Chương 53: Chapter 35: Vex the Ex

In spite of her misgivings, Lee chose to charge the rune. She knew if she didn't Vell would just buy a battery and go through with his plan anyway.

"For the record, Vell, meddling does not suit you," Lee chided.

"I'm not meddling," Vell insisted.

"I'm just... helping."

"By meddling," Harley said.

"I'm not meddling," Vell repeated.

"Look, Vell, you know I'm down to get involved in other people's business, but this one seems kind of pointless," Harley said.

"Even if Leanne's boyfriend did lie about why he dumped her, it's still kind of sort of the loop's fault. Or at least Naomi's, and she was in the loop."

"How do you even know Elijah lied?"

"I questioned some friends of friends," Vell said.

"You snooped."

"It was not snooping."

"Okay, setting aside the snooping and meddling, this probably won't even make Leanne any less mad at us."

"Maybe not," Vell admitted.

"But she'll be mad for the right reasons instead of the wrong ones."

"Or she gets even more mad at us because we meddled," Harley said.

"I'm not meddling!" Vell insisted once again.

"Vell, I do respect your commitment to the truth, but I also share Harley's concerns that we may simply make things worse," Lee said.

"Leanne has made it clear she wants us to leave her alone. Perhaps we should simply respect that?"

"Yes, well, that is an excellent point," Vell said.

"One which I've, uh, considered. However, consider this: I don't want Elijah to get away with lying."

"Valid point," Harley said. She hadn't really been factoring Elijah's presumed guilt into anything. Mostly because she was barely aware he existed.

"I did not see you as being particularly concerned with punishment, Vell Harlan," Lee said.

"Punishing the bad guys is part of protecting the good guys," Vell said.

"Every time a guy like Elijah gets away with hurting someone, he becomes more comfortable hurting other people. Consequences are how we prevent people from turning into Kraid."

"Righteous, I like it," Harley said.

"I've changed my mind, I'm in. Let's punish the naughty, daddy."

"Don't say it like that," Lee pleaded.

"Only if you're joining in too," Harley said. Lee sighed and relented.

"Very well. Let us meddle."

"I'm not -oh fuck it, are you done charging the rune yet?"

"Have been for about a minute, dear, I just didn't want to interrupt," Lee said as she handed over the rune. Vell took the stone token and stuck it to his shirt.

"So what's this rune going to do anyway? Turn you invisible so you can spy on Elijah? Brainwash him so he confesses? Or maybe it turns him inside out if he doesn't confess?"

"What? No. Everything you just said is horrible," Vell said. He put on his glasses and pointed to them.

"The rune is going to put a script on my glasses. I just didn't want to be stuttering and going 'uh' while I convince Elijah to tell Leanne the truth."

"That's your plan?" Lee asked.

"Like, all of it?" Harley said.

"Do you have some recording device to record him when he brags about how much lying he did?"

"No. I'm just going to get Elijah to tell the truth."

"You're going to convince the guy who lied in the first place to stop lying," Harley said.

"Just by talking to him."

"Yes." Vell paused and endured the skeptical stares of his two friends for a solid ten seconds.

"What? Leanne dated him for like four years, he can't be a complete piece of shit."

"He also dumped her, lied about why, and then fucked her former best friend five minutes later," Harley said. She felt Vell was making some very generous assumptions about Elijah's character. Leanne had trusted him enough to date him for years, yes, but she'd also trusted Naomi for a long time.

"Yeah, so since he did all that shitty stuff all at once he probably feels extra guilty about it," Vell said.

"It should be easy."

"Good luck with that," Harley scoffed. He of all people should've known that dating someone for a while didn't make them a good person. He'd dated Joan, after all.

"It'll work," Vell insisted.

"Eventually. It's going to take some convincing, but it'll work."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Lee said. After her half-hearted approval of his plan, Vell set out. Lee and Harley waited until he was out of earshot.

"This isn't going to work," Lee whispered.

"You got that right, bitch," Harley said.

"Come on. We need a backup plan for when Vell fails." Lee didn't want to increase their amount of meddling, but she began to feel it was unavoidable. Vell's current course of action was ultimately unsustainable. A fact Vell would soon be proving, no doubt.

"And that's why you really just need to tell her the truth," Vell summarized, wrapping up his presentation.

"It's going to be a bit harsh, yeah, but everyone will be better off after you do the right thing."

"I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about," Elijah said. He walked away without another word. Vell sighed and removed his glasses, rubbing a spot of dirt off the lenses. At least the script rune had worked without a hitch.

"We'll go in for some rewrites and try again tomorrow," Vell said. He'd even have two tries a day, thanks to the loops. Tomorrow, Elijah put a book in front of his face and studiously ignored Vell throughout the entire length of the speech. Vell did not let the fact that he wasn't being heard stop him from talking. Lee and Harley watched from a distance and shook their heads in disapproval.

"So how many tries does he get before we go with Plan B?"

"At least once more," Lee said.

"Is that once as in one day, or once as in one loop?" Harley asked.

"Let's go with one loop," Lee said. Vell could only improve, after all. Elijah's door narrowly missed breaking Vell's nose as it slammed shut on him for the second time this loop. He shrugged and resolved to try again the next day. Lee watched him walk away and sighed once again.

"Three strikes, he's out. Technically six strikes, but semantics," Harley said.

"So, hmm, you got any ideas?" Lee shook her head.

"Damn. Usually I'd go with an invisibility rune, but Vell's kind of our rune guy, and he'd definitely know we were up to something."

"I may have an alternative," Lee said.

"Let's give Vell another shot while I work on that." This time, Harley did not simply watch Vell fail from a distance. She had to get up close and personal to help him out of the dumpster Elijah had tossed him into. While she dug Vell out of the trash, Lee moved on to the first phase of Plan B: making her own rune. There was a runecarving workshop on campus, though Vell often eschewed it in favor of his own tools and workbench. Lee stepped into the room and found her target. An empty work bench.

She had seen Vell carve runes a few dozen times by now, and it didn't seem too hard. She grabbed a stone tablet and a carving tool and got to work. One mountain of broken obsidian shards later, Lee recalled the 'three strikes' joke Harley had made earlier. She'd passed "three strikes" about fourteen broken runestones ago, and was starting to regret ignoring the rule at the time.

"Lee?" Lee's heart skipped a beat. She didn't know if she'd been hoping for this or trying to avoid it.

"Hello Joan," Lee said. The red-eyed rune expert stood with a bag slung over her shoulder. It had been several months since Lee had taken more than a passing glance at Joan, and she had changed a great deal. Her undercut had grown out into a tangle of black curls she wasn't putting much effort into maintaining, and her crimson eyes seemed much more weary.

"Yeah, hi," Joan said.

"I, uh, I was just on my way out, so-""Oh, no, actually, I-" Lee stopped and snatched Joan by the wrist.

"Since you're here... I would like to catch up. It's been a while." Joan looked down at the hand latched on to her wrist and decided to take a seat at the bench.

"What're you doing in the rune lab anyway?" Her voice lacked some of it's former fire.

"Trying to carve an invisibility rune, as it were," Lee said.

"I was under the impression it would be, ah, much easier than it actually is."

"Yeah, I get that," Joan said.

"Vell does make it look easy." You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"You made it look plenty easy too," Lee said.

"It definitely affected my perceptions of the skill involved, having two of my best friends being so talented." The attempted affirmation of their friendship caused a long pause in the already stilted conversation. Joan leaned forward on the table and looked at the cracked runes of Lee's previous attempts.

"I'm sorry we haven't talk in a while," Lee said.

"I was... hesitant. I have very few friends, Joan, and I'm afraid I alienated you in an attempt to keep others."

"No, I get it," Joan said.

"I'm the scary one, after all. You picked the same side as everyone else." Joan leaned back and looked away from the runes.

"I mean shit, even Freddy doesn't talk to me anymore, and I met him first. Technically."

"I'm sure it's nothing personal, Joan-""No it's pretty fucking personal," Joan snapped.

"Cane told me outright he never wants to talk to me again." Lee fell silent. Joan realized she had come across a bit harsh.

"Sorry. Don't mean to bite," Joan said.

"I just... I'm facing the facts, alright? I fucked up. I scared everyone off. I have to own this." Lee did not break her silent streak. The whole situation tore at her from the inside. Sure, in another timeline, Joan had -unintentionally- caused Vell's death, but that was another timeline, another world that did not technically exist. This version of Joan, while not completely innocent, was at least not guilty of the harshest sin she was being judged for.

"I'm dealing with it," Joan said.

"Fuck. Enough about me. Why are you trying to carve a rune? Isn't Vell your go-to guy for runes?" Glad to have a chance to change the subject, Lee launched into an explanation of Leanne's circumstances, trying to soften the edges of the break-up for Joan's sake. She seemed unfazed by the lengthy explanation.

"That does sound like Vell," Joan sighed.

"Always taking the high road."

"For better or worse."

"Yeah. But you got a point about needing to get your hands dirty sometime," Joan said. She swept aside the broke runes of Lee's failed attempts and put a hand on the table.

"I'll make an invisibility rune for you. But I need two things."

"Materials?"

"No. One promise, and one question," Joan said. She held up two fingers.

"First, it's going to take two days for me to carve the rune. While I do that, you have to promise to let Vell keep trying to change this Elijah guy's mind." Lee nodded. That was not an unreasonable request, and she likely would have done so anyway if she was already waiting. Joan dropped one finger and pointed at Lee.

"And second," Joan said.

"I want to know how you guys always know so much about what's going on."

"Pardon?"

"About the play, and that octopus with guns, and Undedison, and that chick that tried to kill Harley, and everything else," Joan said.

"Every time something weird happens on campus you and Vell and Harley knew about it, and I want to-""I can see the future," Lee blurted. With Joan coming so close to uncovering the time loop, Lee panicked and blurted the first lie that came to mind. Professor Ernest already believed the same falsehood, and when it came to telling blatant lies, consistency was key.

"What?"

"To a limited extent," Lee said, continuing to weave her web of necessary lies. She hated having to lie, but people outside of the loops that discovered their existence suffered mental breakdowns, so it was a necessary evil.

"Sometimes when bad things happen I receive an omen. A premonition, if you will. Just a vague indicator of some future misfortune that helps us be in the right place at the right time."

"Huh." Joan looked dumbfounded for a moment, and carefully scrutinized Lee with two bright crimson eyes.

"Well. I guess that does explain a lot," Joan admitted. Lee breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sorry for putting you on the spot like that."

"No, I'm sorry for not being more forthcoming," Lee said.

"You were entangled in our escapades as well, you had a right to know."

"I guess," Joan said. She looked far more at ease with the prophetic revelation than Lee was comfortable with.

"I sort of figured... well, whatever. I'll get that rune made for you." Joan stood up and stepped away from Lee.

"I'll see you around, Lee."

"Yes. Uh, rather, I'll try to stay in touch." Joan gave a single stiff nod and walked away, leaving Lee to stew in her own anxiety. She would have been doing that anyway, but the conversation had added a few new and exciting flavors to the anxiety stew.

"I've got a good feeling about today," Vell said.

"I think I'm starting to get through to him."

"Yeah, you know the old saying, tenth time's the charm," Harley said.

"I'm sure you'll get him." After being thrown into a dumpster on attempt five and six, Vell had not been dissuaded. On attempts seven and eight, Elijah had simply walked away, but on attempt nine, he had stopped long enough to yell. That gave Vell some hope that on attempt ten, he might stop long enough to really listen. Harley did not share his optimism, but she also didn't have any better ideas. Vell stepped out from around the corner and came face to face with Elijah headed the other way.

Which was odd, because on the previous loop, he had been all the way in the dining hall.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Believe it or not, this time is actually an accident," Vell said.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Elijah scoffed.

"Listen, you little shit, if you keep this up I'm calling security, I'm not fucking kidding."

"Then do the right thing, and I'm out of your hair," Vell insisted.

"This is on you, not me."

"Just leave it fucking alone, man," Elijah said.

"Leanne's not going to hang out with your stupid club again, or whatever it is you're trying to get out of this."

"I don't care," Vell said.

"Then why are you even doing this?"

"Because Leanne was part of our 'stupid club', and when you tried to put the blame on us, you put the blame on her too," Vell said.

"Maybe some of this is our fault. If she blames us for that, I don't care. But she shouldn't blame herself." Elijah just stared at Vell. He might have offered a rebuttal, if not for the sound of heavy footsteps behind him. Elijah was in a different place than he'd been on the first loop because he was avoiding another looper. Leanne's presence was felt without her saying a word as she stormed around the corner. Elijah practically jumped out of his shoes.

He spun around to face her and backed up, bumping into Vell as he tried to retreat. While he was afraid in his own way, Vell was not going to retreat.

"Oh hey Leanne," Elijah said, trying to act casual. Leanne grabbed him by the shirt, lifted him off the ground, and set him aside. With Elijah out of the way, Leanne stepped up to Vell and jabbed him accusingly in the chest.

"Yes, okay, I know, I've been meddling," Vell said. Leanne threw out a wild series of hand gestures that Elijah could not comprehend in the slightest.

"I remember, and believe me, if things were normal I would've-" Leanne went through another string of incomprehensible charades, occasionally pointing at Elijah and then back at Vell for emphasis.

"I admit it, I messed things up a bit too, the situation is weird," Vell said.

"But he lied to you, and you deserve to know the truth." Leanne glared in Elijah's direction, then gestured to his mouth, to Vell, and rolled her hand expectantly.

"I, uh, I- I didn't- Wait, where in the conversation are we?" He looked at Vell.

"Can you translate, or something?"

"I think she was being pretty clear," Vell said.

"She's asking what you have to say."

"Well shit, I obviously, uh, I didn't lie."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Vell said. Leanne jabbed him in the chest again.

"He's still lying! He ran off with Naomi like five minutes later!" Leanne turned to Elijah with a glare, but she kept her body -and her finger- pointed squarely at Vell. She still placed the blame squarely on him and everything else to do with the loop. After a few seconds of silence and a shrug from Elijah, Leanne turned all of her focus back to Vell and carried out another frenzied burst of gestures. Elijah couldn't understand any of it, but Vell tracked the wild motions of her hands with ease.

Elijah had to admit, Vell seemed to understand Leanne pretty well. And that thought, out of everything, made Elijah feel a pang of guilt. The accusatory gesturing ended, and Leanne pointed to the nearest exit.

"Okay. Okay. I'll go," Vell said.

"Sorry I got involved. I just wanted to do-" Leanne interrupted Vell by shoving him away -and then Elijah interrupted in turn.

"Leanne, stop," he sighed.

"He's telling the truth." Leanne froze mid shove and snapped her head in Elijah's direction. Even Vell was surprised, and he'd been planning for this exact thing to happen. Elijah took a step back -for his own safety, mostly- and continued.

"The weirdness contributed a little, I guess, but mostly," Elijah said.

"I wanted a more physical relationship, and you made it clear that wasn't on the table, and... I realized it wasn't going to work out between us. So I broke up with you, and I blamed it on Vell and the rest of that club because I thought you already didn't like them, and it would just be easier on both of us to have that scapegoat." Leanne looked at Vell, then back at Elijah. Her previous anger, now pulled in two entirely different directions, dulled slightly.

"I was trying to make it easier on both of us... but I was wrong. If Vell's made anything clear in these past few days... it's that he actually really cares about you," Elijah said.

"Can't imagine somebody being that annoying for the sake of someone they don't like." Vell shrugged. People had been more annoying for worse reasons. Leanne clenched her fists and looked at the ground.

"Is what he said about Naomi true?" Leanne whispered, finally breaking her silence. Elijah took a deep breath, knowing fully it might be his last, as Leanne turned to focus on him.

"Yeah. It was a shitty, impulsive decision, and I realize now, no matter how our relationship was going, I shouldn't have done that," Elijah said.

"But I guess saying that doesn't make it any better."

"It doesn't," Leanne sighed.

"But thank you for admitting it anyway. I... appreciate the honesty."

"You still look mad," Elijah noted.

"I am."

"And you kind of look like you're going to punch me," Elijah whimpered.

"I am," Leanne said. She pointed at Vell.

"But I still need to talk to him, so if you start running now I probably won't catch up to you before I calm down." Elijah didn't waste any time. Leanne smiled slightly as he turned and fled. It wasn't quite as satisfying as a punch, but it would tide her over. The smile dropped off her face as she turned back to Vell.

"So. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I am still very sorry for meddling," Vell said.

"Even though I had good reasons, and it all worked out, that's still no excuse to violate your privacy."

"Right answer," Leanne said.

"Thank you for getting involved, but don't do it again. Now. Is there anything else you need to get off your chest, any other secrets you need to reveal?"

"No, that was the one, as far as I know," Vell said.

"Good. Then... leave me alone," Leanne said.

"For real this time. I know it's not your fault, but this loop, and everything in it... It's toxic. I've had enough of it. And I need a break. Just let me have my space, Vell. Please."

"Okay. Yeah, no problem, I'll uh, keep my distance," Vell said.

"Like I said before, you know where to find me, and uh, in case you decide you don't want to talk to me again before you graduate, thanks for everything. It was... fun, in a weird way." Vell gave an awkward wave goodbye and turned to leave. Leanne stood alone in the hall for a while. She hadn't even thought about graduation. She only had a few weeks left at the Einstein-Odinson college. Just a few weeks left in the loop that had defined the past few years of her life. Leanne didn't know how to feel about that.

"So in the end it was unnecessary," Lee explained, as she handed the invisibility rune back to Joan.

"I appreciate the effort, though I'm glad it was wasted. I'd rather not have to resort to such subterfuge."

"Yeah. That's why I told you to wait, after all," Joan said.

"I figured he'd have a way to get through to that Elijah guy. Even if just through dumb luck." She placed the invisibility rune in her pocket and pulled out a small flash drive, which she handed to Lee.

"What's this?"

"Some logs I pulled from Elijah's phone, talking about how he lied to Leanne," Joan said.

"I grabbed them yesterday. You can delete them, use them for blackmail, whatever. I don't think it matters much anymore."

"But- Why?"

"Like I said, sometimes somebody has to get their hands dirty," Joan said.

"But it didn't have to be you. My hands are already pretty damn filthy, so I figured a bit more wouldn't hurt." Joan looked down at the flash drive. She could only imagine the means by which Joan had acquired this information. Hopefully it had been nothing too unscrupulous, considering it was now effort wasted.

"I suppose I understand," Lee said.

"But you didn't need to do this."

"I didn't," Joan said.

"But don't worry about it too much. Like everything else I do, I had some ulterior motives."

"Joan-""I want to ask you one more question," Joan interrupted.

"And I want you to promise me, if we were ever really friends, that you're going to tell me the truth." Joan stared at Lee, her crimson gaze piercing straight through Lee's soul.

"On the day we broke up, when everyone was acting weird around me," Joan said.

"That bad future you saw... it was me, wasn't it? I did something to hurt Vell." Lee never bothered even thinking about lying. She could tell from the look in Joan's crimson eyes she already knew the answer.

"Yes," Lee admitted.

"Something like that." Joan gave a slight hum of acknowledgment and looked away. She turned her back to Lee and kept it there, in a transparent effort to hide her face.

"Yeah. I thought so. Thanks, Lee. I need to... I need to be alone. And think about some stuff. A lot of stuff." Without turning, Joan lifted a hand and flicked her wrist in a lazy goodbye.

"See you around."

"Call me if you need anything," Lee said meekly. Joan gave another hum of acknowledgment and walked off. Lee didn't know how to feel about that.