help i have written like 700 words about my version of venus de milo on a monday night
venus has always been the best. always. shes the smartest, the fastest, the most versatile.
she would never be cast aside for someone else because there was no one who could replace her. even so, she was always pushing herself to the limit, desperate to not be surpassed by anyone else.
her powers developing was the best thing that ever happened to her. a new skill! a new skill that she, and she alone, possessed!
she practiced at it constantly with usagi, prying into people's minds to see what they held within. mama would be proud. she would be the best forever.
her powers developing was the worst thing that ever happened to her. it started with tremors in her legs and sharp-as-glass headaches. they were easy to ignore, at first. then, there was an accident.
she'd been training with donnie and mikey when she felt her legs begin to give out. she ignored them and pushed harder, just as she had always done. her head felt like it would burst. she persisted. her nose started pouring blood.
she spoke to draxum after mikey begged her to find what was wrong. she told him her symptoms, and he gave her a face unlike any she'd seen before. one of pity.
"child," he started, small and regretful, "i am so sorry. when i made the five of you, i failed to consider some.. logistical issues."
he told her mystic energy was meant to be drawn from the outside world, but he'd been arrogant. he made her have to draw her power from within so she could gain access to the mind more efficiently.
he told her it was killing her. her system revolted against the power draw and started attacking itself. the power itself fried her from the inside out.
he told her she had to stop, but the effects would still be lifelong.
she kept training, training, training. she could take it. maybe others weren't able to draw power from within, but she was different. she was made for this. she was the best.
the only one who would agree to help her was donnie. the others were cowards who made arbitrary limits, like they knew her body better than she did. the two of them worked constantly, pushing to become better. worthy. loved. normal. powerful.
she kept going on missions for big mama, and rose the ranks until she was practically second in command. her powers were undoubtedly the reason. yet another reason why she shouldn't stop.
during one such mission, as she tried prying into the head of some rival mafioso, she felt the tremors and the headache and the nosebleed and the worst stabbing pains in her stomach and her chest that she'd ever experienced. it was like a dull, rusty knife was clawing its way down her guts.
she woke up several days later, on a hospital bed.
while she'd been out, shit had clearly gone down. everyone was bruised, bandaged, and had a dull sheen in the eyes.
she wanted to know what was going on. she tried to use her powers to read someone, but they wouldn't function. she felt like a part of her was missing.
they explained that she'd burned herself all the way out. her body started heavily reacting, and when big mama found out her star soldier was down, she took drastic measures.
the moment venus wasn't the best anymore, she tried to seize the power for herself. drain it right out of her pathetic lackey. there had been a battle, a bang, and now she was here.
her power was gone. not only that, but it seemed her body was still rebelling like something was wrong. she was told that she would likely stay that way. that she could manage it, but never defeat it.
she didn't know if she could handle that. she could slay any other enemy, solve any other problem, eliminate any other threat in an instant. but this wasn't any other problem.
her joints hurt, sometimes so much so that she couldn't stand. her stomach sent pain unlike anything else on the daily. she stood much less of a chance in training than she ever had before.
she wasn't the best. she would never be the best again.
could she live with that?
