─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

SEASON 3 EPISODE 17

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Location:

System: Volii

Faction: Freestar Collective

Planet: Volii Alpha

Place: Neon

A/N: Welp. This chapter is not going to be fun. It is going to be the rock bottom and the worst you will ever see Jimin. It's actually in Jungkook's POV despite the Jimin image for that reason: to see the destruction from someone else's perspective.

I'll share my thoughts on why I wrote it in the end note. Thanks for reading!

☆☆☆

Jungkook

Jungkook hated Neon.

Most pirates came from Neon. Some from Akila. Others from Porrima. The vast majority came from either the Freestar Collective or a non-factioned system. Jungkook had never cared for the United Colonies—and that lack of care amplified following the Fleet's destruction and the UC's treatment of Jimin and Jungkook—but he would give credit where credit was due: only Cydonia was bad. Even then, pirates didn't come from Cydonia, rather they went there. Other than Cydonia, the UC had their shit figured out. Crime-wise, anyway. And maybe New Atlantis. Ever since the Terrormorph attacks, it had gone downhill. But Sol remained untouched with nothing but respect for humanity's home system and some Spacers here and there. Nothing crazy.

Rain tap danced against the cockpit glass, and Jungkook leaned back in the pilot's seat he had no right to. It was Y/n's seat. Not Jimin's, not Barrett's, not Sam's—Y/n's.

Jungkook ached thinking about her. No one ever asked how he was doing with it. Y/n was his friend, too. Close friend at that. Every day, he missed her more. Yet the attention diverted to Jimin. As expected, considering he had been slated to marry her, but Jungkook didn't know how to process any of his emotions, either. No one did. All of Constellation missed Y/n; all of them knew Y/n longer than even Jimin, despite Jimin knowing her best. But no one talked about it. It was as if whispering her name would lead to absolute annihilation.

The crimson lights of the cockpit coated the dashboard, and Jungkook navigated as best he could through them. He had gone through Vanguard training, so flying was no big deal for him, though he hated it nonetheless. He much preferred weapons and scouring the galaxy for pirates. Speaking of, that was why he had paid attention to the dashboard: the comm.

He leaned forward and flicked it on, inputting the frequency from all the way across the galaxy. A frequency he hadn't touched in ages. He waited and waited, hoping the other end of the line would pick up. It took almost a full minute, but the static cleared to give way to one voice. A comforting one.

"This is a private frequency. Please state your name and business," Commander Min said.

Jungkook almost cried at the sound. "It's me."

"Oh." Yoongi chuckled. "Hello, Mr. Jeon. What do I owe the honor?"

Years upon years of Jungkook's life had been spent with Commander Min. His mentor. Yet, after all that time, Jungkook still didn't know how to speak to him. At least, not in that setting. The setting where Jungkook was no longer working with him. They were separated; systems apart.

"I miss you," Jungkook said, unsure what else to say.

Yoongi didn't answer for a long moment. "What happened? Did that bastard hurt you again?"

Bastard. No. Jimin was far from that, but following the incident that left Jungkook retraining a new prosthetic, Yoongi had lost all respect for Jimin. But that wasn't fair. Jimin didn't mean it.

"Yoongi." Jungkook swallowed and cleared his throat, his voice scratchy and firing out faster than he intended. He cursed at himself for referring to Commander Min by name in such a direct way. "It was my fault."

"Like hell it was. You're lucky I'm not having him arrested."

Yeah, as soon as Jungkook had sent in the request for a new prosthetic, Yoongi threatened to arrest Jimin, but since Jungkook hadn't wanted to press charges, there was nothing Yoongi could do. Besides, it was Jungkook's fault. Jimin's fault for resorting to melting Jungkook's arm off, sure, but Jungkook's for not realizing he was triggering Jimin by not letting him zip up his clothes.

"Listen to me, he was..." Jungkook ran a hand through his hair and pulled at the locks. "Dammit, Yoongi, you always do this."

"Do what?"

"Make assumptions like this. You did it to Universals, you did it to Y/n, and now you're doing it to Jimin. Again, might I add. You don't know what he's been through. I'm not saying it was my fault because I'm being modest or some shit like that, okay? He warned me to stop, but I didn't. He shouldn't have melted my arm, I know, but I didn't help."

"What are you talking about?" Yoongi asked, his voice more static-filled than normal due to the intense Neon weather.

"People used him, Commander."

Jungkook didn't need to elaborate. Saying used was all it took.

"I... see," Yoongi said in a mumble, and Jungkook rubbed his temple with his real fingers. His fake ones were in no position to do anything. It'd take a while for him to be able to hold a glass of water, let alone move at free will.

"Yeah." Jungkook's heart thump thumped from the realization that he had stood up to Yoongi. The last time he had done that was again for Jimin, back when Yoongi had made assumptions about Jimin's crimes during the Fleet ordeal. Jungkook didn't know how to feel about that. "So please don't talk about him that way."

"I'm sorry. I am. It's just you, Jungkook. I can't stand seeing you hurting like this. You've barely reached out, kid."

"I know. I'm sorry, too."

Jungkook could hear the distant laughter of Cora. She was the only one on the ship who still laughed. Looked like Sam was reading her a bedtime story again, all because Jimin wasn't. Lord knew where Jimin was. Probably snorting Aurora. Again. Jungkook had lost count of how many times Jimin had taken it; it had been almost a month since Jimin had first begun, last Jungkook checked. He didn't like to check, though.

"Is there anything else you want to talk about?" Yoongi asked, his voice slow but steady. The opposite of Jungkook's.

"I miss Y/n." Jungkook glanced back at the entrance to the cockpit to ensure he was alone, and once he confirmed no one was eavesdropping, he turned back to the comm. "Even when Jimin's not around, we don't talk about it. It's killing me, Yoongi. Why won't anyone talk?"

"They've had no chance to grieve. I know you defend that boy like your life depends on it, but Jimin is hurting you. All of you, and not just physically. Maybe he needs to go."

"Hell no. He's my best friend."

"I don't mean it like that. I mean, what if you send him into a UC program for a bit? I can arrange something with Logan, and we can get him the help he needs. Like the psych evals he took when he worked with us."

"You want to put the most dangerous person in the galaxy... in a psych ward?"

"Well, what else do you want to do? Nothing?"

That sounded like an appealing option. Confronting Jimin was about as pleasant as a Neon gang. But with Jimin falling to Aurora, a mech about to be in his possession, and artifacts calling out to him to give him more power, Jungkook didn't know what else to do. Maybe Sarah would have a solution. Yeah. She always had an answer. She was Sarah. She could-

Oh no.

Jungkook got pulled out of his thoughts at the sight of a staggering Jimin running toward the ship but tripping and falling not too far from the ramp. When Jimin didn't hop back to his feet, Jungkook sighed and put his hand over the comm.

"I have to go. Jimin's back."

"Good luck. Please stay safe."

"I will. Thank you, Yoongi."

Jungkook disconnected the comm and brushed down his old Vanguard jacket he had put on to remember what it felt like. His black joggers with a loose drawstring had cat fur all over it. Marbles had a tendency to use Jungkook's arm as her scratching post, and he let her sit in his lap whenever she wanted.

The cockpit disappeared as Jungkook traversed the ship and informed anyone on his path—who ended up being Taehyung, Barrett, and VASCO—that Jimin was outside and clearly high. That had all of them vacating to their quarters to leave Jungkook to deal with it.

Great.

Jungkook departed the ship and approached Jimin, who was covered in rain. His red scarf looked dark by comparison, though that could just be the endless night Neon had.

Jimin was face-down, but upon approach, Jungkook stiffened and saw he had a bloody right hand that clawed at the ground. It was so bloody that the rain did nothing to help it. Along with that, his nails were chipped, and gravel covered his pants.

"Hey, bud," Jungkook said, kneeling to tap Jimin's shoulder. "You conscious?"

That was when Jungkook heard the cries.

"Jimin?" Jungkook shook him with a bit more urgency. "Hey, Jimin, get up, bud. You have to get up and show me your face, okay?"

Jimin picked his head up, and what Jungkook saw was a bloody mouth with his front teeth chipped and dented, his nose slanted with a black and blue bruise under his right eye, and his eyes themselves red-rimmed and full of tears. The issue was there was so much rain, Jungkook couldn't tell what came from the sky and what came from Jimin.

"I'm sorry," Jimin said in a whimper, crawling away from Jungkook and holding his superpowered hand against his chest. Pointed at himself. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I swear, I didn't mean to."

"What? Jimin, you're scaring me. What happened?"

"Isabelle..." Jimin whined and brought his shaking hands to grab onto his face, rocking back and forth in his sitting position. He tucked his knees against his chest, too. "Isabelle... No... Isabelle..."

Isabelle. A familiar name. Jimin had avoided talking about her much, but based on the limited information Jungkook had gathered, he knew that name meant bad news. Isabelle was the one Jimin had to seduce, and Jungkook had files about her and how the Fleet had targeted her due to her position in a major tech company labeled as confidential. Probably Infinity, Jungkook didn't know. But in Jimin's current situation, Isabelle was his "partner." A loose term. Everyone knew Jimin would never love anyone other than Y/n, but Jungkook had a feeling Isabelle was an escape for Jimin.

"Help me out. Tell me what happened?" Jungkook repeated, keeping his distance. No one was around aside from technicians in the distance, though they didn't care. No one on Neon did.

"She... I..." Jimin choked and gagged, coughing out a mixture of blood and mucus. Both had purple stains. "I didn't mean to..."

Then, it clicked. The blood. His distress. The tears. He wouldn't cry over some random woman, even if he was sleeping with her, if he had fucked it up or made her angry. Jimin barely cried over Y/n, let alone some stranger.

Jungkook stepped away, his breathing picking up as thunder boomed and made him flinch. Jimin sobbed and buried his head into his hands, and Jungkook didn't know if Jimin's words were true or the effects of Aurora, though the real blood couldn't lie.

"Solar flare," Jimin whispered, Jungkook straining to hear him over the pounding rain. "I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry. Please believe me, I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to!"

"Okay, okay," Jungkook managed to say, his voice cracking over both words as he forced himself forward. Upon hearing Jimin's raised tone and watching his body convulse more and more, Jungkook knew he had to act fast to keep Jimin grounded. "How much Aurora have you had tonight?"

"A lot." Jimin hit the side of his head with the bottom of his palm. He did that three times, panting more each time. "But I burned myself." Jimin tugged his scarf and showed the pitch black spot on his neck. Jungkook winced. "That helps with the effects. Same with drinking the rain." Jimin let out yet another soft sob. "She helped me drink it. She helped me... Isabelle..."

Jungkook gently placed his hands on Jimin's shoulders. "It's gonna be okay, Jimin."

"How?" Jimin peeked up, his voice weak.

"We'll figure it out. Together. First, we need you to stop taking Aurora. Can you do that for us?"

"Stop?" Jimin laughed. "No, no, I can't stop. Aurora is all I have left."

Jungkook didn't know how to handle that. He didn't know how to talk Jimin down or how to back off when the issues began rising. The problem with Jungkook was just that: he didn't know anything. Whenever it was up to him to handle shit on his own, it didn't work. And that included in that moment with Jimin; Jungkook's best friend.

"Jimin," Jungkook said, hoping his voice sounded stern instead of scratchy. "We can't keep doing this. We let it go because you're an adult grieving a loss you never should have had to mourn, but it's hurting us. It's hurting me."

Jimin met Jungkook's gaze, and his eyes went red. What Jimin said next had Jungkook staggering, his heart feeling like it didn't exist anymore.

"I don't fucking care."

Jimin got up and pushed Jungkook away, firing a solar flare at the ground and cursing, curling his hand into a fist and holding it over his chest. Captain Park continued to pace back and forth, and Jungkook watched. There was nothing he could do except stare. Jungkook didn't know if that was because nothing could prevent Jimin's incoming panic attack, or because Jungkook was frozen and unable to think of what to do.

"Give up Aurora," Jimin repeated with yet another laugh. "Give up motherfucking Aurora. Yeah, funny joke, Jeon. Real funny." Jimin lit up and ended up grav dashing himself face-first into the ground, and he groaned before wobbling to his feet and spitting out blood. It had purple stains. That had Jungkook rubbing his soaked arms. His golden prosthetic somehow moved with him, though it felt weak. Brittle. Broken.

"I'm worried about you, Captain. We need you, and you're never here." Even when he was there, he wasn't. Jimin wouldn't understand that, would he?

"I don't care!" Jimin fired a blast that hit the bottom of the ship. The hull. No major damage, but it left a dark mark behind. "You don't get it." Jimin laughed and pulled on his hair until locks came out, and he took a tin out of his pocket after, opening it to show the purple powder, covering the top of it with his hand so it didn't get wet. "I know why Ma does it now. When I take it, I can see Y/n. I can feel her. I can touch her, kiss her, hug her..." Jimin brought the powder close to him, stroking the side of the tin with his thumb. "You're not asking me to give up Aurora, Jungkook. You're asking me to give up her."

"So give her up. You're our captain. Act like one."

Jungkook stomped forward and slapped the Aurora out of Jimin's grasp, watching the powder fall to the ground and become nothing more than dust in the wind. The purple hue disappeared, rendering the drug useless.

That was a terrible idea.

Jungkook's eyes jumped when he realized what he had done. Yes, destroying the drug was a good idea in theory, but not when a ery angry drug addict experiencing withdrawal was in front of him.

Especially when said drug addict had superpowers.

Jungkook stumbled back, but it didn't matter. Jimin's eyes glowed brighter than ever before, and his hand looked like it was about to explode. A grav dash burst through Jimin, and Jungkook gazed helplessly while he soared through the air and grabbed Jungkook by the throat.

"Come here, you fucking bitch!" Jimin slammed him against the side of the ship, wrapping his gloved hand around Jungkook's throat and squeezing. "The fuck did you just do, Jeon? Huh? The fuck did you just do?"

Jungkook gasped and gagged, and for a fleeting moment, he thought that was it. That was how he'd die: by the hands of his best friend. But then, Jimin loosened his grip and staggered back. He stared at Jungkook like a kicked puppy, his eyebrows knitting together and his plump lips forming a tiny pout. But that expression left within a flash.

"Do you want to know what I really think, Jeon?" Jimin approached and shoved Jungkook up against the wall again, but he didn't grab his throat that time. "I think you're a poor excuse for a man. That's why your shithole of a planet got overrun by pirates: you were too weak to stop it. Just like now, right? All you do is let everyone else take control while you sit there looking like a pathetic little boy waiting for instructions."

"Stop," Jungkook said in a stutter, his voice cracking and his lower lip quivering. "Stop it."

"Look at you. Got a metal arm and twice my size, but what are you doing? Letting me boss you around, just like normal, right?"

"I said... stop!" Jungkook's stutter worsened, and he wanted to throw Jimin off. His prosthetic wouldn't cooperate, though. "Let me go, Jimin."

"No. Be a real man and push me off."

Jungkook squirmed and did his best to do that, but nothing worked. Jimin wasn't stronger, but with one arm, Jungkook had a disadvantage.

"Look at you. A pathetic excuse for a man. You're a worthless piece of shit, and no one fucking loves you. And look at that." Jimin chuckled and motioned with his head toward the dead pile of Aurora not too far away. "You destroy everything, don't you? Fucking everything."

"Jimin..." That was all Jungkook could manage to cough out.

Jimin pushed himself off Jungkook and paced back and forth, random solar flares firing out at the ground, and when he finished, he bit on his nails and paced again. Jungkook gazed at the scene, unsure what to do. All he did was stand there. Frozen.

Useless.

Jimin kicked the ground and dove toward the Aurora, trying to scoop it off the ground. It was long gone. The water diluted it and made it as pathetic as Jungkook. No purple tint came to it. Jimin tried snorting it anyway and ended up gagging and vomiting on the launchpad. Jimin jumped up and whipped around to glare at Jungkook, who remained in the same spot as before.

"You did this!"

Jimin fired a solar flare above Jungkook's head. Jungkook ducked, but it tore through the engine of the ship. Jungkook's eyes almost popped out of his head at that, and, finally, Jungkook reacted: he ran. He ran away from the engine and collided with Jimin, taking him to the earth in time for the engine to explode, the entire pad trembling as if an earthquake had occurred.

"Get off me!" Jimin shouted, tossing Jungkook to the side. "This is what you wanted, isn't it? You want a monster, I'll fucking give you one."

Jimin dragged Jungkook back, and Jungkook flailed and tried to prevent Jimin from continuing. Sarah came running off the ship with loud coughs and grime covering her face. She located Jimin and approached, but Jimin didn't care. He knocked her back with a pulse of energy, and she ended up falling on her ass with her mouth wide open but no words coming out.

"When will you understand?" Jimin shouted, his eyes burning and his hair floating.

Jimin fired another solar flare at the second engine, and that one exploded, too. VASCO carried an injured Barrett out of the ship, but the robot collapsed due to its faulty legs.

"No one can stop me! None of you fuckers! You're worthless!"

Two technicians rushed over, but Jimin blipped out of existence and appeared behind him. Time. He controlled that. And he used it to grab the technicians and smash their heads together, knocking them out. At least the distraction gave the rest of the crew time to leave. Sam rolled down the ramp, his hat spiraling off. Andreja—the most uninjured of them all—picked it up and pulled Sam to safety.

Everyone escaped, including the cat that Cora carried, but that didn't stop Jimin's onslaught. If anything, that fueled it more.

"Go ahead! Try to stop me!"

Jimin turned and seemed to sense the security guards coming over to put him down. The guards saw who it was and hesitated, and that was their last mistake.

A laugh pried through the cacophony of screams, explosions, and rain. It belonged to Jimin, who shot an anti-gravity blast at their feet and made them soar up and up and up. He approached and stood just outside the anti-gravity well, and then, he stopped it, and the guards plummeted. When they hit the ground and grunted, Jimin took their weapons and tossed them over the side of the pad.

"Anyone else?" Jimin asked with his arms raised. No one budged. All of them were too busy staring at the fireball that had once been their ship. Jimin's ship. "Yeah, that's what I fucking thought, you cowards!"

Jimin stormed forward and grabbed Jungkook, pulling him by the hair up to his feet, and Jungkook wheezed at the sudden strain on his aching throat. Jimin pressed his Eon pistol against Jungkook's head and cackled, squeezing Jungkook's body against his.

"Jimin!" Sarah shouted over the harsh winds. "Let him go! Now!"

"Oh, I will, I will." Jimin twirled the weapon and held Jungkook tighter. "But you need to do something for me first."

Sarah planted her feet and raised her pistol toward Jimin, clicking off the safety. "Fuck you."

Jungkook could feel Jimin's smirk.

"Awh. That's cute."

And then, Sarah was unconscious.

Jimin whistled and walked away, Sam crawling to the twitching, mostly unconscious Sarah. Again, the time powers. They had the ultimate control over the situation. Jungkook wanted to sprint to Sarah, to see if she could wake up, but he had learned from his past mistake. He had to stay still and let Jimin get whatever that was out of his system.

Jungkook tilted his head up to observe Jimin. He was a shadow only visible by his dark red eyes and glowing hand. Sparkles flew off him and entered the dark horizon. The red scarf danced behind him, and he laughed to himself as he went.

"One thing," Jimin said, his voice echoing over the countless other sounds. "All you have to do is listen and say you understand. Not so hard, right?"

Jimin blasted the ship one more time with a solar flare, as if for good measure. Jungkook fell to his knees and sobbed at the sight of the flames. Neon's constant rain couldn't stop the roaring fire from annihilating everything it touched.

"One thing." Jimin halted in front of the ship and swiveled on his heels to face them with a grin that met his eyes. "I am going to rescue my wife, no matter what it takes. I don't care if I have to kill all of you to do it, I'm doing it."

"Why?" Sam asked, his voice trembling. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I'm tired of being used!" Saliva poured from Jimin's mouth as he screamed his words back at Sam. "You think you're so different, like you treated me like family? Open your fucking eyes! You wanted me so I could find your stupid artifacts, and as soon as I got the powers, I became your new science experiment!" Jimin spat on Sarah's unconscious body. "She used me for her science. All of you did." Jimin narrowed his gaze on Jungkook. "And you... You caused Hoseok to die. You did this." Jimin raised his burning right hand and laughed once again. "All of you fucking did this to me! You treat me like I'll snap at any moment, so here you go, guys! Here's the monster you've been waiting for!"

Jimin went back to laughing and firing solar flares into the sky, and Jungkook didn't know how to feel, what to do, or what to say. No words came to mind aside from why. Where had his best friend gone?

"When is it enough, huh?" Jimin's laughs turned into chokes, and eventually, the tears came. He somehow hiccupped out more chuckles. "When is it enough? How many more times do I have to go through this?" Jimin paused and hyperventilated, biting on his nails for a moment before wincing from the heat of his active solar flare. "Why can't I just be happy? Why can't I..."

"Jimin," Jungkook tried, but it was no use. Jimin was already bawling and staggering as he looked around at what he had done.

"No... no..." Jimin bit on his nails again. That time, he didn't pull away when it burned him. "I didn't... I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to. Please, I..." Jimin tore his hand away and shot at the ground, gasping as he did so. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. No, no, Sarah, I'm sorry!" Jimin whipped his head around until he found Cora cowering behind one of the many crates in the vicinity, cradling Marbles in her grasp. Jimin took a single step forward but stopped when Cora yelped and backed away. "Cora... Honey, I-"

'Bam!'

A pulse of EM energy shot out and landed on Jimin. It knocked him unconscious, his body slumping to the ground. Jungkook snapped his eyes up in time to see a sweating Taehyung hunched over the debris of the ship, a deep gash spewing out blood on his forehead while his dark locks stuck to his head. He had VASCO's detached arm in his hand, the arm compartment open to the energy weapon VASCO had. Jungkook didn't know VASCO had gotten injured badly enough for the arm to fall off, but it didn't matter.

Nothing did.

Jungkook sat there, his real hand on the stone beneath him. His eyes jittered their way down to see the flesh waiting there. No sparkles hovered off him, and for once, he didn't try to imagine them there.

As soon as Jimin went down, the crew took turns crying and yelling. Even Barrett, the one who had never shed a tear, joined in. Jungkook was the outlier who sat on the sidelines and peered at Taehyung. Taehyung dropped his weapon and fell, closing his eyes, unconscious like his friend.

No one spoke or moved to do anything. There was nothing they could do; the ship was gone. Engulfed in flames until it seemed like nothing remained. That was when it hit: the extent of what Jimin had done.

Jimin had destroyed their home.

☆☆☆

A/N: Like I said, rock bottom. But I think this is a really important chapter, and I have some thoughts on it.

If you ask me for my view on this chapter, I would say it was needed for the crew. They're of course the victims here, but they also enabled Jimin. Two things can be true at once, like how Jimin was a victim to his mother while also enabling her. The roles have reversed where now Jimin is like Ma, and the crew like him. The crew watched their friend destroy himself, and Jungkook himself even admits that doing nothing is better than doing something, and they did contribute to Jimin's downfall. But, that being said, none of that justifies Jimin's actions, and there will be consequences for Jimin's choices in season 3, with a lot of those consequences being explored in season 4, but some in s3, too.

Next chapter will explore more of why Jimin has done the things he's done, and it will start to improve since Jin is in the next chapter and is not going to sit by and watch Jimin destroy himself. So I hope it at least eases your heart to know that Jin is going to do something about it and isn't letting Jimin off the hook for this.

I was hesitant to release this chapter and changed quite a few things about it and actually toned down Jimin's rampage. There were going to be a lot worse things Jimin did that I removed. Jimin is really screwed up, but I still want the focus to be on his mental health and his crash outs, so I didn't want to make it dark for sake of being dark, y'know?

But yeah. This is what happens when a drug addict has superpowers!!!

Regardless of all that, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I believe this is the darkest point in s3, and it will start to improve from here. It won't be happy fun times, but Jimin won't be attacking his own crew again 💀💀💀

Thanks for reading!