#'It's like a war from within just to let go' ~ Batman
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xan-izme · 7 months ago
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Double life 11 (ATSV x Reader x Batfam)
Summary: You can't do this alone
Part 10, Part 12
You felt stressed. The anomalies were popping up in Gotham and in New York at the same time. Of course, Aaron and Miles are there to handle things. But you no longer want their help. You don't want them to have that responsibility anymore. None of the burden.
And with Bruce. He hasn't talked to you. You haven't seen him in a few days. You felt like you have messed up everything. That he now hated you because of what you said.
But in truth. Bruce was just sulking behind closed doors. He's raised 4 boys so far, and he likes to think he's done a great job. Well, not a great job but an okay job. But with you, he feels like he's failing with every move he makes. He knows what you said is true.
He has the papers to prove you are his daughter. But he's missed 16 years of your life. Your uncles were more like fathers to you than he will ever be. And it hurts him. More than he would expect. And what hurts the most is that was the true you. Not the act you have been putting on for a few months. What he saw was a child struggling to morn her mother.
He would know.
But it must have been harder on you. Because you only had her. And now she's gone. And now you're stuck with him.
It was another night of kicking anomalies through portals. Preventing some minor crimes and avoiding Batman.
You sighed as you sat on top of the Wayne Mannor roof. The sun should be setting soon. You used to watch the sun set back in New York before beginning your day as spider woman.
You sighed as you pull out your phone.
Jason was looking for you. He needed to speak to you about, well everything. If he was to keep your little secret. Then he needed to know what the hell was going on. What's with the portal he saw you kick that one villain in, what was in the suitcase. Why are you being so secretive. It's suspicious, and he can't trust you fully. And he needs to trust you a little bit for this to work.
Jason enters your room, but you were nowhere to be seen. He assumed you were out with Damian.
If your gone. . .
Jason smirked to himself as he got the idea to snoop around. He walked around. He was Immediately at your bookshelf. He sighed in disappointment when he only sees education books. Books about physics and geology. Technology.
"No one is this into school." He pauses for a moment before correcting himself. "Tim. Tim is."
He grumbles as he tries to see anything else he can find. He circles around to a different side of your bed. He gasped as he finds a secret stash of books.
All fantasy fiction and history books Manga too. Harry Potter, Hunger games, Art of war, Game of thrones, The Odyssey, The lightning theft- the whole damn Percey Jason series. Heros, Gods and monsters of Greek Mythology- Wow! you're really into Greek mythology.
He hums in amusement and put things back. He Looked up to your desk and picks up a little picture of you and your cousin. He takes note of how you reacted when he mentioned Miles knowing about you being Spider woman. Probably the angriest he's seen you.
Your protective.
He sets the picture down and walks into your bathroom. Nothing out of the ordinary. A lot of hair products. He opens the mirror cabinet. Painkillers. Tylenol, ibuprofen. First aid which was, empty.
He pauses for a moment. Something doesn't look right. He closes the mirror cabinet. Then opens it again. He repeats the process before finally taking a look at both sides of the mirror. He knows this manner inside and out. practically memorized the blueprints. Both old and new.
He decides to try and pry the mirror cabinet open from the wall. And there, a secret stash within the wall. He grabs the small duffle bag. He opens it up to see your suit. and a Polaroid picture of a woman. Your mother he assumes.
He lets out a small sigh and puts it back and closed the mirror cabinet tightly. He decided it was time he goes back to looking for you. Yours still in the manor he knows that much. He saw your shoes and window open. He searched the manor but could not find you. He stepped outside to see if you were at the barn.
But when he looks up. He sees a glimpse of a head. Someone was on the roof.
Jason hurries back into the manor and makes his way onto the roof.
You stare at the video playing on your phone. Sniffling a little.
"Mom, stop. I mean it!" You laughed as you try to back away to a wall
"Nope. not happening!" Your mother pointed the water gun at you and started shooting
"AH! Mama!" You tried to run but tripped and fell on your face.
"Pfft-" Your mothers laugh could be heard along with yours
You continued to solemnly watch the old video. Not noticing Jason a little far behind from you. Listening and watching you. You looked so sad it was unconfortable.
But he felt, a little guilty. Just a little bit. Because if he thinks about it you have been through a lot. Jason took a few steps closer and cleared his throat to signal his presence.
You jolt at the noise and glance back and see Jason. You quickly look away and wipe your tears.
"What do you want."
Jason stood there awkwardly before taking a seat next to you. You stare at him with your tired eyes. Jason sighed as he looked back at you. "Look, kid. I know I'm a jerk. I'll be lying if I said I didn't mean to. But can you blame me? You're not telling me anything."
You stay silent before looking away. Contemplating weather, you should tell Jason the truth.
"You can't do this alone kid. Trust me, it won't work if you do this alone."
You let Jason's words sink in. Slowly realizing. He was right. You were scared, and truly didn't want to go through this alone. And this was Jason, so it should be okay, right?
"Do you believe in the multiverse?" You finally spoke up. Your words made Jason look at you a little confused.
"The multiverse, like different universes. Timelines and stuff."
You nod. "Yeah, something like that. . . it's real. The multiverse is real. And, in every universe, there is a Spider Woman or Spider man to protect and keep balance. This universe is mine to protect. Those bad guys you see me throwing through portals. Those are anomalies."
Jason listened in closely. Half of him believes you, the other half not really. But he's all ears.
"Anomalies from different universes, brought by portals that were ripped due to mankind tempering with forces that were beyond our understanding."
You talked about everything. About the society. About Alchemex. And the whole cannon situation. A fate every spider hero had to succumb to.
It felt nice to let everything out now, like some wight was lifted off.
Jason believed you. Well, he kind of does. He only believes you because, well it's you. And he doesn't see the use of you lying about something as crazy as multiverses.
But the fact that you were hiding all of that and you were planning to carry the burden alone when still in the process of mourning the loss of your mother. It concerned him a bit.
He could tell Bruce. This could be a family effort. You're a vigilante, so are they. The whole bat family can help. But you have already expressed that you can't let anyone else know about the multiverse thing you have going on.
For safety reasons you claim.
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A/n: sorry, this is a little short, but I do want to warn everyone that I will be a little late with the next few chapters because they will be longer and might be traumatizing. so, yeah. Thank you for reading
@huening-ly. @mariadvorak, @superherosdystopiafreak, @chelluv, @houseissofine, @esposadomd, @greyeyedmockingbird, @1-800-daisy, @c0c0-puffsxxx, @arthurswife, @h0rr0r-10ver-69, @josiepapen, @natashanice165, @amber-content, @mahbeanz, @azurewisteria, @seraph101, @skepvids, @lara20aral, @iwasveronica, @jackrabbitem
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dailycass-cain · 1 year ago
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2023 was another big stepping stone with Cass. The character was featured in A LOT of stuff this year amongst a few negative antics.
But unlike prior years the good really outweighed the bad. BY A LOT.
So let's take a look back one final time #CAINAISSANCE2023...
The year started STRONG with the release of Batgirls #14 aka the BEST solo story that involved the character this year.
I've gone in LENGTH on how AMAZING this tale was. If you haven't read it DO SO. You don't need any context but to just take in the masterpiece given.
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Writers Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad gave artist Jonathan Case just this canvas of an issue to tell AN EPIC mostly silent issue.
If there's a tale Batgirls will be remembered for it'll BE THIS ISSUE.
I've lost count to just taking in the gorgeous art Case delivers here and just letting the actions and emotions tell the tale.
The only regret is well no full payoff to what is fully learned within this issue.
It just hits EVERY mark and is something any Cass fan CRAVED, but never got in Batgirl Vol. 1. Batgirls #14 was a worthy issue that should be talked about amongst fans of Cass for quite some time.
February gave us Cass's grand entrance to Ram V's Detective Comics run (#1069) and what an entrance it was! Literally, I can't let it go of how AMAZING it was.
And the run itself? It just keeps delivering as THE Batman book out currently.
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It's a slow burn and when the run lays the payoffs IT HITS THOSE PAYOFFS. The series just ended an exceptional bi-weekly event that featured Cass and well, I'm extremely curious where this run goes with the character.
If anything, I just want MOAR from Ram V or a smaller secondary story involving Cass. But given the various characters he's been rotating and given next year is 2024 (more on that later) I'm keeping my fingers crossed for ALL OF THIS.
This run does work in trade but I digress you'd be missing the GORGEOUS covers this series has been shelling out. If anything BUY the single issues and read the run this way until you get to the present.
Or reread them like I've been doing. 😋
The early half of 2023 marked Cass's surprise return to an actual role in mega crossovers. She took part in the final issue of Batman vs. Robin being one of the random factors to stall the possessed Batman until ALL of DC's magical users came to cast it out of him.
The weakest of the crossovers the character was involved in I have to say was Gotham War. It was a nothing burger that made me swear off the Chip Zdarsky run of Batman completely.
Honestly, I feel more rewarded reading Tec more. Unless Chip pulls off a miracle turnaround in 2024.
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But I digress Zdarsky was only half of the problems with the other being Tini Howard and yeah, if you were a Bat Family member who wasn't Jason Todd (how did that mini turn out to be more entertaining then the ENTIRE event?!)?
This story SUUUUUUUUCKED. Quite possibly the worst Batman event story since War Games/Crimes for me.
Sadly, the most disappointing stories I'd have to say are on equal ground in Beast World and Knight Terrors. As there was interesting concepts with Cass involving them, and both stories just go NOWHERE.
I feel more so robbed with Knight Terrors as the design for Cass within it went hard. It's just that you give us THIS design and tease us with this little nugget and give us NOTHING?
COME ON!
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Beast World was a whole nothing burger as well, save the pretty art and a full confirmation that Cass's old NML is now canonically her defacto one again.
Even if we had it mentioned earlier last year and again in the best crossover event involving Cass...
WHICH WAS IN LAZARUS PLANET: DARK FATE #1. It gave us Alyssa Wong returning for a THIRD time to write Cass and they were joined by Haining on art which introduced us to the world of Xanthe.
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That in itself led to a spinoff mini-series that had Cass in it with SPIRIT WORLD. It did more with the new character Xanthe and laid out their origins and powerset nicely while also laying some seeds for MAYBE future Cass stories.
Again, I feel like a repeating record on how GOOD this series was. Like, I can't wait for the trade next year to take it all in again. But besides the creative team delivering it gave us Dustin Nguyen AND Marcio Takara drawing Cass again OFFICIALLY AS BATGIRL!!
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Even when this series ended, I STILL WANT MOAR!! Like what memories did Cass lose? What the heck happened with Spirit World twisting her memories of Batgirl Vol. 1 #72?! How will Xanthe be with the Jade Court?
SO MANY QUESTIONS!!
Something else that left me with MANY questions was DCeased universe as even though the story ended back in April.
I still crave more starring Cass, because let's face it STEPH/TALIA DESERVE CLOSURE!! Cass could be the gateway to that.
Doing so would tie up the final loose ends as well. Let's see how Rose is raising her kid with Jason. Silent Olsen. Harley/Ivy. Ollie/Dinah. Jim Gordon.
But I digress. It gives us more Cazzam. We need more Cazzam.
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But an alternate universe Cass just didn't pop up there we had a Cass show up in various other comics. Knights of Steel which also had me hankering for MOAR and Harley Quinn & the Legion of Bats.
I know some didn't like it, but me? I think it was LEAPS and BOUNDS better than what we got in the actual season of HQ.
Let us never talk about that season again…
Now something we SHOULD talk about more is the first actual appearance of Cass in a DC ANIMATED MOVIE!! Yes, Kai Li Cain from Batman: The Doom that Came to Gotham.
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I was blown away at the extended role they gave the character in the film (to the, "Oh right Tim is here and alive." role in the books).
Kai Li voiced perfectly by Tati Gabrielle gave a balance of innocence and reason with the batshit craziness this film throws at us.
Like, I really REALLY want a sequel. Just to see what she'd do now given full access to Bruce's fortune? Will she follow his path? I mean yeah we want steampunk Bat!
Speaking of which artists we need designs for this stat still!
It just adds that anchor where you want to see more of this universe and the characters that inhabit it. I mean that's the sign of a REALLY good Elseworlds. Where you want more and sometimes you get just that.
But with all this good came the sad, and that was the canceling of Batgirls. I know many were against the series (especially after #7-8), but the series found its footing with #9 and ran into something I hope more positively can be talked about it.
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It's true failing wasn't the creators behind the series, more just elements outside that just slotted it's end (Batgirl movie getting canned making #7-8 more wasteful), Evil Oracle #4 aka the pitch, and just being something it couldn't be).
I'm grateful for each and every creator who worked on this book because it was a GIFT that I'll always be appreciative of.
I'll say it again, THANK YOU TO ALL! 🙏
And its spirit lived on in the Nightwing back up a few months ago. It was something that was TRULY needed after the garbage fire that was Gotham War. It gave us this Cass/Dick sibling stuff and GIVE ME MOAR!!!
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Unlike the past where we'd be done, DC brought us back up giving us the current BIRDS OF PREY ongoing which has Cass in it.
Really the series is a revelation of giving us things I always wanted that I'd never thought we get. Cass with Dinah? CHECK.
Cass meeting Big Barda and the two having a bond? HELLS YEAH CHECK! Anytime that bond grows I squee even more.
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Just give writer Kelly Thompson ALL the time and ideas she has to churn this out to the proper conclusion she has envisioned. Just give me fifty-plus issues of her, Leonardo Romero, and Jordie Bellaire.
Finally of course there was Batman: Wayne Family Adventures which gave us THREE banger Cass stories. One where she and Steph are a MENANCE (as they should), Cass scaring the crapbaskets out of EVERYONE and of course...
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Season 2 gave us A LOT of things I wanted in general (her interacting with Damian) and just showing the world why I really really love this character. Why I talk about her daily.
Really as 2023 closes and 2024 is about to begin... Well, it's the character's TWENTIETH-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 25 years of kicking ass and ripping our hearts out.
It's been a journey for sure.
really REALLY hope DC honors this anniversary and continues to mend the bridges burned all those years ago.
Give us that Omnibus. Give us a mini or SOMETHING to celebrate this character. If not, I'll take whatever Ram V and Thompson give us.
#CAINAISSANCE2023 may be over, but #CAINAISSANCE2024 will be the most important year yet.
25 YEARS OF CASS!! LET THE CELEBRATION BEGIN ON JANUARY 1st!
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gilbirda · 7 months ago
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Friendly neighborhood vigilante. Chapter 28
BatmanxDP crossover. JasonxJazz
[Read on AO3] [Read on FF.net]
Based on this post
First chapter || << Previous chapter || Next chapter >>
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Danny landed on the rooftop without making any sound. There was soft thud and air displacement when Batman landed next to him, but Danny ignored him.
They have kept it civil because they really wanted to get this done before he was called back to the Realms, but Danny wasn’t very keen on seeing the old man’s face right now.
After all, he hurt his sister.
Jason was very open about Bruce’s involvement in the whole debacle, and explained as well who exactly was Barbara in this equation and how he could find her. Danny had given the other man a hard time during the unplanned shovel talk, but he could easily tell Jason was as pissed as he was for Bruce’s treatment of Jazz, and he respected that.
He was still on probation for the whole “making her cry and making her spill her secrets at gunpoint” business, but for now the guy was making up for it very well. The shine in his eyes as he explained in detail what exactly Danny should and could do for payback was exactly what Danny needed to feel encouraged to start an impromptu prank war on Batman, which he promptly decided to do.
Jazz arrived after work and found them still in the Batburger, plotting machinations that she disapproved of at first, but quickly caved and added her two cents with her observations about Bruce.
Jazz wasn’t a stranger to prank wars. She was a Fenton after all.
Terrorizing the old man had been fun and a great way to blow off some steam, which he desperately needed. He had slipped with his chat with Jason, and he was fearing he went too far with the whole eldritch thing, but the guy was just fine and not traumatized so it couldn’t have been that bad.
He still refused to talk to Batman if he could help it. Weird thing, the man didn’t seem surprised by the development.
Good.
He should be very aware he did something very wrong and was on thin ice.
His only saving grace was new intel Jazz shared at the Batburger — she had struck a deal with Bruce, and apparently the man was going to help her launch her reform programs that the management at Arkham kept shutting down. Of course his sister saw this as an opportunity for her work, but if it made her happy, he was fine with it.
He was still going to mess with the man for a bit longer, though, even when they were on their way to meet The Spirit.
They didn’t have a set destination, but Danny instinctively followed the flow of ectoplasm to where it was the most concentrated, and where he knew she’d be a bit more stable to have this kind of interaction.
Gotham Spirit wasn’t like your regular ghost — she was born after a dream, an idea, a concept. She had never been human and existed in every brick and every tree and every person within the city. Manifesting as a one singular form took a lot of power and ability, something that an entity as old and experienced as Gotham certainly had, but required a lot of ectoplasm.
Danny watched Red Hood land on the other side of the rooftop with his sister in his arms. He scoffed. Jazz hadn’t looked apologetic when she told him she wanted to make the trip with her boyfriend instead of flying with him as usual.
Sure. Let her live her dreams of being swept away by her knight in shining tights or whatever. By the way her face had a slight blush up to her ears, she was enjoying every minute of this.
Danny scoffed and looked away, watching Batman instead. The man was openly staring at the couple being disgustingly cute with that neutral expression of his. Batman was liminal just enough that Danny could sense the underlying sadness he had every time he looked at Jason.
He didn’t know the full story, but had guessed from context that both had a complex relationship he didn’t want to touch with a ten foot pole, thank you very much.
Batman made a grunt type of sound and finally looked away from the other. Danny glanced and found them kissing, Jazz grabbing Jason’s jacket to pull him down and he had a hand on her waist.
“When do you think The Spirit will show up?”
Danny could see the attempt to distract himself away from the happy couple, but he felt a little evil and pretended he didn’t hear him, turning to look at the city skyline.
Gotham was a beautiful city ��� not exactly his taste, but he could appreciate the charm of such an urban metropolis with grotesques on every other rooftop and overall dark aesthetics. Sam would love the place, for sure. Maybe he should bring her the next time he comes over for a visit.
Batman grunted again, displeased with being ignored.
Good.
“Tomorrow—”
Whatever the man wanted to call his attention for was forgotten the second a colony of bats appeared out of nowhere, screeching and screaming as they rushed in towards Jazz and Jason’s direction.
Danny knew they weren’t dealing with normal animals when the bats ripped Jazz away from her boyfriend and threw her over the edge of the rooftop.
“Jazz!” Jason screamed, running after the cloud of darkness that took the woman.
Danny flew to see what was going on, finding his sister suspended mid-air, already drawing her staff and trying to fight off the bats off her body that were biting and scratching the skin that wasn’t covered by her armor.
“HOW COULD YOU!” A disembodied voice growled, distorted with rage and tell-tale static undertones that ghosts usually had.
Gotham, the Spirit, had arrived.
“I HAD ONE RULE!”
Oh boy.
The dark cloud carried Jazz towards a nearby building, through the wall and again upwards towards the sky, landing on the roof. It was a good thing that Jazz's physical abilities were enhanced with her armor on, because blasting through brick walls really, really hurt. He knew from experience.
The Bats immediately grappled closer to the fight, but didn’t dare intervene just yet — the murderous colony of bats seemingly multiplied and flew in a storm around Jazz, making it impossible to get closer or help the woman without risking injury.
Jazz shook her head to clear the debris from her face and hair as much as she could, and started flipping her staff around in practiced moves. She knew how to move with a staff, it was her main weapon after all, so she didn’t find a lot of trouble with at least keeping the worst of it out of her personal bubble.
“Do something!”
Danny’s head whipped away from the fight. “Like what!” He shouted back at Jason.
“I don’t know! You are the King! Stop this!”
Jazz screamed in pain, and they turned to watch as the bats finally overwhelmed her, sinking their teeth on her skin and taking flight with her, body and all. Her staff was useless in the air, and the higher they flew, the more she risked falling and hurting herself.
“Danny!” Jason growled, demanding answers.
The young King wished he could do what he was asked. It was his sister fighting for her life right there, but—
“I can’t.”
“What!”
“I can’t intervene! Could be perceived as a power move and make things worse.”
“Power move? What the fuck are you talking about? It's trying to kill her!”
Did they have time to discuss the intricacies of ghost politics, haunt protocol and unspoken rules of courtesy? No, they didn’t.
“Just trust me, dude!”
Also, technically, Gotham was within her rights here. Jazz broke a promise made with a ghost more ancient than her. She was not supposed to get close to the city’s beloved crime fighters.
Jazz activated the electrical tip of her staff and shocked the cloud of bats surrounding her. She screamed, probably because she shocked herself in the process, but it served its purpose — the electrocuted bats finally let go of her and started nosediving back down, freeing her.
She didn’t waste time and repositioned her body to dive back as well, her long red hair flapping wildly on her back, eyes fixed on her objective, hands tensed around her staff.
They watched the colony recover mid descent, flying back up to meet her halfway. Jazz placed one arm forward, activating the ghost shield of her arm guards, using the opportunity to cushion her fall back to the rooftop. She landed safely and flipped backwards a good distance away from the bats to regain her breath.
“Get over here!” The voice screamed again, less distorted and more human-like.
Black smoke manifested around the bats as the cloud changed course, preparing to rush towards Jazz. She was ready for them. She had put away her collapsed staff back on her waist and lifted both arms, making a bigger shield that hopefully could withstand the onslaught of the very pissed off ancient Spirit.
When they made contact they heard Jazz gasp as she was pushed back from the sheer force of impact, but she held her ground. Her legs trembled a little bit, and one collapsed until she had one knee on the ground.
Finally, it was too much and the woman was launched again over the edge, but this time something else caught her fall.
Batman’s cape was gigantic, and Danny could understand how it became a symbol for the city. It was like Jazz had been enveloped in the night itself and nothing could go through the protecting barrier as she was carried into safety by the vigilante.
The cloud of smoke and screeching bats followed, but froze the moment they realized who exactly had their arms around their target.
The moment Jazz was on her own feet she drew her weapon again, breathing hard and glaring at the murderous cloud.
“My Knight.” The voice whispered, static gone, rage gone.
Jason had rushed towards Jazz’s side and started checking her wounds, but stopped to watch as the bats and the smoke started to coalesce into human form. It was reminiscent of the visual effect when the Bats manifested from the shadows, as if the void itself suddenly had eyes, then a shape and at last a three dimensional form.
“My Son.” Gotham, the Spirit, breathed with newly formed lips.
“Holy shit.” Jason murmured under his breath.
Danny watched as both Batman and Red Hood froze in the presence of the personification of their beloved city. It was the woman of the painting back at the Manor, Danny confirmed, so it must be the face of Bruce’s mom. She was wearing a long deep black cocktail dress, darker than a moonless sky, that hung down to her feet and blended with the shadows she was formed from, almost as if she remained tethered to the essence of the city even with her humanoid manifestation.
What was the name of Bruce’s mother? Martha? Yeah, Danny was sure the name was Martha.
He was still going to call her Spirit or Gotham, just in case. Anything else could lead to confusion.
The Spirit approached the masked vigilante and touched his face with a delicate pale hand, face contorting in what could be called a maternal worried expression.
Batman didn’t move, frozen in place, letting the strange and yet familiar woman touch him.
He looked like he wanted to say something, but hesitated, and then the moment was gone.
The Spirit withdrew her hand and turned to glare at Jazz, ignoring everyone else standing on the rooftop.
“You promised.” She growled with a static-y edge to her voice.
Jazz had regained her breath. “I know. I’m sorry.” She collapsed her staff and slowly put it on the holder at her hip.
“Tell me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you.”
Jason responded for Jazz, stepping forward to place his body between the angry ghost and his girlfriend. Danny thought it was cute.
The Spirit’s face softened at the gesture, floating closer to the pair. “My Knight.” She didn’t stop even when Jason tensed at her approach. “Would you protect her from me?”
He stood still even if it was clear he didn’t want that woman touching him. He wasn’t wearing his helmet, just a domino mask, so he was caressed on one cheek just like Bruce has been.
“Yes. Without question.”
The Spirit purred, considering. The shadows at her feet trembled and morphed as she thought, rivulets of pure darkness floating up until they dissolved like smoke.
“Very well.” Danny breathed in relief. “But you can’t expect me to be happy with you and the young King flaunting your power like this is your own haunt, girl.”
Jazz cleared her throat. “Actually, we wanted to talk about that topic.”
Gotham’s form shook and her shape blurred for a moment, her mouth curving in an impossible smile. “You dare make demands?”
“Not… Not demands,” Jazz tried to laugh the tension off. It didn’t work. “We wanted to discuss the possibility of letting me— letting us operate freely in the city—”
“HOW DARE YOU!”
The human form exploded in a cloud of bats, but this time they didn’t hurt anybody, they just flew around the group, screeching.
“If you could give me a minute—”
“You come into my city and dare—!”
“Listen to me.”
“ — prance around like it belongs to you!”
Danny and Jazz shared a look.
Jason stepped closer to Jazz, watching the flying cloud of murderous bats.
“B, do something. She likes you.”
Batman didn’t hesitate and moved closer to the pair, positioning on the other side of the young woman. Jazz ended up protected, sandwiched between the two vigilantes.
“There’s a threat coming.” The Dark Knight said. The bats slowed down, listening. “And only these two can help us. Hear what they have to say.”
The colony screeched one more time before they gathered again into the shape of Martha Wayne. She stood there observing the Princess, unblinking and unmoving, with one hand on the pearl necklace resting on her chest.
“A threat?”
“You don’t know them. They call themselves the Ghost Investigation Ward, and are after anyone that has been death touched.” The Spirit’s eyes sharpened, glowing with power. “Yes. Anyone. Including your Knights.”
“I can stop them.”
Danny intervened. “Vlad Plasmius may show up as well.”
The smoke cracked like a bonfire, and a strong smell of burning rubber and chemicals filled their noses.
“Plasmius?”
“You know him?”
She turned towards Danny, her eyes glowing red and dangerous. “I know of him. I don’t want that… man,” she twisted her mouth in distaste, “in my city.”
The siblings looked at each other and nodded. “We’ll deal with him. If—”
“No.”
“No?”
She floated away, the horrible smell followed her. “I don’t want any of you in my city either. You have caused enough harm as it is. Leave.”
She made a dismissive gesture and turned away, deeming the conversation over.
“What?” Danny heard Jason whisper.
“I’m sorry, my Lady, but I just can’t accept that.” Jazz stepped forward.
The burned rubber smell was back. Gotham looked over her shoulder, one eyebrow raised.
“You have done enough. Leave.” This time, the word had an added Command to it. Jazz stumbled but held her ground. This made the Spirit fully turn around to face her.
“No.”
The Spirit’s eyes glowed brighter as she stared down the Princess.
“Leave. My. City.”
“I won’t leave this city—” Jazz lifted her staff just in time to parry some kind of projectile Gotham threw at her. It vanished in a cloud of dark smoke that smelled like car exhaust. “I won’t leave this city, and I won’t leave its people. What’s coming is dangerous and we want to help you.”
“I don’t need—”
“Yes you do! How can I stand by and watch how they take all the death-touched that are under your protection? How can you?”
“I can protect them.”
“Can you?”
The Spirit didn’t like her comment, her body starting to lose its shape again. But didn’t respond.
“Let me help you protect them. You know I can. You know who I am.” She stepped closer to the Spirit, eyes fixed on the powerful ghost, unflinching. The fiery tips of her mask ignited with determination, fire extending to make a perfect circle of flames above her head. “You know I can protect what matters the most to us.”
Gotham’s red eyes briefly found the quiet figures of the vigilantes behind Jazz, who were watching the exchange with bated breath. Maybe they understood the importance of the situation, the gravity of what was happening. Openly challenging an ancient ghost like Gotham, in her own haunt, was a highly frowned upon offense. If the Spirit wanted to smite Jazz there was nothing Danny could do.
He watched his sister, stomping down the impulse to jump in and protect her. He had seen her square up against big threats, against a whole army, but he wasn’t used to seeing her dive headfirst into a fight she couldn’t win.
She really wanted to stay, huh.
Danny looked at Jason, the reason why they were in this mess in the first place. That man better understood how much his sister was risking with this confrontation.
“You are a child.” Danny cringed at the condescending tone. By ghost standards, it was technically true. He knew Jazz hated it almost as much as he did.
But she wasn’t fazed.
Jazz did a flourish with her staff and slammed it against the concrete roof, releasing a wave of power, her power, amplified by the magical properties of her armor. Danny and Gotham were unaffected, but he saw the vigilantes take a slight step back.
Huh. Interesting.
“I am Crown Princess Jasmine. I’ve protected the Keep against invading forces for seven days and seven nights straight. I’ve battled alongside the Ancient Pandora, and trained by the Amazons residing in the Infinite Realms.” She slammed her staff again, another wave of raw power coursing through the city skyline. Her hair was lifted by the stream of energy, flowing around her body like a fiery halo. “I’m not a mere child, my Lady, and I’m ready to risk my own life, my own blood, to protect this city. I will stay.” She marched closer, extending her hand. “Do we have a deal?”
Gotham made a face, barely giving Jazz’s hand a spared glance. Instead, she turned around and floated closer to the edge as if she was getting ready to jump.
Danny wanted to scoff. What a stubborn ghost. Just like its protectors.
“Very well,” she said, words carried by the wind. “You can stay. But,” she looked over her shoulder, “you must do one thing for me, if you are so fixated on ‘helping me’.”
“Anything.”
Danny’s eyebrows went to his hairline. That was a very, very dangerous thing to say. You just don’t promise “anything” to a ghost, even less to someone like the Gotham Spirit.
“There’s a vortex of corrupted ectoplasm hidden in my city. Find it, neutralize it, and I will be forever in your debt, Princess. Good night and—
“ — good luck.”
The last parting words were lost in the sound of flapping wings of the flurry of bats Gotham finally surrendered to. The colony flew up to the sky, vanishing among the dark clouds.
“Whew!” Jazz whistled. “That could have gone better.”
Danny turned away from the sky to look at his sister in disbelief. “What the fuck, Jazz?”
“What?
“What do you mean ‘what’?” He lifted his hands. Unbelievable. “You just— That was such— Why?”
She chuckled, her voice weak. “I… don’t know? It just happened.”
Danny wanted to get the bottom of how could his sister, always so obsessed with following protocol and rules, do a stand off with a whole freaking city just like that; but said sister was whisked away by two hundred pounds of vigilante.
Jason was laughing without caring who may listen, holding Jazz by her waist up in the air, spinning in place with her in his arms.
“That was amazing!”
Jazz laughed with him, placing her hands on his shoulders. Her cheeks were colored, probably from embarrassment at being at the center of such a spectacle.
“Oh, well.”
Jason stopped spinning and placed her on her feet, but immediately captured her and flushed her against his chest instead, reaching for a deep kiss that dipped Jazz backwards.
Danny looked away from such a cheesy moment.
Batman ignored the show and had already approached the point from where Gotham disappeared. He placed one knee on the roof and reached for the concrete, but there was nothing on it. No stain or mark that there had ever been a ghost formed from soot and smoke.
“It really was her.” He murmured under his breath.
Danny knew he wasn’t supposed to hear that, but the alternative of engaging with Batman was watching his sister exchange bodily fluids with her boyfriend and hmmm no thanks.
He sighed.
“It’s not your mother.”
“I know.” Danny didn’t flinch at the tone. “I know.”
Danny crouched beside the man. “Was she what you expected?”
He thought about the question for a second. “I don’t know. She looked like my mother, but there was nothing of her. She was hurt and distrustful. Cautious.”
Danny hoped the man could see the similarities between the city and its protector, but chose to bite his tongue and not comment on it.
“The corrupted vortex of ectoplasm.” Batman said out of the blue, standing back up. “I think I know what she was talking about.”
Just like that, the man was all business and no fun. Almost made Danny want to go back to giving him the cold shoulder and ignore him the rest of his stay in Gotham.
“What do you mean?” Jazz asked, tuning into the conversation. Her lips were swollen and her cheeks were still flushed.
“I’ve had my suspicions but I never had enough proof to investigate.”
“What?”
He looked at his son. “There’s a Lazarus Pit here, in Gotham.” He looked at Jazz. “And I think I know where it is.”
---
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chaoticallyfluffy · 6 months ago
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He clears his throat awkwardly, accidentally stumbling headfirst into a coughing fit with his pained and battered lungs working against him.
Humiliatingly, Black Canary pats his back gently to help him get through it, mumbling reassurances all the while. Billy hates it. The second he stops feeling like his lungs are actively trying to crush themselves from within him he slaps the hand away and stumbles to face his team. He tries to convince himself his poor attempt at standing tall made him look intimidating.
“As I was- cough- saying, I’m totally ready to fight again! If I can speak, then I can transform, and my injuries never transfer over to Captain Marvel! Keeping me on the sidelines for something as stupid as a few bruises is just a waste of manpower.”
“A few bruises?” Superman asks in disbelief, “Billy you have so many broken bones it’s a miracle your on your feet!”
“Miracles have nothing to do with it. He’s just too stubborn to listen to his own body.” Says Batman, the hypocrite. He elects to ignore it.
“There’s a war happening out there, guys! It’s my responsibility as the Champion of Magic, a member of the Justice League, and as a human being who loves this planet with all my heart to fight for it! And if you don’t let me…” He cracks his knuckles, somewhat successfully hiding his wince when he surely just turned a fracture in his hand into a full on break. Ouch. “Then you’re going to be the first enemies to meet my fists.”
(Send me an ask with the first sentence of a fanfic and I’ll write the next five! All my responses will be Billy Batson aka Captain Marvel related btw.)
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meara-eldestofthemall · 9 months ago
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Tim and Damian: A Tale of Two Robins
The latest issue of Batman (# 147) clearly underscores the differing ways Tim and Damian each approach the role of Robin. It's why DC has been able to get away with having two very different characters simultaneously wearing the mantle.
For Damian, Robin is fundementally a position of honor and a source of pride. It's an affirmation of his unique status as the biological child of Bruce Wayne. Damian wants to do good and he wants to be the best at it. There's nothing wrong with that per say. Many heroes are driven by the same inner need for validation. Being Robin is an honor to which Damian feels he has earned the right.
For Tim, Robin is foremost a calling or vocation. The Robin mantle is definitely an honor but it's not the primary driving force behind why he's in the cape. To him Robin is much more than just a kid who fights with Batman. Tim is heavily invested in in protecting the symbolism of what both Robin as well as Batman and Robin stand for. Please note that it's not Damian or Dick that tracks Bruce down in this issue even though they're both quite capable of doing that. It's Tim who goes after Bruce.
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Tim being the one to step up to save Bruce from his own worst impulses is what he does. He's an Emotional Support Robin as much as he is a partner to Batman. From the very beginning Tim saw Robin as someone Batman needs to function properly.
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To this day Tim still maintains that Robin's primary responsibility is not to be a sidekick but be someone who will save Batman from both external and internal threats when required. He's a vital balance, a counterweight to the shadows that Batman inhabits.
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In many ways that idea is at the crux of the differences between Tim and Damian's approach to being Robin.
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Damian initially saw the mantle of Robin as his birthright due to his being Bruce's biological son. Yes, it seems like a strange idea but let's cut the kid some slack. Damian was all of ten years old when he first met his father. He'd also been raised in a cult that all but worshipped the AL Ghul family. He was an arrogant little princeling because that's what he was raised to be.
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Tim sees Robin as Batman's partner but not his subordinate. Sure, all the Robins started as "sidekicks" but Dick and Jason's Robins never had the kind of independence Tim's Robin enjoys. Remember that it was a lack of autonomy that drove Dick away from Bruce in the first place. Jason's Robin rarely, if ever, worked independently of Batman. Tim, on the other hand, started handling his own cases less than a year after debuting in the role. Tim doesn't see himself as an apprentice but as a full partner. What's more he throughly enjoys that aspect of being Robin.
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People wonder why Tim hasn't created a new identity that's not linked to Batman. The short answer is that Tim feels that he's already doing that. Robin is an independent hero and has been for years. He's been more than capable of operating without a net since before Damian showed up. Tim isn't shy about that view point, either. When Bruce tries to push Tim's Robin in ways Tim doesn't like, the kid will tell Batman "no" then continue doing things on his own .
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Damian, on the other hand, constantly chafes against how Bruce's Batman wants him to act as Robin. Just like his father Damian doesn't like to be wrong and that shared stubbornness causes the two of them endless arguments. Damian's earliest teachings within the League will forever be at odds with Bruce's demands of Robin. The clashing expectations cause an internal conflict that leaves him at war with both his father and himself. No wonder the poor kid has a short temper. Trying to be both Damian al Ghul and Damian Wayne has got to be exhausting.
It's a testament to Damian's strength of character that he's been able to overcome the indoctrination from the League as much as he has. It's never going to completely leave him, however, because the lessons engrained into Damian at such a young age formed the core of his personality. Working with Dick's Batman helped him to learn some empathy and the value of tempering his worst impulses. Unfortunately Damian is primarily working with Bruce not Dick.
Damian is also 13 years old who has been seeking his father's approval and respect since the day he met the man. Bruce, being the emotional disaster that he is, fails to recognize that most of the time. This is why Damian is so completely taken in by Zur pretending to be Bruce. For the first time Damian is getting both approval and positive attention for being more violent than is necessary. His dysfunctional childhood and his work as Robin are finally in harmony and Damian loves it. It's also why poor the poor kid is so crushed when he figures out what's going on.
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Tim, meanwhile, has stepped into his role as Emotional Support Robin (whether that's a good or bad thing is a debate for another time). His ability to ground Batman is why he can have this conversation with Bruce:
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Tim also has one other crucial advantage that Damian, Dick or Jason never had. Tim was Bruce's partner long before he became his son. He's able to slide back into that role at the drop of a hat.
Damian will always be the son of Batman first and Robin second. That father/son dynamic that Bruce isn't very good at will try and lock Damian into a subordinate position in a misguided attempt to keep his son safe. That kind of micromanaging is something Dami will only tolerate for so long. Leaving Robin to take up a mantle of his own creation is all but inevitable.
Tim and Damian may both be Robin to Bruce's Batman but their perceptions of who and what Robin should be is radically different. And as I said before, that's not a bad thing at all.
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gffa · 1 year ago
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LET ME TELL YOU WHY JASON TODD IS SO INTERESTING TO ME, because I think this is perfectly in line with his characterization in other places in this storyline (where he's angry at Bruce for feeling like he gets to set all the rules, that he gets to decide what Gotham "needs" as if Bruce was the only one who grew up in Gotham, that Bruce is trying to save him but Jason doesn't want Bruce to save him, where Bruce calls him family and Jason says that's looking at the past through rosy glasses) because Jason's relationship with Bruce is so thorny. He's practically hero worshipping Bruce in these scenes, he's practically putting him up on a pedestal, even when he's angry about it. He tries to pass it off as being realistic about Batman's skills--and he's not wrong, Batman would wipe the floor with these guys, would probably still wipe the floor with Jason if he was being serious about it--but it's more than that, it comes off as that there's a part of Jason who never let go of Batman as this larger than life hero in his eyes, the guy who was impossible to beat, the guy who would always be there, the guy who was his father figure. Despite that in that previous issue we watched as Dick just slid right under Bruce's defenses and clocked him right in the face, in that issue we saw Jason hurl himself at Batman and fought him tooth and nail. He's all over the map when it comes to Bruce, he says one thing in one scene and the opposite in another and I think that really, really works for me because I think that's what Jason's relationship with Bruce is, in his heart.
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These panels and this page go hand in hand for me, because this is a summation of Jason's relationship with Bruce: I love you, I hate you, I want you to love me, I can't stand when you love me, I want you to fight for me, I'll spit in your face when you try to fight for me, I will verbally tear down everything you're trying to build in Gotham by saying you don't get to claim me or Gotham, I will tell everyone else trying to horn in on the crime-fighting in Gotham that they'll never be as good as you, I will say I have more in common with Selina than I do with you, but I will never truly join her and I stick to the ideals you taught me more than anything, I will fight you like I don't think you're all that scary, I will tell everyone else that you're undefeatable, I will insult you to your face, I will idealize you in my head, I will love you, I will hate you, I will try to walk away from you, I will define myself by you. Jason's in a war within himself over his feelings towards Bruce and he can't let go of either direction, he can't stop loving him, he can't stop hating him, and it just goes around and around in a circle, no matter how hard he tries to pick one or the other, both are still there, and he's desperately trying to get a reaction from Bruce, from other people, because he's caught in the middle of his own feelings. Jason has his own beliefs, but he'll say or do whatever he thinks will get a reaction that he can work with, one he thinks will help him leverage a situation (even if that just means starting a fight so he doesn't have to confront his own desire to come home in the way he used to be there), and it's all an extension of how he can't solve the problem of Bruce Wayne in his own heart and head, no matter how many times Bruce and the others say they love him, he's family, they want him around. AND THAT IS SO TASTY TO ME, I LOVE IT WHEN A BATBOY IS A REAL HOT MESS.
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lollipencil · 6 months ago
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ITPM: What If...Khonshu sensed Jason's Resurrection?
Thought this would be an interesting idea. Hey @harleyification, fancy some tears?
Enjoy and be gentle ---
It was a calm night. Always an omen in Gotham. It was like the rogues saw stillness as a threat to eradicate whenever it occured. So Jake knew to make the most of it while it lasted.
He sighed into the steam from his coffee.
Six months. It had been six months since Jason's murder, and they were only just becoming ok again. Steven had spent an evening doing something which seemed to help, Ian Doescher's Star Wars books had drawn Marc back up from deep within, and Jake.
Well, Jake found his peace at Jason's graveside. At listening to the birds singing and imagining that maybe, Jason was with them, flying despite the Joker's best efforts.
The coffee burned his tongue as Jake took a sip. And the stillness broke. "My sons!" Khonshu was suddenly by their side, "Jason's grave-!" Jake didn't think; the coffee went straight into the nearest bin and he just barely dipped into the darkness of the alleyway before summoning the suit, and soaring into the night.
Rage muffled everything else. Who dared, dared to do something to Jason after everything he'd been through? They had better hope that Bruce got there first, because Jake was not feeling like keeping to Batman's One Rule tonight.
Touchdown at the graveyard revealed nothing. No one was there, everything was as it should be. "Khonshu, what-?" "Shh, listen," Khonshu urged, standing by Jason's grave. Scraping. Knocking. Panting. Underneath the dirt.
Breath seemed to evade the body's lungs. A moment passed, and then Jake was on his hands and knees clawing at the earth.
Steven and Marc were awake, but their questions were like static to Jake. He just kept digging. Halfway through, the sound of splintering wood spiked right through all three of them. And the dirt shifted down. Jake's digging grew even faster and, before long, a hand emerged. "How?" Steven gasped almost silently as the hand grasped Jake's forearm. Jake didn't answer, he just pulled.
Jason Todd-Wayne flopped against their chest, and breathed. Their head was completely silent, the only sound was the air filling and leaving Jason's lungs. Jake's arms went numb. The one holding Jason tight became a suit jacket and glove, while the other a mix of bandages and bronze crescents. Marc's hand slowly and carefully drifted to Jason's neck.
Lub dup, lub dup, lup dub.
Something deep inside uncurled. Jake didn't cry, but the breath he took felt deeper and fuller than he'd felt in months. Idly, Jason's hand lifted to trace the moon and bat on Jake's chest. Steven's arm shifted to hold Jason closer.
A thought, and Jake's cape moved, wrapping nice and snug around their precious cargo. Footsteps approached the grave, and Jake tore his eyes away.
Batman and Robin stood above. Disbelief and paused grief couldn't hide behind their masks. Robin jumped down, and placed his fingers to the side of Marc's. "...There's a pulse," Tim whispered, "He's alive."
Instantly, Bruce was there. His hands hovered uncertainly over the bundle in the system's mismatched arms. Jason didn't say a word. Instead, he turned his head to look at Bruce's cowl, and reached for it. Bruce lowered his head and let Jason latch onto an ear. A spark appeared in his vacant eyes. "Jason," Marc whimpered, and the tears finally flowed down Jake's cheeks. "We should get him back to the cave," Tim gently urged, "It's cold out here."
Bruce unbuckled the batcowl and let Jason press it into his chest, and helped support Jake's wobbly legs as they all climbed out. He didn't try to take Jason from them, and they were grateful. Marc and Jake traded places once seated in the Batmobile. "Heya Jay," Marc spoke softly, "I've got you. We've got you. You're going home."
As they raced through the streets, they could have sworn that Jason's lips twitched into the faintest smile.
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devine-fem · 11 months ago
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Damian Al Ghul and Jon!Superman headcannons? How do you think they met?
I personally think it'd be surrounded in snow lol.
UGH. How did you know I wanted to talk about them. I love this AU right now.
Listen I know by rules that Damian Al Ghul in his universes doesn’t have a Jon but let me feel my fantasy because I think they would be great and meet when they were much older, by the time it was near Damian’s time to be head of the Demon.
I’ll for your sake also say it's snowy and Damian’s been captured by assailants and Superman!Jon only wishes to save the person who’s obviously in distress. When they meet Jon immediately recognizes how offly beautiful Damian is, he’s wrapped in fine silk, covered in jewels and looks as if he lacks pores. He assumes he is from a wealthy family and has some sort of title and is surprised but that he’s an Al Ghul being he seems gentle and kind-natured.
I like to think that Damian would be a romantic and be theatrical, he’d be flirty with Jon to his surprise but not to his dismay, he’d like it, a big part of himself doesn’t hate the idea of someone of Damian’s stature to take in interest in him. In truth, Damian falls in love quite quickly and he falls hard. He felt his life was suffocating, his father, the Batman being MIA, his grandfather Ra’s smothering him with expectations and sometimes cruelty. Talia is the main source of love and compassion he gets but he aches for someone to come and save him, like a Superman would.
Damian would find himself at tug of war with everything he’s ever been taught and the warmth and love he feels in his heart. The Al Ghul’s would possess kryptonite which would give Jon a headache but as Jon saved him, Damian would return the favor by betraying his Grandfather. Once Jon is save, they embrace.
Ra’s doesn’t go down easy though, he eventually breaks free from authority and rains terror on Damian in attempt to take everything back for himself if Damian is showing him he won’t do it right.
Damian’s been the head for a bit and he’s become well respected, he’s also lost some of his compassion. Some of that sprouting from Jon’s lack of commitment to him. He still finds himself longing for his Superman though.
When Ra’s is back, so is Jon and when they clash. Ra’s wins and ushers the world into darkness. He shakes the empire and leaves Damian depressed and grieving. He steals away Superman’s body and brings it to the Lazarus pits. He begs Jon to come back to him, whispering. “Please, Beloved, or else I’ll never love again.” 🤧
He does come back, he comes back with the madness and is subdued with kryptonite. Once he’s collected himself he wakes up with Talia at the foot of his bed, she begs him to make her boy happy as she couldn’t find a way herself - begs him to take Damian away from all of this.
He does. He does find the strength within life and death to fight back against the age of despair the world’s been left in and when he does, Damian and Jon can finally just be happy together. He leaves the empire to Talia and goes somewhere far, far away from all they’ve known, Damian selfishly asks for them to have the world together but Jon insists that just their lives together are enough.
Damian never stops being a ‘prince’ about everything, he keeps his personality. Imagine they have a Kent farm but with an Al Ghul like architecture of Damian’s choice.
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noxioustoxins · 4 months ago
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"I didn't know!" - JayTim - Batman
"Hey," Jason spoke, "there's this new cafe that just opened up. On the corner of Smithe and Verance." He leaned against the heavy lining of the BatComputer, being entirely unhelpful.
Tim gave a noise of acknowledgement, busy logging information on recent arrivals of man power to the city. He's hoping there isn't a turf war about to start, and he'd be damned if he let it. Turf wars were notoriously bloody, the civilian casualties rose immensely, not to mention the culling of blood in the gangs. Insurrection within the gangs of Gotham followed immediately after, or even during, coups and mutinies were almost a guarantee. Everything in Gotham changed with a turf war.
It gummed up the morgue, the police station, and all the Bat's duties. It left other files open and investigations stalled. 
"Would you..." Jason paused, "We could meet for a coffee when you're free next."
"Ya,” Tim snorted, a small smile on his face “when I'm not running a company, running a super team, or running for my life."
Tim could feel Jason staring at him, but when he turned away from the monitor, Jason was already walking away, footsteps silent.
Weird.
Coffee, while a life fuel, was usually more utilitarian than an actual outing. Not that Tim got time for a lot of outings that didn’t arise from his duties. Maybe it would be nice to grab a coffee and sit down with Jay for a bit. Later though, he had to finish the logs.
Tim finally made his way to the comfort of his bed in the manor after hours of cross checking and flagging passports and IDs. He really tried to stay at the Nest as often as he could, but late nights made early morning bed times, and the convenience of the king bed and Egyptian cotton sheets above the bat cave was hard to pass up, especially when limbs were sore and heavy from prolonged usage.
Freshly showered, wearing a worn-out sweater, and sweatpants that weren't originally his, but he had laid claim to, Tim flopped down on his bed, pulling the large duvet over his head and mentally thanking Bruce for the black out curtains.
Trying to get to sleep was always hard, caffeine flowing through him and antsy energy to finish a case made him restless. Even after days and nights of office work and crime fighting, sometimes he still found himself running through his day while he hoped his body would fall victim to sleep. He would think over and rethink every Wayne Enterprise interaction, every client offer, all his decisions while on patrol, and if any of them were right.
Even his conversations with the Bats, was he too snippy with Dick? Did Batman agree with his analysis? What was Jay talking about?
‘When you’re free next’. Free from what? Like, when he’s not busy ? Did Jay need him for a mission? What if the coffee shop was a front? Surely Jason would have led with that. He wouldn’t want Tim to walk in there blind and he hadn’t specified if it was for recon. Maybe Tim should go check it out, if Jay had doubts about it, it would be nice to know if they were founded.
‘When you’re free next’
It didn’t sound urgent. If it was a mission, or time sensitive, surely Jason would have pushed. Or gone himself. How dangerous could a new small coffee shop be that Jay needed back up? Was it a front for something and Jay wanted to make sure no one encroached on his territory? No, Smithe and Verance were closer to the Diamond District, still outside the high class area, not too far from The Nest, but far out from Hood territory.
‘We could meet for a coffee when you’re free next.’
Tim mulled it over in his head, running every possibility, but no conclusion he came to felt right. Maybe he would just have to talk to Jason when he woke up, ask him all the questions he had.
As Tim was slipping gently into unconsciousness, a fleeting thought passed by, not a conscious thought, but one that just popped in, unbidden.
‘Sounds like how you’d ask someone on a date’
Tim’s eyes shot open.
It was the most plausible conclusion he could come to, and now that he thought it, it wasn’t going away. Tim sat up, grabbed for his phone, yanking the charger out, and called Jason before he could think of what he was doing.
Every ring felt like it lasted twice as long as it should have. Tim had gone to sleep before sun up, which meant more than likely Jason was still on patrol.
Did that mean he would take less time to pick up? Or more time? If he was in the middle of a fight, he probably wouldn’t answer. His private line should be routed to his communicator, forwarding calls to him while on patrol - phones never really lasted if they were brought on patrol – which means Jason should at least hear the ringing.
While Jason and the family were moving towards something akin to colleagues, Jason only answered the Bats when he knew he had a minute to spare; and a private call would not be seen as an emergency, if it were an emergency, they would contact him directly through his com.  Tim thought about moving to a com line to make Jason answer, but the com lines were as private as anything else when it came to the Bats. Which is to say not at all.
Just as Tim’s mind started to run faster, the click of a line opening drew his mind out of the potential spiral.
“What’s up, Babybird?” Jason’s voice sounding tinny through the phone line, his tone laden with lies.
 “I didn’t know!” Tim nearly shouted into the phone before he could think. He was met with a heavy silence.
“Are you in danger?” Jason’s voice got quieter and lower.
“What? No. I’m talking about earlier! The date! I didn’t realize what you were asking and I was so distracted and I hadn’t slept in far too long and I didn’t know!” By the end of his  frantic speech Tim’s voice had ended up whinier than he would ever have liked it to.
He was met with another bought of silence.
“Okay.” Jason replied
It was Tim’s turn to take a moment of silence, mourning his pride. “Okay.” Tim took a small breath, speaking softly, “I want to.”
“Okay.” A resolute sound, followed by silence.
“Okay?” Tim prompted, hoping for a small expansion of the idea.
“We can talk about it tomorrow. In person.” The tin of the Jason’s voice from the phone suddenly became far more evident, an echo chamber of lost privacy.
“Okay.”  Tim repeated, closed his eyes and flopped his head down on the pillow, wishing he could figure out anything more to say.
“Get some sleep, BabyBird.” Jason’s voice was soft, tinged with the sound of a small smile. Tim could see it in his head. It made him want to slap Jason.
The phone clicked off. The room sounded far too quiet now.
Tim opened his eyes, his hand holding his phone dropped to his side, bouncing slightly on the impeccably made bed. Where did the exhaustion of the day go?
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dalekofchaos · 18 days ago
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Marvel Heroes' disgust of The Punisher is hypocritical bullshit
Ya know I think the Marvel heroes contempt for The Punisher is hypocritical bullshit.
Bucky has been doing the same things as Frank and arguably has killed more and even innocents and he became Captain America.
Moon Knight is basically if Batman and Punisher merged with a sprinkle of Egyptian mythology thrown in and they let that fool on the Avengers.
Daredevil would have a higher body count than Frank by a significant amount if someone hadn’t installed the Catholic Church's industrial guilt complex in him. If he ever decides to not be a bad person on a leash and become excommunicado from the Vatican….a Murdock with no qualms about just going and getting power for the sake of it and no regard to how he gets it who who gets hurt to make it HIS would destabilize the multiverse within the week. I’m calling it now. He would be The Batman who Laughs in the marvel universe.
The ones that say Frank is bad for killing indiscriminately are the heroes that annoy me the most because 80% the time those ones have either done that themselves or things that are far worse. Like even Cap doesn’t empathize with him at all and he should know better than anyone that the trauma of war really messes you up.
Wolverine has a massive body count, as does Black Widow, Do I even need to bring up Hawkeye's venture as Ronin? Blade, SPIDER-MAN MADE A DEAL WITH THE FUCKING DEVIL and Stan knows who else. The level of collateral damage Hulk has done over his “career” is astronomical, and Frank's collateral is damn near non-existent. Hating on Frank is dumb because so many other mainstream heroes do the same thing or even worse, only they are draped in the flag of heroic propaganda.
I do understand that Frank is deliberately going out and slaughtering people with zero room for nuance, but the hypocrisy is definitely something that should be addressed properly, cause it’s a fascinating aspect of the situation.
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apopcornkernel · 9 months ago
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been thinking too hard about my batman mob au. so i would like to share it. this is so long im sorry let me put it under a cut
i want to begin by saying that i think the only way bruce could feasibly become a mob boss is if he was able to be swayed to see that "clean" methods would genuinely do no good and in fact succeed in achieving more harm due to how much corruption and crime permeates the system. i think it would take a LOT to convince bruce of this, so he's kind of the hardest character to put in a mob au. however for the sake of fun we will suspend our disbelief a little bit!
okay, moving on, alfred: he's long been proven to be bruce's biggest enabler. i think he would get over it and end up helping him as he does as batman
as for dick: ooh boy. okay. so first of all i DO think bruce would let him kill zucco. however!! i think as dick grows up within the mob his strong code of morals will also begin to conflict with the lifestyle. but he's stuck there because bruce. insert all those posts about how dick grayson loves freedom and he also loves bruce and those things are at constant war with each other and because he loves bruce he sometimes clips his own wings. etc etc. i think he is the talia al ghul of this whole sitch if you get what i mean
speaking of talia!!! i believe her father would still be at odds with bruce bc yes, bruce is in crime, but bruce refuses to join with the league. so they semi-preserve their canon dynamic, except i think there's more opportunity for cooperation between talia and bruce considering talia's lexcorp era. in fact i do believe that lexcorp and waynecorp would become business allies during talia's time as ceo
but jason isn't dead. what his kidnappers hoped to do was turn him against his benefactor, taunt him about how it's been months and bruce still hasn't been able to save him, had refused to save him. but one night the door's left ajar and the sound of the TV drifts in, talking about how bruce is waging a bloody gang war, the first he's ever instigated, and jason... well. :)
as for jason—i think he would be the most loyal of the bunch. the first thing i actually dreamed up wrt this AU was a reimagining of ditf/utrh! in here, he's kidnapped by a rival gang. they demand bruce an impossible ransom, and bruce has no choice but to refuse. so bruce is sent a video of jason being killed.
"but poppy," you ask. "where's babs? tim? steph? cass? helena? jpv?" ok let's be real people aren't usually asking about the last 2 rip my babygirls BUT ANYWAYS—
the most important figure is HELENA. in the absence of batman, guess who's becoming the foremost protector of gotham??? EXACTLY. HELENA BERTINELLI. her whole backstory is that she wants to bring organized crime down SO WHO BETTER TO BE THE MAIN ENEMY IN A BATMAN MOB AU.
also because i love her.
im not biased i swear.
ALSO HER FIRST "ROBIN" (not necessarily named robin i just mean like. sidekick) IS JAMES COOPER FROM CAVALIERI'S HUNTRESS. CHUCK DIXON I HAVE NOT FORGIVEN YOU FROM ERASING HIM FROM MAIN CONTINUITY. he doesn't go out into the field that much bc he's still baby but he's the oracle before oracle. although when he does go into the field he's like. remember in cavalieri huntress where he was scurrying arohnd in the sewers and planting fucking grenades and shit. yeah.
later on he and babs will be best buddies <3 babs is his favorite aunt
ALSO!!! the rest of james' family will still be alive. idgaf. it's MY au and i can randomly reveal that his family has been alive all along IF I WANT TO. comic writers stop killing black people off for shock value challenge 2k24
also, james is ABSOLUTELY the one who wheedled helena into making a lair
babs does join the fray still! her story arc is mostly the same except that she partners with the huntress instead of batman. their ages are closer together so it's a slightly different dynamic
tim will remain a civilian. he will, however, be a very helpful civilian, in that he's the one who's stalking dick grayson & trying to prove that dick's involved in organized crime. him and dick will have the saddest tragickest "we could've been brothers. but not in this life. not ever." type of relationship. like jaderoy but platonic.
also tim & helena will have the same littlebrothernephew relationship that they have in canon 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶
i guess jpv will get roped in in a similar way to canon, but the idea of bane doing what he did to helena makes me so so sad :( however since she is taking batman's narrative space in this story then i think it should still proceed. i will then also insert a little bit of the vichelena agenda here—
in the wake of bane, JPV WILL STILL STEP IN AS HUNTRESS. "but they'll know he's not a woman" COWARDS. just give him a dye job and he'll look like helena. all white people look the same. he can pad the fucking suit or he can get the fuck out.
as for steph, she will absolutely be a vigilante alongside the huntress. her father is still cluemaster, after all, so she'll follow a similar arc to canon except it's helena and not bruce that she'll develop a complex mentor relationship with!!
i think helena can see a little of herself in steph. i think part of helena envies steph's moral compass also. iirc at steph's age, helena still thought her mafia family was okay & that it was just the people who killed them that were bad. yet steph, who's half her age, has no such illusions about her father, and is already fighting to try and bring him down
cass!!!! cass will still come to gotham!!!!! i can't see a way for cass to be on bruce's side in this au simply bc of how strong her morals are. she killed a man and never ever wanted to kill again, even with shiva where it was kill or be killed, she had already made up her mind to let herself be killed in the end. so she is going to be on the vigilante side :]
also, it would be amazing for me personally if cass came to gotham during azbats (...azhuntress?) era. ohhh lord. a situation RIPE for incredible interactions
i still haven't read damian & duke comics properly yet so that's going to have to be added in the future. but that's what's been rattling around in my brain so far!
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sokkastyles · 1 year ago
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I Read Azula in the Spirit Temple
And here are my thoughts:
Azula and Ty Lee's interactions are the best part of this comic. I generally don't like Tyzula but see why it exists. Azula's most compelling actions are with her female friends. And this comic builds a compelling foundation for Tyzula because Ty Lee is actually in a position of power here, as the one who understands What is Going On whereas Azula is still in denial about everything. There's a reason here that she appears in the temple but appears to be the only thing that's real. They have a nice Batman/Catwoman dynamic here.
I was right when I said Azula was using the Fire Warriors, and here she tries to use the fact that she broke them out of the institution to keep them loyal to her, but the point, that we see over and over again in Azula's story, is that you can't win loyalty and love through fear. The other girls have become fed up with Azula and leave her, and by the end of the comic, Azula also realizes that it was her own actions that drove them away, which is why I think she decides not to pursue them. The shot at the end of her watching them together is sad because we know Azula really does want friendship and love, but she still can't let herself admit this. Instead she declares that she will find her own followers again, because "I always do." I'm actually quite fond of this ending. Azula gonna Azula.
On that note, one of the central themes of this comic is Azula's awareness that she is responsible for driving the people closest to her away. The gist of this comic is that Azula essentially finds herself in a lotus eater's dream, but rejects it because she knows it's not real. Azula's main conflict is her desire for recognition and love from the people she cares about warring with not just her feelings of her own self importance, but her desire for the truth. Even when the spirit gives her what she wants, she doesn't accept it because she knows it's a lie. This actually is a really good insight into Azula's character because we know Azula before the series finale was content with the lie, she was able to convince herself that fear is the only way. But now she's getting to the point where she can't do that anymore, even at the expense of her own happiness.
Azula repeating in her sleep how she will make the fire warriors pay like a madness mantra is hilarious, and the comic intentionally plays up her pathetic self-delusions of grandeur in a way that is reminiscent of Zuko yelling at peasants to step aside in the show while he himself is reduced to a beggar.
The spirit does seem to want to help her, but since what it shows is controlled by Azula's own mind, it can't settle peacefully, because Azula can't find peace within her own mind. Everything the spirit shows her is really a reflection of her own inner conflict.
There's an interesting bit where Azula calls the spirit out and says something like "do you really think what I want is lies and manipulations?" The ironic thing is that Azula has built relationships on lies and manipulations in the past. Ty Lee at one point says that they were never friends, and that she was happiest without Azula.
At one point, Azula blames Mai for "breaking up the team for a stupid boy who didn't even want her" Zutara supremacy!
Azula wants the people she cares about to acknowledge how they hurt her and seek forgiveness, but she can't make the connection that she needs to acknowledge how she hurt others and seek forgiveness. Azula convinces herself that people can't live without her because she's afraid to be alone.
I've talked a lot already about Azula's visions of her family and the memory of the first time her parents see her firebend. I don't have much else to add here that wasn't said before.
There's a particularly interesting part where Azula destroys the spirit's monstrous vision of Zuko (who tells her that she needs to seek forgiveness from the people she's hurt) and the vision of her mother responds with a horrified "Azula, what did you do?" as Azula is standing over the spirit vision of her brother, dead from her lightning. Azula quickly dismisses this as the illusion that it is, but it's an interesting image and calls to mind how Azula did strike her brother with lightning and nearly killed him. Since we know that the things the spirit shows Azula are from her own subconscious, could this be an echo of Azula feeling guilty for how she's hurt Zuko?
Azula says that everyone turned against her except her father, and he's now "a pathetic shadow" without his bending. This is interesting because it's the first time Azula has acknowledged any fault with her father. This comic is also the first time she acknowledges that her father made her into a weapon. She says that she's the only one left to carry on her family's legacy. She's clearly conflicted about these two thoughts and even when she gets close to acknowledging that her father was abusive, she then turns it around and blames her mother and everyone else for "abandoning" her, and won't acknowledge that Ozai lost his bending as a result of his own actions, and instead sees herself as the only one left of any worth.
Azula's mother keeps telling her that she loves her, and since we know that what the spirit shows Azula comes from her own mind, we know Azula knows this deep down. Even in the moments when she admits that her mother was not happy, she knows her mother was scared for her and that she did care about her.
Overall, Azula is compelling in this comic because she's a villain who doesn't know what she wants, and is very close to having that "I'm the bad guy," moment, but still resisting change. And I kind of love it, to be honest.
I may post some more coherent thoughts later, but I just wanted to get this down for now!
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primeofprimes115 · 2 years ago
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The Yin to Her Yang, His Ray of Sunshine - Supergirl x Male Reader
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Warnings: Smut (18+), Angst, lots of Fluff and Wholesome moments (if you're one of those ugly criers, best to get some tissues just in case
(A/N: This takes place within an Alternative New Earth timeline where Flashpoint and Convergence never happens in this timeline)
*
For the last few years of their relationship, dating back to where it all began, where she first arrived to Earth, scared, confused, traumatised to where she is now with the one true love she never thought she'd have in her life who fought side by side with her through all of her struggles along with his own, through their ups and downs, her one true love being you of course!
Some would say your relationship with Supergirl was a coincidence.
But deep down, it wasn't just a coincidence... It was destined to blossom into an art of true love, two people, who cared so much for each other, who loved each other conditionally and emotionally. 
Your relationship with her was very sweet, tender, caring, loving and protective along with it being softcore and downright fluffy.
But... Let's go through your history with her first... All the way to present day...
*
Kara Zor-El has come a long way, she's been through so much within the last few years, fought through so many struggles in her life as both Supergirl and her secret identity Linda Lang.
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(A/N: Before you say anything about the image directly above... I get that she's... Y'know? But do I blame you??? I don't think I should) 
But she didn't spend it alone, by her side, was a young man from the planet Xola which had a bad history with Kryptonians as they once tried to conquer Xola but the Xolanians fought back with dignity and strength, once a powerful empire before many years later, the Xolanians would erupt in a civil war, two factions, fighting for control over the planet as the planet, slowly became uninhabitable for them all due to the war effort.
The man named Y/N, a young but grizzled and traumatised veteran of the Xolanian civil war, came to Earth near the end of the war, to live peacefully and in isolation before he found himself in more conflict regarding the humans and the many aliens that thrived on Earth.
He assumed the war was lost... The last thing he ever knew was that... Xola was becoming uninhabitable to support life... He grieved over the loss of his planet, of losing the war...
Until... He would meet someone who would change his life forever, along with changing hers.
*
Batman/Superman: The Supergirl From Krypton
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If it wasn't for the man called Superman, Y/N probably wouldn't be where he is now, at first he didn't trust the Big Blue since he was a Kryptonian but after seeing what he stood up for, he slowly began trusting him a bit more, as he began to trust a few Humans, one of them being Lois Lane, though he would still keep himself isolated and hidden, keeping to himself since he doesn't trust anyone else but the Man of Steel and a few of his close ones, he was introduced to his cousin Kara Zor-El, to help her adapt to Earth a bit better and the rest is history. after he vowed to help her understand a bit better.
She did go through some struggles, being practically kidnapped by Wonder Woman to be trained by the Amazons instead of Kal and Y/N teaching her, she already didn't like Batman since she thinks he didn't have a heart at all, thinking he was being an ass to her but overall... The only stranger who didn't try do anything to her was Y/N, who she actually enjoyed talking with and was a great conversationalist.
He didn't like the fact that Kara was forced to train on Themaskira, he always thought that 'freedom was everyone's right', he always thought that through his past leader, this? This wasn't freedom, she was forced but still... He couldn't do anything about it
But... This wouldn't really last as long, she gained the attention of Apokolips, specially Darkseid and with the attack on Themaskira from a cloned army of doomsday which was a diversion to distract everyone, Darkseid would order Kara's capture for she was to be manipulated into becoming a servant for him which unfortunately, they would succeed in doing so.
Y/N wanted to rescue her, no matter the cost, no matter how far he would have to go to get her back, thanks to Big Barda, they would find a way to travel to Apokolips.
After the two cousins would fight, in the nick of time of Y/N's arrival with Batman distracting Darkseid with his smarts, somehow... Y/N managed to break the somewhat brainwash on Kara's mind, carefully using his words, before she would collapse on the ground, Kal would bring her back with the others upon Darkseid agreeing to let Kara free... That day... Y/N grew to respect Batman with his smarts, outsmarting even a New God? That was something he never thought a Human could ever do.
Upon the end, with Kara back and it looked like she was going to head back with her cousin, she had one talk with Y/N as she recognised a symbol on his armour.
"How're you feeling?" he asked
"Still fuzzy but... I'm okay, I'm here because I just wanted to say before I go... Thank you for... What you've done for me Y/N ~" she smiled as she ran her hand on his shoulder plate where a somewhat recognisable symbol was seen - "I know this symbol, it belonged to the Xolanians, you're Xolanian? I know what the Kryptonians did to your people through my mother, Alura. I was so surprised you put so much of your trust in me despite... What happened between our people, I'm so sorry for what happened back then" she kept her eyes on the symbol, the two swords that stood for Unity, Hope, Prosperity.
She looked up at him, noticing his sorrowed face, thinking he was hurt by this, she immediately apologised... Thinking she shouldn't have mentioned it.
"No Kara, it's not that... I... I don't think I should talk about it here" he said with sorrow, with a pain aching in his heart.
She unexpectedly hugs him, taking him by surprise... He's never had a hug in a long time, not since... The Fall of Xola.
"I understand you don't want to talk about it, you're not ready to talk about it and that's fine! Really, it is" she seemed to console him, which shocked him but... He smiled, accepting the hug by placing his hands on her back.
The time came for her to go back with her cousin, he thanked Wonder Woman and Batman for helping him... Including Y/N, for helping her extensively... He already saw that Y/N trusts her and he couldn't be more proud.
Though returning from the Fortress of Solitude where Kara would try on a costume she could wear to use her powers and abilities for good, her 'Supergirl' outfit, she admitted she wasn't sure about being worthy to wear it, to bear the House of El glyph, feeling ashamed of her action when she was brainwashed, her cousin would dismiss it, telling her that whatever evil she displayed, was put into her by Darkseid.
 They would soon return to the Kent Family Farm where Darkseid was waiting for them, waiting to strike the two super cousins off guard.
However... He was bested in the end, especially with Wonder Woman's arrival and Kara reversed the Motherbox tech, activating the boom tube before Darkseid was sent through it, far out within the cosmos...
 Upon that day... Kara made a decision... Remembering what Y/N once told her
"We only become Heroes to not only protect others, to protect freedom, it is a huge responsibility that requires strength, dignity and discipline so we can fight for a better tomorrow... I was told that once, and I haven't forgotten it since that day, but overall... I see that in you Kara, just a little bit, but it's your decision to become a Hero or not, to take that responsibility, to turn it... Into opportunity, turning it... Into something... Beautiful"
On Paradise Island, Superman would introduce 'Supergirl' to the superhero community.
"To be honest. I'm not sure I've earned the right to use that name... Or to even wear this uniform. But I'm hoping, with all your help. I'll grow into it" she gave a little speech to the community as she was cheered on, making her smile but as she looked closer... She couldn't see Y/N, or see him anywhere for that matter.
It was at this time... He was at his spot where it was all peaceful... Quiet... No one around him or anything... Just... The calm ocean, the sun set... All of it... Reflecting on the past... His past... Unescapable memories.
It wasn't long till he heard someone land close to him, shaking him out of those memories, he turned to his right and saw... Kara, in her Supergirl outfit, stunned by her look as she smiled at him.
(A/N: Always loved his art, RIP Michael Turner)
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"Hi Y/N, what'd you think?" she flaunted her cape, doing a little spin afterwards as he stood up from where he sat, smiling at her as she allowed him to show off her costume, from front to back, seeing the House of El glyph on her cape all coloured a yellowish gold much like her cousin's.
"It looks... Good, amazing... Super" he cracks an accidental pun in there, making her giggle.
"Earth humour huh?" she giggled before sitting down with him.
"Didn't mean to crack one a pun there but..." he chuckled as he sat down beside her, the two continuing their conversation as her cousin watched from a distance, happy she's getting along with someone who was her first friend here on Earth.
*
(Supergirl: Girl Power)
Kara's friendship with Y/N bloomed into something special, it grew closer as the weeks went by, he patrolled with her and as she was already dealing with a situation, involving getting spied on, he vowed to help her deal with this situation.
 At their usual hang out spot where the two were alone together, watching the calm oceans which also appeared to calm Kara's thoughts when she would be feeling down.
She wanted to ask him about Xola, but knowing others have asked him about it, he would avoid talking about it if it was mentioned, almost like he was hiding a hidden pain behind the armour, behind the battle mask, he would briefly mention certain things but... If it was anything about why he was on Earth and not Xola... He played it off like it was nothing.
Though he briefly told her that the Kryptonian invasion was the last time he saw his father, a solider for the Xolanian Empire, he was killed during the Kryptonian, Xolanian War. Where he would have to grow up... An orphan no long after his mother's sudden passing before he was took in by his warrior Uncle, promising he'd teach him like his brother would've, at the required age, it wasn't enough to clear the unanswered question.
She wanted to ask him so badly especially since he'd briefly mentioned it back on Themaskira, but she talked about Krypton to him, why would he not do the same with his own planet?
Kara knew he was hiding pain, she knew he was still grieving, much like she was about Krypton's destruction.
"So... I hate to ask but... How did you end up here on Earth? I know you've been asked so many times but..." she looked at him as they both stared down at the ocean in front of them, the view being perfect.
He looked at her, with eyes that turned sorrow, he had a feeling Kara would ask him next, he felt she wanted to ask him for weeks, she sensed his pain by looking at him as he sighed, looking back at the ocean.
"It was a war... A civil war between our people that ravaged for centuries, two factions, fighting for control ~" he broke his silence, as Kara looked a little shocked at this - "I fought in this war, I was a warrior scout for the Xolar Resistance but... This war... It tore Xola apart, it tore many of us apart... I still... Have the scars to prove it, as with war ~" he took a moment to catch his words as he then looked at her with sorrow - "it can make a planet burn, make it... Unsuitable for life to progress... Xola became Uninhabitable for life to thrive ~" the look on Kara's face after hearing the truth behind his arrival here to Earth said it all, she wasn't expecting to hear this from him, to know she wasn't the only one who lost a planet from destruction, Y/N also went through the same pain... But worse... It was due to a war, a war HE fought, a war... He lost - "We were forced to fan out to the cosmos, abandon Xola, where my shuttle would get knocked off course, I was in cryogenic sleep during this time, and would find myself here... On Earth, knowing that I was alone... To bear with the loss of both the war and Xola and with that? I think... I'm the last of my species, the last... Of the Xolanians" he finished, his voice beginning to get shaky a little from his last words, he looked away, closing his eyes before he felt something touch him...
A hand... On his, Kara's hand grasped his, knowing they both share similar pain, similar scars, similar... Grief.
She may have Kal-El... But Y/N doesn't have that, he doesn't have family left, nor anyone for the matter, it was where the two embraced in a deep hug, helping him grieve through the pain just like he did with her.
 Deep down, he knew he needed this, someone to recognise he was keeping the pain hidden, someone who knows that type of pain... And Kara was the perfect individual to share his past with.
Both went through the same thing almost, he trusts her so much after all.
They've been by each others side since then, Y/N helped her fight her demons, her Dark self aka Dark Supergirl at one point due to Lex Luthor using a form of Black Kryptonite, let's just say, things were a little divided between Y/N and the two Kara's.
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One played with his feelings while the other, the one Y/N knew, was still there by his side, even he knew who the real Kara was after her dark twin tried switching up costumes to confuse him and the others.
Though she would later infuse herself back up with her evil 'twin', she was struggling to find herself but she got help, from both her cousin and Y/N... He didn't want to leave her side if it meant anything at least.
*
When she joined the Teen Titans for a brief time, he supported her, though her membership with them didn't really last as long as it should have, he would still support her either way, after all? What are friends for right?
However... Kara had feelings for him after the whole Power Boy situation (despite Y/N warning her that Power Boy shouldn't be trusted, he knew something was wrong about him and he was right in the end, Power Boy tried manipulating Kara, which almost worked but ultimately failed, resulting... Him getting a boot up his man-parts by Kara in deep space), where Y/N would also develop deep feelings for her too, their first kiss eventually happening within the clouds above, where they both loved the quietness up there.
Through the Infinite Crisis charisma, thinking she was killed by the Zeta Beam, only for her to come back a year later to bad news of Superboy's death (who comes back later on) and her cousin powerless (he regains his powers later on), but she came back to a relieved Y/N, hugging her pretty tight as he missed her so much, though she briefly lost her memories about being sent to the future where she was with the Legion of Superheroes within the 31st century (which she would found out it was actually Earth-Prime's 30th century, not her Earth's future) he revealed to her that she was gone for over a year, prompting in her showering him in kisses.
Through looking for a secret identity to roam as a normal Human with Y/N's help (as he's done it for a while) to trying out to join the Outsiders with Captain Boomerang II's request, Y/N supported her but ultimately found out that she was being tested rather than trusting her which almost got Y/N and another member into a fight with Nightwing getting in between them, Kara would instead not join the team upon knowing she was being tested.
But after Breaking the Chain, Cry for Justice (where she joined a Justice League group for a brief time) and the Dark Crisis? Their relationship was taken to the next level after the many tiring months they spent together fighting side by side...
Where she would rock his world for the first time, and her own world too, knowing she was all his and only his for as long as it could last.
*
(First Smut warning here)
Within Kara's apartment, her outfit was seen on the floor, first her high-knee boots as it went from that to her yellow loose belt and blue skirt, to the trousers Y/N wore with his integrated suit of armour, to his shirt as the device that activates his armour on command, is seen on the living room table.
Eventually... It leads up to panties and boxers on the floor to Kara's crop top and attached cape were on the floor beside the bed where Kara's pleasured moans were heard as she rode on top of her boyfriend, his cock penetrating her clitoris.
Her moans softly reached his ears as he kept thrusting up in her, desperate for him to go faster and also harder, her bounces connecting with his upper thrusts.
They've been at it for 30 minutes, she really wasn't kidding when she could rock his world, this was her first time along with his.
And eventually... They finished inside each other... Two of them panting uncontrollably as Kara crashed her body into him, letting the juices escape her womanhood, combined with hers and her boyfriend's.
"So? Ready for round two handsome??" she would ask him after 5 minutes went by...
They both went through a lot after the entire Dark Crisis, Kara especially. He's been there for her so many times where she needed it most and she couldn't be more happier with that, especially with finding the joined city of Kandor and Argo within a bottle aboard Brainiac's ship.
This discovery was named New Krypton by Kara and was released and re-sized to normal size where it would reside on Earth for a while, she was so happy to see her people alive, to re-connect with so many she missed, to once again, to roam the now joined cities Kandor and Argo, as she didn't want to spend it alone she wanted Y/N to experience it with her, to step foot in a Kryptonian which made history as he was the first ever Xolanian to step foot within it.
She got to meet her birth parents once more, Alura and Zor-El, where she revealed her relationship with Y/N, the Xolanian Warrior, at first they were a little sceptical but upon meeting him, their scepticism went down the drain.
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"Mom, Dad, this is my boyfriend, Y/N L/N, the Xolanian Warrior" she kindly introduces them to him, she wrapped her arm around his after he approached.
"Though our kind and Xolanians don't have a very fond history with each other, we're so sorry for what you've been through, Kara has told us all about you, and we're so happy for her, which we want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts, for protecting her, for being there for her when we could not" Alura greeted him as he smiled at her greeting.
"You don't need to thank me, you should thank Kal-El and your beautiful Daughter here, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have never seen Kryptonians differently as I did before" he switched it round as Kara kissed him on the cheek.
But as all things do go well, it doesn't stay forever...
*
Under General Lane's orders (Lois Lane's father), with the amount of Kryptonians living on Earth and the fear of a possible alien invasion from the Kryptonians, he ordered both Reactron and Metallo to invade Kandor with Gold Kryptonite, and slaughter as many Kryptonians they could find, that included Zor-El, this was Kara's biggest tragedy, which the following events afterwards, changed everything in her life.
(Zor-El's death)
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Due to this tragedy... Alura used Sunstone technology and uprooted Kandor out of Earth into outer space and placed into geosynchronous orbit, directly opposite of the Earth itself.
The US Government took action by barring all Kryptonians (except Superman) from staying on Earth, that included Supergirl, which enraged Y/N but he chose to stay on Kandor, to protect the remaining Kryptonians living on Kandor where Kara would have to stay... But not for long.
Zor-El's death also struck Y/N hard, before his death, Y/N wanted to ask her a very important question which involved a Kryptonian made ring, he went to Zor-El and Alura about it first, he was given the green light after telling them how much Kara meant to him, wanting to ask her the biggest question of his life, to marry on New Krypton under Kryptonian Standards, but unfortunately, those plans were cut due to the following events afterwards.
*
(Superman: War of the Supermen)
Things got worse after Zor-El's death, there was the Hunt for Reactron, Superwoman's appearance who was in fact General Lane's daughter Lucy, to everything leading up from New Krypton's Last Stand to the complete War of the Supermen where New Krypton was destroyed, the Military Guild of Krypton led by Zod was ready to invade Earth, an enraged Supergirl who was furious after Alura's death at the hands of Reactron, of Luthor, blamed Earth for New Krypton's destruction and with carrying the flag of Krypton, she raced toward Earth to join the war effort...
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Only to be stopped by Y/N and Superman, who she attacked in a blind rage, angry at the both of them from preventing her to join the war effort.
"Do you have any, ANY idea what war can do to people? The amount of death and destruction it can cause!?" he arms his weapon, charging it up as it trilled extensively as he gets ready to defend himself once more.
They had been fighting for a while throughout New Krypton's moon Callisto, his armour was torn a little but with no effort, Kara on the other hand, enraged and full with anger, had just finished fighting her cousin, only to be confronted by Y/N again, she was enraged by such action against her, against avenging her own people.
"OUT OF MY WAY Y/N! I WON'T LET YOU GET IN MY WAY LIKE MY COUSIN DID!! THEY NEED TO PAY!!! ~" she shouted at him, her eyes lighting up red, floating in the air as she was about to attack her boyfriend - "YOU SHOULD BE BY MY SIDE! NOT THEIR'S!!!" she was upset and angry with him, how could he betray her? Side with Earth by defending them from the crimes they committed to New Krypton's destruction?? From the many Kryptonians that were on New Krypton that got wiped in an instant due to the Gold Kryptonite Nuke placed inside Reactron.
"Is this what Alura and Zor-El would want? Earth destroyed? Purged? Earth is my home Kara! Our home!! Don't you remember that War destroyed my world... I won't let another world fall the same, I don't want to fight you, but if you must... Then so be it, if you're going to join the war effort to attack Earth? Then you'll have to get through me first" he hesitantly aimed his cannon at her - "One way... Or the other, one of us... Will fall, but do not let your anger blind you from who you are Kara Zor-El, this isn't what you are, Zor-El and Alura would never want you to become like Zod, or Ursa" he slightly growled as his mask forms back up, showing his war side to her as she began to realise what she was doing was wrong.
She looks at him, realising he's physically trying to defend himself from her, his words get through to her head, she looks at the damage she inflicted upon him and her cousin, she looked at him and knew he was serious, she never saw this side of him before, battle mask formed up, him scolding her and he's NEVER scolded her before which gave her a reality check.
In that moment... She breaks down, tears fall down her face immediately as she dropped the flag of Krypton, blaming herself for New Krypton's destruction.
"It's all my fault, I brought Reactron to New Krypton, I caused it all!!" she shouted through tears, weeping at herself as Y/N's cannon powered down, his battle mask deactivating as he kneels down to her level and pulls her in, she digs her face into his chest as she lets it all out, blaming herself over and over.
"Don't blame yourself my Little Sunshine, none of this is your fault. They played us for fools, General Lane is attempting to wage war to hail himself a War Hero in the Human's eyes, he doesn't care what happens to them ~" he pulled back, looking at the teary eyed Kara as more tears fell down, but he wiped them away with one motion of his thumb - "Someone tried doing the same on Xola, look what happened afterwards... Earth is in danger, Zod and the Military Guild will wreak havoc if we don't stop them... But revenge will not bring back what is lost, you know I've been through that, you're not alone" he assured her as she sniffled and gloomed, looking at him with regret and pain.
She knew he was right, he'd been through war, he's seen death and the destruction it would bring, she knew if they didn't stop Zod and the Military Guild, Earth will be in total chaos and uninhabitable for Human kind, and that revenge won't bring New Krypton back, nor her mother, nor her father.
"I love you Kara, you know I'll never leave your side, no matter happens, we'll get through this loss together, let it fuel our strength" he smiled, wiping away a few more of Kara's tears.
"I love you too Y/N" she responded through a sob, hugging him tightly, not wanting to let go of him... She needed this consolation from him, especially after the death of her birth mother and the destruction of New Krypton
She sniffles a little more before rubbing her arm across her eyes to wipe away the remaining tears after breaking the long, comforting hug, as his words replayed in her head from earlier, of what war did to his world, refusing to let Earth fall the same.
Deep down... She viewed Earth as her home too, though not many wanted her around, she still viewed it as home, thanks to Y/N and her cousin, along with her friends and Earth family.
"Okay. Okay, You're right Y/N ~" she began to get up - "What do we do now?" she asked him, fists clenched.
"We go to Earth and do everything we can to defuse this insanity until we find an answer to all of this, and save lives in the meantime ~" he stood up with her - "As I said before, I won't let another planet go to ruin over a war, a war that can bring chaos and devastation to the Human race, that I swear deep within my soul, will not happen this day, or any other day... They all must be stopped... No matter the cost ~" he clenched his fist as his battle mask activates - "I have a shuttle I can use for transport to Earth, Zod and his forces would have arrived by now, we must make haste!"
They would join the war effort, which during on the way to Earth, the sun would be turned into a red sun with Superman, Supergirl and the remaining Kryptonians, struggle to breathe in space, Y/N managed to save Kal and Kara by bringing them into his shuttle, but the rest? He was too late, he only managed to save a few and that was it.
This managed to enrage Y/N, countless dead for nothing, Kryptonian or not, he knew their deaths were pointless, all to stop Zod and the others though the sun would revert back to normal not long after thanks to Thara-Ak-Var's (aka Flamebird) sacrifice to turn the sun yellow once more.
Once arriving to Earth to stop the war from tearing Earth apart, Kal went to wait for Zod and his followers at Metropolis while Kara and Y/N went to the white house to stop Ursa from killing the US President...
Though Y/N was questioned about almost killing Ursa upon seeing Kara being strangled to death and finding out that it was Ursa who killed Y/N's father during the Kryptonian Invasion of Xola, in a controlled rage, he fought violently against her, like he did during the Xolanian Civil War, she taunted him about his father, which would only prove to be her last, deadly mistake as he was not like the Xolanians she fought before, underestimating him even, before he could pull the trigger as she wanted him to, he stopped himself with the help of the rest of the Super Family that arrived in the nick of time, as this fight quite literally pushed him over the breaking limit, as he was reminded of his time in the civil war. This day changed him forever.
Near the end, Kara would've killed General Lane if both Y/N and Lois hadn't intervened, though he killed himself in the end rather than face justice for his crimes.
A funeral would be held for those who died on New Krypton, a Kryptonian flower was placed on its remains as a teary eyed Supergirl would fly off and arrive back on Y/N's shuttle, embracing him once more...
"Let it all out, let it all out" he cooed, hugging her tightly as she wouldn't let go of him again... If she was going to grieve, he wouldn't let her grieve alone.
*
After all of that? Kara and Y/N's lives had changed forever, she would stop being Supergirl at one point, going Linda Lang full time, ditching her birth name: Kara Zor-El, though both Lana and Y/N convinced her to pick up the mantle of Supergirl and Kara Zor-El again upon the threat of Bizarrogirl.
She admitted to miss flying and carrying Y/N when she flew around Earth, it was something rather special for the both of them.
Posing like her cousin once did - "Okay, I gotta admit...
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...I missed this"
(A/N: Does anyone else find this part of the comic pretty cute when she poses like that? She's such a bean in the New Earth comics at times, literally my favourite incarnation of the Maiden of Might, the Girl of Steel and I... L O V E it, plus... I honestly just wanna hug her so bad, she's been through so much pain as it is and I feel so bad, if only I could give her a hug to tell her it's alright. Believe it or not fellow readers... I refer to her at times, especially with pain and loss, feeling like an outsider to the world because you're different than everyone, and they pick on you because you're different, especially since I'm Autistic. Without her? Without Kara Zor-El/Supergirl? I don't even know where I'd be right now)
She missed being Supergirl, she missed saving lives, kicking ass and taking names and she was happy to pick up the outfit again.
After so... She agreed to take Y/N flying once more.
"I missed taking us up here" Kara said while looking up toward the sky, taking herself and Y/N up into the clouds.
"I did too, this is where we had our first kiss believe it or not" he chuckled, Kara looked at him and could only smile at the sudden call back of a memory.
"I've never stopped thinking about that, which reminds me" she giggled as she drew her face closer to his, connecting her lips on his no long after, sharing a deep kiss as Kara remained stationary above the clouds, holding her one true love.
"I love you so freaking much y'know that?" Y/N murmured, making the Girl of Steel giggle as she stole another kiss from him.
"I know... I love you more than anything in this world Y/N ~" Kara spoke through the kiss, breaking it to speak more clearly so she could speak with to her heart's intent about him - "thank you so much for being there for me when I needed it most, I don't know where I'd be without feeling your touch, to hear your voice, your heartbeat, to see your presence and when you're not around, I try to listen for your heartbeat, and I worry so much when I can't hear it because I'm not whole without you, I'm not myself... I'm so lucky to have someone like you who loves me the same, who I can always wake up beside and see your eyes the first thing in the morning... You're like... The Sun to my Flowers, the Yin to my Yang, my Badass Warrior, because I adore you" Kara smiled as brightly as she could with her boyfriend grinning at her statement, which resulted in them kissing deeply once more, as the stars and moon shined bright like a diamond, setting up the perfect scenery for the two love birds.
She still blamed herself for New Krypton's destruction and even dreamt of being back on it, Y/N would deny that it was her fault, though she didn't want to admit it... She knew he was right, it wasn't her fault still, but to use that memory to keep moving forward, knowing that's what Alura and Zor-El would want her to do.
she felt so lucky to have someone like Y/N by her side, she felt special to him and that's all that mattered...
*
(Legion of Superheroes... Again?)
At this point in time after the whole Bizarrogirl situation was dealt and heading out of Bizarro-World with a rocket ship and ultimately for Kara, she... AGAIN, went to the future. 
But this time, it wasn't the 30th century she was familiar with and she wasn't alone, Y/N was with her still after the Bizarro-World situation, The Legion welcomed the two in, Kara decides with Y/N agreeing to stay in the future and work for the Legion for a while, both given a Legion Flight ring but he didn't use it, he had other alternatives.
Kara would visit the Superman Museum with her boyfriend, where she finds out how she dies, facing off against the most powerful threat in the entire universe, the Multiverse to be exact, the threat isn't revealed but she has a sense of what it could be, she doesn't tell him this but finds out either way, promising she won't die alone, he'll be there with her.
They both would be interrupted by Satan Girl, an Alien Death Goddess that was drawn to Earth when Brainiac-5 experimented on a statue offered up to her. Together with Brainy, they put a stop to Satan Girl, even going as far as going back within the timestream to stop her.
Not long after, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad (who made a friend in Y/N and give Lightning Lad the nickname: 'Sparky'), Cosmic Boy and Brainiac-5 would bring Supergirl and Y/N back to the present, where Kara revealed to her boyfriend that - "This is the happiest I've been in years, I love going on these types of adventures with you, it's something... Different for us, and I love it" she would kiss him, before flying up into the portal with carrying her one true love. Saturn Girl would wipe Kara's knowledge of knowing how she died, along with Y/N's knowledge of knowing it too.
Both Supergirl and Y/N would go back to the future sometimes, to help the Legion with any issues but one of them... Wasn't a pleasant day to visit... For both the love birds.
Unfortunately... Lightning Lad would die due to his heroic sacrifice, both Kara and Y/N showed up for the funeral.
"Sparky, you are amongst the bravest of us all, I wished I would've been there to fight side by side with you as you reminded me of another back on Xola, If I could give my life to bring you back, I would... But... You deserve to rest, you need it... As a wise spokesman said... Till All Are One" he gave a speech to his friend, which moved the hearts of many that were there for the funeral, Kara would give a similar speech too.
*
(Their War, Our World)
(A/N: This is a huge Transformers reference I just dropped, holy moly this phrase 'Their War, Our World' hasn't been used in years and I mean all the way back in 2007, I wish we could go back to witness it all over again)
(PS: I might make a full out story out of 'Their War, Our World', but what do you think? Should I do it at some point in the near future?)
Months would pass by along the way, Kara would join the new Justice League of America with Wonder Woman's vote to allow her to join, also allowing Y/N to join not long after though he wasn't very sure at the time but... He couldn't resist when Kara urged him to join up, even going as far as putting on her puppy dog eyes to convince him which worked...
All the way to the formation of the Supermen of America where Kara was the founding member of.
It was also occurrent that a Multiversal event happened where heroes and villains alike from different timelines, continuities, universes all grouped up since the entire Multiverse was threatened by one entity and its own army, this entity had a thousand names, it spoke with many voices but it only spoke one name...
And its goal was to Shape the entire universe... Which would've ended everything at once.
It was not recorded of what exactly happened, but the only thing that came out of it... Was that Supergirl survived... Xolanian Y/N's Supergirl lived, though it was said that she would die within her timeline but... sometimes... Fates can be broken.
At least two months after the huge event that transpired, Y/N would receive an unexpected recorded message, from an old friend and leader of the Xolar Resistance - Hyrix Maximus.
"Y/N, I pray this message reaches you, though the war rages on, not all hope is lost, we now have the means to revive Xola and turn the tides of the war, if you hear this message, I have a new task for you, establish a base on Earth in secret, so we can rebuild and return home to retake what was lost, stay safe solider... I am coming"
This message raised hope of seeing Xola thrive once more and hearing that Hyrix Maximus was alive and still leading, had reversed his thoughts that the war was lost but not over yet or that he was the last of his kind.
Kara intrigued to help him complete his new task of establishing a hidden base, though she feared that another New Krypton situation would happen, he assured her it won't, though he also had fears the warwould be brought here to Earth as they didn't need another alien war happening on Earth again.
She was happy to know that his planet would have life thrive again, but she felt... Saddened about it, knowing he would be leaving Earth to go back to Xola when the civil war ends.
As stated, he wanted Kara to go there with him, to see it's full restoration though she wasn't entirely sure as she wanted to stay on Earth, she felt gloomy about him possibly leaving Earth for good, which resulted in her having a nervous breakdown over, she got over it quick with her two of her best friend's help being Cassie Sandsmark and Stephanie Brown, but they never told Y/N about it.
Soon after with the arrival with Hyrix Maximus and the Resistance, it brought unwanted attention to Earth as Y/N feared.
The US government along with the President were warned of this immediately, more aliens arriving to Earth, bringing even more chaos but if it wasn't for Y/N's words, the Xolar Resistance would have Humans targeting them too, Hyrix Maximus and the Resistance had to reveal themselves to the public and speak with the President in person, showing they aren't the ones to fear but the Releimors are, their sworn enemy.
"Our greatest warrior, scout and good friend Y/N, filled me in with the details of what has happened on planet Earth recently, we know you have all just gotten out of an invasion from the Kryptonian Race and though we have a history with them, I am more than proud to call the Kryptonians that defend Earth, 'ally' in this current situation, our civil war has lasted for centuries. Our planet, Xola, had become uninhabitable for all of our kind, forcing us to journey throughout the stars where our war would rage on throughout the cosmos, we lost contact with Y/N during the final days of Xola, where his pod would land on Earth, where he presumably lived amongst you all for some time, I know he has been defending your planet for quite some time now but with the threat of our war coming here to Earth? I cannot imagine pulling you all into our war, the Releimors had detected our ship upon arriving to your galaxy and gave chase until it was too late for us to detect them... We will do our best to protect your planet, amongst the new allies we have met"
The war continued for some time on Earth, the government set up a conjoined team of the Xolar Resistance and Team ETN (Extra-Terrestrial Neutralisers) to fend off this new threat with the help of the Supermen of America and the New Justice League.
Y/N got himself back into a bitter rivalry with someone who was his equal named Araxis, a foe who tried many times to get in his head by taunting him about his new friends... Including his girlfriend.
There would be a point where Y/N was injured severely during a 1 vs 3 as backup was on the way, he fended off as hard as he could but it was all he could handle, being tossed around, getting his mask shattered, impaled by blades. Before his fate could be sealed, it was Supergirl who saved him with the Supermen of America and his old squad called Squadron Elite, a group he once commanded.
Despite being injured, he wasn't allowed to fight on the front again till he was 100%, at this time, during this time, Kara would mostly stay on the Xolanian Ship codenamed 'Ark' where the injured Y/N was. There... She met a Xolanian friend through Y/N named Caria.
When it came to the time of his condition being cleared, Kara wanted to have a chat with him about Xola, wanting to know if he was really thinking of going back.
"Hey..." Kara called out from leaning against the medical bay door as one of the Xolanian doctors cleared him for duty.
"Hey Sunshine" he smiled as the doctor would leave the room on par with Y/N's request to leave them for 5 minutes or so.
"I wanted to know if... It's true" Kara asked as she fidgeted with her cape nervously.
"What's true?" he asked her with an eyebrow raised.
"If.... If you're really going back to... To Xola after this" she asked with her head down, her voice turning gloomy and sorrow.
"Kara, who said..." he stopped himself as Kara looked back at him with a somber facial expression with her eyes beginning to water.
All he could do was chuckle a little at Kara's silliness, tears began running down her face, she was in a gloomy state about it.
"Oh Kara, come here" he extends his arms out to her as she immediately hugs him tightly, her arms wrapped around his as she sobbed quietly.
"I d-don't want you t-to go" she wept, digging her face into his chest as he chuckled silently at her.
"Don't be silly Sunshine, who says I'm going back?" he asked her, he couldn't stop smiling at how silly Kara was being but he knew she must've had a nervous breakdown over this and never told him.
"You're going b-back aren't y-you?" she once again sobbed into his chest.
Y/N began running his hand through Kara's hair, keeping his smile as he comforted her, her continued sobbing was enough to make him realise she was upset about it, yes he was thinking of going back but after much clear thought of leaving Earth, of leaving everyone he knew behind, of leaving Kara Zor-El behind? He knew he couldn't live to bear with that.
Before he could make his decision final, he spoke with Hyrix Maximus and a few others, knowing if he could go back at any point but not to stay but to simply visit, and it was given the green light, knowing he could bring anyone with him as the atmosphere could fit Humans.
It brought him to this moment, consoling his crying Kryptonian girlfriend, his Ball of Sunshine.
"Kara, don't be silly okay? I'm not going back to stay" he replied after a minute with a chuckle, her ears perked up at this as she looked up at him.
"Wh-What? You're... You're not going?" she sniffled, in a look of sorrow.
"Yes, I'm not going back to stay, I'm staying here ~" he wiped away a dried tear on her cheek - "with you and the others, and I now know what you mean about you not being whole without me, I don't even know what I'd do without you ~" he smiled at her, wiping away another tear off her face with his thumb, caressing her cheek - "Kara Zor-El you Adorable Bean, Ball of Fluff, my Ray of Sunshine... I. Adore you" he finished, pulling her into a deep kiss as she wrapped her arms around the crook of his neck.
"I adore you too, Badass Warrior" she spoke through the kiss, not letting him go, her mind being brought to ease as she missed his touch...
For the next few months... They have been fighting back the rising threat, eventually ending it with the death of the Releimors' leader, once a brother to Hyrix: Doma-Thrash a power-hungry tyrant. 
With the war ended, Hyrix and the remaining Xolanians left for Xola, despite Y/N thinking of going back with them... He promised he'd stay on Earth, with his true love Kara Zor-El/Supergirl, but was always welcomed back to Xola whenever he would visit, especially with guests he would bring with him.
And indeed did he pay a visit to Xola after its restoration, he brought along his girlfriend and a few others (Cassie Sandsmark, Tim Drake and M'gann M'orzz)
Quite say that they enjoyed themselves, learning the many things about Xola and its history.
Kara especially enjoyed herself the most, being empowered by the likes of a blue sun which enhances the Photonucleic Effect on her, making her extremely more powerful than the likes of a yellow sun though she had to be tad extra careful in case she broke something due to her enhanced power.
This definitely helped when Hyrix Maximus called for Y/N's help to find escaped Reileimor war criminals, it was the most fun she's had in a while hunting down escaped convicts of Xola, helping the Xolanian people that day, which would make history as the first Kryptonian to step foot on Xola and help the Xolanians.
Quite say that she felt honoured, knowing she was well liked amongst the Xolanian people which buried the hatchet between the Xolanians and Kryptonians though only a few Kryptonians remain.
*
(Present Day)
With everything they have all been through, Kara Zor-El and Y/N have never been more than happy with what they have now.
With all their struggles dealt with, the happy moments, the sad moments, the fighting, the tragedies, the death, the deceit, the ups and downs, the blood, sweat and tears... They stuck together.
He was 'The Yin to Her Yang, the Sunshine to her Flowers, Badass Warrior'
And she was his 'Ray of Sunshine, Adorable Bean, Ball of Fluff' 
And she couldn't be more happier with him as he was with her.
Their relationship still blooms, their undying love for each other, the way they make each other feel.
It almost felt magical to them, they've both been through so much and it's brought them up to this point in time.
"Quite beautiful isn't it?" Kara asked him, she stared out at the ocean as the sun shined on it, beginning to settle down for the night.
They were currently celebrating Kara's 19th Earth birthday, she held his hand as they both sat watching the calm oceans, the peaceful winds blowing through them as Kara's cape gracefully flapped around softly.
 "Yeah it still is... But I got a better sight in front of me" he replied as he looked at her, referring to Kara as she giggled, giving him a peck on the lips afterwards for the compliment.
"I guess you're also a better sight too" she smiled ear to ear before giving him another peck on the lips, resting her head on his shoulder afterwards.
He felt a little nervous, he wanted to ask her something very, VERY important for the longest time, a question he wanted to ask her before Zor-El's death.
He wanted Kara to bring them here to watch the sun set and the calm ocean because this is where their relationship would flutter into something beautiful, where she was learning Earth culture through him, they sat. In this exact. Same. Spot, where he revealed his past, who he was and why he was on Earth.
This spot meant a lot to him, it's where his trust in Kryptonians opened up brightly due to Kara, she was special to him as he was to her.
"Kara... I need to tell you something" he breaks the silence as she looks at him lovingly.
"mmhm, what's up?" she hummed happily, staring at him as she waited for him to answer.
"I uh... Uhm... For the longest time, I never thought I'd be here, right now, with you, watching the sun set and the calm oceans... We've been through so much you and I ~" he started off as Kara listened in what he had to say - "Through all of our struggles, through the blood, sweat and tears, I've never been so happy to have met you, who has changed my life for the better and I believe I've done the same for you ~" he says with some stutters and with a huge smile on his face as she kept looking on with her own smile - "Before, New Krypton's destruction, before Zor-El's death, I asked him and Alura a question, a very important question and I was given the green light" Kara began to get confused at this, what question did he ask them? Why was he given the green light?
"Y/N, what are you trying to tell me?" she chuckled with confusion, she was completely anonymous what he had to say.
"Can you, stand up for me? Please?" he asked her kindly with a warm smile, though nervous, he felt butterflies in his stomach as the question was drawing near.
"Y/N? What's going on? Why are you acting like this??" she asked him curiously and confused as anything, her eyebrow raised up as she giggled.
"I just..." he stopped himself as he laughed nervously, she looked completely worried for him as he was acting quite odd, but laughed with him.
"I don't know why you're acting like this but..." she stopped herself as her cousin appeared along with Lois and a few others of the Supermen of America (Which included John Henry/Steel, Conner Kent aka Superboy, the reformed Leslie Willis aka Livewire and the Super-Chief himself) along with them were her best friends: Cassie Sandsmark aka Wonder-Girl, Stephanie Brown aka Batgirl, and Jesse Quick, Lana Lang, her adoptive Earth mom and Dick Grayson himself aka Nightwing who Kara saw as a brother to herself along with him viewing her as a sister.
"Wait? Uh, what're you all doing here?" she chuckled nervously, she kept her smile knowing all of the people close to her were here.
"Just wanted to see this moment for ourselves too, after all you might want to look back at Y/N, he's got something for you" Lois winked.
Upon hearing this and seeing the general surprise and happiness on everyone's faces, Kara looked back at her boyfriend, only to see him on one knee, holding her hand as he held a special, little box in his hand that was open...
And it revealed a special ring in it, the glistening jewels, Kryptonian made, struck Kara's eyes immediately as she realised what was happening, she looked back up at his eyes, her eyes widening at the realisation, of what type of question he meant.
The one where their relationship gets taken to a new level, beyond boyfriend and girlfriend.
His smile was brighter than before as Kara gasped, her free hand covering her mouth as her eyes began to fill with tears... Happy tears as her heart fluttered and began to race faster.
"I've been waiting... For a l-long time, to ask you this question ~" he said with glee stuttering a little as he couldn't contain his inner joy, looking into Kara's beautiful blue rays as they lit up with tears, falling down on her face - "Kara, you are the most beautiful girl I've ever met, I wouldn't imagine what my life would've been without you by my side, and I wake up everyday thinking about that... I want to spend the rest of my life with you as I have been wanting to ask this very, VERY important question, one year in the making, though Alura and Zor-El are not here to witness this, I know they're watching in Rao's light above, knowing how proud they are of the woman I've known to love has become, who has come a long way ~" he continued as he began to chuckle, Kara began to happily sob at his words, now understanding what he meant by her birth parents giving him the green light ages ago, he wanted to ask her this question on New Krypton - "Kara Zor-El, Linda Lang, Supergirl... I have one question for you... Will you marry me?" he finished off the question, waiting for her to answer as a few sniffles could be heard from Lana in the background, along with Cassie's little sobs.
"Y-Yes... Yes, yes!!" Kara yelped happily through her sobs, she pulled him up for a deep kiss as the two were applauded by the group, happy for the two newly weds.
After the deep kiss, Y/N slid the ring on her finger, knowing it fitted, Kara pulls him in for another deep kiss as they were praised and congratulated by their friends and family afterwards, not only that... Y/N was given a signal watch by Clark, officially welcoming him into the Supermen of America, with Supergirl's request.
Everyone agreed to go back to Kara's apartment, as some other guests would soon arrive for Kara's birthday after the whole busy day of patrolling as their heroic selves.
Even one of the Xolanians who Kara made a friend with named Caria, came to visit, not wanting to miss out on her Kryptonian friend's Earth birthday which was pretty unexpected.
"Caria?! Wasn't expecting you to visit?" Y/N was shocked to see his old teammate from Squadron Elite, the two embracing in a hug afterwards.
"Yeah of course I'd be here dummy! Wouldn't want to miss my friend's birthday" she replied, punching his arm playfully as the door closed behind her after walking in.
Kara heard Caria's voice from across the room and couldn't keep her excitement contained, it was a while since she last saw her.
"Caria!!!" Kara immediately hugged her friend, giggling as she lifted her up with her hug.
"Eh, you can put me down because you're sl-slightly crushing me! ~" she managed to word out, Kara placed her back down on the ground - "I uh... Didn't get you anything though, sorry about that though" she rubbed the back of her neck which Kara giggled.
"It's alright, the best gift is definitely the friends and family you make" she replied, looking back at the packed apartment" 
"Well, that makes me feel a bit better and ~" Caria stopped her words for a moment as she noticed something on Kara's finger, a ring - "is that?" she asked, grasping her friend's hand as she looked at it closer.
"Oh, yeah, earlier on, this handsome guy right here asked me a very important question... And I said yes" Kara answered her question, looking right at him as he smiled.
"You're. Getting. Married? You're getting married!?? By the Knights of Xola, you're getting married!???" Caria repeated, hugging her long time friend, congratulating both Kara and Y/N for the announcement.
"Surprise haha, yeah me and my Super-Fiancé here are getting married, we haven't began working on plan for the wedding but... I'm sure we'll figure it all out tonight when everyone's left" Y/N confirmed, holding Kara's hand after Caria breaks the hug with him.
"Wait till I tell your Uncle about this, he needs to hear the news about this!" Caria was already excited upon this. 
They all chatted for a while, each and everyone got to talk and congratulate Kara and Y/N on the big moment, a moment one year in the making with Kara boasting with her friends - "Best Birthday Ever!"
When it came to the time for everyone to leave, they said their goodbyes and left, which Kara's apartment slowly began to get less packed than before, eventually only leaving both herself and her new Fiancé alone together as the night sky was filled with the stars and moon.
You both watched a movie together, cuddled up on the couch with a blanket made of Kryptonian fibres to keep warmth, both of you eating a take-a-way of her choice since it was her birthday before eating a bit of her birthday cake as a little treat while watching a movie of her choice.
Streaky, Kara's loveable, adorable orange cat would come up to cuddle in between you two, purring loudly as he was stroked by both of you... Where he would later get off and rest in his bed... Typical cat stuff.
Upon the end of the movie, you looked at your Fiancé, wondering if she liked the ring, after all... It was Kryptonian made...
"So? You like the ring?" Y/N asked her, she looked down at it and couldn't help but smile brightly.
"Yes! I love it so much!" Kara sounded like a little girl before hugging her now Fiancé, the two sharing a kiss afterwards.
"It's Kryptonian made, had it made within the Fortress of Solitude believe it or not, with your cousin's permission of course" Y/N spoke after pulling back as Kara glanced at the ring with a huge grin on her face.
"Out of everything? This is probably the best gift I've gotten ~" she couldn't stop smiling at the ring, the jewels perfectly crafted, Kryptonian jewels shining bright in her eyes... It was perfect - "But... I think the best gift overall... Is you" Kara looked at her Fiancé with a big smirk, giggling at the thought.
"Aww Baby, I'm touched" he clutched at his heart, flattered by the compliment as the two giggled afterwards before kissing deeply.
Kara's hands move up his shirt, feeling his soft skin in her hands as they move up to his chest inside his shirt meanwhile his hand slowly move down to her thigh as his other caresses her cheek, both smiling as they touch each other and their lips connecting in fruition.
"I have an idea where we could have our wedding day" Y/N spoke through the kiss, slowly pulling back.
"Where? Xola maybe?" Kara guessed as Y/N's eyes slightly widened.
"How'd you know?" he asked her with a chuckle, surprised she guessed what he was thinking.
"two minds think alike, I know how you think babe, it's not hard" she winked, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.
"I guess you can, could be one of your secret superpowers" he winked back, a giggle escaping Kara's mouth before engaging in another kiss, expected to just be a quick one.
But... Kara wouldn't stop, she inherently kept going, pushing herself into his lips, engaging in a tongue dance with his, moaning ever slightly as she began to get on top of him upon removing the blanket they had, she began kissing down on him.
Y/N's hands were placed on her swaying hips, grinding on his growing bulge which made him groan a little at her effort, her tongue dominated his, winning the tongue battle as she kept grinding on him.
"Oh fuuuck" Kara breathed out as she pulled back, the two breathing heavily with a string of saliva keeping them connected.
Y/N looked deep into Kara's eyes, she was filled with a hot sensation, something he hasn't seen from her since she rocked his world ages ago, it has been so long since they did this.
"Wow Sunshine, that was... Unexpected" the man smirked with a chuckle escaping from him, Kara let's a cute giggle escape from her throat with a grin, going back in to continue where she left off, this time with her hands slowly going back up his shirt, feeling his smooth body, turning her on as she continued kissing him and grinding on his manhood through his pants.
"Can I rock your world again?" Kara whispers, he never heard that in a while, she was filled with lust he hadn't seen in ages.
"Well Kara? You can rock my world any day, my Super-Fiancé" he smirked before pulling her into a deep kiss, his hands ran down her body, making her moan quietly with ecstasy, getting turned on even further as she ran her hand down into his pants, getting a good grip of his growing bulge which resorted to him groaning her name into her ear and she missed it when he would do it.
But then she stops and pulls back with a smirk, getting off of him and the couch, walking over to a safe area.
(Smut incoming!)
She then winked and disappeared in a blur before returning as Supergirl, resulting in making him smile as her hands were on her hips, a smirk growing on her face - "Figured I'd get in uniform for this ~" Y/N noticed she wasn't wearing her skirt, showing her underwear as she suddenly appeared in front of him, climbing on top of him and getting to his level to make their faces level up with each other - "What was it you said earlier on? My Super-Fiancé? You're damn right I am" she giggled before kissing him deeply as she grinded on his bulge, making him groan again.
Their tongues battled for dominance once more as his hands reached for the glyph on her crop top, where he squeezed her breasts as she moaned his name as she kept grinding until his hands then went to her ass, massaging them next as she moaned a second time, loving the feeling of his hands on her little ass, she stops grinding on him as this gave him the opportunity to slide his hand down her underwear to then rub her clit softly and slowly, making her moan in ecstasy.
She rocked her head back, biting her bottom lip as two fingers went up in her clit.
"Oh Y/N yes!" she moaned softly, as his fingers explored the cavern, slowly wagging his two fingers inside as they both stared into each other's eyes next.
Kara's mouth was wide open, letting out a few moans before they were silenced by a deep kiss from her partner, then went for her neck, kissing and surprisingly leaving hickeys afterwards, despite her skin being impenetrable 
He kept it going with the motion within her clitoris, as the vaginal walls began to get a little tighter and wetter by every minute that passed, he wouldn't stop till he felt bumpy in her clit and then proceeded to play with that, knowing exactly what it was.
"If you don't stop, I'm gonna cum! ~" Kara moaned out, prompting him to continue a little longer, her moans getting louder and louder till she was brought to orgasm - "Ohhh yessss!! Fuck yesss!!" she shouted in ecstasy as she orgasmed, which the force of her shout knocked over a few things within the apartment, even scaring poor Streaky from his sleep.
His fingers exit her entrance and are brought out to Kara where she sucked on them to taste her own fluids.
 After things calmed down and another deep kiss, she got off of him and immediately began pulling his jeans and underwear off with incredible strength where her face would be hit by his cock.
She smirked while looking at it, hungry to suck on it, lick it, anything she could possibly do with it, making her lust grow bigger.
"Can I?" she asked him kindly, he nodded at her question as she would giggle afterwards.
Her eyes couldn't stop staring at it before she took a long lick up the shaft, before doing it again, again and again, then using her hand to stroke it gently with swift movement, up and down, up and down, slowly and smoothly.
She lived to hear your groans and moans, it filled her with determination, confidence, making her even more hornier as your moans and groans.
The Kryptonian stopped stroking and used her own spit to lubricate it before beginning to suck on it, slowly bobbing her head to get used to the taste again, since she hadn't sucked it for a while, moving her golden hair to one part as she continued her work.
"Oh Kara, by the Golden Light" Y/N groaned in ecstasy, rocking his head back on the couch as she did her job to please her new Fiancé, using her tongue to swirl it around his tip, she kept going and going.
A little pop sound was heard which was the sound of his cock leaving her mouth, using this opportunity to lick his shaft again from the bottom to the top, pleasuring him more.
She then giggled before going back to sucking again, starting off slow again but as time went on... It got faster, and faster, and faster... She began to gag on his cock, hitting the back of her throat as she bobbed her head with quickness which was making him squirm a little.
"Kara..." he couldn't get his other words out, the pleasure was too much for him to speak but luckily, she stopped before he could get close to blowing his load inside her mouth.
"That tasted so good ~" she licked her lips, tasting the pre-cum along with giving his shaft one last lick - "I think it's time we went to the next step" she smirked before getting up to his face and kissed him deeply again, making out as she slipped off her panties, beginning to massage her wet pussy.
Y/N stood up and allowed her to position herself on the couch, where her cape covered her ass - "oops sorry hehe" she giggled, moving her cape out the way to show off her ass, swaying it in the air for him to look at.
"You are gorgeous, you know that?" Y/N flirted, fuelling Kara's needs for his compliments, making her all flustered and the evermore hornier.
She giggled cutely, still swaying her ass till it hit her partner's thighs, his cock resting on her ass.
"C'mon put it in ~" she begged, looking right back at him as she laughed in a pleasant manner, she jiggled a little before he gave in, aiming his cock for her pussy just to tease her a little bit more - "Oh stop it! Stop teasing me!" she moaned, cutely giggling afterwards before feeling his tip at her entrance, her eyes widening as it slowly entered inside her pussy.
"Oh I missed that feeling" Y/N moaned, rocking his head back as her vaginal walls wrapped around his cock, slowly thrusting in and out.
Kara's moans were as soft as a blanket, as she felt his shaft slip in and out, in and out, over and over again, she balanced herself with her hands on the couch, her cape beginning to sway a little as he kept thrusting slowly.
"Go a little faster" she begged, biting her bottom lip again as her words fell on his ears, his cock began to slip in and out a little faster than before, picking up to a normal set of pace as more moans escaped the Kryptonian's mouth.
She closed her eyes, biting her lip a little harder, enjoying the feeling of his cock inside her.
The couch's legs began to make a noise as you picked up speed - "go faster Y/N, faster and harder" she begged once more, his thrusts picking up more speed before his thighs would start clapping off of her ass.
"Oh Rao yes! Oh. Fuck. Fuck! Yes!!" Kara moaned with hedonism, combined with your groans and in-between breaths, her tongue stuck out as you picked up even more speed, going in and out faster, and faster, and faster.
Grabbing a part of her cape, pulling her back and up a little as she began to giggle in pleasure - "Oh grabbing my cape now huh? You kinky fuck" she talks dirty, smiling hardly and laughing with indulgence
The couch began to move a little, scraping off the floor as the legs began to wobble, Kara began moaning pretty loud as the thrusting continued.
Her vaginal walls began enclosing on his cock, his tip hitting the G-spot.
"Oh fuck!! I'm gonna-I'M GONNA CUM!!!" she shouted as more speed began building up.
Kara let go as she powerfully orgasmed which everything within the apartment began to shake, even the table began moving a little, pictures were knocked off tables and the walls, the TV on the unit moved with Kara's powerful, uncontrolled orgasm and the couch was beginning to break before... *SNAP! CRASH!*
The couch's legs snapped in half, resulting in Y/N crashing into Kara as she finished her orgasm.
Despite the mess they just made of the apartment, they didn't care if things were broken or knocked over, all it mattered now was that he needed to get to orgasm.
"Let's take this to the bedroom" Kara suggested through her in-between breaths.
Immediately, she brought you to the bedroom, where the fun would continue, dumping you on the bed as she climbed on you, guiding your cock into her entrance.
"Oh fuck!!" Kara groaned as it entered her wet entrance, using her hips to slam down on his cock, bouncing up and down, up and down, not stopping till he had to orgasm, that was her mission now.
"How close are you?" she asked through a moan.
"Close" he groaned out, she kept bouncing up and down, over, and over again.
Rocking her head back, she began massaging her breasts through her crop top before lifting it up, revealing them as they bounced with her.
The Kryptonian moaned a few more times before laying down on his body, her face levelled with his as they began to make out, bouncing her ass on his cock as they both moaned and groaned through the kiss.
"Oh Kara, I'm..." he gave her the hint as he was ready to blow his load finally, she kept bouncing and using her hips to give herself an advantage before...
She felt his cock twitch, his hot load spewing up inside her as she moaned with satisfaction, crashing down into his body as the orgasm continued, both breathing hard, panting like they ran a huge marathon across the entire galaxy.
Her hair was messy, their bodies stuck together like glue, Kara looked at her Fiancé, getting his attention to kiss him deeply before getting off of his cock.
"That. That's the most fun I've had in a while" she giggled, staring down at him lovingly.
"Yeah... That was... An experience... I haven't had in a... Long time" he replied, out of breath.
The Kryptonian could only smile as she got out of her outfit, hanging it up in her closet, changing into her pj's as her Fiancé got up, slapping on a new pair of boxers to jump into bed with his smiling true love, thinking back to her powerful orgasm.
"What powerful orgasm that was huh?" he thought back at it, smiling at her.
"I had a fear that would happen but... It felt so good!" she said with satisfaction, cuddling into him after taking off her engagement ring, placing it at her bedside table for safe keeping.
"I could tell" he kissed her on the head as the latter giggle with each other, kissing straight after.
"Y'know? Where'd you think we'll have our honeymoon?" she asked him curiously, changing the subject.
"Hmm... We'll have it on Earth, recently looked into a place" he responded to her.
"Ohhh, what place?" she got excited, looking right up at him.
"It's a surprise ~" he told her, as she pouted and gave him puppy dog eyes next to try persuade him into telling her - "Okay, okay, you can stop that, It's Peru" he chuckled.
"Peru? Sounds lovely, been there a few times during my flights around the world" she smiled, feeling happy with her victory of persuasion.
"I bet you have" he chuckled in fruition with her giggle. 
You both looked into each other's eyes and only saw love in them, her love for you is like a flame that can't be snuffed out, your love for her is like an undying flower, always getting taken cared of with water and sunlight, showing your undying love for Kara Zor-El, Linda Lang, Supergirl, the girl you've known to love and spend the rest of your days with, devoted to each other and loyal to one another.
"I love you" Y/N said with glee, smiling into her blue rays.
"I love you too" she giggled, deeply kissing him on the lips before resting her head on him as the both shut their eyes, knowing what's to come next.
And they couldn't be more happier to spend their future... Together.
As The Yin to Her Yang, and her as His Ray of Sunshine...
* *
Wow.... That was a very long one don't ya think?
Yeah this took me ages to write out, put a lot of work into it and such, along with reading through the all the New Earth comics again, kinda wish DC would go back to the New Earth universe, though Flashpoint happened, maybe there is an alternative timeline where Flashpoint never happened... Maybe...
But yes, I hope you enjoyed this because I had a blast writing this all out.
This Imagine was released on Wattpad first (If you read my last post about it, more details are shared there) and I brought it here, with some minor differences with my Author's Notes/A/N)
Take Care and 'Til All Are One
-J
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theerurishipper · 10 months ago
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I think the Batman's sidekicks equal child soldiers comes from them being called soldiers. Bat books seem to embrace the 'war on crime' narrative more as they are more gritty. On top of this Batman is emotionally incompetent meaning he treats his kids more like soldiers than children sometimes.
It's also quantity of sidekicks. Like, Barry had Wally. He didn't have any other kid sidekicks at the same time. Batman has a solid army and it often feels like one. They often feel more militarized than other 'fams'. Also, he is too controlling and doesn't treat this solid army of children well. So obviously when a character mistreats everyone around them, people are more likely to see the flaws. A kid cheerfully fighting aside their adult mentor isn't going to get called a child soldier but a kid written with a more gritty undertone is (especially because of the war on crime stuff).
He also had the whole 'good soldier' memorial which says he kinda viewed Jason, a dead 15 year old he adopted, as a soldier. Even though they were portrayed as a father son relationship so this immediately damages the perception of his relationships with his other children.
Also, the Under the Red Hood Movie is an entry level media for Bat fandom. It starred Mr Ackles of Supernatural fame. There is a huge child soldier narrative in the treatment of Sam and Dean by their father so Supernatural fans are more likely to see these themes. So Ackles fans watching the movie and then getting into the Batfam stuff will obviously latch onto this.
Also, this is not the only incident in superhero fandom where certain characters are singled out as child soldiers for other characters. This narrative is also present in some parts of the X-Men fandom, especially regarding the relationship of Professor X and Cyclops. As it is another incident of an adult character 'rescuing' a child in need and (I can't think of a better word) indoctrinating them to their cause.
I think another thing is the fact the Bats do not have powers. So narrative of 'with great power, comes great responsibility' only actually applies to Batman himself with his obscene wealth. So the classic narrative of you have power so you have to help people with them doesn't apply here. Most of the kids he recruits could have relatively normal lives. Jason, whose fans propagate this take heavily, did not ask to be Robin. Batman gave it to him. I also feel that Starlin was trying to have an arc about why having a child sidekick was bad in the Jason's Robin run so Jason's fans are more likely to be critical of the child sidekick thing. It basically goes 'maybe I should not have had this child fight crime' (while Jason is still alive) to 'it's Jason's own fault he got himself killed' which looks really bad.
So it just feels like a lot of factors give more and more people these kind of takes in a way that doesn't apply to other characters. Wonder Woman mostly fights alongside adults. The Flash is also adult heavy (Barry, Jay, Max as in adults that started as adults). Shazamily is all near is age (argument for Wizard perhaps). Lanterns, adults. Arrow family are usually a bit older than the bats and get less attention. Ect.
For me the thing is that... this is fiction. Not a one-to-one direct reflection of reality. In real life, we would frown upon vigilantism as a concept, but enjoying characters like Batman and Superman requires some suspension of disbelief. The same idea should be applied to the idea of sidekicks in general, something that would be very wrong in reality, but is acceptable within the fictional world of DC. Admittedly Batman is usually more grounded than the other books, but it still is within the fictional world of DC, where having child sidekicks in okay. Where letting children fight crime is not inherently wrong, and what defines whether it's good or bad is the intent of the person training/raising them (Bruce or Barry or Oliver as opposed to David Cain or Slade Wilson). We need to view it through that lens, otherwise it's kinda just bad faith criticism.
Another thing to consider is that Batman is an emotionally withdrawn character. It's pretty clear that he did not consider Jason a simple soldier for the cause, or his death wouldn't have ruined him the way it did. And honestly, for every Jason is a soldier case in the Batcave (something he got yelled at for btw), there is a Bruce giving Damian a heartfelt speech about how his kids aren't soldiers. For every moment Bruce treats his kids like soldiers, there is a moment where he openly admits to how much he loves them. I suppose after a point of time it's all up to interpretations, especially since the latter are far and few between, but canon has been pretty clear that Bruce loves his children above all else, and that he doesn't see them as soldiers. That's actually been a plot point a few times, so I think it shouldn't be a question that he sees them as sons and daughter and not soldiers. After all, the whole reason he does what he does for them is so that they don't turn out like him. Him coming off as seeing them like soldiers is not because it's the truth of what he thinks, it's because he can't express himself.
I did say there are plenty of other reasons to criticize Bruce as a character, one of them being the fact that he behaves abusively to his kids. But that's not a symptom of them being child soldiers. My post mostly stemmed from me seeing a lot of criticism of Batman "throwing kids into tights and a cape instead of getting them therapy," and it's like, nooooo. He very explicitly did not do that. They chose the life. Most of them would have done it whether or not Bruce was there. The kids being crimefighters isn't the problem.
If the cheerful thing is what differentiates them from others, the Robins have had that with Batman. Dick and Bruce actually had great fun as Batman and Robin, for instance, before things went sour. Jason may have been given Robin by Bruce, but he also loved being Robin and said it gave him magic. The inherent idea of kids fighting crime is not the issue in a fictional world. Robin in itself is something of a child empowerment kind of thing, a genre staple, at least in the beginning. We don't go around calling every child protagonist a child soldier, do we? It would be an inherently unethical thing in real life, but this is fiction. We have to have some amount of suspension of disbelief when it comes to that, just like we do for the idea of vigilantism itself. Otherwise, we wouldn't have a story.
My take on it is this: there are no child soldiers in DC (when it comes to the sidekicks). Because it's fiction. Within the conventions of the genre, it's well and good for Bruce or anyone to let kids fight crime. Bruce being an abuser is a different conversation entirely, one that should not be derailed with accusations of him raising child soldiers. Those are not a thing in DC, and we would all be happier if we accepted that. My post was specifically about that, that Bruce letting kids fight crime is not inherently a bad thing within the context on the world they operate in. I made the OG post because I saw a lot of criticism towards Bruce for the very act of letting kids fight crime, not because of how he treats them but because he apparently indoctrinated and manipulated them into his war on crime, just criticism for the very act of him letting them do so.
I've also seen talk about how awful it is for Bruce to continue to let kids be Robins after one died, and I just have to say, do you not want Tim Drake and Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain and Damian Wayne and Duke Thomas and every other kid hero in the Batfam to exist? Because if Batman were to do the right thing, they shouldn't exist. But, again, this is fiction. It's a story about superheroes. As per the rules of the story, Batman needs a Robin. Someone was going to be created to fill the void, and it was Tim Drake.
And if we go down that route, what does this say about Conner Kent and Bart Allen and Cassie Sandsmark and the other heroes like them? Because if Bruce is in the wrong for letting kids fight after Jason died, so are the other heroes who allow kids to keep fighting after one sidekick died on the job. Was Clark Kent raising a child soldier when he allowed Jon to fight crime? And it's also funny to me cause again, Tim Drake practically forced Bruce to take him on as Robin, with the explicit blessing of former Robin Dick Grayson, and Alfred Pennyworth. Everyone else was already in the life, and Bruce just helped them out. They would have done it regardless of him. So, to frame it in a manner as though he forced them into it, or he didn't care that Jason died and that it could happen to them too is wrong.
Perhaps it's because Batman is the most popular DC hero, perhaps it's because he's had the most sidekicks, perhaps it's because one of them died, but it's still not a correct argument. Again, there are very legitimate criticisms to be made of Bruce, ones I can agree with wholeheartedly, but this is not one of them. He is toxic and controlling and abusive to his kids, but they are not child soldiers. It is that very specific thing that I am objecting to. And that's what I think a lot of replies to my post misunderstand, because they're conflating Bruce being abusive with Bruce raising child soldiers, and I while I agree with their general point, I disagree with the framing and the inferences made from it. And then there are the people who inspired me to make the post, who are just wrong.
So, I do agree with a lot of the criticisms of Bruce and a lot of your points! I can see where the idea comes from considering how Bruce treats his kids, but I don't think the correct takeaway is that they are child soldiers specifically. Victims of abuse from Bruce? Sure. Not child soldiers. I hope this makes sense.
Thank you for your ask!
Just... gonna leave this here...
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rubydubydoo122 · 9 months ago
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“Don’t.” He wrapped his arms around himself and didn’t dare look Batman in the eye. He couldn’t. If he did, he doesn’t know what would happen. “Don't. Please don’t say you’re sorry because I will forgive you immediately, even though I shouldn’t.”
Aka, I think that Gotham Wars sucks and that the writers should let Jason and Bruce be happy, but this makes for some great Angst :)
Ok Jason, calm down. You’re just going to get the antidote and leave. That’s it. 
Jason drew in a deep breath. He couldn’t think about– him because if he thought about– that man, he would get angry, and if he got angry he would have another panic attack.
Because he was chemically altered to feel fear instead of anger.
And yeah, Tim said it was mind control, ( he actually said it was a “backup personality” at first, which caused another panic attack, so Tim just settled for mind control) but Ba— that man, had basically medically induced a panic attack. And they wouldn’t stop. Jason was having the worst month of his life. And that included the time he was dead. That included the time he spent with the League of Assassins. That included the time he was brought back to the place he literally died by Batman . 
His hands started to shake, and he felt the blood drain out of every limb in his body, leaving his ears ringing. 
In… two…three… four, hold… two… three… four, out… two…three…four. 
Jason didn’t dare telling himself he was ok, because he wasn’t. Nothing about this was ok. The person he thought was his dad , did this to him. 
No. Jason couldn’t think like that. Bruce had stopped being his dad a long time ago. From the moment that batarang slit his neck, Jason no longer had a dad. 
The ringing in his ears had stopped, leaving the room filled with the rushing sound of blood. His fingers were cold even though he was covered in sweat. 
Jason glanced at his phone. He had been determined to get to Tim’s without an assist. Except it probably wasn’t a good idea to drive. And Tim’s apartment was on the other side of Gotham. And Jason couldn’t walk, because it was Gotham, and he couldn’t fight. 
Because of Batman . 
His hands started to shake again, so he took a deep breath. Tim was still working on the antidote, so he wouldn’t bother him. Stephanie was in class, Duke was on patrol, Cass never really liked him, Damian’s too young to drive(and he would be really mean about the fact that Jason was having panic attacks) so that left…Dick. 
And according to Tim, Dick was furious on Jason’s behalf. 
Jason rested his chin on his knee, taking a breath as the line rang. 
“Jason?” He could already hear the worry laced in his voice
“Hey.” Jason hated the way his voice wavered. “Um… I’m supposed to go to Tim’s, uh, today, but I dont… I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to drive there myself?” He took in a breath, “I was wondering if you could— I mean, if you’re not free I totally understand— I mean, this was dumb. I’m sorry for bothering you, I’ll—“
“Jason, shut up. I’ll be there in ten.”
Dick found Jason in his safehouse curled up against the couch staring at a spot on the coffee table. Dick was finally getting used to Jason being much bigger than him, but at that moment, he looked so small. Like the kid who would lurk in the corner while Dick and Bruce would get into screaming matches. Jason looked like he hadn’t slept or eaten for days. 
Dick knocked on the doorframe, “Don’t think too hard. Your brain will break.”
Jason turned his head to face Dick. “I dunno, might be too late for that.” He looked tired- done . Even so, he tried to give Dick a smile. One that didn’t even reach his cheeks. One that looked so… broken. 
He wonders if that’s what Jason looked like when he first came back. Between moments of fighting with all of the family, he was sitting alone in one of his safehouses curled up in the exact same position he was in now. 
There were about a million things Dick wanted to ask Jason, all variations of " are you ok?” But the only thing that came out of his mouth was, “Are you ready to go?”
Jason just nodded and stood up, blinking a couple times, which definitely meant he hasn’t eaten in a while. He shoved his feet into a pair of crocs and followed Dick out.
The car trip was quiet and Dick wished it wasn’t. He just wanted his brother to make some sort of quip, or even yell at him. Except Jason couldn’t yell, because Bruce took that right away from Jason and replaced it with fear.
He gripped the steering wheel.
No, that wasn’t Bruce. It was his backup personality, or whatever the hell that meant. 
Dick pulled into the drive through for O’Shaughnessy.
Jason pulled his head away from the window, “What are we doing here? I thought we were going to Tim’s.”
“We are, but I’m 90% sure he hasn’t eaten anything in the past 24 hours and I haven’t had lunch yet, so, yeah, burgers for all of us.”
He was actually doing it because Jason looked a lot thinner than the last time he’d seen him, so it was for him. Though the Tim thing could very much be true. He was probably burying himself in helping Jason, so he would have to think about what happened. 
Dick ordered three burgers, one without onions for himself, one without mayo for Tim, and one with extra pickles for Jason. And two Zesty Colas for him and Tim and a Strawberry Milkshake for Jason.
Dick parked in the parking lot so he could pass Jason’s food over to him, “eat.”
Jason put the burger back in the bag, before returning to stare out the window. “I’m not really hungry, Dick.” 
It was honestly scaring Dick how withdrawn Jason was being. “You look like you haven’t eaten properly in weeks” he took the burger back out and threw it at him, “If you don’t start eating that, we’re not leaving the parking lot.”
They had a mini stare off before Jason begrudgingly started to unwrap his food. 
So Dick started the car up again. 
It’s not like Jason was actively trying to not eat. Stress cooking and stress baking was one of Jason’s more healthy coping mechanisms. It had always made him feel like his mom was holding his hand while they mixed a bowl of batter together. It made him feel like Alfred was right next to him in the kitchen. Especially since he died. So Jason tried to make something as soon as he got to his safe house. Except he didn’t realize he would be taking his anger out on the cookie dough. He didn’t realize he would have a panic attack and drop the entire bowl. And it happened again when he tried to crack an egg for breakfast. And again when he was chopping a carrot for a fucking snack. It just became a chore to figure out what he could make without giving his heart a reason to explode. And constantly regulating your thoughts so that they don’t cause you to feel like you’re going to die has been such a top priority that food has been on the bottom. 
But the burger was nice. It was the closest thing he’d had to a home cooked meal since—
No. 
No. That memory gets to be locked down deep down because he can’t remember the good times with him, not when Jason won’t ever have a moment like that with him again because the kid that Batman bought a burger for was dead. 
The bite that had been in his mouth had turned to ash. His heart started to pound in his ears and the half finished burger in his hands started to shake, as the knots in his stomach squeeze bile out into his mouth. 
“Dick, pull over.”
“What?”
A bag, he needs a bag. Jason dumped the contents of the fast food bag out into the middle compartment and puked into it. 
Jason thought, from the moment he walked into the manor, that he was safe. That no one inside the walls of that house could hurt him, like his dad had. That no one would leave him like his mom had. He thought he’d finally been worthy of being loved. Bruce had held the promise of being safe. He was Batman for crying out loud, he could protect anyone. He was a hero. Jason had thought Bruce had loved him, and maybe he did. Maybe Bruce just loved the Jason that was 15. The one that died. The one that’s dead. Dead, dead, dead. The one that was bloody and burned, and so goddamned trusting and always looking for the best in people and hoping that maybe if he put enough love back out into the world, it would maybe, just maybe give him some back.  
“Jason, breathe with me.” There was a light thumping under his hand, as it slowly rose and fell. 
He tried to take a deep breath as his hand rose, but his breath hitched. 
“I can’t.”  
After really bad nightmares, Jason used to wake up in panicked cries. He still does. And every time he still expects Bruce to come rushing into his bedroom and hold him until he stops. But he never comes. Bruce is never there when Jason needs him anymore. He can no longer protect him, because he’s the one hurting him. And he just keeps going back to him and getting hurt again and again and again. 
“Yes you can, Little Wing. You’re one of the strongest people I know. You can handle a little breathing.”  
Jason took a deep shaky breath as his hand rose again, shuttering a breath out as it fell. 
And again. And again, until his breath stopped shuttering on its way out. 
The car had been pulled over, and Dick was currently squatted outside of the open passenger seat, with Jason’s hand against his chest. 
He crossed his arms over the dashboard and buried his face in them “This isn’t…fair.” 
“This isn’t right .” The firmness and anger in Dicks voice made Jason peer over at him. 
“Dick…”
“No. You’re currently incapable of getting angry, so I’ll do it for you. This is so fucked up . All of this! The fact that Br-“
“Don’t.” Jason cut him off. If he has to listen to a rant about… him, he’s not going to make it to Tim’s before his heart implodes with anxiety. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I don’t want to even think about him right now.” His eyes started to burn so he turned his face back into his arms. “I just want all this to be over.” 
Dick nodded. “Yeah. Ok.” 
It took them five minutes to get to Tim’s apartment. They didn’t let themselves in through the window like they usually would because Dick was not sure Jason could scale the fire escape without passing out, and that would not be good. At all. 
Tim opened the door for them and immediately rolled back in without even sparing them a glance, “I’m almost done. Just give me, like, ten minutes.”
Jason, however, was fixated on the fact that Tim was missing a leg. “Where the—“
“Ten minutes, Jason.” Tim rolled around a pile of chip bags and a pizza box to get to his desk. 
Jason picked up the pile and put it in the trash. And then looked at the state of… everything. It was a mess. Usually the mess was more controlled, like in the kitchen it would just be on the countertops, the living room would only have shit on the coffee table, but Tim’s apartment just looked like a tornado passed through. 
Dick stopped Tim from getting to his desk though, and placed the food in his hands, “Take a break and eat, Tim.”
“Ten minutes.”
Jason maybe accidentally found himself putting things away for Tim. Stress cleaning was a thing he’d picked up from Alfred, and his safe house had been spotless since before he was gifted with chronic anxiety. 
It also wasn’t the first time he’d stress cleaned Tim’s apartment, so it wasn’t that out of character. 
Though it was slower because Jason found that if he went too fast a burst of stars flooded his vision. 
Tim tried to maneuver around Dick but failed, “Come on, you’re not making Jason eat. And he’s two steps from passing out!”
Jason crouched down to pick up some papers that were littered across the floor “I am not.” He stood back up, and realized the edges of his vision was darkening. “And I… ate in the… the, um, car.” 
“He threw it up.” Dick moved to guide Jason to the couch, “Sit down, and stop cleaning. Tim, take a break and eat.” Dick made his way to the kitchen. 
“I have to finish this.”
“Timbo, I think I can handle waiting while you eat.”
“No, you don’t understand—“
“Nope. I don’t want none of that from you.” Jason pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his head on them. “ You mean more to me than your brain. Or your skills. We’re the outcasts in a family of outcasts. We have an understanding of each other. A solidarity. And you’re making me say some really sappy shit. Which is rude, and I wouldn’t’ve had to say if you just ate the damn burger.”
Tim’s mouth hung open for a second, and then closed. And then He went to unwrap his burger, mumbling something about older bothers making him do everything . 
“Ow!” A pack of saltines hit Jason in the head. He took a deep breath to calm the sudden lurch of his stomach. “ Dick .”
“Don’t call me names when I’m being nice to you! I’m making you tea.” There was a clattering in the kitchen, “Is this good?” Dick came into view holding a box of ‘Numi Organic Tea: aged Earl grey’ it had always been Alfred’s favorite, and it held a lot of nostalgia for Jason. Sunday afternoons sitting on the kitchen countertop with Alfred drinking tea and just talking. 
“Yeah, but don’t steep it. You always make it taste like water that has cardboard soaking in it.”
There was a slight snort that came from Tim. 
“Eat your crackers.”Dick brought a mug filled with hot water and the box of teabags to Jason, “you’re going to regret this slander in the future.”
“It can’t be slander if it’s the truth.” Jason grabbed a bag and settled it into the water. 
Though the three of them ate in silence. Too much had happened in the past month. Too much of their lives had shattered beneath them, and they were trying to put the pieces back together. Well, it was more like they were just staring at the mess in front of them trying to figure out where to start. 
Tim finished first and immediately went back to working. Then once Dick was done he went searching around the apartment for equipment to administer the antidote. And with them working together, it took five minutes for the antidote to be ready. And then after Jason was given the antidote, he would ask Tim what happened to his leg. Because Jason was 80% sure that Tim wasn’t telling him the story because of his chronic anxiety. 
If Tim didn’t want to tell him, that was also fine. It did take months for him to tell them that he was missing a spleen. 
“After we give you the antidote, I might ask you some things to get you angry. See if it’s working. Ya know.” Tim passed the tourniquet and syringe to Dick, as Dick disinfected his arm. 
Jason hadn’t flinched away from a needle in years. Not since Alfred and Leslie had perfected their methods to make Jason comfortable around needles, and he could handle being hooked up to an IV in the batcave. 
Though maybe it was the adrenaline and fear that had been coursing through his body for the past month that caused him to recoil when Dick brought the needle close. 
Or it was probably the fact that Batman was staring at them through the window. 
Dick grabbed his hand. Jason felt a small pinch on his inner arm along with the cold feeling shooting up his arm. Except it didn’t stop his heart from racing. Why wasn’t the antidote working. 
He brought his shaking hands to his lap and waited for the blood rush. 
“Jason, what’s wrong?”
Batman was here
“He doesn’t like needles.” It was the gruff sound of the voice that kept him up at night. The voice of the person who had refused to kill the person who’d killed him. The voice of the person who had brought him back to the place he died to relive his last moments. The voice that had told him he loved him, yet had drugged him moments earlier. 
Despite the panic, Jason didn’t miss the way Tim immediately rolled his chair around. Jason didn’t miss the way Dick moved in front of both of them. 
Jason closed his eyes. He’s not here, He’s not here, he can’t be here. He won’t be here because he doesn’t care . He never cared. 
“Bruce, you need to leave.” Dicks voice was dangerously low. A firey rage behind his eyes that was obviously being held back for the sake of his brothers.
“Jason, I just wanted to say—“
“Don’t.” He wrapped his arms around himself and didn’t dare look Batman in the eye. He couldn’t. If he did, he doesn’t know what would happen. “Don't. Please don’t say you’re sorry because I will forgive you immediately, even though I shouldn’t.”
“Jason–”
 He glanced up, and his stomach lurched when all he met was white-out lenses. “Take off the cowl, Batman. I deserve to speak to Bruce.” 
Batman turned around, and for a moment, Jason thought he was going to leave. Just like he had that night with the Joker. Moments before a batarang was embedded in his neck. 
But Batman closed the blinds, pulled his cowl back, and turned back to Jason. He searched his face trying to figure out why Bruce was here. Was this another ambush? Was he trying to stop Tim from giving Jason the antidote? Was he going to inject Jason with the weird fear toxin again? Or was Bruce actually here to apologize.
“I don’t know where I stand with you anymore.” He stared at a stray pen that was on the floor, “I don’t know if you see me as an ally, or a threat, or a villain.” Jason felt his heart creep up into his throat as he debated saying the next part, “I used to think that you saw me as your son.” He looked at Bruce, “But that was a contingency plan. I’m not Superman, or Martian Man-Hunter, or the Flash. So why did you have one for me ? Do you have one for all of us? Do you have one for Dick, who’s been by your side practically since day one? Do you have one for Tim, who’s always been right there to make sure you’re on the right path? If they were just plans to help you sleep better at night, then that’s fine, Bruce. I’m fine with that. But you actually used it on me.  I haven’t been able to do basic tasks in the past month without dropping whatever was in my hands because they were shaking so much. Without feeling like my heart’s about to explode.”
“Jason, if I had been in control, I would’ve never done any of it. Zur—“
“Is still you. Is Batman without Bruce. Is your subconscious. So that means deep down, you’ve never trusted me. That means, deep down, I’ll never be enough for you. 
“I can’t… I can’t keep going around this merry go round with you, Bruce. Where you start to trust me, and I think maybe things can get better between us, but then we start fighting again.”
“Jay, lad, Things can get better between us.” Bruce took a step forward, and Jason flinched back into the sofa, as his vision blurred slightly, “Please. Please don’t say that. They can’t . And you know they can’t. Because you don’t understand what your actions mean to me. 
“When you brought me back to Ethiopia, when Damian died, asking me to relive the worst day of my life to figure how to bring him back, knowing you didn’t do that for me, it made me feel like I was never worth the effort. It made me feel like I was just a kid you put a roof over. It reminded me that I was never your son. Not really. 
“And back when I first came back to Gotham, and I was asking you to kill the Joker, I knew that your stupid moral code would never actually do it, but you didn’t have to throw a batarang at my neck. You could’ve made some effort to let me know you were glad to see me alive. 
“ I wasn’t asking for revenge. I was just… I was scared. All my actions that night were because I was scared and I thought— I thought that my dad, who was the protector of the whole world, would save me from the monster that still haunts me to this day,” He wiped his face, “All I wanted was my dad.” He took a shuddering breath in, “And it really hurts, when the only time I’ve heard you say ‘I love you’ since I’ve come back, maybe since ever, was after you chemically changed me to have chronic anxiety whenever I’m angry, but I guess that’s what I get when I’m only ever angry when I’m scared.”
Jason looked up at the ceiling fan and then back to Bruce, “If you call me I’ll come. If you need me I’ll be there. But it doesn’t stop it from hurting. It doesn’t stop me from feeling like an idiot every time we go around and around and around. It doesn't stop me from hating myself for falling for our ‘phases of better’ over and over and over again. But it gives me hope every time that one day we can go back to what we were before I died.” He looked down at his hands, “If you had done this to anyone else, someone who didn’t deserve it, I would’ve never forgiven you. But I already have.”
“Jason…” too many emotions flashed across Bruce’s face for Jason to read. 
“Bruce, I forgive you. Isn’t that what you came here for?” 
Bruce’s eyes were more gray than blue. They were glassy, like he had tears welled up in them. But that couldn’t be possible, he was Batman. Yet he still blinked rapidly, like he was trying to get something out, “I am so sorry I have hurt you so many times.”
Jason looked at the floor. 
Tim looked at Jason. 
Dick looked at Bruce. 
And Bruce put his cowl up and left.
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fedtothenight · 1 year ago
Text
tw for graphic description of suicide and cyber bullying
on october 9th, 2023, an italian call of duty cosplayer going by the name inquisitor committed suicide on live tiktok.
for hours his body lay offscreen as hundreds of people watched the stream, and some ironised that the phone set-up, angled towards a glass door to the outside, with no speaking and music in the background, was him being “mysterious”.
then, a hit against the glass door. another one. another one. a man was seen break in, crouch down off screen, receiving instructions on how to perform cpr from a woman still outside, on the phone with a 111 operator.
the live ended just after paramedics came into view, thanks to the reports of some users who had understood what had been unfolding in front of their eyes.
for a day, conflicting information regarding the outcome of his attempt flooded tiktok. it is now seemingly proven that he is no longer on this earth and that his funerals are today, october 11th 2023. in italy, it is common for funerals to happen within a 48-hour window from passing.
inquisitor was 23 at the time of his death.
weeks prior, inquisitor, who had privated all his accounts before reactivating for this last live, was accused of grooming and pedophilia. screenshots came out of him allegedly flirting with a 17 year old and/or a 15 year old. the cod community rallied around the minor(s): he was, to put it in tiktok terms, ‘cancelled’. he was named a p*dophile and a groomer.
other popular accounts, with thousands of followers, posted ‘call out’ videos about him, spreading the voice. the same accounts, the ‘batman of the fandom defending minors’, barely old teenagers themselves, mocked his live as it was happening — claiming it was for clout.
it had since emerged that the allegations were, allegedly, false. yesterday, multiple other cosplayers and users in the fandom posted screen-recordings of the minor admitting that they had lied about their age to flirt with him—who had a ‘minors dni’ in his bio.
it has since further been alleged, with screenshots, that the minor and their boyfriend orchestrated the call out, with the latter, who claims to be in the us army, egging the minor to ramp up their flirting until it became sexting. it is not proven it ever got to that point. the intentions to ruin someone’s reputation, however, were apparently there.
in italy, which is not the usa, and where high school is compasses ages 13 to 20 for those who do repeat years, it is also culturally accepted for someone in their early twenties to flirt or date someone who is around 18.
this is true irrespective of anyone’s feelings about it.
regardless of all that, regardless of whatever amount of the allegations, it not all, were false, a young man is dead and his death was live-streamed to thousands of people. in his own words to one of his friends, who showed some of his last messages, he committed suicide live on purpose to show what the past few weeks had done to him.
it should have never come to this point. at least please let it be a reminder that mob mentality is deadly, that we should never let go of our empathy, and that all suspected crimes, especially if this serious, should be reported to and dealt with by the proper authorities, not people on the internet.
i won’t stay his name because to the best of my knowledge he only gave it out privately, but: he was 23. he loved star wars and worked in a tattoo shop. he lived in bologna. he liked tortellini. he had a cat named loki and a sister who sometimes joined his lives off-screen. he was loved. all this information he gave freely.
although denial still wants to make me hope he made it out, and that he is okay, and alive and well, because what’s what denial does, my thoughts go out to him, to his family, to his friends.
inquisitor, if you're not here anymore: sit tibi terra levis.
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