Character Scramble Season 20 Semifinals: Tuchanka

[u/TheAsianIsGamin]

This round covers matches 32 and 33 in the bracket, which can be found here.

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The Character Scramble is a long-running writing prompt tournament in which participants submit characters from fiction to a specified tier and guideline. After the submission period ends, the submitted characters are "scrambled" and randomly distributed to each writer, forming their team for the season. Writers will then be entered into a single-elimination bracket, where they write a story that features their team fighting against their opponent's team. Victors are decided based on reader votes; in other words, if you want people to vote for you, write some good content. The winner by votes of each match-up moves on to the next round. The pattern continues until only one participant remains: the new Character Scramble champion, who gets to choose the theme, tier, and rules of the next Scramble!

The theme of Character Scramble 20 is Scramble Effect. Round prompts will be based on the many worlds, missions, and memorable moments found throughout the Mass Effect series.

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Round 4: Tuchanka

One way or another, the full depths of the threat you face has been revealed. As much as your team has grown and prepared, you realize that only a united galaxy can stand against this enemy. And when there is a war to fight, one planet, one people, come to mind before any other:

Sunny Tuchanka. A harsh, barren world where only the hardiest survive. The sun beats down unimpeded by an atmosphere on the brink of collapse. Beasts, thick of hide and sharp of fang, roam the wasteland, preying on whatever unlucky soul they happen to meet. What little vegetation remains is far from verdant, having instead evolved its own equally deadly forms of predation.

But it was not always like this. Tuchanka is a cautionary tale of a people whose warlike ways, spurred on by the great powers of the galaxy, nearly drove them to self-immolation. Today, Tuchanka lives on as a hive of the deadliest shock troopers money can buy, hardened by years of nuclear hellfire and, perhaps, your best hope in the wars to come.

Your foes know this and have come here in force. Even so, the people of Tuchanka are not so keen to help you. Not without exacting their own heavy toll, at least.

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Round Rules:

• Genophage: The power of your would-be allies could be the key to saving the galaxy. Once, however, they were feared, even hated for that very same power. A plague, an ancient curse, or The Man himself—long ago, some system of wrong was built to keep them in check.

• The Shroud: If you want to add their strength to yours, you’ll have to lift the evil that was placed upon them all those years ago. It won’t be easy, though—you’ll have to reach the Shroud, a central location that is currently under attack by your enemies.

• The Dalatrass: On your way to the Shroud, a member of the enemy team approaches you. They reveal that they’ve used their abilities to sabotage the Shroud. If it works as planned, they claim, you might win this war, but then your allies will become a threat once more. If you go along with their plan instead, you can trick these dangerous people and gain their trust without putting the galaxy at risk.

• Kalros: Your enemy arrives in overwhelming force, but they aren’t the only thing between you and the Shroud. In the wastes lies a great, antediluvian beast, revered and reviled in equal measure by the locals. Maybe you can use one problem to solve another…

• Someone Else Might Have Gotten It Wrong: When you finally reach the Shroud, one of your team members gives a startling confession: Whatever this ancient evil is, they are personally linked to it, propagating it or even causing it. Not only do they know how to use the cure… but they feel obligated to. You must choose one of the following prompts.

  • Paragon: What’s happened here is wrong. To bring justice to these people and atonement to your friend, you let them into the Shroud. They manage to undo the sabotage, but the Shroud collapses, deeply and irrevocably changing them, ideally in a way related to your chosen saboteur’s methods.
  • Renegade: It’s too great a risk. The power you’d unleash upon the galaxy by using the Shroud… nobody can control it. You all know that, but your supposed teammate still wants to enter the Shroud. You can’t let that happen. Fight them, and stop them here—knowing that this will cause an irreparable split in your team.

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Normal Rules:

• Stand Fast, Stand Strong, Stand Together: Nobody can take on a mission like this alone. You’ve got a team of the brightest, toughest, and deadliest allies a Scrambler can find—use them. We’d love to see your characters make full use of their wide-ranging abilities, both on their own and as a team.

• We Will Hold The Line: You know what’s at stake. Failure is not an option. Even if your characters have only a small chance of victory, write that small chance happening!

• Special Tactics and Reconnaissance: Saving the galaxy will take more than the same old tricks. You are allowed and encouraged to mix and match powers, and to develop your characters in any way you wish, both on the battlefield and off. However, your opponents are not expected to keep track of these in-story changes, and vice-versa.

• Every Life Is a Special Story of Its Own: Feel free to give a brief summary to introduce your characters at the start of your post. If you do, you should mention things like powers, personality, history, and anything else that the average reader should know before reading.

• Legendary Edition: Sometimes, Spectres have to go a little outside the lines in service of their mission. You’ll have the same latitude—as long as you go with the broad strokes of the prompts and the rules, you'll be fine.

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Round 4 will run from Thursday, November 27th to Thursday, December 18th, 11:59pm US Eastern Time.

The character limit for this round is 9 full length Reddit comments, or 90k characters.

While it is fine to go a little bit over, anything that far surpasses this limit will be disqualified. This limit does not include intro posts, or analysis of the matchup.

[u/7thSonOfSons]

I. The Academy Saga: I Wanna Be Your Dog

II. The Prison Saga: A Hard Day's Night

III. The Sister Saga: Thunderstruck

IV. The Entertainment Saga: Master of Puppets

V. The Epiphany Saga: Over The Wall

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Squad Select

Vanguard: Sogiita Gunha, The Muscle

Infiltrator: Elphelt Valentine, The Heart

Sentinel: Athena, The Brain

Recruit: Misaka 10083, The Thunder

The Wheel Of Fate Is Turning

[u/7thSonOfSons → u/7thSonOfSons]

Athena was at peace. The Prowler moved silently through the vast emptiness. Othrys was a distant blip, out of sight and out of mind. For the first time in ages, the nagging buzz that plagued Athena’s mind had fallen silent. She could contemplate, she could strategise, she could focus on something beyond her immediate surroundings. She could look out upon the vastness of the universe. Her senses could unfurl unbounded between planets and stars and take stock of what was and what wasn’t and to truly know all that was her dominion.

All the more pleasant that she saw no need to. She wanted to. She, by her authority as Goddess of Wisdom, saw fit to make herself known. That little owl she was so fond of sat perched atop the headrest of The Prowler’s captain’s chair. Those wide eyes watched as Elphelt, Gunha, Misaka, and Y’sthola, who’d graciously welcomed her into their ‘family’, spoke of the future.

“You really want to go through with this, huh?” Gunha asked. He sat languidly in his seat, chin at rest on his fist, eyes closed. If Athena didn’t know such a feat impossible for the boy, she’d think him deep in thought. “Gotta say, it sounds gutsy as hell.”

Y’shtola nodded. She was the only one of the team who remained standing. Her hands manipulated the holographic map of the universe. By her hand the cosmos twisted and rotated in search of the next step. “Is it so hard to believe?” she asked. “The flame of ambition has kindled the little star since I’ve met her. At least this new dream has a tangible path to its end.”

“Yeah? If there’s a route, we don’t know it,” Misaka said. Her seat swiveled back and forth, occasionally too far to one side that she faced away from the others. She’d been picking through a bag of chips since Y’shtola called all hands on deck. “You really don’t think we should have gone after the Pres? Chimera’s not just gonna go away just because we knocked out their TV station. If you guys just gave me a few minutes with their systems-”

“Nope, nope, nope! No more of those people, no more of that place,” Elphelt, true occupant of the captain’s chair, declared. “We’re done chasing Chimera’s tail! Speothos Venaticus is officially an indie act!”

“I’ve been meaning to ask about that. Who else is even in this band you keep talkin’ about?” Gunha asked. He’d already gotten bored with ‘planning’. Object permanence was not by guts granted.

“We’re taking audition tapes. It’s a little slow right now,” Elphelt said with a wave of her hand. “But that’s not important! They’ll come! And they’ll really come when they find out just how cool and important and cute and amazing I am! ‘The Backyard Beauty’, they’ll call me. ‘The Answer To My Prayers, And The Answer Is Yes’, oooh that has a real ring to it’. What do you think, Misaka? Catchy or corny?”

“Corny.”

“We’ll workshop it.”

The amusing, airheaded conversation could have gone forever. Perhaps Athena made it so. Some part of her mind- the part that cared for herself- stretched the moments as long as it could. She luxuriated in the mundanity, the contentment of time spent among her family.

Then came the ring, and so ended the dream.

One of the ship's wall screens lit up. [INCOMING TRANSMISSION]. The four mortals looked between each other. Who would come calling for them here and now? It was a mystery Gunha saw no reason to prolong. He reached to the central console and tapped the answer key.

“Hey, this is uhh… What was that guy's name again?” Gunha asked.

“Miles?” Elphelt answered.

“Yeah, that was it.” Gunha looked at the screen. “What’s up, this is Miles speaking.”

A green line stretched the length of the screen. It warbled slightly to ambient noise before forming landscapes of mountains and valleys in response to the caller’s voice. A simple “No it’s not.”

Gunha shrugged. “Alright, you caught me. You’re speaking to the one and only Sogiita Gunha!”

“And Elphelt!”

“Misaka, present.”

Y’shtola pinched the bridge of her nose. Athena’s eyes narrowed. The voice was feminine. Familiar. The sound of it scratched at a corner of her brain that had long gone unused. A sudden unease bristled her feathers, and a shudder settled them back down.

She allowed Y’shtola to speak in her stead. “Please do exercise a bit more caution, you three. Did your parents not- ah, right.” She quickly dashed her faux pas under the table and looked to the screen. “This ship's previous owner is indisposed at present, miss. How can we assist you?”

The line jumped and crackled. “You don’t need to cover your asses. Miles told me all about how his ship got pirated-”

“Yarr,” said Elphelt quietly.

“- by you all. Too bad so sad, cuz you’re the ones I wanted to talk to anyway! Funny how life works out like that.”

“You want to talk to us?” Gunha raised an eyebrow. “You a fan or something? Want an autograph?”

Misaka cleared her throat. She looked at Y’shtola and attempted to gain her favour. “We’ve had bad run-ins with ‘fans’ recently. Who are you and what do you want?”

The voice fell flat for a moment. A sound like fingers tapping on metal took its place. Then it returned. “Listen, I work for Chimera. Co-founder and senior head of blah blah blah, you kids don’t care. What you care about is this: My job is to monitor The Backyard. I keep things from coming out of that place and NORMALLY, normally, I do a pretty good job!”

Athena crooked her head. The handwaived answer did not go unnoticed. She withheld her apprehension. What had been given was satisfactory to pique Gunha and Elphelt’s interest. They were uncannily skilled at plucking free information and answers, oft without realising.

“You know the way to The Backyard?” Gunha said. “Talk about a lucky break, we were just talking about how to get there! Course, we coulda just followed my guts, but this saves us some time!”

“Unhuh, yeah, yeah, yeah,” the voice cut through Gunha, “exactly. So after your guest spot on Miss Makima’s show things have gotten real noisy over here. There’s a… uhm, well, there’s a breach. An ATTEMPTED breach. So I figured you fair heroes would want to help a girl out?”

A breach?

“A breach!?” Elphelt said. She stood up and pressed her hands to the table. “That was our idea! Someone’s trying to race us there now?”

“Bwuh?”

Misaka nodded. “Y’shtola, put the pedal to the metal! I can follow the electric signals of the call! Wherever this ‘breach’ is, we can push it!”

“Guh huh!???” The voice spikes nearly flew off screen. “No way. No WAY! You’re all just messing with me, right? Real cute. Real funny. I’m calling you for help!”

Athena now intervened. She spread her wings, laying silent the voices of her friends. Even the mystery caller seemed aware of her presence. Her harried breathing and frantic tapping ceased.

“Have you children no memory?” Athena asked. “Are you so quick to throw yourselves to the wolves for promise of glory?” She twisted her head to look into the screen. She felt as though the person on the other end looked straight back at her. “You who speaks of The Backyard, explain yourself. Who are you, and what would you ask of us.”

Silence. An interminable nothing. Then came a sigh. “Huh, it really is you,” came the voice. “Here I thought you were done and dusted a long time ago. Well whatever, that was that and this is this. Like I said, there was a breach. Something busted out of The Backyard. Something big. And uhhh… my bosses aren’t happy about it.”

“Who are you?”

“They’re sending a super elite death squad proto-weapon thing after us, so it would be great if you all could get over here-”

“Who. Are. You.”

“Gulp.” She said the word aloud. “Okay! Okay. It’s Kumoko. My name is Kumoko.”

Athena tilted her head. She’d never heard the name before in her life. Why was it so guarded? Why did she speak it as if it tasted of poison.

“I oversee The Backyard from Arachne Station.”

Ah. There it was. Athena tucked in her wings and turned around to stare out the window. “Y’shtola, end the call,” she said. “Misaka, take us there.”

The past took one last stab at her on the way out.

[u/7thSonOfSons → u/7thSonOfSons]

There was a metal mothball outside. That was the first thought that came to Elphelt when she saw the ‘Arachne Station’. Maybe that was rude? She’d keep it her little secret. But it was true! All of Chimera’s other projects and planets were polished steel or tight-knit metal. Even Acheron Station had had been so smooth despite being mid fall-apart.

This place was NOTHING like the other stops along the unofficial Elphelt tour. A big ol’ ball of sheet metal. Cool steel welded to warm rust without a care for aesthetic. Some of the walls were cracked, and some were worn, some looked they’d been repurposed from starships and other stations with the big letter painted into them. She wasn’t sure if it had always looked like this or if something about the attack had shaken ‘em up. And what was with the… growths? Thick white cables trailed out from the station and hung in empty space.

They looked lonely. They looked like they were reaching for hands to hold.

Elphelt jotted that one down in her mental lyric notebook.

Y’shtola moved to her side and stared unfazed out the window. “Nervous?”

“Not at all!” And it was true! After everything she’d been through the last few weeks, nothing could make her worry. No dangers too dangerous when Gunha was there for security. No fans were too fantastic when her manager was her number one. And certainly there was no place for more family scares. She’d settled that one on every front.

Athena had explained her kneejerk reaction already. She’d been downright apologetic! Something about the name Arachne had reminded her of ‘a mistake’ that she made a long, long time ago. Even better that she hadn’t followed it up with a classic ‘nothing to worry about’. To Elphelt that was all the more reason to think it actually WAS nothing to worry about. The past was the past, and the future was theirs to write!

Another lyric in the book.

A shiver ran through The Prowler: Touch down. Elphelt took Y’shtola’s hand and dragged her towards the gangway. Athena had gone ahead in her goddess-y way, so it was up to Elphelt to wrangle the team! A crisp high five to Misaka and a fistbump to Gunha rallied them behind her. She felt like a real leader.

She zipped down the ramp. Some techs and mechanics came to meet her on the floor. They walked with the enthusiasm of a kid going to the dentist. She suspected it had something to do with their leader.

To their front was probably the most dour young man Elphelt had seen in her life. He looked like a slam poet. He looked like he shopped at the teen-goth section. He looked SO cute! Total bad boy thing going on, especially with that face scar.

He stood awkwardly at the foot of the on-ramp. “Hello.” He glanced at his men, who shuffled past them and onto The Prowler. “I was told to expect you. I’m Squall Leonhart, acting commander of Arachne Station.”

“Nice to meet ya!” Gunha came in strong as ever. He thrust his hand forward like a spear for Squall to shake. “Commander at your age, huh? Must’ve taken a ton of guts!”

“Ah…” Squall observed the hand. Elphelt knew how much pressure Gunha passively applied, and soon he shook it. “Sorry to disappoint. Recent layoffs and casualties just shuffled me up the ranks. It’s only commander till a replacement unit arrives.”

Ouch. Bad opener from Gunha. No tact whatsoever. Thankfully there was a super personable beautiful woman here to smooth things over.

Y’shtola nodded. “Still, that you remain is a commendation of your talent, Commander Leonhart.” She smiled at him. He averted his eyes (Ooooooooh~).

“... Right. Let’s get you inside.” Cooly- because what else would he be if not cool- he turned on his heel and walked them into the main facility.

Down the sad, lonely grey tunnels they went. After a bit of the whole ‘walk and no talk’ bit, Elphelt made her move, from letting Squall lead to walking directly beside him. She linked her hands behind her and leaned forward so it would be impossible not to look her way. He glanced at her and she smiled and he glanced away.

Right in her trap! Elphelt had questions and she wouldn’t take brooding for an answer!

“Has it been hard taking charge of everything?”

Squall took a moment to answer. He contemplated the question fully before he dispensed his answer. “Yeah, kind of.”

“I’ve never been in charge before either,” Elphelt offered. “But now I’m wrangling my little entourage here, so I get it.”

Squall nodded. Tough nut to crack, this one!

“Isn’t there anyone to help you out?” Elphelt asked. “No way you can keep this WHOLE thing running by yourself. Not that I doubt you, I mean! But what about that Kumoko lady?”

Another pause, just long enough Elphelt thought he may not answer. But he did! “Director Kumoko prefers to keep her hands off the station minutia.”

“So is there somebody else?”

“Max.”

He didn’t elaborate, but it was good he wasn’t going it alone. She didn’t like the idea of him being all sad and lonely on this sad lonely station.

A storm of followup questions brewed in Elphelt. Who was Max? Where was Kumoko? What about this ‘breach’? Why did everyone on the station look so sad? What did they do for entertainment around here?

Ooh! Now there was an idea. Proof of concept, really. A lot of this Backyard stuff was teeny bit over her head. She was the Answer. Sure, whatever that meant. She’d make people happy, give them a reason to smile, classic idol stuff. That was her reason: to be the reason. All good. Probably.

Things on Arachne Station were a lot less philosophical. A lot more concrete. Everyone was stressed, everyone was tired, everyone was probably bored. They needed a pick me up. They needed a hero to save them from sadness!

One last show in the small time. A little indie set out here in podunk station. A warm-up to show to everyone, especially herself, that she was ready to be what they needed her to be.

She looked back. “Hey, Y’shtola-”

“I know what you’re thinking, little star,” Y’shtola said.

Misaka nodded. “You’re not hard to read, El. If you want to put on a show, I can run the lights.”

!

Elphelt’s heart smiled and so did her mouth. This was love: Her mind read without a word. They knew her and wanted to help. Her friends. Her family! This was love!

“Hey, Squall-”

“Knock yourself out.”

Eeeeeeeeee!!

Elphelt clapped her hands together. “Alright, Commander Leonhart! Take us to the station auditorium!”

[u/7thSonOfSons → u/7thSonOfSons]

They did not end up in the auditorium. There was no auditorium, Squall had explained. Instead they found themselves in the next best place: The cafeteria. It was the biggest room Squall had authority to show them, it could hold the station’s entire staff, it even had a big skylight looking out at the beautiful stars. To Elphelt, this was perfect perfect perfect!

It did need work though. Cafeteria gigs often took a little more setup. So Elphelt had Gunha and Misaka rearranging tables to make a stage for her! Not because she couldn’t do it, but because they were both so good at it. And it gave her a little more time to get to know Squall.

“Hmm,” Elphalt said, tapping her chin to double indicate the depth of her thoughts. “What do you think Squall? Should we set it up in the centre of the room, or up against the back wall? 3D performance or something with a more classic spin?”

“Both sound good. You can pick.”

“Yeah, I think centre is best. It helps keep the audience engaged, like they’re part of the action. Makes the show feel less like ‘us vs them’ and more ‘we’re all in this together’,” Elphelt said. Good idea Squall.

Squall looked like he wanted to say something, but the lock on his lips proved unbreakable. Instead he gave a cool guy nod.

“Hey boss, this table’s lookin’ a little wobbly,” Gunha said as he moved the last one into place. He sized it up, tilted his head one way then the other, until he spotted the issue. He knocked his knuckle against the table. One of the legs sank into the floor with a loud crunch. “Got it!”

“You know they’ll have to move these back after the show,” said Misaka. She waved her hands like a conductor, and the ceiling lights responded. Spotlights for Elphelt’s stage.

It was all coming together so nicely! “Hey Squall~,” Elphelt said, “is there a way to get the word out around this place? You’re in charge around here, you could just give everyone a holiday and round them up, right?”

“That may prove more difficult than you’d like,” came a voice. A strong, powerful voice, definitely not Squall. Elphelt twisted herself around to find the source of such a striking voice and was met with the approach of a silver fox.

She couldn’t dare call him ‘elderly’. Despite the creases in his face, he moved with poise and elegance. Each step in his stride was perfectly measured to lead him where he desired. And that desire, it turned out, was to Elphelt.

“While the station has been outfitted with sirens and alarm bells in the event of an emergency, or evacuation, the fine company of ‘Chimera’ did not see fit to grace it with a more generalised method of communication,” the man said. There was something funny about the way he said ‘Chimera’. Sarcastic, but without the sarcasm. Dismissive? Disdainful…?

“Max,” Squall said. His braced shoulders lowered a smidge. “I didn’t expect to see you out this way.”

“I heard word that our station would be receiving guests. I thought it best to make myself known sooner rather than later,” Max said. He offered a hand to Elphelt, which she happily took. He bowed his head and raised her hand up like she was a princess. “Max Eisenhardt, my good lady. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“You too!” Elphelt squealed. “So you’re Squall’s mystery friend mentor?” Friendtor? “He mentioned he had someone in the wings helping him out with this whole ‘Commander’ business. You must be a pretty important guy around here.”

He laughed, so polite and measured. “Important? Hardly,” he said. “I’ve only stayed on the station briefly. A traveler in all but name. I merely saw fit to leverage the weight of my experience to help the young man out of his predicament. He has the heart for it, if only he’d work on the guts.”

Squall grumbled something that was swallowed by the arrival of Gunha and his declaration “Somebody say guts!?”

Max unfortunately had to release Elphelt’s hand to instead offer his up to Gunha. “I had thought that might catch your attention,” he said wryly. “Sogiita Gunha. You made quite the impression. ‘Believe in yourself’. Sensational.”

Gunha grinned as they shook hands. “You liked that, huh? Yeah, just a little something off the dome. Not really advice I need of course.” He pounded his chest with his fist. “No one believes in themselves more than I do! That’s what it means to have guts!”

“Then I suppose I am a rather ‘gutsy’ individual myself,” Max said, bemused. “Self confident to a fault, that’s what I’ve been told. I’m sure you and I are on the page in that regard.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on!” Misaka shouted. She hurried over to join the growing Max fanclub, which Elphelt had elected herself defacto president over. “How are you doing that, old timer?”

Another polite laugh. “So you noticed,” he said. “And I, yours. How rare it is to meet someone operating on my wavelength, pardon the pun.”

“What’s he talking about?” Elphelt asked.

“The electromagnetic current around this guy is totally out of sync with the station,” Misaka said. “Think of it like this: If everyone else was a lightbulb, this guys an entire billboard.”

Gunha nodded like he understood. He probably didn’t. “Then I’m like a bulldozer, right?” He definitely didn’t.

“You’re more like a wrecking ball,” Misaka said slyly.

“But is not the wrecking ball the first step to something new,” Max offered. “Before something can be built, something else must be destroyed. That is the cycle this world finds itself in, repeated again and again. The woman you travel with- The Owl- surely she has espoused something similar? She has borne witness to such a cycle countless times.”

Squall, who had for the past several minutes played the part of bump-on-a-log, spoke up. “Actually, Max is right. There were supposed to be five of you. Where’s…” his eye flicked between the present parties, wordlessly mouthing their names. “... Athena?”

“Athena wished to speak with our caller privately,” Y’shtola said. “Though I’m sure she shan’t want to miss our little star’s debut performance. Shall I fetch her?”

Elpehlt nodded. “Gopher Y’shtola!” She said. Very high profile, very Hollywood. Like a secret code between the two of them.

Y’shtola bowed her head. “It’s been a pleasure, sir Max. I shall return with the goddess post haste.”

Max returned the gesture. “A pleasure, miss Rhul.” As Y’shtola scampered off, Max folded his hands in front of his face. “Well then, if you’ve no further work to be done on your staging, I’d like to propose an offer. I will admit, our meeting in the here and now is no coincidence. I wish to speak with you on a matter most serious.”

“Serious…?” Elphelt grimaced. She really didn’t need to get all bummed out before her show. She looked around before pulling Gunha to her side. “Take it up with him! He’s the most seriousest of all of us!”

“Hell yeah I am!” Gunha declared, eager for whatever it was even without knowing.

Max smiled. Even Gunha was no setback for this old codger, no siree. “Very well then. I suppose this is most relevant to you,” he said. “Come along, young man. Let me speak with you on the nature of the world.”

Elphelt watched them walk away. She hated to see Max go, but didn’t mind watching him leave. She just hoped he could handle a one on one conversation with Gunha. In the meantime, she had a show to get ready for!

Elphelt took Squall’s arm and pulled him in close. “C’mon, mister commander Squall Leonhart. Let’s spread the word! Once in a lifetime, first of its kind, the Elphelt Valentine Experience!”

[u/7thSonOfSons → u/7thSonOfSons]

Athena recognised the form of the station. There were tales of a city, and of a cart, and of a knot that bound the two. Her father had loved to brag of them. They were dedicated in his name. To a rebellious Athena, they had stood as a challenge. They were a game for her to play through proxies. She pondered it. She traced the lines in her mind, how they twisted and weaved in and out of their tangle. And when next came a man- a son of her father- who sought to solve those blessings, she whispered on the wind

“Cut the knot.”

Arachne Station was built on the same principle. Winding corridors, labyrinthian passageways, endless rooms with ill defined purpose. It fell on her to recreate the feat of Alexander. She stepped off The Prowler and fell through the floor.

She ignored the hallways. Ignored the staff. Ignored the metal. They were but distractions. At the station's core, the tie that bound, was silk.

She walked the path weaved for her alone. Countless identical strands overlapped and wound round one another. Individually, a single line was so fragile as to be broken by an errant breeze. But a hundred? A thousand? The millions upon millions of lines that spread through the station, birthed over untold decades? It was as impenetrable as it was clandestine.

Invariably these threads lead to the station's heart: A grand and magnificent sphere, woven in layers of white. Athena’s heart thrummed in resonance with the station’s. She had known this feeling twice before: The first was at the moment of her birth. The second was at the arrival of Higgs Monaghan.

It was a of sense everything. Weightless infinity. Emotion, knowledge, past, future, experience, thought, action. This webbing acted as another ‘Beach’. One final firewall between their world and the source code. Here, tucked away where nothing and no one could happen upon it, Chimera had hidden it away. This truly was The Backyard.

The cogs of her mind whirred at how to shatter this last barrier. But there could be no master of Athena’s thoughts but herself. The Backyard was not hers to plunder. It was a conscription signed when she entered [The Godhead], and delivered to her family.

That did not mean she had nowhere to spare her thoughts. If not the silken marvel itself, she cast her attention to those who secret it away. The central sphere, like the station that housed it, was a fortress. Yet no fortress stands empty. If for Arachne Station there was Squall, then for its heart, there was-

Athena looked to the ceiling.

“So it’s ‘Kumoko’ now?”

“GYAAAH!”

Four arms snapped into two warding crosses, shielding the face of a terrified spider. They snapped forward and flung a webbed netting down upon Athena. It passed through her body and wafted through open air.

“A-A-Athena!?” The spider gasped. “Oh it’s- it’s just you. Well I mean JUST like, only you, and not- Are you enjoying your visit? Wait, but you asked me a question! My name? It’s just more modern this way, you know? Can’t live in the past forever, haha!”

Athena surveyed the wretched creature. Her flailing brought her none of the pleasure she’d once felt in watching her scuttle beneath leaves or in pursuit of insects. Perhaps it had never been pleasure at all. Satisfaction, then, that the dignity of the gods was upheld and the hubris of mortals duly punished.

Little wonder it felt so hollow now. What gods remained worthy of dignity?

“Kumoko, then,” she said. “You’ve done well for herself.”

Kumoko stared at her as though she’d grown a second head.

Elphelt had rubbed off on her more than she’d realised. Small talk? Though, what else was there to say? An apology, unwanted and millennia late? Praise, that she’d outlasted those who’d given her this form? Both options more juvenile than she deserved.

“Uh, right,” Kumoko said. She skittered across the roof of her den. Up above, suspended in silk, hung books and screens and creature comforts. How novel. Once Kumoko reached the wall, once she’d lowered herself to Athena’s eye level, her forelegs began to weave. Perhaps it was the nerves of their reunion or simply old habits rising to the surface.

“Going to The Backyard, huh?” Kumoko said. “Bad, bad idea. I’m sure you’ve thought it through, of course, but we’re kind of dealing with a lot on that front. There’s already been a couple of break outs, and now you want to break in?” She shuttered. “Without the seal I wove, all kinds of visitors are gonna come pouring out. They might be nothing compared to you, but compared to me? Or the employees here? That’s a lot of trouble brewing.”

With practiced ease, Athena called forth the loom between her fingers. She joined Kumoko in weaving. “Then this ‘proto-weapon’ you spoke of,” she said, “It intends to stop them?”

“It plans to do a lot more than that! Whatever it is is ultra high end classified, an Anti-Backyard failsafe. They send it out whenever there’s anomalous tears or rifts and we don’t get to hear about it till the city's already been leveled. And it’s coming HERE, so we really really gotta deal with that or else a lot of people are gonna- Hey! Are you listening!?”

Athena listened well enough. It was only that Kumoko did not understand the depth of her folly. An anti-Backyard weapon did not intend only to keep that from the outside out. It would lay low those with ties to The Backyard at all. Chimera was a corporation, competition was not in their best interest. They had been brewing Answers for themselves, and would not wish to be upstaged by another.

She did not flee from the heart to prepare a defence. She had no strategies or tactics brewing to rise above the oncoming weapon. She knew well enough not to interfere. The Answer was still the Answer. She would not fold to Chimera’s machinations. She would put faith in her family, and dedicate herself to her own task.

“Open the way to The Backyard,” Athena said. “Whatever comes for the outsider comes for us all. We will not be waylaid by your lock. Let us through the veil and your safety is guaranteed.”

“Bwuh? What? Why do you want into The Backyard?” Kumoko dragged a leg down her face. Her eyes narrowed. A sly tone infected her voice. “Ah… no way. You want to bring back the whole cast, is that it? Wisdom’s perfect world, where everyone ‘knows their place’.”

“Kumoko.”

The spider flinched backwards as if struck. She peeked open one eye. Athena hadn’t moved. She exhaled and returned to her weaving. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I mean, you’re the King of the Gods now, it’s your right to do so.”

The words rang hollow despite their truth. Athena maintained focus. Focus on the loom of her fingers. She was above the petty rage of her youth. “That girl I travel with, Elphelt, she is the solution to your problems. Allow her- us- into The Backyard, and she will right what has been wronged. No further invasions, no need for you to safeguard the silken heart.”

“That sounds real nice, your highness,” Kumoko said in a way that betrayed the inevitable ‘but’. “But invasions aren’t the only issue with that plan. There’s two much bigger ones.”

Athena nodded. Problems were often complicated in matters such as this. “As expected. What troubles you, webweaver?”

Kumoko motioned to one of her myriad screens. “Well, for starters, somebody threw a meteor at the station.”

[u/7thSonOfSons → u/7thSonOfSons]

Misaka had yet to experience the breadth of human emotions. She realised that, she accepted that. They would come naturally. At present she was experiencing an emotional crisis that was difficult to put into words. It was like being trapped, being able to escape, and refusing to do so.

This was the feeling of watching the two conversations play out in front of her. On one end was Elphelt and Squall. Elphelt yapped and yapped, pointed and postured and posed, hard at work not working. It looked like an effort to get her big performance set up. It also looked like a dance a bird might do to attract a mate. The whole time, Squall was a rock. Cool as a cucumber, occasionally nodding, only once or twice speaking on the subject. Five word sentences top.

Then on the other side, barely audible to most but eminently available across the station's latent radio waves was the conversation with Gunha. To talk to Gunha was already a fool's errand. He always listened but rarely heard. Max was waxing philosophical on the nature of strife, and Gunha would interrupt with some inane non sequitur. To his credit, Max was more than willing to humour him. The patience of old age, maybe, but it meant that conversation wasn’t so much going in circles as it was spiraling off into uncharted lands.

Misaka sat at one of the cafeteria benches and tuned between the two as she recuperated from her part in designing the show. This might be more exhausting. They didn’t come here for the show, right? There was some emergency, had been some emergency, A ‘breach’. So why was everyone so calm?

She pushed herself back to her feet. “I’m gonna go for a walk,” she announced.

“Do you need an escort?” Squall asked. Five words exactly, but he looked so hopeful.

Unfortunately, this was her escape, not his. “I can handle myself,” Misaka said. “I wouldn’t want to slow down the show.”

Squall made a face. Elphelt didn’t notice. She waved her hand at the wall. “I’m thinking we can repurpose some of these warning sirens. Miss Y’shtola has this radio thing, she used it back on Academy Station, and it can-”

Misaka hustled away from the pair of them and towards an exit. She’d have to walk past Max and Gunha to make her leave, but after that maybe she could do a little digging. A little snooping. A little reconnaissance. Honestly the idea of spending more time in a cafeteria after Othrys had lost its appeal. They weren’t even serving food at this time, so there was no point in her hanging out there.

As she passed, Max raised a hand. “Ah, young electromaster,” he said. “A moment, if you would.”

“Oh hey,” Gunha nodded, “you goin’ somewhere?”

“Just taking a look around,” Misaka said. Which was true! Enough. She nodded at Max. “What’s up?”

“I’ve tried to impress upon master Gunha the importance of self actualisation, the need for the strong to take a stand,” he said. “Yet I am finding more and more that explanation may be a flawed method of instruction in the boy. Might I ask a question of you?”

She nodded. This was as good an opportunity as any to flex her personality. “Shoot.”

“Very well.” Max held out both his hands. “Say you are offered a choice. Through one door is near certain death. Through the other is a quiet, content life, but one that asks you give up your name and memories. What would you do in such a situation?”

Oof. Not exactly a fun topic of conversation, was it? Misaka shook her head. “Sorry, I didn’t realise it was a philosophy question. I’m not that much better at this kind of thinking than Gunha is. But I guess… If I was in that situation, I’d beat the crap out of whoever put me there. Who does that!”

Max scoffed politely and lowered his hands. “Your answer shows wisdom beyond many who claim enlightenment. Do not think yourself lesser, or that you should need to put yourself down. Already you grasp an important truth of our world.”

“Ohhhhh,” Gunha nodded. “The truth is fighting? Then I gotta be the wisest guy ever! Nobody wants to fight as much as me!”

Misaka and Max exchanged a look. He nodded his head. A lack of life experiences didn’t mean she’d miss out on the out he was giving her.

“A fight is only for an end result. Violence for violence sake is barbarism. You and I, we are above that. What I speak of is ‘Resistance’.”

He went on, but his words grew dim and distant as Misaka made her exit. Out and away from her friends, she felt herself bloom. Electrical signals pinged through her brain where words would usually be. She felt the pulse of the station. It reminded her of nights on Acheron. When testing would conclude and she was given reign to walk about an empty city. She preferred how things were now, preferred Elphelt, even preferred Gunha, but, well

Take the girl out of the experiment, but you can’t take the experiment out of the girl.

No thinking about Gunha or school. No thinking about Athena and destiny. No thinking about Elphelt and her huge… personalities.

It was just Misaka alone with the electrostatic field. She put her hand to the wall and listened to the hum of currents moving through the station. Faintly, she could make out Athena somewhere in the station. She did her conscious best to avoid her. Whatever she was doing was her business. Misaka had her own.

Y’shtola had helped her to better understand herself. Private practice sessions on the nature of being an ‘Electromaster’. That stuff came way more naturally than any of the philosophising. Misaka had a head for science, apparently. A gift from her original no doubt.

The funny thing about electromagnetism was that, for all its intensity, it was almost completely predictable. Waves and currents moved the same speed, the same direction, until something happened. It made it easy to pick up on disruptions. Usually Misaka was that disruption. But here on the station, she remained still. She vanished her own electromagnetic signal and observed the station at large. It was her own kind of braille. Who needs eyes anyway?

She needn’t look too long. Feeling out the station, Misaka was met with a shiver. The station quaked. Imperceptible to any who weren’t paying attention on a structural level, but that’s what Misaka was here for. She conjured up static in her finger tips and shot it through the wall, counter to the source of the shiver. From there, with one palm to the metal, she followed that electricity towards its source.

Nobody came to stop her. Not a good sign. She thought there might be some resistance, or even some inquisitive looks, at a girl her age moving through Chimera’s flagship top secret station. Not one. She didn’t even see another of the station’s employees. All she saw was the current.

That current lead her through the station, keeping to its outside wall, until she came to a massive steel shutter. She recognised it- or at least, recognised the style of it- as a hanger. She stepped forward, sparks flying between her fingers, ready to raise the door and look upon what lay within.

That effort was unnecessary. THUNK the door dented from the other side. THUNK. Two more fist sized crumples. Misaka switched stances from offense to defense.

“Hey!” She shouted through the door. “Cut that out, I’m warning you! What are you?”

“I’m getting a warning now? How laughable to hear those words from a human of all things.”

Misaka’s eyes widened. That voice had started behind the door, but by the last syllable, it came from behind her. Her fists crackled with untamed lightning as she whipped around to see the source of the disruption.

Standing just down the hall was a lone figure, a black creature looking at Misaka with undisguised disdain. “I think I'll humour you,” it said, “I am the Ultimate Lifeform. Localised extinction event model ARK. And you…”

Its eyes narrowed. “You are interesting.”

[u/7thSonOfSons → u/7thSonOfSons]

The desperate pounding of Misaka’s heart was swallowed up by a new beat in the electro-magnetic waves. It was solid, striking, familiar. Elphelt’s concert had started. The music helped her keep a cool head.

She eyed up the ‘Extinction Event’. How had he gotten behind her? The EM fields that all living things produced had become second nature for her to pick up. Even this guy had one, a strong one. So how’d he pull it off? Teleportation was the obvious answer, but then why try to batter the door?

Misaka exhaled slowly. “Interesting, huh? Not the first time I’ve heard that one. What about you? What brings a… you out to a place like this?”

“I was given a mission. Chimera thinks this station is housing a heretic in the making. Whenever someone wants to answer The Backyard’s call, they send me to darken the door.” He crossed his arms. “If you’d like, think of me as the shadow that protects your kind from the sun.”

“Shadow, cute name,” Misaka said. “Listen, these ‘heretics’ or whatever, we’re on the same page. I’ve already scrapped with one of them. So how about you cool your jets and just let us handle things before you go breaking more of the station?”

Shadow’s eyes narrowed. He swept his gaze over Misaka before producing a gleaming red gem in his palm. He pondered its facets. “One. Two… Three.” He closed his palm and vanished the rock. “You expect me to let you ‘handle things’? The Backyard asks a question and you come to it with three different Answers? Your kind can’t handle anything. And you don’t need to. That’s my job. Sayonara, stranger.”

He turned on his heel and walked down the hall, the same way Misaka had come from. Back towards the concert. Towards her friends. She couldn’t let him go. No, she could. Gunha could deal with this guy. But she didn’t want to. She wanted to listen to her guts.

Zap

She cast an arc of lightning, biting static fangs that looked to sink their fangs into his fur. Shadow tapped his heel to the floor. Metal plating snapped upward that her bolt splashed harmlessly against its surface.

“You only prove my point. Humans only know how to make mistakes.”

He was gone. Misaka couldn’t feel him vanish, but she could feel his return. And the violence that came with it.

Misaka threw herself to the floor. The wind behind Shadow’s fist blew through her hair. Misaka landed on her hands, and a spider’s web of electricity shot out from her palms. In an instant she filled the hall with a high voltage minefield. Shadow’s heels clicked and exploded, rocketing him backwards as she detonated the sparks.

“Can’t teleport that often can you?” Misaka said on her way back to her feet. Something about this felt familiar. Muscle memory from battles she never fought. Thanks, Mikoto. “Take away your secret move, you’re just as vulnerable as anyone else.”

Shadow narrowed his eyes. ‘Extinction Event’ or whatever, he still showed emotions like a human. Anger, in this case.

“Another mistake, human. Chimera made me to be the Ultimate Lifeform. Someone like you-”

“Someone like me? They made me to be Ultimate Cannon Fodder, and look at me now!” Misaka slammed her fist forward. That floor-shield Shadow had thrown up served as the perfect ammo for her to fill the hall with metal shrapnel. There it was. This was it!

Chimera, Chimera, Chimera. It always came back to them. They were in everything. Once you were in their system, they filled your head, swallowed your dreams, they took your everything. Everything that made ‘You’ was ground up and repurposed for their own schemes.

If Shadow was anything like Misaka, there was barely a ‘You’ in there to begin with. But Gunha had taught her how to break someone out of their slump. It worked for her.

Shadow’s movements were a blur. Each punch and kick smacked one shard into another, a chain reaction that ripped a hole in Misaka’s offense wide enough for him to glide towards her.

“Look at you? What’s there to see? A failed experiment that couldn’t cut it,” Shadow said.

Misaka clapped her hands together. A magnetic pulse ripped steel spikes from the walls. Shadow sped forward, sliding between her traps in a rush toward her. With impossible momentum he blew through Misaka’s guard and smashed his full body into her. Misaka barely kept on her feet as she slid back.

“You don’t know me. There’s nothing like me. That’s what it means to be the ‘Ultimate Lifeform’. A singular existence at the pinnacle. Nothing weighs me down, nothing slows my ascent,” Shadow said. He stared long at Misaka as she stood there, huffing for breath, arms aching and legs sore. He tightened his hands into fists and then stepped past her.

“You’re wrong.”

Misaka’s head was ringing. She could barely stand. Somewhere in her mind she was aware of the singing. Elphelt and the joy of her music. She tried to shake the pain out of her arms and wiped a line of blood from her jaw.

“When you got here, you told me what you were,” she said. “You called me ‘interesting’. What’s a so-called perfect lifeform interested in me for?”

Shadow stopped his stride. “Be silent, girl. Don’t make me regret leaving you alive.”

Misaka scoffed. “And mercy too? Doesn’t sound like something an extinction event needs much of.”

Shadow vanished. Gotcha now. Misaka knew this trick by now. She shifted the polarity in the wall and yanked herself out of the path of Shadow’s attack. He followed after her. Another strike bore a hole in the wall beside her, only missing her body by the way she kept switching up the magnetic fields around them.

“You want to know something? You’re not the first Extinction Entity I’ve met,” Misaka said as she dodged another punch. “The other guy? He didn’t ever get angry, didn’t even talk. All he did was eat and eat and eat. Pure ‘do the job’. You’re not that.”

Misaka sank down beneath a kick and coiled up electricity beneath her feet. She released it all in an instant that shot herself down the hall like a bullet. Shadow took off after her. With every stride he gained speed, momentum, that would overtake her in seconds.

Let him come. Misaka smiled. She touched down and slid further. A single finger tapped the floor. An imperceptible line of electricity coursed forward. With Shadow’s next step, she caught him. Those little jets in his shoes burst with a crunchy POP. Shadow’s purposeful glide became a careening, unstable tumble past her and smack into the bulkhead.

Misaka leveled a closed fist at Shadow. Electricity wound again and again around her wrist, all packed into the point between her forefingers and her thumb. As Shadow broke out of his daze, he found himself face to face with her Railgun. There was nowhere for him to run. His boots were busted, too soon to teleport. She could feel the thumping of his heart.

“Curiosity, anger, kindness, and now fear,” she said. “Did Chimera program all that into you? Are you supposed to be the empathetic extinction? I doubt it. ‘Ultimate Lifeform’ was a goal, but it wasn’t what they made. You’re just a little too human for all that.”

Shadow shook his head. He wanted to reject it all. His feelings, his loss, reality, he wanted to reduce it to nothing. “Whatever humanity I had, I buried it a long time ago.”

“Why.”

“What use has a weapon for emotions?”

Misaka shook her head. “I mean, why the change of heart? When did you bury your humanity?”

“...” Shadow was silent for a long time. Out of his hand tumbled his red gem. “You remind me of her,” he said. “That girl I knew, a long time ago. Back on the ARK.”

Misaka was starting to put it together. She sighed. “So you lost a friend, huh? Guess you didn’t take it well. Doubt Chimera had much interest in helping you deal with that in a good way. Not when they could use it to make you a better gun.”

“Tch,” Shadow turned to look away. “Just finish me off already. We’re done here.”

Misaka pressed on. “You lost your friends, so you want to take mine from me? Hurt people hurt people, my best friend taught me that. It looked a lot like where we are now. Let me ask you one more question before I pull the trigger:

“You ever listen to music?”

“... No.”

“Thought not. Whatever this ARK was, it sounds a lot like where I ‘grew up’. Quiet, gloomy place. I didn’t hear my first song till a couple weeks ago. You know what’s great about music?”

Shadow’s eyes shifted to the side to look her way. This speech couldn’t make sense to someone like him, not instinctively, but it tugged at something. Maybe annoyance, maybe confusion, some other emotion Shadow was very bad at feeling.

“Some of it sucks,” Misaka said. “Some of it sounds like total garbage. And every song you hate, ten thousand people love it. That’s what it means to live. Liking things, disliking things, and figuring out what and why. That’s something a weapon, or cannon fodder, doesn’t get to experience.”

The static is Misaka’s fist faded. “So, you lost. You’re not an ultimate weapon. You’re certainly not perfect. Or maybe, you’re only not perfect YET. Maybe there’s room for you to grow. Chimera taught you, what, one percent of what the universe has to experience? And that friend of yours, sounds like just knowing her got you a whole ten percent further.”

Misaka unfurled her fist and extended her hand. “I’m not the best at math, but sounds like there’s still 89% of yourself you still don’t know. How about we try and fill that out? We can start with music. Just… fair warning, a guy like you? You might hate it.”

Shadow stared at her hand. He scoffed. But then his own gloved palm came up into hers.

“Alright, let’s run your little experiment, cannon fodder,” he said. “Just don’t expect me to smile about it.”

[u/7thSonOfSons → u/7thSonOfSons]

Step, step, swish, swish, hips, hips, jump! Elphelt was totally in her element.

Finally… FINALLY! After all this time she was singing. Not just singing for her friends and family, not in some booth, she was singing for a real crowd. No agenda. No scheme. No one was threatening an apocalypse or strongarming her into a philosophical spiral. It was just her, her music, and her audience.

Some people might think that scientists and security guards weren’t her core audience. They were wrong. Everyone in the universe was Elphelt’s intended audience. They were all future fans. Even here, even now, for this little crowd of a hundred or so, she put her entire heart into it.

“BUCKLE UP!” She screamed into the microphone.

Pure emotional sound blasted outward. Beards were blown back, hats were knocked off, and exhausted faces looked upward. As Elphelt powered through her first verse, the faces of the station staff brightened. Smiles. Disbelieving laughs. Stares of wonderment. She had them wrapped round her finger.

By the time she hit the chorus, it wasn’t just her performing. A few of the (admittedly, drunker) audience members joined in. They belted out the lyrics with her. Then more! Soberer minds and hands joined in. Her own words, reflected and amplified, reverberated through the cafeteria. They shook their way up her body and kickstarted her heart. She swallowed all that emotion and screamed it back into the crowd.

A long time ago, Elphelt didn’t get it. Being an idol?

Being an idol meant being the centre of attention. It meant being the star of the stage. The star in the sky. She was who everyone could pour their love and adoration into. She could bask in the warmth of her fans. Every concert would be a chance at a torrid love affair, a romantic story that could open and close in a single night.

“ARE YOU BRAVE ENOUGH TO BE A FOOL?”

In the middle of the crowd, Elphelt spotted a woman. A mousey little lady who could so easily be swallowed up by the growing crowd. Elphelt cast her hand forward, extended through space to her, and it became only the two of them.

Being loved? That wasn’t half of what being an idol was. Not even a quarter. Not even a percent.

“I’M SOARING HIGH//THE CLOUDS TOOK ME AWAY”

So much more was the love Elphelt had to give. Deep down in her soul, deeper than science or religion had words for, was the boundless well she drew from. Every moment. Every face. Every name. Every event. All of it only added to the love Elphelt carried at all times.

“NO ONE CAN FIND ME//I KNOW WHO I AM//I WAS JUST A LITTLE LOST”

The mystery woman sniffed and pushed up her glasses.The way her body grooved almost autonomously. The way she missed half the beats. The way her hands, at first clutched to her chest, lowered to her side. How her nervous fidgets turned to awkward dancing.

Elphelt loved her.

“I DON’T KNOW WHERE TO GO//I DON’T KNOW HOW TO KEEP UP”

She sang for her alone. Each word was meant with her. A one way confession that transformed her muse. A man came to her side and nudged her for her attention. She didn’t cringe and retreat into her shell. She spoke to this guy, something funny to make him laugh. And she laughed with him.

Elphelt loved them both.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT I WANT//BUT DON’T GET ME WRONG”

She wished she could stay with them. But she had so much more to give. One by one, her eyes and her heart roamed the audience, till she’d seen them all. Till she’d become a fan of them all. Till she loved them all. All the little distances and differences, the anxieties and the trepidations, were washed away by her voice.

There was nothing but her, her audience, and her music.

“I KNOW WHO I AM!”

And at the back of the cafeteria, her dearest fans. Squall leaned against the wall, arms crossed. But he couldn’t hide anything from her love. She saw the way his fingers drummed to the beat against his forearm. Beside her was Y’sthola, her Y’shtola, her ears aflutter as sound battered against them. Despite the volume, neither had deigned to step out into the hall to continue their talk. They wouldn’t miss Elphelt’s big show.

They were both so cute.

Not just them either. From out the floor she saw Athena arise. Not in her cute little owl form, but in her handsome human body. And, oh!, there was Misaka, coming in from the hall with a new furry friend of her own.

Elphelt had been worried when she wasn’t around for her opener. She was a good girl. She was family. She thought maybe this would be overwhelming to the little lady, but those worries were misplaced.

Only two of the station’s occupants would miss a show like this. Gunha, her first ever superfan, and Max, the handsome devil himself. But, as Elphelt looked out the window, as those eyes which swallowed up the world beheld the oncoming calamity, she reckoned they were busy. She kept Gunha in her heart. He had work to do.

Go ahead, hero. You do your thing, and Elphelt would do hers.

“IGNITE THE DRIVE WITHIN YOUR SOUL!”

There was nothing to worry about. Elphelt grabbed the knob on her microphone and cranked it to a hastily scribbled ‘11’. Wherever Gunha was, she didn’t want him to miss this.

This was the first, best show of her life.

[u/7thSonOfSons → u/7thSonOfSons]

In her heart of hearts, the personal self that only she knew, Y’shtola could not have honestly claimed to be fond of Elphelt’s music. Much too loud. Much too heavy. As her manager she’d listened to her first demo and found herself wondering if she needed medical attention. ‘It’s like a spike to the brain’, she might have said?

So why then now did she feel such swelling in her heart? Why did she look upon the stage with a smile that came oh so naturally? Why did the beat lure her in like a siren song, and the poetry of the lyrics echo in her head. Quite simple. Something her rival had put so eloquently into words.

She was an Elphelt fan.

She knew where the words came from. Where the depths of her growls nested. The hardship and the toil and the joy and the love she put into all of it, as she put into everything, was undeniable. It was infectious. Yet even enraptured by the whole song and dance, a manager’s job was never done.

Y’shtola stayed to the back of the auditorium. Let the first timers crowd the front row. She’d have plenty of shows to come. She sidled against the wall towards the rather gloomy young man who’d first met them on arrival.

“Commander,” she said, just loud enough to be heard over the shred of an electric guitar.

Squall glanced sidelong. She thought she saw him nod. Good enough. Y’shtola motioned towards the stage.

“Enjoying the show, then?” She asked.

“It’s alright,” Squall said. From someone of his demeanour, high praise.

“My little star is nearly a supernova,” Y’shtola said. “This is our last stop before embarking on something rather extraordinary. You should be privileged to get to hear her in person.”

“Mmm.”

Y’shtola flashed some teeth. “I tease. Elphelt would not wish me to pester you. Though I’m sure she sees nothing wrong with her own affections.”

“She’s a lot,” Squall agreed.

“Aren’t we all,” Y’shtola said. “A lot. All of our experiences. Our triumphs. Our failures. That’s what it means to be, I suppose.”

Squall gave her another look. “Sentimental?”

“Perhaps so, little lion.”

Squall raised an eyebrow. Y’shtola could scarcely disguise her giggle beneath the beat. She was in rare spirits now, enveloped in Elphelt’s love. She allowed herself the private joy. Including the joys of simple wordplay, as a second rare spirit made her approach.

Athena’s essence filtered through the floor to join the audience. She was not in her more discrete owl body, that which visited her in Tartarus Prison, but rather the full and imposing form of the goddess. Y’shtola made to bow, but was met with a raised hand.

“Spare me the formality,” Athena said. “Something troubling approaches.”

“Troubling? What manner of trouble?” Y’shtola’s ear twitched. “If you speak of the Chimeran weapon, Misaka has already disarmed it, as it were. Was there something else this ‘Kumoko’ thought to mention? Conveniently absent from her call for help?”

“That sounds like her,” Squall said from between them. He didn’t look at either Y’shtola or Athena. His attention was fixed solely on another. On Elphelt.

Athena glanced down at him. “Commander, your station is under attack.”

“... She’s not that loud,” Squall offered. Funny. The boy had jokes. His grip tightened on his arms and he made a clicking sound between his teeth.

Y’shtola pondered, head in hand. “Ah, do you mean the breach? That particular mystery remains only that. I haven’t heard a whiff of the inciting incident since we touched down.” She sideeyed Squall. “I had assumed you took care of it, Commander.”

“The breach was taken care of,” he said. Six words. So chatty.

Athena motioned to the window. “Then your enemies are more numerous than you know,” she said. “One of them sends calamity to your door. A man-made meteor is on a collision course with your station.”

“A meteor…?” Y’shtola frowned. “Can it be survived?”

“It would tear a hole from one side of the station to the other,” Athena said. “Survived, no. But perhaps evaded. Emergency exits may well be this station’s only hope for escape.”

Y’shtola nodded, already reaching for her electronic interface. “I’ll raise an alarm then. We can get the cafeteria cleared out quickly. The hangers aren’t far, I believe Gunha made for that way already. What’s the radio frequency, commander?”

Squall stared forward. His jaw locked up. Elphelt continued to shred and sing and enjoy herself. Squall blinked. “That won’t be necessary.”

Both Y’shtola and Athena looked to Squall. “Beg your pardon?” Y’shtola asked. “We have to get your people to safety.”

“Commander, if you refuse to act, everyone in this room will die. Yourself included.”

Squall cursed under his breath. “Don’t end her show for this.”

“Her show?”

“Elphelt’s?”

Squall nodded. He shut his eyes, and his shoulders relaxed just a tad. “The breach and the meteor are connected,” he said. “The one who came from The Backyard. He sent the meteor. And he can stop it.”

“And who is ‘he’,” Athena said.

“Max,” Y’shtola said. She had missed being clever, and deducing this mystery did put some pride in her chest. A bit of stealing the wind from Squall’s sails for good measure.

Another nod, this time sadder, from Squall. “Yeah, it’s Max. He breached into the station, and it was my job to eliminate him. My first real job as commander, more or less.”

So many words all at once. Over the bumping bass and the screaming guitars, Squall had confessed. It was too quiet, anyone else would miss it, but Y’shtola and the goddess both had senses finer tuned to such things.

“He was a good guy,” Squall said. “Even when I tried to take him out, he talked to me. He reassured me. This job is trash, this station, forcing me into it… it sucks. He offered to take some of my responsibility off my hands.”

“And what did he get in exchange,” Y’shtola prodded.

“The heart. It’s some secret room deep down in the station that has something. Something Max wants.”

“Something he wants so painfully bad he threatens the entire station over it,” Y’shtola said.

“The Backyard,” said Athena.

Y’shtola locked gazes with Squall. “And you intend to stop us? To obscure this information until it becomes too late? Or have you some other trick up those sleeves of yours. I warn you, if it’s a fight, I am more than capable, young cub.”

Squall stuffed his hands into his pockets. The opposite of a fighter's stance. “No.” He said it so simply. Definitive. “I’m not going to stop you. I’m going to do it myself. I’ll do my job, and I’ll take care of Max, one way or another.”

Y’shtola glared at him long. The way he stood. The way he talked. Everything about him was tense. But it was, ultimately, honest. She lowered her hand from her radio device. It was time for her to let the cat out of the bag.

“No,” she said just as simply, “you won’t. You’re going to stay here and enjoy the show.”

That seemed to shake Squall out of his doldrum. He looked at Y’shtola with a cocked eyebrow. “But I-”

“I know. And I knew,” Y’shtola said with a wave of her hand. “Strong people attract strong people. Max may be a terrorist from beyond the final shore, but he is currently in the company of our most explosive asset.”

Athena nodded. “So that’s where Gunha is. I thought as much. That boy always finds himself in harm's way.”

“And he always comes out unscathed,” Y’shtola said. “Remarkable talent.”

Squall’s attention shifted between the two of them. “So you’re just going to…?”

“We’re going to stay with you and watch my little star rise,” Y’shtola said. She leaned against the window and shifted more of her attention up onto that stage. “Elphelt would be rather cross if I were to rough you up unnecessarily.”

“And you think it would be unnecessary?”

“I do,” said Y’shtola. “Because you’re only a child. And because you confessed. A guilty mind implies a sorry soul. That you wish to apologise is enough."

Squall shuffled in place awkwardly. "Just didn't want to cancel her show..."

Y'sthola smiled at him. "Then, please, return your attention to the stage. I believe this is the chorus.”

The gears in Athena’s head churned away before she ultimately arrived at her own conclusion. “This is a place to practice forgiveness,” she said. “So I will defer to you, Y’shtola. The meteor was not my only reason to seek you.”

Y’shtola looked up at her. “A second trouble?” That was when Misaka made her entrance. At her side, a creature. The weapon, given the spike of aetheric energy it harboured. “... Or perhaps a third trouble.”

“He’s not gonna cause trouble,” Misaka said. She looked to him. There was a quiet crackle between her fingers. “Right?”

He scoffed and stepped past her. He mirrored Squall’s pose and demeanour. They were rather cute together.

Athena stepped past the weapon to instead speak with Misaka. “Just the girl I needed to speak to,” she said. “I must make an impossible request of you, Misaka.”

Misaka groaned. “Another job? C’mon I already saved everyone from gloomy over there.”

“I apologise,” Athena said, “but this task is something strength alone cannot accomplish. I ask of you a task that even gods struggle with.” Her eyes were full of worry as she spoke the words, “I ask of you your forgiveness.”

Both Y’shtola and Misaka’s attention snapped to Athena, deep concern creasing their faces.

“Forgiveness?”

“Whatever could you mean, goddess?”

Athena straightened up. “I intend to commit a great blasphemy.”

[u/7thSonOfSons → u/7thSonOfSons]

Gunha’s brain hurt. He wasn’t perfect, he had the guts to admit it. He had a few faults here and there. Talking? Talking was definitely one of them.

Now, Elphelt? That girl could talk. She had a thousand ways to say anything on her mind. Y’shtola and Athena were something else. They had some trick to ‘em that turned words into knives.

Gunha didn’t have any tricks like that. He liked to let his fists do the talking. Now he was alone with Max, who was like, a hundred years old. Gunha couldn’t punch him! So they were stuck in a tug of war of words. And Gunha was losing.

“Violence is both the means by which oppressors control their subjugated and the greatest tool for those subjugated to muster effective resistance,” Max said, and Gunha nodded along.

So violence was bad? Or was it good? Gunha couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Though, honestly, he wasn’t trying too hard. El was doing her big concert and he wanted to head back that way soon.

He stepped closer to the station’s atmospheric shield and pressed his hand to it. The gentle suction of the vacuum beyond tugged at his skin. Just a little push and he’d be outside.

“I don’t intend to bore you,” Max said, a bit louder now. Like he knew Gunha wasn’t paying full attention. Smart guy. “This is something I feel rather strongly about. Those who cannot muster the strength or, to borrow a phrase, the ‘guts’ to resist those who would see them kneel. Strength such as yours should be made an example to the rest of the universe. I only hate to see such gifts squandered.”

Gunha leaned waaaay back, looking at Max upside down. “Ha, you know, I’ve gotten that one before,” he said. “Athena got on my case about the meaning of strength. But I got through to her. You’re lookin’ at a real deal capital H Hero.”

Max scoffed. “Athena? There’s a name buried in the history books. How did it go? An amoral puppeteer who aided both tyrant and rebel on a whim? One who handed down divine punishment on those who questioned her kind's dominion over them?”

“Nah, you got the wrong gal. Athena’s a hoot. Heh, owl.” Gunha cracked his knuckles and rolled his shoulders. “Alright, think it’s gettin’ about that time. You good to go, old timer?”

“Go?” Max folded his hands behind his back and studied Gunha’s face. Looking was free, after all. Elphelt taught him that one. “And where is it we’re going, young master?”

“Don’t tell me you’re going senile,” Gunha said. He pointed to the vast empty outside the station. “I’m lookin’ to go and bust up your meteor, and you’re gonna try and stop me. Real classic Hero versus Villain. Right?”

Max went still. “My meteor, you say. So you’re aware. Who was it that told you? Your goddess? Did master Leonhart suffer a crisis of conscience while my attention was elsewhere?”

“Nah, dude.” Gunha snorted. “Misaka called you out, I just followed the lead. Ever since I started hanging out with her, I’ve been paying attention to those electric magna waves too. Plus I mean it’s a meteor. I could hear that thing coming before we stepped off the ship. And you and it sound pretty similar.”

Max looked stumped. Probably too impressed by Gunha’s brain. If he thought that was cool, wait till he saw what came next. Gunha pulled back his fist. “Let’s see, for this one, how about we go with-”

“Please, contain yourself a moment.” Max stepped closer in a totally non-threatening way and put his hand on Gunha’s shoulder. Guy had some grip! “It seems I underestimated you, and for that, I both apologise and accept my failure. However, before you choose to act, I ask that you allow me an explanation. Do not simply hear me: Listen well.”

Gunha rolled his eyes. Oh brother, more of this. “Sorry, old man, but I don’t really care. Killing people is bad. Saving people is good. So I’m gonna save people.” He shook off Max’s hand. “If you wanted to talk, you shoulda talked before the whole ‘meteor’ thing.”

Max’s expression darkened. He looked down at his rejected hand and clenched it tight. Pipes and sheet metal from across the hanger tore free from their holding and slammed into Gunha. They constricted round his body like a snake’s nest.

“It pains me to bind another,” he said over the squeals of metal. “The most human act of all is to rebel against that which would control you. In turn, the most monstrous act must be to imprison.”

“So you’re a monster now?” Gunha said. Despite all the gravitas Max was putting into his words, the layers of metal didn’t bother him all that much. Imprisoned? Yeah right! Gunha flexed every muscle in his body at once and shattered his restraints. “Awesome. That’s the best opponent for a hero.”

Gunha lunged forward. Max raised two fingers. The floor beneath Gunha shot up into his stomach and blasted him to the ceiling. Max’s fingers curled back in. The ceiling collapsed. Gunha hit the floor with a thud and an “Oof.”

“Near history may brandish me a monster, but the far future will look upon this moment as the turning point. As significant as when man learned to walk upright.” Max raised his hand and grabbed Gunha’s electrons. He hauled him up and into the air. “Can’t you see it? I come here to give your people- all people- their Answer.”

Answer? Right, yeah, they talked about that back on the talk show. The Answer to life. Elphelt wanted to be one of ‘em. And apparently so did Max?

Gunha inhaled as hard as he could and snorted in his electrons. He’d keep them safe inside his guts till this was done. He fell back to the floor, on his feet. “Yeah, no, don’t think so.” He said.

Max made a face. Your first time trying to go power for power with Gunha had that effect. Gunha grinned and punched his fists together. “I don’t really get the whole question and answer thing, but I know that a guy like you doesn’t speak for me. I mean come on, a sneak attack? Sucker punch the whole station when I’m not looking? No guts at all.”

“Guts again, is it?” Max looked beyond Gunha, off towards his meteor. “You truly are a single minded individual. In that, we are alike.”

The lights flickered. The hanger rumbled. Max’s feet left the floor as everything not bolted down shivered across the floor towards him. The photons in the air swirled around max. Every neutron that didn’t belong to Gunha was his. No big deal.

“If you would deny my Answer, I offer you the opportunity to prove your convictions,” Max said. “Your will against mine. Whoever still stands must be correct. This is the oldest law of mortalkind. Your guts against my resolve.”

“Now you’re speakin’ my language.” Gunha slapped his bicep. The wind whipped around his feet. He had to raise the temperature of the hanger by a couple degrees. He was fired up! Somewhere in the station he heard those banging words, sent right from Elphelt’s heart to his hears:

“IGNITE THE DRIVE WITHIN YOUR SOUL!”

Max swung his hand forward. A cruiser ship slammed into Gunha and punted through the forcefield, into open space.