Legends: A Story of Lies [Star vs. The Forces of Evil, Gravity Falls, Big Bad Beetleborgs]

[The Ero-Sennin]

It's kinda nice that I'm on Volume 7 for both Senpai AND Legends. How about that. Let's see how close I can keep them together. Anyway, like I said with Senpai, whole chapters of Legends will be posted when I have the whole volume done. I still haven't decided on a posting schedule when that happens, but I'm thinking weekly, usually on a... Tuesday or Thursday. Anywahoo. Here comes a preview of the Volume 7 Chapter 2 of Legends: The Geek.

(Woo, more MTL German...)

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"Thank you for dragging me away from those two," a less recalcitrant Misao murmured as Mabel jogged along, still carrying her like she was a stuffed animal. "I think I would have fought them if you hadn't held me back."

"You definitely got a good slap in!" Mabel praised her. "But I put all that work in on the gel so they can tear a face open if you need to, next time use them claws!"

Misao agreed. "Next time someone makes me that angry, I will."

"Speaking of work," Mabel went on. "Do you want something new for your hair this week?"

Humming, Misao shook her head. "No, I'll wear this color for a little longer. It's very nice."

"I agree! Then I want to dye the underside of my hair red to match," Mabel said.

Misao leaned back into Mabel to look up at her. "Ja! You would look so amazing with red, or even pink!"

Mabel had an idea. "What about Barbie Pink?"

"That would be lovely!"

Content as she was to be cuddled by a jogging Mabel, it had to come to an end as the taller girl reached Misao's new homeroom. "Then we're gonna get started the first thing when we get home!"

Then Mabel had an even better idea. "And Star's wand works, now! We can get her help!"

Set down, Misao bounced in excitement. "That would be perfect! I want to do amazing things with her magic!"

"I'll tell her about it in class." She hugged Misao, who eagerly returned the embrace. "See you at lunch~!"

"Ja, bye-bye!" Misao sang back as they pulled from each other.

As Mabel headed off back to her homeroom, waving excitedly back at her the whole way, Misao sighed and waved back at her.

Ich liebe sie. She thought as she turned and headed to her classroom. Ich vermisse dich bereits.

Now that she had her schedule in order, it was time for her to buckle down and get to work on the whole reason she'd come to America to begin with–finishing her final year of High School. Right outside the partially opened classroom door to her AP Calculus class, she sighed and reached to put her hand on the door.

Du schaffst das. Das ist nur ein weiterer Kurs wie jeder andere. She reassured herself internally as she pushed the door open and stepped into class.

"Guten Tag, Bonjour, Hello, Buenos Dias, Konnichiwa~!" Misao greeted, putting her best foot forward and her sunniest smile on her face.

The response she received was more than encouraging, as numerous students waved and greeted her in turn. Among them, seated beside two empty desks at the front of the class, was Brittney Wong–who had taken a moment from looking at her financial portfolio to wave in greeting. Spying the desk next to her, Misao brightened and walked over to the empty desk.

"Is this spot taken?" She asked.

Brittney closed the screen of her phone and set it down. "No, go ahead and sit down."

Misao accepted the offer and took the seat. "I didn't know you had AP Calculus."

Brittney rolled her eyes, but not in a dismissive manner. "I take every AP Course this school can offer."

The exchange student was relieved. Oh, dieser kurs wird überhaupt nicht schlimm sein.

With a sage nod, Misao understood. "Even in a fun school like this, our parents have high expectations of us."

"You have no idea," Brittney replied, "You think I can take over this entire school for nothing? I need to always be top three in the whole school if I want the money to do anything here."

This piqued Misao's interest. "Top three, not number one? Wow… your parents are pretty laid back."

"It's hard to hold onto number one at this school, so they cut me some slack rather than do something Vanderhoff-worthy," Brittney muttered.

At the thought of academic competition, Misao had to know. "So… who's number one?"

"Marco," Brittney said like Misao should know this.

"Quoi?" Misao would've never suspected him. "He seems more of… hmm… a jock."

And Brittney had to stuff a very sharp laugh. "Hm?! He declined every sports club because he didn't want to get bruised."

"… You've seen him fight, maybe he didn't want to bruise others?" The exchange student noted.

Brittney considered the possibility. "No… he was a wuss before Star gave him something to throw hands with."

That brought a giggle spilling from Misao. "So, he's much cooler, now?"

"From a purely objective standpoint, and that's it," Brittney quickly said.

Just as Misao was about to needle Brittney now, a hurried Heather entered the class and bolted to her seat.

"Sorry I'm late!" She said before she realized Misao was sitting between her and Brittney. "Oh!"

"Hallo," Misao greeted with a wave. "You take AP Calculus, too?"

"Yeah," Heather said as she put her books in her desk. "If I keep my grades up, I have a scholarship to UCLA with my name on it."

Brittney gestured to Heather. "Meet number three in the whole school."

Misao cupped her cheeks and looked back and forth beaming at her neighbors. "We can be study buddies!"

Heather brought a hand to her lips and giggled. "Wow, this is the most fun the class has been since Jackie was here."

Brittney gave the newly arrived girl a bit of a sharper look. "Let's see how long that lasts."

That was a grim reminder for Misao. This was, after all, the Den of the Geek…

As if on cue, the door opened again, and the classroom's teacher walked in. He was a fair-skinned man of average height with a weedy build, wearing a white button-down shirt with a black tie, and gray pants. He had short cut black hair that matched his dark eyes and the glasses he wore.

When Misao looked, she had a pang of dread as she watched him scan the classroom with an air not unlike Trip and Van… like he was a man assured of his superiority over the people before him and he knew it in his heart.

That dread was confirmed when he spoke, his voice projecting across the room like a young man with grievances against his students. "Well, I see everyone had a nice time at the dance this past weekend. Let's wring all that joy and euphoria out, before you start thinking there's hope for any of you."

Verflixt. Misao thought.

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You're on your own, kid, but at least you're not alone.

 

[The Ero-Sennin]

Here we are with more preview material, this time from chapter 3 of Volume 7: Supervillain.

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High School schedules were annoying. While most days Drew would have a chance to sit in class with Heather, today was the day she just happened to have AP Calculus, so she wasn't in first period where he, Jo, and Dipper normally hung together. Dipper wasn't there, either; Jo was kind of moody about that but not to the antagonistic degree she'd been before the dance. At the very least, she'd be in higher spirits when she could hang out with the other girls at lunch.

Heather will be there, too. Drew thought with no small anticipation at the prospect, as he made his way to his locker between the class changes. I really missed her.

Even with how eventful the weekend was, and all the distractions and interactions he enjoyed, she had never left the back of his mind. It really had felt like months since he'd spoken to her, and he was more than eager to pick up where they had left off that afternoon before his fight with Saberizer.

Maybe she'll be up for sneaking off to Britta's again. He thought with a small smile.

He had just reached his locker, when the school's janitor, a blonde-haired, mustachioed man in a blue boiler suit called over to him. "Uh, hey? Watch your step right there, okay? I just mopped."

Drew stopped and looked at the floor. Indeed, it was freshly mopped. Taking another look, he was even surprised to see wet floor signs set up on both sides of the wet area. He looked at the janitor, confused.

"… Uh… thanks?" He offered.

The janitor stared at him. "Thanks for what?"

"Normally you don't…" He stopped.

The janitor, looking panicked, quickly asked. "Normally I don't what?"

Drew looked at the care and vigilance towards the wet floor, then back towards the janitor. "Nevermind, thanks for the heads up."

"No problem, it's my job, you know?" The janitor said quickly. "Because I'm the school janitor! I've been here for 20 years, and I'll be here for 20 more, yep."

Drew nodded. "Okay, man. Just… uh… keep up the good work?"

"We have already established that this is my job, now uh… don't pay me any mind and go back to whatever you were doing, the next bell is going to ring soon," the janitor said before going back to mopping the floor and calling out kids walking towards the wet floor signs.

Turning back to his locker, Drew shook his head. How does a school getting by at least three one-percenters and the literal ruler of a magical kingdom only hire weirdos?

As he opened his locker, he paused. Why is THAT even a question?!

Rather than torment himself with further questions, he just reached for his textbook just as someone called to him.

"Hey, um, Drew–eep!" He almost jumped when he heard a squeak and the sound of feet slipping on the wet floor. Closing his locker, he found Sabrina Backintosh struggling to keep from falling as her cheerleader uniform's sneakers lost their grip on the freshly mopped floor.

Drew was quick on the draw, using his telekinesis without thinking to arrest Sabrina's falling long enough to catch her by the hand and pull her away from the wet floor and close to him.

Letting out a squeak, Sabrina slipped forward–but Drew caught her with his other hand on her shoulder. For a moment, the green-eyed brunette looked up at him in surprise at his agility, before she took a half-step back from him.

The overly concerned janitor bad at trying to be inconspicuous looked over. "Hey, there are signs!"

"Th-thank you!" She quickly said, hoping to quickly talk past her near spill… and the fact that he was still holding her hand.

Drew nodded and released her from both his hands. "No problem. You made it through Spirit Week without taking a fall, so… it'd be bad to break the streak before second period, huh?"

In her heart of hearts, Sabrina told herself not to tell Drew about the spill she took getting out of bed this morning as she agreed. "Yeah. So, how was your weekend?" She asked, struggling to fight down her normal nervous stutter.

Drew smiled at the mousy cheerleader. "It was all right, I spent all of Sunday at home relaxing."

Because he was still grounded, of course, but having a lock on his door helped make it more bearable. "What about you?"

"Um… about the same. I stayed at home in bed all day because the dance took a lot out of me."

Drew sympathized. "Yeah… I'm usually completely drained after a big event, too."

He's been having more of those; though, hanging out with his group of friends would be nicer without the fate of the universe being in the balance.

Sabrina relaxed, her smile reflecting it. "I-introvert problems, am I right?"

"You're right," he answered with a similar friendliness. "So, what's up?"

With the ice broken, Sabrina felt free to fidget a little. "You know, we have lunch at the same time, right?"

Drew nodded. "Uh huh?"

"I was wondering… if you wanted… to…" Sabrina reached up and messed with her hair before spitting it out. "Sit with me for lunch? You know… maybe hang out for a little bit?"

Drew stared at her in muted surprise much like when she asked him to the dance.

He had a really good time with Sabrina, nothing was ever going to change that, yet Andrew McCormick didn't think there was much more to it than that. He was just someone's companion at a school dance. Sure, he knew there'd be friendly smiles and waves for the rest of the year, but he was also under the assumption that everyone was supposed to go back to their respective social circles afterward.

He had even made peace with it. Though the shyest cheerleader to ever lead cheers, Sabrina was still a cheerleader, and he was a comic book nerd.

"Um… really?" He asked.

Sabrina nodded. "I had a good time at the dance, and I wanted to do that more…?"

"Oh, right."

So he had made that good of an impression. He inwardly cursed himself for having self-doubts about being a pleasant person to hang out with.

Sabrina rocked from side to side, while rubbing her right forearm with her left hand. "… So…?"

Before Drew could answer her, the very source of his self-doubts walked right up to him and Sabrina. Trip, strutting like he owned the school, lifted a curious eyebrow at the sight of Drew and Sabrina within such proximity. He tilted his head to the side more and squinted a little at Drew, as if he was trying to recognize him. Van was of course beside him, looking more confused at Drew's appearance than the fact that he was chatting with a girl out of his league.

"Huh, excuse me," Trip addressed him, "You wouldn't happen to know an Andrew McCormick, would you?"

Drew looked at Sabrina, then back at Trip. "It's me, Trip. I got fixed up after my accident last week so I could go to the dance."

Trip nodded. "Well, I see you got some other work in besides. Did you sell that ratty old comic to afford it, because if so? You didn't get your money's worth."

And there it was.

"And what's up with this?" Van asked as he gestured between Drew and Sabrina. "First Hope Hadley and that fat fuck, and now a cheerleader's talking to you?"

A grin splitting his lips, Trip opened his mouth to say something particularly cutting off the top of his head, when Drew cut him off.

"I'm going to stop you right there, Trip," he said, his eyes empty save for contempt. "You? Your brother? In case I didn't make it clear enough at the game on Friday? Pay attention."

He gestured between thee two of them. "Go fuck yourselves–or each other. Whichever helps you feel better about being miserable dumb fucks with no friends and a Dad who doesn't love you."

Trip's mouth dropped open, while Van visibly recoiled from the sheer venom in Drew's casually delivered but caustic rebuke. Beside Drew, Sabrina was similarly shocked by the vitriol he spat at his perennial bullies.

"You've got no friends, no personality, and no fucking common sense. If you didn't have all that money, you would be getting your asses kicked every day like you did during the game, by everyone," Drew snarled.

Van was startled further. "How do you know about–?"

"You shut up; I'm not done talking." Drew snapped at Van, and he fell quiet.

"I don't care how much money you've got, if you talk to me again?" He continued, "If you even come near me again? I will beat the shit out of both of you."

He promptly dropped his books on the floor, squared his shoulders, and stepped up to both brothers, making Trip take a step back on reflex.

"Or we can go right now," he offered. "Hell, see if you can pay someone to fight me in your place–since I hear you're too chickenshit to throw hands yourself."

The janitor, tightly gripping his mop, looked back and forth between the quarreling students, his own mouth agape.

Trip's face had gone from pale to the most incredible shade of red as the shock that Andrew McCormick, his favorite punching bag since middle school, was talking all the shit to him like he could back it up.

"I'm going to fucking kill you," Trip said, the ugliness and wickedness that seized him when he paid Goblin to go after Dipper rearing its ugly head.

"You're going to pay someone to kill me," Drew corrected him, completely absent of any care about what he just said. "Right?"

He looked at Van. "Are you gonna take a swing at me? Or are you going to stand there and look fucking stupid like you always do when this dipshit doesn't yap orders?"

Van sputtered; he honestly didn't have words for this. The Andrew McCormick he knew did not talk like this, nor did he do it with such confidence or intensity. He couldn't understand what was happening.

Seeing that no one was going to attack him, Drew stepped back, and placed his foot atop his dropped books. "If neither of you have shit to say, or don't want to fight me? Fuck off."

He finally spared Sabrina a look at that, and he found that the shock that had taken her was also replace,d but in her case by open awe and admiration. He averted his eyes back to his opponents, but the fact that Sabrina was extremely cute with that look of wonder made him feel even better than just saying what he wanted to say to the Vanderhoffs already did.

Trip took another few steps back and pointed at Drew. "Y-you're fucking dead, Andrew. Just you wait. Not now, not tomorrow, but just like Pine Tree, you're fucking getting yours!"

"But it's not now, so you can go," Drew snapped back before he heard the a quickly growing commotion down the hallway.

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Quite a lot going on...

 

[The Ero-Sennin]

Volume 7 nears completion. Literally two chapters an a ton of editing to do before it's ready to go. Until then, here is another preview update. Now with a different machine translated language.

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Over 1500 planes land per day at Los Angeles International Airport. Coming from all over the world, they range from single-engine civil prop planes to massive two and four engine jet airliners carrying hundreds of people. On this bright and sunny Monday morning, one plane went barely noticed as it lined up with the runway and began its final approach.

It was a small, white and gray-painted flying wing with a blended-wing-body and a pair of surprisingly quiet engines in pods also streamlined in the underside of the aircraft. Landing gear–a bicycle undercarriage with outrigger wheels under the middle of the wings–extended and the plane touched down.

Instead of approaching the terminal after it reached the end of the runway, the plane turned and taxied off towards a dark blue hangar where a sedan and two SUVs awaited.

Aboard the plane, a small Japanese woman with shiny black hair cut into a shoulder length bob, dressed in a dark-blue business suit with matching shoes and dark stockings.

Her gray eyes darted her right. Not to a window but to the wall-hugging screen of the private jet's cabin showing the world outside the aircraft as it rolled to a stop. She stared at the entourage waiting for her, as she spoke aloud.

「私たちのフライト で、 どれ 位 かかりました か ？」

Beside her, a woman similarly dressed, but taller, and with long fiery red hair that ended in yellow streaks at the end, replied.

「一時間と二十三分です。」

The smaller woman narrowed her eyes, before she got up. From her seat.

「またくだな 十年前には、これをしませんでした。」

The taller, more colorful woman giggled.

「しがたじゃないです。」

Then she spoke again, in English. "And also, ten years ago we didn't have anything this nice."

Giving her a withering look, the woman stepped towards the downward opening door, its wall folding out into a staircase. "True."

The taller woman then asked. "Though, would that stop you, Hyuuga-sama?"

Reaching the bottom of the steps, the woman stopped after touching the pavement and looked back at her taller companion.

"If I had to, I would swim the entire ocean to be here."

With that she headed towards the sedan awaiting them. "Now let's go, and resolve this unpleasant business."

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An new arrival.