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 Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2025 5:33 pm
"Girl, you have got to quit squirming," Miteksi complained, voice low and tight as he desperately tried to wrangle his young cousin in his arms. Why she thought she could 'do something' about the strange men trailing them, he did not understand, and now was hardly the time to stop and question it.
He'd be the first to admit that the part of town he lived in probably fell under the average for 'safest places in the city,' but he'd always figured that as long as he stayed alert, he shouldn't be too afraid to live his life. And tonight, he'd been babysitting for his uncles.
Well, 'babysitting' said loosely. Teyla was ten. She could handle most of her needs on her own. Miteksi was just there to supervise. Keep anything too drastic from happening and help her not be bored. Heaven forbid anyone was bored.
They'd wandered out of the apartment just to grab a few quick sweet treats from the convenience store on the corner, y'know, the types of things Teyla probably wasn't really supposed to have, but that Miteksi didn't see the harm in providing every now and then. As they'd approached the shop, he'd seen and taken note of the suspiciously hooded guy near the back corner of the building that was definitely watching them as they entered the shop. Probably fine, but he was aware, in case it wasn't.
They grabbed a whole sack of snacks. Tastykakes, Doritos, Root Beer. Whatever Teyla wanted, Teyla got.
And when they walked out and started on their way back home, Miteksi heard the scuffle of a person behind them. Steps following. It wasn't pitch-black out of anything, but it was late enough that the traffic down these shadier parts of town wasn't much. He'd taken her hand, despite the borderline-disgusted look she'd sent him. He didn't want to scare her, so he hadn't said much else right away.
The steps kept following. A van up the road definitely had a person in it, was definitely on, definitely had its lights off. The steps seemed to get just a notch closer- and Miteksi became absolutely certain that he did not want to stay on the same street as those steps and that van.
There just weren't many places to go- so he'd tugged Teyla into the first street alley they crossed- It was stupid, so stupid! But where had he been supposed to go?
He'd heard those steps break into something faster, heard that van's engine turn over, and he hadn't known exactly what it would take to get out of these people's sight, but he'd known he had to do whatever it took, so he'd snatched Teyla up under an arm and started running down the alley. Miteksi didn't know what intentions these guys had, but he knew Teyla was young and small and cute, and shitty things happened to little girls that found themselves in unscrupulous hands, and he would not let anything happen to her-
Even if she was intent on trying to break free of his grasp.
He didn't let her go, he had to protect her, and he was damn fortunate that his school took such pride in their physical training because even with his squirming pink-haired burden- tall as his shoulders, Miteksi was not slow, and every step was fueled by that fear that someone would hurt her, someone would take her, someone would do the worst things imaginable to her, and it was up to him right here, right now to keep her safe. To protect her from these people.
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Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2025 8:43 pm
Fear was a powerful motivator. Running was the smart, responsible thing to do. How could he have fought them? He didn’t know how many there were. He didn’t know what they could do. But he knew what he needed to do, and that was all that mattered. A warmth washed over Miteksi and Teyla, like a blanket in a cold night. The darkness of the evening disappeared in the blink of an eye. It happened between one step and the next; they’d started on Earth but ended up in a foreign room. A glowing orb hovered above a pedestal in the center of the room, far enough away that they wouldn’t collide if Miteksi needed a few steps to slow down. The fine, glittering mist swirled with less consistency than the moon but it was no less lustrous and no less beautiful. The room they arrived in was a gentle white, though faded pastels hinted that there was once vibrant artwork painted on the walls. It wasn’t particularly large, but it somehow still felt like it went on forever. Or, maybe that was just how timeless it felt. Carved pillars stretched towards a distant ceiling, and every arch and angle seemed like a piece of artwork masquerading as architecture. Behind them, a great arched doorway opened up into a long hallway. The room had so much personality for a space with no decorations, no furniture, no windows or doors. They arrived together, but they weren’t alone. A million tiny specs of light swirled, like a miniature galaxy and all its stars. With no face and no eyes, it still watched them. And then, it spoke. “Relax, you’re safe here. Catch your breath. You're too young for a heart attack. For as long as you’re up here, no harm will come to you.â€
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2025 6:33 am
Teyla Didn't! Need! Teki's! Help! Teyla wasn't scared of normal stupid heads! She could get away from them without having to be carried like a helpless little girl, OR she could kick punch them right where it hurt the most and they would leave her alone! She had the Zero magic, so she WASN'T. AFRAID. Teyla mashed her palms up against Miteksi's cheek to try and force him to release her, but her cousin was strong. Stronger than normal Teyla, anyway, but if he didn't listen, he was gonna taste the Zero magic too... At least, he would've, if she'd gotten the chance, so Teki and those guys should consider themselves lucky that something else wanted a fight with her first. They were whisked away like magic! Like when she was allowed to see her planet... Except this wasn't her planet. This place wasn't familiar to her at all, but it didn't look scary, and there were no creepy men around. "Hmmm... Ah!" Wide eyes landed on the glowing orb in the center of the room. "TEKI!" She shrieked, grabbing for a handful of his hair to pull his face toward what she was seeing. "I know where we are! We're on the Moon! Teyla couldn't go because it was dangerous or whatever, but Papa has been! He told me everything before we went to Papa's world to fix his magic. Let goa me." Maybe he obliged willingly or maybe he was just shocked stupid because Teyla managed to get out of his arms, and she scurried up to stand in front of the pedistal. "You're The Mister Code, right?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2025 3:50 pm
'Shocked stupid' was an adequate enough descriptor. Miteksi had lived in Destiny City for his entire life, so he was familiar enough with the abductions, disappearances, mass hallucinations, and much of the other trickery that happened so frequently in his hometown- Rather, he was familiar with the rumors. Nothing had ever happened to him, specifically. But those words were so prevalent among the populace that he'd be lying if he said he didn't believe any of it.
And none of those rumors were ever good, so he doubted this occurrence was either.
Teyla was victorious in finally escaping his grasp in the instant that he was frozen in shock, but Miteksi wasn't so dumbfounded that he allowed her to get far. He stepped after her the minute she jumped from his arms, and he had her wrist snared in his grip immediately after, desperate to tug her away from... from the swirly light thing on the pedestal. "Be so for real. We're not on the Moon! Don't- don't talk to it!" He cautioned. Because obviously not acknowledging whatever was in the room with them would keep it at bay...
If that was even what they wanted. Which, he didn't know what they wanted, at this point! They weren't in a dark alley being chased by people who would definitely hurt them, so that was a plus.
Whatever kind of drugs they were on had to be some intense stuff- Oh, ********, what if they'd been shot or something and they were dead. He hadn't felt anything but that cocoon of warmth, but that... well, maybe that was just what it felt like. He did mostly believe that the afterlife was more-or-less just a continuation of normal life. Theoretically, it shouldn't feel much different than normal, so...
So what the hell was this light orb.
He stared at it, gaze jumping from floaty little particle to floaty little particle, and then off somewhere behind it, studying the room. 'The Moon' was such a weird thing for Teyla (and both her parents, apparently) to come up with. She definitely had more confidence than he did about what was going on! And Miteksi's whirling thoughts could hardly settle enough to decide anything.
"Is this... is this like Purgatory, or something?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2025 5:06 am
“Is Purgatory preferable to the Moon?” The Code asked, with the faintest hint of amusement. “I can give you a moment if you need your little friend to explain further. She’s been correct so far.” It gave only a few seconds for the words to sink in before it continued, “I am the Code, yes. The ‘Mister’ is unnecessary. And you are on the Moon. If you’d like, you can find a window. You should be able to see Earth from here. Don’t wander too far. It’s safe here, but there’s quite a bit I’d like to discuss with you, and I suspect someone will notice if you two are up here for too long. You aren’t prisoners. Only guests.” Even without eyes, the Code’s attention still seemed to follow Miteksi. “I was hoping we could make a mutually beneficial arrangement. There are many dangers on Earth. More than you can imagine. I can grant the means to combat them. To keep yourself, and those most important to you, safe. But I suppose this is a very large conversation to have when you’re still trying to figure out what’s going on. I don’t want to overwhelm you. Take some time to think about it. You two can talk. I’ll wait. If you have questions, share them. I have answers.”
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Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2025 7:39 am
Teyla's face lit with pride to be right about a thing that Teki didn't know about. Definitely didn't happen as often as Teyla thought it should! But about this, of course she was right, because she had the Magic, and both of her Papas had the magic too. Even if she hadn't been here, to the Moon, before, she'd been other fantastical places! And she'd thought- maybe- they'd been pulled here in order to protect her from an evil, but... She swayed a little, head canting one way and then the other as she judged the swirling mass in front of her. Mister The Code wasn't interested in her. Teyla could tell! And if it wasn't interested in her- The girl grabbed for Miteksi again, taking an arm instead of his hair this time and shaking it with an urgency. "Teki, you can have the magic too, like Teyla! A cute kitty gave me mine, and that's the best way to get it. Here, like this!" She pulled out her Henshin Pen, which she wasn't normally supposed to do if her Papas weren't there, but the Code was stronger than Papas, probably, so it had to be okay this time. With a little wave of her Pen and a thought to pull her Senshi power over here, Zero stood next to Miteksi, still holding and shaking his arm with excited little quivers. "See? See? The magic fights monsters! And stupidheads like those guys."
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