

"Silence"

"You asked me a question"

Drawing his blade, Lance wondered if he'd maybe pushed the Galra too far. His fear showing clearly, despite his face being half hidden by a pillow

"It seems Keith's condition is even worse. Infection has set in, and today they failed to activate the Red lion"

"Red? She's alive?"

"That's what Allura told me as she sobbed into her communicator. Do you want to know what else she said? She said they've decided to scale back their search for you. With the Red lion, and you're team turning their backs on you, who will save you now?"

"There's still Toral"

"Ah yes... I never told you, did I? She severed her purpose"

On moment Lotor was at the door, the next he was gripping Lance by the chin

"The foolish girl had no idea just what she was carrying"

"What... what did you do to her?"

Taking out the necklace with the gold quintessence trapped inside, Lotor smiled down at the piece

"See this. This allows the user to enter the rift on a whim. It grants its wielder access to unlimited quintessence, with no side effects. The dumb little thing probably used it to cross over and never even realised"

[notspoondere]

A Downward SPYRAL - October 2017 Banlist

SPYRAL Double Helix has been legal in TCG tournament play for ten days.  I’d like to remind everyone of that before we begin.

SPYRALs had a humble beginning in The Dark Illusion, starting off as a fun little archetype with good types and attributes, being moderately fast and good at gaining card advantage, but lacking a serious win condition or boss monster.  Many builds from this time until Maximum Crisis (ab)used the deck’s easy access to powerful Synchro monsters, but several hybrid builds topped as well (notably a few including Zoodiacs, since every deck had a Zoo hybrid during that format).  It was pretty obvious that SPYRAL Quik-Fix was a broken card, but all you could do with it without banishing it after reviving it off of its own effect was search and make a Rank 1, and Sylvan Princessprite was good, but didn’t go anywhere (and it was also released a full two years later than in the OCG, but that’s another thing).

Then we got the Link Strike Starter Deck and Code of the Duelist, and suddenly it became possible to revive Quik-Fix off of its own effect, get a search, make a Rank 1, use that card’s effect (Ghostrick Dullahan halves ATK and Sylvan Princessprite excavates a card and adds it to hand if it’s a spell), then use that as a Link material to get the Quik-Fixes you used safely back in grave.  And now there was very little difference between Quik-Fix and an archetypal Level Eater (minus the whole, you know, level eating), provided you had the resources, as far as spamming Links goes.  Note that Level Eater is limited in the OCG.

Then we got word of archetypal Link Monsters, and then, in Circuit Break, we got Double Helix, allowing for a free Special Summon of any SPYRAL monster from the Deck.

There have been two weekends’ worth of tournaments since CIBR’s release, and SPYRAL took an overwhelming majority of the tops in each one I can remember (each had 27-29 SPYRAL decks in the top 32) with only minor differences.  Every deck in top 32 was main decking playsets of Ash Blossom (for everything), Ghost Ogre (for SPYRAL Resort) and Droll & Lock Bird (to stop your opponent’s plays in their tracks), alongside one Maxx “C” (to sack games going second) and oftentimes one D.D. Crow (searchable off of a Rank 1) or a few copies of Psy-Framegear Gamma (negates hand traps and monster effects). That’s about 12-14 handtraps before you even get into the archetypal cards, and these cards were in EVERY.  SINGLE.  DECK.  You basically had to win the die roll and/or do unspeakable things to their hand in order to win, so the only other deck that took a significant number of tops during this time was Trickstars, a deck with a two card combo that banishes your hand as soon as you search/draw a card outside of the Draw Phase, or a three card combo that banishes your hand as soon as you enter the Standby Phase.

A typical SPYRAL board ends on a Firewall Dragon with two or three co-links and a Bagooska in defense position acting as a Skill Drain on legs for anything that isn’t a Link Monster, more or less, plus usually a Utility Wire (strictly better Phoenix Wing Wind Blast).  In the OCG, it frequently ends on Tri-Gate Wizard, which can negate any card among other things, but the Structure Deck in which it was released hasn’t made its way over yet.  In this sense, you could say we never got full power SPYRALs, but then again, the OCG hit Gofu months ago.

I have more to say about the absurdity of the deck, but I’ll save that for the discussions of the actual cards.  There were only four hits this time.

Limited:

Blackwing - Gofu the Vague Shadow

Much like Daigusto Emeral, this is an archetypal card that saw nearly zero play within its own archetype.  Until Links came around, of course, and we got the ruling that Tokens were valid Link Materials, thus making Gofu a one-card Decode Talker or Missus Radiant that doesn’t consume a Normal Summon.

Opinion on this card has been surprisingly divided.  Opening Gofu is nuts, but every single one you draw after the first is useless unless you’re running Allure of Darkness, since you can’t even Summon it unless you control no monsters.  As it turns out, there’s not really a second turn against good boards of Link monsters, so the advantage is just way too high.  This card also breaks the Crystron link we’ll be getting in maybe three years, but there’s no doubt it would have been hit by then, so better sooner than later.

SPYRAL GEAR - Drone

SPYRAL Quik-Fix

These cards did not serve the same purpose, but they were limited for the same reason: they���re both valid targets for Machine Duplication, which led to insane plusses off of drawing it alongside either of these cards (or any card that searches them), and with a combined nine copies of SPYRAL Resort, you would usually open both, so really the Machine Duplication was the inconsistent part.  Machine Duplication with Quik-Fix gets three searches, and Drone stacks the deck so there isn’t even any guessing involved with the Super Agent effects.  Both combos can immediately make Double Helix with a monster left over.  So why didn’t they hit Machine Duplication?  In truth, it’s not actually that broken of a card for two main reasons.

1. These are basically the only relevant targets for the card, so hitting it would fuck over decks like Deskbots etc, which is totally undeserved (though this hasn’t stopped them in the past, see Emergency Teleport and ROTA.)

2. Ash negates it.  People have been seriously playing Double Summon instead for exclusively this reason.  I wish I was joking.

So that’s that.  Quik-Fix was expected, but I didn’t see them hitting Drone.  Good riddance though, the deck can search both of these cards just fine at one copy.

Set Rotation

Starting from humble beginnings as a short print Common in Maximum Crisis, Set Rotation rose to fame as soon as Field Spells started becoming common enough to play around (i.e. when Zoodiacs were banned, since Zodiac Sign is hilariously bad). Set Rotation gives both players a different face-down Field Spell and locks either player out of activating a new one as long as either player controls one of the ones placed there by Set Rotation’s effect.  The method through which this works means it can’t be negated by Ash Blossom, so that’s already a plus, but this card also gives a tremendous boost to strategies that involve multiple Field Spells, beginning at first with rogue choices like Fire King Island Kozmo, then extending to decks that ran it as an extra three copies of Terraforming, such as ABC.  Most recently, CIBR gave us Destrudo and thus a 1.5 card combo of any Normal Summon-able monster and either Terraforming or Set Rotation that essentially pays 3,000 LP for an Ancient Fairy Dragon and a search on any Field Spell.  This all happens before you start your usual combo off of a Field Spell, and also puts one into your grave to be copied with Pseudo Space later should you so desire.

One application of the card that deserves mention is the Set Rotation lock, which uses the card to give your opponent either Oracle of Zefra or Gateway to Chaos, which both have a mandatory search on activation (i.e. you can’t activate the effect if you don’t have any valid targets in deck).  Doing this locks your opponent out of their Field Spells unless they manage to break it, which has led to some interesting consequences.

Successfully activating the cards will break the lock, so in the OCG, people started siding (or maining!!) copies of Zefrathuban and Lord Gaia the Fierce Knight as targets for Oracle of Zefra and Gateway to Chaos, which led to a 50-50 between every game as players sided out Set Rotation targets depending on what they thought the opponent was going to take out or put in.

In the TCG, as it turns out, a lot of the new SPYRAL players didn’t really know how to play their deck, so we over here got many reports of players locking themselves out of field spells in their opening plays.  The contrast is hilarious.

In any case, this is both a hit to the consistency of Field Spell-based strategies and a nerf to SPYRALs, so it’s more than welcome.

And that’s it.  I didn’t expect this post to get so long, but it’s shorter than the last one at least. 

What will the next format look like?  Probably just like the post-Zoo ban pre-CIBR format, though there’s really no guessing based off of OCG trends since they’re still firmly in SPYRALtown.  Who knows.  Whatever happens, we’re stuck with this list until January, so we might as well get used to it.  I’m pretty happy with it.  Except for the fact that they didn’t hit Trickstars.

Until next time.

[solartranslations]

Unmei no Hajimari Episode 5: The Bonds that Connect

Yuu: So this is the entrance.

Shinoa: Before we invade, can I say something?

Yuu: Hm?

Shinoa: According to our information, there are seven vampires. They outnumber us.

Shinoa: So, we’ll be carrying out a surprise attack at this time, when it is likely for the vampires to be sleeping.

Shinoa: Don’t break formation, protect each other, and never stray from the group.

Yuu: I know. If we do that, we’ll kill all the vampires without getting hurt, right?

Mitsuba: You…really understand?

Yuu: Yeah, yeah.

Mitsuba: You only need to say it once!

Yuu: Yeah~.

Mitsuba: Ugh….

Kimizuki: Responding to that idiot is a waste of time. Let’s go.

Yuu: Hold on, what’d you say!

Yoichi: Come on, don’t fight~.

~*Fade*~

Kimizuki: This is…

Yuu: Livestock clothes….

Yoichi: Huh?

Yuu: Nothing.

Yoichi: …Yuu-kun?

Mitsuba: Let’s go. We’re going directly to floor B3 where the vampires are.

Kimizuki: The vampires aren’t here, so why aren’t they running away?

Mitsuba: Because there’s monsters everywhere outside.

Kimizuki: ……?

Yoichi: It’s because the Horsemen are there.

Kimizuki: Right…there are enemies besides the vampires.

Shinoa: Those people are under the protection of the vampires.

Yuu: Protection? What a joke.

Shinoa: …….

Yuu: If you can’t give enough blood, you’ll be killed. If they you to run away, you’ll be killed. Is that protection?

Yoichi: Y, Yuu-kun….

Kimizuki: …….

Yuu: When I was a kid, I was always in the vampire’s city. I was made to wear the same clothes that they are.

Yuu: We didn’t have enough food, they forced us to eat disgusting nutrients, and we were always dizzy from having our blood taken.

Yuu: But, I kept saying that I wasn’t livestock, and lived on.

Yuu: One day we planned on escaping. Because of that my friends…my family all died.

Yuu: No…I abandoned them so I could run away. I’ve regretted not dying together with them that day.

Yuu: But, I never regretted deciding to quit being livestock that day.

Yoichi: Even if they wanted to run, they can’t.

Kimizuki: They need resolve to try escaping from the vampires.

Mitsuba: …Let’s go. We can free them.

~*Fade*~

Shinoa: Wait. Ahead of us is ––.

Yoichi: A vampire…!?

Mitsuba: Everyone, prepare to attack! Draw your weapons!! Before they can call reinforcements––!

Yuu: Haaaah!

Mitsuba: Ah!?

Kimizuki: That idiot’s running in by himself again.

Vampire B: ––Hm!?

Yuu: Diiiieeee!!

Vampire B: Gah…. You…livestock….

Yuu: How does it feel to be killed by livestock, vampire! Be gone!

Vampire B: Guh….

Mitsuba: You…idiot! Didn’t we tell you not to act without instruction like that!

Yuu: I didn’t act without instruction. I waited for the order to draw. You’re the one who shouldn’t be blabbering so much on the battlefield.

Kimizuki: Hey Yuu! The vampires are here!

Yuu: Haha~, good. This is what I’ve waited four years for!

~*STORY BATTLE*~

Victory Conditions: Defeat all of the Vampires

Defeat Conditions: All allies are defeated, the victory conditions are not met within 25 turns

~*MISSION COMPLETED*~

Scene 2: The Vampires’ Strategy

Yuu: Well, that’s it.

Kimizuki: Idiot, don’t act so calm.

Yuu: What?

Kimizuki: You’re weaker than me, so I’m saying not to get carried away.

Yuu: Who’s weaker than who? Why don’t you show me how strong you are then.

Kimizuki: What’d you say. Don’t you know what’ll happen if I go all out?

Yuu: Just try it.

Kimizuki: Alright then. Let’s go

Yoichi: Come on, fighting here is....

Mitsuba: Those two….

Shinoa: *laugh*, they’re Lieutenant Colonel Guren’s favorite problem children that can’t work in a team.

Shinoa: Isn’t that why he wanted you to teach them, Micchan.

Mitsuba: …….

Mitsuba: Don’t act so happy. There’re still enemies left.

Yoichi: Okay~. …Come on, you two. Stop fighting, okay?

Shinoa: –– Micchan.

Mitsuba: Hm, so they’re here….

Vampire A: …….

Kimizuki: Three of them…. The total number of vampires is seven, right according to our information.

Mitsuba: Let’s do this….

Vampire A: Haha…hahaha….

Mitsuba: What’s so funny!

Vampire A: The stupidity of humans.

Mitsuba: Wha––!?

Yoichi: Mitsuba-san, behind you!!

Mitsuba: Guh…uh.

Yuu: Mitsuba!

Yoichi: Six vampires!? With the ones we just defeated, that means there were ten or more!

Mitsuba: Wha…what is this. Our information…and their numbers….

Vampire C: Information? Haha, and who gave you that information?

Mitsuba: You…used a child….

Vampire C: *laugh*…, humans are so ugly. If their family or friends are taken hostage, they’ll sell out their own kind without hesitation.

Yuu: You….

Mitsuba: No! I’m already done for! Get away!

Mitsuba is shouting to run away but….

>Go save her

>Ask for Shinoa’s decision

Yuu: Don’t make me say the same thing again! There’s no way I’ll run away and abandon my friends!!

Yuu: I’ll come save you right now!

Kimizuki: That idiot!!

Yuu: Haah!!

Mitsuba: St…stop….

Vampire C: Hm, human…. Before your blade can reach, I’ll…

Yuu: Like I’d let you!!

Vampire C: Wha, he’s fast!?

Yuu: Yaaaaah!

Vampire C: Gwah!!

Mitsuba: Ah…

Yuu: I said I wouldn’t abandon my friends. So don’t say you’re done for so easily.

Yuu: Shinoa, what should we do!?

Shinoa: …….

Yuu: I won’t abandon her and run.

Yoichi: Shinoa-san, I agree!

Shinoa: Kimizuki-san, do you feel the same?

Kimizuki: Of course.

Shinoa: Then, Yuu-san will be out front. I’ll take the right side, and Kimizuki please cover the left.

Shinoa: Yoichi-san, use your bow to keep the vampires in check from the rear. You don’t need to defeat them.

Yuu: That means, I can just rush in, right.

Shinoa: That’s right, Mr. Reckless

Yuu: Okay…. Then everyone’s ready?

Yuu: Let’s go!

Mitsuba: Don’t…don’t come….

Vampire C: Hm…she’ll die before you can get close….

Yuu: Hold it!!

Vampire: How are you! F-fast!?

Yuu: Haaaaaah!

Vampire: Gah!!

Mitsuba: Y, Yuu….

Yuu: Don’t say you’re done for so easily. We wouldn’t abandon our teammates.

Mitsuba: …….

Yuu: …Alright.

Yoichi: Yes! You saved Mitsuba-san! …Thank goodness.

Vampire A: Tch….

Yuu: What did you all say just now? That humans are ugly? That if their family or friends were taken hostage, they’d sell out their own kind without hesitation?

Yuu: You know that well. …You’re right. Humans will do anything for their family.

Yuu: They’d lie, and become a demon or a devil.

Yuu: If you say that’s ugly…. Then die in fear of human ugliness, vampire.

Vampire A: Ugh….

Kimizuki: Geez, I’ve got some annoying people for teammates.

Yoichi: Ahaha.

Kimizuki: Well…are we doing this? With these members ––.

Shinoa: We should be able to. It seems like there are only vampires with second class armaments after all.

Yoichi: We can fight like this?

Kimizuki: Their numbers are different, but this is according to plan.

Yuu: It’ll be fine then, right Mitsuba?

Mitsuba: Uh….

Mitsuba: ––Let’s go. We’ll annihilate the vampires!

~*STORY BATTLE*~

Victory Conditions: Defeat all of the Vampires

Defeat Conditions: All allies are defeated, the victory conditions are not met within 25 turns

~*STANDBY PHASE*~

~*ACTION PHASE*~

~*PLAYER TURN: Turn 1*~

Talk 8: Little Girls’ Talk

(If Shinoa and Mitsuba talk)

Shinoa: Micchan, did you thank him for saving you earlier?

Mitsuba: Sh,shut up! We’re in battle right now!

Shinoa: You didn’t right? Then, you’ll say it when this is over, right?

Mitsuba: Th, that’s….

Shinoa: Oh well, I guess I have to help you.

Mitsuba: W, with what?

Shinoa: So that you can say your thanks to Yuu-san~.

Mitsuba: ––!? Don’t do anything unnecessary!

Shinoa: Relax, I won’t do anything like that.

~*MISSION COMPLETED*~

Scene 3: Get Along Instead of Fighting…?

Yoichi: …Whew. It’s over…right?

Kimizuki: There aren’t any other ones in hiding?

Shinoa: I think it’s fine.

Shinoa: Now, let’s show the people who were captured outside.

Shinoa: Come on, you too, Yoichi-san.

Yoichi: Wait, Shinoa-san, don’t push me.

Shinoa: *laugh*.

Yuu: What’s up with them? …Hey Mitsuba, let’s go too.

Mitsuba: …….

Yuu: Mitsuba?

Mitsuba: …We were tricked.

Yuu: Hm? Oh…that kid’s info.

Mitsuba: Yeah. Because of that our squad was put in danger.

Yuu: It’s not like she wanted to lie. She didn’t have a choice…her family had been taken hostage.

Yuu: She wanted to protect her family. So she didn’t do anything wrong. It was the right thing to do.

Mitsuba: …I guess.

Yuu: You have something to complain about?

Mitsuba: I, I’m not really….

Yuu: What, just say it.

Mitsuba: Um…. A, about…before, th…than….

Yuu: Huh?

Mitsuba: Aggggh….

Mitsuba: Anyway, I hate you!

Yuu: Huh!? That again?

Kimizuki: Hey, you two! How long are you going to mess around, get over here!

Mitsuba: I, I’m not messing around! Shut up!

Yuu: Sure.

Scene 4: Deployment Order

Mika: …….

Ferid: Miiikaa, Miiikaa, Miiimiiika

Mika: …….

Ferid: Hey I was looking for you, Mika-kun.

Mika: …You need something from me?

Ferid: Aha, it’s the deployment order you’ve been waiting for.

Mika: …….

Ferid: Since as you know, the war with the Japanese Imperial Demon Army has begun.

Mika: War….

Ferid: Oh right. One more important thing. You and I will be acting together as partners, so let’s get along.

Mika: Why am I, with you of all people….

Ferid: So mean~. You could at least look a little happy.

Mika: Don’t joke around.

Ferid: Hyakuya Yuichiro-kun.

Mika: ––!?

Ferid: It’d be nice if he was at our destination of Shinjuku, Yuu-chan I mean.

Mika: …….

Scene 5: To Shinjuku ––

Mika: …….

Lacus: Hey Mika.

Mika: …….

Lacus: What are you doing here?

Mika: …….

Lacus: Maybe you didn’t hear?

Rene: We have deployment orders to recapture Shinjuku from the humans.

Mika: …I know.

Lacus: Hey, Mika talked, Rene.

Rene: It doesn’t matter.

Lacus: Yeah, I guess.

Rene: We’ll be leaving soon. Let’s go, you two.

Mika: …….

Mika: Shinjuku…. Yuu-chan might be there….

To be continued.

(Continue to Episode 6) Coming Soon!

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