Reality Check

The Unexpected Visitor

Greek Tragedy (by The Wombats)

"We're smashing mics in karaoke bars. You're running late with half your make-up on . . ."

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Orion didn't like detours.

Whenever he was on a quest, it was better to not get distracted or unfocused. Now that they'd finally recruited a group to fight Nobody (took them long enough!), he would've preferred to head straight to wherever this villain was and get his father figure back. To be honest, he would've preferred to ignore everything else and go alone to rescue Doc Twilight.

But then, Orion would just be dooming himself and leaving his friends behind. While he knew he could count on himself to get the job done, he also would've felt bad about ditching Bethany . . . along with her friends, who he'd gradually started to think of as his own friends. But he'd never say that aloud. Him, having friends? A few years ago, he would've completely denied the idea.

Orion never wanted anyone to think that, even if Gwen was growing on him. Somehow, she made him feel better about himself, with her relentless optimism and bright smile. He didn't think being optimistic was a realistic outlook on life, especially after all he'd been through. The whole "non-violence" thing was also really unhelpful, but he was starting to think of her as a friend nonetheless.

He was also slowly warming up to Owen and Kiel (though he still definitely thought they were annoying), but he really could've cared less about Charm (he was impressed with her brilliantness, but that was it). Lastly, he didn't know what to think about Kara.

She was a time criminal who'd been in jail, which was the same place that Orion had locked up hundreds of supervillians. Just the sight of a criminal made an anger swell up in his chest, along with a need for justice to be fulfilled. But since she didn't seem nearly as bad as the criminals he'd dealt with, he didn't think she'd be a bad person to have around, either.

Since he liked being alone, Orion's ideal way of enjoying himself wasn't by being surrounded by six other people — most of which deeply annoyed him. The only one who didn't annoy him so much was Gwen, but the same couldn't be said for the rest of the group.

It felt weird and unusual to have so much company, but he didn't completely hate it, either. Orion just wasn't used to it, and he didn't know if he ever would be. He was used to spending time with one or two people all his life, and that was it. He reminded himself that they wouldn't be on this mission forever. It'd only last for the next day or two before they defeated Nobody . . . if that even turned out to be successful.

He could only hope that this mission wasn't going to be a waste of time. If they failed to save Doc Twilight, it would be. There was also defeating Nobody to think about, but he cared more about saving his father figure over defeating a villain who he'd never met. Orion might've lost his father and sister figure a few times, but he was determined not to lose them again.

If this Nobody guy really did have Doc Twilight like Bethany said he did, then Orion wanted him to suffer greatly. It was only fair for the injustices Nobody had caused, along with the evil act of destroying Kiel's world and trying to destroy others. The more Orion heard about Nobody, the more he grew worried. Judging from everything he'd seen, Nobody was more powerful than he'd thought. They would all be doomed if they failed on this mission.

And while finding Nobody right away was exactly what he and his friends had agreed on doing, it wasn't working out so well at this point. Like he'd mentioned before, Orion didn't like detours. He tried to avoid them at all costs. But unfortunately, he wasn't alone anymore, so the decisions had to be made by the entire group.