One Way Road

     “Ahaha! So you’re saying I can’t even take a peek inside? Just a tiiiiiny one?” It didn’t take long for crime to root itself deep in the city once it had taken its full form. Ruby had expected as much, but she hadn’t expected how much of a demand there’d end up being for people to put crime lords and the like in their place. Bounties. As a Huntress it was something she could and would do if it meant making the city a little safer, but she’d definitely never take a request where the target was wanted dead.

     Casinos ran rampant in the Golden Ward, and since it was near the waterfront there also had a tendency to be a lot of warehouses. And in one of those warehouses existed her target. A man by the name of Cotton Eye Jack, a notorious gang leader that had been conning people out of their money in his shady casino. 

     But then these bodyguards had gotten in her way, and well…

     She sighed loudly. “Okay then. When you wake up, don’t act like I didn’t try this this nice way.” They looked confused as the girl reached for a small, metallic pack on her back, and that confusion quickly turned to concern as a scythe blade erupted from one end, a spike from the other. They reached for their guns but were too late to react to being smacked in the heads by the dull outer edge of Crescent Rose, knocking them out almost immediately

     Glancing over her shoulder and past the scythe she had resting there, she waved at an albino boy she’d noticed mid-conversation. He didn’t look like these guys at all, so she figured he had other business here. “You coming?”

As expected, trouble found its way through the cracks yet again. Normally, trouble found him due to his... troublesome reputation, but today was a little different. Accelerator was the one who deliberately sought it out this time, experience telling him that big cities like this always had something brewing right under people’s noses, hiding in plain sight. And it looks like he wasn’t the only one to sniff it out today. It was over before it even started. Those men probably weren’t in business long enough to realize that denying people, especially curious teenagers, would end in concussion up against the street’s curb. The weapon was something else, though Accelerator found it a bit odd; normally something would so many moving parts would be flimsy... unless it was really well cared for.

✫   𝒜𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓉𝓊𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓈? There are certain things one can simply feel, you know? Take, for example, his patience in sustaining dialogue despite his vulgar, poisonous mouth. ( Not that he has much of a choice, she has him by the wrist. She ought to let go. )

      Either way, she’s accustomed to these personalities by now! Someone in his life must have taught him tolerance – taught him how to persevere through uncomfortable situations – and it couldn’t have been a wife, or a concubine. Not with that attitude. A ripened woman would leave him to fester in his own shortcomings.

     “In theory, I know little about that child. However, you must consider: is there not always an individual in someone’s life that balances them? Your behavior is shameless as it is extreme, which would mean your ‘other half’ would have to be equally as shameless as they are extreme, but in reverse. An overwhelmingly altruistic and kind individual, I hope? Innocent, and sweet…” Fitting traits of a child, or a very pure adolescent. “You could also not have had anyone like that at all. Indeed, I took a risk!”

Accelerator’s brows furrowed, complimenting the frown on his usually bored expression. Her answer was unsatisfactory. Rather, it was too vague to properly gauge whether or not she would be a threat to Last Order. But she wasn’t hostile and that was all he needed, he supposes. Besides, it’s not like she had access to the little clone, as she’s far away, safe in Academy City.

     Anastasia’s eyebrows raise, not having expected him to actually have any on-hand. Yet how lucky that he did! She quietly accepts the offer, but instead of immediately digging in like her companion, she simply stares.

     Smooth, round, thin and with a pleasantly light aroma. Yes, she even sniffs it once, though she tries to do so discreetly.

     Finally, the moment of truth arrives and Anastasia takes a single, tiny bite. Then another. And another. Before she knows it, the entire stick is gone, the wondrous journey of chocolate and biscuit is over, leaving the girl in quiet awe.

     “…That was quite good. Ah.”

     …A hand reaches out, palm up and requesting – no, royally expecting another. 

Accelerator had never seen someone inspect snacks the way she did. In his experience, they would have eaten it without a second thought, consuming the stick in an instant. Ah, but then again, the women the esper was familiar with were a bit on the odd side of things, so there’s that. One thing remained a constant, however. The want for more after the first bite.

@onewayvector

the world she comes from is a destroyed barren wasteland slowly rebuilding itself after the damage caused from the biological catastrophe and mass scale warfare. they had little place for luxuries as the necessities to sustain life was barely in place. this world… is the complete opposite. she’s still yet to explore this vast place, still yet to see every nook and cranny. she’s been amazed at what she’s seen so far, each place had this different personality, different life to it, to the point where it’s almost unreal. how can this place be so vast, be so lively? she’s never seen somewhere like this before where she’s from. she’s barely come from a world of peace.

pocky day. 

she stares at the sign that writes those words boldly for everyone to see. what the heck is pocky day, she wonders to herself. she’s never heard of pocky, much less heard about a day dedicated to pocky. but it seems like because of that day, the snack named “pocky” had massive sales. some flavors cheaper than others. there are also “friends of pocky” that are on sale, something named “pejoy” she heard some comment are better than pocky. she tilts her head, before checking her phone to see if she had any money remaining. and, much to her delight, there is a small balance that seemed more than enough to buy a satisfactory supply of these snacks. 

unfortunately, all of the samples that little tokyo had been giving up had been withdrawn upon news that the “sample stealing, gun wielding young girl had arrived”, so sop ii couldn’t try it before purchasing.

“hey mister!” she randomly asks a white haired male who had been standing nearby. she pokes his shoulder, “are these any good? i’ve never had pocky before.” 

“also… i heard pejoy is better than pocky, so should i get those over pocky? a little bit more expensive…” sop ii thinks to herself, calmly trying to figure out the best way to allocate her funds (considering she had no job for the time being). 

Minding his own business never seemed to keep him out of social interactions. Normally it did, but that was back in Academy City where he had a lethal reputation as Number One. Hell, no one would even think about touching him if they knew how his esper ability worked. And even then, people unaware of that steered clear of him because of his intimidating presence. But this was not Academy City. Past titles meant nothing and reputation held no weight. In here, you were just as ‘normal’ as the next guy, no matter your appearance or where you came from. So the esper relents a sigh. Might as well interact with this one and get it over with, right? Accelerator turned to her, an unenthusiastic expression about him. A rifle on her person and a robotic-looking arm. Yep, just another normal day.

     Anastasia nods. This wasn’t the first tired-eyed white-haired boy she’d been around. In a way it was almost relaxing. However, he was still a stranger, one whose name she didn’t even know. She couldn’t let herself enjoy the slivers of familiarity too much.

     “I have no interest in playing such a game.” She pauses, a determined look on her face.

     “But…” And it softens, voice lowering in kind. “…The cookie-sticks you mentioned. Are they tasty?”

Ah, of course. It always came down to it; eating, that is. They say it’s one way to get through a girl’s heart. Accelerator never believed that, but twice now, in his lifetime, he’d been able to fulfill certain things in his life through food. Namely, making Last Order behave and taking a certain heroine on a date that one time. So, he pulls out the box he already had and opens it. Slender fingers take two sticks. One for himself, which he immediately bites into and the other, he offers to the young woman.

     “I see. How paltry.” She scoffs quietly a few seconds after he’s finished the explanation. What a confusing ritual. In a way, it sounded a bit exciting… And cookie-sticks sounded delicious. But she keeps that opinion to herself.

     “You seem upset.“ Anastasia comments, glancing towards the stranger with a vendetta for cookie-sticks. 

    “It is.” He scoffed with her, nodding in agreement. At least someone saw it his way. “Still, that doesn’t stop people from doing it with people they like. That’s usually how it goes.”

☀  @onewayvector·

    “See? That wasn’t so bad now, was it?”

✫   𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶 𝒸𝒽𝑜𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝒾𝓃𝒸𝓇𝑒𝒹𝒾𝒷𝓁𝓎 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔. Look! Now he’s got an adorable little sun hieroglyph on his wrist. Not to worry: it’s only done with temporary henna. “Treat that sun as if it were your child. You may be without her now, but look at that, and think of her.” 

It really is how the universe worked against him sometimes. One thing led to another, one wrong turn here and one misunderstanding there lead to this moment. He was reluctant, of course. He threw countless vulgarities her way, but this... person, seemed insistent. But then she mentioned a child. Now, Last Order wasn’t his, but she sure as hell was under his care, even as far apart as they were now. She couldn’t have been referring to anyone else. Perhaps that was enough to allow this insistent woman to see this temporary tattooing through.

     “…Snacks?”

     Having refused to talk with any of the Spirale citizens thus far, Anastasia’s silence breaks with the prompt of food, and the apparent ritual that surrounded it. She has no hesitation in taking the seat next to him. As a Princess, she’s entitled… right? “Please explain more.”

Island paradise? No, not all of it. If recent events were any indication, nothing in this new city was as it seemed. That seemed to be a universal constant, Accelerator mused to himself. The last city he was in was filled to the brim with malevolent intent for its citizens and Academy City, for all its scientific progress and shiny inventions held a dark side to its core. One that he was once a part of to protect those he cared about. Now, his gut told him that this new place, this new bright and welcoming world he was once again thrown into, had its own dark side. In fact, he was convinced that it had one. The brighter the light, the heavier the shadow it cast, after all.

i’m dumb ive been here two weeks and i havent done this yet so anyway, let’s do a lil refresher on accelerator here and my current canon point on him!

has been known to be edgy. correction! was edgy as shit but has since mellowed out in New Testament

used to think he was a top class villain and a monster but has since turned into protector for Last Order and the world around her

that said he’s still just as rude and as profane as ever. not even Last Order is immune to it

incredibly powerful despite his “crippled” state

the laws of physics is literally his playground. once slowed the earth’s rotation for five whole ass minutes to borrow kinetic energy from it. yeah, that happened

has angel wings... yeah. that’s a thing. complete with a golden halo above his head

prefers not to kill his enemies anymore but will still maim the absolute fuck out of them if it came to it. lethal pacifist at its finest. better broken bones than dead, right?

people tend to forget he’s a genius. like, a genuine genius. einstein level of genius, maybe even surpassing the man. his calculating prowess is second to none

because he’s an esper, using magic of any sort is lethal to him. smaller, controlled magic is okay, but he once cried blood because he used some healing magic so...

also, magic is something his ability can’t deal with. they break every law of physics and so he’s unable to use his vector bullshit on them. 

absolutely inhales coffee like a motherfuck