@crystalcat025

Hi there!

My name is Scythe(or Joel)! I am a full-time college student and part-time artist! I draw a lot of stuff about whatever I'm currently hyper-fixated on and have such a bad post schedule that its not even funny(I am so sorry in advance I know its bad-). Anyway, uh- enjoy my silly little art things!

What I do!

Art Commissions! Conflicting Lives (OC-insert fanfic) Animations Fanart

My Interests and Hobbies! (This will likely change over time If I ever remember to change this at least-)

Hermitcraft/EmpiresSMP/Life Series PHIGHTING! (ALPHA) Forsaken

My Socials! (aka where you can find me)

YouTube Twitch Tumblr (You're here! :D) Art Fight

Cause a little chaos today, just because you can :)

Conflicting Lives Character Art

Hi there! Here are all the official (and some unofficial but really cool) art of my Hermitcraft/Life Series Hero and Villain AU, Conflicting Lives! All links are in order from when I originally posted, from top to bottom. Have fun looking at them all! Most are digital, but those that are traditional are marked in (parentheses)

Jealous Joel (Civilian Joel SmallishBeans, Traditional)

Chroma Charisma (Villain Scott Smajor)

Xelqua's Watch (Villain Grian)

Scythe's Many Lives (Civilian, Hero, and Villain Scythe)

Blocking Blaze (Villain TangoTek)

Conflicting Lives Tags List and Directory

Why hello there! This is a post of all tags to use for my Hermitcraft/Life Series Hero and Villain AU, Conflicting Lives! This is an extension of the materpost and more information is found there!

TAG LIST

#conflictinglives - any and everything to do with Conflicting Lives! #cl art - art, doodles, sketches, and anything other form of art of Conflicting Lives characters! #cl ask - any responses or answers to asks related to or about Conflicting Lives #cl fanart - any and all Conflicting Lives art not made by me that I come across! #cl writing - chapters and other little silly writing works that I consider to be cannon to Conflicting Lives (and some silly things like the incorrect quotes) #cl info - this is where worldbuilding information like the various powers and how the world looks #cl ref - used for any character references for anyone new introduced throughout the story chapters!

Something to note, not all of these tags are not exactly existent yet, and that's mostly due to me being super forgetful and getting this done way later than I would've liked. Also because I don't really have anything to use for some of them, like the asks one at the time of posting this.

Conflicting Lives- Chapter 6: Comfort and Chill Vibes

Word Count: 2247

It was the third day following the meeting. Scythe had woken up later on the same day of the meeting, about an hour after the others had gotten him back to his dorm room, but didn't talk much, just letting the others chat around him. Sam was coming over today though, so he at least had something to look forward to. He mostly just sat on the couch either watching tv or playing some games, but today he was too excited to see someone else to properly focus on anything on the tv. 

Thankfully, Scythe didn't have to wait all too much longer in his little pool of excitement before there was a knock on the door. “Come in!” Scythe yelled from where he sat. Ella was in class right now, and the door had been left unlocked for the past few days so friends could come check on him if they needed to, and he didn't mind one bit. Sam walked in, taking care not to knock anything over with his extra arms, they came with being a spider hybrid after all.

“Hey Scythe, How are you feeling today?” Sam asked with a wide smile. Sam goes to Cursia University as well as Ella and Scythe, and studies his major, Digital Game Design, as an off-campus student, traveling to go to his classes. He walked over to where Scythe was on the couch and sat down next to him.

“Way better honestly even though I still don't quite understand how I got so panicked so quickly. It is what it is I guess,” Scythe responded as he moved to the side a little to give Sam more sitting room. “I’m glad to have you here though it's been forever since we’ve been able to just hang out, chaos causing or not” 

Sam chuckled and agreed, “Yeah it really had, but with what's been going on I'm not really surprised we haven't been able to either.” The pair sat for a minute longer, simply enjoying each other's company. And then there was a knock on the door.

The door burst open, and before Scythe could turn to see who it was, he heard a familiar Australian accent. “What’s this then? A sad friend? Well that just won’t do!” That's when both Sam and Scythe found themselves with chocolates and chips being dropped on their heads.

Scythe chuckled and looked up where the friendly voice was coming from. “Hey Pearl!” Scythe said with a smile plastered across his face. “Did you really come all the way from Survas just to dump junk food on me? And you didn't have to open the door so fast either y'know.”

“Nonsense, of course I have to make an entrance! How else do you think I got my reputation as Scarlet Moon?” The tall moth hybrid replied with a smirk and a wink. She walked around and plopped down onto the floor in front of the two younger men, and looked expectantly at them. “Well, are you going to try anything or not? Cleo and Gem made those right there--” Pearl pointed to two pieces of tupperware, one circular and one square, that had landed between Scythe and Sam “-- and the two made sure that they were your favorite.”

Scythe looked at the circular tupperware, hardly hesitating before grabbing it and opening the lid. Almost instantly the smell of chorus fruit met his nose, the scent of pie coming only a moment later. He looked back at Pearl, still sitting on the ground, and said with a grin, “Please tell them I say thank you and that I love them. It has been far too long since I've had chorus pie and I know it'll be damn good if both of them had a hand in it.”

He took one more good sniff and put the lid back on to save for later. Reaching for the other, more square tupperware, Scythe opened it as well. “And fudge brownies?? Oh my void those two are saints I swear.” he said as soon as he saw what was inside of the container. Sam and Pearl burst into laughter, and it took a minute for Scythe to realize what they were laughing about before he started laughing too

“I don’t know if I would call those two saints but they sure are something.” Sam said in between laughs. “It definitely is nice of them to do that for you though.” The three finally stopped laughing as much, and Scythe found himself nodding in agreement.

“They may be chaotic but who’s to say you guys aren't either?” Pearl responded

“Yeah but you and Cleo are something else entirely” Scythe said back with a smirk.

“Hey you can’t say anything either, Scythe. Not with what you and Joel can get up to together.” Sam said, and Pearl stuck her tongue out at the Enderman hybrid in a mocking victory.

“Wooooow Sam. And I thought you loved me,” He said back playfully, holding his hand to Sam's face, blocking the view of the others' faces. The pair on the couch laughed, pearling chuckling along as well.

Scythe handed the other two a brownie after pulling one out for himself. “We all deserve a wonderful brownie if I do say so myself.” He said after taking a bite of his own piece, and the other two nodded in agreement while taking a bite.

The three just sat and talked for a few minutes longer, each enjoying the snacks Pearl had brought. They ended up splitting just about everything between themselves, Scythe making sure to grab a few that he knew Ella would like. He enjoyed having the company of others with him, but these were two of a select few people that he enjoyed talking to the most.

“Do you guys want to play some games?” Scythe asked eventually. “I’m not quite sure what we have that all 3 of us will want to play but we can always look”

“Sure! What kind of games ya got?” Pearl replied.

“I don’t even think he knows what he has himself” Sam chuckled and said, causing Scythe to stick his tongue out.

“I know most of the games I have, thank you very much! I just don’t know what we all want to play!” He pouted as he responded.

“Quit your bickering ya spoons,” Pearl said, standing up and gently hitting them both on the top of the head, effectively bonking the pair. “Let’s see what games you’ve got, eh Scythe?”

Scythe nearly jumped off the couch and to his shelf of video games, pulling around 15 off of it to show to the pair waiting behind him. He excitedly “ran” back to them, sitting on the ground and spreading them out in front of him. 

“This one--” he pointed to a game on the left side of the spread, “-- is more of a sandbox game. Its open-world type but still kind of has a goal but really we could all play and do whatever.” he pointed  to one a few to the right, “And this one is more a fighting type game, but not in like a 1v1 type style but more of like pve style and can have I think up to five players in a game.

This one over here is sort of a mix. It has the partial open world and sandbox type aspects, but it's also a lot about surviving and building a base from primitive tools to advanced machinery.” that time Scythe was pointing to a game on the far right side. He explained the rest in a similar way, then waited for Pearl and Sam’s responses.

After what felt like forever to Scythe, but was only probably a few more seconds, Sam spoke. “I think the mixed kind of one sounds cool. It could be a really fun challenge.” Pearl nodded in agreement, “it certainly does sound like a challenge, and a fun one at that!” She said with a smile.

And so Scythe booted up the game and they played. They played for what felt like hours. At some point, Ella has returned to the dorm after her classes for the day, hopped in a shower and had some snacks. She joined in as well, opting to be the farmer in the game, focused on getting food for them all. Pearl took the role of building the house up, Sam took to material gathering for just about everything, and Scythe took to taming the beasts that the in-game world had to offer.

They must have played though the entire night, as when they were finally starting to get tired the clock read 10:42pm. They all winced simultaneously at how late it was getting, and Pearl was the first to stand, followed by Sam.

“I should probably be getting home right about now lovelies, but thank you for letting me stay and play some games with ya!” she said, grabbing the few belongings she had brought along with her. The other three said goodbye, and Pearl left the dorm room and Scythe could’ve sworn he saw her flying through the window..

The three friends sat for a few minutes longer, but it wasn't too much longer until Sam grabbed their own items. “I should probably head home too. All of my stuff for my classes tomorrow are at home.” The spider hybrid said, double checking he did have all of his belongings.

“Alright, well get home safe Sam.” Ella said, helping him to get all of his surviving snacks in his multiple appendages and minimal bags. “Don’t do anything stupid on your way back.” She added with a small glare.

“Hey I’m not that dumb--” Sam's said, turning back to face Ella, stopping what he was saying at her stare. “-- ok maybe I can be but it's too late to do anything, plus I already said i have classes tomorrow I’m not going to do anything.” He conceded. 

“If I know you and Scythe, and I do--” Ella looked at Sam, then at Scythe, “-- you guys get up to stupid shit at stupid times. I know you likely won’t do anything stupid, but that doesn't mean you won’t at all.” She ended her sentence, making sure to enunciate each point of her mini-lecture.

Sam looked at Scythe for some support. “Come one Scythe help me out here man.” “I wish I could Sam but, well, she’s not wrong.” the Enderian replied, and Ella’s face turned into one of triumph.

“How could you betray me?” Sam said jokingly before the three laughed together a bit. “Alright , alright, I wont do anything too stupid. I promise.” He added as Ella looked at him once more with suspicion.

The trio said their goodbyes to each other, and when Ella had closed the door behind Sam, Scythe grabbed something. As she made it back to the couch where he was sitting, Scythe held out the circular tupperware from earlier in the day.

“What’s this?” Ella said, looking at the container Scythe handed her, trying to determine what it was before opening it. “Is it something that Pearl had brought?”

Scythe nodded, “Yeah! Cleo and Gem made it for me, but I thought we should share a slice or two given what it is.” Ella looked at him curiously. “Open it you dummy! Look at what it is!” he said in response to her curious glance.

She chuckled a little to herself and opened the container. The smell of the Chorus Pie once again hit Scythe’s nose, and he could tell that Ella was excited about the delicious treat as well. She looked back up at him, her eyes full of excitement. “Can we eat some now?” she asked, her multi-colored wings flapping a bit in her excitement..

Scythe laughed, “Yes, yes we can.” he grabbed the tupperware back from her and got up to go to the kitchen and cut a few slices. “You know, you can be really cute when you get all giddy and excited like that.” he said, smiling as he put each slice onto its own plate, grabbing a fork each. Ella’s cheeks turned a lighter, pinker hue, and her wings instinctively moved to cover her face. “The little wing movements make it even cuter.” Scythe added.

He chuckled as he walked back to the couch with the chorus pie slices, setting one next to a flustered and “hidden” Ella. Slowly, his winged partner  emerged from her feathered cocoon, mumbling small curses as she picked up her plate and took a bite of the pie. Almost as soon as she took the bite, her wings flapped a bit happily.

Scythe chuckled to himself once more, and Ella shot him a glare before taking another bite, and he put his hands up in defeat. Taking a bite of his own slice, Scythe appreciated Pearl's partners ever more for the pie, and how well they made it. From what he knew, chorus pie was pretty difficult to make, mainly because of the toughness and general difficulty to handle chorus fruit itself.

As the clock ticked ever closer to midnight, Scythe and Ella ate their slices of pie, chatted about some random stuff, and even played a few games, more chill in comparison to the one they were playing with Sam and Pearl. By the time the clock did hit midnight, the pair were already in bed, falling asleep and getting ready for another hopefully peaceful day.

<<<Previous Next>>>

Conflicting Lives- Incorrect Quotes 2

Have some more silly little things lol. from the same website as the last one, here

Lunar: I sleep with a gun under my pillow. Sam: I sleep with a knife. Ella: Both of you are pathetic. Lunar: Oh yeah? What do you sleep with? Ella: Scythe.

Etho: You really believe in Joel? Lizzie: Mmm… Luckily, he believes in himself enough for the both of us.

Ella, turning to Scythe: Stop calling yourself hot, the only thing you can turn on is the microwave.

Tango: Jimmy, you’re in charge! Scott: Jimmy, can we start a fire?

Scott: Tango isn’t answering my messages. Jimmy: Allow me. Scott: I tried 6 times, what makes you thi- Tango: *replying to message* Hello.

Mumbo: *is wearing silk pants* How does this look? Scar: Like its slips on and off really easily. Mumbo: Scar: No, I didn't mean it like that- Grain: We know what you meant.

Cleo: So are you gonna explain how the hell you crashed my car? Pearl: Well we were driving and there was a deer in the road, so I said "Gem, deer!" Cleo: ...And what did Gem do? Pearl: …They said "Yes, Honey?"

Ella: Come on, Lunar. Nobody actually believes that Scythe is in love with me. Lunar, to The Squad: Raise your hand if you think that Scythe is helplessly in love with Ella. *Everyone raises their hand* Ella: Scythe, put your hand down.

Pearl: We’ve been conducting an ongoing study to see what Joel will and will not eat. Sam: Grass? Yes! Pearl: Moss? Yes!! Sam: Leaves? Ohh, yes! Pearl: Shoelaces? Strange but true! Sam: Worms? Sometimes! Pearl: Rocks? Usually nah. Sam: Twigs? Usually! Pearl: Scar's cooking? Inconclusive! Jimmy: How did you… test this? Pearl: You just hand them stuff and say ‘eat this’ and if they eat it, they eat it. Jimmy: ... I don’t know how to feel about this. Scar: IS THAT WHERE ALL MY SPARE SHOELACES WENT?

Scar: Show me Pennsylvania. Scythe: I don’t know Canadian geography.

Cleo: I have a question. Scythe: Shoot. Cleo: Is the S or C in scent silent? Gem: Fuck you, I’m going to be thinking about this all day. Scythe: Okay well, cent is pronounced the same way as scent so I’m gonna say the S is silent. Cleo: Okay, but sent is also spelled the same way. Gem: Google says that the C was added in the late seventeenth century, so I guess the S is silent. Joel: Plot twist, both the S and the C are silent and the E actually makes the sss sound. Gem: Joel is not allowed to talk anymore.

Scythe: You are the love of my life and I would do anything within reason to make you happy. Ella: I would be happy if you ate, stayed hydrated and got a reasonable amount of sleep. Scythe: I said within reason, Ella. How about I murder that guy? Ella: So murder is in reason but proper self care isn't? Scythe: Well, duh. What kind of question is that?

Here's what i was able to get done today! it feels like i got barely anything done in the 5-6 hours i streamed, but at the same time i didn't have much of a clue what i was doing with Scythe's design in any way so its also good progress! I do plan to stream more of this and even chapter writing in the future, so if you want to check that stuff out follow me on twitch!

I'm Live on Twitch!

I'm live on Twitch and drawing some new character designs for Conflicting Lives!! Everyone is welcome to come in and hang out!

https://www.twitch.tv/scythe_gameing

Conflicting Lives- Character Designs 7/?

Characters introduced in Chapter 7!

Note: all character designs are made with Gacha Club due to a lack in my own artistic abilities at the current time. Please feel free to interpret my designs in your own style!

Empyrians

Conflicting Lives- Chapter 7: Midnight Nightmare, Afternoon Patrol

Word Count: 2788

Scythe looked up at Martian from where he was poised on the ground, clutching the deep wound in his right side. The red-clad villain had knocked him down with a powerful blow, and he was now half laying, half sitting against the brick wall of the alleyway they were in. A small pool of Scythe's crimson-violet blood was forming on the rough concrete below him, also scattered across Martian's upper body from their fight.

Scythe tried desperately to crawl away from Martian. He still had his entire life ahead of him. He was scared to die, and he didn’t want to die either, but something told him that Martian wouldn't let him go, even if he was begging on the brink of death.

But he still tried. “Please…” Scythe said, his voice barely above a whisper thanks to his quickly fading strength. As Martian stopped in front of him, Scythe could no longer hold his head up to look at him. “Please… I don’t want to die…”

“If only you had realized that sooner.” Martian smirked, his confidence and hatred oozing out as he spoke. “Too bad, no one’s here to save poor, little…” His voice faded, Scythe seeing his lips move, words forever unheard.

His voice now barely audible to even himself, Scythe’s vision blurred with the tears that now ran down his cheeks,  mixing with the drying blood on his face. Martian squatted down to where Scythe was laying on the ground, and lifted his head with his fingers covered in the Enderian's blood.

In the brits place, a soft, worried voice filled. “...Scythe… Scythe!” The young Enderian’s eyes shot open and he scrambled to sit up. He moved his hand almost immediately to his right side where he swore he still felt the pain of his wound.

Scythe’s heart still raced and his breath still seemed to come a bit short as he looked around the room he was in. He was in his room, in his dorm, in Cursia, and far, far, away from Martian. Taking a deep breath, Scythe took his hand off of his side, the pain from his nightmare still lingering in his mind.

“Scythe, are you alright?” The soft voice said again, somehow filled with even more worry. He looked to the side and saw Ella sitting up beside him, her eyes filled with worry and her wings fluffed in a protective manner. Scythe moved his hand to hers and slowly nodded.

“I think so, now that I’m awake.” He said slowly, testing to see how much she wanted to know, and how much he was willing to share. The worry in Ella’s eyes softened slightly, but she was still very obviously concerned about him.

“I promise, Ella. I’ll be fine. I just need to wrap my head around what happened.” He looked away as he said that, thinking about the dream a moment longer, then looked at Ella one more time. “You don’t have to worry love, I’ll be ok.”

Ella crossed her arms and looked away, fake pouting as she spoke. “I don’t believe you.” she said simply, her wings flapping very slightly on her back. Scythe simply chuckled and pulled her close, resting his head on hers.

“You don’t have to believe me, you just have to trust me.” he said to her, and she took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around him in return. The pair stayed like that for a few minutes longer, simply enjoying the warmth and comfort of the other.

Eventually, Scythe spoke again. “How about we try to sleep again? It's still too early to be fully awake, and I have a patrol to watch for myself at noon.” he had said. Ella took a few moments before responding, her voice quiet and edged with sleepiness. “Fine, but you’re not escaping cuddles.”

Scythe chuckled, his chest shaking and his mood improving immediately, the nightmare temporarily forgotten. “Alright, alright. We can cuddle back to sleep, but we have to lay back down to cuddle properly.”

Ella almost immediately let go and layed back down in the bed, shuffling and adjusting to make room for Scythe to lay next to her, and held her arms out to beckon him down. He chuckled once more under his breath before adjusting himself to properly lay down, Ella pulling him to her as soon as he got situated, and he wrapped his arms around her in turn.

“Now sleep. And no nightmares during cuddles.” Ella said. “Alright, no nightmares with cuddles.” Scythe conceded. The two Enderian hybrids held each other, eventually falling asleep cradled in each others arms with no nightmares or unsettling dreams to be had for the remainder of the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scythe woke up a few hours later, the sun shining through the window blinds, the clock by the bed reading 10:40am. As he rubbed his eyes from their sleepiness, realizing that he now had an hour and 20 minutes to get dressed, eat, and get to the Agency building for his patrol.

“Good morning sleepyhead” Scythe heard Ella say from the doorway, not even realizing she had opened it. The sweet and savory smell of waffles met his nose, and he smiled a still-sleepy smile.

“Good morning my favoritest person in the world.” Scythe said, rubbing his eyes once more and getting up from the bed. He walked over to the doorway where Ella still stood, holding his arm out for a hug as he approached. Chuckling, she embraced his hug and after a few moments, let go and led him into the kitchen where the wonderful smell was coming from.

Spread across the kitchen counters was admittedly a mess, but amongst the mess sat two pretty plates of food. One of waffles, and one of bacon and eggs. Scythe’s mouth started to water from the smell and sight of the delicious food, and he grabbed a plate to get himself some breakfast. Ella soon followed, and they sat down at the small table to eat their breakfast/brunch.

It didn't take long to eat considering Scythe had found himself to be very hungry when he took the first bite. Once finished, he and Ella rinsed their dishes, and he helped her to clean up the mess that was spread amongst the kitchen counter. It took a few minutes longer than expected, and once the pair had finally finished cleaning the counter and washing the dishes, it was 11:00.

With an hour before he had to be at the agency, Scythe decided it was about time to get dressed in his Uniform and head out. He figured that if he left earlier than he usually would, he might be able to save some energy by going slower in case anything, or anyone, came up. Him and Ella talked for a bit longer after Scythe had changed.

He ended up leaving at around 11:15, but that still left him 45 minutes to get there. Before long, he pulled out his phone and messaged Joel.

Scythe: Do you want to join me on the way to Patrol?

Joel: Why? Are you lonely without me?

Scythe: Oh shut up! Have you met yourself when it's been a long day and you haven’t had the chance to see Etho or Lizzie?

Joel: …

Joel: Shut up. 

Scythe: Hmm

Scythe: No, I don’t think I will

Joel: Rude.

Scythe: Yeah :D

Scythe laughed to himself, and he was sure that Joel was too at his

house. It was a few moments until Joel started typing again.

Scythe put his phone back away, and started leaping and climbing his way up the nearest easily accessible rooftop. Once up, he looked around to make sure of which way he needed to go in. He realized he needed to go in the opposite direction he was facing, but once corrected, he started heading to the address.

Joel: Where do you want to meet? I have to get changed, but it shouldn’t take too long.

Scythe: How about that one café off of  [xxxx] and [xxxx]?

Joel: Sure, I’m about 10 minutes out, tops.

Scythe: I’m about the same, meet ya there.

Read

Leaping across all kinds of different kinds of roofs, Scythe swiftly made it to the café, making sure to put up an illusion before hopping back down onto the street and walking up to the building’s doors.

After placing his drink order, Scythe found a seat close to the door and a window so he could see Joel when he got here. It didn’t take long before he saw Joel walking up the door, and when he walked through the door, Scythe waved to get his attention. Joel waved back and walked up to the counter to place his own order, then joined the younger man at the table.

“Fancy seeing you here, eh stranger?” Joel said with a wide smile as he sat down in the chair. 

“Oh wow, didn’t know you hang around these parts, stranger.” Scythe responded while trying, and failing, to hold back his laughter

Before long, the two burst out into laughter, and once they had stopped laughing, a worker came by with their drinks. Scythe could swear he recognized her bright orange hair and antlers, with the pointy elf ears to match. Nevertheless, he thanked her for bringing their drinks, and took a drink of his own cappuccino.

Scythe must have been very visible in deep thought about the waitress, and Joel most definitely noticed. “You alright there mate? You’re thinking too much, I can tell.” Scythe perked up, momentarily forgetting that he was in the café in the first place.

“Yeah, sorry.” Scythe rubbed his head before continuing, “I feel like I know that waitress from somewhere else, I just can’t place where from.” He took another drink of his coffee, and waited for Joel to respond.

“I thought so too, but damn dude you think too much.” Joel said after taking a drink of his own coffee. After he took his drink he just shrugged ,”You’ll figure it out at some point, let's just enjoy our drinks until we have to go.”

“Fair enough” Scythe felt himself agreeing. He knew he would figure it out another day, but the girl seemed to stick in the back of his mind until the pair had finished their drinks and had to leave once more.

They had spent about 15 minutes there, and only had about another 15 to get to the Agency building. It would be a close fit, but they would be able to get there in time. Walking out of the building, Scythe turned to Joel with a mischievous smile on his lips.

“Bet I can beat you there without teleporting!” he said as he jumped away from the brunette. He had jumped to the ladder of a nearby building, using it to climb up onto the roof. Once he made it up, he disabled his illusion, revealing his hero uniform and he peered over the edge of the building to where Joel was standing before, only to find him missing.

“Y’know you’re a bit slow climbing things, right?” Scythe heard a voice from behind him, really close to his ear, and jumped. Turning around, he saw Joel there with his wings and hero uniform, smirking even wider than he had been earlier.

“Not fair! You have wings!” Scythe pouted. “You can use your wings to get there either, just like I can't teleport.” he tried to reason.

Joel pondered on the thought for a moment before responding. “Fine, sounds fair enough. But if the time cuts too close I can’t promise I won't fly the rest of the way” The brunette shifted his weight to one leg and crossed his arms. “Deal?”

Scythe stood up from where he was still crouched on the rooftop. “Deal. See you later, slow poke!” and with that, he ran and jumped to the next rooftop, landing well and keeping his momentum to run and leap to the next. 

After landing again, Scythe looked back to find Joel confused for a split second before making a running start and following. Both of them had smiles plastered across their faces as they ran, the lead constantly fluctuating between them. At one point, Scythe had misjudged a jump, landing rough and killing most of his momentum, where Joel had used his wings to help him clear the gap.

Seeing Joel use his wings to help him, Scythe recovered quickly, catching up easily with a small, innocent, teleport forward. “You use your wings, I use my teleporting!” he said as he caught up to Joel, teleporting to a nearby rooftop to gain the lead once more, smiling mischievously the whole time.

Joel, temporarily stunned and confused, launched himself in the air a moment later, zooming up to where Scythe was, now quite a few rooftops in front of him. “It’s not my fault you misjudged the leap! I was only using my resources!” he said before propelling himself further forward and up with his wings.

“If you want to play that way, it looks like I'll just have to use my resources too.” Scythe said to himself, Joel being well out of earshot by now. He teleported to the next few rooftops, closing the gap between him and Joel. Once he was close enough and made sure he had enough energy to teleport again, he teleported a few meters in front of Joel. He had positioned the teleport so that Joel would have to catch him if he wanted to keep flying, and so that he wouldn't crash down onto a rooftop.

And it worked perfectly. Joel saw Scythe falling in front of him and scrambled to catch him and keep flying before he crashed to the ground. After realizing what Scythe had done, Joel looked at the young enderian with a glare that shot all kinds of daggers.

“I used my resources, just like you did” is all that Scythe said in response, earning an eye roll and annoyed scoff from the winged brunette who held him. 

“You’re damn lucky that I care about you enough not to drop you right now.” Joel said after a minute more of just flying. Scythe saw that he was smiling, and he smiled as he replied, “I know, but all that teleporting was getting exhausting anyways.”

Joel muttered something along the lines of “Fair enough, I guess,” and flew the rest of the way to the Agency. It only took them around 5 more minutes to get there, and they spent probably around 12 or 13 getting there in total.

With those few minutes left once they actually arrived, they went inside to see who else was there, and to see if they could find their other 2 patrol members.

It didn't take long at all to find them either. iWork and Voidling were talking with each other just inside of the main doors, looking over at Scythe and Joel as they walked in. Voidling seemed to smile under his mask as he waved the pair over. “Lux, Stratos! Come over and chat for a bit before we go!” He said in a cheery tone.

Scythe smiled and walked over to them, Joel following close behind. “Hey guys!” He said as he got to them, and was handed a cup of water. He shrugged and took a drink, liking the way the cold helped to cool him down from the journey. 

“Safe passage here I hope?” iWork asked after handing Joel a cup of his own. 

Joel took a drink before he replied. “It was, but this child--” he looked at Scythe “-- decided to teleport in front of me while I was flying and made me have to carry him the rest of the way”

“Hey! I didn’t make you carry me! You even said so yourself; you care too much about me to have dropped me!” Scythe replied with a playfully offended gasp.

The winged man’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink. “Oh, shut up! No one asked for your input peanut gallery!” he reported jokingly.

“Alright you two, settle down.” Voidling said, stepping forward slightly to position himself between Joel and Scythe as they stared at each other. The masked hero turned to iWork and said, “It looks like we might have our hands full this afternoon.”

“Hey!” Scythe and Joel said simultaneously, causing the other two men to burst out in laughter, themselves stunned into silence and just staring at each other.

“Did that just happen?” Scythe asked.

“Yeah. Yeah it did.” Joel replied.

And the pair stood in shock as Voidling and iWork died of laughter on the floor.

(to be continued)

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