Chapter Text
Soulmates are with everyone, and you get a mark as soon as you age. However, not everyone adheres to the idea of soulmates.
Rupert Price is one of the individuals.
"Why do we have soulmates?" Rupert grumbled to himself at his desk. He was doing paperwork before he went home for the night. He was a police officer and he was an efficient one at best.
"All they do is mess people up and put two incompatible people together for no other reasons besides destiny told them to,"
Rupert is pessimistic about soulmates because of his parents. He didn't have a wonderful childhood, and his parents weren't the definition of a healthy relationship. After finishing his paperwork, Rupert stretched. He then stood up and headed to the breakroom before he went home.
Rupert went inside the breakroom to find two police officers on their break. Rupert grabbed himself a cup of water and to get a donut.
"Hey, did you find your soulmate yet?" One police officer asked the other.
Rupert scrunched his cup as he felt his blood boil, oh great... the soulmate talk.
"Not yet," the other police officer replied, putting their face on their hand, "I'm hoping I can find them soon,"
Rupert left the breakroom swiftly without grabbing a donut. He headed back to his desk, trying to calm his anger. His blood was still boiling, and he wanted to punch something.
"ARRGH! Why do we have freaking soulmates?!" He thought, packing up and leaving the police station.
When he arrived at his apartment, he unlocked the door, went inside, and showered. After showering, he dried himself and put on pajamas. He ate quickly, sat on his sofa, and turned on the TV. He watched some TV while he ate his dinner on his coffee table. After eating dinner, he cleaned up, shut off the TV, and went to bed.
He turned off the light and lay down on his bed.
However, he couldn't sleep because the memory from earlier popped into his head. He growled as he shifted to his side and memories from his parents flooded his mind.
"Just because two people have the same soulmate mark, doesn't mean they are compatible," Rupert whispered.
Rodney Price and Rita Petrov had the same soul mark and Rupert saw how their soul mark ruined them.
As far as Rupert can remember, he didn't see his parents have a loving marriage. His dad was an abusive jerk to his wife and son. His mother, Rita, tried to stop her husband from abusing her and her son but to no avail. Rita had tried to tough it out and protect her son from her husband's abuse but after so many years of abuse, she couldn't take it anymore.
One day, when Rupert was about 5 or 6, Rita packed her stuff and left Rupert in the care of Rodney Price.
After Rita abandoned Rupert, Rupert never recovered and spent 13 years with the old jackass he called his father.
Rupert glanced at his bandaged hand and wrist. He slowly unwrapped it and stared at his wrist with anger.
His soul mark looked like a gemstone and he fucking hated the damn mark.
When he got his soulmark, he was livid. He didn't want a soul mark, he didn't want to end up like his parents, being stuck in a relationship because of a soul mark. After he got his mark, he covered it up and pretended his mark never existed. That's why he has bandages around his right wrist.
He sighed as he started sobbing into his pillow. He spent the night crying.
If there's one thing that Rupert hates more than soulmates, he hates change.
He was now with the Government after he quit the police force. He resigned because one of his coworkers, Dave Panpa, was fired for unforeseen circumstances. However, Rupert knew the real reason for Dave's termination was a certain Stickmin.
Henry Stickmin was a notorious criminal known for stealing money and jewels. The last time he was arrested, he was put where Rupert and Dave worked. Henry received a package from Dave, who gave it to him. Unfortunately, Dave didn't check the contents, and Henry escaped using the contents.
Rupert has hated Henry Stickmin ever since. It didn't help that the Government recruited him to help them take down a criminal organization called the Toppat clan. Henry helped them gather some files in exchange for being pardoned by the government. Henry was forgiven, and to everyone's surprise, he joined the Government.
Charles Calvin, the pilot in charge of the mission Henry was kidnapped for was ecstatic. He had taken a liking to the former thief and they instantly became fast friends. Rupert on the other hand, was angry and tried to persuade the General to reconsider Henry's decision to join the Government but was shut down quickly.
Rupert watched Henry and Charles talk while having drinks. Rupert drank water because he didn't feel like drinking alcohol. He grumbled as he looked through his phone, he smiled when a text message popped up on his phone. Dave texted him about being back at his job as a security guard.
If there was one good thing about Henry helping them when they kidnapped him to help them take down the Toppat Clan, Henry saved Dave when he was inside the Toppats' airship when he got kidnapped by the Toppat Clan. Henry also apologized to Dave about his firing even though Dave kept insisting it was his fault that he didn't check the package.
Rupert sent Dave a message when he heard a loud female voice.
"What's up losers!" Ellie Rose exclaimed, sitting next to the duo.
Rupert rolled his eyes as his mood soured for a bit.
Ellie Rose was another former criminal who joined the Government after she and Henry escaped the infamous prison called the Wall, run by Rupert's grandfather, Dmitri Petrov. Rupert was happy for a time when Henry was missing but Charles and everyone else was sad.
"Hey, Ellie," Charles greeted happily.
"Hi, Ellie," Henry signed.
Ellie sat beside Charles, who blushed and drank to cover his face. Ellie's face was also red, so she quickly ordered a drink. Rupert rolled his eyes again. Charles and Ellie both have crushes on each other, but they can't say anything because of their marks. However, they both don't realize that they have the same marks. Their marks are a single red rose with a thorny vine surrounding it.
"So what are you two losers talking about?" Ellie asked slyly, smirking.
"Uh... um... uh..." Charles struggled to answer her.
"We're talking about soulmates," Henry answered, silently laughing at Charles's expression.
"Ohhhh," Ellie said, "Did ya find your soulmates yet?"
"Nope," Charles swiftly answered but hid his burning face.
"I'm not planning to find them," Henry replied.
Rupert nearly choked on his drink while Ellie and Charles shouted at him.
"What? Why?!" Charles exclaimed.
"Yeah! How come?" Ellie added, crossing her arms.
"Why do we have soulmates?" Henry questioned bitterly, using his voice, "What's the point of them? They're just there to make everyone pair up with a person who you are not compatible with and force people to be together because of it,"
After finishing his explanation, Henry downed his drink, stood up, paid, and silently left the bar. Charles and Ellie exchanged confused glances. After hearing Henry's confession, Rupert stared into his half-empty cup for a few seconds.
"Not bad, Stickmin," Rupert thought, "You have the same mindset as me,"
Henry slowly walked back to his apartment and once inside, he started to sob. He leaned against the door and slid slowly down to the floor as he kept sobbing. He put his head into his arms to hide his tears. After a few minutes, he ceased his sobbing. He lifted his head to look at his right wrist which was covered by a long fingerless glove.
He bitterly stared at the same gemstone mark that Rupert Price had, wishing he could take off the damn mark.