Spyretverse Spinoffs!

Last Ditch Effort - A Convergence Spinoff (Part One)

"My name is Nick Althorne, I'm 23 years old, and I- pfftugh."

"Hey, it's fine. Just start over."

"Alright. My name is Nick Althorne, I'm 23 y- uuuugh."

"Can I see what you wrote? ...Nick, you only have one sentence."

"I know. I thought I could bullshit it."

"You know you can't bullshit anything in this field. Is there a reason you haven't written anything else?"

"..."

Nick Althorne was 23 years old and a studying chemist and doctor. In fact, Nick was close to graduation—they'd been finished with school for at least a month, and the only thing they had left to write is their dissertation. Luckily, their friend, Jackie, who'd already finished theirs, was there to help, because it was an understatement to say they were having trouble.

"Hey. Not a problem," Jackie comforted their friend. "You'll be fine. You still have a week, and I've heard of people who've written theirs in two days. And you're smart. I trust that you got this."

Nick sighed, gently clenching their fists, and taking the practically blank paper back. "Thanks, Jack."

"No problem." Jackie stood up from their chair. "Now, let's go get something to eat, so we can get your brain working on that dissertation!"

-

In their dorm room, Nick sat at their desk and stared down at the blindingly white paper. No ideas came to them.
They'd have to write it, and then type it, and then fix any mistakes—it was all pretty simple to them.
But they couldn't get past the beginning.
Nick Althorne was the last known telekinetic in the universe. All the others had died when the Earth exploded, or when...
Well, it wasn't a very fun week.
And all people recognize them for, is the questions they left unanswered.
Who even were they, other than a kinetic?

"Still no luck?" Jackie had walked in, setting their jacket on their bed.

"Nope." Nick leaned back, flapping their lips.

"Don't mean to rush you, but that other thing we've been assigned needs to be looked at."

"Alright."

"...What's with the one-word answers? You're usually so descriptive."

Nick crossed their arms and pulled their legs up into the chair. "Just tired, I guess."

"...Nick, you're still at the same spot." Jackie looked over their shoulder, gently nudging them into some kind of work. "You're on your introduction."

"That's the problem!" Nick groaned. "I hate having to introduce myself as... that."

"You mean what you are?" Jackie reiterated. "A really cool thing that happens to lead into a shitty thing?"

"It's all they accepted me for." Nick buried their face into their knees.

"Whether that's true or not, you're done. Just finish your dissertation and you're done!" Jackie smiled, walking into the bathroom. "It's not like you could change it."

"Mm." Nick gently raised their eyes over their knees, looking down at the paper.

It's not like you could change it.

Nick's eyes widened, their eyebrows furling into a lightbulb expression. They gently lifted their head. "Holy shit."

"Huh? Wha?" Jackie had their toothbrush in their mouth.

Nick didn't look up from the paper. "Nothing!"

-

The lecture room was quiet, mostly because nobody had class at this time (the year was coming to a close after all). Nick's professor was in there, sitting during his office hours and doing absolutely nothing except hope a student doesn't walk in. And, of course, one did.