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soranis-sunshadow · 4 years

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Hordak can’t catch a break even on his birthday...

Oh fandom, you really like this sort of drama don’t you?

A few days ago, on Hordak’s birthday, there was this ‘interesting’ post in the tag – since, apparently it’s impossible to get any peace even on that day.

I was too tired to answer it at the time after being on call the day before so, here’s my delayed answer to all of that:

First off: this post has this bit in it when asked what that person dislikes about SPOP.

He doesn’t need to get a redemption and he doesn’t get one in the show.

None of his actions constitute a redemption arc. The man merely acknowledged his personhood and freed himself from his master and God. That’s what his arc was about: the right to have a personal identity.

He gave himself a name and wanted to be his own person. That’s it. That’s all he wanted.

The man was merely freed from Prime’s influence- an influence he was born into since he’s been specifically manufactured to serve as a disposable mass produced soldier and worshipper of Prime.

If the argument that Catra was “forced” to commit crimes and thus she is not completely guilty of them since she was under duress – then the argument doubly holds for a person who has been directly programmed and conditioned to do so under the threat of death or mental rape (purification).\

Even while away from Prime, he was still conditioned to obey and brainwashed by Prime’s cult. He literally knew nothing else – he was not meant to. It’s how indoctrination works.

Prime’s clones aren’t people to Prime, they are tools. Those clones, while cut off from Prime still want to serve and please him: That’s what Wrong Hordak’s purpose in the show is- to show us just that.

Hordak is not considered “OK” because Entrapta likes him. Hordak is merely shown – by Entrapta that he could live apart from his cult and have worth outside what Prime tells him he has.

Just like real life cult victims, he needs an outsider to help him see a way out of the cult. The nature of indoctrination and brainwashing makes it impossible for the brainwashed person to know they are brainwashed unless someone points it out.

Now for my favorite thing:

and

oh and

Oh boy… this makes me just so damn uncomfortable.

To offer a bit of context as to why. I have never been on social media before SPOP or in any fandom and as such, I have never encountered the ‘all men are evil’ discourse that seems to infest these places. It’s been quite a bit of culture shock for me.

What is it that makes anyone think it is ok to judge a person because of an accident of birth? (being born male)

Why does hate for 50% of the human population get such a free pass on these platforms? Misandry is just as terrible as misogyny. You are being biased against another human because of their gender. I don’t care that males are perceived as ‘privileged’ – that doesn’t make it ok to be terrible to them unprovoked.

How does hating all men help achieve equity?

Do you realize that this sort of discourse is exactly how you radicalize people against the very cause you are championing? You breed hate and adversity for the rest of us who actually want to to have a discussion on the topic.

I’m a feminist myself (in a country where feminism is hard-work) and let me tell you, making all men hate us does nothing but push away potential allies and make it a lot harder for our voices to be heard.

Feminism is about equality, not women dominating.

Now onto the second post: the one comparing Catra and Hordak with the question of which of them is a better person.

This whole war orphans that were personally abducted and tortured into serving the horde HC that some ppl have is really starting to get boorish. This has been going on for more than 6 months.

I have no idea why everyone thinks he went down chimneys and stealing babies left and right while cackling villainously. The man had a busy schedule of brooding in his lab, wallowing at his inability to use insulated cables and having his device blowing up in his face with the occasional Skype call to Shadow Weaver to see what the Horde is doing.

And yet, to a part of the fandom, this is what he looked like:

( @bat-burrito made this one and it’s glorious)

And if you don’t believe me about the lab recluse thing, you don’t have to, the show pretty much states it for me.

and

Hordak is a recluse that stayed in his lab and let the running of the Horde and most operations to Shadow Weaver and later Catra. He did not personally abuse anyone and he is not the origin of the cycle of abuse.

Shadow Weaver was a child grooming manipulative woman before she even joined the Horde – she did this to Micah while she was not “evil” or presumably abused by Hordak.

Even if you want to HC that Hordak abused her somehow, he is still not the one who started the cycle: Horde Prime is.

The whole fandom seems to forget about the eldritch monstrosity that created a whole army of brainwashed slaves to worship and die for him. Prime is the one that sent Hordak to die and gave him the motivation to try to prove himself worthy of life and love. If you want to point fingers, point them at the origin of all of this. This fandom has a strange Prime blindness. He is never talked about when it comes to being the start of all of this.

If Prime didn’t exist, Hordak wouldn’t exist. If Prime hadn’t sent Hordak off to die, then his clone wouldn’t have accidentally ended up on Etheria. None of the things in the show would have happened.

Adora would have died of exposure in a field, the monarchies on Etheria would have continued as they are and the planet would have continued to exist in despondos.

He is a dictator, yes. So are the princesses. Monarchies are dictatorships where the ruler is born into power. Hordak gained his through military might while Glimmer was born with hers and enforced it with tradition. I don’t really care to play “who’s the better dictator”. The princesses have their power because of the runestones- magical rocks put there by the First Ones to channel the planet’s magic and use it as a weapon. How come no one talks about that?

Do you think a king/queen keeps their crown without effort or subjugation of their subjects?

Also, Hordak had never interacted with Catra before SW dragged her before him to be judged. He was indifferent to etherians in general and didn’t seem to care which of them were his underlings so long as the operations were running smoothly. He was more focused on his portal and returning home than on anything else. He did not set out to “ruin lives” or quest for power. What he wanted was to return to his deity and become a mindless part of the whole again – that is as opposite to power hungry as you can get.

Catra was directly abused by Shadow Weaver throughout her childhood. That makes Shadow weaver responsible for 100% of that abuse.

Catra was found in a box by Adora and adopted by Shadow Weaver. Hordak didn’t know or care that she existed.

He is responsible for the war, he is responsible for the war casualties and the property damage. He is not responsible for Shadow Weaver being a terrible person and mother figure.

Again with the orphan thing. We have 5 cadets in the show.

Adora was found in a field.

Catra was found in a box. Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio are unexplained. The only lizard ppl we see in the show are in the Horde or the Crimson Wastes. The other two could just as well be the children of some of the soldiers.

I may harp on about what a bitch Shadow Weaver is – the reason I do so is because she is legitimately terrible to the two girls in her care.

I was the unfavorite growing up, I WAS the Catra in my family who could do no right while my sibling was the golden child. I don’t however hate Shadow Weaver. She is a cartoon character in a show and she does the things she was written to do. Hell, she is a very compelling and believable villain. Her motivations are clear and she is consistent. Her voice actress portrayed her splendidly and her character design is superb. I like her but that doesn’t mean that I don’t acknowledge her role in the story. I don’t however make up parts of the story to make her more evil than she was or treat my headcanons about her as absolute fact.

Again, sigh: Prime is the worst villain in the show. He is quite literally Nyarlathotep and does this to planets:

This to people:

and this to the people he created to serve, worship and love him:

How is that not worse?

I love Catra and it genuinely annoys me when people erase her agency or try to paint her as one-dimensional victim. Catra was an antagonist for most of the show and she rocked it! She was 400% more efficient at it than cloneboy. Give the queen some damn respect and recognition! Catra had a lot of agency and her actions moved the plot of the show more than those of the protagonists. (they were mostly reactive).

Catra pulled the lever of the portal in a moment of distress after a breakdown, a Shadow-Weaver related breakdown because that’s how trauma works.

Hordak didn’t make her do it, he didn’t send Catra after Adora either. These were Catra’s choices. They came from a place of hurt but they were her choices still.

The portal was a means of transportation, not a weapon. Building it was not Catra’s mission, it was Hordak’s. He built it so he could contact Prime and either summon him here or go home –whichever course of action Prime wanted. Again, Hordak wanted to go back to this:

...

The only person who knew the device was dangerous was Entrapta and she tried to warn Hordak about it. Catra was the one who stopped her, violently so, then sent her to die on Beast Island- the fate Entrapta saved her from a season ago. Catra then tried to have Hordak open the portal before it was ready.

When he wouldn’t – she pulled the lever herself because that is how desperate she had gotten at that point, to show Shadow Weaver how wrong she was. That is how hurt Catra was by her mother figure’s betrayal and abuse.

Don’t take that away from her. Don’t call it curiosity or naivete or whatever. She knew the portal was dangerous but she wanted to prove Shadow Weaver wrong so badly that she didn’t care at that point. She had been pushed that far.

Catra’s actions led to Angella’s death but she was not directly responsible for it. She didn’t activate the device to kill Angella, it merely happened accidentally. Catra was however glad it happened and wanted to profit from the aftermath of her death.

Hordak didn’t care or plan to kill Angella personally. There is no in-show moment where any of that is portrayed. Since he doesn’t care about the specifics of running the horde seem to know what they are conquering at the moment, it seems that that was usually a task reserved for his second in command.

^ - troop movement ordered by Catra

Hordak doesn’t even know what his own army is doing.

Again with the Hordak “drilling into orphan’s minds”… I seriously doubt that any of them had ever seen him out of his lab or that he came up with the propaganda himself.

Manipulation is more Shadow Weaver’s game not his. For all of Hordak’s faults, he is not deceptive or manipulative. If anything, he is woefully incapable of spotting lies. (it might have something to do with him being born in a society where lies were almost impossible because of the hive mind and Prime being able to browse his thoughts at a whim- as such, it wouldn’t be a skill he would have been able to develop).

Hordak canonically despises deception and lies. I really don’t understand where this image of a manipulative and cunning Hordak comes from. He wouldn’t be able to plot himself out of a paper bag if his life depended on it.

First off.. S4 Catra was his equal, not his subordinate. Don’t take that away from her. She earned it.

He doesn’t look that threatening here...

And again: Prime created the system. He made clone slaves and programmed them to serve. His clones have hardware installed for the express reason to facilitate his control over them. He has a religion in place to make sure their thoughts do not stray from his purpose. I am legitimately boggled by this fandom’s tendency to completely forget about his existence.Does anyone really think that these people that are born “prechipped” and programmed to know nothing but Prime’s Light are really knowledgeable about human morality?

That they would know that conquest is bad when that is the express reason for their creation?

If I were born in that situation, I’m not sure I would have known any better. Hell, if any of the clones even try to disobey Prime, they would get either mindraped (erased) or killed for the effort. They really have no choice, even if they knew that killing in Prime’s name is wrong (they don’t) they really can’t do anything about it. They have no choice but to be what they were made to be. I find it personally abhorrent when these designer slaves are held accountable for what Prime has made them do.

And to the people that say Hordak was free of Horde Prime once he was stranded on Etheria.. That is not how indoctrination works. The fact that I can’t go to church this Sunday because I’m locked in the house and can’t find the keys doesn’t make me an atheist.

Hordak was serving Prime even on Etheria. He keeps mentioning it to both Entrapta and Catra. He started the war because that’s what he thought Prime wanted of him and that’s what he’s been programmed to do. Personal and informed choice really doesn’t factor into his decision at all.

He is not sympathetic because Entrapta likes him. Notice how I haven’t brought up his relationship with her up to this point?

He is sympathetic because he literally had no choice but to do the things he was indoctrinated into doing. He was build and programmed for it, just like all the other clones. They are not able to deviate from that because of the way Prime functions and rules over them.

There is no point in the show where Hordak relishes over his status as a ruler or the “luxury” it affords him. He does not engage in the same behaviors his progenitor manifests.

There is no point in the show where Hordak relishes over his status as a ruler or the “luxury” it affords him. He does not engage in the same behaviors his progenitor manifests. He attempts to emulate Prime in order to project authority in the only way he knows how but since those are some really big shoes to fill, he is woefully inadequate.

If Hordak had been power hungry, he would have stayed in despondos and ruled his own faction. Being away from Prime is the most powerful and autonomous he’s ever been and yet, he wants to throw all of that away in order to be a powerless, nameless part of the whole. What Hordak wanted was to be enslaved by Prime because that’s what he had been created for.

“vengeful” – and how did Hordak manifest this vengefulness? Who did he take revenge on in the series?

“apologize” – when and where in his 3 minutes of screentime would he remember everything after 2 mindwipes, realize that the whole worldview he had since inception is wrong, realize that he had been mistaken into doing the horrible things he did and then go to all of the characters and apologize for it?

Would anyone be convinced of that had it happened in 3 minutes? I’d rather they don’t redeem him than do a shit job at it.

Very true. He’s not a better person. He’s just a person in an impossible situation. Both Hordak and Catra were handed a raw deal, I don’t understand why everyone insists on pitting them against one another. They both did bad things and they were both in horrible situations. The specifics don’t really matter since neither of them would have done the things they did had they been more fortunate.

This is the exact reason for which I don’t hold Cara’s actions against her. Catra’s only model of success was Shadow Weaver. She emulated her abusive mother figure because she had no other example and because she wanted to please that woman. It does not excuse the way Catra acted but it explains it.

I really don’t understand why some people want Catra punished. I’d rather she get love and help. That is what she needs. In time, she will want to do better and be better by herself. She doesn’t need to be forced, heavens know, she’s been forced enough as it is.

They are really different. Catra got an abusive, shitty and violent childhood. Hordak got this:

He was literally robbed of a childhood.

She was taught by Shadow Weaver that weakness gets you killed. Hordak was not allowed to have emotions to begin with, or thoughts of his own, or a name...

Comparing to victims of abuse to see which one of them is more likable is such a strange concept to me.

Catra was robbed in s5 too. I don’t hold that against her. I blame it on the writers. S5 could have been a lot better.

#Hordak #Catra #catra vs hordak discourse strikes again #can we please stop with this #it's been 6 months #my pixel is nicer than that pixel #a cartoon villain is not an actual despot #cartoon and fandom activism is not real activism #Cartoon characters can't apologize for their actions unless the writers make them #the writers in s5 were too busy with butchering the previous seasons to actually put any thought into the cohesiveness of this show's themes #everyone felt a bit ooc in s5 #spop critical #spop fandom drama #spop

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uponrightful · 3 years

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Hi! I’ve just finished Welcome Company-it was so good, your writing is amazing! I have a question about one of the last scenes if that’s OK? Partly about Pups point of view, because a lot of what happened to her post Order 66 is clearly in her mind, but seems to read differently emotionally later if that makes sense? I’d also like to know why you decided to include the scene of Pup having to fight one last time. -RebelMedic99

“Wolffe! Please!” She sobbed through the pain and fear, whimpering when the kid pulled her own arm around her throat, locking in a chokehold she was unable to break from. He laughed dryly in her ear, yanking on her broken wrist to elicit another scream.

“He’s not coming back you little slut.” He fell into another fit of laughter, “And even if he did you’ll be so used he won’t even want to look at you.” His evil words cut right through her. She was already broken, and yet another piece was about to be taken, and smashed on the floor right in front of her. She felt the pain of his remarks, feeling just as useless as he’d appraised.

She wanted to fight anyways.

The pain in her wrist didn’t subside, but it wasn’t going to stop until she got his filthy hands off her. And without that blaster, she really didn’t have a chance at getting off the ship, or keeping the ship safe until Wolffe got back. She struggled to keep her breath even, fighting to pull her broken wrist out of his grasp so she could get free.

Think fast…

Get him off guard…

“You really want me?” She choked out, wincing from the abrasive words cutting at her tongue. If he was that young, there was a chance he’d fall for it and drop the -hopefully- act long enough for her to grab the upper hand.

“You’re a fucking slut! Already turning towards the closest man you can get in your pants!” He snarled, yanking her wrist again. The girl held back her cry, again repeating the question for him, praying it would make a bigger impact this time.

“I’ll behave. I promise.” She faked convincingly enough through her tears. The kid’s grip faltered just for a second before retaining its unflinching need to inflict pain again. Yet, by miracle, he released her wrist and stepped back with the blaster dropped down at his side. Miraculously, his anger suddenly disappeared, and a look of disbelief came over him.

“Pick me.” He ordered harshly, as she turned to face him.

Everything moved so quickly.

Commentary Track for Welcome Company

Copy 500 words -or more- of any of my fics and I’ll give my thoughts/rambles on what was going through my head -or the character’s- when I wrote it!

*send one in here*

This one is challenging, but we'll see if I can explain it without sounding like a complete dumbass... 😅

***

We'll start with addressing her emotional shift towards Order 66 first, and that will help set up the reasoning why she had this "last stand" at the end. (This won't be from her POV, it'll make things a little simpler.)

Pup's true knowledge of what Order 66 is comes in small bits and pieces after she flees Coruscant. It's obvious right away that something changed, but it's not for a really long time that she finds out that there might be something "unwilling" about the whole situation. In this time frame -of a couple years- she's actually left to her own devices and thought-process to make sense of it all. And a couple of years can really take a toll on someone's perception of what is really going on.

There is talk of manipulation, and how 'robotic' the clones are. All of it culminating in a bunch of half-assed theories as to why they suddenly have this unbending will for the Empire when they fought for the Republic for so long. (The bar fight Wolffe was in, is where I tried to explore this a little bit with the Cerean.) But Pup only hears rumors, and those weak excuses aren't enough to dissuade her fear of seeing troopers again. Because ultimatley, there are hundreds of them who'd been to her home, and in her mind, it's possible that they could come after her and punish her for that. It's not a realistic fear, but if you combine it with her last experience with a clone, it's one that would easily create a serious emotional trigger.

I meant for it to be a tad bit confusing when reading her emotions. Pup wants to love the clones -and she still does- but seeing one of them in real life would be fucking terrifying. Their sweet memories are always there, and she does her best to only think of those. However it's easy to be reminded of why she can't still see them, when she's living on a backwater planet to try and reassure herself that she'll never have to risk seeing a clone again. Because all of the love that they'd given her -in her mind- is completely gone the second she's shot by one.

And her entire being is damaged assuming that Wolffe is no different than the rest of them. Pup knows all the clones are acting this way, and Wolffe is really no exception. So even though she loves him dearly it's really scary when she sees him for the first time after all these years. Is he safe? Is there something still wrong with him? Does he want to take her with him, back to the Empire? These are all questions she has, because she's never seen a clone after Order 66 without a functioning chip.

The reason her change of heart is so sudden, is because Pup didn't let go of the good memories she had of her troopers. That integral part of her character is to forgive and be patient -even if she's been damaged by something or someone. Yes, she keeps it bottled up. But that was because she couldn't get rid of her base traits. You can't wholly change your personality very easily, and Pup never really wanted to in the first place. She was just forced to create this harder persona so she could survive. Then after Wolffe comes back, and he's painstakingly careful in trying to prove that he's not under influence any longer, it makes that desire to care for him -like she's always had- come back much smoother.

(It's a continuity error that I never gave a proper scene dedication to it; But I did have a draft that included an Order 66 conversation with Rex and Pup during that scene in Chapter 14.)

I chose not to include it because I wanted someone to focus on Pup's traumas faced during the transition period of planet-hopping. It might sound cruel of me to not include his struggles, but they've been covered so many times in other fics, that I gave the assumption my "Initial Implementation" scene and "Chip Removal Scene" would be emotionally sympathetic and exploratory enough of how Wolffe felt during and after, without needing to express it to you directly. Not to mention, after Pup and Wolffe are reunited, she's not stupid enough to not infer that it was against his will. She quite frequently notes throughout that his guilty looks and hesitancy to make physical contact with her are very noticeable and telling of how he feels about his time with the Empire.

All of this said, now her fight scene:

Right before they leave the cabin, she's feeling a little loss of home. But really, Pup never had too much of an attachment to her house on Takodana in the first place. What's really getting her emotional at this point is the realization that she finally has Wolffe back. It's security she's wanted this whole time, and although the boys aren't letting her help with the bounty, she's willing to do whatever they want because she understands that they've got the experience here. Plus, she's really not physically able to do a whole lot after her slight hypothermia exposure.

I wanted her weak for this: Emotionally, physically, mentally. It had to be that way for a reason.

Until this point, Pup hasn't ever shown a real motivation to fight for anything, other than making the trip to the outpost to save her friend. BUT. That's risking herself to save someone else. Pup has never done anything for her own benefit, without it being equally helpful for someone else. Even when she got Wolf, it wasn't just for herself. Iahcen was getting something out of it as well.

I know it's cliche, but her last moments alone on that ship waiting was where her character development needed to reach and end. Because I made the overarching plot of fighting for love, but I needed that same lesson to be learned in-story, as well to round it out. It had to be Pup, because she's been running this whole time. Wolffe can't learn it, because he's been fighting the entire time.

The kid is a symbol of kindness not being returned. This is key, because Pup has always been nice -even when she didn't need to be. And he attacks her for that. He comes in as the tool to show her that being kind doesn't always work; And sometimes you have to stand against something, instead of running or letting someone run over her. I also made certain to have the kid attack Wolffe's character. This was essential, because Pup has nothing else she wants to fight for. Wolffe has always been her one essential thing, and he was what made her realize that being a little selfish and desiring something isn't a bad thing. This kid is a product of her sympathetic nature, and he's willingly insulting and threatening her chance at having the one thing Pup has always wanted.

Pup needed fight or flight, and the only time her 'fight mode' kicks in, is when she realizes there's something she wants. On Coruscant, she had nothing, so she ran. Pup wanted to live for Wolffe, in the hopes that he might still be alive, and that was the first time her fight response kicked in. Then her friend was in danger of dying, that was the second time she chose to fight.

Her love and security in Wolffe was being threatened, and that was Pup's final character development, and why she needed this fight scene without Wolffe -or anyone else's assistance- in the matter.

***

I hope this wasn't garbage 😅 and I explained it decently... If not, please let me know. I'll do anything I can to answer your questions!

Much Love, Rightful 🤍

#commentary track #welcome company #commander wolffe #Pup #uponrightful #uponrightfulwrites

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Venom: Let There Be Carnage – The Comics History of the Symbiote Rivalry

https://ift.tt/3APMTrk

Something that impresses me with a superhero movie like Venom is when it doesn’t rush directly into the expected villain. When there are four different Fantastic Four movies, and they’re all about emphasizing Dr. Doom, it’s a breath of fresh air when, say, Man of Steel only makes an Easter egg reference to Lex Luthor instead of going directly for that confrontation. The MCU Spider-Man has yet to meet an Osborn, guys like Thanos and Darkseid started out as ominous benefactors, and the existence of Heath Ledger Joker was merely a cliffhanger tease in Batman Begins.

Much like how the Justice League movie decided to take its time by giving us Steppenwolf of all people, the first Venom movie had Carlton Drake (who hasn’t appeared in the comics since the early 9’0s) and Riot (the most forgettable of all of Venom’s comic children). By letting Venom build himself up on his own, flanked by some rather mundane villains, it gave more meaning to Cletus Kasady showing up in the post-credits. Carnage, Venom’s main villain, gets more fanfare by appearing in the sequel where our hero is fully formed.

Since Carnage’s first appearance in 1992, the idea has always been to make a darker, scarier Venom. Venom was a villain at the time, sure, but he was also on the border of becoming more. Outside of his personal delusions and anger issues, he still claimed that he wanted to help the innocent and punish the guilty. Even when he was able to accept that Spider-Man was good, they couldn’t co-exist due to their different natures as vigilantes. Carnage was simpler because he was full-on evil and had no potential for redemption. He was something so sinister and malevolent that both Spider-Man and Venom knew it was worth it to put aside their differences and take this creep down.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage has hyped Carnage up as being out of Venom’s league and that was the initial push of the character. Over time, the two became roughly equals as Carnage became the go-to bad guy for Venom to punch.

So let’s take a look at the history of Venom vs. Carnage. For the sake of simplicity, I’m going to define “Venom” and “Carnage” as characters wearing their respective symbiotes (excluding Peter Parker), or the symbiotes themselves. I’m not going to count Eddie Brock as Toxin, or Flash Thompson as Agent Anti-Venom or whatever.

Carnage’s Debut

Not counting cameos and build-up, Carnage’s first major appearance was in Amazing Spider-Man #361, starting off a three-parter. Spider-Man came to realize that he wasn’t enough to stop Carnage and he was going to need help. Specifically, he was going to need Venom. This was an awkward decision as Venom was at the time living his best life on an empty island, thinking that he had succeeded in killing Spider-Man.

Once Venom fully understood the situation, he accepted the temporary alliance. In the very first Venom vs. Carnage confrontation, Venom and Spider-Man tackled Carnage, got slammed into each other, then thrown into opposite walls. Carnage then caused a distraction by putting a baby in danger so he could escape. While he was dominant in that very brief scuffle, he still needed to run off, so I’m calling this a draw.

The handicap match continued into the last issue of the arc at a rock concert. In one-on-one exchanges, Carnage had Venom’s number, but Spider-Man was always there for the save. Spider-Man was able to use the sonics from the amplifiers to take out both of them. Technically a draw again, but it’s also a situation where Carnage regularly kicked the shit out of Venom and Venom only survived because he had help.

Maxium Carnage

Insert your Green Jelly cassettes and press play because it’s time for Carnage’s big ’90s crossover story. After the previous story’s popularity, Marvel decided to add more heroes, more villains, and make the whole thing a whopping 14 issues!

As Venom was a San Francisco vigilante at the time, he flew to New York to stop Carnage’s reign of terror. The first fight wasn’t even shown, as after the reveal that Carnage had Shriek and Doppelganger on his side, it cut away. A brutalized Venom was later found passing out while knocking on Peter and MJ’s door.

As Maximum Carnage was filled with so much filler and extra characters, there were various fight scenes of a group of heroes brawling with a group of villains. Venom and Carnage talked smack a lot, but nothing much ever really happened in terms of fighting. The story finally kicked into gear when Venom used a stolen sonic gun and blasted Carnage while Firestar assisted with her microwave blasts. This would have done the job, but Spider-Man got in the way and Shriek simply cut Cletus’ face open, causing his symbiote to respawn and bring him back to 100 percent health. Carnage and Shriek overwhelmed Venom and carried him off, along with the sonic gun.

Venom spent several issues being tortured until coming up with the plan to sneak some of the symbiote into the sonic gun so that Carnage would splatter Venom with more Venom. He punched Carnage down and escaped with gusto, hiding the fact that he was in no condition to fight.

It isn’t until the last issue that we FINALLY got a real Venom vs. Carnage fight. Venom was physically busted a bit, but Carnage was mentally busted. The heroes hit him with some MaGuffin device that caused him to be haunted by those who screwed him up in life. Venom pretty much just kicked Carnage’s ass around the city while Carnage tried in vain to escape. Every now and then, Spider-Man would appear and go, “B-b-but Eddie! Killing is wrong!” for the sake of giving Carnage a second wind.

Eventually, Venom punched Carnage so hard that Carnage’s brain ghosts went away. Knowing Carnage was more of a threat this way, Venom tackled him into a transformer. After the explosion, Cletus was knocked out and Venom got to weakly sneak away. Hey, good for him!

Venom: Carnage Unleashed

Venom was so popular that we got Carnage. Carnage’s initial storyline was so popular that we got Maximum Carnage. Maximum Carnage was so popular that we got a Maximum Carnage video game. Then we got Venom: Carnage Unleashed, a comic based on the popularity of the Maximum Carnage video game. It…wasn’t all too popular.

Still, it did give us the rarely used plot device that symbiotes can travel through phone lines and the internet! Symbiotes really are like pre-Crisis Superman where you can give them whatever power and people will just go with it no matter how ridiculous. As Carnage escaped from Ravencroft and commandeered a security tank, Venom eventually caught up with him and they had a fight on a runaway vehicle through traffic. Carnage eventually won when Venom got slammed by an oncoming train.

Their final battle here is a big pile of “That’s not how any of this works!” The two characters send symbiote tendrils into the internet, which were rendered on the Times Square big screen as the two brawled in cyberspace. Venom destroyed a nearby heatsink, which blasted both and knocked them out of the internet.

Carnage was ready for another go, but his kidnapped psychiatrist set him on fire and caused him to fall out a window. Venom reached through the phone lines and out the window to catch the falling Cletus because dying is WHAT HE WANTS. Which… no, that’s not true at all. Hell, even in Maximum Carnage, Cletus was freaked out about the possibility of dying.

Venom: On Trial

So there was a big Spider-Man/Scarlet Spider/Venom team-up called Planet of the Symbiotes that culminated in a 40-foot-tall Carnage, but there was never a specific Venom vs. Carnage moment, so I won’t go into it. Venom’s ’90s antihero run did have a storyline where Eddie was arrested and put on trial for all of his many crimes. Cletus Kasady was brought in as a star witness, which was an invitation for him to freak out and go on a killing rampage. I mean, seriously, guys. Come on. You should know better.

This story went all-in on Venom wrecking Carnage. Again, Spider-Man would interrupt and give Carnage a chance to turn things around. This time though, Venom decided to ride the wave by sneaking away while Spider-Man and Daredevil took on Carnage. Realizing that the two didn’t have a chance, Venom picked up a couple syringes filled with dopamine blocker and sprung into action. He smacked Carnage around, injected the blocker into his neck, and watched as the symbiote retracted into Cletus’ body.

Venom Triumphant

Howard Mackie wrote Spider-Man comics for a long while and he had an annoying tendency when it came to storytelling. He would come up with an interesting, if nonsensical, idea that would shake up the status quo, but instead of following up on that and using it to tell an actual story, he would just forget about it and move to the next idea that popped into his head. He was one of the main reasons why the Spider-Man Clone Saga was such a mess.

In the 10th issue of Peter Parker, Spider-Man, Venom broke into the prison where Carnage was being held. Despite the legion of heavily armed guards with flamethrowers and sonic guns, Venom killed them all so quickly that the artist didn’t even show it. Cletus, for some reason, figured Venom was trying to break him out of prison, but instead Venom was there to absorb the Carnage symbiote. Carnage barely put up a fight. Pieces of the symbiote were on him, but he didn’t fully transform or try to defend himself. Venom simply pulled the symbiote off of him and ate it, becoming stronger.

After this issue, there was barely any follow-up to this.

Venom vs. Carnage

This miniseries came out at a really weird time for those involved. Carnage was just a couple months away from being torn in half by the Sentry and being written out of comics for years. Venom was appearing in Marvel Knights Spider-Man where Eddie Brock got rid of the symbiote and it bounced around to different hosts until landing on Mac Gargan. Meanwhile there was a Venom ongoing that was more about a symbiote clone where Eddie Brock only appeared for a couple late issues.

In other words, in the Venom vs. Carnage miniseries by Peter Milligan and Clayton Crain, even the creative team had no idea who Venom’s host was supposed to be. Luckily, the story wasn’t about Venom or Carnage, but a new character who would quickly fall into obscurity anyway.

Venom and Carnage swung around New York City, giving the exposition. The Carnage symbiote was pregnant and Venom was explaining that there was nothing to do to stop the creature from going into labor. Venom was all about protecting the new spawn while Carnage wanted to destroy it, immediately. Carnage got the better of Venom by flinging him into the distance. Regardless, the explosive birth wore out Carnage so much that he could only plant the baby onto a nearby cop and escape to rest up.

When the two had a rematch, Venom was there to save the baby symbiote (Toxin) and its host (Pat Mulligan). As if getting revenge for that Carnage Unleashed story, Venom brought the fight to the subway and pushed Carnage into an oncoming train.

And… that’s really all the Venom vs. Carnage we get in Venom vs. Carnage! Once Venom sees that Toxin is a good guy and capable of kicking Carnage’s ass, he gets afraid of Toxin befriending Spider-Man and decides to team up with Carnage for once.

Carnage, USA

Carnage returned from his maiming at the hands of the Sentry, albeit without a bottom half. By then, a lot had happened with Venom. The symbiote was removed from Mac Gargan and joined with war hero Flash Thompson. Agent Venom went on to join the Secret Avengers.

Carnage, USA told the story of Cletus expanding his symbiote to overtake an entire town in the middle of nowhere. When various heroes went to oppose him, the Carnage symbiote ended up taking over Captain America, Wolverine, Hawkeye, and the Thing. When gaining a moment of clarity, Cap called in Agent Venom for help.

Movies

Venom 2 Trailer Breakdown – All the Marvel and Carnage References

By Gavin Jasper

Comics

Venom: Who is Carnage?

By Gavin Jasper

In their first meeting, Agent Venom easily took down Carnage with some explosive projectiles that came with sonic shrapnel. Then when getting ready for the kill – say it with me everyone – Spider-Man got in his face and went, “No! Don’t kill!” Carnage recovered, and overwhelmed Venom with his army of Carnage’d heroes. Then another obscure symbiote hero, Scorn, popped in to run Venom and Carnage over with a bulldozer and bring them into a facility that would blast their symbiotes off the hosts.

While Cletus and Flash had a fight based around the novelty that both were legless, the Venom symbiote latched onto a gorilla and ran for its life against an entire zoo full of animals with the Carnage symbiote. After almost being taken down by a Carnage lion (Spider-Man with the save), the gorilla returned to Flash and gave him the power to bring Cletus into custody.

As for the town-wide Carnage symbiote, most of it was taken out by an airstrike.

Minimum Carnage

Following up on Agent Venom, he had his own team-up arc with Scarlet Spider (Kaine) with the fun dynamic of a Venom who doesn’t want to kill and a Spider-Man who does. The two chased Carnage into the Microverse, where Carnage was able to create an army of symbiote clones. While Agent Venom was able to decapitate Carnage, the villain had attained some level of power where his body is more overall fluid and animated. In this case, Carnage could just reattach his head with no problem.

Although Flash had sedated his own symbiote and lacked the monstrous advantage, he was able to wipe out a bunch of the clones by amplifying his own inner sorrow outward through the Venom symbiote. Strangely, that’s not the first time Venom was able to do that. What’s left of Carnage slinked away, cackling.

Carnage and the clones returned to Earth and Voltron’d themselves into a giant Carnage. As Carnage tried to devour Agent Venom, Venom shoved a sonic grenade down Carnage’s throat and let the blast do the rest, taking out the enlarged Carnage symbiote almost completely. In the aftermath, Scarlet Spider jabbed one of his claws through Cletus’ eye and lobotomized him.

Venomverse

Venomverse is about a series of Venom hosts from different realities coming together to fight beings called Poisons. Under normal circumstances, Poisons are harmless. If one of them makes physical contact with a symbiote and its host, it transforms them into a nigh-unbeatable crystal-like creature with the Poison in control. By this point, Eddie Brock was Venom again and joined with all sorts of random symbiote heroes to the point that he came off as just a regular dude.

With their back against the wall, Eddie came up with an idea. They brought in Carnage from an alternate universe as a ringer. At first, Carnage fought against the Venoms, but they were reluctant to fight back. Once he saw the Poisons and understood that the Venoms wanted him to kill an army of twisted superheroes, he gladly joined their ranks. He just let them know that once he was done with the Poisons, he’d kill them next.

He ended up being a huge help, especially since the Poisons had a hard time bonding to the Carnage symbiote. Carnage died in an explosion fighting Poisons alongside Poison Deadpool (who was able to bypass his Poison’s mental control).

There was a sequel to this called Venomized where the Poisons returned and tried to invade Earth. They kidnapped Cletus, forced him to bond to an alternate universe Venom, and then bonded that to a Poison. While he was referred to as “Carnage” at times, the Carnage symbiote was never involved, so I’m going to skip this one.

But where was the Carnage symbiote during all of this?

The Red Goblin

At one point, Norman Osborn became the host for Carnage to give us a climactic villain to finish off Dan Slott’s lengthy run on Amazing Spider-Man. Knowing that Spider-Man was out of his league, J. Jonah Jameson decided to fight fire with fire by calling up Eddie Brock and blackmailing him into aiding Spider-Man. This led to a brief fight of Spider-Man, Venom, and repulsor-wielding Mary Jane against the Red Goblin.

Venom and Red Goblin brawled for a bit, but Red Goblin appeared to be immune to the usual symbiote weaknesses, so only Venom took damage. While he got some hits in, Eddie was too exhausted to continue. Instead he offered the symbiote to Spider-Man to give him the extra boost. This brief team-up allowed the two vigilante enemies to finally bury their lengthy rivalry.

Absolute Carnage

Now we get to Donny Cates’ bonkers run on Venom. Cletus had been resurrected and turned back into Carnage via a bunch of cultists who worshipped Knull, God of Symbiotes. Carnage then started going around eating the spines of those who were once host to a symbiote, getting stronger by the meal. Dark Carnage first fought Venom in a subway and easily overpowered him. Still, Venom got the win by grabbing onto the third rail while holding onto Dark Carnage. It was enough to knock Carnage loopy while Venom could get away and seek out help.

Venom and Spider-Man sought out Norman Osborn (who believed himself to be Cletus Kasady after the Red Goblin episode) and were ambushed by an army of inmates possessed by Carnage symbiotes. Overwhelmed, the two heroes broke through a wall and swung off into the night.

Venom got involved in another big fight against an army of Carnages and could have killed Osborn, but instead chose to save a wounded Mac Gargan nearby and brought him to safety. The Venom symbiote wasn’t happy with this and later left Eddie for Bruce Banner, giving us a fight between Venom Hulk and Dark Carnage. This turned out to be a dire choice, as Dark Carnage tore into Hulk’s brain, caused him to shrink back to Banner, then ate his spine. Carnage was stronger than ever.

Meanwhile, mad scientist the Maker had a machine that took the “symbiote codex” stuff Carnage was looking for out of former hosts without the nasty “tearing out their spinal column” part. Eddie unleashed the codex collection onto himself, turning him into a more powerful version of Venom. As he took on Cletus one last time, Carnage made note that Venom was screwed no matter what. Either Carnage killed and ate Eddie’s son Dylan or Eddie killed Carnage, which would wake up Knull and drive him to Earth.

Venom summoned the Necrosword to cut through Carnage, destroying him once and for all. For a time, at least.

Prelude to Knull

Wouldn’t you know it, killing Dark Carnage caused Eddie to absorb the Carnage symbiote into himself. Soon he was separated from Venom and stuck on an island while being bonded against his will to the Carnage symbiote. Dylan was able to remotely control the Venom symbiote and transformed it into a giant Venom T-rex. Like it wasn’t even bonding onto a dinosaur or anything. It was just the size and shape of a tyrannosaurus just because.

Eddie and Dylan had a dreamlike meeting in their minds while Carnage Eddie chopped down at the Venom dino. Eventually, the power of familial love was enough to overpower the Carnage symbiote and blow it up. Eddie rejoined with the Venom symbiote, and a little piece of Carnage latched onto a nearby shark to swim off and fight another day.

Okay, then! Phew! Going by every Venom vs. Carnage fight, I’ve judged them so that there have been six draws, eight victories for Carnage, and nine victories for Venom.

Congratulations, black ooze. Here’s hoping your red offspring doesn’t turn the tide at the box office.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage will be released in theaters on Oct. 1.

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ryder-s-block · 5 years

Text

Jaig Eyes (Ch 55)

Jaig Eyes (55/?)

Summary:

Kida, a former slave who now thrives as a bounty hunter, finds herself sucked into the war she advised Jango Fett against. Now that she’s involved, she has to finally mourn the loss of Jango, seeing his face in the clones that man the GAR. What happens when she allows herself to get attached to one, not for his resemblance to her former mentor, but for his heart?

————————-

Chapter Fifty-Five: Another One Bites the Dust

Padme watched me quietly as I finished catching her up on all she’d missed. I left very little out, trusting the woman with my life. Her lips were pursed with sadness, but determination as I finished, telling her about Echo and Piell.

“I’m so sorry,” she offered, finally getting up from her desk and moving to sit in the seat beside mine, her soft hand touching my pants. I’d chosen to take off my armor, having it put in a crate and returned to my shuttle. I was wearing civilian clothes, as the clones like to call them--black pants with my boots, and a soft leather jacket over my light green shirt. My hair, now washed after I took advantage of my private fresher on the Star Destroyer, was pulled back from my face in a messy ponytail.

I fidgeted under her affection, the woman leaving her hand on my knee stubbornly. She was going to show me love, whether I liked it or not.

“I’m glad you’re safe, though. And Anakin. And Ahsoka.”

I nodded. “I...I’m sad. But I also know there was nothing I could do. I could feel it. I knew we were going to lose him.”

Padme looked at me sadly, but said nothing more of it, choosing to change the subject. “Well? Let me see.”

I rolled my eyes, but pulled my lightsaber from inside my jacket. I’d elected not to leave it on my shuttle. Despite being on good terms with the Jedi now, I didn’t trust them to not have their suspicions and worries still. If my use of my lightsaber was something they disapproved of, they’d have to take it up with me directly, rather than swipe it from my things.

Padme accepted the lightsaber hilt hesitantly, examining the handiwork of the Armorer. “This craftsmanship is amazing. You did this yourself?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Who, then?” I gave her a look. “You won’t tell me?”

“More like, I can’t tell you,” I did my best to reason. “Go ahead. Turn it on.” The senator’s eyes widened with fright for a moment, but I only laughed. “Come on. Skywalker told me about how you had his lightsaber when Bane held you hostage.”

“For a moment,” she argued breathlessly. “And it was only to free Ani.” Her voice wavered slightly with uncertainty as she accidentally said Anakin’s nickname. I liked hearing her slip up and say it. Not only was it endearing to see their relationship work in trying times, but it also showed her easiness around me.

“Oh, come on,” I pushed gently, reaching over to guide her thumb over the ignition. The lightsaber hummed to life in her hand, her muscles tensing. I nudged her gently with my mind, easing her worries away.

That was something I was finding easier--using the Force within my mind. I struggled projecting it in a physical way. But it helped me see and sense the world better...as well as into minds easier.

Maybe I’d bring it up to Obi-wan or Anakin sometime.

“It’s white,” she breathed. “I’ve never seen one like this before.”

I shrugged, smiling as she gave the saber an experimental swish through the air. “It was actually green, once, when it was first harvested by a Jedi Padawan.” Padme’s brows furrowed with worry, but I waved it off with a grin. “I didn’t steal it, I promise. It was my ancestor’s...the one that first mixed blood with Sith.”

“Oh,” was all she offered, shocked.

“I found the blade in my travels, and it was red. When a Force-wielder pours rage and hatred into their kyber, it breaks, and thus, bleeds. This makes it red.”

“So it was a Fallen Jedi’s?”

I nodded. “The crystal called to me. Over time, I was able to heal it, which makes it white. Because it isn’t perfect,” I explained as I took the lightsaber back, my kyber humming happily. “It still has scars, but it isn’t bleeding anymore.”

With a final spin, I disengaged the blade, tucking the hilt back under my jacket. Padme smiled at me. “You seem to have everything figured out.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I joked, but appreciated the compliment. We both chuckled as the doors hissed open, revealing Anakin.

“Ani,” Padme expressed happily as he entered. He gave her a genuine, but tired smile. When the senator hesitated for a moment, I rolled my eyes.

“Just go,” I offered with a laugh. “I won’t look.” I turned my face away as the senator ran across the room and threw herself into her husband’s embrace. I gave them a moment before looking back to Anakin, who was following Padme towards the couch opposite me. “So? Is the information all set and ready to use?”

A darkness rippled off of the young Jedi as he scowled. “No. Master Yoda is trying to figure things out with the chancellor now. But Ahsoka was instructed to tell the Council her information, whereas Tarkin will only bring it to the chancellor.”

I frowned, looking between them. “But...they’re on the same side. What should it matter?”

“One would think,” Padme sighed as she stood. “Come on, Anakin. We should see what we can do to help.”

I could feel Anakin’s weariness. His desperation to lay down and sleep, holding his wife beside him. To feel safe.

It was a feeling most warriors such as us experienced.

“Now what?” I asked, still lounging in my seat. “Where’s everyone else?”

Anakin cracked his neck tiredly as he stood. “Ahsoka is with the Council still, and I assume Tarkin is with the chancellor. The men have been given a temporary leave while this gets sorted out.” He paused, glancing back at me. “Technically, your contract has been filled. You’re free to leave any time, Kida. Credits will be wired to you.”

He gave me a genuine, unjudging smile as he left the room, but I still couldn't help but feel guilty. I was being paid for a mission that might not even lead to anything. Not to mention, people I cared for died on that mission. Did I even really help at all?

A thought occurred to me at that moment. “Skywalker,” I called after him as I raced from the senator’s office. He turned in the hallway, raising his brow. “You have to convince them to come to an agreement. We can’t let Echo die for nothing.” His lips pressed into a line as he nodded before following his wife towards the chancellor’s study.

I watched them leave before heading towards the exit myself. If this turned out to be all for nothing, I didn’t want Fives to be sober when he heard it.

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

Commander Fox almost didn’t let me in. He stood in front of my shuttle as I descended the gangway, arms crossed. “Do you have orders to be here?”

“No,” I started, trying to explain. But I was cut off.

“Leave the premises immediately,” he ordered, his soldiers drawing their weapons. “All trespassers without clearance will be arrested.”

I growled lowly in my throat, popping my hip defiantly. “Come on, Fox. The GAR lost an ARC trooper on our mission. A friend of mine. One of your brothers.” He paused for a moment and I felt his mind shift slightly away from his training. Despite working as the leader of the Coruscant Guard, he had experienced losing his brothers, too.

“State your purpose.” He was curt, but he was letting me speak, at least.

“The soldiers I was fighting with have been given shore leave. To celebrate their fallen brothers, I’ve decided to take them out for a drink. Or two.”

Fox’s helmet hissed as he let out a long breath of air. “Fine.” His men dropped their weapons immediately, some of them seeming a bit surprised. “But no one better miss their orders and I better not find you here again after you all leave.” I knew what he was insinuating as he jutted his finger towards me.

“Relax, Commander,” I teased as I descended my gangway, tapping my mini wrist gauntlet to close it behind me. “I’ll take good care of them.” I knew I was only playing into a very twisted vision Fox had of me….but I couldn’t help it. Playing the part was a large portion of my work. And to be honest, it was pretty fun sometimes.

I strode past his squadron with playful purpose, following the mental map I’d retained from my last time there. It wasn’t long before I found the barracks for the 501st, most of which had been on leave for most, if not all, of the previous mission’s time. I leaned cockily against the metal doorframe as I gazed into the barracks, scanning for my friends.

I spotted them finally, sensing the despair Fives was feeling in the far corner of the barracks. Looks were cast my way as I walked through the rows of beds confidently. Some recognized me, some didn’t.

Most were just shocked to see a woman in their barracks. With no armor on, for that matter.

“Kida Fett,” a voice sounded, making me turn and see the tattooed face of Hardcase. I gave him a smile as he threw his arm around me. “I’m glad you’re here. We are trying to convince Fives over there to try and have a good time.”

“How convenient,” I projected, the room quieting slightly as I spoke. “I was here to do the very same thing.”

Hardcase let out a boisterous laugh, slapping me on the back as I pushed past him to stand behind Fives. The ARC trooper was hunched over on his bed, his back turned to me. He was only in his blacks.

“Trooper,” I said in my firmest tone. “What are you doing?” I could tell he wasn’t focused by how fast he leapt to his feet, immediately saluting as he turned. “Sir, I was--” he stopped when he saw it was me, rolling his eyes with a scoff. “Kida. Stop it.”

“Oh, I was just teasing,” I tried, but he turned away from me, sitting back down. I sighed, touching his shoulder gently. “Come on. Take it from me….it doesn’t do well to dwell on it. No more mourning.” I leaned down, squeezing his shoulder. “Let’s celebrate him, instead.”

Kix appeared at my side, offering me a cup filled with what smelled like rum. I took it, taking a long sip that burned my nose, before moving it into FIve’s field of vision. I nudged it towards his hand, smiling as he finally took it.

The trooper swallowed thickly before downing the entire cup in one go. He shook his head, coughing at the dry taste, before nodding. He stood and turned to me, wiping the sides of his mouth. “Alright. And I’m going to drink you under the table, just like I always did to Echo.”

I grinned. “I’d like to see you try.”

The clones around me cheered, everyone punching my shoulder playfully. I recognized most of the group that was currently gathered around us. Hardcase, Fives, and Kix, of course. But also Jesse, Tup, Appo, and Dogma. I gave them all smiles, accepting a cup of liquor from Jesse, who threw his arm around me.

“Your nose looks great,” I teased. “Almost like it was never broken.”

He laughed heartily, before looking around at the group. “Alright, you sacks of osik!” he cried, obviously already a few drinks deep. “It’s time we took this celebration to 79’s!”

I scowled, throwing his arm off of me. “79’s? That’s where you guys think is a good time?”

“Oh, come on, Kida,” Kix teased. “It’s the only place we really have fun.” I knew what he meant--a lot of bar patrons weren’t too kind to clones. Especially when below the surface.

I rolled my eyes playfully to avoid the subject. “Fine.” They cheered, the group practically carrying me from the barracks and onto a shuttle they hailed. It was a civilian shuttle, meaning we earned plenty of looks as a lone girl piled in with five clones, Dogma and Appo staying behind for duty that night.

The clones were shamelessly boisterous on the transport, making me smile easily. Despite the looks--ones I knew the clones were noticing--they kept on living as they deemed fit. They weren’t given a lot of time to experience life, after all. They were going to enjoy it while they could.

The transport stopped at 79’s quickly, much to the relief of the civilian passengers. I stuck my tongue out at one woman that was giving us a dirty look. “They die for your freedom, skanah,” I scowled. “Show some respect.”

My language earned a raised eyebrow from Kix and Fives, but neither said anything as we entered the clone bar. It was filled with drunken clones, all in various states of dress. Some were in their blacks. Some in their casuals. Some even had their armor still on.

“Come on, Kida!” Tup shouted, making me find him in the crowd at the bar. “Take a shot with us!”

I sighed inwardly, knowing I was in for a long night. We took the shot--something minty and tart--together, all of them cheering and immediately demanding another.

Three consecutive shots later, I was already wishing I’d eaten more of the food in Padme’s office than I had. Hardcase pushed an incredibly strong drink into my hand before herding me over to a booth with the others.

“Alright, alright,” he laughed as he shoved himself into the booth after me, his arm going over my shoulder. I rolled my eyes, not caring enough to stop him. “Jesse, you know the drill.” Said clone sat up straight in the booth, listening closely to his brother. “Senator Dio or Senator Amidala?”

My eyebrow raised immediately as Jesse rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Come now, that’s an easy one,” Hardcase laughed, leaning into me more.

“Oh?” Kix asked, taking a long drink. “If you know the answer, why’d you ask it?”

“I wanna know what he thinks!”

“I’m sorry,” I interrupted, putting up my hand. “What is the game here?”

“Who’d you rather,” Jesse answered matter-of-factly, giving me a look. I gaped, glancing between the men as it registered. It took only a second for me to bust out laughing. Oh….if Anakin only knew that his men were debating the sexiness of his wife.

“That’s easy,” a drunken clone proclaimed as he leaned over the back of the booth, breathing down my neck. I flinched, looking back at him with a crinkled nose. “Senator Amidala is a smoke show! Dio has nothing on her. Imagine her in a small, tight, little--”

“Okay!” I cried, roughly throwing off Hardcase as I forced my way out of the booth. “Next round of shots is on me!”

They cheered, none of them caring that I was dodging hearing more about Padme in some sexy getup for the clone’s entertainment. I couldn't really blame them, though. It wasn’t like the Republic let them have spouses or anything. What alternative did they have? Aside from--

A grin crept to my lips as I piled the next round of shots on a tray, carrying them to the table of clones.They had moved on from their game, all of their drinks already gone as they debated who would win the next podrace on the holonet.

“I have a proposition for a new plan,” I proclaimed as I set the tray down before them. We each lifted our individual shot glasses to our lips, downing them easily. I continued after we took them. “Instead of talking about girls and sitting here in a bar with, frankly,” I glanced around at the clone-filled bar, “A bit too much testosterone, let’s go somewhere more fun.”

“Kida, we already--” Kix started, but I held up my hand.

After accepting the drink Jesse handed to me, I smiled at them. “I know you guys don’t have great experiences at bars outside of this one. But I know a pretty good club that won’t turn you away or treat you differently. If anything, you’ll be treated better, because I know the owner.”

They were interested. Fives knew what I meant, the ARC trooper giving me a smile. “Oh, do you?” he asked.

I smiled. “I do. Shall we?” I downed my drink quickly, feeling myself wobble just slightly.

“I’d be willing,” Fives offered, leaning back in his seat. “If,” he stopped, looking me in the eye with a devilish twinkle. “The unstoppable Kida Fett can complete a task.”

I scowled at my friend, but accepted. “And what’s that?”

Fives’ smile should have warned me. His eyes shifted past me, looking towards a back booth. “I’ll go to your club, if you can convince our good captain to come along, too.”

My blood went cold as I realized what he meant. My senses prickled, notifying me of the familiar presences in the corner booth--Cody and Rex. I swallowed thickly before turning, spying them both still in their armor, each with a hand firmly wrapped around a drink.

Grinding my teeth together, I scowled back at my chuckling friends. “She’ll never be able to,” Hardcase determined, shaking his head. “There’s no way we can get our captain to a club, especially with it being on the lower levels.”

I pursed my lips, looking back at Rex, who had certainly seen us, but elected to stay away. “You actually want your commanding officer to party with you?” I asked over my shoulder.

“Of course we do,” Fives grinned back. “Or are you just asking because you’re afraid you can’t.”

“The captain doesn’t party like that,” Kix said with a shrug, giving me a defeated look. “Sorry, kid. I don’t think you have a chance on this one.”

“He doesn’t party,” I repeated in a mutter as I watched Rex down the rest of his drink. “Then what’s he doing here?” With a deviously confident look over my shoulder at my drinking pals, I strode across the bar, hearing them cheer drunkenly behind me.

It took a bit longer than I expected, since I didn’t want to be spotted as I approached and had to navigate the drunken crowd of clones. But, when I arrived, it was perfect.

“Your drink is looking a bit low, Captain,” I said formally, with a light tone to my words. Rex looked up with a start, Cody doing the same.

“Fett,” Cody greeted, surprised by my presence. “What are you doing here?”

I jutted my thumb back behind me towards the drunken group of 501st clones. “Celebrating Echo. You?”

Rex swallowed thickly, his fingers twisting his empty cup on the table endlessly. “Trying to relax,” Cody tried, heavily implying that I was impeding that attempt.

I let the hint slide off of me as if I never noticed it. “I have a wonderful plan for that. The guys and I are actually heading to a different bar, if you want to join.”

Cody cleared his throat, finishing off his drink. “As much as I’d love to, I have to get back. General Kenobi wanted my report by the morning.”

He rose from his seat, making me back up as he moved to leave. I shifted on my feet anxiously. “Okay, well then, Captain. It looks like you have no one to drink with.”

Rex offered me a gentle smile, but he looked tired. He tilted his empty cup upside down to show me. “And nothing to drink. Sorry, Kida. Maybe another time.”

He moved to walk after Cody, who has stopped near the door to wait for his friend. I stopped his with a hand on his elbow. “Rex,” I whispered. “Come on. Fives asked for you personally.”

His golden gaze turned to me seriously. “It’s more likely he wanted to put you in an uncomfortable situation. Or me.” He glanced over my shoulder, most likely to see his men grinning at us drunkenly.

“Who cares?” I asked suddenly, taking him by surprise. “Come on. I know you have leave time. Come with us. Please?” I gave him my best pouty face that I could muster--a symptom of the alcohol unfortunately.

Finally, Rex rolled his eyes, turning to wave Cody on. Cody gave Rex a rare smile before nodding and leaving the bar alone. Rex looked back at me seriously. “So what have I agreed to? Where are we going?”

I gave him a wide, devious smile, but didn’t answer, waving to my friends to come join us. “Let’s go!” I yelled over the din of the bar, pointing to my wrist comm. It was flashing with Apex’s message that our ride had arrived.

I couldn’t help but smile as we left the bar together, Fives and Kix throwing their arms around Rex. I was going to give them the party of their lives. I would make them forget.

Forget about the war. And the brothers they’ve lost. Forget about the certainty that they’d lose more. And the likelihood that it could be them.

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

The Fury Club was busy that night. Walking up to the door was out of the question--not because I had clones with me, but because I was not about to wait in line to get into my own damn club. I rolled my eyes, gesturing for the clones to follow me around the back alley. It stunk of trash and probably vomit, but it hid the back door to my club well. I pressed my thumb against the print lock, the door buzzing as it hissed open. I led them in, their faces blushing as we passed my workers.

The back door led to the service hallways--much of which were lined with costuming and makeup rooms for the performers. The girls were all sweet things, though many had their own run-ins with the law. Who was I to judge on that, anyways? They knew how to play their game and make their money, though.

In the back, they were sweet and goofy. On the floor, they were flirtatious and docile. Fierce and sexy. But I suppose that depended on the clientele.

We were met with a chorus of giggles as the clones walked past the changing rooms. Their tan skin flushed darker with embarrassment, but I only laughed. “Relax,” I teased my friends. “They’re exotic dancers. They’re usually dressed like that,” I assured, referring to the skimpy clothing the girls were wearing.

I led them to the access door, gesturing them forward. “The main floor is in there. I’ll send one of the girls out to tell Merl your drinks are on the house tonight.”

“You coming?” Fives asked as he walked past me into the flashing lights of my club.

“Of course,” I assured him. “I just need to get the last of us club ready.” I glanced pointedly at Rex, who was still wearing his weapons and armor. Fives and Kix chuckled as they walked past me, my hand reaching out to press against the captain’s chest-plate.

“What?” he asked, glancing nervously between the clones and I.

“I don’t allow weapons in my club, Rex.”

He gave me an incredulous look. “As if you’re not carrying a weapon right now.”

“I own this club,” I argued, giving him a gentle shove as I closed the door, sealing us away from the club again. “Now come on.” I pushed past him, dragging him with me by his forearm.

Despite his hesitations, I felt his mind and body begin to relax. An easy smile fell on his lips, a small chuckle erupting from his throat as he let me pull him along. I dragged him into the my private lift, which wasn’t my brightest idea. It was rather small, since it was usually only used by me.

We were standing pretty close, his knuckles grazing my arm where they wrapped around his helmet at his side. The alcohol was making me….fuzzy. I shook myself mentally, forcing myself to focus as the hydraulic doors slid open.

Taking initiative, I stepped out first, moving immediately to the wardrobe door on the far side of my office. Rex was slower in his advance through the room, taking it in slowly. His golden eyes scanned over the case of weaponry I had on display--some I used and some I just found fascinating in my travels. I had trophies--things I’d taken from meaningful jobs. A piece of bloodied shrapnel that had been lodged in my thigh for hours during a stakeout mission that went south, forcing me to have to sit in pained silence until it was safe to move. A mask given to me by the witch doctor of a village I once helped protect from pirates. A small drum-like instrument from a revolutionary I protected from assassins.

Next he turned to examine the empty metal figure that stood against the wall, devoid of the Mandalorian armor that usually sits on it. Alternative gadgets and ammunition was stocked neatly along the mannequin's base--it was a bounty hunter’s dream office.

“Here,” I said to get his attention as I reentered the room. “These should fit you.” I handed him the clothes I’d picked out from a stash I’d collected over time, whether from bar patrons, bounty hunting, or….visitors.

He looked around the room nervously, earning a pair of rolling eyes from me. I gestured to the wardrobe I’d emerged from, pointing him off to change. While he was in there, I drew out my spiced rum, pouring two decent sized shots.

When he emerged, I went silent, my drunken mind slowing to a full stop. Rex seemed uncomfortable in the civilian attire. But man….did it look good on him. I’d chosen a pair of black pants with black boots, as well as a gray shirt. His jacket was a deep maroon color with a low collar.

“I feel ridiculous.”

I let out a laugh as he fidgeted under my appraising gaze. “You look great,” I assured, sitting on the desk and lifting the glasses. “Come on and take a shot with me.”

He didn’t argue, piling his neatly stacked armor and weapons on a table in the corner before approaching. His brow lifted as he accepted his glass touching the rim against mine. “How many of these have you had?” he asked, breathing past the sting of the liquor.

“Why? Trying to match me?”

Rex tried to give me a stern look, but failed, letting out a small laugh instead. He didn’t refuse as I poured him another shot. He still seemed uncomfortable, shifting in his jacket endlessly. “Rex,” I said, touching my fingers to the inside of his wrist, blocking him from taking the next shot. “Relax. Tonight is about celebrating. Besides, I would never let my guests look ridiculous while they’re in my care.” I paused for a moment. “Unless they’re an asshole and they deserve it.”

Rex chuckled easily, already loosening up. Whether it was from the alcohol or the gentle pressure of my hand on his pulse though, I couldn’t say. “I’m pretty sure you’ve called me an ass before.”

I wiggled my eyebrows at him teasingly before releasing my hold and downing my own shot. The captain dressed in civvies mimicked me, giving me an easy smile over the burn of the alcohol.

“Fives is going to tease me about this all night,” he commented, lifting the flap of the jacket to examine the stitched interior.

I couldn’t help but laughed. “Possibly, but he’s got no taste anyways.” I leaned closer to where he leaned against the desk, whispering comically, “He’s a clone, you know.”

“I knew that, oddly enough.”

“Don’t worry,” I assured, distancing myself from him again since he hadn’t reacted. “You’ll all have things to tease each other about tonight if everything goes as planned.” Rex lifted a weary eyebrow, to which I only responded to with a wry grin.

It was silent for a beat as we gazed at each other. We had never discussed...us...since our encounter after Mortis. The Citadel was a whirlwind of fighting and survival and loss. Aside from the small gestures of comfort and our short disagreement, we hadn’t talked.

Yet despite the year of being apart, aside from the most recent meetings, it felt like nothing had changed….yet everything had. The air was charged with electricity as we smiled at each other. They were soft. Endearing. Genuine.

I’d found that Rex was rare to smile, but when he did, he meant it. It was always a pure look that crinkled the skin on his face and brought a light to his eyes. It would recede again swiftly after the moment, but I loved seeing him like that.

My smiles, however, were often forced. Or fake, altogether. Bounty hunting was an act as much as it was a skill set. Smiles and batting eyelashes were needed for certain jobs or clients. Deadly stares and intimidating snarls were needed for others.

But with Rex, in soft moments like these, where we could forget everything that had once, and continued to, hold us back….my smiles were always genuine. And they came with a flush of warmth through my body like a warm embrace, heating my chest as my heart fluttered against my ribs.

Rex was the first to snap out of it, clearing his throat as if experiencing an after effect of the alcohol. “We should probably join the men.”

I shifted uncomfortably on the desk, running my hair through the wisps of silvery hair that was falling from my ponytail. “Of course. We wouldn’t want to keep them waiting.” I felt like I covered the disappointment in my voice well, but even with the time apart, Rex was still able to read me. He gave me a small, contemplative frown as I hopped off the desk, filling a final hefty shot for us both.

Knocking mine back, I handed the bottle to Rex as I sauntered into the wardrobe. I was feeling the liquor. A lot. I could tell as I pulled out a silvery sleeved dress from my lines of clothes Rouva had collected for me over the years. I found sparkling heels to pair with it, pulling my hair from its tie and giving it a shake. Rouva had taught me to do simple makeout, my brushes running easily over my face to line my eyes and paint my lips.

I emerged, the shining fabric sliding over my thighs and tickling my knees where the hem rested. It was a plunging back, revealing my many criss-crossing scars, as well as my Jaig eye tattoos.

Rex seemed shocked, looking up from his glass of rum with wide eyes. He stood abruptly from where he leaned on the desk, his back straightening. “Kida. You look…” he cleared his throat, unsure what to say.

I let out an easy chuckle, amused by this game. If he wanted to avoid me while obviously avoiding the energy in the room….then fine. I’d play. But I was a competitive spirit.

And I wasn’t about to lose this game.

“Come on,” I said airily, taking his glass from him and downing the contents. He watched me, completely still aside for his chest rising. His gaze was intense as his eyes followed me, full lips parted slightly. I set the empty glass down beside him on the desk, flashing him what I knew was a dazzling smile--it was the one I used on targets I flirted into my grasp. “The show is about to start.”

Instead of taking the private lift, as tempting as the notion was to make Rex uncomfortable...I figured I could make it even worse. I exited through the main door--the one that opened above my club, descending a metal staircase that wrapped down the wall of the main floor.

Rex exited behind me, immediately flinching at the thumping music and flashing lights. And the plethora of eyes that lifted to look at us. There were snickers. Ones about the owner leaving her office with a dashing young man. Rex’s tan skin flushed with embarrassment, but it only encouraged my glee.

I strode across the floor, making sure to swing my hips as Rouva always told me I should do more often. She didn’t get it….Mandalorian armor just didn’t allow for an easy swing of the hips. And I wasn’t looking for sexy when I was sprinting for my life.

“Enjoying yourselves?” I asked loudly as I approached the clones, all of whom were piled into a long booth, their eyes scanning the crowds hungrily.

The nearly jumped at my words, looking away from my workers. I gave them all a look, crossing my arms as their gazes crawled over me. “Wow,” Hardcase mumbled against the rim of his cup.

“Kida,” Fives chuckled, raising his eyebrows teasingly. “Have I ever told you that your ass looks amazing in heels?”

I gave him a look, part angry, part shocked, and part amused. He was hammered. Even more amusing was the steaming expression on Rex, who was giving his brother a death glare. “You never have, actually,” I teased, trying to lighten Rex’s mood with my tone. “And you’ll never tell me it again,” I added sternly, giving the ARC trooper a look.

Fives sat up straight in his booth, giving me a mock salute with a lopsided grin. “Yes, sir!” he practically screamed across the club. Half my patrons looked our way, giving us scowls. But I only laughed. This was my bar. If they didn’t like it, they could get the hell out.

I gave Merl a wave, the elderly Weequay piling drinks onto a tray and sending one of my girls over. “Vamira,” I greeted the pale pink Twi’lek as she arrived with our drinks. Her smile was broad, showing off her sharp canines with pride. “Thank you.”

“It’s nice to see you’re back,” she said in her accented voice. “We were worried you were going to disappear again.”

I chuckled lowly, giving her a wave of dismissal. “I don’t plan on doing that again any time soon.”

She gave me a smile before casting her gaze over the clones. Her eyes settled on Tup, the soldier giving an uncomfortable cough. He was only doing it to hide his wide grin at her attention.

I cleared my throat gently, giving the worker a teasing look. “Bye Vamira,” I said again, making her finally break her stare on Tup, giving me a final smile before she walked away. I looked back over the clones, noticing how quickly they seemed to look anywhere but at my girls whenever I turned to them.

A low sigh escaped my mouth as I rolled my eyes, sitting on a stool beside Rex at the head of the table, “Listen, these are my rules. My girls are dancers. Professionals. They are not for sale.” A few of the clones glanced down at the table, ashamed. “But,” I added, a few of them perking up. “If you genuinely earn her affection and she CONSENTS,” I stressed, tapping the table a few times to hammer in the point. “Then I’ll allow it.”

“Really?” Tup whispered, voice filled with child-like wonder.

I stood up, pointing at each one’s forehead. “But if any of you hurt, or Force forbid, force yourself on any of them, I promise you’ll regret the day you came out of your test tube.”

They all swallowed quickly, giving me quick nods. I sat back down, giving them all a final stare before lightening up and taking a long drink. Pale pink skin appeared beside me, holding something shiny. I glanced up, seeing Vamira’s smiling face again, her violet eyes on Tup again. He blushed under her gaze, glancing away shyly as he drank.

“Vamira,” I greeted again sweetly. “I thought you were on drink duty tonight.”

Her smile faltered for a moment as she set the metal object down on our table to wring her hands. “I am,” she tried. “They were just really overwhelmed so I offered to help.”

I turned in my seat, glancing around my bar to see two girls I knew were hookah attendants that night. They were lounging around a single hookah, flirting with the male patrons. “Busy, huh?” I teased lightly, giving her a look.

She knew I wasn’t bothered by her advances on the clone. I had no claim to any of them. Penari approached, draping herself against the wall between Rex and Fives. The ARC’s face cracked open with a wide smile as he turned in the booth to look at her.

But she was looking at Rex. She was a beautiful Twi’lek in her late twenties, her skin a soft turquoise color, her neck dripping in silver. Her eyes were like honey, taking in the planes of Rex’s face as she flashed him a bright smile, eyelashes fluttering.

At first I merely lifted my brow in amusement, but then I heard Rex cough uncomfortably. My head whipped to the side to see him shifting, his face flushing under her gaze. I frowned, alcohol making my more jealous side rear its ugly head. Fives tried again to gain Penari’s attention, to no avail.

“What’s your name, handsome?” she asked, her words as silvery as her jewelry. She ignored Fives altogether, her question directed at the captain. Her long fingers brushed over his jacket shoulder gently, as if brushing something off, before stealing a small glance over the sharp curve of his jaw.

“I-” Rex stuttered, making me smolder with annoyance at my employee. Then again, it wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t like she knew. “Rex,” the captain finally answered.

“Rex,” Penari purred. “That sounds like a good, strong name,” she stepped forward, her fingers crawling over the swell of his bicep. “For a good, strong man.”

Rex’s mouth was agape as he regarded the seductress. I pursed my lips, finally leaning forward with my hand clenched around my glass. “Ma’allesh,” I said in her native tongue.

She looked over at me in shock, taking in my folded arms and pursed lips. “I’m not doing--” she tried, but she had already put it together and was just trying to back out now.

“Sahak tuev san,” I said firmly, her mouth snapping closed. I cut my eyes to the side, the movement finally getting her to push off from the wall and stalk the crowd for some other prey she can convince to buy things.

Rex turned to me with a raised brow. “What was that about?” he asked, his brain already working to piece it together.

“Does it matter?” I asked, taking a long drink from my cup to finish it. I lifted the empty glass in the air, leaning my head back comically until Merl caught my gaze. He rolled his eyes at me as I shook the glass desperately, giving me a dismissive wave. I sat back up though, knowing he’d send more drinks in a minute, despite his mild annoyance at me.

“Kida,” Hardcase started, burping slightly around his words. “We were talking while you were disarming our good captain.” I tensed slightly at their choice of wording, swallowing past the lump forming in my throat. “And we think it’s only fair that you have to play a round if we did.”

“A round of?” I prodded, tilting my head.

The group chuckled as the clones peered around the hookah Vamira was setting up on the table. “Who’d you rather.” Hardcase gave me a slow grin.

“I never agreed to play the game.”

“Okay, but we answered in front of you,” Jesse argued teasingly, obviously just enjoying the time out with us.

“That was your own mistake,” I laughed, accepting the drinks Penari set down. She gave me a small nod of understanding and apologies before walking away. She was genuine, so I held no anger over it.

Fives, however, was pissed at me. “You scared her off, Kida,” he gasped, throwing his hands up as he watched the Twi’lek disappear into the crowd. “What did you say to her? Was that Ryl?”

“Do you study languages, Fives?”

The ARC gave me a skeptical expression. “No. Why?”

“Then how would you know if I told you the truth about what I said?”

The room was silent for a moment before Rex let out a low chuckle between sipping down the remains of his drink. He continued to laugh as he picked up his next. “Are you alright, Captain?” Fives asked, looking genuinely concerned.

I couldn’t help but laugh along with Rex as Vamira finished setting up the hookah, the tiny girl on her tip-toes to set the coals in place. I rolled my eyes in amusement at her efforts to talk to Tup. The young clone was staring at her with wide eyes, taking in the gentle womanly curve of her body and the soft bats of her lashes.

“She has you cornered, Fives,” Rex finally said as he chuckled against the rim of his glass. “You have to admit it.”

“I told her that her bra was coming undone,” I said, earning surprised expressions from the group. They paused in confused silence before Vamira let out a small snort of laughter, knowing full well what I actually said.

“You didn’t say that,” Hardcase surmised, already slurring his words a bit. He looked up at Vamira. “Did she say that?”

The Twi’lek laughed as she collected her things, handing Hardcase the first hose to start the hookah. “My lips are sealed,” she smiled, casting an innocent look at Tup before leaning back and taking her leave.

“Thank you,” I called over my shoulder, smiling as I heard her faint, but cheery response. I leaned back on the bar chair, watching my friends as they puffed happily at the hookah, expressing how exciting it was that they knew a club owner. My eyes slid over each ot them, taking them all in. This was the family I had been seeking for most of my life. Of course, things would start to change again when Boba was out of prison. But until then….

As I took them in, I wished I could have taken them out sooner. There had already been losses to this group. Some I never even had the privilege of knowing. I wished I’d had Echo here so I could memorize the little differences in his face and stance and voice amongst all his brothers.

Amongst our family.

Rex’s shoulder nudged mine gently, the soldiers currently distracted by the arrival of shots and the swelling of music on the stage. “You alright?”

I nodded, blinking away the infernal tears that threatened to spill. “I know it’s selfish,” I whispered back under the thumping bass. “And I’m grateful for tonight. For being able to see them like this. But I wish….” My voice trailed off while I tried to find the words. “I want more, and I know it’s selfish. But I wish--”

“Wish we could have done this before the Citadel,” Rex completed for me, making me look up to examine his face. Turns out, he had been doing the same thing. His eyes were tracing the lines of each face around the table, memorizing each turn and curve.

“Yes.” We didn’t have to say more. We both understood. But Rex shifted just a bit closer in his seat, the outside of his leg brushing mine gently. It was a small thing, but it was comforting nonetheless.

We all turned, the contact cutting off, as the lights dimmed, the music fading to allow for Rouva to take the stage, mic in hand. “Welcome,” she practically sang into the microphone. “To The Fury Club!” She was met with a chorus of whistles, her lithe frame glistening in red satin. “Tonight is a very special night,” she announced, the stage lights turning and soaring over the crowds. I sat up a little straighter, knowing what she was about to pull. “Our lovely founder and owner, Kida Fett, has returned for the evening to celebrate with the boys in blue!”

The spotlight fell on us, my fake smile gracing my features easily. The crowd cheered, some of my familiar patrons standing to start approaching. I tilted my hand palm down at them, gesturing for them to sit. Tonight wasn’t a night for sweet talking.

Well….not for sweet-talking them, at least.

I glanced sideways at Rex, watching the lights of my club flicker against his skin, dyeing him hundreds of different colors at once. The light danced in his eyes like the viewport as I soared through hyperspace, blinding but mesmerizing.

I drank steadily through the performance, having seen most of the dances through rehearsals numerous times. The clones were infatuated, watching the smokey eyes that peaked out behind decorated fans and ribbons, skirts and tassels whirling with a glitter of jewels. After a while, the clones felt less hesitant to cheer and yell along with the other party-goers. I sat back with a small grin, watching them finally enjoy themselves like a typical Coruscanti male.

Finally, as the performance ended, the dance floor opened. A very eager young Twi’lek came bounding across the floor, stopping beside me in a soft black dress. She folded her hands before her, giving me a shy, doe-eyed look. “I’m off-duty and finished all my shift work already. Can I?”

Her voice was terribly sweet, but matched the eager nervousness of the clone she was smiling fondly at. I sighed, rolling my eyes at her. “Have at it.”

She giggled happily before leaning over the other clones, grabbing Tup’s hand from around his glass. “Dance with me?”

“Oh-” Tup cleared his throat nervously, his fingers tapping awkwardly in her hand. “I don’t know how to dance.”

“Who cares?” I asked, feeling my girl deflate a bit at his words. “You’re drunk!” I slid him a final shot as I leaned forward, freeing him from Vamira’s grasp only to yank him forward in mine. I practically dragged him from his place in the booth, shoving a shot into his hand. He downed it nervously, giving me a look. I smoothed back a portion of his hair before giving him a wink, tapping his shoulder to dismiss him. He followed Vamira eagerly now, taking her outstretched hand as she led him through the dance floor towards the speakers.

“Of course the kid gets one,” Hardcase groaned, hitting his forehead against the table.

I laughed at him. “You don’t seem to be trying very hard,” I teased. “You’re just sitting drunkenly in a booth. Why don’t you put in the effort?”

Hardcase gave me a look for a moment before leaning forward with a grin. “Is that a challenge?”

“Is that the only way you’ll put effort in?” His brothers laughed at my words, but Hardcase only lunged up from his place in the booth, scooting out onto the floor beside me.

“Damn straight, it is,” he clarified with a drunken wink. He strode off towards the dance floor, stumbling only once against a high-top table.

Kix sighed as we watched his brother leave. “He’s going to piss someone off,” the medic groaned, standing as well. “I should keep an eye on him.”

“Hey now,” Jesse called, pushing Fives up as he stood. “I don’t want to miss out on the fun!” The clones jostled for a moment beside Rex before running off. I smiled after them, barely stifling a laugh as Fives stumbled back to bow lowly at me.

“My Lady,” he said, dramatically offering me his hand with a flourish of his fingers. I couldn’t help but laugh, finishing my drink quickly before standing. My dress was like silk against my skin, which was rough and tired from the mission on a hot lava planet. It was soothing, feeling it slide down my leg as I stood, the fabric fluttering.

I slid my fingers into Fives’ grasp, giving him a faux curtsy. “Good sir, you flatter me,” I teased, earning a wry grin from him. I gave Rex a shy smile before following his brother out onto the dance floor. He spun me as best he could, laughter pouring from our mouths as I mocked his terrible dancing skills.

“Oh, come on,” he scowled playfully, dipping his head down next to mine. “I know what game you’re playing with our good captain.”

Sober me would have panicked and dodged the subject easily with a smooth lie. But I was hammered….so I just giggled and pushed my face into Fives’ shoulder. Ugh. Giggling. What kind of bounty hunter was I?

I forced myself to sober slightly. “Well if you know the game, then help me win,” I stressed, pushing him away slightly to swat at his chest.

He released me immediately, a small wave of panic rushing over me. He stilled my worries easily, holding his hands up for me to manipulate. “Fine. If I’m so bad at dancing, teach me how.”

I chewed the inside of my painted lips as my cheeks puckered with a smile. “Sounds lovely.” I positioned his hands on my body in the way I’d watched people dance over my years as a slave. I’d seen many dances--some feral and wild and some angelic and calculated. The couple dances I’d seen on Naboo were some of my favorite, though.

I instructed Fives gently over the deep hum of the music, letting him get the rhythm before letting him take control. “You’re a fast learner,” I part teased, part praised. The clone gave me a cocky smile before pulling me in close.

We rocked back and forth, his head nuzzling into my shoulder. I smiled gently, closing my eyes. It was peaceful here, despite the rush of alcohol in my veins and the thumping of the music. He was like the older brother I never got to have. Protective. Loving. But also teasing and never held back from telling me his thoughts.

“Thank you,” the soldier whispered against the side of my head before pressing his lips to my hair experimentally. It took me by surprise, but I could sense his intentions and none of what he was doing was to make an advance. He loved me. I could feel it. But it wasn’t like how Rex felt around me. It was like family. He felt safe with me.

And I with him. “Of course,” I whispered back.

He pulled back as the music faded, shifting into a more upbeat song. He gave me a wide, genuine smile. “Never feel like you aren’t one of us,” he reminded, giving my hands a squeeze. “I like this dance,” he added, shifting the subject.

“I have one you all might like better,” Vamira called from where she swayed with Tup, pulling from his grasp. She ran to the back, the music shifting again to one I knew.

And one all of my dancers had learned from the Twi’leks among them. The girls all squealed as the flutes and strings rose to the beat of their native drum, pulling patrons onto the dancefloor to fill it.

“Come on, Kida,” Vamira insisted, grabbing my hand as I tried to move into the outer circle like the clones were. “You know this dance.”

I cast a defeated look back at my chuckling friends, spying Rex as he moved closer to watch. There was a twinge of jealousy radiating from him as he stood next to Fives. The ARC, despite not being Force sensitive, could feel it from his captain. And he was smug about it.

As the drum intensified, I turned, focusing on the dance rather than the clones. I turned my hips in the way I’d been taught, stepping and leaping to the rhythm as we danced in practiced circles around the dance floor. Slowly, as was the Twi’lek custom, the women dancing began to drag others onto the floor, forcing them into the dance. It wasn’t difficult to follow, especially when surrounded by those that knew where to go.

I spun to the side, stopping my movements only for a moment to grab Tup’s arm and drag him into the dance. I spun with him only a few times before releasing him wildly while we danced. He flailed slightly as he stumbled, only to be swept up by the young Twi’lek I knew to be waiting for him.

Vamira cast me a dazzling smile before spinning off with her new admirer. I ducked beneath the next pair of linked arms, spinning to rush back into a circle, hands grasping those next to me.

My next dance partner swooped me up in a turn as we exited the center circle, my face breaking into a smile as Fives pulled me along. “This one is fun too,” he commented with an easy laugh.

“I see you’ve joined in easily,” I laughed as he spun me around, passing the clones again. All but Kix and Rex had joined. “I see we have party-poopers.”

“We DO have party poopers,” Fives repeated, loud enough for our friends to hear. He leaned down, whispering. “If you’re playing the jealousy card, now might be a good time.”

I grinned widely at my friend before looking back at the awkwardly standing captain. “No. I think he’s had enough.” I watched quietly as Kix kept tabs on his drunk brothers, Rex doing his best to avoid my gaze.

Fives twirled me a final time before letting me go, spinning back into the crowded dance. I spun the other way, maneuvering my way through the dancers as I flowed with them. I stopped before Kix, giving him a smile. “Keeping the boys out of trouble?”

The medic gave me a grin, rolling his eyes. “As best I can.”

“Well,” I sighed teasingly. “Since you’re busy….” My gaze shifted to the captain, his golden eyes watching me carefully. “Care for a dance?”

Rex swallowed thickly. “I don’t know this one.”

I reached past Kix, offering my hand, palm up. It was a coax, rather than a force. “It isn’t hard. I’ll show you.”

He hesitated for only a moment, a small crinkle of Kix’s cheek telling me he was smiling. Rex took my hand and I pulled him to the front, leading him onto the dance floor. His men whooped and cheered as he joined us, following my movements stiffly.

“Loosen up,” I insisted, knowing he was feeling the alcohol. He nodded, but didn’t meet my eye. I squeezed his hand gently, easing him into letting me lead. He slowly relaxed to the beat of the drums and the flashing lights, his golden gaze meeting mine softly.

His grip tightened slightly as he pushed against me, taking the lead with more confidence as we turned. When we were supposed to release to switch partners, he refused, holding my waist firmly to keep me from spinning away.

I only smiled at him as he kept us dancing, maneuvering us around the other couples easily now. “I’m getting thirsty,” he commented, some sweat beading on both our brows as we danced through our third song. “Can I get you a drink?”

We slowed as we neared the edge of the dance floor, still holding each other. “Well since your drinks are on the house tonight, and it’s my house,” I reasoned, giving him a teasing grin. “I can get you a drink instead?”

He laughed, his throat bobbing as he slowly took his hands away from me, giving me space to lead us through the crowd. “That seems fair.”

I grabbed his hand easily, knowing the trust I had within that group of clones. And no one in my bar would dare cross me. They either respected me too much….or feared what I’d do to them too much.

Merl met us with drinks as we arrived at the bar, giving us both a once over. He gave me a smile. “Having fun?”

“Yes, actually,” I breathed, taking a greedy slurp of my drink.

“I’m assuming you already told them the rules?” he asked, looking over my shoulder at Hardcase, who was trying his best to drunkenly sweet talk one of my girls.

“She did,” Rex confirmed, giving me a grin before looking back at his men, rolling his eyes. I watched quietly as Vamira pulled Tup stealthily away from his brothers and towards the back rooms. She had her own room back there.

I rolled my eyes, looking away like I never saw it. “Another one bites the dust,” Merl laughed, pouring us each a shot, himself included. He lifted the glass and tapped it against mine, saying aloud, “One down,” before taking the shot.

Rex arched his brow but took his shot nonetheless. It wasn’t until after he breathed around the sting of the liquor that he asked, “What do you mean?”

“Your man,” Merl responded, matter-of-factly.

“Tup,” I whispered, nodding my head to where the young clone was slipping out the back door. Rex watched beside me, his face a mixture of sadness and amusement. “What?”

“I’m happy for him. I just hope he doesn’t….get too attached.”

I raised my brow. “She’s a good girl. Genuine. She wouldn’t hurt him.”

“I was thinking the other way around.” Rex gave me a sad look. “He could visit, but he’d be gone a lot. And one day, he might not come back.” He was thinking about Echo. Contemplating it all. And the likelihood that it could be him next.

“Stop that,” I demanded, knocking back my shot and squeezing his shoulder. “I brought you all here to forget about all that.” I shook my head. “From this moment on...for the rest of the night…..all talk of war, loss, death, and consequences is suspended. Got it?”

Rex smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “No thinking of any consequences whatsoever?”

“None.”

“So I can light a fire over there?” he asked, pointing to a corner booth. His eyes were starting to glitter with amusement. He was trying to forget as best as he could.

“Rex, can I ask you something?” The clone seemed worried at my supposed dodging of the question, but nodded anyways. “Do you remember my office?”

His brow arched, but he answered. “Yes.”

“Do you remember all the weapons I had up there?”

“Yes,” he smiled, my questions making sense for him now.

“Do you know how many ways I could kill a man with those weapons?”

“I imagine you’d be creative, so more ways than their designed purpose, I’m sure.”

I nodded, giving him a closed-lipped smile. “Good. Remember that next time you even think about damaging my club.”

Rex laughed, as well as a few other patrons that lined the bar. Merl appeared, pouring another round of shots. “Another one bites the dust,” he chimed, taking the shot easily before pointing with his empty glass. Across the dance floor, Jesse was being led by a few of my dancers, all giggling and wide-eyed. They led his drunken ass to one of the private dance rooms to get him to give them every last credit he had to spend. I took the shot.

We let out a round of laughter as Fives was shuffled into the private room after Jesse, each apparently getting dances tonight. Another shot amidst the banter.

“And another,” Rex chuckled, gesturing for Merl to pour out more rum. His gaze cut to Hardcase, who was dancing rather pervertedly with a young woman, both looking drunker than all hell.

“I don’t really count that yet,” Merl noted, still pouring out the shots. “But I’ll take one for the halfway mark.” He threw back the shot before returning to work.

“You better not be drunk while on duty, Merl,” I called back, not really serious.

“As if you’ve ever followed that rule.”

That was fair. I let out a laugh, knocking back my shot easily. It was getting far less horrible to drink straight liquor. It didn’t really burn anymore.

That meant I was trashed. Great.

“You’ve done a job drunk?” Rex asked, arching a brow.

I let out a snort of laughter, covering my face as I blushed. “A few, actually.” The clone gave me a look, making me scowl. “Hey, sometimes a job calls for a party or some drinks with the right people. I’ve never been hammered.” I looked away. “Except that one time I was jumped on Tatooine. That wasn’t a job, though.”

“Jumped outside a bar on Tatooine?” Rex repeated. I nodded. “Why?”

I grinned at him over the rim of my glass. “I had just finished a job, where I got a very large sum of credits. I’d been dumb and bought a round for the bar with my incredible amount of cash. They knew what I had.”

“Did they get it?”

“No,” I sighed, chuckling. “But they got some good hits in.” I pointed to one of the scars that ran along my brow.

Rex’s thumb came up immediately to trace the thin line. There was no hesitation behind his movement, his actions encouraged by alcohol. “You should thank them, really. It looks good.”

I smirked, breathing laughter through my nose. “Having fun?” a voice asked, making me jump a mile, Rex’s hand flashing away from my face. I turned, seeing a smirking Kix.

“We are,” I replied smoothly, greeting him. “Are you?”

“Well Tup has come back looking…” Kix looked over his shoulder to see the bright eyed clone looking consumed with euphoria as he danced with Vamira. “Happy.”

“Happy isn’t what I’d call it,” I smirked. Rex looked sideways at me with a raised brow. “I’d call it post-”

“Alright, Kida,” Kix frowned, crossing his arms at me. I shrugged at him, taking a long drink of whatever Merl had made me this time.

“What are you all doing sitting around?” Jesse called as he approached, arms spread wide in greeting, Fives beside him.

I tilted my head at them. “That wasn’t a very long dance,” I questioned, giving him a look.

Jesse shrugged, but laughed nonetheless. Fives looked sheepish, scuffing his boot along the ground. “We ran out of credits,” he mumbled, looking at the floor.

I laughed, smiling widely. “Rough when that happens, huh?” The clones scowled at me, but that only made me laugh harder.

“Whatever, Kida,” Jesse dismissed, rolling his eyes as he grabbed my elbow. “Now get your lazy ass up and dance with us.” I laughed, but let him pull me up, my drink in my other hand. Rex needed no coaxing this time, rising with his own drink and following his brothers out. The music was shifting away from the ones meant for dancing. Now….it was music meant for partying.

The bass of the song rumbled the floor, the lights pulsing as the people bounced with the song. My dancers danced in the neon glow, credits transferring hands endlessly. The lights reflected off the smoke of the swirling hookahs, intensifying the effects of the alcohol. We danced as a group, each of us reaching our limit of drinks as we leapt to the beat.

And then suddenly Hardcase was too drunk, stumbling sideways as he jumped, slamming into Rex’s shoulder. Rex fell into me, our drinks flying from our hands as we fell to the ground.

The next thing I knew, my face and dress were covered in cherry-colored liquor, the glass shattered somewhere on the ground behind me. Oh, and Rex was on top of me.

He grunted slightly and I felt a twinge of his pain through the Force. He blocked it out of his mind easily, though, as the trained soldier he was. He mumbled a string of apologies as he struggled to get off me, my face turned to the side to see his hand lift past me as he finally got himself into a crouch beside me. The tan skin was stained with a thin stream of red that also speckled the floor around shards of glass from our drinks.

He was bleeding.

“Wait, Rex,” I said as I sat up, my head spinning from the quick motion and the liquor. Or maybe I hit my head when we fell….I wasn’t entirely sure. I caught Rex’s hand as he turned, sitting up fully in the puddle of alcohol. “You’re bleeding,” I announced.

He seemed shocked by that, turning to face me and his split palm again, just as I was looking up from it. His face turned into mine, my eyes flinching shut as our lips met. We both froze, unmoving for a single moment, before jerking away awkwardly. I released his hand like it was on fire, scooting backwards under the guise that I was trying to stand.

Tup was at my side in an instant, helping me to my feet in my heels and quaking knees. “That was cute,” Fives joked, crossing his arms as he looked between Rex and I. The captain was still crouching, rather dumbfounded. He had shifted enough to allow Kix to examine his bleeding palm, but hadn’t stopped looking at me.

“Ne’johaa,” I growled, accepting the towel Vamira had grabbed from the bar. I used it to wipe myself off as best I could while Kix helped Rex to his feet.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Hardcase apologized, keeping it together despite how drunk we all obviously were. “I think I might have had a bit too much.”

“We all have,” I allowed, stepping over to hand Rex the towel to wipe himself off. “Let’s get that patched up.”

“I can,” Kix offered, but I shook my head.

“I need to go change anyways. I have bandages up there, too,” I assured him, earning a look from the brothers, but it was one of teasing and approval, at least. I gestured for Rex to head towards my office, the clone obeying as he took the towel with him, wiping at his face and neck.

“That really was cute,” Jesse offered, giving me a nudge to my shoulder.

I rolled my eyes, but didn’t yell at him. “You guys are never going to let him live that down, are you?” I asked the group.

“Never,” Fives assure, laughing. Hardcase looked a little worse for wear behind him, Kix already trying to feed him water. “Well, go tend to him so we can get out of here. I think we’ve all had a bit too much.”

“Agreed,” I groaned, as the thumping of the music returned, but it was annoying this time instead of fun. I needed some water.

“Wait.” The ARC trooper looked around, counting the faces he knew so well. “Where’s Tup?”

I glanced around, chuckling when I realized he’d run off with Vamira after they helped me up from my fall. “Relax,” I soothed as the clones looked worried. “Let him have his fun. I have to patch Rex up anyways and get my clothes back, so he can bring Tup home.”

“I see,” Fives teased. “Trying to get us out of the way? Am I not good enough for you, Kida?”

I laughed at his teasing, rolling my eyes as I waved him goodbye. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure your brothers get home safe.”

“Kida?” I stopped, turning to see Jesse calling back to me. “Rex has a meeting tomorrow at midday. Make sure he’s back by then, at least.” He said nothing else aside from a small smile that was mixed with sadness--much like the way Rex’s had been before I scolded him to forget the war.

The very intoxicated clones left. I turned and entered the back corridors of my facility. “Jali,” I said, greeting the Zabrak female. “Have you seen Vamira?”

The girl lifted her brow at me. “Are you really asking that?”

I chuckled at her snark, having known her for years now, she being one of the first dancers to join my club and help build it from the roots. “Well, if you happen to see her again….tell her she has my permission for Tup to stay. He has his superior’s permission, as well.”

Jali crossed her arms, smirking. “Does this superior know he’s given his permission?”

“Just tell her,” I said as I walked past her, navigating the halls towards my private lift. I took it up, finding Rex waiting in my office. “The medicine box is in here,” I explained, drawing it from a drawer in my desk. He began cleaning his wound while I exited to the side room, where I had a bed and fresher.

I showered quickly, taking off the makeup and alcohol that was beginning to get sticky. When I emerged again, now in stretching black pants and a baggy shirt, I found Rex struggling to place a bacta-patch over his wound. I stepped forward, my wet hair falling into my face as I focused on his hand, scooching up onto the desk beside him.

My fingers took the place of his, carefully guiding the patch into place over his marred palm. “You got all the glass out?” I asked, glancing up at him through my dripping locks.

“Every last piece,” Rex assured, giving me a smirk that crinkled the corners of his eyes. I returned the expression before glancing down at his palm that still rested in my lap.

“I’m glad,” I whispered, the bass of the music from the club vibrating just slightly through the floor. “You know they’re going to tease you about this forever, right?”

Rex cocked his head at me as his brain mulled it all over. “Well, knowing you, you’ve already told them all to go home and have planned everything perfectly.” My brows rose at his bluntness. Drunk Rex was interesting. “And my men already teased me about you, especially Fives. Though now,” he added, “it will likely only be worse.”

I frowned slightly. “I’m sorry I gave them so much ammunition tonight.”

To my surprise, Rex shrugged. “There’s nothing I can do about what they say, and it brings up their spirits to tease me. But,” he tilted his head. “This will be harder for me now.”

“This? What do you mean?”

He looked up, his pupils blown out so far that they almost concealed the gold color of his irises. “It’s going to be even harder for me to pretend I don’t feel the way I feel.”

My lips parted slightly in the beginning of a gape before I stopped myself. I shook my head when I couldn’t find words. “I’m sorry. I’m not….good with these things.”

Rex smiled. “I’m the same. I’m better with a broken pistol than talking about...anything really. But I’m trying to be better.” He looked into my eyes again. “You make me want to be better.”

Every part of me leapt with joy, but there was that one bit of my brain that realized how long we’d been apart. And how much had changed.

“Rex,” I smiled sadly. “I feel this energy, too….but I am not the person I was when I left a year ago.”

“No,” he allowed. “But I still see parts of her in you. You’ve changed, but not for the worse, Kida.” His hand finally lifted to touch my cheek gently, my eyes sliding closed at the contact. “You said I wasn’t allowed to think about consequences, so I won’t.”

My eyes flashed open only briefly before they closed again at the touch of lips against my own. His callused hands cupped my face with a gentleness I never imagined a trained soldier to have. It was like a drug, pulling me into his warmth like water washing away my worries and fears. There was nothing but him.

He pulled away, resting his forehead against my own so he could look at me. My eyes were closed for a moment longer while I did my best to memorize how it had felt for his mouth to move against mine. The tangy flavor of the rum on his breath. The slight chapping of his bottom lip from chewing at it beneath his helmet. The racing of his heart beneath the fingers I laid over the pulsing point of his neck.

When I opened my eyes, I saw only gold and the endless reflection of his dilated pupils. “Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum.” The words were barely above a whisper and in the rough dialect of the culture we were both trained under.

But they were enough. At one time, I’d wanted to hear him say those words in Basic, as if that were braver. But I’d come to realize that Mando’a was almost sacred to the clones. It was a language for them. It defined them. Gave them something that banded them together more than their training and DNA.

With a slow breath, I let myself think about my answer. And it dawned on me that I only had one answer for him, as all others would have been lies. I pulled back so I could look at Rex’s entire face. A smile graced my rosy lips. “Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum,” I replied quietly before leaning up again, using my toes to lift me to his height again.

His strong arms wrapped around me tightly, his head leaning in to deepen the kiss. “Another one bites the dust,” he whispered against my lips with a grin. I smiled against his lips as he pushed me further against my desk, eager. It was nice to see him like this--unreserved and daring. He was always brave, but he never acted by his heart. It was always his head.

Alcohol clearly brought his heart.

And I felt that his heart laid with me. I felt it in the delicate way he would learn more while kissing and alter his course to perfect it. I felt it in the way his arms clamped around me as if he was afraid I was going to be ripped away from him. I felt it in the quick fluttering of his heart. And in the peaceful oasis that was his mind.

And that night, when we finally put away the rum and went to sleep, I snuggled up against him, tucking my head under his chin. His arms encircled me, kisses skimming across my hair, I found peace.

In the same way I nestled into his chest, I nestled into the tranquility that was his mind. While it constantly raced, it was calculated and organized. Except the parts that focused around me. Those were more jumbled and confusing. But those were also where the warmest feelings stemmed from. It’s where his love stemmed from.

So I nestled my focus into his projected mental warmth, silencing everything else that usually sang to me through the Force at night. In that sweet silence, I heard only the beating of Rex’s heart and the soft breath moving through his open lips. I pressed a final kiss to his jawline, the man barely reacting aside from a sleepy smile he likely wouldn’t recall in the morning. In the peace of the man I now knew I loved, I found sweet, dreamless sleep.

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MANDO’A

Skanah --- very hated person (on the level of fucker)

Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum--- i love you

RYL

Ma’allesh---- goodbye

Sahak tuev san--- don’t push me

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AUTHOR’S NOTE:

Sorry for the long wait on chapters. I’m going to try to update more often so you guys have something to look forward to while quarantined!

A longer chapter for you all! Hope you enjoy!

We move onto the Padawan Lost arc next!

As always, reviews/comments/likes/reposts/shares are always welcome!

-Ryder

#fanfic #fanfiction #Fanfc #captain rex #rex x oc #captain rex x reader #captain rex x oc #rex #star wars #star wars the clone wars #oc star wars #star wars oc #Clone Troopers #Clone Wars #clones #The Clone Wars #Daughter of Jango fic

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