Terra had just finished sharpening the back of her guards on her forearms. Which she had made more into gauntlets. Her chestplate hadn't changed much. Neither did her shin guards. Aside from the fact that she made them also sharp at the top. Her hip guards were replaced with a belt. Two armor plates on her hips and a plate over her waist. Under her armor she wore a green shirt with a blooming tree on it. She had black shorts on and wore no shoes. She kept on her black skin tight suit under her clothes. You could see it was climbing up her neck and past her shorts. Her hair was still its vibrant orange. It came down to her hips and was still messy as well. Though it seemed like she tried to care for it. She had her bangs going off to the side. Leaving two strands of hair running down her cheeks. She put hair ties on the bottom of her hair to keep it from going anywhere, She took off one of her gauntlets and sat it on the table in front of her. She stood back and took a deep breath.
Terra: Just one gauntlet.
She moved her hand slightly. The gauntlet shook a little bit and barely moved. She moved her hand a little bit and it fell off the table and flew into the side of her dresser. Terra was starting to get fed up. She slammed her hand on the table.
Terra: What am I doing wrong?
Amelia was sitting on the bed scrolling through her phone.
Amelia: You're seriously still doing that? It's been 3 months since we had to deal with EOL.
Terra: I haven't even been doing this for a long time.
Amelia: Why do you even need to?
Terra: I want to be the best Artemis I can be!
Amelia: We all know that's a lie.
Terra: …
Amelia: No response? I wonder why. If you really want to kill Ivan then track him down. He couldn't have gone far.
Terra: I can't kill him! I was too weak! Even with my destruction form! And if I do, Integer is going to sick all of her hounds on me! If Donny was still here then maybe I'd be learning something.
Amelia: Well he isn't. Don't be a baby. He was my brother! I had to bury a lifelong friend and my brother in the same fucking month! You think it's hard on you?! HE WAS MY BROTHER!
Terra and Amelia quieted down.
Terra: ...I'm sorry. That was wrong of me. Pleas-
Amelia: I'm going out. Keep messing with your magical armor.
Amelia walked outside and sped down to the bar. She was meeting Millie there.
Millie: Hey.
Millie's missing arm was covered up by her shirt. She had cut off most of the sleeve. Amelia sat down next to her.
Millie: How's things?
Amelia: Worth coming to the bar for.
Millie: I'm still feeling pain in my gonzo arm.
Amelia: Phantom limb?
Millie: Yeah. Kris didn't take it well.
Amelia: What did you expect? He's just a kid.
Millie: Mhm.
Millie and Amelia didn't have much to say.
Amelia: Did we seriously run out of things to talk about?
Millie: I guess. I'm just tired. I haven't been able to sleep. Ivan's nightmares are gone but my missing arm bothers me at night.
Amelia: There's one thing we haven't talked about though.
Millie: What?
Amelia: I need to get this off my chest. I don't think Terra's in the best condition to get it. But I wanted to pass my leader duties over to Donny.
Millie: Really?
Amelia: Yeah. I was a terrible leader. He made the best decisions. He got our other members involved. He made the clutch decisions. I just fucked up everything.
Millie: …What are you going to do now?
Amelia: I'm gonna say cheers. And we're going to finish this drink.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Terra was laying down on her bed and listening to music. There was something about calm, slow music when she was feeling down and fast, exciting music when she was feeling cheery. She was on the calm slow mix. She felt like she could do nothing right anymore. She was approaching her 18th birthday. And yet she wasn't ready to leave her teenage years. If things felt hard, then they'll probably get worse. And yet she felt her feelings were wrong. Amelia had gone through even worse. She lost Krilla, someone she had known since she was apparently a child. And her brother Donny. Her brother. Terra just had a crush on him for a month or so. She put her clashing thoughts away and let herself drift off to sleep. Amelia and Millie were walking down the hallway and laughing at each other.
Amelia: He seriously fell for that?
Millie: The good ol 1 2 switcheroo.
Millie dropped off Amelia at her door.
Amelia: Night.
Millie: Sweet Dreams!
Amelia went inside. She realized Millie must've been hungover. She didn't even feel hungover at all. Just lonely once she closed the door. Terra was asleep and Amelia sat down on the floor leaning on the door.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Terra woke up.
Terra: I should actually do something productive today.
Amelia: You gonna mess around with your armor any more?
Terra: I don't think I will.
Amelia: Maybe if you met the real Artemis you could do it.
Terra: The real Artemis? My grandfather did say there was a real Artemis.
Amelia: Do you get sarcasm?
Terra: Oh yeah. He said the armor was ancient. If there was an Artemis she's long dead.
Amelia: I was going to visit Leon. He's been doing surprisingly well. You wanna come?
Terra: Yeah. We should check up on him.
Amelia grabbed Terra and ran to Leon's new home. It was an actual house on the outskirts of New York. They saw Leon with Krilla's old soul blade. He was sparring with Amala of all people. Amala blocked a strike from the side. He was swinging for Amala's side over and over again.
Amala: Stop using standard attacks! Step out of your comfort zone.
Leon slashed at Amala from the bottom and turned his blade up and swung at Amala's head.
Amala: Remember! Control my central line!
Leon swiped down and then away at Amala. She moved over and faced towards him.
Amala: See? Like that. Don't be afraid to use any other tricks.
Leon clashed with Amala again. He telekinetically pulled a vase at Amala. Amala cut it in half. He made a lightbulb on the fan above get very hot and brought it's wrath on Amala. She ducked out of the way and grabbed her hair and used it as a glove when she threw the lightbulb at Leon. Some of her hair was burnt off. But she didn't care. Leon got hit by it.
Leon: Hot, hot!
Leon threw the lightbulb off of himself and wiped some sweat off his forehead. Amala swiped his leg and pointed her blade at him.
Leon: I thought we were done!
Amala: That's right when you get your head chopped off. Get up.
Amala helped Leon up. She almost went to hug him.
Amala: Good job.
Terra clapped for them.
Amelia: What do you guys have going on here?
Leon: Training! After that whole portal thing me and Amala kicked it into high gear. We're going to be kicking ass in no time!
Terra: Wow. I've never seen you like this.
Leon: Like what?
Terra: Genuinely happy.
Leon: Don't make me blush.
Terra: Hey, why don't we go a round?
Leon: Really? Well, you came all this way. What about your armor?
Terra: Don't worry. Watch this.
Terra got in some weird stance. With her arms up and her legs out.
Leon: Oh, you're already surrendering?
Terra: Wait for it…
Nothing happened.
Terra: Oh well. Let's go!
Amelia sat down next to Amala.
Amala: How's it hanging?
Amelia: I'm hanging in there. I haven't seen or talked to any of the Blue Coat members in a while.
Amala: they probably think you need space or something. Me and Leon have been plugging along. He wanted to learn how to use the sword as good as Krilla did. So I took him under my wing. In my 1,000 years of living I've never had a student to teach my mad skills.
Amelia: That's good. I've been...shit.
Amala: getting wasted?
Amelia: What makes you think that?
Amala: I've seen you at night on the streets with Millie. You guys look like a bunch of dykes.
Amelia: Seriously? We are a bunch of girls going out for drinks.
Amala: Every night?
Amelia: Call me an alcoholic before you call me a lesbo you creep.
Terra: Alright I'm kind of rusty. But don't go easy. I'm ready whenever y-
Leon swung his blade at Terra. She ducked under and held herself up with her two hands and kicked Leon in the legs. And then lost balance and fell on her butt.
Leon: Wow, you are really that rusty?
Terra rolled backwards to dodge Leon's strike. She almost kicked his sword out of his hand. She got up and pushed him backwards. She struck him in the stomach, and then in the side of the face. He barely stumbled.
Leon: Fun fact: All the people mom killed in her years. Make me stronger. This blade is made stronger and stronger every time she takes someone's soul. Sorry if that sounded evil.
Terra did a hook kick, and kicked Leon in the face.
Leon: Unfair!
He tried to gain his footing but Terra swiped his legs. He fell on the ground. Terra went to kick him in the face. But the light bulbs above her fell on her. They were burning hot. She jumped back.
Leon: Lightbulbs are my greatest weapon!
Leon teleported behind Terra and slashed at her, and then started slashed at her rapidly. Terra did her best to dodge it. Midflip she got knocked down by her armor pieces which came flying in.
Terra: Yep. I'm done. This armor sucks!
Leon: Haha! I win!
Terra threw a piece of her armor at Leon.
Terra: Wait until next time!
Leon: Well you should get to work.
Amala: That's enough roughhousing.
Terra and Leon shook hands.
Leon: GG.
Terra: Yeah. Whatever that means.
Amelia and Terra made their way home. They were walking up to their apartment.
Terra: Hey, I'm sorry for that argument yesterday. I think we were both heated.
Amelia: Yeah I guess we were.
Terra and Amelia sat on their respective beds.
Terra: Are you going to bed?
Amelia: Yeah. It's been a long day.
Terra settled down for bed and it wasn't before long she fell asleep. She was snoring. Amelia snuck out of the room quickly. She was on her way to the bar. She got outside and went to run but was stopped by a familiar voice. It was Michael Hilton. Or Acceleration as his superhero alias. They had met him in the EOL crossover. He is from a different earth.
Mike: Where are you going kid?
Amelia: ...none of your business.
Mike: Hey. We're like speedster bros! Come on!
Amelia: Don't get into things you don't want to. I'm busy.
Mike: What are you busy with. I'm just trying to keep you safe.
Amelia: I'm busy drinking off my brother's death. If that's what you want to know. And yes, I'm over 21. Leave me alone if you know what's good for you.
Amelia sped off. Michael held out his hand as if he was going to chase her. But he didn't. A man was sitting on top of Henry Hall's apartments.
???: Cute girl. Don't you two think?