Things should feel like they've gone back to normal after putting the kibosh on the Mind Flayer and the Demodogs. The rest of high school came and went, taking with it the window of opportunity for college in the fall. Not that he had the grades for it anymore. It kind of slipped away as other things became the priority, and he couldn't ignore that little stab of defiance toward his parents. A lot of good that had done him in the end. Making three bucks an hour slinging ice cream doesn't feel like the comeuppance he deserves. Whatever, it beat being jobless and it afforded him opportunities to see his nerds as they graced the mall with their presence on the regular.
Something felt weird. All day, Steve had the niggling feeling that something wasn't right, though he couldn't really figure out what it was. Nothing seemed out of place, people were their usual, weird selves. Typical summertime bullshit.
He's driving back home, Madonna playing on the radio and drumming his fingers on the wheel along to the beat and definitely not singing along when something runs in front of his car and he has to slam on the breaks. Steve swerves the car, thankfully just off the road and into the grass as opposed to wrapping himself around a tree. Still, his heart hammers painfully in his chest as he pants to regain his calm. What the fuck was that? It was big- massive, even. Bigger than a dog and not upright like a person. His palms feel sweaty and he wipes them on the leg of his uniform.
"Alright, alright. Calm the fuck down, Steve. Probably just a dog, not your imagination."
It takes more convincing to actually move out of the car and to his trunk about as quickly as he can make it there. His hands fumble with the latch before the lid pops open and he can wrap his hands around the comfortable handle of his bat. The nails glint dangerously in the illumination of his taillights. Taking a stance, he eyes the direction he's sure whatever the hell that was came from. There's rustling and a weird, almost electric buzzing.
"Come on, asshole, I'm ready." He says it loudly into the darkness, but it's meant as a pep-talk. God, he hopes it's not another Demogorgon, that's so not his area.
Everything had happened so fast. By betraying the droid commander on Yerbana, he'd given the signal for his 501 troops to attack the forces currently surrounding his friend, Obi-Wan and the 212th. After using the Force to take out the commander, Anakin joined the fray, lightsaber swinging precisely to redirect all blast back at the enemy line or cut down any droid stupid enough to cross his path.
He was right in the thick of things, tucking into a roll to avoid the swinging arm of a droideka when everything suddenly felt wrong. He felt the ground shift under him, but it didn't feel as if the bridge he was fighting on had given away. The ground was still there, he still rolled. But everything changed when he found his feet under him again and he stood up. Day had turned to night. The thick cloud of dust and blaster ozone that hung about droid army battlefields were gone and crisp, clean air was in its place. The bridge was nowhere in sight. And the screams of troops yelling, droid metal feet marching, blasters firing were replaced with the sound of unfamiliar nocturnal insects.
And just as Anakin was getting to his feet, a pair of round lights propelled by a roaring motor barreled towards him and he had to twist away or get plowed into.
As he skidded to stop, so did, what he could now tell - now that his eyes had adjusted to the sudden lack of sunlight - was a wheeled vehicle of some kind. It made an awful sound as it came to a halt. And the smell of burnt rubber was unpleasant, but considering the stench of war he'd just left, the sharp sting in his nostrils was easy to ignore.
Someone got out and caution had Anakin watching while the young man retrieved something from the vehicle. A baton of some kind?
A kidnapping with force, apparently.
How? Anakin didn't have a kriffing clue.
But he ignited his lightsaber all the same.
"Who are you? What have you done- where have you brought me?" he demanded, not a single part of him considered going down without a fight.
Steve is unprepared for most things, but he'd been ready for jaws blooming into rows of too-many teeth. Ready for something bizarre and unexplainable. He's not prepared to find out the thing he almost hit was a person. What the hell was he doing in the middle of the night down a barren, tree-lined road? Anger flashes hot and though he raises his bat just a bit more, he shifts a step back as the road around him is illuminated by a-- huh. Looks like one of those laser swords from Star Wars. Nope, come on, Steve, focus.
He juts his chin up, expression set in determination even though he's kind of intimidated by this guy. There's a dangerous feeling about him, and he doesn't like the look of the thing in his hands. The scar over his eye kinda gives him a Terminator vibe. That's not great, either.
"I could say the same thing to you, asshole!! What are you doing in the road in the middle of the night?! Who does that?"
Anakin was not intimidated. Usually the only person to intimidate him came up to his shoulders on days when she was wearing footwear with heels. It was usually the look she had on her face saying without words he'd done something disapproving.
This young man was not Anakin's wife.
He turned his heels, slipping into an attack stance.
"You brought me here," Anakin accused. But really, who else could it have been? "You tell me what we are doing here!"
Oh god. Ohgodohgodohgod. He puts a few more feet of distance between them, not exactly thrilled about the idea of fighting this guy. All he wanted to do was go home, shower, and watch Cheers. His expression turns incredulous and he uses his bat to gesture wildly to the nothingness around them.
"You're the one who ran out in the road! I was just trying to get home!! I'd really like to not be doing this right now in the middle of nowhere, mister macho. I really don't have time to be brutally murdered, I have a shift at work tomorrow."
Anakin narrowed his eyes at the young man, but paused before just leaping. He wasn't here to murder anyone.
He stretched out with the Force, trying to sense any clues he could find that might explain what was going on.
"You're the only person for kilometres." Who else could have taken him and dropped him here?
But he could also tell that the young man was earnest. He wasn't trying to hide anything.
Anakin lowered his lightsaber, if a bit frustrated. He needed to get back to help Obi-Wan- well, more to just be by Obi-Wan's side. His former master could actually probably take care of finishing the battle now on his own. But Obi-Wan would be worried.
"Uh, yeah, duh. 'Middle of nowhere'. Kind of means there's nobody around for like.. miles." The weird glowstick goes down, casting the light a bit differently. Steve doesn't know whether he's glad for it or more apprehensive. The question makes him laugh, loud and nervous. Oh great, he's definitely going to get murdered out in the forest by a weirdo.
"What planet? Seriously, you're not going to pull a 'take me to your leader', are you?" He lowers the bat, tip hitting the ground. He leans his weight into it, waiting to see what happens. He gestures to Anakin with a wide, sweeping gesture.
"And what's with the costume? Halloween's not for months. Your light sword's pretty neat, how'd you get it to glow like that?"
The laser sharp focus of Anakin's glare should tell Steve just how little he appreciated the sarcasm.
"An intense beam of energy is focused through a set of crystals creating an arc of plasma contained in a magnetic force field. The color is determined by the crystals used."
And with that, Anakin assessed that this could be handled without his lightsaber on. Clearly this individual had had no interaction with Jedi before. Aaking shut the saber off and the blade retracted leaving them with only the light of the moon and Steve's vehicle lights to see by.
Well, Anakin had the Force that helped in more ways than one.
"If you won't tell me what planet this is at least direct me to the nearest spaceport." He sounded more impatient.
Oh, it tells him plenty, but all Steve does is raise his eyebrows, looking unphased. Until Anakin goes into details about his sword. He has to resist rolling his eyes.
"Wow, that was good. Super nerdy, but hey, I can't judge. 'Batteries' would have also been an acceptable answer."
He and Dustin had gone to see that movie when it first came out, and they'd definitely play-fought with sticks for lightsabers after. It was the adrenaline rush, nothing more. Steve pinches between his eyes, sighing.
"Last time I checked, this was Earth and the nearest airport is like two hours away. You plan on walking there you might wanna start now."
Anakin ignored the batteries comment - it was a diatium power cell - but it was useless to argue right then.
"Yes, I can tell we are on a planet- that you won't name for some reason," he said. He looked up at the unfamiliar stars. 2 hours to get off this rock? It looked like he didn't have a choice.
"Which direction is the spaceport?" he assumed that's what an 'airport' was.
It takes a moment for everything to click, from Anakin's annoyed expression and his inability to grasp the simple facts. Not just a weird nerd in the woods, but a lost nerd in the woods.
"...Oh shit, you're serious, aren't you?"
He holds out a hand to signal that he..stop whatever he's doing. Steve looks to the still-open door to his Beamer, to Anakin who looked like he was trying to.. what? Map the stars?
"I'm on a planet," he said flatly, because he'd just said this. "That I don't know the name of. Two hours away from a spaceport, in a some unknown direction."
He stared Steve down for a good second before adding, "Can you at least tell the designation of your system's star?"
"You're definitely on a planet that I just named two second ago, dude. Airport's two hours away from Hawkins in a.. that way direction." Steve uses the bat to emphasize the direction he points.
His brow furrows in confusion and he taps his foot, a bit irritated. "Can I do what now?"
"The star at the center of your solar system?" he said, slowly.
"The sky is too bright for this to be an exoplanet. It must be orbiting a star. And based on the reflection of your moon, I'm putting my credits on there being only one star."
"The kind of system that can do whatever the hell they want because it's the only one with life on it?"
They're pretty sure, anyway. Steve has no idea where the hell the Demogorgon or the Upside Down resided, but it probably still constituted as Earth. Even if it was like.. an alternate reality.
Steve drags both his hands down his face and lets out a loud, frustrated noise. Once he faces Anakin again, his eyebrows raise toward his hairline as he tosses his bat back in the trunk.
"Well this game has been super fun, but I'm starving and I have to work tomorrow so I'll leave you to your.." He gestures to the woods on either side of them. "Playing in traffic."
"Does your planet have public transportation to the nearest space port?" Anakin had to ask. Though he was starting to doubt the existence of a 'space port' now.
He just wasn't keen to walk hours if there were faster means.
He was going to blow his own brains out if he kept having to hear about the damn space port. Steve would at least take him into town, there was at least a bus station. And a hospital, there was one of those, too. He didn't know the policies of checking in with a random crazy guy, but he'd take his chances.
Steve gestures angrily to the passenger side of his Beamer.
Anakin approached the vehicle with caution, reaching out through the Force to make sure he was prepared for anything.
He examined the door and it took him a moment to remember how Steve had worked the handle before he opened his door. And once it's open, he paused again. That was a rather cramped space. But after a moment's hesitation he ducked his head and climbed in.
"I am..." he thought about what name to give, and decided General Skywalker probably wouldn't mean much to this person who knew so little about his own planet... "Anakin. What is your name?"
Once he's seated behind the wheel, he fastens his seatbelt and gets the car moving once his 'guest' is in and the door's closed. Steve sighs loudly, keeping his eyes mostly on the road, but stealing glances at the weird guy in his passenger seat. He gives the guy, Anakin apparently, an incredulous look. Weird name for a weird dude.
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timeasmymeasure
@hero_with_no_fear
Date: 2020-07-06 08:55 pm (UTC)Something felt weird. All day, Steve had the niggling feeling that something wasn't right, though he couldn't really figure out what it was. Nothing seemed out of place, people were their usual, weird selves. Typical summertime bullshit.
He's driving back home, Madonna playing on the radio and drumming his fingers on the wheel along to the beat and definitely not singing along when something runs in front of his car and he has to slam on the breaks. Steve swerves the car, thankfully just off the road and into the grass as opposed to wrapping himself around a tree. Still, his heart hammers painfully in his chest as he pants to regain his calm. What the fuck was that? It was big- massive, even. Bigger than a dog and not upright like a person. His palms feel sweaty and he wipes them on the leg of his uniform.
"Alright, alright. Calm the fuck down, Steve. Probably just a dog, not your imagination."
It takes more convincing to actually move out of the car and to his trunk about as quickly as he can make it there. His hands fumble with the latch before the lid pops open and he can wrap his hands around the comfortable handle of his bat. The nails glint dangerously in the illumination of his taillights. Taking a stance, he eyes the direction he's sure whatever the hell that was came from. There's rustling and a weird, almost electric buzzing.
"Come on, asshole, I'm ready." He says it loudly into the darkness, but it's meant as a pep-talk. God, he hopes it's not another Demogorgon, that's so not his area.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-06 09:24 pm (UTC)He was right in the thick of things, tucking into a roll to avoid the swinging arm of a droideka when everything suddenly felt wrong. He felt the ground shift under him, but it didn't feel as if the bridge he was fighting on had given away. The ground was still there, he still rolled. But everything changed when he found his feet under him again and he stood up. Day had turned to night. The thick cloud of dust and blaster ozone that hung about droid army battlefields were gone and crisp, clean air was in its place. The bridge was nowhere in sight. And the screams of troops yelling, droid metal feet marching, blasters firing were replaced with the sound of unfamiliar nocturnal insects.
And just as Anakin was getting to his feet, a pair of round lights propelled by a roaring motor barreled towards him and he had to twist away or get plowed into.
As he skidded to stop, so did, what he could now tell - now that his eyes had adjusted to the sudden lack of sunlight - was a wheeled vehicle of some kind. It made an awful sound as it came to a halt. And the smell of burnt rubber was unpleasant, but considering the stench of war he'd just left, the sharp sting in his nostrils was easy to ignore.
Someone got out and caution had Anakin watching while the young man retrieved something from the vehicle. A baton of some kind?
A kidnapping with force, apparently.
How? Anakin didn't have a kriffing clue.
But he ignited his lightsaber all the same.
"Who are you? What have you done- where have you brought me?" he demanded, not a single part of him considered going down without a fight.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-06 09:36 pm (UTC)He juts his chin up, expression set in determination even though he's kind of intimidated by this guy. There's a dangerous feeling about him, and he doesn't like the look of the thing in his hands. The scar over his eye kinda gives him a Terminator vibe. That's not great, either.
"I could say the same thing to you, asshole!! What are you doing in the road in the middle of the night?! Who does that?"
no subject
Date: 2020-07-06 09:49 pm (UTC)This young man was not Anakin's wife.
He turned his heels, slipping into an attack stance.
"You brought me here," Anakin accused. But really, who else could it have been? "You tell me what we are doing here!"
no subject
Date: 2020-07-06 10:12 pm (UTC)"You're the one who ran out in the road! I was just trying to get home!! I'd really like to not be doing this right now in the middle of nowhere, mister macho. I really don't have time to be brutally murdered, I have a shift at work tomorrow."
no subject
Date: 2020-07-06 10:23 pm (UTC)He stretched out with the Force, trying to sense any clues he could find that might explain what was going on.
"You're the only person for kilometres." Who else could have taken him and dropped him here?
But he could also tell that the young man was earnest. He wasn't trying to hide anything.
Anakin lowered his lightsaber, if a bit frustrated. He needed to get back to help Obi-Wan- well, more to just be by Obi-Wan's side. His former master could actually probably take care of finishing the battle now on his own. But Obi-Wan would be worried.
"What planet are we on?"
no subject
Date: 2020-07-06 11:20 pm (UTC)"What planet? Seriously, you're not going to pull a 'take me to your leader', are you?" He lowers the bat, tip hitting the ground. He leans his weight into it, waiting to see what happens. He gestures to Anakin with a wide, sweeping gesture.
"And what's with the costume? Halloween's not for months. Your light sword's pretty neat, how'd you get it to glow like that?"
no subject
Date: 2020-07-06 11:47 pm (UTC)"An intense beam of energy is focused through a set of crystals creating an arc of plasma contained in a magnetic force field. The color is determined by the crystals used."
And with that, Anakin assessed that this could be handled without his lightsaber on. Clearly this individual had had no interaction with Jedi before. Aaking shut the saber off and the blade retracted leaving them with only the light of the moon and Steve's vehicle lights to see by.
Well, Anakin had the Force that helped in more ways than one.
"If you won't tell me what planet this is at least direct me to the nearest spaceport." He sounded more impatient.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-07 03:39 am (UTC)"Wow, that was good. Super nerdy, but hey, I can't judge. 'Batteries' would have also been an acceptable answer."
He and Dustin had gone to see that movie when it first came out, and they'd definitely play-fought with sticks for lightsabers after. It was the adrenaline rush, nothing more. Steve pinches between his eyes, sighing.
"Last time I checked, this was Earth and the nearest airport is like two hours away. You plan on walking there you might wanna start now."
no subject
Date: 2020-07-07 03:52 am (UTC)Anakin ignored the batteries comment - it was a diatium power cell - but it was useless to argue right then.
"Yes, I can tell we are on a planet- that you won't name for some reason," he said. He looked up at the unfamiliar stars. 2 hours to get off this rock? It looked like he didn't have a choice.
"Which direction is the spaceport?" he assumed that's what an 'airport' was.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-07 04:25 am (UTC)"...Oh shit, you're serious, aren't you?"
He holds out a hand to signal that he..stop whatever he's doing. Steve looks to the still-open door to his Beamer, to Anakin who looked like he was trying to.. what? Map the stars?
"Where do you think you are right now?"
no subject
Date: 2020-07-07 05:00 am (UTC)Really?
"I'm on a planet," he said flatly, because he'd just said this. "That I don't know the name of. Two hours away from a spaceport, in a some unknown direction."
He stared Steve down for a good second before adding, "Can you at least tell the designation of your system's star?"
no subject
Date: 2020-07-08 03:45 am (UTC)His brow furrows in confusion and he taps his foot, a bit irritated. "Can I do what now?"
no subject
Date: 2020-07-08 04:34 am (UTC)"The sky is too bright for this to be an exoplanet. It must be orbiting a star. And based on the reflection of your moon, I'm putting my credits on there being only one star."
no subject
Date: 2020-07-08 04:39 am (UTC)This guy.. Steve's patience is wearing pretty thin, and he deals with a handful of dumbass teenagers.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-08 04:43 am (UTC)Really, he should just find an info booth at the spaceport instead of arguing with this young man.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-08 04:55 am (UTC)"Well, it's been fun, but I'm pretty sure I just aged twenty years in the span of this conversation."
no subject
Date: 2020-07-08 05:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-08 05:14 am (UTC)They're pretty sure, anyway. Steve has no idea where the hell the Demogorgon or the Upside Down resided, but it probably still constituted as Earth. Even if it was like.. an alternate reality.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-16 04:02 am (UTC)"Really? I'm standing right in front of you."
no subject
Date: 2020-07-16 04:09 pm (UTC)"Uh, My Very Enthusiastic Mother Just Served Us Nachos. None of those planets have life on them."
no subject
Date: 2020-07-29 04:40 am (UTC)"What?" he said. Just that, at first.
"What did any of that mean?"
no subject
Date: 2020-07-30 11:25 pm (UTC)He'd be more impressed that he remembered them all if he weren't so frustrated.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-30 11:28 pm (UTC)"You named all the planets in your solar system except for the one you live on?"
no subject
Date: 2020-07-30 11:31 pm (UTC)"Well this game has been super fun, but I'm starving and I have to work tomorrow so I'll leave you to your.." He gestures to the woods on either side of them. "Playing in traffic."
no subject
Date: 2020-07-30 11:43 pm (UTC)He just wasn't keen to walk hours if there were faster means.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-30 11:47 pm (UTC)He was going to blow his own brains out if he kept having to hear about the damn space port. Steve would at least take him into town, there was at least a bus station. And a hospital, there was one of those, too. He didn't know the policies of checking in with a random crazy guy, but he'd take his chances.
Steve gestures angrily to the passenger side of his Beamer.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 03:31 am (UTC)He examined the door and it took him a moment to remember how Steve had worked the handle before he opened his door. And once it's open, he paused again. That was a rather cramped space. But after a moment's hesitation he ducked his head and climbed in.
"I am..." he thought about what name to give, and decided General Skywalker probably wouldn't mean much to this person who knew so little about his own planet... "Anakin. What is your name?"
no subject
Date: 2020-08-16 07:49 pm (UTC)"I'm Steve."