[completed - under editing]
[last chapter edited - 8 | setting a trap for yourself]
"You're told all your life that you're broken, insane, mentally ill. And then you're told that you are going to repair the world."
᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽
Thirteen...
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Leo
Ari couldn't have been trapped! I argue with myself. Ari is capable. But then I see Sagittaria.
She's pressing her hands to the barrier, eyes wide and face blanched white. "He waited for me!" she yells. "He waited —!"
"We can get him! Sag!" Vienna grips her wrist.
I realize how fast my heart is beating. I guess it's the adrenaline.
... I can't believe I helped Vienna, though. She couldn't, either.
No, I am not thinking about Vienna. I am thinking about Ari, who is about to die.
Aquaria squeezes my wrist in a death grip. She and Caprice are staring at Sagittaria.
The three Deadpool rules: Hate the world. Hate each other. Don't fall in love.
Caprice grits her teeth, bites out, "It's okay. We can do it —"
Immediately breaking Rule 2. Kind of.
But Sagittaria doesn't see. Her eyes are fixed on Ari, just on the other side of the barrier.
Balls of fire flare into existence on his palm. He focuses, but the fire doesn't flare larger. I see something black staining the base of each ball, swirling upwards like the darkness staining Scorpio's water ... that's it!
Ari flicks the globes towards the snake thing; I can hear it ticking even from here.
The tendrils of darkness swallow the machine as it ticks, one last ominous tick.
And then it explodes. The tendrils freeze and melt away ... but nothing happens. A very frazzled Ari stands there, shocked.
"How did it do that?" asks Leilani, frozen just like everyone else.
"Ari's alive," Caprice breathes a sigh of relief.
Aquaria, always a ray of optimism, says, "Not for long. They'll come over to investigate personally, and Ari's having trouble with the darkness thing."
A few seconds pass where we're standing and running over our options. How do we get Ari out? Sagittaria's frozen as the seconds tick by; the youngest Deadpool doesn't seem like she'll be helpful.
But then Nia screams, "PINK!" breaking our necessary silence.
Gemi slaps her. "Quiet! They'll find us!"
"Antares!" Nia says, "his hair's pink!"
Sagittaria's hands are still pressed to the shield, until they shoot through it and she overbalances.
Not even thinking, I lunge forward and grab the back of Ari's shirt, yanking him back just before the buzz announces that the shield is back up.
Vienna hugs Sagittaria around her waist and drags her free of the shield.
