Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Vine Staff wouldn't tell anyone, but she hated the annihilate rounds. Even worse, the map was Domino Valley- how was she supposed to know where her teammates were so she could send out a few healing blossoms to help?

For now, though, the phighters were holed up at their spawn points. Vine Staff looked around, spying a few of her usual teammates- Shuriken was on her right side, as usual, and she could hear Rocket's blabbering from behind her. She couldn't see who the fourth person was- though, by the sheer excitedness coming from through the walls, she had her suspicions that it was Sword. Then, there was the new person, the one they'd been told to watch out for today.

Scythe.

Originally, Vine Staff had thought it was nice to have another girl on the team, one she could finally talk to instead of having to fix up all the boys' wounds and broken limbs. Medkit was passive enough, but he was so boring, and Vine Staff found it hard to keep a conversation with him for more than five or so minutes. She'd introduced herself to Scythe in the lobby, talked a bit, showed her around a little.

Turns out she was just as violent as the men were, if not more- so Vine Staff had resorted to sitting on the stairs, just watching her arguing with Medkit about one childhood shenanigan or another. Apparently, the two knew each other when they were little, and Vine Staff found a bit of humor in watching them bicker.

Reminds me of Shuriken when he was little, Vine Staff had thought, though now Scythe seemed a little too nervous to be the jittery phighter swearing Medkit out of his polished boots a moment before.

She managed to scoot over next to Scythe's shaking figure while the map was still constructing itself, blocks piling onto each other and morphing themselves to form Domino Valley. Vine Staff tilted her head a bit, studying Scythe's mechanically altered eye- it was the only one she could see from the side.

"Are you nervous?"

Scythe jumped at the sudden conversation, sharply turning to face Vine Staff before relaxing a bit at the sight of the light pink demon. She narrowed her eyes a little, scanning Vine Staff up and down, only to earn an amused smile in return.

"Absolutely not... pink thing," she grumbled, turning back to face the closed entrance as her face flushed red for some unknown reason- embarrassment, probably, Vine Staff thought.

She was about to say something else when the doorway started lifting, smoke coming out of the hinges and creaking as the heavy piece of metal rolled itself up into the rusted slot it was supposed to go in, a red light beeping as the familiar click of machinery sounded through the air. A horn blared as the phighter's uniforms faded from their bright signature colors to a mellow azure, counting down from three... two... one...

The match began.

Vine Staff stretched herself out a little, running forward into the open battlefield as Shuriken faded out of sight next to her. She could see a warped pocket of air going forward at speeds unimaginable as Shuriken's shadow was left at spawn behind her. A seemingly blue variant of Sword came out from the area next to them, and Rocket sped out from behind Vine Staff to meet up with his buddy.

"Sorry 'bout that, Vine Staff- I'll watch out next time, I promise," he yelled over his shoulder, hefting up his rocket launcher as Vine Staff tried to regain her balance. She was tripping over her boots, stiff knee-length leather blocking her way from getting back onto her feet like normal, and was about to face plant into the floor before an arm caught her by the waist and flipped her back onto her feet, however roughly.

"Thanks... Scythe?" Vine Staff just watched in curiosity as Scythe brushed the dust off of her previously pink yukata for a second before wielding her own weapon and running out into battle.

"Beat it, pink thing," was the only thing that Vine Staff heard from the new phighter as she ran into the battlefield, grass crunching beneath her feet as she jumped from one vantage point to another.

Maybe she's not half as bad as she makes herself out to be.

~

The first thing that Vine Staff could see was that Scythe was dying a bit too much for her liking. Frequent streams of swears came from her area, and the clink of her weapon dropping onto the floor before despawning and respawning next to her was getting quite familiar. Vine Staff hadn't actually seen much of her, though, and she didn't know if it was just an attack strategy or if she was too disheartened to show up much more.

By midway into the fight, Vine Staff had taken it upon herself to look out a bit more for the new phighter, looking around as she sent petals aimlessly in front of her- "sorry about hitting you, Shuriken-" before finally getting a glimpse of light teal.

She ran over to the rock she'd seen it behind, only to ram headfirst into Medkit. I've been far too clumsy for my own good today, she mentally scolded herself, before getting back up to awkwardly wave at a confusedly staring medic.

"My bad, Medkit, I thought you were Scythe," she mumbled, taking a few steps back and about to turn.

"If you're looking for Scythe, she's right there," Medkit muttered, lazily pointing his gun in another teal figure's direction. "I'm too busy attacking someone else to care about you right now."

"I'll take it I'm surviving this enemy encounter," Vine Staff looked over to where Medkit was pointing and started hopping over. "Also, thank y-"

Medkit just pulled the trigger, a series of crystalline bullets going Scythe's way and catching her mid-phinisher before her weapon clunked onto the floor... again.

"Oh," Vine Staff muttered, before it came over her to run somewhere else in case Medkit changed his mind.

~

"Ow- dammit, you-"

Vine Staff's usually intent focus was broken by the frequent yells coming from Scythe's side. She was more than avidly experienced in fighting, by the looks of it, but seemed to be... losing.

She was losing a whole lot, and it wasn't her skill that had a problem. The match had gone into overtime because of the headshot Medkit had managed to land on her last second- "for the chaos in the lobby," according to him- hence leveling the score, 9 kills to 9.

Vine Staff launched herself up to a higher vantage point, sending out a stalk of healing around where Sword and Rocket were before scanning the area to try and find Scythe again. Over the round, she'd been looking out for her- she seemed awfully nervous about the situation compared to how carefree and chaotic she was in the lobby. Her confidence is draining, too...

A blast of energy washed over Vine Staff as Subspace launched his phinisher, forcing her to jump down from her vantage point and landing on the mossy ground. She ran around, scattering petals around to the enemy area and hoping to do some damage before diving behind a bush as an explosive crystal from Subspace was launched her way.

Vine Staff was sent running to the side again, gritting her teeth as a series of crystals followed her- if someone doesn't get rid of this pest, I'm going to die, she thought to herself, though with respawns it wasn't much of an issue.

She managed to make her way behind Subspace, throwing a series of petals his way before sprinting out. Most of her stamina was gone by then, but the petals didn't do much damage and Subspace was still attacking headstrong. She found her way behind a rock, the air feeling significantly colder and sharp as her breath quickened.

A surprised yell came from behind her, and when she looked around she saw Scythe with her weapon- blade out, she'd seen her switching to a rifle sort of attack before. The two were fighting like it was a 1v1, the sharp blade from Scythe's hybrid weapon slicing through the air while Subspace launched crystals left and right. Subspace looked deeply annoyed at the sudden targeting, even if it was his preferred style of attack. "Okay," he muttered, preparing one of his attacks. "Get off my a-"

His body crumpled below Scythe's weapon as she flipped the hunk of metal to rifle mode, shooting him square in the face right in front of his shocked expression. His body faded away, and a series of swearing could be heard from his respawn point just as the speakers yelled out the match results- 12 kills to 11, they'd won by a single point.

"Thank you for that," Vine Staff shook herself off, meeting eyes with Scythe- she hadn't realized how beat up a round could make someone, much less a newbie to the field. There were cuts and scrapes all over Scythe's visible figure, one sleeve badly ripped and mechanical eye dented. There were a few purpling bruises at her right temple, probably from Medkit's bullets- Medkit's aim could be quite the shock when he tried, and it seemed that Subspace wasn't the only one he was constantly annoyed at. Vine Staff took a step forward, trying to get a closer look at her body frame, but the two were teleported out of the arena as the building blocks started crumbling back to the floor.

Back at the lobby, Vine Staff was teleported right onto the stairs- losing her balance, she swore she was going to walk out with a concussion before she was caught by the waist- by Scythe- again. Instead of letting go, though, the two just stayed there for a bit, staring awkwardly.

Scythe slowly leveled Vine Staff up to a standing position and making sure she was stable on the stairs before letting go and turning away to leave. She'd taken off her jacket presumably because of the ripped sleeve, revealing a tank top under it. Vine Staff, slightly confused, just watched her go.

Scythe stopped in her tracks, turning a little to say something. "Watch your steps, flower girl," she muttered. "This is the second time today and I don't want to see you with a concussion."

"I'll watch where I walk, if it worries you," Vine Staff replied, stepping down from the stairs to more stable ground over to where Scythe was standing and smiling at her a little.

Scythe's face flushed a light pink as she turned and started to walk towards the exit. "It- it doesn't. Get on your way... wherever you're going."

"I'll see you around," Vine Staff chirped. "Hey, if I ever want to talk to you-"

"Medkit's bound to have your number, with both of you being healers," Scythe yelled as she walked. "Just ask him for my address or something."

"Okay, thanks!" Vine Staff replied to an already shut door, where Scythe used to be standing.

She's so withdrawn...

~

The streets were busy as Vine Staff passed by them. She looked around- people were running left and right, going into stores and out of them and promptly anywhere they could go. Vine Staff dodged a few little kids running around and paused right in front of an arts store as she had to let a man go past her. The fake flowers in the window caught her eye, and she turned to look.

It was a nice bouquet, light blue, yellow, and white elegantly put together to form a small array of flowers. Some of the blues were closer to teal, and while she was somewhat annoyed on how teal flowers weren't too natural she couldn't deny that it was pretty. It looks like Scythe's colors, she thought.

The thought of Scythe came into her head again. She was... odd. Like she could have done much better but was too jittery to accomplish anything- that last kill with Subspace barely seemed hard for her, only tiring. Given the amount of wounds she'd had on her before they left the match, it was inevitable.

The first few matches are always the hardest, Vine Staff thought to herself. Maybe I could try healing her a bit... emotionally?

The flowers in the window seemed like the perfect choice to accomplish that task with.

Vine Staff checked if she still had her wallet on her- which she did- and ambled in, heading straight for the flower section. By the time Vine Staff was walking out of the shop, she had a near-perfect replica of the bouquet in the window on hand, the only noticeable difference being the single stalk of cherry blossom coming out of the side. It was like her little signature flower, one she'd always put in every bouquet to complete it. The stalks were tied together with an elegant ribbon she'd found, and she'd managed to grab a small enough bit of paper to write a note saying it was from her- and her gratitude for saving her from a concussion, too.

She said to just text Medkit for her address- well, that's convenient.

Vine Staff pulled out her phone, sending a few quick texts- it wasn't much later that Medkit responded, more or less accompanied with a "why do you want her address?"

"Just a welcoming gift for her, since she's new to the phighting crew," Vine Staff had replied, only to have her message marked as "seen."

Well enough an answer for me, she thought as she started on her way to the small apartment in Lost Temple that she'd been directed to.

~

It wasn't a long walk- she'd been taking the route home through crossroads recently, and those were all connected to one another. The address given was to a small apartment complex, looking slightly run down with bars over the most torn up windows. Vine Staff was originally going to try and talk for a bit- now, looking at the setting that Scythe lived in, she figured that she'd rather not.

Scythe's apartment was on the 4th floor, door blank and dented and not a rug in front to be seen. There was a red string tied to the doorknob for one reason or another. Vine Staff tentatively stepped forward, setting the bouquet of fake flowers down in front of the door gently before quickly skipping out of the building as fast as possible.

She might have heard the door click open behind her, but she didn't turn back to check. 

~

By the time Vine Staff got back to the apartment she, Shuriken, and Slingshot shared, the two were both ready to shower her in questions and comments alike. Unlike Vine Staff, they had already changed back into their regular, casual clothing- in Shuriken's case, it meant pajama pants and nothing else. Childish boy- it's winter, Vine Staff thought, though she was too busy trying to decode two bombardments of questions at the same time to reprimand him about it.

"Vine! Where the hell-"

"-so what did you-"

"-an hour late, you know?!"

"-why were-"

"I'm hungry, it's your turn to-"

Vine Staff pushed both of their blabbering faces away, earning an "OW!" from Shuriken- it wasn't her fault he'd gotten on her wooden arm's side.

"Stop questioning me, I'm completely fine," Vine Staff said. "And don't tell me you two have just been playing on the Xbox while I was gone."

Silence from her roommates, who were now exchanging awkward glances. Vine Staff sighed, sidling past Shuriken and slipping off her headband.

"Give me a bit to clean myself up, and I'll make us dinner," she said. "Shuri, go set the table."

"Why me?!" was the last thing she heard as she retreated to her room.

Well, today was certainly eventful enough.

Chapter Text

The sound of metal scraping against wood was something that Scythe had heard a bit too much to be normal. Still, though, she didn't mind. It was a planning billboard she was using, after all- a thin board of wood she'd nailed to the wall so she could safely pin papers onto it.

She'd used it for murder. All murder. Plans, notes, successes and fails- all of them had either made their way onto the billboard or a file folder she kept in a cabinet next to it. She hadn't touched the dusty piece of wood for a while, though.

It was out of this boredom that she'd signed up to become a Phighter. At first, Scythe only wanted something fun to do, just idly filling out the online form out of boredom- after receiving a letter saying that she could join, though, she'd started thinking. Scheming. What if she used this chance to make her life a bit more exciting, whether it ended well or not? She was 42, she'd lived long enough.

That first match she'd been in- she was so excited to see what it was like, especially with such a complex map... the fighting wasn't what she was there for, though. It was the people.

Targets, to her. But the other phighters couldn't find out, could they? Otherwise her entire act would be ripped away.

Vine Staff- that pink one- had worried her a bit at first. She wouldn't stop poking around at her, wondering about this and that and "hey, are you nervous?" It was an obstacle, to say the least. Scythe wasn't a natural liar, a skill she'd had to hone so that she could survive her chosen line of work. At least Vine Staff was nice to her. Scythe had noticed her somewhat looking out for her own white hat, even talking with Medkit- while they were on opposing teams- to see if he'd known where she was.

He did know, as he was planning to snipe Scythe right in the head. She had noticed him aiming from far away, and she'd decided to let him have the hit just so he wouldn't be so angry at her like he usually was. He's still the annoying little cousin, she chuckled to herself, suddenly remembering the scared toddler he used to be when she'd first met him.

"Annoying little cousin" was also the reason why Medkit managed to make it on every "possible targets" list Scythe made, though she'd take him off later one way or another. It was like a force of habit by now, something her plans wouldn't be complete without. And he certainly is puntable.

The rest of her list... there weren't many phighters that Scythe had met during that first match, only eight others that she didn't know. Most everyone wasn't all that bad, a decent amount of skill for their sort of lifestyle. Some of the others, though, were a work to be untangled. For one? Subspace. His style of targeting a single person was insanely irksome and all Scythe wished to do was to get rid of it, even if it meant killing the person with his fighting methods.

Scythe had helped Vine Staff out of a sticky situation involving Subspace once... damn, what was it with that pink thing? Was she really that friendless?

Something told her that she was, but Scythe shook it out of her train of thought and roughly ripped Medkit's name off of the billboard. She'd always taken him off- annoying little cousin benefits, she called it.

Which left Shuriken and... Vine Staff.

Scythe didn't know what it was, but there was something about them that was strangely alienable. Not the way they looked, or dressed, or anything- their behavior when they winded up working together. It'd happened a lot more than once in the matches, some sort of delicate teamwork where Vine Staff would serve as a defense and Shuriken would serve as offense. They didn't even need to talk about it to work like that. Shuriken seemed to rely on it to get most of his kills, while Vine Staff at least helped around the area, something Scythe couldn't fathom how she managed to do both at the same time.

Shuriken was much more of a sideline sniper when he was alone, but in a strange way. He didn't stay in one place, gaze following wherever the crowd was largest. He'd let the melee phighters do their thing and leave them alone, but if there was a single support on the side, they'd be quietly sniped out within half a minute. He was discreet, hopping in rounds across the highest points he could get to, even leaving behind his own skin and discreetly walking somewhere else. He'll be quite the game to kill if I ever get the chance... a challenge seems perfect.

She moved the faded yellow sticky note with Shuriken's name to the top of the board, where she put all her main targets.

Maybe, after I finish him off, I'll put Subspace on there next...

~

The air in Scythe's apartment, however comfortable, was getting a bit too stuffy for her liking. It was bland, artificial- she didn't know why she had a desire to go out all of a sudden, but she managed to stop herself from thinking twice as she got her coat.

The floorboards to her apartment were quite creaky, old and fragile from having been around for long- too long, even- but Scythe hadn't bothered to move. The location was discreet, a nice empty place in a secluded corner of Lost Temple. Perfect for all her shenanigans, legal or not.

Scythe opened the equally creaky door, stepping out and almost tripping on a flower bundle that was on her doorstep. The sprig of color looked awfully out of place compared to the rest of the grey, depressingly colorless building, almost glowing positively with how vibrant it was. Teal, yellow-gold, and white flowers spiraled their way to the center, with the addition of a single cherry blossom branch at the side.

All of them fake, Scythe thought, though she didn't mind. She liked fake flowers better- it was easier to keep, and didn't need maintenance- especially with the life she'd built for herself, they were much more preferable if all she had to do was glance at it when she wanted to.

A tag fell off of the bouquet- Scythe caught it midair, claws slightly tearing the paper apart at the edge. It was a note- neat, curly handwriting was delicately written on the white side of the tag, the other side overwhelmed with floral patterns and logos alike. It's from Vine Staff, Scythe thought, reading the signature squeezed into the bottom of the note. As a... welcoming gift. How nice of her.

Suddenly realizing how sappy she must look standing there like that, Scythe quickly stepped back into her apartment, closing the door with a sharp slam. 

"Fuckin' hell," she mumbled to herself. "Hope no one saw that."

Hope no one heard, either, thoughts ringing through her head. What was it with that pink thing?

It was like she was bringing out that bit of "civilized being" that was left in Scythe, and she hated it. Told herself she hated it, at least.

I should get her something back one way or another.

She didn't feel like going out anymore- Scythe was somewhat reluctant to go out again, especially having just come back in. She'd look like an idiot trying to figure out what to kill her time with, though she had much better things- or people- to kill, though her plans had barely started.

Stop getting yourself sidetracked, Scythe, and focus on one thing at a time, she thought bitterly, though it wasn't like she'd have much help with that. On Illumina, I'm going to kill much sooner than I should be.

What was she trying to think of again...?

Right, Vine Staff. The bundle of flowers was a nice addition to Scythe's apartment, though she wouldn't openly admit it. Finding an empty water bottle to throw them in for now, she stuck the bouquet on a table before sitting down to mull over what people usually gave as gifts. Scythe didn't do this much- she couldn't remember the last time she wanted to do anything of the sort.

Broker was better at this than she was- for a second, she considered calling him for advice, but vetoed the idea as soon as it came to her mind. Trying to consult someone who was in jail had got to be a lame last resort, and the way Broker talked to her when he realized she needed help didn't do much to change her mind. Last time she'd called, she had promptly hung up with how annoyingly teasing he was.

Scythe might have spent the next five minutes or the next five hours thinking- whatever it was, she'd lost track of time when she came to a resolution.

Couldn't I just give her a gun and call it "a method of self defense?"

It was a terrible idea, as far as she was concerned, which mean that it was absolutely perfect for the occasion. Plus, this was Vine Staff out of all people. Best case scenario, Scythe manages to scare her pale pink yukata to bother someone else. A gut instinct told her that wouldn't be happening anytime soon, but she ignored it and hoped for the best, anyways.

But then I won't have anyone actually nice to talk to...

Scythe got up to get an old pistol out of her stock of weaponry and slapped herself in the face on the way- what was she thinking? That pink thing wasn't exactly what she'd consider "nice to talk to," let alone not having anyone. Her head was seriously messing with her.

Let's just get this over with.

~

"Haven't called in a while, have you, rattlesnake?"

"Don't call me that, Broker," Scythe replied, already irritated at Broker's drawling voice. "I need one lil' thing from you and I'll leave you alone."

"Aw, don't be like that, cowgirl," Broker giggled from the other side of the line, voice tinny and sending a spike of annoyance down Scythe's spine. "You know I haven't talked in a while!"

"Painfully aware of that," Scythe replied. "Now quit your yappin'. I said I need somethin' from ya."

Another giggle from Broker. "Ooh, what's this? A deal, or a favor?"

"Hundred bux for an address," Scythe sighed, trying to get it out of the way.

At first, it was silence from Broker. Then a delighted, sudden cackle came from his side of the line, dripping with insanity and fading into seriousness quicker than Scythe could predict.

"You have yourself a deal, teal thing."

It was similar- too similar with how Scythe called Vine Staff "pink thing-" usually, she would have countered with something to spite Broker back, but this time she just slammed the bright red telephone back in its place the moment the conversation was over. She'd just now realized how confusing her emotions were making her.

Let's just deliver the damn thing and hope this is all over, she thought.

~

Vine Staff's house was closer to Scythe's than she thought, only a simple walk to and from. There wasn't much in the way, either. It got her wondering how Vine Staff had gotten her address in the first place until it came to her that she'd probably asked Medkit- Scythe had told her to do that, after all.

Looking at the poorly bagged package in her hand, she'd been going at a speed walk- no one needed to see her walking around with something that was so sappy looking on the outside, even if there was a gun encased. Eventually, the small house that Vine Staff lived in came into view, quaint greenery all over the place, with a few other decorations here and there. Didn't Broker say she had roommates?

Didn't matter now, because the moment she'd dropped the bag off on the fuzzy entrance mat, she had left.

It'd been... a pretty uneventful day- for her, at least.

Chapter Text

hey guys sorry for disappearing i lowk forgot about ao3. now that im back i might update this or i might not it rlly depends on how much i can hype myself up

this message will be deleted if chapter 3 comes out