Chapter Text
MC throws up her breakfast.
Ignoring her grandmother’s concerned fussing, she stumbles down the hall and into the bathroom.
Her adopted brother-slash-childhood-friend (please don’t let him be the new love interest, please don’t let him be the new love interest—) looks at her weird.
She throws up harder.
Good lord, she was living with the person who experimented on her and the guy who probably (most likely, definitely) planted a bomb in their home to fake his death to go undercover for something—
MC was seven years old, and she needed a drink.
•~•
Ignoring her adoptive family again, she clambers up the stairs after emptying her stomach for a good ten minutes.
She found what she wanted easily — the drawer beneath her grandmother’s closet.
Grandma Josephine must think children are stupid.
Well… they are. She certainly was, before.
But not anymore!
This is to certify that… Michelle Collins … adopted by Josephine Collins— this day on January 18, 2031…
Grandma Josephine literally named her MC.
She was going to kill her.
•~•
Caleb sought her out after she miserably shuffled back into their shared bedroom.
“Pipsqueak… you okay?”
MC buried herself deeper under the duvet of her twin bed, clutching a plushie for dear life. “Do you ever think about dying?”
Oops. She didn’t mean to say that.
Caleb pinched her. Hard.
She shot up with a yelp.
“What the fu—”
“Where did you learn that word?” Caleb frowned. “That’s a bad word. Grandma says not to say bad words.”
Unbeknownst to her dear brother, MC had some very interesting bad words to say to their grandmother.
Somehow, the distraction worked.
Caleb forgot about her existential outburst and was now lecturing her about the use of profanities in their home while MC pretended to listen.
Stupid older brothers.
•~•
Zayne was weird, but he was nice enough.
MC was more into the… visuals of the game rather than digging deeper for each of their lore, but she knew there was supposed to be someone called ‘Dawnbreaker.’
Something, something…
Ugh. Whatever. She’ll cross that bridge when she gets there.
Zayne always shied away from her attempts at friendship, unfortunately.
Fine! She harrumphed in the privacy of her bedroom. Be like that.
Caleb only sighed from his position on his bed, staring at the stomping, sulking form of his sister. He was used to it.
He went back to his airplane picture book.
•~•
She and Zayne were eleven and thirteen respectively. Her birthday was earlier in the year, while his was in September, so there would be a few months where their age gap would be reduced to two years.
Caleb was twelve, and he had run off to chase after the stingrays in the massive oceanarium.
“Look, pipsqueak, it looks like they’re flying!”
“Fun.”
“I wanna be a pilot so I can fly too!”
“Clearly.”
Zayne clears his throat awkwardly, his frosty expression thawing a bit. “You… are you alright?”
MC blinks. Oh. She forgot eleven year olds weren’t supposed to act like… that.
Her eyes follow a bright orange clownfish. The world was mocking her, she was sure of it.
“I’m feeling very skibidi. Very gwenchana. I’m vibing, for real.”
She was peak Gen Alpha (barely, she was born in 2024, after all).
A pinched expression appears on Zayne’s face. “Please don’t say that to my face ever again.”
“Come on, you definitely watched Skibidi Toilet growing up.”
Zayne was probably contemplating stinging her with his Evol.
Too bad he was too much of a goody two-shoes for that. He definitely came out of the womb reciting the Hippocratic Oath.