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orange-s-mario · 2 days

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thinking about how the superman family (like the ones related to him) dynamics would be if I put them all together. hmmm a few of these are slightly changed to either make more conflict or to make a character have more character (looking at you Dik-Zee) also splitting kon into kon & conner simply because I can

Gregor would be a dust phantom in these which informs how he interacts with some characters. He and Chris are the only ones who can directly converse with Mon whenever. Gregor would still have an edge to him and have the whole complex he had in the original story - amplified by the fact that he is currently in some half-dead half alive state due to his powers

Johny would be jealous of other people still having their powers. Johny and Gregor would argue the most out of all his siblings but he's closest to Gregor

Cir would mostly be how she acted in the original run. No Mia though since they were somehow able to split apart so Cir tries out different secret identities but she's not very good at it despite everyone's help. She's probably the most positive one here

Jon Lane. he's mostly the same, still has some edge after development, Cir and Jon Lane found themselves in the same plane of non-existence and were somehow brought back idk. Anyways he mostly keeps to himself since he feels guilty about his past

N52 Kon: i haven't read n52 kon

Tommy; he visits occasionally. he's just kinda there

Jimmy Olsen: he's Jimmy Olsen. In this the whole sun/son thing happens right before all the Hal Rand thinking he's Mark Olsen stuff. but he's basically same jimmy as always. Family friend status. also mark and hal are married in this continuity. knows a lot about Cadmus stuff

Secundus: give him all of Kon & Jonathan's insecurities multiplied by 10. Since he's kind of a combination of both AND there's plenty of other people who'd accept being Superman

Chris Kent: he still has abandonment issues. Due to Nightwing powers he can directly talk to phantom zoners without the phantom zone viewer.

Jonathan Samuel Kent: feels a bit awkward about all this. The Ultraman thing happened so he has trauma from that. the others don't understand why he went with Jor in the first place. Jealous of the twins the most

Otho & Osul: still have Warworld trauma. still a bit worried about the old god thing. they tend to get along with everyone well, but all their siblings have hangups with how Clark handled being a parent or how Clark wasn't able to be a parent to them, which leaves them a bit confused on how to feel about their siblings

Conner Kent: an adaptation of YJTV conner, so he's a bit quicker to anger

Clark's kryptonian relatives (cousins & their kids)

Van-Zee; looks up to Clark, has a close bond to Ak-Var

Sylvia DeWitt, trained a bit in Klurkor; has powers under a yellow sun due to Van-Zee's serum. She's more reserved than Lois

Lyle-Zee and Lili Van-Zee: absolute menaces, drive their parents a bit mad.

Dik-Zee: generally a chill dude but a bit of a slacker, but it doesn't really affect his job much due to the thought type writers. he's a bit of a romantic as well. Generally wears a superman suit whenever though because of Van's twins

Ak-Var, married into the family. Happy that most of them accept him since the red K incident.

Thara Gem-Zee; likes learning about Kryptonian history, which is why she likes talking to Ak-Var who lived on Krypton before it blew up

Don-El; he's more serious and tries always being professional. Unfortunately he's also the first to suspect Ak if there's any a slightest chance of Ak-Var becoming a criminal again, which is unfortunate for Ak-Var

Rad-Zee; generally keeps to himself in a lab. doesn't like Van's twins because of their shenanigans

Kara Zor-El: more brash than Clark. Due to having both sets of parents alive and being in a different city, she doesn't visit often. More likely to be seen in Kandorian or Kryptonian celebrations than Earth ones though sometimes her whole family visits Clark's on Earth holidays

Judy/Equila gained her powers back and her grandparents started living on Earth as well. They take care of Judy while Kara is busy since Judy likes being with Kara

Clark's siblings (& their kids):

Cory Renwald; since he's a government agent, he's usually busy. Doesn't know Clark is Superman, but knows they have a connection. Trusts Clark's judgement on things, but feels Clark's too much of a goody two shoes. Doesn't really visit due to being busy but he'll try if he has time

Kral of Titan: succeeded in his revolution on Titan, which feels awkward for him since he feels guilty about thinking of betraying superboy (clark). Since everyone's a telepath on titan, everyone there knows this, but they built a statues to honor him anyways. Also learned that the temperature control gene is recessive (this is to connect it better to losh). Tries visiting often to escape the awkward situation he put himself in, but has to deal with making sure things don't go back to how it was during Clark's Smallville days

Kathy Warren; busy with Cadmus work usually. Doesn't feel like she has to hide her super intelligence anymore and feels like Cadmus has people she can relate to that don't alienate her

Kon-El; tries to be his own man, still has some of the complexes he's had before but he's getting better at handling them. Specifically remembers the Kents being alive so it's weird that he finds that in this continuity they're dead

Martha: time travel brings a future version of the baby that Kon was co-parenting on gemworld. She feels like Kon abandoned her. Kon can't really argue against that

Mighto/Tim Tate: Blames Clark/Kal for the death of his parents. Generally unpleasant to be around. More reserved on the Kents' death day (most of Clark's siblings meet up at their graves), Mighto does not attack on that day, despite all his flaws, Tim loved the Kents

Varl Quoz: Sometimes either he or the Kents/Els travel to Xenon though they make sure they always have enough fuel and spare parts to travel to and from it. The former weakling world is also used for people to live on. Varl and Kal get along well but due to Clark's privacy, the rest of the family is unsure of the whole situation (Varl explains later during their second or third vacation there)

Mon: he's still stuck in the phantom zone. Sometimes he makes asides, or attempts to help the family. Gregor and Chris are closest to him due to actually being able to talk whenever with him. Mon is grateful for this since this means he has more to do than absolutely nothing

Halk Kar: a bit insecure due to having lesser powers than Superman and thinking he was stronger when he thought he was Superman's brother. Is usually space traveling so he only visits on rare occasions

Mae: generally the same, except she lives with Linda. also in this continuity she's made by this universe's Lex (he was using an alternate identity) & Kathy while they were both working at Cadmus

Linda: generally the same except she keeps the Earth Angel powersTwilight: lives with Linda and Mae. uses her darkness powers similarly to how the Earth Angels use their powers (wings and blasts)

Blithe & Comet: live with Linda & Mae

Ariella: raised mainly by Linda and Mae. she's worse than Van's twins in how much chaos she can cause, which is, at least one of, the reasons why the others live with Linda and Mae

H'El: hates clones. has super op powers. Respects Jor so he doesn't attack on days that Jor-El discovered something which luckily is a lot of days. nobody likes him which makes him even mopier. Sometimes he crashes on someone else's couch just to angst about it and complain about everything. everyone else here finds him annoying

Rogol Zaar: everyone else here hates him - including Mighto and H'El. it's because he's the only one that doesn't care for Jor or the Kents (Mighto thinks you should respect your parents; despite H'El's breakdown he still is kryptonian and respects Jor). He is never invited

Lanes:

Lois: rash and more bold. Takes charge

Sam: war criminal

Lucy: somehow a combination of post-IC, Pre-crisis & Post-crisis Lucy. I'll figure it out. Anyways she has supernaturally white hair due to some jimmy olsen stuff that happened. In the end she married Ron and has a son with him

Sam Troupe: friends with the super kids, most notably john and chris. Is really confused about everything since john and chris are suddenly older than him, so he hangs out with the super-twins now

Leonardo: has a bit of a rivalry with Cory. Cory tries to ignore it

Legion stuff:

Laurel Kent manhunter and Laurel Kent real person coexist. the manhunter decides to be an antihero and later hangs out with Dev-Em

Kent Shakespeare: generally how he acts in 5YLXTC and Jonathan Samuel Kent cousins that bicker; idk I'd have to think more about it

Laurel Gand: distantly related to Mon-El, takes more after 5YL Laurel

Sensor Girl 2: Kara(?) (it's unclear)'s descendant who only has the super senses (super vision, microscopic vision, super hearing, super shouting, super ventriloquism that type of powers). Unsure if she should be legion age, little legion age, or between them hmmmm...anyways sometimes some of the Kents or Els visit the other time period other then their native one

#superman #superboy #supergirl #house of el #the kents

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empoleon · 4 months

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holiday clodsire. if u even care

#texte #pokemon #clodsire #my art #<- crying at myself using that tag…. maybe 2024 will be the year i practice drawing more #anyway!!! happy holidays to everyone here #i hope you stay safe and warm and know that ur loved!

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obsob · 4 months

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once more around the sun!! :3

#mine #cats #happy new year!!! a little late but alas #i didnt like th colours here but now i love them hehehehehheheh #i hope everyone had a good holidays life development for me is i now like ice hockey #in my sports fan era...these greasy sweaty bloody white men...intrigue me #also i got a new diary!! im using th hobonichi cousin in kinda alarmed by it ngl a5 is a lot of space to fill #i tried the hobonichi techo a couple years ago n found it a rlly weird size 2 work in but now.........big page scawwy #im trying not 2 b too insane about it . like relax who cares #if i do cute spreads i will share them :3 #also in th same vein im not setting a book goal this year !! tbh i surpassed my goal last year by a lot and wasnt stressed about it at All #but i get so guilty about not reading sometimes like girl . guilty to who? god? are we catholic now? get a grip #anyway anway im going to toot on my flute and then eat my weight in mac n cheese #love how i had to get a new cork in my flute bc i didnt play for like 10 months n th guy was like play regularly! n i was like yeh will do!#and then did not do that #alas...time escapes me

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khazure · 8 months

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Let's GOOO HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY MIKU!! YIPPEE

#miku #vocaloid #hastune miku #fanart #初音ミク生誕祭2023 #illustration #Happy birthday miku!!#This is an especially auspicious year given that it's Miku's 16th #And the 10 year anniversary of me picking up a pencil and deciding to draw #As well as the 8th year that I have uploaded an artwork for mikus birthday to the net #In fact the first time I ever posted my art online was for mikus bday... on Google plus...#I've included that old Pic in here :>#As well as items representing various hobbies I've tried due to mikus influence #And some albums I love ❤️#Anyway I hope everyone has a great day on this national holiday!!

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cerise-on-top · 1 month

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Eating Jausn with König

A Brettljausn is just about the best thing out there. I wrote this back in November when my classmates decided to talk about Easter and Osterjausn, so the formatting is different. However, I thought it would work well with the Easter post, so I decided to post it now.

“Honey, what is that?” You looked at the wrinkly, dark colored thing in front of you. It might have been a sausage, on closer inspection. The plate was well filled with all kinds of meat and cheese. On the side were horseradish, eggs and pepper of all colors. On a small plate in front of you were small, sliced cherry tomatoes, the basket next to it held bread.

“It’s a Brettljause, it’s what we eat on special occasions, such as easter. But you don’t always need one to eat it. Just enjoy the meat, dear. It’s all from regional farmers as well.” König seemed rather content while looking at the food. You knew that Austrians loved their meats and sausages, he had told you about that before and you made fun of him for it, but you didn’t think he’d take it upon himself to prepare something like that. It seemed like that must have taken a lot of work. Must have been fairly costly as well. There was bacon there, it looked fairly good.

You took a piece of bread and picked up some meat with a fork. “And what’s this?”

“That’s Geselchtes. I call it Gsöchts, though. It’s meat that you put in salt water before smoking for a few hours. Before eating, you normally cook it. Don’t worry, this one doesn’t have too much fat on it, you can just cut those pieces off.” He put some gray-ish meat on a slice of bread, adding some egg slices and topping it off with some of the grated horseradish. Its scent wafted through the air, stinging your nose a bit. You watch him take a bite out of the bread, he locks his eyes with yours once he notices. “Is something the matter?”

“No, no, everything’s alright.” You looked at the pink meat on your fork, a bit hesitant to give it a try. König seemed to like this sort of food, he likely wouldn’t have prepared it otherwise. Besides, it was classic Austrian cuisine, apparently, it was only polite of you to try it, at the very least. Taking a bite out of the meat, you ran your tongue across it to give it a taste. You could definitely taste the salt, but it wasn’t too bad. It simply added to the flavor. The meat wasn’t very chewy, but you wouldn’t exactly call it the most tender meat either. It was actually surprisingly good. Instead of putting it on your bread, you simply ate the piece whole before picking up the same thing König had. “And what’s this?”

“Schweinsbratn.” He didn’t even hesitate to gobble up his bread, already on his second one. This time he put some bacon on it with cheese. Eggs and horseradish weren’t missing this time either. One of the tomato slices was lifted off the plate and put on his instead.

You followed his example and put two slices of the meat on your bread, topping it off the same way as him. That meat wasn’t too bad actually either, it was obvious that it was made of pork. With the horseradish being very fresh it was only natural for it to be spicy still. It didn’t disappoint, the taste somewhat reminding you of wasabi, even if your eyes started watering a bit. Your bread was gone soon enough and you opted for another one. There was no telling if König’s next one was his third or fourth one already.

“So, Schatzi.” He prepared another one. “Is it good? Do you like it?”

“Oh, it actually is. It’s pretty good.” Taking some of the red pepper, you put it on your bread with Geselchtem, gulping down a few of the tomatoes. You were sort of surprised this stuff didn’t come with a salad as well.

By the time you were on your third bread, the plate was already pretty empty, with König having eaten quite a lot. He’s always had a rather big appetite, and for that you were grateful, there was no way you could have eaten all of that on your own. You hadn’t tried the dark, cut up sausage yet. Of course, you had no idea what that was either. “What’s this? Sausage?”

König quickly chewed the food in his mouth before swallowing it down. “Yes, that’s Hoatwiastl. Hartwürstel, I suppose. As the name suggests, it’s a hard sausage. It’s very good, though, you have to try it.”

It was rather hard indeed, you were glad it was cut up into smaller slices. Biting into it whole would be another other ordeal. It was too small to put on bread, so you ate it along with it. Once done, you were completely full, incapable of eating another bite. There were still pieces of meat and cheese left on the plate, it was unbelievable. König didn’t seem affected at all, he simply got up and started putting everything away before returning with a bottle. If you had to take an educated guess then there’s a chance “Wein” might have been the German word for “wine”. “Would you like a Spritzer? It’s essentially wine mixed with soda.”

“Is that really necessary? Do we really need to drink too?”

He chuckled a bit. “It’s a big part of our culture. Alternatively, I can offer you some Gösser or Puntigamer.” With an amused expression, he watched you weigh your options. You didn’t know what either of those things were, probably some sort of beer, thus making you better off with the wine, probably. König even got the two of you some wine glasses. They were fancy looking, but you weren’t sure if you could actually take a sip of that.

He really just put mineral water into some wine, drinking it slowly. With a watchful eye, he almost expected you to take after him, which you did eventually. It tasted exactly the way you’d imagine, sparkly wine with a bit less flavor. Not the worst you’ve ever had. The things you did to make your man happy.

You continued to eat for another few minutes, this time in silence, for the most part. The plate was certainly full at the beginning, you couldn’t believe your eyes when most of it was gone. Still, despite the culture being rather meat heavy, you had to admit, it was pretty good. However, it was very filling. You couldn’t eat another slice of bread, opting for the meat and sausage instead, eating some slices of cheese along with them. Maybe some mayonnaise would have been good with it as well, but you didn’t want to make the suggestion in case König didn’t like it.

After wiping his mouth with a paper towel, he sat back, letting out a content sigh while holding his tummy. Even he seemed to be rather full after the copious amounts of meat he had eaten. Not like you weren’t, however. He took another sip of his Spritzer before putting the plates away, with you helping him out a bit, naturally.

“Thank you for trying some of my food, I do appreciate it. Did you like it?” Cleaning the plates with a sponge, his focus was on getting the last few crumbs off it so he could put it in the dishwasher. You popped one last cherry tomato in your mouth before handing him another plate, giving him a hum of approval.

“Yeah, it was pretty good, but could we maybe eat something less meaty next time? This was quite a lot.”

“Don’t worry, Schatzi, next time we can eat Kasnudeln. They’re also very delicious!”

#cod #cod x reader #konig #könig #konig x reader #könig x reader #I am so hyped for that Osterjause you guys have no idea #there's nothing better than horseradish with some meat #I am drooling just thinking about it #this has been queued so by the time this is being posted I've likely already eaten a delicious Osterjause #I had a Jause back in January I think but that wasn't enough. I need something like this every month or else I will combust #anyway! Happy Easter everyone!#I know it likely isn't Easter yet for a lot of you but it's Easter here at the time this is being posted!#I love writing for König when the stars align. I love putting him in nice situations like this #that's not a lie but I also just love sharing my culture online so naturally I had to write about a good old Jause #I don't even know what the next big holiday is in all honesty?#Maifeiertag? but we don't really “celebrate” that #Staatsfeiertag maybe? but only with a few beers and Spritzer #I think the next big thing would be Christmas?#well if I'm still into CoD by then I'll write something for it #might as well mess around and write something birthday related though #but that can wait until it's my birthday

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doom-dreaming · 4 months

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High Flakes Combat

“Blue Lead,” Linda’s whisper cuts across TEAMCOM, crisp and several degrees colder than the icy landscape. “Hostiles approaching your position.”

Fred, tucked behind the trunk of a towering pine tree, exhales a slow, measured breath. Waiting. Listening. Without his motion tracker, only the crunch of footsteps in the snow—and Linda—could tell him when their opponents were closing in.

There. Fifteen meters out. He motions to John, positioned behind an adjacent tree. On my signal.

…ten meters…

Cover me. Go high.

…five meters…

John nods. Fred tightens his grip on his weapon.

Now.

As one, they pivot, breaching cover. Fred drops to a knee, attacking swiftly, before their adversary has a chance to retaliate.

The snowball hits Ash directly in the center of his chestplate. Active camouflage flickers briefly, then recalibrates, as the young Spartan crashes dramatically to his knees before sprawling backward, motionless.

Fred doesn’t let the theatrics distract him. The other two had to be nearby and the round wasn’t over until— A snowball whizzes past his head, followed by a sharp curse—out loud, close. He catches a shimmer of white on white as Olivia leaps to find cover and “reload,” but John is faster.

The snowball hits her thigh before she can complete her maneuver and she slides to a dejected halt in a snowbank. “Dammit! Mark!” she calls out. “You’re on your own!”

Fred doesn’t hear a verbal response. He knows he won’t, Mark’s too good to give away his position— Thwap. Fred’s vision goes fuzzy and white as Mark’s snowball connects with his visor, splattering on impact. Fred groans and flashes a red status light across his team’s HUDs. He’d be out until the next round.

“He’s on the move!” Linda barks over the comms.

Fred folds himself cross-legged into the snow and wipes his visor clean just in time to see Kelly bounding over a nearby ridge, clutching a snowball in each fist.

“I’ve got him!” She goes streaking across the snow toward a barely-visible figure—also sprinting.

Mark wouldn’t be able to outrun Kelly—a fact Fred knew the S-III was well aware of—but he was certainly trying his best.

Kelly nails Mark with both snowballs, one in the shoulder, the other in the back. He stumbles just enough that Kelly’s momentum sends her into him at full force. The clack of their colliding armor echoes like a shot as both Spartans go tumbling to the ground, sending up a minor flurry in their wake.

“Aaaaaaaand match!” Roland’s voice rings out over the simulation deck, followed by a buzzer. “Blue Team takes the win!”

“Again,” Olivia grumbles, pushing to her feet and dusting snow off her armor.

“It’s three against four,” Ash reminds her, still lying on his back a few feet from Fred.

Olivia crunches her way over and offers him a hand. “Can we make Kelly sit out the next round?”

“If you’re not having fun, leave,” John quips.

“Or maybe you should switch Kelly to our team and see how it feels,” Livi bites back, helping Ash haul himself to his feet.

“Fighting over me?” Kelly rejoins the group with Mark close behind. “I’m flattered.”

Fred chuckles. It was good to see Olivia trading barbs with John. The Gammas had warmed up to him quickly—and he to them—and it wasn’t hard to understand why. Fred was sure the S-IIIs had given him some new streaks of gray hair, but at the same time, they made him feel younger. He hoped they were having the same effect on John.

“So…” drawls a familiar voice, raised just loud enough to carry, “this is the reason my fireteams can't train today? A snowball fight.”

Every Spartan in the simulated snowscape whips toward the entrance. Commander Palmer stands at the far edge of the scene, arms crossed. She looks odd and out of place, a lone figure in a techsuit against the stark white surroundings, but no less intense than usual.

“Thought we’d try something different from the typical drills, ma’am,” Fred coughs. He’s not sure why he feels guilty; they’d requested the time and blocked out the schedule and followed protocol…even if they hadn’t said precisely what they’d be doing…

Before anyone else has a chance to speak, a snowball goes sailing over Fred’s shoulder, on a collision course for Palmer. She’s too far away to hit, but the aim is dead-accurate and it lands with a wet plap several yards directly in front of her.

Even at this distance, Fred sees her eyes narrow. The vague guilt solidifying in his gut crystallizes into ice. He knows who threw that and he’s already, reflexively, preparing for the necessary damage control—and for Linda, no less. Kelly he was used to, but Linda?

Palmer shifts her weight and fixes the seven of them with a hard stare that lasts long past the point of being uncomfortable. “Don’t go anywhere,” she eventually orders, leveling a finger in their direction. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.” Without leaving any opportunity for rebuttal, she turns on her heel and swiftly disappears from the deck.

Immediately, Linda’s status light starts blinking rapid-fire green across Blue Team’s HUDs. Kelly follows suit.

“Really?” Fred grumps over TEAMCOM.

“Can you blame her if it worked?” Kelly retorts.

“Yes! You’re making an assumption and setting a bad example.” He switches to his helmet’s speakers. “Gammas, don’t throw things at your commanding officers.”

“Unless you’re sleeping with them,” Kelly adds, with enough tact to keep the comment on Blue Team’s private channel.

Another green light from Linda.

Fred willfully ignores both of them.

“...we’re not in trouble, are we?” Ash removes his helmet and shakes out his hair. “To be honest…I don’t know what just happened.”

Kelly seats herself on a tree stump, legs akimbo, smugness oozing from every seam of her armor. “Palmer’s getting suited up to come play with us.”

Ash seems unconvinced but Mark shrugs. “She’ll balance the numbers. We might even start winning.”

Only Blue Team can see—and appreciate—the red light John flashes in silent response.

**********

As threatened, Palmer returns exactly ten minutes later, fully armored aside from the helmet tucked into the crook of her arm. “Okay, here’s the official story.” She strides up to the group. “We’re running an unorthodox but fully sanctioned training exercise all day.”

“I’ve cleared the schedule and put out an open invitation,” Roland chimes in. “As requested.”

Palmer nods her approval. “Figured I’d let you have your fun on the condition that the rest of us could get in on it too.” She raises an eyebrow. “Sound fair?”

“Fair enough,” Fred answers, echoing the array of green lights on his HUD. “Alright. Ground rules—we’re running blind for this, Commander. No motion trackers.”

She looks pleased. “I like a challenge.”

“If you get hit, you’re out for the round,” he continues. “Once you’re out, you can’t help anyone still standing. Round ends when a whole team goes down.” Fred nods toward the ceiling. “Roland’s keeping score.”

“Huh,” Palmer hums. “So you knew about this, too, Roland?”

“I…was informed the exercise would require a scorekeeper instead of a handler,” the AI answers, somehow managing to achieve the verbal equivalent of tip-toeing. “And I volunteered a mere fraction of my copious attention to the task.”

Palmer just rolls her eyes.

Ash clears his throat and steps forward. “If you wouldn’t mind, ma’am, we’d greatly appreciate it if you joined our team.”

“They’ve been wiping the floor with us,” Olivia adds, somewhat ruefully.

Palmer looks back and forth between Blue Team and the Gammas with a hint of a smirk. “Well.” She slips her helmet on. “Allow me to level the playing field.”

**********

And indeed, the tide began to turn. Quickly. It wasn’t that the Gammas couldn’t hold their own, but Palmer was a different flavor of ruthless and even numbers did make a difference.

Kelly, as Blue Team’s sole survivor, was in the midst of a valiant stand, but she was up against Palmer and Olivia and they were going in for the kill. Up to this point, Kelly had been relying on her speed to evade them, but Fred doubted that would be able to carry her any further.

Palmer and Livi split around the back of the snowbank Kelly had hidden behind, falling into synchronized step with each other, timing their paces perfectly. Palmer’s boots fall heavier and louder, covering Olivia’s near-silent glide around the other side.

The strategy is obvious, at least from Fred’s position of passive observation—Palmer would draw Kelly’s attention, Olivia would come up on her flank and take her out. And it would work, too…on anyone less observant than Kelly. Fred has a feeling she’ll see right through it. But one of them was going to hit her either way, so it didn’t really matter as far as the outcome was concerned.

Surprisingly, a third option presents itself. Fred realizes after a few seconds that he’s been holding his breath, expecting Kelly to explode out of the snow and make a run for it, but…she doesn’t.

Palmer reaches the other side of the snowdrift and slows, confusion evident in her body language. She paces around the area, making sure not to stay still for too long, obviously reluctant to let her guard down completely. Fred can see the hazy mirage of Olivia’s SPI suit still moving in with careful deliberation.

There was no way Kelly could have moved. She hadn’t had enough time. More importantly, she would’ve been spotted if she’d tried to flee, so why couldn’t—

Palmer disappears. One second, she’s standing on the other side of the snowbank, visible from the waist up, and the next second she’s gone. Fred can’t see much of anything, but there are sounds of a scuffle and the blur of camouflaged armor as Livi sweeps in to assist with whatever the hell had just happened.

Barely a breath later, Roland announces the end of the match. “And Gammas-Plus-Palmer emerge victorious! …or should I say Olivia, specifically, seeing as she is the last Spartan standing. You know, you really oughta come up with a better name for your team—”

There’s a burst of indignant exclamations and flustered cursing from Palmer. She reappears only to rip her helmet off and kick some snow back in the direction from which she’d escaped.

Olivia removes her own helmet; Fred is surprised to see her laughing. “She got you good!” There’s a giddiness in her voice that Fred’s never heard before, but she seems to remember who she's talking to a moment later. “...ma’am.”

Kelly pops up beyond the ridge. She remains helmeted but Fred knows there’s a shit-eating grin on her face just from her posture alone.

“What happened?” He shouts the question out loud.

“She buried herself in the fucking snow and pulled my legs out from under me,” Palmer growls as she trudges over.

“And then I hit Kelly point-blank in the face!”

Olivia’s gleeful comment is backed by Kelly’s laughter over TEAMCOM. “Worth it.”

“Hey!” A different voice cuts into the conversation, once again pulling everyone’s attention toward the entrance. “Heard there was some kinda free-for-all goin’ on in here?” Gabriel Thorne stands flanked by the rest of Fireteam Majestic, all in full Mjolnir. “Got room for another team?”

Palmer waves them in. “Come on up, Majestic. We’ll get you briefed on the rules.” She sighs and fits her helmet back on. “Hope you’re ready to get your asses kicked.”

**********

An hour later, after Majestic had carved out a few victories of their own, Crimson shows up. Rules are recounted, home bases are realigned, play resumes. Within another two hours, there are four more Spartan fireteams on the field. Alliances are formed, both openly and secretly. Several hours are devoted to building snow forts. Play evolves. Forts are defended and captured, sabotaged and reinforced.

And then Lasky arrives.

“Captain on deck!” Roland bellows.

The silence that blankets the simulation deck is instantaneous and absolute. Nobody moves. If the snowballs already in flight could have frozen in midair, they probably would’ve. Instead, they land in a chorus of muffled thwumps.

Lasky stands there for a few seconds, small and unimposing by the distant doors, sporting his trademark expression of beleaguered amusement—presumably at being called out. “Don’t stop on my account,” he eventually says. “I just wanted to watch. …unless there’s a team looking for a liability,” he jokes with a self-deprecating chuckle.

Everyone on the field exchanges glances and shrugs. A sea of status lights blink across Fred’s HUD—most amber, some green. Finally, someone from Crimson waves Lasky over. “We’ll take you, Captain!”

He seems genuinely surprised by the invitation, but begins the trek across the snow. “Try not to kill me, alright?”

That draws laughs from most of the Spartans, but it’s John who actually banters back. “No promises, sir.”