─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

SEASON 1 EPISODE 15

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Setting:

System: Serpentis

Faction: House Va'ruun

Planet: Serpentis-II

Place: Scanner anomaly

This chapter is wild, so there are more pictures than normal just to help. It's whacky, conceptual sci fi, so I hope you like it!

I told y'all I'd release updates faster the more you vote, so here ya go. Keep pressing that star if you want frequent updates. The more you vote and comment, the more it motivates me to write this story. Already got 3k+ words written for the next chap.

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Jimin

"Road trip!"

"Jimin, we're in a spaceship."

Jimin snorted and threw a playful glare at Y/n, who kept her focus on the ship. She flipped several switches Jimin didn't know the names of and glanced around at the sight of Serpentis. They had made the jump to the system, but there were no signs of any Va'ruun zealots. Not yet, anyway.

"Once we get on the surface, put on your spacesuit," Y/n said, and Jimin tilted his head.

"The atmosphere is breathable."

"Our spacesuits are bulletproof. Your skin isn't. We don't know if any zealots will be on the surface, so it's better safe than sorry."

Jimin couldn't argue with that. He kept his mouth shut as Y/n flew them down to the surface with no issues. No Va'ruun zealots bothered them even as they landed in the nearest clearing, which was hard to find due to all the trees and life Serpentis-II had.

Barrett came over once they were landed. "I'm thinking Sam and VASCO stay with the ship to defend it."

"Not you? Aren't you VASCO's bestie?" Jimin asked.

"You think I'm missing this? I touched the artifact too, and..."

But the rest of the words faded away. Not because Barrett stopped talking, no. It was because Jimin felt his mind numbing. He brought his brows together and stared at the ground, and he realized that it had to be an effect of the artifacts. It was as if he could sense something was close, and he tried reaching out to talk to it. Nothing came. Instead, eerie silence and a numb brain infected him. It wasn't until Y/n shook him that he snapped out of it.

"Jimin, you good?" she asked, and Barrett had the same concerned expression.

Jimin rubbed his head. "Remember how I thought the artifact was talking to me in the cave?"

"Sam told us about it, yeah," Barrett said, leaning closer to the point where Jimin could smell his thick, minty breath.

"Something similar just happened. My mind went all numb, and it felt like something was calling to me."

Sam approached from outside the cockpit. "Did I just hear that right? Something's talking to you?"

"Not exactly, but it felt like I'm being called somewhere. Let's find this anomaly before I go insane."

"Already are," Y/n said, nudging his side before getting up. "Barrett, you stay here with Sam and VASCO. Jimin and I can handle this. Besides, the less people, the more likely we can stealth our way by any zealots. And no offense, Barrett, but you're loud."

Barrett sighed but nodded. "You're the boss."

Y/n turned her attention to Sam. "Lock down the ship when we leave and don't let anyone in unless it's us. If we're captured and they try to use us to get you to unlock the ship, we'll have a signal. If we're kidnapped, I'll say we found an artifact. If we're fine and everything's normal, I'll say we need to leave. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. Let's station VASCO outside so he can warn you of any hostiles in the area. Keep your weapons next to you at all times, I'm not taking any risks. Jimin, let's go."

Y/n took him to the end of the ship and put on her UC armor. Jimin put on his Constellation suit, including the helmet. Although he wanted to breathe real air and not the processed crap their suits pumped out, he had to admit Y/n had a point. If they ran into zealots, they needed their armor. Skin wasn't bulletproof.

They departed the ship with VASCO, and Y/n instructed him not to open fire on anyone unless he got shot at first. There was local wildlife, but not enough to be concerning, not to mention they appeared to be docile.

Up ahead were trees that had spreading canopies. The green leaves were so wide that they often intersected, creating what seemed like an additional layer hiding its own ecosystem. When they went under the nature, Jimin noticed he was completely covered. It was night, but the moonlight barely peeked through the leaves due to their size. It was pitch black except for their suit lights.

"Turn them off," Y/n said, flicking off her suit's flashlight. "I know it sucks, but we don't want to draw attention to ourselves. Use the trees to get around."

Jimin hesitated. Before doing as he was told, he feasted his eyes on the beautiful nature surrounding him. Nature he rarely saw. The trees had hefty bark that had many scratches and marks that set them apart from one another. The grass tickled his ankles but was not quite tall enough to reach his calves. All around him were giant plants that were taller than him, and they had pinkish leaves that almost looked like flowers. According to his helmet scanner, they were called rosy tendril weeds.

As for the fauna, there were few. Little beetle-like creatures with glowing cyan shells scampered by with bitten leaves in their tiny mouths. Much larger beasts called herding blistercrabs rushed by. They were, as the name implied, like the crabs from Earth Jimin had read about. Similar to the beetles, they had hard shells, only theirs didn't glow. They had beady eyes and claws that snapped. Unlike crabs, they were massive and about the height of Jimin and the width of a boulder. Their legs made clicking sounds as they ran by and paid the two humans no mind.

Then, Jimin shut off his light and embraced the darkness that hid the vibrant colors of Serpentis-II from him. Y/n came over and held his hand.

"My dad used to take me to a bunch of gardens when I was a kid. He always picked flowers for mom," she said with a chuckle. "When we get back to New Atlantis, I'll take you, okay?"

He nodded and squeezed her hand before they commenced their journey. His helmet scanner didn't pick up on anything unusual, though the signal was coming from 300 meters away. They had a long walk ahead, but it wasn't like they could land any closer. Not to mention they had no idea what they were looking for, and flying over the signal didn't give them any leads thanks to how enormous the trees were. They covered the entire surface and were at least twenty Jimins tall.

"Stay low, stay quiet," Y/n whispered as she crouched and brought them through the brush.

Their knees skimming past the grass made a soft swooshing noise, but aside from that, Serpentis-II was quiet. His helmet's filters made it so he could only smell his beer-flavored breath. Yes, Jimin had a beer before the mission. What was he supposed to do? Fight serpent-lovers while sober? Why the fuck would he do that?

They continued, and soon enough, Jimin's helmet scanner malfunctioned. It went all wobbly and couldn't pinpoint what was ahead. Jimin smacked the side of his head, but it didn't fix it.

"Mine's the same way," Y/n said without taking her eyes off the front. "It's a scanner anomaly, remember? Your scanner's gonna be messed up the whole way there."

That made sense. It was beginning to show that Jimin hadn't been through formal education and had received most of his knowledge from experience and books. From what Jimin knew, school was mostly reading from books anyway, so what was the point? There was a benefit in having professors teach the material and explain the books, but Jimin doubted he would've paid attention anyway.

Jimin followed Y/n for 200 meters, meaning they had 100 left. By the time they made it that far, Jimin's calves were burning from staying in a crouched position for so long. He had amazing stamina, but he wasn't trained to crouch walk for hundreds of meters.

"How are you holding up?" Jimin asked.

Y/n snorted. "Jimin, this is like basic Vanguard training, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. We're getting close. Feel anything?"

"Not yet, but I'll let you know if I do-"

Laughter interrupted him. It wasn't Y/n, and it sure as hell wasn't him. Y/n forced him to lay in the grass to conceal their bodies. The distant, echoing laugh came closer and closer. Through the trees, Jimin spotted a group of four wearing black spacesuits. Their heads were covered by enclosed helmets that didn't show so much as an inch of their faces. From what Jimin could tell, there were three men and one woman who held up the rear. All of them were armed with AA-99s. Y/n hadn't given Jimin one yet, which meant he was stuck with his Eon pistol while she had the Breach shotgun.

"You think this ship will have good loot?" one of the men said. It made sense that they worshipped a space snake. After all, the man's voice sounded slithery and raspy like a snake's hiss.

"As long as they have a medpack for my leg, I don't care," another, one with a limp, replied. His voice sounded the same as the first one's.

The group passed by while continuing to chat about the ship they were going to raid. Jimin and Y/n stayed silent until they were far out of earshot. Then, Y/n fumbled to press on her long-distance comm.

"Sam, come in. You have a group of four zealots coming your way. Tell VASCO he might have company."

Jimin, who was connected to the comm as well, heard static before Sam's voice responded positively. Then, the voice flickered out. They were left in the dark again.

"Don't worry about them, especially Sam. He was a Freestar Ranger. Honestly, he might be a better fighter than me. Definitely a better marksman. Now come on, we don't want to waste any time," Y/n said, and Jimin agreed.

They continued their trek to the scanner anomaly. They made it another 50 meters before Jimin heard a twig crack. He held his breath and ducked into the grass with Y/n. Two zealots walked out with AA-99s in their hands and flashlights shining over the grass. Unlike the last group, they didn't speak or laugh.

They were heading straight for Jimin and Y/n, though it was clear they hadn't spotted the Constellation members yet. Jimin got his pistol out and aimed it at them. Helmets were bulky enough to block most bullets unless you really pounded into them with something like a full auto AA-99. However, spots like the inner thighs had less padding and gear so people weren't too weighed down. Jimin aimed there, and Y/n made sure her shotgun was ready to fire.

The zealots came closer and closer until they paused. Upon closer inspection, Jimin noticed they were women. They lowered their weapons and holstered them on their back. Then, one of them grabbed something from her belt. Before Jimin could question what it was, she threw it at them.

"Move!" Y/n said, forcing Jimin up and tossing him behind the nearest tree.

As soon as he landed, an explosion went off. Black goo landed on his arm. It felt hot; really hot. The tar-like substance began eating through his armor, and he shouted as it seared the skin underneath. Gunfire broke out as Jimin writhed on the ground and peeled at the loose fabric on his upper right arm, by his bicep. Saliva fell out of his open mouth and stained his chin. His nose flared and became overwhelmed by the scent of his terror.

He heard Y/n's shotgun go off more times than he could count. There were grunts and yells, but Jimin could only focus on his flesh peeling away. After a few moments, he lost feeling in that area. At the same time, the bullets and screaming stopped.

"Jimin?" Y/n asked, rushing over and sitting him up.

He whined from the sudden movement and clawed at where he had been hit. "What the... fuck..."

"Crap, hang on, I have a knife."

She took out her blade and cut the ripped piece of his suit off, then he felt the tip hit his upper arm. Although there were few nerves left there, he knew she was prying the substance off him. He could feel her winces as she did it. Black bits of steaming goo piled on the terrain. Soon enough, the agony subsided in favor of relief.

"How does that feel?" she asked.

He gave her a half-hearted thumbs up. "I don't know, I can't feel it."

"I figured. You might have third-degree burns."

Jimin glanced down and saw his marred skin. Blisters had already formed. While his flesh wasn't quite a charred black, it was waxy and had a gray tint to it. Luckily, he couldn't see any of the bones hiding underneath. At least there was that. As much as it sucked that he had such a severe burn, it meant he didn't have pain. It wouldn't slow him down (mostly).

"What was that thing?" Jimin asked.

"We call it a lava grenade. It's an explosive that fires really hot goo to burn through armor. I'm sorry it hit you, I thought I got you out of the way."

"It's not your fault. Do all zealots have them?"

"I'm not sure, I've never fought them like this before. I'm a pilot, not a ground soldier. From now on, if they come near us, we fire first, okay? Don't let them catch us off guard like that again."

"Yes ma'am," Jimin whispered, too exhausted to lift his voice any higher.

She offered him her hand, and he took it to hoist himself to his feet. They continued through the forest and didn't run into any more Va'ruun zealots. Eventually, 50 meters became 30, and 30 became 20. That was when Jimin slowed and took in the environment.

A distant structure. Picture was taken on a different planet than Serpentis, hence why it's snowy and not forest-y.

"Holy shit," Jimin said, and his words cracked as he said them.

Past the trees was a gigantic building that skimmed the top of the leaves. It was black but shiny, and it had three entrances covered by huge walls. In the middle was a spire-like structure. Floating rocks dangled around the outside, and Jimin identified it as a type of temple. It had a faint glow to it, and as Jimin approached, his mind felt giddy. His heart thumped and thumped and thumped. The saliva that came out of his mouth was no longer of pain, but rather anticipation. He had a spring in his step as he dashed to it.

"Jimin!" Y/n called out in a whisper-like yell. She scrambled to follow him, but he was far too fast.

The temple was dead ahead, as was the nearest entrance. Each entrance had two walls that sat directly across from one another, creating a hallway-like structure that led to the glowing doors. Though Jimin didn't know if they were doors or not. Rectangular beams that had glimmering star shape objects on them blocked off what Jimin imagined was the door.

Y/n finally caught up and grabbed his shoulder to hold him back. He gave in when he remembered she was in charge. Still, they went forward together. Upon closer look, they seemed like stone. They were hard and lacked cracks. Almost as if they had been untouched for centuries.

"I'll go first, stay here and watch our rear," she said. She went up to the rectangle bars and placed her hand on them, but nothing happened. The stars lost their brightness and painted her in a sea of blackness.

Jimin was supposed to watch the rear, but he left his post to instead come over and take her place. Jimin pressed his hand against the rectangles. They lit up again. The earth rumbled, and the bars sunk into the ground to reveal a circle with three layers of moving bars that were more like keys. They controlled the door. The bars moved on their own until they were locked in and caused the walls to part and allow Jimin inside.

"Stay here," Jimin mumbled.

"Are you insane-"

"Y/n, it opened for me, not you. That's not a coincidence. What if it only accepts people who saw the visions? What if it hurts you? We're in unknown territory, but... I don't know, to me it feels... normal. Please, let me do this."

Y/n hesitated but eventually agreed. She went to the mouth of the walls and waited there with her weapon drawn. Meanwhile, Jimin went in and found himself in a dark area. The doors snapped shut behind him, but he didn't mind. He had permission to turn on his suit's light. As soon as he did, the floor shook and gravity lost itself. Jimin found himself floating like all the rocks outside.

The room was made of a sleek, metal-like substance, and mini stars lit up in the giant space. It was an oval-shaped room with a high ceiling. However, the true prize was in the middle. There were three rings there; rings that moved on their own and rose once Jimin got close enough. They were ginormous and easily at least four times the size of Jimin. They spun around at a slow speed. Almost like they were waiting for something.

Jimin heard a humming, and when he glanced up, he saw a distortion there. It was gray and cloudy, but it sparkled to make itself seen to Jimin. He answered the call and floated up to it. Upon passing through it, it disappeared and made a 'vrum!' sound. It was as if a piano was playing and the pianist smashed on the keys.

The rings; the distortion Jimin sees is near the middle, right above the rings

Another one formed directly above the rings. By using his arms as momentum, Jimin flew over to the next and passed through it. The same thing occurred. Another popped up below him. He went through. It replied positively, and yet another formed on the other side of the room. He made it and reached out. His hand grazed the cloud of gray, and as soon as it did, an explosion of light broke out. The rings moved at rapid pace until they joined and formed an opening in the middle. Sparkles littered the inside of the rings, the distortions all disappeared, and a gentle, wonderous tune played in Jimin's mind. Or maybe it was real. He couldn't tell.

Jimin floated himself in the middle of the rings. The sparkles purred and came closer and closer, but Jimin wasn't afraid. If anything, he was excited. The sparkles engulfed him until he was blinded by a white light. Then, he was greeted to the same colors the artifacts typically showed him. He saw the wings of the universe and how it called to him. He heard violins strumming and serenading him with ecstasy. He felt wind brushing by despite how his body had disappeared.

Ahead of him was the entire universe, and it was as massive as he had ever imagined. There were purples and pinks, blues and reds, greens and yellows. Every color meshed together to create an orchestra of beauty. Then, he got launched through the center of it all, and what awaited him on the other side was a starry sky with white symbols in the air. They were circles and rectangles, and they formed an incoherent pattern. But to Jimin, he understood it more than he understood Neon. It spoke to him. In a way, it was as if the symbols had been branded in his mind.

Then, he returned to reality.

He gasped when he came to. He woke up outside the door, and he threw off his helmet so he could breathe. Y/n came sprinting to him and knelt by his side. She rubbed his back as he coughed. There was nothing obstructing his lungs. He only coughed to remind himself he was alive.

"Jimin? Wha... oh my God," she mumbled, backing away from him.

Jimin staggered to his feet. "What? What is it?"

"You're... what is that...?"

Jimin glanced down and saw bits of white sparks flying upwards off of him. It was like his feet were the source. He didn't know what it meant, and he didn't know if he wanted to.

The sparkles coming off of Jimin

"I don't know, but let's get out of here. I don't want any zealots to find us."

She agreed and took him away from the entrance as he put his helmet back on. Jimin had a fuzzy mind. For some reason, power coursed through his body. He felt like an unstoppable force-

'Whack!'

The butt of an AA-99 hit Y/n's helmet, and she went crashing down. Jimin whipped around and saw two zealots standing there with their rifles pointed at him. However, they didn't open fire. Their arms were trembling.

"How did you do it?" one of them, a woman, asked. "How did you open the temple?"

Jimin held up his hands. "I don't know."

"Bullshit! What did you do?!"

They shouted at him, repeating the same question over and over, but Jimin had no answer. He knew the artifacts and his connection to the universe was what allowed him to open the gateway, but they wouldn't believe him. Even if they did, it'd take so long to form an answer that they could shoot him before he finished.

The woman shoved her rifle in Y/n's direction. "Answer or she gets her head blown off!"

Y/n groaned and held her helmet, rubbing it as if that'd fix it. Jimin shuddered upon seeing the weapon pointed so close to the woman he cherished. Rage filled his veins, and that was when he saw it in his mind's eye. He could see the pattern the temple had shown him. The symbols. The ones that had been shoved in his mind. The circles and rectangles came together until he felt power well up in his hand. Then, he acted without thinking. He threw his hand in their direction, and the universe cracked open for him.

An orb of light flew out of his hand and hit them in the chest. The contact caused them to freeze—literally freeze. Their bodies became ice, and they slumped over and broke into tiny pieces. Jimin yelped and stumbled back. He just killed two zealots with his hand. With an orb that came out of his body.

Y/n crawled away from him. "What was that?!"

"I... I don't know," Jimin stuttered in a low, breaking voice.

He held his wrist and inspected the hand that had fired the power. Then, he thought of the symbols again. His hand lit up, and he jutted it toward a tree. The orb released from his skin once more, and it strained his mind as he did it. However, the orb hit the bark and froze it, removing all sense of life from it.

"The temple," Y/n said, getting to her feet and keeping her distance from Jimin. "Did it give you powers?"

"What other answer is there?"

A sense of awe coated his voice. It was as incredible as it was horrifying. The sparkles his body had faded away, replaced by nothing as he cooled down and stopped using his powers. It went silent between Y/n and Jimin, not like Jimin knew what to say. Jimin himself couldn't process it: he had powers. Actual, literal powers. No one in history had ever had such abilities, and Jimin had used them to kill people.

Shudders overwhelmed him, but he held himself upright and reminded himself that they were zealots who killed innocents. They were going to kill Y/n. It was either him or them. It didn't make him feel much better, but it helped enough to get him to focus on his new powers instead.

"What the fuck is wrong with me? Why did I get dragged into this?" Jimin asked with a quiver in his words. "How do I fix this? What do I do?"

"I don't know, but Noel might. We need to get back." Y/n pressed the side of her helmet to activate her long distance comm. "Sam, we found what we were looking for. What's your status?"

Several seconds slipped by. No one answered. That caused Jimin to mumble a curse and Y/n to prepare her weapon. Without Y/n needing to give him orders, Jimin knew what to do. Y/n and him sprinted through the forest. They had a few hundred meters to go before they reached Jimin's ship, and even at max speed, it'd take them more minutes than they had to spare.

No zealots intercepted them as they ran. Jimin panted, but adrenaline masked his need for air. He still had adrenaline from the temple. Too much had been happening all at once, and it overstimulated him. He was use to overstimulation; Neon trained him with visual overstimulation. However, within the past 48 hours he had broken into a UC station to steal a top secret prototype and gotten superpowers from a temple connected to the artifacts. The universe had a secret, and Jimin had a feeling he was the key to unlocking it. He didn't know how to process that.

Jimin had never asked to become an important figure. He had thought he'd spend the rest of his life on Neon, protecting his mother and running from security. Y/n taking him to the Lodge had changed everything, and Jimin had a twinge of resentment inside him for that. Not toward her, never toward her, but toward the universe for selecting him to touch the artifact. Part of him wanted to vomit, but the saner part kept him in line. They had to get to the ship. After they solved the zealot problem, he could puke his guts out, get drunk, and hibernate. Until then, Jimin forced his thoughts away.

Y/n guided him through the forest, and both of them had their lights on. They didn't care if they drew attention to themselves. Jimin had a copper taste on his tongue. It wasn't blood, but maybe fear. Jimin didn't know much about Sam, Barrett, or VASCO, but the thought of losing them before he got to know them pained him more than the burn on his arm.

300 meters became 200, then 200 became 100, and 100 became 50. As they approached the ship, they heard distant chatter, but no signs of a firefight. Y/n and Jimin slowed their paces as they cut down the meters and eventually spotted the ship. The two of them remained in the shadows and ducked down to observe the scene.

Jimin saw at least eight zealots surrounding the ship with grenades. It looked like they were planting a device on the door to breach it, and VASCO was nowhere in sight.

"You think you can use your powers?" Y/n asked in a mutter.

"Are you encouraging this? I don't know the consequences of this, Y/n. Do you know anyone else with superpowers?"

She shook her head. "Jimin, whoever created the artifacts has a higher purpose for you. You know that, Constellation knows that, I know that. They wouldn't grant you these abilities if they didn't want you to use them."

She had a point, though he knew she was biased. Her personal beliefs had her wishing it was God who had made the temples. As much as Jimin didn't believe in God, he had to admit it was clear a higher power was involved in the artifacts. But why was Jimin chosen? He didn't come from faith. Y/n was far more worthy than him. So why?

"I'll try," Jimin said, and he thought of the pattern the temple had shown him. It felt like it was impossible to forget.

Energy ran through him as the zealots made more progress on breaking into the ship. They laughed as they set up the bomb, and Jimin crept forward to get a better view. They had to be at least 20 meters away, but Jimin had hope. The orb was a decent size, so even if he didn't have perfect aim, he had a high chance of hitting someone.

The ball formed in his hand, and without waiting any longer, he fired in their direction. Jimin gasped and fell back, heaving from the exhaustion pulling at his veins. However, it was worth it. The orb slammed into two people and froze them. They fell to the ground. Unlike the last people Jimin had frozen, they didn't shatter into tiny pieces. They stayed intact, but they were very clearly dead. No one could survive sudden freezing, especially one on a cosmic level.

"What the fuck?!" one of the zealots shouted.

Y/n pulled Jimin back into cover, but they were outmatched. The zealots had AA-99s while Y/n had a shotgun. They had the range advantage. In order for Y/n to do enough damage to be lethal, she'd have to get closer.

"Flank them, I'll distract them," Jimin muttered, and Y/n agreed.

Jimin grabbed his pistol and shot at them, but he didn't hit anyone. The zealots found him and returned fire. Jimin ran through the trees, opposite to the direction Y/n went. The zealots had their eyes only on him and didn't look for Y/n, likely because they never saw her.

Jimin dove to the ground and shimmied forward. He sat up once he got behind a tree, and the width was large enough to cover his entire body. Bullets bounced off the bark and whizzed by his ears. Grunts left his parched lips as he sucked in the air around him. All he had to do was survive until Y/n got to them, which meant staying in cover and baiting them to come closer so Y/n could sneak behind them. Seeing as their shouts got closer and closer, he knew the plan was working.

A booming gunshot went off, and Jimin knew it was Y/n. He peeked out of cover and saw her hovering above them with her boost pack and raining fire on them. The Breach shotgun was powerful to say the least. It tore their armor to shreds and even blew off limbs. Two zealots lost their arms while another lost his head.

Jimin joined the fight with his pistol. It didn't do much damage, but it confused the remaining zealots. That gave Y/n the chance she needed to finish them off. What was a group of zealots became silence, and Jimin and Y/n won the tussle.

She shut off her boost pack and landed on the ground. Jimin went to her side, but they couldn't celebrate the victory yet. They had to check on Sam and Barrett, and also wonder where the hell VASCO was. Jimin led the way to the ship and spotted the bomb. It ticked, and there was only thirty seconds left.

"Shit!" Jimin shouted, jutting his arm out to stop Y/n from moving. "Do you think you can disable it?"

"No, I'm not trained for this. It's too late, we should get in cover."

Y/n began to back away, but time seemed to slow for Jimin. His mind went fuzzy again, and he swore he could hear a whisper in his ear. The voice wasn't identifiable, and it whispered words he didn't understand. Jimin locked eyes with the bomb and watched the seconds tick down. Then, he thought of the symbol one more time.

Sparks formed in his hand, and his heart danced between his feet and his throat. His eyes felt bloodshot and heavy, but he pushed through. One last time. For his friends. For his new family.

Jimin took a step back before he raised his hand. It weighed a hundred pounds. Yelps and groans passed his swollen tongue, and he lifted his arm up to face the bomb.

Ten seconds.

He allowed the energy to build more and more as Y/n's shouts grew more despaired behind him. Jimin didn't listen. Tears streamed down his face, and a yell expelled itself from his lungs as the orb burst free from his fingertips.

Jimin got blown back by the force of it, and he landed on the ground as a loud 'boom!' reverberated through his skin and bones. His body convulsed, and he thought foam formed in his mouth, but he figured out it was just more saliva. He whimpered and retched, but no vomit came out. His stomach was empty. So was he.

Y/n dashed over and coaxed him up. "Are you okay?"

"Did I..." He gagged and wheezed. "Did I do it?"

"You did. The bomb didn't go off."

Despite the fatigue hugging his mind, he grinned and chuckled. He got to his feet and wobbled. He had to lean on Y/n for support.

"Good, let's scrape it off when we get a chance."

Y/n agreed and approached the hatch of the ship. She knocked and pressed on her long distance comm. "Sam, we need to leave. Jimin disabled the bomb and the zealots are gone, let us in."

The ramp descended, and out came Barrett. He grabbed their arms and brought them in. The ramp closed immediately after, and Jimin watched as Barrett paced back and forth. He let out a nervous laugh and extended his arms as if wanting to hug them.

"Welcome back. As you can see, everything's fine."

Y/n took off her helmet and narrowed her eyes. "Where's VASCO and why won't Sam reply to me?"

"VASCO got hurt, I had to drag him in and deactivate him for now. They're blocking our transmissions, we can't get anything out, we're only receiving them. They've been taunting us on the comms ever since you left."

Barrett brought them to the cockpit, where Sam was, cowboy hat and all. The man stood and apologized, but Y/n cut him off before he could continue.

"I want you and Jimin as my co-pilots. Get the grav drive booted up and set the coordinates for Jemison. As soon as we get into orbit, I want us gone. Don't give them a chance to shoot us down. Sam, I want you on the guns. Jimin, I trust you can handle the grav drive."

Him? Trust? What? Jimin and "I trust you" shouldn't be in the same sentence, yet there he was, witnessing them firsthand. He rubbed his eyes as if that would help him hear, but the words stayed the same.

"You did it on SY-920, you can do it here, I know you can," Y/n said. Then, she softly smiled. "I taught you well."

That caused Jimin to nod. "Damn right you did."

Jimin took his place by the grav drive controls and watched Sam slip into the gunner's seat. He loaded it up and navigated it with a sense of ease Jimin wished he could have. Meanwhile, the grav drive was like a math problem Jimin couldn't solve. There were glowing screens that had a gazillion different buttons. However, Y/n's teachings guided him to the right ones, and he had the grav drive running in no time. The next step was inputting the coordinates. Luckily, he knew them by heart. It wasn't because he had a good memory, no, it was because he hated the UC more than he hated himself, so he memorized the coordinates just in case he ever had the opportunity to order a bomb strike on Jemison.

"Ready," Jimin said, and Y/n hummed.

"Punch it as soon as we reach orbit. I'm starting the takeoff procedure."

She put all power toward weapons, shields, and the grav drive. She took power from the engines to make it work, which made them slower than normal. But takeoff was a breeze either way. Y/n was such a skilled pilot that the ship barely bumped while climbing into the atmosphere and eventually into space. As soon as they were clear of the atmosphere, Jimin activated the jump and watched the countdown. It'd take fifteen seconds.

"Shit, zealots! They were waiting for us!" Sam shouted.

"I see them. Performing evasive maneuvers. Fire on my command... now!"

Y/n dipped the ship, and Jimin felt his heart rattle around his chest. Sam opened fire just as the zealots did. With all the chaos, Jimin couldn't spot where the zealots were, but based on the sounds, he could tell there were at least five ships.

There was one glaring problem: zealots were excellent pilots. Seeing as they spent most of their time in space making grav jumps and destroying non-believers, that wasn't a surprise. While Y/n was a fantastic pilot and one of the best in the UC, Jimin doubted any pilot of any skill could hold off five extremely experienced foes.

The ship quivered thanks to Sam's rapid fire of the bal weapons mounted on top of the ship. Bal stood for ballistics, and they could tear apart shields. Meanwhile, there were automatic lasers that fired on their own whenever an enemy got in range. So not only was Sam firing the ballistics, but there were lasers fighting back as well. Y/n was the one locking missiles on the zealots and shooting whenever the targets were near.

Jimin had nothing to do but watch and hope the grav drive would work in time. The seconds ticked down as Y/n yanked the ship from one direction to the next to avoid the storm of lasers coming their way.

"Got one!" Sam called, and Y/n cheered before pulling the yoke back and launching them up. The sudden change in momentum had Jimin lurching. His chest got thrown against the seatbelt, and he almost vomited as a result. Instead, he dry heaved and coughed.

"Five seconds!" Jimin said through his winces.

The time slipped by as the ship took damage, and five seconds later, they ripped through space and time. They appeared in front of Jemison, right in time to have their ship scanned for contraband by the UC ships guarding the planet.

"Holy moly, we did it," Y/n said, and Sam pumped his fist in the air in form of a victory pose.

"Damn right we did. Let's never go up against zealots again, yeah?"

"Don't have to tell me twice," Jimin said with a snort.

They got cleared for landing and went to New Atlantis. As soon as they touched down, they got the bomb off with crowbars and help from ship technicians who Y/n paid to not ask questions. Sam and Barrett were rightfully suspicious, but they agreed to save it for when they got to the Lodge. Unfortunately, VASCO had to stay on the ship until they could get the parts required to repair him.

It took ten minutes of walking through the city and getting on the NAT, but they arrived at the Lodge. It was night like it was on Serpentis, and Jimin had to admit it was stunning. The night lights were better than Neon's. Neon's were chaotic and had no synergy, but New Atlantis had beautiful white lights glistening from the skyscrapers. Yet it wasn't overwhelming. The trees, water fountains, and nature were the focus. At least the UC did one thing right.

They entered the Lodge and found someone there that Jimin didn't recognize. The stranger was a man a couple inches shorter than Jimin. He had a chubby but charming face and thin lips that were pulled into a friendly smile. If anything, Jimin wanted to give him a hug.

"So this is the Constellation member I've heard so much about," the man said, and Jimin saw he had Universal head gear on, which meant none of his hair was visible.

"Jimin, this is Matteo. Matteo, Jimin." Y/n went forward and embraced Matteo, then backed off and met Jimin's eyes. "He's one of our theorists and, as you can tell, a fellow Universal. If you have a theory, go ahead and bother him with it."

Jimin nodded. "Nice to know, and good to meet you. Have you seen Noel?"

"In her room, but I can go get her."

"Please."

Using manners physically hurt Jimin. He'd rather get more third degree burns than use manners, but oh well, he had no choice.

Matteo ran off to find Noel, and the others piled into the library where all the artifacts were floating in the middle of the room. Jimin gazed at them, but they didn't speak to him.

"I'll call Reliant and have them fix your burn. Should be good as new in no time," Y/n said.

"Don't bother, I'm not allowed in there. It's only for UC natives, not Freestar. I'll have to go to the one in the Well."

"Don't," Sam said with a shiver. "It's bad down there. Real bad. Let Y/n call in a favor, trust me."

Jimin didn't want to agree, but he knew he had to. He needed his arm, and if the Well was as bad as Sam was saying, Jimin decided to trust the space cowboy. Reliant could patch him up so he'd have feeling back in his skin and never know he had been burned in the first place. Modern medicine was fascinating, really.

Two minutes of quiet passed before Matteo returned with Noel. The woman had larger eye bags than usual and a half-empty coffee in her hands. She yawned and stopped when she saw Jimin.

"What happened? What'd you do?" she asked.

Jimin grinned. "I have superpowers."

More quiet came. Then, the group, all except Y/n and Jimin, laughed. Even the tired Noel managed to crack a chuckle. She came over and patted Jimin on the shoulder.

"Okay, seriously, what'd you find out there?"

"I'm serious. We found a temple, and it opened for me. When I went in, there were these rings and distortion thingies I had to touc... I'm losing you, aren't I?"

Noel hummed. "Yep. Maybe a demonstration would help?"

"I'm too tired for that, I already did it to disable the bomb and kill some zealots." The word kill pained him, but he shoved the thought away. "Take a scan of me, you'll see for yourself that I'm not lying."

"Fine, come with me. All of you."

They went to Noel's room. For once, Jimin stood still inside the scanner and didn't so much as budge as she did her science shit. She sipped from her coffee, but as the results came, she slowed her motions and widened her eyes.

"Even the trace physiological and neurological readings I'm able to pick up from you are unprecedented. Oh my God... you weren't lying. You seriously have superpowers?"

"I do," Jimin said as he stepped out of the scanner. "The temple showed me a symbol. Here, I'll draw it. And hopefully not activate my powers."

Noel gave him a piece of paper, and Jimin did his best to draw without thinking too much about it. His hand lit up, and bile rose to his throat. Tears stung at his eyes, but he completed the drawing. He stepped back and peered at his glowing flesh. Sam, Barrett, Matteo, and Noel all stared at him in awe. Jimin closed his hand and somehow got it to stop.

Okay, so thinking about the symbol activated the power. Closing his hand stopped it. Simple.

Kind of.

The symbol and what Jimin saw after going through the rings

"When I think of that symbol, my powers start. It fires an orb out of my hand that freezes whatever it touches. I'm calling it Sunless Space since it drains the life out of everything."

That was a name Jimin pulled out of his ass, but he figured the best way to identify his powers was to name them.

"Interesting... this will take time to research, but we'll get to the bottom of this," Noel said. "I'll update Vladimir about what happened. He found another signal, and we're not sure if it's an artifact or a temple. I hope you're ready for another trip. This time, Andreja will join you."

Jimin sighed. "Great, Andreja. She almost shot my head off."

"You probably deserved it," Y/n said, and Jimin slumped his shoulders.

"Good point." Jimin turned his attention back to Noel. "I'll do my best to control the powers, but I don't know what I'm doing."

"None of us do. This is as new for us as it is for you, and I can't imagine how hard that's been on you. Let us know if we can do anything, okay?" Noel asked, and Jimin nodded.

He wasn't used to people being nice. Noel was a UC dog like Sarah, yet both Sarah and Noel had been welcoming to him. They helped him more than most did. Speaking of Sarah...

"I'll go let Sarah know she can come back to the Lodge," Y/n said. "She was waiting to grav jump in and save us, but I guess she doesn't have to do that now."

Sam blew a raspberry. "Bummer, would've killed to see her in action. Been a while since I've seen her fight."

Sam and Barrett left the room, leaving Noel and Y/n with Jimin. The discovery of powers was monumental, but they had just fought Va'ruun zealots. All of them, Jimin included, were far too tired to speak. So, Jimin dipped his head and went to the door.

"I'm going to bed. Don't stay up too late, okay?"

Noel agreed, though Jimin didn't believe her. He motioned for Y/n to follow him, and she did. She escorted him to his room and helped him take off his gear. He ended up getting changed into gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt that showed most of his arm, including his injury. The burn didn't hurt, but she grabbed the medkit from the bathroom and wrapped it up anyway.

"You're clumsy," she said as she finished the gauze and placed the medkit down. "You'll find a way to make it worse. At least have some protection."

Jimin snorted. "Sorry, my mind took that elsewhere-"

"Oh my God, you're impossible. Lay down, I'll tuck you in."

But Jimin didn't budge. He leaned forward and tapped his fingers on his cheek. "Sarah snitched on you."

"What?"

"She told me you haven't been sleeping because of me," Jimin said. With a smile, he threw the blankets back and patted the side of his bed. "You know you can just sleep with me, that way we both get a good night's rest and don't have to worry about each other."

Y/n fiddled with her fingers and averted her eyes. "Universals don't approve of sharing a bed before marriage."

"I won't tell if you don't," Jimin said, and he rubbed his hand over the spot. "Besides, you've shared one with me before, so do Universals actually think that, or is the strong, badass UC Vanguard Captain scared to admit she's shy?"

"I... shut up! That's not true!"

"Oh yeah? Prove it."

Y/n huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Okay, no, Universals don't really think that, but I'm not shy."

"Then what are you?" he asked with a quirked brow.

"You see, uh... okay, you know what? Maybe I'm shy. So what? I have morning breath, look terrible in the morning, and probably snore like a banshee. So yes, I'm shy about that."

Jimin took her hand and kissed the back of it before holding it against his chest and meeting her eyes. She immediately looked away, but he held her chin with his fingers and tilted her head back to face him.

"Morning breath never bothered me, you never look anything less than beautiful, and I'll have you know I like banshee snores. Stay with me," he whispered.

"But..."

"Y/n." He paused and placed his hand on her cheek, massaging the skin there with his thumb. "I don't sleep either. Not because I'm a Neon street rat, but because I'm scared too. I'm scared you'll have another nightmare and wake up alone. So, please—stay. If not for yourself, then for me."

She ended up nodding, and they fell into bed together. His arms stayed tied around her, and their legs became tangled in the tiny space between them. He didn't turn off the light, and he didn't care enough to. Turning it off would require moving, and he couldn't bear the thought of leaving her warmth, even for a moment.

"Oh, and just so you know," he murmured as she pressed her head against his chest. "I'm turning this into a competition. I'm gonna have worse morning breath than you."

She laughed and playfully whacked his chest. "Good luck, mine smells like an atomic bomb went off."

He kissed the top of her head and held her as close as he could. "You better not be lying. When we wake up, I want a noseful of it."

"You're disgusting," she said in between her squeaky laughs.

"I grew up on-"

"Neon. Yes, you've said that once or twice."

He knitted his brows together as he sucked in her sweet scent. They didn't shower, so she still smelled of sweat and blood, likely the blood of the Va'ruun she had killed. They were far too lazy to get up and cleanse their bodies. They'd do it in the morning.

Jimin kept his legs tucked between hers and made it so there was no distance between them. She was warm and comforting, more so than anyone Jimin had known. Even if his mother began to notice him again, he doubted her hugs would match what he felt in that moment with Y/n. So, he grinned and tightened his hold on her to the point where he thought he might squeeze her to death on accident.

That was where he belonged. In Y/n's arms, all night long.

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SEASON 1 EPISODE 15

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─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

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A/N: There were going to be 20 episodes in season 1, but I'm downsizing since I realized one of them is unnecessary and I can tighten the pacing a bit by cutting it. Long story short, it'll be 19 episodes.

Episode titles:

Episode 16: Drunk Confessions

Episode 17: Assault Rifles and Superpowers

Episode 18: And His Name Was Jasper Kryx

Episode 19 (FINALE): Legacy's End

All of these are subject to change (looking at you, episode 17), but episodes 18 and 19 are pretty set in stone. The last two episodes are gonna go hard, so buckle in, we're in for a long ride.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!