Cl Writing - Blog Posts

Conflicting Lives- Chapter 8: The ACTUAL Patrol, and a "Small" Conflict

Word Count: 3223

It was well into patrol, but Scythe and Joel could not get rid of the teasing comments of Voidling and iWork. It didn't help that they often did react very similarly (if not the same) to more than a few of them, only adding fuel to the fire. By now, neither Scythe nor Joel were saying anything to the other two in their patrol, and instead chatting with themselves.

They tried their best to ignore the two behind them, but when the four men heard a distant boom, the silence in the following moments spoke all that it needed to. With a simple nod amongst themselves, the four started rushing towards the area the sound came from, using iWork’s tech from Inventor to better help locate the origin point of it.

Without needing to say any words, Scythe ran over to Joel who easily picked him up and flew high into the air. iWork was close behind, helping Voidling in a similar way, the masked man instead holding onto a grapple-like rope that the winged man above him held onto.

The patrol made their way above and around buildings, the signs of what must have been an explosion become more apparent as they closed in on the source. The smaller and quieter explosion heard above the ever so faint laughter proved that, and she came into their view as they turned around the next building.

There she stood, in the middle of all of the chaos, living up to the name Wildfire as flames soared wildly in almost all directions. Her green skin illuminated with the orange of flames, Wildfire threw spears of flames towards smaller, lesser known heroes as they tried to land huts, to no avail. Luckily, she had her back turned to the patrol. Unluckily, a second villain was turned towards them, golden crown and crimson cloak glowing bright from the light of the flames.

As the cloaked villain leaned back to inform his partner of the incoming reinforcements, Scythe and Voidling dropped to the ground from the hold of Joel and iWork. As the four lined up and started to divide themselves into who would fight who, Wildfire’s voice rang through the air and over the sounds of the flames.

“Aren’t you glad I dragged you out here? Isn’t it just so fun to let it loose?”  Her voice was rimmed with mania, and when her partner in crime hadn’t responded, she continued. “Oh, is the great Red Winter too engrossed to respo--” she turned around, cutting herself off as her eyes seemed to sparkle with joy when she spotted the four heroes, “-- oh well just look at what we have here!

Four little heroes arriving just in the nick of time to save your friends!” She gestured to the scattered civilians, heroes, and police in the area as she spoke. “And here I thought that we wouldn't get the attention of the big guys, but I guess my little boom worked after all.”

Before she could continue, Voidling stepped forward, his armor helping to protect him from the small fires dotted around where the patrol landed. “That’s enough, Wildfire. You’ve done enough damage, and now it’s time for you and Red Winter to leave.” 

As he spoke, he drew his mace, the rest of the patrol pulling out their weapons and taking up fighting positions. iWork had his hammer out, but made sure to keep to a more covered and earthy area in case anyone needed healing. Scythe had a ryyk in each hand and had taken up a position of a straightforward and charge-like approach. Joel, with his battle axe in both hands, took up a position in the sky using his wings.

The expression on Wildfire and Red Winter's faces seemed to flip, a smirk growing on the cloaked wolf hybrid, a frown setting in on the zombie hybrid. “What a shame. I was just starting to have fun too!” Wildfire said in an annoyed tone.

Red Winter’s smirk only grew as he spoke, “I guess it's time to have some real fun then.” He turned to Wildfire. “Why not let loose on people who can actually put up a good fight?”

Wildfire found a smile returning to her face as she gleefully responded, “Oh, now that sounds wonderful!”

Red Winter charged towards Voidling, using his transformation abilities to become more wolf-like. Just as he reaches to swipe in a now werewolf form, Voidling raises his mace, blocking the attack and being pushed back.

In that same moment, Joel dives to where Wildfire is, dodging her spears of fire as they are thrown. Voidling starts to lose his traction on the ground from Red Winter’s continued blows, and iWork runs over to help him before Scythe can even fully react. iWork reached Voidling just as he is knocked backwards from the strongest attack against him, and Scythe comes up with a quick plan.

Slowly, he starts making his way towards where Joel is fighting Wildfire. He uses the light of the fires to his advantage, bending them slightly to help better conceal himself while also using his illusions to better blend into the ground and the flames around him.

Finally, he made it to where Wildfire and Joel were. He almost chuckled to himself as he realized the two were litterally playing with fire, then tapped Wildfire's shoulder, causing her to turn around. Seeing Joel get ready to launch yet another fireball, Scythe simply waved at Wildfire before jumping to the side. 

He had just barely missed the fireball as it came crashing down onto Wildfire. In the split second of quiet after the fireball landed, Scythe heard the clang of metal on armor as Voidling was pushed back as his mace hit his chestplate. Then as the flames fully clear, he decides to start up a conversation with Wildfire.

“Come on, you really chose to blow up a park instead of like, going to the gym or something?” He asked as he dodged one of her fire spears. She laughs as she responds, dodging a blow from Joel and reaching to attack Scythe, “Oh, don't be silly, you should know me by now!”

Scythe managed to dodge and grab Wildfire’s arm, but before he could do anything, she pulled him in, “I’m not one to shy from a bit of chaos.” A shiver ran down Scythe’s spine as she spoke, and he teleported away quickly as Joel dived towards her, axe in hand. 

Wildfire turned around just in time to see Joel diving towards her, and she quickly jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding getting hit. “You know,” Joel started as he dodged another spear of fire, “a certain someone visited recently bearing good will from you--” he moved to help Scythe as he prepared to throw a small ball of light at Wildfire “-- and it would be such a shame if she found out you injured Lux.”

Scythe threw the ball of light, but missed Wildfire as she dodged it, replying as Joel ran at her. “Oh, I won’t hurt him, “ she gestured towards Scythe, “but I don't mind hurting you.” She finishes just as Joel gets to her, ducking under his swing and pushing her elbow into his stomach.

Joel stumbles back and Scythe teleports behind him to help him regain his balance as Wildfire continues. “And besides, she was technically the one that suggested causing some chaos--” she threw a few more spears of fire at the pair of heroes “-- I just so happened to take it a bit literally, that’s all!”

Scythe took cover behind a nearby piece of debris, while Joel took to the skies once more to avoid the barrage of fiery spears. Scythe noticed that his flight was a little unbalanced, and that worried him more than he would ever admit, but he had to focus on what he needed to do next.

Wildfire and Joel kept fighting, and her voice rang through the air once more. “Besides, this gives a good opportunity to check in with you!” She stumbled a little as a ring of light began to encompass her vision.

It was working. When he was satisfied with the intensity of the light ring, strong enough to disorient her but weak enough as to not permanently harm her vision, Scythe came out of his hiding spot, running back to where Wildfire was standing. Joel sighed as he landed back on the ground, walking to a now slightly-stunned as he put his axe on his shoulder, admittedly a little amused at the stumbling state of the zombie hybrid in front of him.

“Why can’t you just let off steam like a normal person?” Scythe askes, delivering a light but firm blow to Wildfire’s shoulder with the handle of one of his ryyks. He stops the ring of light he made around her vision as she stumbled over, trying to be courteous as to let her catch herself.

She chuckles a little as she starts to stand back up. “Eh, it was worth it if I had a chance to annoy you guys. And if not I wouldn't have minded if I ended up with some other heroes showing up instead, just so i can beat their asses too.” She looked up at Scythe and Joel with a smile on her face, and Scythe felt something off as she spoke once more. “Plus, what’s the fun of doing something normal?”

Then Scythe noticed it, the sound of a large fireball falling towards the three of them. He jumped to the side just in time to look over and see the large ball of flame crashing down to where he just was. The heat was far more intense than he thought it would be, and he worried for a moment what shape Joel and Wildfire would be in after the flames died down. He wasn't really quite sure he saw them both dodge out the way before it hit.

“You never did answer my question either” a voice said behind him ,and before he could properly react he felt something push on his back and was shoved forward, barely managing to catch himself before face planting into the course and burnt dirt.

Quickly recovering, he turned around and saw Wildfire giggling to herself. Joel landed between the two, his clothes almost burnt off and his hair littered with small embers and ash, though he himself seemed to be completely unharmed. He looked behind himself to check to see if Scythe was ok before turning back towards the smaller zombie hybrid.

“I’m doing great, thanks for asking,” Scythe said sarcastically, walking forward to stand beside Joel. Just then, Red Winter appeared once more by Wildfire’s side, Voidling and iWork both taking up positions on each side of their patrol partners.

Apparently, Voidling and iWork had managed to push Red Winter far enough back to make him retreat, and he re-joined his partner in crime. “Are you alright, m’lady?” the cloaked villain asked, and Wildfire simply nodded, a smile growing on her face once more.

Scythe sensed something was about to happen, and looked over to Voidling only to find the masked hero looking back at him with the same confused and apprehension-filled look. He then turned to look at iWork beside him, who seemed to be focused on the gap between the two villains. In the same moment that he seems to see something, Scythe turns back to look at Wildfire and Red Winter, only to find a third villain standing between them.

“Well, well, well. Look what we have here!” Scarlet Moon giggled, her red moth wings fluttering behind her, eyes matching in color and almost glowing with excitement. “It seems this time I've been called in for the rescue, and how could I deny the pleasure of seeing four of my favorite heroes?”

Voidling stopped forward, keeping his mace firmly in his hands and speaking with a steady voice. “It is time for you three to leave. You’ve done enough damage, and you don't need to be causing any more.” iWork braced himself in case another battle broke out, and Joel started to stretch his wings in preparation to fly.

Scythe simply looked at Scarlet Moon, or rather Pearl, and she looked back. They held each other's gaze for a moment longer, then she looked back at Voidling. “I suppose so.” She put a hand on each shoulder of the two in front of her, and bright light started to emit from the trio. “I do wish I could have stayed longer though. Until next time, heroes.” She said, and a blinding light flashed, the patrol closing their eyes out of instinct.

When Scythe re-opened his eyes, the three villains were gone, and the surrounding fires were starting to lose their strength in Wildfire’s absence. He looked around at his fellow patrol members. Joel was rubbing his eyes from the bright light, Voidling was looking around and surveying the damage, and iWork was turned to Scythe. 

“Do you have any major injuries, Lux?” he said, reaching out towards his arm where he hadn’t quite realized he had a large scrape. “This doesn’t look horrible, but you should definitely get it cleaned before trying to heal it.” iWork continued, looking at the scrape closer through the dirt and dust stuck to it.

“Oh, uh, yeah I’ll do that.” Scythe responded, a little confused on how he didn’t see the wound before. The phantom hybrid looked at him with uncertainty. “I will, I promise! I’m just a little shocked that I didn't notice it, I guess.” he quickly added, and iWork looked a little more relaxed, though obviously not completely relieved.

He walked away from Scythe and to Joel, checking him over as well. Miraculously, he didn't have any damage to his person, but his uniform definitely needed to be replaced. Scythe could swear he heard iWork “lightly” scolding Joel. “You didn’t think to get your uniform in fire-proof materials? Come on, Stratos! Aren’t you a Blaze hybrid? You need a fire-proof uniform!”

Those were among the most tamed words of the scolding, but Joel did eventually manage to avoid the full-length of a scold by casually bringing up that Voidling might still be injured. iWork almost instantly stopped what he was saying, and begrudgingly walked away from Joel towards Voidling to make sure he wasn't badly hurt.

“Jeez, I almost couldn’t get rid of him.” Joel said as he walked towards Scythe, rubbing in the back of his head in slight embarrassment. Scythe chuckled and replied with a smile “I mean it is your fault for not getting fire-proof fabric, as someone with fire magic. That’s your own damn fault if you ask me”

“Oh, come on! You’re supposed to be on my side!” Joel pouted playfully, crossing his arm and looking away. Scythe laughed even harder, failing to apologize through all the giggling. Thankfully he was able to compose himself by the time Voidling walked over with iWork by his side.

“I want us to help where we can while we’re still in the area.” He said. Looking at Scythe and iWork, he continued” Lux, iWork, the two of you have Healing abilities, so I want you to check all of the citizens and bystanders to see if they need any help.” iWork opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again once Voidling put up his hand to stop him.

“Yes, I know I can heal too, but I want Stratos to come with me to clear the larger debris in the area to help clear up any major roads or paths that may be blocked.” He turned to Joel as he spoke, “Are you alright with helping clear, Stratos?”

Joel nodded, “Yeah sure. I can help lift and push stuff.” Voidling replied with an “Alright” before telling them all to split up and do what they need to do. Voidling and Joel went to the police and firemen that had arrived to check and see which areas needed to be cleared first, and iWork turned to Scythe.

“So here’s what I’m thinking. I have more disinfectant and cleaning things than you do for healing, I know that much, so I can start by cleaning any wounds, and you can then come in after and heal them with your ability.” He said. Scythe wondered how he thought of that so quickly, but he knew that iWork was a quick thinker, and the plan made sense anyways.

So he nodded, “That sounds good. What if it's a deep or large wound? Do we want to try and do anything different or extra?” He asked. He was genuinely curious, and didn’t quite know how much he could heal without running out of stamina, or risking his illusion fading, but he didn't really want to say that aloud and just hoped iWork understood.

He thought for a moment before responding. “If it's deep or large enough, I can do some initial healing after cleaning it. I understand your concerns, and if you think you’re getting too tired feel free to come and tell me or to step away for a moment.” He looked at the surrounding civilians before continuing. “There doesn’t seem to be many injuries, but still let me know if anything happens.”

Scythe nodded, appreciative of iWork’s concern. The phantom hybrid started walking towards the civilians, taking out his cleaning supplies and checking in with everyone. Scythe simply followed behind, stopping at anyone that iWork cleaned the wounds of, and made small talk while healing them, trying to be as kind as possible even when he did feel tired and ready to be home.

After about 45 minutes, everyone who needed assistance was helped, and enough debris was cleared to make the necessary roads and paths accessible to citizens. Voiding called iWork and Scythe over to where he and Joel were standing.

“Great work today guys. Go home, and rest. I’ll get a patrol with some of the other heroes to come and survey the area to make sure everything is still alright, but we all need some rest.” Scythe felt himself relax, and he took a deep breath as the masked hero continued. “You all did amazing today, both on the clean up, and in the fighting.”

The three younger men nodded, and iWork and Voidling walked in one direction, Joel and Scythe in the other. Joel didn’t even need to wait for Scythe to look at him before he knew what the enderman hybrid was going to ask.

“Yes, I'll take you back to your dorm. But you’re feeding me dinner and calling Cleo and Pearl to hang out too.” the winged man said, spreading his wings and holding his hands out for Scythe to hold onto.

Scythe laughed and grabbed his arms, still laughing as he replied, “Deal, and thank you, Stratos.” Joel rolled his eyes and flew into the air. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Also, it is so weird for you to call me Stratos, even if we’ve been on countless missions together.”

Scythe laughed and looked at the cityscape in front of him. “It is weird calling you Stratos, but we were still around the public eye so I didn't really have a choice.” Joel muttered a “Fair enough,” and flew back towards Cursia.

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Conflicting Lives- Chapter 7: Midnight Nightmare, Afternoon Patrol

Word Count: 2788

Scythe looked up at Martian from where he was poised on the ground, clutching the deep wound in his right side. The red-clad villain had knocked him down with a powerful blow, and he was now half laying, half sitting against the brick wall of the alleyway they were in. A small pool of Scythe's crimson-violet blood was forming on the rough concrete below him, also scattered across Martian's upper body from their fight.

Scythe tried desperately to crawl away from Martian. He still had his entire life ahead of him. He was scared to die, and he didn’t want to die either, but something told him that Martian wouldn't let him go, even if he was begging on the brink of death.

But he still tried. “Please…” Scythe said, his voice barely above a whisper thanks to his quickly fading strength. As Martian stopped in front of him, Scythe could no longer hold his head up to look at him. “Please… I don’t want to die…”

“If only you had realized that sooner.” Martian smirked, his confidence and hatred oozing out as he spoke. “Too bad, no one’s here to save poor, little…” His voice faded, Scythe seeing his lips move, words forever unheard.

His voice now barely audible to even himself, Scythe’s vision blurred with the tears that now ran down his cheeks,  mixing with the drying blood on his face. Martian squatted down to where Scythe was laying on the ground, and lifted his head with his fingers covered in the Enderian's blood.

In the brits place, a soft, worried voice filled. “...Scythe… Scythe!” The young Enderian’s eyes shot open and he scrambled to sit up. He moved his hand almost immediately to his right side where he swore he still felt the pain of his wound.

Scythe’s heart still raced and his breath still seemed to come a bit short as he looked around the room he was in. He was in his room, in his dorm, in Cursia, and far, far, away from Martian. Taking a deep breath, Scythe took his hand off of his side, the pain from his nightmare still lingering in his mind.

“Scythe, are you alright?” The soft voice said again, somehow filled with even more worry. He looked to the side and saw Ella sitting up beside him, her eyes filled with worry and her wings fluffed in a protective manner. Scythe moved his hand to hers and slowly nodded.

“I think so, now that I’m awake.” He said slowly, testing to see how much she wanted to know, and how much he was willing to share. The worry in Ella’s eyes softened slightly, but she was still very obviously concerned about him.

“I promise, Ella. I’ll be fine. I just need to wrap my head around what happened.” He looked away as he said that, thinking about the dream a moment longer, then looked at Ella one more time. “You don’t have to worry love, I’ll be ok.”

Ella crossed her arms and looked away, fake pouting as she spoke. “I don’t believe you.” she said simply, her wings flapping very slightly on her back. Scythe simply chuckled and pulled her close, resting his head on hers.

“You don’t have to believe me, you just have to trust me.” he said to her, and she took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around him in return. The pair stayed like that for a few minutes longer, simply enjoying the warmth and comfort of the other.

Eventually, Scythe spoke again. “How about we try to sleep again? It's still too early to be fully awake, and I have a patrol to watch for myself at noon.” he had said. Ella took a few moments before responding, her voice quiet and edged with sleepiness. “Fine, but you’re not escaping cuddles.”

Scythe chuckled, his chest shaking and his mood improving immediately, the nightmare temporarily forgotten. “Alright, alright. We can cuddle back to sleep, but we have to lay back down to cuddle properly.”

Ella almost immediately let go and layed back down in the bed, shuffling and adjusting to make room for Scythe to lay next to her, and held her arms out to beckon him down. He chuckled once more under his breath before adjusting himself to properly lay down, Ella pulling him to her as soon as he got situated, and he wrapped his arms around her in turn.

“Now sleep. And no nightmares during cuddles.” Ella said. “Alright, no nightmares with cuddles.” Scythe conceded. The two Enderian hybrids held each other, eventually falling asleep cradled in each others arms with no nightmares or unsettling dreams to be had for the remainder of the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scythe woke up a few hours later, the sun shining through the window blinds, the clock by the bed reading 10:40am. As he rubbed his eyes from their sleepiness, realizing that he now had an hour and 20 minutes to get dressed, eat, and get to the Agency building for his patrol.

“Good morning sleepyhead” Scythe heard Ella say from the doorway, not even realizing she had opened it. The sweet and savory smell of waffles met his nose, and he smiled a still-sleepy smile.

“Good morning my favoritest person in the world.” Scythe said, rubbing his eyes once more and getting up from the bed. He walked over to the doorway where Ella still stood, holding his arm out for a hug as he approached. Chuckling, she embraced his hug and after a few moments, let go and led him into the kitchen where the wonderful smell was coming from.

Spread across the kitchen counters was admittedly a mess, but amongst the mess sat two pretty plates of food. One of waffles, and one of bacon and eggs. Scythe’s mouth started to water from the smell and sight of the delicious food, and he grabbed a plate to get himself some breakfast. Ella soon followed, and they sat down at the small table to eat their breakfast/brunch.

It didn't take long to eat considering Scythe had found himself to be very hungry when he took the first bite. Once finished, he and Ella rinsed their dishes, and he helped her to clean up the mess that was spread amongst the kitchen counter. It took a few minutes longer than expected, and once the pair had finally finished cleaning the counter and washing the dishes, it was 11:00.

With an hour before he had to be at the agency, Scythe decided it was about time to get dressed in his Uniform and head out. He figured that if he left earlier than he usually would, he might be able to save some energy by going slower in case anything, or anyone, came up. Him and Ella talked for a bit longer after Scythe had changed.

He ended up leaving at around 11:15, but that still left him 45 minutes to get there. Before long, he pulled out his phone and messaged Joel.

Scythe: Do you want to join me on the way to Patrol?

Joel: Why? Are you lonely without me?

Scythe: Oh shut up! Have you met yourself when it's been a long day and you haven’t had the chance to see Etho or Lizzie?

Joel: …

Joel: Shut up. 

Scythe: Hmm

Scythe: No, I don’t think I will

Joel: Rude.

Scythe: Yeah :D

Scythe laughed to himself, and he was sure that Joel was too at his

house. It was a few moments until Joel started typing again.

Scythe put his phone back away, and started leaping and climbing his way up the nearest easily accessible rooftop. Once up, he looked around to make sure of which way he needed to go in. He realized he needed to go in the opposite direction he was facing, but once corrected, he started heading to the address.

Joel: Where do you want to meet? I have to get changed, but it shouldn’t take too long.

Scythe: How about that one café off of  [xxxx] and [xxxx]?

Joel: Sure, I’m about 10 minutes out, tops.

Scythe: I’m about the same, meet ya there.

Read

Leaping across all kinds of different kinds of roofs, Scythe swiftly made it to the café, making sure to put up an illusion before hopping back down onto the street and walking up to the building’s doors.

After placing his drink order, Scythe found a seat close to the door and a window so he could see Joel when he got here. It didn’t take long before he saw Joel walking up the door, and when he walked through the door, Scythe waved to get his attention. Joel waved back and walked up to the counter to place his own order, then joined the younger man at the table.

“Fancy seeing you here, eh stranger?” Joel said with a wide smile as he sat down in the chair. 

“Oh wow, didn’t know you hang around these parts, stranger.” Scythe responded while trying, and failing, to hold back his laughter

Before long, the two burst out into laughter, and once they had stopped laughing, a worker came by with their drinks. Scythe could swear he recognized her bright orange hair and antlers, with the pointy elf ears to match. Nevertheless, he thanked her for bringing their drinks, and took a drink of his own cappuccino.

Scythe must have been very visible in deep thought about the waitress, and Joel most definitely noticed. “You alright there mate? You’re thinking too much, I can tell.” Scythe perked up, momentarily forgetting that he was in the café in the first place.

“Yeah, sorry.” Scythe rubbed his head before continuing, “I feel like I know that waitress from somewhere else, I just can’t place where from.” He took another drink of his coffee, and waited for Joel to respond.

“I thought so too, but damn dude you think too much.” Joel said after taking a drink of his own coffee. After he took his drink he just shrugged ,”You’ll figure it out at some point, let's just enjoy our drinks until we have to go.”

“Fair enough” Scythe felt himself agreeing. He knew he would figure it out another day, but the girl seemed to stick in the back of his mind until the pair had finished their drinks and had to leave once more.

They had spent about 15 minutes there, and only had about another 15 to get to the Agency building. It would be a close fit, but they would be able to get there in time. Walking out of the building, Scythe turned to Joel with a mischievous smile on his lips.

“Bet I can beat you there without teleporting!” he said as he jumped away from the brunette. He had jumped to the ladder of a nearby building, using it to climb up onto the roof. Once he made it up, he disabled his illusion, revealing his hero uniform and he peered over the edge of the building to where Joel was standing before, only to find him missing.

“Y’know you’re a bit slow climbing things, right?” Scythe heard a voice from behind him, really close to his ear, and jumped. Turning around, he saw Joel there with his wings and hero uniform, smirking even wider than he had been earlier.

“Not fair! You have wings!” Scythe pouted. “You can use your wings to get there either, just like I can't teleport.” he tried to reason.

Joel pondered on the thought for a moment before responding. “Fine, sounds fair enough. But if the time cuts too close I can’t promise I won't fly the rest of the way” The brunette shifted his weight to one leg and crossed his arms. “Deal?”

Scythe stood up from where he was still crouched on the rooftop. “Deal. See you later, slow poke!” and with that, he ran and jumped to the next rooftop, landing well and keeping his momentum to run and leap to the next. 

After landing again, Scythe looked back to find Joel confused for a split second before making a running start and following. Both of them had smiles plastered across their faces as they ran, the lead constantly fluctuating between them. At one point, Scythe had misjudged a jump, landing rough and killing most of his momentum, where Joel had used his wings to help him clear the gap.

Seeing Joel use his wings to help him, Scythe recovered quickly, catching up easily with a small, innocent, teleport forward. “You use your wings, I use my teleporting!” he said as he caught up to Joel, teleporting to a nearby rooftop to gain the lead once more, smiling mischievously the whole time.

Joel, temporarily stunned and confused, launched himself in the air a moment later, zooming up to where Scythe was, now quite a few rooftops in front of him. “It’s not my fault you misjudged the leap! I was only using my resources!” he said before propelling himself further forward and up with his wings.

“If you want to play that way, it looks like I'll just have to use my resources too.” Scythe said to himself, Joel being well out of earshot by now. He teleported to the next few rooftops, closing the gap between him and Joel. Once he was close enough and made sure he had enough energy to teleport again, he teleported a few meters in front of Joel. He had positioned the teleport so that Joel would have to catch him if he wanted to keep flying, and so that he wouldn't crash down onto a rooftop.

And it worked perfectly. Joel saw Scythe falling in front of him and scrambled to catch him and keep flying before he crashed to the ground. After realizing what Scythe had done, Joel looked at the young enderian with a glare that shot all kinds of daggers.

“I used my resources, just like you did” is all that Scythe said in response, earning an eye roll and annoyed scoff from the winged brunette who held him. 

“You’re damn lucky that I care about you enough not to drop you right now.” Joel said after a minute more of just flying. Scythe saw that he was smiling, and he smiled as he replied, “I know, but all that teleporting was getting exhausting anyways.”

Joel muttered something along the lines of “Fair enough, I guess,” and flew the rest of the way to the Agency. It only took them around 5 more minutes to get there, and they spent probably around 12 or 13 getting there in total.

With those few minutes left once they actually arrived, they went inside to see who else was there, and to see if they could find their other 2 patrol members.

It didn't take long at all to find them either. iWork and Voidling were talking with each other just inside of the main doors, looking over at Scythe and Joel as they walked in. Voidling seemed to smile under his mask as he waved the pair over. “Lux, Stratos! Come over and chat for a bit before we go!” He said in a cheery tone.

Scythe smiled and walked over to them, Joel following close behind. “Hey guys!” He said as he got to them, and was handed a cup of water. He shrugged and took a drink, liking the way the cold helped to cool him down from the journey. 

“Safe passage here I hope?” iWork asked after handing Joel a cup of his own. 

Joel took a drink before he replied. “It was, but this child--” he looked at Scythe “-- decided to teleport in front of me while I was flying and made me have to carry him the rest of the way”

“Hey! I didn’t make you carry me! You even said so yourself; you care too much about me to have dropped me!” Scythe replied with a playfully offended gasp.

The winged man’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink. “Oh, shut up! No one asked for your input peanut gallery!” he reported jokingly.

“Alright you two, settle down.” Voidling said, stepping forward slightly to position himself between Joel and Scythe as they stared at each other. The masked hero turned to iWork and said, “It looks like we might have our hands full this afternoon.”

“Hey!” Scythe and Joel said simultaneously, causing the other two men to burst out in laughter, themselves stunned into silence and just staring at each other.

“Did that just happen?” Scythe asked.

“Yeah. Yeah it did.” Joel replied.

And the pair stood in shock as Voidling and iWork died of laughter on the floor.

(to be continued)

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Conflicting Lives- Incorrect Quotes 2

Have some more silly little things lol. from the same website as the last one, here

Lunar: I sleep with a gun under my pillow. Sam: I sleep with a knife. Ella: Both of you are pathetic. Lunar: Oh yeah? What do you sleep with? Ella: Scythe.

Etho: You really believe in Joel? Lizzie: Mmm… Luckily, he believes in himself enough for the both of us.

Ella, turning to Scythe: Stop calling yourself hot, the only thing you can turn on is the microwave.

Tango: Jimmy, you’re in charge! Scott: Jimmy, can we start a fire?

Scott: Tango isn’t answering my messages. Jimmy: Allow me. Scott: I tried 6 times, what makes you thi- Tango: *replying to message* Hello.

Mumbo: *is wearing silk pants* How does this look? Scar: Like its slips on and off really easily. Mumbo: Scar: No, I didn't mean it like that- Grain: We know what you meant.

Cleo: So are you gonna explain how the hell you crashed my car? Pearl: Well we were driving and there was a deer in the road, so I said "Gem, deer!" Cleo: ...And what did Gem do? Pearl: …They said "Yes, Honey?"

Ella: Come on, Lunar. Nobody actually believes that Scythe is in love with me. Lunar, to The Squad: Raise your hand if you think that Scythe is helplessly in love with Ella. *Everyone raises their hand* Ella: Scythe, put your hand down.

Pearl: We’ve been conducting an ongoing study to see what Joel will and will not eat. Sam: Grass? Yes! Pearl: Moss? Yes!! Sam: Leaves? Ohh, yes! Pearl: Shoelaces? Strange but true! Sam: Worms? Sometimes! Pearl: Rocks? Usually nah. Sam: Twigs? Usually! Pearl: Scar's cooking? Inconclusive! Jimmy: How did you… test this? Pearl: You just hand them stuff and say ‘eat this’ and if they eat it, they eat it. Jimmy: ... I don’t know how to feel about this. Scar: IS THAT WHERE ALL MY SPARE SHOELACES WENT?

Scar: Show me Pennsylvania. Scythe: I don’t know Canadian geography.

Cleo: I have a question. Scythe: Shoot. Cleo: Is the S or C in scent silent? Gem: Fuck you, I’m going to be thinking about this all day. Scythe: Okay well, cent is pronounced the same way as scent so I’m gonna say the S is silent. Cleo: Okay, but sent is also spelled the same way. Gem: Google says that the C was added in the late seventeenth century, so I guess the S is silent. Joel: Plot twist, both the S and the C are silent and the E actually makes the sss sound. Gem: Joel is not allowed to talk anymore.

Scythe: You are the love of my life and I would do anything within reason to make you happy. Ella: I would be happy if you ate, stayed hydrated and got a reasonable amount of sleep. Scythe: I said within reason, Ella. How about I murder that guy? Ella: So murder is in reason but proper self care isn't? Scythe: Well, duh. What kind of question is that?

Conflicting Lives- Chapter 6: Comfort and Chill Vibes

Word Count: 2247

It was the third day following the meeting. Scythe had woken up later on the same day of the meeting, about an hour after the others had gotten him back to his dorm room, but didn't talk much, just letting the others chat around him. Sam was coming over today though, so he at least had something to look forward to. He mostly just sat on the couch either watching tv or playing some games, but today he was too excited to see someone else to properly focus on anything on the tv. 

Thankfully, Scythe didn't have to wait all too much longer in his little pool of excitement before there was a knock on the door. “Come in!” Scythe yelled from where he sat. Ella was in class right now, and the door had been left unlocked for the past few days so friends could come check on him if they needed to, and he didn't mind one bit. Sam walked in, taking care not to knock anything over with his extra arms, they came with being a spider hybrid after all.

“Hey Scythe, How are you feeling today?” Sam asked with a wide smile. Sam goes to Cursia University as well as Ella and Scythe, and studies his major, Digital Game Design, as an off-campus student, traveling to go to his classes. He walked over to where Scythe was on the couch and sat down next to him.

“Way better honestly even though I still don't quite understand how I got so panicked so quickly. It is what it is I guess,” Scythe responded as he moved to the side a little to give Sam more sitting room. “I’m glad to have you here though it's been forever since we’ve been able to just hang out, chaos causing or not” 

Sam chuckled and agreed, “Yeah it really had, but with what's been going on I'm not really surprised we haven't been able to either.” The pair sat for a minute longer, simply enjoying each other's company. And then there was a knock on the door.

The door burst open, and before Scythe could turn to see who it was, he heard a familiar Australian accent. “What’s this then? A sad friend? Well that just won’t do!” That's when both Sam and Scythe found themselves with chocolates and chips being dropped on their heads.

Scythe chuckled and looked up where the friendly voice was coming from. “Hey Pearl!” Scythe said with a smile plastered across his face. “Did you really come all the way from Survas just to dump junk food on me? And you didn't have to open the door so fast either y'know.”

“Nonsense, of course I have to make an entrance! How else do you think I got my reputation as Scarlet Moon?” The tall moth hybrid replied with a smirk and a wink. She walked around and plopped down onto the floor in front of the two younger men, and looked expectantly at them. “Well, are you going to try anything or not? Cleo and Gem made those right there--” Pearl pointed to two pieces of tupperware, one circular and one square, that had landed between Scythe and Sam “-- and the two made sure that they were your favorite.”

Scythe looked at the circular tupperware, hardly hesitating before grabbing it and opening the lid. Almost instantly the smell of chorus fruit met his nose, the scent of pie coming only a moment later. He looked back at Pearl, still sitting on the ground, and said with a grin, “Please tell them I say thank you and that I love them. It has been far too long since I've had chorus pie and I know it'll be damn good if both of them had a hand in it.”

He took one more good sniff and put the lid back on to save for later. Reaching for the other, more square tupperware, Scythe opened it as well. “And fudge brownies?? Oh my void those two are saints I swear.” he said as soon as he saw what was inside of the container. Sam and Pearl burst into laughter, and it took a minute for Scythe to realize what they were laughing about before he started laughing too

“I don’t know if I would call those two saints but they sure are something.” Sam said in between laughs. “It definitely is nice of them to do that for you though.” The three finally stopped laughing as much, and Scythe found himself nodding in agreement.

“They may be chaotic but who’s to say you guys aren't either?” Pearl responded

“Yeah but you and Cleo are something else entirely” Scythe said back with a smirk.

“Hey you can’t say anything either, Scythe. Not with what you and Joel can get up to together.” Sam said, and Pearl stuck her tongue out at the Enderman hybrid in a mocking victory.

“Wooooow Sam. And I thought you loved me,” He said back playfully, holding his hand to Sam's face, blocking the view of the others' faces. The pair on the couch laughed, pearling chuckling along as well.

Scythe handed the other two a brownie after pulling one out for himself. “We all deserve a wonderful brownie if I do say so myself.” He said after taking a bite of his own piece, and the other two nodded in agreement while taking a bite.

The three just sat and talked for a few minutes longer, each enjoying the snacks Pearl had brought. They ended up splitting just about everything between themselves, Scythe making sure to grab a few that he knew Ella would like. He enjoyed having the company of others with him, but these were two of a select few people that he enjoyed talking to the most.

“Do you guys want to play some games?” Scythe asked eventually. “I’m not quite sure what we have that all 3 of us will want to play but we can always look”

“Sure! What kind of games ya got?” Pearl replied.

“I don’t even think he knows what he has himself” Sam chuckled and said, causing Scythe to stick his tongue out.

“I know most of the games I have, thank you very much! I just don’t know what we all want to play!” He pouted as he responded.

“Quit your bickering ya spoons,” Pearl said, standing up and gently hitting them both on the top of the head, effectively bonking the pair. “Let’s see what games you’ve got, eh Scythe?”

Scythe nearly jumped off the couch and to his shelf of video games, pulling around 15 off of it to show to the pair waiting behind him. He excitedly “ran” back to them, sitting on the ground and spreading them out in front of him. 

“This one--” he pointed to a game on the left side of the spread, “-- is more of a sandbox game. Its open-world type but still kind of has a goal but really we could all play and do whatever.” he pointed  to one a few to the right, “And this one is more a fighting type game, but not in like a 1v1 type style but more of like pve style and can have I think up to five players in a game.

This one over here is sort of a mix. It has the partial open world and sandbox type aspects, but it's also a lot about surviving and building a base from primitive tools to advanced machinery.” that time Scythe was pointing to a game on the far right side. He explained the rest in a similar way, then waited for Pearl and Sam’s responses.

After what felt like forever to Scythe, but was only probably a few more seconds, Sam spoke. “I think the mixed kind of one sounds cool. It could be a really fun challenge.” Pearl nodded in agreement, “it certainly does sound like a challenge, and a fun one at that!” She said with a smile.

And so Scythe booted up the game and they played. They played for what felt like hours. At some point, Ella has returned to the dorm after her classes for the day, hopped in a shower and had some snacks. She joined in as well, opting to be the farmer in the game, focused on getting food for them all. Pearl took the role of building the house up, Sam took to material gathering for just about everything, and Scythe took to taming the beasts that the in-game world had to offer.

They must have played though the entire night, as when they were finally starting to get tired the clock read 10:42pm. They all winced simultaneously at how late it was getting, and Pearl was the first to stand, followed by Sam.

“I should probably be getting home right about now lovelies, but thank you for letting me stay and play some games with ya!” she said, grabbing the few belongings she had brought along with her. The other three said goodbye, and Pearl left the dorm room and Scythe could’ve sworn he saw her flying through the window..

The three friends sat for a few minutes longer, but it wasn't too much longer until Sam grabbed their own items. “I should probably head home too. All of my stuff for my classes tomorrow are at home.” The spider hybrid said, double checking he did have all of his belongings.

“Alright, well get home safe Sam.” Ella said, helping him to get all of his surviving snacks in his multiple appendages and minimal bags. “Don’t do anything stupid on your way back.” She added with a small glare.

“Hey I’m not that dumb--” Sam's said, turning back to face Ella, stopping what he was saying at her stare. “-- ok maybe I can be but it's too late to do anything, plus I already said i have classes tomorrow I’m not going to do anything.” He conceded. 

“If I know you and Scythe, and I do--” Ella looked at Sam, then at Scythe, “-- you guys get up to stupid shit at stupid times. I know you likely won’t do anything stupid, but that doesn't mean you won’t at all.” She ended her sentence, making sure to enunciate each point of her mini-lecture.

Sam looked at Scythe for some support. “Come one Scythe help me out here man.” “I wish I could Sam but, well, she’s not wrong.” the Enderian replied, and Ella’s face turned into one of triumph.

“How could you betray me?” Sam said jokingly before the three laughed together a bit. “Alright , alright, I wont do anything too stupid. I promise.” He added as Ella looked at him once more with suspicion.

The trio said their goodbyes to each other, and when Ella had closed the door behind Sam, Scythe grabbed something. As she made it back to the couch where he was sitting, Scythe held out the circular tupperware from earlier in the day.

“What’s this?” Ella said, looking at the container Scythe handed her, trying to determine what it was before opening it. “Is it something that Pearl had brought?”

Scythe nodded, “Yeah! Cleo and Gem made it for me, but I thought we should share a slice or two given what it is.” Ella looked at him curiously. “Open it you dummy! Look at what it is!” he said in response to her curious glance.

She chuckled a little to herself and opened the container. The smell of the Chorus Pie once again hit Scythe’s nose, and he could tell that Ella was excited about the delicious treat as well. She looked back up at him, her eyes full of excitement. “Can we eat some now?” she asked, her multi-colored wings flapping a bit in her excitement..

Scythe laughed, “Yes, yes we can.” he grabbed the tupperware back from her and got up to go to the kitchen and cut a few slices. “You know, you can be really cute when you get all giddy and excited like that.” he said, smiling as he put each slice onto its own plate, grabbing a fork each. Ella’s cheeks turned a lighter, pinker hue, and her wings instinctively moved to cover her face. “The little wing movements make it even cuter.” Scythe added.

He chuckled as he walked back to the couch with the chorus pie slices, setting one next to a flustered and “hidden” Ella. Slowly, his winged partner  emerged from her feathered cocoon, mumbling small curses as she picked up her plate and took a bite of the pie. Almost as soon as she took the bite, her wings flapped a bit happily.

Scythe chuckled to himself once more, and Ella shot him a glare before taking another bite, and he put his hands up in defeat. Taking a bite of his own slice, Scythe appreciated Pearl's partners ever more for the pie, and how well they made it. From what he knew, chorus pie was pretty difficult to make, mainly because of the toughness and general difficulty to handle chorus fruit itself.

As the clock ticked ever closer to midnight, Scythe and Ella ate their slices of pie, chatted about some random stuff, and even played a few games, more chill in comparison to the one they were playing with Sam and Pearl. By the time the clock did hit midnight, the pair were already in bed, falling asleep and getting ready for another hopefully peaceful day.

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Conflicting Lives- Chapter 5: Panicked Feelings (The Meeting pt.2)

Word count: 2434

TW: Panic attack (warning when happening)

“I would love to share.” Snowfall said, emphasizing his voice on the word love, and Scythe could swear he caught a glare aimed in his direction, as well as Lunar’s. And that's when Scythe realized exactly who Snowfall was. 

The red accents, the cocky demeanor, and the voice. He hated that stupid, British voice, and he knew it all too well. That was Martian standing in front of Scythe, one of the strongest people from Cursia, hero or villain, and he was someone Scythe didn't particularly get along with.

“I was tasked to observe the two villains passively, as a bystander or by other means, and I think that you might want to re-think your… selection of heroes after this, Voidling.” The blond started, looking at Scythe and Joel, Voidling following his gaze with a confused and interested tint to his eyes. “For the last 5 weeks, I have been carefully monitoring the activities in the area affected by these two villains, and not only does it seem as though the pair have planned the decrease of their activities, but I also seem to have noticed the lack of a few specific persons in said area during my observation,” Snowfall then looked towards the other three IOs, and they all returned his stare, each expression conveying something different. 

Lunar looked like they were starting to get annoyed, Etho had a flicker of fear in his eyes for a small moment, and Augustus’ expression was unreadable, partially thanks to his mask. Scythe knew that he himself probably looked very annoyed, and he could tell that Joel's anxiety was starting to build as well.

“Storyteller,” Snowfall turned his full attention to her, “I don't mean to be rude, but your features aren't exactly the most concealable, even in your current outfit. Your horns, skin color, and other appendages seem to make you stand out in a crown.” Lunar narrowed her eyes. “And what do you mean by that, Snowfall?” they said, the tone of their voice betraying their annoyance.

“Oh, nothing at all, it’s just that during my observations, I seem to have noticed you talking to an enderman hybrid who appears to be eerily similar to our young hero in the room.” Snowfall then turns to Scythe. “I don't suppose you have any siblings do you, Lux?” Scythe's breath caught in his throat, but Snowfall continued before he could respond. “Of course, this is simply just a wild guess, what else could it be?” He turned back to Lunar, and continued what he was saying before, “I also seem to have never seen you as often as you claim to have been in our little surveillance area. Don’t you think that's quite odd? You seem to have this information like you have been consistently observing our Enderian villain, yet I haven't seen you as often as you say you were around.

In fact, I am inclined to believe you haven’t been there at all.” Lunar’s tail lashed to each side in frustration, her expression clearly aggravated. “And what proof do you have of your claims? What proof do you have that you were there, and I was not? I do not share my abilities, nor do I intend to, but I can confirm that I have been there as long as I have told with my research. What proof do you have with you to say that I have not?” She retorted, her anger even more evident in the tone of her voice.

Snowfall was silent in the few moments to follow, and the tension in the room was so thick it could have been cut with a butter knife. “You make a good point, I do not have any viable proof other than my own words, but I advise the gathered heroes to think about all that I will be saying.” he then turned to Augustus. “I seem to have noticed a lack of your presence as well, The Above. Yet again, I assume you are dressed in such a way right now to try and hide your identity. Even so, it feels as though I would have seen a similar style, or at least another outside party observing Ender and Tanuki at some point within the last 5 weeks, and have yet to see such.”

Augustus’ expression was still unreadable, seemingly neutral as he replied, “Of course you wouldn't have seen me, Snowfall. I don't make myself visible. I was only present in the first few weeks with the information I had to gather. Fighting styles do not take long to remember and record, especially for someone who does more forgery and weaponry such as myself.” Augustus kept his tone neutral and steady, his expression never faltering for a second.

Snowfall nodded, “I see. If what you say is true, I apologize for my accusations. You seem to be a man of reason, and I’m sure that you can understand my concerns about what information has been brought up so far.” Augustus nodded, but said no more. Before the blonde could speak once more, Voidling took his own turn to speak.

“Snowfall, I acknowledge your concerns, but my heroes have come here on an incredibly short notice, and I’m sure all of them would like to continue with their own personal lives as soon as they can. I have called you here not to argue amongst your fellow IOs, but to gather information to aid in the defeat of Ender and Tanuki.” The masked hero stood and looked at Snowfall. Scythe could tell that the leader was starting to get annoyed by the undertone of his voice, and his own breath seemed to labor slightly. “If you are here only to accuse my youngest hero, who has worked very hard to be present in this meeting today, then I must ask you to leave, and we will continue without what you have to offer to us. I suggest you choose your next actions very wisely.”

Sitting back down and taking a deep breath, Voidling gave the floor back to Snowfall, but not before shooting a small apologetic look at Scythe. The few seconds of silence that passed felt like hours to him as his anxiety rose evermore. “My sincerest apologies Voidling, I do not mean to take up your time, though I have one last thing that I feel I must add. Doesn’t it seem odd that there is an Enderman hybrid on both the hero and villain sides of our society? And two that seem to look so similar as well? I mean if you think about it, they aren't all too different; they are each around a similar height, they seem to have similar abilities, and not long after you had seemed to have called your heroes together in the first place, Ender and Tanuki seemed to become less and less active.

Don't you think that's odd? As soon as there is a plan in place among the Agency to take down two of the most annoying villains, they seem to just stop their actions and chaos. In fact--” Snowfall looked at Scythe, “-- I think that Lux here may not be as much of a hero as you all seem to think…”

(tw: panic attack)

And that's when it happened. Scythe suddenly felt as though he couldn't get enough air into his lungs.  His ears began ringing, every noise becoming distant and unimportant. The movements of the others in the room seemed to blur, and it felt as though he was in a foreign place, full of hostility. He would be discovered. His life would be ruined. He would never be able to live a normal life again. 

All of his closest friends would leave him, he knew it, he just knew it. His illusion faltered, and strangely enough, he didn't seem to care. The only thing he could think about was the blond at the front of the room, mouth moving but words unheard. Even if Scythe couldn't hear what the red-clad man was saying, he knew what it must have been. Martian had figured him out. He tried to stand up and walk out of the room, but his legs seemed to give way under him, unable to hold up his trembling figure.

Almost immediately, he could feel the presence of more bodies around him, and tried to push them away in his panicked state, feeling as though he would be taken from those he loved and cared for. He couldn't recognize the faces around him. Nothing looked familiar anymore. His eyes could see clearly, but his mind could not. He could not tell if they were friend or foe. He couldn't tell hostile from passive. Were they acting like they cared? Did they really all know? How did he know who to trust when he couldn't recognize the faces surrounding him? He knew that his illusion must have been completely gone by now, but what difference would it make when they all now knew about his lies?

Then, out of what felt like nowhere, three pairs of wings made a circular barrier around him. A pair of brown, white, and maroon wings seemed to enclose him, providing a guard from outside faces on his body, but doubled back as a wall to which his own thoughts could not escape. He curled in on himself, trying desperately to keep his growing anxieties away, tears swelling and rolling down his cheeks as they refused to keep to his eyes.

Then Scythe felt pressure on his shoulders. Looking up, tears never seeming to end their cascade down his cheeks. He knew the face looking back at him, and it was full of worry and pity. The short, fluffy brown hair brought him comfort adorned with a pastel yellow streak. Those chocolate eyes telling him that it would all be ok. With Scythe's ears still ringing and words still not quite being heard, the man in front of him looked up and past Scythe, and said something. Then he turned slightly behind himself to another person, the ringing in his own ears slowing, and he was able to hear some of the words the taller man said.

“Jim...the only … illusion magic…Help Scythe … identity … panic attack…” The words seemed random to Scythe, but at last the man in front of him looked him in the eyes once more, and Scythe was finally able to recognize him. Joel was crouched in front of him. Someone he could trust was there, and not just Joel either. Looking around, his senses slowly returning to him, Scythe recognized the owners of the other two pairs of wings surrounding him. Cuteguy and The Sheriff, wait no… Grian and Jimmy were the other ones there. The three older men were shielding Scythe with their wings, providing a barrier against the others for Scythe to help him feel safe and calm, and so that they can’t see him without his illusion.

“Scythe, are you ok?” Scythe turned back to Joel, and the brunette was looking at him with worry that was unparalleled to anything he had experienced from someone else before. Scythe realized he didn't quite know how to answer; he knew he wasn't ok, but at the same time he didn't really feel not-ok either. So instead of responding with words, he uncurled himself from the ball he managed to squeeze into and leaned forward to give Joel a hug that he very much needed.

The older man almost immediately returned the embrace, rubbing Scythe’s back in comfort as more tears seemed to roll down his cheeks, a morbid insight of the turmoil in his mind. “It's going to be alright. We’re here for you. All of us.” Joel said.

After a few more long moments of just sitting in the hug, feeling safe and cared for, Scythe leaned back and sat up. Joel moved his hands from his back to his arms, holding them gently as a show of comfort. Scythe looked at him, hoping his eyes said all they needed to, and looked around him at the faces and bodies that surrounded him. 

Lunar, Augustus, Jimmy, Grian, Joel, Scar and Etho were all there. Grian, Jimmy and Joel provided the winged barrier from those he didn't know as well, the others providing an extra barrier of comfort from what currently felt like an alien world. Scythe tried to speak, but his voice came only as a whisper, “I… my illusion… is it..?” he managed to get out before Joel finished his thought and answered, “Jimmy. He’s helping keep your identity a secret. He can't hold the entire outfit, but he got your general appearance. The only thing showing outside of an illusion is your clothes.”

Scythe thought about Joel's answer for a moment, then nodded and took a deep breath. He looked up at Lunar and Scar, then back to Joel. “Home?” is all he managed to ask, but he didn't need to say anymore. The three nodded and Scar left the outer circle, Scythe hearing him talk to someone, presumably telling Voidling that he was leaving to take him home.

Scar came back, and Scythe and Joel looked up at him. When Scar nodded, Joel picked the young Enderian up, enclosing his body with his wings to keep his main appearance safe and out of sight from the other heroes. Jimmy  relocated the illusion to the only visible area of his body, those being mainly his head and shoulders.

As he was being carried out of the room, Scythe heard Voidlings last words to the remaining persons in the meeting room. “This Meeting is now over. Thank you for the information each of you have provided. However, you will not be invited back here Snowfall. Good afternoon to you all, and I apologize for any and all inconveniences caused by Snowfall's poor choice of words..”

Scythe heard a scoff and footsteps passing him, assuming it was Snowfall that had passed him on his way out of the building. Joel held onto him a little tighter to let him know that he was safe, and Scythe felt grateful for his friends for making sure he's alright. He turned his head to look at Snowfall, or Martian as he knows him as, and the blonde man turned back with a glare shooting every dagger imaginable. Scythe returned it with just as much hatred and intensity. 

When he looked back up at Joel and to Scar they all seemed to share a silent agreement. This would not be the last they saw of the villain Martian.

AN: I know I've been posting a lot of new chapters, but please do not expect new chapters to always be this quick. This entire AU is one giant hyperfixation, and one that I have no clue how long it will last. I do not want a standard to be made that I know I will not be able to meet, so please dont expect too much from me. I dont have the most free time and to be honest, most of the writing I've been doing as of recent has been during classes that I should have probably been paying attention in instead of writing, yet here we are. I hope you enjoy as always, though!

<<<Previous Next>>>

Cobflicting Lives- Chapter 4: The Meeting (pt.1)

Word Count: 2050

As he and Scar walked into the meeting room as Lux and Hotguy, Scythe was relieved to see that the only other people that were there other than Voidling seemed to be iWork, Tek, and Cuteguy.

He walked over to where Voidling was talking with iWork, and the two older men looked at him expectantly. “Would I be able to speak with you for a moment Voidling?” Scythe asked after a second or two of silence.

“Of course Lux.” Voidling said, getting up from his chair. The pair walked towards an unpopulated corner of the meeting room. “What did you need to tell me?” the older hero asked.

Scythe took a deep breath. “You know about how I put up an illusion to further keep my true identity a secret from the public,” he looked at Voidling, who was nodding with eyes full of curiosity, “But I didn't have time to grab my uniform from my room before I came over here.” Voidlings eyes opened a bit in shock for a moment, then softened in understanding.

“So the illusion you have right now is for both appearance and clothing then, correct?” he asked Scythe. And he nodded in response.

“I’m not sure how long I can keep one up without revealing the other, either. Even just starting it I can tell that I’m not going to be able to hold both for more than like an hour or an hour and a half, max.” Scythe continued explaining. He didn't know what Voidling was thinking, and just the thought of anything being revealed to other heroes he didn't know well enough to trust very well made his stomach turn over itself.

There were only a few seconds before Voidling responded, but it felt like hours. “I can try to keep it as short as possible, but with what I’ve gotten I don't expect this meeting to be that short.” He finally said, concern filling his eyes as he looked at Scythe. “If you need to leave for a moment during it if you feel like the illusion is falling, by all means take a breather.”

Scythe contemplated for a moment, mulling over the offer that Voidling had given him. “That could work, but I also don't want to miss out on what has happened.” That much was true, but he may have told a small white lie as he continued, “The situation concerning the last meeting has been eating at the back of my head, and I want to try and help as much as I can. It feels like I can't do that if I have to leave because of my stamina capacity.” Well, maybe only part of it was a lie.

“I understand where you’re coming from,” the older hero said in a comforting tone, “But I also don't want you to over exert yourself for the sake of some information that I can get to you at a different time.” Voidling put a hand on Scythe's shoulder, and he looked up at the masked man. “Don't push yourself beyond your limit when you don't have to or aren't comfortable with doing so.”

Scythe took a deep breath and looked down once more, looking back up a moment later. “I… I could just let a little down. Not enough to be super noticeable, but enough to let off some of the drainage.”

 Voidling was silent for a moment longer, and took his hand off of Scythes shoulder. “Just don't push yourself too far. I may not be as close to you as some of the others are, but that doesn't mean I don't care and worry about you.” With that, he turned around and walked back towards the table, where the rest of the heroes seemed to be filing in.

Scythe took another few seconds to recuperate, then walked back to the table himself. As he approached, the last of the heroes to arrive walked through the door. Joel walked in, and it looked like he just got out of bed. Scythe assumed that his messy hair was from flying, as his artificial wings were also fluffed and messy from the air.

The white-winged hero walked over to the area where Scythe sat, and chose a seat next to him, moving his wings farther ti back to drape over the back of the chair. The pair looked at eachother, having a silent conversation of how much it sucks to be rushed.

“It looks like everyone is here. Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I do want to start by apologizing for the rush, especially as many of you aren't exactly very close to our building here.” iWork was the one to start off speaking, and he continued on, “however some information we've just received from one of our IOs needed to be discussed immediately.””

Voidling reached his hand under the table where he sat and the small click of a button was heard. A forgotten door in a back corner opened, and everyone's eyes went wide as four people walked out. Two of them looked well dressed and prepared, while the other tel looked rushed and a bit unkempt. And there were at least three heroes in the room that knew at least one of those people. 

Scythe felt like all of the oxygen left his body. He made eye contact with Lunar and Augustus, then with Etho and the fourth IO, his identity unknown, but something eerily familiar about them. The red highlights of their outfit and the blond, unkempt hair definitely belonged to someone he knew, the name just on the tip of his tongue.

He prayed that he hadn't gone too pale as he then locked eyes with Voidling when scanning the room for the others’ reactions. Voidling seemed to be talking to him through the silence, Step out if you need it, Lux, his eyes seemed to say. Scythe knew that he wasn't pale because of the illusion efforts, but because he wasn't expecting to see three of his closest friends infront of him, and in front of all of the other major heroes throughout the island.

Trying to gather his composure, Scythe took a deep breath and tried to calm his racing mind. His head had started to ache from all the thoughts darting around, and he took a few moments to calm them down, steady his breathing, and check his illusion to make sure it hadn’t faltered in the moment of panic.

He turned around to look at Joel, who also seemed to be a bit pale in the face, despite the light pink hue riding on his cheeks. Joel looked back at Scythe, a look of slight fear in his eyes as they both realized the situation, and the pink faded from the winged man's face. The pair then looked at scar and the three exchanged knowing glances, but making sure to look amongst the others as well. Thankfully they all seemed to be as confused as they are, if not a little pale too.

“These are the four IOs that had agreed to gather information for us at the last meeting.” Voidling said once everyone seemed to calm down and gather themselves once more. “These are Storyteller, Snowfall, The Above, and Slab,” they each waved as their name was announced, “and I feel that they each have a very valuable piece of information to give us all.” Voidling turned around to face the four IOs. “Storyteller, would you like to go first?”

Lunar, or rather Storyteller, stepped forward. “Sure. Thank you for inviting me here. I was asked to gather information about the routes that Ender takes at night, from where they split from Tanuki after any chosen activities, and figure out the area where they seem to be located.” She looked around the meeting room, meeting the eyes of a few heroes, sparing Scythe from eye contact in the already awkward situation.

Even though Scythe knew that Lunar knew what she was saying and how they were going to say it, he couldn't help but feel anxious. He was putting an incredible amount of trust in someone he knew very well, but even that didn't stop the farthest corners of his thoughts spiraling. 

“What I have found by slowly trialing Ender is a semi-consistent direction that he travels in. Oftentimes, he heads in a south west direction. This does vary a lot of however, and I've seen him go north and east before for a very long while before he eventually turned back towards Cursia.” Lunar at last looked at Scythe, then back at Voidling who was watching and listening very intently. “This leads me to believe that Ender may be staying somewhere in Cursia, though I have yet to follow him past the border line. Each time I have tried to do so, it has been far too late into the night for me to continue any longer.” 

Lunar had finished speaking at last after what felt like hours, and stepped back to where the others were. Scythe realized he had been holding his breath a bit, and let out a slow exhale. Joel seemed to hold his as Voidling spoke next, “Thank you Storyteller. What you have brought to us is greatly appreciated. Slab, would you please step forward and present what information you have to offer?”

Scythe felt bad for the winged man behind him. Slab, or Etho as Scythe knew him, was one of Joel's two partners. Void knows what he would be feeling right now if Ella was one of the IOs standing up there, so he could only imagine what Joel was feeling.

“Of course. I was asked to provide similar information as the Storyteller was, but about Tanuki instead of Ender,” Etho started. “From what I have been able to gather myself, Tanuki has been seeming to head north more often than any other direction, though I have followed him as far as the Wynnran border a small number of times. What I believe is that he may have a home in a few different cities, though they seem to be mainly in Empyria and Wynnra.”

Etho stepped back into the line, and Scythe heard Joel breath a small sigh of relief. He looked around at the others to see if anyone had noticed, but thankfully it seemed as though no one else did. “Thank you Slab. Your additional information will greatly aid us in our search.” Voidling said.

Then the masked hero turned to the third IO in line. “The Above, would you care to speak next?” Voidling asked, and Scythe could feel butterflies rising once more in his stomach.

“I would be honored,” Augustus said. “Before I present my information however, I would like to make a clarifying statement. I am mainly a weapons developer, and only gather information for others as the need arises. Information gathering is not my specialty, but I was not going to refuse someone that needed help for a good cause.

That being said, I was asked to bring information about the way that both Ender and Tanuki fight. What I have found isn't all too much, either. From what I can tell, they balance eachother out to make fighting others easy at all ranges, Ender seeming to keep a bit farther back and Tanuki seeming to keep closer in.” Augustus looked around the meeting room, pausing on a few people's gaze, including scythes. His look seemed to ask if he was revealing too much, and Scythe quickly blinked once as a way to tell him he's fine. And so the masked IO continued, “I believe they work as a team because they balance their own strengths and weaknesses with the others, proving for a force to reckon with.” 

At last, Augustus stepped back into the line, finalizing what information he could give. It was a few more seconds before Voidling spoke again, and he seemed to be lost in thought for that short amount of time. “Thank you for what you have been able to give us. We now know how we can try to combat both of these villains if it comes to a fight.” He said atlas. “Snowfall, thank you for waiting. Would you like to give us your findings?”

AN: Next chapter is going to have a TW, so enjoy the calm(ish) before the storm

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Conflicting Lives- Chapter 3: Plans Put Into Place

Word count: 2262

It had been about a month and a half since the agency meeting. Scythe and Joel made a plan to slowly stop going out as much, but waited for about a week of usual chaos before they actually slowed down.

Joel had also spoken with his partner, Etho, that was “looking into him” on behalf of the agency, and they came to a sort of compromise about what to give and what not to give to Voidling and iWork; Joel would tell Etho some of his routes and what directions he usually heads in, and Etho would simplify and brief it in a way to seem like he was observing the paths, not being told them.

Scythe spoke to his two friends as well, first to “Storyteller.”

~~~~~~~~~ Five Weeks Prior ~~~~~~~~~

Scythe was waiting on the patio table of the small café, admittedly a bit anxious. He knew Lunar wasn't always the most timely, considering she lives in Wynnra and the small shop was located on the western-ish side of Hermiton. Thankfully, he saw them walking up to the café just as he was starting to get the most anxious, and she sat down across from him at the small metal table.

“So I’m going to assume this isn't just a catch-up brunch?” Lunar asked after the waitress came by and got her drink order.

Scythe sighed, “As much as I wish it was, no it’s not.” He shifted in his seat, nervous and unsure on how to start the conversation. 

“Stop that,” Lunar said almost as soon as he started fiddling, “I know what you do when you're nervous. We’ve known each other for years, Scythe.” He silently cursed himself for being so anxious about such a little thing.

“Void, I really wish you didn't know me that well sometimes,” Scythe said after taking a deep breath. “I do want to catch up, but there is also something that’s come up that I feel like we should probably talk about too.”

The waitress came by to deliver Lunars drink with a smile, and asked if he would like a refill, to which he accepted and she took the cup away. “I’m going to assume this ‘something’ is what V contacted me about a week and half ago?” Lunar asked as she took a drink.

“Yeah, exactly that actually.” Scythe wasn’t very surprised that she knew what he meant. It wasn't all too hard to guess anyways. “Joel has already talked with Etho about what they’ll give to V, but I thought I should probably talk to you and Augustus before things get too far in.” He had turned his head down as he spoke, Scythe realized, and looked back up to Lunar looking at him with an expression he couldn't quite read.

After what felt like days, they finally replied, “Alright. I suppose we can start with the route info. If I could ask though, what did Joel and Etho come up with?” she looked expectantly at Scythe.

“Oh. yeah no problem, I don’t really know everything but i can tell you what I do know.” Scythe said after a few seconds of silence. “If i’m remembering correctly -- and don't quote me on this -- but Joel was going to give Etho our normal routes and what directions he left in after, and Etho would turn it into a sort of way where it was like he observed the info, not asked for it.” He realized that probably sounded strange to a normal person and quickly added, “If that makes any sense at least.”

Lunar slowly nodded, likely making a plan for how she would do something similar to get the information to Voidling, then looked back at Scythe with an expression mostly unreadable, but with a tint of curiosity. “Please dont look at me like that Crystal, come on.” he complained.

And Lunar laughed. Crystal was a nickname Scythe had given to them when he was younger, and lived in Wynnra. The nickname didn't seem to make sense to anyone not close to Lunar, but if you knew her like Scythe did, it made all the sense in the world. When the pair were younger, Lunar would always wander about in the middle of their adventures, and almost always came back with a handful of small crystals. As this kept happening as they got closer to Junior High, Scythe started calling them Crystal, and the name still stuck, 8 years later.

“Damn I haven't heard that in a while.” Lunar said when she finally stopped laughing. “That is exactly how I know it's been too long since we last talked, Scythe, I stopped getting used to Crystal again.”

Scythe chuckled too. “What were you thinking about Crystal? I know you too and that look means you had something in that head of yours about this whole situation.” He looked at them, and she looked down slightly before locking eyes with him once more.

“Maybe we could do a similar sort of thing to what Joel and Etho are doing, but maybe since I’m usually in Wynnra, it’s a bit more obscure. Kind of like I had someone travel to the area for me to scope out the situation, since it's hard to get there myself. Information does change the more it gets passed on after all, so it can't be all too suspicious can it?” She finally said after a few more moments of thought.

Scythe was honestly kind of surprised that he didn’t think of something that seemed so obvious sooner. But yet again he often got that kind of feeling when Lunar was talking, maybe he was just stupid but who knows. “That's… actually really smart. I’m not surprised that you thought of that, I'm more surprised that I didn’t.” he chuckled when he finished, realizing just how stupid that probably sounded.

Lunar laughed too and teased Scythe a bit, making him pout and try desperately not to laugh. They discussed their plan further, and ended up just hanging out for most of the afternoon.

When they said their goodbyes and headed to their own homes, Scythe thought about what he would do as a plan for his other friend, and decided that tomorrow was better than trying to get it done today.

~~~~~~~~~ One Day Later ~~~~~~~~~

Scythe heard a knock on his door, and opened it to reveal Augustus.He had been sitting and watching the TV for the better part of an hour while waiting for him to get there.

“What’s up man? Thanks for having me over!” Augustus said as he stepped in and pulled Scythe into a quick hug. The two guys laughed, and walked further into the dorm room to sit on the couch.

“Not a problem dude, but I only wish I asked you to come over to have fun.” Scythe confessed. That much was true, he did wish that he called Augustus over just to hang out and probably play some video games, but he didn’t. When he looked at Scythe curiously and a bit confused, he continued, “I know you mostly do Weapon Development* stuff, but I’m also pretty sure you got contacted by a certain someone about a week and a half ago.”

As soon as he mentioned being contacted, Augustus’ demeanor very noticeably changed, there wasn't going to be much fun today, at least not without this discussion, and he read the room and changed himself to match (something he did quite often to be honest). “Yeah, I did think that was a bit strange. I wasn't expecting it to be about information, especially from Voidling, but even more so about you.” Augustus said at last.

“Yup. Joel too. I've already talked to Crystal, and Joel has already talked to Etho, but I wanted to maybe try and work out something with you as well.” Scythe said, and Augustus looked back up at him. It took a few minutes for him to respond, but at least he did. “That makes sense. What do you have figured out already?”

Scythe exhaled, not even realizing he was holding his breath a little. He explained once more what he and Lunar went over together the day prior, as well as what Joel and Etho had worked out between themselves. It took a few minutes to clear the couple of questions that Augustus had, but eventually they were able to start making a plan of their own.

“Alright, that all makes sense. V asked me for more of the type of damage and stuff that you guys do, and not so much the routes or anything of that sort. I'm guessing he did some research into what I usually do, and I guess I would be the guy to talk about weapons and fighting styles rather than other kinds of info.” Augustus said.

“That checks out. He did say in the meeting that he had done some research of his own, so I guess I can try and get you that. Maybe we can spar a bit? I have no clue how I would describe the way I fight so maybe just mock-fighting would be more useful.” Scythe reasoned. It made sense to him, and the two often though similarly, so Augustus was bound to get where he was coming from. “If you need, I could ask Joel if he can stop by as well, or we could see if the two of us would be able to convince security into letting you into the training area of the Agency building, and we can spar there. Pretend like we’re training in case we encounter ourselves or something.”

Augustus was silent for a minute or two, mulling over what he could do. “Sparring would probably be best, since I'm usually too busy otherwise to actually go and watch what you guys do. Though, he didn't ask for how you fight per say, but rather what kind of damage you guys do. I'm sure I could maybe fit some sort of fighting information in there, like maybe you argued with each other or something and fought a little bit, but other than that I think I might just tag along in the shadows these next couple of nights. Would that be alright?”

Again, Scythe wasn't necessarily surprised b6 how smart his friends could be. After all, he was kinda dumb most of the time, and thought more in the moment, than thinking ahead. “Yeah I'm sure that’ll be fine. I’ll text Joel real quick to make sure he knows and is good with that too.” And he did just that. Within the next minute, Joel had responded with conformation, and they were good to go.

For pretty much the rest of that entire day, Scythe and Augustus just hung out in the dorm room, playing games and poking fun at each other. Augustus kept going back to fighting games, specifically to absolutely wreck Scythe at them. Scythe would always complain and just button mash his way through them, but it was still a lot of fun for the both of them.

~~~~~~~~~ Present Day ~~~~~~~~~

Scythe walked out of the office of one of his professors. It was one of the days he had his class with Scar, but this professor was for the class after Scars. The one he had missed a little under two months prior because of the sudden Agency meeting. Thankfully, his next class of that day wasn't until several hours later, and he was especially thankful for that when his phone buzzed.

New Message from Spore: All recipients to report to the Agency Building ASAP. Details will be discussed once everyone arrives.

Well, Scythe can’t say that he wasn't expecting it to be an Agency message. Swiping the message away, he pulled up his messages with Scar and asked if he got the same thing, which he did once more.

Scar wasn't always the brightest, but he also wasn't as dumb as Scythe, so he guessed that Scythe was going to ask for transportation there so he wasn't exhausted. Scythe laughed to himself and replied with a “yes please,” then start3 walking towards Scar’s classroom so they could be on their way.

It only took the two men about 5 minutes to get to the Agency building, compared to the 20 it took Scythe on his own. He was forever grateful that Scar knew him as well as he did, but not too well either, and he told him that he owed Scar something, and wouldn't take no for an answer then he was told not to worry about it.

At last they got there, and as they were getting out of the vehicle, Scythe realized he didn't have his outfit or his illusion up, and Scar seemed to notice in the same moment as well. “Oh shoot.” Scar said as he realized. “Is it going to be too hard to put up a skin and the clothes illusion?” he asked worriedly,

“It shouldn't be since I haven't been teleporting, but I’ll have to tell X that it's all an illusion when we get in there. Hopefully I can just whisper it to him.” Scythe said, sighing. Scar mumbled an alright in response before getting out, and Scythe had to focus a little to get his illusion right before he stepped out as well.

Walking up to the building, Scythe could tell that it definitely wasn't going to be easy to put up this illusion, especially for how long the meeting was likely to last, but he’ll get there when it comes to it.

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Conflicting Lives- Character Ships and Sexualities

Hi! Author here! I both decided and realized that there are probably a hole lot of unclear ships, atleast here on the Tumblr side, so I've made a list of all the ships in this AU, as well as some character's sexualities and orientations if they are not in a ship. I am always open to suggestions or just general opinion, and encourage them, just please don't be an asshole while you do so is all I ask.

Ships

Scythe x Ella

Flower Ranchers: Tango x Jimmy x Scott

Shadowsmalletho: Joel x Etho x Lizzie (I tried to combine smalletho and 'shadow' from most of lizzie's ships)

Mumscarian: Mumbo x Scar x Grian

Rotshine: Cleo x Pearl x Gem

Impdubs: Impulse x Bdubs

Tree Bark: Martyn x Ren

Other Characters

Cub: Demisexual

Joe: Aro Ace

Sam: Bi-romantic Aro Ace

Xisuma: Pan-romantic Ace

Zedaph: Bisexual

Hypno: Bi-romantic Pansexual

Iskall: Straight Ally

Lunar: Bi-romantic Demisexual

BigB: Gay

Doc: Bi-romantic Polygender

Augustus: Bisexual

Jevin: Pan-romantic

Skizz: Multisexual

Also, thank you to @starcrossedandstupid for helping me get pretty much all of the ship names I didn't know lol (fr I really appreciate it)

Conflicting Lives Characters as Incorrect Quotes (because why the hell not)

All quotes generated randomly from this site. also some funny characters that haven't been introduced yet :)

Joel: Having two partners is both amazing and complicated. But all our problems are solved with communication. Etho: It’s my turn to cuddle Lizzie. Joel: FIVE MORE MINUTES DAMMIT!

Joel: Aww, what's your dog's name? Scythe: Spartacus. Joel, yelling to Scar: TRY SPARTACUS! Scar, on the computer: DIDN'T WORK! Scythe: … Joel: What's your favorite number?

Scar: Are you a painting? Grian: What-? Scar: Because I want to pin you to a wall. Joel: OH GOD I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO SAY YOU WANTED TO HANG HIMOR SOMETHING-

Scythe, talking about Ella: I would never say that my partner is a bitch and I don’t don’t like them. That’s not true… My partner is a bitch and I like them so much!

Scott: Yeah, a partner sounds nice, but a supreme enemy you can make out with in secret sometimes sounds a lot more hardcore.

*in the ZITS group chat* Tango: First one to reply is gat. Tango: *gay Tango: Wait...

*after discussing the plan in ch.2* Voidling: Does anyone have any questions? Xelqua: Is this legal? Voidling: …Does anyone have any relevant questions?

I plan on getting out a list of all the ships I have in this AU, but feel free to ask about anything in the meantime!

Conflicting Lives- Chapter 2: Meetings and a Late Night Meal

Word Count: 1477

The meeting was… interesting, to say the least. Scythe had barely made it to the Agency building in time, and when he did he was exhausted from the running and teleporting it took to get there. Spore was waiting to make sure everyone got there in time, and held the door open for Scythe as he walked through.

“Good, everyone’s here.” Voidling said after Spore closed the door to the meeting room. It seemed as though all major heroes from all five cities were gathered in that meeting room. Some of them, like Hotguy and Stratos, he knew from elsewhere. Others he knew from missions and general public services.

“There’s been more villainous activity around the North-Western Hermiton areas,” iWork pointed to the area in the map on the large round table. “Witnesses have noticed more frequent appearances of Ender, Tanuki, and Earth in the areas of the crime, though reports of seeing Earth have lessened in the last few weeks.” he continued.

Scythe looked around the table, making short eye contact with Joel and Scar, but made sure to look at a few more people to not seem too suspicious. Admittedly, he and Joel had been out more often as college and other work got stressful.

Voidling spoke next, “I originally thought of Just increasing night hour patrols and monitorization in the area, but I’ve come up with a different plan that I would like to run by you all.” Leaning forward, he continued,

“I’ve gotten a deal with a few of the largest and most credible Informatives throughout all of our cities. They have agreed to do what they can, and get us any information about the routes and inside information on Ender and Tanuki, but it is a very expensive deal.” By the time he was done talking, his brows were close together in deep thought.

“Does anyone have any other ideas or anything they would like to ask about this plan?” iWork asked the group after a few more moments of silence.

There was a good five to ten seconds of silence and awkward looks around when finally someone seemed to speak up. “How do we know if we can trust the Informatives to give us correct information? They may be the most credible out there, but that doesn't mean they won't provide false information if they get a higher buyer, right?”

Everyone turned towards Cuteguy. After a few more seconds of silence, The Sheriff spoke up. “I think I understand where he’s coming from. Most of these guys work for money or some sort of trade right? How can we be sure that someone else won't come around and out-bid us in a way?” He finished with a look around the large, central table, his gaze stopping at Voidling and iWork.

The two looked at each other, then back at The Sheriff and the rest of the heroes. After what felt like a few moments too long, Voidling finally spoke, “I see where you’re coming from--” he looked at The Sheriff and Cuteguy, “--both of you. There is no way to know for sure, and that is exactly why I wanted to call all of you here so we may discuss this together. I don’t have much more information to give you guys, but does anyone have any questions they would like to ask?”

Scythe definitely had questions, but he only asked one of them. “If I may, who are the informatives? I’ve done my own research in the past about these informatives, and I have some knowledge that might help. Like for instance, they usually refer to themselves as Informative Operators, or IOs for short. 

They talk to eachother alot too, and have this sort of network between everywhere and everyone to make sure they all have the latest news, in a way.” He realized he trailed off a bit, and looked up to see everyone looking at him as both surprised and impressed.

Obviously, he knew this not because of research, but because of his own friends, although the people who don't know already don't need to find out.

“That… is actually really useful, thank you Lux.” Voidling finally said. “Our current ‘IO’s that have provided themselves available to us are Storyteller, Slab, Snowfall, and The Above. I have also done my own bit of research, though clearly not as much as Lux, and have found that they are known to be some of the most timely and trustworthy providers.”

All of the gathered heroes discussed amongst each other for a few minutes longer, and an endpoint was reached. Voidling would ask each IO if they would be able or willing to gather the information that they are looking for, and in turn they would each get paid handsomely.

Scythe did have a little bit of anxiety about this agreement, though he did do well to not show it to the other heroes. Two of the named IOs are close friends of his, and another is one of Joel’s partners. He wondered how Joel reacted to his partner being named as a detective of sorts for a case on himself, and made a mental note to ask him next time they saw each other outside of the Agency.

It was around 2pm when Scythe had finally gotten back to his dorm room, and he felt like he could sleep for a decade. He had exhausted himself getting to the meeting, had to still put up his full illusion for roughly 3 hours, then had to travel back across all of Hermiton to get back to his dorm room. Getting back took almost an hour and half by itself since he was so exhausted.

By the time he got to the city border of Cursia and Hermiton, his illusion was completely gone. He still had about a 20 minute walk from the border to the campus, and another 10 from the campus entrance to his dorm room. He expected to meet Ella as he walked in the door, and wasn’t surprised when he walked in and saw her sitting on the couch, turned towards the door to see who was coming in.

Scythe tiredly smiled at her as he closed the door behind him, and he almost lost his balance as he walked to the couch, though he would never admit it himself. Ella looked at him with worry in her eyes as he sat down and asked, “Are you alright? And don't tell me yes, we both know you aren’t.”

“Then why ask if you already know?” Scythe complained. “I was exhausted by the time I got there, had to hold up for hours, then had to come back while still being exhausted. Take a wild guess as to how I’m doing right now.” Even though his words and tone sounded harsh, him and Ella both knew that he didn’t mean it in a rude way.

Instead of saying anything back, Ella simply put Scythe's head on her shoulder and draped her arm across his shoulder, bringing him into a half-hug, half-cuddle pose. Scythe simply took a deep breath and leaned into the embrace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was around 11pm when Scythe woke up, and he hadn't even realized he fell asleep. He groaned as he sat up on the couch and looked around, finding Ella still asleep on the couch. He realized by the way she was lying that he must’ve fallen asleep on top of her or leaned against her, and he kissed her forehead before getting up completely. Grabbing a blanket, he made sure to softly drape it over her to keep her warm in the chilly dorm room.

Then his stomach growled. And he realized he didn't eat anything other than a very rushed and incomplete breakfast. “Shit…” Scythe cursed quietly to himself.

Making his way to the small kitchen, he opened the fridge and took out some eggs, and pancake mix from the pantry. He tried to be as quiet as possible as he started making pancakes and eggs as a late night meal, but I mean come on. How quiet can you realistically be?

It wasn't very long after he turned on the stove and got the pancakes started that he heard Ella start to stir. He turned around to see her sitting up and rubbing her eyes, trying to get rid of the sleepiness.

“Good morning sleepyhead. You up for a midnight snack?” Scythe asked as he turned back to the stove. She chuckled

“That's rich coming from you, who basically passed out on me as soon as you leaned over. But yeah, that sounds great actually.” she replied, standing up from the couch and walking over to Scythe.

“Sounds good. Could you start the eggs for me? It shouldn't be much longer until I have enough pancakes done.” he asked her, and she nodded and grabbed a pan to start the eggs. The next 2 hours flew by, and after the pair were done eating, they both went to bed, for real this time.

(AN: Scar and Joel are both heroes, and their aliases are Hotguy and Stratos, respectively)

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Conflicting Lives- Chapter 1: Late Again

Hi! I got this idea after reading a bunch of other hero/villain au fics, and wanted to try my hand at making my own! I hope you enjoy!

Word count: 1471

beep. beep. beep. beep.

Scythe groans as his alarm goes off for the…who knows how many times by now, likely the third or fourth. Finally looking up at his phone, he realizes what time it is.

8:30 “Shit!” Scythe curses as he rushes to get out of bed and get dressed. “I really need to get better at waking up.”

As he walks out of his room, still trying to pull on his shirt, Scythe sees Ella sitting on the couch, watching another random show that she must have found while browsing around. Without even turning around, Ella tells him, “There's food in the microwave for you. Hopefully it's still warm but maybe not since you woke up late again,” and only then does she turn around to look at Scythe with a glare shooting daggers.

Scythe sighs and looks down, “I know, I know you don’t have to remind me. I’m working on it,” he says defeatedly, knowing well that she was right. “Thank you for making food.” Instead of saying anything, she just turns back around and continues watching whatever she put on the TV.

Grabbing his cooling food and practically running out the front door, Scythe makes his way to his class. This would be the second time he was late to his 8am, and he only has this class, Feline Behavior and Psychology, three times a week. His professor isn’t necessarily keen on attendance, but he also isn’t the most lenient on it either.

Around 7 minutes of painfully speed walking from his dorm later, he arrives at his classroom and awkwardly walks in, praying he wouldn’t be noticed.

“Late again Mr. Cristaal.” the professor says, not exactly annoyed, but not happy either. Mostly disappointed honestly. 

Stiffening for a moment then accepting defeat, Scythe turns around, “Sorry Professor Scar. My alarm didn't wake me up.”

Sighing as Scythe walks to his seat, Scar turns his wheelchair to face towards the young ender hybrid, “That’s the 6th time you’ve used that excuse this semester.” shaking his head, Scar turns back towards the board. “Just see me after class and we’ll talk about it” he says, trying to be a bit more cheery, then continues with the lesson.

Scythe tried to pay attention to the lesson, but his mind inevitably wandered off somewhere else. This somewhere else just so happened to be the night before when him and the villain known as Tanuki were causing some mischief.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Damn Ender, you really got some spunk!” Tanuki credited Scythe. He obviously can’t go by his real name, and the media deemed him to be named Ender with his Enderman features being more prominent thanks to his illusion magic. He looks like a completely different person.

His horns are larger and thinner, he has almost no fair-toned skin (only a few spare patches down the right side of his body), most of his hair was purple instead of being split ginger and purple, and both of his eyes are purple instead of only his left. It definitely wasn't easy holding this major of an illusion for so long either; months of training and exercises were needed for the illusion to be completely stable. Funnily enough, he does the same kind of illusion while he’s working for the agency too, but that’s a different story for a different time.

“You’re not too bad yourself oldie! Can you catch up to me though?” Scythe replies as he teleports away to another rooftop.

Now Tanuki was the type of guy to never back down from a challenge, “Oldie?! I’m not even that old you blummin idiot!” he said, laughing as he pursued Scythe across the rooftops of Hermiton. 

Tanuki was actually a good friend of his, and he even helped Scythe get more confident and stable with his illusions. With this, he has seen Scythe without any illusion applied. Scythe had of course seen Tanuki outside of villain shenanigans as well, and his name is Joel. In times like this, when they’re just having fun after a night of doing who knows what and causing some chaos just for the hell of it, they tend to just chat.

There was one time where they chatted about Scythe's college work, another where Joel was talking about his two partners (being teased by Scythe the whole time, of course), then there was one night where they were just watching the stars move by in comfortable silence.

This night, however, the two were chasing each other and messing around all the way until the late hours of the night, and around probably 11:30pm, Scythe finally started to feel tired, and figured it probably best he get home to Cursia before he gets no sleep at all. 

“Well it’s probably about time I head home. See you another night Tanuki!” Scythe said, stretching, as Joel caught up to him on what would inevitably be the last rooftop of the night.

“Pleasure as always, Ender. See you next time!” Joel replied with a smile, and they both went their separate ways.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“...ythe, can you hear me?” Scythe sat up with a jolt, Scar next to him in his wheelchair. Looking around the room, he saw that all the other seats were empty, the projector turned off, and Scar looking at him a bit worriedly.

Scythe rubbed his eyes, “Shi- uh- crap sorry Scar. Apparently I didn't get back at as descent of a time as I thought I did.” He didn't meet Scars gaze. Not because it was angry or scolding, but because it was full of pity and worry.

Scar sighed and put his hand on Scythe’s arm, “Were you… out with Joel again?” he asked, and Scythe knew exactly what Scar meant by out.

Though to most Scar would seem like a simple college professor in a Cursian College, he had a few different tricks up his sleeve. This being said, he was well aware of what Scythe and Joel got up to at times, sometimes even joining in himself, even if only just to let off a bit of steam.

Scythe knew he couldn't pass it off any longer, and he just nodded and explained, “I thought I would be able to get home sooner than I did, but apparently I didn't have enough energy to be as fast as I hoped to be.”

“I can’t always get you the material from the day, you know that right Scythe? As much as I would like to help you as a friend, I can’t always help you as your professor.” Scar said as he turned his wheelchair back towards the front of the room, and his desk. Turning his head around one more time, Scar gave Scythe one last bit of advice, “Just try not to fall too far behind. I’ll email you the material that we went over today, just make sure you get your work done.” 

As Scar turned back and started heading towards his desk, Scythe stood up and replied, “I’ll try. You might have to help me when you join in some nights though.” He caught Scar chuckling and shaking his head before turning and walking out of the classroom, towards the opposite side of the building for his next class.

Bzzt. bzzt.

Scythe pulled out his phone, checking his notifications. It had to have been something important to go through his do not disturb; not many things do after all.

New Message from Spore: Agency, 30 minutes, mandatory attendance for all recipients.

Scythe sighs, turns around, and starts heading back towards his dorm to drop off his stuff. Swiping away the message, he pulls up his texts with Scar.

Scythe: Did you get it too?

Scar: Yup. Do you think you’ll make it?

Scythe: If I can get back to my dorm quick enough without needing to teleport.

Scar: Good luck then. Meet you there, and DON’T be late. It won't end well for anyone.

Scythe: I know I know and I won't. Meet ya there.

After the lovely reminder of his increasing tardiness and time management issues, Scythe decides to start speed walking back, which turns into a light run as he exits the building.

He makes it back to his dorm in 3 minutes flat, thankfully, and hurries into his room past a curious Ella. He changes into his uniform, hidden by an illusion to the public eye, and hurries back out. Before he can make it out however, Ella grabs his arm and he looks back.

“Where are you going?” Ella asks. “Agency meeting, mandatory and last minute, as always.” Scythe replies quickly, and Ella lets go immediately. As he closes the door, he hears Ella say something along the lines of “Good luck,” before running back out the door and heading towards Hermiton, and the Agency Building.

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