A Stage Slightly To The Left: Goldnine-Soaked Dreams
By Kermie
What if… the DNA profiles used in Ambrosia had a psychic imprint, similar to Apiary?
8:55 PM
???, 2068
You are Mona Merola Morales. And at night, you dream once again.
Horizon, City Of Leviathan's Rest — Location #$^&!@
The card den is smoky, strange, and a bit unsettling. So is the rest of the strange dream-city you see on nights like these. The buildings are inverted, the lights shine golden, and sometimes you see faceless crowds running through the street.
But the company is definitely awesome. No complaints.
Across from you, a dark-skinned woman throws a pair of cards down, followed by another two pairs. She grins, before turning to her colleague and drawling in a deep accent. "Got any threes?"
The infamous Soldier X of the Defiance Unit is exactly as menacing as you expected… and weirdly lucky at cards. Seriously, you all checked that the cards were well shuffled. She still wins most of the time.
The woman next to her sighs. "No. I don't. Go fish. And can ask Lamar as your first move for once?"
Next to Soldier X is her equally infamous menacing teammate, Crimson Soprano. Or as you've learned to call the older woman, Bidu.
She rolls her eyes. "Speaking of, Lamar, got any sixes?"
The last person at the table other than you is the invincible man himself, Steadfast. In another life, he probably would have been your mentor figure. Something to think about. Or maybe not think about too hard— he's already told you to tell Stockpile that he's
so disappointed.
"Go fish. X, do you have any threes?"
The woman without a name groans, before throwing over a three of hearts. Steadfast throws down a pair with a grin. "Alright Mona, your turn. How's your day been?"
You've been having these dreams… about once every other night, with the exception of that one time when you dreamed about Valiant Silver. These dreams are… different, somewhat. They have the same dreamy, almost psychedelic feeling like back when you talked with Apiary. Thankfully, this one spawned you near the rest of your DNA donors instead of Novalight, who seems to hate you with a burning passion. (You've spent a concerning amount of time outflying her. It's gotten easier since you fought Scarlet Maturity,
but still.)
You take a look at your hand, and throw down a pair of fives before looking up. "I went on patrol with New Dawn today! It was great, we threw down with some Wonderland villains. I apparently missed out on meeting with some magical girls though, so that's disappointing."
Bidu whistles. It's a pleasant, melodic sound. "Damn, there's never a calm day when it comes to you, Swan. Is Dreamcatcher jealous of you for getting to see us every other day?"
You laugh. Anything
but. "No, he says that it's "scary" that I have to spend time around X and Bidu- no offense guys- and that he thinks that Novalight speaking from the dead to chew him out would be one of his worst nightmares."
Steadfast groans. "Oh, I don't blame him. Spending more time around Yelena than necessary is like actively killing yourself. I'm pretty sure that Heavenly Astrologian is only getting rest now that she's dead…"
You ask Bidu for a one— nothing. The game moves on, but your conversation continues. "Oh, and that reminds me! We actually recruited someone new- they call her Noelle Han. Though she just prefers to be called Ellie."
His eyes widen, and for once in a while, he actually looks surprised. "Han… wait,
you hired her kid?!"
That gets Bidu to stop mid-play. "Wait, that Heavenly person had a kid? What is it with single moms and being heroes? First Solferina, then her."
You just shrug. "Honestly? I dunno. It's great to be a hero, but being a mom is also definitely a full-time job. But we're looking to put Ellie in the EXCEED-BEYOND suit, or at least considering it."
Soldier X raises an eyebrow, before speaking. "That might be helpful if you can get it done soon. The villains in Wonderland are no joke, and having her along might be helpful if you travel back in time again. You might meet past us, or even King for all we know."
"It could be different," Steadfast interrupts, "Maybe Mona's just meeting all the captains of the different hero teams. She could learn from Justiciar, or even a calmer Novalight—"
"Novalight's a bitch." The two Defiance Unit members say at the exact same time.
Steadfast rolls his eyes and scoffs, but he doesn't seem hostile at all. "…no disagreement here on my part."
You smile, and continue playing as the game slowly draws to a close. You've definitely gotten to know an interesting group of people after getting your Ambrosia, but in all honesty? You wouldn't give up these strange bonds you've made for anything.
9:30 PM
???, 2068
You are Rhys Gardner. The night is cool, and you dream.
Horizon, City Of Leviathan's Rest — The Apiary
"Oh, you really think the rules that I think we need are so useless?"
"No, I—
hic— just think that 47 volumes is a bit much."
There aren't many "slow days" in Horizon, much less in the Apiary. But when there are, you can often find a Justice Unlimited member walking about, and they're usually all very sociable.
You may or may not be biased by the fact that Lady Leizi is your boss.
But the JU member that you're talking to right now is very sociable. Adamant clearly learned good manners from his dad. He's a polite drunk, weirdly enough.
He leans back on his chair, just barely not falling off. If the passing crowds are surprised that there's a
bar of all places on the Apiary, they aren't showing it. "Seriously though, I'm glad Chatelet joined. Man, if only she was around during my heyday in Justice Unlimited."
"Yeah, I figured you'd say that.
Wait… who's—
Oh. You must be dreaming again. When was the last time one of these fever dreams happened? Like, last week?
Ah well, at least you aren't like Mona. If you had a chance of coming face to face with someone like Justiciar, or god forbid
Primtemps, you'd never want to sleep again. Adamant's pretty cool, and The Outsider and Daggermaw are also very nice… when they're there.
You blink, and for a split second you're in your white combat form. You blink again, before returning to your civilian form- this time,
with pants.
"Oh, did you guys find my secret stash? Y'know, the boat?" Adamant asks.
"Yeah, we did. We got Wolong to do all these calculations, and Miss Naught suggested just blowing up the thing and grabbing the cabin. There were also some Gold-Rank Behemoths, but Mona blew them up pretty easily."
He smiles, content. "That's good, we can probably fund more Ambrosia and maybe even fix up the Apiary with the bounty. And speaking of Ambrosia, in all honesty I'm amazed that adding my dad to Mona's DNA mix made her a…"
"Supermassive black hole that can kill Scarlet Maturity?"
You see his expression momentarily darken when you mention the red brute (you don't blame him, you'd do the same) but he recovers momentarily. "Yeah, that. Oh, and were any of the DNA samples I put in there usable?"
You're about to answer that, when you realize something. "Wait, we can only use dead people in Ambrosia, I think. How did you even know to put those people in there…?"
He just shrugs, metal shoulders slightly creaking. "Uiara set up a blood drive once, and don't tell Leizi, but me and Nora
may have snatched a random selection from heroes with AB+ blood that donated. There was probably a blood selection or two that Leizi discarded once she saw the name."
Yup. That sounds reasonable enough, if a bit weird. You should probably ask about how long Project Prometheus was in progress later- the edges of the bar are starting to fray, and you've gotta get some real sleep. "I mean, most of the DNA samples were all usable. I pity the poor candidate who's gonna have to deal with Frostbite when they go to sleep."
Adamant nods in sympathy. "Yeah, elemental armor's definitely going to go in a few combos." he hums in thought, before his eyes turn deadly serious as he turns to you. "Oh, and one last thing before I gotta go. Did anyone see what was in the package I sent to Zixuan?"
You immediately shake your head, and have to turn it around after it goes all the way back. "Nope! She shooed all of us out of the room. What is it? Anything important to the project?"
Adamant just shakes his head, but he has a knowing look in his eyes now. "It's a personal gift from me, but I think that's something she should tell you personally. Tell her I love her, and that she shouldn't get too hung up on me. Pretty sure that she already got my message, but just in case."
You nod in confirmation, and the smiling silhouette of Adamant and the seats of the bar fade away into black as the dream ends.
Author's Note:
This will actually be the first part of a trilogy! Once I have more time, I'm going to make an episode where Adamant survived instead of Leizi, and one where different plans for Ambrosia (Chimera, Sucker Punch, whatever loses for John) won out. Look forward to more episodes of Stage Slightly To The Left!
This Omake was brought to you by me watching "Marvel's What If?" I was inspired, and had some free time while I was waiting for votes on my end.
