Cobflicting Lives- Chapter 4: The Meeting (pt.1)

All my Double Hearted merch came in!!

This is such a wonderful creation by @kitsuneisi and @xmaruu11 and I may or may not have bought everything i could lol

The quality is amazing and I am so excited to plaster these stickers on litterally everything I own :>

(Also tango and mother Spore my beloved)

Funny little side note actually, Double Hearted / DDVAU gave me inspiration for certain aspects of my own story/fanfic, Conflicting Lives! Thank you Doody and Maruu for this amazing story a d artwork, and for giving us this amazing merch!

Conflicting Lives- Character Designs 3/?

Characters Introduced in Chapter 3!

Note: all character designs are made with Gacha Club due to a lack in my own artistic abilities at the current time. Please feel free to interpret my designs in your own style! There is one design from this chapter that CANNOT be changed, and that is Lunar. I do not own this character, that is why it cannot be changed.

Wynnrans

Crusians

If you saw this when it first came out an noticed a few are missing, I did that on purpose. I'm putting them on next chapters characrerbdesigns because they are more met there. Bear with me im still new to the whole writing thing

Conflicting Lives- Chapter 1: Late Again

Hi! I got this idea after reading a bunch of other hero/villain au fics, and wanted to try my hand at making my own! I hope you enjoy!

Word count: 1471

beep. beep. beep. beep.

Scythe groans as his alarm goes off for the…who knows how many times by now, likely the third or fourth. Finally looking up at his phone, he realizes what time it is.

8:30 “Shit!” Scythe curses as he rushes to get out of bed and get dressed. “I really need to get better at waking up.”

As he walks out of his room, still trying to pull on his shirt, Scythe sees Ella sitting on the couch, watching another random show that she must have found while browsing around. Without even turning around, Ella tells him, “There's food in the microwave for you. Hopefully it's still warm but maybe not since you woke up late again,” and only then does she turn around to look at Scythe with a glare shooting daggers.

Scythe sighs and looks down, “I know, I know you don’t have to remind me. I’m working on it,” he says defeatedly, knowing well that she was right. “Thank you for making food.” Instead of saying anything, she just turns back around and continues watching whatever she put on the TV.

Grabbing his cooling food and practically running out the front door, Scythe makes his way to his class. This would be the second time he was late to his 8am, and he only has this class, Feline Behavior and Psychology, three times a week. His professor isn’t necessarily keen on attendance, but he also isn’t the most lenient on it either.

Around 7 minutes of painfully speed walking from his dorm later, he arrives at his classroom and awkwardly walks in, praying he wouldn’t be noticed.

“Late again Mr. Cristaal.” the professor says, not exactly annoyed, but not happy either. Mostly disappointed honestly. 

Stiffening for a moment then accepting defeat, Scythe turns around, “Sorry Professor Scar. My alarm didn't wake me up.”

Sighing as Scythe walks to his seat, Scar turns his wheelchair to face towards the young ender hybrid, “That’s the 6th time you’ve used that excuse this semester.” shaking his head, Scar turns back towards the board. “Just see me after class and we’ll talk about it” he says, trying to be a bit more cheery, then continues with the lesson.

Scythe tried to pay attention to the lesson, but his mind inevitably wandered off somewhere else. This somewhere else just so happened to be the night before when him and the villain known as Tanuki were causing some mischief.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Damn Ender, you really got some spunk!” Tanuki credited Scythe. He obviously can’t go by his real name, and the media deemed him to be named Ender with his Enderman features being more prominent thanks to his illusion magic. He looks like a completely different person.

His horns are larger and thinner, he has almost no fair-toned skin (only a few spare patches down the right side of his body), most of his hair was purple instead of being split ginger and purple, and both of his eyes are purple instead of only his left. It definitely wasn't easy holding this major of an illusion for so long either; months of training and exercises were needed for the illusion to be completely stable. Funnily enough, he does the same kind of illusion while he’s working for the agency too, but that’s a different story for a different time.

“You’re not too bad yourself oldie! Can you catch up to me though?” Scythe replies as he teleports away to another rooftop.

Now Tanuki was the type of guy to never back down from a challenge, “Oldie?! I’m not even that old you blummin idiot!” he said, laughing as he pursued Scythe across the rooftops of Hermiton. 

Tanuki was actually a good friend of his, and he even helped Scythe get more confident and stable with his illusions. With this, he has seen Scythe without any illusion applied. Scythe had of course seen Tanuki outside of villain shenanigans as well, and his name is Joel. In times like this, when they’re just having fun after a night of doing who knows what and causing some chaos just for the hell of it, they tend to just chat.

There was one time where they chatted about Scythe's college work, another where Joel was talking about his two partners (being teased by Scythe the whole time, of course), then there was one night where they were just watching the stars move by in comfortable silence.

This night, however, the two were chasing each other and messing around all the way until the late hours of the night, and around probably 11:30pm, Scythe finally started to feel tired, and figured it probably best he get home to Cursia before he gets no sleep at all. 

“Well it’s probably about time I head home. See you another night Tanuki!” Scythe said, stretching, as Joel caught up to him on what would inevitably be the last rooftop of the night.

“Pleasure as always, Ender. See you next time!” Joel replied with a smile, and they both went their separate ways.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“...ythe, can you hear me?” Scythe sat up with a jolt, Scar next to him in his wheelchair. Looking around the room, he saw that all the other seats were empty, the projector turned off, and Scar looking at him a bit worriedly.

Scythe rubbed his eyes, “Shi- uh- crap sorry Scar. Apparently I didn't get back at as descent of a time as I thought I did.” He didn't meet Scars gaze. Not because it was angry or scolding, but because it was full of pity and worry.

Scar sighed and put his hand on Scythe’s arm, “Were you… out with Joel again?” he asked, and Scythe knew exactly what Scar meant by out.

Though to most Scar would seem like a simple college professor in a Cursian College, he had a few different tricks up his sleeve. This being said, he was well aware of what Scythe and Joel got up to at times, sometimes even joining in himself, even if only just to let off a bit of steam.

Scythe knew he couldn't pass it off any longer, and he just nodded and explained, “I thought I would be able to get home sooner than I did, but apparently I didn't have enough energy to be as fast as I hoped to be.”

“I can’t always get you the material from the day, you know that right Scythe? As much as I would like to help you as a friend, I can’t always help you as your professor.” Scar said as he turned his wheelchair back towards the front of the room, and his desk. Turning his head around one more time, Scar gave Scythe one last bit of advice, “Just try not to fall too far behind. I’ll email you the material that we went over today, just make sure you get your work done.” 

As Scar turned back and started heading towards his desk, Scythe stood up and replied, “I’ll try. You might have to help me when you join in some nights though.” He caught Scar chuckling and shaking his head before turning and walking out of the classroom, towards the opposite side of the building for his next class.

Bzzt. bzzt.

Scythe pulled out his phone, checking his notifications. It had to have been something important to go through his do not disturb; not many things do after all.

New Message from Spore: Agency, 30 minutes, mandatory attendance for all recipients.

Scythe sighs, turns around, and starts heading back towards his dorm to drop off his stuff. Swiping away the message, he pulls up his texts with Scar.

Scythe: Did you get it too?

Scar: Yup. Do you think you’ll make it?

Scythe: If I can get back to my dorm quick enough without needing to teleport.

Scar: Good luck then. Meet you there, and DON’T be late. It won't end well for anyone.

Scythe: I know I know and I won't. Meet ya there.

After the lovely reminder of his increasing tardiness and time management issues, Scythe decides to start speed walking back, which turns into a light run as he exits the building.

He makes it back to his dorm in 3 minutes flat, thankfully, and hurries into his room past a curious Ella. He changes into his uniform, hidden by an illusion to the public eye, and hurries back out. Before he can make it out however, Ella grabs his arm and he looks back.

“Where are you going?” Ella asks. “Agency meeting, mandatory and last minute, as always.” Scythe replies quickly, and Ella lets go immediately. As he closes the door, he hears Ella say something along the lines of “Good luck,” before running back out the door and heading towards Hermiton, and the Agency Building.

Next>>>

Conflicting Lives- Chapter 3: Possible Collaboration

Word Count: 2354

Scythe was sat back down at the meeting table, as were the five district heads and Storyteller. Not many words had been said since they all sat back down, both to Scythe’s gratitude and dismay, the seedling of anxiety in the pit of his stomach only growing as more silent seconds passed by. his gaze moving between the 6 people in front of him. He only hoped that his eyes didn't show what was going through his head.

They were all looking at him, well- almost all of them. The only person who wasn't really looking at him was Storyteller. Of course, they were looking at him like Voidling, Tinkerer, Strawberry, Atlas, and CuteGuy were, but they were more so looking through him instead of actually at him. Whether that was better or worse, Scythe couldn't really decide.

“Storyteller requested that she be able to work along side you in this case, so long as the vote results in a yes.” Atlas spoke up first, breaking the slightly tense air. It made since that they spoke first, being the Survan Hero District head and therefore, Scythe’s boss. His voice was steady outwardly, but Scythe was able to see a the smallest hint of knowing in his eyes.

Storyteller - or rather Lunar - simply nodded along with Atlas’ words, their own eyes giving nothing away. Scythe locked eyes with her for just a moment before looking back at Atlas, the anxiety in his stomach both lessening and growing at the same time.

“I’m sure I’d be able to do that. If i mask ask though, is there any specific reason why Storyteller would like to work with me specifically?” Scythe responded, keeping his voice as calm and professional as he could. Of course, he was pretty sure that he already knew the reason why Lunar wanted to work with him specifically, but thought that it would only be polite to ask anyways.

Atlas simply turned to look at Lunar, gesturing his hand forwards just slightly so that she could say the reason herself. Lunar and Scythe knew Atlas outside of formalities as well, and all three for them being more than just what they appeared to be to the other 4 district heads.

“I believe that your access to all areas of Survas would be beneficial to my part of the.. investigation. I also think that our abilities could work well together in the event of anything unfortunate happening in the process.” Lunar responded, actually looking at Scythe rather than through him now, her voice steady, calm, and carrying a professional tone to it. She had an excellent poker face, and anyone that didnt know them wouldn't be able to tell that there was more to their words then she let on.

Scythe slowly and silently nodded as she spoke, listening to her words carefully. The reason was actually pretty close to what he guessed it would be when said in front of the district heads, surprisingly enough. One of his ears flicked slightly as he thought of how he would respond, though another voice spoke before he could. “So, would you be willing to assist Storyteller in their investigation then?” Voidling chimed in, looking at Scythe from behind his mask with a tone that did leave room for him to refuse if he wanted to, though Scythe was still able to tell that the Hermiton hero head was hoping that he would say yes.

Luckily, he hadn’t planned on saying no, and looked at Voidling with a nod. “Yes, I am.” Scythe said simply, keeping his response short and polite, the tip of his tail swaying from one side to the other before stilling once more.

“Well then, you’re free to go home Lux. Thank you for staying behind, and enjoy the rest of your day.” Voidling responded with a small nod himself, raising his arm to check his communicator for any new messages or alerts. “Of course” Scythe responded with a small and polite smile, standing up from the chair he stood in and walking out of the meeting room. As the door to the elevator closed, he let out a breath of relief that he hadn't even realized he had been holding, his tail flicking from side to side and his ears dropping just slightly.

That was… certainly something, to say the least. He wouldn’t even be surprised if he got a message from Lunar later asking to talk about what happened, that is, if he didn't message them first. Scythe’s eyes closed as he took a couple of deep breaths, the elevator dinging softly as it descended past each floor.

Once the sturdy metal mechanism came to a stop, Scythe’s eyes were open once more, his previous anxieties calmed and his mind focused on going home. He stepped out the elevator calmly once the door slid open, giving a small and friendly wave to employees he passed by on his way out of the building.

Once outside, Scythe opened his communicator that rested on his right forearm, opening his personal messages and finding Ella’s contact, named ‘Sunstone’, sending her a small and quick message.

Scythe: On my way home now, will probably be like 20 or 30 minutes.

He closed his communicator after sending the message, taking a breath of the crisp and cool autumn air before heading off in the direction of his apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~

Scythe fumbled more than he usually did to get the key into the door of his and Ella’s apartment, finally managing to turn the key and open the door after far more attempts than he was willing to admit to anyone.

On his way back, he had taking a tiny detour through a back alley, opening his inventory and retrieving his hoodie, slipping it back over its head and removing his eye mask from his face, letting it sit loosely around his neck like it had been just over an hour earlier. The sky blue cloth sleeve that covered the majority of his tail in uniform had been removed to stored in his inventory until he got changed out of said uniform.

“Hey Sunstone, I’m back!” Scythe said, his raised voice ringing through the small apartment as he closed the door behind him, re-locking it and taking his hoodie off.

Ella appeared from around the corner where the bedrooms were a few short moments later, her long, dark brown hair tied up in a half-loose ponytail, a soft and small smile adorning her face.

“Welcome back, how’d it go?” She asked as she walked towards him, having to tilt her head back quite a bit just to look up at him thanks to their significant height difference.

“It was good. Apparently Sam and I have been attracting so much attention that the heads want to hire reporters to try and get more info on us.” Scythe replied, a small smile appearing on his lips. “And do you, uh, mind if I invite Lunar over for a bit? Her and I need to talk about a few things. They’re one of the reporters that Voidling and the others picked out.”

Ella was quiet for a few seconds, before sighing and shaking her head slightly. She never did like his double, or rather triple life that he had, but she also knew there wasn't a whole lot she could do about it either.

“Yeah, sure, I don't really mind. I’ve got to get ready to go to my classes anyways.” Ella responded, reaching up and grabbing the collor of his hero uniform and pulling him down just enough to where she could plant a small kiss on his cheek.

“And maybe if you didn’t rob important places, you wouldn't be potentially under investigation.” She said, her voice a bit lower this time, not-so-subtly scolding him for his reckless actions. She let go of his collar and turned around, walking back towards her room. “I’m going to take a shower.”

Scythe was still for several seconds, still half-bent over from Ella pulling him downwards by the collar of his uniform, his cheeks dusted a soft pinkish-purple color. He did not expect that, to say the very least, and was left a bit flustered as she walked away, disappearing down the hallway once more.

He blanked several times and shook his slightly to re-compose himself, standing back up straight as his tail flicked to the side and curled slightly at the end. He took a small breath before walking down the previously mentioned hallway and into his own room, closing the door behind him and taking off his uniform into far more comfortable clothing.

When Scythe stepped out of his room a few minutes later he was wearing a simple light gray t-shirt and dark red sweatpants. He saw the bathroom door closed across the relatively small hallway from him with the light on, and the soft sound of water hitting the bathtub and walls met his ears. Ella must already be in the shower then.

He walked into the living room, plopping down on the couch and grabbing the tv remote, turning it on and flipping through channels until he landed on something that looked interesting enough. He then reached into the pocket of his sweatpants and pulled out his phone, unlocking it and going to his messages, clicking on the one named ‘Crystal’

Scythe: Hey, you able to come over? Scythe: We should probably talk about the meeting.

After hitting send, Scythe began to mindlessly run his fingers through the tuft of hair at the end of his tail. It was a small subconscious habit he had when he felt nervous or anxious about something, and it was a good few minutes of him just looking at his phone screen before three little dots appeared, signaling that Lunar was typing back.

Crystal: Yeah, I can but I might be a little bit. Just got back to my own place a couple of minutes ago and haven't really been able to eat anything yet today, so I’m going to do that first. Scythe: Alright, sounds good. Take your time.

He responded almost instantly, quickly reading over Lunar’s message before he hit send. He set his phone down next to him on the couch cushion, closing his eyes and taking a small breath. He felt a bit silly for getting so worked up over a conversation that was most likely just going to be like any other time him and Lunar talked about anything relating to villain or vigilante work, but its not like he could exactly change that very easily, so all he did was take another breath.

When he opened his eyes again, Scythe focused on whatever channel it was that he put on the tv, relaxing into the couch just a little more. It seemed to be some sort of cheesy old-time soap opera type movie, a woman dramatically swooning backwards over what was presumably her lovers arm, the latter bending down over her and trying to comfort her.

Scythe scoffed, amused at just how corny the movie really was. How and why he decided on this channel on all things, he didn't really know, and after what felt like no time at all, he heard a knock at the front door. He looked over his shoulder at the noise, his ears lifting slightly before he pushed himself off the couch with a small grunt.

He unlocked the door once he got to it, grabbing and twisting the handle to open the door, Lunar standing on the other side of it in a dark blue turtleneck sweater and black stockings. She seemed to be in her cat-like form, her ears and tail resembling that of a feline hybrid’s, more notably a tabby cat in particular.

Scythe offered a small smile as he stepped aside to let them in, closing the door behind her and walking back over to the couch, the both of them sitting down on it. Lunar looked over at the tv, their head tilting to the side slightly as she looked at what was playing.

“..what the hell are you watching Scythe?” They asked, their voice more curious than anything. Her eyes stuck to the tv screen for another moment before she turned her head to look at Scythe, on of their eyebrows raised.

“Honestly?” Scythe started, shrugging his shoulders and looking at the tv screen himself. “I have no fucking clue.”

Lunar scoffed, but it was more amused than anything, a small smile even appearing on her lips for a moment, her head shaking just slightly.

It was then quiet for a good while, both the enderman hybrid and the cristaline watching the terrible cheesy show on the television. They both knew that they had to talk about the meeting at some point, and the possibility of all too many different outcomes appearing scarily close on the not-so-distant horizon.

“So… about the meeting.” Scythe eventually said, his quieter-than-normal voice breaking the strangely tense air between him and Lunar. He looked away from the tv and at them, looking for any sort of reaction, kind of hoping for one that wasn't negative.

Lunar simply nodded in response, their own gaze remaining on the tv screen for a little while longer before she too turned her head to look at Scythe, her expression unreadable. “I’ve already thought of a couple of different ideas, if you want to hear them.”

His eyes widened just slightly in surprise. Not surprise from Lunar already having an idea already, he knew her well enough by now to know that she always had some sort of plan for anything that came across her plate, but instead surprise from her having multiple different alternatives. That, he had to admit, was something that he wasn't quite expecting.

“Oh, uh- yeah, sure. Might as well, I guess.” He responded after a moment, blinking a few times to re-compose himself, turning a bit more towards Lunar as he waited to hear their ideas.

Lunar nodded, turning towards Scythe as well, her tail curling into and resting in her lap. “So, here’s what I was thinking…”

Conflicting Lives Tags List and Directory

Why hello there! This is a post of all tags to use for my Hermitcraft/Life Series Hero and Villain AU, Conflicting Lives! This is an extension of the materpost and more information is found there!

TAG LIST

#conflictinglives - any and everything to do with Conflicting Lives! #cl art - art, doodles, sketches, and anything other form of art of Conflicting Lives characters! #cl ask - any responses or answers to asks related to or about Conflicting Lives #cl fanart - any and all Conflicting Lives art not made by me that I come across! #cl writing - chapters and other little silly writing works that I consider to be cannon to Conflicting Lives (and some silly things like the incorrect quotes) #cl info - this is where worldbuilding information like the various powers and how the world looks #cl ref - used for any character references for anyone new introduced throughout the story chapters!

Something to note, not all of these tags are not exactly existent yet, and that's mostly due to me being super forgetful and getting this done way later than I would've liked. Also because I don't really have anything to use for some of them, like the asks one at the time of posting this.

Have Some Incorrect Quotes

Scar: I don't know how to tell you this, but... I love you. Grian: That's great, Scar. Especially considering the fact we've been married for 6 fucking years.

Grian: You are the love of my life and I would do anything within reason to make you happy. Scar: I would be happy if you ate, stayed hydrated and got a reasonable amount of sleep. Grian: I said within reason, Scar. How about I murder that guy? Scar: So murder is in reason but proper self care isn't? Grian: Well, duh. What kind of question is that?

Grian: Did it hurt when you fell- Scar: From heaven? Wow, I didn’t think you were such a flirt- Grian: No, I meant when you fell down the stairs. Scar: ... Grian: You just laid there for 15 minutes.

Grian: So you like cats? Scar: Yeah. Grian: *tries to impress them by slowly pushing a glass off the table*

Grian: What are you in the mood for? Scar: World domination. Grian: That's a bit ambitious. Scar: You are my world. Grian: Aww... Scar: Grian: Scar: Grian: OH.

Grian: When you said 'Magic in Bed', I wasn't expecting this... Scar: *pulls out card from deck* Now, was this your card? Grian: Holy moly-

Grian: I’m proud to identify as morosexual. I’m attracted to dumbasses and dumbasses exclusively. Someone asked me what the Spanish word for "tortilla" was once, and now I dream of kissing them under the moonlight. Scar: What kind of animal is the Pink Panther? Grian, already taking off their clothes: God, Scar, you’re so fucking stupid.

Grian: *seductively takes off glasses* Grian: Wow... Scar: *blushes* Haha... what? Grian: You're really fucking blurry.

Grian: I’m in love with you. Scar: We called off the prank war last night at midnight, dork. Grian: I know. Scar: Ah. Okay. Um. Cool. Neat. Very cool. Cool. Cool. Coolcoolcool-

Grian: Valentine’s day is just a consumerist holiday that holds no real value other than drive people insane buying heart shaped chocolates for their significant others and pos- Scar: I wrote you a poem. Grian, already crying:You did?

Scar: Relationships should be 50/50. Grian cooks us dinner while I sit on the kitchen counter looking pretty.

My commissions are still open! Ypi can view my prices and example artwork on my Ko-Fi!

any trans person reading this I love you

any woman reading this I love you

any poc minority reading this I love you

any queer person reading this I love you

if ever you find symbolism in my writing please tell me i’d like to know about it too

no one tells you how much of life takes practice. not just writing, painting, running, singing, etc, but practicing how to make friends. how to make the right ones. getting practiced at how to be a good friend, a good sibling, a good person. practice identifying when people haven’t earned that. learning to recognize your right to rage and, eventually, how to offer mercy. so much of life is muscle memory, and i’ve begun to realize there are so many more parts of ourselves to flex and stretch and strengthen than those we’re taught in anatomy lessons