Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Welcome to hell.

Chapter Text

It was a dark and stormy night on TIME-TANGLED ISLAND . Poppy, the Poptropica main character, whipped her head around in surprise. The wind was blowing like crazy, the shutters banging against the windows.  

She was lucky to be close to the laboratory. She had seen this building near her house but had never visited. The door was wide open, so she decided to just go in. The place seemed almost abandoned. Almost every surface she looked at was covered in greenery. The room was hot and humid, not a hint of AC. Which meant this building probably did not have power.

Poppy pulled out her flashlight from her back pocket, and it flickered on.  She walked around the lab, shaking in her boots, looking for loot. Btw, Poppy was a scavenger. An orphan. No home. No love in her life. Thus, she depended on looking for treasures to fill the hole inside her. 

Motherless, she concludes that there must be some sort of booty in the abandoned lab. Lighting struck and a golden gleam appeared in the corner of her vision. She whips (and nae naes) her flashlight towards the object. The shaking in her arm grows more intense as she tiptoes to the mysterious object.

As she got closer, Poppy could hear a faint ticking sound. She knelt down, and discovered the golden object was a pocket watch. She wiped the dust off the case, and found ornate engravings in the solid gold spherical object. It was beautiful. 

Poppy barely realized that the ticking was all she could hear. Perhaps if she did, she would have realized what was to come. Anyways, she popped that thing open with a press of the golden button on the top. The covering flew up, hitting her fingers. The inside of the clock was something that she had never seen before. Strange icons lined the edges of the sphere. 

Would that lower the monetary value when she goes to sell the clock? She thought. 

One particular icon caught her eye. A sword surrounded by angelic wings, enclosed in a circle. Mesmerized, Poppy traced the icon with her finger. As she hovered over the icon, she realized it was a button. Curious, she pressed the button and hit the crown of the pocket watch. 

The ticking grew louder and the room became whiter. She felt like she was falling through the floor, but that was impossible!

 * WOOOOOOOOOOSH*

She did not know what that abysmal noise was; she did not have time to ponder for too long. Suddenly, she was in the air. With a screech, she flaps her arms in distress trying to be a bird. Little did she know, she was not a bird. Eyes wide and throat sore, the ground was quickly approaching with no regard to her wellbeing. 

Right before she hit the ground like a pancake, she was suddenly stopped mid-air, hovering over the ground. Poppy’s eyes widened in shock that she was not dead. But then the invisible wall let go, and she hit the ground. 

She groaned in pain, as she sat up, she slowly began to realize that she fell in the middle of a warzone. Poppy could hear funny-sounding guns that shot bullets of blue and red light, and the clanking of metal. 

“Watch where you fall.” A voice called out to her. 

ZOO WEE MAMA! Poppy whipped her head around just to see the HOTTEST MAN ALIVE. <3 She has never felt this way before but she has watched enough Poptropica YouTube to know what to do. With a pucker of her lips, she stands up and stares at the mysterious man. She wiggles her hand, stands on her tippy toes, and reaches towards his shoulder.

“Hey,” she says with all the rizz she can muster. The man stares at her in his 6 feet glory. His face scrunched in confusion with hints of disgust. 

“I am married…OH KRIFF...I mean…I am NOT married but if I was I would be a married man.”  The man stared at her with an intense expression on his face.  He looked like he would kill her if she said the wrong thing. In fact, he looked like he would kill any man. No wait, not just the men, but the women and children too. 

He quickly squared his shoulders and regained his composure. “You would have DIED if it weren't for me. So be grateful I was here.” He said with an icy voice. 

Poppy stared at the man for a sexy second. He had dark brown wavy hair that fell right below his chiseled jaw. He had funny-looking clothes, like some sort of space-monk. He wore dark linen clothes, and a strange stick hanging off his belt. 

“Who are you? And where am I? Why are we in battle?” She asked, the words fumbling out of her mouth. 

“You know, when Obi-wan said he was going to send me help…You’re not what I had in mind. Can you fight?” 

“I only answer to people whose names I know.” She snipped.

The man blinked at her slowly, as if she was a fool. “General Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight.” 

“What the fuck??????” she screamed. 

“What is that? What is this ‘fuck’ you describe? Would that help us win the war? Is that a secret weapon?” Anakin asked. 

“Well, I have none to give. No matter how hot you are.” She swooned.

“I'm not married…Anyway, since I now know your secret weapon. I am sending you to infiltrate the east side of the command center with one of my best men.” Anakin reaches up to his ear and after a few seconds, an armored fella rolls towards them. His dual guns blasted every metal target with ease.

Anakin moves his arm towards the figure. “Weird girl whose name I do not know, this is Captain Rex of the 501st.”

Poppy startles at the man in front of her. He strode towards her with confidence and stopped in front of her. Rex wore a white suit of armor adorned with blue and black plating, and on top his head was a white helmet with blue stripes. In one swift movement, he took off his helmet, revealing a handsome man with a stern expression. 

Poppy stares at the man in shock. While Anakin was a dark and handsome man, Rex had a cool stoic and heroic aura surrounding him. She was immediately drawn to him, feeling as if there were a magnetic pulse bringing her towards him. She didn't even mind that he was bald.

“It’s… nice… to meet you Captain,” she stammered.

“It takes a lot of bravery to go on a battlefield. You seem capable so I’ll be depending on you to have my back.” Rex said with a slight tilt of his mouth. 

Poppy could not hide the growing blush on her cheeks. Was this love? After spending years alone, living day-to-day on what she can scavenge up.  It was nice to hear that someone felt like they could depend on her. 

Wait a second…

“MY WATCH!” Poppy yelled. “Have you seen a golden pocket watch? I had it with me when I plummeted through the sky.” 

Rex’s eyes narrow in slight confusion. He rummages through a side pouch and pulls out the familiar golden contraption. “Do you mean this? I found it on the battlefield but didn’t know what it could be.”

The watch was a bit more beaten up but seemed fine.  Poppy sighed with relief and tucked it into her pocket. She smiled gratefully at Rex, who did not smile in return, but his gaze softened ever so slightly. 

Anakin cleared his throat awkwardly. “Okay, now that you’re done, GET MOVING. WE NEED TO INFILTRATE THE COMMAND CENTER.”

Poppy startled as he raised his voice, but Rex didn’t seem fazed. He puts on his helmet and lifts his dual guns.

“Ready?” Rex asked, as he turned and walked up the hill. 

“Ready.” Poppy nodded, as she followed after him in the midst of battle. 

Chapter Text

“It’s a good day to be infiltrating the COMMAND CENTER,” Rex shouts as he shoots another droid with his dual guns. Looking hot and cool and sexy all at the same time. Poppy was trying not to get distracted by his radical rizz.

“I NEED A WEAPON!!” Poppy yelps as she crouches behind Rex.

After shooting one more droid for the homie in the back, he tosses her one of his dual blasters. “Keep sharp and stay behind me. I will keep you safe.”

“THAT’S THE PLAN,” Poppy responded with an eyebrow wiggle. “Don’t worry about me.”

Besides, that gave Poppy a better view of the peak human specimen that was right in front of her.

For the rest of the day, Poppy stayed by Rex’s side as they fought through enemy lines. The other troopers in their unit were picked off one by one. When dusk fell, only Poppy, Rex, and two troopers remained. They were still half a day away from the enemy command center.

“PLEASE, SIR, LET US REST,” Random Trooper Number 1 shouts on his knees. Trooper Number 2 stared at his companion in disgust at how far Random Trooper Number 1 had fallen. Poppy could tell that gave him an ick.

With a deep and hot sigh, Rex takes off his helmet. Poppy couldn't help but watch the scene in slow-motion. His eyes were still sharp as daggers from the heat of battle, and sweat glistened down his chiseled chin.

Before Poppy could further think about her GURL dinner, Rex turns to his men and motions to the ground. “There seem to be none of those clankers around. T-Bone, scope the area around just in case. Cookie, go get some wood for a campfire.” Rex whips around and points at Poppy.

“And you,” Rex commands, “you come with me.”

Poppy stares at him a little too eager to go off alone with him. “Yes, Captain~”

A bit taken aback, Rex motions for Poppy to follow him into the woods.

You’d think this wouldn't be related, but Poppy has been a scavenger for too long. She knows when she has hit gold. So when she saw the hint of blush on Rex’s cheek before he turned around, she knew she gonna get herself a man. Thank you Dad for teaching that before he left to go to Poptropica Walmart.

Rex clears his throat. “You and I are gonna hunt,” he states. “Y’know how to shoot?”

Even if she did, she aint gonna know today. “Uh, no I don’t. I’m just a POOR girl in this DANGEROUS battlefield.”

Rex hums in thought, his dark eyes looking off to the side. “We don’t have much time but I can help teach you the basics.”

“You will?” Poppy gasped. YES YES YES YES YES A THOUSAND TIMES YES. THE PLAN IS PLANNING LIKE IT'S NEVER PLANNED BEFORE.

Using dismembered droid parts, Rex set up a small shooting area using the parts as targets. Rex strode towards her, stopping right behind Poppy, his chest lightly touching her back. Poppy held up her gun, and she felt Rex’s large hand enclose around hers, helping her aim. His other hand grazed her waist.

“Tighten your grip,” Rex whispers, his hot breath hitting her ear. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself when the gun recoils.”

Poppy shivered, craving his touch. Is this the physical touch that her mother never gave her?

Poppy pulls the trigger hitting nowhere near the droid. But it's ok because she hit the mark by getting closer to her potential man. She felt Rex’s hand tighten on her own, and his head lowered, basically resting on her shoulder.

“Try again. Focus.” He whispered. But how could Poppy focus when they were so close? His hand tugged on hers, lifting her arm up and helping her aim.

“Now.” He commanded.

She pulled the trigger, this time, she hit the target. She pretended to be affected by the recoil and fell back into his arms.

Using his soldier reflexes, his hands caught her around her waist. She pressed against his chest, her face bright red. Oh yeah…It's all coming together.

She goes to look up at him but he was already staring at her with concern. She felt all her built-up rizz evaporate. “uH…H-Hey…?”

Rex blinked at her slowly but then smiled. “Hey.” He said softly. He stared at her for a second, questions swimming in his brown eyes. “I just realized… I don’t know your name.”

Poppy blushed so hard she must have looked like a tomato. How did she not tell him her name?? She cursed herself. Stoopid.

“My name is Poppy. Poppy the Poptropican.” She stammered.

“Poppy…” He tested her name on his lips and smiled. “I like that. Call me Rex.”

They stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds longer. Rex’s hand entwined in hers, the blaster long forgotten. His other hand still wrapped around her waist.

“I’M BACK SIR,” T-Bone yells as he walks towards the two. At the sight, he slams to a stop. “Captain…You got urself a girlfrieeeennnd? OoOOOooOooo.”

“Shut the fuCk up.” He deadpanned. He looked at Poppy and winked.

“ Awh, sorry sir you know I'm maidenless.” T-Bone cried.

Suddenly, the three of them heard the sound of wood dropping. Startled, they turned around to see Cookie watching them, but he was staring at T-Bone with a look of confusion and betrayal. Cookie will remember this.

Rex cleared his throat and released Poppy from his arms. Poppy misses the warmth of his arms. Them cockblockers >:(

“Cookie, get the fire started. T-Bone, status report?” The captain turned to T-Bone who went into parade rest.

“No clankers, we are good to make camp. Cookie and I can start-”

But Cookie was already gone.

It took a while to set up camp but they did. THEN A TRAGEDY HAPPENED…Them cockblockers gave Poppy her own tent.