Episode II: Depict

Drowning in a haze, and I just want to get in deeper

Rey kept her sunflower alive for as long as she could, still eying the gift-card. It was only a gesture of goodwill, she knew, but it just touched her heart.

She blinked. She needed to get a grip on herself.

Eventually, the sunflower wilted away and she had to get rid of it.

It had been a grand total of two weeks since she became Kira, superheroine of Coruscant. People were speculating on everything, on why Kylo Ren went full supervillain, on who Kira was, on everything. The holonet and the news waited with bated breath for the next showdown.

But it never came. Kylo Ren was no doubt still panicked after his Supernova de-transformed him so soon.

Meanwhile, Rey had the personal number of Luke, who was informing her of things she could do to improve her chances against Kylo. Exercises, better eating habits (she wept for her daily donut habit falling into the trash can) keeping her mind sharp, and most important of all, keeping her negative emotions in check.

"Snoke would use people's extreme anger and sorrow to make them into his puppets," Luke explained over tea one day while Rey looked over the zodiac chart. "You have to be careful not to be Corrupted if he's still out there."

"Doesn't it work for other emotions too? What about extreme happiness and joy?" Rey asked.

"That makes them null to control, and Snoke seeks to control."

Rey thought about what could ground her when she was pissed off. She thought of her friends in the office. That gave her small comfort. She had someone who cared about her health and well-being, even if it came with gentle ribbing. But then she thought of her new gorgeous supervisor with the nice hair, and a rush of heat flooded her cheeks and she was oddly calmed.

It was just a silly crush. Rey never got crushes. Nope. She wouldn't deny people for looking good but the last time she crushed on someone was in high school, and they flat out rejected her because she was too poor and too nerdy.

Ben wasn't like that, or at least she didn't think so.

"You're making eyes at him again," Rose said, snapping her out of her reverie.

It was lunchtime on the thirteenth floor. Rey once again had a sad salad, but she spent the extra money for a side of cold pasta with herbs and white meat and forgone the usual sweetened tea for just water this time.

"I'm not making eyes at anyone, Rose," she grumbled. "I'm just thinking."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding, right? Ever since he apologized to you for being an ass you've been staring at him like a love-struck Wookie."

"Staring at Ben Solo again?" Finn said, sitting down with a mouth-watering pizza slice. Rey almost whined at how heavenly and greasy it was, but she had to restrain herself. Eating healthier was torture.

"I'm not staring at anyone, least of all at Ben. That's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous," Rey said, shoveling in a mouthful of lettuce.

Finn grinned at her. "Uh-huh, and Armitage isn't making eyes at Rose."

Rose's jaw dropped open before screwing shut. "Armitage is not making eyes at me."

Rey and Finn shared a knowing look before collectively saying "Sure Rose."

"Don't we have a meeting?" Rose said, swinging the subject away from her and thankfully not on Rey's non-existent love-life.

The meeting room was covered in schematics and Ben Solo, resident supervisor, had a caf in his hand and his tie was missing, his straining shirt buttons given merciful relief.

"Okay so," he said, standing up and taking a sip of his caf and his hand made the cup look pathetically small. "There's a problem with the compressor on this model of freighter."

Rey looked over the schematics of next year's YT-model Corellian-style freighter. "What's wrong with the compressor?"

Ben sighed. "Testing reported back that the pressure on the hyperdrive caused it to explode."

Rose pushed Rey forward. "Well, Rey is great at solving issues like that. What else do you need?"

Her cheeks heated. She cursed Rose out in her mind for putting her under Ben's spotlight like this.

Ben slid over a stack of papers. "Someone ordered luxury pieces and we have to implement those into a custom model."

Rose grinned, grabbing the papers and handing half to Finn.

"Who has the money for this type of hovercraft?" Finn said, staring with wide-eyes at the supposedly demanding list.

Poe Dameron, another member of the team, snorted while trying to hold back laughter. "The people who aren't working here."

Rey chanced a glance at Ben who was staring at the schematics. It boggled her mind why he was working here when his mother was super-rich.

"The compressor on the hyperdrive is simply stressing it out too much. I'd opt to a less powerful compressor or remove it entirely," Rey said. "Alternatively, I would look at the components the compressor is made of. If the base is too thin then the power is not contained. A thicker base is actually more cost-efficient if we switched to a different metal that can take the heat."

Ben looked at her and his lips twitched into a grin. "That's brilliant, Rey."

Her heart leaped to her throat. "Oh, um, thank you."

"We'll make our notes and send it to testing for approval."

He grabbed his pen and scribbled what Rey said onto a couple of sticky notes to slap onto the schematics. His handwriting was smooth and looped and elegant.

"Your handwriting is so neat and beautiful," Rey blurted out, wishing she had a filter on her mouth right now.

"Thank you. I do calligraphy in my spare time. I mean, I know, handwriting is dying out but…"

"No no, if it makes you happy, then it's worthwhile," Rey said.

She was definitely not thinking about what it would look like if he wrote her name. Nope.

Ben slumped down into his seat. The issue with the compressor was resolved, and his anonymous order for a custom TIE-Silencer was filed in.

Rey mentioning how calligraphy was worthwhile if it made him happy sparked a thought in his mind. Looking around his office space for nosy Dameron or, heaven forbid his mother suddenly showed up, Ben reached into a drawer and pulled out his nicer fine-point pen that he used in a pinch when he got that itch. He hadn't done calligraphy in a year, but now he wanted to. He really wanted to.

He grabbed a spare scrap of paper and wrote his name. Plain with only a few strokes. He crossed it out. His name was boring and plain and too loaded.

Grabbing another piece of paper, he contemplated what other names to write. Maybe his coworkers.

So he wrote all their names.

Rey Niima, with an accompaniment of sunflower designs.

Rose Tico, with a rose drawing in the O.

Finn Storm, with an old fashioned style called blackletter.

Poe Dameron, with short, quick, all caps scribbles.

Armitage Hux, tight-laced letters bleeding together.

On and on, Ben wrote the names of the people on the thirteenth floor.

The last two names were a pair.

Leia and Han.

He tore that section off and crumpled it up, throwing it into his drawer.

Grabbing another piece of paper, he looked at his phone and looked around again, listening for anyone approaching.

Coast clear, Ben wrote a name burning on his fingers.

Kira.

And he wrote it, over and over. All styles. His normal handwriting, with large loops, with small, tight letters, with black lettering, everything he had ever experimented with, he used as best as he could with his pathetic fine-point pen.

Kira. Kira. Kira.

It came to a point he started to doodle her likeness. He hadn't seen her in two weeks and he was starting to forget how her eyes glimmered in the city lights, how the golden glow of her staff illuminated her fierce glare and her figure through the smoke.

He couldn't get her out of his head if he tried.

Kira was a threat against him and his goals. He couldn't lose sight of that.

But what if he could convince her? What if she joined him? After reflection, Kira seemed to genuinely have no clue about who he was talking about.

And she was new to it all.

Ben shook his head. No, that was a pipe-dream. Not with his plans tonight.

He needed a target to implement the next step on.

He wrote Kira's name again to go with the doodle of her.

Ben internally cursed the fact he increased the happy endorphins in his coworkers today by praising them for their work, from Rey to telling Poe that begrudgingly his new model of TIE would save on costs.

He already fucked up his plans before he could actually execute them.

The day ended, Ben shoving his half-assed calligraphy into his bag before going home to replicate it with the proper tools.

It began to kriffing rain.

Highlight of his day.

Something shoved him forward, his bag slipping off his shoulder and landing flat in a puddle. He reached out to grab it to prevent the contents from getting soaked. A car drove by, splashing street water all over.

The rain pelted his jacket and hair like bullets.

When he reached his apartment, he reached inside for the binders. The contents were saved thanks to the papers being in sheets of plastic covering, but his drawing and doodles of Kira's name were beyond salvation. The ink bled down the page, his pitiful attempt at her graceful form now marred with blotchy swipes.

Deep, intense sadness took over. He knew this paper was just done with a crappy fine-point pen, but it still carried a part of his soul. He created it after all.

It was the closest he could ever get to Kira's powers.

The thought lingered.

The rain continued on by the time Rey made dinner and was ready to settle in for the night when something outside her windows caught her eye and the holonews came on.

"Breaking news, the newly declared supervillain, Kylo Ren, has made an appearance after two weeks of absence."

A giant umbrella covered the city in the distance. Rey tilted her head.

"A giant umbrella?" Rey said to herself, or that voice inside her earrings. Who knows at this point.

Her phone rang.

"Rey?" Luke's voice spoke.

"Yeah, it's me. You seeing what I am seeing? A giant umbrella over downtown?"

"There's more. Look at the news."

Rey glanced over and wow, the news was fast. Kylo Ren stood on top of a building, his mask and his hood covered in small splotches of red, splatters of blue to accent it. He looked like a walking graffiti piece she would see on the metro walls.

He had something in his free hand, but the newsdroid couldn't get close enough for her to make it out.

"He has been Corrupted. I assume Snoke did this to his own underling for a reason," Luke explained. "You need to find where the Corruption's source is."

Rey bit her lip. "You're kidding right? How?"

"A Corrupted has to infect an object the person is holding. Find it, break it. Repair the damage. Good luck."

Rey sighed, hearing the line go dead. She traced a finger over her earring. "I am Supernova."

In a flash of golden light, she was adorning her grey robes and shimmering makeup once more. She glanced at herself in the mirror.

"I feel like a holo-me magical girl," Kira grumbled, locking her door and jumping off her balcony onto the rooftops.

The consequences of a giant umbrella hovering in the air over the downtown skyscrapers is the heavy rain was turned into a massive circular waterfall. The streets were flooded in concentration. Rey halted in her tracks on one side of a building, the one across the way flooded with more water than it was used to.

The Force can aid you, remember that.

Kira pumped herself up, getting a running start before leaping across and she held out her hand to part the waves. She slid right underneath the waterfall, coming out on the other side with only her boots wet.

She looked up to search for the building Kylo Ren was taking his stance on.

"Impressive," he said from above her. She looked up. In his hand, he had a fine-point pen. There was no ink and it was dull black, like a tablet pen. On his arm was a small tablet attached to a gauntlet. "Hello, Kira."

"You're flooding the entire city," she said through gritted teeth. "And what's with the pen? Going to stab me in the eye?"

Kylo jumped down and before she could spring into action, he scribbled something on his tablet. A glass box appeared over her, trapping Kira in place. He walked at a leisurely pace until he could tap the glass. Kira shoved her weight against it and found it barely moved an inch.

"The kriff? I thought your powers were of destruction," she spat with venom, looking around for a way out of her prison.

His eyes were crinkled up slightly, indicating his smirk underneath the mask. "Yes, but now I can create, almost like you."

"Let me go so I can create a punch to your stupid face."

"Hand over your Supernova and I'll consider it."

She reached for her saber staff and cut the glass clean through and pressed against it, lifting it up with her strength and that strange power, the Force.

"Fancy new powers you have there, Kylo Ren," she said, stepping out of the glass and stalked towards her prey.

He tilted his head at her. "They help me depict the things I would create."

"Do I call you Depict now?"

"Only if you give me your Supernova."

"Fat chance."

He shrugged like he wasn't a supervillain hell-bent on creating damage and ruining lives. "Suit yourself."

She swung at him, but he managed to draw another glass wall to slow the golden blade. She yanked it out, the other end of her staff sizzling against the waterfall.

"What is with the umbrella anyways?" she said, watching as Kylo drew a giant bottle of glue into existence and poured it all over the ground to stick to her feet.

"Let's just say I'm not a fan of the rain today."

Her steps slowed as she tried to wade across the arena and away from Kylo—whose feet seemed to be immune to the glue. His right hand was no longer holding his pen, just his lightsaber.

Her feet stuck to the ground. In her haste to lift up her feet she dropped her staff into the glue and it deactivated. Her eyes widened and she tried to grab it but it was stuck. Just lovely.

"Hand over the Leo Supernova," he said, getting closer with his lightsaber ignited.

Use your greatest strength. He must not get your Supernova.

When Rey was twelve years old, she had nothing but space-tape, rusted metal rods on the side of a dumpster, and an old vibro-blade she had stolen from the last foster family she was with for her safety. She managed to cut the rods and taped them together into a ladder so she could climb onto a rooftop that she set up a place to stay where she wouldn't be harmed.

Her eyes glanced to the glue, then to the hose someone left connected to the water faucet, before she looked up. Kylo was clever, creating a battlefield where he could control the conditions.

She reached out her hand towards the faucet, thinking about how she could turn it. But Kylo noticed, disengaging his lightsaber so he could stop her with his hand. Notably, he was still holding the pen in his left hand. Kira reached behind herself and tugged at her staff in the glue and it shot up into the air, igniting and tearing a hole into the massive black umbrella.

Rain showered down on Kira, freeing her feet. She jumped up and grabbed her staff in hand.

Kylo retreated away from the flood of water, trying to keep dry and failing as the entire roof was drenched.

"For someone who is supposed to repair the damage, you cause a lot of it," Kylo remarked, scribbling a bandage over the tear in the umbrella.

Kira reached for the hose and tried to turn it on with it stopping and stuttering. Uh oh. "Seriously?" she held out her staff at arm's length so Kylo couldn't reach her. The Force was failing her now of all times. She was lucky that Kylo seemed to be holding back. He could crush her like a bug if he drew a giant cinder block the size of a skyscraper and she would be out of his hair.

"This is why you need a more competent teacher," he said, trying to yank the hose out of her grip with a wave of his hand. She resisted, trying to keep a firm hold on it. "I can show you all you need to know. All your potential is wasted."

Angered and outraged at the slander, she yelled in her full fury. "I don't need the likes of you, the hero who turned his back on everyone, to teach me a single kriffing thing!"

She breathed in and out and pressed down on the knob and water came out full blast, pointed right at Kylo. The force of it was so strong it knocked the pen right out of his hand and Kira dived for it. She blasted Kylo back so far he was trying to keep his footing on the edge of the roof. He lunged forward, his hand reaching for the tip of the hose, and it crumbled to dust at his touch. He regained his footing, but not before Kira had the pen in her hand.

She snapped her fingers and an orb of light formed in her hand, purifying the object into just a normal fine-point pen.

Kira had to stop herself from laughing at how Kylo looked like a sad, pissed-off, wet cat. His hood was damp and stuck to his head. The splotches of color adorning his garb faded away. His tattered cape stuck to his back.

Kira smirked. "Out of inspiration?"

"On the contrary, I just got more. Until next time, sweetheart."

Like that, Kylo Ren jumped off the building and out of sight.

Kira's eye twitched at that stupid nickname he just decided to brand on her. She snapped her fingers again and the light bounced around, repairing the hose, the building, the entire city of the unnatural flooding, the umbrella evaporating away.

A streak of dull sunlight poured through the parting clouds.

She breathed in and out for a moment. The smell of post-rainfall was always calming.

Rey had no idea why she kept the fine-point pen of Kylo's. The irony that she would be using a tool that created mass destruction in the office made her smirk to herself. It was like rubbing in her victory in a small subtle way, that only she knew about. Serves the ass right for calling her sweetheart.

Ben came over, holding a small package of pens in his hand. The pens were unusually small looking in his large hand. "Hey Rey," he greeted.

She dropped her own ill-won pen and faced herself towards him, looking up into his beautiful molten eyes. "H-Hi, Ben. What brings you here today?"

"I bought a package of pens to use for when I need to do calligraphy to de-stress and since I owe you for bringing back my hobby to the forefront of my mind, I thought you might like a couple? First dibs before I offered them to the whole office?"

The pens were slightly different from the one sitting on her desk. They were shinier, nicer with grips, and with a little piece of metal to clip to papers or folders.

"I will accept if you show me an example of your skills," she said with a grin.

He ran his hand through his silk locks. "Oh um, I guess."

She followed him back to his desk and he reached into a drawer and pulled out a piece of paper, the bottom torn. At the top of the page, was her name, in pretty letters adorned with a sunflower design.

Her heart was ready to leap out of her body and ascend to the sun.

"Oh wow, it's beautiful," she said, trying to keep her tongue from tying. She looked over the rest. He had done everyone's names in different styles on their floor.

"Thank you." He tore open the package and handed her a few pens, some for her cubicle neighbor.

She went back to her desk, pointedly ignoring the thumbs-up Rose was giving her as she handed over the pens. She sat down and pulled out a piece of paper to test out her new writing tools.

She wrote Ben Solo, before folding the page over and hiding it with a blush. Maybe she could ask him for calligraphy lessons sometime.