Poorman Apartments
May 9th, 8:50am

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Filia asked the Player as they stood at the front door.

"Filia, I'll be fine. I'm going to be home all day. There's no need to worry," he chuckled at her overprotectiveness.

"I just want to make sure. Do you want anything while I'm out? Anything at all?"

"Nah. Not that I can think of."

"How's your body? You aren't still sore are you? I can take off."

"For Pete's sake, Filia. He said he's fine," Samson rolled his eyes with an exasperated look.

"I know, Samson! I'm just...making sure."

"You've been 'making sure' all morning."

Filia softly groans and pouts before looking at the Player. "Okay, you've got the shop's number. Just call me if you need anything, okay? Anything."

"I will," the Player smiled while being somewhat flat on his delivery.

"Water, juice, chips. Advice, anyt-"

"You're going to miss the bus!" Samson outbursts while grabbing Filia's face to pull her cheeks.

"Eeek! Okay, okay! I'm going!"

Samson released Filia and she rubs her face once freed.

The Player shook his head at the two, amused it wasn't him and Samson having morning conflict.

Filia wasn't going to leave without her morning hug and she wastes no time walking into the Player and bringing him into a loving embrace.

Her face was more affectionate than usual, showing immense relief and joy knowing he was home and safe.

"Ooo!" The Player flinched from the tight hold.

Filia immediately backed away after hearing him. "S-Sorry! I shouldn't have-"

"It's okay. It didn't hurt too bad, I'm still a little sore. Nothing major."

"Still, I should've been more careful. Guess we won't be able to hug it out before work until you fully heal."

"We can, you just gotta be careful how you go about it."

"It's not the same if we can't properly express it like normal! It won't feel as genuine," she crossed her arms looking displeased.

"We'll find a compromise, but for now, you should get going," the Player walks by and opened the door for her. "I don't want you to be late, Ms. Breadwinner."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going," Filia walks by and steps out into the hallway. "Thanks."

"Have a good day."

She stopped before she could start making her way to the elevator and stands at the door with her back turned to the Player.

"Something wrong?"

Filia took a moment to think and it didn't take long, she peeks over her shoulder, back at him with a wondering gaze much to his confusion.

"What's the hold up?" Samson impatiently inquired.

"One sec, Samson," Filia casually replied.

Before the Player could question her, Filia hurries over to him, closing the small gap between them, and stands on the tip of her toes to reach his face.

Surprised, the Player's eyes slightly widen when he felt Filia peck his cheek.

She lingers long enough to make what was happening clear as day for him, and she breaks with a loving smooch. Once it was done she lowered herself and looks up to him with rosy cheeks.

"Compromise!" Filia declared with a smile before grabbing the doorknob. "Bye!"

Samson hadn't fully caught onto what happened until after it was done. "...What the fu-?!"

Filia closed the door before Samson could fully blurt out his reaction.

That all happened so fast, the Player had to take a moment to let it all sink in. Once he wrapped his head around it he snickered and locked the door.

He returned to the front room and sat on the couch with Butterscotch who sat in his lap.

"After all this time having the girls stay inside to keep them safe now they're going to keep me inside," he pets the dog with a smile now that the shoe was on the other foot.

...

9:06am

The Player passed the time watching a news report on the explosion from the island.

Reporter: -Egrets are continuing the investigation of an explosion that occurred on an island southeast of Meridian Harbor. While the cause remains unknown, reports suggest there had been illegal activity in the abandoned Anti-Skullgirl Lab located at the center of the island but there are still no leads as to who could have been operating outside the royal family's jurisdiction. The sound of the explosion could be heard as far as Little Innsmouth. Thankfully there has been no death or injuries reported.

"Umbrella must've kept a tight lid on what happened if they don't know what went down. Makes sense though, if Parasoul found out all hell would break loose. Right, boy?"

Butterscotch looks up to the Player as he asked and responds with a quick tail wag.

The phone in the kitchen rings and the Player goes to answer, taking the dog with him by carrying Butterscotch in one hand.

"Hello?" He answered.

Annie: Uh, hello?

"Yes? Why does this sound like Annie?"

Annie: ...Who's this?

"Kind of a weird way to start a conversation over the phone when you called me. Heh, it's the Player."

Annie: Oh. Wow, you sound so different over the phone. I was...calling to check on your roommates to see if they heard anything from you, but you're home now, apparently.

"Yep. They reached out to you, huh?"

Annie: Yeah. We've been looking everywhere for you. Where have you been? What happened?

"Oh, y'know, abducted by a mad scientist who was trying to get heart synchronization out of me for his own personal gain."

Annie: ...You're joking.

"Not at all. My body is still recovering."

Annie: Recovering? Where are you?

"Home."

Annie: No, I mean your address. I'm coming over.

"Oh. 0413 Autumn Street, Poorman Apartments. Unit 309."

Annie: Got it. I'm going to call Beowulf and let him know you're okay.

"Beowulf knew too?"

Annie: Your roommates called Beowulf and he told me. From what I know they called a few others but I don't know who they were.

"Oh wow. I didn't know that."

Annie: I'll be over soon. Keep an ear out.

"Right. I'll buzz you in once you get here."

Annie: Sounds good. See you in a bit.

The two hang up and the Player looks down to Butterscotch.

"Looks like we're having company, bud. The girls really reached out to the others when I didn't come home. They sure know how to make a guy feel loved, huh?"

Butterscotch just kept looking up to the Player with what he could swear was a smile.

"If Annie's coming over I wonder if we should wake Sienna up. She said they fought together to take down her mom when she was the Skullgirl. It'd be nice for them to-"

The phone rings in the middle of his sentence.

"Another call?" He picked up after the 3rd ring. "Hello?"

Valentine: Morning.

"Val? Oh, hey! Good morning. I wasn't expecting to hear from you."

Valentine: I wanted to check in to see how you were doing. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to call this early but I took a chance and did it anyway.

"It's cool. You can call whenever. I appreciate you checking on me. I'm doing pretty good."

Valentine: How's your body?

"Still a little sore, but I'm getting through it. Nothing I can't handle."

Valentine: Good. Happy to hear it. If you can, try getting a muscle massage and do some gentle stretches. Don't forget to keep soaking in a hot bath and apply ice to your bruises throughout the day.

"Will do. A massage sounds nice. I think I'll ask my roommate when she gets off from work."

Valentine: If you need help with anything else I'll assist you any way I can. Should any questions or concerns in regard to your health arise come to me.

"I appreciate that. Thank you so much. So, how've you been?"

Valentine: Huh?

"You. How are you?"

Valentine: Me? Why?

"Just asking. I'm not trying to overstep and I didn't want anything, I was just curious. You sound bothered that I asked."

Valentine: No. The question just caught me off-guard. I wasn't the one who was kidnapped so why ask?

"You weren't kidnapped, but you've still been through a lot recently. Figured I'd ask for a mental check and all that. Perhaps there was something you wanted to talk about. To be honest, just hearing about your day would've been nice. Me and the girls usually dedicate an hour of our Sunday to group sessions where we talk and see how we're doing. They may be badassess but mental and emotional health is still important, y'know?"

Valentine briefly goes quiet, at home she was perplexed. She was still adjusting to having a positive influence in her life so someone wanting to know how she's been even when she wasn't the one hurting was puzzling.

Valentine: ...Oh. Well, I guess I'm doing okay.

"Still having trouble sleeping?"

Valentine: ...The dreams are still there, but I can get through a good chunk of the night without needing alcohol.

"That's great. Quitting alcohol is a great step to a healthy recovery."

Valentine: I'm not quitting alcohol. I'm just drinking in moderation.

"Oh. That's good too! I'm proud of you."

Valentine: Heh, are you now.

"Yep. Also, you don't have to call me just for business. Now that we're friends and all you've got all the perks unlocked. If you ever just want to talk or whatever, I'm always here."

Valentine: I know you are. I'll keep that in mind.

"Good. Because, y'know, we're friends," the Player couldn't help himself, he just had to reiterate again. He was still relishing in the fact that he was able to bond with Valentine.

Valentine: Yes, yes. I get it.

If only the Player knew of Valentine's smile on the other end of that call. He would've been smiling for the remainder of the day.

Valentine: In the spirit of all this friendship - you owe me dinner.

"...Huh?"

Valentine: You left me at the buffet, remember? You never kept to your word of that friendly date.

"Ah shit," the Player closed his eyes and threw his head back now that he remembered blindly walking out on her. "You're right. You're absolutely right. I owe you a proper date."

Valentine: Yep. And I think I'll be ordering desert and takeout this time around.

The Player lifts his head and he gives a hard deadpan glare at the cabinet. "S-Sure," he couldn't deny that. He owed her after all.

Valentine: Then we have a date.

"Hooray," the Player flatly celebrated.

The unit buzzer rings and caught the Player's attention.

"Hm? Busy morning. One sec, Val," he goes to the intercom and pressed the talk button. "Yes?"

Annie: Hey. Player?

"Speaking."

Annie: It's me.

"Who's me?"

Annie: ...You know; me.

"Mmmmm. Nope."

Annie: It's Anni-!

She had to be careful how she went about throwing her name around and caught herself. She sighs in defeat and there was a short pause after.

Annie: ...It's Ann.

Outside, there was momentary silence and Annie just stares at the intercom.

Bzzzzzzzzt! Click!

The front door to the apartment unlocked.

Annie knew he was having fun with her and proceeded inside with a low growl and Sagan following after her.

In the apartment unit, the Player felt accomplished having had his fun. He returned to the kitchen and upheld the phone.

"Yo, Val. Got early morning company coming through. Would it be cool if I call you back later?"

Valentine: Of course.

"Cool. I'll hit you up once we wrapped up here. Again, thank you so much for checking on me. You're the best."

Valentine: No problem. Take care of yourself.

"I will. Talk to you soon."

Once they hang up the Player pets Butterscotch.

"She got here pretty quick, bud. I didn't hear Sienna get up so she must be tired. I guess we should leave her be."

In no time at all Annie made it to the 3rd floor and found unit 309.

Knock, knock

Butterscotch instinctively barks at the knocking even while in the Player's arms, but his excitement was calmed when the Player pets him again.

"Sssssh. We're going to let Sienna sleep, remember?"

The Player opened the door and another round of excitable barking came out of Butterscotch when seeing their new company.

"Hush, puppy," the Player chuckled and continued petting him to settle his barking.

"He's energetic. Does he bite?" Annie asked.

"Nah, he's a good boy," the Player steps aside to let Annie pass through. "Come in. You look...fancy."

"Hiding my identity," Annie walks into the unit with Sagan.

"The life of a celebrity. Must be tough," the Player watched as Sagan came in after Annie. He closed the door behind their guests and got on one knee to let Butterscotch down and to get low enough for Sagan. "What's up, Sagan? Good to see you again."

Sagan responds with his usual incohesive growl but it was easy to read as a greeting .The Player held his fist up to the Parasite and the two exchange a friendly fist bump before the Player stood up.

"It's good to see you again, Ann. I mean...Annie. I haven't seen you since Wulfamania."

"Yeah. It's been pretty crazy since we got back. Getting Beowulf involved with the show meant we had to rewrite a lot of scripts and retcon a few things. It's been a lengthy process."

"Yeah? Jeez. That sounds like a pain in the ass."

"It kinda is," Annie concurred while removing her shades.

Butterscotch immediately sniffs around Annie and Sagan to get his nose acquainted with their scent but he was particularly drawn to Sagan, most likely for their height similarities.

Sagan didn't mind Butterscotch's curiosity until he started trying to mount and hump him.

"Feel free to take your coat off and hang it up on the rack over there. Do you want anything? You thirsty?"

"A water would be good. Thanks."

The Player goes to the kitchen to get Annie a cold water from the fridge while she removed her jacket and hung it up. The two relocate to the front room and sit on the couch.

Meanwhile, Sagan was running for his life from Butterscotch who was chasing him around the front room.

"Okay, so, run it by me again - what happened?" Annie asked.

"Me being MIA? Right, so, this asshat scientist had an unhealthy obsession with killing Skullgirls after the last one killed his girlfriend. He knew about me being able synchronize with certain people and tried forcing me to sync with his bioweapons so that he'd have the perfect Skullgirl killing machine. He tried beating it out of me but I didn't budge."

His explanation was so quick and easy that Annie couldn't believe it. She looks at him to continue but he doesn't say anything else.

"...Is that it?"

"Is that it? What do you mean is that it? I've been held up for a week."

"N-No! I meant is that the whole story. I was expecting you to go more into detail."

"Oh. Well, there's not much to dive into; he shot me with a tranquilizer dart and knocked me out when I was practicing some synchronizing stuff down by the park, so that's how he managed to get the jump on me. Aside from all the torture and stuff there was a pretty big battle that took place once my friends came to bust me out."

"Torture," the thought of it unsettled Annie and her face grimaces. She noticed a few bruises on the Player's arm as well as the bandages and grits her teeth. "Do you still have the Star Binder I gave you?"

"The good luck charm? Of course," the Player reached over to the small glass table beside the couch's arm rest and grabbed the Star Binder to show Annie. "This thing right?

"Yeah. Can I see it for a sec?" Annie took the Star Binder and pressed the button at the center but nothing happened. "No wonder. It's dead."

"Dead?"

"Yeah. You're supposed to charge it."

"Charge it? Like... Like a phone charger? Phone chargers weren't a thing back in the 1940s."

Annie looked at him like he was crazy. "...What are you talking about? You charge it by synchronizing with the star shard."

Now the Player was looking at her like she was the crazy one. "...I can do that?"

"You don't know how your own ability works?"

"I do, but I thought I could only synchronize with other people."

"The star shard has unique properties that manifests power when you synchronize with it. I embedded the star shard in that device and paired it with the tracker I used to rescue you and Beowulf from the Shapeshifter."

"So you used this to track us down in her domain? That's why you gave it to me? To keep tabs on us?"

"Yeah. Couldn't have you two just wandering around pulling jobs for that crooked agent, who we now know was the Shapeshifter in disguise."

"Right, right. Good call by the way," the Player looked down to the star shard at the center of the device and admires its beauty. "More importantly, I think that's pretty cool I can synchronize with this thing. I bet I could make it do some pretty interesting stuff if I practice with it. Are there more like it?"

"Not as far as I'm aware. All I know is that the star shard emanates cosmic energy that I can track when charged. If it's capable of anything else that'll be for you to discover."

"Hmm. The star shard emanates cosmic energy, huh? I wonder if there are any elemental shards out there that have like...elemental properties that we can use. Wait! If there is, what if I can harness some kind of crazy power from the shards that will make me the Avatar?!"

"...Avatar? I don't know what that is."

"It's- Huh. You know what? It's probably best not to explain it. I doubt you'll follow along."

"Knowing you? Probably. When you synchronize with shards you should be able to restore their power by keeping a steady focus on them."

"Okay, will do."

"I was flying all around the city trying to get a signal, but this whole time it just wasn't charged," Annie smiled and handed him the Star Binder. "I thought you threw it away or something."

The Player took the Star Binder and sits it back on the table before turning back to Annie with a chuckle. "What? Why would I do that? You said this thing was like a good luck charm so I'm going to treasure it. I was all like 'aaaaw, she's so sweet,' thinking you were taking a shine to me."

"Taking a shine?" Annie humored him with a response.

"Yeah. When we met I thought you didn't like me, or Beowulf for that matter. You seemed...short with us. In fact, I'm surprised you were willing to search New Meridian for me. Beowulf and the others I get, but I wasn't expecting you to search too."

Disheartened by the comment, Annie's expression degrades to disappointment a little.

Sure, she was a bit cold to others before because of her cynicism and overall bleak outlook on life because of all the horrors she's been forced to see over the centuries, but she never meant any real harm.

Reuniting with Beowulf, meeting the Player, and all the encounters she had up to her showdown with Double changed her for the better.

Hearing that the Player genuinely felt that she didn't like him left a bad taste in her mouth.

"No. I never hated you guys. I lost my patience, sure, but I never held any ill will toward you. How could I hate you? You both stood up for me when I needed it."

"Would you say we're friends?"

"What else would we be? You almost died for me, standing up to the Shapeshifter. Not only that but we synchronized, didn't we? Can't do that without forming a bond."

Annie was probably the second coolest girl he knew behind Valentine based on her demeanor alone, so hearing her basically admit they were friends made him smile gleefully.

The Player was beginning to feel as though he worked his way into the cool kids circle.

"Aaaaw! Ann, you really are sweet!"

Annie crossed her arms and squints disapprovingly at the nickname.

"...I mean, Annie. Actually, no! If we're friends then I can call you Ann. I feel I earned it."

Annie looks at him a little longer but ultimately shrugs her shoulders and sighs. "You know what? Sure, I guess."

"Ha! I'm good at this friendship stuff."

Suddenly, the apartment door flies open and hits the wall.

Hearing the alarming noise, Butterscotch ran to the front barking while the Player and Annie look in the direction of all the noise.

Beowulf: Bro! Bro! Where are you?!

"...Beowulf?" The Player asked.

"Oh jeez," Annie dropped her head into her palm and shakes in distress.

Beowulf heard a familiar voice close by and sprints to the front room where he found the Player sitting with Annie, he came sliding in with Butterscotch biting his pants leg.

"There you are, bro! Are you okay?!"

"Y-Yo, Beowulf. Where's the fire?" The Player got up from the couch and takes a step over to him to calm his worries... But then Beowulf rushes him and initiates a hug that seemed more in line with a bear hug. "GAAAAH!"

"Where the heck have you been?! I heard you've been missing for a week! I was worried I lost a pack member!"

"T-TOO TIGHT! TOO TIG-AAAAA!"

"It's going to be all right! Beowulf's here for you now!"

Annie and Sagan watched in horror as Beowulf squeezed the life out of the Player who cried out helplessly in Beowulf's bromantic hold. "Beowulf! Stop! You're going to do more damage than the actual villain did!"

Beowulf briefly stopped and lightened his grip on the Player allowing the poor guy to catch his breath.

"Villain? There was a villain?!" Beowulf wrapped his muscular arms around the Player again and put him in another unintentional bear hug. "Anybody who messes with you again will have to go through me first next time!"

The Player strained a desperate whine for freedom now that consciousness was beginning to flee.

"BEOWULF, NOOOOOO-!" Annie cried out seeing the Player nearly go faint.

BAAAM!

Beowulf was laid out on the floor with a comically oversized lump on his head that was brought on by Annie's punch that OHKO'd him.

The Player dropped out of Beowulf's arms and falls back onto the loveseat, catching his breath.

Butterscotch and Sagan were standing off to the side of Beowulf's defeated body looking shocked.

"Dam- Darn idiot," Annie clenched her steaming fist with a look of casual irritation.