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Marvelous Man - Chapter 21


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All comments and critiques are welcomed here and on my Google Docs(https://drive.google.com/open?id=1va_QP1NSQgduxt4gKPKujgkOQdP790ShBojSOWz6x6c)

For other chapters, I will post them on here later. But you can find the archives on my FA and Tumblr with pics included.

FA: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ecchimultiverse/

Tumblr: http://ecchimultiverse.tumblr.com/

For first looks and more illustrations, check out my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ecchimultiverse

First Chapter | Previous Chapter |  Next Chapter

SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PATRONS:
DONALD MORGAN, ANDREW L, & SPECTRI

All comments and critiques are welcomed here and on my Google Docs(https://drive.google.com/open?id=1va_QP1NSQgduxt4gKPKujgkOQdP790ShBojSOWz6x6c)

For other chapters, I will post them on here later. But you can find the archives on my FA and Tumblr with pics included.

FA: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ecchimultiverse/

Tumblr: http://ecchimultiverse.tumblr.com/

For first looks and more illustrations, check out my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ecchimultiverse

First Chapter | Previous Chapter |  Next Chapter

SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PATRONS:
DONALD MORGAN, ANDREW L, & SPECTRI

 

Chapter 21: Insight

Stepping through the exit of Sunnysville, Marvelous Man arrived back into his apartment from the closet door. The muscle demigod pulled the key out of  the lock before closing the door behind himself. He gazed at his living room, as he turned around. It was still dimly lit with the light bulbs set to low and no sunlight in sight.

Marvelous Man slowly made his way back to his bedroom. He glanced at a clock while passing by that had read half past three in the morning. His parents had no doubt kidnapped him soon after Gene fell asleep. Seconds had only ticked by in the real world, while the musclebound superhero got his rest in Sunnysville for however long it took before waking up.

Opening the door to his room, he spotted Gene sleeping beneath the covers of his bed. Marvelous Man quietly undressed himself, while kicking away his articles of clothing to a side of the bedroom. The hulking bodybuilder then took soft steps towards the empty side of the bed; slipping underneath the sheets upon arrival.

Marvelous Man laid his head against his pillow and turned to Gene. The Totochtin prince was in a deep sleep; giving off a small sigh with every few breaths. The white rabbit ears were relaxed and tucked behind Gene’s head like a sleeping rabbit. Marvelous Man continued to stare at his superhero partner, as his eyes slowly drifted back to sleep.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The musclebound superhero awakened hours later, as the beams of morning sunlight cascaded through the bedroom windows. Gene stirred from slumber soon after Marvelous Man rose from his bed. As the two got ready to leave, they hardly said a word to one another. Both were preoccupied; Gene mentally contacting their mystical field analyst, Fairuza, and Marvelous Man texting. Marvelous Man could feel Gene emanating emotions of uncertainty but decided to question the bunny demigod after the meeting with Director Doug.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The two superheroes stood in front of the Demonic Authority Bureau headquarters. Marvelous Man stared off into the distance, as Gene leaned next to the entrance.

Gene spoke up, “Who is it that we are doing the waiting for?”

“A friend,” answered Marvelous Man.

The musclebound superhero continued to watch the many people passing by the headquarters; heading down wherever the sidewalks took the citizens. Marvelous Man’s squinting finally broke into widened eyes, as he smiled. He then began waving his bulky arm at the public.

He exclaimed, “There he is!”

A skeletal ghoul dressed in a purple suit strolled towards the two with a relaxed gait. Sugar Skull appeared to have a cocky grin...though Marvelous Man could only sense it, since the limbo being had no facial skin or muscles. As the skeletal ghoul drew closer, Marvelous Man could hear Gene almost whispering at him in a hushed tone.

“I would like to remind you that Doug will not be the pleased,” said Gene.

Marvelous Man frowned, “Yeah, but this is important. We need to work together if the Skeleton Lord comes back. Besides, Sugar Skull saved my life, so Director Skye should be able bear him just this once.”

Gene paused. He continued staring at the ghoul walking closer to them in a flamboyant style. The Totochtin prince stifled a giggle.

“I cannot say the same for Puzzles,” smirked Gene.

Marvelous Man grinned, “Heh, I bet he’s gonna flip. What do you think he’ll do?”

“He will most likely stab the ghoul,” said Gene, “How did you manage to get the Sugar Skull’s phone number?”

Marvelous Man replied, “He gave me his card a while back.”

Upon the ghoul’s arrival, Marvelous Man exchanged hugs and pleasantries with him before heading inside the headquarters. Employees silently gawked at Sugar Skull, as the trio made their way towards the elevator. The limbo being made sure to flirt with every D.A.B. worker he passed by; giving out his business card with each one. From the people who looked at the cards, most wore a disgusted look on their faces. Others simply appeared to be intrigued.

Arriving on the fifth floor, the three made their way towards the office of Director Skye. Marvelous Man allowed his friends to enter the room first before ducking inside. He made sure to tuck his head down to avoid banging his forehead against the doorframe. As he shut the door behind him, the air felt as if it had become heavy with tension. The musclebound superhero looked across the room to see his higher commands staring back at the trio. Director Skye was stationed behind his desk, and Puzzles was perched on top of the wooden furniture with an electronic scroll in his hands.

The Director’s eyes were full of displeasure, while Puzzle’s was engulfed in fury. The smoke imp immediately tossed the electronic scroll onto the desk before standing up. Puzzles flashed his sharp, white fangs, as his hands began to glow a soft, blue light.

He hissed in his thick, Russian accent, “YOU!”

Sugar Skull stepped forward. The ghoul threw his arms up; his body language intentionally trying to draw attention towards himself. His purple teeth chattered in delight.

“ME!” he shouted.

A mystical rune appeared in front of the smoke imp’s hands for a brief second before shattering. In its place were a set of daggers; automatically settled in Puzzles’ grip. The hilt of the bladed weapons were striped in white and blue. The silver blade was accompanied by two smaller blades pointing out to the right and left; perfect for catching attacks. Puzzles leaned forward with his legs bent in preparation for a big leap.

The Director calmly called out, “That’s enough, Puzzles.”

Puzzles hesitated before slowly turning his head towards his master. His eyes, still clouded with fury, sparkled with confusion.

“We do not attack invited guests...even if we were the ones who did not hand out the invitation. Until he instigates with ill intent, we simply cannot do harm against the Bruja’s ghoul,” stated Director Skye.

Puzzles pointed his dagger at the ghoul, “HE is no guest, Boss! That is a thief! He has already done ill intent! We let him in once, and that fatherfucker steals one of our archived magical relics!”

Sugar Skull took another step forward towards the witch and familiar.

“I was actually borrowing, little imp. I gave it back,” countered Sugar Skull, “Besides, the Bruja did ask nicely with the promise of returning it. Even tried to pay with info. But you all said no, and I had no choice but to take it...Sorry, I mean borrow it.”

As Puzzles opened his mouth to fire back, the Director spoke over his familiar. Though strained with little patience left in the tone of his voice, Doug tried to speak calmly in his Southern gentlemanly accent.

“And what, pray tell, do you want to ‘borrow’ this time?” he said.

Sugar Skull held up his index finger, “Actually, I’m here to offer my services and, uh, disclose important information. I didn’t want to come here at all either, but I can’t refuse my friend’s request when he needs help...And cause I need to kill the Skeleton Lord.”

The Director and Puzzles paused before their eyes slowly shifted towards Gene Lightfoot. Gene’s eyebrows flexed in confusion, as it transformed into realization. The Totochtin prince shifted uncomfortably, as Gene stared back at the higher commands.

“No, I am not the Sugar Skull’s friend! Why do you all think such the things?” replied Gene.

Everybody else replied in unison, “Well…”

“He’s made sexual advances on nearly every staff member he passed by. On the first day he came in before he stole our relic. You are the most likely to befriend him, because you never turn down sex,” stated Puzzles.

Gene bit his lip. The rabbit superhero appeared to want to protest, but he then sighed with resignation a second later. Emotions of confliction emanated from him but lacked any intensity to emotionally influence the people around him.

Marvelous Man spoke up, “Ummm, actually...he’s my friend. He’s the one who rescued me from the Skeleton Lord.”

The Director looked up at the musclebound superhero. His left eyebrow lifted with curiosity, as he folded his hands in front of his mouth.

“And I suppose there’s a long story to your great escape,” remarked Director Skye.

Sugar Skull screamed, “GAH! Where did you two come from?”

Marvelous Man watched the half-alive ghoul flinch back, as he recoiled in surprise from the scream. Tracing his eyesight towards the source of what frightened Sugar Skull, he saw two people sitting in the black lounge chairs against the office walls. Amidst the commotion with the Limbo being and Puzzles, Marvelous Man and Sugar Skull took no notice of the other guests in the room. Seated in the comfortable furniture was Fairuza; clutching onto her book whenever a stressful situation arose. In the other chair was Gemini. Flashbacks appeared in Marvelous Man’s mind at the memory of yelling at his friend, destroying a relationship, and then getting kidnapped by the PB&J Gang.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The master witch crossed his arms. Sugar Skull was in the midst of explanation before the Director interrupted. His eyes glinted with irritation, as his next words seemed to wretch out his mouth like a painful vomit.

“So let me try to understand that last part. After you escaped into Limbo with Marvelous Man, you bargained the location of a Mana Stone in order to get away?” gritted Director Skye.

Sugar Skull nodded, “That is correct, yes.”

Puzzles pointed his dagger at the ghoul. Bloodlust raged in his eyes, as his fangs flashed once again. The glasses resting atop his nose began to fog.

“Can I stab him now?!” snarled the smoke imp.

The Director sighed, “Sadly, no.”

“He gave away a Mana Stone, Boss! That kind of relic doesn’t just recharge energy on its own, it also multiplies a caster’s magical output! And he gave it away to a doomsday supervillain!” exclaimed Puzzles.

Marvelous Man looked towards the ground; slightly hunching down. The guilt he had felt back in the pocket dimension diner came flooding back. He now wished that he had never been rescued, as it broke his heart that his superiors appeared intensely stressed.

The hulking bodybuilder immediately perked up, as he felt something grab his hand. Looking over, he spotted Gene’s hand wrapped around his own. Marvelous Man could feel the bunny demigod’s calming emotions slowly rinse his guilt away. He could still sense small bits of anxiety in Gene’s broadcasted emotions, but the compassion was still sincere. The musclebound superhero stood up straight without realizing.

Director Skye rubbed his temples, “Noted. But we got Marvelous Man back. And at the very least, Limbo is no easy place to cross. From what I remember, Limbo has different time zones reflecting eras of the people sent there during such eras. That said, Sugar Skull managed to buy us some time to prepare. Question is, how long?”

“About two weeks at the very least. But best case scenario is that we’ve got a month or two. He might have the compass, but he could still get sidetracked or lost in a maze or something,” estimated Sugar Skull.

The musclebound superhero’s mind glimpsed a film of memory. He remembered the hidden art fixture that could only be used with a certain glass marble. His wish for a happy ending hanged on his next words.

Marvelous Man speaks up, “B-but that’s only if he can get back, right? Sugar Skull was the only one with a way out, so there’s no way he can get out…”

Fairuza raised her hand before speaking up. All eyes had turned to her.

“Well...actually...There’s more than one way to get out of Limbo. Sugar Skull just had the easiest. It’s most likely the Skeleton Lord will exit using the fog he created in the slums,” explained Fairuza.

The hulking bodybuilder could feel his heart thump loudly, as his blood felt like it had become ice. He hoped that he would not hear what he was most likely going to hear. Marvelous Man just wanted this nightmare to be buried and left for dead.

He hesitated“...You mean the fog that’s supposed to go away once the Skeleton Lord is trapped in Limbo?”

“I’m sorry...but...no. No change in the fog has been reported since you’ve escaped. The fog could be feeding on an external power source. But due to its vast size, it’s hypothesized that the fog is still somehow connected to the Skeleton Lord. With that connection, he could somehow use it as a way out. Um, by the way, I’m glad you’re back and alive,” said Fairuza.

The gravity on Marvelous Man’s heavy body seemed to have increased a hundredfold. His knees felt ready to give out, but the musclebound superhero held onto what will he had left to save face. The Skeleton Lord was soon to be overpowering and has a way back to return. He had barely survived when encountering the supervillain’s weakened state; doom was the only thing Marvelous Man could see in his foresight.

Gemini jumped into the conversation, “We’ve tried to disperse the fog, but it seems to have a mind of its own. Wind magic and other such spells had no effect on it. Not even the tech from the Arkos Division could suck it up or blow it away.”

“The magical researchers have managed to analyze the fog, and we discovered it’s actually essence. Ya know, life energy and such. No such records exists of such a phenomena, and the energy just refuses to be absorbed by anything. I’m not exactly sure what the fog is capable of, since it destroyed all the probes. But like Fairuza said, it’ll probably be used as the exit from Limbo,” he continued.

The Director leaned back in his chair, “So we have two weeks to either think of a way to destroy the fog or stop the Skeleton Lord. And without hard evidence that the Skeleton Lord is an A-lister supervillain, we can’t call on the Nemesis Branch for help...makes me wish I had the absolute authority to label a threat level without evidence.”

“Probably for the best we don’t, Boss. Don’t want to get hit with a discrimination lawsuit by some D-lister,” commented Puzzles.

The master witch sighed through his nose, as he grunted with closed lips.

Director Skye circled back to the topic, “That would definitely be unfortunate. So! We need some solutions, people. We are sitting in a pot ready to be lit, and the only people capable of handling this Skeleton Lord is in this room.”

The ghoul gestured his hands to look like guns; pointing them at the master witch.

“I’ve got you covered, Boss!” chimed Sugar Skull, “The Bruja is, ummm, enchanting some items to let two people other than myself travel into the fog, well...mostly undetected. Plus, it’ll decrease the accuracy against any attack that’s supposed to hit them. With it, we can go into the fog and kill the Skeleton Lord before he tries to attack the D.A.B.”

The Director tapped his fingers together, “Not the best idea at the moment. But just to humor you, how long will this enchantment take?”

“About two weeks,” said Sugar Skull.

Gemini sputtered, “I’m sorry, but are you shitting me?!”

“This is some very high magical stuff. It takes a week to make just one.” shrugged Sugar Skull.

The smoke imp’s ears twitched. His eyes pointed towards the ground; bouncing left and right as if lost in thought.

“Wait, why did you say the Skeleton Lord  would  try to attack the D.A.B.?,” questioned Puzzles, “You only gave him the location of the Mana Stone in Limbo...but then Boss interrupted you to repeat the...YOU DAUGHTER OF BLIGHT! YOU SET US UP!”

Daggers raised, the witch’s familiar shifted itself back into his leaping stance. Smoke could literally be seen steaming out of his cat-like ears.

“Sugar Skull, I do believe you should fess up. My patience with you continuously throwing people under the bus is melting faster than an ice cube on a black top. Did you give away the location of the D.A.B.’s Mana Stone?” frowned Director Doug.

Sugar Skull crossed his arms, “I did. And I’d do it again to save Marvelous Man.”

Seconds ticked by, as all sound in the room seemed to have ceased. The Director slowly inhaled a long breath through his nose before letting it all out in an equally long nasal exhale. His eyes seemed to grow cold and distant; as if he were trying to suppress and intense rage.

The master witch’s left hand glowed with a blue hue, while flicking his wrist in a circular motion. A runic symbol flickered on the office door behind Marvelous Man for a moment before disappearing; causing the door to slowly swing open.

“Everybody but Sugar Skull, you can all leave now. We will reconvene tomorrow with hopefully some new ideas to take care of this problem. In the meanwhile, I will have...a little chat with Mr. Skull here. Dismissed.” said Director Skye.

The spinning, yellow flowers in Sugar Skull’s eyes transformed into red exclamation points. He turned to Marvelous Man; appearing to be silently begging for help. Marvelous Man could only look away with shame.

The D.A.B. members obeyed without question; power walking as fast as they could towards the office’s door. In such a hurry, Marvelous Man nearly bumped his head against the top of the door frame upon ducking through the opened door. As Gemini was the last person to exist, the door instantaneously shut itself behind the Soulem.

The sound of a cat screeching echoed from the office, as a loud thud reverberated after the feline screech. At the same time, the shoulders of the exited D.A.B. members flinched.

Gene turned to his partner “Marvelous Man. Do you have the moment? I would like to talk to you about something important in the training room.”

“Um, yeah. Sure.” immediately nodded Marvelous Man.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

At the basement level of the D.A.B. headquarters, the two partners stepped out of the elevator. Marvelous Man noticed that Gene was definitely not being his usual talkative self. The morning of almost no verbal exchange could have been due to everybody being busy with something, but the Totochtin prince did not even utter a single word during the elevator ride down to the training room. Marvelous Man could not help but feel uneasy at what was going to happen next. The only thing the musclebound superhero could feel from the bunny demigod was a sense of trepidation.

As they continued, the two came to a fork in the pathway. The left path branched off to a set of doorways leading into the training room. As for the path on the right, it led into the control room that altered the state of the training room.

Gene gestured at the training room doors, “Could you please head into the training room? I will join shortly. I must do the calibrations in the control room first.”

“Okay,” said Marvelous Man.

Complying with his friend, the hulking bodybuilder continued onward towards the left path. He made sure to duck his head, while opening the door to the training room. Marvelous Man’s heart thumped with nervousness; he hoped he was not somehow being led into a trap.

The inside of the training room was empty; as it usually is. The interior stretched to the size of a baseball field and was completely matted with white tiles. Marvelous Man remembered a brief explanation on his first day in this room about how each tile carried an enchantment. The enchantments not only absorbed attacks, but could also create a temporary pocket dimension with unlimited space. And with some combination of science, the training room could print three dimensional objects with certain levels of intelligence to create artificial danger.

While walking towards the center, the tiles began to hum. The tiles then flipped over one by one to reveal a color. The colors did nothing at first until the amount of flipped tiles multiplied to an insurmountable count Marvelous Man could not keep up with.

Nearly at completion, the colors had begun to coalesce with each other. The mixtures began to form shapes, brightness, and sound. The shifting continued, while Marvelous Man began to notice a design pattern of the new world around him taking shape.

It was daytime, and the muscle demigod was now standing on the rooftop of a building. The edges of the rooftop were fenced off; the reasons as to why seemed obvious. Marvelous Man then spotted pink cherry blossom petals drifting in front of them as well as its sweet scent. Turning around, he spotted the origin.

A plot of dirt was somehow established in the center of the rooftop with a gigantic cherry blossom tree sprouting out of it. It casted a shade nearly big enough to encompass the whole rooftop. Beneath the tree was a small wooden bench; big enough to only seat two people. The scenery reminded the hulking bodybuilder of scenes from dating sim games and romance animes.

Marvelous Man heard the sound of a squeaky door and turned his head to see a rooftop access door stationed further behind the tree at the other end of the roof. The opening door revealed Gene, as the Totochtin prince stepped through. Gene carried his usual calm smile, but his eyes betrayed it with unease.

Marvelous Man waved, “Hey, Gene. This is...nice.”

“Yes, it is,” replied Gene, “Like your people’s saying, I have taken a page out of the book. I have researched from the outsider media that when one wishes to confess their true feelings that could mend or break the heart, one must do it on top of the high school building. Also, the cherry blossom petals must be involved. Unfortunately, I do not have the time to request access to any of the high school's rooftop. So I borrowed this setting from the co-worker that likes to do the roleplaying in here.”

“Uh-huh…” said Marvelous Man.

Gene motioned to the bench, “Please, let us do the sitting.”

The muscle demigod nodded and followed his friend back to the bench beneath the cherry blossom tree. His heart thumped with excitement, as he had seen enough anime to know where this going.

The wooden bench gave a slight groan, as the hulking bodybuilder tried to gently adjust himself to the seat. With the bench being of a small size, Marvelous Man was in close proximity of Gene with their knees touching each other. His body flushed with intense body heat. The musclebound superhero felt like he had turned into a human furnace; not even the breezing winds helped cool him.

Gene stared out at the expanse beyond the rooftop’s fence. His lips curled slightly inwards; the bottom of it being bitten. Seconds passed by, while Gene appeared to be lost in thought.

“...I wanted to talk about the last night…” he spoke.

Marvelous Man looked down at Gene, “What about last night?”

“The last night...in your exhaustion, you said something very profounding. I realize now that you have none of the recollection due to the fatigue, but you meant every word,” explained Gene.

Marvelous Man hesitated “Oh...uhhh, wh-...what did I say?”

“You told me that you loved me,” answered Gene.

The hulking bodybuilder’s eyes bulged, “Oh…”

Marvelous Man’s thoughts were screaming into an invisible void. Howling at how he could have done such a thing. He could not remember saying that and felt embarrassed due to it. His large hands gripped the edge of the bench; fighting the urge to run or fly away. He then saw Gene turning to look up at him.

“I deeply apologize! I do not mean to cause you any of the embarrassment,” said Gene, “I honestly enjoyed you saying that. My people have said that same thing to me, but...the intensity of the emotions in your words were far greater than any Totochtin ever uttering it.”

The Totochtin prince continued, “It was like the many lovers in the outside world. I have sampled it before and found it rather cute. But to be given that emotion directly...it was scary. I never had any of the troubles of trying to recreate the same emotions I feel from others in order to bond well with them.”

Gene stood up before stepping in front of Marvelous Man. The bunny demigod kneeled down on knee, as he slowly reached out. Gently grabbing the hulking bodybuilder’s hand, he held it out between themselves.

“I am sorry, Marvelous Man. But I cannot love you the same way you love me,” he said.

Marvelous Man blinked, “...Huh? Wh-what?”

“I...I tried to say it back to you last night. That I loved you...but I could not. I was unable to match the same level of the magnitude that you did with the sharing of your true emotions,” explained Gene.

He continued, “We must stop the dating. I realize now that I was treating your feelings like a game and was doing the ‘leading you on’. You saw the dates as more than just a fun activity. They were the bonding exercise that had the hopes of eventually causing me to see you the same way you see me. And perhaps...there were times when it came to the close of that. But it was never enough. My ideals of love. My culture kept me from aligning to the same level of how you feel about me.”

This was not what Marvelous Man wanted. Gene was supposed to love him back! Then they would become lovers and have a happily ever after. He needed to save this. It was all he had left!

“Th-then! We, uh, we should keep dating! Maybe, m-maybe…” stammered Marvelous Man.

Gene shook his head, “It would not be right to you nor me. Perhaps if we kept doing the dating it could turn out exactly how you wanted. But such a thing would only result in hurting us in the end. That is the time that is wasted for trying to grow something that cannot grow. I am sorry Marvelous Man, but I cannot force myself to be the something that I am not.”

Marvelous Man froze. The last part of what the Totochtin prince said had shaken a recent memory back into focus. He had said something similar to his mother; causing the goddess of love to question him what was the difference with what he was doing in the real world.

...Was he no different than his parents? Trying to contain a person they loved and assuming everything else will fall into place in exactly how they wished? He had experienced the receiving end of that thinking first hand, and he hated it. Treated as an object with no will of his own. He was no toy. And just because someone loved him gave them no right to tell him how to act, feel, or was entitled to only them...and neither was Gene.

“Holy shit...I think I get it now…” realized Marvelous Man.

Gene’s face flexed in confusion, “What?”

Marvelous Man cupped his other hand around Gene’s. His mind flashed back to all the dates and interactions with the rabbit demigod. It was so obvious now! Was he just stupid or willfully ignorant of all the signs of their compatibility? Gemini pointed it all out, but he had refused to connect the dots...It appeared he was both.

“I’m...I’m sorry too, Gene. I should’ve known better. You’re right. We’re great friends, but...we’re just not meant for each other. We’re too different in a lot of ways with almost nothing we can be on the same level with. Being able to empathize your loneliness shouldn’t be the only thing we have in common. It shouldn’t even be the only similarity we share! And you weren’t forcing yourself to be something you’re not…I was. You were one of the few good things that happened to me since I got here, and I thought we were sorta meant to be since you were the first guy I felt attracted to. And I guess deep down, I was also afraid of losing you,” he admitted.

Gene stood up, “Marvelous Man...you will never lose me. You are the kindest outside man I know. I may have been the frustrated that we never had sex, but I treasured more that you wished to understand me.”

Bending down, the Totochtin prince kissed Marvelous Man’s head. Tears began streaming down his cheeks, as he closed his eyes.

“I may not be able to love you, but you will always be my favorite,” said Gene.

Marvelous Man felt tears welling up in his eyes, as he felt a flood of sadness drowning his heart. He looked up to see his friend crying. The muscle demigod’s eyebrows flexed in confusion.

He smiled, “Why are you crying? It should be me that’s crying.”

“Because I could not make you the happy, Marvelous Man. I failed. Everyone else I have ever tried to befriend, I could easily make them the happy by feeling their emotions. But I failed you. You are my first. And I had none of the other choices but to reject you for your own happiness. I’m sorry,” sobbed Gene.

Marvelous Man stood up and hugged Gene, “Don’t be. It hurts a bit that we can’t love each other like lovers, but we can still love each other as friends. Being your partner and being part of your life. That’s enough for me to be happy with you. It’s scary, but...I think I’ll eventually find someone. Someone that I could love, and they’d love me back. Someone I can be honest with...and even tell them my real name.”

“Marvelous Man is not your real name?” sniffed Gene.

The musclebound superhero sighed, “No. It’s not. It was a real Dickasaurus Rex thing for me to do...I was kinda afraid you wouldn’t like the real me. Marvelous Man is more interesting. Less emotionally unstable...And he wouldn’t have run away if you actually said that you loved me back.”

“It is the shameful that I could not meet the real you. It could have been the fun. But..I am sure someone else loves the real you,” said Gene.

Marvelous Man dryly swallowed, “There was someone...but I burned that bridge with him. He was being an asshole, but...I’m guilty of also leading him on. I don’t think we could even be friends again after I yelled at him and broke his heart.”

Gene hugged back. The muscle demigod no longer felt Gene’s sadness. He instead felt a comforting love; a love that is felt between family and friends.

“I am sure he wants to be the friends with you. And it might be the hard, but you must try to take the first step and forgive him. It is alright if you do not wish to do it now. But you cannot wait forever. Time can heal the wounds, but you must make the effort to bandage it up,” consoled the bunny demigod.

Marvelous Man sobbed, “Thanks, Gene.”

The two embraced each other for an unknowable amount of time. It had felt like eternity beneath the forever-blooming cherry blossom tree, as the two bathed in each others' emotions. Sharing love.

Next Chapter

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Aha!! ^w^ So you are gonna pair Gemini with Justice huh? ;3

(I know this lil idea that I have will never happen and is quite absurd to think, but what if The Skeleton Lord is Justice's true love? x3 i know crazy, but what if the skeleton lord would not die but would be purified of all the rage & hate & evil in his heart(or soul) and thus become a force of good. What if after all that has happened the skeleton lord would become friends with Justice and they would eventually would become quite attracted to each other. And one thing leads to another and tada. xP lol Like I said: Not gonna happen. But would be funny to have the first true antagonist become a protagonist and eventually the love of the main character's life. xP How crazy and yet interesting would that be? x3)

 

Though i am glad that Justice's heart hasn't been broken though, he is dealing with the rejection so well especially after what happened in Sunnysville. ='3 I dunno, I kinda feel proud of him. I just hope that soon he won't have to go through traumatic experiences anymore. At least not that many right after another. ^^;;

 

And I definitely hope that Justice will go to Sunnysville at some point to apologise towards his parents and to say that he does still love them very much, and that he will reconnect with them and that everything will be better between them all. And that they would be able to be in a healthy and good parent-child relationship and all. ='3

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Maybe~ Who knows, could be Sugar Skull X3

And dear God, no. I made it very vaguely clear that the Skeleton Lord is ugly as fuck X3 Never ever gonna happen lol It's way too nasty to imagine them being together XD

 

I mean, his heart was kinda broken, but he came to a realization and was happier just being friends. Also, going through a traumatic event kinda outweighs heartbreak. But I think Chapter 20 is the deepest emotional wound he'll receive in the entirety of Book 1

 

Yeah, I hope he does reconnect :3 But for right now, some time away would be good for everyone

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1 hour ago, EcchiMultiverse said:

Maybe~ Who knows, could be Sugar Skull X3

And dear God, no. I made it very vaguely clear that the Skeleton Lord is ugly as fuck X3 Never ever gonna happen lol It's way too nasty to imagine them being together XD

 

I mean, his heart was kinda broken, but he came to a realization and was happier just being friends. Also, going through a traumatic event kinda outweighs heartbreak. But I think Chapter 20 is the deepest emotional wound he'll receive in the entirety of Book 1

 

Yeah, I hope he does reconnect :3 But for right now, some time away would be good for everyone

Neh, i dun see them being together. x3 They'd be a fun pair, but seeing how he doesn't really have a face and all to be attracted too (though the personality is more important, but still i dun think that Justice would fall for a ghoul. Unless you want him too of course). x3 lol

 

And hey~, who says that after he has been "purified" he would still be ugly? xP lol And who says his good self doesn't have a great personality? xP As long as they can connect and love each other truly it shouldn't matter what they look like. xP lol I mean: Heck, if Sugar Skull could be a real romance option, why would the Skeleton Lord not be one too? >;P lol

 

I am glad that he won't be getting any wounds that are gonna be deeper than the fact that his parents held him in Sunnysville as a prisoner, even if it was out of protection and love for him. And the fact that he harmed his fathers (funny how Ares has kinda changed to a dad now, seeing as in the beginning you called him a granddad to Justice. >;P lol) & even tried to harm his mother because of the gilded cage and them not considering his feelings back when he lived in Sunnysville and holding him there in chapter 20. =( But still: I feel so bad for him, getting all that... ;n; I hope in book 2 he will have more time to deal with each wound he got from book 1 and all the future wounds he could get in book 2. ='3

 

And mhmmm, yeah. Though I think that his parents should give him a little sign or a  burst positive feelings or whatever to let him know that they forgive him for it and still love him, still watch over him & still believe in him and all (at least somewhere in these last chapters of book 1). =0 I am sure it would help Justice a LOT. =3

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17 hours ago, Hanugumo said:

Neh, i dun see them being together. x3 They'd be a fun pair, but seeing how he doesn't really have a face and all to be attracted too (though the personality is more important, but still i dun think that Justice would fall for a ghoul. Unless you want him too of course). x3 lol

 

And hey~, who says that after he has been "purified" he would still be ugly? xP lol And who says his good self doesn't have a great personality? xP As long as they can connect and love each other truly it shouldn't matter what they look like. xP lol I mean: Heck, if Sugar Skull could be a real romance option, why would the Skeleton Lord not be one too? >;P lol

 

I am glad that he won't be getting any wounds that are gonna be deeper than the fact that his parents held him in Sunnysville as a prisoner, even if it was out of protection and love for him. And the fact that he harmed his fathers (funny how Ares has kinda changed to a dad now, seeing as in the beginning you called him a granddad to Justice. >;P lol) & even tried to harm his mother because of the gilded cage and them not considering his feelings back when he lived in Sunnysville and holding him there in chapter 20. =( But still: I feel so bad for him, getting all that... ;n; I hope in book 2 he will have more time to deal with each wound he got from book 1 and all the future wounds he could get in book 2. ='3

 

And mhmmm, yeah. Though I think that his parents should give him a little sign or a  burst positive feelings or whatever to let him know that they forgive him for it and still love him, still watch over him & still believe in him and all (at least somewhere in these last chapters of book 1). =0 I am sure it would help Justice a LOT. =3

Because the Skeleton Lord doesn't have 2 penises XD And besides, you shouldn't use that "Good people are always pretty trope". It's not very nice.

In all honesty, I wanted MM and Gene to end up together. It's the whole reason why I wrote this book! But after seeing how different they were, I realized they weren't compatible at all as lovers. It's why I had Gemini as a backup...but even that seems up in the air as well. Forcing them to love each other doesn't feel right for me. I want them to build a relationship and blossom it into love, because then you know it's genuine. So if I never got MM to learn his lessons about love and relationships, it would've turned out really ugly in Book 2. And if I did that, I would be disrespecting Gene. Making it drag along into Book 2 could show him as a very ignorant or cruel person, and he's neither. He wants to experience life and learn new things and have a good time with his friends. Funny enough, even though it was MM that took the first steps in discovering love, it was Gene that had the quicker evolution and didn't have a need to be in a monogamous relationship. I know I sound crazy or seem fanatical, but when I write, these characters feel real to me. It's why there are some things that I can't change...

 

Pretty sure I only called him Papa X3 But yeah, things will eventually come around. It's just a matter of when...just not in Book 1, cause I'm just trying to get to the end XD I'll make sure to try and cover his emotional baggage in Book 2.

 

Well, we'll see X3 Who knows what will happen~ BTW, I'll start on Chapter 22 in a few days. Just want to relax a bit and catch up on some other stuff(like Paladins lol)

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6 hours ago, EcchiMultiverse said:

Because the Skeleton Lord doesn't have 2 penises XD And besides, you shouldn't use that "Good people are always pretty trope". It's not very nice.

In all honesty, I wanted MM and Gene to end up together. It's the whole reason why I wrote this book! But after seeing how different they were, I realized they weren't compatible at all as lovers. It's why I had Gemini as a backup...but even that seems up in the air as well. Forcing them to love each other doesn't feel right for me. I want them to build a relationship and blossom it into love, because then you know it's genuine. So if I never got MM to learn his lessons about love and relationships, it would've turned out really ugly in Book 2. And if I did that, I would be disrespecting Gene. Making it drag along into Book 2 could show him as a very ignorant or cruel person, and he's neither. He wants to experience life and learn new things and have a good time with his friends. Funny enough, even though it was MM that took the first steps in discovering love, it was Gene that had the quicker evolution and didn't have a need to be in a monogamous relationship. I know I sound crazy or seem fanatical, but when I write, these characters feel real to me. It's why there are some things that I can't change...

 

Pretty sure I only called him Papa X3 But yeah, things will eventually come around. It's just a matter of when...just not in Book 1, cause I'm just trying to get to the end XD I'll make sure to try and cover his emotional baggage in Book 2.

 

Well, we'll see X3 Who knows what will happen~ BTW, I'll start on Chapter 22 in a few days. Just want to relax a bit and catch up on some other stuff(like Paladins lol)

Oh? Is that why Gemini acted like an asshole? Because he wanted to force Justice to love him and not Gene? =0 I am really glad how you treat your story characters though. ^w^ It truly shows how much you care about them and how much you hope to write them in a way that respects who they are and what they are. ='3 <3 <3

 

I thought that somewhere in earlier  hapters you called him grandpa. x3 Unless you secretly edited that chapter. >;P lol

And yeah, I guess Book 1 doesn't really have enough chapters left huh? ^^;

 

Ya! Video games!! 83 <3 lol Though you deserve some down time buddy. ^w^ *hugs*

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21 hours ago, Hanugumo said:

Oh? Is that why Gemini acted like an asshole? Because he wanted to force Justice to love him and not Gene? =0 I am really glad how you treat your story characters though. ^w^ It truly shows how much you care about them and how much you hope to write them in a way that respects who they are and what they are. ='3 <3 <3

 

I thought that somewhere in earlier  hapters you called him grandpa. x3 Unless you secretly edited that chapter. >;P lol

And yeah, I guess Book 1 doesn't really have enough chapters left huh? ^^;

 

Ya! Video games!! 83 <3 lol Though you deserve some down time buddy. ^w^ *hugs*

I mean, Gemini is always gonna be an asshole. But after his awakening, he took it too far. And his mindset of romance was practically the same as Justice's except he was more aggressive about it. Gemini thought that just because he loves Justice and confessed his feelings that Justice should feel the same way and instantly choose him over Gene. After it failed, he got pretty petty with Gene until Justice got angry. He's only been awake for a year, so while he was comprehensive about other people, he didn't understand himself and how romance works. It's that situation where you don't research cause you think you know everything. So he definitely is not really practicing what he preaches lol He was even willing to do a polyamorous relationship just to win Justice's heart in any way possible

 

Nope lol. He never said it. And I'm too lazy to edit the chapters posted on here, so you're more than welcome to check X3. Nope, we're nearing the end. Everything was supposed to end at Chapter 20, but the story kept getting stretched out for character development or setting up plot stuff to pop up later in the story as important or attention to detail

 

Thanks X3 I'll try to get back on the writing horse soon~

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17 hours ago, EcchiMultiverse said:

I mean, Gemini is always gonna be an asshole. But after his awakening, he took it too far. And his mindset of romance was practically the same as Justice's except he was more aggressive about it. Gemini thought that just because he loves Justice and confessed his feelings that Justice should feel the same way and instantly choose him over Gene. After it failed, he got pretty petty with Gene until Justice got angry. He's only been awake for a year, so while he was comprehensive about other people, he didn't understand himself and how romance works. It's that situation where you don't research cause you think you know everything. So he definitely is not really practicing what he preaches lol He was even willing to do a polyamorous relationship just to win Justice's heart in any way possible

 

Nope lol. He never said it. And I'm too lazy to edit the chapters posted on here, so you're more than welcome to check X3. Nope, we're nearing the end. Everything was supposed to end at Chapter 20, but the story kept getting stretched out for character development or setting up plot stuff to pop up later in the story as important or attention to detail

 

Thanks X3 I'll try to get back on the writing horse soon~

Hmmmm, why does it seem like neither Gene nor Gemini are actually fit to be Justice's boyfriend when you say it like that? =/

But I am curious to see how Gemini changed since last time we saw him. ^w^ I hope he is no longer an asshole and will have researched all he can about real love.  ^^ <3

 

Bleh, why do I remember you calling him granddad instead of dad once in an older chapter than? >.<; *gasps* It's the Bernstain paradox effect?! 80 *chuckles*

And really? 80 I hope it isn't a bad thing that the ending to book 1 is later than expected. ^^;;

 

It's okay. ;3 You can keep him in the stable and let itbecome a fat horse of ideas first. >;P lol

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20 hours ago, Hanugumo said:

Hmmmm, why does it seem like neither Gene nor Gemini are actually fit to be Justice's boyfriend when you say it like that? =/

But I am curious to see how Gemini changed since last time we saw him. ^w^ I hope he is no longer an asshole and will have researched all he can about real love.  ^^ <3

 

Bleh, why do I remember you calling him granddad instead of dad once in an older chapter than? >.<; *gasps* It's the Bernstain paradox effect?! 80 *chuckles*

And really? 80 I hope it isn't a bad thing that the ending to book 1 is later than expected. ^^;;

 

It's okay. ;3 You can keep him in the stable and let itbecome a fat horse of ideas first. >;P lol

In the Hollywood standard, both are fit to qualify as Justice's boyfriend. But in real life for a stable relationship, you shouldn't be with someone cause you're bored or cause they're the first person nice to you. And you shouldn't be with someone that's intentionally causing a rift in your friendship/life. But that's why Gene realized that you shouldn't play around with someone's feelings when they are serious about pursuing a deeper relationship with you. And yeah, I hope Gemini got better as well.

 

Probably lol. Or maybe you got a granddad fetish XD

 

It really isn't a bad thing that Book 1 is ending later. I chose to make a character-focused story that tries to have great worldbuilding and character development. I could have skipped a lot of scenes, but you would have felt that nothing was properly earned or Justified(lol). I may act like it's a burden to add that extra, but I feel so accomplished for doing everything the right way rather than the fast way. And I'm okay that fewer and fewer people are reading my story when they realize the sex only happens at the end. To me, it's worth it for Justice to wait for the proper Mr. Right to come along and lose his virginity to. It's readers like you that bring quality to my story and flesh it out with your comments and critiques. Besides, once I save up enough to hire an artist to draw a comic book version, I'm pretty sure people will start paying attention again, hehe. Also, I started writing Chapter 22 lol

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On 25-8-2017 at 6:57 PM, EcchiMultiverse said:

In the Hollywood standard, both are fit to qualify as Justice's boyfriend. But in real life for a stable relationship, you shouldn't be with someone cause you're bored or cause they're the first person nice to you. And you shouldn't be with someone that's intentionally causing a rift in your friendship/life. But that's why Gene realized that you shouldn't play around with someone's feelings when they are serious about pursuing a deeper relationship with you. And yeah, I hope Gemini got better as well.

 

Probably lol. Or maybe you got a granddad fetish XD

 

It really isn't a bad thing that Book 1 is ending later. I chose to make a character-focused story that tries to have great worldbuilding and character development. I could have skipped a lot of scenes, but you would have felt that nothing was properly earned or Justified(lol). I may act like it's a burden to add that extra, but I feel so accomplished for doing everything the right way rather than the fast way. And I'm okay that fewer and fewer people are reading my story when they realize the sex only happens at the end. To me, it's worth it for Justice to wait for the proper Mr. Right to come along and lose his virginity to. It's readers like you that bring quality to my story and flesh it out with your comments and critiques. Besides, once I save up enough to hire an artist to draw a comic book version, I'm pretty sure people will start paying attention again, hehe. Also, I started writing Chapter 22 lol

I dunno if I should call what Gene did "playing around" he genuinely tried to feel the same way towards Justice as Justice felt to Gene. But because he never learned how to truly love a single person with all his heart and soul, he just couldn't feel the same and had to let Justice go because he did not want to pretend that he did. So i dun really see him as playing around with Justice's feelings. He wanted to love Justice, but he couldn't love him the way he felt like he should. =3

And Gemini was in love with Justice, but because he too did not learn how to properly love the person you have fallen in love with, he did it tye wrong way and pushed Justice away. He was too cocky and too selfish and too egocentric in his thinking too properly love Justice. Though maybe in the week that has passed Gemini changed and learned enough to give Justice the love he deserves. =3

I just hope that you won't fall into the trope of relationship problems with Gemini in book 2 (and or 3, and all). Giving Justice some stability in his life of a superhero would be best. Though that would mean that there would be less stuff to write about. Unless you would add more new character and maybe lose some older characters. To give him something he needs to learn to process and put into a place in his heart to move on from but not forget.  ^^; Like losing a close friend or have a friend be uncurably ill, or something like that. =3

 

Lol, neh. xP My OC might be called a dad & granddad at times by others though. xP lol

 

*blushes* I dun do much though. I mean: I only ask a few questions here and there. And I just say stuff that the story makes me think about. ^////^ You do all the writing and creating. ^///^ <3

And wait, what? You're gonna get a comic made from this? 8D So awesome!!! 8D <3 Though that is gonna be so~ many pages and SO~ expensive. >.=.<;

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