And the stars look very different today...

[zunesareawesome]

It was a way out. But it wasn't home.

Truthfully, after Norfinbury, anything would be better than that place, but the cold truth was--there was no way to find his own universe out of the endless multiverse, even if Norfinbury's busted technology had worked properly. He was stuck, here, with a megalomaniac Flynn--granted, a Flynn that managed to open up a portal out of there. Maybe that's what it took to get out of Norfinbury.

Or, Peter thought sometimes on bad days, Norfinbury only released you once you became the twisted version of yourself it wanted you to be. A specially-designed virus inflicted on countless worlds.

Besides, he ought to know something about that.

He didn't stay long on earth, he couldn't. Maybe it had something to do with the mystery of how they were revived in Norfinbury, their bodies recreated or cloned or healed, or maybe it was something that was gonna happen to him anyway, but he could feel the Light burning inside him, inside his head almost as soon as he landed. A desperate need to take to the stars. He'd managed to create a ship and took off.

Time passes, and scientists notice something odd about several exoplanets they're monitoring, especially ones marked as 'earth-like' or other planets in zones that could make them potentially habitable. Bright bursts of light and changes in the composition of the atmosphere or surface, it was inexplicable. Possible evidence of intelligent life? If they didn't know any better, especially with the rocky planets that now somehow boasted extreme changes, it was like something was terraforming them.

There was cause for alarm when Mars suddenly turned blue and green a few months later.

Meanwhile, a small blue-and-orange ship that looked suspiciously like a slightly more organic-looking Milano was racing towards the earth.

Comments

[luckythief]

[He laughs.]

And there's gonna be music and events all around it! It's gonna be a big celebration! A revered tradition!

[bookbrawler]

No! No, no, and no!

I'll haunt your stupid statue if you do!

[luckythief]

Uh, it totally has your face so technically it's your stupid statue.

[bookbrawler]

You made it, so it's your stupid statue!

[luckythief]

In your honor!

[bookbrawler]

You still made it! It's still something you created!

[luckythief]

It's a statue with your face haunted by you. It's basically you! In bronze.

[bookbrawler]

[There was a point here he was trying to make but now it's totally gone--]

--I hope you know how to keep a bronze statue from degrading. I mean, you're taking care of it for years so I'm expecting it to be flawless--

[luckythief]

I thought you thought it was stupid.

[Look, he's missed this so much, he can keep this up for hours.]

[bookbrawler]

It is stupid, but it's still my face on that statue.

[He did too, and so can he. This is the way things should be. Even if they won't be...can't be this way forever. Until Flynn's destroyed every last piece of himself. But he wants to give Ezekiel some good memories, at least. Something nice to remember him by.]

[luckythief]

Sooooo you're saying it's a statue with a stupid face?

[You're making this way too easy, Stone.]

[bookbrawler]

What!? No! [Jones.] I'm saying its concept, its very existence is stupid, but with my face, it looks great!

[luckythief]

[Ezekiel can't help but laugh at his outrage. It's so different from the fake banter with Peter, from all the pretense. This here has heart and it's so much fun. He almost forgot what that feels like.]

I'm sorry! Sorry, you're right, my bad. I think I get it this time around. So it's a statue of someone that looks great but is stupid. Got it!

[bookbrawler]

[He can only hope Flynn doesn't take this memory. That it doesn't get corrupted. That he can look back on this with happiness and not hate.

He's afraid that hope won't be enough.]

No! That is absolutely not what I was trying to say!

--all right, all right--fine, there is no stupidness associated with the statue at all!

[luckythief]

Thank you.

[And, with a little more soul,] It's gonna be a great statue. You'll see.

[bookbrawler]

...it better.

[A beat.]

And you better commission a top sculptor. I mean, money shouldn't be a problem for you at this point, so I want the best of the best.

[luckythief]

[His lip twitches.]

Of course! How do you feel about modern art?

[bookbrawler]

...come on, man, you're not going to make an abstract statue of me! I want it an exact likeness! Wearing a suit, okay? You know that one suit I like.

[luckythief]

Alright, alright, naturalistic it is. Hang on.

[He ducks out of view and when he comes back up a few moments later he holds up a picture.]

Made a prototype!

I'm crying

[bookbrawler]

[This is the longest pause in the history of long pauses, Jones.]

...No.

h i g h a r t

[luckythief]

Come on, it's gonna look amazing!

You're probably just having a hard time imagining what it will look like, hang on.

[Just a second. There you go.]

t h e m o s t g l o r i o u s o f a l l a r t s

[bookbrawler]

[This time, the pause lasts a nanosecond.]

HOW is that any better?!

[luckythief]

It's big! And shiny! I'd totally steal it.

[What a compliment!]

[bookbrawler]

[That is a compliment!]

...how are you gonna steal a giant statue?

[luckythief]

I'm gonna put giant rollerblades on it.