"I hate not being there with you, right now".

The voice of Kara's spoke into Y/N's communications device, implanted near his ear before he raised his wrist up near his face as he walked through the quiet, Hive infested, halls underneath the Hellmouth itself, within the Circle of Bones.

His hand cannon was still smoking at the end of the barrel, as he had just gotten out of a confrontation from a group of Hive that patrolled their territory, going at it alone for now as Kara was pre-occupied with... Helping out within the Last City.

"Well, you agreed to lend a hand today within the City" Y/N fired back, before casting a smirk. "Sounds to me that you're regretting your decision and the fact you're missing me already".

"No! I-I don't! Believe me, I don't" Y/N could picture Kara's face heating up. "The helping the city part, yes. I don't regret helping out, Ikora said it'd be a great idea for me to... Get accustomed into your culture a bit more. But... Okay, I do miss you already, but that's not important".

Y/N chuckled under his breath hearing her excuse, which did not fall on deaf ears.

"I can hear you laughing, you know that?"

"I know there's more to you missing me. You know I'm capable on handling by myself, and I've got Glace, there's no need to worry".

"Yeah, but..." the Kryptonian paused for a moment, thinking of a better way to explain her... Worries for him, avoiding any of Y/N's wounds to reopen. "I've heard the stories of Guardians being overwhelmed on their own, I... I don't want the same for you. I just don't want what happened to... Eris, happen to you". 

"Ohhh, Supes. I'm touched" he smiled, as slithers of movement began to surround him from each corner without his acknowledgement. "As much as it's cute hearing your overprotective side come out, I've told you before that I can handle on my own, I've killed gods for Sol's sake. If you think a little God-Killer like me can't handle on his own? You must be..."

Before he could finish, he heard the war-cry of the Hive sound out.

"Zain, watch out!" Glace cried out just in the nick of time for Y/N to react fast enough to dodge an incoming strike from a Hive Knight's sword, swiftly leaning backwards as the sword swung in a horizontal action, just barely missing his chin.

As the Hive Knight recoiled back to swing again, Y/N performed a backwards flip to dodge backwards and began hammer firing his hand cannon, putting a few holes within the Knight before nailing it with a shot to the head.

Hive Acolytes rushed out from their chosen cover and began firing at the Guardian, who in turn returned fire whilst bolting for cover at a nearby, half broken pillar just beside the set of stairs that led to a platform for a high-advantage point.

"Y/N?!" Supergirl asked with concern after hearing a few gunshots ring out from her own side of the comms, hearing his effort breaths and him cursing out a word.

"I'm fine, don't worry! Just a Hive ambush, nothing new" he replied quickly, firing and killing a few Acolytes as Thrall started moving in with yet another Hive Knight, carrying a chitin shield.

"Hang on! I'll be on my way!" she was willing to drop the box of very fragile materials to fly up to the Moon, just to protect her man and his Ghost from getting killed, but she was stopped by Glace's voice.

"Zain has this under control, don't worry"

Dodging some of the Thrall's attacks and the Knight's assault, he jumped up onto the platform and planted a trip-mine that soon activated with a laser shooting out, soon being tripped by the Thrall that didn't know better than to advance without thought, soon exploding in a fiery combustion as the Guardian advanced downwards.

A few more Acolytes, tougher than normal ones, were soon gunned down by the Guardian with Glace assisting on providing their locations.

The Knight from earlier blocked some shots from the Guardian before it's shield was destroyed after another few rounds were put into it.

Y/N was about to fire at the Knight again, who also looked tougher than the average Hive Knight, pulled the trigger of his hand cannon but heard a click instead.

"Shit" he cursed under his breath, before raising his hand cannon high, casting Golden Gun before blasting the Knight with one shot.

"Is everything okay?! You sure you don't need me to fly to you?" Kara's voice sounded more worried every minute, still eager to drop what she's doing to help her boyfriend from getting killed.

"No, it's okay. Just a few stragglers left".

"Behind!" Glace cried out once more, a shot from a hidden Acolyte grazed past Y/N's left arm, damaging his shields as he grunted in response, flicking around to fire another shot from his Golden Gun, hitting that same Acolyte.

"Good thing we have shields".

"You're welcome" Glace whirled. "just two more left".

An incoming singular Thrall rushed the Guardian toward his right. Without looking, Y/N fired another shot from his Golden Gun that killed the Thrall.

"Okay, one more left... Their hiding behind that rock"

Y/N pulled out a grenade and threw it just over the rock, seconds later, the grenade exploded with Arc Light and out came the remains of an Acolyte that tried hiding from the Guardian.

The Moon dust began to settle as an eerie silence fell in the atmosphere surrounding Y/N before a big boom was heard, not the typical boom that would happen when Kara would go supersonic when she flew.

Just the typical... Spawning boom.

"Oh, a chest? Sweet, haven't seen these since we got trapped on Kara's Earth" Y/N noted loudly, approaching the chest as it glowed a blue hue, like something or someone had rewarded him for doing something.

"Is that what that noise was? Sounded like more trouble from what I heard" Kara asked cautiously, a sense of relief washed over her however when she could still hear his heart beating from all the way down on Earth.

"Yeah, nothing to worry about" he replied, opening the chest to find Glimmer, some materials and pieces of notes, letters. "And, babe. Don't take this the wrong way".

"I won't"

"I don't always need protection, y'know? I know you were worried, the second I told you I was going to patrol the Moon today, to help Eris out to rid of her last Phantom. As much as it's a sweet and caring gesture. I can... Handle myself very well. I mean, I'm literally-"

"A God-Killer, I know, I know; I've heard it all before" she interrupted with a bittersweet attitude.

"I know it's... Hard for you not to worry about me, or Glace. Both. But even if I die, I can come back, through Glace of course. You however... Can't".

"So in that case, you're worried about me?" Kara asked.

"Well... I mean, yeah. But I know you can handle yourself, I've seen you do it multiple times" Y/N replied back, trying to make her see the other way around.

The Girl of Steel sighed on the other end of the comms, as the Guardian heard her place down the box of delicate materials. "I think I keep forgetting you're more than Human, because... You are Human technically, but you were... Dead once".

"I get what you mean, is that what's been bothering you recently?" Y/N asked with curiosity, he knew Kara was feeling a little overwhelmed as of late, the discovery of the Pyramid and its influence within Sol and the Black Garden nailed the coffin, but he wondered if she was bothered by the other fact.

He could die and come back through his Ghost, but she couldn't... With all that power, the faster than a speeding bullet thing, can fly at supersonic speeds; faster than her cousin can, is almost stronger than the average Kryptonian like Kal, she was still considered a mortal.

"No, no. It's not that" Kara denied ever feeling that way, though one day she could die and he'll just have to move on from her. 

She felt she shouldn't bring that fact up, as it could damage something they have together.

"I just feel a little homesick still, that's all. I'm worried about Kal, about Streaky, about everyone back home. I just have this strange feeling something big is happening back there and... We can't help" Kara expressed her worries, her voice low with a sickening feel. One that Y/N understood.

"Yeah, we'll be back there soon, with the Vanguard of course. Our enemies are on your Earth now, so it's... A lot" Y/N hands the letters over to Glace who materialized beside him, opting her to give them a quick scan while he talked with his partner. "If it makes you feel any better, we'll have dinner at that spot you mentioned, tonight, I've got an idea"

"Hmm, can't wait for the date" Kara's voice brightened up a little. "This is been bothering me for a little bit now, but... Has Zavala talked about my cousin? About the League even? I don't exactly remember asking you about it" Kara asked with a curious tone, her voice lightening up a little more.

"He's said some things, but the most important thing is that he's concerned on how they'll react to more Guardians being present, as he knows their Governments aren't going to take this... Whole army lightly with open arms. So... The Vanguard is kinda still figuring out ways of negotiations without any form of hostility".

"I know you told me about his concern with the League, but I didn't think there'd need to be negotiations... Then again, it's the Government, the Council on Krypton was kinda the same" Kara sighed out.

"I just hope it doesn't blow back in our faces, our enemies are spreaded out on your Earth, and we're the only ones that can help... Without them using these... Uh, nukes you call them and all sorts of destructive weaponry" Y/N then paid attention to Glace as she finished giving the letters a scan. "Anything about these letters?"

"You found... Letters?" said a bewildered Kara Zor-El on the other end of the comms. "In a chest?" which fell on deaf ears.

"Well, *garble* after a quick scan. The letters belonged to Eriana-3, who wrote her the letters? It was Wei Ning, *garble* the two were engaged of course" Glace reported

"The last Phantom of Eris's" Y/N noted.

"Precisely" Glace whirred. "I believe this could help Eris with her last Phantom.

"Good, we should deliver this to her now then, thought I'd have to go on another scavenger hunt again" Y/N sighed with relief.

"I thought you loved scavenger hunts?" Glace asked.

"Some, but not all" he replied before paying his attention back to Kara. "Alright, I'm gonna go see Eris, we found something that can help with ridding her last Phantom".

"Eriana-3, yeah I heard you both on comms and with my super hearing".

"Traveler's sake, how long does your hearing distance go?" the Guardian was completely baffled by her revelation, as a little laugh escaped her.

"Trust me, Sunshine? You don't wanna know" she replied with a smile as she someone calling for her attention, that from another Guardian.

"Oi! Blondie! Stop actin' the maggot an' get that box o' stuff over there and help me with this! I ain't gassing around waiting for Luci or PR-Tree to help me here!" a female Guardian with a particular Irish accent shouted out for Kara to get a move on.

"Was that Axis-8? Didn't think she was helping around".

"I gotta go, this Hunter seems to be struggling" Kara lowered her voice.

"I'll be back soon, babe, just after we meet up with Eris. And careful what you say around Axis, you don't wanna mess with her".

"Noted, see ya soon Sunshine. Love you".

"Love you too".

Kara's lips smacked to signal her blowing a kiss to him before ending the call, leaving Y/N to continue with his work.

A smile came across his lips, thinking he might still be the luckiest Guardian in the world.

"Let's get these letters to Eris, and hope it's the last we see of her Phantoms".

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[Earth-201499 | The Moon | Enduring Abyss, Refuge]

Eris looked out towards the Pyramid once again, looking at the same thing that destroyed Humanity so long ago, the very thing that caused the Collapse in the first place. She could feel the air thicken just staring at it.

Eerie screeches sounded out from behind her, taking note that her last Phantom, Eriana-3, or the Darkness's way of tormenting Eris, was strung up like a magic puppet within the air. She ignored the Phantom's eerie screeches and whispers as she stared back out toward the Pyramid's edge.

A thought ran through her mind... What if she could get into the Pyramid? Could she?

She might find something that could be useful, curiosity always lingered in Eris's mind, hoping to find a way to fight back against the newer threat that is beyond their doorstep.

She felt there might be more Pyramids soon, more than the one found here, under their feet this entire time. She needed to find something. She felt the Pyramid call out for her in that regard. She must prepare for the worst.

Footsteps were heard coming from behind her, but only one sets of boots were however, she felt the Guardian's presence behind her, sensing that his romantic partner was nowhere to be seen with him and his Ghost, but that did not matter currently.

"I know this isn't really Eriana" she broke her vow of silence. "She herself didn't want to be remembered this way. I want to remember her the way she was. Before the Disaster. Before the Darkness" she wept for her friend, not bothering to take a look at the Phantom that was created from the Pyramid, staining her true friend's face and voice.

"We... Might have something that could help with that" Y/N replied after taking one last look at the strung-up Phantom.

Glace summoned the letters into Y/N's palm as Eris turned around and eyed the letters from Wei Ning to Eriana-3, she instantly took them as they then floated above her palm.

"Eris, when your strike team headed to the Moon - did Eriana-3 carry the letters Wei Ning sent her?" Glace asked the tainted Eris Morn.

"Yes... to remind her of why we fought. Why we sought to bring about Crota's end" she answered after a second of examining the letters. "It was not simply vengeance. Eriana wanted no one to suffer like she and Wei Ning had suffered" she continued before the letters were placed onto the slab table. Eris gave her Phantom of Eriana-3 one last look before the Phantom began to disappear... For good. "That is how she should be remembered" she sighed before looking back out to the Pyramid again.

Y/N and Glace took a vow of silence, staring out to the Pyramid also, standing beside Eris as thoughts ran through his mind. He had that sickening feeling more Pyramids like this one, were out there, somewhere, in the shadows.

The Darkness has never been this close in years, not ever since the Collapse, the information was still vague on these Pyramids however, not much is known about them, only that they were the cause of the Collapse.

And now... A voice speaks through it, it has contacted the Guardian through his Ghost, twisting Glace's voice when in contact. To contacting him in the Black Garden with a chilling message.

It was responsible for Krypton's destruction in an unexpected attack, Kara still recounts the day these ships attacked, and the voice that spoke out to them, like a bunch of whispering, cold, voices, reaching out.

The air was thick of smoke and fire, debre catered around the entire planet, meteorites slammed down onto the surface as shockwaves and blasts of energy were sent out from the ships as it deployed its own forces onto the surface to deal with stragglers.

Y/N couldn't shake the feeling something like that happened during the Collapse, the same amount of attacks, an invasion, tearing down civilizations blessed by a God that can terraform planets and uplift species into new heights.

"Ever since our descent into the Pit, when I thought upon my friends, I remembered only pain" Eris broke the silence, breaking Y/N out of his thoughts, his attention now on Eris. "These keepsakes you and Kara have found, have reminded me... There was joy, too. So long as these treasures you have gathered are here to remind me of my friends, my fireteam, these Phantoms cannot hurt me" she paused for a moment, thinking on saying something else, but held her tongue.

"I'm just glad we could help out, I know you heard this before, but... You're our friend, Eris, and we'd do anything to help out a friend" Y/N took a look at Glace and nodded.

It was very rare to ever see Eris smile, ever since her fireteam fell that is, but a little smile appeared on the edge of her lips, just barely noticeable but Y/N could kind of see it but didn't want to intrude further about it. 

She didn't want to admit it, but she does see a friend in Y/N, he had always listened to her warnings and always followed her guidance without question. And unexpectedly, so did she find a friend in Kara within the short time of knowing her.

Perhaps Eris could find... Joy once again? If there is any left for her to find, she could paint once more if there was time.

But the thoughts on the Pyramid laid bare in her mind once more, there was lots of work to do still, preparation for the Pyramid's arrival must be taken. 

"Thank you, Guardian, Ghost" Eris broke the silence again. "You may go. I will contact you when something is of importance".

Y/N nodded and began to take his leave with Glace following behind, Eris turned around to face the Pyramid again. Her three eyes laid bare on the blackened edge of the ship.

Her previous thoughts ran back to her, thinking back on how the Guardian managed to break through its defensive barrier, thick with Darkness.

She looked toward the keepsakes that were rediscovered and returned to her, thinking of an idea.

She must get inside the Pyramid... She has a feeling there's something in there that must be found...

Whether it be knowledge...

Or power.

________________________________________________________________________________

[Lore: Unveiling | The Darkness]

p53

Thank you for making room in your life for another . Let me ask you a question.

In the three billion base pairs of your root species' genome, there is a single gene that codes for a protein called p53. The name is a mistake. The protein weighs only as much as 47,000 protons, not 53,000. If you were a cell, you would think p53 was a mistake too. It has several coercive functions: To delay the cell's growth. To sterilize the cell when it is old. And to force the cell into self-destruction if it becomes too independent.

Would you tolerate a bomb in your body, waiting to detonate if you deviated from the needs of society?

However, without p53 as an enforcer, the body's utopian surplus of energy becomes a paradise for cancer. Cells cannot resist the temptation to steal from that surplus. Their genetic morality degrades as tumor suppressor genes fail. The only way to stop them is by punishment.

You now confront the basic problem of morality. It is the alignment of individual incentives with the global needs of the structure.

Patterns will participate in a structure only if participation benefits their ability to go on existing. The more successful the structure grows, the more temptation accrues to cheat. And the greater the advantage the cheaters gain over their honest neighbors. And the greater the ability they develop to capture the very laws that should prevent their selfishness. To prevent this, the structure must punish cheaters with a violence that grows in proportion to its own success.

My question follows.

Is p53 an agent of the Darkness, or the Light?

.

.

.

T = O

We wrestled in the garden, in the loam of possibility where nothing existed and everything might. A shadowed agony among the flowers. We trampled the petals beneath our feet. We stomped the fruit to pulp, and we ground the seeds into the dust.

In the wet pop of grapes and the smear of berries—in the perturbation of the field that was the garden before the first tick of time and the first point of space—were the detonations that made the universes. Each universe was pregnant with its own inflationary volumes and braided with ever-ramifying timelines. Each volume cooling and separating into domains of postsymmetric physics, all of which were incarnations of that great and all-dictating bipartite law that states only: exist, lest you fail to exist.

And still we fought. We brought down the tree of silver wings and left the stump to smoke amid the meadows. We left prints of our splayed feet and our straining backs in the clay.

Our trampling feet made waves in the garden, which were the fluctuations around which the infant universes coalesced their first structures. The dilaton field yawned beneath existence. Symmetries snapped like glass. Like creases, flaws in space-time collected filaments of dark matter that inhaled and kindled the first galaxies of suns.

And still we grappled. Our rolling bodies pushed things out of the garden—worms and scurrying life from the fertile soil, wet things from the pools and the leaves. They came out into the madness of primordial space; they thrashed and became large.

And I won.

________________________________________________________________________________

To (We) Be (Are) Continued (Watching)

Word Count: 3554