Emotional Weight
“Okay. Now we should be safe.” Juanita says as she makes sure the area around her is clear from enemies.
After the fight that they had Juanita just wanted to get Pythia, Ez, Pat, Ilma, Fran to safety, but they were all still upset that they felt like they had to leave Thomas behind.
“Dammit!” Ez shouts as she punches a wall. “Why didn’t we try harder to save him?”
“We did all that we could.” Pythia says as she puts an arm around Ez’s shoulders.
“...Even if that was the case, it doesn’t make me feel any better…” Ez says as she crosses her arms.
“Well, beating yourself up for it isn’t going to help anybody.” Pat says as he hugs Ez from the other side.
It took a while, but Ilma and Francine were conscious again, but they still weren’t in the condition to fight again let alone move all that much. They just kept to themselves as they hugged each other while sitting down against one of the castle walls.
“...So…I’m going to go back out and fight more…I know that I’m one of the only reasons we even had a chance to win this battle in the first place after all…” Juanita says as she anxiously rubs her arm. “...Anybody want to join me? You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but the help would be appreciated…”
“...I’ll go…” Ez says as she gets up onto her feet.
“Are you sure?” Pythia asks her partner. “That Bishop guy can completely shut down your powers.”
“...Yeah…” Ez responds softly. “...It’s just that…Thomas is in a super vulnerable position already and this probably just makes him feel even worse…I know it because I’ve been there myself…I just need to help him in any way that I can…”
“...Okay…Do what you need to do…but…just stay safe…” Pythia pleads.
Pat nods in agreement.
“...Alright…let’s go…” Ez says before Juanita nods and leads her back out to the fight.
…Thomas sits alone in a dungeon…
He is locked inside of a cell and has a chain around his leg that’s attached to the wall behind him.
He could probably concoct a way to get out of here if he really wanted to, but just felt too defeated to care at the moment.
“...It’s just one thing after another…isn’t it?” Thomas asks himself.
Memories of his parents kicking him out of his house flood back to him.
‘Why are you doing this to us?’ He recalls his mother asking him through her tears right after he came out.
‘No daughter of mine will live such a sinful lifestyle!’ He recalls his father shouting at him soon afterward.
He tries his best to push these memories back down again, but he didn’t have much of anything else to focus on at the moment so that was easier said than done.
“...Why does my life have to suck so much?” He asks as he pulls his knees into his chest as he begins to sob.
Suddenly a green light flashes and he notices that he isn't alone anymore.
…That was because all of Team IQA and Rick’s Squad were also locked in the dungeon…
…Most of them were either heavily injured or straight up unconscious though…
All except for Gloriosa and Nebulon, but he didn’t think the alien was that much of a conversationalist.
“They got you too, huh?” Gloriosa asks as she sits down next to the boy.
“...Yep…” He replies with a sigh.
He then turns to Gloriosa and shares a glance with her.
“...Couldn’t you just use your powers to get us out of here?”
“...I’m sorry, but I can’t…” Gloriosa replies as she folds her arms over her knees and plops her head down on top of them. “...Most prisons in this world are made of tech that are able to nullify the powers of the people inside of them…I don’t see why this one would be any different…”
“...That sucks…”
“...Yeah…”
A silence grows between the two of them, but Gloriosa eventually decides to break it.
“...I really hope that the rest of them are able to pull this off…”
“...Me too…”
While navigating through the rest of the castle Violet, Jack, and the rest of the students of Class A come across a sight that piques their interest.
“Dad?” Violet asks as she notices him cowering underneath a nearby table.
“...Oh…Hey honey…” King Edward says while he raises his head to meet his daughter’s eyes. “...How are you doing?”
“...Not great…” Violet says as she sits down against the wall and lets her head fall back against it with a light thud.
“...Yeah…That makes sense…” He replies as he gets out from under the table and joins her against the wall.
“...Are these your friends?” He asks to try to lighten the mood a bit.
“...Oh…Yes, they are…” Violet says as she turns towards her friends. “...Introduce yourselves please…”
“Sup Mr. King!” The shark themed girl says with a smirk. “I’m Maka!”
“Hiya! I’m Candi!” The runner says with a wide smile.
“And this is our girlfriend, Love!” They both say in unison as they hug her from either side.
Love blushes and gives a small wave.
“The name’s Ash.” The fire powered hero says. “Nice to meet ya.”
“Oh! I didn’t know you considered me a friend.” The jester says as he clears his throat. “My name is Fang!”
Jack wasn’t involved with this conversation because he was too busy keeping watch.
“You seem like a friendly lot.” Edward says with a chuckle. “I’m happy for you, dear.”
“...Thanks…” Violet says as the smile she has on her face slowly turns back into a frown. “...I wish mom saw it that way…”
Edward sighs and puts a hand on Violet’s shoulders.
“...I know that you and mom…don’t really see eye to eye right now…”
“...She literally told me that she hates me and wants me dead…” Violet says with a deadpan look.
“...Yeah…That’s bad…but not particularly surprising…” Edward says as he wraps Violet into a hug.
“...What did you ever see in her, dad?”
“...If I’m being completely honest, I just wanted some of her money and thought that marrying her would lead to a cushy life because of that…”
“...So you were like…some sort of male gold digger?”
“...I wouldn’t put it so bluntly myself, but I’d also be lying if I said that it wasn’t accurate…” He says with an awkward laugh.
“...Not as easy as you thought it would be, huh?”
“Nope! The exact opposite actually!” Edward admits. “You might think that there was a point where she was a better person than this, but she’s been like this as long as I’ve been with her.”
“...Why do you put up with her then?” Violet genuinely asks.
“...Were married and she already hates me…I can’t imagine how much worse it could be if we were to get a divorce…”
“...Can’t be any worse than cowering in fear from her for your entire life…”
“...You too?” He asks as he leans back to look his daughter in the eyes.
“...You know, you’re kind of a shitty parent too, but somehow you're still one thousand times better than she can ever dream of being…”
“...Yeah…I can’t argue with that…”
“...If it makes you feel any better…” Love jumps into the conversation. “...You seem better than my parents too…”
“...You’re cool with trans people, right dad?” Violet asks.
“Absolutely! Live and let live!” Edward says as he gives Love a small smile.
“...Okay…Now I know that you’re better than my parents…” Love says with a chuckle.
“...Another thing that makes you and mom completely different…” Violet says with a sigh.
A silence grows for a bit after this, but Edward eventually is the one to break it.
“...I wish I was less of a coward…” He says despondently. “...I should’ve been there to protect you more, but being literally powerless didn’t really help with that…”
“...Yeah, you probably should’ve tried to do something, but you were a victim too…” Violet tells her dad as she leans her head on his shoulder. “...I don’t really blame you for what happened between me and mom…”
“...Doesn’t make me feel any better about it though…”
“...Yeah…I know…”
Violet, Edward, and the rest enjoyed this calm before the storm for as long as they could.
…Then The Rook broke through the wall…
“I found them.” Windsor states into his communicator.