a sunny day

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"Ready when you are!" Isis calls out to Kingo. She plants her right foot behind her, bracing for an impact.

Kingo calls back to her: "Here I go —"

"What are you two doing?" Druig appears from nowhere, squinting in the light of a cloudless sky.

"When on Earth did you get here?" Kingo exclaims in confusion.

"Just now," Druig shrugs, taking a bite of the apple in his hand.

Isis rolls her eyes, but she has a smile on her face. She comes out of her lunge to approach Druig, stealing his apple without a word and taking a bite before tossing it back to him — it puts a smile on his face.

"Kingo and I are trying to resolve an argument as to whose ability is more powerful. What do you think, Druig?" She links arms with him to sway his favor.

"Hey, not fair!" Kingo rushes to Druig's opposite side and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, man. We've always been close, right?" he says with a hushed voice and just a hint of desperation.

Druig glances between the two Eternals at his sides, but in his mind, the answer is as clear as the day.

"Sorry, lad. Isis has got you beat."

Kingo narrows his eyes at the two of them. "Only one way to know for sure."

"Carry on then," Druig says with a full mouth and waves them away.

Isis resumes her stance and Kingo resumes his own with his fingers pointed at her. She raises a magnificent cosmic shield in front of herself and wears an unbothered grin. "Let's see what you've got," she challenges.

Kingo takes a deep breath and steadies his footing. The veins on his forehead pulse as his palms begin to rattle and burn with the energy of a thousand su—

"Wait, wait, wait," Druig steps forward again.

Kingo drops his hands, the energy fading out immediately. "What now?"

"Is this safe?"

With the grin still on her face, Isis shrugs: "Good thing Ajak is only a call away."

"Fair enough," Druig nods, knowing that it isn't Isis that he needs to be worried about. "Have at it then."

"No holding back!" Kingo calls out. A dust cloud begins to form around him as he once again focuses the energy in his palms. "Ha!" he exclaims as the golden bullet rings out, which — to his absolute disappointment — ricochets harmlessly off Isis' shield. In fact, the bullet reverses its course entirely and returns to strike Kingo on his shoulder, sending him flying across the open field.

Druig's laughter immediately fills the air. As the dust clears, Kingo lies wide-eyed and motionless, paralyzed by utter shock. Isis kneels by his side: "Told you so."

"You never mentioned that your shields can deflect."

"Just something I taught myself the other day," she replies. She looks over her shoulder at Druig, still clutching his side in laughter. "Maybe we won't tell Ajak about this one, for the sake of your pride."

Still laughing, Druig stumbles his way over and offers Kingo a hand. "Sorry lad, but you'll be hearing about this one for the next thousand years."

The three of them stand up together. As he brushes the dirt off his clothes, Kingo turns to Isis: "What do you mean you taught yourself that? Do you just wake up and decide, 'I'm going to learn something new to ruin Kingo's day?'"

"Everyday, my friend," Druig responds, patting Kingo on the back.

"Get off me," he shakes Druig's hand away. "Seriously, Isis, how do you just learn a new ability?" They both look to her.

"I'd like to think of it less as learning something new and more as coming into touch with what you're already capable of. Takes a little faith, no?"

"What's going on here?" They all turn to see Sersi heading their way from the Domo. "We heard some commotion and particularly Druig's laughter, which usually points to mischief."

"Kingo here has just learned that he has the ability to fly like Ikaris," Druig answers as he rattles Kingo's shoulders. Sersi raises an eyebrow.

"That is completely untrue." Kingo vehemently shakes his head.

"Let us just say that we were experimenting with our powers," Isis explains.

"Experimenting, you say?" Sersi asks with curiosity.

"Well, I at least do," she replies. She looks to Druig: "What about you? Have you ever wondered if you're capable of more?"

"I truly hope not," Kingo interjects. "If he can somehow read our minds on top of controlling them, then we really are all doomed."

"How can you be so sure that I can't already read your mind?" Druig taunts. He touches his fingers to his temples and looks deep into Kingo's eyes — melodrama and all. "Oh, I see! You're wondering if I can make Isis forget about your little defeat just now."

Kingo's eyes widen. "Wait, you can actually read minds?"

"Kingo, please," Isis intervenes. "Have you considered the possibility that your thoughts are just a little too predictable?"

"I—" Kingo stops mid-sentence, and his mouth hangs open. "I don't want to spend time with you two anymore."

Druig and Isis exchange a glance and a smile; maybe that's enough antics for a day.

somewhere in time {Druig}Where stories live. Discover now