Jack's Short Stories

Queren and Percy One-Shot

Karen and Percy are my ocs from my webtoon, Fantastic!

You can read the comic here: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/fantastic/list?title_no=609341 

Karen woke up with a gasp. She wasn't aware she screamed in her sleep until recently when Jenna had made a joke about it. And though there was no way to make sure she was screaming or not, she could guess that she was. The nightmares only got worse. Like flashbacks on steroids, her therapist defined.

**

The hero world is full of strict rules. If you hurt or put a civilian into any potential harm, you're fired. If you murder a villain, you're fired. There have been exceptions, but the juries aren't merciful towards killing of any kind, even if you are a city savior.

Lightning is a hard thing to control. It's impossible to just lightly hulk a lightning bolt at someone. If she were to, hypothetically, fight near a beach, and one of her bolts hit the water, she's just ruined an entire ecosystem. It's hard to save lives when the power you're given is so destructive; it's impossible to become a beacon when you're born to be a flashing killer.

**

The rooms were small, none of them had windows—for protection. Each door was made of steel, Karen was the only one that actively locked her bedroom. It's not that she didn't trust her team, she did, she just couldn't stop the anxieties from seeping through small cracks.

There was a gentle knock. "Karen?"

She didn't say anything. She hoped he would just go away if he thought she was sleeping.

He called her name again, then sighed at the silence. Through the gap of the door, he shoved a bit of snow, which moved to assemble itself into a small snowman that waddled it way to Karen's bedside. The snowman hopped, trying to get up, but he was too short to even try to make the way. Karen watched him struggle and felt bad for him. She wanted to be left alone, but the snowman looked sad he couldn't make it on the bed, so she let him up anyway. She sat crisscrossed, watching him waddle all around the covers, exploring the new territory. He climbed up onto her thigh, snuggling into her lap. Karen gently rubbed the snowman's head with her thumb.

**

The hardest time of a hero's life will always be their 3 years of training. You are pushed past your limits. It's when you make friends—it's where Karen met Mari and Jenna. It's where you make enemies. 1/3 of the trainees quit, and 1/3 leave involuntarily.

Year 2: Halfway through the year, the trainees fight. There are three fights a year, beginning, middle, and end. The bottom five, each time, leave the program. Karen was in the bottom quarter. She waited anxiously, staring at the screen to see who her next competitor would be. They were all chosen mostly at random. If Karen lost this fight, she'd be kicked out of the program for good.

BRACKET 8: KAREN HARMON VS RABHYA DESHPANDE

Karen couldn't leave this program. She couldn't fail. As she waited for her call to the fighting ring, that's the only thing she could think of. This is my dream; I can't let it get away from me. As she saw the unnerving bright green eyes and bones showing from the girls neck, she felt immediately intimidated. Rabhya Deshpande was damn good at what she did, something with psychological powers. She could disarm her opponents before they had a change to get in their fighting positions. People begged for a forfeit before she touched them. Karen wasn't going to be made a fool like them.

The second the bell rang, she shot her lightning. It went everywhere. The judges standing several feet away and between a strong glass barrier flinched. Rabhya was shot, body flying in a blur as she crashed into the fighting ring's wall. She shivered once she fell, she felt so cold, and couldn't focus on anything, like her eyes stopped working. Her skin went pale, lips blue. The skin around her cheeks and eyes turned grey. Her head hurt. So damn much. She could feel every nerve in her face, her cheekbones felt like spiders, and she was pretty sure she was bleeding from one of her eyes—not the area, the actual eyeball.

When Rabhya was a little girl, she was terrified of storms. She remembered her older brother, holding her, saying, "You're more likely to be eaten alive by a dolphin than to be struck by lightning, you know?" and that was comforting at the time. But now, she wished, more than anything, that a dolphin had devoured her years ago.

**

"Percy?" Karen called as her voice shook. She was grateful for the little snowman, the coldness of it helped her focus on the present more.

"Are you okay?" He asked from outside the door.

Karen didn't answer his question. She couldn't say yes; heroes don't lie. She couldn't say no; heroes aren't weak. "Percy," she repeated with more urgency.

"I'm not coming in until you tell me that you want me to."

"Come here," she started crying, "Please."

Percy wanted to barge in and run to her—the hero in him needed a dramatic saving scene. But he knew that taking things slow would be better. The loud swing of the door could scare her, tackling her in hugs could lead to hyperventilating and panic attacks. So, he walked slowly to Karen's bed. When he sat, he led her head to his chest, and held her there, loosely. He pressed his chin against her head and gave her comforting shushes. She clutched his shirt as she buried her head further into him.

"A nightmare?"

She nodded.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head. He wasn't going to make her do anything she didn't want to.

Percy had large hands, and they were always warm. He held her head, palm big enough to gently cradle it. Tears leaked from her eyes, slowly, and fell on his shirt. "You know you're amazing, right?" He said.

She didn't reply for a bit. Until, she said, "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for."

Her face scrunched. "You just don't get it."

"Karen," He was too gentle. His softness was contagious, and it made Karen break down a bit every time. "You are the most marvelous girl I know—the person I know." Why'd he have to say girl? He didn't mean for this to sound like a girl/boy scenario. "You're a hero, and you worked harder than any of us to get that title. There's absolutely no reason to feel sorry, you've done nothing wrong."

"You don't know everything I've done."

"No, but I know you. And I know how your heart works. I know that there are these doves that fly in your blood; they sing the sweetest songs. It's impossible for you not to love, even when it gets you hurt, you will still stand by anyone, anytime. You do your best. Every day, you get out of bed and do a thousand good things. You'd grab life by its scalp and scold into doing better."

Karen knew she wasn't supposed to kiss him. They were coworkers, and she was in an unstable place, and she didn't want to use him only as a scapegoat. Still, she put her hand on his jaw, leaned in, and whispered, "May I kiss you?"

Percy was speechless for a bit. "If you'd like."

She took no time to reach his mouth. Once they touched, her shriveled body blossomed like a flower, suddenly her fingers weren't limp, and her shoulders didn't sag. It was energy. It was a spark. It was lightning.