[h1][b][i][color=FFCB00][center]Leah Jordan[/center][/color][/i][/b][/h1][center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/a97e8983-b22c-4dfe-b2a2-4825bd67ff76.png[/img][/center][center][/center][hr][center][color=FFCB00][b]Location[/b][/color]: Contest of Champions [color=FFCB00][b]Gear[/b][/color]: [color=FFCB00][b]Skills[/b][/color]: [/center] [hr][hr] [i]What the fuck is wrong with you?[/i] Leah didn’t get a chance to stop and think of why Sabine would ask that. America had fallen down from the sky and tried to grab Leah. It would’ve worked, but Leah was a front-line fighter much taller than her. All she had to do was step back and then back in, and her hand was firmly around America’s throat. She had a huge advantage being airborne, and she’d just given it up by getting in close range of a boxer. She raised America off the ground by her neck with one arm and block the huge woman’s swing with the other, ready to hurl her into Patriot who was barely hanging on. The only reason she didn’t was the shattering of the strange entity that Danni had broken up. Leah wanted to distract them in case they felt more confident without the pyrokinetic on the battlefield. Leah would have happily sent her flying. She could have cemented her friends’ victory by taking out their leader and breaking one of their tanks over him. And perhaps Hulking and Wiccan would have yielded in the face of that, perhaps Stature would’ve shrunk back down. Leah was in a pretty good position to set her friends up for the crown. It would’ve been everything they wanted, and they’d all be happy. She wanted them to be. But Leah didn’t attack. Sabine was pissed. And she had a point that made Leah freeze. Everyone here was battered in one way or another, even the friends she’d gone so far for were sputtering and hurting in ways that weren’t physical. As if these fucking [i]jokers[/i] weren’t just playing around this whole time like a cat playing with a dead bird. And she left. Sabine quit, she was done. Her girlfriend, who’d been training for this alongside all of them, was absolutely disgusted by what Leah was doing. Her hands tightened into fists. She suddenly felt uncannily aware of where everyone was looking, who was saying and doing what, and the words in her own head. More aware than the moment before. Why would she be angry? The Young Avengers were assholes, and they were [i]losing.[/i] Excelsior had them, they could've- Her head whipped around to Dorian. He called another timeout. Everything they were doing wasn't necessary, it wasn't about winning? She wanted to scream, that was [i]everything[/i] here. The blood underneath her skin screamed against her veins, something inside Leah wanted to tear itself out of her chest. She couldn't believe what he was saying. All that time they spent fighting, losing sleep, feeling sick to their stomachs with dread because they had to win a fight against these people. Their futures were shaped by this, they believed in what they were doing. It was the whole reason why Leah was even here. For [i]them.[/i] When the cameras went off, Leah tried to speak. Her mouth opened and nothing came out. Why, she didn't know. Her lungs rattled in her chest. Her friends had all [i]died[/i] in the name of this fight they were in. They hadn't trained to be superheroes, as much as that was the goal. The entire time they were at super school, they were training for [i]this.[/i] The Contest was drilled into their heads repeatedly, they fought other teams- One that could've fucking killed Victoria once- Just for the chance to be on the [i]bracket.[/i] It was this, or they might as well have stayed in normal, everyday school for everyday people. And then they finally showed up for their moment, Leah watched the reigning champions [i]laugh and joke.[/i] They didn't care. Everything Excelsior had clawed out of inconceivable odds was nothing to them. If they lost, it'd just be another day in some adventure to them. But if Andy lost? Or Danni, Dorian or fucking [i]April?[/i] It'd hurt them and the future they wanted. It drove her mad. The Young Avengers, up in their ivory tower smiling and waving at cameras while the people she'd only recently come to fully trust [i]broke[/i] themselves over this event. And now they didn't want it. Leah relaxed her grip on America's throat, and lowered her to her feet. [color=ffcb00]"This isn't who I am,"[/color] She muttered, to no one in particular. [color=ffcb00]"This is how he'd want me to win."[/color] The cameras didn't see her leave. [hr] [center][youtube]https://youtu.be/QfmrmNdPOtc?si=pLxYwzU0yVV_7HFA[/youtube][/center] Leah blinked, and was back in the medical room. The others who'd been removed from the fight were in here. She stumbled on the way in, not being used to that teleportation spell. Her hand went against the wall for a second, and then she quickly started off in a straight line. A nurse had ran over to tend to her. [i][color=ffcb00]"I'm fine,"[/color][/i] she lied. The little five foot three woman practically bounced off of Leah, who shoved the doors open and was out of sight in moments. She'd already broken down enough recently, she didn't need to fucking do it again. Not here. She turned the corner and ended up in a locker room, ripping a metal gauntlet off her wrist like it was paper. Zelda had made it for her back when she still looked human. It was plate armor too heavy for anyone without super strength to comfortably wear, and the back was padded with a dense fabric that would last a lot longer against her hair. Some of it wasn't salvageable after her scrap with Andy, which broke the illusion she was ever born on Earth. Now, she was about a foot taller, and most of it didn't fit. The chest area and the shin-guards were fine, the gauntlets just needed to be adjusted. It all came flying off in a flurry of motions and crammed into a locker with a [i]thud.[/i] Then, in the quiet of the room, with no one around, she stared into the floor. [i]What the fuck is wrong with you?[/i] [color=ffcb00][i] This was for all of you. I never wanted this. We didn't need to win, we know how to be heroes. I don't get it. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. Please don't be angry.[/i][/color] Was this how April felt? Did her bones buzz like insect wings, too? Did she ever want to crawl into the ground and hide from the sky? Did she feel like everyone was royally infuriated with her existence? Leah felt like a fucking moron. Yesterday, several heroes had to be alerted to an international terrorist for the first time because of her, and she'd made a fool of herself in front of [i]Stephen Strange[/i] thinking Imperator was really back. And today, she'd fucked up. If she hadn't thrown that rock and grabbed America, they could've just called a draw. What were they all saying in the medical room now? The whole galaxy was watching, and maybe her real parents were on Jotunheim right now, balking at their estranged kid who just strangled someone and breaking a truce [i]she[/i] called. Why? Because she didn't fucking trust them not to do it first. Maybe they were laughing at her, glad they didn't have to keep her. Maybe her [i]team[/i] was laughing. She shut her eyes and remembered the book Whitehall gave her. Leah might've thrown it out, but she enjoyed reading books, so she stayed up all night after talking to her. She asked herself a question, [i]Why am I feeling this?[/i] Because she felt like she messed up. Okay, easy enough. Because she went to great lengths to help her friends. Okay. Because she was a stubborn idiot… Less okay. What could she do about it? Doing nothing wasn’t the worst option, and she could do nothing right now. Nothing but breathe and let herself feel how she felt. That she made a fool of herself, that her girlfriend was unhappy with her. Leah felt these things for a reason, they weren’t unfounded. She didn’t want to think about the possibility that Sabine saw her differently now. That maybe she’d revealed some ugly side of herself to a girl she thought the world of, or that Leah had an ugly side reminiscent of her dad that she never knew about. The book Whitehall gave her said that not thinking about things didn’t make them less true, or less [i]real.[/i] But if she thought about it too much, she’d lose her mind. She took in a deep, [i]deep[/i] breath. Then she let it go. [color=ffcb00][i]There is something deeply wrong with me. She was right. Okay. After... Yeah.[/i][/color] After they talked it through. After they got the chance to yell and- After they [i]talked[/i] to Leah about the Contest. Then she'd do something about it. [color=ffcb00][i]Fuck.[/i][/color]