Song- Rolling Girl

Characters- Team Magma

Interactions- Possible implied/minor Authorityshipping and Maxie/Tabitha, could be taken as platonic

Warnings- Depressive themes

This is another of those songs with a seriously large number of interpretations.

I see this one personally as being about the cycle of depression, and its tendency to suck you back in just when you'd thought you could escape (kinda like rolling down a steep hill). I think the character in this is basically pushing others away because they feel they have to be strong, they must solve it on their own, because asking others for help is a burden and everyone else is fine anyway. I take the 'holding your breath' line to be literally like holding your breath for a solution. One that simply isn't coming.

So in the end, the only option is to rely on others as that person realises they can't do everything alone. And there's hope in that, that things could get better.

This story was actually written almost a year and a half ago, but I held off on publishing it because I wanted to release all of the stories before this first. When it was finally this story's turn, I kept putting it off because of being unable to think of the 'right' author's note, and also because my workload this year has left me with barely any time to do anything (not a single day off in a month and a half...)

As well as the original, JubyPhonic did a good English version of this song, and LinaZel's done a piano version I really like.


Nothing was as intended.

The near destruction of the world hadn't been part of the plan. Neither had being narrowly saved by a child. To then have some random woman steal from him as part of a greater crisis had almost been too much.

Three failings in quick succession was a lot for anyone to take.

But now they had to move on. Team Magma would reach new heights. They had to. To reach the better world they had been planning for… The solution had to be there, just out of reach. Definitely. Maybe.

Maxie slammed his hands down onto the desk, scattering papers everywhere. It had been three days. Three whole days with nary a break to be had, and the answer still deluded him. He was hungry, he was tired. But he had to keep going. For the sake of the team.

He stood up, knocking yet more files to the floor as he sauntered over to the other end of the room. Why was this so hard? He was the great Maxie after all! He'd never struggled so hard at coming up with a plan in his life. Everyone was counting on him to lead them out of the darkness. But he had nothing.

Frustration rising, he stormed back over to the table and pushed the rest of his work to the ground. It was all wrong. Nothing but rehashed mistakes.

"It's no issue." He reassured himself. He would take a walk to clear his head, and then start from scratch. It was all he could do.

He met nobody in the hallway. It was gone midnight after all. The walk around the base was peaceful, and he was stood before the main lab before he knew it. Mere weeks ago, development of the Magma Suit had been completed, to much celebration. They were not to know what would become of their plans. Of their dreams. But now, now…

"Leader Maxie? How strange to see you up at this late hour." A voice spoke up behind him, and Maxie turned to see Tabitha staring back at him. "Is everything… Alright?"

"Ah, Tabitha." He acknowledged. "All is well. I was merely going over the new plan for the team, and lost track of time."

"I see." Tabitha regarded him sceptically. "Well, that's understandable. But please… It wouldn't do to push yourself too hard."

"I understand." He nodded. "Thank you for the concern."

It seemed as though that was a good enough answer to convince the Admin to leave him to his thoughts.

Another twenty-four hours of fruitless work saw Maxie staring intently at the ceiling of his room. Nothing he tried seemed to work anymore. However much he tried to grasp the solution to his predicament, it stayed stubbornly out of his reach. It was almost as if… He simply wasn't cut out for this anymore.

"It's no issue." He tried to tell himself, but the words seemed hollow even to his own ears. Try as he might, there wasn't an answer. At this rate… The team could never be reformed the way he wanted it to be. Needed it to be. It was another failure. And four wasn't coincidence.

He had to escape the growing sense of failure and inadequacy, so he took to wandering the corridors again. It was as easy to avoid anyone as it had been the night before. Somehow, the team hadn't fallen apart in his absence, he noted. Perhaps his Admins were just that good at running things without him. If that was the case, than surely there was no need for…

"Leader Maxie. You're… Awake?" Courtney cut his thoughts off as he passed through the entrance to the base.

"Courtney. I could ask the same thing." He pointed out, turning to face her.

"I slept… Last night. You haven't… For ninety-eight hours." She stated.

"You do not need to worry about me." He countered. "I am merely working through things. We have to get back on track as soon as possible after all, and we need a new direction."

"You are inefficient… Without sleep. More so with no food. Please… Take care of yourself." She replied.

He nodded to the affirmative, but the conversation was forgotten as soon as she walked away.

Five days was the limit, he decided. A solution wasn't coming. And he had no idea what he was going to do. There was no chance of him facing everyone now, knowing he had failed in such a way. He was trapped, without a place to go and feeling as though there was no way out of his situation. Maxie screamed in anguish and frustration as he jumped up and set about knocking aside everything in the room once again. When only destruction awaited him, he took off running, no longer caring where he ended up.

He was caught by the waist before he got much of anywhere.

"Leader Maxie… Please stop!" Courtney pleaded, holding onto him from behind and preventing him from moving with any agility.

"Leader Maxie… That's enough now. Even you have a limit." Tabitha advised, grabbing onto Maxie's hands and beginning to lead him. "You must eat. And rest."

"I won't… Let you do this… To yourself! No more of this!" Courtney agreed, pushing Maxie in some direction.

He wasn't sure where they were taking him. The entire world had started to spin, and nothing seemed to make sense anymore. Eventually, Tabitha moved off to the side, and he fell down onto something soft, Courtney still holding onto him and preventing him from getting up. Not that she needed to; he was asleep not a second later.

In the coming days, they would begin to fix the mistakes of the past. To reform the team, and their own lives. But at that moment, rest was required, and Maxie slept on, nestled between Courtney on one side and Tabitha on the other, so that he would wander no longer.