Good News for People Who Love Bad News (Val)

[Jonas Kent]

The squeak of marker on whiteboard was accompanied by the faint scent of burnt leaves that clung to the artist’s clothes as he worked. His aching wrist flicked and flourished as it left trails of colour behind, looping through the blank spaces of the board and filling them with green, red, blue, and black. In the upper corner of the board a globe suspended itself in 0Gs as a paper plane flew in orbit around it, growing smaller as it looped around behind the planet and becoming larger again as it reappeared. Below them Mickey Mouse jived with Mario. They seemed to be having a good time.

The marker paused and Jonas took a step back from the board. He squinted at the masterpiece’s latest addition and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. Jonas grinned to himself at the image of a large, Godzilla style cat with a spiked turtle shell towered over the scene. Mario and Mr. Mouse were in for a rude awakening. The artist reached out and tapped the cat which shuddered under his finger. Fur bristling, it stretched and blinked as it came to life and the upbeat dancing on the other end of the board came to a sudden halt.

Jonas leaned back on his heels as the scene unfolded like something from an old cartoon. It didn’t take long for Bowser the cat to spot his prey and he sank into a predatory crouch, licking his lips. Mickey and Mario exchanged panicked glances before sharing a nod and darting off in opposite directions. The cat lashed out with a paw as Mickey scrambled out of the way. Meanwhile Mario ducked behind the monster and grabbed its tail. Bowser’s mouth dropped in a silent scream and his eyes almost popped out his skull.

Thoroughly pissed off, Bowser turned on Mario and spat a fireball at him. The Italian plumber had no chance to dodge and it caught him square in the face. He shrunk to half his size as the cat cackled in victory. But the celebration was short lived. Mickey clambered up the spines on the cat’s back and he froze. Jonas watched on the edge of his figurative seat as the mouse scrambled on top of Bowser’s head. Letting out a feral, silent scream the mouse reached out and plucked a single whisker from the cat’s face.

It was like poking a hole in a balloon. Bowser whizzed around the board while Mickey held on for dear life. The cat ricocheted from one end of the board to the other as Mario scrambled to get out of the way. Mickey was dislodged as Bowser slammed against the top of the board and the mouse fell unconscious to the floor. It was then that the door to the art room creaked open and Jonas nearly lept out of his skin.

[Valkyrie Fortune]

Accompanied by a tangled mess of hair flowing behind her, a petite young girl pranced down the halls with a smile brighter even than the sun outside. Freckles speckled her nose and cheeks, though a thin layer of grime coated both her and the mandatory uniform. It didn’t seem to bother her, though, and in fact the girl almost preferred it that way. If, at the end of the day she was spotless, the day would’ve been well wasted. After all, every flower was dusted with at least a little bit of dirt.

Val didn’t care for most classes. Sometimes, she’d be curious about the occasional history or art lesson, but it wouldn’t take her long to zone out again when she actually attended. Her thoughts and ideas were far more interesting than anything that a teacher could furiously scribble onto a board. But, despite her low attendance rate, she did know that there were never classes on the weekend. So, when she saw that the door to the art room was ajar, she paused in front of it. The brunette’s head tilted. The lights were on inside, too, unlike the other classrooms. Had there been a schedule change? Perhaps there was some sort of art club. Waddling up to the entrance, she pressed her cheek against the door to try and peer through the slight opening. But, it was to no avail. It was far too small to see anything.

The little girl wrinkled her nose and folded her arms. There didn’t seem to be any sounds coming from within the room, but that was almost just as infuriating as being unable to see through the crack. She wanted to know what was going on, or if there was anything at all. A huff of displeasure escaped her, and she edged even closer to the door. The thought crossed her mind that perhaps there was no one, and someone had just left the lights on by accident. And yet, she still just had to know. What was life without a little adventure? She raised her hand and pressed against the door, finding much reluctance in the screeching hinges.

As the door swung open and she finally got a look inside, Val was quite disappointed. Standing by the whiteboard with a marker in hand was one lone student, with gentle blue eyes that stood out against his pale skin. The brunette tilted her head and paused, her hand still pressed against the door. His hair vaguely reminded her of carrots. Her stomach grumbled, and a little voice reminded her that she should eat soon. But not his hair: that would be gross. She wrinkled her nose. Turning her attention back to the boy, she noted that his brows were raised and his eyes were wide. Val wondered if he had just seen a ghost. Of course, she wouldn’t joke about such a thing, so for a moment her eyes flickered around the room – just in case. At the lack of a spiritual presence, she deducted that her entering the room was the only thing that could have scared the boy. Detective Fortune, on duty. She stifled a grin.

The self-proclaimed sleuth was about to introduce herself when she noticed the battlefield that had been drawn on the board. A weird cat-turtle thing was squished against the top, while a little man dressed in red struggled to bring a mouse back to life. Each of them was familiar, but she couldn’t quite place a name. But, what actually got her jaw to drop, was that the red man was moving. She stared, raising her hand and pointing at the Italian plumber. “Why is he doing that? How?” Maybe it was his powers. After all, she could get plants to move a lot faster than they would otherwise, so perhaps he could do a similar thing... but with whiteboards. It stood as a stark contrast to people who could control explosions. Well, some of us have to draw the short stick. However, she soon lost the train of thought as the name of the unconscious rodent hit her. A wild grin spread across her cheeks. “Mickey Mouse!” she exclaimed, eyes twinkling with excitement, “right?” She puffed out her chest, already praising herself for such a grand realization.

[Jonas Kent]

“Uh,” Jonas responded oh-so eloquently to the girl who entered the room. She appeared to be dusted in a fine layer of potting soil and her thick hair hung in tangled, wild strands around her shoulders. Either someone had just uprooted her straight from the earth or she had spent the last week trawling through the forest. Jonas eyed her suspiciously for a long moment, but before he could say anything her eyes grew wide and she darted to the white board.

“Why is he doing that? How?”

The stranger babbled on in astonishment as she took in the cartoonish tragedy of the scene. “Uh?” Jonas repeated, momentarily baffled by the girl’s energy. Awestruck the girl leaned in to watch as Mario performed CPR on Mickey Mouse. And then her face lit up with recognition.

“Mickey Mouse! Right?”

Her blue eyes twinkled up at him and the artist’s expression softened. “Right,” he nodded, “and Mario and, uh, Bowser Cat? I don’t know. He doesn’t have a name.” Jonas walked up to the board and took up a black marker. Uncapping it, he stuck his tongue between his teeth and sketched out something roughly shaped like a rectangle. Marking it with a cross, the artist pressed a forefinger to it and the supply kit became a part of the scene. Mario scrambled over to it and began pulling out supplies before rushing back to his injured comrade.

“Sorry, buddy,” Jonas whispered to Mickey with a wince before turning his attention back to the girl. “It’s, uh, a work in progress,” he offered her a sheepish smile and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Oh,” the artist suddenly seemed to remember something, “I’m Jonas, by the way. I don’t think we’ve met.” He held out a marker-stained hand for the girl to shake. At least she didn’t seem too threatening. For now.

[Valkyrie Fortune]

There was a certain amount of pride that swelled in Val as she recognized the mouse. It wasn’t just that she was pleased with her memory, no, it was also that she was able to keep up with pop culture. As a result of her disinterest in technology, it was common for Val to fall behind on new culture, and, though Disney was nothing ‘new’, she couldn’t help but puff out her chest and praise herself. Being able to understand other teenager’s interests was something she often struggled with, but the little girl could comprehend the love for an adorable little mouse. So, her smile only broadened the longer the two lingered in the room.

But, her twinkling gaze had flickered away from the carrot-topped boy before Jonas had even answered her. As a result, Val had hardly noticed the other’s befuddled state, instead still preoccupied with the vibrant critters racing across the board. The new addition of the first aid kit left her even more fascinated than before, though the added recognition of the Italian plumber’s name had widened her grin. The bright world drawn onto the board seemed far more interesting than the dull walls of the classroom. At his humble remark of it all just being a ‘work in progress’, though, she seemed to awaken from the trance. Her wide, curious eyes swept across his face, finally meeting his soft, sky-blue orbs. There, she remained. It took a moment for her to even register the extended hand, which she soon clenched and shook with a little too much excitement. “Hi there! I’m Valkyrie, but it’s better to call me Val,” she chirped, louder than what might be expected, before dropping her hand back to her side and giving him another smile. Though, she silenced again as she contemplated Jonas’s previous statement. Whether the boy was just modest, or he actually wasn’t finished the drawing, the girl couldn’t decide. She was perplexed.

Soon, Val piped up again with a slight shake of her head. “Anyways, it’s great! Do your drawings always do that?” No mask covered the childish eagerness sprouting from the girl, and she even leaned forward on her toes to draw nearer. “What else were you gonna add? How about some flowers? Some of them have medicinal properties that...they maybe could use,” she said, drawing herself up and clutching her hands behind her back. The girl’s chin tilted upwards and her expression softened to a subtle smile. It could’ve been a position of mature elegance, had she been able to resist bouncing ever so slightly. Not just this, but the loose clothing and the tangled nest knotted on top of her head also kept her from seeming very white-collared. Almost as if she figured this out, she erupted in to a giggle and her back slumped over once more. It was evident that she was incapable of appearing at all collected, but that would be unsurprising to anyone who knew the young girl.

[Jonas Kent]

The girl’s blue eyes settled on his as she took his hand. Her palm felt rough and gritty in his warm, doughy one and he glanced away as they shook. “Uh, Valkyrie, huh?” he said, dropping her hand, “that’s a pretty badass name. Better than Jonas anyway. It means, like, dove or something.” Val graced him with a bright smile that he shily returned before looking back to the whiteboard. Mickey was attempting to pull an endless roll of bandages from the supply kit. A sizable pile had already collected beside him on the non-existent floor of the piece, but there was no end in sight. Frowning, Jonas stepped forward and drew a pair of scissors for the mouse.

“It’s great! Do your drawings always do that?”

Val piped up as Mickey snatched the scissors. “Kinda,” Jonas said as he watched the scene on the board, “I mean, I guess if I want them to. Like, that’s my power, right? But that’s about all it does.” Shrugging, he chanced a sideways glance at the filthy girl. “Flowers?” he blinked. “Yeah, that might be cool, but I don’t which ones to draw. Sorry, I’m, uh, not really good at like, identifying plants and stuff. Unless it’s like, I dunno, a piranha plant from Mario or something. Oh, wait-” the artist’s eyes lit up as an idea struck him.

Grabbing the red marker from the ledge of the whiteboard, Jonas uncapped it and set to work. Stumpy and spotted, he sketched out the mushroom. He grinned to himself as he pressed a finger to it and Mickey immediately scurried over, somehow knowing what to do even though Shrooms didn’t exist in his universe. Or maybe they did. Maybe Mickey Mouse and the rest of the Disney crew all played Super Mario in their freetime. The idea only widened the artist’s grin.

“Which do you like better: Super Mario or Mario Kart? Personally, I love Mario Kart. Used to play it with my sister when we were kids. Before she got boring anyway,” he smiled over at the delighted girl, enjoying her reaction more than the art itself. His art made someone smile. It felt . . . good.