Chapter Text
It was a bright and sunny day outside. Edward decided it'd be the perfect day to test out his new solar panel upgrade on his drone, which would in theory, allow it to stay in the air for much longer. He was already out for around 15 minutes, which usually meant the drone's battery would have been dead by now, but here it was, still flying. He wasn't too sure if the panels alone would keep it powered indefinitely, but they were certainly a good boost. As much as he'd love to see how long it can really last, he had to hop on Fortnite with Zip in 30 minutes, so he decided to head back home.
However, about 10 minutes into his walk back, something peculiar happened. Everything became much darker, as if the sun had just been turned off. He checked the time with his phone; it was still 4:00… why had it gone dark? His drone hovered for a few moments before hitting the ground, thankfully unharmed. Edward looked up, and all his questions were answered.
Above him was some kind of floating robot, about 30 feet in diameter. It was circular, almost like some kind of UFO. It was hard to make out anything else about it, given how dark its bottom was. After a few seconds it shined a bright light downwards onto him as a metallic voice played from above: "TARGET LOCATED".
Edward wasn't too sure what it meant by that, or why he would be a target, but he knew it couldn't be good. He did what anybody reasonably would, and ran for his life. But the robot simply followed him, never letting him out of its light. He could hear the sounds of it charging something, presumably some kind of attack. Was this going to be how he died? From some random, giant robot randomly decided to smite him?
He braced himself as the robot fired its laser, but suprisingly, he wasn't dead. At the last moment, somebody dressed up in flashy, red attire swooped in and created a small bubble around the two of them, shielding Edward from the attack. "Don't worry Ed-" His savior cut himself off, "I mean, citizen! I-I, the Agent of Love, am here!" The way he stuttered didn't make Edward all that confident in his abilities, but given how he's still alive and not a pile of ash, he could probably trust this guy's barriers.
Once the construct's attack was over, the Agent fired a series of blasts from his scepter, but they all seemed to bounce off of the thick metal plating. However he seemed to have captured its attention enough for Edward to get the hell out of there.
As it charged up another laser, the Agent consulted his sprite, a sentient half of an apple. "How do I stop this thing?!" he asked frantically.
The sprite took a moment to think before speaking, "Try hitting it where its beam comes from, I'd bet it's weaker there!"
The Agent nodded before twirling his staff and firing a giant love beam™. As his sprite had predicted, the construct was much weaker there, causing it to immediately detonate. Before the burning chunks of metal could wreak havoc on the city below, he cast another bubble around all of it, stopping it mid-air. His sprite then flew up, shrunk it all down, and pocketed it.
"Great work Agent!" the apple exclaimed.
The Agent of love scratched the back of his head, "Heheh… thanks… So uh… what now?"
"Well you have to go talk to the guy you saved, of course!"
"...I have to?"
"It's good for our image if you do. Cmon, it'll be quick!"
Edward was completely dumbfounded by what had just happened. He was a firm believer that everything could be explained with science, no matter how ridiculous. But this? This is just plain magic! There was no explanation for those bubbles, or lasers, or that weird apple thing… None of it makes any sense! He saw this "Agent of Love", this sorcerer bending the laws of physics so casually, nervously walking up to him.
Now that the initial shock had worn off, he was able to finally get a good look at him. He wore a white outfit with red outlines, he had a long, flowing red foil cape behind him, and his hair was dyed a bright red and tied into a ponytail. If Edward were to describe his outfit in one word, he'd say it was "shit". As the Agent got closer, he could smell the scent of fresh apples filling the air. Whether that was from his magic or just some form of cologne, he wasn't too sure.
"Uh… hey, are you… are you alright?" the Agent asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. My drone might be fried though."
"Oh! Don't worry! I put a separate bubble to keep it safe! I uh… know it means a lot to you."
Edward raised an eyebrow, "How did you know that?"
The Agent yelped, "Uh… I erm… well… y-you see… you had and I… I don't think I've like… seen it around before, so I kinda just guessed." The way he stumbled over his words made it clear he wasn't telling the truth.
Having heard the magical boy stumble over his words, something clicked in Edward's mind. He knows this guy, and that's how he knows about the drone. It was right on the tip of his mind, but just out of reach. That was, until he saw the apple stem poking out of his head. "Oh shit! I know you! You're Abbie!"
Just then, Abbie's apple sprite flew between the two. It waved one of its arms, which resembled a stick over anything else. "Woah woah woah! How do you know him?!"
Edward shrugged, "We go to the same school, and that apple leaf was a dead giveaway."
The sprite looked back at Abbie, "I told you to do something about that stem!"
"Oh man… I didn't think I'd run into anybody from school… could you not tell anybody about this?" Abbie said, sounding completely defeated.
"Yeah! Don't tell a soul about this! Or the identities of any other Agents either!"
Edward started to smirk, "So I know the other agents?"
"Nope! No you don't!" the sprite said.
"He does… they go to my school as well." Abbie said meekly.
"Don't tell him that!"
Edward laughed harshly, "But seriously, your secret's safe with me, promise."
Abbie wiped his forehead, "Phew, you're a lifesaver, Eddie."
Edward's drone suddenly sprung to life, floating up off of the ground. Edward gave a cocky smile while motioning over to it, "Heh, you see that? Solar power. Cashew's pretty much never dying on me again."
Abbie tilted his head a little, "But what about when you're inside? Isn't that sorta… most of the time?"
Edward thought for a bit, Cashew was definitely an indoor drone. "Uh… fuck. Back to the drawing board then."
Abbie laughed a little, "Well, good luck with that! I gotta go… like uh… keep saving people, y'know? That Dark Sorceress won't catch herself, am I right?"
"Sure uh, have fun with that."
And with that, the Agent of Love was off. He didn't learn how to fly yet, so he sorta just speedwalked off. Once they were out both sight and earshot of Edward, his companion spoke up. "Soooo, I can tell you like him," it said, a smug look on its face.
Abbie blushed and looked away, "I-I… uh… how do you even know that? I thought I kept my composure pretty well!"
"Oh don't worry, he doesn't know. But I'm the aspect of Love, silly, of course I'd be able to tell!"
"Oh… I guess that's a relief…"
The sprite leaned in closer, "Do you want to hear a secret?"
"Sure?" Abbie said, a little hesitant.
"Edward likes boys." The apple whispered.
Abbie's face grew even redder, "So does that mean he… might… actually… like me back?!"
The sprite shrugged, "If he does, he's pretty good at hiding it. I'm not perfect y'know?"
Just then, their conversation was cut short by the sounds of screaming coming from a nearby gas station. It must be getting robbed, thankfully, the Agent of Love was merely feet away from the entrance.
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Edward walked through his front door and was instantly greeted by his mom, which was a surprise, since she usually wasn't home by then. "Hi mom!" Edward exclaimed, "I made some solar panels for Cashew, he shouldn't be dying as much!"
His mom greeted him with the same level of enthusiasm, "Hi Eddie! A solar panel, eh? That's a pretty smart idea, I'd just give it another power source just to be safe."
"Yeah, that sounds smart, I'll just need to find out what."
"Oh I'm sure you can do it honey, you always find a way." His mom said, rustling up his hair a bit. "Well, I'm sorry, but I was just here on a quick break, the lab needs me back. Dinner's in the fridge, cook it at 350 for 20 minutes, alright?"
Edward was a little upset upon hearing this, it was Saturday, and yet his mom was still working all day. But he knew she had some important work coming up… she always had important work to do. Still, he gave her a hug, "Well, guess I'll see you later then!"
His mom gave an awkward look, "I uh… I probably won't be back until you've gone to bed… so I'll see you tomorrow."
"Oh… see you tomorrow then."
Edward's mom darted out of the front door, leaving him alone. He walked over Cashew's charging station and set him down with a sigh. Then, he went to his room to go play with Zip, but when he logged on, he saw she was already in a match. He knew what that meant, he must've taken too long, and she was going to be pissed.
After a few minutes of waiting, Edward got an invite to join Zip's party. He braced himself as he pressed the accept button.
"Edward! It's been fifteen minutes, where the hell were you?!" Zip shouted.
"Look, it's not my fault, alright? I got attacked by a UFO on my way home."
"Oh that's bullshit and you know that!"
"I'm telling the truth here!"
"Whatever! Let's just start already. Oh, and I'm getting all the mythics this game, since somebody can't keep track of time."
Edward scoffed, "You hoard all of those anyways."