#nothing more than to stare into reflective surfaces for 20 minutes straight and check for every imperfection and irregularity

[featherymainffins]

I thought I would walk some additional 14 km today and thus burn my accidental lunch (caved into peer pressure and went to a restaurant and had a salad instead of eating my perfectly counted can of tuna) and as such I agreed to go have breakfast with some friends tomorrow to celebrate the end of the excursion.

But I did not walk those 14 km because I wasn't able to get water + I just finished 12 hours of lectures + my arches were killing me + it was raining + I wanted to shower + I wanted to study + I was fucking freezing.

Which means I have to punish myself for my lack of discipline and I also have to make up for the food and that means I CANNOT have that breakfast. In fact I cannot have anything. For 2 days. Just to be sure.

So now I'm trying to figure out what lie I can make up. Currently thinking about saying that I just started to feel really nauseous all of a sudden and as such I unfortunately cannot eat breakfast oopsie. It feels really random and not really believable though.

[stellar-alley]

Of Scales and Sea Glass

•Chapter 1•

 Next Chapter >>

(Summary: Eddie deals with the anniversary of his parent's death. After an intense tropical storm, he discovers something has washed up in his pool.)

Also shout out to @ambitiousskychild on tumblr for being my beta!

~

It’s just water.   You’ll be fine   God, why do you always worry so damn much?

“FUCK” Eddie groaned as he raked his hand through his hair. “Fuck…” He repeated, letting his voice trail off this time. 

It’s been a year, you should be over this by now . 

Sure it might’ve been a year, but that didn’t mean Eddie Kaspbrak was any less terrified of the ocean. Its endless blue and unexplored depths made Eddie want to be anywhere else. It didn’t help that the ocean was literally in Eddie’s backyard. All that he needed to know was that exactly one year ago today, that blue, those depths, took his parent’s lives, and that was enough to scare the boy shitless. Only now, on the anniversary of Sonia and Frank Kaspbrak’s death, did he finally decide to do something about it. 

Eddie stood about 50 feet away from his back porch, his feet in the sand and a towel wrapped over his shoulders. He watched the waves fall and crash over the sand. Tonight the weathermen were calling for a killer storm, which seemed oddly appropriate in the boy’s head. It was almost like his mother was giving him a sign. It was like her way of saying “Eddie-bear, go back inside! The world is dangerous, so stay in your room!” because that’s what she did. 

For most of Eddie’s life, he was fed placebos, convinced he had asthma, and practically forced to be straight. It was all his mother’s doings. Ever since her death Eddie has come to terms with all of his fake illnesses, he’s even been able to come out to his friends! Of course, they all accepted him and helped him whenever he needed it. He was really grateful for the losers he called his friends. 

Lighting struck in the distance, it sent a flash of light over Eddie’s face that caused him to shrink into his towel. The dark clouds that loomed overhead only caused Eddie’s heart to beat harder inside his ribcage. 

Thunder cackled soon after. Eddie’s eyes teared up as he looked up and into the waves, “I-I’m sorry,” He choked, barely able to get the words out. 

Eddie shuffled back into his oceanside house before the rain started, which was good cause when it rained, it poured. The first thing he did when he got inside was close all of the blinds, unable to look out into his backyard without his stomach-turning, the guilt was practically eating away at him. The last thing he saw as he closed the blinds were his pool, the water reflected the dark clouds that loomed overhead, creating a haunting atmosphere. 

The realization caused Eddie to sigh, “That’s gonna be a pain in my ass to clean.” Storms like these always brought the most random crap up from the bottom of the ocean, somehow all of it always ended up in Eddie’s pool. He didn’t even want the pool, he lived so close to the ocean, it was kinda useless. Well, aside from the days when it was too cold to swim in the ocean , that’s when he’d usually heat the pool up and swim in there instead. That was when he still swam. Now he hasn’t used that thing in well over a year. 

After Sonia and Frank passed, The Kaspbrak’s residence was passed down to their only child, Eddie. That house included an underground pool, a house way too big for one person, and an almost private beach that only he and his next door neighbours had access to. (His neighbours on the left never used it though. They were an elderly couple. Sometimes he’d find them sitting outside on the warm days, but they weren’t the outdoor type. His neighbours on the right had their yard fenced off). Eddie never used the pool but kept it clean for the days when his friends came over. They'd go swimming while he read in the shade. 

That night Eddie slept with his ear buds in, music on loud and the covers pulled over his head. He hated how scared he was of the water. He missed the way the waves made him feel. It was something he's never felt before, when he swam he was safe, and free. He's tried to overcome it, but nothing has worked. He'd need a miracle to convince him to get back into the water. 

 ~

Eddie woke up the next morning to the early morning sunlight streaming in through the cracks of his blinds. He mentally cursed out God for creating the sun before he turned over and shoved his face deeper into his pillow. After about 20 more minutes of internal complaining, Eddie finally dragged himself out of bed. His head was waterlogged, hazed by sleep. So when he opened the blinds to his back doors all he saw was a mass of sea shit that now crowded his pool. Instead of focusing on exactly what had washed up onto his property, he simply rolled his eyes and went to go back to breakfast. 

Eddie checked his phone, hoping it’d wake his mind up a little but he sighed as he realized he didn’t have any wifi. His realization brought a thought to the forefront of his mind. “Oh no…. No, no, no,” Eddie mumbled as he padded over towards the nearest light switch. “Fuck,” He leaned his head up against the wall when the lights didn’t turn on. This was something else that happened a lot when they were hit by a storm, the power goes out. 

After breakfast, Eddie got changed out of his pyjamas. He opted to put on an older black tee as he knew he’d be cleaning today. He pulled his iconic red shorts on and slipped on a pair of sneakers. He gathered up all of the cleaning supplies he had set aside for storms like these and set them out on his back porch. 

The morning air smelled of rain and salt. The temperature had dropped a couple of degrees from the previous day, which was refreshing, but it didn’t change the fact that Eddie had a whole yard to clean. 

First, he swept off the porch. He pushed all of the twigs, branches and sand onto the ground below. He noticed one of his neighbour’s palm trees had several fallen branches. That would explain the countless leaves that were scattered across his yard and filled his pool. 

After, he collected as much of the debris from the lawn as he could. Stuffing everything into garbage bags, tying them up, then carrying them to his front yard, where they’d sit until garbage day. Once he was in his front yard, he looked around at his neighbour’s lawns and saw they were all going through the same hell that he was. Everyone was out with garbage bins and shovels, cleaning up the mess the storm left behind. 

“EDDIE! HEY!” A voice called out to him. 

Eddie turned towards the voice and saw his neighbour to the right, Beverly Marsh. He was one of the lucky kids who conveniently lived beside one of his best friends. While the rest of their Losers Club lived no more than 20 minutes away, Bev and Eddie lived the closest, which made it easy for the group to meet up. Even if their meetups almost always ended up at Eddie’s house. 

When his mother was alive, she rarely let all of them come over, but now that she was gone, most of their summer break was spent in Eddie’s backyard, in the pool, on the beach, or in his basement watching movies. Eddie didn’t mind, he enjoyed the company. Especially since living alone got, well, lonely. So he made sure to soak up every moment he could get with his Losers. 

Eddie’s resting bitch face was washed out and replaced by a genuinely happy smile. “Marsh! How’s it hanging?” Eddie said in his best surfer bro voice. 

“It’s totally tubular,” She said, followed by a laugh. “How’s your place? No power?” She asked as she put down the bag she was holding and crossed her yard and onto Eddie’s. 

“Yeah, and my yard is a fucking mess. Don’t even get me started on the pool,” Eddie groaned at the thought.

A smug smile spread over Beverly’s lips, “It’s the days like these when I’m grateful I don’t have a pool. Can’t you just get the pool guys to come and clean it?” She questions. 

“I would but it’d cost me an arm and a leg. I’m just gonna clean then get someone to refill it. It’ll be fine,” He sighed. Eddie was gonna ask if she wanted to help but he lost his chance when Beverly’s aunt came outside. 

“Beverly! Oh, Hi Eddie. How are you doing?” She smiled at him. Beverly’s aunt Katherine was always nice to Eddie, she always helped him whenever he needed it, cooking meals and helping with bills. She was pretty great. 

“As good as I can be after a storm like this, crazy isn’t it?” He nods his head. 

“It really is, on that note, Bev, we should be getting back to work,” She said as Bev nodded. 

“I’ll see you later Eddie. Let me know if you get ahold of the rest of our rat pack, alright?” She winked as she slowly began to back away. 

“Yes ma’am!” Eddie saluted and returned to the backyard. 

He sighed. “No better time than the present, am I right?” He asked himself as he picked up the big net that was propped against the porch, then walked towards the pool.

The water had turned a dark green-grey. It didn’t smell too bad, which was a blessing as Eddie has a sensitive stomach and wasn’t in the mood of adding barf to his list of things to clean. He swept the net over the surface of the water for a couple minutes before noticing how there were a lot bigger pieces of debris than he had realized. 

Looks like we gotta break out the big guns  , Eddie left the net on the side of the pool and went to grab some rubber gloves and one of his big grey garbage cans. He stood at the edge of the pool and stared down at the water below him. It was different when he had the net, he barely had to lean over the edge, but now he was worried about falling in.  What if I lean in, fall, and drown, or get knocked unconscious and die? Eddie calmed his breathing down before it got a chance to pick up. 

“Okay, Eddie, you’re fine,” He let out a shaky breath. He ended up laying down on the pavement, flat on his stomach and stuck his arms over the edge, not daring to let anything below his neck hang over the edge of the pool. Slowly but surely he dragged most of the debris out and onto the pavement, which would then be put into the garbage, but right now he just needed to get everything out of the pool. Amongst the trash and green life he found in the water, he also fished out a pair of glasses, although they didn’t seem like normal glasses. First off, they were pretty big, but the lenses seemed oddly fogged and thick. Reminding Eddie of the sea glass he’s collected over the years of living on the coast. He set them aside and made a note to investigate them further once he was done here. 

After a couple of hours of hard work, Eddie stood over the pool and admired all of his hard work. Sure there was still a bunch of shit at the bottom of the pool, but he agreed to clean that out once the pool had been emptied. There had been a particular pile of debris off in the corner that caught Eddie’s eye. It seemed to be a pile-up of plants and what looked to be a fishing net. He walked over to that side of the pool and squinted down at the trash. Something was dimly shining beneath the pile of soggy algae that covered it. 

Maybe a fish got washed into the pool? Hm, poor dude, Eddie shrugged, about to walk away when the pile twitched ever so slightly, Eddie could have convinced himself he was seeing things, but something was telling him he wasn’t. Determined to see what it was, Eddie quickly grabbed the net and poked the pile of debris. He shied away after the first poke, then moved to poke it again. It twitched again. Eddie’s brow furrowed as he poked it again, a little harder this time. This time it shifted positions, allowing Eddie to see a little bit more of the creature that sat at the bottom of his pool. 

The shine came from scales, and there were a lot of them.  How big is this fucking fish? Oh shit- do I have a shark in my pool?! No dumbass, sharks don’t have scales…

Instead of poking it again, Eddie used the butt end of the net to try to move the debris off of the creature. He was able to push most of the algae aside, but the creature must’ve been tangled up in that damned net. The creature might not have been 100% visible, but he had a better view of it now. 

“Is that? No way…” Eddie began to speak to himself as he examined the creature. “That can’t be...” He said as he examined the part of the creature that looked like it had hair. Well whatever it had that looked like hair, it was inky black, it slowly swayed around-  A HEAD?   “WHAT THE FUCK!” Eddie shrieked as he began to stumble backwards. He stammered and wobbled. But suddenly, one of the bricks that lined the pool gave out beneath him, and he fell forwards. He fell into the pool with a big splash. 

He didn’t even have time to think, his mind was overtaken by panic. Eddie thrashed and splashed, he tried to pull himself to the surface but the water was blurring his vision, making it impossible to tell which way was up. He barely had time to take in any air as he was randomly tossed into the pool. So his lungs ached and his head throbbed. He wanted to scream out for help or stop moving just for a second, in hopes that’d he just float to the surface. But he couldn’t stop, his legs kicked wildly in the water, his shoes heavy on his feet and his clothes constricting his movement. 

He was too busy thinking about his own death to notice the pair of arms that’d wrapped around his waist. Eddie’s lungs began to  burn  , they begged for air, but Eddie knew that he was  not  going to let his mouth open. He refused to die the same death that his parents had. With that, his vision began to blur more than it already was. His mind hazed over and his thrashing minimized. His vision was dotted with black spots, due to lack of oxygen. 

I’m gonna die . 

~

Suddenly he was gasping for air. His lungs heaved as he spat up water and tried to breathe in as much air as he could. He rubbed the water out of his eyes. It took a moment for his gaze to clear, but once he did he realized he was sitting on the edge of the pool, his clothes soaked and his hair filled with leaves and dirt. 

What the fuck happened? How did I get here?  The questions overloaded Eddie’s mind as his breathing quickened, there was so much going on,  too much . 

The water beside him splashed, a light spray of water settled on him. He hesitantly looked over, hoping to see nothing, that he had dreamt it all up. But when he turned his head, he saw something drifting slowly towards him in the water. He hadn’t failed to notice how murkey the water had gotten. It’s green tinge now brown, and a little red. He didn’t even let himself think about what made it red. Eddie panicked and jackknifed, hastily shuffling backwards and away from the water. 

Eddie’s eyes were as wide as saucers, his eyebrows practically in his hairline. His breathing practically stopped as he watched the black hair he’d seen previously slowly poke up out of the water. Eddie wanted to get up and run, call the cops,  something , but he couldn’t. He was frozen in fear and anticipation. He couldn’t help that little bit of wonder that filled his head as the creature continued to come up from the waters’ surface. 

He watched as the head moved up just enough to reveal a pair of impossibly blue eyes. They stared back at him, partially covered by the black hair hanging in its face. Something about the eyes seemed hazy, almost as if they weren’t clear, they squinted for a moment before opening up wide again. 

Eddie could only muster a weak “hi,” as he stared at the creature before him. The blue eyes rolled and bubbles erupted in front of him. The head sunk back down into the water.

A splash caused Eddie to tear his eyes away from where the head once was, and look up. Further down in the pool he watched as a fish like tail splashed against the surface of the water. Half of its fin was covered in the fishing net. The rope digging into the scales. Eddie finally saw what was the cause of the red in the water. The net had various hooks still attached to it. They dug into the scales of the tail, causing it to leak red blood. Eddie’s stomach dropped. 

The tail splashed against the surface of the water again. It acted as a reality check for Eddie as he finally mustered the strength to stand up. Once he was on his feet, he wobbled momentarily before marching towards his porch. He didn’t look back as he closed his patio door. He kept walking until he was in his bathroom. 

He turned on the shower and waited until it filled the small room with steam. The boiling water practically burned all the dirt off of his skin. He was too caught up in his own thoughts to even realize he began thinking out loud. 

“There’s someone in my pool,” He started, his voice distant, “And a fish. A massive fucking fish.” He thought about the mess of hair he’d seen at the bottom of the pool. “No one can survive being underwater that long… No one, but not nothing.”

What if it wasn’t two things in my pool…  

He contemplated the idea for a second, “BUT THEY DON’T EXIST!” Eddie shouted in frustration, thrusting his fist against the ceramic wall of his shower. So many ideas floated through Eddie’s head, he hated it, he hated not knowing what was in his pool. And he hated the fact that the only idea that made semi sense, was that he had a fucking mermaid in his pool. 

“But they’re made-up. Stories, fairytailes.  Not real life, ” He countered, recalling movies like The Little Mermaid and Aquamarine. “But what else explains the tail?” He asked himself in defeat. 

Eddie turned the water to the shower off. His skin was red and raw, he could practically see the steam coming off of himself. He rested his forehead against the wall of his shower and tried to clear his head.  In and out… In and out  , he reminded himself as he took a couple minutes to just  breathe . 

After the hurricane in his head finally calmed down, he allowed himself to think back to what he’d seen outside. Careful to not open the dam of memories, he focused on the tail, the head, the water,  the blood . 

The poor thing is hurt , Eddie sharply inhaled. “Shit…” He recalled the net, and how it dug into the creature's tail. He shivered at the thought of what it must be going through. Then he remembered why he took the shower in the first place, he fell into the pool, and that fish thing, it saved him.

With a new game plan, Eddie finished up in the bathroom, got dressed, then got his fist aid kit and all the other supplies he needed. He went back outside, the sun beating down over his head as he stood on his patio and surveyed his backyard. A new level of determination filled the human. He was intrigued to find out what the hell was in his pool, and this was the best way he could find that out. 

He marched down and to the water’s edge, but all the bravery he had mustered died the moment he saw the creature floating on its front at the edge of Eddie’s pool. 

He raised his hands to cover his mouth, his eyes wide, “Fuck,” he cursed. His mind automatically assumed the worst,  death . But he tried to mentally assure himself that it had just passed out as he didn’t want to panic.

Eddie got down on his knees and carefully leaned over to grab the creature. He held his breath, worried about falling in, but he was able to pull the creature to the edge of the pool. He pushed it over onto its back. He wanted to inspect its face and features but Eddie needed to get him out of the water before those cuts got infected. 

Quickly, Eddie laid a towel down on the pavement beside the pool, worried about what the heat of the ground would do to the fish’s scales. When it came time to pulling the thing out of the water, he hadn’t thought about how much that fucking tale would weigh. He hooked his arms under the arms of the creature and tried to pull him out. He heaved and tugged. 

“Holy shit- you’re  so  fucking heavy,” Eddie gasped,  half way there , he thought to himself. All of the human part was out, and half of the tail, now all he had left was the rest of the tail and the monofin. Eddie took in one sharp inhale before he pulled the rest of it out in one final tug. He gasped as he suddenly landed on his back, the fish flopped down onto the towel beside him. 

Eddie didn’t take too long to recover, he was too interested in seeing what exactly he had just fished out of his swimming pool. He sat on his knees and surveyed the creature that laid uncious before him. 

It was indeed, a mermaid. 

The upper half of its body was made of pasty white skin, as smooth as a shark's skin. It shined in the afternoon sunlight. Its arms were long and fairly skinny with a little muscles. Eddie carefully lifted up one of its hands. He inspected it, noticing how there was an almost translucent webbing that connected his long and bony fingers. Then he let out a small gasp at the claws that laid at the edges of his fingers. They looked sharp, one swipe would surely draw blood. With that, he carefully laid the hand back down by its side. 

Eddie leaned forward a little to examine the creature's face. He lifted a hand, gently pushing some of the soggy hair out of his face. He frowned at the slash that ran across its cheeks, cutting through a wild pack of freckles. His pale skin allowed the freckles on his cheeks to shine like stars on a clear night. Eddie thought about counting them, like he had the stars, but he opted not to as he knew he had more pressing tasks at hand. He took one last glance at the face, allowing himself to soak in the mermaid's features in all its beauty. Yes,  beauty. Even Eddie couldn’t deny it, the creature was fairly beautiful. But now isn't the time for crushes, Eddie shook his head as he finally made his way down to the tale. 

Eddie examined its chest. It was fairly skinny, not malnourished, as in he could slightly see his ribs, but it wasn't too concerning. He noticed a couple bruises and various scrapes that would need to be disinfected. He followed the pale skin down. Suddenly Eddie’s brows furrowed together. The creature had no belly button. But if he had, then the scales would have started just below it. 

Now without the water blurring their colour, he was able to see the scales in all their glory. They were a pastel blue, some places darker than others, the shades varying as the tail continued. The tip of its monofin shined a sparkly silver that could give the real stuff a run for its money.

Finally, he got to his feet and overlooked  all of the creature’s injuries. Sure he had some scraps, cuts and bruises along the upper part of its body, but its tail got the worst of it. The net was tangled up in its monofin and dug into its scales, causing some of them to flake off. 

He raked his hands through his hair, tugging at the ends. “Fuck,” he sighed, realizing how much work he had to do. Without wasting any more time, he leaned over to the abundance of supplies he’d brought outside and grabbed the exacto knife to cut the net. Just as the blade popped out and Eddie leaned in, something cold and slimy grabbed his wrist. His body went cold, head snapping towards the mermaids. His eyes locked with the fish’s. The blues of his eyes were wide and determined. Eddie looked down and realized it was the hand with the knife. Quickly he grabbed the knife with his free hand and tossed it to the side. 

“Hey-Hey, it’s okay,” Eddie motioned his hands to show that they were empty and he meant no harm. Only then did the creature release Eddie’s hand, his head flopping back against the towel.  Eddie leaned over and saw that its eyes were still open, but they were hazed, almost unfocused. Eddie didn’t think too much of it, probably the salt water making him go blind or something. 

“Okay, I’m just gonna try to remove the net, alright?” He asked, but received no response. He leaned back over and pulled his bifocals out of his second fanny pack, then leaned back in and began examining the net. 

The mermaid’s head tilted upwards, it watched the human’s fingers traced along the edges of the net. Its eyes grew wide at the sight of the spectacles on Eddie’s face. 

Eddie noticed the movement and glanced over at the creature. He hummed lightly, wondering what it was looking at. The moment didn’t last too long as when Eddie leaned away from the tail, the creature lunged at him. Its arms out and claws sharp, its eyes filled with determination. Eddie shrieked and fell backwards, his hands flew up to his face. 

After a moment of heavy breathing, he realized he felt no pain. He slowly moved his shaky hands away from his face and looked up at the mermaid. He was surprised to see it carefully holding his bifocals. 

It held it in his hands as if they were so fragile they’d break. The creature slid them onto his face as if it was a second nature. The blue eyes blinked a couple times before its face scrunched up in confusion. It took the glasses off and held them once again in its hands. Now its face was filled with disbelief and worry. 

“What?” Eddie asked, unsure of what was happening. 

The creature looked up at the human with sad, hazy eyes. For a moment they just held eye contact, as if they were having a conversation with their eyes in a language Eddie didn’t understand. Then the creature held the glasses out towards Eddie with one hand, while the other pointed towards its own chest. 

Eddie’s face scrunched up, he hated charades. “What about the glasses?”. 

The creature pointed to itself once again. 

“Your glasses?” Eddie suggested, and the blue eyes widened to an impossible size. A new emotion spread over the fish’s face, excitement. “Yeah?” Eddie asked, and nodded. “Yeah!” Eddie said happily. “Yeah…” he repeated, this time with fear laced in his voice as he had no clue where its glasses were. 

Since when do mermaids wear glasses anyways? What the fuck?

“Wait- You can understand me?” It finally dawned on Eddie, he’d been talking to a mermaid, and it was responding… technically. 

Its eyebrows lowered and their glare became sharp, as if to say ‘ Yeah, so? ’, followed by a slow nod. Now it had used its free arm to prop itself up on it’s elbow so they were almost at eye level. 

Eddie smiled softly at the fish, his cheeks a little warmer than they were before. He nervously chuckled, “Oh, cool”. He rubbed the back of his neck, diverting his gaze around the backyard so he didn’t have to stare into those ocean eyes any longer. His sight landed on the pile of trash he said he’d sort through later that laid on his lawn and he noticed a piece of glass that shined in the light. 

Eddie gasped, he jumped from his sitting position up to his feet and ran to his pile of trash. He snatched the object up off of the lawn and ran back to the mermaid, practically falling down beside it. Eddie got situated on the ground, a wide smile on his face. He held them and carefully opened them up, without any further wait, he leaned in and slid the glasses on the mermaid's face. 

The fish was confused at first, unsure of how to feel about the human being so close. But the small boy didn’t give it much of a chance to react because before he could flinch, his vision cleared. Its hands moved up to its face and felt around, touching the glasses that they knew all too well. 

Finally being able to see clearly, it looked up at the boy in front of it. Its lips curved into a wide smile that got a little giggle out of the human. 

“So I guess those are yours?” Eddie asks. 

The mermaid nods proudly. The moment is cut short when a bolt of pain cuts through the fish’s tail, it grimaces and hisses.

Eddie tenses at the sound, “Oh shit! Sorry, but can I  please use the knife?” He beged, eyes wide and worried. 

The mermaid lies back down on the towel, eyes forced shut. It nods. 

Okay, okay, okay  . Eddie’s thoughts pick up at the thought of being so close to the creature. Not because it’s like- cute or anything,  no  , it’s because he doesn't want to hurt it.  Yeah, that’s why . 

Eddie gripped the exacto knife with enough strength to make his knuckles go white. His eyes skimmed over the net, deciding on where to cut. He found a spot he claimed to be a good start and began cutting. He sliced the net up and into pieces, slowly freeing the tail from its grasp. Soon enough he was just left with the pieces that had the hooks attached to them. 

“Sorry this is gonna hurt,” Eddie said before he carefully pulled the fist hook loose. The fish’s breathing hitched and filled with pain. “ Sorry!”  Eddie grimaced as he pulled another one out. This one leaked a lot more blood and the mermaids hand smacked around the ground, causing Eddie to jump at the sudden sound. It felt like it took hours to fully free the tail, but soon enough the deed was done. 

Eddie leaned back on his hands and tilted his head up towards the sun. “I’m sorry,” he breathed before looking back down at the mermaid. It sat upright now, carefully examining its tail. It reached out to touch one of the cuts. Eddie jumped into action and slapped the hand away. It hissed at Eddie. “Hey! Don’t do that, I’ve still gotta disinfect them, okay?” His tone grew impatient as he cracked open the first aid kit. 

His back began to ache from the hours he’d spent hunched over the blue tail, disinfecting the scrapes and bandaging the deeper cuts. He moved on to the upper half of the creature. 

“Tell me if this hurts, okay?” Eddie requested as the mermaid gave him a side eye look. Eddie began to slowly put pressure on different places on the fish’s chest, mainly the places with the bruises to see if- The mermaid let out a loud hiss. Eddie’s hands shot up and away as its claws came into view again. “Sorry! You have an injured rib, so that’s why it hurts. You won’t be able to move much until it heals,” Eddie explained, his mind going through the healing process when he realized it won’t be able to swim in this condition, and it certainly can’t stay on land in Eddie’s backyard. 

“Oh…” Eddie’s graze dropped, a sudden wave of fatigue washed over him as he realized what he’s gonna have to do. But before he allowed himself to think over the idea too much, he finished cleaning all of the cuts that needed it. 

“O-Okay, so I-um.... I can’t leave you here, and I can’t bring you back to the ocean cause you’re hurt and you need to properly heal. So i’m gonna bring you into my house and keep you in my bathtub, okay?” He rambled in hopes the creature understood what he was saying.  God, I sound fucking insane. This is insane! I can’t keep an oversized goldfish in my tub. But I can’t leave him out here… the pool guys are coming tomorrow and if they see him we’d be in so much shit- It’s the only way  . Eddie finalized his plan with a sigh.   

“You,” he pointed at the creature, “stay,” he demanded before he got up and went back inside. He ran upstairs and into the bathroom, flopped down beside the big bathtub, and began running the water. He set the temperature to warm then took a moment to catch his breath. 

Everything began to settle in. The mermaid, the scales, the storm, the future, the creature’s eyes, its freckles-  Okay, Eddie stop it. It’s a fucking sea creature, you can’t have a crush on it . He huffed and rolled his eyes at his gay thoughts. Eddie’s been out for a couple months now, to his mother's dismay, and he’s been happy. Sure he’s had a couple crushes before, but he’s never had one on a fish person… So he wasn't too sure what to think of that. 

The white noise created by the running water created a soothing atmosphere for the boy, and for a moment, he sat in silence and just  breathed . Though the moment was short lived, a low whale-like sound erupted from his stomach, reminding him about the fact that he hasn't had lunch yet. He looked down at his watch and saw it was already 3 pm. 

Holy shit, time flies when you're with a merman. If I’m hungry then imagine what it must be feeling, when was the last time it ate? What does it eat? Do I have anything to feed it? Okay let’s just focus on getting it inside first- Also? Finding a fucking name for this thing, I can’t keep calling it, well, IT!

Eddie shook all of the static out of his head and pulled himself to his feet. He turned the knob to the bathtub and turned the water off, he hoped the temperature would suffice, he’d find out soon enough. 

Going back to the mermaid in his backyard, he found it in the same place he left it, which was a relief. Still on its back, with an arm on its forehead to shade its eyes from the blaring afternoon sun. It sensed the human before he approached. It moved its arm and tilted its head to look up at the towering figure. 

“Hi again, so I need to pick you up to bring you inside. So you don't… die. Is that okay?” Eddie asked awkwardly. The creature simply shrugged, as if to say ‘Do what you need’. “Okay,  well , you need to help me out cause you weigh a fucking ton and I am not strong. So wrap your arms around my neck and don’t-don’t fucking eat me,” Eddie instructed as he got down on his knees, bracing himself for the weight he’d soon carry. 

The mermaid sat up. Eddie moved his hands underneath the tail, he didn’t wait for the mer to move its arms because he knew if he waited any longer he’d convince himself not to. So he sharply inhaled and lifted the mermaid up bridal style. He wobbled slightly as he gained his balance on his feet. The wobble sent a shiver down the mer’s spine, he jumped to wrap its arms around Eddie’s neck in fear of being dropped. 

The sudden motion made Eddie smirk. “Oh,  now  you do it,” he forced a small laugh. Eddie began to walk forward towards the house, each step harder than the last. 

When they got to the stairs, Eddie’s breath hitched when he went up the first stair, his arms almost gave out from beneath him. 

The mermaid shook and buried its face in the crook of Eddie’s neck. Eddie felt the glasses dig into his neck. With the sudden change of proximities,  the mer’s breath sent shivers down Eddie’s back, it was slow and warm. 

The muscles in his arms burned before he even started up the staircase to the second flood. “Fuck… me,” Eddie murmed, as if it was going to take away the fiery pain that ran through his body. 

Eddie was practically dragging his feet as he walked, unable to bring them up from the ground. His vision was set on the staircase in front of him, so he didn’t notice the one floorboard that was slightly higher than the others. The toe of his foot collided with the floorboard and they went toppling forward, hitting the floor with a big  thump . 

The creature let out a ear bleeding shriek as it fell, then pain erupted from its tail as it landed on the ground. Certainly the extra weight of a human on its torso didn’t help at all. 

Eddie was in shock for a moment, unsure of what had just happened. Looking around he turned and saw he was now face to face with the mermaid. Their eyes locked, both of them wild and concerned. Eddie snapped himself back into reality before he could get lost in the ocean eyes again. 

“I-I’m sorry.  Shit , I’m so sorry,” Eddie stammered, his body weak and his arms aching. He rolled off the creature and onto his back. “I’m sorry,” He croaked, the failure settling in. 

He didn’t move his gaze from the ceiling over his head. He didn’t want the mer to see his eyes as they filled with tears. Something cold rested on top of Eddie’s hand. Hesitantly, he dragged his eyes over to the creature beside him. The hand held onto his own as the mermaid’s lips offered a tight but comforting smile, as if to say,  it’s okay, really . Eddie shifted his hand ever so slightly so the mer’s hand fit more comfortably in his. The webbing that lined the fingers of the mermaid’s hand tickled Eddie’s. Its thumb rubbed slow circles over Eddie’s knuckles. 

“A-Are you okay?” Eddie whispered worriedly. 

The creature was in pain, for sure, but it nodded anyways, for the human’s sake. 

Neither of them were sure how long they stayed like that, hand in hand, breathing laboured and heavy, eyes on the ceiling. Although at some point Eddie’s arms felt a smidge better, and his breathing had returned. That’s when he knew he had to try again. 

“1....2...3!” Eddie lifted the mermaid off the ground again. It seemed just a little easier than last time. This time he kept his breathing steady, and kept his eyes going from the stairs in front of him to his goal, the bathroom. 

Once they stood in the middle of the upstairs hallway, Eddie took a minute and stood and caught his breath. He noticed the way the mer’s eyes drifted and examined his new surroundings. But something caught his eye and Eddie felt one of the arms slowly move away from his neck. Hesitantly he turned his head just in time to see the clawed hand reaching out for Eddie’s own little creature that sat in a fish tank that lined the hallway. It was his pet betta fish, Goldy. (He wasn't a creative kid, okay?).

“NO!” Eddie exclaimed, almost dropping the mermaid again. The sudden motion caused the arm to wrap back around Eddie’s neck in fear of being dropped. “Do  not  eat my goldfish. She is a friend, not fucking food,” he practially growled. 

The creature shrank away, not a fan of the tone Eddie had gained. As much as it wanted to lean  away  from the boy who just scolded him, it leaned  into  Eddie, it liked the warmth his skin gave off. It curled a little deeper into his touch, putting his chin on top of his shoulder and nestling into the side of his face. 

Eddie got the mermaid settled into the bathtub and immediately noticed a change in its mood. Suddenly its eyes had a new sparkle to them and his lips were always semi smiling. 

Eddie sat on the closed toilet seat and took in the sight before him.  A mermaid in my bathtub… This’ll be one hell of a diary entry  . “So! I-er, I hope this isn’t rude, but are you a girl or a boy? I know you don’t have boobs but I really don’t know how this whole  mermaid  thing works,” Eddie stopped himself before he kept rambling. 

The mer lifted two fingers in the air.  Two, second, second option. “Boy?” Eddie tilted his head. The creature nodded. He sighed in relief, “Good, good… I-I’m Eddie by the way.” The creature nodded again then ducked his head down into the water and blew bubbles up at the human. Eddie huffed in amusement at the gesture. 

The human’s stomach rumbled again. He rolled his eyes in response. He didn’t even bother telling the mermaid- merman? Merman. He didn’t bother telling him he was gonna leave cause the mer looked like he was having the time of his life blowing bubbles down under. Once he was in the kitchen, Eddie tried to be quick, opening up every cupboard and checking everywhere for food fit for a fish. The only thing he came across that seemed semi-suitable were fish sticks. Eddie eyed them for about half a minute before ripping the bag open, throwing them into a container then shoving it in the microwave. He made himself a quick sandwich, cheese and ketchup (That was the most unhealthy food Sonia ever let Eddie eat so let him be). He’d barley chewed his first bit before the microwave beeped. He held the sandwich in between his lips and held the container with both hands, moving it between the two cause it was hot. 

Once he was back in the bathroom he took his seat back down on the toilet seat and set the container on his lap. Eddie quickly ate his sandwich, only when he looked up did he notice the merman’s eyes were sitting out of the water, watching him like a hawk from behind his sea glasses. 

“Hungry?” Eddie asked as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. 

The merman lifted the rest of his head out of the water at the sight of the food. Eddie held up a fish stick, “Okay, I know this is like processed shit but,” he sighed, tired of all the talking and manual labour he’s been doing, “It’s all I have.”

The mer shrugged and opened his mouth, asking Eddie to feed him. The human was taken aback at the gesture, but he gave in and picked up a fish stick, tearing a bite-sized chunk off. Eddie leaned forward and held it out just in front of the mer’s face. Its lips felt soft against the human skin as it took the food from him. It gulped it down happily then opened his mouth up again. The fish finished the whole container. 

He opened his mouth again and Eddie scoffed, “I’m all out fish boy! I guess I’ll go get some stuff tomorrow,” Eddie motioned to the empty container. The fish let out a low grumble as he sunk back under the water and blew bubbles at Eddie, as if showing attitude.

“Oh shut it trashmouth,” Eddie retorted, the nickname just slipped out. 

The water sloshed against the side of the tub as his eyes burst back out of the water. 

Eddie let out a nervous laugh at the sudden movement, “W-What? You like that,  trashmouth? ” Eddie said in a teasing manner. The mer’s lips smirked from underwater. The sight brightened Eddie’s smile. 

“Well,  trashmouth, I have no clue what time it is but I’m tired as fuck. I’m gonna go to sleep. You should too, so you can heal,” Eddie advised. He stood, took a step towards the tub and ruffled the fish’s hair. The mer leaned into the touch, the both of them enjoyed the physical attention.

Word count: 7604

I hope you guys liked the first chapter! Let me know what you think in the comments. I will see you guys next week with chapter 2, Sushi and Speeches. Until then, So Long And Goodnight.

~

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[celestial-leaves]

Malvarma

A flick of his hand, a signal easily understood and obeyed. The repetitive thudding of heavy boots on a metal staircase. Down, down they went fading into the looming darkness. A clatter, a muffled curse. Silence, people waiting with baited breaths as the sound reverberated out and away, out of sight, out of control.

“Onwards,” he gave the order in a quiet hiss, perfected to reach the furthest man in their five-body squadron. The thudding resumed, as the men continued slipping between walls that pressed in on all sides and hung barely a few inches over their heads. The landing opened into a circular room. The point man recoiled at the stench, a gloved hand lifted to cover his mouth despite the presence of his mask. It was a scent that he recalled from the day that he had lead his men through a flood zone and the water had unveiled a mass burial. Bodies had swirled around them, fingers grasping at nothing and everything. Still holding his hand to his mouth and with the weight of his men’s gazes on his back he stepped forward again. The beam of his flashlight swept over dirty walls, metal crates piled two high, a large table from which hung several chains of varying sizes. The blood on it flaked when he scraped a snail down its surface. He stepped away, rubbing his fingers together tensely. A chocked sound had him crossing the room swiftly. One of his men, Three, was crouched in front of a metal crate. The cloth covering it had been pulled back revealing a sorry sight. A small body lay inside, dressed only in its hair and skin.

“Sir…” Three’s voice was shaking, he had removed a glove to stick his fingers into the crate. They rested lightly in the grasp of a tiny hand. “It’s warm, Sir, it blinked a moment ago. What should we do?”

Sir didn’t reply, he took a knee and inspected the lock, deducing that one solid strike would break it. “Get it out,” he ordered, he raised his voice as he continued, “Four, Five come check the other crates.” He rose, sweeping his flashlight around the room again, there was a dark spot in the far corner, one that looked much deeper than any shadow had the right to be.

“Alpha-1,” his second-in-command’s voice crackled in his ear. “Sir, you need to see this.”

The voice had come from that patch of shadows, he approached, noting upon closer inspection that it was a crevasse. The gap was so narrow that he had to turn sideways and suck his belly in to squeeze through. His second-in-command was kneeling by a larger body, the light reflected off deep red hair. A cold feeling trickled down his spine as he pulled off his gloves and reached out. The body was cold to the touch, a cold that spoke of days not hours. His heart in his throat he gently tilted the head up with two fingers under its chin. Dull gray-blue eyes, half-lidded, stared at him, blood, long dry, trailed down from between parted lips. It mingled with the strands of unkempt hair and stained a pale skin that had long ago lost its luster. The head lolled when he released it, bringing to light a a dark gaping gash where the throat had once been.

Gilbert Bougainvillea flung himself upright, slamming his elbow against the partition table in his haste to get away. Choking on air, nausea rising in the back of his throat and with his heart still caught up in a frantic race, he glanced sideways. The chair besides him was occupied. The body in it hidden beneath an array of field coats and blankets, expect for one long leg that lay elevated on the table. It had moved slightly when Gilbert had elbowed the partition revealing off-color bandages. Filled with a desperate need to just verify, Gilbert carefully lifted one of the jackets and eased his fingers inside. Warm skin complete with a fluttering pulse met his questing touch. He relaxed slightly sinking back into his own chair as his breath settled. For his own selfish reasons, he left his fingers where they were, and so felt the sudden tension enter his neighbor’s body. He started to withdraw his hand, but the mass of clothes stirred, and a steel grip settled around his wrist. The jackets shifted again, and a messy head of red hair popped partially up. Dark eyes peered out at him from behind the tousled fringe.

“Gil?” The voice was rough, barely audible, more of a squeak than anything else.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” Gilbert asked, he reached out only to freeze when the other figure visibly flinched.

“It’s fine,” came a murmur, “wasn’t sleeping.”

“Why?” Gilbert inquired automatically.

“…”

“Hodgins? Hey, talk to me,” Gilbert requested, he fought back the urge to lean closer but kept his gaze firmly fixed on his friend. In return, Hodgins’ eyes flitted away, looking at anything that would not require him to meet the major’s gaze. “Hey,” Gilbert tried again, “don’t be ashamed, whatever it is just tell me.”

“…Hurts,” Hodgins admitted, still looking away, and Gilbert winced feeling a hot bloom of guilt take root as the idiom ‘too little, too late’ drifted through his head.

“Ah, I can’t…”

“I’m aware, forget it Gil,” Hodgins said and slid down in his chair, releasing the wrist. Gilbert let out a low growl, and looked around, no one was watching him, his unit having retreated to separate seats to lick their wounds in peace. It had been that kind of mission. He turned back to his friend and shifted the armrest out of the way. “C’mere” he ordered and received an inquiring noise but no other visible reactions. Gilbert inhaled, counted to 20, and exhaled. “Or don’t.” Very carefully he reached out and guided his friend to lean against him. Hodgins made a sound it might have been a whimper or a sob, but he settled quickly resting his head on Gilbert’s shoulder. The latter swallowed noisily and tried to relax, hating how light and thin his fellow major felt.

“You’ll be all right,” Gilbert murmured as Hodgins’s breath steadied, “you’re not alone.”

 7 Months Later

The phone call came hours before his alarm clock was set to go off. Gilbert groaned aloud as he answered it, muttering a greeting that bore more semblance to a curse. The voice on the other sounded just as tired, if less rude, “Good morning, Sir. We’ve got a body, 6th street and Iwako park entrance.”

“I’m on my way,” Gil confirmed though it came out sounding more like a snarl. He hung up and tossed his phone in the general direction of the night table. It skidded across the surface stopping precariously on the edge. The pile of blankets on the other side of the bed stirred and a hand wriggled out to grasp his wrist. “Go back to sleep,” Gilbert said, “I’ve got a case.”

“At 3 o’clock in the morning?”

The voice to which the question belonged to was much to awake and clear for the hour. Gilbert frowned but let it slide, instead he existed the bed and approached the closet to collect his uniform. The bed creaked behind him followed by the sound of a door swinging open. “Go shower, I’ll make coffee,” Hodgins’ voice drifted back to him as he disappeared into the hallway. Gil sighed but did as bid.

15 minutes later, he was standing by the front door accepting a travel cup from his roommate. Hodgins was leaning against the wall, sipping from his own mug. “At least have breakfast with that,” Gilbert said, he finished tying his laces and stepped out the door. “Text me if something comes up.” Hodgins flapped a hand at him before pointedly shutting the door, Gilbert waiting long enough to hear the deadbolt slide home. His jeep rumbled to life after a few false starts, and he hastened to turn the heat on as his breath misted in front of his face. There was no traffic on the road, most of the city’s inhabitants wise enough to not risk the roads before their dawn salting, or simply smart enough to accept jobs that did not include a 24-hour availability clause. Gilbert yawned loudly, he dragged his hand down his face, fingers skipping over the scar before gripping the wheel again.

His phone buzzed again as he turned left onto 6th street, he swiped his thumb across it and hit the speaker. “Bougainvillea.”

“Sir!” Edward’s voice drifted through, “About that body on 6th street, COD was determined to be a gun shot, straight to the head. It’s weird though… the victim, he’s not…”

“Not what? Spit it out,” Gilbert snapped, he spun the wheel and parked neatly enough. “Where are you?”

A piercing whistle was the answer, it resonated jointly through the phone and the air. Gilbert shut his phone and strode towards his teammate. Edward was waiting for him by one of the cop cars, a large smirk on his face despite the brisk weather and the circumstances. “He’s not bleeding, Sir,” Edward continued. “There was no blood around the wound or on his clothing.”

Gilbert frowned at that and crouched down besides the still form. It was cold to the touch, freezingly so. “What did the doc say?”

“Poor bastard,” Edward replied cheerfully, “probably got caught up in some gang spat. Look at his clothing, he’s too young to be wearing that sort of finery, is what the Doc said.” Gilbert lifted the tarp and sighed, the faced staring up at him couldn’t have been older than Edward himself. The faintest wisps of a beard hugged his round chin and freckles were dotted liberally across his upturned nose. More disturbingly though were the gaping holes where his eyes should have been. Gilbert replaced the tarp and slowly stood up.

“I don’t think there was anything accidental about this, I need the full rap sheet on this guy,” he said, “if there’s a gang war ramping up, I want us ahead of it and not stuck playing catch-up.”

“Right now?” Edward’s nose scrunched up, and he sighed, “can’t it wait till the sun’s risen?” Gilbert spared him a look, and the agent darted off without another complaint. Gilbert motioned for the coroners to retrieve the body, before retreating to his own vehicle.

The precinct was awash with movement when he pulled in, the early morning crew heading out on the streets while the night watch signed out. Gilbert clocked himself in, whistled Edward away from the coffee machine and stepped into his office. Already the pile of neatly sorted paperwork on his desk looked daunting, and he groaned wordlessly at the sight.

As it turned out, their mystery man was not the only to have had his eyes extracted within the last seven months. Gilbert read through the files, marking down names with a heavy hand. The only pattern that appeared was the age of the victims, all were over 17 but younger than 30 years, and they all had come from the lower classes. Still, “37 deaths in seven months,” Gilbert muttered to himself, “how are we only stumbling across this now?” He wrote down another name, that of an orphaned girl, she child of two dead soldiers. Gilbert paused again; his gaze turned towards the window. On a clear day, he could see the marina, where more and more battleships were coming home to roost as the last of the war efforts stumbled into peace talks.

“Edward,” Gilbert said, “we’re switching angles, I need to know if the Black-Market presence has expanded lately.” There was an affirmative grunt from the floor, followed by the sound of rapid key-board typing.

The sun was high in the sky when Gilbert disconnected from his desk and shoved away to stretch. There was a headache growing above his right ear, brought on by the lack of progress since the initial break through. He stretched again and left his desk. Edward was seated at the low coffee table, his eyes still focused on his laptop. He didn’t twitch when Gilbert stepped past him, nor did he appear to have noticed when the latter returned with sandwiches.

Gilbert eased himself to the ground and set the paper back down next to him. “Eat,” he said, adding “it’s Schlotzsky's” when Edward’s nose scrunched up. There was a soft grumble but his sniper, dragged a sandwich from the bag and bit into it without so much as looking away from the screen.

……………………………………………………...…………………………...……………………………...

The sky was blossoming with shades of vibrant purple and orange, as Gilbert climbed the stairs of the apartment. The early start weighed heavily on his shoulders, and already his thoughts were being filled with images of his comfortable bed and the warm dinner that awaited him. He unlocked the front door and made his way inside, the entranceway was dark, but a soft glow drifted out from below the curtain that lead into the living room. Gilbert set his satchel down on the kitchen counter, removed his boots and headed over. The TV was on, muted, it played some re-run of an old movie. His roommate lay on the couch, a book held above his head, and a mug placed dangerously close to the edge of the coffee table.

 “You’re up late,” Gilbert said, the book lowered and a small graced his friend’s face.

“You’re back late,” Hodgins’ replied. He set the book down and sat up, rearranging the bathrobe as he did. “Dinner’s in the microwave, you hungry?”

 “Starved,” Gilbert answered truthfully, “what are you reading?”

“Just an old case book I borrowed from my brother.”

Gilbert hummed at that and went to go make himself a plate, arching an eyebrow when his friend followed him into the kitchen. Hodgins’ hair was pulled back into his traditional ponytail, and though he wore a t-shirt, the cut and look of his pants leaned more towards slacks. “You go out today?” Gilbert asked, holding a plate gingerly he backtracked into the living room and dropped into an armchair.

“Yeah, had an interview,” Hodgins said, he resumed his previous position. Gilbert waited patiently for more information, his surprise successfully muffled by a meatball. “Got the job,” Hodgins continued, he didn’t sound particularly pleased, “I start on Monday.” A hand slid down to rub his leg, he didn’t seem to be aware of it.

“You going to be all right?”

“Why wouldn’t I be, Gil?”

A quick grin that didn’t quite reach slate blue eyes. Gilbert shrugged and focused on his food. It was tasty, but that was to be expected, Hodgins had always been a good cook. All was quiet in the apartment; Gil having finished his dinner and Hodgins still reading.

Eventually, when he felt his eyelids droop for the third time in a minute, Gilbert pushed himself upright and took his dirty dishes into the kitchen. He washed them and se the in the dishwasher to dry. Hodgins had not moved in the time that he had been gone. “I’m turning in,” Gilbert said and received a distracted grunt. Freshly showered and feeling mentally drained, the major slid into his bed, pummeled his pillow into submission, and closed his eyes. His brain promptly came online with whizzing thoughts, but 15 minutes of blissful peacefulness soon booted him out of the realm of consciousness.

A pressure and a shift of the mattress had Gilbert’s eyes opening. A gentle hand, worn and familiar, on his shoulder had him relaxing again. Hodgins finished clambering into bed, settling in with a low groan. Gilbert resisted the urge to roll over and check on him, instead he scooted backwards until a hand came up to press against his shoulder blades. It was easy enough to return to sleep with it there.

Saturday morning came all too soon. Gilbert forced himself from his bed, rubbing sleepily at his face as he stumbled into the bathroom. The coffee that Hodgins shoved into his hands did little to chase out the mugginess, and he dragged himself into the precinct with a scowl on his face. Edward was already in his office, messy hair hidden by his beanie and dressed like a common street thug as opposed to a respectable young agent. He beamed when Gilbert met his eyes, and Gilbert felt his head begin to throb, but before he could interrogate the kid, his boss was calling for his attention.

“As you can see,” His boss drawled, “Edward already has the dress code down pat, he’ll fit right in among the miscreants.” He waved a hand, the fingers outlined with smoke, and took another long pull. “His reports have always been glowing, skilled at improvisation, follows his gut, quick thinker, the list goes on…”

“Aww shucks, thank you Sir,” Edward said, ducking his head and scuffing his foot on the ground. “I’ll do my best to make you proud.” Gilbert threw him a disbelieving look, the sniper that he’d been saddled with two months ago, didn’t do bashful at all, so to see that sort of expression on Edward’s face was a little irksome.

“I’m sure you will. There won’t be an issue will there, Bougainvillea?” His boss asked, the smoke poured out of his mouth and Gilbert forced back a cough.

“No, Sir,” he answered dutifully, “how many days is this assignment supposed to last?”

“In and out. He’ll be assimilating with the Wolfraim gang that nests over in the Southwood, the sooner he can get proof that this is a gang related crime, the sooner he can get out.”

“And the extraction plan?”

“We’ll have agents at the closest safe house,” was the reply followed immediately by an arrogant hand dismissal. Gilbert snarled mutely and stalked from the room, Edward dogging his heels. He stalked to his office and closed the door with a loud snap, before rounding the glare onto Edward. His subordinate had the gall to blink confusedly at him.

“Are you sure about this?” Gilbert asked.

“You don’t need to worry, Sir,” Edward replied flippantly. He dropped down into his customary seat and smiled toothily. “I’m good at faking things until I make it, by the time they realize I’m not who I say I am, I’ll be long gone.”

“Mind the cockiness.”

“It’s not my first rodeo, I’ve been a ‘snitch’,” he crooked his fingers, “since I was 8. There’s not that much difference between spying for your Uncle and spying for your boss,” Edward said.

Gilbert gave him a disapproving look but there wasn’t much he could say to that, still, Edward had been the first member assigned to his team when he’d transferred out of the military and he wasn’t about to lose him that easily. “Get your gear, we’re going out,” he snapped and strode from the room.

Edward met him by his jeep, a small duffel bag swung over his shoulder. He didn’t argue when Gilbert motioned him into the jeep, too busy looking startled. “Memorize the route,” Gilbert told him, and focused on the drive. The part of his brain that thought of such things was warning him that he should probably send a text to alert Hodgins that he was bringing a guest by, but it disappeared under the weight of his other concerns.

He parked in the street and motioned Edward over to the correct apartment, noting the light seeping through the blinds of the first story window. Edward rushed in after him, shivering from the brisk air, but his eyes were flitting around with a child-like curiosity. Gilbert felt his heart squeeze painfully at the sight, and his resolve grew. “Hodgins,” he called out, “we’ve got a guest.”

“So, I see Gilboy,” his friend said, he peered around the wall, red locks hanging loose around his face. “Who’s the kid?”

“This is Edward, he works for me,” Gilbert said. “He’ll be going undercover for a little while.” He stepped past the two of them and entered the living room, sitting down on the sofa with a long sigh.

“Gil?” Hodgins was looking at him weirdly, concern warring with confusion on his face.

“Edward, this is Hodgins. Should you need help, protection, and the assigned agents can’t help you, come here. Here is safe,” Gilbert continued, he kept his gaze fixated on Edward’s face, watching the slight widening of his eyes, and the relief that blossomed there briefly.

 “Thank you, Sir,” he murmured, before visibly summoning up a smirk, “not that I’ll need it, though!”

“Of course not,” Hodgins agreed, “but you are welcome all the same.” Gilbert thanked him silently when their gazes crossed paths and his friend shrugged, a hand flicking up to sign the words for talk and later.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Monday arrived without warning, Sunday had been split evenly between catching up on his sleep and worrying about the lack of communication from Edward. Gilbert rolled over in the bed and buried his head under the pillow. It did nothing to muffle the sounds of Hodgins upending the entirety of the closet onto the floor. A pair or newly polished dress shoes rested by the front door, but the rest of the floor had been lost to the clothing. Gilbert rolled over again and sat up, shoving his hair out of his eyes. He scooted up in the bed and leaned back against the headboard. A dark blue vest went flying across the room, slamming against the window with a muted thump.

“Hodgins,” Gilbert said. He waited but there was no reply, other than muted snarling.

“Hodgins,” he tried again a few minutes later, when his roommate made a reappearance. “We could go shopping.”

Eyes flicked to him, before his friend dropped onto the bed. It bounced. Hodgins flopped over sideways, his head landing by Gilbert’s crossed knees. His hands slid down to wrap around his abdomen right where a particularly nasty scar lay.

Gilbert tore his eyes away, checked the time, it really was too early, and sighed. His fingers twisted restlessly in his lap, as his brain flitted through various solutions. There was nothing wrong with Hodgins’ clothing, the material was good, and they fit him perfectly. Still… when he’d attempted to explain that, he’d been shut down viciously. The clock ticked mercilessly onwards, he checked his phone again, and even rose to peer outside the street barely visible except where it was lit by the soft glow of street lamps. Gilbert sat back down on the bed, words and feelings that he wanted to express all intertangled so that his throat locked up and it was all he could do to remain there and breathe.

Eventually, an idea arose, and snatched up his phone. A few swift flicks of his thumb and it started ringing. He stood up and stepped out into the hall, choosing to retreat into the living room.

“Hello,” the voice on the other side was grumpy and sleep filled, it drove a spike of guilt into Gilbert’s heart. “Hello? Who is–”

“Can you come over?” Gilbert interrupted.

“What? Where? Why? Hold on a second, you’re that stuck-up military dude, aren’t you?”

“Ah…yes?” Gilbert answered, he drew a breath with the intention of apologizing, but she was speaking again.

“Do you know what time it is?! Has something happened? Is Claudia okay?”

“Cattleya.”

“Because the last time you called, it was to say that he was in the hospital and they didn’t know if he would make it-”

“Cattleya!” There was silence on the other end, Gilbert sighed and pinched his nose bridge, “I apologize for calling you so early, no, Hodgins is not in trouble, however he does require your assistance. Will you be so kind as to come over, please?”

There was a moment of silence, followed by muffled yelling, and then Cattleya said, “Okay. We’ll be right there. Make sure there’s coffee.” The line went dead. Gilbert stared at his cell, shook his head, ran a hand through his hair and returned upstairs. In his absence Hodgins had rolled over, claiming the entire bed for his sole usage. Gilbert’s gaze found itself drawn to the long thin lines that marring his friend’s back. His fingers clenched convulsively and snatching up a pillow he flung it at the back of Hodgins’ head. It drew a squawk and the bed hoarder shot up to stare at him.

“Go shower, Cattleya will be here in 25 minutes.”

“What?!” A horrified look crossed Hodgins’ face and he scrambled up, “Dammit Gilboy!” He shot out the door, a moment later the shower kicked in.

Six months ago, when Hodgins had been released from the hospital Gilbert had dipped into his savings and bought an apartment that he recalled his friend eyeing. It was a simple two bed, one bath, split layered place a little in retreat from the main center of town. Gilbert had intended to only stay for a few weeks, long enough to see his friend settled. The first night had been brutal and every subsequent night until Gilbert had started climbing into Hodgins’ bed from the start instead of waiting for the screams to wake him. After that realization there was no way he could move out, not when his friend had clung to him and cried himself unconscious on his shoulder. Still in their world, such things even when they were as innocent as offerings of comfort were frowned upon, and Gilbert Bougainvillea, youngest son of the Marquis de Mensonge-Saignante, would be lying if he said that he wasn’t wary of the gazes of others. A clatter from the entrance hall caught his attention and he moved to open the door.

Cattleya Baudelaire was by common agreement considered to be a beautiful woman, even when she was standing on his doorstep with a bird’s nest for hair and dressed in a motorcycle jacket that clashed violently with her fuchsia sweatpants. “Where is he?” She demanded, as she pushed her way inside. Gilbert backed away and settled for pointing, she disappeared up the stairs.

“What’s the old man want?” Benedict asked, dressed much more fashionably he sauntered in as if the entrance way was a cat walk. Then again, to him, everywhere was a cat walk.

“Help picking out an outfit,” Gilbert explained, “he starts work at 9 o’clock.”

Benedict’s eyes narrowed, a foot began to tap as he thought. Eventually he said, “There’s a store over in the East sector, the owner owes me a favor. We can try there.”

“At 4:30 in the morning?” Gilbert asked, not bothering to hide his skepticism.

“Yeah.”

“That’s some favor.”

Benedict shrugged, eyes flickering briefly over, before he stalked past and cast himself onto the sofa. He pulled a phone out of his inner pocket and held it to his ear. Gilbert glanced towards the stairs, he could faintly make out the sound of Cattleya’s voice, but he didn’t quite dare go interfere. The coffee pot beeped loudly, Gil forced his legs to move and went to fix up four travel mugs. He loitered around the kitchen until he heard his guest head upstairs as well. The three returned shortly, and Gilbert felt his stomach drop. There was an odd look in Cattleya’s gaze when she glanced at him, an arm looped through Hodgins. He didn’t like it. A finger snap caught his attention. His roommate was watching him, head tilted slightly, he lifted a hand fingers flicking out a sign.

 Stay. Come.

Gilbert hesitated, it was unlikely that Hodgins would associate with people that would report him, but he was aware of the look that Cattleya and Benedict had just exchanged. They hadn’t trusted him then and they didn’t trust him now.

Go. Gilbert signed back and snagged his keys off their hook. Hodgins smiled. Gilbert owned a car, a small four door jeep with tinted windows. Benedict stole his keys with the timeless argument of, “you don’t know where you’re going,” and Cattleya called shot gun with an exuberant whoop leaving the backseat to the two men. Gilbert clambered in and squashed himself against the door, trying to liberate a clear space between himself and Hodgins. He could feel a steady gaze on him, but he chose to ignore it, gazing out the window at the passing streetlamps. He heard a huff, it sounded partly exasperated, partially amused, but no vocal comments were made. The rest of the ride went by in tense silence. The store that Benedict pulled up in front of looked as run-down and dilapidated as the surrounding street. There was a light shining through one of the windows. Gilbert distinctly heard three different locks before the door creaked open and their guide shouldered his way in. Their greeter was a partly man of middle-age, he looked none too pleased about being open at this hour.

 Benedict conversed with him too softly for Gilbert to overhear, before jerking his thumb at Hodgins and continuing louder, “the old man needs new clothes and that’s final.” The proprietor sighed loudly but led them into the rear of the store. Where the front racks held what one expected to see in an eastside clothing store, the rear brought Gilbert up short. Rows of upper-class suits and blouses lined the walls, intermingled with dresses worth more than his yearly salary. He didn’t want to know where the man had gotten his hands on these. “Pick out what you want, old man,” Benedict said, waving a hand imperiously, “don’t worry about the price tag.” Hodgins looked set to protest but Cattleya grabbed his wrist and hauled him off with a cheerful exclamation about ‘checking out the vests’.

“Don’t worry about the price tag?” Gilbert repeated dubiously, he scanned the room again, taking note of the suit he, himself had worn as a teenager. The cut was identical and when he reached out to touch it so was the material.

“Well yeah, you’re paying for it,” Benedict replied flippantly, “put some of that Bougainville money to good use.”

Gilbert released a strangled noise, torn between offense and embarrassment. Benedict looked over his shoulder at him and added, “it’s the least you could do really.” He was gone before Gilbert could punch him, that didn’t stop the flow of curses that escaped his mouth though. Anger that did nothing to muffle the guilt that brewed in his stomach.

They were rapidly approaching the end of their window of opportunities when the trio returned bearing variations of smug grins and embarrassed smiles. Gil felt his breath catch in his throat when Hodgins was unceremoniously shoved in front of him. A sleeveless black vest, dark red collared shirt, black military grade slacks, and heeled shoes as if the guy needed any more height. The only thing missing was a tie but that needed no explanation. “It’s regular desk job,” Gilbert heard himself say, his ears began to burn a sure sign that he was turning red.

“And he’ll look damn good at his desk job,” Benedict snapped.

 “Ah…of course,” Gilbert said, his brain still lost in trying to analyze the gradient of red between Hodgins head and his shirt.

 “Gil you’re drooling,” Hodgins commented, he was smiling but promptly snorted when Gilbert went to wipe his mouth. There was nothing there.

“Too funny,” Gilbert muttered but did nothing to fight the smile growing on his own face. There was something contagious about seeing his best friend grin. The sun had fully risen by the time Gilbert pulled up in front of the Department of Social Work, they’d dropped the youngsters off on route leaving the back seat blissfully judgement free. “Good luck,” Gilbert said, holding out his hand. Hodgins squeezed his wrist, their traditional greeting since they’d been lonely children, before slapping him on the shoulder and hopping out of the car. Gil watched him disappear into the building, before tearing himself away and heading towards his own job an hour early.

[dragonagethistle]

Holy Shit - Chapter 6

It’s been literally months. I’m too ashamed to go look up when my last update was. I am so sorry. Thank you for sticking around!

Start from Ch 1 here

Read on AO3 here

The screeching of my car-alarm ringtone only served to make me squeeze my eyes shut tighter and shove my head under my pillow. I immediately regretted touching my house warming whisky the previous night. My mouth was full of cotton and my head positively pulsed at the temples. But I couldn't call out of work - not so soon after starting a new job. A job I needed to keep if I wanted to continue living here.

“Fucking fuck,” I grumbled as I reached out of bed to hit snooze. I was never a morning person, but occasionally cursing at the general concept of waking made me feel better.

For once though, I decided not to push the limits of how long I could stay in bed. A hangover could only be cured by greasy breakfast food and some form of potatoes and I knew I'd have to leave my place at least 15 minutes earlier than usual to swing by the McDonald's on my drive to work.

I picked my phone up off the floor, sat up straight, and turned off both my main and backup alarms. Having those continue to go off would only make me more grumpy than I already was in the mornings. My shoulders and neck were already stiff - evidently I had slept in a weird position last night, so I did my best to stretch them out as I got out of bed and made my way across the hall to my bathroom.

I froze as soon as I flipped the light on. My shower curtain was pulled to the side, revealing the wall of tile surrounding my shower. I always pulled the curtain closed when I was done. Why was it not…

“Jesus fucking Christ, Cullen!”

The door to my guest room was suddenly yanked open and seconds later Cullen appeared in the doorway to my bathroom, eyes wide and hair a mess of curls.

“What happened? Is everything alright?”

I must have resembled a fish the way my mouth hung open as I stared.

“Farrada?”

“You're real.”

“Yes?”

“I didn't dream you.”

Cullen relaxed visibly and chuckled at that. It was a rich, deep sound that positively made me shudder. “Does that happen often?”

“I - wait, no, but…” I suddenly became hyper aware that I wasn't wearing a bra and crossed my arms over my chest. But then I took another look at the man standing in front of me and noticed something that had at first escaped my sleep-addled mind.

“Cullen? You, ah… you're not wearing any pants.”

Cullen's expression turned again to one of shock as he looked down and realized I was right. He was clad only in a pair of black boxer briefs, and as hesitant as I was about the stranger in my home I suddenly wanted to run my hands over every inch of him. I settled for biting my lip, and a sudden pounding in my head reminded me of my hangover.

Cullen blushed and his hand flew to the back of his neck as mine flew to cover my face, blocking out the light along with the tempting figure in front of me.

“Maker's Breath, I didn't realize, I just heard you shout and… Farrada?” I felt a pang in my chest at the concern in his voice.

“Just a hangover, I'll be fine,” I tried my best to sound convincing as I pressed the heels of my palms into my eyes. “I need to get ready for work, and you should probably put on some clothes.”

“Right… I'll get right to that,” he replied.

As soon as I heard the door shut behind him I stepped back into the bathroom, turned on the cold water in my sink, and splashed it on my face. I always hated the sensation of water on my face but after seeing Cullen like… that, I could practically feel my cheeks burning. Cullen being here only complicated my morning. I had to get myself ready for work and make sure he had something to eat - that he would be ok alone in a completely alien world until I could get back. I glanced at my reflection, grimacing at the dark circles around my eyes. I shouldn’t have stayed up so late. But then I look further down and notice the light bruising on my neck from Cullen’s fingerprints.

“Fuck…” I brushed my fingertips along the marks, glad for the lack of pain at the touch. The bruises were light, but against my pale skin they were still noticeable.

I rushed through my morning routine, brushing my teeth and throwing my hair into a loose bun at the base of my neck just to get it out of the way. I took the simplest course of action to make sure Cullen would be fed: I threw some bread into my toaster and let that go while I changed. I hadn’t been at my new office for a full week yet, so I was trying to keep my tattoos hidden while my coworkers warmed up to me. Some opaque tights concealed the marks on my legs that would have otherwise been visible from beneath my black pencil skirt and my favorite, red sweater covered my video game sleeve. I used my white scarf decorated in foxes to hide the bruises on my neck and decided to call it good enough.

Cullen was silent through all of this. I barely heard a scuffle from the guest room as I slipped on my rings and my opal necklace. As if he had been waiting on me, the door to his room opened soon after mine. He kept his eyes down, a blush still on his face that I would have enjoyed had I more time. Instead I rushed back into my kitchen and grabbed my peanut butter and honey mix to make him a sandwich.

“I know you’re confused - I know this world is completely alien to you,” I called out to him as I spread the peanut butter over the freshly toasted bread, trying not to drool at the smell as it melted against the hot surface. “But I absolutely have to go to work, I’m sorry. I promise I’ll try to explain things tonight, and I’ll try to come back here on my lunch break to make sure you get food.”

“I am not a child,” Cullen responded, only slightly indignant. I hadn’t heard him approach the kitchen and nearly jumped when his voice sounded closer to me than I expected. “I am, in fact, capable of looking after myself.”

I sighed heavily. I knew this was nowhere near easy for him, but why the fuck did this have to happen on a work day? “In Thedas. You could look after yourself in Thedas,” I handed him the plate with his breakfast, and the hunger in his eyes betrayed him.

“Modern day earth is quite a bit different. Just… Let me get you caught up and you’ll be good to go. For now, I’m gonna worry. It’s what I do.” I pulled out my cell phone and checked the time - 7 minutes until I needed to be out the door.

“I’m sorry about the breakfast, I could do better if I had more time but I really need to go. Will you be ok?”

Cullen’s expression softened at my concern and he nodded. His brows furrowed as he noticed the scarf covering my neck. “I didn’t mean… are you alright?”

I moved the fabric enough that he could see the marks and flashed a smile. “This? This is nothing. I have worse than this from moving boxes.”

The crease in his brow remained. “When will you be back?”

I pointed to the display on my microwave, thankful I had already set up the clock. “I take lunch at 12 o’clock. I’ll be here a little after that and I’ll be done with work at 5. I normally get home by 5:20, ok?” God, I hope he gets this whole ‘time’ concept. Thedas doesn’t have clocks, does it?

Cullen simply nodded silently and bit into his peanut butter and honey sandwich. I felt a twist in my gut as I slipped on my flats and grabbed my purse. What if he’s not here when I get back? I tried to ignore the thought and instead pointed out my bookshelf for him.

“Feel free to browse through those or something while I’m gone. The top three shelves are all completely fictional but the second shelf from the bottom is my collection of history books, if you can call it that. I’ll be back.”

Cullen smiled at me, his scar jerking up with his lips. “I’ll be here.”

And with my heart in my throat, I left.

25 minutes later I walked into my building with my purse slung over one shoulder, McDonald’s bag and coke in one hand with my badge in the other. I had already finished my hash brown and between the crispy potatoes and sips of coke I had consumed on the drive, I was feeling better. Not perfect, but better. Between my terrible habit of speeding and a stroke of luck on the morning traffic, I had ten minutes to enjoy the rest of my breakfast before I had to log onto the phones.

Ten minutes alone with my thoughts.

Last night was a haze to me. I remembered unpacking after work but my shoulders gave out on me from the effort I had exerted throughout the week and so I had decided to take a break and drink instead. After all, one of my best friends from back home had sent me off with a bottle of her favorite whiskey. I remembered calling her once I got tipsy, laughing at nothing and catching her up on everything until she told me I needed to sober up. I made a cup of tea and then…

Cullen. I rested my forehead in one hand as I continued eating my breakfast.

Jesus Christ, Cullen is in my flat. What the actual fuck.

I tried to concentrate, but between the whiskey I had drunk before he arrived and the faint fuzz still clouding my head as the caffeine kicked in, nothing was definite. Nothing but the ache around my throat and a memory…

Cullen, hair dripping wet, covered in nothing but a towel and in my living room. My face felt hot as the memory suddenly hit me. That and the sight of him in nothing but those boxers this morning, even if I had hidden my face from him, there was still that bulge, no doubt a result of the early morning. Even though I had only had a glance before covering my eyes, the image of Cullen clad in nothing but black boxer shorts seemed seared into my mind. God, and what a sight it was...

“Morning! You’re here early!” a voice in the breakroom broke me out of my thoughts and I felt my cheeks grow even warmer. I tried to force a smile on my face.

“Decided to get breakfast on the way over,” I replied. “I’m sorry, I’m bad with names. What was yours again?”

“Chrysanthemum, but everyone just calls me Chrys,” she poured herself a cup of coffee as she spoke. I repeated the name in my head as I stared at the back of her head. She was the only person in the office with hair that was such a pale blond. It fell just past her shoulder in half curl, half waves. It had been the first thing I noticed about her. The second had been her smile - friendly and warm.

“Don’t feel bad, I only have one name to learn. You’ve got about 60.” She grabbed a cup of yogurt from the fridge and turned to me, breakfast in one hand and that reassuring smile shining bright. “You’ll get there. Happy Friday!”

I nodded and mumbled the sentiment in return before gathering my trash to deposit and finding my way to my cubicle.  The first half of my work day went by blessedly fast. I had less than a handful of phone calls and after the last few days, I was familiar enough with our database that I didn’t have to keep customers waiting while I found their records and their invoices. There was still a large stack of payments to process leftover from the sudden departure of whoever had held the job before me, but payments were my favorite part of the job.

Twelve o’clock snuck up on me and I barely had time to grab my purse and call out “going off site for lunch” to my boss before running down the stairs. He grunted an acknowledgement and that was good enough for me. I had a blonde (former) Templar to check up on.

I could feel my hands shaking as I approached my flat. I knew I should stop and take a moment to collect myself but I was on a time crunch and part of me frantically wondered if he was even still there. The building was still standing, so at least he hadn’t accidentally burned my new place down. Jesus, I really should have tried to explain more of this shit to him before just leaving him alone.

I tried to take a steadying breath as I slid my key into the lock and opened the door to my place, but I knew that with my heart racing and a million “what if’s” racing through my head, focusing on my damn breathing wouldn’t do a thing. In fact, in the past it had made my panic attacks worse. But as I opened the door to my flat I glanced across my living room to the open patio door and for a brief moment, I forgot how to breathe entirely.

Cullen stood on my balcony with his back to me, overlooking the tree-spotted city before him. Bellingham wasn’t a huge city by any means, but between the size and the technology that allowed us to move so much faster and reach so much higher, I could only imagine how Cullen felt staring at what must be an alien world to him.

Even with his back to me, he was beautiful. Part of me wanted to roll my eyes as the thought crossed my mind - how cliche - but it was true. The pale green sweater he wore stretched wonderfully across his well muscled back. His hair - so strictly maintained throughout his scenes in Dragon Age: Inquisition - was an unruly mess of curls that still just begged me to run my fingers through it, even as I felt the need to maintain my space. Physical attraction aside, the man was still a stranger. I couldn’t even be sure exactly which version of Thedas he had come from.

Cullen turned as he heard the door shut behind me. His hand flew to his neck and he started to move back inside. “I was starting to think it would never stop raining. I wanted to enjoy the sunshine.”

“No need to explain. What else are balconies for?” I set my bag and keys down in their usual spot and headed towards my kitchen as he came inside and closed the doors behind him. “Hungry? I’ve got leftovers I was planning on re-heating.”

Cullen nodded and I removed my leftover parmesan chicken from the fridge. I grabbed two plates as the food warmed up in my microwave and turned back to face him. He was standing in my living room, still looking uncomfortable. I couldn’t really blame him.

“How have you managed so far this morning? I know technology-wise we only really got to talk about the fire place and light switches last night.” Cullen watched with fascination as I pulled the now hot chicken from the microwave and plated each piece.

“Truth be told, without any soldiers to drill or recovering templars to look after, I went back to sleep,” Cullen admitted somewhat sheepishly. “I thought it might be best I touch as little as possible for fear of setting the apartment on fire.”

“Hey, there’s only one magic fire button in here,” I shot back with a smirk as I set his food on my coffee table, one of the few empty, solid surfaces in my apartment. Cullen settled onto my couch with his food and after a moment of hesitation, I chose to sit in my computer chair facing him with my plate on my lap. Maybe not a wonderful idea with a hot plate, but I didn’t want to sit on the couch next to him. I just hoped he didn't think I was being rude.

“So. You mentioned caring for recovering Templars, which answers part of the question I needed to ask you.”

Cullen quickly swallowed his mouthful before answering, “Which is?”

I hesitated, popping a bite of the re-heated chicken in my mouth as I stalled to collect my thoughts. “The game that I know you from… There are different outcomes depending on the choices the player makes and I need to know… What happened to you between Kinloch hold and Kirkwall?”

Cullen paused with his food halfway to his mouth, one brow raised in curiosity. “What do you mean?”

“I’m sorry, I know it’s personal and that’s not a time in your life you enjoy thinking about but,” I bit my cheek hard. Just ask the question. You need to know. “It never happened in any of my games, but there’s a possible outcome where you sort of go crazy and kill some innocent mages.”

Cullen’s eyes grew wide in what I assumed was genuine shock. I was never able to tell when someone was lying, but then Cullen never seemed like a talented liar in the games. “Never! Those blood mages may have tortured and imprisoned me and yes, I regret some of my actions in the years after, but I never took the life of an innocent mage!”

Maybe it was just the situation and the emotionally weighted question, but his response did unfortunately nothing to untie the knot weighing heavily in the pit of my stomach. Before I could respond my phone began to ring, and my boss’s name showed on the screen. Cullen gave a quizzical look at the device in my hands. “Shit, just a second,” I muttered towards him before answering the call.

“Hey, boss.”

“You didn’t leave anything at the office did you?”

“I don’t think so?” Anxiety fluttered in my chest for a moment. Surely I hadn’t done something to deserve being fired already?

“Good. Most of the staff took today off for the holiday weekend so we’re closing the office early today. Don’t come back in. See you Tuesday!”

The line went dead before I could respond. I let out a shaky breath as I placed my phone down on my kitchen counter and turned towards Cullen, who was staring at device in fascination. “Dorian once gave the inquisitor something like that… it let them communicate after the mage went home to Tevinter.”

I nodded absently, glad that the writers of Dragon Age had put something similar to phones in the game. That would make at least one thing a little easier to explain.

“That was my boss. They don’t need me back for the rest of the day so, I guess I’m yours.” I tried not to wince at the unintentional suggestion and prepared myself for a very long afternoon trying to explain the 21st century to a fantasy video game character.

[avengers-generation]

Avengers: Generations

Summary: After the creation of Captain America, many attempts have been made to re-create the super-soldier serum. In the 1950s, some of these attempts were a success. (Taking place post "Civil War". Original characters.)

Chapter Summary: Tony, Rhodes and Peter get called to do recon on an old S.H.I.E.L.D. facility when one of its alarms goes off. They try to find out what’s missing.

Chapter 1

Iceland - 2017

The low rumble of the hover jet was soothing, as was the dark ocean beneath them. It was making staying awake more difficult for the team. The low lights in the cabin illuminated the sleepy, half-asleep faces.

Peter was curled up under a blanket, discarded homework on the table in front of him. His hair had grown a little long, the front wisps trailing over his forehead.  

Rhodes was in the row behind him. The small television in front of him flashing lights across his face. He had been fading in and out of sleep the whole ride.

Tony was at the back of the plane, straining to keep his eyes open. He was looking over the schematics and blue prints of the facility they were going to. Not that there was much to look at. There were so many blank spots with no information on what was in the room. And the prints were old. About 30 years old. There was no telling if something had changed since then.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.” Tony said quietly.

“Yes, Mr. Star.”

“Search for more information on Site 10034 from S.H.I.E.L.D., what they gave us is laughable.”

“Searching. We’re also 20 minutes out. Should I wake the Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Parker?”

“Yes, and start the coffee pot. Please and thank you.”

The cabin started to be filled with grunting and slow shuffles. Soon all three of them were up, mugs of coffee in their hands and looking at the plan Tony had made up. They looked as the holograms rising out of the table in the cockpit.

“Mmm, no, not for you kid. I don’t want your growth stunted. Your Aunt May wouldn’t like that.” Tony gave Peter a stern look and took the mug, taking a sip. “That’s good. Have some juice. Vitamin D is good for you. Alright F.I.D.A.Y., what did you find?”

“Nothing Mr. Stark. There is no record of a Site 10034 in any of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s databases. All maps of the location show it as empty.”

“Well, that makes this more interesting.”

“So what do we think is there? Weapons? Secret jail? Hydra camp?” Rhodes asked.

“Unknown. All S.H.I.E.L.D. knows is that its one of their old facilities and that its been compromised. They’re sending agents in after we clear the area.”

“So what exactly do they want us to do…” Peter looked around at the blank plans, an equally blank expression on his face.

“Recon. Find out if there’s anyone still down there and if anything’s been taken.” Tony walked away from the table, heading towards the back of the jet.

“How do we know if there’s anything missing?” Peter wondered, following close behind.

“Look for a missing mantle piece. Now suit up, we’ve got to drop in.”

The hover jet humming was louder in the back near the drop door. All three men waited by the door for the go ahead to jump. The red light reflecting off all of their suits. Peter’s new jump suit was bulkier than he was used to. He fidgeted a bit, missing the easy flexibility of his other one.

“Stop that.” Tony said, he checked the map on his wrist screen. “We’re jumping in 20. Put your helmet on and get ready. You’re about to fly.” He closed his mask, Rhodes following his lead.

Peter took a deep breath. Shook off his nerves. He pushed his hair back. Slide on his helmet. And waited.

3. 2. 1. The green light turned on. The doors opened. And they jumped. Tony and Rhodes first, Peter a few moments later. Then, he was free falling.

Iceland was below them, a few lights visible down on the ground. Air rushed by him, but he could barely feel it through his suit. He looked around. Feeling so small compared to everything that was below him. He was amazed. He took a few moments to enjoy the view, before turning his attention to the ground below him.

“Karen, h-how’re doing?” His helmet’s screen lit up, showing his altitude, speed and mapping the route to the drop point.

“Right on target.” Peter stayed on course. Going through all the steps he was taught during his sky diving training. He could see his landing point. Tony and Rhodes were already on the ground, lighting it up for him. He was getting closer and closer.

“I’m ready. I can do this. I’m not going to fall like in training.” He said to himself.

“Good luck Peter.” Karen responded.

He released his parachute, and got pulled back up. He reached his legs towards the ground, and started to run along, burning off his momentum. He was 20 feet from the others when his toe got caught. He rolled the rest of the way to Tony’s feet, getting wrapped up in his parachute.

“Ow.” Peter squeaked. Tony look down at him, his mask pulled down and a blank expression on his face.

“Did you get that?” He asked.

“Oh ya.” Rhodes answered, his suit’s camera on and pointing at Peter.

“Perfect. Add it to the montage.” Tony laughed as he helped Peter get up. Once he was untangled they headed towards the site.

The valley they were in had no visible buildings. Darkness stretched out in front of them, the lights from the urban areas long gone. The low glow from the iron suits providing the only light. The stars shone down brightly, twinkling as they walked on.

“So where is it? Is what’s got taken the whole building!? Did they Ant-man it?” Peter wondered, excitement lacing his voice.

Tony lifted up his arm, scanning the area. A series of red beams glided over the landscape before displaying that nothing was found. “Well that’s not good.” Tony said.

“Is it just me, or is this starting to feel like a trap?” Rhodes said, opening his helmet’s mask.

“Either that or a really bad prank.” Tony continued to walk on, looking around the grass. “F.R.I.D.A.Y., scan for disturbances in the dirt and grass.” He lifted his arm and scanned the area again. This time a dozen places were identified. “Someone has definitely been here recently.”

“Is there anything in particular we should be looking for?” Rhodes walked over to Tony looking at the disturbance pattern that was on the hologram.

“Only one way to find out.” Tony activated his boosters, and rose into the air. “Stand back.” He lifted his hand, then began to incinerate all the grass in the area. Within a few minutes the whole area was clear of grass.

“Mmm. Let’s try this again.” Tony performed a final scan. This time the whole area lit up. Tony looked at the ground beneath his feet. He pondered for a second before blasting into the ground. An explosion knocked him back several feet. Rhodes and Peter rushing over, alert and ready for whatever it might be.

“What the hell was that?” Rhodes asked.

Tony got back to his feet, then walked straight to the hole in the ground. The three men slowly peered down, unsure of what they were going to find. Beneath the dissipating smoke was a metallic slab that disappeared into the soil.

“I think we found the building.” Peter whispered.

“Let’s get to the bottom of this.” Tony placed a small round device on the top of the metal slab. It beeped to life and began to emit short beams all along the slab and into the soil.

“What is that doing? What if the metal explodes again?” Peter asked, taking a step back form the hole.

“Its a scanner. It will tell us what part of the building this is and we can compare it to our subpar plans. Maybe then we can find a door.” Tony looked at his holographic map as the device beeped. The building blue print came up, highlighting the portion of the building they seemed to be on top of. Tony waved his hand, highlighting the entrances. A single surface one was displayed and two underground ones, presumably connected to tunnels or other buildings they didn’t have the plans to. “There’s the bugger.”

They hurried over to where the entrance should be, making quick work of the soil covering it with their lasers. In a few moments Tony lifter his hand, signalling them to stop. “Not any deeper, we don’t want a repeat explosion.” The team switched to air blasters and in a few minutes they had found a trap door.

They stared at it for a moment. Unsure if they should touch it. A quick scan revealed nothing.

“Well that’s not surprising. Here goes nothing.” Tony reached down for the handle, twisted it and opened the door. A hiss of air came out, releasing the seal that had been holding it shut. They peered down, finding a dark flight of stairs. Tony lead the way as they began to descent down the stairs. Lights turned on once Tony reached the bottom. They were standing in a short white hall, another door with a passcode at the end. Along the display they could read the words “Disarmed-Failure Sector 9.”

“Well that settles it. Something definitely happened here. Be on high alert.” Tony grabbed the handle and twisted the door. He stepped out onto a catwalk, a tidy common space beneath them. All of the furniture was in good condition, with not even a layer of dust on it. There were sets of couches, a small kitchenette and dinning table. Bookshelves ran along one wall, reaching all the way to the celling. There was a ping-pong table in the far corner, with a chalkboard on the wall next to it. The board had names and game scores recorded on it of an unfinished tournament.

“This is not what I expected.” Rhodes said, looking towards a piano that was right below the cat walk. Christmas sheet music was still on the stand.

“Its so homey. Oh! Look at that!” Peter pointed towards the ceiling. A series of ropes and monkey bars were hanging down, as well as a few hammocks. “This is so cool!” He reached out his arm, ready to shoot a web.

“Don’t!” Tony held Peter’s arm down. “Not until we clear the building.”

Peter slouched down, his disappointment not hidden by his helmet. Tony went back to the door and connected to the facility’s system. In a few moments he had the seemingly complete floor plan, divided into nine sectors.

“Alright team. It looks like we have to go through most of the sectors before we get to nine. Let’s make quick work of this.” He sent the plans to the other two and then they were off, making their way through the facility.

Off the common room they found two hallways with dorm like bedrooms coming off them. Neat and tidy, with very few personal items. Past the catwalk they went down another set of stairs and into another hall. There they found what looked like classrooms, and a gymnasium and workout space. Further in were more bedrooms, a movie theatre, kitchen, mess hall and laundry room. All were in good condition, and spotless, as if someone had just cleaned the spaces.

“Are we sure this was S.H.I.E.L.D.? It feels more like a weird family bunker.” Rhodes noted as he picked up a book that had been left open on a table. They were in the library. It covered three floors with a large atrium in the middle.

“We’ve only covered three sectors. It still has time to get weird.” Tony said, watching as Peter swung from floor to floor, looking at the titles of the books. He was having way too much fun.

They continued down the hall, reaching a set of industrial doors with ��Sector 4’ written across them. Tony pushed against the doors, and they didn’t budge. There was no handle or knob to turn. Looking around Tony was confused, until the doors slid open in front of him. He looked over at Rhodes who had pushed the open button next to the door.

Stepping inside the team found themselves in a stark white hallway, with clinical lights over head. The door slid shut behind them, sealing with a distinct suction sound. There were four doors on each side of the hall, with numbers on each. As they walked past they could see patient rooms, each with a bed and its own set of medical equipment. A nurses’ station was at the end of the hall and another door. Through this one they found operating rooms, most of the equipment old and outdated but still in working order. They also found labs, offices and storage rooms.

“All clear in here too.” Rhodes reported back after looking over the physical therapy and rehab spaces. Tony and Peter had finished looking over the labs, and were waiting in front of the sector nine door.

“Only one more place to check.”  Tony said reaching towards the key pad that controlled the single door. It was shorter than the others, Tony and Rhodes would have to crouch down to enter. It was also marked with danger tape around its outline and protective gear lined a small closet next to it. There was nothing indicating what they might find behind the door.

They waited a moment, as the door got unlocked, a small ping signalling its opening. The seal broke, and the door sunk back into its frame before sliding to the side. Inside they could see another vacuum sealed door, with another key pad next to it.

“Seal your suits, and turn on your air masks. Be on high alert. We have no clue what’s past those doors.” They stepped into the space. Rhodes pressed the close button on the first door. The room sealed shut. Tony walked up to the next key pad, and pressed the enter button. The room’s air changed, becoming colder and thinner. The sensors on the suits adjusted, keeping the three men warm and breathing easily. Then the door opened.

Blue light covered the small room. It had two low tables and instruments and equipment lining the walls. Tony quickly scanned the space. They were alone.

“Let’s check the back space. This is the area that was taking up the most energy of the whole facility.” Tony led the way to the door at the back of the room. Pushing it open he found a large space, the same blue light filling the room. Along the walls were cylindrical tubes, each with their top covers opened to show a mat and a variety of wires and tubes.

Tony stepped in, looking more closely at each device.

“What are these? Is there supposed to be something in these? Is this an empty mantle piece?” Peter asked, looking closely at one of the beds.

“Are these what I think they are, Tony?” Rhodes asked, swinging one of the lids shut.

“Cryogenic tubes.” Tony replied.

“Cryogenic tubes? Why would S.H.I.E.LD. need those?” Peter asked, walking over to Tony.

“To keep super soldiers alive.” Tony pointed to the wall. A small photo and identification card was above the cryogenic tube.

Katherine Adams Birthday: December 30, 1935 Physical Age: 22 Serum #: 132

Prologue

Chapter 2

[lillaxtrigger]

Young Hope: Chapter 26

Shining down upon the brickwork of an everyday city apartment, the evening sun gleams through the glass of one apartments kitchen window; the light shimmering upon the back of girl pouring a batch of cake mix into a bowl. Obstructing the light be the passing purple merc, who opens the fridge door and digs through its chilling contents; asking the baker: “You know where you keep your eggs?” “On the shelf at the top right.” the girl answers in soft, calming tone. “Right! See’em.” Following the bakers directions, Roy pulls out a trio of pure white large eggs from the depths of the fridge; holding all three of them in a single hand. The girl turns away from her bowl and to the approaching purple angel; her olive green eyes gazing to the mercs only hand in worry as she notices him having trouble clutching onto the trio of eggs; questioning if: “Are you sure you can hold them all? You look like your having trouble.” “Tsk...come on, bae, this is nothing. I’ve juggled worse shit than this. In fact...” Taking his words to heart, Roy begins to toss the large eggs right out from the palm and into the air; juggling all three of them with but his only hand. “Ye-e-eah! Look at this circus act. A whole month with just one arm and I can do the equivalent of a 6 year old’s birthday party act. Practically out showing a 20 bucks an hour clown in their own game.” While the purple merc show’s off the coordination of his single arm, the baker grows more worried as she continues to watch him juggle; standing further back and bumping right into her bowl full of batter. A few bits of the batter winds up escaping the contents of the bowl, splashing right next the merc’s feet; some of which Roy unfortunately steps in. Slipping right onto the batter causes Roy to fall flat on his back, tossing the eggs in his hand upward; soon to break all over the purple merc. Shielding herself from the splattering yolk, the girl glances down to the violet angel lying on the floor; Roy’s face showing to be covered in uncooked egg. The spilling sight draws out a charming little smile from her cheeks, a cute giggle escaping out from between her plush lips; this in turn drawing out the mercs own smile.

Once she finishes giggling, the girl reaches her tan brown hand out to the purple boy; Roy grasping her helping hand to be pulled off the floor. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” “Yeah...guess I kinda had it comin. Thanks Roxanne.” the merc thanks, brushing the bits of egg shell and yolk from the bakers red and brown striped spiked back bob hair. After a little giggle escapes her, Roxanne attempts to return the purple merc’s thanks with: “Don’t mention it. You just gotta be careful of where you-” Surprising the young girl, she feels the boy pull her right in and planting a soft kiss right upon her full lips; the sudden kiss causing her eyes to widen. Soon, both Roxanne and Roy break from the smooch, the purple merc discovering to have left the baker in shocking silence; Roy taking the silence with: “I know. Might be kinda early for that good stuff. But hey, we’ve been going steady on deck for about 2 weeks now. I figure why the hell not? Speaking of not waiting, I gotcha a little something?” “Huh?” the baker utters, watching as the merc strolls over to his backpack sitting in the corner of the kitchen. Plopping his backpack right on the marble counter, Roy begins to dig straight through its contents; pulling out a myriad of various objects. Items he sets aside be a couple of books, some pencils, a binder or two, a zip lock bag full of drugs, a few magical artifacts of questionable origin, a bulls heart, and a glass ball with muffling souls trapped within. “C’mon. I know I had it in here Where the hell is it?...Ha, there!” Pulling out from the mysterious depths of his pack, Roy presents to Roxanne a magnificently carved, small, glass like ice figure of the girl taking a graceful pose; surrounded by flame shaped ice enveloping her feet. Beholding the icy statue with her own two eyes, the girl could barely make a sound; left completely speechless by the figures reflecting beauty as she holds it in her hands. “Yep, it wasn’t easy to find somebody who could make never melt ice and shape it to your figure. Pretty much got lucky in all honesty. So, what do ya think? Does lookin at it make ya go “Hot damn, I look sexy as all fuck. The icy sheen really bring out my eyes and tight ass”? Bet it does, don’t it.” “I...I don’t know what to say. It’s-It’s amazing. We’ve only been going out for just about two weeks and you got me something this...beautiful.” “I thought it make up for all the sweet as hell treat you’ve been baking for me.” “I think I know just where to put it.” Saying such, the young baker walks out of the kitchen with her new icy decoration in hand; strolling straight into the neighboring living room.

Roxanne sets her newly acquired ice sculpture right dead in the center of her coffee table, letting out a small sigh as she stares upon its shinning cold surface; thinking that: “It’s still shocking that he gone through so much trouble just to get such a wonderful gift this early in our relationship. I really don’t have any idea what to say to him...Or what I will have to say to him. God, he’s just been so nice these past two weeks. I just have no idea how I’ll break it to him. I just hope that I can before its too late. I just don’t know what he’ll think of me.” “Holy fuckin jizz rockets! She is rockin that dress. Makes her breasts and butt look oh so spicy juicy…I wonder if she might be down for a threesome?” the merc ponders. “Will you quit being such a pervy horn dog for one minute and get your mind out of the whore house. You remember what your dear sister told you about taking things slow with this girl.” the goddess in his head advises. “I know, I know. A man can have wet dreams, can’t he? Truth be told, these past few week with sexy Roxy have made me happier then I’ve been in a long time. Its like a feeling that’s been dormant for a long time has risen from the depths of my dark, rustically cold soul. And rather taking the form in my indescribable pelvis pleasure pole, it boils somewhere high; somewhere more satisfying and warm...Kind of like my heart. But I forget what its called.” “Would you happen to be referring to the magically enchanting feeling called love?” “Maybe…All I’m feeling right now is some form of content. Like all is well in my little world. You know what that feels like?” “...I did.”

Returning from the neighboring living room, Roxanne grabs hold of the mixing bowl with both hands; reminding her house guest that its: “Time to get back to baking. Mind getting the chocolate chips out from the cabinet?” “Sure thing.” As the merc digs through the cabinet for his girls requested chocolaty chip, he can’t help but question if: “So you making all these sweets just to get on my sweet side; cause let me tell ya, its workin hell a fast.” “Nu uh, that ain’t it. I’m making all these treats for the team later on. Figured I’d be prepared and start now.” Setting the packet of chocolate chips down next to the stove top, Roy goes on to mentions how: “Oh right, that little team you went on about on our first date. You haven’t really brought up much else about them since then. You thinkin about introducing them to your boy someday?” “I don’t know. A girls gotta keep her secrets, ya know.” “Consider my lips sealed then.”

It’s in that moment do the two of them hear somebody’s phone go off, Roxanne pulling hers out from her skirt pocket to check the new message she’d just received from someone called Artemis. “Speaking of which, I just got a text from one of them...” Once having read what the message says, a sharp gasp is drawn inside her lungs; the mixing bowl dropping to the counter. “Oh...oh my god. She says we all been assigned to a mission. An actual mission this time!” “Don’t you guys go on those all the time?” the purple merc questions. “I mean kind of, but those just usually boil down to just doing laundry, picking up groceries, cleaning pets, and polishing weapons. It’s the first time the whole teams been assigned to do anything meaningful for once.” “Whoa, back up a sec there. Polishing weapons? Roxy, what kind of pre-nuclear war fallout after school club did you sign up for?” “I already told you that its a secret.” “Oh come on, it won’t hurt to tell me; I already swore not to open my mouth. Beside, I happen to be one hell of an expertise in fields like this, bringing me along might give ya the edge you need.” “Hmm...I don’t know. I haven’t really planned how I’ll introduce you to the team yet.” “Well, now’s a better time as any. Bettin seeing me in action would make one hell of an intro to them. Think it’s a plan?” From the purple merc’s insistent suggestion, it takes Roxanne a good moment to decide whether to take her recently meet boy friend along to meet up with the gang; with only having Roy’s faux innocent smile to give her any reassurance.

The setting sun finally disappears from the horizon, giving way to the countless stars shinning along Townsville’s night sky; none of which however shine within the dark veil of one of the city’s many alleys. Dwelling inside one particular alley, four figures blanketed in shadow stand in waiting; one of them watching where they step among the piles of trash and rats. “Ew ew ew ew ew! Just why!? Just why are meeting up with Roxy in this dank and disgusting alleyway? Why can’t we just meet up at the nearby seafood restaurant?” one of them with a feminine voice complains. “Why the hell you bitchin at all of us for? Baby blue Charles over here’s the one that shoved us in this trash heap.” another with a loud and sassy voice questions. “Because, we supposed to be staying hidden. We’re on the clock here. Walking around in public would defeat the entire purpose.” one with a guys voice explains. “Oh ho ho, you haven’t seen how much of a bad bitch I can be. I can kick your sorry slimy ass all the way back to the sewage treatment you spawned from if you want me to demonstrate.” “At least I got a juicy ass on me. You can barely count the flat smooth wooden boards on your backside that you sadly call a butt.” “At least my butt is cleaner then your nasty asshole!” the one girl screeches. “The fuck did you say about my ass motherfucker!” the other barks back. As the two girls bickering echo throughout the walls of the alleyway, their only male comrade lets out an irritated growl as he covers his ears; complaining on how: “Why the hell do I always have to be stuck babysitting these loud mouth brat. Its always just constant headaches with the two of them. At least Artemis had enough sense to bring headphone.” Gazing away from the pair of bickering children, the guys eyes are draw to the neon green hair of their forth member; calmly listening to the music that the headphones covering her ears put out. “Mmm. Just when in the hell is Roxanne going to get here. It’s almost been 30 minute since Artemis messaged her and she still hasn’t showed up. Almost afraid someone’s gonna crash this meeting at any moment.”

Right on queue, the two rooftop edges above them suddenly explode into tiny pieces; the lights above gleaming into the alley as the rubble rains down. As all of them cover their heads from the descending stone pieces as the dust blinds their view; one of the girl coughing up the clouds as she complains how: “Ah! Dammit, its in my mouth! Cak! Ak!” The sassier of the two lets out a mocking laugh from her partners suffering, spitting out small bits of rubble as she cackles. From the middle of the dusty cloud, all four of them soon witness a bulky figure stand between the four of them; their wings withdrawing into their back. “What in the blue blazes just crash landed! Artemis, open fire!” Charles demands. “There’s no need to!” the neon green girl calmly elaborates in a semi monotone voice. “What!? Why!?” “Because its who I asked to meet us!”

Parts of the dusty cloud begin to dissipate before them, revealing the olive green eyed girl come out from the dirt ridden shroud; two of the other girls approaching the recent arrival as they excitedly squee: “Roxanne!” The light from the newfound holes in the roofs reveal one of them to be a dirty blonde with long bangs and baby blue eyes, complementing their newly arrived teammate with: “Nice entrance there Roxy! Really attention grabbing and bombastic; cloudy reveal was a nice touch too.” The other to approach her shows to sport slimy chocolate brown skin plagued with lime green bulges across her arms and forehead, her pitch black pony tail stretching down to her wide hips; adding to the blondes statement with: “Yeah girl, what’s with the crashing entrance anyway? Bitch like you typically just go through the backdoor instead of bustin down the roof.” From the side, a pale blue skinned man with charcoal hair swipes the dust off his lab coat; adding to her question with how: “It’d sure make much less of a mess.” “I know, I know. I’m sorry for literally just dropping in like this. But he really wanted to make a good entrance.” “He?” the slime girl questions. “Who’s He.” the blonde follows.

As more of the rubble dust begins to settle from behind their comrade, the purple hue of another figure begins to their view; his violet hair waving in the passing alleyway wind. The dusty clouds finally part from the alley, unveiling to the rest of the team Roxanne’s newfound boyfriend; Roy’s wicked smile sending chills down most of their spines. Once making himself known to Roxanne’s pose, the purple merc begins to approach the two girl closest to him; both the blonde and slimy one backing away to the wall as Roy nears. “And what might these fine ladies names be?” “Un-Un-Uuhh...” the blonde stutters out. “You even think of tryin any shit with us, you getting a whole load of slime shoved down your throat!” the slime girl threatens. “Sounds pretty tasty.” the merc fires back. “Toxi’ander! Quit being so on edge and chill out. He won’t bite, I swear. Looks aren’t everything, you two.” Roxanne scolds. “Yeah Toxi, kinda figured you of all people would know a thing or two about that by now.” the blonde quips with a grin. “Excuse me! The fucks that supposed to mean!? You tryin to piss me off bitch!?” “Gigi! Stop trying to start arguments with her. It always just devolves into an insulting screaming contest between you two.” “Uh, xuse me! Who’s in charge here?” they hear Charles sarcastically question. Glancing to the side, all of them watch as the blue skinned guy approaches; continuing his reminder with: “I was stuck with the job of watching all you brats, so I’m the one running the show here.” To his statement, Roxanne can’t help but look away with a sour frown, mentioning under her breath how: “Should be me who’s in charge...” “Ya know Charles, that just fuckin priceless coming from you. Considering that you order us like grunts while you laze around on your ugly blue ass all day.” Despite hearing the slime girls scathing accusations, Charles simply just lets out a passive aggressive growl. “Hell, we coulda just wait at the back of some Denny’s while waiting for Roxanne and her new boy toy to show up. Least it wouldn’t be nearly as rank.” “Toxi!” Roxanne exclaims, blushing as red as a beat; all the while her “boy toy” behind her just busts out laughing. “I’m likin how spicy your friends are Roxy.”

Turning his gaze over to the blue skinned boy beside them, Roy then follows up by questioning: “Speaking of friends. What’s the deal with doctor blue balls M.D, specializing in testicular examination over here. You wound up getting trapped in a freezer while tryin to rob a bunch of chocolate cookie fudge bars from the ice cream shop.” “What?” “Cause if you have, I know you’re pain, pal. Took me about a week and a half just getting all the sharp icicles out of my nose. But those fudge bars were so fuckin worth it.” From this confusingly sympathetic insult, Charles catches the giggles of both Gigi and Toxi; backing up on how: “I was born with this blue skin.” “That unfortunately happens to be our leader.” someone with a semi monotone voice points out from behind. Glancing back, the merc comes face to face with a tall and well built pale skinned girl; her neon green flaming hair catching his eye. “And you must be Artemis. Gotta say, lovin the rockin green mane. Can you flambe stuff with ya green lit locks?”

A false attention grabbing cough reaching everyone’s ears, forcing everyone to turn their eyes back towards their blue skinned captain; hearing him state how: “Great! Now that we have introductions out of the way, How about we get back on track here. Roxanne, tell your purple lover to leave.” “Uh, about that Charles; he’s actually wanting to help us out on our little mission here.” “Yep, ain’t you all lucky to have me?” Almost everyone in the group jumps from their teammates sudden decision; Charles in particular questioning her choice with: “And when exactly were you gonna mention this little decision through us?” “Sorry, it was kind of a last minute decision. Didn’t Artemis read the text to you all?” Asking such, everyone’s gaze is turned towards the neon green girl; who could be seen reviewing the text and going: “Yep, she did. My bad.” “Still Roxy, you can’t just drag some random asshat on our assignments with us. The people at the top will throw a shit fit.” Gigi informs. “They let your flat ass in, didn’t they?” Toxi quips. “The hell did you say about my booty, bitch!?” “Excuse me! Just some random asshat!? Let me kindly remind y’all on how my girl and I crashed through the motherfuckin ceiling without so much as a scratch between either of us. Like to see any of you do that shit.” “So what, think that makes you better then any of us?” Charles accusingly wonders. “Gee, that kind of abrasive insecurity probably ain’t the best thing for a captain of a team like this to have. Ya practically have such a massive opportunity right in front of ya but just being too “Blue balled” to take it.” “Oh damn. Oh damn! OH DAMN! OH DAMN!” Toxi cries out; her astonishing swears echoing out beyond the entire alleyway.

Amidst his teammates astonished cries, Charles gazes to the purple merc in a silent, almost vengeful fury; all the while Artemis adds her own thoughts to the conversation with: “This is one of the first times our entire team has been assigned to any missions with any meaning beyond washing clothes and picking up food, we may need all the help we can get. With the kind of background that our purple guest’s profile informs, it could be more than enough to tip the scales in our favor.” “Oh ho! You read up on me, have ya? At least one of you guys is doing their homework.” “Hold up, Arti; background? Just what kind of stuff does this violet freak do?” Gigi questions. “His full name is Roy Shapen Donovan. He is an on demand work for hire mercenary with a caliber of achieving dangerous and high paying jobs for a multitude of shady organizations and political figures; capable of a multitude of darkness fueled powers and abilities that both employers and other mercs would describe as catastrophic and lethel. And that’s barely scratching the dozens of achievements and rumors that have spread through his career of nearly six years by now.” Through their teammates description of their purple guest reputation and profile, each one of them gaze upon the merc himself with encroaching skepticism, worry, and surprise; even Roxanne herself left astonished by his boys perceived profile.

“Aw, come on. Stop. Your makin me blush.” the merc himself sarcastically mentions. “Bitch please, as if his scrawny teenage ass has that kinda street cred to spare. He don’t even look like he washed his rank ass dick after fucking shit all night long.” the slime girl sasses. “Oh, and like you guys get any action. Cause from all I’ve been hearing, you girls barely get any. Tell ya what! I normally charge my services for one hell of a pretty penny; but since I’m really doing a favor for my one hell of a pretty penny; I’m offerin you lot the once in a lifetime chance free of charge discount. Order now and you’ll get the lovely souvenir of whose teeth I knock out first. Sound like a deal?” “Girls, even if Roy’s background is the teeniest bit exaggerated; it still may be a good idea to take him with us. We need all the help we can get for this mission.” “Whatever, I really think Charles should be the one to decide. He is our leader.” Gigi reminds with twinkling eyes towards the blue skinned captain. With everyone else soon directing their gaze towards the baby blue leader, Charles taking a moment to ponder to himself as he stare right to their purple guest; Roy’s less then welcoming smile making his whole spine shudder. After letting out his brief jitters, the blue captain finally gives his answer with: “Fine, whatever; he can come. Ask long as he keeps to himself, I don’t care.” “Oh for fucks sake!” Toxi screams out. “Thank you, Charles.” Roxanne thanks.

With a snap to his fingers, the purple merc points out to his new blue employer and states: “Looks like we struck ourselves a deal, baby blue. You won’t be regretting it anytime soon.” “You mean like I am right now?” “So, now that we got the business bullshit outta the way, which unlucky son of bitch are on our “Fuck over with a 5 foot razor wire string up the bum” today?” “Our...O-Our assignment that the higher ups have given to all of us is to procure a very special gemstone that can conduct a myriad of power sources; including but not limited to electric, plasma, radiation, positive and negative ions, kinetic energy, and even quantum energy. From light to dark, from hot to cold, this jewel can take in and distribute untold amounts of power.” “So if this bling we got here’s as badass as you say it is, why the hell would they send us to gank it?” Toxi questions. A small chuckle escaping from the blue skinned captains lungs, he goes on to mention how: “I thought it was pretty obvious. This little assignment of our is a test. A mission to determine if were worthy to rise in the rank. They probably have a lot of faith to leave this job to us personally.” Shattering Charles’ motivating speech be the neon green haired girl herself when she corrects him on how: “Actually, it was because literally everybody else was busy. Everyone was on their own missions and assignment, so they simply stuck us with this one.” “Agh, I knew it was too good to be true! Why else would they stick this job to us?” Gigi complains. From hearing Artemis’ correction, a small hiss escapes from the mercs teeth; claiming how: “Sounds like you guys got pretty sloppy seconds. Think the best thing you girls can do now it try and make the most of it.” “Roy’s right. Who cares if this job just got dumped on us. It’s still our job at the end of the day. Lets just give it our best and show them that this C team can pull off a fantastic A+”

As the rest of the crew cheers from Roxanne’s motivational speech, Charles takes a quick glance to his phone to find a blinking dot nearing their location; grabbing back everyone’s attention with: “Look sharp, girls. Our coveted prize is nearing its destination.” “If that’s true then we need to move out now. Come on!” Artemis orders, passing right beside Charles alongside everyone who follows her lead. The blue leader himself is left spun and dizzy by his passing teammates, shaking off the daze as he chases after his leaving team as he reminds them: “Hey! Hey! Don’t leave without your captain!”

Through the stretches of Townsville’s city roads, an armored truck drives along past a couple of other vehicles; turning into what seemed to be a far less pleasant part of town. The truck eventually makes its stop along the side of a less then welcoming building; two police officers stepping out of the front and strolling out to the back. Opening up the back doors, the two cops uncover a box made from titanium; dressed with coded and psychical locks abound on all of its sides. Even with the case’s imposing weight, the two officers manage to heave it right out of the armored trucks back; dragging the locked titanium box across the ground.

Between the alleyway of a couple of buildings across the street, everyone watches as both cops haul the case right inside the seemingly bland looking abode. “Why in the hell would these motherfucka’s bring out such powerful bling to this shithole? It makes no damn sense.” Toxi questions. A quick snicker passing through her lips, the blonde among them insults the slime girl with: “Jeez, I knew you were thick. But I didn’t think you were this bad?” “The fuck you sayin, ya blonde bitch!?” “I mean it’s obvious by now that they’re taking it to an underground lab just below there.” “Oh, now I know your just bullshitin us. The fuck makes you so sure.” “From experience, duh. A good couple of my dads labs are built under decrepit buildings like this so nobody finds them out in plain site. Pretty basic there, Toxi.” “She’s right you know.” Roy than weighs in. Hearing the merc so confidently confirm the blondes guess, everyone looks to Roy as he focuses at the buildings grounds; following his statement with: “I can sense me about several people scuttling around beneath that dump. About...30, 35 people I’d say.” “The fuck can you know that? Wait, lemme guess; it’s one of your daaaark powers, ain’t it?” the slime girl questions, putting a mocking emphasis on dark. “Somethin along the lines of that. Its just practically frosty dip n dots to what else I can do. Just wait til you see the whole damn sundae.”

“Is it possible for you to map out the entire facility?” Artemis wonders. “Eh, not really. Can really only see the people scampering around down there...that and the bugs n rodents.” “Guessin those “Senses” of yours aren’t as reliable as you boast, huh?” Charles snides. “Charles, quit being so mean! It still helps, doesn’t it?” Roxanne scolds, soon glancing over to the neon green girl. “He’s right. Even if he can’t map out the place, having constant knowledge of the enemies position is invaluable nonetheless during our mission. We need to handle all of this with as much precision and care as possible. Trip any kind of alarms, any patrol or staff spotting us, any camera’s watching our moves could alert authorities to our presence and risk loosing our target entirely.” “So you mean like with stealth and stuff? Uuuggh! That’s so boring, though. When are we gonna get to the good part and kick people’s shin’s” Gigi complains. “As much as I like your spirit blondie, rockin neon green’s got a point there. Don’t wanna wreck too much shit and risk losing our coveted mcguffin.” “Sounds like y’all just makin up the plan then. How the hell we even get inside?” Toxi questions. “I plan for us all to simply dig out way in.” Charles butts in. “Too noisy. We’d risk drawing too much attention to ourselves.” Artemis denies. “True...though doing it somewhere else might be better.” the merc suggests. “Like where.” Gigi asks.

Down within the darkness, the light of the city shines down a dank sewer tunnel as a manhole cover is pulled right off; the panicking cries of the blonde echoing through the brickwork. “Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Hell, no! You are not making me go through that disgusting sewer! Nuh! No way!” Gigi screeches as everyone begins to descend down into the tunnel. Before Roy and Roxanne could descend down to join the others, she attempts to talk her reluctant teammate into joining them with: “Come on, Gigi. We have to go down here. There’s no other way inside.” “Absolutely not! I’m not being caught dead going down there!” “Are you getting through to her?” “Sorry Artemis, she isn’t moving.” Roxanne states, glancing down the manhole. “You’re damn right I ain’t moving! There ain’t no way in hell I’m setting one foot in that rancid dank shit hole!” “Jeez, girl. Your screamin like a fuckin macaw getting its wings twisted up. Move it!” the purple merc demands. “It ain’t even that bad down here, really. It’s pretty clean here for a sewer tunnel. I ain’t seeing shit down here.” the blue skinned captain confirms. “You’re not helping Charles.” the baker girl claims. “I don’t care how clean it is! I’m not jumping down! No, if’s, and’s, or buts!” the blonde enforces. “Aw, what’s the matter girl; ain’t brave of a bitch enough to come down here?” Toxi taunts. “Shut up, you slime stain! You belong down there and you know it!” “Why don’t you come down here and say that to my face!?” Taking Toxi up on her taunting words, the blonde delves right past Roxanne; the sounds of their fighting ringing through the tunnel. Glancing to one another, both Roy and Roxy shrug off the matter before heading down the manhole; the merc placing the iron cover back on as they descend.

While the entire group travel through the brickwork tunnels lying underneath the city roads, they find their blue leaders words to be right on point; the floors and walls of the tunnel being very clean and tidy for a sewer. As their purple haired guest leads the way through the underground tunnels, the neon green girl of their team questions them all: “While we have some time on our hands, mind if I ask what our plan might be once we break in; cause we are literally marching out towards our destination and I haven’t heard a single one of us come up with one.” Its then that another fake cough draws the entire crews attention, all of them glancing back towards their baby blue captain before he goes on to explain: “If you would all be so kind as to let your leader speak up for once, I got us an idea may let us get our prized mcguffin scott free.” “And that would be?” Roy questions. “While I move out towards the surveillance room and disable the security. Toxi shall await until given the go to move out towards where the gem is and melt through whatever containment that they have it stowed away in. Her plasmic acid being as corrosive as it is, she should have next to no trouble melting through.” “So, how we settin up teams, then? Who goes with who?” Toxi questions. “I think I’d be better off waiting with Toxi then. Better to stick with her and keep her out of trouble so the mission isn’t a bust.” Roxanne offers. “Wherever my flamin hot spicy sweet pepper goes, I’m stickin right alongside her.” Roy adds, picking up Roxanne and holding her in his arms; all the while the girl herself looks to the merc with a faux smile. “If that’s the case, then it’s best that I go with Charles. Our leaders lack of overall combat experience may make him a very vulnerable target.” “Tsk, are you kidding me? I’m not that much of a pushover. I watched my Mom spar with a couple of people. I can totally fight. Watch!” In hopes of proving the neon green girl wrong, the baby blue captain attempts to show off what little punches and kicks that he could muster; his long lab coat flapping in the air as the young man flails about. Charles lack of proper balance eventually gets the better of him however, kicking a little too hard and making his own lab coated ass fall flat onto the slit of water underneath them.

As her blue leader begins to pick himself back up, Gigi can’t help but give a suspicious glare over to Roxy’s new purple boy toy; worry and anxiety beginning to boil within her as she stares to Roy’s devious, almost perverse smile. “I...I think that Charles might need more protection then you think, Arti. Maybe our new purple pal here should go with you two instead.” the blonde suggest. “Hol up, what?” the merc mutters, putting his girl back down. From her teammates suggestion, Artemis ponders to herself for a moment; mentioning how: “I think that might be a tad unnecessary, Gigi. I’m sure I have plenty of artillery that could efficiently-” In the midst of her denial however, the neon green girl takes a closer glance to the blonde herself; noting the anxious gaze in her eyes shifting over in the merc’s direction. “Uh…On-On second thought. There could be a lot more patrols and guards to worry about on our way to the surveillance room. Our guests specific abilities could lend well in navigating the facility and hiding from any potential witnesses.” “Guessin that just leaves Roxy and the blonde bitch and I to wait here while y’all take care of business.” Toxi reviews. “Ugh, why do we have to wait!? I-” the blonde begins to complain, but stops when considering that she was the one who suggested the teams to be like they are. “Uh...nev-nevermind. Forget it!” “Are you sure you wanna wait with us, Gigi? You can go with them if you want to. We don’t mind.” Roxanne asks. “No no no no! I’m sure; believe me. I’d probably just get in their way anyway.” Gigi insists.

It’s after discussing all this does the merc stop the crew right in their tracks; all of them pumping into one another from the abrupt stop. “Ah, what the hell; ya purple prick! Why we stop for?” Toxi aggressively questions their violet guest. “Last stop, ladies; we’ve reached out destination. Over to our right is the basement you wanna bust into; the people inside passing through with none being the wiser.” “So, you really can sense everyone passing right beside us?” Gigi questions. “Yep. All the little people scurrying and working around like little mice. Betting some of them in there are fuckin like mice too.” “If they’re literally right next to us, it might not be a good idea to break in from here. Maybe we should bust in from somewhere else so we don’t draw as much attention.” Roxanne suggest. “Good call there, Foxy Roxy. Glad to know you got brains behind that flamin hot bod.” the purple merc compliments. “Aw, thanks Roy. Really, its why I should be the leader of this team.” “Speaking as the actual leader of this team, where exactly can we break in from here?” Charles cuts in. “Mmm. Let’s see.” Roy ponders aloud as he stares towards the intersection ahead.

The entire team are then caught off guard when their violet guest starts sprinting further down the tunnel; witnessing the merc taking the right of the intersection ahead. “Roy! Hold up! Wait!” Roxy panics as her and the rest of the crew rush in pursuit of the merc. Coming right around the corner, all of them witness Roy’s gaze fixated to a certain spot of the tunnels brickwork; the team approaching the merc as Toxi questions: “Roxy, the fuck is wrong with your boy toy!?” “You find a way inside, Roy?” the merc’s girl wonders. “I think. Among the bugs and rats scuttling along the walls, there’s a little nest of mice wiggling around on the other side here. If they haven’t noticed them all yet, then I’m betting its our safest ticket in.” Saying this, the purple merc turns back towards the rest of the approaching team, asking if: “One of you guys mind carving the way in?” “And why can’t you just bust a hole through it like how you crashed our little meeting?” Gigi snidely questions. “Because if he did, it be the quickest way to announce to the entire facility that were crashing their little research party.” Artemis swiftly points out. “Ding ding! Right on the mark. Your neon green compadre is scoring all A’s on this little test of your’s. I’d suggest the rest of you start taking note.” “Then if we can’t punch through it, how the hell are we supposed to get in.” the blonde questions. Eager to answer such a question herself, the slime girl shoves Gigi out of her way as she steps up; claiming that: “Outta the way, bowlcut bitch; stand back while I work my magic.” Their gooey comrade warning such, everyone stands aside as Toxi approaches the tunnel wall; stretching herself as she faces the brickwork that Roy pinpointed. The slime girl then slaps the palms of her hands right onto the brick wall, smothering her slimy hands across the hard stone side of the tunnel; a thick trail of sludge left behind as she trails her hands across the side. The sludge immediately begin to bubble and boil along the wall, eating away at the tunnels brickwork until parts of the other side could be seen. The slime girls acidic sludge makes quick work of the sewer tunnels wall, soon creating a sizable way inside what seemed to be a janitors closet; a scurry of rats scuttling out into the tunnel.

Once the way inside was clear, Roy was the first of them to enter; his senses letting him feel the life force of the people passing through the hall on the other side. “Right, just a couple more people passing along til we’re clear.” the merc informs. Their purple guest saying such, Charles turns towards both Gigi and Toxi and questions them if: “Now, can I trust you two to not make as much noise while we go out to take out the camera’s? Cause the last thing we need is for the two of you to throw a shit fit over which color dress you think is cuter or whatever and get the attention of anybody passing through.” “Charles, chillax. I’m sure I can get Gigi to keep her damn mouth shut for a least 5 minute.” the goo girl informs. “And you don’t got a worry about slimy Toxi here. I make her nasty ass mouth stays shut.” the blonde reassures. As both girls look to one another with vindictive scowls, Charles can’t help but let out a painful sigh; soon feeling Roxanne pat his back as she assures that: “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they stay out of trouble.” “Thanks Roxy.” “We promise not to take long.” Artemis vows.

As he peeks out from the janitor closet door, the purple merc is happy to inform the rest of the team that: “And that’s when the halls are nooooooow clear! It’s now or never people; move your sexy asses!” Hearing this warning, both Charles and Artemis rush out towards the door; the merc himself bidding farewell as they pass by with: “See ya bae. Meet back with ya when we got shit to wreck.” Saying his goodbye’s, Roy follows out into the hall and shuts the door behind them, leaving the rest of the girls to wait within the sewer tunnels. “Ugh! I can’t believe all we can do is just stand here waiting in this dank sewer shithole while the three of them get to have fun.” the blonde complains. “Might I remind yo flat ass that this was part of your idea to begin with. What yo expect when going on a mission; you gotta get yer hands dirty. So quit your whining and shut yo mouth!” “The only reason that you’re here in the first place is cause your slimy ass excretes so much nasty acid mucus that it sends people running!” Gigi barks back. “Bitch, I’ll melt yo sorry flat ass if you don’t shut yo mouth.” “Why don’t you slither over here and make me!” Falling for the blondes taunts, the slime girl starts chasing Gigi along the stretching sewer tunnel; all the while leaving Roxanne so done with their bullshit.

From around the corner of the clean hallway, Artemis peeks out to the hall ahead; discovering a couple of scientists traveling along its polished marble. “And there they are.” she whispers. After the two researcher turn the opposite corner, the neon green girl turns back to both the blue and purple boys behind her; informing the violet merc that: “Seems like your senses aren’t a lie after all. And here I though until this point, you’ve been going off of blind guesswork alone.” “He he, guessin your not the blindly gullible type?” “I still have...some doubt.” “I like that. What I don’t like is figuring out how to get to this control room.” In saying this, both Artemis and him the turn towards their baby blue comrade; Charles softly groaning before question: “Your having me figure that out? How I supposed to know where it is in this secret club house basement?” “Because it was part of your plan smartass. You really just expect us to check every room in this damn scientist orgy dungeon til we just happen stumble on it?” Roy scolds. “We don’t have nearly that kind of time. We need to find a way to get to the control room, now.” “Alright, fine, Jesus. I guess we can hack a computer somewhere and get a map of the place.” “That’s the spirit.” Roy claims grasping his only hand upon the shoulder of Charles lab coat; soon dragging his big blue ass across the polished marble of the underground hall.

Further along the clean confines of the facility’s halls, a single researcher dances to the music in his earphones as he strolls by; passing right under a lone camera underneath. The music in her ears prove more of an unseen hindrance however, as she fails to catch the glimpse of the barrel of the rifle behind him. The silencer barrel fortunately for her isn’t aimed at his occupied ass, instead fancying the camera above; the rifle firing out a single bullet to the surveillance equipment. Though the bullet leaves no physical damage, the energy it releases proves more than enough to disable it; the camera going completely dead. While distracted by the music in her ears, the researchers dancing stroll is put to a sudden stop once bumping into somebody in front of her; gazing down to discover the purple mercs ominous smile. “Who the-” Before the scientist could finish questioning where the violet young man came from, she feels the merc hand tightly grasp at her mouth; her panicking screams muffled by the boys single palm.

From behind the closed door of a nearby supply closet, the researcher finds herself bound upside down against the closet wall via duct tape; the neon green girl listening to the music that she was once dancing to. “Let me go, dammit! Do you honestly have any idea what we’re doing here?” “Energy transfer and application use?” Charles guesses while digging through the contents of the supply closet. “How-how did you know?” “The equipment you got stashed here pretty much says it all. You guys got some real state of the art stuff stowed in here.” “She has pretty good tastes in music too. For this, she may live another day.” Artemis claims, taking off the researchers ear buds. “Ya hear that, my sultry scientist. Seems like it’s you lucky day after all. Though if I were in your sort of peculiar position, I’d both be aroused and willing to cooperate answer whatever questions your captive may have. Else they might make you wish you were dead.” Roy warns, a sinister smile drawn across his cheeks.

Seeing the mercs less that inviting grin proves more than enough to send chills up the researchers upside down spine; the scientist questioning them: “What do you people even want?” Her questions are put on hold indefinitely when feeling something jabbing her tapped arm, glancing over to discover the neon green girl jamming the barrel of her technological rifle into her side as she reminds her that: “We’ll be asking the questions here. First one, where might the nearest computer terminal be?” “D-down the hall to the right, take two lefts; right from the three way intersection; third door you see.” “What are you guys doing with this little gem you have?” Charles then cuts in. “We-we had it delivered from the famous museum in downtown New York. We were hoping to utilize it to solve a potential energy crisis.” “And the final question!” Roy exclaims, his eyes drifting away from the scientist and to Artemis. “Are we really here on a mission to steal this gem from them.” he questions the neon green girl. “Yeah.” “Okay, cool. Just wanting to make sure. Let’s head out.” Having been told the direction to the nearest computer, both Roy and Artemis ready to head back into the hall; glancing back to find their baby blue leader still rifling around the stored equipment. “Quit digging around and come on, Charles. We’re leaving.” the neon green sniper states. “Just give me a minute. I wanna see what else these government lackies have stashed away.” “Right now, young man.” Roy sarcastically scolds, grasping the shoulder of Charles lab coat as he drags him away from the lab equipment. As the trio head towards the door of the walk in closet, the researcher attempts to warn them that: “No, stop! You can’t take the jewel away from us. We could save potential thousands with its power. Don’t-” But before the scientist could beg them any further, her mouth is swiftly tapped shut when Roy slaps a piece of duct tape over her; the sound of her muffling being what can only escape as she watches her captors leave her inside.

Following the directions that their captive had oh so kindly given them, the trio continue their stealthy travels through the underground facility; Roy soon sensing the life force of a few staff approaching. Silently warning his two escorts of the oncoming staff, he points over to the door nearby; all three of them scuttling inside before the two guard turn the corner. As the merc had sensed, a couple of armed security staff nonchalantly pass right through the hall; not even paying any mind to the door that their unknown intruders had hid behind. Once the two policemen pass right on through, Roy emerges from the other side of the room that both him and his comrade hid; silently directing them to continue with him.

In the midst of guiding both Artemis and Charles through the polished white halls, Roy is about to turn through the next corner; soon feeling the back of his hood being snagged back just inches from the corner. Glaring back, he discovers his neon green teammate having grabbed hold of his hood; Artemis soon stepping in front of him to take a quick peek around the corner. After seeing what lies along the other side, she turns back towards her violet partner, pointing out towards the top of the hall beyond. Coming back to the front, Roy looks out to where Artemis had pointed towards; spotting a lone camera perched between the opposing hallways. Back towards his posse, the purple merc gives the neon green sniper a thumbs up while making way for her to move in; Artemis peeking the barrel of her sniper rifle down the hallway. Her crosshair aimed right to the camera above, she fires her bullet right into the camara’s side; causing the piece of surveillance equipment to go completely dead. Artemis having taken care of the camera, Roy once more takes the lead, all three of them taking the right like their help little informant had told them.

Coming upon the third door down the hallway, the three scurry right inside before anyone could see; soon finding themselves within what looked to be a small office space. In the middle of the office stood a lone desk decorated with pictures of people, presumably of friends and family; all of which surrounding a lone computer displaying a simple password screen. Passing between his two escorts, Charles makes his way around the office desk to the seat on the other side, ploping his lab coated ass right onto the padded chair and typing away as he tells the two escorters that it: “Should be pretty easy to pull up a map from this thing; just gimme a minute or two to work.”

“And since we got a minute, I got something to ask you that’s been bugging me.” Artemis states with her eyes drifting to the purple merc. “Sure thing, what you wanna know? Bank accounts, previous jobs, slaughtered enemies? I’m an open book.” “How in the hell did someone like you wound up getting with somebody like Roxanne?” “Oh, that? That’s piss easy. See, one day I was flying low through downtown; getting back from school and going to meet up with my bro somewhere. That’s when I wound up seeing sexy Roxy herself strolling through the streets; one look of her face being all she needed to make me fall head over heels for her...and straight into traffic. After climbing out of the crater that no doubt caused numerous accidents and traffic jams, I race over toward Roxanne herself and asked her out then and there; simple as that.” “That’s...admittedly a rather bold move. Right after taking such a humiliating and destructive spill like that; you just rushed out and asked the girl who just watched. I’m more shocked how she said yes after watching all that play out in front of her.” “That’s what life’s all about, my neon green rocker. Learning how to get right back up after being brutally butt fucked by the massive throbbing cock of misfortune.” “Definitely not the way I would word it, but I get what you mean. A lesson that Roxanne is no doubt familiar with too. The poor girl.” Hearing Artemis comment such makes the merc drop is snarky demeanor for a moment, mild concern spread across his face as he wonders: “What do you mean?”

“And I got it. Cracked wide open like a freshly pulled scallop.” Charles declares, both Roy and Artemis glancing over to witness Charles giving them a smug smile. “Hot damn, man; that fast!? You cracked that open in like minute. And here I though you were just these girls whipping boy?” “Wasn’t that hard, really. Can you believe that these government assholes were using a previous gen operating system? I’d be pretty damn embarrassed if I had that on even my laptop.” “Charles, did you pull up the map or not?” Artemis questions. “Yeah, okay. Here. Don’t need to be so pushy.” the blue skinned captain confirms, turning the computer monitor over towards the two. The monitor showing the floor plan of the underground facility, Artemis takes a quick picture of the map on screen; reviewing it and mentioning how: “Seems that the surveillance room to the right end of the facility. And according to this, we’re on the left most bottom.” “If that’s the case, then we best get movin. Who knows how much longer the girls can take sittin around in that tunnel. No doubt Roxy can only hold both the blond and her slimy rival from tearing each other into chunky beef broths for so long.” A small chuckle escaping from underneath her breath, Artemis turns over towards her blue skinned leader and orders him to: “Agreed. Come on, Charles. We need to move.” “Agh, fine. Just about to log off anyway.” Right after logging out of the lone computer, Charles joins the other two as they prepare to head back through the halls; the merc making his way out of the office with both the hacker and sniper at his back.

Back within the dank wet tunnels of the sewers, the rest of the team await to hear word from the others; each of the girls passing the time on their phones. While attempting to look through social messages, Toxi’s ears can’t help but catch Gigi’s obnoxious giggling; the blondes echoing laughter literally driving the slime girl up the curving brickwork. “Arrgh! The fuck you laughin at, ya blonde bowlcut?” “My gossip blog is trending so hard right now. Posting photo’s of Victor’s porn collection was a juicy one.” “Oh wow, that’s great. How long do ya think it’ll be before ya wind getting your flat ass bitten off from this shit.” “I don’t know how he’s gonna find out. The guy can’t read, remember?” “Bitch, that ain’t the point. This whole gossip shit is gonna get yo teeth punched out sooner or later; and I’m grabbin be a bag of popcorn when you bitin the curb.” “Tsk, your just jealous that you didn’t have the brains to come up with it first.” “Oh…Oh ho...Oh ho ho...” Hearing the blondes insulting defense, the slime girl starts to slither over toward the side of the tunnel where Gigi stands; questioning if: “Did you really just fuckin went there, motherfucker!? Tell me you did not fuckin say that!” “Bitch you know I did. And you know what else? I got more a lot more brains than you to build my own damn gadgets. Bombs, master keys, holograms, weapons, even my own personal robot assistant that hovers around and makes milkshakes for me. You nasty ass acid can even come close to my technological prowess, bitch!” “My slimy acid is about to melt through yo brains if you don’t shut you fuckin trap.” “Why don’t you try and make me?” Gigi screams. Before either of the girls could tear into eachother, Roxanne comes between them just in time to split them up; scolding the two of the with: “Stop it, you two! We supposed to be hiding in here! Someone might here us with you two having a screaming contest.”

Once seeing Toxi back off, Roxy turns her attention over to the blonde, requesting to her with: “Gigi, can you please keep it down while you mess around with your gossip blog? We’re trying to keep things on the down low.” “Yeah sure, Roxy. Ya know, speaking of rumors; what’s the deal with you and your new boy?” Gigi eagerly asks. Taken aback by her teammates sudden question, Roxanne stumbles back from the blonde: “W-What? What are you talking about?” “Oh come on, Roxy! Don’t play coy with us! How many bases did you and him run through in under two weeks? 1st, 2nd, 3rd, home run and victory lap?” “No! Nothing like that! All we done is just some hugging and a kiss. No more.” “Really, that’s all? He hasn’t made any moves on you?” the blond questions with disappointment. “Not really. Though something tells me that he might be wanting two. It honestly feels like Roy is restraining himself sometimes.” “Purple piece of shit better.” both of them hear, glancing back to witness Toxi approaching to join in their conversation. “If he thinks of tryin any of that nasty shit on you girl, I’m gonna smack his sorry violet ass straight to hell.” “Toxi, don’t say that!” “Girl, can you blame me even? Creepy ass motherfuckin lookin like he crawlin out of the bowls of some B rated horror shlockbuster. Why the hell you bothering to shell yo sweet as to his purple creep anyway?” “Ah...It’s kinda hard to explain.” Roxanne admits. “Go on girl, we got the time.” Gigi assures.

“Well, it kinda started one day about two weeks ago when I was walking back from school to the hospital to see how my little brother was doing, when out of nowhere something just crashed like a falling comet in the middle of the road; caused a couple accidents, but nothing serious. I race over to see what landed along with tons of other people nearby and we all found that it was this purple hooded teenager, getting up in the middle of the crater he made; just like that, no injury, totally fine.” “He really just happen to crash right in front of you. What was he doing before?” Gigi asks. “I don’t know, I never asked him. But apparently it wasn’t that important since he crawled right out of it and asked me on the spot on a date.” “And you said yes? Why?” Toxi questions. “He had these eyes like he a lost puppy. Like was silently begging me not to turn him down; especially with literally everybody watching. How could I possibly say no with all that?” “So he just put you on the spot, what a dickhead?” Gigi states. “I don’t...think he meant to put me on the spot like that. He seemed just so...geniune.” “So what you plannin to do now?” Toxi wonder. A small panicked groan leaves through Roxanne’s lungs before she admits that: “God, I don’t know. I knew this was a really bad idea, but I didn’t wanna break his heart. I just don’t know how I’m gonna get outta this, especially since I’m still da-”

Just before she could finish her statement, the girl shuts her own mouth mere moments before saying something she’d know she’d regret blabbing about. In doing so however, she sparks the curious gazes of both her two present teammates; Toxi being the first to asks: “Girl, what were you about to say?” “No-Nothing! You what j-just forget I said anything.” “Oh no way. You gotta spill it now. I’m feelin some real rumor juice sloshing in you. And I ain’t stopping til its squeezed out.” “Come on, Roxy. What’s the deal here?” Toxi joins in. As both girl continue to push for info, they soon back the poor girl against the tunnel wall; feeling the brickwork scrape against her back a she continues to feign ignorance with: “Really girls, its nothing. I swear.”

Thankfully for the baker, a forth voice then reaches their ears; their eyes glancing back towards the hole in the wall as someone in janitorial attire waltz’s inside and wonders: “Why the hell is there a giant hole in the closet? I-” In that moment does the guy discover the three girls within the breached sewer tunnels; nothing but silence echoing through the brickwork as they simply all stare at one another. Breaking the silence, all three of them lunge forth towards the janitor; tackling the poor guy and shutting his mouth just before he could cry out for help.

Casually strolling through the white halls of the facility, a lone researcher turns the corner to find a single armed patrol approaching; a smile planted across his cheeks as he greets the officer with: “Evening Marty! How’s the family?” “All good Pat. The kids are doing amazing in school this year.” “Guess its quite an improvement from last year, ain’t it?” “Don’t mention it, Pat...Just seriously don’t.” Both passing beside the only door in the hall, neither of them were the wiser of the trio hiding on the other side; the door cracking open to let out the silent barrel of Artemis’ rifle squeeze out. The guns barrel aimed out to the camera perched along the corner, she fires her rifles straight into the camera’s side; the bullet she shot out disabling the surveillance equipment for the time being. Once having took care of the camera, Artemis and her two comrades move beyond the door and continue their stealthy venture through the underground facility; taking the path that the armed patrol went through.

While the lone facility guard wanders along the polished marble halls, he fails to notice the three intruders encroaching around the corners behind him; that is until he begins to hear the faint sound of their footsteps echoing nearby. Curious of the quiet taps sounding off behind him, the patrolman swiftly turns back to see where exactly its coming from; confused to discover not a soul at his back. A nervous breath escapes his lunges as he starts to approach the corner that he turned from; taking a tight grip of his firearms the closer he nears the end. Finally, he jumps out to the other side of the corner with his weapon aimed down the hall, finding not a soul awaiting him. A relaxed breath then passes through his lips as his guard dissolves, shaking his helmeted head as he turns back; telling himself to: “Calm down, Marty. Your just hearing things. Just think of the time you and Donny shared a kiss under the tree, should calm ya right down.” In telling himself this, the guard returns to his patrol route while calming himself; unaware of the intruders he grew paranoid of hiding along the next corner beyond. Once sensing the guards departure, Roy leads both of his comrades further through the facility, continuing on route through the guards patrol path.

Dwelling within the dimmy lit confines of the surveillance room, countless screens of dozens of camera feeds light the small darkened room, a lone staff member sat right in front of the glowing screens. Despite some of the screens clearly displaying the camera’s blacked out, this obvious warning sign goes completely unchecked by the staff member sitting right in front of them; the man having drifted off into a peaceful slumber. The sleeping staff member also remains unaware of the three intruders standing right beside him as he rest; the purple merc crouching to the slumbering man’s level and claiming: “Awww. Ain’t we just a little sleepy weepy. Dumb bastards takin a little snoozy cruise while were breakin and fucking with his shit. I just wanna pinch his little cheeks.” Turning the mans swiveling chair to face him, Roy pinches the man’s cheeks to disturb his slumber; the watcher mumbling to him if: “Is there more apple juice in the fridge, mommy?” “Yes sweetie. I got your apple juice right here.” Roy jest, soon clocking the poor bastards right in the face; the watcher stumbling to the marble floor. After taking care of the camera watcher, Charles swiftly takes his seat; turning back towards the security control panel and stating that: “Should only be a few minute to turn their security system into a poor example of government kept upkeep.”

As their blue skinned friend works his magic on the security system, both his purple and neon green escorters stand aisde; Artemis turning back to their violet guest and questions him with: “So, keeping on topic about Roxanne. What do you plan to do with her in the future?” “Eh, not to sure, really. Why’re you takin an eye with the two of us being a thing? You lime green jelly?” “I’m just worried about the kind of stuff you might try on her. The way you’ve acted during this entire ordeal hasn’t really reassured me that you’re not as mentally well rounded for her. Not to mention what I’ve read on your profile not giving me much hope either.” “We’ll, glad I’m breaking some expectations at least.” “I’ve only been with this group for about 3 months now; and so far, Roxanne is really the only one out of this team that I’ve held any respect for.” “Eh, you wanna think about rewording that a bit there?” Charles question. “Despite the others lack of effort and poor direction, Roxanne is the only one of us that has a palpable reason to be with us besides obligation or insecurities.” “Seriously, I’m right fucking here. Would it kill you not to at least talk crap about me in literal earshot?” “In the time that I’ve been with everyone here, Roxy has been like a little sister to me; comforting and caring through all the harsh and horrible times and vice versa. So I’m sure you can understand me when I say to you that...” Cutting herself off, the girl with the neon green flame main steps intensely closer to the merc with a threatening glare; promising that: “If you do so much as make her cry even a single tear, I will snipe your purple haired skull straight between the eyes; do I make myself clear.” “It’s a promise then? Better hope you not miss.” Roy states with a smile. “I never miss.”

After this exchange, the two of them hear their blue skinned hacker give another attention baiting cough; both Artemis and Roy glancing back towards Charles as he informs that: “If you two are done hate flirting over there, I disabled the security system and erased all the footage. Which one of you want to text the girls.” “How bout I-” Roy attempts to suggest while pulling out his phone. Just before he could finish, his neon green comrade cuts him right the fuck off; pulling out her own phone and insisting that: “I will tell them.”

Back inside the dank brickwork of the sewer tunnels, the girls had just finished taking care of the janitor that waltzed in their little hiding spot; tying the poor bastard to the piping above via a moving metallic rope. “And you thought that the little metal rope snake I thought of was a stupid idea. Self tying rope that coils around somebody to trap them and keep their mouths shut, what the hell made you think it was a dumb idea.” Gigi boasts to her slimy comrade. “Bitch, it’s a stupid ass idea cause its just a fuckin metal rope that moves. How the hell you don’t think that’s stupid.” Toxi claims. “Girls, just quit fighting already! This is exactly what almost got us caught in the first place.” “Tell her to quit spewin bullshit and I’ll stop.” the slime girl claims. “Tell this slimy stain to shut her damn trap!” the blonde mentions. Just before either of them could pick up their argument where it left off, all of them hear the sound of Roxanne’s phone going off; Roxy pulling it out to check her messages as Gigi asks: “Is that them?” “Don’t know. Let me see. Uh...Yep! They just disabled the security. Even sent us a map telling us where the gem is.” “And where’s it say it is?” the slime girl wonder. “See here...Oh wow’ its not that far actually. Just a couple halls away.” “The hell are we waiting for then. Lets get movin!” Gigi proclaims as she rushes out towards the hole in the tunnel. “No. Gigi, hang on.” Roxy plea’s as both her and Toxi coming running after.

With the security camera’s disabled, the three girls sneak through the polished white halls with caution in their step, tiptoeing along the marble floor so not to draw any attention. They soon peek out from around the oncoming corner, discovering on the other side a single door with two guards standing at its side; Roxanne glancing to her phone as she whispers that: “Kay girls, the room where our jewel is store lies just beyond that door. We just need a way to get rid of those guards there to get inside.” “Just gimme a minute there girl, I’ll melt some holes in their chest before you can even blink.” Toxi claims. “Toxi, don’t; were tryin to be sneaky. I’m not sure all three of us can take them on anyway. We need something to distract them with.” “Yeah, you heard her. Calm your slimy tits, bitch. I got this one.” Gigi boasts. “And just what the hell you think you gonna do.” the slime girl wonders. “Watch.” Saying such does the bowlcut blonde pull out from her back pocket an itty bitty cube with wheels attached to the bottom; Gigi rolling it over towards the direction of the guards as she finishes with: “And learn.”

As the little cube rolls out towards the two stationed guards, the panels on its top start to unfold to reveal a little projector; casting out the hologram of a sexy buff man dress in only a speedo. The two soldiers notices the holographic beef cake as he skips along past them, hearing him offering them to: “My beautiful followers. Come with me to the land of tanning oil and surfing pleasure, let your dreams come true in the waves of paradise!” Even with the seemingly random trespasser confusing the ever loving hell out of them, the guards nonetheless give chase; pursuing the holographic man around the corner. With the blondes distracting tool a complete success, Gigi moves in towards the door as she tells her other two teammates that: “Looks like my little test run was a complete success. Come on, girls.” As both Toxi and Roxanne come out of the corner, the slime girl can help but question her about: “What the hell was all that about?” “Oh that? That was one of my trusty little invention I like to call “My little holocube”. I usually use them if I wanna cause distractions or make easy getaway. Pretty neat, huh.” “Kay, but why did it have to be a guy dressed in a speedo.” “Cause they’re my cubes, Roxy. I can put whatever the hell I want on them.”

Once facing the door leading to their little coveted mcguffin, Toxi stands in front of its steel and reaches out as she tells the other to: “Gimme a sec here, girls. Meltin through this door won’t take long.” Just before her gooey mitts could touch the door, Roxanne stands in her way; advising that: “Maybe we shouldn’t melt our way inside. The acid could raise some eyebrows.” “The hell you suggest we do then.” “Just let me pick through the lock instead.” Roxy suggests, pulling out a small bobby pin from her black headband. “Since when the hell do you know how to pick locks?” Gigi wonders. “Since I was in a little gang a couple years back.” “Girl, you didn’t tell us you was a gangster.” Toxi mentions. “It really wasn’t all that big. More of after school ruff club to be honest. The worst we ever did was just steal trinkets from dollar stores.” The snap of the lock soon sounds off, Roxanne pulling her bobby pin from the lock as she tells the girls that: “There we go.”

Opening the steel door wide open, all three girls find on the other side what seemed to be a massive open room covered from floor to walls in countless electrical wires; several control panels and screens laying across the wide chambers. Standing right at the very end of the chamber be the prize they seek; the coveted jewel suspended within a glass case, the countless snaking wires hooked to its base. “Well damn, this lookin easy. Only thing stoppin us is tripping flat on yo ass.” Toxi states as she prepares to slither forth. Just before her slimy bottom could even touch any of the wires, Gigi stops her dead in her tracks; the blonde confirming that: “It does look pretty easy. A bit too easy. Why is there no one here?” “Bitch, the hell you talkin about.” the slime girl asks, pushing away Gigi’s arm. From a pocket in her pink sweat pants, the blonde pulls out a tiny metal ball pinched between her fingers; soon chucking the ball out towards the middle of the chamber. The ball soon explodes in the middle of the air in a puff of gas, the white clouds engulfing the entire chamber in its shroud.

The clouds eventually part to unveil the dozens upon dozens of security lasers that litter the entire chamber, Toxi stepping away from the couple of beam that were inches away from her face. “The fuck!? Though Arti said Charles took care of the security system.” the slime girl reminds them. “I guess he might have missed a few. Nice save, Gigi. I’ll call Artemis and tell her we’re still stuck.” Roxanne states. As her teammate fiddles with her phone, the blonde gazes out towards the other end of the room; discovering a small panel wearing a brand symbol familiar to her. “I don’t think were as stuck as you might think.” Pointing over towards the panel on the other side, Gigi begins to explain with: “This security system is my dads brand. I can just disable it myself.” “Really?” “Yep, I designed it along side dad myself. I know just how it works and how to stop it.” “Kay, cool. How the hell you plannin on getting past all this shit to turn it off.” Toxi aggressively questions. “You gotta show off your stuff. Now its my turn to show mine. Just watch and learn girls what years of dance and gymnastics training has sculpted me into.” Mentioning this, the blonde leap out towards the bramble of security lasers ahead; Roxanne reaching out for her leaving teammate as she exclaims: “Gigi, wait!”

From above, the gymnast flips down the cavalcade of red glowing beams spread through the chamber, landing right on her hands between a lone beam; her head mere inches from its bright red glow. In her handstand, she then lunges herself through a cluster of rays in front of her; landing right on top of one of the computer panels. Noticing the bramble of beams across the top of the panel, Gigi slithers and weaves her slender body through the bright red cluster of lights; contorting and flexing her figure in ways that lend to her to be on par with a professional gymnast more than her own comrades. After squeezing herself through the myriad of lasers, the blonde jumps across more of them littering the chamber; gracefully landing upon the countless wires littering the floor. Though these uneven wires prove to make her a tad off balance, Gigi nonetheless retains her stance and leaps forth through more of the lasers littering the room.

Her gymnastic feats soon take her only several more paces away from the glass case along with the security panel behind it, a straight wall of glowing beams blocking her from progressing any further. Though she finds the wall of rays far too closely knitted to effectively squeeze through, she does notice the wall failing to reach up to the roof; a rather sizable opening perched under the roof of the chamber. Gazing along the cluster of lasers set before her for a way up, she discovers a part of the chamber wall free from any alerting beams; decorated in only loose hanging cable wires. While it may seem risky to some, this proves to be just the path that the young girl needs; a smile beaming on her face as she prepares to leap out towards the wall. Taking a bounding jump over one more bush of beams below her, Gigi reaches out for the wired wall before her; clasping tightly to the cables coating the chambers side. Taking a tight grip of the hanging wires, Gigi pulls herself up the wall as quickly as a well trained Olympian; soon perched right at the very top of the chamber. Stuck along the ceiling, Gigi takes a moment to position herself before leaping out to the hole atop the wall of beams blocking her way forward. Finally, the blonde makes the jump out towards the wall before her; gliding over the countless lasers and beams below as Roxanne watches her in awe. Utilizing the momentum of her kickoff, Gigi successfully weaves herself through the gap between the laser wall and the chamber’s ceiling; soon descending right near where the glass case stands. Once landing on her feet, the blonde strolls aside the case containing their prize and over to the control panel for the security grid; swiftly typing along its keyboard as she claims that: “Aaaaand there we go. Down and out.”

Pressing the last key on the panel, Gigi glances back and watches as the grid of beams dissolve before her eyes; the entire room soon void of any security lasers left. Both of her teammates waltz through the laserless chambers to meet with the blonde at the very end, all the while Gigi gazes to them with a smug grin; Roxanne applauding her efforts while Toxi looks on with bitter scorn. “So, you two enjoy my little performance or did you love it? Pretty spectacular, wasn’t it?” “It was amazing, Gigi. You really-” Roxanne attempts to compliment, though finding herself being rudely interrupted by her slimy comrade. “Bitch, you call that an olympic showcase? I know at least half the peeps above us that can make your sorry ass flips look like grade school gymnastics.” “Toxi! Using other people accomplishments and abilities instead of your own to try and leave scars? And here I thought that your slimy ass couldn’t stoop any lower.” “Bitch, I’ll leave more than a scar when I’m done with you!” Just before either of them could throw down, Roxanne gets right in the middle and swiftly reminds them of their objective with: “Girls! Job! Jewel! Melt! Case!” Seeing their partner point out towards the case in question, Toxi and Gigi give one another spiteful glares before breaking off; the slime girl slithering to the glass case before them.

Finding herself showing within the surface of the glass veil, the gooey girl gets to work on melting through the clear glass; reaching her palm out to her own reflection. Touching the glass with her slimy hands, she begins to spread her corrosive acid across its clear reflective surface; the ooze she leaves behind bubbling and seething as it starts to melt through like melting butter on a piece of glassy bread topped off with delicious face melting acid. Toxi’s slimy deep violet goo makes quick work of the clear vial, dissolving a massive hole leading to the coveted shiny prize contained within. Once cracking the case wide open, Roxanne reaches out for their glimmering target; snatching the gem right off the pole it was perched upon. “Good work, girls. The people up top might just not take us for granted anymore. Maybe even make us go on more missions like this if we’re lucky.” Roxanne informs as they all stroll towards the exit. “I’m betting they’ll let me work out in the premium practice room after all the stuff that I’ve done.” Gigi claims. “All the stuff you did? Bitch, did you not see all the shit my acid melt through today? They outta gimme my own fuckin personal chef for all the shit I did.” Toxi asks. “Girls, you both did amazing on this mission. I’m sure they’ll be proud of both of you.” Roxanne attempts to tell the both of them. “Oh, like you did so much. You’ve just been sitting on your slimy ass while I had to jump and flip through a damn security system.” “Oh yeah, cause I like to see your flat ass flip through a brickwall. We wouldn’t even be here if it weren't for me.” From failing to quell her partners incessant bickering, Roxy’s face swiftly deflate; just being so done with both of them. Even after being with eachother for nearly 4 months now, they still think of ways to piss each other off; they can at least not be as loud. Practically keeping everybody almost every damn night. Wish they’d just stop for once.

Roxanne’s wish is swiftly granted when only a few feet from the exit, all three of them discovering a bright red energy barrier barring their only exit. “What...what is that.” Roxy questions. Approaching the barricade, Gigi reaches out to the force field and taps the surface of the blockade; the energy surface echoing her taps across its face. “This might be a problem.” “A problem my ass! Stand back, motherfucka. I’ll show ya how big a problem this is.” the slime girl boast, pushing the blonde aside as she approaches the door. Just like the glass case before hand, Toxi lathers the face of the force field with her own acidic goo; the slime she leaves behind bubbling before her and her comrade. The slime girls prideful smile swiftly dissolves however when finding her slime simply sliding right off the barrier; leaving not a single melted hole along its surface. “Wow, just look at that. I guess we’re just as fucked as I thought.” Gigi sarcastically claim. “Whatev bitch. So what if I can’t melt through the damn door. They ain’t got them barriers on their walls. Should be pretty easy meltin through the dry wall and wires.” “Oh yeah, you’re right. Should be pretty easy melting through it all as the wires fry you alive.” “I’m afraid Gigi’s right, Toxi. Your acid could conduct the electricity flowing through all the wires dressed through here. And since you can’t melt through anything without touching it first, It probably wouldn’t be hard to imagine hurting yourself.” Roxy adds. After an irritated growl escapes from between the slime girls gooey lips, Toxi points out towards her two comrades as she accuses Roxanne that: “This shit ain’t fair! You always taking her side, Roxy. You never back up what I think.” “That’s cause she knows which of them is the smarter out of us.” “The fuck is that supposed to mean.” “It means you aren’t the one whose got all A’s on their report card.” “Guess it also means you ain’t got one hell of a bodacious bod like mine.” “The hell did you say about my body, bitch?” Witnessing her two partners stirred into a furious arguing fit once again, Roxanne can’t help but let out an exhausted sigh; wondering how in the hell can she get them to stop doing this shit.

In the midst of her emotional exhaustion, Roxanne’s eyes trail up to the roof of the chamber; fixated on a hole in the middle beginning to open up. “Uh, girls.” “Least I don’t gotta wear shitty contacts to see three feet in front of me.” Toxi mocks. “Is that way you have to keep yourself locked in a tube to keep yourself from looking like literal shit?” Gigi barks back. “Girls.” Roxanne utters. Taking a glance back towards the ceiling, Roxy discovers the hole above them to have opened wide; gazing back towards the two as she once again exclaims in dismay: “Girls!” Alas, the panic in her voice fails to reach her two comrades; neither of them batting an eye to her as Toxi continues with: “Oh, like you lookin any better right now. Bitch, you gotta whole lotta work to do if you wanna make that bowl of yours work cut work.” “Same for you with all those nasty ass boils. Betting not even a dash of makeup could cover up all those.” As her two partners argue among themselves, Roxanne looks up to the ceiling once more; witnessing a massive block of metal drop down from the hole. The oversized block crashes down right in the middle of the chamber, the quaking impact finally breaking both Toxi and Gigi out from their bickering as they glance over in its direction. As all three girls stare out to the heavyweight piece of metal, they watch as its metallic surface begins to unfold before their very eyes; a pair of arms emerging from its sides and grasps the countless wires below it. “Roxy, the fuck you didn’t warn us about this?” Toxi questions. “Yeah, Rox. Could’ve used the heads up.” Gigi adds, both of their responses drawing out yet more frustration from their red haired partner. As the transforming block of metal lifts itself from the floor via its morphing legs, it uproots countless electrical wires from throughout the entire chamber; dressing itself in the loose broken wiring as it breaks out from its cube like shell. Once the body finally takes its shape, the boar like head pops out from the middle of its chest; its glowing indigo eyes glaring out towards the three intruders.

Once finishing its grand transformation, the massive metallic automaton lumbers over towards the trio; the girls backing away to the approaching robot as Gigi states that: “Oh...They must’ve shelled out for my dads deluxe security package. Security droid and all.” “Tell me you text the others.” Toxi questions, her eyes shifting over to their red haired partner. “They’re on their way now. We just have to buy them enough time until they get here.” Roxanne informs.

Their robotic adversary nearing, the girls witness the metallic giant flings its wiring out towards them like a makeshift whip; their electrical ends sending out a constant flow of sparks as they fly. From dodging the oncoming lightning whip, all three of the girls splitting off as they sprint away from the towering automaton. Once gaining enough distance from their lumbering foe, Roxanne aims her site out towards the blonde flipping away from the giant; Roxy asking if: “So if your dad built these things, does that mean you know how to shut them down?” “I should. If we could melt through its metal shell, I’d just have to mess with the circuitry to break it down.” Whilst slithering away from the pursuing android, the slime girl is all too eager to rudely remind Gigi that: “Bitch, you forget what you said? Touching just one of those wires might reduce my sexy ass to a fine chard sludge.” “You think I don’t remember that? Like I said before, leave that to me.” the blonde retells, a determined smile stretching across her face. From her determined grin, the bowlcut blonde pulls out from her jacket a pair of brightly colored pom poms; shaking the two of them in the palms of her hands. “Girl, you lost your fuckin mind or what!? This ain’t the time for one of yo shitty cheering practices!”

Partially ignoring her slimy comrades less then encouraging input, Gigi takes a moment to breath before preparing to start; soon jumping around while flailing her pom poms around as she cheers with: “Hey hey, you you! Automaton! Fuck you! Dressing in wires is so last year! You outta be running in tears!” The cheerleaders enthusiastic taunts prove effective enough to draw her robotic foe’s attention; the metal giant halting in its tracks and glaring over towards the mocking blonde as she continues with: “You overblown fax machine! Bet you can’t touch this teen! Come get me! Come, come, come get me!” The mocking cheers cause the massive android to charge out in her direction, drawing her metallic foe away from her friends as she witnesses the automaton ready to strike with its loose wire whips. Just as the iron behemoth casts its electrical wires out to the cheering girl, Gigi springs up high into the air; flipping across the slither of loose wiring and landing right atop a clean spot of the giants arm. Hopping from the top of its metal limb, Gigi glides right over the metallic automaton’s boar like head; gliding over its sharp mettalic teeth. The blonde cheerleader soon comes to face the giant androids wire coated backside, continuing her cheer as she claps her red and white pom poms together with: “Now it’s time to end this cheer with a blast! A-A-A blast!” Between the palms of her hands, the paper making up her pom poms suddenly burst apart; revealing under their glittering paper a sizable explosive. The cheerleader waits not another moment to chuck her bomb towards her iron adversary’s backside, the explosive releasing its deadly payload upon impact. Gigi’s little bomb shows to be more than powerful enough to knock the security android right off its feet; the automaton falling to the wire littered floor on its stomach.

Once landing back onto the floor, the bowlcut blonde looks towards her two teammates; gloating on how: “And that is how a genius downs a giant. Hidden expanding explosives mark 2!” Just as they hear Gigi say such, both Toxi and Roxanne witness the iron colossus quickly begin arise from the floor; seemingly unfazed by the cheerleaders surprise explosive. Upon seeing this, the slime turn glances back to her blonde partner; looking to her smug ass face as she wonders aloud to her: “The hell all the good that did!? You didn’t even put a dent in it! You just tryin to show off again?” “Toxi, it’s back.” Roxanne points out. Gazing out to the rising giants backside, they find the wires that once coated the automaton’s back to be rendered to burnt chards; the pieces fluttering down to the floor as the colossus stands back on its feet. “Hey, slime tits. Time to get your gooey ass a movin.” Gigi order. “Bitch, you don’t tell me what to do.” the slime girl states as she moves in towards the approaching security droid.

Slithering out to the nearing giant, Toxi watches as the massive robot prepares to lash its wired whips towards her; the slime girl refusing to move as the wires near. In one clean swipe, Toxi is slashed into meager puddles by the cast wire whip; parts of herself spreading across the semi wire littered floor. Even with their comrades presumed demise and the security droids approach, both Gigi and Roxanne remain completely confident as the hulking metal giant nears. From around the chambers flooring, the puddles and drops of Toxi’s remains begin to slither their way around the countless wires and towards the giant, halting underneath the metal monsters feet. As soon as the metallic colossus steps onto Toxi’s own slimy remains, the automaton fumbles right back to the ground; falling flat on its stomach once again. The giant fallen forward, the bits and pieces of the slime girl climb across its small bits of wireless metal; reforming into her old slimy self right atop the robots backside. Having pulled herself back together, the Toxi acts fast and smears her slimy acid across the iron giants backside; her gooey substance quickly beginning to melt through its metal shell and exposing the circuitry within. Before she could reach for the circuits however, the giant android beneath her begins to roll back on its feet once more; Toxi left to slip right off its backside.

After her partner splatters along the floor, Gigi leaps above her as she thanks the slime girl with: “Thanks for the assist. Have fun, sitting in a puddle of your own filth.” The bowlcut blonde races out towards the lumbering metal monster, watching as the droid prepares to cast its wire whip out to the approaching cheerleader. Once leaping over the massive androids lightning whip, Gigi slides right between the giants metal legs and faces its exposed backside; seeing the melted hole that her slimy partner had made just for her. Gigi then spring up to towards the automatons back, climbing her way up via the wires leading to the hole; the blonde careful not to grab hold of any sparking ends. Finally, the blonde reaches up to the security droids open hole; taking a peek inside as she claims to herself that: “Right. Now just to rewire the insides and direct the output to the mainframe to overload it and this little droid here should-” Its while gazing at the insides of the giant that shock and bewilderment spread across the blondes face; Roxanne noticing her agile teammate simply staring at the inside and wondering: “Gigi, what’s the hold up? Is there something wrong?” “Th-the circuitry. It’s...it’s completely different…They modified this model! I can’t believe it! They can’t do this. It’s a violation of the deluxe packs user agreements. These cheap, lab coated rats! They’ll-” Before the cheerleader could rant on any further, the android begins to shake itself in an effort to toss the blonde off its back. Despite her desperate attempts to hold on, Gigi eventually goes flying off the modded androids backside; the robot itself lashing its electrical whips upon the helpless cheerleader. The bowlcut blonde can’t help but take in the full brunt of the sting, the lightning like strike sending her careening across the chamber. Roxanne watches in horror as her comrade is sent slamming straight into a wall, rushing to her aid as she tumbles to the wire littered floor; crying out: “Gigi!” As Roxanne urgently dashes towards the injured cheerleader, the giant pulls back its lightning whip in an effort to intercept her; failing to catch Toxi slipping underneath its metal foot. Stepping onto the slime girls entire body causes the giant to take another spill onto the wired floor; the tip of its whip missing the rushing Roxanne entirely.

Finally coming to her downed teammate, Roxy kneels before the lying Gigi to inspect her; discovering several bruises and burns across her body. “Gigi? Gigi? Come on, please! Are you still with us? Say something?” Upon pleading such, Roxanne hears uttered from her partners mouth a painful groan; the sign of life making her let out a relieved breath: “Oh thank goodness. Just gimme a second here, Gigi. I’ll have you fixed up in no time.” Declaring this, Roxanne gently places the palms of her hands over the bruises and burns plaguing the young cheerleader; a bright lavender light beginning to light up underneath her hands. Its in that moment does Roxy lift her hands off her friend, unveiling a small lavender flame awaiting beneath her palms. Rather then burning the blonde even further, Roxanne’s light purple fires instead mend her injured friends bruises; Gigi’s painful expression coming to a calm as her wounds disappear within her friends blaze. Her bright lavender fires blaze across her comrades body, consuming more and more of Gigi’s bleeding bruises and burns the further it goes; extinguishing itself when the blonde body is left completely healed. Once the last of the flames go out, Gigi rises from the wired covered floor simple like getting herself out of bed after a long and well deserved nap; stretching her arms out as she sits up beside Roxanne. The blonde looks to where her painful bruises once were, finding not a scratch left on her as she tells her gratitude to the medic who tended to her with: “Thanks for the heals, Roxy. I’d probably be dead if you hadn’t had stuck with us.” “Don’t thank me just yet.” her medic disappointingly suggests, turning back towards the scene of the action.

Gazing back towards the iron giant, the two witness their slimy comrade slithering around the massive android; the androids whip slinging her back towards her team. Pulling herself back together beside her fully healed partner, Toxi shakes off her sudden blow; glancing over to the blonde as she wonders: “Glad to see yo sorry ass back from the dead. So how you plannin on hackin this metal dick?” “I...I don’t know.” “Yeah, real fucking funny. Seriously, what’s the plan?” “Bitch, I said I don’t know! I can’t stay on the robots back long enough to understand the newly place circuitry.” Before any of them could plan further on what their next move might be, all three of the girls witness the metal giant lumbering over towards them; bracing for the worst as the iron colossus pulls its whip back.

Right before the security android could lash its wires out to the three, a resounding boom echoes throughout the entire chamber; everyone gazing out to the side to find a part of the chamber wall having burst open. Shooting out from the resulting cloud of dry wall dust, a massive green beam fires out towards the iron giant; the ray proving more than enough to send the security droid crashing straight towards other side in one clean shot. Before the steel behemoth could stand back on its two iron feet, something slams down upon its stomach and keeps it glued to the floor; its indigo eyes meeting the purple mercs devious grin. Keeping the giant grounded to the wire littered floor, Roy starts pummeling the automaton further into the ground; each pounding strike quaking the entire chamber from bottom to top. “Roy?” Roxanne utters, shocked to find her boy before her beating down the colossus that troubled them so. Turning her eyes back towards the dispersing clouds of dust, all three of the girls find standing behind its shroud to find both of their other comrades coming out from the freshly busted hole in the wall; a large technologically enchanted bazooka perched over Artemis’ shoulders. “I still don’t get how exactly you managed to carry that monstrosity of a gun with us. You’re not exactly sporting a lot of pockets on you, much less a holster to luge that beast around in.” Charles points out as he walks alongside the sniper. “No time for questions, stay sharp and look alive.” she simply counters with.

Once the two of them come to the rest of their team, Artemis kneels down and offers them her hand; asking them all if: “You girls okay?” “Uh...yeah, obviously. We were just about to hand this tin can motherfucka’s shiny metal ass on a silver plate til you guys busted in. Knocked this metal bitch flat on its face at least a good couple times.” Toxi brags. “All thanks to my ingenuity and planning of course.” Gigi smugly adds. “If that’s the case, then it shouldn’t be much of a problem for Roxanne’s purple demon she oddly calls her boyfriend to finish off.” Charles states. “Charles! Don’t just go calling him names like that. He’s not that bad of a guy when you-” Roxy attempts to scold her blue leader for; though hearing Roy’s maniacal laughter echo in their ears proves to be detrimental to her point.

Gazing back towards the scene of the action, all of them watch as the violet merc continues to beat the bot in; Roy eventually smacked aside by the hard steel of the automatons backhand. Despite being smacked back by the full brunt of the iron behemoth’s metal strike, this fails to keep the merc back for long; Roy regaining his aerial balance as his black wings sprout from his back. His metallic foe standing back on its steel legs, the merc takes the moment to give the giant a less then friendly middle finger; taunting on how: “Surprise motherfucka! Your rustic metal asshole ain’t got nothing on my glorious cheeks. I got enough spunk in me to take way more than you can dish out with your tiny wire string dick!” Hearing their purple guest mock the security droid in such a lewd manner, Roxanne’s entire team glances in her direction; all wearing face ranging from worry, disbelief, and “What the fuck were you thinking when hooking up with this maniac?” kind of looks. Roxy can do little but give her crew a semi insincere smile, letting out a nervous giggle as she can only shrug.

From the black angels taunting mockery, the metallic monster thrust his free hand down the rest of the wires beneath his feet; pilling out more of the electrical wiring littering the floor. Once uprooting whatever wires are left lying on the floor, the robotic behemoth whips both the mess of wire strings in his hands and swings them out towards the purple bastard himself. Roy shows to be more than capable of evading the bots makeshift whips, dancing around the lightning like wires in a 360 pirouette; soon countering the giants swing with his own power in the form of pitch black beam. The giant automaton takes in the full force of the merc’s deadly ray; Roy’s beam piercing straight through the security droids side; its pieces flying across the chamber. Even after taking in such a lethal shot to the side of its torso, the iron colossus still refuses to fail back on the floor; standing against the odds as if nothing happened. “Ya gotta be fuckin with me here! The hell did yo daddy make this asshole out of to take a hit like that.” Toxi questions, everybody glaring eyes locked to the blonde cheerleader. Gigi can’t help but let out a nervous chuckle, explaining to everyone that: “Only the best for his inventions. The motto of his company.” “Lets see it stand up to another shot of this.” Artemis mentions as she aims the tip of her plasma bazooka out towards the standing giant. Firing her massive weapon off from the wayside, the neon green markswoman lands another clean hit to the hulking androids shoulder; the blast strong enough to knock the behemoth straight into the wall.

After lending her own support in handing the iron giant a piece of its own rustic asshole, Artemis glances over to the other girls and questions if: “Did you all manage to get the jewel.” When asked about such, Roxanne pulls out the little coveted prize in question; presenting the shining jewel as she declares that its: “Right here. All in its glimmering glory.” “Great work, you three.” After complimenting the Roxanne and her friends for the accomplishment, the neon green sniper shifts her gaze over to their airborn purple guest; demanding that: “We have what we need here. We need to make our escape ASAP.” “Right behind y’all.” Roy acknowledges; gliding in their direction as the rest begin to take their leave through the hole in the wall. Before heading out with the rest of her team, Roxanne stops inches from the way out; taking a look back to her boy as he glides in her direction.

Just when Roy was about to reach for his purple flamin girl, the merc feels something wrap around his body; a whole cluster of loose shocking wires entangling around his entire body and jerking him back. Having caught the black angel in its electrical whips, the mechanical colossus wastes no time in beating the merc across the entire room, shocking and slamming the black angel constantly into the concrete floor. In the middle of his battering punishment, Roy’s purple eyes venture out towards the hole in the wall; discovering his girl watching the scene in horror. Roxanne worry is all the merc needs for motivation; stopping himself from crashing onto the wireless concrete floor and landing back on his feet. Though the android attempts to pull the merc back, its purple captive proves to have far more strength under his than its mechanical servos can fight against; Roy refusing to budge where he stands. Its in this stand off does the black angel burst free from the wires that bind his entire body; the resulting shock wave causing the automaton to stumble back. Just when the security droid was ready to fall, something prevents it from crashing down; the boar head gazing down to witness the purple merc taking a tight grip on its makeshift whips. Even when having felt the millions and millions of volt coursing through his entire body, Roy refuses to let go the electrical wires that once bound him; instead pushing the power current back with his own power. Roy’s own pitch black power creeps up the wires dressing the androids arm, soon consuming the rest of the wires alongside the massive metal giant itself; causing the automaton to explode in a mess of black smoke. Roxanne backs away from the drifting clouds of black, soon finding her own purple boy emerging out from the clouds and flying in her direction; Roy sweeping Roxy off her feet as he jets out of the smokey chamber.

Racing through the white halls ahead of the underground basement, the rest of the crew sprint across the polished marble with the mcguffin in their mitts; their proud getaway coming to sudden blockade. Standing in the entire teams way be a whole battalion of armed guards and patrol facing them down; their weapons squarely aimed right at the four. “So, how much more ammo do ya got in that cannon of yours?” Charles wonders. “Don’t think it matters. One blast from it could make this whole hall crash on top of us.” “How the hell we getting outta here then.” the slime girl wonders. Right then and there that they here the blonde cheerleader behind them warn that: “Guy, something’s coming up on our tail fast.” “Is it more security?” Artemis questions. “Not unless they’re on fire.” “Heh?” From their teammates bizarre answer, everyone else glances back from where they sprinted from; witnessing a giant ball of purple flames swiftly approaching. Jumping out from the burning comets path, all four of them witness their red headed comrade leaping off of its back; Roxanne greeting them all with: “Hey guys.” “Roxy, but then is that-” Toxi questions. Coated in a dark purple flame, the black winged angel rockets towards the blockade of guards with a smile on his face; the battalion he approaches scattering in attempt to flee from his blazing charge. Alas, there escape from the merc was but a fleeting wish; Roy ramming straight through the squad in a literal purple firestorm. Once the blazing inferno quickly comes to a calm, the girls then rush past the countless downed guards; Roxanne helping Roy off the burnt marble floor as she hears him thank her with: “Thanks for the quick fix there, Fox Rox. You’re fires were pretty sick.” “No problem Roy, happy to help. The way we came in isn’t too far from here. Come on.”

Following the rest of the squad, both Roxanne and Roy make it back to the janitor’s closet they broke in from; Roy stopping right next to the doorway and facing the way he came from. The red head turns back towards her violet boy toy, wondering: “What are you doing? Reinforcements will be here any minute.” “Covering our tracks. You go ahead with the others, I won’t be far behind.” the merc informs, a pitch black power forming above the palm of his hand. As her boyfriend has instructed, the red head races through the hole leading right into the sewer tunnels; leaving Roy to face the oncoming pack of security guard himself. With the power in his hand fully charged, Roy fires out a massive black beam out towards the oncoming mass of guards; the ray consuming the entire mob in its agonizing darkness. The catastrophic blast causes the entire underground facility to furiously rumble, pieces of the hallway collapsing from the resulting quake; a clear queue for the merc to take his leave as he dashes through the janitor doorway.

Back out the dark alley atop the surface; Charles holds their well earned prize in the clasp of his finger; admiring the gems cut as he declares to the rest of the team that: “Ladies. Our mission has been accomplished.” From their blue skinned leader declaring as such, most of the team cheers from their victory; others admiring the shinning jewel in pride. “I still can’t believe it. We pulled off our first big mission, and none of us loss a single limb.” Gigi exclaims. “Still can’t believe yo flat ass didn’t screw us over. Though for sure we’d be dead with your loud ass mouth.” Toxi mocks. Despite this promptly starts up another argument between the two of them, their baby blue leader promptly ignores them both as he approaches his neon green sniper; admitting to her that: “I never thought in my time with you all that I’d be one day proud of everyone. Each of you played your parts well.” “Roy did too. We wouldn’t have pulled off this big assignment if it weren't for him.” Roxanne reminds him. A reluctant groan escaping from his mouth, the lab coated leader swiftly showing his weak gratitude for: “Yeah, fine. Thank you Ray for your excellent services, we’re lucky to have had you on the team. Blah blah blah blah blah.” “Eh, no need to thank me.” “Good, cause I wasn’t.” “Really I should be saying the same for my lavender hot bae here for the fun night out.” the merc states, giving his girl a peck on the cheek. The sudden smooch causes Roxy to let out a nervously faux giggle as she strolls over to the neon green sniper; Artemis knelling to the red heads ear and asking if: “Mind if we have a little talk. Girl to girl.”

Once taking the red head to a little more private side of the dark alleyway, Artemis takes in a deep breath before coming out with: “I hate to be the one to ask this out of the blue, especially with all the luck that we’ve been having, but...how’s your brother’s disability treatment going?” “Oh...It’s-it’s been rather slow as of late. Taking baby steps I guess. Hopefully all the money the Alliance is feeding me can go to helping him deal with it until I improve.” Roxanne hesitantly informs. “Well, if it isn’t enough, I’ll be more then happy to send whatever money I get your way. It’s the least I can do after making my time in the Alliance as comforting and stress free as possible.” “No problem, Arti. I’m more than happy to help you.” “By the way, did you mention any of this to the mercenary yet?” “Roy? Uh, no. I really haven’t figured out a way how to yet. I was hoping to do it naturally.” “Are you sure its a good idea to tell him at all?” “Artemis. I know you’ve read up on all that he’s done through his supposed career; but with the few weeks that I’ve spent with him, he really isn’t as bad as you think.” “I’m just wanting you to watch yourself.” “I know, and I will. Thanks Arti.” Unaware to either of the girls, the purple merc in question stood on the other side of the corner behind them; taking in the entire conversation with a sort of mild unease.

Strolling along the nearly empty city walkway, both Roy and Roxanne walk together hand in hand; the dimly lit streetlights to their side lighting their way. “Ya know, we still got us a lot of night on us to burn away. Could go somewhere else tonight, like a restaurant, arcade, mall, lake, fight club. You got the wheel on where how this night can go.” the merc suggests. “Actually, I already have a place in mind that I wanna stop; though its not really as fun as any of those places. You don’t really have to come with if you don’t want to.” “What, you mean like a hospital.” “Actually, yeah. I was planning to stop their for a little bit to maybe help out.” While walking alongside his red headed girlfriend, Roy loosens his grip on Roxanne’s own hand; eventually letting go of her as he asks her if: “Is it the same hospital where your brother is staying?” “Yeah...How did...Were you overhearing Arti and I talk back there?” “Kind of.” “Oh, I’m sorry for the way she talked about you. I know she can be defensive, but-” “Don’t be. She’s a good friend looking after you like that. That neon green gal’s lucky to have somebody like you with her.” With her boy mentioning such to her, Roxanne can’t help but crack a sincere smile; soon hearing Roy continue with: “Plus, I think I know a guy that can help out just as much with your little bro’s problems. A blue bro of mine with healing powers somewhere close to yours; I figure with his help, we could get your brother back on his feet. I ain’t too sure if he could fix him up completely, or if at all. But hey, can’t hurt to try; right?”

It takes the red head a few good moment to ponder upon her purple merc’s offer; but eventually responds to him with: “It sounds too good to be true...but I don’t think I can take you up on your offer.” “What? Look, I know my bro can be act like an idiot sometimes, but he’s pulled through for us lots of times before. I’m pretty sure that he can fix your-” “That’s not what I meant...I was...hoping to one day heal my brother myself.” Roxanne corrects. “What?...Why? Why would you wait for something like that?” Roy questions. “Its the Alliance. Being with them gives me a good outlet to practice and hone my healing flames; practice that I may one day heal my brother myself. Once I master my powers to do something like that, there may be no one else in this world I can’t heal then. To take care of the needy and sick that dwell in this cruel world, awaiting for somebody to end their pain and suffering; I can become a beacon of hope and life for everyone.” His girlfriends explanation on denying his offer drives Roy to the point of silence, his only fist trembling behind his back as he finally answers her with: “Are you kidding me?...” “Huh?”

“That has to be some of the biggest pile of bullshit I ever heard!” The merc harsh comment shocks and appalls the red head; backing away from the black angel as she questions him: “How...could you say something that?” “You mean to tell me that your using your brother as a milestone for something that you don’t even know might happen, all the while leaving the poor kid to suffer; how could I not say it!” “He’s not suffering, Roy! All the money the Young Blood Alliance gives me help treat and comfort him in his hour of need!” “He wouldn’t even need any of that cash if you stop being so self centered and get him actual help!” “It’s like that! You don’t understand!” “No, you don’t understand! If you actually gave a damn about your brother, then you wouldn’t have him wait around for who know’s how fuckin long until you muster up the skill to actually do it; all just so for you hope of what you could do in the future rather than the reality of what you can do now. That’s not dreaming, that’s just being selfish.��� Taking in the merc’s harsh words, Roxanne stands before him shocked and silent; attempting to hold back the flow of tears welling in her eyes. Roy lets out a small sigh as he pulls out his phone, passing by the shock struck red head as he tells her to: “Now, come on. My bro can meet with us at the hospital.” “No...” Roxanne utter. Stopping dead in his tracks, the purple merc turns back towards the red head behind him and simply states: “Why now?” “It’s over Roy...It’s all over...We’re through.” Hearing the girl uttering this with his own ears, the merc’s phone slips out from his grip and onto the cold concrete walkway; staring at Roxanne’s back as he himself utters: “What?” “...Goodbye.” Its with her final word that the red head runs from the merc, disappearing into the darkness and leaving Roy under the light of the streetlamp; Roy crumbling to his knees as his eyes drift down to his own shadow.

In the midst of his heartbroken sorrows, the merc hears a familiar voice ring inside his head; the goddess within asking if: “Are you going to be okay?” “I…...I don’t know anymore.” “Why did you say all that to her?” “I was just hoping to talk some sense into her. Get her to see and do the things that are in the now rather than what may be in the future.” “...What do you plan to do now?” To Hera’s worrying question, the merc can’t bring himself to answer her at the moment; simply rising from the concrete walkway and flying up into the night sky.

Perched atop the edge of a buildings, Roy gazes down to the few people left strolling along the streets; staring down to a couple holding one another in their arms. “Hera...” “Yes...” “Is it wrong that I still love her?” “...No.” “But with everything that’s happened...It still hurts. She just cut me out so fast, all while I was offering to help her. I know I was being aggressive. But I did it to try and get through to her...” “Did you think it would’ve been better simply to not say anything?” “How could I not say anything to something like that? Anything to change her mind...But all I did was just ruin everything.” Ruminating in silence, the merc’s gaze drifts up towards the moon perched high in the sky; staring upon the glowing half crescent as a heavy breath escapes him. “Sometimes, I wonder if I even deserved to be loved.” “Oh Roy, of course you do.” “Then why am I so bad at keeping it?”

With his last question baiting out no answers from the goddess, the merc stands from the edge of the building as he prepares to take off into the night sky; his black wings unfolding from his back. Just as he launches right off the rooftop, an unexpected green beam blasts into the side of his head; the surprising headshot causing the merc to plummet to the streets below. The impact of Roy’s crashing descent could be heard ringing across the entire block; accompanying the merc cursing: “Fuck!”

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The final episode before the season finale. I'll be honest, I had the scenario at the end in the back of my mind for a very very long while now; the thought of Roy severing a sort of romantic connection with his own stubborn morality and beliefs was one that I was wanting to experiment with for a long time. I especially wanted to make this argument as two sided as I possibly could, with readers being able to see both sides of their argument without demonizing either; plus for both parties to have their own mistakes in the relationship beforehand. I really hope that I pulled it off well...Just in time for Valentines day too.

Gigi, Toxi, Artemis, Charles, and Roxanne all belong to: @princesscallyie

[joshuazev]

On late night:

Sneakers, new and old, squeak loudly on the basketball hardwood.  Five on five.  First team to eleven, going by ones and twos.  Four teams are waiting to play and the list promises to get longer and longer, but luckily the games go pretty quickly.  Still, you don’t want to lose because if you do you might not play again for a half hour—depending on the list maybe an hour.  This is late night basketball, where kids go to hone their skills, talk their shit, and get better, before, during and after the season.  Conversations bounce along like the basketballs in their palms.  Last Friday the conversation that dominated the courts was the difference between saying “hoop” and “ball.”  It was decided that it was a regional term.  A lot of the guys down in California would say “ball” and if you played down there and were good, you were considered a “baller.”  New York, too.  In Seattle though, where most of the people at these late night sessions were from, it was all about “hooping.”  You went to go “hoop.”  If you were good you were a “hooper.”  And if you were going to terrorize someone at the gym, you’d “hoop” them.  This might seem like a tame argument on the surface, but as the night went on at these gatherings, the tame becomes a little more intense.  You’d have the “hoopers” against the “ballers.”  That was just one of the things you’d be playing for, essentially the right to claim the better term.  The “hoopers” usually won.  Other nights it would cover everything from the best player in the NBA to the best team in the NBA.  “Russell?”  “LeBron?”  “Steph?”  “KD?”  “Kahwi?”  “Did he really just say Boogie Cousins?”  “Fuck outta here…”  The same guy would always monitor the wait list of teams.  He was the neighborhood old head, going in and out of sobriety, sometimes bringing in those shot bottles ranging from Jack Daniels to Jim Bean to Jameson to Hennessy.  Everyone loved him except when he would walk the fine line of sloshed and belligerent.  Luckily things never got too out of hand, but sometimes he would say strange things like, “Hey Davis, I hurt yo feelings and I don’t mean your emotions!” and people would kind of just stare back and process the meaning of his latest saying.  The competition was real, too.  Most of the time it was filled with elite high school players looking to get some good runs in, but sometimes you’d have several D1 athletes drop by, revisiting the gym that was their old stomping ground.  In the summer, it was a different story.  Not only would the current NBA players that were born in the city come by and play against each other, but they would bring their teammate friends, too.  It was like a late night pro-am.  If you thought the games to eleven went fast, these games went at a lightning pace.  You could put your head down to check your phone, look up and the game would be over.  A lot of the professionals were so good they would hardly break a sweat, but in those good runs, those memorable runs where two superstar teams would face each other, there was sweat flying everywhere.  Hard fouls—the street kind mind you, not the flagrant slap on the wrists called in the league—would occur as if they were common.  The energy never got malicious.  Not really, anyway.  Sometimes it would.  On rare occasions you’d get two NBA players that didn’t like each other at all and you could always tell how it was going to go because of how physical the games started off.  A layup attempt followed by a clothesline.  A hard screen to the knee.  An undercut gone horribly wrong.  There was only one time punches were thrown and landed.  Those two weren’t allowed to come back and they settled the rest outside.  No, it was just a lot of squaring up and empty threats over here.  The rights were won in the games not with the fists.  A lot of people agreed that the NBA games’ intrigue were short lived during late night.  What seemed to be more special was when the NBA players would mix and match with the high schoolers and the college athletes.  Those games were ultimately the most competitive.  And just think of the impact that had on the young guys.  One minute you’re playing against people you’re own age and then next think you know you’re playing with Paul George and Anthony Davis and they’re passing you the ball!  The NBA players were always so gracious, so willing to give, so willing to be patient.  Willing to teach too, but make no mistake, at the end of the day, they wanted to win.  It was against their nature not to.  Well, let’s take a look shall we?

The Golden State Warriors have dropped in.  Kevin Durant is to thank for this visit.  He’s always had a soft spot for Seattle and heard about late night during his days as a Sonic.  The energy when they came in the gym was absolutely electric.  It wasn’t a spectacular late night at the start, but within moments after dropping in, the word got out and better players started to show up, hoping to play alongside the defending championships.  A couple of the exceptional high school athletes, PJ Fuller and Kevin Porter are here.  Daejon Davis, currently at Stanford and Shaqquan Aaron, currently at USC are here.  Nate Robinson is here, Pierre Jackson is here.  Jon Brockman is here.  Bobby Jones is here.  What the Warriors will come to find out is that nobody plays harder than ex-NBA players looking to prove a point, looking to prove that they should still be in the league and that they can still compete with the best of them.  Nate Robinson made sure to get in the first game against the Warriors squad that had Steph and Klay.  That’s just who he was.  He was going to attack Steph every play, even though they had been former teammates.  The teams were about half and half because the Warriors didn’t want to all be on the same team.  Nate Robinson, Nick Young, Brockman, Bobby Jones, and Daejon were all on one squad and Steph, Klay, Draymond, PJ Fuller and Kevin Porter were on another.  The other players like Igoudala, Livingston, and McGee decided to be on different teams and KD elected to be on an all high school squad.  Steph opens up the game with two quick twos over Nate Robinson.  There is a chorus of ooh’s and aahs at the silky sound of the ball through the nylon.  Nate Rob laughs it off and so does Steph.  On the next possession Nick Young throws the oop to Daejon, who is savagely blocked by Draymond.  The ball skids to Kevin Porter who leads the break, fakes a pass to Steph an throws an alley cop to a trailing PJ Fuller who skies for the tomahawk, but is padded by Brockman.  After getting his own block Brockman outlets to a leaking Nate Robinson, who makes sure he’s being trailed by Klay Thompson, rises up and throws a disgusting dunk on Klay’s chase down attempt.  People on the sideline are going crazy.  The old head falls out of his seat.  The players couldn’t be enjoying themselves more.  Everyone except Klay, who always seems to find himself on the wrong side of the poster.  The game goes back and forth.  Shot for shot.  When Nate’s team is down 11-10 (it’s win by two) he hits a key bucket to tie up the score and both teams go back and forth, with an assortment of high flying acrobatics, deep three point attempts and great team basketball mixed with individual effort.  Finally the score is 20-20 and the game is down to it’s final point (straight up to 21).  Shit talking has commenced indeed and each team finds themselves equally under the other team’s skin.  Brick.  Brick.  Brick.  Brick.  A sneaky give and go has Daejon all by himself at the rim, but out of nowhere comes Steph with a rare defensive effort to send the attempt flying.  Klay Thompson corrals the rebound and gets a good head of steam against Nick Young.  With a nasty head fake he gets Young to bite, takes a dribble and a step, crosses back to his original position and Young skirts to the ground in a crippling crossover move.  Chaos ensues.  The stoic Klay looks at the broken Young, sets up an fires a nothing but net, pure as purified water bucket an the Splash brothers take the game.  Klay leaves the building as only Klay would do and the atmosphere in the gym reaches a fever pitch.  None of the games after quite reach the level of madness, but some great ones are played nonetheless.  KD’s high school squad against the Seattle squad was an incredible matchup and the team that ended up winning was the team featuring Igoudala and Livingston.  They were overlooked from the beginning and coasted to seven easy victories.  Finally the Warriors take turns leaving, some staying later than others.  Everyone kind of wondered if Klay would come back, but he never did.  The last person to leave was KD who sat out the last couple of games to talk to the old head, rearing his head back to laugh the drunker the old head got.  And so it went here at late night.  KD took the time to say goodbye to each player individually and the games continued even as the clocks hit 1 o clock in the morning.

The old head was the last person to leave and he was all alone, just him and his basketball sanctuary.  He got out the brooms and made sure the court was in good shape.  Nice and clean and shiny.  He threw away the shot bottles and sat down to look at the gym and ponder the latest edition of late night.  He reflected on his own playing days, his time as a ranked high school star, his legendary career at the state university and the promising NBA career that ended before it could get started.  He scratched his leg and smoothed his hands over the scars on both of his knees, knees which for many years had no cartilage in them at all.  Knees that were faulty to begin with and finally couldn’t withstand the daily grind.  Make no mistake, he was a legend anyway, but on nights like these he took a little longer to ponder what might have been.  He deserved that much, he thought.  When the memories in his head came to an end he got up slowly and went to the door to turn the lights off one by one.  After one last look he closed the doors and locked them, whispering a soft “See you next Friday, baby” before walking home into the night.