And now starts the next chapter of our story, excited to finally show what I've been working up.
A.S.E.E.C. Hangar
"Are you sure this is okay Ms. Cecile?" Suzaku looked himself up and down the mirror, the suit fit well. But he felt bad for making Cecile buy it.
"Oh quiet, you needed to get one eventually. If you're going to be an ace pilot, you'll eventually be invited to dinners and parties. Just think of this as training, go out and mingle. Have some fun. You seem to be fond of Lelouch and Nunnally." Cecile brushed the hems of his suit.
"They're old friends, I can be comfortable around them." Suzaku argued.
"Well make new friends, that Miles kid seemed to like you well enough. Broaden your horizons, Suzaku. You'll never know who you might meet, every stranger is an interesting character in your life. Now come on, I'll drop you off." Cecile walked out of the hangar to her car, Suzaku stood in contemplation. Perhaps he did need to find new friends outside of work.
The car ride to Ashford was relatively quiet, save for the radio news. When they got to Ashford the atmosphere changed very quickly. Bright colorful lights shone from the buildings that pierce the night sky, a steady feed of kids his age poured into the entrance with colorful dresses and suits. Milly said this was a prom, but if he didn't know he would swear this would be an extravagant ball filled with dignitaries and important political figures. Except with more color.
"That girl does not know the meaning of subtlety." Cecile said as she viewed the school. "Well, what are you waiting for? You have that invitation Milly gave you, go on and head in. Call me when it's over and I'll pick you up." Suzaku quickly thanked Cecile and exited the car. He watched it drive off and pulled out the invitation he was given the other day.
"Here!" Milly handed him a piece of paper torn from her journal. On it was a crudely written invitation to their prom, signed and named by Milly Ashford herself.
"For me?" Suzaku asked.
"Uhuh! You are hereby invited to Milly's Grand Prom! Don't even think about skipping out on it. Just show this to the boys at the front entrance and they'll let you in. If they give you any trouble, tell them that Milly will halve the budget of the gardening club! I've been meaning to do it anyway, so you'll be doing me a favor." Milly gave a smirk, as if she were planning something.
"Let's go Milly!" Shirley called from their car. Milly gave a quick bye and left, with the piece of paper still in Suzaku's hands.
Suzaku thumbed the piece of papers took a breath in and out, "Well, here we go." Suzaku approached the front gate. There was a bit of a line, so Suzaku waited. He got some stares, but no one said anything. By the time it was his turn he simply showed them the piece of paper he was given.
The boy didn't seem impressed, "This is your ticket?" He asked.
"Yeah, Milly just tore it from her journal." Suzaku scratched the back of his head.
"Okay, next." The boy motioned for the next person to come up.
"Milly also mentioned something about cutting the gardening club's budget in half." Suzaku said, that froze the boy. He quickly stamped the piece of paper with some ink and handed him a brochure.
"Have a nice day, sir!" Suzaku thanked him and entered the academy grounds. People walked and talked together; he felt a little out of place. But the closer he got to the building the clearer he can hear the music.
"Suzaku you made it!" To his right he spotted Miles and Shirley, both in a relatively modest suit and dress.
"Hey Suzaku, I hope you got here alright." Shirley said as she approached, her dress was a dark orange red. Like the color of the leaves during the fall. Seeing as it was the end of summer, he supposed it was appropriate. Miles wore a plain suit and tie. Suzaku felt like that fit him more than anything.
"It was a bit of a rush to find a suit for me, but everything went pretty smoothly." Suzaku picked at his attire, it was nothing flashy. A white suit and gold tie, Cecile thought it was funny to match with the Lancelot.
"I think you look great, come inside I'm sure Milly is about to send someone to fetch you by now." Shirley motioned for Suzaku to join them, and he did.
"So, are you two going together?" Suzaku asked.
"Yeah, she asked me out of the blue. I was planning to go alone and hang out but saying no seemed a little rude." Miles shrugged.
"I can always depend on you Miles, unlike some people." She muttered the end of her sentence, gaining her a pair of confused looks.
The three of them dropped the conversation there as they entered the building, and to Suzaku's surprise it was even more extravagant than he'd first thought.
On the far side of the room were large speakers, easily twice his size, booming music. In between them was a DJ booth currently playing something he'd heard on the radio. In front of the DJ booth was the dance floor where people were currently enjoying swaying to the music. To the left side of the room was a food stand, where he spotted Rivalz and Lelouch handing out food. To the right and scattered around the gym were tables.
"Wow, I think this is the largest gym I've ever seen." Suzaku said.
"You should see the pool." Shirley as the continued to move on.
"You guys have a pool?" Suzaku asked as he caught back up with them.
x-x
Black Knights Hangout
Kallen slouched on the couch, content with being bored. Her phone was currently filled with pictures of the school prom she decided not to go to. Sometimes being frail was a benefit.
"Hello there Kallen." To her left Rogers entered the vehicle (she often asked whether it was a bus or RV, maybe a combination of both?). He looked to be wearing his combat uniform, and his shield strapped to his back.
"Cap, didn't know you went out." Kallen said as she put her phone down.
"Zero tasked me with cleaning up some stragglers from a few days ago, at this rate all major drug dealers and gangs will be scattered." Steve was content with his work.
"So, you gonna tell us what that is about?" Kallen pointed to the red, white and blue shield on his back.
"Oh, this is my shield. Back during the war. Er, Washington's Rebellion." Steve pulled it from his back and walked to the couch opposite of Kallen. Nothing seemed extraordinary from it, the metal was coated in paint and it had a large white star in the middle.
"That thing is over 200 years old?" She asked, it wouldn't be the only thing in this room.
"It is, it was made by a good friend back then. It's one-of-a-kind." Cap twirled it in his hands, it didn't look like it.
"How so?" Kallen asked.
"It's made with a very special metal, vibranium."
"Vibranium?" She never heard of it before, "What makes it so special?"
"Vibranium is the strongest metal on earth, stronger than even the toughest of Knightmare frames and light too. I don't know too much about the metal, but I do know that it absorbs kinetic energy, and can release it too. Watch." Cap tossed it to the other side of the room, and the discus went flying. As it hit the wall, she expected it to fall to the ground. Instead it bounced right back to Rogers' hand.
"Pretty cool." Kallen said.
"The shield has been good to me; I can't imagine myself without it. Kinda like with you and your Guren." Kallen thought of herself in a Knightmare like the Holy Swords used and couldn't imagine using it over the Guren.
"I guess you're right, it's kinda like wearing a glove not your size. Just doesn't feel right."
"Exactly." Steve snapped his fingers.
"Kozuki-san, any word from Zero?" From the stairs, Senba walked down to talk. But he stopped as he took notice of Steve. His relax demeanor straightened up, he looked proud.
"Not yet, Senba-san. He said he'll rendezvous with us tomorrow, we'll get Tohdoh-san back before he's killed. I promise." Senba seemed to accept the explanation and walked away.
"Still on the edge I see." Steve said.
"Give them some time, they'll see you put in more work than anyone here." Kallen said.
Compared to when they first met, this was an improvement. The Holy Swords looked like they were ready to kill Steve. Though she doubts they could come close to it outside their Knightmares. Perhaps even in them as well.
"As long as we can keep a professional relationship, that's fine with me." Steve sat back, content to sit back.
A notification rang on Kallen's phone, a pic from Shirley showing herself with Miles and Suzaku with an attached "Wish you were here!". Kallen groaned and slouched back to the couch.
"Problems with civilian life?" Steve asked.
"You can say that."
"Ohgi told me you attend a school; I'm surprised someone as devoted as yourself would." Kallen agreed, she would immediately drop out of school, but…
"I made a promise, to my brother. He wanted me to grow up and live comfortably. I wanted to work along side him to fight our country, but he refused. As a compromise, he made me promise to go to school and he'll let me in on his plans. When he died…I don't know I just felt like breaking that promise would insult his memory. It's also a really good cover story." That last sentence got a chuckle out of Steve.
"I know the feeling. Back before I was…this," Steve motioned to his costume, "I was just a kid from Brooklyn. Contrary to what many people might assume, I wasn't always muscle."
"No." Kallen chuckled.
"It's true, before I was Captain America, I was just a scrawny kid. I was prideful too; a lot like the Japanese. I had a friend who always pull me out, Bucky. Best friend someone could ask for. When the war started, he signed up, I wasn't fit enough to fight. So, I had to cheat." The memories of stuffing his shoes with socks resurfaced, he laughed at it.
"Never heard of anyone cheating to get to fight in a war."
"Well, I guess you can say I was a bit patriotic. Anyway, long story short, I became Captain America and fought alongside Bucky. Unfortunately, he died in battle. Never found his body. So, I understand how you feel. Sometimes you can't really fill the void the people closest to you leave behind." Kallen gave a weak smile.
"Thanks. You're really good at giving speeches." Steve laughed.
"Ha, I guess I am."
x-x
Connors Household
Jacob marveled at the simple syringe in his hands, it was finally done. How many years has it taken just to consolidate his work into this one syringe? Six? Seven years? So many late nights, so many 'It's morning?' talks. All leading to this. Life beyond his chains.
"Jacob, dinners ready!" His father called.
"One moment!" He shouted up to the living room.
He pointed the syringe to his thigh, anxiety filling him up as he inched closer. His heart pounded into his ears, it felt like it was about to jump out of his chest. His hands felt clammy, he suddenly felt sweaty. And just as the tip touch his skin, he reeled back and put the syringe back on his lab table.
Jacob took a deep breath, unaware that he had stopped breathing.
"Jacob?" Behind him, his father Kurt, walked down.
"Oh, hey dad." Jacob turned to his father, anxiety filling his face.
"Something wrong? Dinners ready, and your mother is worried." Kurt looked for a place to sit, but there was none so he leaned against another of the lab tables.
"It's nothing I…my grant was denied. The Dean rejected it." Kurt sighed, the look of understand across his face.
"Ha, grants. I remember when I was your age trying to do the same thing you're doing." The memories brought a smile to his face.
"Dad." Jacob groaned.
"Sorry, I don't have much to help on that end. But what I do have is advice." Kurt leaned forward and put both his hands on his son's shoulders.
"Stick to your guns, son. Trust your heart to guide you, and never give up. You've been strong, even after the crash. Your legs may be gone, but this…" Kurt pointed to Jacob's head. "This never went away."
"Thanks dad." Jacob smiled.
"Any day. Now hurry on up, it's meatloaf." Kurt walked upstairs; Jacob went to follow but his hands froze.
His eyes drifted back to the syringe. "Trust your heart." Jacob murmured. He strolled back to the desk and grabbed the syringe, positioning it to his thigh. "I trust my heart." Jacob said as he jabbed the syringe in and injected the formula.
The effects were immediate, pain shot through his body as his bones broke and reshaped themselves. He dropped from his wheelchair onto the floor howling in pain, he didn't even hear his parents come down. His face was in agony as it reformed, his teeth felt like needles in his mouth. And the only things he thought of was Dean Ashford and the prom as he let out a roar.
x-x
Ashford Academy
Miles was not a dumb guy; he could see when he was being played. So, when he was awkwardly and obviously put to the dancefloor with Shirley (by the girl herself) he knew something was up. Call it a hunch.
"He's not even looking." Shirley said as her view was focus on none other than the raven-haired gambler.
"Y'know Shirley, I value our friendship, but I think it's time we stopped this." Shirley whipped her head back to Miles in confusion.
"What? But…"
"Look, I know who you really want to dance with." Miles looked at Lelouch who was currently helping Nunnally eat.
"Was it that obvious?" She said.
"Kinda, look why don't you just ask him for a dance?" The two of them made their way off the dancefloor to talk.
"What if it gets awkward, or I ruin our relationship? I can't bear the humility!" Shirley put her hands to her face in abject horror.
"Sometimes, you just gotta shoot your shot. If he says no, well than that's on him. You're a good friend, and I'm sure Lelouch knows that. You keep him on his toes, he'd be lucky to have you." Shirley took her hands away from her face.
"You think so?" She asked.
"Of course. Look, you just ask for a dance, I have something in mind." An idea was already brewing in his head. Shirley quickly gave Miles a hug and unlatched.
"Thanks Miles!" She hurried to where Lelouch sat.
"Ah, young love." Miles said.
"You!" Behind him was an authoritative voice, and as he turned around, he found the face a blonde-haired girl.
"Me?" Miles asked.
"You better not have told anyone." She pointed her finger at him aggressively.
"Told anyone? What are…" Than it clicked, "Oh, you're Gwen." The image of a drummer came to his mind. She looked so different with a dress on than a grunge get-up.
"Now you remember." She folded her arms.
"Hey, I ain't a judge. I actually thought it was pretty cool, self-expression y'know."
"I don't care, never tell anyone." She warned, it seemed empty, but it wasn't like his life depended on it.
"My lips are sealed." Miles motioned zipping his mouth, she didn't seem impressed, but it was what she wanted to hear.
"Good, I don't need my dad hearing about this." She left the conversation at that and walked away.
"Jeez." He scanned the room for Shirley and found her sitting with Lelouch. But she didn't seem like she was asking for a dance. "Oh Shirley."
"Having a good time Morales?" To his right, the P.E. teacher Mr. Thompson sat in a wheelchair.
"Oh, Mr. Thompson, sorry I didn't see you." Eugene waved it off like nothing.
"Ah, it's nothing. And please, just call me Flash. I think it fits me better now anyway." Miles didn't know whether to laugh or not. "Jeez kid, it's a joke."
"Oh, sorry. Didn't want to bring it up." Miles sighed; Flash seemed to enjoy the tease.
"I've got no problem with it, seems like everyone else does though."
"So, enjoying the prom?" Miles asked.
"Didn't really get to see my last one, it got wrecked. So, this is a much nicer change of pace." Flash took a sip from his cup of water.
"What happened? Some kids trash the tables or something?" Flash chuckled at the suggestion.
"Actually, it was Spider-Man and some guy called Kraven. Messed the whole place up, but I got a really cool night out of it. So, I guess we're even." Miles turned to Flash.
"Yeah, pretty cool. Ugh, sorry Mr. Thompson, I gotta go to the DJ Booth." Miles left Flash, giving him some alone time.
We crave.
Flash sighed and took a bar of chocolate our and ate it. Supposedly some chemical compound in it was beneficial to symbiotes.
Thanks.
"No problem." Flash said to himself.
As Miles got to the DJ Booth, he spotted their DJ scrolling through a list of songs.
"Hey, I can take it from here, go ahead and take a break." The man thanked him as he dropped his headphones and left.
'Alright, just gotta look for it aaaand gotcha.' Miles found what he was looking for and put the headphones on.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your student council member Miles Morales, I think it's about time we slowed things down for a bit. Don't you?" A few 'yeahs' emanated from the crowd.
"Then get your dancing buddies and head to the dancefloor!"
With people flooding the dancefloor, Miles pressed play.
"Ooh ooh, some things you can't refuse~." Miles hummed to the song, he looked up to scan the floor and spotted some familiar faces. Milly with Rivalz, Suzaku with Nunnally surprisingly, Nina was nowhere to be seen. And unfortunately, not dancing was Lelouch and Shirley, who both sat at a table.
"That poor girl." Miles said.
The beat of the gym was really inspiring, it felt like the floor was really rumbling.
BEHIND YOU
Miles did a somersault before he knew it, the wall behind him blew up. The DJ booth was thrashed, and the perpetrator was a 7-foot-tall lizard…thing.
"RAAAAAAAGH!" It roared furiously.
It swiped left and right, regardless of what was in the way. It picked up one of the speakers and hurled it to the wall. Luckily, everyone in the way dodged, but this was no time to stand still.
"Everyone, evacuate to the south end!" Miles yelled.
Screams filled the gym; Miles need to get out and change fast. He ran into the crowd, looking for anyone.
"Miles!" To his right Milly and Rivalz ran up to him, both with worried expression.
"Holy crap man! You just…" Rivalz didn't finish his sentence as Milly interrupted him.
"Miles, go call the cops! I'll safely get everyone out of here." Miles understood and ran into the crowd once again, this time camouflaging himself to slip away.
"Alright Milly let's…" Rivalz was interrupted yet again when bullets were fired. The two of them cupped their ears and turned to the sound.
Appearing from nowhere was a man in black and white and one big rifle.
"I don't know what you are, but you're going down." The man raised his rifle again and shot.
"Let's go Milly!" Rivalz grabbed Milly's hand and ran to the exit.
Agent Venom looked the monster up and down. It was large, perhaps seven feet. It wore a white coat and torn pants. Its skin was covered by green scales. Its face looked like an alligator, and it had the teeth to back it up.
THWIP THWIP
Two white globs were shot at the gun Agent Venom was holding, and another at the mouth of that monster.
"Great, two pains in my but. Don't you guys ever announce yourselves? At least give me a time and date." At the ceiling was Spider-Man, shaking his head disapprovingly.
The green monster picked up a table and threw it at Spider-Man with a roar. Its target easily jumped out of the way and all three of them stood in the middle of the gym.
"I'm not here for you, not yet anyway." The monster charged swiping his claws at Venom, the two clashed and it took the better part of Venoms strength to keep it from slashing him apart.
"Oh, that's good, that certainly makes up for last time." Spider-Man webbed a tabled and slammed it to the side of the monster. It was pushed off Agent Venom, but it wasn't done yet.
"Assssforrrrd!" It hissed and roared at the same time.
"Ashford?" Spider-Man asked as it sniffed the air. It turned its head to Spider-Man and charged.
"RRAAAAAGH!" It roared as Spider-Man dodged out of the way, but instead of turning back to him it continued running.
"It's going after Ashford." Agent Venom surmised and ran after it.
"Damn it!" Spider-Man swore after realizing he just let the monster get the head start.
The monster ran threw the halls, trashing it in the meantime. Agent Venom and Spider-Man ran together in hot pursuit.
"This doesn't make up for killing me!" Spider-Man said as he ran on the ceiling.
"I still plan on doing it." Agent Venom told him.
Spider-Man shot two web-lines to the monster and tackled him. Except tackle was an overstatement, all Spider-Man really did was give it a hug.
"Um, sorry?" The monster grabbed Spider-Mans arm and slammed him against the walls. It only stopped when Agent Venom gave it a large left hook to the face. The monster recoiled and used its tail to attack Agent Venom.
Unhindered, Spider-Man blinded it with webbing, making it reach for its face to cut it off.
"You're not welcomed in this establishment, buddy!" Spider-Man punched its chest, but it didn't look like it did much damage to the monster.
The monster swiped at him, causing Spider-Man to jump back. With a clear opening, Agent Venom unloaded a few rounds of his magnum into the monster. With the clip spent, he ejected the magazine. But before he could put another in a quick web-line snatched it from his hands.
"No guns." Spider-Man said as he threw it away.
"How are we gonna kill it if we can't shoot it?" Agent Venom complained, but there was no reply as the monster burst threw the hallway into the open field full of students.
"Protect the students!" Spider-Man ran towards the monster who in turn ran across the field of student sniffing.
"Hey, you overgrown lizard get back here!" Spider-Man zipped to the monster once again, this time keen to use his venom blasts. It roared in pain and clawed at him, trying to get him off.
Spider-Man shot two lines of webbing around the monster's neck and pulled back. Miles was never a fan of cowboys, but this very much felt like a bucking bull. "To the left, left I said!" Spider-Man pulled his makeshift reins back to the building, from behind Agent Venom tackled the monster back into the building.
"ASSSSSHFORRRRD!" It roared louder and shook off both spiders and ran down the hallway.
"Ow." Spider-Man rubbed his head as Agent Venom ran after the monster, before he could something caught his eye. It was a wallet. As he grabbed it and looked inside, dread filled him.
"That's Jacob." Spider-Man said as the photo I.D. of Jacob Connors fell to the ground. "What have you done?" Spider-Man said to himself as he watched Agent Venom fight the monster.
"Gah!" Agent Venom was sent flying by Jacob and continued to run after his target, Dean Ashford.
"Jacob Connors, stop!" Spider-Man called out as he gave chase, Jacob didn't care to respond or maybe couldn't. Either way, he continued running.
"I said stop!" Spider-Man zipped back to Jacob and wrangled him down, pinning his head down and restricting his right arm.
"Jacob, we can get you help! Listen to me!" It was a battle to restrict Jacob as whatever form he was in gave him incredible strength.
"ASSSHFORRRRD. DIIIIIIE!" Jacob spoke, his voice slowly breaking through the deep almost crocodilian rumble.
Jacob stood back up and slammed Spider-Man into the wall of the school so hard his head was inside a locker. His vision of blurry and embarrassingly took more than a couple seconds to get free.
"Ah!" The voice made Spider-Mans head spin, and the sight was no less good.
Nunnally in a wheelchair in the way of Jacob barreling towards her, obviously looking to move past her. But he doubted Jacob could think enough to consider moving around her.
"Nunnally!" Lelouchs voice came from the crowd, time seemed to crawl for Spider-Man as he judged the situation.
Jacob was a meter away from Nunnally, and he had a considerably large lead on him. By his estimates…there was no way he was going to reach her before Jacob did.
"I got you!" Like a brave knight, Suzaku tackled Nunnally out of the way. Fortunately, the only thing trampled was the wheelchair. Spider-Man could only sigh in relief, and once again chased after him as Jacob turned a corner.
Spider-Man jumped on the roof and cut the corner to see Jacob in the bright lights of a dozen or so police cars.
"Fire!" A voice behind the lights said, and a torrent of bullets hailed itself at Jacob.
"Stop!" Spider-Man jumped down, but Jacob had different ideas. He grabbed a nearby bike post and ripped it from the ground. He threw it at the police, stopping the firing squad. "Jacob Connors, you have to stop!" Spider-Man said.
Spider-Man couldn't understand what was going through Jacobs head, but he jumped over the police and into the a nearby sewer drain. "Damn it." Spider-Man looked down the sewer and saw no signs of him, not even a shredding of his clothes to indicate where he went.
"Spider-Man." The voice made him turn around, standing behind him was none other than the police chief George Stacy.
"Chief, plan on shooting at me again?" Spider-Man asked, looking behind him at the men and women who were brushing themselves off.
"Unfortunately, not this time. When we got the call of a big lizard acting Ashford Academy, you were the last thought I had." George holstered his pistol.
"Thanks, I guess." Spider-Man folded his arms together as George looked down at the destroyed sewer drain.
"Friend of yours, old rival?" George asked.
"No, it…he was a student at this school." That brought a confused look to his eyes.
"A student did this?" George motioned to the destruction left behind.
"Yeah, and I have a sinking suspicion how." George couldn't see, but a frown made its way to Spider-Man's face.
"Just because there's a big lizard running around, don't think I won't give up on taking you down." Spider-Man's ire was now directed at Stacy.
"Oh, so the corrupt police chief has ground now?" Spider-Man asked.
"Believe it or not, but some of us has things to live for. Or to lose." George pointed to the gathering crowd of students, mainly at a blonde girl with a black hairband. Gwen Stacy. The connection clicked instantly.
"A mob boss doesn't take the ear of a respected police chief without pressuring him first. Unfortunately, the last time I rejected his offers I lost a part of my family, she's all I have left. So today you did me a favor, but don't count on favors saving you." George walked away to attend to the students, the rest of the police made a perimeter around Ashford entrance as the first of the media began to arrive.
Inside his suit a chime rung, and Spider-Man answered.
"Hey, it's Milly. We made it out okay, how about you?" Milly asked over the call. Spider-Man camouflaged and jumped onto a nearby building, enough in the shadows to take off his mask and look over the situation.
"I'm fine, how about Nunnally? She had a pretty close call there, I feel bad I couldn't get to her on time." Miles swept the sweat building on his forehead away.
"Shaken, but she'll be alright. Suzaku was quick on his feet, we're grateful for him." Miles breathed a sigh of relief once again; this night had turned into a nightmare.
"What about Venom? Where is he?" From his viewpoint, he couldn't spot the symbiote anywhere.
"No clue, after the police arrived, he disappeared." The thought of Venom disguised in the crowd was enough to worry him, but he doubts whoever was in control of the symbiote was dumb enough to start a fight now.
"I have to go check up on Jacobs home, see if his parents know what happened. Keep me in touch okay?" Miles put his mask on and leapt from the building.
"Gotcha." Milly closed her phone and sighed as she attended to those in need.
"Did you get in touch with Miles?" Rivalz as, holding up another student.
"Yeah, he got some cuts but he's getting them look at." Rivalz breathlessly thanked whatever higher power there was for his survival.
Across the way he could see Nunnally holding onto Suzaku with white knuckles, unfortunately she wasn't the only one that saw it. To Lelouch, this was a failure of epic proportions. The one thing he set to change the world for was in danger, and for a brief moment he couldn't find Nunnally she almost died. But she didn't, and someone was there to save her. Her knight in white.
"It's okay, Nana. We're here." Suzaku was the strong knight Nunnally needed, not the duplicitous brother she had. She needed one that would be at her side whenever she needed him, not one that would be gone for days at a time.
"Suzaku…" Lelouch started but was interrupted when a hand grabbed him by the shoulders. Shirley stood behind him, cheeks red and shaking.
"Shirley? Are you…" He was cut off once again as Shirley's lips reached his for a moment before pulling back.
"I felt like I could have died, and if I did, I didn't want to leave things unsaid." Shirley looked as red as a tomato, and Lelouch was left in shock.
"Finally!" Milly said.
"Wait, did I miss it!" Rivalz exclaimed looking back and forth between Lelouch and Shirley.
"Oh, that what she meant." Suzaku said.
"What is it Suzaku?" Nunnally asked.
"Oh, um, well…" Suzaku whispered it into her ear, bringing a gasp from Nunnally.
"Lelouch, you can't! Not after the promise you made!" Nunnally cried out.
"Promise?" Shirley asked as she stared down Lelouch.
"No, wait! It's not what she meant!" Lelouch fervently shook his hands, trying to clear up the situation.
From a window above them C.C. casually ate a Pizza with Cheese-kun. "She's obviously head over heels for him." A voice rattled in her head.
"Yes Marianne, I think they'd make great babies." C.C. droned, unimpressed by her previous contractors' fascination with grandchildren.
x-x
Connors Household
When Spider-Man arrived at Jacobs house, he already knew nothing good would come of it. People were scattered on the street, looking at the building as Spider-Man landed.
"What happened here?" He asked a random man in his bathrobes.
"Oh Spider-Man! You wouldn't believe it, a big green monster burst out of that house! Trash the street and left. It was like nothing I'd ever seen!" Spider-Man nodded and entered the building.
It was a mess, the walls were scratched, furniture over-turned and broken. The dinner table was broken wood and spilt meat. As he turned into the kitchen though, a door leading down lie open. Examining it showed a wheelchair lift on the right side of the staircase, built into the wall.
As he climbed down a stench filled his nose, and as he reached the bottom…the scene assaulted his eyes. Blood. Lot's of it. And two corpses in the middle of the room, hardly identifiable. Spider-Man gagged and made his way back upstairs, the scene burned into his eyes.
"Oh god, Jacob what did you do?"
I had a BLAST writing this chapter, I think I finished it in like two days. And it's 5k words so you know I put some work into it. The Cap and Kallen section was a bit impromptu and I really liked it. I feel like those two can have a lot of chemistry. Anyway, the new arc is now here. And ho boy is it gonna get bigger.