#1 Xennie Investor, Xole Fan, & #1.5 Xerik Fan

Maybe it was because he was a "villain", but the way his expression would shift into a grin whenever he saw Xen come to stop him filled them with unease. Not because it was threatening per se, but purely because it felt similar to a kid excited for a playdate. It felt patronizing. Like he was regarding them as if they weren't actually someone to be worried about.

And it was worse that he was right. He always found a way to evade him because he was better than them in an almost literal and ironic sense.

Their speed? His was ten times faster. Their ability to glide? Of course he was able to actually fly. Not to mention their light did little when he could simply use telekinesis. Any moment they'd get close to apprehending him, all he needed to do was toss whatever object at them and they'd be forced to dodge unless they wanted a concussion.

Well. That was ignoring the other issue.

Xen's preferred method of managing their "problems" was by simply beating the shit out of it, like spam clicking in video games. Besides, they were given a scythe as a weapon for a reason, and one that could turn into a staff (aka a blunt object), so it felt like a no brainer.

However, whenever they would swing at him, their own mind practically paralyzed them into freezing. They had been getting better at tuning the foreign thoughts out, but even that had its own limits when the worst was astronomically so compared to the usual droning. At times, when it would crescendo into a disgusting screech, they could almost convince themself the warmth of blood was dripping down the side of their jaw with only the slightest relief to return home and see nothing.

So to avoid that from happening again (after trying a few more times to brute force it), they were forced to resort to less violent methods. Ones that made it far too easy for Kaleidoscope to slip away or even mess with them, but unfortunately gained the approval of the conversations that played in their own mind.

Do you know how humiliating it is? To be tied up like a pinata and toted around town while your rival is parading you around like its some humiliation ritual. Not even like it was one; it basically was with the way he was poking and cooing at them like they were a snappy puppy. And escaping wasn't even a victory when it was because he let them with the reasoning of he "had fun" and was "excited to see them next time".

Yu was hardly a help throughout it all, mostly watching from afar. Or up close when he'd sneakily take photos to make fun of Xen later. His excuse was that nothing was happening that required him to help, but they called bullshit. Mostly because he pissed them off but also because it was unfair.

He loved to lecture them about how they shared the duties of protecting the city, but he would always sit on his ass all day while they did the dirty work. They should've just quit, but they couldn't because of... Why didn't they quit again?

This is a responsibility only you can accept. You accepted this. You want this.

Whatever.

One day, while sitting through a lecture, their ears perked up when some people a few seats away were talking about something on the news. With a few clicks on their own laptop, Xen pulled up the latest news just to find out their least favorite person had started a hostage situation in the mall. The fluff of rainbow on his head was as much of an eyesore as it always was whether it were day or night.

Save them.

You have to.

Their eyes were constantly glancing at the time at the corner of their screen because, as much as they would've loved to leave class just a few minutes early, they still liked to keep their reputation as a good student.

Whatever happens is the effect of your actions. Your time is no more important than the time of the victims.

Even if that meant bearing through the unease growing in their mind they waited. The only thing calming them was Xen reminding themself that they'd head straight to the mall once class was dismissed, to the point they had practically leapt down the rows of seats when they finally were allowed to leave.

Can you even handle the consequences of your own actions?

A quick dip into a secluded part of campus, they transformed before speeding off towards the mall, staff in hand despite knowing it'd be useless anyway.

Always so violent...

When they made it, there was a cluster of people tied up together near the entrance with a bomb strapped to them. The windows of the nearby stores had been smashed open with various clothes and apparel strewn around on the ground. And guessing from the abandoned bags and food court trays, the majority of people were at least able to escape capture.

"How long have you guy been tied up?" Xen crouched down, eyes taking a glance towards the bomb. It was a stupid question, mostly just anything to keep the hostages talking so they could be focused less on the current situation.

"I-I don't remember."

Yeah, great fucking question, Xen.

With a huff that they hoped wasn't audible to the citizens, they tried to follow the wiring of the bomb, but of course it didn't help. They were a magical girl; they worked with magic not explosives.

"Oh, pretty birdie, you're here! Why didn't you tell me?" The unnaturally cheery voice for the current situation and the sickeningly sweet, overly familiar nickname made Xen's blood run cold, but they couldn't just avoid facing him. "Honestly, what took you so long? Especially for it being midday—"

"You say that as if you were waiting for me," they stood up off the ground, meeting Kaleidoscope's eyes.

"And if I was?"

They rolled their eyes in a way that was only reserved for him to see.

Be nice, Xen.

He responded with a pout that hardly held any actual hurt in it. "Aww, don't be like that. C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

Brows furrowing, Xen's grip tightened on their staff. Their choice was to follow him, the logical and safer bet, or to simply not and brute force it which could very likely cause damage based on his skills in making a bomb in the first place. And they hated that they had enough reason to not pick the stupid second option.

"Fine," they put away their weapon. "What do you want?"

With a scrutinizing glare, they almost could've believed that he expected them to put up more of a fight than they did. But frankly, any choice that seemed to appease the nagging feeling at the back of their mind was good enough to Xen.

"Oh. Well, I was hoping you'd help me look around the stores a bit."

Seriously?

"Shopping is always so much more boring by yourself, and we're friends, right?" The last word had a teasing lilt as if it'd trap them if they tried answering either way.

One thing they found most annoying about him was just how good he was at catching them off guard with his words that it just was easier to stay quiet. He seemed a little disappointed at their half-hearted shrug, but it wasn't Xen's job to care about him, only about the citizens he was currently threatening.

With one last glance back to see the timer on the bomb, they followed after Kaleidoscope who was patiently-impatiently waiting for when they were ready to follow. When their eyes met again, his face cracked into a grin before he grabbed them by the arm.

As much as he was a pain in their ass, he certainly was never aggressive with them. He always opted for ranged attacks if he needed to, running away in most other situations.

Even in the current moment, with him pulling them along by the elbow, his hold wasn't anything harsh or even clingy. If they wanted to slip away, they very easily could've. Though, where his hold was light, his gaze certainly kept them in place if only for the fact that he would always look back at them. Gauging their feelings, keeping an eye on them. They weren't sure why, but they'd just toss him a tense smile before looking away.

"What's your favorite color?"

He stopped in his tracks to the point Xen almost ran into him.

"What? Uh," their mind buffered. "Pink, I guess? I mean, I'm wearing it so."

That response earned a frown from him. "But do you like wearing it?"

"I dunno." They shrugged. A pause as he stared at them to continue. "It's fine, but I don't think it looks that good on me, I guess?"

And it only made his expression sour more. If this were a choice-based game, they were certainly losing the social interaction. Unfortunately it was real life where they couldn't save and reload if they were. At least he seemed to move on, dragging them along again.

Honestly, could they really afford to waste time doing what seemed like useless walking and standing and vaguely giving responses on if a piece of clothing looked good while the timer was slowly ticking down?

The citizens must've thought they were an awful guardian.

Aren't you?

Kaleidoscope at least seemed to keep trucking along. Honestly, he was almost enviable, the way he could mess with people however he wanted and get away with no repercussions purely because he lucked out with powers better than Xen had.

Could you even do better if you did have his amount of power?

Not to say they would pull the same things he had been if given the ability, but they had less than him and were forced to become something they didn't want to be, something they just weren't. First a magical girl, then a guardian angel, and now some villain's personal assistant while he browsed a mall and tossed clothes at them to hold.

You have yet to earn the title of any of those three.

"What do you think of this look, birdie?"

They only responded with a "hmm" that they hoped sounded positive enough for him to move on.

Their gaze fell to the ground as their shoulders slouched.

Useless.

By all accounts, they were useless. Or, no, they weren't useless, but— In all the jumbled thoughts in their mind, that was the only word that would fill in the blank.

"I've never been a fan of this style on myself, but maybe..." Kaleidoscope mused.

Xen knew they had to be useful, though. That was the whole point of them even being there in the first place. They wouldn't have been chosen if not, right? But again, they were chosen through chance. It could've been anyone else.

And where even was Yu? Probably laughing at them as usual.

"Aw, this would look so cute on—!"

Gods, who would've guessed that their biggest bully would be their own familiar?

Or even their own mind.

The tips of their fingers were numb from having held their arms up in the same pose for the past few minutes, hooks of clothes hangers dangling from them. If they had thought for even just a bit longer, they could imagine the stinging of tears.

"Are you... crying?" Kaleidoscope quietly asked, making them rapidly blink at the water pooling at the corners of their eyes.

Xen whipped their head away to hide their expression. "Can you focus on your shopping?" Their voice cracked just enough to earn a wince from themself.

"It can wait a bit—"

"Oh, 'it can wait' as if you don't have people strapped to a literal bomb right now," they let out something between a chuckle and a strangle. "Do you hear yourself? Do you see yourself?"

They shot him a red-eyes glare, eyeing the way his hand hovered in midair as if reaching to comfort them. Even if he held back, Xen still slapped the hand away if only to let out some of their pent up frustration. Their mind was splitting.

Be nice, Xen.

"You know what," Xen pointed a finger in his face. "This is bullshit, I'm figuring this out myself."

Dropping everything they held onto the floor, they sped off back towards the entrance. It was ridiculous considering he was much faster than them, but if they were right, they had only a few minutes left on the timer to defuse it. Somehow.

Grabbing the block of metal and wires, whatever the hostages were shouting at the would go in one ear and out the other. Of course the thing looked like some crap you'd find in some bomb defusal video game with a variety of buttons, wires, and keypads littered around it. And the bright red, flashing numbers reminding them of how little time they had.

"What took you so long?" One voice was finally able to stab its way through the noise.

"I was— figuring things out, so just hold on." They barely tried to conceal the way their eyes rolled, gritting their teeth as they turned the mechanism in their hands.

Knowing Kaleidoscope— Well, they hardly knew him. But if they had to guess what he'd do, it must've been some kind of joke. Like half or basically the whole thing being fake. Maybe he just kept the wires to have that climactic "is it the red of blue wire" trope. He loved playing into ridiculous movie cliches like that.

Xen shuddered at the memory of when they were roped, literally, into the melodramatic trope of a maiden tied to train tracks. And when they had pedantically corrected him that the origin had a man tied to the tracks, his only response was "well, you're nonbinary".

Focus.

GAH.

They slapped themself. But really, they had no lead as to what to do. Their mind wracked to see if there had possibly been any hints until something shot to the forefront of their mind.

"C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

With a thick swallow, they froze.

If they had been better at listening... Gods dammit, if they even just listened to their mind that constantly shouted at them like they were a misbehaving child. Maybe they would've had some semblance of sense to be fucking competent rather than some screw up cosplayer.

But they could still do something.

The timer ticked down to the last few seconds.

Kindness and understanding were difficult to come by for them. Brute force was much easier.

Xen.

Pulling out their scythe, Xen put enough distance between them and the citizens before swinging down on the ropes the bound them. Sure, there were a few screams from them since a large blade was inches away from some of them, but it proved their guess correct. The bomb at the very least wasn't actually rigged to the people at all.

With only a moment to catch their breath, their eyes focused on the hostages. "What? Get out of here already!"

It didn't take much convincing for the crowd to scramble away which let them direct their attention back to the bomb. Rushing towards it and scooping it into their hands, Xen threw it into the air, swinging their scythe at it like a bat before turning away to brace for the explosion, their wings expanding as an attempt at a shield.

Their body flinched at the sound, grimacing as they turned around only to find the ground coated in a layer of glitter. On their back, their wings moved to fold back into a bow, but they shuddered and flapped from the glitter that got stuck between the feathers.

"Surprise...!" Kaleidoscope appeared around a corner, his jazz hands at the reveal more hesitant than he normally would've been. "It wasn't actually—"

"Yeah, I can see that." Their voice came out with more venom than they initially anticipated, but it felt a little cathartic. His eyes avoided theirs, but they bore into his. "Why do you do this? You don't even do anything. Does watching this give you some sick sense of enjoyment to watch me beg?"

Xen, be nice.

"What?" He startled, suddenly holding his hands up defensively while they marched towards him. "No! Oh my god, no."

"Gods," Xen's voice cracked. The tears stung their eyes again, but that was the last thing they cared about. "What could it possibly be then? You treat me like a joke, but try to act like we're best friends. I'd rather you want to try to kill me at that point."

His eyes darted around; for the first time, he seemed to be at a loss of words. The tension in the air was practically burning.

And when he was finally within arm's reach, he ran away.

Like always.

Maybe it was because he was a "villain", but the way his expression would shift into a grin whenever he saw Xen come to stop him filled them with unease. Not because it was threatening per se, but purely because it felt similar to a kid excited for a playdate. It felt patronizing. Like he was regarding them as if they weren't actually someone to be worried about.

And it was worse that he was right. He always found a way to evade him because he was better than them in an almost literal and ironic sense.

Their speed? His was ten times faster. Their ability to glide? Of course he was able to actually fly. Not to mention their light did little when he could simply use telekinesis. Any moment they'd get close to apprehending him, all he needed to do was toss whatever object at them and they'd be forced to dodge unless they wanted a concussion.

Well. That was ignoring the other issue.

Xen's preferred method of managing their "problems" was by simply beating the shit out of it, like spam clicking in video games. Besides, they were given a scythe as a weapon for a reason, and one that could turn into a staff (aka a blunt object), so it felt like a no brainer.

However, whenever they would swing at him, their own mind practically paralyzed them into freezing. They had been getting better at tuning the foreign thoughts out, but even that had its own limits when the worst was astronomically so compared to the usual droning. At times, when it would crescendo into a disgusting screech, they could almost convince themself the warmth of blood was dripping down the side of their jaw with only the slightest relief to return home and see nothing.

So to avoid that from happening again (after trying a few more times to brute force it), they were forced to resort to less violent methods. Ones that made it far too easy for Kaleidoscope to slip away or even mess with them, but unfortunately gained the approval of the conversations that played in their own mind.

Do you know how humiliating it is? To be tied up like a pinata and toted around town while your rival is parading you around like its some humiliation ritual. Not even like it was one; it basically was with the way he was poking and cooing at them like they were a snappy puppy. And escaping wasn't even a victory when it was because he let them with the reasoning of he "had fun" and was "excited to see them next time".

Yu was hardly a help throughout it all, mostly watching from afar. Or up close when he'd sneakily take photos to make fun of Xen later. His excuse was that nothing was happening that required him to help, but they called bullshit. Mostly because he pissed them off but also because it was unfair.

He loved to lecture them about how they shared the duties of protecting the city, but he would always sit on his ass all day while they did the dirty work. They should've just quit, but they couldn't because of... Why didn't they quit again?

This is a responsibility only you can accept. You accepted this. You want this.

Whatever.

One day, while sitting through a lecture, their ears perked up when some people a few seats away were talking about something on the news. With a few clicks on their own laptop, Xen pulled up the latest news just to find out their least favorite person had started a hostage situation in the mall. The fluff of rainbow on his head was as much of an eyesore as it always was whether it were day or night.

Save them.

You have to.

Their eyes were constantly glancing at the time at the corner of their screen because, as much as they would've loved to leave class just a few minutes early, they still liked to keep their reputation as a good student.

Whatever happens is the effect of your actions. Your time is no more important than the time of the victims.

Even if that meant bearing through the unease growing in their mind they waited. The only thing calming them was Xen reminding themself that they'd head straight to the mall once class was dismissed, to the point they had practically leapt down the rows of seats when they finally were allowed to leave.

Can you even handle the consequences of your own actions?

A quick dip into a secluded part of campus, they transformed before speeding off towards the mall, staff in hand despite knowing it'd be useless anyway.

Always so violent...

When they made it, there was a cluster of people tied up together near the entrance with a bomb strapped to them. The windows of the nearby stores had been smashed open with various clothes and apparel strewn around on the ground. And guessing from the abandoned bags and food court trays, the majority of people were at least able to escape capture.

"How long have you guy been tied up?" Xen crouched down, eyes taking a glance towards the bomb. It was a stupid question, mostly just anything to keep the hostages talking so they could be focused less on the current situation.

"I-I don't remember."

Yeah, great fucking question, Xen.

With a huff that they hoped wasn't audible to the citizens, they tried to follow the wiring of the bomb, but of course it didn't help. They were a magical girl; they worked with magic not explosives.

"Oh, pretty birdie, you're here! Why didn't you tell me?" The unnaturally cheery voice for the current situation and the sickeningly sweet, overly familiar nickname made Xen's blood run cold, but they couldn't just avoid facing him. "Honestly, what took you so long? Especially for it being midday—"

"You say that as if you were waiting for me," they stood up off the ground, meeting Kaleidoscope's eyes.

"And if I was?"

They rolled their eyes in a way that was only reserved for him to see.

Be nice, Xen.

He responded with a pout that hardly held any actual hurt in it. "Aww, don't be like that. C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

Brows furrowing, Xen's grip tightened on their staff. Their choice was to follow him, the logical and safer bet, or to simply not and brute force it which could very likely cause damage based on his skills in making a bomb in the first place. And they hated that they had enough reason to not pick the stupid second option.

"Fine," they put away their weapon. "What do you want?"

With a scrutinizing glare, they almost could've believed that he expected them to put up more of a fight than they did. But frankly, any choice that seemed to appease the nagging feeling at the back of their mind was good enough to Xen.

"Oh. Well, I was hoping you'd help me look around the stores a bit."

Seriously?

"Shopping is always so much more boring by yourself, and we're friends, right?" The last word had a teasing lilt as if it'd trap them if they tried answering either way.

One thing they found most annoying about him was just how good he was at catching them off guard with his words that it just was easier to stay quiet. He seemed a little disappointed at their half-hearted shrug, but it wasn't Xen's job to care about him, only about the citizens he was currently threatening.

With one last glance back to see the timer on the bomb, they followed after Kaleidoscope who was patiently-impatiently waiting for when they were ready to follow. When their eyes met again, his face cracked into a grin before he grabbed them by the arm.

As much as he was a pain in their ass, he certainly was never aggressive with them. He always opted for ranged attacks if he needed to, running away in most other situations.

Even in the current moment, with him pulling them along by the elbow, his hold wasn't anything harsh or even clingy. If they wanted to slip away, they very easily could've. Though, where his hold was light, his gaze certainly kept them in place if only for the fact that he would always look back at them. Gauging their feelings, keeping an eye on them. They weren't sure why, but they'd just toss him a tense smile before looking away.

"What's your favorite color?"

He stopped in his tracks to the point Xen almost ran into him.

"What? Uh," their mind buffered. "Pink, I guess? I mean, I'm wearing it so."

That response earned a frown from him. "But do you like wearing it?"

"I dunno." They shrugged. A pause as he stared at them to continue. "It's fine, but I don't think it looks that good on me, I guess?"

And it only made his expression sour more. If this were a choice-based game, they were certainly losing the social interaction. Unfortunately it was real life where they couldn't save and reload if they were. At least he seemed to move on, dragging them along again.

Honestly, could they really afford to waste time doing what seemed like useless walking and standing and vaguely giving responses on if a piece of clothing looked good while the timer was slowly ticking down?

The citizens must've thought they were an awful guardian.

Aren't you?

Kaleidoscope at least seemed to keep trucking along. Honestly, he was almost enviable, the way he could mess with people however he wanted and get away with no repercussions purely because he lucked out with powers better than Xen had.

Could you even do better if you did have his amount of power?

Not to say they would pull the same things he had been if given the ability, but they had less than him and were forced to become something they didn't want to be, something they just weren't. First a magical girl, then a guardian angel, and now some villain's personal assistant while he browsed a mall and tossed clothes at them to hold.

You have yet to earn the title of any of those three.

"What do you think of this look, birdie?"

They only responded with a "hmm" that they hoped sounded positive enough for him to move on.

Their gaze fell to the ground as their shoulders slouched.

Useless.

By all accounts, they were useless. Or, no, they weren't useless, but— In all the jumbled thoughts in their mind, that was the only word that would fill in the blank.

"I've never been a fan of this style on myself, but maybe..." Kaleidoscope mused.

Xen knew they had to be useful, though. That was the whole point of them even being there in the first place. They wouldn't have been chosen if not, right? But again, they were chosen through chance. It could've been anyone else.

And where even was Yu? Probably laughing at them as usual.

"Aw, this would look so cute on—!"

Gods, who would've guessed that their biggest bully would be their own familiar?

Or even their own mind.

The tips of their fingers were numb from having held their arms up in the same pose for the past few minutes, hooks of clothes hangers dangling from them. If they had thought for even just a bit longer, they could imagine the stinging of tears.

"Are you... crying?" Kaleidoscope quietly asked, making them rapidly blink at the water pooling at the corners of their eyes.

Xen whipped their head away to hide their expression. "Can you focus on your shopping?" Their voice cracked just enough to earn a wince from themself.

"It can wait a bit—"

"Oh, 'it can wait' as if you don't have people strapped to a literal bomb right now," they let out something between a chuckle and a strangle. "Do you hear yourself? Do you see yourself?"

They shot him a red-eyes glare, eyeing the way his hand hovered in midair as if reaching to comfort them. Even if he held back, Xen still slapped the hand away if only to let out some of their pent up frustration. Their mind was splitting.

Be nice, Xen.

"You know what," Xen pointed a finger in his face. "This is bullshit, I'm figuring this out myself."

Dropping everything they held onto the floor, they sped off back towards the entrance. It was ridiculous considering he was much faster than them, but if they were right, they had only a few minutes left on the timer to defuse it. Somehow.

Grabbing the block of metal and wires, whatever the hostages were shouting at the would go in one ear and out the other. Of course the thing looked like some crap you'd find in some bomb defusal video game with a variety of buttons, wires, and keypads littered around it. And the bright red, flashing numbers reminding them of how little time they had.

"What took you so long?" One voice was finally able to stab its way through the noise.

"I was— figuring things out, so just hold on." They barely tried to conceal the way their eyes rolled, gritting their teeth as they turned the mechanism in their hands.

Knowing Kaleidoscope— Well, they hardly knew him. But if they had to guess what he'd do, it must've been some kind of joke. Like half or basically the whole thing being fake. Maybe he just kept the wires to have that climactic "is it the red of blue wire" trope. He loved playing into ridiculous movie cliches like that.

Xen shuddered at the memory of when they were roped, literally, into the melodramatic trope of a maiden tied to train tracks. And when they had pedantically corrected him that the origin had a man tied to the tracks, his only response was "well, you're nonbinary".

Focus.

GAH.

They slapped themself. But really, they had no lead as to what to do. Their mind wracked to see if there had possibly been any hints until something shot to the forefront of their mind.

"C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

With a thick swallow, they froze.

If they had been better at listening... Gods dammit, if they even just listened to their mind that constantly shouted at them like they were a misbehaving child. Maybe they would've had some semblance of sense to be fucking competent rather than some screw up cosplayer.

But they could still do something.

The timer ticked down to the last few seconds.

Kindness and understanding were difficult to come by for them. Brute force was much easier.

Xen.

Pulling out their scythe, Xen put enough distance between them and the citizens before swinging down on the ropes the bound them. Sure, there were a few screams from them since a large blade was inches away from some of them, but it proved their guess correct. The bomb at the very least wasn't actually rigged to the people at all.

With only a moment to catch their breath, their eyes focused on the hostages. "What? Get out of here already!"

It didn't take much convincing for the crowd to scramble away which let them direct their attention back to the bomb. Rushing towards it and scooping it into their hands, Xen threw it into the air, swinging their scythe at it like a bat before turning away to brace for the explosion, their wings expanding as an attempt at a shield.

Their body flinched at the sound, grimacing as they turned around only to find the ground coated in a layer of glitter. On their back, their wings moved to fold back into a bow, but they shuddered and flapped from the glitter that got stuck between the feathers.

"Surprise...!" Kaleidoscope appeared around a corner, his jazz hands at the reveal more hesitant than he normally would've been. "It wasn't actually—"

"Yeah, I can see that." Their voice came out with more venom than they initially anticipated, but it felt a little cathartic. His eyes avoided theirs, but they bore into his. "Why do you do this? You don't even do anything. Does watching this give you some sick sense of enjoyment to watch me beg?"

Xen, be nice.

"What?" He startled, suddenly holding his hands up defensively while they marched towards him. "No! Oh my god, no."

"Gods," Xen's voice cracked. The tears stung their eyes again, but that was the last thing they cared about. "What could it possibly be then? You treat me like a joke, but try to act like we're best friends. I'd rather you want to try to kill me at that point."

His eyes darted around; for the first time, he seemed to be at a loss of words. The tension in the air was practically burning.

And when he was finally within arm's reach, he ran away.

Like always.

Maybe it was because he was a "villain", but the way his expression would shift into a grin whenever he saw Xen come to stop him filled them with unease. Not because it was threatening per se, but purely because it felt similar to a kid excited for a playdate. It felt patronizing. Like he was regarding them as if they weren't actually someone to be worried about.

And it was worse that he was right. He always found a way to evade him because he was better than them in an almost literal and ironic sense.

Their speed? His was ten times faster. Their ability to glide? Of course he was able to actually fly. Not to mention their light did little when he could simply use telekinesis. Any moment they'd get close to apprehending him, all he needed to do was toss whatever object at them and they'd be forced to dodge unless they wanted a concussion.

Well. That was ignoring the other issue.

Xen's preferred method of managing their "problems" was by simply beating the shit out of it, like spam clicking in video games. Besides, they were given a scythe as a weapon for a reason, and one that could turn into a staff (aka a blunt object), so it felt like a no brainer.

However, whenever they would swing at him, their own mind practically paralyzed them into freezing. They had been getting better at tuning the foreign thoughts out, but even that had its own limits when the worst was astronomically so compared to the usual droning. At times, when it would crescendo into a disgusting screech, they could almost convince themself the warmth of blood was dripping down the side of their jaw with only the slightest relief to return home and see nothing.

So to avoid that from happening again (after trying a few more times to brute force it), they were forced to resort to less violent methods. Ones that made it far too easy for Kaleidoscope to slip away or even mess with them, but unfortunately gained the approval of the conversations that played in their own mind.

Do you know how humiliating it is? To be tied up like a pinata and toted around town while your rival is parading you around like its some humiliation ritual. Not even like it was one; it basically was with the way he was poking and cooing at them like they were a snappy puppy. And escaping wasn't even a victory when it was because he let them with the reasoning of he "had fun" and was "excited to see them next time".

Yu was hardly a help throughout it all, mostly watching from afar. Or up close when he'd sneakily take photos to make fun of Xen later. His excuse was that nothing was happening that required him to help, but they called bullshit. Mostly because he pissed them off but also because it was unfair.

He loved to lecture them about how they shared the duties of protecting the city, but he would always sit on his ass all day while they did the dirty work. They should've just quit, but they couldn't because of... Why didn't they quit again?

This is a responsibility only you can accept. You accepted this. You want this.

Whatever.

One day, while sitting through a lecture, their ears perked up when some people a few seats away were talking about something on the news. With a few clicks on their own laptop, Xen pulled up the latest news just to find out their least favorite person had started a hostage situation in the mall. The fluff of rainbow on his head was as much of an eyesore as it always was whether it were day or night.

Save them.

You have to.

Their eyes were constantly glancing at the time at the corner of their screen because, as much as they would've loved to leave class just a few minutes early, they still liked to keep their reputation as a good student.

Whatever happens is the effect of your actions. Your time is no more important than the time of the victims.

Even if that meant bearing through the unease growing in their mind they waited. The only thing calming them was Xen reminding themself that they'd head straight to the mall once class was dismissed, to the point they had practically leapt down the rows of seats when they finally were allowed to leave.

Can you even handle the consequences of your own actions?

A quick dip into a secluded part of campus, they transformed before speeding off towards the mall, staff in hand despite knowing it'd be useless anyway.

Always so violent...

When they made it, there was a cluster of people tied up together near the entrance with a bomb strapped to them. The windows of the nearby stores had been smashed open with various clothes and apparel strewn around on the ground. And guessing from the abandoned bags and food court trays, the majority of people were at least able to escape capture.

"How long have you guy been tied up?" Xen crouched down, eyes taking a glance towards the bomb. It was a stupid question, mostly just anything to keep the hostages talking so they could be focused less on the current situation.

"I-I don't remember."

Yeah, great fucking question, Xen.

With a huff that they hoped wasn't audible to the citizens, they tried to follow the wiring of the bomb, but of course it didn't help. They were a magical girl; they worked with magic not explosives.

"Oh, pretty birdie, you're here! Why didn't you tell me?" The unnaturally cheery voice for the current situation and the sickeningly sweet, overly familiar nickname made Xen's blood run cold, but they couldn't just avoid facing him. "Honestly, what took you so long? Especially for it being midday—"

"You say that as if you were waiting for me," they stood up off the ground, meeting Kaleidoscope's eyes.

"And if I was?"

They rolled their eyes in a way that was only reserved for him to see.

Be nice, Xen.

He responded with a pout that hardly held any actual hurt in it. "Aww, don't be like that. C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

Brows furrowing, Xen's grip tightened on their staff. Their choice was to follow him, the logical and safer bet, or to simply not and brute force it which could very likely cause damage based on his skills in making a bomb in the first place. And they hated that they had enough reason to not pick the stupid second option.

"Fine," they put away their weapon. "What do you want?"

With a scrutinizing glare, they almost could've believed that he expected them to put up more of a fight than they did. But frankly, any choice that seemed to appease the nagging feeling at the back of their mind was good enough to Xen.

"Oh. Well, I was hoping you'd help me look around the stores a bit."

Seriously?

"Shopping is always so much more boring by yourself, and we're friends, right?" The last word had a teasing lilt as if it'd trap them if they tried answering either way.

One thing they found most annoying about him was just how good he was at catching them off guard with his words that it just was easier to stay quiet. He seemed a little disappointed at their half-hearted shrug, but it wasn't Xen's job to care about him, only about the citizens he was currently threatening.

With one last glance back to see the timer on the bomb, they followed after Kaleidoscope who was patiently-impatiently waiting for when they were ready to follow. When their eyes met again, his face cracked into a grin before he grabbed them by the arm.

As much as he was a pain in their ass, he certainly was never aggressive with them. He always opted for ranged attacks if he needed to, running away in most other situations.

Even in the current moment, with him pulling them along by the elbow, his hold wasn't anything harsh or even clingy. If they wanted to slip away, they very easily could've. Though, where his hold was light, his gaze certainly kept them in place if only for the fact that he would always look back at them. Gauging their feelings, keeping an eye on them. They weren't sure why, but they'd just toss him a tense smile before looking away.

"What's your favorite color?"

He stopped in his tracks to the point Xen almost ran into him.

"What? Uh," their mind buffered. "Pink, I guess? I mean, I'm wearing it so."

That response earned a frown from him. "But do you like wearing it?"

"I dunno." They shrugged. A pause as he stared at them to continue. "It's fine, but I don't think it looks that good on me, I guess?"

And it only made his expression sour more. If this were a choice-based game, they were certainly losing the social interaction. Unfortunately it was real life where they couldn't save and reload if they were. At least he seemed to move on, dragging them along again.

Honestly, could they really afford to waste time doing what seemed like useless walking and standing and vaguely giving responses on if a piece of clothing looked good while the timer was slowly ticking down?

The citizens must've thought they were an awful guardian.

Aren't you?

Kaleidoscope at least seemed to keep trucking along. Honestly, he was almost enviable, the way he could mess with people however he wanted and get away with no repercussions purely because he lucked out with powers better than Xen had.

Could you even do better if you did have his amount of power?

Not to say they would pull the same things he had been if given the ability, but they had less than him and were forced to become something they didn't want to be, something they just weren't. First a magical girl, then a guardian angel, and now some villain's personal assistant while he browsed a mall and tossed clothes at them to hold.

You have yet to earn the title of any of those three.

"What do you think of this look, birdie?"

They only responded with a "hmm" that they hoped sounded positive enough for him to move on.

Their gaze fell to the ground as their shoulders slouched.

Useless.

By all accounts, they were useless. Or, no, they weren't useless, but— In all the jumbled thoughts in their mind, that was the only word that would fill in the blank.

"I've never been a fan of this style on myself, but maybe..." Kaleidoscope mused.

Xen knew they had to be useful, though. That was the whole point of them even being there in the first place. They wouldn't have been chosen if not, right? But again, they were chosen through chance. It could've been anyone else.

And where even was Yu? Probably laughing at them as usual.

"Aw, this would look so cute on—!"

Gods, who would've guessed that their biggest bully would be their own familiar?

Or even their own mind.

The tips of their fingers were numb from having held their arms up in the same pose for the past few minutes, hooks of clothes hangers dangling from them. If they had thought for even just a bit longer, they could imagine the stinging of tears.

"Are you... crying?" Kaleidoscope quietly asked, making them rapidly blink at the water pooling at the corners of their eyes.

Xen whipped their head away to hide their expression. "Can you focus on your shopping?" Their voice cracked just enough to earn a wince from themself.

"It can wait a bit—"

"Oh, 'it can wait' as if you don't have people strapped to a literal bomb right now," they let out something between a chuckle and a strangle. "Do you hear yourself? Do you see yourself?"

They shot him a red-eyes glare, eyeing the way his hand hovered in midair as if reaching to comfort them. Even if he held back, Xen still slapped the hand away if only to let out some of their pent up frustration. Their mind was splitting.

Be nice, Xen.

"You know what," Xen pointed a finger in his face. "This is bullshit, I'm figuring this out myself."

Dropping everything they held onto the floor, they sped off back towards the entrance. It was ridiculous considering he was much faster than them, but if they were right, they had only a few minutes left on the timer to defuse it. Somehow.

Grabbing the block of metal and wires, whatever the hostages were shouting at the would go in one ear and out the other. Of course the thing looked like some crap you'd find in some bomb defusal video game with a variety of buttons, wires, and keypads littered around it. And the bright red, flashing numbers reminding them of how little time they had.

"What took you so long?" One voice was finally able to stab its way through the noise.

"I was— figuring things out, so just hold on." They barely tried to conceal the way their eyes rolled, gritting their teeth as they turned the mechanism in their hands.

Knowing Kaleidoscope— Well, they hardly knew him. But if they had to guess what he'd do, it must've been some kind of joke. Like half or basically the whole thing being fake. Maybe he just kept the wires to have that climactic "is it the red of blue wire" trope. He loved playing into ridiculous movie cliches like that.

Xen shuddered at the memory of when they were roped, literally, into the melodramatic trope of a maiden tied to train tracks. And when they had pedantically corrected him that the origin had a man tied to the tracks, his only response was "well, you're nonbinary".

Focus.

GAH.

They slapped themself. But really, they had no lead as to what to do. Their mind wracked to see if there had possibly been any hints until something shot to the forefront of their mind.

"C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

With a thick swallow, they froze.

If they had been better at listening... Gods dammit, if they even just listened to their mind that constantly shouted at them like they were a misbehaving child. Maybe they would've had some semblance of sense to be fucking competent rather than some screw up cosplayer.

But they could still do something.

The timer ticked down to the last few seconds.

Kindness and understanding were difficult to come by for them. Brute force was much easier.

Xen.

Pulling out their scythe, Xen put enough distance between them and the citizens before swinging down on the ropes the bound them. Sure, there were a few screams from them since a large blade was inches away from some of them, but it proved their guess correct. The bomb at the very least wasn't actually rigged to the people at all.

With only a moment to catch their breath, their eyes focused on the hostages. "What? Get out of here already!"

It didn't take much convincing for the crowd to scramble away which let them direct their attention back to the bomb. Rushing towards it and scooping it into their hands, Xen threw it into the air, swinging their scythe at it like a bat before turning away to brace for the explosion, their wings expanding as an attempt at a shield.

Their body flinched at the sound, grimacing as they turned around only to find the ground coated in a layer of glitter. On their back, their wings moved to fold back into a bow, but they shuddered and flapped from the glitter that got stuck between the feathers.

"Surprise...!" Kaleidoscope appeared around a corner, his jazz hands at the reveal more hesitant than he normally would've been. "It wasn't actually—"

"Yeah, I can see that." Their voice came out with more venom than they initially anticipated, but it felt a little cathartic. His eyes avoided theirs, but they bore into his. "Why do you do this? You don't even do anything. Does watching this give you some sick sense of enjoyment to watch me beg?"

Xen, be nice.

"What?" He startled, suddenly holding his hands up defensively while they marched towards him. "No! Oh my god, no."

"Gods," Xen's voice cracked. The tears stung their eyes again, but that was the last thing they cared about. "What could it possibly be then? You treat me like a joke, but try to act like we're best friends. I'd rather you want to try to kill me at that point."

His eyes darted around; for the first time, he seemed to be at a loss of words. The tension in the air was practically burning.

And when he was finally within arm's reach, he ran away.

Like always.

Maybe it was because he was a "villain", but the way his expression would shift into a grin whenever he saw Xen come to stop him filled them with unease. Not because it was threatening per se, but purely because it felt similar to a kid excited for a playdate. It felt patronizing. Like he was regarding them as if they weren't actually someone to be worried about.

And it was worse that he was right. He always found a way to evade him because he was better than them in an almost literal and ironic sense.

Their speed? His was ten times faster. Their ability to glide? Of course he was able to actually fly. Not to mention their light did little when he could simply use telekinesis. Any moment they'd get close to apprehending him, all he needed to do was toss whatever object at them and they'd be forced to dodge unless they wanted a concussion.

Well. That was ignoring the other issue.

Xen's preferred method of managing their "problems" was by simply beating the shit out of it, like spam clicking in video games. Besides, they were given a scythe as a weapon for a reason, and one that could turn into a staff (aka a blunt object), so it felt like a no brainer.

However, whenever they would swing at him, their own mind practically paralyzed them into freezing. They had been getting better at tuning the foreign thoughts out, but even that had its own limits when the worst was astronomically so compared to the usual droning. At times, when it would crescendo into a disgusting screech, they could almost convince themself the warmth of blood was dripping down the side of their jaw with only the slightest relief to return home and see nothing.

So to avoid that from happening again (after trying a few more times to brute force it), they were forced to resort to less violent methods. Ones that made it far too easy for Kaleidoscope to slip away or even mess with them, but unfortunately gained the approval of the conversations that played in their own mind.

Do you know how humiliating it is? To be tied up like a pinata and toted around town while your rival is parading you around like its some humiliation ritual. Not even like it was one; it basically was with the way he was poking and cooing at them like they were a snappy puppy. And escaping wasn't even a victory when it was because he let them with the reasoning of he "had fun" and was "excited to see them next time".

Yu was hardly a help throughout it all, mostly watching from afar. Or up close when he'd sneakily take photos to make fun of Xen later. His excuse was that nothing was happening that required him to help, but they called bullshit. Mostly because he pissed them off but also because it was unfair.

He loved to lecture them about how they shared the duties of protecting the city, but he would always sit on his ass all day while they did the dirty work. They should've just quit, but they couldn't because of... Why didn't they quit again?

This is a responsibility only you can accept. You accepted this. You want this.

Whatever.

One day, while sitting through a lecture, their ears perked up when some people a few seats away were talking about something on the news. With a few clicks on their own laptop, Xen pulled up the latest news just to find out their least favorite person had started a hostage situation in the mall. The fluff of rainbow on his head was as much of an eyesore as it always was whether it were day or night.

Save them.

You have to.

Their eyes were constantly glancing at the time at the corner of their screen because, as much as they would've loved to leave class just a few minutes early, they still liked to keep their reputation as a good student.

Whatever happens is the effect of your actions. Your time is no more important than the time of the victims.

Even if that meant bearing through the unease growing in their mind they waited. The only thing calming them was Xen reminding themself that they'd head straight to the mall once class was dismissed, to the point they had practically leapt down the rows of seats when they finally were allowed to leave.

Can you even handle the consequences of your own actions?

A quick dip into a secluded part of campus, they transformed before speeding off towards the mall, staff in hand despite knowing it'd be useless anyway.

Always so violent...

When they made it, there was a cluster of people tied up together near the entrance with a bomb strapped to them. The windows of the nearby stores had been smashed open with various clothes and apparel strewn around on the ground. And guessing from the abandoned bags and food court trays, the majority of people were at least able to escape capture.

"How long have you guy been tied up?" Xen crouched down, eyes taking a glance towards the bomb. It was a stupid question, mostly just anything to keep the hostages talking so they could be focused less on the current situation.

"I-I don't remember."

Yeah, great fucking question, Xen.

With a huff that they hoped wasn't audible to the citizens, they tried to follow the wiring of the bomb, but of course it didn't help. They were a magical girl; they worked with magic not explosives.

"Oh, pretty birdie, you're here! Why didn't you tell me?" The unnaturally cheery voice for the current situation and the sickeningly sweet, overly familiar nickname made Xen's blood run cold, but they couldn't just avoid facing him. "Honestly, what took you so long? Especially for it being midday—"

"You say that as if you were waiting for me," they stood up off the ground, meeting Kaleidoscope's eyes.

"And if I was?"

They rolled their eyes in a way that was only reserved for him to see.

Be nice, Xen.

He responded with a pout that hardly held any actual hurt in it. "Aww, don't be like that. C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

Brows furrowing, Xen's grip tightened on their staff. Their choice was to follow him, the logical and safer bet, or to simply not and brute force it which could very likely cause damage based on his skills in making a bomb in the first place. And they hated that they had enough reason to not pick the stupid second option.

"Fine," they put away their weapon. "What do you want?"

With a scrutinizing glare, they almost could've believed that he expected them to put up more of a fight than they did. But frankly, any choice that seemed to appease the nagging feeling at the back of their mind was good enough to Xen.

"Oh. Well, I was hoping you'd help me look around the stores a bit."

Seriously?

"Shopping is always so much more boring by yourself, and we're friends, right?" The last word had a teasing lilt as if it'd trap them if they tried answering either way.

One thing they found most annoying about him was just how good he was at catching them off guard with his words that it just was easier to stay quiet. He seemed a little disappointed at their half-hearted shrug, but it wasn't Xen's job to care about him, only about the citizens he was currently threatening.

With one last glance back to see the timer on the bomb, they followed after Kaleidoscope who was patiently-impatiently waiting for when they were ready to follow. When their eyes met again, his face cracked into a grin before he grabbed them by the arm.

As much as he was a pain in their ass, he certainly was never aggressive with them. He always opted for ranged attacks if he needed to, running away in most other situations.

Even in the current moment, with him pulling them along by the elbow, his hold wasn't anything harsh or even clingy. If they wanted to slip away, they very easily could've. Though, where his hold was light, his gaze certainly kept them in place if only for the fact that he would always look back at them. Gauging their feelings, keeping an eye on them. They weren't sure why, but they'd just toss him a tense smile before looking away.

"What's your favorite color?"

He stopped in his tracks to the point Xen almost ran into him.

"What? Uh," their mind buffered. "Pink, I guess? I mean, I'm wearing it so."

That response earned a frown from him. "But do you like wearing it?"

"I dunno." They shrugged. A pause as he stared at them to continue. "It's fine, but I don't think it looks that good on me, I guess?"

And it only made his expression sour more. If this were a choice-based game, they were certainly losing the social interaction. Unfortunately it was real life where they couldn't save and reload if they were. At least he seemed to move on, dragging them along again.

Honestly, could they really afford to waste time doing what seemed like useless walking and standing and vaguely giving responses on if a piece of clothing looked good while the timer was slowly ticking down?

The citizens must've thought they were an awful guardian.

Aren't you?

Kaleidoscope at least seemed to keep trucking along. Honestly, he was almost enviable, the way he could mess with people however he wanted and get away with no repercussions purely because he lucked out with powers better than Xen had.

Could you even do better if you did have his amount of power?

Not to say they would pull the same things he had been if given the ability, but they had less than him and were forced to become something they didn't want to be, something they just weren't. First a magical girl, then a guardian angel, and now some villain's personal assistant while he browsed a mall and tossed clothes at them to hold.

You have yet to earn the title of any of those three.

"What do you think of this look, birdie?"

They only responded with a "hmm" that they hoped sounded positive enough for him to move on.

Their gaze fell to the ground as their shoulders slouched.

Useless.

By all accounts, they were useless. Or, no, they weren't useless, but— In all the jumbled thoughts in their mind, that was the only word that would fill in the blank.

"I've never been a fan of this style on myself, but maybe..." Kaleidoscope mused.

Xen knew they had to be useful, though. That was the whole point of them even being there in the first place. They wouldn't have been chosen if not, right? But again, they were chosen through chance. It could've been anyone else.

And where even was Yu? Probably laughing at them as usual.

"Aw, this would look so cute on—!"

Gods, who would've guessed that their biggest bully would be their own familiar?

Or even their own mind.

The tips of their fingers were numb from having held their arms up in the same pose for the past few minutes, hooks of clothes hangers dangling from them. If they had thought for even just a bit longer, they could imagine the stinging of tears.

"Are you... crying?" Kaleidoscope quietly asked, making them rapidly blink at the water pooling at the corners of their eyes.

Xen whipped their head away to hide their expression. "Can you focus on your shopping?" Their voice cracked just enough to earn a wince from themself.

"It can wait a bit—"

"Oh, 'it can wait' as if you don't have people strapped to a literal bomb right now," they let out something between a chuckle and a strangle. "Do you hear yourself? Do you see yourself?"

They shot him a red-eyes glare, eyeing the way his hand hovered in midair as if reaching to comfort them. Even if he held back, Xen still slapped the hand away if only to let out some of their pent up frustration. Their mind was splitting.

Be nice, Xen.

"You know what," Xen pointed a finger in his face. "This is bullshit, I'm figuring this out myself."

Dropping everything they held onto the floor, they sped off back towards the entrance. It was ridiculous considering he was much faster than them, but if they were right, they had only a few minutes left on the timer to defuse it. Somehow.

Grabbing the block of metal and wires, whatever the hostages were shouting at the would go in one ear and out the other. Of course the thing looked like some crap you'd find in some bomb defusal video game with a variety of buttons, wires, and keypads littered around it. And the bright red, flashing numbers reminding them of how little time they had.

"What took you so long?" One voice was finally able to stab its way through the noise.

"I was— figuring things out, so just hold on." They barely tried to conceal the way their eyes rolled, gritting their teeth as they turned the mechanism in their hands.

Knowing Kaleidoscope— Well, they hardly knew him. But if they had to guess what he'd do, it must've been some kind of joke. Like half or basically the whole thing being fake. Maybe he just kept the wires to have that climactic "is it the red of blue wire" trope. He loved playing into ridiculous movie cliches like that.

Xen shuddered at the memory of when they were roped, literally, into the melodramatic trope of a maiden tied to train tracks. And when they had pedantically corrected him that the origin had a man tied to the tracks, his only response was "well, you're nonbinary".

Focus.

GAH.

They slapped themself. But really, they had no lead as to what to do. Their mind wracked to see if there had possibly been any hints until something shot to the forefront of their mind.

"C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

With a thick swallow, they froze.

If they had been better at listening... Gods dammit, if they even just listened to their mind that constantly shouted at them like they were a misbehaving child. Maybe they would've had some semblance of sense to be fucking competent rather than some screw up cosplayer.

But they could still do something.

The timer ticked down to the last few seconds.

Kindness and understanding were difficult to come by for them. Brute force was much easier.

Xen.

Pulling out their scythe, Xen put enough distance between them and the citizens before swinging down on the ropes the bound them. Sure, there were a few screams from them since a large blade was inches away from some of them, but it proved their guess correct. The bomb at the very least wasn't actually rigged to the people at all.

With only a moment to catch their breath, their eyes focused on the hostages. "What? Get out of here already!"

It didn't take much convincing for the crowd to scramble away which let them direct their attention back to the bomb. Rushing towards it and scooping it into their hands, Xen threw it into the air, swinging their scythe at it like a bat before turning away to brace for the explosion, their wings expanding as an attempt at a shield.

Their body flinched at the sound, grimacing as they turned around only to find the ground coated in a layer of glitter. On their back, their wings moved to fold back into a bow, but they shuddered and flapped from the glitter that got stuck between the feathers.

"Surprise...!" Kaleidoscope appeared around a corner, his jazz hands at the reveal more hesitant than he normally would've been. "It wasn't actually—"

"Yeah, I can see that." Their voice came out with more venom than they initially anticipated, but it felt a little cathartic. His eyes avoided theirs, but they bore into his. "Why do you do this? You don't even do anything. Does watching this give you some sick sense of enjoyment to watch me beg?"

Xen, be nice.

"What?" He startled, suddenly holding his hands up defensively while they marched towards him. "No! Oh my god, no."

"Gods," Xen's voice cracked. The tears stung their eyes again, but that was the last thing they cared about. "What could it possibly be then? You treat me like a joke, but try to act like we're best friends. I'd rather you want to try to kill me at that point."

His eyes darted around; for the first time, he seemed to be at a loss of words. The tension in the air was practically burning.

And when he was finally within arm's reach, he ran away.

Like always.

Maybe it was because he was a "villain", but the way his expression would shift into a grin whenever he saw Xen come to stop him filled them with unease. Not because it was threatening per se, but purely because it felt similar to a kid excited for a playdate. It felt patronizing. Like he was regarding them as if they weren't actually someone to be worried about.

And it was worse that he was right. He always found a way to evade him because he was better than them in an almost literal and ironic sense.

Their speed? His was ten times faster. Their ability to glide? Of course he was able to actually fly. Not to mention their light did little when he could simply use telekinesis. Any moment they'd get close to apprehending him, all he needed to do was toss whatever object at them and they'd be forced to dodge unless they wanted a concussion.

Well. That was ignoring the other issue.

Xen's preferred method of managing their "problems" was by simply beating the shit out of it, like spam clicking in video games. Besides, they were given a scythe as a weapon for a reason, and one that could turn into a staff (aka a blunt object), so it felt like a no brainer.

However, whenever they would swing at him, their own mind practically paralyzed them into freezing. They had been getting better at tuning the foreign thoughts out, but even that had its own limits when the worst was astronomically so compared to the usual droning. At times, when it would crescendo into a disgusting screech, they could almost convince themself the warmth of blood was dripping down the side of their jaw with only the slightest relief to return home and see nothing.

So to avoid that from happening again (after trying a few more times to brute force it), they were forced to resort to less violent methods. Ones that made it far too easy for Kaleidoscope to slip away or even mess with them, but unfortunately gained the approval of the conversations that played in their own mind.

Do you know how humiliating it is? To be tied up like a pinata and toted around town while your rival is parading you around like its some humiliation ritual. Not even like it was one; it basically was with the way he was poking and cooing at them like they were a snappy puppy. And escaping wasn't even a victory when it was because he let them with the reasoning of he "had fun" and was "excited to see them next time".

Yu was hardly a help throughout it all, mostly watching from afar. Or up close when he'd sneakily take photos to make fun of Xen later. His excuse was that nothing was happening that required him to help, but they called bullshit. Mostly because he pissed them off but also because it was unfair.

He loved to lecture them about how they shared the duties of protecting the city, but he would always sit on his ass all day while they did the dirty work. They should've just quit, but they couldn't because of... Why didn't they quit again?

This is a responsibility only you can accept. You accepted this. You want this.

Whatever.

One day, while sitting through a lecture, their ears perked up when some people a few seats away were talking about something on the news. With a few clicks on their own laptop, Xen pulled up the latest news just to find out their least favorite person had started a hostage situation in the mall. The fluff of rainbow on his head was as much of an eyesore as it always was whether it were day or night.

Save them.

You have to.

Their eyes were constantly glancing at the time at the corner of their screen because, as much as they would've loved to leave class just a few minutes early, they still liked to keep their reputation as a good student.

Whatever happens is the effect of your actions. Your time is no more important than the time of the victims.

Even if that meant bearing through the unease growing in their mind they waited. The only thing calming them was Xen reminding themself that they'd head straight to the mall once class was dismissed, to the point they had practically leapt down the rows of seats when they finally were allowed to leave.

Can you even handle the consequences of your own actions?

A quick dip into a secluded part of campus, they transformed before speeding off towards the mall, staff in hand despite knowing it'd be useless anyway.

Always so violent...

When they made it, there was a cluster of people tied up together near the entrance with a bomb strapped to them. The windows of the nearby stores had been smashed open with various clothes and apparel strewn around on the ground. And guessing from the abandoned bags and food court trays, the majority of people were at least able to escape capture.

"How long have you guy been tied up?" Xen crouched down, eyes taking a glance towards the bomb. It was a stupid question, mostly just anything to keep the hostages talking so they could be focused less on the current situation.

"I-I don't remember."

Yeah, great fucking question, Xen.

With a huff that they hoped wasn't audible to the citizens, they tried to follow the wiring of the bomb, but of course it didn't help. They were a magical girl; they worked with magic not explosives.

"Oh, pretty birdie, you're here! Why didn't you tell me?" The unnaturally cheery voice for the current situation and the sickeningly sweet, overly familiar nickname made Xen's blood run cold, but they couldn't just avoid facing him. "Honestly, what took you so long? Especially for it being midday—"

"You say that as if you were waiting for me," they stood up off the ground, meeting Kaleidoscope's eyes.

"And if I was?"

They rolled their eyes in a way that was only reserved for him to see.

Be nice, Xen.

He responded with a pout that hardly held any actual hurt in it. "Aww, don't be like that. C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

Brows furrowing, Xen's grip tightened on their staff. Their choice was to follow him, the logical and safer bet, or to simply not and brute force it which could very likely cause damage based on his skills in making a bomb in the first place. And they hated that they had enough reason to not pick the stupid second option.

"Fine," they put away their weapon. "What do you want?"

With a scrutinizing glare, they almost could've believed that he expected them to put up more of a fight than they did. But frankly, any choice that seemed to appease the nagging feeling at the back of their mind was good enough to Xen.

"Oh. Well, I was hoping you'd help me look around the stores a bit."

Seriously?

"Shopping is always so much more boring by yourself, and we're friends, right?" The last word had a teasing lilt as if it'd trap them if they tried answering either way.

One thing they found most annoying about him was just how good he was at catching them off guard with his words that it just was easier to stay quiet. He seemed a little disappointed at their half-hearted shrug, but it wasn't Xen's job to care about him, only about the citizens he was currently threatening.

With one last glance back to see the timer on the bomb, they followed after Kaleidoscope who was patiently-impatiently waiting for when they were ready to follow. When their eyes met again, his face cracked into a grin before he grabbed them by the arm.

As much as he was a pain in their ass, he certainly was never aggressive with them. He always opted for ranged attacks if he needed to, running away in most other situations.

Even in the current moment, with him pulling them along by the elbow, his hold wasn't anything harsh or even clingy. If they wanted to slip away, they very easily could've. Though, where his hold was light, his gaze certainly kept them in place if only for the fact that he would always look back at them. Gauging their feelings, keeping an eye on them. They weren't sure why, but they'd just toss him a tense smile before looking away.

"What's your favorite color?"

He stopped in his tracks to the point Xen almost ran into him.

"What? Uh," their mind buffered. "Pink, I guess? I mean, I'm wearing it so."

That response earned a frown from him. "But do you like wearing it?"

"I dunno." They shrugged. A pause as he stared at them to continue. "It's fine, but I don't think it looks that good on me, I guess?"

And it only made his expression sour more. If this were a choice-based game, they were certainly losing the social interaction. Unfortunately it was real life where they couldn't save and reload if they were. At least he seemed to move on, dragging them along again.

Honestly, could they really afford to waste time doing what seemed like useless walking and standing and vaguely giving responses on if a piece of clothing looked good while the timer was slowly ticking down?

The citizens must've thought they were an awful guardian.

Aren't you?

Kaleidoscope at least seemed to keep trucking along. Honestly, he was almost enviable, the way he could mess with people however he wanted and get away with no repercussions purely because he lucked out with powers better than Xen had.

Could you even do better if you did have his amount of power?

Not to say they would pull the same things he had been if given the ability, but they had less than him and were forced to become something they didn't want to be, something they just weren't. First a magical girl, then a guardian angel, and now some villain's personal assistant while he browsed a mall and tossed clothes at them to hold.

You have yet to earn the title of any of those three.

"What do you think of this look, birdie?"

They only responded with a "hmm" that they hoped sounded positive enough for him to move on.

Their gaze fell to the ground as their shoulders slouched.

Useless.

By all accounts, they were useless. Or, no, they weren't useless, but— In all the jumbled thoughts in their mind, that was the only word that would fill in the blank.

"I've never been a fan of this style on myself, but maybe..." Kaleidoscope mused.

Xen knew they had to be useful, though. That was the whole point of them even being there in the first place. They wouldn't have been chosen if not, right? But again, they were chosen through chance. It could've been anyone else.

And where even was Yu? Probably laughing at them as usual.

"Aw, this would look so cute on—!"

Gods, who would've guessed that their biggest bully would be their own familiar?

Or even their own mind.

The tips of their fingers were numb from having held their arms up in the same pose for the past few minutes, hooks of clothes hangers dangling from them. If they had thought for even just a bit longer, they could imagine the stinging of tears.

"Are you... crying?" Kaleidoscope quietly asked, making them rapidly blink at the water pooling at the corners of their eyes.

Xen whipped their head away to hide their expression. "Can you focus on your shopping?" Their voice cracked just enough to earn a wince from themself.

"It can wait a bit—"

"Oh, 'it can wait' as if you don't have people strapped to a literal bomb right now," they let out something between a chuckle and a strangle. "Do you hear yourself? Do you see yourself?"

They shot him a red-eyes glare, eyeing the way his hand hovered in midair as if reaching to comfort them. Even if he held back, Xen still slapped the hand away if only to let out some of their pent up frustration. Their mind was splitting.

Be nice, Xen.

"You know what," Xen pointed a finger in his face. "This is bullshit, I'm figuring this out myself."

Dropping everything they held onto the floor, they sped off back towards the entrance. It was ridiculous considering he was much faster than them, but if they were right, they had only a few minutes left on the timer to defuse it. Somehow.

Grabbing the block of metal and wires, whatever the hostages were shouting at the would go in one ear and out the other. Of course the thing looked like some crap you'd find in some bomb defusal video game with a variety of buttons, wires, and keypads littered around it. And the bright red, flashing numbers reminding them of how little time they had.

"What took you so long?" One voice was finally able to stab its way through the noise.

"I was— figuring things out, so just hold on." They barely tried to conceal the way their eyes rolled, gritting their teeth as they turned the mechanism in their hands.

Knowing Kaleidoscope— Well, they hardly knew him. But if they had to guess what he'd do, it must've been some kind of joke. Like half or basically the whole thing being fake. Maybe he just kept the wires to have that climactic "is it the red of blue wire" trope. He loved playing into ridiculous movie cliches like that.

Xen shuddered at the memory of when they were roped, literally, into the melodramatic trope of a maiden tied to train tracks. And when they had pedantically corrected him that the origin had a man tied to the tracks, his only response was "well, you're nonbinary".

Focus.

GAH.

They slapped themself. But really, they had no lead as to what to do. Their mind wracked to see if there had possibly been any hints until something shot to the forefront of their mind.

"C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

With a thick swallow, they froze.

If they had been better at listening... Gods dammit, if they even just listened to their mind that constantly shouted at them like they were a misbehaving child. Maybe they would've had some semblance of sense to be fucking competent rather than some screw up cosplayer.

But they could still do something.

The timer ticked down to the last few seconds.

Kindness and understanding were difficult to come by for them. Brute force was much easier.

Xen.

Pulling out their scythe, Xen put enough distance between them and the citizens before swinging down on the ropes the bound them. Sure, there were a few screams from them since a large blade was inches away from some of them, but it proved their guess correct. The bomb at the very least wasn't actually rigged to the people at all.

With only a moment to catch their breath, their eyes focused on the hostages. "What? Get out of here already!"

It didn't take much convincing for the crowd to scramble away which let them direct their attention back to the bomb. Rushing towards it and scooping it into their hands, Xen threw it into the air, swinging their scythe at it like a bat before turning away to brace for the explosion, their wings expanding as an attempt at a shield.

Their body flinched at the sound, grimacing as they turned around only to find the ground coated in a layer of glitter. On their back, their wings moved to fold back into a bow, but they shuddered and flapped from the glitter that got stuck between the feathers.

"Surprise...!" Kaleidoscope appeared around a corner, his jazz hands at the reveal more hesitant than he normally would've been. "It wasn't actually—"

"Yeah, I can see that." Their voice came out with more venom than they initially anticipated, but it felt a little cathartic. His eyes avoided theirs, but they bore into his. "Why do you do this? You don't even do anything. Does watching this give you some sick sense of enjoyment to watch me beg?"

Xen, be nice.

"What?" He startled, suddenly holding his hands up defensively while they marched towards him. "No! Oh my god, no."

"Gods," Xen's voice cracked. The tears stung their eyes again, but that was the last thing they cared about. "What could it possibly be then? You treat me like a joke, but try to act like we're best friends. I'd rather you want to try to kill me at that point."

His eyes darted around; for the first time, he seemed to be at a loss of words. The tension in the air was practically burning.

And when he was finally within arm's reach, he ran away.

Like always.

Maybe it was because he was a "villain", but the way his expression would shift into a grin whenever he saw Xen come to stop him filled them with unease. Not because it was threatening per se, but purely because it felt similar to a kid excited for a playdate. It felt patronizing. Like he was regarding them as if they weren't actually someone to be worried about.

And it was worse that he was right. He always found a way to evade him because he was better than them in an almost literal and ironic sense.

Their speed? His was ten times faster. Their ability to glide? Of course he was able to actually fly. Not to mention their light did little when he could simply use telekinesis. Any moment they'd get close to apprehending him, all he needed to do was toss whatever object at them and they'd be forced to dodge unless they wanted a concussion.

Well. That was ignoring the other issue.

Xen's preferred method of managing their "problems" was by simply beating the shit out of it, like spam clicking in video games. Besides, they were given a scythe as a weapon for a reason, and one that could turn into a staff (aka a blunt object), so it felt like a no brainer.

However, whenever they would swing at him, their own mind practically paralyzed them into freezing. They had been getting better at tuning the foreign thoughts out, but even that had its own limits when the worst was astronomically so compared to the usual droning. At times, when it would crescendo into a disgusting screech, they could almost convince themself the warmth of blood was dripping down the side of their jaw with only the slightest relief to return home and see nothing.

So to avoid that from happening again (after trying a few more times to brute force it), they were forced to resort to less violent methods. Ones that made it far too easy for Kaleidoscope to slip away or even mess with them, but unfortunately gained the approval of the conversations that played in their own mind.

Do you know how humiliating it is? To be tied up like a pinata and toted around town while your rival is parading you around like its some humiliation ritual. Not even like it was one; it basically was with the way he was poking and cooing at them like they were a snappy puppy. And escaping wasn't even a victory when it was because he let them with the reasoning of he "had fun" and was "excited to see them next time".

Yu was hardly a help throughout it all, mostly watching from afar. Or up close when he'd sneakily take photos to make fun of Xen later. His excuse was that nothing was happening that required him to help, but they called bullshit. Mostly because he pissed them off but also because it was unfair.

He loved to lecture them about how they shared the duties of protecting the city, but he would always sit on his ass all day while they did the dirty work. They should've just quit, but they couldn't because of... Why didn't they quit again?

This is a responsibility only you can accept. You accepted this. You want this.

Whatever.

One day, while sitting through a lecture, their ears perked up when some people a few seats away were talking about something on the news. With a few clicks on their own laptop, Xen pulled up the latest news just to find out their least favorite person had started a hostage situation in the mall. The fluff of rainbow on his head was as much of an eyesore as it always was whether it were day or night.

Save them.

You have to.

Their eyes were constantly glancing at the time at the corner of their screen because, as much as they would've loved to leave class just a few minutes early, they still liked to keep their reputation as a good student.

Whatever happens is the effect of your actions. Your time is no more important than the time of the victims.

Even if that meant bearing through the unease growing in their mind they waited. The only thing calming them was Xen reminding themself that they'd head straight to the mall once class was dismissed, to the point they had practically leapt down the rows of seats when they finally were allowed to leave.

Can you even handle the consequences of your own actions?

A quick dip into a secluded part of campus, they transformed before speeding off towards the mall, staff in hand despite knowing it'd be useless anyway.

Always so violent...

When they made it, there was a cluster of people tied up together near the entrance with a bomb strapped to them. The windows of the nearby stores had been smashed open with various clothes and apparel strewn around on the ground. And guessing from the abandoned bags and food court trays, the majority of people were at least able to escape capture.

"How long have you guy been tied up?" Xen crouched down, eyes taking a glance towards the bomb. It was a stupid question, mostly just anything to keep the hostages talking so they could be focused less on the current situation.

"I-I don't remember."

Yeah, great fucking question, Xen.

With a huff that they hoped wasn't audible to the citizens, they tried to follow the wiring of the bomb, but of course it didn't help. They were a magical girl; they worked with magic not explosives.

"Oh, pretty birdie, you're here! Why didn't you tell me?" The unnaturally cheery voice for the current situation and the sickeningly sweet, overly familiar nickname made Xen's blood run cold, but they couldn't just avoid facing him. "Honestly, what took you so long? Especially for it being midday—"

"You say that as if you were waiting for me," they stood up off the ground, meeting Kaleidoscope's eyes.

"And if I was?"

They rolled their eyes in a way that was only reserved for him to see.

Be nice, Xen.

He responded with a pout that hardly held any actual hurt in it. "Aww, don't be like that. C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

Brows furrowing, Xen's grip tightened on their staff. Their choice was to follow him, the logical and safer bet, or to simply not and brute force it which could very likely cause damage based on his skills in making a bomb in the first place. And they hated that they had enough reason to not pick the stupid second option.

"Fine," they put away their weapon. "What do you want?"

With a scrutinizing glare, they almost could've believed that he expected them to put up more of a fight than they did. But frankly, any choice that seemed to appease the nagging feeling at the back of their mind was good enough to Xen.

"Oh. Well, I was hoping you'd help me look around the stores a bit."

Seriously?

"Shopping is always so much more boring by yourself, and we're friends, right?" The last word had a teasing lilt as if it'd trap them if they tried answering either way.

One thing they found most annoying about him was just how good he was at catching them off guard with his words that it just was easier to stay quiet. He seemed a little disappointed at their half-hearted shrug, but it wasn't Xen's job to care about him, only about the citizens he was currently threatening.

With one last glance back to see the timer on the bomb, they followed after Kaleidoscope who was patiently-impatiently waiting for when they were ready to follow. When their eyes met again, his face cracked into a grin before he grabbed them by the arm.

As much as he was a pain in their ass, he certainly was never aggressive with them. He always opted for ranged attacks if he needed to, running away in most other situations.

Even in the current moment, with him pulling them along by the elbow, his hold wasn't anything harsh or even clingy. If they wanted to slip away, they very easily could've. Though, where his hold was light, his gaze certainly kept them in place if only for the fact that he would always look back at them. Gauging their feelings, keeping an eye on them. They weren't sure why, but they'd just toss him a tense smile before looking away.

"What's your favorite color?"

He stopped in his tracks to the point Xen almost ran into him.

"What? Uh," their mind buffered. "Pink, I guess? I mean, I'm wearing it so."

That response earned a frown from him. "But do you like wearing it?"

"I dunno." They shrugged. A pause as he stared at them to continue. "It's fine, but I don't think it looks that good on me, I guess?"

And it only made his expression sour more. If this were a choice-based game, they were certainly losing the social interaction. Unfortunately it was real life where they couldn't save and reload if they were. At least he seemed to move on, dragging them along again.

Honestly, could they really afford to waste time doing what seemed like useless walking and standing and vaguely giving responses on if a piece of clothing looked good while the timer was slowly ticking down?

The citizens must've thought they were an awful guardian.

Aren't you?

Kaleidoscope at least seemed to keep trucking along. Honestly, he was almost enviable, the way he could mess with people however he wanted and get away with no repercussions purely because he lucked out with powers better than Xen had.

Could you even do better if you did have his amount of power?

Not to say they would pull the same things he had been if given the ability, but they had less than him and were forced to become something they didn't want to be, something they just weren't. First a magical girl, then a guardian angel, and now some villain's personal assistant while he browsed a mall and tossed clothes at them to hold.

You have yet to earn the title of any of those three.

"What do you think of this look, birdie?"

They only responded with a "hmm" that they hoped sounded positive enough for him to move on.

Their gaze fell to the ground as their shoulders slouched.

Useless.

By all accounts, they were useless. Or, no, they weren't useless, but— In all the jumbled thoughts in their mind, that was the only word that would fill in the blank.

"I've never been a fan of this style on myself, but maybe..." Kaleidoscope mused.

Xen knew they had to be useful, though. That was the whole point of them even being there in the first place. They wouldn't have been chosen if not, right? But again, they were chosen through chance. It could've been anyone else.

And where even was Yu? Probably laughing at them as usual.

"Aw, this would look so cute on—!"

Gods, who would've guessed that their biggest bully would be their own familiar?

Or even their own mind.

The tips of their fingers were numb from having held their arms up in the same pose for the past few minutes, hooks of clothes hangers dangling from them. If they had thought for even just a bit longer, they could imagine the stinging of tears.

"Are you... crying?" Kaleidoscope quietly asked, making them rapidly blink at the water pooling at the corners of their eyes.

Xen whipped their head away to hide their expression. "Can you focus on your shopping?" Their voice cracked just enough to earn a wince from themself.

"It can wait a bit—"

"Oh, 'it can wait' as if you don't have people strapped to a literal bomb right now," they let out something between a chuckle and a strangle. "Do you hear yourself? Do you see yourself?"

They shot him a red-eyes glare, eyeing the way his hand hovered in midair as if reaching to comfort them. Even if he held back, Xen still slapped the hand away if only to let out some of their pent up frustration. Their mind was splitting.

Be nice, Xen.

"You know what," Xen pointed a finger in his face. "This is bullshit, I'm figuring this out myself."

Dropping everything they held onto the floor, they sped off back towards the entrance. It was ridiculous considering he was much faster than them, but if they were right, they had only a few minutes left on the timer to defuse it. Somehow.

Grabbing the block of metal and wires, whatever the hostages were shouting at the would go in one ear and out the other. Of course the thing looked like some crap you'd find in some bomb defusal video game with a variety of buttons, wires, and keypads littered around it. And the bright red, flashing numbers reminding them of how little time they had.

"What took you so long?" One voice was finally able to stab its way through the noise.

"I was— figuring things out, so just hold on." They barely tried to conceal the way their eyes rolled, gritting their teeth as they turned the mechanism in their hands.

Knowing Kaleidoscope— Well, they hardly knew him. But if they had to guess what he'd do, it must've been some kind of joke. Like half or basically the whole thing being fake. Maybe he just kept the wires to have that climactic "is it the red of blue wire" trope. He loved playing into ridiculous movie cliches like that.

Xen shuddered at the memory of when they were roped, literally, into the melodramatic trope of a maiden tied to train tracks. And when they had pedantically corrected him that the origin had a man tied to the tracks, his only response was "well, you're nonbinary".

Focus.

GAH.

They slapped themself. But really, they had no lead as to what to do. Their mind wracked to see if there had possibly been any hints until something shot to the forefront of their mind.

"C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

With a thick swallow, they froze.

If they had been better at listening... Gods dammit, if they even just listened to their mind that constantly shouted at them like they were a misbehaving child. Maybe they would've had some semblance of sense to be fucking competent rather than some screw up cosplayer.

But they could still do something.

The timer ticked down to the last few seconds.

Kindness and understanding were difficult to come by for them. Brute force was much easier.

Xen.

Pulling out their scythe, Xen put enough distance between them and the citizens before swinging down on the ropes the bound them. Sure, there were a few screams from them since a large blade was inches away from some of them, but it proved their guess correct. The bomb at the very least wasn't actually rigged to the people at all.

With only a moment to catch their breath, their eyes focused on the hostages. "What? Get out of here already!"

It didn't take much convincing for the crowd to scramble away which let them direct their attention back to the bomb. Rushing towards it and scooping it into their hands, Xen threw it into the air, swinging their scythe at it like a bat before turning away to brace for the explosion, their wings expanding as an attempt at a shield.

Their body flinched at the sound, grimacing as they turned around only to find the ground coated in a layer of glitter. On their back, their wings moved to fold back into a bow, but they shuddered and flapped from the glitter that got stuck between the feathers.

"Surprise...!" Kaleidoscope appeared around a corner, his jazz hands at the reveal more hesitant than he normally would've been. "It wasn't actually—"

"Yeah, I can see that." Their voice came out with more venom than they initially anticipated, but it felt a little cathartic. His eyes avoided theirs, but they bore into his. "Why do you do this? You don't even do anything. Does watching this give you some sick sense of enjoyment to watch me beg?"

Xen, be nice.

"What?" He startled, suddenly holding his hands up defensively while they marched towards him. "No! Oh my god, no."

"Gods," Xen's voice cracked. The tears stung their eyes again, but that was the last thing they cared about. "What could it possibly be then? You treat me like a joke, but try to act like we're best friends. I'd rather you want to try to kill me at that point."

His eyes darted around; for the first time, he seemed to be at a loss of words. The tension in the air was practically burning.

And when he was finally within arm's reach, he ran away.

Like always.

Maybe it was because he was a "villain", but the way his expression would shift into a grin whenever he saw Xen come to stop him filled them with unease. Not because it was threatening per se, but purely because it felt similar to a kid excited for a playdate. It felt patronizing. Like he was regarding them as if they weren't actually someone to be worried about.

And it was worse that he was right. He always found a way to evade him because he was better than them in an almost literal and ironic sense.

Their speed? His was ten times faster. Their ability to glide? Of course he was able to actually fly. Not to mention their light did little when he could simply use telekinesis. Any moment they'd get close to apprehending him, all he needed to do was toss whatever object at them and they'd be forced to dodge unless they wanted a concussion.

Well. That was ignoring the other issue.

Xen's preferred method of managing their "problems" was by simply beating the shit out of it, like spam clicking in video games. Besides, they were given a scythe as a weapon for a reason, and one that could turn into a staff (aka a blunt object), so it felt like a no brainer.

However, whenever they would swing at him, their own mind practically paralyzed them into freezing. They had been getting better at tuning the foreign thoughts out, but even that had its own limits when the worst was astronomically so compared to the usual droning. At times, when it would crescendo into a disgusting screech, they could almost convince themself the warmth of blood was dripping down the side of their jaw with only the slightest relief to return home and see nothing.

So to avoid that from happening again (after trying a few more times to brute force it), they were forced to resort to less violent methods. Ones that made it far too easy for Kaleidoscope to slip away or even mess with them, but unfortunately gained the approval of the conversations that played in their own mind.

Do you know how humiliating it is? To be tied up like a pinata and toted around town while your rival is parading you around like its some humiliation ritual. Not even like it was one; it basically was with the way he was poking and cooing at them like they were a snappy puppy. And escaping wasn't even a victory when it was because he let them with the reasoning of he "had fun" and was "excited to see them next time".

Yu was hardly a help throughout it all, mostly watching from afar. Or up close when he'd sneakily take photos to make fun of Xen later. His excuse was that nothing was happening that required him to help, but they called bullshit. Mostly because he pissed them off but also because it was unfair.

He loved to lecture them about how they shared the duties of protecting the city, but he would always sit on his ass all day while they did the dirty work. They should've just quit, but they couldn't because of... Why didn't they quit again?

This is a responsibility only you can accept. You accepted this. You want this.

Whatever.

One day, while sitting through a lecture, their ears perked up when some people a few seats away were talking about something on the news. With a few clicks on their own laptop, Xen pulled up the latest news just to find out their least favorite person had started a hostage situation in the mall. The fluff of rainbow on his head was as much of an eyesore as it always was whether it were day or night.

Save them.

You have to.

Their eyes were constantly glancing at the time at the corner of their screen because, as much as they would've loved to leave class just a few minutes early, they still liked to keep their reputation as a good student.

Whatever happens is the effect of your actions. Your time is no more important than the time of the victims.

Even if that meant bearing through the unease growing in their mind they waited. The only thing calming them was Xen reminding themself that they'd head straight to the mall once class was dismissed, to the point they had practically leapt down the rows of seats when they finally were allowed to leave.

Can you even handle the consequences of your own actions?

A quick dip into a secluded part of campus, they transformed before speeding off towards the mall, staff in hand despite knowing it'd be useless anyway.

Always so violent...

When they made it, there was a cluster of people tied up together near the entrance with a bomb strapped to them. The windows of the nearby stores had been smashed open with various clothes and apparel strewn around on the ground. And guessing from the abandoned bags and food court trays, the majority of people were at least able to escape capture.

"How long have you guy been tied up?" Xen crouched down, eyes taking a glance towards the bomb. It was a stupid question, mostly just anything to keep the hostages talking so they could be focused less on the current situation.

"I-I don't remember."

Yeah, great fucking question, Xen.

With a huff that they hoped wasn't audible to the citizens, they tried to follow the wiring of the bomb, but of course it didn't help. They were a magical girl; they worked with magic not explosives.

"Oh, pretty birdie, you're here! Why didn't you tell me?" The unnaturally cheery voice for the current situation and the sickeningly sweet, overly familiar nickname made Xen's blood run cold, but they couldn't just avoid facing him. "Honestly, what took you so long? Especially for it being midday—"

"You say that as if you were waiting for me," they stood up off the ground, meeting Kaleidoscope's eyes.

"And if I was?"

They rolled their eyes in a way that was only reserved for him to see.

Be nice, Xen.

He responded with a pout that hardly held any actual hurt in it. "Aww, don't be like that. C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

Brows furrowing, Xen's grip tightened on their staff. Their choice was to follow him, the logical and safer bet, or to simply not and brute force it which could very likely cause damage based on his skills in making a bomb in the first place. And they hated that they had enough reason to not pick the stupid second option.

"Fine," they put away their weapon. "What do you want?"

With a scrutinizing glare, they almost could've believed that he expected them to put up more of a fight than they did. But frankly, any choice that seemed to appease the nagging feeling at the back of their mind was good enough to Xen.

"Oh. Well, I was hoping you'd help me look around the stores a bit."

Seriously?

"Shopping is always so much more boring by yourself, and we're friends, right?" The last word had a teasing lilt as if it'd trap them if they tried answering either way.

One thing they found most annoying about him was just how good he was at catching them off guard with his words that it just was easier to stay quiet. He seemed a little disappointed at their half-hearted shrug, but it wasn't Xen's job to care about him, only about the citizens he was currently threatening.

With one last glance back to see the timer on the bomb, they followed after Kaleidoscope who was patiently-impatiently waiting for when they were ready to follow. When their eyes met again, his face cracked into a grin before he grabbed them by the arm.

As much as he was a pain in their ass, he certainly was never aggressive with them. He always opted for ranged attacks if he needed to, running away in most other situations.

Even in the current moment, with him pulling them along by the elbow, his hold wasn't anything harsh or even clingy. If they wanted to slip away, they very easily could've. Though, where his hold was light, his gaze certainly kept them in place if only for the fact that he would always look back at them. Gauging their feelings, keeping an eye on them. They weren't sure why, but they'd just toss him a tense smile before looking away.

"What's your favorite color?"

He stopped in his tracks to the point Xen almost ran into him.

"What? Uh," their mind buffered. "Pink, I guess? I mean, I'm wearing it so."

That response earned a frown from him. "But do you like wearing it?"

"I dunno." They shrugged. A pause as he stared at them to continue. "It's fine, but I don't think it looks that good on me, I guess?"

And it only made his expression sour more. If this were a choice-based game, they were certainly losing the social interaction. Unfortunately it was real life where they couldn't save and reload if they were. At least he seemed to move on, dragging them along again.

Honestly, could they really afford to waste time doing what seemed like useless walking and standing and vaguely giving responses on if a piece of clothing looked good while the timer was slowly ticking down?

The citizens must've thought they were an awful guardian.

Aren't you?

Kaleidoscope at least seemed to keep trucking along. Honestly, he was almost enviable, the way he could mess with people however he wanted and get away with no repercussions purely because he lucked out with powers better than Xen had.

Could you even do better if you did have his amount of power?

Not to say they would pull the same things he had been if given the ability, but they had less than him and were forced to become something they didn't want to be, something they just weren't. First a magical girl, then a guardian angel, and now some villain's personal assistant while he browsed a mall and tossed clothes at them to hold.

You have yet to earn the title of any of those three.

"What do you think of this look, birdie?"

They only responded with a "hmm" that they hoped sounded positive enough for him to move on.

Their gaze fell to the ground as their shoulders slouched.

Useless.

By all accounts, they were useless. Or, no, they weren't useless, but— In all the jumbled thoughts in their mind, that was the only word that would fill in the blank.

"I've never been a fan of this style on myself, but maybe..." Kaleidoscope mused.

Xen knew they had to be useful, though. That was the whole point of them even being there in the first place. They wouldn't have been chosen if not, right? But again, they were chosen through chance. It could've been anyone else.

And where even was Yu? Probably laughing at them as usual.

"Aw, this would look so cute on—!"

Gods, who would've guessed that their biggest bully would be their own familiar?

Or even their own mind.

The tips of their fingers were numb from having held their arms up in the same pose for the past few minutes, hooks of clothes hangers dangling from them. If they had thought for even just a bit longer, they could imagine the stinging of tears.

"Are you... crying?" Kaleidoscope quietly asked, making them rapidly blink at the water pooling at the corners of their eyes.

Xen whipped their head away to hide their expression. "Can you focus on your shopping?" Their voice cracked just enough to earn a wince from themself.

"It can wait a bit—"

"Oh, 'it can wait' as if you don't have people strapped to a literal bomb right now," they let out something between a chuckle and a strangle. "Do you hear yourself? Do you see yourself?"

They shot him a red-eyes glare, eyeing the way his hand hovered in midair as if reaching to comfort them. Even if he held back, Xen still slapped the hand away if only to let out some of their pent up frustration. Their mind was splitting.

Be nice, Xen.

"You know what," Xen pointed a finger in his face. "This is bullshit, I'm figuring this out myself."

Dropping everything they held onto the floor, they sped off back towards the entrance. It was ridiculous considering he was much faster than them, but if they were right, they had only a few minutes left on the timer to defuse it. Somehow.

Grabbing the block of metal and wires, whatever the hostages were shouting at the would go in one ear and out the other. Of course the thing looked like some crap you'd find in some bomb defusal video game with a variety of buttons, wires, and keypads littered around it. And the bright red, flashing numbers reminding them of how little time they had.

"What took you so long?" One voice was finally able to stab its way through the noise.

"I was— figuring things out, so just hold on." They barely tried to conceal the way their eyes rolled, gritting their teeth as they turned the mechanism in their hands.

Knowing Kaleidoscope— Well, they hardly knew him. But if they had to guess what he'd do, it must've been some kind of joke. Like half or basically the whole thing being fake. Maybe he just kept the wires to have that climactic "is it the red of blue wire" trope. He loved playing into ridiculous movie cliches like that.

Xen shuddered at the memory of when they were roped, literally, into the melodramatic trope of a maiden tied to train tracks. And when they had pedantically corrected him that the origin had a man tied to the tracks, his only response was "well, you're nonbinary".

Focus.

GAH.

They slapped themself. But really, they had no lead as to what to do. Their mind wracked to see if there had possibly been any hints until something shot to the forefront of their mind.

"C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

With a thick swallow, they froze.

If they had been better at listening... Gods dammit, if they even just listened to their mind that constantly shouted at them like they were a misbehaving child. Maybe they would've had some semblance of sense to be fucking competent rather than some screw up cosplayer.

But they could still do something.

The timer ticked down to the last few seconds.

Kindness and understanding were difficult to come by for them. Brute force was much easier.

Xen.

Pulling out their scythe, Xen put enough distance between them and the citizens before swinging down on the ropes the bound them. Sure, there were a few screams from them since a large blade was inches away from some of them, but it proved their guess correct. The bomb at the very least wasn't actually rigged to the people at all.

With only a moment to catch their breath, their eyes focused on the hostages. "What? Get out of here already!"

It didn't take much convincing for the crowd to scramble away which let them direct their attention back to the bomb. Rushing towards it and scooping it into their hands, Xen threw it into the air, swinging their scythe at it like a bat before turning away to brace for the explosion, their wings expanding as an attempt at a shield.

Their body flinched at the sound, grimacing as they turned around only to find the ground coated in a layer of glitter. On their back, their wings moved to fold back into a bow, but they shuddered and flapped from the glitter that got stuck between the feathers.

"Surprise...!" Kaleidoscope appeared around a corner, his jazz hands at the reveal more hesitant than he normally would've been. "It wasn't actually—"

"Yeah, I can see that." Their voice came out with more venom than they initially anticipated, but it felt a little cathartic. His eyes avoided theirs, but they bore into his. "Why do you do this? You don't even do anything. Does watching this give you some sick sense of enjoyment to watch me beg?"

Xen, be nice.

"What?" He startled, suddenly holding his hands up defensively while they marched towards him. "No! Oh my god, no."

"Gods," Xen's voice cracked. The tears stung their eyes again, but that was the last thing they cared about. "What could it possibly be then? You treat me like a joke, but try to act like we're best friends. I'd rather you want to try to kill me at that point."

His eyes darted around; for the first time, he seemed to be at a loss of words. The tension in the air was practically burning.

And when he was finally within arm's reach, he ran away.

Like always.

Maybe it was because he was a "villain", but the way his expression would shift into a grin whenever he saw Xen come to stop him filled them with unease. Not because it was threatening per se, but purely because it felt similar to a kid excited for a playdate. It felt patronizing. Like he was regarding them as if they weren't actually someone to be worried about.

And it was worse that he was right. He always found a way to evade him because he was better than them in an almost literal and ironic sense.

Their speed? His was ten times faster. Their ability to glide? Of course he was able to actually fly. Not to mention their light did little when he could simply use telekinesis. Any moment they'd get close to apprehending him, all he needed to do was toss whatever object at them and they'd be forced to dodge unless they wanted a concussion.

Well. That was ignoring the other issue.

Xen's preferred method of managing their "problems" was by simply beating the shit out of it, like spam clicking in video games. Besides, they were given a scythe as a weapon for a reason, and one that could turn into a staff (aka a blunt object), so it felt like a no brainer.

However, whenever they would swing at him, their own mind practically paralyzed them into freezing. They had been getting better at tuning the foreign thoughts out, but even that had its own limits when the worst was astronomically so compared to the usual droning. At times, when it would crescendo into a disgusting screech, they could almost convince themself the warmth of blood was dripping down the side of their jaw with only the slightest relief to return home and see nothing.

So to avoid that from happening again (after trying a few more times to brute force it), they were forced to resort to less violent methods. Ones that made it far too easy for Kaleidoscope to slip away or even mess with them, but unfortunately gained the approval of the conversations that played in their own mind.

Do you know how humiliating it is? To be tied up like a pinata and toted around town while your rival is parading you around like its some humiliation ritual. Not even like it was one; it basically was with the way he was poking and cooing at them like they were a snappy puppy. And escaping wasn't even a victory when it was because he let them with the reasoning of he "had fun" and was "excited to see them next time".

Yu was hardly a help throughout it all, mostly watching from afar. Or up close when he'd sneakily take photos to make fun of Xen later. His excuse was that nothing was happening that required him to help, but they called bullshit. Mostly because he pissed them off but also because it was unfair.

He loved to lecture them about how they shared the duties of protecting the city, but he would always sit on his ass all day while they did the dirty work. They should've just quit, but they couldn't because of... Why didn't they quit again?

This is a responsibility only you can accept. You accepted this. You want this.

Whatever.

One day, while sitting through a lecture, their ears perked up when some people a few seats away were talking about something on the news. With a few clicks on their own laptop, Xen pulled up the latest news just to find out their least favorite person had started a hostage situation in the mall. The fluff of rainbow on his head was as much of an eyesore as it always was whether it were day or night.

Save them.

You have to.

Their eyes were constantly glancing at the time at the corner of their screen because, as much as they would've loved to leave class just a few minutes early, they still liked to keep their reputation as a good student.

Whatever happens is the effect of your actions. Your time is no more important than the time of the victims.

Even if that meant bearing through the unease growing in their mind they waited. The only thing calming them was Xen reminding themself that they'd head straight to the mall once class was dismissed, to the point they had practically leapt down the rows of seats when they finally were allowed to leave.

Can you even handle the consequences of your own actions?

A quick dip into a secluded part of campus, they transformed before speeding off towards the mall, staff in hand despite knowing it'd be useless anyway.

Always so violent...

When they made it, there was a cluster of people tied up together near the entrance with a bomb strapped to them. The windows of the nearby stores had been smashed open with various clothes and apparel strewn around on the ground. And guessing from the abandoned bags and food court trays, the majority of people were at least able to escape capture.

"How long have you guy been tied up?" Xen crouched down, eyes taking a glance towards the bomb. It was a stupid question, mostly just anything to keep the hostages talking so they could be focused less on the current situation.

"I-I don't remember."

Yeah, great fucking question, Xen.

With a huff that they hoped wasn't audible to the citizens, they tried to follow the wiring of the bomb, but of course it didn't help. They were a magical girl; they worked with magic not explosives.

"Oh, pretty birdie, you're here! Why didn't you tell me?" The unnaturally cheery voice for the current situation and the sickeningly sweet, overly familiar nickname made Xen's blood run cold, but they couldn't just avoid facing him. "Honestly, what took you so long? Especially for it being midday—"

"You say that as if you were waiting for me," they stood up off the ground, meeting Kaleidoscope's eyes.

"And if I was?"

They rolled their eyes in a way that was only reserved for him to see.

Be nice, Xen.

He responded with a pout that hardly held any actual hurt in it. "Aww, don't be like that. C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

Brows furrowing, Xen's grip tightened on their staff. Their choice was to follow him, the logical and safer bet, or to simply not and brute force it which could very likely cause damage based on his skills in making a bomb in the first place. And they hated that they had enough reason to not pick the stupid second option.

"Fine," they put away their weapon. "What do you want?"

With a scrutinizing glare, they almost could've believed that he expected them to put up more of a fight than they did. But frankly, any choice that seemed to appease the nagging feeling at the back of their mind was good enough to Xen.

"Oh. Well, I was hoping you'd help me look around the stores a bit."

Seriously?

"Shopping is always so much more boring by yourself, and we're friends, right?" The last word had a teasing lilt as if it'd trap them if they tried answering either way.

One thing they found most annoying about him was just how good he was at catching them off guard with his words that it just was easier to stay quiet. He seemed a little disappointed at their half-hearted shrug, but it wasn't Xen's job to care about him, only about the citizens he was currently threatening.

With one last glance back to see the timer on the bomb, they followed after Kaleidoscope who was patiently-impatiently waiting for when they were ready to follow. When their eyes met again, his face cracked into a grin before he grabbed them by the arm.

As much as he was a pain in their ass, he certainly was never aggressive with them. He always opted for ranged attacks if he needed to, running away in most other situations.

Even in the current moment, with him pulling them along by the elbow, his hold wasn't anything harsh or even clingy. If they wanted to slip away, they very easily could've. Though, where his hold was light, his gaze certainly kept them in place if only for the fact that he would always look back at them. Gauging their feelings, keeping an eye on them. They weren't sure why, but they'd just toss him a tense smile before looking away.

"What's your favorite color?"

He stopped in his tracks to the point Xen almost ran into him.

"What? Uh," their mind buffered. "Pink, I guess? I mean, I'm wearing it so."

That response earned a frown from him. "But do you like wearing it?"

"I dunno." They shrugged. A pause as he stared at them to continue. "It's fine, but I don't think it looks that good on me, I guess?"

And it only made his expression sour more. If this were a choice-based game, they were certainly losing the social interaction. Unfortunately it was real life where they couldn't save and reload if they were. At least he seemed to move on, dragging them along again.

Honestly, could they really afford to waste time doing what seemed like useless walking and standing and vaguely giving responses on if a piece of clothing looked good while the timer was slowly ticking down?

The citizens must've thought they were an awful guardian.

Aren't you?

Kaleidoscope at least seemed to keep trucking along. Honestly, he was almost enviable, the way he could mess with people however he wanted and get away with no repercussions purely because he lucked out with powers better than Xen had.

Could you even do better if you did have his amount of power?

Not to say they would pull the same things he had been if given the ability, but they had less than him and were forced to become something they didn't want to be, something they just weren't. First a magical girl, then a guardian angel, and now some villain's personal assistant while he browsed a mall and tossed clothes at them to hold.

You have yet to earn the title of any of those three.

"What do you think of this look, birdie?"

They only responded with a "hmm" that they hoped sounded positive enough for him to move on.

Their gaze fell to the ground as their shoulders slouched.

Useless.

By all accounts, they were useless. Or, no, they weren't useless, but— In all the jumbled thoughts in their mind, that was the only word that would fill in the blank.

"I've never been a fan of this style on myself, but maybe..." Kaleidoscope mused.

Xen knew they had to be useful, though. That was the whole point of them even being there in the first place. They wouldn't have been chosen if not, right? But again, they were chosen through chance. It could've been anyone else.

And where even was Yu? Probably laughing at them as usual.

"Aw, this would look so cute on—!"

Gods, who would've guessed that their biggest bully would be their own familiar?

Or even their own mind.

The tips of their fingers were numb from having held their arms up in the same pose for the past few minutes, hooks of clothes hangers dangling from them. If they had thought for even just a bit longer, they could imagine the stinging of tears.

"Are you... crying?" Kaleidoscope quietly asked, making them rapidly blink at the water pooling at the corners of their eyes.

Xen whipped their head away to hide their expression. "Can you focus on your shopping?" Their voice cracked just enough to earn a wince from themself.

"It can wait a bit—"

"Oh, 'it can wait' as if you don't have people strapped to a literal bomb right now," they let out something between a chuckle and a strangle. "Do you hear yourself? Do you see yourself?"

They shot him a red-eyes glare, eyeing the way his hand hovered in midair as if reaching to comfort them. Even if he held back, Xen still slapped the hand away if only to let out some of their pent up frustration. Their mind was splitting.

Be nice, Xen.

"You know what," Xen pointed a finger in his face. "This is bullshit, I'm figuring this out myself."

Dropping everything they held onto the floor, they sped off back towards the entrance. It was ridiculous considering he was much faster than them, but if they were right, they had only a few minutes left on the timer to defuse it. Somehow.

Grabbing the block of metal and wires, whatever the hostages were shouting at the would go in one ear and out the other. Of course the thing looked like some crap you'd find in some bomb defusal video game with a variety of buttons, wires, and keypads littered around it. And the bright red, flashing numbers reminding them of how little time they had.

"What took you so long?" One voice was finally able to stab its way through the noise.

"I was— figuring things out, so just hold on." They barely tried to conceal the way their eyes rolled, gritting their teeth as they turned the mechanism in their hands.

Knowing Kaleidoscope— Well, they hardly knew him. But if they had to guess what he'd do, it must've been some kind of joke. Like half or basically the whole thing being fake. Maybe he just kept the wires to have that climactic "is it the red of blue wire" trope. He loved playing into ridiculous movie cliches like that.

Xen shuddered at the memory of when they were roped, literally, into the melodramatic trope of a maiden tied to train tracks. And when they had pedantically corrected him that the origin had a man tied to the tracks, his only response was "well, you're nonbinary".

Focus.

GAH.

They slapped themself. But really, they had no lead as to what to do. Their mind wracked to see if there had possibly been any hints until something shot to the forefront of their mind.

"C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

With a thick swallow, they froze.

If they had been better at listening... Gods dammit, if they even just listened to their mind that constantly shouted at them like they were a misbehaving child. Maybe they would've had some semblance of sense to be fucking competent rather than some screw up cosplayer.

But they could still do something.

The timer ticked down to the last few seconds.

Kindness and understanding were difficult to come by for them. Brute force was much easier.

Xen.

Pulling out their scythe, Xen put enough distance between them and the citizens before swinging down on the ropes the bound them. Sure, there were a few screams from them since a large blade was inches away from some of them, but it proved their guess correct. The bomb at the very least wasn't actually rigged to the people at all.

With only a moment to catch their breath, their eyes focused on the hostages. "What? Get out of here already!"

It didn't take much convincing for the crowd to scramble away which let them direct their attention back to the bomb. Rushing towards it and scooping it into their hands, Xen threw it into the air, swinging their scythe at it like a bat before turning away to brace for the explosion, their wings expanding as an attempt at a shield.

Their body flinched at the sound, grimacing as they turned around only to find the ground coated in a layer of glitter. On their back, their wings moved to fold back into a bow, but they shuddered and flapped from the glitter that got stuck between the feathers.

"Surprise...!" Kaleidoscope appeared around a corner, his jazz hands at the reveal more hesitant than he normally would've been. "It wasn't actually—"

"Yeah, I can see that." Their voice came out with more venom than they initially anticipated, but it felt a little cathartic. His eyes avoided theirs, but they bore into his. "Why do you do this? You don't even do anything. Does watching this give you some sick sense of enjoyment to watch me beg?"

Xen, be nice.

"What?" He startled, suddenly holding his hands up defensively while they marched towards him. "No! Oh my god, no."

"Gods," Xen's voice cracked. The tears stung their eyes again, but that was the last thing they cared about. "What could it possibly be then? You treat me like a joke, but try to act like we're best friends. I'd rather you want to try to kill me at that point."

His eyes darted around; for the first time, he seemed to be at a loss of words. The tension in the air was practically burning.

And when he was finally within arm's reach, he ran away.

Like always.

Maybe it was because he was a "villain", but the way his expression would shift into a grin whenever he saw Xen come to stop him filled them with unease. Not because it was threatening per se, but purely because it felt similar to a kid excited for a playdate. It felt patronizing. Like he was regarding them as if they weren't actually someone to be worried about.

And it was worse that he was right. He always found a way to evade him because he was better than them in an almost literal and ironic sense.

Their speed? His was ten times faster. Their ability to glide? Of course he was able to actually fly. Not to mention their light did little when he could simply use telekinesis. Any moment they'd get close to apprehending him, all he needed to do was toss whatever object at them and they'd be forced to dodge unless they wanted a concussion.

Well. That was ignoring the other issue.

Xen's preferred method of managing their "problems" was by simply beating the shit out of it, like spam clicking in video games. Besides, they were given a scythe as a weapon for a reason, and one that could turn into a staff (aka a blunt object), so it felt like a no brainer.

However, whenever they would swing at him, their own mind practically paralyzed them into freezing. They had been getting better at tuning the foreign thoughts out, but even that had its own limits when the worst was astronomically so compared to the usual droning. At times, when it would crescendo into a disgusting screech, they could almost convince themself the warmth of blood was dripping down the side of their jaw with only the slightest relief to return home and see nothing.

So to avoid that from happening again (after trying a few more times to brute force it), they were forced to resort to less violent methods. Ones that made it far too easy for Kaleidoscope to slip away or even mess with them, but unfortunately gained the approval of the conversations that played in their own mind.

Do you know how humiliating it is? To be tied up like a pinata and toted around town while your rival is parading you around like its some humiliation ritual. Not even like it was one; it basically was with the way he was poking and cooing at them like they were a snappy puppy. And escaping wasn't even a victory when it was because he let them with the reasoning of he "had fun" and was "excited to see them next time".

Yu was hardly a help throughout it all, mostly watching from afar. Or up close when he'd sneakily take photos to make fun of Xen later. His excuse was that nothing was happening that required him to help, but they called bullshit. Mostly because he pissed them off but also because it was unfair.

He loved to lecture them about how they shared the duties of protecting the city, but he would always sit on his ass all day while they did the dirty work. They should've just quit, but they couldn't because of... Why didn't they quit again?

This is a responsibility only you can accept. You accepted this. You want this.

Whatever.

One day, while sitting through a lecture, their ears perked up when some people a few seats away were talking about something on the news. With a few clicks on their own laptop, Xen pulled up the latest news just to find out their least favorite person had started a hostage situation in the mall. The fluff of rainbow on his head was as much of an eyesore as it always was whether it were day or night.

Save them.

You have to.

Their eyes were constantly glancing at the time at the corner of their screen because, as much as they would've loved to leave class just a few minutes early, they still liked to keep their reputation as a good student.

Whatever happens is the effect of your actions. Your time is no more important than the time of the victims.

Even if that meant bearing through the unease growing in their mind they waited. The only thing calming them was Xen reminding themself that they'd head straight to the mall once class was dismissed, to the point they had practically leapt down the rows of seats when they finally were allowed to leave.

Can you even handle the consequences of your own actions?

A quick dip into a secluded part of campus, they transformed before speeding off towards the mall, staff in hand despite knowing it'd be useless anyway.

Always so violent...

When they made it, there was a cluster of people tied up together near the entrance with a bomb strapped to them. The windows of the nearby stores had been smashed open with various clothes and apparel strewn around on the ground. And guessing from the abandoned bags and food court trays, the majority of people were at least able to escape capture.

"How long have you guy been tied up?" Xen crouched down, eyes taking a glance towards the bomb. It was a stupid question, mostly just anything to keep the hostages talking so they could be focused less on the current situation.

"I-I don't remember."

Yeah, great fucking question, Xen.

With a huff that they hoped wasn't audible to the citizens, they tried to follow the wiring of the bomb, but of course it didn't help. They were a magical girl; they worked with magic not explosives.

"Oh, pretty birdie, you're here! Why didn't you tell me?" The unnaturally cheery voice for the current situation and the sickeningly sweet, overly familiar nickname made Xen's blood run cold, but they couldn't just avoid facing him. "Honestly, what took you so long? Especially for it being midday—"

"You say that as if you were waiting for me," they stood up off the ground, meeting Kaleidoscope's eyes.

"And if I was?"

They rolled their eyes in a way that was only reserved for him to see.

Be nice, Xen.

He responded with a pout that hardly held any actual hurt in it. "Aww, don't be like that. C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

Brows furrowing, Xen's grip tightened on their staff. Their choice was to follow him, the logical and safer bet, or to simply not and brute force it which could very likely cause damage based on his skills in making a bomb in the first place. And they hated that they had enough reason to not pick the stupid second option.

"Fine," they put away their weapon. "What do you want?"

With a scrutinizing glare, they almost could've believed that he expected them to put up more of a fight than they did. But frankly, any choice that seemed to appease the nagging feeling at the back of their mind was good enough to Xen.

"Oh. Well, I was hoping you'd help me look around the stores a bit."

Seriously?

"Shopping is always so much more boring by yourself, and we're friends, right?" The last word had a teasing lilt as if it'd trap them if they tried answering either way.

One thing they found most annoying about him was just how good he was at catching them off guard with his words that it just was easier to stay quiet. He seemed a little disappointed at their half-hearted shrug, but it wasn't Xen's job to care about him, only about the citizens he was currently threatening.

With one last glance back to see the timer on the bomb, they followed after Kaleidoscope who was patiently-impatiently waiting for when they were ready to follow. When their eyes met again, his face cracked into a grin before he grabbed them by the arm.

As much as he was a pain in their ass, he certainly was never aggressive with them. He always opted for ranged attacks if he needed to, running away in most other situations.

Even in the current moment, with him pulling them along by the elbow, his hold wasn't anything harsh or even clingy. If they wanted to slip away, they very easily could've. Though, where his hold was light, his gaze certainly kept them in place if only for the fact that he would always look back at them. Gauging their feelings, keeping an eye on them. They weren't sure why, but they'd just toss him a tense smile before looking away.

"What's your favorite color?"

He stopped in his tracks to the point Xen almost ran into him.

"What? Uh," their mind buffered. "Pink, I guess? I mean, I'm wearing it so."

That response earned a frown from him. "But do you like wearing it?"

"I dunno." They shrugged. A pause as he stared at them to continue. "It's fine, but I don't think it looks that good on me, I guess?"

And it only made his expression sour more. If this were a choice-based game, they were certainly losing the social interaction. Unfortunately it was real life where they couldn't save and reload if they were. At least he seemed to move on, dragging them along again.

Honestly, could they really afford to waste time doing what seemed like useless walking and standing and vaguely giving responses on if a piece of clothing looked good while the timer was slowly ticking down?

The citizens must've thought they were an awful guardian.

Aren't you?

Kaleidoscope at least seemed to keep trucking along. Honestly, he was almost enviable, the way he could mess with people however he wanted and get away with no repercussions purely because he lucked out with powers better than Xen had.

Could you even do better if you did have his amount of power?

Not to say they would pull the same things he had been if given the ability, but they had less than him and were forced to become something they didn't want to be, something they just weren't. First a magical girl, then a guardian angel, and now some villain's personal assistant while he browsed a mall and tossed clothes at them to hold.

You have yet to earn the title of any of those three.

"What do you think of this look, birdie?"

They only responded with a "hmm" that they hoped sounded positive enough for him to move on.

Their gaze fell to the ground as their shoulders slouched.

Useless.

By all accounts, they were useless. Or, no, they weren't useless, but— In all the jumbled thoughts in their mind, that was the only word that would fill in the blank.

"I've never been a fan of this style on myself, but maybe..." Kaleidoscope mused.

Xen knew they had to be useful, though. That was the whole point of them even being there in the first place. They wouldn't have been chosen if not, right? But again, they were chosen through chance. It could've been anyone else.

And where even was Yu? Probably laughing at them as usual.

"Aw, this would look so cute on—!"

Gods, who would've guessed that their biggest bully would be their own familiar?

Or even their own mind.

The tips of their fingers were numb from having held their arms up in the same pose for the past few minutes, hooks of clothes hangers dangling from them. If they had thought for even just a bit longer, they could imagine the stinging of tears.

"Are you... crying?" Kaleidoscope quietly asked, making them rapidly blink at the water pooling at the corners of their eyes.

Xen whipped their head away to hide their expression. "Can you focus on your shopping?" Their voice cracked just enough to earn a wince from themself.

"It can wait a bit—"

"Oh, 'it can wait' as if you don't have people strapped to a literal bomb right now," they let out something between a chuckle and a strangle. "Do you hear yourself? Do you see yourself?"

They shot him a red-eyes glare, eyeing the way his hand hovered in midair as if reaching to comfort them. Even if he held back, Xen still slapped the hand away if only to let out some of their pent up frustration. Their mind was splitting.

Be nice, Xen.

"You know what," Xen pointed a finger in his face. "This is bullshit, I'm figuring this out myself."

Dropping everything they held onto the floor, they sped off back towards the entrance. It was ridiculous considering he was much faster than them, but if they were right, they had only a few minutes left on the timer to defuse it. Somehow.

Grabbing the block of metal and wires, whatever the hostages were shouting at the would go in one ear and out the other. Of course the thing looked like some crap you'd find in some bomb defusal video game with a variety of buttons, wires, and keypads littered around it. And the bright red, flashing numbers reminding them of how little time they had.

"What took you so long?" One voice was finally able to stab its way through the noise.

"I was— figuring things out, so just hold on." They barely tried to conceal the way their eyes rolled, gritting their teeth as they turned the mechanism in their hands.

Knowing Kaleidoscope— Well, they hardly knew him. But if they had to guess what he'd do, it must've been some kind of joke. Like half or basically the whole thing being fake. Maybe he just kept the wires to have that climactic "is it the red of blue wire" trope. He loved playing into ridiculous movie cliches like that.

Xen shuddered at the memory of when they were roped, literally, into the melodramatic trope of a maiden tied to train tracks. And when they had pedantically corrected him that the origin had a man tied to the tracks, his only response was "well, you're nonbinary".

Focus.

GAH.

They slapped themself. But really, they had no lead as to what to do. Their mind wracked to see if there had possibly been any hints until something shot to the forefront of their mind.

"C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

With a thick swallow, they froze.

If they had been better at listening... Gods dammit, if they even just listened to their mind that constantly shouted at them like they were a misbehaving child. Maybe they would've had some semblance of sense to be fucking competent rather than some screw up cosplayer.

But they could still do something.

The timer ticked down to the last few seconds.

Kindness and understanding were difficult to come by for them. Brute force was much easier.

Xen.

Pulling out their scythe, Xen put enough distance between them and the citizens before swinging down on the ropes the bound them. Sure, there were a few screams from them since a large blade was inches away from some of them, but it proved their guess correct. The bomb at the very least wasn't actually rigged to the people at all.

With only a moment to catch their breath, their eyes focused on the hostages. "What? Get out of here already!"

It didn't take much convincing for the crowd to scramble away which let them direct their attention back to the bomb. Rushing towards it and scooping it into their hands, Xen threw it into the air, swinging their scythe at it like a bat before turning away to brace for the explosion, their wings expanding as an attempt at a shield.

Their body flinched at the sound, grimacing as they turned around only to find the ground coated in a layer of glitter. On their back, their wings moved to fold back into a bow, but they shuddered and flapped from the glitter that got stuck between the feathers.

"Surprise...!" Kaleidoscope appeared around a corner, his jazz hands at the reveal more hesitant than he normally would've been. "It wasn't actually—"

"Yeah, I can see that." Their voice came out with more venom than they initially anticipated, but it felt a little cathartic. His eyes avoided theirs, but they bore into his. "Why do you do this? You don't even do anything. Does watching this give you some sick sense of enjoyment to watch me beg?"

Xen, be nice.

"What?" He startled, suddenly holding his hands up defensively while they marched towards him. "No! Oh my god, no."

"Gods," Xen's voice cracked. The tears stung their eyes again, but that was the last thing they cared about. "What could it possibly be then? You treat me like a joke, but try to act like we're best friends. I'd rather you want to try to kill me at that point."

His eyes darted around; for the first time, he seemed to be at a loss of words. The tension in the air was practically burning.

And when he was finally within arm's reach, he ran away.

Like always.

Maybe it was because he was a "villain", but the way his expression would shift into a grin whenever he saw Xen come to stop him filled them with unease. Not because it was threatening per se, but purely because it felt similar to a kid excited for a playdate. It felt patronizing. Like he was regarding them as if they weren't actually someone to be worried about.

And it was worse that he was right. He always found a way to evade him because he was better than them in an almost literal and ironic sense.

Their speed? His was ten times faster. Their ability to glide? Of course he was able to actually fly. Not to mention their light did little when he could simply use telekinesis. Any moment they'd get close to apprehending him, all he needed to do was toss whatever object at them and they'd be forced to dodge unless they wanted a concussion.

Well. That was ignoring the other issue.

Xen's preferred method of managing their "problems" was by simply beating the shit out of it, like spam clicking in video games. Besides, they were given a scythe as a weapon for a reason, and one that could turn into a staff (aka a blunt object), so it felt like a no brainer.

However, whenever they would swing at him, their own mind practically paralyzed them into freezing. They had been getting better at tuning the foreign thoughts out, but even that had its own limits when the worst was astronomically so compared to the usual droning. At times, when it would crescendo into a disgusting screech, they could almost convince themself the warmth of blood was dripping down the side of their jaw with only the slightest relief to return home and see nothing.

So to avoid that from happening again (after trying a few more times to brute force it), they were forced to resort to less violent methods. Ones that made it far too easy for Kaleidoscope to slip away or even mess with them, but unfortunately gained the approval of the conversations that played in their own mind.

Do you know how humiliating it is? To be tied up like a pinata and toted around town while your rival is parading you around like its some humiliation ritual. Not even like it was one; it basically was with the way he was poking and cooing at them like they were a snappy puppy. And escaping wasn't even a victory when it was because he let them with the reasoning of he "had fun" and was "excited to see them next time".

Yu was hardly a help throughout it all, mostly watching from afar. Or up close when he'd sneakily take photos to make fun of Xen later. His excuse was that nothing was happening that required him to help, but they called bullshit. Mostly because he pissed them off but also because it was unfair.

He loved to lecture them about how they shared the duties of protecting the city, but he would always sit on his ass all day while they did the dirty work. They should've just quit, but they couldn't because of... Why didn't they quit again?

This is a responsibility only you can accept. You accepted this. You want this.

Whatever.

One day, while sitting through a lecture, their ears perked up when some people a few seats away were talking about something on the news. With a few clicks on their own laptop, Xen pulled up the latest news just to find out their least favorite person had started a hostage situation in the mall. The fluff of rainbow on his head was as much of an eyesore as it always was whether it were day or night.

Save them.

You have to.

Their eyes were constantly glancing at the time at the corner of their screen because, as much as they would've loved to leave class just a few minutes early, they still liked to keep their reputation as a good student.

Whatever happens is the effect of your actions. Your time is no more important than the time of the victims.

Even if that meant bearing through the unease growing in their mind they waited. The only thing calming them was Xen reminding themself that they'd head straight to the mall once class was dismissed, to the point they had practically leapt down the rows of seats when they finally were allowed to leave.

Can you even handle the consequences of your own actions?

A quick dip into a secluded part of campus, they transformed before speeding off towards the mall, staff in hand despite knowing it'd be useless anyway.

Always so violent...

When they made it, there was a cluster of people tied up together near the entrance with a bomb strapped to them. The windows of the nearby stores had been smashed open with various clothes and apparel strewn around on the ground. And guessing from the abandoned bags and food court trays, the majority of people were at least able to escape capture.

"How long have you guy been tied up?" Xen crouched down, eyes taking a glance towards the bomb. It was a stupid question, mostly just anything to keep the hostages talking so they could be focused less on the current situation.

"I-I don't remember."

Yeah, great fucking question, Xen.

With a huff that they hoped wasn't audible to the citizens, they tried to follow the wiring of the bomb, but of course it didn't help. They were a magical girl; they worked with magic not explosives.

"Oh, pretty birdie, you're here! Why didn't you tell me?" The unnaturally cheery voice for the current situation and the sickeningly sweet, overly familiar nickname made Xen's blood run cold, but they couldn't just avoid facing him. "Honestly, what took you so long? Especially for it being midday—"

"You say that as if you were waiting for me," they stood up off the ground, meeting Kaleidoscope's eyes.

"And if I was?"

They rolled their eyes in a way that was only reserved for him to see.

Be nice, Xen.

He responded with a pout that hardly held any actual hurt in it. "Aww, don't be like that. C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

Brows furrowing, Xen's grip tightened on their staff. Their choice was to follow him, the logical and safer bet, or to simply not and brute force it which could very likely cause damage based on his skills in making a bomb in the first place. And they hated that they had enough reason to not pick the stupid second option.

"Fine," they put away their weapon. "What do you want?"

With a scrutinizing glare, they almost could've believed that he expected them to put up more of a fight than they did. But frankly, any choice that seemed to appease the nagging feeling at the back of their mind was good enough to Xen.

"Oh. Well, I was hoping you'd help me look around the stores a bit."

Seriously?

"Shopping is always so much more boring by yourself, and we're friends, right?" The last word had a teasing lilt as if it'd trap them if they tried answering either way.

One thing they found most annoying about him was just how good he was at catching them off guard with his words that it just was easier to stay quiet. He seemed a little disappointed at their half-hearted shrug, but it wasn't Xen's job to care about him, only about the citizens he was currently threatening.

With one last glance back to see the timer on the bomb, they followed after Kaleidoscope who was patiently-impatiently waiting for when they were ready to follow. When their eyes met again, his face cracked into a grin before he grabbed them by the arm.

As much as he was a pain in their ass, he certainly was never aggressive with them. He always opted for ranged attacks if he needed to, running away in most other situations.

Even in the current moment, with him pulling them along by the elbow, his hold wasn't anything harsh or even clingy. If they wanted to slip away, they very easily could've. Though, where his hold was light, his gaze certainly kept them in place if only for the fact that he would always look back at them. Gauging their feelings, keeping an eye on them. They weren't sure why, but they'd just toss him a tense smile before looking away.

"What's your favorite color?"

He stopped in his tracks to the point Xen almost ran into him.

"What? Uh," their mind buffered. "Pink, I guess? I mean, I'm wearing it so."

That response earned a frown from him. "But do you like wearing it?"

"I dunno." They shrugged. A pause as he stared at them to continue. "It's fine, but I don't think it looks that good on me, I guess?"

And it only made his expression sour more. If this were a choice-based game, they were certainly losing the social interaction. Unfortunately it was real life where they couldn't save and reload if they were. At least he seemed to move on, dragging them along again.

Honestly, could they really afford to waste time doing what seemed like useless walking and standing and vaguely giving responses on if a piece of clothing looked good while the timer was slowly ticking down?

The citizens must've thought they were an awful guardian.

Aren't you?

Kaleidoscope at least seemed to keep trucking along. Honestly, he was almost enviable, the way he could mess with people however he wanted and get away with no repercussions purely because he lucked out with powers better than Xen had.

Could you even do better if you did have his amount of power?

Not to say they would pull the same things he had been if given the ability, but they had less than him and were forced to become something they didn't want to be, something they just weren't. First a magical girl, then a guardian angel, and now some villain's personal assistant while he browsed a mall and tossed clothes at them to hold.

You have yet to earn the title of any of those three.

"What do you think of this look, birdie?"

They only responded with a "hmm" that they hoped sounded positive enough for him to move on.

Their gaze fell to the ground as their shoulders slouched.

Useless.

By all accounts, they were useless. Or, no, they weren't useless, but— In all the jumbled thoughts in their mind, that was the only word that would fill in the blank.

"I've never been a fan of this style on myself, but maybe..." Kaleidoscope mused.

Xen knew they had to be useful, though. That was the whole point of them even being there in the first place. They wouldn't have been chosen if not, right? But again, they were chosen through chance. It could've been anyone else.

And where even was Yu? Probably laughing at them as usual.

"Aw, this would look so cute on—!"

Gods, who would've guessed that their biggest bully would be their own familiar?

Or even their own mind.

The tips of their fingers were numb from having held their arms up in the same pose for the past few minutes, hooks of clothes hangers dangling from them. If they had thought for even just a bit longer, they could imagine the stinging of tears.

"Are you... crying?" Kaleidoscope quietly asked, making them rapidly blink at the water pooling at the corners of their eyes.

Xen whipped their head away to hide their expression. "Can you focus on your shopping?" Their voice cracked just enough to earn a wince from themself.

"It can wait a bit—"

"Oh, 'it can wait' as if you don't have people strapped to a literal bomb right now," they let out something between a chuckle and a strangle. "Do you hear yourself? Do you see yourself?"

They shot him a red-eyes glare, eyeing the way his hand hovered in midair as if reaching to comfort them. Even if he held back, Xen still slapped the hand away if only to let out some of their pent up frustration. Their mind was splitting.

Be nice, Xen.

"You know what," Xen pointed a finger in his face. "This is bullshit, I'm figuring this out myself."

Dropping everything they held onto the floor, they sped off back towards the entrance. It was ridiculous considering he was much faster than them, but if they were right, they had only a few minutes left on the timer to defuse it. Somehow.

Grabbing the block of metal and wires, whatever the hostages were shouting at the would go in one ear and out the other. Of course the thing looked like some crap you'd find in some bomb defusal video game with a variety of buttons, wires, and keypads littered around it. And the bright red, flashing numbers reminding them of how little time they had.

"What took you so long?" One voice was finally able to stab its way through the noise.

"I was— figuring things out, so just hold on." They barely tried to conceal the way their eyes rolled, gritting their teeth as they turned the mechanism in their hands.

Knowing Kaleidoscope— Well, they hardly knew him. But if they had to guess what he'd do, it must've been some kind of joke. Like half or basically the whole thing being fake. Maybe he just kept the wires to have that climactic "is it the red of blue wire" trope. He loved playing into ridiculous movie cliches like that.

Xen shuddered at the memory of when they were roped, literally, into the melodramatic trope of a maiden tied to train tracks. And when they had pedantically corrected him that the origin had a man tied to the tracks, his only response was "well, you're nonbinary".

Focus.

GAH.

They slapped themself. But really, they had no lead as to what to do. Their mind wracked to see if there had possibly been any hints until something shot to the forefront of their mind.

"C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

With a thick swallow, they froze.

If they had been better at listening... Gods dammit, if they even just listened to their mind that constantly shouted at them like they were a misbehaving child. Maybe they would've had some semblance of sense to be fucking competent rather than some screw up cosplayer.

But they could still do something.

The timer ticked down to the last few seconds.

Kindness and understanding were difficult to come by for them. Brute force was much easier.

Xen.

Pulling out their scythe, Xen put enough distance between them and the citizens before swinging down on the ropes the bound them. Sure, there were a few screams from them since a large blade was inches away from some of them, but it proved their guess correct. The bomb at the very least wasn't actually rigged to the people at all.

With only a moment to catch their breath, their eyes focused on the hostages. "What? Get out of here already!"

It didn't take much convincing for the crowd to scramble away which let them direct their attention back to the bomb. Rushing towards it and scooping it into their hands, Xen threw it into the air, swinging their scythe at it like a bat before turning away to brace for the explosion, their wings expanding as an attempt at a shield.

Their body flinched at the sound, grimacing as they turned around only to find the ground coated in a layer of glitter. On their back, their wings moved to fold back into a bow, but they shuddered and flapped from the glitter that got stuck between the feathers.

"Surprise...!" Kaleidoscope appeared around a corner, his jazz hands at the reveal more hesitant than he normally would've been. "It wasn't actually—"

"Yeah, I can see that." Their voice came out with more venom than they initially anticipated, but it felt a little cathartic. His eyes avoided theirs, but they bore into his. "Why do you do this? You don't even do anything. Does watching this give you some sick sense of enjoyment to watch me beg?"

Xen, be nice.

"What?" He startled, suddenly holding his hands up defensively while they marched towards him. "No! Oh my god, no."

"Gods," Xen's voice cracked. The tears stung their eyes again, but that was the last thing they cared about. "What could it possibly be then? You treat me like a joke, but try to act like we're best friends. I'd rather you want to try to kill me at that point."

His eyes darted around; for the first time, he seemed to be at a loss of words. The tension in the air was practically burning.

And when he was finally within arm's reach, he ran away.

Like always.

Maybe it was because he was a "villain", but the way his expression would shift into a grin whenever he saw Xen come to stop him filled them with unease. Not because it was threatening per se, but purely because it felt similar to a kid excited for a playdate. It felt patronizing. Like he was regarding them as if they weren't actually someone to be worried about.

And it was worse that he was right. He always found a way to evade him because he was better than them in an almost literal and ironic sense.

Their speed? His was ten times faster. Their ability to glide? Of course he was able to actually fly. Not to mention their light did little when he could simply use telekinesis. Any moment they'd get close to apprehending him, all he needed to do was toss whatever object at them and they'd be forced to dodge unless they wanted a concussion.

Well. That was ignoring the other issue.

Xen's preferred method of managing their "problems" was by simply beating the shit out of it, like spam clicking in video games. Besides, they were given a scythe as a weapon for a reason, and one that could turn into a staff (aka a blunt object), so it felt like a no brainer.

However, whenever they would swing at him, their own mind practically paralyzed them into freezing. They had been getting better at tuning the foreign thoughts out, but even that had its own limits when the worst was astronomically so compared to the usual droning. At times, when it would crescendo into a disgusting screech, they could almost convince themself the warmth of blood was dripping down the side of their jaw with only the slightest relief to return home and see nothing.

So to avoid that from happening again (after trying a few more times to brute force it), they were forced to resort to less violent methods. Ones that made it far too easy for Kaleidoscope to slip away or even mess with them, but unfortunately gained the approval of the conversations that played in their own mind.

Do you know how humiliating it is? To be tied up like a pinata and toted around town while your rival is parading you around like its some humiliation ritual. Not even like it was one; it basically was with the way he was poking and cooing at them like they were a snappy puppy. And escaping wasn't even a victory when it was because he let them with the reasoning of he "had fun" and was "excited to see them next time".

Yu was hardly a help throughout it all, mostly watching from afar. Or up close when he'd sneakily take photos to make fun of Xen later. His excuse was that nothing was happening that required him to help, but they called bullshit. Mostly because he pissed them off but also because it was unfair.

He loved to lecture them about how they shared the duties of protecting the city, but he would always sit on his ass all day while they did the dirty work. They should've just quit, but they couldn't because of... Why didn't they quit again?

This is a responsibility only you can accept. You accepted this. You want this.

Whatever.

One day, while sitting through a lecture, their ears perked up when some people a few seats away were talking about something on the news. With a few clicks on their own laptop, Xen pulled up the latest news just to find out their least favorite person had started a hostage situation in the mall. The fluff of rainbow on his head was as much of an eyesore as it always was whether it were day or night.

Save them.

You have to.

Their eyes were constantly glancing at the time at the corner of their screen because, as much as they would've loved to leave class just a few minutes early, they still liked to keep their reputation as a good student.

Whatever happens is the effect of your actions. Your time is no more important than the time of the victims.

Even if that meant bearing through the unease growing in their mind they waited. The only thing calming them was Xen reminding themself that they'd head straight to the mall once class was dismissed, to the point they had practically leapt down the rows of seats when they finally were allowed to leave.

Can you even handle the consequences of your own actions?

A quick dip into a secluded part of campus, they transformed before speeding off towards the mall, staff in hand despite knowing it'd be useless anyway.

Always so violent...

When they made it, there was a cluster of people tied up together near the entrance with a bomb strapped to them. The windows of the nearby stores had been smashed open with various clothes and apparel strewn around on the ground. And guessing from the abandoned bags and food court trays, the majority of people were at least able to escape capture.

"How long have you guy been tied up?" Xen crouched down, eyes taking a glance towards the bomb. It was a stupid question, mostly just anything to keep the hostages talking so they could be focused less on the current situation.

"I-I don't remember."

Yeah, great fucking question, Xen.

With a huff that they hoped wasn't audible to the citizens, they tried to follow the wiring of the bomb, but of course it didn't help. They were a magical girl; they worked with magic not explosives.

"Oh, pretty birdie, you're here! Why didn't you tell me?" The unnaturally cheery voice for the current situation and the sickeningly sweet, overly familiar nickname made Xen's blood run cold, but they couldn't just avoid facing him. "Honestly, what took you so long? Especially for it being midday—"

"You say that as if you were waiting for me," they stood up off the ground, meeting Kaleidoscope's eyes.

"And if I was?"

They rolled their eyes in a way that was only reserved for him to see.

Be nice, Xen.

He responded with a pout that hardly held any actual hurt in it. "Aww, don't be like that. C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

Brows furrowing, Xen's grip tightened on their staff. Their choice was to follow him, the logical and safer bet, or to simply not and brute force it which could very likely cause damage based on his skills in making a bomb in the first place. And they hated that they had enough reason to not pick the stupid second option.

"Fine," they put away their weapon. "What do you want?"

With a scrutinizing glare, they almost could've believed that he expected them to put up more of a fight than they did. But frankly, any choice that seemed to appease the nagging feeling at the back of their mind was good enough to Xen.

"Oh. Well, I was hoping you'd help me look around the stores a bit."

Seriously?

"Shopping is always so much more boring by yourself, and we're friends, right?" The last word had a teasing lilt as if it'd trap them if they tried answering either way.

One thing they found most annoying about him was just how good he was at catching them off guard with his words that it just was easier to stay quiet. He seemed a little disappointed at their half-hearted shrug, but it wasn't Xen's job to care about him, only about the citizens he was currently threatening.

With one last glance back to see the timer on the bomb, they followed after Kaleidoscope who was patiently-impatiently waiting for when they were ready to follow. When their eyes met again, his face cracked into a grin before he grabbed them by the arm.

As much as he was a pain in their ass, he certainly was never aggressive with them. He always opted for ranged attacks if he needed to, running away in most other situations.

Even in the current moment, with him pulling them along by the elbow, his hold wasn't anything harsh or even clingy. If they wanted to slip away, they very easily could've. Though, where his hold was light, his gaze certainly kept them in place if only for the fact that he would always look back at them. Gauging their feelings, keeping an eye on them. They weren't sure why, but they'd just toss him a tense smile before looking away.

"What's your favorite color?"

He stopped in his tracks to the point Xen almost ran into him.

"What? Uh," their mind buffered. "Pink, I guess? I mean, I'm wearing it so."

That response earned a frown from him. "But do you like wearing it?"

"I dunno." They shrugged. A pause as he stared at them to continue. "It's fine, but I don't think it looks that good on me, I guess?"

And it only made his expression sour more. If this were a choice-based game, they were certainly losing the social interaction. Unfortunately it was real life where they couldn't save and reload if they were. At least he seemed to move on, dragging them along again.

Honestly, could they really afford to waste time doing what seemed like useless walking and standing and vaguely giving responses on if a piece of clothing looked good while the timer was slowly ticking down?

The citizens must've thought they were an awful guardian.

Aren't you?

Kaleidoscope at least seemed to keep trucking along. Honestly, he was almost enviable, the way he could mess with people however he wanted and get away with no repercussions purely because he lucked out with powers better than Xen had.

Could you even do better if you did have his amount of power?

Not to say they would pull the same things he had been if given the ability, but they had less than him and were forced to become something they didn't want to be, something they just weren't. First a magical girl, then a guardian angel, and now some villain's personal assistant while he browsed a mall and tossed clothes at them to hold.

You have yet to earn the title of any of those three.

"What do you think of this look, birdie?"

They only responded with a "hmm" that they hoped sounded positive enough for him to move on.

Their gaze fell to the ground as their shoulders slouched.

Useless.

By all accounts, they were useless. Or, no, they weren't useless, but— In all the jumbled thoughts in their mind, that was the only word that would fill in the blank.

"I've never been a fan of this style on myself, but maybe..." Kaleidoscope mused.

Xen knew they had to be useful, though. That was the whole point of them even being there in the first place. They wouldn't have been chosen if not, right? But again, they were chosen through chance. It could've been anyone else.

And where even was Yu? Probably laughing at them as usual.

"Aw, this would look so cute on—!"

Gods, who would've guessed that their biggest bully would be their own familiar?

Or even their own mind.

The tips of their fingers were numb from having held their arms up in the same pose for the past few minutes, hooks of clothes hangers dangling from them. If they had thought for even just a bit longer, they could imagine the stinging of tears.

"Are you... crying?" Kaleidoscope quietly asked, making them rapidly blink at the water pooling at the corners of their eyes.

Xen whipped their head away to hide their expression. "Can you focus on your shopping?" Their voice cracked just enough to earn a wince from themself.

"It can wait a bit—"

"Oh, 'it can wait' as if you don't have people strapped to a literal bomb right now," they let out something between a chuckle and a strangle. "Do you hear yourself? Do you see yourself?"

They shot him a red-eyes glare, eyeing the way his hand hovered in midair as if reaching to comfort them. Even if he held back, Xen still slapped the hand away if only to let out some of their pent up frustration. Their mind was splitting.

Be nice, Xen.

"You know what," Xen pointed a finger in his face. "This is bullshit, I'm figuring this out myself."

Dropping everything they held onto the floor, they sped off back towards the entrance. It was ridiculous considering he was much faster than them, but if they were right, they had only a few minutes left on the timer to defuse it. Somehow.

Grabbing the block of metal and wires, whatever the hostages were shouting at the would go in one ear and out the other. Of course the thing looked like some crap you'd find in some bomb defusal video game with a variety of buttons, wires, and keypads littered around it. And the bright red, flashing numbers reminding them of how little time they had.

"What took you so long?" One voice was finally able to stab its way through the noise.

"I was— figuring things out, so just hold on." They barely tried to conceal the way their eyes rolled, gritting their teeth as they turned the mechanism in their hands.

Knowing Kaleidoscope— Well, they hardly knew him. But if they had to guess what he'd do, it must've been some kind of joke. Like half or basically the whole thing being fake. Maybe he just kept the wires to have that climactic "is it the red of blue wire" trope. He loved playing into ridiculous movie cliches like that.

Xen shuddered at the memory of when they were roped, literally, into the melodramatic trope of a maiden tied to train tracks. And when they had pedantically corrected him that the origin had a man tied to the tracks, his only response was "well, you're nonbinary".

Focus.

GAH.

They slapped themself. But really, they had no lead as to what to do. Their mind wracked to see if there had possibly been any hints until something shot to the forefront of their mind.

"C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

With a thick swallow, they froze.

If they had been better at listening... Gods dammit, if they even just listened to their mind that constantly shouted at them like they were a misbehaving child. Maybe they would've had some semblance of sense to be fucking competent rather than some screw up cosplayer.

But they could still do something.

The timer ticked down to the last few seconds.

Kindness and understanding were difficult to come by for them. Brute force was much easier.

Xen.

Pulling out their scythe, Xen put enough distance between them and the citizens before swinging down on the ropes the bound them. Sure, there were a few screams from them since a large blade was inches away from some of them, but it proved their guess correct. The bomb at the very least wasn't actually rigged to the people at all.

With only a moment to catch their breath, their eyes focused on the hostages. "What? Get out of here already!"

It didn't take much convincing for the crowd to scramble away which let them direct their attention back to the bomb. Rushing towards it and scooping it into their hands, Xen threw it into the air, swinging their scythe at it like a bat before turning away to brace for the explosion, their wings expanding as an attempt at a shield.

Their body flinched at the sound, grimacing as they turned around only to find the ground coated in a layer of glitter. On their back, their wings moved to fold back into a bow, but they shuddered and flapped from the glitter that got stuck between the feathers.

"Surprise...!" Kaleidoscope appeared around a corner, his jazz hands at the reveal more hesitant than he normally would've been. "It wasn't actually—"

"Yeah, I can see that." Their voice came out with more venom than they initially anticipated, but it felt a little cathartic. His eyes avoided theirs, but they bore into his. "Why do you do this? You don't even do anything. Does watching this give you some sick sense of enjoyment to watch me beg?"

Xen, be nice.

"What?" He startled, suddenly holding his hands up defensively while they marched towards him. "No! Oh my god, no."

"Gods," Xen's voice cracked. The tears stung their eyes again, but that was the last thing they cared about. "What could it possibly be then? You treat me like a joke, but try to act like we're best friends. I'd rather you want to try to kill me at that point."

His eyes darted around; for the first time, he seemed to be at a loss of words. The tension in the air was practically burning.

And when he was finally within arm's reach, he ran away.

Like always.

Maybe it was because he was a "villain", but the way his expression would shift into a grin whenever he saw Xen come to stop him filled them with unease. Not because it was threatening per se, but purely because it felt similar to a kid excited for a playdate. It felt patronizing. Like he was regarding them as if they weren't actually someone to be worried about.

And it was worse that he was right. He always found a way to evade him because he was better than them in an almost literal and ironic sense.

Their speed? His was ten times faster. Their ability to glide? Of course he was able to actually fly. Not to mention their light did little when he could simply use telekinesis. Any moment they'd get close to apprehending him, all he needed to do was toss whatever object at them and they'd be forced to dodge unless they wanted a concussion.

Well. That was ignoring the other issue.

Xen's preferred method of managing their "problems" was by simply beating the shit out of it, like spam clicking in video games. Besides, they were given a scythe as a weapon for a reason, and one that could turn into a staff (aka a blunt object), so it felt like a no brainer.

However, whenever they would swing at him, their own mind practically paralyzed them into freezing. They had been getting better at tuning the foreign thoughts out, but even that had its own limits when the worst was astronomically so compared to the usual droning. At times, when it would crescendo into a disgusting screech, they could almost convince themself the warmth of blood was dripping down the side of their jaw with only the slightest relief to return home and see nothing.

So to avoid that from happening again (after trying a few more times to brute force it), they were forced to resort to less violent methods. Ones that made it far too easy for Kaleidoscope to slip away or even mess with them, but unfortunately gained the approval of the conversations that played in their own mind.

Do you know how humiliating it is? To be tied up like a pinata and toted around town while your rival is parading you around like its some humiliation ritual. Not even like it was one; it basically was with the way he was poking and cooing at them like they were a snappy puppy. And escaping wasn't even a victory when it was because he let them with the reasoning of he "had fun" and was "excited to see them next time".

Yu was hardly a help throughout it all, mostly watching from afar. Or up close when he'd sneakily take photos to make fun of Xen later. His excuse was that nothing was happening that required him to help, but they called bullshit. Mostly because he pissed them off but also because it was unfair.

He loved to lecture them about how they shared the duties of protecting the city, but he would always sit on his ass all day while they did the dirty work. They should've just quit, but they couldn't because of... Why didn't they quit again?

This is a responsibility only you can accept. You accepted this. You want this.

Whatever.

One day, while sitting through a lecture, their ears perked up when some people a few seats away were talking about something on the news. With a few clicks on their own laptop, Xen pulled up the latest news just to find out their least favorite person had started a hostage situation in the mall. The fluff of rainbow on his head was as much of an eyesore as it always was whether it were day or night.

Save them.

You have to.

Their eyes were constantly glancing at the time at the corner of their screen because, as much as they would've loved to leave class just a few minutes early, they still liked to keep their reputation as a good student.

Whatever happens is the effect of your actions. Your time is no more important than the time of the victims.

Even if that meant bearing through the unease growing in their mind they waited. The only thing calming them was Xen reminding themself that they'd head straight to the mall once class was dismissed, to the point they had practically leapt down the rows of seats when they finally were allowed to leave.

Can you even handle the consequences of your own actions?

A quick dip into a secluded part of campus, they transformed before speeding off towards the mall, staff in hand despite knowing it'd be useless anyway.

Always so violent...

When they made it, there was a cluster of people tied up together near the entrance with a bomb strapped to them. The windows of the nearby stores had been smashed open with various clothes and apparel strewn around on the ground. And guessing from the abandoned bags and food court trays, the majority of people were at least able to escape capture.

"How long have you guy been tied up?" Xen crouched down, eyes taking a glance towards the bomb. It was a stupid question, mostly just anything to keep the hostages talking so they could be focused less on the current situation.

"I-I don't remember."

Yeah, great fucking question, Xen.

With a huff that they hoped wasn't audible to the citizens, they tried to follow the wiring of the bomb, but of course it didn't help. They were a magical girl; they worked with magic not explosives.

"Oh, pretty birdie, you're here! Why didn't you tell me?" The unnaturally cheery voice for the current situation and the sickeningly sweet, overly familiar nickname made Xen's blood run cold, but they couldn't just avoid facing him. "Honestly, what took you so long? Especially for it being midday—"

"You say that as if you were waiting for me," they stood up off the ground, meeting Kaleidoscope's eyes.

"And if I was?"

They rolled their eyes in a way that was only reserved for him to see.

Be nice, Xen.

He responded with a pout that hardly held any actual hurt in it. "Aww, don't be like that. C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

Brows furrowing, Xen's grip tightened on their staff. Their choice was to follow him, the logical and safer bet, or to simply not and brute force it which could very likely cause damage based on his skills in making a bomb in the first place. And they hated that they had enough reason to not pick the stupid second option.

"Fine," they put away their weapon. "What do you want?"

With a scrutinizing glare, they almost could've believed that he expected them to put up more of a fight than they did. But frankly, any choice that seemed to appease the nagging feeling at the back of their mind was good enough to Xen.

"Oh. Well, I was hoping you'd help me look around the stores a bit."

Seriously?

"Shopping is always so much more boring by yourself, and we're friends, right?" The last word had a teasing lilt as if it'd trap them if they tried answering either way.

One thing they found most annoying about him was just how good he was at catching them off guard with his words that it just was easier to stay quiet. He seemed a little disappointed at their half-hearted shrug, but it wasn't Xen's job to care about him, only about the citizens he was currently threatening.

With one last glance back to see the timer on the bomb, they followed after Kaleidoscope who was patiently-impatiently waiting for when they were ready to follow. When their eyes met again, his face cracked into a grin before he grabbed them by the arm.

As much as he was a pain in their ass, he certainly was never aggressive with them. He always opted for ranged attacks if he needed to, running away in most other situations.

Even in the current moment, with him pulling them along by the elbow, his hold wasn't anything harsh or even clingy. If they wanted to slip away, they very easily could've. Though, where his hold was light, his gaze certainly kept them in place if only for the fact that he would always look back at them. Gauging their feelings, keeping an eye on them. They weren't sure why, but they'd just toss him a tense smile before looking away.

"What's your favorite color?"

He stopped in his tracks to the point Xen almost ran into him.

"What? Uh," their mind buffered. "Pink, I guess? I mean, I'm wearing it so."

That response earned a frown from him. "But do you like wearing it?"

"I dunno." They shrugged. A pause as he stared at them to continue. "It's fine, but I don't think it looks that good on me, I guess?"

And it only made his expression sour more. If this were a choice-based game, they were certainly losing the social interaction. Unfortunately it was real life where they couldn't save and reload if they were. At least he seemed to move on, dragging them along again.

Honestly, could they really afford to waste time doing what seemed like useless walking and standing and vaguely giving responses on if a piece of clothing looked good while the timer was slowly ticking down?

The citizens must've thought they were an awful guardian.

Aren't you?

Kaleidoscope at least seemed to keep trucking along. Honestly, he was almost enviable, the way he could mess with people however he wanted and get away with no repercussions purely because he lucked out with powers better than Xen had.

Could you even do better if you did have his amount of power?

Not to say they would pull the same things he had been if given the ability, but they had less than him and were forced to become something they didn't want to be, something they just weren't. First a magical girl, then a guardian angel, and now some villain's personal assistant while he browsed a mall and tossed clothes at them to hold.

You have yet to earn the title of any of those three.

"What do you think of this look, birdie?"

They only responded with a "hmm" that they hoped sounded positive enough for him to move on.

Their gaze fell to the ground as their shoulders slouched.

Useless.

By all accounts, they were useless. Or, no, they weren't useless, but— In all the jumbled thoughts in their mind, that was the only word that would fill in the blank.

"I've never been a fan of this style on myself, but maybe..." Kaleidoscope mused.

Xen knew they had to be useful, though. That was the whole point of them even being there in the first place. They wouldn't have been chosen if not, right? But again, they were chosen through chance. It could've been anyone else.

And where even was Yu? Probably laughing at them as usual.

"Aw, this would look so cute on—!"

Gods, who would've guessed that their biggest bully would be their own familiar?

Or even their own mind.

The tips of their fingers were numb from having held their arms up in the same pose for the past few minutes, hooks of clothes hangers dangling from them. If they had thought for even just a bit longer, they could imagine the stinging of tears.

"Are you... crying?" Kaleidoscope quietly asked, making them rapidly blink at the water pooling at the corners of their eyes.

Xen whipped their head away to hide their expression. "Can you focus on your shopping?" Their voice cracked just enough to earn a wince from themself.

"It can wait a bit—"

"Oh, 'it can wait' as if you don't have people strapped to a literal bomb right now," they let out something between a chuckle and a strangle. "Do you hear yourself? Do you see yourself?"

They shot him a red-eyes glare, eyeing the way his hand hovered in midair as if reaching to comfort them. Even if he held back, Xen still slapped the hand away if only to let out some of their pent up frustration. Their mind was splitting.

Be nice, Xen.

"You know what," Xen pointed a finger in his face. "This is bullshit, I'm figuring this out myself."

Dropping everything they held onto the floor, they sped off back towards the entrance. It was ridiculous considering he was much faster than them, but if they were right, they had only a few minutes left on the timer to defuse it. Somehow.

Grabbing the block of metal and wires, whatever the hostages were shouting at the would go in one ear and out the other. Of course the thing looked like some crap you'd find in some bomb defusal video game with a variety of buttons, wires, and keypads littered around it. And the bright red, flashing numbers reminding them of how little time they had.

"What took you so long?" One voice was finally able to stab its way through the noise.

"I was— figuring things out, so just hold on." They barely tried to conceal the way their eyes rolled, gritting their teeth as they turned the mechanism in their hands.

Knowing Kaleidoscope— Well, they hardly knew him. But if they had to guess what he'd do, it must've been some kind of joke. Like half or basically the whole thing being fake. Maybe he just kept the wires to have that climactic "is it the red of blue wire" trope. He loved playing into ridiculous movie cliches like that.

Xen shuddered at the memory of when they were roped, literally, into the melodramatic trope of a maiden tied to train tracks. And when they had pedantically corrected him that the origin had a man tied to the tracks, his only response was "well, you're nonbinary".

Focus.

GAH.

They slapped themself. But really, they had no lead as to what to do. Their mind wracked to see if there had possibly been any hints until something shot to the forefront of their mind.

"C'mon, you wanna defuse the bomb right? So you gotta play along with me for a bit, and I'll tell you how."

With a thick swallow, they froze.

If they had been better at listening... Gods dammit, if they even just listened to their mind that constantly shouted at them like they were a misbehaving child. Maybe they would've had some semblance of sense to be fucking competent rather than some screw up cosplayer.

But they could still do something.

The timer ticked down to the last few seconds.

Kindness and understanding were difficult to come by for them. Brute force was much easier.

Xen.

Pulling out their scythe, Xen put enough distance between them and the citizens before swinging down on the ropes the bound them. Sure, there were a few screams from them since a large blade was inches away from some of them, but it proved their guess correct. The bomb at the very least wasn't actually rigged to the people at all.

With only a moment to catch their breath, their eyes focused on the hostages. "What? Get out of here already!"

It didn't take much convincing for the crowd to scramble away which let them direct their attention back to the bomb. Rushing towards it and scooping it into their hands, Xen threw it into the air, swinging their scythe at it like a bat before turning away to brace for the explosion, their wings expanding as an attempt at a shield.

Their body flinched at the sound, grimacing as they turned around only to find the ground coated in a layer of glitter. On their back, their wings moved to fold back into a bow, but they shuddered and flapped from the glitter that got stuck between the feathers.

"Surprise...!" Kaleidoscope appeared around a corner, his jazz hands at the reveal more hesitant than he normally would've been. "It wasn't actually—"

"Yeah, I can see that." Their voice came out with more venom than they initially anticipated, but it felt a little cathartic. His eyes avoided theirs, but they bore into his. "Why do you do this? You don't even do anything. Does watching this give you some sick sense of enjoyment to watch me beg?"

Xen, be nice.

"What?" He startled, suddenly holding his hands up defensively while they marched towards him. "No! Oh my god, no."

"Gods," Xen's voice cracked. The tears stung their eyes again, but that was the last thing they cared about. "What could it possibly be then? You treat me like a joke, but try to act like we're best friends. I'd rather you want to try to kill me at that point."

His eyes darted around; for the first time, he seemed to be at a loss of words. The tension in the air was practically burning.

And when he was finally within arm's reach, he ran away.

Like always.