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tanzanite-zircon · 4 years

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Collabwithmyself Chronicles: Phoe-nix Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Just an Average Day

“Put on your Sunday clothes,

There's lots of world out there

Get out the brillantine and dime cigars

We're gonna find adventure in the evening air

Girls in white in a perfumed night

Where the lights are bright as the stars!

Put on your Sunday clothes, we're gonna ride through town

In one of those new horse-drawn open cars

We'll see the shows at Delmonico’s

And we'll close the town in a whirl

And we won't come until we've kissed a girl!”

The Hello Dolly show-tune definitely does not describe the current state of the Earth. The beautiful shades of blues, greens, browns, and whites of the entirety of Earth have been dulled to a murky brown. The atmosphere surrounding the planet is littered with satellites and other space debris. Once you actually penetrate the pea soup-like smog that drapes the landscape, you can make out the outlines of the beautiful mountains … of trash … if you squint. Buried under and surrounding these mountains are decommissioned wind turbines, nuclear power plants, factories, telephone and power lines, and long abandoned cities and buildings. A truly depressing and eerie sight to behold.

The bubbly show tune and the sound of wheels crunching paper, glass, metal, and plastic are the only sounds that can be heard within the sickening silence of the abandoned street as Phoenix skates his way through the pathways, carrying Trucy on his shoulders. Phoenix was wearing dirtied, light brownish-orange jumpsuit with grey sleeves and gloves, had black accents on his arms, and black boots. He also had a pair of goggles resting in front of his spiky black hair that aided him whenever a little, or big, dust storm ever picked up. Trucy had brown hair tied up into a side ponytail and was wearing a little black dress with gold buttons, white gloves and boots, a light blue cape, and a red ascot tied around her neck. Trucy looked like a magician, as she was programmed to know magic tricks in order to entertain children. Trucy had started to come with him to work after a few months of becoming a little family. While she couldn’t really help with compacting and sorting trash, she did keep him company and help find new trinkets to add to their collection back home. Since Phoenix was the only Fen-10 unit with a ‘soul,’ the rest were not much for conversation.

Once arriving at his destination, Phoenix knelt down to let Trucy, who was carrying the small, portable cooler they had for storing new treasures, off as Phoenix removed his backpack-slash-trash compactor and placed it on the ground. He glances at his surroundings, seeing the huge skyscrapers of trash cubes he and his fellow Fen-10 units created over the centuries. Despite many of these trash towers being taller than most of the abandoned buildings, he and the other androids barely made a dent in the sea of trash. This task has only been harder ever since the last Fen-10 broke down nearly three centuries ago. Phoenix couldn’t help but give out a sad and tired sigh as he gently rubbed the side of his face where a noticeable scratch lied. He turned back to the section of trash and fastened his gloves.

“C’mon Phoenix, just do a few more cubes and you’ll be done for today,” he whispered to himself. With Hello Dolly still blazing through his portable radio, Phoenix scoops two armfuls of aluminum cans, paper cups, and other miscellaneous pieces of trash into his compactor and starting it up. The loud sounds of the machinery crushing the trash muted out the song until the trash cube came sliding out once the machine was done. All that was left was to carry the cube to the stack and do it over again, and again, and again. As he and Trucy trekked up the already very tall structure of trash cubes, Trucy noticed a new treasure.

“Hey daddy,” she chimed, “look at this!” Trucy pointed to a silver disk that was lodged within one of the trash cubes as Phoenix began to tug it free. The two androids stared at disk, trying to figure out what it could be used as, when it began to reflect the light of the sun as it began to set, shimmering within its light.

“Wow, it’s so pretty,” Trucy stated in awe, “Can we keep it?”

“Heh, I don’t see why not,” Phoenix replied, “But it looks too big to keep in the cooler with the other things we found. I’ll carry it in the compactor until we get home.” With that, Phoenix places their newest trinket into his compactor before turning off his radio.

“I think this is enough for today,” Phoenix tiredly sighed, “Let’s go home sweetie.” Phoenix put his backpack back on and helped Trucy and the cooler up onto his shoulders. He then activated his retractable skates and carefully made his way back down the newest trash-scraper. The size of this paled in comparison to the others that Phoenix had created over the many years. Countless mountains of trash have been made by Phoenix over the years, and it look that there would only be even more in the future.

________________________________________________________________

The trek back home gave the two androids the full tour of the abandoned city that they lived in. They once again passed the huge Buy N Large Ultra Store that they have become all too familiar with. The store was absolutely massive and used to carry practically anything a person could need or want. It was as a great place to find supplies, tools, or just fun treasures to take home. The android family then passed by the gas station with one too many pumps and then the bank, which had many ATM’s and had the ground littered with abandoned currency. There was even a speaker that was still playing the Buy N Large theme song, as it was solar powered like Phoenix. Next was the ‘hall of advertisements,’ as Phoenix would playfully call it. Nothing but BNL advertisements of varying products and sizes as far as the optics could see. Phoenix and Trucy then made their way up a broken-down escalator, making their way to the monorail system. Phoenix paused as he approached the rail, checking to make sure it was safe to continue. His demeanor saddened as he knew that they would soon be approaching ‘the graveyard,’ the sight where hundreds of other Fen-10 units broke down. It was always hard to come this way, seeing basically himself lifeless. His daughter knew this all too well.

“Will you be okay Daddy?” she softly asked, “We can go a different way.” Phoenix snapped out of his thoughts and turned to her.

“No, it’s alright,” he replied, “This is the fastest way home. I just … need a moment.” He took a deep breath and gently shook his head.

{Just take it slow Phoenix. You’re going to be ok.} Phoenix squeezed Trucy’s hand, letting her know that he was alright. He then reactivated his skates and carefully made his way along the rail. The deactivated androids soon came into view. Large piles of Fen-10 units surrounded the monorail system, with each droid caked in rust and dust. Phoenix tried to focus on the rail or at the sunset, trying to avoid seeing what he would look like if he ever went offline. Suddenly, just when they reached a patch of solid ground, Phoenix’s deteriorating treads finally gave out. Both androids began to feel the quick, shaking movements of Phoenix’s broken treads unevenly traveling on the path. Phoenix carefully came to a stop to check on Trucy and the condition of his treads.

“You alright Truce,” Phoenix asked.

“I’m fine Daddy,” she replied as she slid off her father’s shoulders. Phoenix lifted his ped to inspect the damage, only to groan in frustration at how bad it was. There was no way to fix these treads with the tools back home, they were completely destroyed beyond repair. He needed a new pair to tread boots. His optics then landed on an offline Fen-10 unit slumped to his left, with a pair of tread boots in perfect condition. Phoenix looked between his destroyed boots and the unit’s boots. Phoenix sadly sighed and looked at the downed unit with guilt.

{… I’m sorry}

________________________________________________________________

After switching the boots, Phoenix and Trucy got back on the rail that lead them back to their bunker. Taking equipment or parts from the other Fen-10 units was always difficult, but sadly necessary. The factory where Phoenix was built ran out of parts practically in the first or second century. The plans, equipment, and supplies needed to recreate the parts Phoenix could need were lost or destroyed. This left Phoenix with no choice but to use the countless androids that littered his home. Since there were so many and the droids were built with durability that would make a cockroach jealous, Phoenix practically had an endless supply of equipment and parts that he would ever need. Even though they were never really ‘alive,’ he would always feel a bit guilty after taking the parts. He took some comfort knowing that Trucy will not have to deal with that. The local Tru-3 factory still has parts and they were able to secure the plans and equipment if Trucy ever needed new parts. The android family carefully continued on the rail, passing by abandoned apartments and destroyed factories and equipment, before finally coming to the downtown transit station. As Phoenix skated on the terminal floor, he passed an automatic advertisement that displayed exactly how the human population left the Earth.

“Too much garbage in your face,” the voice asked, “There’s plenty of space out in space! BNL Starliners leaving each day. We’ll clean up the mess while your away.” The advertisement had four individual screens, each showing a different scene when Phoenix moved passed them. The first was just an animated growing mountain of garbage, the second showed the BNL Starliner, the Axiom, soaring past the Earth, the third screen showed two Axioms taking off from their docking points, and the fourth one displayed about six Fen-10 droids doing their jobs as another Axiom takes off in the background.

{I guess it’s more like “I’ll clean up the mess while you’re still away” these days.} Phoenix and Trucy made their way to the end of the platform and pushed through the exit terminal gates. Just then, another, larger screen appeared above them with another advertisement of the Axiom.

“The jewel of the BNL fleet, the Axiom,” the voice exclaimed, “Spend your five-year cruise in style! Waited on 24 hours a day by our fully automated crew while your captain and auto-pilot chart a course for non-stop entertainment, fine dining, and with our all-access hover chairs, even grandma can join in the fun! There’s no need to walk! The Axiom, putting the star in executive starliner!” This advertisement showed hundreds of humans being pampered in a number of ways by all kinds of androids, be it by massages or by cooking hibachi-styled meals. It also showed the captain at the time and his android auto-pilot. Phoenix was always put off by the auto-pilot. He had slicked back grey hair, striking yet cold red and black eyes, and a stern face with noticeable wrinkles, making him look very old. It was almost as if that android could see right through your hardware. Phoenix’s paranoia about the auto-pilot android was interrupted by the image of the CEO of Buy N Large, Shelby Forthright, appearing on the screen.

“Because of BNL, space is the final fun-tier,” Forthright cheered as he waved to another Axiom taking off into the stars.

{I just wish you all would come back from that final fun-tier.}

______________________________________________________________

After a few more minutes, the android family finally arrived back at their bunker. It was set up on an abandoned, half-finished highway with a few deteriorating cars and construction vehicles in front. The bunker was designed as a place where Fen-10 units could power down after work, but Phoenix and Trucy made it into a suitable home over the centuries. Phoenix gained a good knowledge of machinery, electronics, and energy from reading books and downloading memory files, which helped him set up a small, yet sufficient home. Phoenix was able to fix the solar panels on the outside of the bunker to power everything in their home. They had working lights, heating and cooling systems, mechanics, and even an entertainment system with a DVD and VHS player, iPod that functioned as their television screen and sound system, and a few gaming systems. Phoenix was even able to repair a transceiver and screen that was capable of communication with a person in space if it linked with the other signal code. While they have never been able to reach anyone in space, they could still use its screen for their gaming system. Phoenix pulled up to a control panel, allowing Trucy to a lever that activated the door to their bunker. As the door slowly began to open, the sun’s light shown on the multitude of treasures they have collected over the years, be it a chandelier made from miscellaneous junk, a birdcage full of rubber ducks, or even a collection of clocks of varying types and sizes.

{Home sweet home.} Phoenix grabbed a power strip and flipped its switch, activating the lights in their bunker. Phoenix’s mood brightened as he stared at many treasures that he and Trucy collected over the centuries. Each item was a cherished memory he shared with his daughter. Phoenix helped Trucy off his shoulders before zipping off the top part of his jumpsuit, revealing the white undershirt underneath, and tying the sleeves around his waist. Phoenix began to hum the Hello Dolly show-tune as he strolled over to the entertainment system, taking the copy of Hello Dolly on VHS out of a decommissioned toaster to continue watching from the night before.

To say that phoenix loved Hello Dolly was an understatement. While there were other movies or shows that he and Trucy could watch, Hello Dolly had a special place in Phoenix’s core processor. The joyful music, lovable characters, and mesmerizing dance numbers always helped Phoenix and Trucy cheer up after a long day of trash sorting, treasure hunting, and seeing how badly the world keeps deteriorating. Moreover, this was her favorite musical. The favorite show of the Phoenix’s first and only human friend before every person evacuated the planet.

Phoenix placed the tape into the player and adjusted the large magnifying glass over the iPod’s screen, making the image of the town’s people in the scene bigger to see. With the familiar tune playing in the background, Phoenix and Trucy began to sort their new treasures, starting with the silver disk. As Phoenix turned what now appeared to be a hub cap from a car, he turned to look at the screen and took notice of the hats that the towns people were using in their dance number. Phoenix began to turn the disk above his head, mimicking the choreography of the scene.

{Well, that’s one thing we can use this for.} Phoenix placed the disk into one of the many shelves that lined the wall of the bunker. Trucy then opened up the cooler to take out the other treasures they had found throughout the day. Inside the cooler was a spork, a Rubik’s Cube, a hand-powered mixer, a light bulb, and an old BNL lighter. Trucy took out the spork and Rubik’s Cube, admiring the strange objects she found near the Ultra Store earlier that day. She placed the cube in a section that also housed one of her father’s art sculptures, which was a red clay heart with a spiked dog dollar around it on a spring. Trucy then moved to the section next to it to place the spork, trying to decide on whether to place it with their collection of forks or spoons. She eventually decided to put it in between the collections, as it was a fusion between the two. As Trucy placed the spork in its section, Phoenix pulled out the BNL lighter.

“What made you want to take this Trucy,” Phoenix questioned, “We must have nearly one hundred of these things by now.”

“Oh, it has something in it” Trucy replied, “I heard liquid inside when I picked it up. The others we have are empty. What do you think is in there?”

“I’m not sure,” Phoenix declared, “I don’t remember reading anything about these in our books or memory files. Let’s just put it with the others we found for now.” Phoenix moved to the end of the shelf and pressed the lowest button on its control panel, making the Ferris-wheel like mechanism begin to rotate the shelves until it reached the one with their collection of lighters. After placing the newest lighter in with the others, Phoenix’s audio receptors picked up a familiar sound. That song was playing again.

“And that is all, that loves about.

And we'll recall, when time runs out...”

Phoenix was always captivated by this song and scene. Seeing the two humans sweetly sing to each other, intertwine hands, and stare lovingly at each other made Phoenix’s core processor swell with happiness, but he also felt hints of jealousy and sadness. Phoenix let out a quiet sigh, surrounded in love and loneliness that Trucy managed to hear. She looked over to the screen, and anticipated her father’s next action.

“That it only,

Took a moment,

To be loved...

Whole...

Life...

Long.”

As the song began to end, Phoenix intertwined his own hands, mimicking the two humans on screen. There is was. Her father always held his own hands whenever he watched that scene. The scene was beautiful, but it also unintentionally rubbed what the two characters had that her father didn’t: Love.

This was not to say that Phoenix did not love her, extremely the opposite. Ever since Phoenix found her in the landfill her original ‘family’ left her in and re-activated her, he has been the greatest father she could ever ask for. He was always thinking of her and would do anything for her. He helped her recover and cope with her feelings of abandonment, shared with her everything he knew about the world, and would always make time for her for whatever she needed. Phoenix loved her with every ounce of his processor, no doubt about it.

But this was a different type of love. The two characters shared a romantic type of love, and her father did not have someone to share that kind of love with. He would try to hide his sadness over this from her; he did not want her to believe that their bond did not make him happy. Trucy understood how he felt, she did not have someone to share this kind of love with either. While she didn’t feel that strong of a desire for romantic love, probably due to her programming, she could see that her father wanted to experience that kind of love for himself, and not just watch it from movies. Trucy slowly walked over to her father and placed her hand on his arm.

“Daddy,” she carefully whispered. Phoenix slightly jumped at her touch. He looked over to her and then his hands, slowly separating them.

“I’m doing it again,” Phoenix softly mumbled, “I’m sorry Pumpkin, I …”

“Please don’t apologize Daddy,” Trucy reassured as she cupped her father’s face, “It’s not a bad thing to feel sad over this. You told me years ago that we have to feel what we need to feel. So please, if you need to feel sad, don’t hide it. Not even for my sake.” Phoenix held Trucy’s hands and gently pressed his forehead against hers. He knew that she was right. He shouldn’t be ashamed of his emotions. She’s not a naïve little android; she has changed and grown over the centuries. He shouldn’t be afraid to feel sadness around her, but he practically conditioned himself to in an attempt to spare her from feeling any undeserved guilt. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and cupped her face.

“What did I do to deserve the world’s most perfect daughter,” He softly asked.

“Saved me from becoming one of the many trash cubes you have to make,” she jokingly replied. Phoenix couldn’t help but giggle at her clever comeback. He hugged her close as they turned toward the screen, watching the two characters walk off, hand-in-hand. Phoenix hugged Trucy tighter as the sadness and jealousy seeped back in. Trucy placed her hands on her father’s, staring up at him to see what he would do next. Phoenix sighed and turned his head towards her.

“Trucy,” he began, “I know that you already know this, but I love you. Without you, I’d be so miserable here. But … I wish we weren’t the only two beings left on Earth. I wish we didn’t have to do the same things all day, every day. I’m so tired of cleaning and making trash cubes. I’m frustrated that I’m the only Fen-10 unit still working. I’m angry that I was the only one alive. I hate that there is still so much trash left, and we have to take care of it ourselves. I wish that the humans were back. I wish that there were other androids we could interact with. I wish that…”

“Easy Daddy,” Trucy interrupted, “Don’t overload your processor. Just take it slow.” Phoenix’s voice was getting faster and higher in pitch. Anymore and he might have needed to change his voice box. He took a deep breath to collect his thoughts.

{Easy Phoenix, you don’t have to say everything on your mind right now. Like Trucy says, take it slow.}

“… I want more out of life Truce,” he continued, “I don’t want to sound ungrateful for what we have now. Having you with me, collecting treasures together, making art, … it does make me happy. You make me very happy. … But that scene … it reminds me of what we could have … or what we never may have.” Phoenix knelt down to be at eye level with his daughter, placing his hands on her shoulders. He tried to speak again, but his melting pot of emotions made him stop to think about how he should say what needs to be said. However, Trucy caught on to what he wanted to say.

“I feel the same way Daddy,” Trucy revealed, “I love going with you to work and treasure hunting, but … I also want to do more. I want our lives to change.”

Change. Change is something that many people often fear. After all, fear is the result of not knowing something. But when you have been doing the same things for centuries, you might welcome a change of pace with open arms.

“I want to do the things that the humans in the movies can do,” Trucy added, “I want to meet people. I want to go on picnics, go to the beach, travel the world. I want an ..”

“Adventure,” Phoenix interjected. Phoenix gently sighed, feeling a weight lift off of his shoulders after sharing his frustrations, and remembering that he does not need to hide anything from his daughter. He couldn’t help but quietly laugh at how he fell for the cliché plot of hiding his true feelings to spare another’s; one of the curses of having a human ‘soul’: you have human flaws and make human mistakes. Phoenix pulled Trucy into a gentle hug.

“Truce, I really am sorry for hiding how I’ve been feeling, but I’m happy that you finally got it out of me,” Phoenix apologized, “I should have known that you were feeling the same way.”

“I’ve been hiding it too Daddy,” Trucy replied, “I was worried that I would hurt your feelings if I told you how I was feeling about this.”

“But this …. This is good. It feels good to talk about this. We shouldn’t be afraid to talk to each other about anything like this anymore. Trucy … if you ever feel unhappy, frustrated, or anything, never be afraid to talk to me about it. And I promise to do the same.” Trucy wrapped her arms around her father’s neck, tightening their hug. Phoenix felt his core processor swell with relief and happiness, knowing that the unneeded burden of hiding their true emotions was lifting. He knew that it would take some time to break this habit, but they took the first step. With more open talks and support, they can and will cope with their situation.

{An adventure would be nice. It would be great to do something else, go somewhere new … Wait a minute! Somewhere new!} Phoenix straightened his posture as an idea entered his mind.

“I think I know a little adventure we can have,” Phoenix exclaimed, “There’s a section of the city that we haven’t gone to, not even once! I think it’s called Sector 358, South-West from here. I’m supposed to finish Sector 174 tomorrow, but how about we skip it and go there instead!” Trucy looked up at her father in surprise and excitement.

“Really, a new sector,” Trucy thrilled, “You really mean it?”

“Of course. I’ll still be doing my job, but we’ll have a change of pace. What do you say?”

“Y-yeah! That sounds great! Think of all the new treasures we can find! This is gonna be awesome!” Trucy began to pace around the bunker, happily listing all of the new things she and her father could do and see. She began to speak faster and her voice raised in pitch. Phoenix waved her down and then spoke.

“Heh, take it easy Pumpkin! Now you’re gonna overload your processor. But, I’m glad your excited. Why don’t we plan out what we can do at the sector while we finish sorting our new treasures?” Trucy took a deep breath and calmed her excitement. She then joined her father by the cooler, trying to find a fitting place for the hand-powered mixer.

________________________________________________________________

The sun had finally set and the night sky began to sparkle with the lights of the stars … is what one would see if the smog wasn’t blocking the atmosphere. Phoenix and Trucy had finished Hello Dolly and placed their new treasures in their collection. Trucy was on top of the bunker trying to catch a glimpse of the stars while her father was carefully banging the cooler on the ramp of their bunker to clean out the dirt and dust from the day.

“Hey Daddy,” Trucy called, “The smog is clearing a bit! You can see the stars!” Phoenix looked up to the sky as a grin grew on his face, joyful to see that his daughter was right. It was a small hole in the smog, but it was enough to see the silvery dots speckled across the black darkness of space. The beauty of the sight made Phoenix couldn’t help but think back to the song “It only takes a moment.” The soft lyrics and melody did fit the sight of a calm sky well. Phoenix pulled out a tape recorder and pressed the play button. The song, which Phoenix had recorded earlier began to play as Phoenix continued to stare at the night sky. Phoenix sighed as the beauty of the song mixed perfectly with the calmness of the shimmering stars.

However, the song was only able to play the first line as the smog once again covered the sky. The sound of the song was then replaced with the blaring siren of Phoenix’s alarm system. Phoenix stiffened and gasped at the sudden change of sound and quickly pulled his goggles over his eyes to see what and where the danger was. Phoenix’s line of vision fixated directly in front of him.

[WARNING! LEVEL 3 DUST STORM APPROACHING!

SPEED: 249 MPH

ESTIMATED ARRIVAL TIME TO CURRENT LOCATION: 30 SECONDS

SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY!]

“Oh no,” Phoenix quietly gulped before turning to warn Trucy, “TRUCY! SANDSTORM COMING IN FAST! GET INSIDE, QUICK!” Trucy quickly sat up upon hearing her father’s cry and scrambled to her feet. She quickly climbed down the bunker’s side ladder and sprinted into the door. Once she was safely inside, Phoenix flipped the switch on the power strip to close the door. Phoenix and Trucy moved to the back of the bunker, watching the door slowly close. They hugged each other and held their breaths as they saw the storm quickly approach. Once the door finally closed and locked, they let out a sigh of relief.

{These storms are getting more and more common. No matter how many we face, it never gets easier.} Phoenix and Trucy stayed silent for a few seconds, listening to the wind blow around their bunker and the song. Trucy was the first to notice that the song was still playing and began to giggle at the unfitting music after narrowly escaping the dust storm. Trucy’s giggles alerted Phoenix to the song and he couldn’t help but laugh along with her. As he pressed the off button, Trucy let out a yawn. She pressed the button that held her cape together and checked her stats. Her energy was low.

“Heh, it is pretty late,” Phoenix chuckled, “We should get some sleep. We’ve got quite a day tomorrow.” Phoenix and Trucy made their way to the very back of the bunker to their beds. Phoenix was able to hook up Trucy’s charger to her cot so she could be charged when she went to sleep. Trucy removed her cape, gloves, ascot, boots, and pulled her hair out of the pony tail while Phoenix completely removed the top part of his jumpsuit and pulled off his boots. After Trucy settled into her bed, Phoenix strolled over to tuck her in.

“Good night sweetie,” Phoenix cooed as he kissed her forehead.

“Goodnight Daddy,” Trucy yawned. It only took a few seconds for Trucy to power down and fall asleep. Phoenix softly smiled as he made his way over to his cot and pulled the quilt over his body. Phoenix stared up at the ceiling, letting his body relax after the long day.

{Just an average day. … With a few changes.} Phoenix closed his eyes and allowed himself to power down, letting himself drift off to sleep.

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Author’s Note

Man, I did not mean for this to take so long.

As you can see, this au follows the story of the Disney and Pixar movie Wall-e. If you have seen the movie, then you know around 85% of the story’s plot. If you have not seen this movie, then this will contain spoilers for it. But I am adding new scenes to the story to keep it interesting, so I hope you all continue to enjoy it.

The scene with Trucy and Phoenix in the bunker was difficult to write. I wanted to write that scene in a careful, honest, and respectful way. Being someone who suffers with depression, I know first-hand how important it is to one’s health to talk about one’s emotions and feelings. If you are struggling with your emotions and how you feel, please talk to someone you trust or seek out a therapist or councilor. And if you know or see someone struggling with this, please help them in the best way you can. You could save a life. Your feelings and mental health matter, always remember that.

So, can you guys guess which Ace Attorney character is Auto? If you remember what Auto does to Wall-e near the end, then you should get your answer.

And who is this mysterious woman that Phoenix befriends? Who is the woman that Phoenix has the highest regard for? See the next chapter to find out!

#collabwithmyself #collabwithmyself chronicles #phoe-nix #ace attorney #wall-e au

11 notes · View notes

takaraphoenix · 5 years

Note

“Luck? Nope. Skills.” - “If it’s skill then do it again.” ColdFlashWave. Thanks. ❤

Advent Calendar: Day 2

“Either you’re cheating or you’re insanely lucky”, accused Nate with a glare.

“Luck? Nope. Skills”, declared Snart smoothly, smirking.

“If it’s skill then do it again”, demanded Zari and gathered the cards together again.

Jax huffed and leaned back on his chair, watching Snart count his winnings. From across the room, he could feel Grey’s eyes on him, giving him a pointed look – what was he doing playing poker against not one but two criminals. And Stein had a point there. Playing poker with Snart and Rory was never a good idea. The thing was, for the past couple of days, it had been intensely dull and boring on the Wave Rider, so it was either playing poker with Snart, Rory, Nate and Zari, or watching Sara and Amaya spar and risking being forced to join them, or listen to Grey and Ray nerd-babble two tables over. He was honestly looking forward to the holidays at this point.

“And you’re sure you don’t want to go to the Queens’ holiday party?”, asked Nate curiously.

Jax shrugged. “Grey invited me along to go celebrate with his family. And I gotta gather some extra points as favorite uncle with Ronnie already, don’t I? Besides… that party sounds like a mess.”

“Why? Just because the big wedding you guys went to attend turned into a total disaster featuring Nazis from an alternate reality?”, drawled Zari. “I mean, that was an unforgettable wedding.”

Everyone at the table grunted at the memory of the fatal failure of the first attempt at a wedding between Oliver and Felicity. It had been supposed to be a grand beautiful event, but got kind of hijacked by the Nazis. Definitely unforgettable though.

“You will not be a bad influence on my grandson, Jefferson”, called Martin out pointedly.

“Wha—at? Never, Grey”, called Jax back with a broad grin.

“And let’s not forget the part where touching down in 2017 is going to mean having to watch Mick and Len make out with Barry”, tagged Nate on and made a face.

“It’s like a rite of passage to walk in on them having sex at least once”, offered Jax to Zari.

Zari raised both her eyebrows and shrugged at that. She had a pretty good grasp on what she would be walking in on considering she had read Mick’s polyamorous erotica novel and she figured he drew a lot from his own life and relationship with Snart and Allen. Her eyes found the two former – well, mostly former – criminals who had kept uncharacteristically quiet during the conversation.

/break\

Sara was sitting with Len in the library, supposedly researching. The two had grown to become an odd pair of friends ever since joining the Legends. After Snart had sacrificed himself to save them and they only barely managed to rescue him, the two had grown even closer. He had died, technically, but timey-wimey mumbo-jumbo had led to them bringing him back nonetheless because his conscience had still been around, haunting Mick. At first, Mick had thought he was going insane, but that was by far not the case. It took them some time to figure out a way to actually grow Snart a new body with Gideon – but hey, she made full limbs, she could do this – and move his consciousness into it. At the end of the day, both of them had died and come back.

“Do you ever regret joining the Legends?”, asked Sara curiously.

“Mh? I don’t think me and Mick would have returned to the Wave Rider after the disbandment if we would regret joining, don’t you think?”, countered Leonard.

“You rejoined the crew again because you two were going crazy in Aruba, mourning Barry. But they managed to free him from the Time Prison”, pointed Sara out. “If he had never been in there and you two would have gotten to return to him, heroes and saviors in your own right, redeemed from the deeds of your past… would you have truly left him again?”

“You’re not the type to get lost in what ifs”, mused Len thoughtfully. “I can’t attest for potential pasts, Sara. He’s safe and alive now and he has his own calling. Here, we get leeway. We’re not heroes. We will never be. In Central City? Have you met the Wests? They’re a bunch of goodie-two-shoes. One false step and the Detective will be willing to throw us back into jail. The really scary one in that family is and always will be Barry’s sister though.”

“Iris?”, asked Sara confused. “Why? She seems… very harmless.”

“But fiercely protective of her brother”, countered Len and grimaced. “If she thought me and Mick were still criminal enough to lead to a heartbreak for her brother then she would most likely tear us apart all on her own. No. That entire team? Too many goodie-two-shoes for us to be comfortable.”

“Your boyfriend is a goodie-two-shoes”, argued Sara amused.

“Yes, but he vibrates in bed”, replied Len with a dirty grin. “And does entirely different things in bed too. For him, the whole innocent puppy-dog eyes is quite… charming. And redeemable.”

Sara snorted and shook her head in amusement. She shouldn’t have asked.

/break\

Mick had been polishing his gun for the past two hours. And it was not a euphemism. Amaya and Zari exchanged a look over their breakfast. Mick was humming. In lack of a better word, one would describe him as happy. Which was wildly concerning, really. The last time he had looked that happy, they had just heard the news of vampires in Victorian London.

“Hey, buddy. You looking forward to seeing Barry again?”, asked Ray with a carefree smile as he entered the kitchen and sat down opposite Mick. “Got a Christmas present for him?”

“Yes”, replied Mick with what could only be described as an unholy smile.

“Oh, wha-”, started Ray interested.

“No”, interrupted Amaya rather firmly. “No need to spoil the surprise.”

“But… it’s not like it’s for me… so it’s not a surprise”, frowned Ray confused.

“But you’ll babble it on”, countered Amaya pointedly, though the real reason was a different one.

Mick’s grin widened even more. Still humming, he got up to return to his and Lenny’s cabin. Today was the day. They were going to the Queens’ party and they would get to spend time with Barry again. It had been far too long since they last got to be with their speedster.

“You’re in a good mood, Mick”, observed Leonard when Mick entered their room.

“Mh. Can’t wait to see Scarlet in our present”, grinned Mick.

Leonard huffed at that though the grin on his lips matched Mick’s. “Christmas is all about unwrapping presents after all, isn’t it?”

/break\

“Merry Chris—Woah, okay. Stand down, boys.”

Barry was staring wide-eyed, lifting his hands up in the air as both the Cold Gun and the Heat Gun were trained on his head suddenly. As soon as Lenny and Mick realized who had just broken into their room and woken them up, they dropped their weapons.

“Scarlet, how often have I told you not to sneak up on us?”, growled Mick annoyed.

“I wanted to surprise you”, huffed Barry with a pout, crossing his arms.

“You… couldn’t wait to see us, mh?”, asked Leonard knowingly, a smirk on his lisp.

Barry’s cheeks turned red to match his suit as he averted his eyes. “I mean, it’s… Christmas. And after waking up, I had to watch Joe and Cecille be all sweet and in love.”

“Ah, future stepmom”, teased Leonard amused. “She seemed impressive, during the Nazi-fight.”

“She is impressive”, grunted Barry softly. “I really like her, I like how happy she makes Joe.”

“So seeing your old man be all lovey-dovey made you wanna be lovey-dovey too”, accused Mick.

The grin on his lips matched Lenny’s as the arsonist reached out to wrap an arm around Barry’s waist and pull him down onto the bed. Barry yelped a little as he collapsed against Mick’s chest. Mick smiled pleased and tucked the speedster beneath his chin.

“How long do you think we have?”, asked Barry as he snuggled up to Mick.

“Don’t know. Don’t care”, grumbled Mick.

“Sara said something about landing early to drop off the professor and Jax”, offered Leonard as he laid down behind Barry, gently kissing the back of his neck. “So I’m positive we have some more time. You know how long Nathaniel takes to get ready in the morning.”

“Hair too”, grunted Mick pointedly.

“Yes, Raymond too”, agreed Leonard with a laugh.

“I live with Iris and Cecille. I know about having to wait my turn for the bathroom”, huffed Barry.

“You do know you’re old enough to get your own place, right?”, teased Leonard amused.

He trailed kisses along Barry’s shoulders, while Barry cuddled up to Mick some more. The large man was perfect for cuddling, warm and soft and comfortable. Barry sighed contently as Len spooned him from behind. With a very pleased smile on his lips did Leonard lean over to properly kiss Mick good morning too. It was downright endearing how pleased Mick looked, with their third tucked against his chest like that. Though Leonard couldn’t deny that he too was happy to have Barry back with them. What Sara had said, it rang true. If they hadn’t believed Barry to be locked away forever, they might have thought twice about leaving Central City.

“Have you missed us, Scarlet?”, asked Leonard teasingly.

“Obviously”, grumbled Barry pointedly. “Joe’s been… kind of frustrated ever since Wally left.”

“Why’d your brother leave?”, asked Mick confused.

Both Mick and Leonard had spoken with the kid before, worked with him. He was amusing.

“Too many speedsters around”, offered Barry with a sigh. “Got tired of being in my shadow, I guess. Being Kid Flash on Team Flash… Yeah, I get it.”

“Mh, and is your brother going to join us for Christmas?”, wondered Leonard.

“I have no idea. He’s barely been in contact with us since he left”, sighed Barry, pulling Lenny closer against himself. “I hope? But… your sister is going to join us for Christmas.”

Leonard raised his eyebrows curiously at that and exchanged a look with Mick. “She is?”

“You’re going to have so much fun with that”, chuckled Barry teasingly.

“Scarlet, what are you keeping from me?”, asked Leonard, nipping Barry’s neck.

Barry laughed and swatted at him. “Cisco and Lisa got back together a little while ago.”

“Mh. We get to threaten the pipsqueak some more”, grumbled Mick very pleased.

Leonard raised both of his eyebrows. “Now how did that happen?”

“After you… died, she started… coming around occasionally. Guess she was a bit… lost. And after you came back from the dead, well…”, shrugged Barry. “Turns out while you two were in Aruba and Wally was posing as me, apparently… they asked for her help and the Golden Glider became Miss Midas, a young upcoming hero.”

“How have I not heard of this before?”, grunted Leonard pointedly.

“It’s not like you drop by with a lot of social calls”, muttered Barry.

“We’re literally saving all of history, Scarlet”, defended Mick gruffly.

Barry laughed softly and leaned up to peck first Mick on the lips and then Leonard. “You can get all caught up on the party. But for now, you’re all mine.”

Read this here on FFNet & here on AO3

#coldflashwave #leonard snart #barry allen #mick rory #legends of tomorrow #fanfiction #phoe's advent calendar project #phoe's tumblr drabbles #nix-daughterofmagic

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