Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

March made an exasperated noise, sounding a bit like a kid throwing a temper tantrum. “Stelle! This is all your fault!” 

“My fault?” Stelle said incredulously, “How could any of this be my fault? We’re here because of Dan Heng!” 

It was totally her fault. 

Well, to Dan Heng’s credit, he had been the one to stumble upon these strangely buff, overprotective researchers. And they were on this planet so Dan Heng could fill a hole in his archives. Stelle didn’t really know why this specific gap was so important, but she’d never miss out on an opportunity to go trailblazing with her two favorite trailblazers! But seriously, Stelle had been the one who decided to provoke the researchers while Dan Heng conducted his archive business in some nefarious corner of the lab they’d snuck into. 

But it’s not like March was completely innocent either! She’d been condoning their behavior and even helping them at some points! So what right does she have to accuse Stelle of anything? 

“I have nothing to do with this,” Dan Heng muttered, bringing up the rear of their little escape huddle. Angry red alarms bathed the patchwork metal hallways in pulsing crimson, offering just enough light to see the hauntingly bleak reality the trio had created for themselves. Since those very well built researchers had effectively chased them out of the quarantine area (Dan Heng assured them that the quarantine was just for other plants, not for ice princesses and stellaron-harboring trash connoisseurs), mission number one became getting the hell out of here. 

Easier said than done, given the lockdown protocol currently being initiated. 

“Oh no, don’t think you’re getting away without a scolding, either, Dan Heng! Whatever happened to asking nicely?” March said, firing off a few stray arrows in the hopes of damaging a control panel or two. She hit one just as the door it belonged to was about to close, wedging it open and allowing Dan Heng to vault through it. 

“March, now is not the time. We need to find an elevator, or if that doesn’t work, the stairwell.”

Oh, did she forget to mention that tiny detail? Yeah, this research facility Dan Heng absolutely had to get into was a seventy-five story spire shaped like an uncooked piece of pasta. It’s basically just a stick wearing a pointy hat. Marvels of engineering aren’t often practical for thieves, y'know. Not that they were planning on stealing anything. Unless photos count? Or, maybe Dan Heng was trying to steal whatever plant he was after. Sneaky, sneaky. March was right, Dan Heng did need a good scolding. 

“The elevator is in the center of the building,” Stelle supplied helpfully. Hey, she can be helpful! Randomly studying that building map when March was trying to tell her something about photography turned out to be a worthwhile investment.

“Got it. Stelle, you lead. Get us to the terminal.” Dan Heng raked his spear along the wall, catching another control panel and ensuring their clear passage through another heavy metal doorway. Stelle put on a burst of speed and rounded the corner, which wasn’t really a corner because this whole tower was a circle. The lab just had to be as far away from the elevator as possible, didn’t it… 

Regardless, the control terminal for the elevator was still operational despite the lockdown protocol. Makes sense, given the fact that they were on the highest security floor all the way up on floor 71, and these researchers had to get the sensitive material out somehow. Stelle considered herself to be more sensitive than a bunch of plants, but what does she know. 

Having beat both Dan Heng and March to the punch, Stelle tapped away at the terminal and called the elevator to their floor. The little counter above the sliding doors showed a flashing red 6. 

“Comical,” Dan Heng deadpanned. 

“You mean we have to wait for this elevator to go up sixty five floors?” gasped March. 

“Wow March, I didn’t know you could do mental math.” 

Stelle received a smack on the arm for that little quip. “Shut it! I’m way too freaked out right now to handle your insults!” Both she and Stelle glanced up at the number again, watching it steadily climb. 

“Huh, it’s actually going pretty fast…” March observed. 

“Stay on your toes. They weren’t that far behind us.” Dan Heng stood with his back to the elevator terminal, Cloudpiercer poised and ready. Stelle adjusted the grip on her bat. Heh, those goons were just so desperate for a glimpse of the Galactic Baseballer! The ever magnanimous Stelle of the Astral Express wouldn’t dare deny such persistent fans! 

Thunder in the form of boots on metal filled the hallways and stomped in time with the blaring alarm, a signal that passed like a wave between the three of them. Stelle glanced up at the elevator. 48. 49.  Hey, that was going faster than she thought. 

Unfortunately, the rabid fans of the Galactic Baseballer had caught up to their aforementioned celebrity, crashing into Dan Heng’s defenses and swarming the small area around the terminal. Stelle rushed up to help drive the crowd back while March put herself between the terminal and the fighting, offering supporting fire and occasional ice shields. 

“March!” Dan Heng called, “Tell us when the elevator is close!” 

“Already on it! Ten more floors!” 

Instinctually, Dan Heng and Stelle tightened their formation and closed in on the terminal as the number ticked up and up. More and more people crowded the area but the three of them ran a tight ship, keeping the hoard at bay with practiced precision. 

“Three more floors, get ready!” March reported, “Two…one… Now!”

Ding

Ah, the pleasant sound of salvation. 

The three of them scrambled into the rather spacious elevator, pushing each other and clamoring over unconscious adversaries before falling face first into the hardwood floor. The rest of the tower was fairly shoddy in terms of architecture, but wow, this elevator was nice. 

Dan Heng recovered first and jumped up to slam the first floor button, followed by frantic mashing of the “door close” button. The little display flickered as the 1 slotted into position, and slowly, the doors began to slide shut. March groaned as she tried to untangle herself from Stelle’s various ribbons, the two of them still sprawled out on the floor of the elevator. 

Dan Heng’s button mashing became more and more frantic as the doors got closer to shutting fully. Wow, honestly, he could become a real pro gamer with those skills. Stelle might have competition. 

But elevator doors don’t really care how fast you’re pressing the “door close” button. Those doors will close as slowly as they’d like, and there’s nothing you and your pro level button mashing skills can do about it. Just as Stelle and March were able to drag themselves to their feet, and the doors were about to be fully shut, three burly researchers threaded the gap and threw themselves into the elevator, a simple click sounding behind them as the doors closed completely. 

The trailblazers backed up against the righthand wall. Interestingly, the elevator invaders didn’t immediately launch themselves at the trio. They just stood there, staring, the number on the elevator slowly descending. The tension was eating Stelle alive. 

“So, did you want to go first or should we?” Look, someone had to break the ice and it wasn’t going to be anti-social Dan Heng or unbreakable ice generator March 7th. Stelle just took one for the team. Again, magnanimous, right? They really should thank her more often. 

“Stelle!” March hissed, shoving Stelle’s side with the point of her bow. Ah, she didn't even think about that. Bows aren’t really useful in close combat situations, and it honestly didn’t get closer than an elevator with six people in it. Dan Heng shot her a disappointed look as he, too, realized the same thing. What a predicament. 

Interestingly, Dan Heng leveled his gaze at their foes and spoke. “We’ve got plenty of time. Are you stalling? Let’s get this over with.” 

One of the researches cracked their knuckles. “It’s your funeral,” they shrugged. 

“Oh, no. I think you’ll find it’s yours.” 

Fighting in an elevator is hard. It’s really hard. Stelle had never tried to fight three people in such a small space, let alone three people plus two allies with different fighting styles. Sure, the three of them had gotten themselves into so many predicaments that they were inextricably linked through the bonds of friendship or whatever, but that didn’t change the fact that this was an elevator. And Stelle had a baseball bat. 

Even Dan Heng looked like he was having trouble keeping Cloudpiercer from catching strays, having to reorient himself unexpectedly every few swings. Fortunately, their opponents were also inexperienced in the art of elevator combat. Given the fact that all three of these researchers were bigger than Stelle and Dan Heng combined, Stelle did her best to weave around the wide swings and tried to get the big lugs to hit each other. Okay, maybe that was mean, but Stelle was getting more than a little frustrated having slammed her back on the metal railing over and over again. 

One of the researchers took a big swing at Stelle and she sidestepped, the metal digging into her side once again. The power of their swing rendered them a little off balance, and Stelle took the opportunity to slam the pommel of her bat into the back of their head. It worked spectacularly, and the researcher crumpled to the ground. 

Well, that ended up being a pretty big problem. See, now they had less floor space to dodge the remaining two researchers. Even as Dan Heng knocked another enemy unconscious around the same time Stelle did, the bodies on the floor made it so they were even more cornered than before. 

“Dan Heng! Stelle! Duck!” 

A duck? Where? 

Oh, duck!

Stelle threw herself to the ground just in time to feel the air whizz by her in a trail of frost, the signature clink of March’s arrows hitting their mark. The final remaining researcher was now pinned to the opposite wall, arrows protruding from their clothes, and, ew, their left hand. Dan Heng swiftly glided over and delivered a merciful blow to the head before they could scream. 

“Nice one, March!” Stelle smiled, placing her hands on her hips in a well-deserved victory pose. 

“Yes, thank you, March,” sighed Dan Heng, gingerly stepping over the stray limbs spread out on the floor. 

“I didn’t mean to actually hit her…” March whimpered, “This was supposed to be a peaceful mission.” 

Dan Heng’s eyes softened. “It’s okay. That would will heal. You did what you had to.” 

March whined again but it was cut short when she brought her eyes up to the number above the elevator’s buttons, now showing a wonderfully small number. 

“We’re almost there! Just three more floors!” 

“Get ready to run.” 

“I have Mr. Yang on speed dial!” Stelle offered. She put her bat away and waved her phone around as proof. The other two didn’t look her way, attention locked on that little flickering number. 

As the number switched to a 1, the elevator chirped happily and the doors slid open, light pouring into Stelle’s senses. It took a moment for the blinding white to subside, but once it did, Stelle felt the red hot attention of artillery pointed directly at her. 

“Freeze! Hands where I can see them!”

Maybe Stelle should’ve kept her bat out. 

Chapter Text

In all honesty, March should’ve expected a fairly sizable welcome party of armed soldiers waiting for them at the bottom of this Aeons-forsaken elevator. She didn’t want to expect it, but she should’ve. If it weren’t for those stupid researchers who shoved their way into the elevator at the last second, maybe she and the others could’ve run through escape plans on the long descent. But no. There just had to be more fighting. 

And now, more guns. March guessed that there were around twenty soldiers waiting for them, each armed with a hefty looking rifle and a red laser beam aimed right at all of their foreheads. March stole a glance at Dan Heng and inwardly cringed at the way his front bangs had turned red from the glow. 

“Freeze! Hands where I can see them!” March quickly threw her hands up and Dan Heng followed suit, Stelle a little more slowly. Hey, March was just happy that she complied. Stelle didn’t like taking orders from anyone, and that little rebellious streak of hers tended to land them in deeper trouble more often than not. 

“By order of the Kfnorman Strike Force, you are under arrest!” Some guy in the middle was yelling all of the formal orders and junk, but March didn’t really care so she wasn’t listening all that intently. It’s not like this was a new situation for her… Quite the opposite, in fact. 

“The what?” Stelle mumbled into March’s ear. She stifled the smile that threatened to push through to the surface. 

“This is the planet Kfnorma,” Dan Heng supplied, “Did you forget?”

“Yeah. I’d remember such a stupid name,” Stelle shrugged. 

Some of the red lines quivered on her friends’ foreheads. “You have the right to remain silent!” the person squeaked, punctuated by a rather pubescent voice crack. 

“Think we can take ‘em?” Stelle said, completely ignoring the blatant threat. 

Dan Heng hummed. “Maybe. It might be tough if one more shows up.”

“I swear,” March hissed, “I’m not going to keep playing support if you two keep rushing into fights all the time!”

“Got any better ideas?”

No. She did not. A fight was pretty much guaranteed at this stage, but she was confident they would win. Especially if Dan Heng went full Vidyadhara. 

Dan Heng read the look on her face and sighed. “That’s what I thought. We’re counting on you, March.” 

“Okay, okay. But you both owe me an apology later.” March granted her friends with a shield each and they launched into action, bat and spear deflecting the few stray bullets from gunmen who had faster reaction times. 

Hooray. More fighting. March hung back once the smackdown was in full swing, keeping close to the elevator doors like before. She’d occasionally have to release a few arrows into the fray when the soldiers got a little too close for comfort, but other than that, March was just relegated to supplying her friends with shields. It wasn’t so bad. Having friends that were used to being front liners meant March didn’t have to do a whole lot in terms of combat, which her nerves definitely appreciated. Sometimes, though, it got a little old. March would have to throw herself headfirst into a monster battle just to see what it felt like. 

Just as the hoard of soldiers had thinned to a more manageable degree, the squeaky one in the middle from earlier came charging right for her, waving his hands around and trying to make himself look more threatening than a pile of sticks. 

March notched an arrow. “Stay back! Don’t make me loose this arrow!”

“Call off your friends!” the soldier shrieked, “Tell them to fall back! The cannon… The cannon is being charged!”

“A cannon?” March lowered her bow and looked around the lowest level of the tower. They’d been brought out into open air by the elevator, now standing around the tower’s base with the spire looming overhead. A few pieces of metal hung over the first few levels to act as an overhang. It gave the impression that someone had tried to design an aesthetically pleasing tower, but then realized that a tower with nearly one hundred floors in the middle of nowhere couldn’t be all that aesthetically pleasing. 

And yet, try as she might, March didn’t see anything that looked like a cannon. She pulled her bowstring taut again and aimed for the soldier still running in her direction. “Don’t try to trick me! I’m warning you!” 

“It’s not a trick! That cannon will destroy everything!” 

Faintly, the ground rumbled and shook, scattering a few pebbles around March’s feet. She looked over to Dan Heng and Stelle but they still looked to be in their regular forms, and they weren’t slinging around any flashy attacks either. An earthquake, maybe? 

The shaking caused the soldier to stumble right before he made it to March, falling flat on his face and sliding the last few inches it took to reach her. Immediately, he latched onto March’s ankle and began sobbing hysterically, clawing at the ground and at her leg. 

“We have to get out of here! The cannon— We’ll be incinerated! We have to—“

Near the base of the tower, the ground split open to reveal a giant apparatus emerging from underground, rising up on a mechanical lift to breach the crust of the earth. March could only watch as the giant cannon broke free from its cage and rose to its full height, casting herself and her friends in its massive shadow. Beside her, the soldier had completely latched onto her leg and was cowering in the fetal position, wracked with desperate sobs. 

Okay, so the cannon was real. 

“Dan Heng! Stelle! It’s a cannon!” March yelled to her friends, though Dan Heng had probably already figured it out. All of the soldiers now lay unconscious on the battlefield around them, save for the one currently curled around March’s ankle. She didn’t even know if she was out of the line of cannon fire, but March backed up as much as she could anyway, eyes trained on Dan Heng and Stelle as they sprinted towards her. 

Distant charging sounds emanated from the giant eye of the cannon, a red glow identical to the ones from the soldier’s rifles earlier. From the way this was sounding… That cannon could fire any second. March’s heart leapt into her throat. 

They…weren’t going to make it. 

Stelle seemed to have realized this, too. She adjusted her path to collide with Dan Heng’s, effectively cutting him off and putting herself between him and the cannon. March knew what she was doing and she didn’t like it, not one bit. She suspected Dan Heng knew it too, but he didn’t stop or slow down or try to put himself in harm’s way instead. Though, even from a distance, March could spot the turquoise horns slowly inching their way atop Dan Heng’s head. 

The cannon was bright red now, high pitched whirring filling the air, an invisible countdown blaring like alarm bells in March’s mind. She threw last minute shields onto her friends, though they were weak due to her lack of recovery time, only able to watch as the pent up energy was released right onto the fearless Trailblazers. 

March thinks she screamed their names. All she could hear was the ringing in her ears. The rumble of the ground beneath her feet. The terrified tremors of the soldier still clinging onto her. 

Red gave way to sudden, striking blue, for in the center of the cannon’s chaotic red beam, occasional steaks of watery blue broke the edges. Through the sinking feeling in her chest, March spotted the shimmering scales of a water dragon. Were they still alive in there? They had to be. That dragon could only mean one thing. March allowed the ember of hope within her to burn just a little longer. 

When the cannon fire finally subsided, March didn’t waste any time in sprinting to her friends. She shook away the soldier and took off down the hill, eyes adjusting to the sudden lack of bright light as she ran. It looked like she’d been right about Dan Heng’s secret strength— the telltale sign of his Cloudhymn magic shimmering away in the form of raging tides and a flowing serpent. 

Though March ran as fast as her legs would allow, the water subsided before she could reach them. In its place was Stelle, standing still in the middle of the dirt, one hand clutching at the fabric over her chest, and Dan Heng, lying on the ground. 

He wasn’t moving.