#Dc miracles event

[dcmiracles]

HELLO ONE AND ALL AND WELCOME TO A NEW DC X MIRACULOUS EVENT !

I would like to start of that this event is meant to spread positivity, creativity and joy ! I grew up loving and adoring dc and mlb and hero's and magic and this fandom has re-awoken my love for these properties!

I would love to start a two month event of sharing , creating and just exploring idea's !

This whole event is to enjoy being creative and write, draw or just make something !

DC MIRACULES IS AN EVENT TO PROMOTE YOUR IDEA'S , WRITE AND MEET NEW PEOPLE !

I encourage you to explore all of miraculous and dc and make creations with who ever you want ! Again ! This is an event to promote Artists, writers and people !

At the end of the event we will be having a vote of which media, artist, fic or art has motivated you the most !

The winner of these votes / categories will receive one free art piece of their choice !

If you would like to participate please list your work under Dc miracles event !

The categories in question !

Family ( chosen / found, blood / birth ) -Monday Rare pares ! ( Platonic or romantic ) - Tuesday Hurt / comfort ( angst and fluff ) - Wednesday A.us - Thursday Favorite "well known " ships ! -Friday Positivity ! ( this will be a day to write a fic, ship , draw or shout out a friends work in the fandom !!) -Saturday

Sunday will be a free day ! you do not have to write anything ! in fact i would like this day to be for enjoyment and read others work or simply relax !

[maribat-media]

Maribat Media Poll Sunday Tuesday! #3/4

Can we just act like it's Sunday? No one will notice...

@dcmiracles is the blog putting on this event and they plan on doing others in the future! Give them a follow! They are open for any questions surrounding the event!

Feel free to leave questions here as well!

Reblog Challenge: Mention wherever you feel comfortable (tags or reblog message) the things that excite you about this event! Try to go further than just mentioning which days you like the most. Hype up each other!

[nerds-yearbook]

In Mister Miracle 22# (vol 2, cover date December, 1990) Scott Free passed the Mr Miracle mantle onto Shilo Norman. ("Passing the Miracle", Mister Miracle vol 2 22#, Comic, Event)

[nightingale-prompts]

Talents -DC X DP prompt

The public is aware that each of the Wayne children are creatively gifted. It was almost expected. Richard Grayson was the acrobatic of course and no one was surprised but highly praised. So many parents began putting their children in gymnastics after seeing Dick's performances.

Jason Todd took up writing and published his own books at the age of 13. Poetry, anthologies, and historical fiction were the genres he favored. His books still remain on the best-seller's list, especially after his death. His poetry book "Blackouts" is an emotional journey of everyday tragedies and miracles of life. People would often quote lines from his poems after tragic events.

Tim Drake was more elusive. No one knew what he did until his name came up under a national photography award. His album called "The Shades of Gotham" was a contract between parties of the wealthy and the impoverished citizens of Gotham.

Cassandra Cain kept to herself constantly. No one knew what she did for years. People assumed that Bruce Wayne stopped forcing his kids to perform and others argued that she just didn't have any talents to showcase. All wrong of course. Cassandra posted one of her recent projects online which proved she was very talented. It was a beautiful scarf she was making for the winter. Cassandra was gifted with a talent for textiles. She knitted, weaved, and sowed many of the clothes she was seen wearing. It was no secret that some of the clothes the Waynes wore could not be found anywhere else but people assumed they had a tailor to make custom designs but no one knew it was Cassandra.

Damian Wayne did not lag behind his siblings as she quickly showed off his artistic talents. He's still young so he hasn't gone as far as opening his first gallery but one of his paintings has already been put in a museum. Some call it nepotism but art is subjective. The other Waynes disagree since they have hung every art piece Damian makes in their offices and home right next to Tim's photos.

Duke Thomas isn't one to show off too much. But he does go all out in his hobbies. He secretly takes after Jason in writing poetry and has been inspired by "Blackout" since he first learned to read. Duck related to it deeply. But along the way, he learned a different way to express himself. Kids on the streets of Gotham learned a bit of breakdancing and Duke was no exception. Duke is an accomplished dancer and has gotten a few competitions under his belt now.

Now that there is a new member of the Wayne family the public is waiting to find out what Danny Nightingale's talent is. Everyone knew that Waynes were creative but honestly, no one expected this. A play was announced at Monarch Theater and none other then Danny's names was on the ticket as the star.

[arttuff]

thank you to Harvey for donating to the DC Gotcha for Gaza fundraiser event!! The prompt was for mister miracle and big barda being cute :)

find out more on the DC Gotcha For Gaza fundraiser here: dcforgaza.carrd.co

[captainsophiestark]

Vigilante Book Club

Jason Todd x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist! - Part 2 Part 3

Written for my personal fic writing challenge for 2024, Sophie's Year of Fic! Featuring a new fic being posted every Friday, all year long :)

Fandom: DC

Summary: After having an all-around terrible day, the only person who might be able to make it better is a certain book-loving vigilante.

Word Count: 1,562

Category: Fluff

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

I sighed heavily as the tomato I'd set on the counter and turned my back on for two seconds rolled onto the floor and went splat. Some days were just meant to be shitty, apparently.

Today had started out perfectly nice and ordinary. The sun had even been shining, which was a miracle in itself sometimes in Gotham. But then, I'd left my bag unattended at the coffee shop while grabbing my order from the counter, before returning to my table. It didn't have anything legitimately valuable in it, in terms of what the thief got, but it did have my favorite copy of my favorite book, which I'd had for the better part of a decade. All my little notes, bookmarked favorite pages, and the first edition put into print before a few typos and errors were corrected on later runs; in other words, irreplacable. And now it was gone forever.

The rest of my day had likewise been terrible, although normally mundane events might've been colored a little by the loss of my book. Now, all I wanted to do was eat something I liked and then immediately go to bed. And even that wasn't going to plan.

I huffed, setting down the knife I'd grabbed when I turned my back on the tomato and intending to replace it with some paper towels. I froze mid-turn, however, at the sound of the window in my hallway sliding open. Because of course this day hadn't ended yet.

Slowly, as quietly as possible, I turned back to the counter and picked up the knife. I knew I'd locked that window, but apparently someone had managed to just quietly and easily slide it open. That wasn't a good sign.

I crept across the kitchen, tensed and ready to run at a moment's notice as I neared the corner to the hallway. I wanted to see who or what I might be dealing with, while also being prepared to run if I needed to.

I paused at the edge of the kitchen, taking a few deep breaths to calm my nerves. Finally, I mustered up the courage to slowly lean around the corner to peek into the hallway. When I did, I found someone standing much, much closer than I'd been expecting them to be.

"AH!" I screamed, jumping back while brandishing the knife out in front of me. I made it halfway across the room in one leap as the person in my house shifted backwards too.

"Shit," he swore, voice slightly distorted by the vocal modulator in his very recognizable helmet. The Red Hood. Standing in my apartment, apparently after having broken through my window.

I lowered my knife slightly and stopped in my living room, just a few steps from my kitchen. I wasn't completely relaxed, but in general, the Red Hood seemed to have a helpful, non-dangerous-if-you're-not-evil reputation. But he'd also just broken into my house.

"What the hell are you doing?" I demanded. Red Hood held up his hands to show he was unarmed, and apparently also to answer my question: he held a familiar bag I thought I'd never see again in his hand.

"Sorry for scaring you. I didn't think anyone was here, I was planning to just drop this off and go. But I busted some black market smugglers today, and one of their lower-ranking guys had this. Seemed like something you might want back."

I barely let him get through the end of his sentence before I dropped the knife on the nearest table and rushed across the room to grab my bag. I yanked it open while it was still in Red Hood's hands, peering inside with my heart hammering in my chest. I almost collapsed on the spot when I found my book inside, looking exactly the way I'd left it.

"Oh thank goodness!" I cried. I turned back to Red Hood, still clutching my book tight. "Thank you so much for bringing this back to me! I was heartbroken when it got taken."

Red Hood just shrugged. "Glad I could help."

He started shifting back towards the door, carefully setting my bag and the rest of its contents down on the counter, but I couldn't just let him leave like that. He'd quite literally saved my day; I wanted to do something for him in return.

"Wait! Can I... offer you dinner, or something?" I asked. "I was about to start making some tacos..."

Red Hood's gaze drifted to the kitchen as mine did, landing on the pitiful start I'd made on dinner and the tomato still on the floor. I couldn't be totally sure because of the helmet, but I thought I heard him snort.

"I appreciate the sentiment, but that doesn't look anything like dinner. Maybe next time I bust some criminals I'll find a cookbook I can bring you."

I scoffed in mock-indignation, but I couldn't quite hide a smile all the same.

"I know how to cook, alright? Today's just been... a little rough. Until you brought my book back, at least!"

Red Hood chuckled. "Well, I'm glad I could help. Makes my day a lot better, too."

We shared a smile (I assumed, since I couldn't technically see his face), then I lit up as a shock of inspiration hit me.

"Oh! What if I let you borrow this book!" I cried. "It's absolutley fantastic, I promise you won't forget it. Since you knew it was important, I'm assuming you're a reader?"

He stared at me, looking a bit taken aback.

"I'm a very big reader, but... you'd actually let me borrow this?"

He gestured to the book still clutched tightly in my hand, and I whipped it up to my chest again, holding it tight to me.

"Hell no! I won't let anyone borrow this copy, ever. But I have a loaner copy I've used to get my friends invested in the story that I'd be happy to share with you. And... maybe you could come back when you're done reading it, and we could talk about it? Maybe over dinner? I promise I'm a better cook than the current state of my kitchen would suggest."

He didn't respond right away, to the point that I started to get a little nervous. Maybe he'd really wanted to leave when he'd first started heading back to the window, and didn't want anything to do with me or this conversation. Just when I started crafting something to say to let him off the hook, he finally spoke up again.

"...As long as you're sure it wouldn't be an inconvenience for you."

"What? Of course I'm sure! If you're interested, I'd love someone else to talk to about my favorite book. And I'd still love to make you dinner as a thank you for bringing this back to me."

Red Hood nodded. "Okay. That'd be nice, thanks."

"Sure thing. Let me go and grab you my other copy of this book, one second."

I ducked into my bedroom, going straight to the bedside table and carefully setting down my copy of my favorite book. No way I wanted to take a single risk of anything happening to it again.

Once that book was safe, I turned to my brimming bookshelf to grab the copy for Red Hood. Only a fellow reader would understand the importance of returning the copy he brought back to me, and honestly, I couldn't wait to hear his thoughts on the story after his first read through.

I returned to the hallway and handed the book over with a smile. Red Hood took it, tucking it safely away in a deceptively large pocket in his hero suit.

"Thanks," he said. "I'll come back in... a week?"

My eyebrows shot up. "Is that enough time for you to read it?"

"Of course. I've gotta do something to fill the time I'm not running around catching book thieves."

I smiled, and I got the distinct impression that Red Hood was doing the same. After a moment, he cleared his throat, and started heading back towards the window again.

"Anyway... thanks for the book. I'll see you next week."

"See you next week! Bring your thoughts on the book, and maybe a different mask so you can actually eat dinner."

He chuckled. "Don't worry, I wasn't planning to try to force it under the hood."

"Good. And feel free to use the door instead of the window next time!"

He just waved, clearly making no commitment as he stepped out onto the fire escape. I smiled as I watched him go, waving back when he met my eyes and shut the window. I moved closer and watched him as long as I could before he disappeared over the rooftops, off into the night for whatever other vigilante stuff he had to do tonight.

I sighed, staying at the window for another moment to process the past ten minutes. Everything had started to feel like a hallicination, possibly brought on by my truly terrible day.

No matter what, though, I could reassure myself it was real with the newly-returned book on my bedside table, or the knife I'd left in my living room. Somehow, my precious copy of my favorite story had made its way back to me. And even better, I now had a date with a vigilante scheduled to address said book.

I just needed to figure out what dinner went with 'Red Hood comes over to discuss literature'.

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989 @space-helen

DC Taglist: @gaychaosgremlin

[dailycass-cain]

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!!

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.

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.

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.

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!!!

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.

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...

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!

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

Today, January 6th 2024, is the perfect day to make purchases at Overstock.com AND then donate to organizations supporting the unarmed Americans who were waved into the Capitol, unnecessarily pepper sprayed, unnecessarily shot with rubber bullets & smoke bombed to create the illusion of a Capitol Hill riot.

Christmas Miracle: Patrick Byrne, Overstock CEO, offers matching $500,000 donation to January 6 Legal Defense. $250,00 via GIVE SEND GO and $250,000 to Stand In The Gap.

Give Send Go Matching Fund

Stand in the Gap

Stand in the Gap is a non-profit foundation dedicated to advocating for change in re-entry, family services, and justice reform. We believe in second chances, providing support to individuals transitioning back into society, and working towards a more equitable and compassionate world. Through our programs, partnerships, and advocacy efforts, we strive to make a lasting impact on the lives of those in need and promote systemic change.

Join us in standing for justice and being a voice for the voiceless.

Our Story

On January 6, 2021, a historic day unfolded in our nation's capital that will be etched in history. As the foundation of our nation was put to the test, many individuals heeded the call to stand up for their rights, their future, and their beliefs. However, the aftermath saw the government taking action against them, leading to a series of events that unveiled the deep-seated issues within the American justice system.

Before January 6th, many were unaware of just how broken the justice system in America truly was. The January 6th defendants and their advocates soon realized that this injustice had persisted for far too long.

In September of 2021, The Real J6 was founded with a mission to give a voice to the voiceless. Its primary focus was to shine a light on the treatment of January 6th defendants at the hands of their own government. However, as the organization delved deeper into this mission, it became clear that there were numerous unmet needs for the defendants and their families. This realization led to the creation of Stand in the Gap.

Shane Jenkins, the co-founder of Stand in the Gap, possesses a unique perspective on the challenges within the incarceration system and the broken nature of the justice system. His life story, marked by several run-ins with the law prior to January 6th, is one of transformation and redemption. Raised in a religious environment and attending Episcopalian school, Shane's life took a different path due to personal struggles and feelings of abandonment stemming from his adoption and an abusive stepfather. In 2016, while incarcerated and at a low point in his life, Shane had a transformative encounter with CHARM – Christ's Hope And Reconciliation Ministries. Through CHARM, he found faith and redemption, and his life took a new direction.

Paroled in July 2018, Shane transitioned to a CHARM Prison Ministries transitional house and dedicated himself to a life of faith and service. He became involved in prison ministry, took on leadership roles, and found a supportive community at church. Despite his personal transformation, in 2021, Shane once again found himself facing government action. Since then, he has been incarcerated, ministering to others within the system and working to bring about positive change.

Through the efforts of many individuals including The Real J6, significant improvements have been achieved within the DC Department of Corrections, including changes in visitation policies, COVID restrictions, guard behavior, and even Congressional intervention. Shane's unique perspective and experience are foundational to the mission of Stand in the Gap, as it strives to address the systemic issues within the justice system and provide support to those who have been affected by it.

[marinettesaltprompts]

Joker #4 - Marinette “Maribat” Salt Prompt

Credit to @rukatofan89

I admit I’ve been disconnected from DC comics for a while, but one thing that I was intrigued with recently was the concept of there being 3 Jokers (Though how Bats could’ve missed it is well beyond me) Fair warning, I wrote this while tired so it may not make total sense.

Following the bat clan to Paris, Joker III witnesses the fall of Adrichat like most salt fics and calls up the other two, telling them he has a lead on the next one. Like most Maribat salt fics, Ladybug goes to Gotham to be with the Bat Family (and hopefully finding love with whatever Robin the author likes, I’ll stick to Damien for ‘traditions sake’)

Fast forward a few weeks, Adrien gets an apology letter, from Marinette (Really the Jokers) wanting to help him start over in the US since his life in the EU is ruined. He barely makes it to Gotham before he’s knocked out and wakes up dressed as a thief in a chemical factory. The Batfam and Ladybug arrive, and Ladybug knocks Adrien into a chemical vat without knowing it’s him.

Later, the three Jokers retrieve the changed Adrien from the vat of chemicals, not knowing that the magic of being a Sentibeing and residual magic from his ring caused a different reaction. He looks like a Joker with clawlike fingernails, but he’s rational…and far more hateful towards the world as a whole and Ladybug in particular.

His first act, is (seemingly) killing the three Jokers, claiming that “There can be, only ONE!” Afterwards, he takes on the name Chat Cheshire and uses a purple and green variant of his Chat Noir costume complete with claws, Bo staff and Joker gas. Personality wise, he’s somewhere between Heath Ledgers’ Joker and Rumpelstiltskin from Once Upon a Time.

Rather than attack Gotham, Adrien begins targeting Marinette and the Bat Family psychologically and physically. 

Act one, terrorize Alfred in Wayne Manor and vandalize the Bat Cave to push Bruces’ buttons and steal the Miracle Box (sans whichever ones Ladybug gave out) to send Maribug into a spin. He gives Alfred his REAL backstory (Not the version Marinette believes) which sets Bruce digging deeper into the events surrounding Hawkmoth. 

Act two, eroding support. Using intel that he’s learned while in Gotham, Adrien sets up specific traps to retrieve the remaining miraculous from the Bat Family by replicating the worst experiences of their lives. After each attack, he comments something like “Tell Buggabrat I said hello.”

Injures Grayson with a trapeze that replicates the night his parents died. Falls when the line snaps and damages his spine like Barbara. Will require surgery like after Bruces’ first run-in with Bane

Uses knockout gas against Todd and beats him with a crowbar while drugged. “Y'know, black and blue is FAR more you.”

Shoots Barbra with a neurotoxin that cripples her again. Temporary, until the poison fully leaves her system. He uses the same joke on her and Dick. “It’s not like you have a leg to stand on. Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!”

Sets up a faux hostage situation in the apartment where Tims’ father died. Even managed to steal the boomerang Digger Harkness (Capt. Boomerang) used from the evidence warehouse and use it to get him in the shoulder removing him from the board. “What’s the matter Tweety? Get your wing clipped?”

(I know there’s more members, but that’s all the ones I have)

As all this is going on, Marinette is clinging to the illusion that Adrien is this way because of his own choices. Bruce flat out calls her out on her actions after finding out the full story from both his own investigation, and the various stories his family has passed on to him. He flat out tells her to get out of the manor.

Damian while refusing to follow Marinettes’ orders and having no feelings for her (to her disappointment) he agrees to hunt the one who’s hurt his family…which is just what Adrien wanted.

Faking an appearance across town for Bruce to follow (He’s more sympathetic to him now and tries to reason with Chat Cheshire before realizing it’s a fake), Adrien lures Marinette and Damien to him in a Lazarus Pit by using the Miracle Box as bait. 

Chat Cheshire forces Damien to waste his Cataclysm by deploying Joker gas. He then drops from his place in the ceiling and KO’s him by hitting the back of his head with his staff and reclaiming the ring. He silences Plagg, calling him a traitor after how things ended between them.

A fight between Marinette and Adrien begins and in spite of having a few months of training under Batman, she was not expecting him to be so vicious and hateful towards her. As he’s systemically taking her apart, he’s also calling her out about her actions in Paris and how he was treated by her and Fu. (Frankly it’s like when Terry taunts Joker in Batman Beyond.)

“What, you did a few good deeds, and suddenly expected everyone to jump to your defense when you were making an ass of yourself?”

“Your 'High Road’ advice didn’t help!”

“You really are a terrible guardian aren’t you, the cat miraculous can’t help you read minds. I mean, how was I to know she threatened you?”

“You were a terrible Cat Hero!”

“This coming from the girl who ran away from the fight to get help while I fought Akumas alone. And let’s face it, If "I” was a terrible hero, what does that make you miss stalkerbug.“

"What?”

“Oh, Alya and the Kwami’s let slip a few details that I was able to piece together. Just imagine, the great Ladybug falling so deeply in love with a living ad that she’d resort to stalking it, while throwing the real person within away like yesterdays’ trash. 

"It’d be funny if it wasn’t so pathetic. Oh, what the heck I’ll laugh anyway Ha, ha, ha!!!”

From here, the story could go two ways.

1) Adrien takes the earrings and makes the wish, splitting the Miracuverse from the DCU. Leaving Marinette unaware as to why Adrien suddenly despises her, or how Chat Noir defeated Hawkmoth so easily.

2) Taking the earrings and returning them to the box with the ring, Chat Cheshire throws the full Miracle Box into the Lazarus Pit, destroying it and the Miraculous. However, he had the foresight to hide the Peacock by burying it beneath Thomas and Martha Wayne. Using his Amok to restore his original appearance, he gives one more taunt to Marinette as he leaves.

“I can’t see Batman or the guardians being happy with you losing the mother box but look on the bright side. Now you’re an ordinary girl, with an ordinary life. Or you were before you threw it away to come here and now have to face the consequences." 

*Leaves while cackling like the Joker. *

End.

[pluckyredhead]

It's time for more Fourth World thoughts! Previously I've covered the comics of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Now let's talk about the 2000s.

Orion (2000): AHHHHHHH. If you read no other Fourth World book (besides Kirby ofc), please read this one. It is so good and it is so epic and Orion makes so many well intentioned bad decisions and suffers so much. I devoured all 25 issues in 2 days and immediately wanted to reread it. Writing and art are both Walt Simonson and he gives this book such tragic grandeur. He also does my favorite thing which is multiple slow-burning subplots, some of which lasted so long that I was afraid they wouldn't be resolved, but no, every loose end is wrapped up in a satisfying (ish) way by the last issue and I love everyone in this bar. And the art! THE ART!!!

So basically, Orion kills Darkseid (again lol) and becomes the new ruler of Apokolips, and decides he is going to drag this planet over to the side of good kicking and screaming, which...doesn't work out so well for him. Ultimately he winds up semi-accidentally in possession of the Anti-Life Equation, which allows him to completely control people, so he uses it to force people to be good, which...baby, no. This series is like 40% Orion whump, 35% Orion being a badass, 5% Lightray and Orion being blatantly in love, 5% Scott and Orion making dramatic gestures of brotherly devotion, and 5% Orion wearing a stupid hat that I unironically wish I could buy and wear.

It looks like his helmet! I NEED IT.

Also, during his Stupid Hat Era, Orion briefly acquires an orphan girl sidekick, and like...look at my icon. This is my GREATEST WEAKNESS. Simonson, why did you come for me like that???

I have only two quibbles with this series:

1. It's the early 2000s so the only female characters of any significance (besides the aforementioned orphan girl sidekick) are femme fatales who are drawn in ludicrously skimpy outfits and sex inch heels. Now to be fair, Darkseid wears a miniskirt, but the degree of cheesecake of these two characters was ridiculous.

2. The last issue reveals that Scott possesses the Anti-Life Equation naturally, and he once accidentally killed dozens of people with it, and he's tormented by both of these things. Which...the actual issue this story is told in is really good, and I think it's a really interesting idea to have Scott possess the Equation, but I don't love the idea of weighing down this optimistic character who values freedom above all with such a traumatic history of, uh, accidental mass murder. He already grew up in a torture orphanage! Hasn't he suffered enough?!

But honestly, the overall series is so good that I'll let it slide. PLEASE READ ORION (2000). THANK YOU.

Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle (2005): This is part of a set of miniseries Grant Morrison did: there was Seven Soldiers #0, and then 7 4-issue minis, one for each of the Soldiers, and then the whole story concluded in Seven Soldiers #1. I only read Seven Soldiers and the Mister Miracle miniseries because I'm a ridiculous person when it comes to reading comics, but I'm not going to read 24 issues that have nothing to do with the Fourth World.

Anyway, the Mister Miracle mini is actually about Shilo Norman, not Scott, and it's pretty good, even if Shilo should know perfectly well who Darkseid and his entourage are. The surrounding issues were incomprehensible, but maybe they would have made more sense if I had read all the other minis. On the other hand, maybe not...this is Morrison we're talking about, after all. Anyway talk about making comics as inaccessible as possible. Great job, everyone.

Death of the New Gods (2007): I knew right away this comic was going to be dogshit because of a) the title and b) the fact that it's a tie-in to the worst event DC has ever published, Countdown to Final Crisis, but hoo boy, it is DOGSHIT.

Basically, some mysterious being starts murdering New Gods, starting with Lightray and Barda, the latter of whom is murdered in the kitchen - you know, where women belong. Scott then dons a truly idiotic goth version of his costume and the rest of the book is mainly Scott, Orion, and Superman flailing around aimlessly and failing to figure out who the killer is while everyone from New Genesis and Apokolips is slaughtered. It's a truly godawful murder mystery in which implausible suspects are accused at absolute random (the Forever People, the pacifist hippies! Orion, the least sneaky being in existence!) even though Superman deduces the killer (sort of) in #5 and tells the other characters, so there's no reason for them to still be trying to solve it.

Anyway at the risk of ruining this comic for you (impossible, it comes pre-ruined), the killer turns out to be the Infinity Man, but he's actually being piloted by the Source, which is eradicating the New Gods and harvesting their energy in order to create a Fifth World. In #7, a horrified Scott is like "But I've worshiped you all my life! Don't you care about any of us?" and the Source is like, "Eh." The most spiritual and reverent aspect of the Fourth World, and Jim Starlin came along and just dropped a little turd right on top of it (after, of course, blatantly copying Darkseid when he created Thanos).

The art (also by Starlin) is hideous, and the plotting is atrocious, as he desperately tries to stretch six issues of story at best into eight, plus dragging each issue out over 30 pages instead of the normal 22. Everyone is wildly out of character. The only vaguely good thing about the book is that Scott and Orion finally get to spend a significant amount of time together, but given the context, I really don't think it's worth it.

In conclusion: "rocks fall, everyone dies" turns out to not be a good idea for a story! Who knew!

Final Crisis (2008): Well, after 16 years of successfully avoiding this story, I finally read it. You win this one, Morrison.

I have avoided Final Crisis since it came out because it felt so emblematic to me of the worst of late 2000s DC: literally constant crossovers with histrionic stakes, characters being slaughtered left and right, whatever the fuck they did to Mary Marvel in this story. I know it has a good reputation, and if I'm being honest, I do think the first 5 1/2 issues of it are pretty good. On the other hand, if I wasn't very familiar with 2000s DC, I think this would be a very confusing book to read, the final 1 1/2 issues dissolve into incomprehensible, self-indulgent nonsense full of obscure characters and OCs randomly dropped in just to make it all harder for the reader. I'm sorry, I know many people consider Morrison's habit of writing comics that you need a companion volume, twenty Wikipedia tabs, and a Reddit forum to understand to be a feature, not a bug, but it infuriates me. It's like the structure of the Seven Soldiers series(es) up above. Aren't comics impenetrable enough? Must we gatekeep with every page?

Anyway the New Gods stuff: they're all dead, but all the evil ones managed to land on Earth as disembodied souls, and are possessing various humans. The only good one is Orion, who dies at the very beginning when he is shot by Darkseid in the future shooting him with a bullet that travels back in time. I love goofy comics shit but for some reason this one strikes me as real dumb. Also Orion literally died twice in the comic that was about all the New Gods dying, so...hm.

Anyway the evil New Gods take over the planet with the Anti-Life Equation, and again, the pacing and storytelling are actually really good for most of this. But there's also all the worst the late 2000s had to offer, like Mary Marvel in the WORST costume of all time and Supergirl flashing panty shots at the reader while they beat each other up and call each other sluts, or Tawky Tawny being beaten to a pulp before ripping out Kalibak's entrails. Tawky fucking Tawny. SIGH. Also they keep miscoloring Shilo as white. NOT GREAT.

Honestly at this point I'm like begging for the New 52 to happen and put me out of my misery, so...good job, DC? I want to go back to Orion (2000), that was great.

Next up: the 2010s! Which is all the New Gods books, they haven't had a series yet this decade. We're almost done, gang.

[dcmiracles]

Positivity Saturday !

Hello everyone ! Today is positivity Saturday and i would love to shoutout PopCross Studios !! even if he dose not need a shout out -

This is an amazing video and i would love for people to take some inspiration or just give this aa watch !

[blackbatcass]

i didn’t have a lot of expectations going in but tbh the all-in special felt like the platonic ideal of a dc event condensed into a single issue. we got cosmic multiversal reality bending techno babble that is impossible to understand. everyone needing something from the spectre. badass wonder woman moment. time travel. pages where there are dozens of tiny characters in the background where you can skim through and find your favs. montage of various alien planets. the miracle machine.

[nullsleepy]

The Strike of a Villainess

(Rewrite)

Summary:

Marinette gets thrown into a game featuring Batman characters! But uh, did I mention that it’s an otome game? And that she was born as the villainess? Yeah… She isn’t very happy about that. But at least she’ll be able to go home after she SAVES the world… right?

RIGHT?

Chapter 1: Flash- BANG

Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Ao3

A small breeze tickled the bluenette’s warm cheeks, causing a small shiver to run up her spine. Her face, though, was scrunched in concentration as she stared at the heavily marked board before her. The red string on the board was endless, connecting everything to each other in a way that signaled madness. Still, Marinette continued to stare as if it’d change, like she’s been doing for hours.

“I don’t get it.” She rubbed her aching eyes, bags adorning the bluebell gaze. Her voice was harsh and strained, so unlike her normal soft and cheery sound. “None of these people can be Hawkmoth, not one! They all have alibis or have been akumatized before.”

A groan escaped her lips as she fell back onto her rolly-chair. “I just don’t get it.”

“Perhaps you should take a break, master. Your current method doesn’t seem to be helping you with your mission,” a small, green creature flew up beside her, patting her cheek. It had an expression that reeked of concern.

“I don’t have the time for a break, Wayzz. Paris is depending on me to find Hawkmoth. I can’t do that if I spend all my free time on my butt!” Marinette stood up again, arms crossed. “I just have to continue looking over these clues. I need to have some sort of realization.”

“Master…” Wayzz looked up at the girl, letting out a small breath. She was just like his old friend, his dearest Master. Their endless determination and the way they seeked to save the day to the point of burn out, were too similar for Wayzz’s mind. “A small break never hurt anyone. It’ll help to look over the board again, with fresh eyes.”

Marinette tried to ignore the Kwami, still just staring at the board. Her fingernails dug into her arms as she contemplated his words. He wasn’t wrong, she usually was able to figure things out after taking a step back for a while. It hurt to admit, but she was just wasting time the longer she looked at the board.

“Just for a moment, then. Just a single moment.” Marinette uttered under her breath, reluctantly turning away from the board. She felt uneasy ripping her eyes away from it, but it wasn’t going to go anywhere- no new realization would happen, either. She let her arms fall loose against her sides as she slowly walked over to her beckoning bed.

“Just a moment.” Wayzz smiled, rushing towards her and landing on her head. “Perhaps you should go on your electric box? It seems to calm you down the most, from my observations.”

“Electric box? I don’t have a- my phone. You mean my phone.” Marinette gave the kwami on her head a light pat before slouching onto her bed. The sheets below her were soft and warm, entrancing her. Marinette let out a soft sigh as she leaned back, laying down on the bed. “I guess. I haven’t checked my emails yet, anyways.”

She reached into her pocket, wrestling out a pink case that held her phone. Marinette quickly input the password, her fingers typing it out of pure instinct. Looking at her notifications, Marinette noticed that all it had was an unusual email. Curious, she clicked into it.

Good evening dear Player001, PixieDust!

You have been chosen to test play our new app, Miracles Do Come True!, a romance adventure story game based on the DC Universe comics! Due to your daily activeness in our game Heart Stealer, you are the first player we have chosen for play testing! Currently, there are 21 romance routes, over 100 personalized endings, and plenty of surprises and events to keep you entertained! If you are interested, please follow the link provided to download the game! Please be aware that the link can only be used once, so sharing can be prevented.

Thank you for your continued support,

The SleepyNov Team

…what?

Marinette blinked, tilting her head and she sat back up. Heart Stealer? Miracles Do Come True? She hadn’t heard of either of these games before. Just in case, she got out of her gmail app and looked through her games, noticing something strange in Tikki’s part of her phone. It seemed like the ladybug kwami had downloaded some apps without Marinette noticing.

“Tikki!” Marinette’s exhausted voice rang through the room as she called out to her dear companion. The red kwami didn’t respond to her, not coming out of the earrings. “That kwami…”

A feeling of annoyance ran through Marinette’s body before she took in a deep breath. It's not as if the kwami gave her any trouble by downloading the games… but perhaps she could still have revenge on the kwami by playing the game without her?

A small, devious smile graced Marinette’s lips as she clicked on the link, downloading the new app. She could already imagine the kwami freaking out when she figured out Marinette took up the only save file.

Her smile remained on her lips as she quickly clicked into the app when it finished downloading. Instantly, she noticed something was off about the app, seeing as all the characters on the screen seemed oddly familiar. Where had she seen them before?

She bit her lip as she thought back, still staring at the screen. The awful color scheme of that short character was extremely familiar, like a traffic light- oh my kwami WAS THIS A BATMAN THEMED GAME?

(Author cutting in here! Please excuse any screaming you hear through the fanfic, Marinette is a tad bit obse-)

Marinette let out a squeal as her mind raced back to her childhood, where her family and her would watch the Batman movies and series nonstop, and she even had her own copies of some of the comic books somewhere in her drawers! But ever since everything had happened recently with Paris and Hawkmoth, she hadn’t had any time to think of her childhood obsession!

A bright smile made its way onto Marinette’s face as she identified each of the characters on screen. Perhaps this game would truly take her mind off of current events. It distracted her all the time throughout the bullying she went through as a child, after all.

Marinette clicked “play” and quickly got immersed in the bright colors and beautiful scenery of the game. Three routes immediately popped up after she started playing: Dick Grayson’s, Jon Kent’s, Beast Boy’s. Quite a fun mix of characters, though they all were funny and cute, at least in her opinion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Don’t scare me like that, Lilian! I thought- I thought I lost you.” Tim’s voice was hot against the brunette’s ear, causing shivers to go down her spine.

“I love you, Tim.” Lilian softly smiled up at him, a single tear going down her face. “I’m sorry for scaring you.”

“I love you too, my Lily.” Tim embraced her, the scene around them sparkling as Lilian’s face was turned away from the screen. A picture perfect CGI and an indicator that Marinette had finally finished the last route needed to unlock Damian Wayne’s, her absolute favorite character from DC aside from Raven.

“Finally!” Marinette stretched out, smiling towards the turtle kwami who sat on her shoulder.

“Congratulations Master, you completed this one even faster than the last one!” Wayzz patted her shoulder, looking down at the game’s “finished” screen.

“It’s finally time for me to introduce you to my ultimate favorite character ever! Just wait Wayzz, I know you’ll love him!” Marinette giggled as she collected her coins and went to the non completed routes screen, pressing on Damian’s profile. “You ready to see some serious skill?”

“Of course, Master. I have complete faith in your ability.” Wayzz leaned onto her neck, watching as his Master pressed “unlock” on Damian’s route, before a bright light flashed out of the phone and covered the room.

“Wayzz!” Marinette screamed as she covered her eyes, unable to feel the bed underneath her anymore, or her little friend. The air around her seemed to whip her every other way.

“Master!” Marinette could barely make out her kwami’s scream before her eyes completely closed and she lost feeling of her body.

———————

Next

Notes: Hey :) this is cross posted on ao3 if you want to look at it there too. Anyways, I’m rewriting the og fic of this because I just didn’t like how it was going. Hope you enjoy this next version!!! Of course, I can still continue that fic if anyone is interested, since it’s pretty different from how this fic is gonna be!

[ririchanva]

╰※╮▫◕‖ Current ‖ ∴❃∴ ‖ AO3 ‖ ∴❃∴ ‖ Next ‖ ◕▫╰※╮

Summary: Shiro, in the last moments of dying, was sent back to the past to rewrite events that will change for the better. Once he started to change one thing, a lot of other things also went into a butterfly effect. Will he be able to prevent a disastrous future this time around?

A/n: Okay, so welcome to this second crossover story on this account~! This time, we're tackling not just Voltron: Legendary Defender, but we get a lot of Ben 10, Marvel and DC stuff as well. This was one of the other projects I've been working on besides Quirks and Miracles, and hope this one receives the amount of love as much as my other story does. I did try to write this story before, but had to scrap and re-do it for some major changes plot wise. Anyways, here is chapter one, and hope you all enjoy~

Chapter Warning: Mentions of war, violence, blood and major character death(s), but only for this chapter. It is also a Fix-It sort of fic about also an AU crossover that's different from canon events.

Chapter One: The Return of Voltron (Part 1)

 It was supposed to be an easy mission.

Being called out of retirement, Shiro was invited to a peace treaty celebration between some planets that were joining the Galactic Coalition. And of course, it was not only the former Captain of the ATLAS that was told to come.

It was good seeing the team again. With Hunk dressed in his culinary uniform, Pidge maturing over the years, even Keith grew up and calmed down from his “lone wolf” phase…

….the biggest change was Lance.

Shiro softened at watching the once bright eyed sharp shooter ageing faster than Shiro himself, especially since the Cuban no longer smiled or showed any emotions. He almost looked like a shell of his former self, taking Keith’s role into being a wall flower and avoided talking to people. Particularly to his former teammates. Losing Allura took it’s toll on the former Blue turned Red Paladin, to the point that he had retired earlier than Shiro to live in his family’s farm.

It was a shame, but Shiro respected his friend’s decision. 

The reunion was cut short when the party was ambushed by rebel Galras that did not join the Blade of Marmora nor surrendered to the Voltron Alliance. Shiro, being rusty, had tried to fight off the best of his abilities…

….But it wasn’t enough.

And now, the previous Black Paladin was lying on the cold, hard ground…bleeding out and dying.

He couldn’t move. He couldn’t even think straight as he was listening to the blasting of guns, the cries of allies and enemies alike…he even had to close his eyes tight at the shouts of his teammates names. Keith yelling at Lance as a body hit the floor, the screams of both Hunk and Pidge and more thuds. 

Shiro had turned his head with a broken sob at seeing his fallen friends. Hunk being the farthest away, body unrecognisable. Pidge…she was curled up as if hugging herself and unmoving…

Then, there was Keith and Lance. Side by side. Lance on his back with dead eyes and Keith curled up on top of him, as if shielding him. But it looked poetic as Lance looked at peace while Keith looked pained…almost regretful..

Shiro too. He felt regret wash over him.

Tears welled in his eyes at the memories flashing in his mind. He regretted not talking to his friends, his found family, more even when they separated to their own lives after Voltron was no more. He wished he knew where the Lions went, find Black maybe. That he didn’t talk to Keith more about Lance, or even talking to Lance himself as the former Blue Paladin withered away.

Heck, he didn’t even want to admit it…but Shiro regretted marrying Curtis.

Thinking now, as he was dying, he never really loved him. Curtis was a sort of comfort that Shiro accepted. At the time, Shiro thought he had true feelings for the man that helped him in the ATLAS. He deluded himself thinking he was in love with the man, because he couldn’t process that Adam was gone. That Shiro…settled because he thought that was what he wanted, needed, at the time.

‘I am an idiot. I’ve basically strung Curtis along in a lie…and I can’t even tell him because I am here…about to die…’ Shiro thought to himself as the world quieted down around him, signalling that the battle was over. He didn’t even care if his side won or if the rebelled Galra did. 

More memories of his past flashed before his eyes, and he chuckled. Did he deserve to remember? Allura must be scolding me in the stars by now…

Allura.

What would she think about this?

He had to cough a laugh, thinking that Allura would be upset that they lost easily…or that she would be screaming at him to get up, keep fighting…

“I have no more in me to keep fighting…” Shiro admitted to himself while wheezing, staring at the sky about him as he sniffed, “I think…it’s time…”

“You gonna give up so easily?”

Shiro looked at the voice that spoke, seeing a familiar brown haired male sitting on top of him, staring down at him with those hauntingly green eyes. Hallucination or real, Shiro accepted the person with a bitter laugh, shaking his head.

“You of all people would show up as I breathe my last breath.” Shiro murmured weakly, as the person looked down at him sadly, tilting his head.

“You’re not a quitter, Shiro. You’re a fighter, and a stubborn one at that.”

Shiro softened, wanting to reach up and touch the other person’s face. Or even sit up and reach up to hug him, anything. But alas, he didn’t have the strength to do so and then sighed.

 “…You were right, Ben.”

Ben raised a brow at Shiro, who just chuckled then coughed hard, making the brunet concerned.

“Right…about what?”

“Everything. I should’ve listened to you when you said that I was in over my head before Kerberos. I should’ve listened to you when you said you were only looking out for me and not trying to talk down at me because of…of my disease. I know you’re not like Adam, and I just…” Shiro closed his eyes and sighed, his head lolling to the side, “…I should’ve talked to you. O-Or found you when I came back on Earth…hell, I should’ve tried to find you when I came back the first time before finding the Blue Lion…”

Ben stayed silent, and Shiro continued.

“There are many things I should’ve done and wanted to say. And…and I wish I didn’t…”

“…Didn’t what…?”

Shiro opened his eyes again, the light leaving his eyes as he saw nothing in front of him. Hallucination, then. 

Shiro sobbed as he felt alone, his vision slowly fading as he breathed out softly.

“I wish I didn’t go to the Kerberos Mission and followed after you that day…” 

“Is that what you wish for?”

Shiro looked up, expecting the illusion of Ben again, but was surprised seeing a young pale man with almost shaggy dark brown hair and dark brown eyes staring back at him blankly. While he did look on the youthful side, his eyes…it looked almost ancient and staring right into his soul.

“…Who are you?”

“Me? I’m…” The young man paused, tapping on his chin, bobbing his head side to side before speaking again, “You can call me Caspian. It’s the name I prefer actually.”

“Who…?” Shiro closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them again as he breathed out tiredly, “What are you? Are you…like, Death?”

“Heh, that’s a good one. Dunno what I am right now, honestly…but I do know I am here to help you~” Caspian had a quirk of an amused smile for a moment before looking seriously at the man before him, “Takashi Shirogane, you are in need to save the universe.”

Save the universe?

Shiro couldn’t help but painfully laugh, which confused Caspian as Shiro shook his head.

“Of course I’d be dragged into once again saving the universe….” Shiro sighed in annoyance, then looked at Caspian, “Why me? Why do I have to do it?” And not someone else for a change?

“Because you wished to fix your mistakes? Is that not what you truly wished for?” Caspian raised a brow at Shiro before tilting his head, “That you wanted to change things and make it right?”

Shiro opened his mouth for a moment, then closed it, sighing. “…Why not ask another person? Someone…not me? Someone else that could maybe change things for the better than I could…”

Something in Caspian softened as a solemn smile appeared on his face, “…The Universe cherishes you, Shiro.”

Shiro snorted, “The Universe has a funny way of showing it.”

“Well, the Lions of Voltron had chosen you.”

“…The Lions are gone. They left when Princess Allura died.” Shiro said miserably, feeling the guilt in his heart.

“And they wish to have their Princess and Paladins back,” Caspian countered, “The Universe needs to be put into balance, and properly this time. So, the Universe thought that you alone should go back and fix everything…save your—what did you call them? Your Space Family.”

Shiro turned his head to where Caspian was looking, his heart clenched at seeing the dead bodies of his friends. Pursing his lips, he turned his head back to the other male, and softened.

“…So, are you taking me now?”

Caspian snorted at his acceptance, and nodded.

“Right where you wished to be…”

A hand reached out to touch over the former Black Paladin’s chest as Shiro felt himself passing out.

“Remember, Takashi Shirogane. Once you make ONE change, everything else will be different than what you remember…”

…

……

………

………… 

“…Shiro?” 

Opening his eyes with a gasp, the Asian male whipped his head around frantically, as if just remembering to breathe.

He…he wasn’t in that planet anymore? He wasn’t dying and lying in his own pool of blood?

Shiro had to pat himself up, down and around his body to see where his gaping wound on his side was, clearly seeing he wasn’t even wearing his ATLAS uniform.

It was a Galaxy Garrison Space Suit.

“Shiro? We’re about to be launch for Kerberos in twenty minutes, are you coming?”

Whipping his head to the source of the voice, he almost dropped his jaws when seeing a very much younger Matt Holt staring at him in concern, fixing his glasses.

“Kerberos…” 

Shiro was at a loss at first, before his mind remembered the day of him, Matt and Sam Holt flying off to space for the first time. He had to look around then saw a reflection of himself, and gasped. He was twenty one again, his face young, full of life and…his hair was all black and he still had his right arm.

He was back.

Soon, he turned around and started running, ignoring the calls of Matt as he was making his way into the Garrison. 

He had to find him. He just had to!

Flashes of a memory formed in Shiro’s head as he ran. Of a brown haired male talking desperately to the young Shiro to not fly to Kerberos and wanted to say something more, almost looking sad and defeated. Flashes of Shiro angrily yelling at him and storming away…and into the very ship that changed his life forever. 

Shiro pushed himself to run faster, hoping he wasn’t too late…

…And smiled in relief at seeing a slouched figure going through the exit of the Garrison gates.

“BEN!”

Back straightened at the sound of the voice, the young man was turning his head questionably, toxic green coloured eyes looked towards him in surprise, and almost slightly red as if he was holding back tears.

“…Shiro?”

Shiro felt his whole body warm at the surprised and breathless tone the other male had and was rushing towards him in top speed, not caring that he looked like a lunatic with arms waving above his head and crying big fat tears. It seemed Ben wasn’t prepared as he was soon feeling strong arms around him, almost falling over if it wasn’t for Shiro pulling him into his chest and sobbing on him.

“S-shiro? What—?”

“Thank god! Thank god, you’re here…” 

Ben Tennyson was never one to be surprised about anything anymore. Ever since he was ten years old, the boy now ageing into a fine young adult, the brunet had been through so many things and met so many walks of life that nothing should ever catch him off guard. So it came to a shock that the summer childhood friend he’s known since he was eleven was now burying his face onto his shoulder, leaving tears and snot trails on his hoodie.

“…Ah, S-shiro…?” Ben asked awkwardly, looking at the bigger male tightening his grip around him, and was relieved when he looked up to see Matt running over to them, “Matt! Thank fuck, do you know what’s got into Shiro?”

“That’s what I would like to know! It wasn’t a few minutes ago that Shiro couldn’t wait to leave this place and go up in space!” Matt huffed, hands on his knees as he was taking a breath from running all the way here, and then looked back up, very miffed, “You got a lot of explaining to do, Shirogane! Do you have any idea how this is going to look?! What will Sanda say when you have begged and pleaded for your case to go on this mission—?”

“Fuck Sanda.”

Ben and Matt both looked horrified at Shiro swearing with a low growl, with Ben having his jaws drop and Matt almost breaking his glasses comically.

“Shiro…?” Ben questioned before Matt screamed out loud.

“THE FUCK DID YOU SAY?! ARE YOU CRAZY!?”

Shiro looked back up at his best friend and narrowed his eyes, and Ben squeaked when he felt the arms tighten around him more. What was going on with him?

“Yes. Tell Sanda to shove it, I changed my mind. I’m not going to Kerberos…”

Calming down, Shiro softened.

“Please tell your dad I’m sorry and thank you for everything, but there’s something important that I’ve gotta do…”

This time, Shiro turned to Ben and breathed out.

“Ben, I’m going to need your help. There’s a lot I wanna say to you, but for now, I think there are much more important things to cover. Will you help me?”

“Yes, of course,” Ben said without hesitation, smiling.

This…this was something that Ben had been waiting a long while for. He wasn’t sure what changed in Shiro at this moment, but it was better than the cold shoulder and violent overacting anger towards him for the past few years. Helping Shiro, whatever it is, was something Ben will do and more.

Matt stared at them for a moment, taking a minute or two to process what was going on and sighed. Rubbing at his head, he turned around and spoke out loud.

“You do realise that this will be seen as an insubordination. The Garrison are not going to be happy you did this…”

“And they’re not gonna be happy on what I’m going to do next~” Shiro smiled, before grabbing Ben’s hand and rushing off, “C’mon, we’re going to find a few people and go somewhere else. Talking here in the Garrison is not safe…”

Matt balked at him while Ben was still reeling at the change of attitude from the Asian male, before Matt started stomping his feet and waving his arms up and down angrily.

“SHIRO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

Shiro looked back and gave a happy grin, waving at him, “Fixing stuff. Please give my apologies to your dad and cover for me from Sanda and them! Thanks Matt, you’re the best~”

And with that, Shiro and Ben vanished back inside the Garrison, and Matt felt his heart stop. 

“…I need better friends.”

“Okay, are you going to explain what is going on now, or am I to wait until you stop dragging me to wherever we’re going?”

Shiro paused in his steps as he looked back at the confused look on Ben’s face, and his eyes softened. God…just looking at Ben made his heart flutter. He couldn’t believe he was living and breathing in front of him again. Shaking his head out of the thoughts, Shiro calmly spoke.

“Considering you’re a big hero, and know a lot about space, what I’m about to tell you might be shocking. But before that, I’m going to have to pull some cadets out that might help us out,” He explained, and soon started walking again.

Ben nodded slowly, trying to understand him, but he was sort of distracted as to why Shiro was still holding his hand as they walked together down the Garrison halls. Somehow the gesture sort of made Ben’s cheeks flush for a moment, head spinning. This is so out of character for Shiro…but why do I like it?

Ben was going through his internal monologue, Shiro meanwhile was looking through classrooms by their windows, peering in to look for two certain people. He paused for a second when he spotted Hunk for a moment and then looked unsure.

Should he pull Hunk out and drag him to Voltron again?

Shiro softened as he watched Hunk look out the window and into starry void that was space, the two standing at the central deck of the ATLAS in silence. The war was over, and yet…

“Sometimes…I wished that I didn’t get dragged by Pidge and Lance to space…” Hunk murmured quietly, but then looked to Shiro and looked sheepish, “D-don’t get me wrong! While I do love Yellow, and the team…it’s just…there’s a part of me that missed so much of my families lives, that I was gone for so long…I dunno…it feels complicated now that I’m thinking on it.”

Shiro watched as Hunk was fiddling with what seems to be a cup of Nunvil, staring down at the liquid with ageing eyes.

“If I had a choice to go back? I wished someone else would be the Yellow Paladin and I would stay on Earth…”

Shiro knew that Hunk, despite proving time and time again that he was stronger than he thinks, wasn’t cut out for being in a war. And, as much as he wanted to call out to his friend once more, he has been through hell already once in the past. Maybe someone else could take his place?

Deciding to move on, Shiro looked away from the window and started moving on, giving a mental parting farewell to his old friend. Maybe this time, Hunk can stay with his family and be safe.

Shiro was going through classroom to classroom once more, but then paused when he finally saw two familiar figures. He smiled when he saw Keith, who was very young with no scar on his cheek nor looking like he was haunted by war, and then turned his head to see—

“CAN’T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT, MCCLAIN?!”

Shiro’s smile fell when he spotted Iverson yelling at Lance, who was looking down at the ground and hands fisted on his sides. Right, Shiro remembered that Lance had a hard time in his first years of the Garrison. And Iverson particularly relished scolding Lance and trying to compare him to Keith, who somehow was some sort of secret genius. 

“Yeesh, this guy’s an ass…” Ben murmured to Shiro, and Shiro soon released Ben’s hand from his own and started walking in the room, “Shiro?”

This alerted everyone in the class, including Iverson and Lance, as Shiro was marching over to them.

“Shirogane? I thought you were flying out for the Kerber—“

Before Iverson could say anything, Shiro pulled his arm back and WHAM!

Keith’s eyes widened in surprise while his classmates, including Lance, were gasping and crying out in surprise. Takashi Shirogane, polite and the Golden Boy of the Garrison, just punched a commanding officer! Needless to say, it surprised every cadet in the room. Ben almost had to laugh at the scene, Shiro looking like a raging bull as he stood over Iverson, who was on the ground and holding his bloody nose. 

Shiro was quick to pull the man up by the front of his uniform jacket, and sneered at him, “You think it’s fun talking down on people that are not on the same level as others? You get some sick twisted kicks onto bullying cadets that need more guidance and care? Well, let me tell you something, Iverson…you’re never going to be half the man that Lance McClain is!”

While during his time as Captain of the ATLAS, Shiro remembered how Iverson had been somewhat tolerable when joining the Voltron Coalition, even making apologies to Keith and Lance on how he treated them during their Garrison days. But right now, this Iverson wasn’t the comrade he knew in the ATLAS. Might as well start humbling him while he was still high on his ego trip.

“Shiro?”

Shiro turned to the soft voice, seeing Keith approaching him and touching his arm, violet eyes wide and looking concerned. This caused Shiro to calm down, dropping Iverson to the ground and turning fully to look at his young brother figure. By Quintessence, he looked much like a boy than he remembered. Still looking hopeful and bright…right before Shiro flew in space and captured by the Galra.

This caused Shiro to reach over Keith and hug him, surprising the shorter male with a squeak.

“S-shiro?! What’s got into you?” Keith wiggled out of his hold, looking weirded out, “Aren’t you suppose to be flying to space with the Holts? Why are you here? A-and why did you punch Iverson?”

Somehow despite looking appalled at the thought of his hero punching an officer, Shiro could see the envious glee that someone actually put Iverson in his place. 

“Let’s just say that…there’s something more important that I have to do,” Shiro soon turned to Lance and smiled softly, “Lance, right?”

“I should thank you all for getting me out…Lance, right?”

Shiro remembered the very first time meeting Lance, and almost felt the same as before. Especially with Lance reaching a hand out and hesitating, his eyes looking unsure. But he then smiled, looking up at Shiro with hero-worship and admiration in his eyes, taking his hand and shaking it.

“Yes, sir. Lance McClain, reporting.”

“Ah, just Shiro is fine.” It felt weird for Lance to call him sir out of all things. 

“So, what’s going on?” Keith came in between them, looking at the both of them with narrowed eyes.

“I’ll explain later. But right now I need you two to come with me.” Shiro stated, and noticed that a few cadets had gone out, probably to call another officer while a few others were checking up on Iverson, “We should get out of here. Now.”

Keith didn’t hesitate as he nodded, already grabbing for his backpack and heading to the door while Lance faltered, looking from Iverson and back to Shiro.

Shiro noticed this and softened, “If…if you don’t want to come with, that’s fine. I’m not forcing you to do anything you don’t want. And I most certainly don’t want you to get into trouble, if that’s what your’e thinking.”

While he had decided to let Hunk be this time around and not bring him along, he’s not gonna lie and say that he was going to do the same for Lance. In fact, he was hoping Lance would come with them, no questions asked. Unlike Hunk, Lance was made to be exploring and fighting in space. He had shown Shiro time and time again how much of a fighter he was, and how he was someone that could be on equal footing to not just Keith, but too Shiro as well. 

Someone who was destined for great things, just like Allura had predicted. 

However, he wasn’t going to push Lance into coming along, as much as it pained him.

Lance looked like he was thinking for a moment, and Shiro’s spirit almost died at the thought that Lance was going to decline him…but was relieved when Lance looked at him in determination and nodded.

“If you say I should come, then I shall follow your lead, Shiro.”

Shiro smiled, nodding his head as he soon turned to rush out the door, Lance right behind him. Ben was talking to Keith quietly when Shiro and Lance approached, the two then glancing up at them. Shiro did wonder why they stopped talking as soon as they approached and what they were talking about, but he suppose he can ask them later. The four of them soon were rushing out of the Garrison quickly, especially when they noticed some officers were now chasing after them. 

“Oh man, it feels like we’re criminals or something!” Lance yelped as he kept on running, Shiro looked sheepish.

Okay, maaaaybe he shouldn’t have decked Iverson like he did just now.

Either way, Ben was reaching towards the Rust Bucket and got in the driver seat, looking at the other guys, “GET IN!”

Keith slipped into the front passenger seat next him, Lance jumping in the back. Shiro was about to go in when he spotted Matt and Sam Holt watching them from afar. Sam looked worried for him, albeit, also puzzled as to why Shiro was leaving and Matt…well, he was glaring at Shiro as if he wanted an explanation to all this. Shiro just gave a small apologetic smile and salute, knowing he’ll explain to Matt what’s going on when things have calmed down. And so, he slipped into the RV and Ben drove off, a few Garrison vehicles coming after them.

Lance had to look back, seeing the Garrison in their wheels and gulped.

 “Man, they do not look happy.” He stated nervously, then he looked to Ben, “Can’t this thing go any faster?”

“Never a dull moment. This is a typical Wednesday for me.” Ben murmured, rolling his eyes as he pressed something onto his steering wheel, and soon picked up speed.

“We could toss some non-essential weight?” Keith suddenly said, and Shiro’s eyes widened for moment at those words.

“Oh right!” Lance looked around for a moment but then frowned, looking over at a cheeky looking Keith as Lance huffed, “Okay, that was an insult, I get it.“

This…never happened, at least not at this moment? Shiro thought with a frown, but then again, a lot of things happened that weren’t like in his past memory. Since when did Keith look playfully at Lance, who looked slightly annoyed. Okay, wait, that was normal of Lance in this timeline…right?

Keith suddenly straightened, looking at the front window and his eyes widened as he pointed out, “Guys! T-that…is that…?”

Shiro and Lance looked over, and their eyes widened at seeing the edge of a cliff. Ben almost smirked at them, giving a wink before accelerating the speed of the RV. The three boys screamed while Ben was laughing as the Rust Bucket took flight in the air, the Garrison trucks and cars stopping at the edge of the cliff. Rolling his eyes at the men screaming in his RV, Ben pressed something on his dashboard as the RV started floating in mid-air. Shiro managed to calm down, looking at Ben staring at him with a smile.

“You think you’re the only one that knows how to fly the skies, Shiro the Hero~?”

Shiro’s eyes softened, letting out a chuckle as he smiled fondly, “You’re amazing.”

This caught Ben off guard for a moment, his face flushed before turning around to face the front, “W-whatever, Shiro, you’re so weird…”

Shiro continued on staring at the mumbling Ben, ignoring how Keith was looking at him in suspicion. 

“Soooooo, where are we going?” Lance finally asked as they were still flying in the air, looking from Ben to Shiro, “I mean, I know I said I’ll follow you, but I would like to know exactly what I’m getting into?”

Shiro knew that he had to eventually tell them what’s going on, but he didn’t know where to start. And would they believe him? The first time around, it was hard to believe anything that happened and what was about to happen in the future. But…what stays the same and what changes? Shiro had already done a lot of things that he didn’t do in the past…how was that going to effect everything from this point forward?

“It’s gonna sound hard to believe…” Shiro started, glancing at the trio with an unsure look.

“Try us.” Keith said, already giving a look that said that he will believe anything he says. Well, that was typical of Keith, who had his whole trust and faith on Shiro ever since the day they met. 

Shiro pursed his lips as he then let out a breath.

“Okay…but first, Keith, do you think we can stop by your house?”

Reaching the Kogane home was something that Shiro didn’t think he’d be seeing again in this lifetime. From what he remembered, Keith had taken him and the Team into a shack. Shiro then remembered Keith saying that the shack was just an old place that his Dad had kept when being a part-time ranger around the dessert. Something about how there were stragglers around the area that wanted to sneak into places that are off limits like the Garrisons secret bases. Shiro believed that was the time when people were hearing rumours about aliens being in the area. Oh how right they were. 

“Keith, was there anything strange going around here that might seem…I dunno, extraterrestrial?” Shiro asked innocently as Ben parked his RV to the side, him and Lance talking while Keith welcomed Shiro inside his house.

Keith raised a brow up at him before fully turning to him with his hands on his hips, “Answer my question first, since when are you and Ben in talking terms again?”

This caught Shiro by surprise, “W-what do you mean?”

“From what I remember, last week you were telling Ben to ‘fuck off and never come into my life again!’ and always kept telling me how much you hated the guy?”

Shiro winced at the words coming from Keith’s mouth.

It was true. A long time ago, Shiro absolutely couldn’t stand Ben. He didn’t hate him, per se, it was more…Shiro was immaturely jealous of him.

Shiro knew Ben ever since they were young. One summer, when he was eleven years old, his grandfather and Max Tennyson introduced him and Ben with one another. Apparently, the two were pilot buddies and eventually ended up in the same Plumber business, becoming good allies and life-long friends. With that, their grandfathers thought that Shiro and Ben could be good friends too.

Young Shiro was hiding behind his grandfather’s leg as he peeked out for a moment at the smiling young Ben, who was giving the biggest grin and waving all friendly like. Their grandfathers looked amused at this interaction, knowing that they made the right decision. 

And it worked for a while…until the news of Ben being a hero came out. 

Fifteen year old Ben blinked when he and sixteen year old Shiro were coming out of Mr. Smoothies one day, and the two were surrounded by paparazzi. A lot of them asking about Ben being a hero and saving the day time and time again, to rumours about being an evil traitor to the human race and expect aliens to invade Earth. Either way, Ben looked annoyed as he grabbed Shiro’s arm and escaped the hounding tabloids.

Shiro looked over at his friend, “Wow, y-you’ve become so popular…”

“Yeah, but it’s getting irritating to the point I can’t even do my job,” Ben murmured as he sipped his smoothie, and Shiro looked away for a moment with a strange look.

Thinking on it now, Shiro always felt that Ben got everything in life too easily. He managed to fly by school despite being the worst student ever, he had friends despite that he never tried interacting with people…but what killed Shiro the most, was that Ben got to go to space. Shiro’s biggest dream…

“You…went to outer space?” A seventeen year old Shiro breathed out one day when he came out, a sixteen year old Ben waiting in his bedroom with a smile.

“Yeah! It was so awesome. Check it out, I got a souvenir for you!” Ben excitedly said as he was holding what looked like a shiny rock, and Shiro frowned.

“You…went to space.” Without me, Shiro would think bitterly. 

Ben looked at Shiro, confused, placing the space rock down and looked over his friend, “Yeah? I told you that already—“

“You knew exploring the stars and planets is my dream!” Shiro said hotly, looking away as he glanced around all the N.A.S.A. memorabilia and posters of planets and stars. 

Ben looked around as well, closing his eyes and sighing, “…It wasn’t like it was a field trip, Shiro. I was on a mission—“

“And yet you come running here to show off, is that it? Rub it in my face?”

Ben looked hurt at the accusation, which came out of nowhere to him, as he stared at Shiro incredulously, “I-I didn’t—”

“Get out.” Shiro pointed to the door with narrowed eyes, “I don’t want to talk to you today.”

Shiro had to mentally face-palm at his younger self, remembering how Ben looked incredibly and reasonably upset that he was shooed away. All because Shiro was jealous. Jealous of a chance that he wanted. And he did eventually get the chance, in the Galaxy Garrison…

…But even then, Ben was involved with that too.

Eighteen year old Shiro’s eyes widened as he looked down at the paper in hand, then looked to a grinning seventeen year old Ben, who was holding a cupcake and party blower.

“What…did you do???”

Ben laughed as he gave a sheepish look, “Surprise~? Thanks to my rep as hero of Earth and the universe, I managed to score you a way in to your dream come true. You said that you would do anything to get into the Galaxy Garrison to train and fly with the best~! And so, I placed a good word for you with them!”

Shiro crumpled the paper in hand and threw it to the ground, looking at Ben angrily, “Do you have any idea what you did?!”

“…Er, this is the part where you say ‘You’re welcome, Ben~ You’re the best, Ben~’ and all that?” Ben said slowly, wondering what had Shiro up in defence now.

Shiro shook his head as he then let out a huff of frustration, “Do you know how this is going to make me look? Thanks to you, they’ll think that I asked you to recommend me into the program, like I need to have you go up to them and beg me to be placed in! Like some desperate yuppy. They’re not going to take me seriously with my skills and knowledge alone. They’ll now think I’m The Great Ben Tennyson’s Charity Case.”

Ben didn’t think of that, and looked almost apologetic, “I didn’t—That’s not my—Shoot, ah, h-hang on! I can fix this—“

“THIS IS ISN’T SOMETHING YOU CAN FIX! AND STOP TRYING TO FIX ME!” Shiro slammed his fist onto a wall, almost scaring Ben for a second as Shiro breathed out heavy and in fury, “You’re sounding like my doctors. You’re sounding like my grandparents. Trying to control my life and tell me what to do with it!”

“I-I wasn’t trying to do that! I swear, Shiro, I just wanted to help you—“

“STOP TRYING TO HELP ME! I’M NOT SOME WEAK LOSER THAT YOU ARE FORCED TO TAKE CARE OF AND BE FRIENDS WITH! I WISH YOU WOULD JUST LEAVE ME ALONE AND OUT OF MY LIFE!”

That was the last time he had ever spoke to Ben like that. There was another time, but it was supposed to be today…when Ben was trying to also stop Shiro from going to the Kerberos mission.

“Shiro?”

The man blinked as he heard Keith’s concerned voice, and was brought back to the present. 

“Ah, s-sorry, what were you saying?”

“You zoned out. Shiro, why did you not go to the Kerberos mission? Are you okay?” Keith asked quietly, looking Shiro over, “Is it the disease? Is it acting up again?”

Shiro felt his heart drop for a moment, and looked down at his wrist, the very one that had the monitor to remind him of his booster medicine for his muscles and maintenance for his weakening body. Right…he was still sick. By not going to space and be captured by the Galra, it would mean that he was still on a ticking time limit before his whole body would fail him…and die.

“…That’s not it. But thank you for reminding me,” Shiro will have to figure out a cure later…because he knew there was one, but not on Earth, “I will explain everything to you, Keith, I promise. But there are some other things that I’ll need before then.”

Keith looked like he wanted to question him more, but decided against it and nodded.

“Okay…so what else do you need?”

Shiro hummed before he looked outside to see Ben and Lance approaching to the front door, and his eyes softened.

“We’re gonna have to call in some people.”

“Call in…who, exactly?” Keith asked curiously, before Ben and Lance stepped into the house and hearing the conversation, “That’s also another thing, why did you want Lance to come with us?”

Shiro looked over at Lance and smiled, “Because he’s going to be important on this mission~”

Lance’s blue eyes widened for a moment, looking flustered at being under the spotlight, rubbing the side of his neck, “I-I’m important…?—Wait, wait, time out. What mission?”

Shiro turned serious, glancing at a curious looking Ben, then to the cadets.

“What I’m about to tell you stays in this house. The reason that I didn’t go onto the Kerberos mission is because there is word that Earth is going to be invaded.“

Lance and Keith gasped, and Ben looked suspiciously at Shiro.

“That’s a big statement, Shiro. What makes you say that?” The Omnitrix wielder inquired, and Shiro knew that Ben was on the know about any alien race coming to invade Earth or not. Which is good, this means he’ll take me seriously. 

“Have you heard about Voltron?”

Ben looked at him for a moment, before raising a brow, “…From what I heard from Grandpa Max, it was an old wives’ tale. A story about five lions turning into one giant man that saves universes. Something to tell kids before bed—Shiro, why do you know about Voltron? Earthlings don’t know about that…well, they do, but they think that’s all anime cartoon and fake for TV entertainment?”

“Because it’s real. And I can prove it—”

Shiro paused for a moment, before looking to Keith.

“…Keith, I know you have some weird shack somewhere around here and you might be drawn to search around the grand canyons that are nearby.”

 Keith looked confused, “…Are you talking about Dad’s shed he uses as a man cave? And all those deserts are just that, deserts. Why would I search around there?”

This caused Shiro to look confused for a moment, but had to mentally slap himself. Duh, that part won’t happen until he disappears during the Kerberos mission. Where Keith got himself expelled from the Garrison and was turned into a hermit searching for the Blue Lion…that all won’t happen until next year. 

“Ah, r-right…” Shiro sweat-dropped before looking over at Ben, “Okay, I have another way to prove it…”

“Oh yeah? How?”

At Ben’s question, Shiro then paused once more, giving himself a slap at his forehead for real this time and almost freaking out Ben, Lance and Keith.

Pidge…

At this time, she would be under the name Katie Holt. She wouldn’t be the same Pidge he remembers because right now she didn’t have a purpose of sneaking into the Garrison, changing her name and looks, going on a mission to find her missing brother and father…that were not missing anymore, thanks to Shiro bailing. 

‘Meaning she won’t have the machine that tracks Blue or hear the message about the Galra and Voltron.’ Shiro felt himself groan inwardly, and as much as he wanted to find Pidge and ask for her help…how can he?

There were two things that could happen. One, was that Pidge would look at him like a crazy person and pretty much would call the police on him…or worse, send Mama Holt to deal with him. Another would be that Pidge might be willing to help in the name of science…although this might alert Matt and get him riled up into thinking Shiro was dragging his baby sister into something dangerous.

‘With Matt and Sam on Earth now and the mission cancelled because of me, there is no reason for her to come to the Garrison at all…or any reason to be part of Voltron.’

With this thought in mind, it would mean Shiro might have to consider that Voltron won’t be complete this time around. If he had things his way, he wouldn’t want to bring Pidge into war again. Right now, she was fourteen going on fifteen. A child. And Shiro wasn’t about to send her into space and get hurt again.

Ben looked at Shiro’s thoughtful face and sighed, “Shiro, I know that you think you know things, but I have to say that there is no way there is an invasion happening—“

“Okay, okay! I know I sound like a lunatic, but I’m telling the truth!” Shiro desperately pleaded as Ben almost backed away when Shiro stepped forward, “Please, I know you have every right to not believe me…”

“No, no! Shiro, I believe you. Really, I do,” Ben breathed out softly, “But I cannot just go running to the Plumbers with just word of mouth alone. We need actually solid evidence that there is going to be some sort of attack that’s going to happen.”

Shiro tried to scratch his brain on ideas, until he landed on one.

“Ben, do you remember the Teen Titans?”

This sort of surprised Ben as he looked at him strangely but then spoke slowly, “Er, yes but…why would ask about them?”

Shiro was confused why Ben’s tone changed, but then it hit him. How could he forget how he reacted in front of people that understood Ben the most. And the very people Shiro felt insecure around the most. Which was also yet another reason why he and Ben drifted apart.

“Guys, this is the friend I was telling you about.”

Sixteen year old Shiro felt nervous as he felt himself dragged along by a fifteen year old Ben towards a group of teens in costumes, the people turning to them with different expressions on their faces. Some of them curious, some of them confused. Either way, Shiro didn’t feel all that comfortable. At least Matt was with them, along with Ben’s cousin, Lucy Mann. 

“This is Shiro. He’s going to be a future explorer to space of the Galaxy Garrison~” Ben boasted with a smile, while Shiro was rubbing the side of his neck sheepishly. 

“I’m Robin, leader of the Teen Titans. Nice to meet you, Ben has told us a lot about you,” A teen in a domino mask spoke with a calm smile, placing his hand out to Shiro, who shook his hand.

“I-I’ve heard of you. Um, big fan?” 

Robin chuckled, having an arm around a tan-skinned girl with red hair and glowing eyes, “And this is Starfire. My, ah, girlfriend…”

“A pleasure to meet you, Friend Shiro. Ben has told us fondly that you wish to see the stars and planets outside of Earth,” She spoke softly, as Shiro felt his cheeks flush. 

Whew, if he wasn’t attracted to men, he would’ve thought Starfire was beautifully gorgeous. Well, she is, but still— 

Ben smiled, watching Matt and Lucy mingle with the other Titans before Shiro leaned over to him once Robin and Starfire left.

“Ben, why did you invite me to this party anyways? Matt, I understand, since he’s Lucy’s plus one. But…?”

“Why wouldn’t I invite you?” Ben looked up at him and tilted his head, “You’re my friend, aaaaand well Julie couldn’t make it. That, and Gwen and Kevin have a date night so, I called you,”

Shiro quirked a brow before looking over at someone calling Ben over. Ben just told Shiro to relax and enjoy the party, before disappearing off. Shiro at first did try to stay away from crowds and just people watch, but eventually thanks to Matt and Lucy, he loosened up. He even got to talking to people like Starfire, to Cyborg, and then to other Honorary Titans. He was about to find Ben when he heard his voice along with two others.

“Guys, c’mon, lay off him! I mean, he’s my friend,” Ben’s voice sounded, and Shiro had to lean back from being seen as it seems Ben was talking to Speedy and Kid Flash, “So he ain’t a super or an alien from another planet with awesome powers, so what? So is Matt.”

“The thing is, at least Holt is a super genius and he’s all buddy-buddy with Princess Sludge over there,” The archer hummed a bit when nodding to Matt and Lucy, sipping his drink, “What? Did you think your friend would be good for the team once he upgrades from cargo pilot? We don’t need another space cadet, Tennyson.”

“No offence, but I don’t see anything special about that guy. He’s…too normal, ya know?” Kid Flash hummed in agreement, “He’s no Robin, who was trained as a kid by THE Batman. Or like Speedy with Green Arrow or—“

Ben sighed in frustration, “You’re judging him already without seeing what he can do…”

“Didn’t you say that he was sick?” Another voice sounded as it was revealed to be Raven, floating over to them and looking at Ben seriously, “It wouldn’t be wise to have an ally that’s already on death’s door. Not to mention cruel to be giving him false hope. Does he even know that you wanted to recruit him as a Titan?”

Shiro felt his heart squeeze for a moment as he closed his eyes. He knew it. 

He left that party that night without telling anyone. He didn’t even answer any calls from Ben, Matt or anybody. Shiro just felt disappointment once more, and he never wanted to be involved with parties with Ben ever again.

“Shiro? Are you okay? You’re spacing out again.”

Shiro snapped out of the memory as Ben said this, and then sighed, “I’m fine, Ben. Really. It’s just, we’re going to need them.” 

Staring at Shiro for a moment longer, Ben then sighed and was grabbing his cellphone from his jacket pocket, “…Fine, there’s someone that I can talk with. Just give me a sec, okay?”

Shiro looked relieved, but then had a thought before asking cautiously, “W-who is it?”

“Ahhh, Starfire actually…”

Shiro had a mental cheer in his head. This is the exact person I need!

“Great! Ahhhh, there’s also someone else we might have to check on first. Where is your cousin, Gwen?”

Ben looked up and blinked, “Err, she’s probably in her Alma Mater considering she’s going for her advance magic masters…we can totally go and visit her if you want?”

Shiro looked thoughtful and then shook his head, “Do you think it’s alright to maybe call her over?”

“I can try and contact her too,” Ben tilted his head, “But why did you want to have her come here?”

“Just…I need her to check on something.”

Shiro had a theory. One that could be possible, but he needed to confirm it with someone that was magical. Turning to Keith and Lance while Ben was talking on the phone, he looked to the two of them and sighed.

“Okay, the next bit…we’re going to have to explore down at the canyons close by.”

“Is there something that we’re supposed to be looking for?” Lance asked curiously, and Shiro smiled a little.

“Yup.”

While it may be a year or so earlier than expected, it was best that they find the Blue Lion now before the Galra does. Which is perfect since at this moment, one of Zarkon’s fleet that was stationed nearby Earth’s atmosphere was not close yet. If they could find Blue first and go to Arus to the Castle of Lions…maybe this time around they’ll have an advantage against them.

“But first, we’re going to need a machine…” Shiro hummed as he was resting a hand under his chin in thought, eyes narrowed, “One that could read Fraunhofer lines. It would give us the exact location…”

Keith folded his arms, looking sort of puzzled, “A frown…who?”

“It’s a number describing a spectrum of an element…” Shiro accidentally murmured, then blinked as he caught the weirded out looks from Lance and Keith, “Er, basically it’s gonna help us find what we’re looking for.”

“Shiro, you didn’t exactly tell us what we’re looking for,” Keith pointed out, now looking annoyed, “This whole being mysterious and not telling us exactly what’s going on is starting to bug me. Not to mention you’ve been acting weird and bailed on the very mission that you thought was your everything…punching Iverson—“

“Kinda had it coming,” Shiro interrupted with a frown, but then shook his head, “I will explain, once we find Blue—“

“Good news and bad news, guys,” Ben came between them with a finger up, glancing at the both of them before speaking cheerfully, “Good news, I managed to contact Starfire and she’s kinda flying her way here.”

“And the bad news?” Shiro raised a brow while Ben looked sheepish.

“Gwen is out world at the moment. Apparently Kevin has dragged her into one of his car shows in another planet and won’t be back for a while,” Ben explained but then tilted his head, “If you tell me what you need Gwen for, maybe it will be better so I can tell her properly why she needs to come back to Earth.”

Shiro sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, before closing his eyes, “I need her magical expertise to check on something.”

“…I might know someone else that might be able to do that for you,” Ben suggested, as he had his hands on his hips and raised a brow at him, “But again, you’re gonna have to tell me why you need magical help? Since if I recall, you never believed in that sort of stuff.”

“…It’s to check if there’s a cure for my disease.”

Keith and Ben’s eyes widened at that, while Lance gasped and placed a hand over his mouth.

“You’re sick?” Lance asked, clearly worried with sympathy in his eyes, which Shiro ignored as he looked at Ben.

Ben sighed, “…Shiro…”

“Please? I have a feeling that there might be something that could.” Shiro pleaded, stepping forward to place a hand on Ben’s shoulder.

“…I’ve tried to tell you this option before. But you had shut me out every time I tried mentioning it, saying that I should stop calling you and meddle in your life.” He took a deep breath, but nodded as Ben turned away and wiped his eyes, “…Okay. Okay, I definitely will call someone that can help. She’s almost the same level as Gwen and might be able to help.”

Shiro’s eyes soften as he smiled, squeezing Ben’s shoulder, “Thank you…”

Lance and Keith looked awkward at the moment the two men shared, and Keith interrupted them with a cough.

“Er…okay, so, is it really that easy that someone could magically cure Shiro?” He asked.

Ben nodded, “Surprisingly there are things magic can spot that human technology and medicine can’t. Anyways, if we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna have to find a big space.”

“Um…why?” Lance wondered out loud with an apprehensive look, growing even more nervous when Ben grinned.

The four young men stood outside of Keith’s home, the sandy winds blowing around them. Ben stepped forward, holding what seems to be a small notebook, and flipping it open. Reading it quietly, he raised a hand up, and spoke softly that the other three had to strain their hearing a bit to understand. 

“Esporow Via Esprolixas Capti Capters Few Sonmow Lenton Oway On Respicklas Lokis Lusses Via Astendus Ocultes Ienwua!”

And with a flash of lights, a very large double door appeared before them, almost looking like an entrance of a spooky castle. Shiro, Lance and Keith looked up in awe while Ben just smiled in satisfaction. While they were distracted, Ben walked over to the door and knocked on it, placing his hand over the door and then called out softly.

“Charmcaster. I know you’re there, and I definitely know the password to your door. So you better come out here unless you want me to barge in—“

“Tennyson, I swear to Legerdomain that you are a pain in my ass sometimes.”

Ben smiled as he looked over to the side to spot a young woman with silvery hair tied up in a high ponytail, light purple-bluish eyes and wearing what seems to be a magenta coat with purple at the ends, tight dark pants that matched with her aesthetic makeup she had on.

“Hey Charmy~” Ben greeted cheekily, before the woman snarled.

“I told you not to call me that,” She looked over at the three other males that were there, then looked back at Ben tiredly, “So, decided to ditch Gwendolyn and her guard dogs and replace them with hot men? What also happened to that handsome alien partner in blue that hung around you?”

“Har, har…and Rook has his own thing going on, so that’s that.” Ben rolled his eyes playfully before looking back at Charmcaster, “I need your help with something.”

“You always need my help with things~” Charmcaster purred as she stepped forward, running a finger down his chest, “Is it that time again—?”

“NOPE! Nope, n-not that,” Ben blushed as he took her hand and placed it down, coughing a bit before letting out a small chuckle, “No, ah, there’s someone I want you to check out.”

“Mmm, checking out people besides you~?”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Tease~ As usual~”

Shiro narrowed his eyes at the two of them for a moment, but then blinked when Ben looked over at him, making Charmcaster look at him too.

“Charmy, this is Shiro. He wanted to have someone magical do a medical diagnosis on him.” Ben explained, and Charmcaster’s eyes sparkled with mischief for a moment, and Ben noticed, “Charmy, no—“

“Shiro~? Is it the very same one that you’ve talked about?” Charmcaster teased, already stepping up towards the taller male, observing him and hummed, “Fitter than Levin, and quite handsome than Rook. I can see why Tennyson is very interested in you~”

“You talk about me?” Shiro questioned, making Ben reach over and smack the witch with a frown.

“Now’s not the time to be playing, Charmcaster. Can you please check on him for me?”

Charmcaster huffed, but nodded as she then stepped back for a moment, raising her hands towards Shiro. Keith wanted to jump in, thinking she was going to attack but Lance stopped him and shook his head. The sorceress hummed as her eyes glowed, murmuring some sort of language as a light surrounded Shiro. To him, it felt warm, like he was being wrapped around blankets and coddled into comfort. After a minute or so, Charmcaster stopped, the light dying down from her hands and around Shiro.

“…Well?” Ben asked as Charmcaster looked over at him, raising a brow.

“…There’s nothing wrong with him?”

All the guys looked puzzled.

“What?” Keith asked suspiciously, before Ben shook his head.

“Um, no? From what I remember, Shiro has a degenerative muscle disease?”

“He’s right,” Shiro said with a serious look, “According to the doctors, with my muscular dystrophy, I only have a few years to go and I wouldn’t be able to pilot or go to space anymore.”

Charmcaster raised a brow at him, and chuckled, “Well, your silly doctors are wrong. There’s no disease in you…”

Shiro looked floored, “Are…are you sure?”

Charmcaster looked offended, “Are you saying my magic is wrong? Then you’re even dumber than I thought,”

“Hey!” Keith growled, before Shiro stopped him from trying to thwart her for that comment. 

“So, what? You’re saying…I’m healthy and have no signs of my disease in my body?”

Charmcaster nodded, “Yes. Maybe someone out there cured you already without you knowing~”

Shiro tried to wrack his brain for a moment, feeling like this didn’t make any sense. But then the memory of him almost dying, the strange man that had brought him back to this time—

“Caspian.”

Charmcaster froze at the name while Ben, Lance and Keith looked confused.

“Who?” Ben asked, as Shiro breathed out, looking towards Charmcaster.

“You know who he is, don’t you?”

“How do you know that name?”

Before Shiro could answer, a shadow casted over them and everyone looked up to see a flying red haired woman in purple landing before them, her glowing green eyes looking at them before smiling.

“Greetings!” She cheerfully said, but once she spotted Ben, she soon swooped in and brought him into a hug, “Friend Ben! How I have missed you!”

“A-ack! G-good to s-see you too S-starfire…” Ben choked out as he wriggled himself free from her, and breathed out softly with a friendly smile, “Ah, glad you found me. Er, sorry for dragging you out here but we need your help.”

“I shall offer my assistance to the best of my abilities~” She said in a voice of positivity, almost looking like an angel the way she smiled and the sun shining down on her figure.

Shiro was waiting for a moment for Lance to say something, but blinked when a minute passed by and heard nothing. He glanced over at the Cuban male for a moment, witnessing Lance looking to the side boredly next to Keith. Isn’t this the part where Lance slides in and flirts with a pretty girl? He would wonder, scratching his head.

Maybe he should say something?

Sliding next to Lance, he nudged him, “Don’t you think Starfire is pretty?”

Lance glanced over at the older male, then looked to Starfire, then back to him and shrugged, “She’s attractive, I guess?”

“You…guess?” Shiro asked in surprise, with Keith tilting his head and looking at him suspiciously.

“Why do you care what Lance thinks about some alien chick’s looks?” He asked slowly, and Shiro smiled sheepishly. 

‘How weird…maybe this is a good thing?’ Shiro thought to himself, glancing at Lance again, who was staring at Keith with a thoughtful gaze.

With Ben and Starfire still talking, the Tamaranian’s eyes then glanced over to Shiro and blinked, but then recognition shone in her eyes as she then softened, “Ah, you are—?”

“U-Um, it’s nice to see you again, Miss Starfire,” Shiro was quick to cut her off, not liking the sympathetic look she was giving him as he placed his hand out to her, “I asked Ben to call you here because I wished to ask you a few questions and help me find something hidden among this canyons.”

Starfire looked at the hand, then shook it kindly with a small smile, “Any friends of Friend Ben is a friend of mine. Tell me, what is it you wish to ask me?”

Shiro smiled a little, and took a deep breath. “Do you know about Voltron and the Galras?”

A gasp left Starfire as she released Shiro’s hand, looking at him appalled, “H-How do you know about—?”

“Let’s just say I have my sources. But it’s good that you might have knowledge about them and know why I’m asking?”

Starfire nodded slowly, “They are an advance alien species that are are known to work in terms of absolutes, with victory or death being a common motto and philosophy. Cruel and relentless, they are a race that you do not wish to go up against. They are even worse than the Gordanians…”

“Don’t…even know what those are?” Keith murmured, and Starfire didn’t look away from Shiro.

“Are you telling me you know the location of Voltron?”

“Yes. And the Galra are looking too. Luckily I might have an idea of where we can start looking before they do, but we’re in need of a machine to find it,” Shiro told her, and Lance raised his hand up, “Yes, Lance?”

“You said you need a machine…but since we have a witch with us—?”

“Hey!”

Lance ignored Charmcaster for now.

“Don’t you think it’s easier to have her track whatever it is you’re looking for?”

Shiro blinked as he stared at the Cuban for a moment longer, before he smiled, “That’s…actually a good idea, Lance. That was really smart of you!”

Lance felt his face flush as he then rubbed the side of his neck bashfully, and Shiro couldn’t help but smile in pride. It was good that he has Lance here, the potential is still there.

Ben tilted his head and looked to the silvery haired girl, “So? Can you?”

“I can use my magic to track a lot of things…but it would be easier if I had some sort of sample of what I’m looking for~” Charmcaster said, placing her hand out as she stared at Shiro for a moment.

Shiro froze as he looked stumped for a moment. Right, how was he going to give something for her to locate the Blue Lion? He would think nervously, glancing around for a moment until his eyes landed on Keith. If he remembered correctly, Keith said that something had lead him to the canyons. Drawings and symbols leading him to where the Blue Lion could be—

Shiro looked back to Charmcaster and smirked, “First, we have to go near the canyons. Then you’ll understand.”

Everyone looked at each other at this, confused and somewhat intrigued. 

“…Okay. I admit it…this is super freaky…” Lance murmured as everyone stood at the edge of a cliff, looking over at the large masses of rocks and mountains before them.

Charmcaster was floating for a moment, eyes glowing pink along with her hands as if being a human sonar. 

“Anything, Charmy?” Ben asked as he watched over her, and the woman breathed out finally after a minute.

“I have a lock on a strange signature. Follow me,” She murmured and floated downwards, and everyone soon followed.

Starfire stayed in the air to keep an eye on the sorceress, Ben also following by using a little power from his Omntrix. According to him, he had an upgrade on his watch, allowing him to borrow some of his aliens’ powers without transforming. It was both impressive and terrifying to Shiro how much Ben could use said powers. Keith and Lance also followed behind him, more cautious than anything, but somehow had faces on that looked like they felt something…familiar. 

Soon, everyone stopped when Charmcaster froze in place, looking down what seems to be an entrance to a cave.

“…We’re going in there?” Ben questioned, and Charmcaster started moving forward once more, and inside the cave, “…Yup, guess we are.”

A sigh escaped Shiro, knowing what was coming next and soon followed after the floating magic user, Ben and the rest behind him. As soon as they entered the cave, amazed sounds of gasping was heard from everyone…everyone except Charmcaster and Shiro.

Shiro, who knows what these were, wasn’t surprised in the least and had a fond smile on his face. Bingo, now all that’s left is for Lance to touch the walls of the Lion carvings…

He turned his head to see Lance already on it, curiously looking at a chipped drawing of a lion and running his hands over the markings. Shiro waited with baited breath for the walls to light up the familiar blue luminous light that would lead them to Blue…but his smile fell when nothing happened. He didn’t understand, wasn’t it Lance that triggered that awakening to Blue?

“Wow, these are…amazing…” Keith murmured, reaching out to brush some sand off one drawing, seeing the drawing of the lion.

It was then that a loud roar was heard, and Keith’s eyes widened when he saw that the drawing started to glow. Standing back, he looked around and saw all the drawings on the walls started lighting up, almost scaring everyone. Shiro had to double take looking at Keith, now even more confused.

‘Keith triggered Blue…?’

And suddenly, the ground shook under them and gave way, each one of them falling down like some sort of waterslide further into the cave. Starfire gasped, flying after them along with Charmcaster to grab them before they hurt themselves. She managed to catch Ben, while Charmcaster caught Shiro…although sadly Lance and Keith fell with a thud into some puddle of water, landing on each other. A groan escaped the two teens before they realised they were entangled with one another and quickly moved away from each other.

Keith slapped his reddening cheeks for a moment, but then his eyes caught sight of what seemed to be a gigantic force field that was holding an EVEN MORE GIANT ROBOT LION!

“Is this it?” Starfire asked, in awe and looking it over with a hint of excitement in her voice, “Is this the Voltron?”

“Part of it…” Shiro murmured, then saw Ben was staring at him and coughed, “T-there seems to be a force field around it. Lance, feel anything weird about it?”

“Huh?” Caught off guard being called out, Lance raised a brow, “Er, nooooo?”

Shiro blinked, looking back up at Blue then looking back at Lance, “You sure? You don’t feel like the eyes are, like, totally following you?”

Lance folded his arms, raising a brow, “No, I didn’t. Why are you asking me that?”

Keith stepped forward as he looked at the lion for a moment, then felt his heart race. For some reason, he felt like the lion was looking at him. The dark haired teen moved himself to the left, then sliding to the right, frowning a bit as he was very much feeling the eyes on him. Going closer to the force field, he hesitated. Then, he raised a fist, taking a deep breath.

“How are we going to get through the barrier?” Ben asked as he stood next to Keith, ignoring how Shiro and Lance were going back and forth behind them.

“M-Maybe we can knock?” Keith said awkwardly, hoping to come out as a joking manner, and even knocked on the force field for a second, “Heh, guess it didn’t work—“

His eyes widened when something shocked his hand, a light coming from the barrier as Keith stepped away. Before Ben could ask if he was alright, his eyes widened as he witnessed the force field melting away and the room light up with magical blue light. Both of them looked down when the ground shook, seeing how strange markings were appearing under them.

Shiro stopped and turned slowly to Keith and Ben, but mostly staring at Keith.

‘Blue…chose Keith? That can’t be right!’

But he then gasped when something was entering his mind, and knew then and there that Blue was communicating with them. 

‘Hello Black Paladin…it is good to see you once more.’

“What…?” Shiro said out loud, staring at the beast and then gulped, “You…recognise me?”

‘You may look young, but your soul is the very same one as before. Before you and the other Paladins sent us away when the Princess died.’

Shiro winced, but then looked confused, “Wait…do…are you from the time in my future?”

The purring is all the answer he needed. And he won’t question it right now. But this means that Yellow and Green are going to be pretty mad that their Paladins are not here this time around. Glancing at the others, he saw that they were slack-jawed and unmoving, almost as if time stopped for them. Blue must be giving the same vision that she did before, explaining who she is and what Voltron is.

Good, this gave him a bit of time.

“Why did you open for Keith and not Lance?” Shiro questioned, raising a brow at Blue, “He’s your paladin, isn’t he?”

‘While Lance is indeed my Chosen, because of you coming back to the past, things have changed. Thus, I have decided to bestow Keith as my new Chosen in this lifetime…’

Shiro didn’t understand, “But…why?”

That, Blue didn’t answer. And it frustrated Shiro so.

“Okay, don’t answer. So, are we going to head to Arus and meet Princess Allura and Coran in the Castle of Lions now?”

‘Yes. All seven of you will go.’

Confusion coloured Shiro’s face. Seven?

He had to count everyone in the room, and pursed his lips.

“Er, Blue? There’s six of us…?”

Suddenly, Blue roared once more and making everyone jump in surprise, including Shiro. It was then there was a sound of a girly shriek was heard somewhere around the cave, then a splash of water. Turning around, he soon found a blonde haired girl in all brown, orange and yellow sitting on the ground, wincing as she rubbed her back and butt with a pout.

‘Who is this?’ Shiro wondered, looking at the girl before a gasp left Keith.

“Terra?”

The girl looked up at the sound of the name, her eyes widened in fear and looked like she was about to run.

“Wait!” Shiro called before Starfire flew past her and tackled the blonde girl to the ground, “Starfire, what—“

“TERRA!” Starfire shouted to her face, but then started crying big fat tears as she wrapped her arms around the freaked out girl, curling around her into a big, tight hug, “OH MY FRIEND, I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONE! A-AND FRIEND BEAST BOY SAID THAT YOU LOST YOUR MEMORIES AND, AND, AND—“

“S-star…y-your hugs are a-as suffocating a-as ever…” Terra choked out as she was trying to wriggle her way out of the Tamaranian girl’s arms, and sighed in relief when she was let go.

Keith took one step as his eyes narrowed, and Terra caught the look with a skittish look.

“Terra…is that you?”

“Keith…” The girl breathed out, standing up shakily as she had her hands onto her chest as if shielding herself, “I…I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again…”

“Why are you here?” He asked, looking like he was holding back some anger as he tried to keep calm.

Terra’s eyes saddened, but then looked up at the Lion before looking at everyone seriously, “I-I felt some weird energy level here. It called out to me and I followed it…although I wasn’t expecting to have some company here. Especially you, Keith…”

Shiro felt confused. Was this girl here before they found Blue?

Lance coughed, before speaking out loud, “Did…anyone else see that?” 

Charmcaster raised a brow as she looked at Lance weirdly, “See what?”

“Voltron is a robot!” Ben exclaimed, waving his hands in the air in excitement, “Voltron is a HUGE, HUGE, AWESOME ROBOT!”

"And this is only one part of it!” Terra said out loud, shocking Shiro for a moment as she continued with a hum, “I wonder where the rest of them are?”

‘Did…did Blue show her too?’ Maybe that was why Blue said that the seven of them are going. This just got more interesting, but complicated. 

Starfire frowned, looking somewhat lost, “I did not see anything?”

“Neither did I…?” Charmcaster also spoke up, which had Shiro thinking for a moment.

‘So Starfire and Charmcaster didn’t get shown anything by Blue. Only me, Ben, Lance, Keith…and probably this Terra girl that just showed up.’ He thought with a hum, tapping his chest while his arms are folded. But what did this mean for Voltron now? Were Ben and Terra possible Paladins now?

Shiro decided to leave those thoughts away for now. Right now, they had to leave.

The Blue Lion let out another purring sound, lowering her head in front of Keith. Surprise coloured the shaggy haired male’s face, watching how the robotic feline open her mouth to allow him inside. Keith stared, but then confidently walked in, the others following him inside. This included Terra, who stared at Keith’s back worriedly.

It made Shiro wonder what was her history with Keith?

Walking into the Lion, they noticed the inside looked a lot like a ship’s, and Keith was familiar with that scenery as he enters what seems to be the cockpit when another set of sliding doors opened up for him. He saw the single chair, smirked and took a seat. Suddenly, the seat slid forward, shocking Keith as he soon saw the dashboard light up before him, watching how a lot of holo-screens appeared before his eyes and how the command console activated.

“Wow…” Keith breathed out, seeing how the steering handles for a pilot just appeared before him, “This is so cool…”

“Ooookay, I dunno if I should state the obvious or not: but, is no one in here sort of freaked out that we are inside of a big ass cat’s head?” Terra asked everyone with a weirded out look.

Keith stared at her for a moment before he gasped, feeling warmth all over his head and down to his legs. It was as if he was feeling someone tapping at his mind and picture after picture was being presented before his mental cranium and…a voice talking to him.

“Er, d-did you guys hear that?” Keith asked, and Lance looked over at him strangely.

“Hear…what?” The cuban male asked.

“I-I think it’s talking to me?” Keith murmured, as he looked at the dashboard and then to his steering wheel.

“She. And yes, she is talking to you,” Shiro pointed out helpfully, making Ben stare at him weirdly.

“And how would you know that, exactly?” Ben questioned with narrowed eyes, as Shiro looked sheepish.

Keith didn’t hear them as he continued to stare at his console, then to the front window that was already showing the inside of the cave they are currently in. Humming for a moment, he curiously reached out to the bright keys in front of him, tapping onto it. It was then that Blue suddenly got up, stretching her limps and started making a move. Everyone inside held on with shouts of surprise, and Keith grinned once gripping both his controllers.

“Okay. Got it. Now let’s try this~” He chuckled, soon pushing his arms forward with eyes ablaze, forcing Blue to move as well. 

With a mighty roar, the mechanical lion soon broke free from it’s prison, smashing out of the cavern walls and off into the sky. Giving a small somersault, jet blasters from it’s paws activated, and the Lion soon was flying even higher up in to the sky.  Screams were heard inside of the cockpit, Keith’s eye twitch when both Lance and Terra were hugging around his head and gripping his hair, Starfire and Charmcaster pressed against the walls with their eyes closed and Shiro gripping his arms around Ben protectively while Ben’s eyes were wide and face flushed. 

“K-Keith! Slow down! Th-this isn’t the s-simulatoooOOOOOORRRRR—“ Lance was screaming as Keith kept making loop-de-loops with Blue and suddenly blasting off even faster.

Keith was smirking the whole time as everyone still was yelling for him to stop, in particular Terra expressing she was going to barf, and continued to fly. This was the most fun he’s had in a long time, no way he was going to stop now!

“Isn’t this awesome!?” Keith yelled out with a smile, and Lance had to move his head to the side as if finding a place to blow chunks or two.

“Make it stop! Please, make it the stop!” Starfire cried out with comical tears, as Keith laughed.

“I’m not making it do anything~ It’s mostly on auto-pilot~” Keith teased, as Lance snapped his head up and glared at him.

“Keith, you son of a bi—“

“Oops, can’t hear you, Blue seems to want to fly up again~”

More screams were heard as Blue was soaring high in the sky once more, but then Keith frowned when he looked down at the controllers.

“K-Keith?” Shiro asked, as Blue finally slowed down, but it seems they were not in Earth’s atmosphere anymore, “Keith, what is it?”

“The Blue Lion is telling me something…” He responded, as Lance looked at him in disbelief. 

“The Lion is…talking to you? What exactly is she saying?”

Keith raised a brow at him for a moment and huffed.

“I-It’s not like she’s saying words per se…more like she’s feeding me ideas in my head…”

Shiro looked curious then asked Keith, “What is Blue saying?”

“Blue wants to go home…but where is her home?”

Shiro knew that this was going to happen. As soon as Blue was free, it was only a matter of time that she would want to reunite with the other lions and meet with the Princess and Coran in the Castle of Lions. Thing was, Arus was pretty much a wormhole away at the edge of the solar system, and way past Kerberos. Meaning once they leave, there was no way they could get back to Earth for a long while.

“…Guys, I have a confession to make…” 

Everyone looked to Shiro for a moment, their expressions mixed with curiosity and caution. 

“Where we’re about to go…it’s gonna be even farther than you’ve ever gone.” He was mostly speaking to Ben for this part, but Shiro looked to everyone and sighed, “Before we fly any further, I want you to know that you don’t have to be here. We can easily fly you back down and you can walk away from this. Forget about this all happening and go on with your own lives. Because from here on out…your lives will be at risk.”

Shiro hoped at least Lance and Keith will stay and come with him to Arus, but he wasn’t going to force them if somehow they didn’t want to go to space and leave Earth. Shiro knew in his heart of hearts how Lance valued family above all else, like Hunk. 

He even had to loosen his grip on Ben just to show that he wasn’t holding him back either.

Ben stared up at him for a moment before smiling, “You talk as if I haven’t been far out of the galaxy before. Wherever you’re going, I’m in.”

Relief washed over Shiro at that moment, smiling down at Ben fondly.

Keith gripped his wheels, as he then breathed out, “I’m already in even if you didn’t say all that. You’re my family, Shiro. There’s no point being on Earth if you’re not around. Besides, who else is going to keep me in line when I get into trouble?” He teased, grinning up at the man.

Shiro chuckled, then looked to everyone else, “W-well?”

Starfire clasped her hands together, looking starry eyed as she smiled, “I would be honoured to join this voyage with you all. Besides, it would be good to stop by Tamaran if I can.”

“What about the Titans?” Shiro asked, ignoring the way Terra tensed up, and Starfire looked awkward for a moment.

“The…Titans are disbanded temporarily.”

Shiro decided not to question any further than that. He looked to Lance this time, and he looked worried. Lance was awfully quiet, and he looked like he was contemplating on his choices. Shiro’s heart squeezed, knowing that Lance was thinking of his family in Cuba. Especially with Veronica being in the Garrison, probably looking for him right at this moment.

“Lance, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to…I won’t force you or think any less of you…”

The brown haired male glanced up at his hero, his eyes wide and something flicked in those blue rises of his. Pursing his lips and narrowing his eyes, he soon straightened, huffing a little.

“I’m a Cadet of the Galaxy Garrison. And we do not quit on a mission. As this is my mission and you are my captain, I will follow you without question. I trust you.”

Shiro felt like he heard these words before, and he felt his whole being break remembering those were Lance’s last words to him.

“I’m a Paladin of Voltron, Shiro. We do not give up! Even if you are part of ATLAS, you’re still my leader. I will follow you to even hell and back if I have to. I trust you.”

“S-shiro? A-are you okay?”

Shiro didn’t even realise that his eyes welled up, quickly reaching to wipe his eyes and smiled weakly at the worried Lance, “I-I’m okay. Just…touched that you trust me.”

“W-well yeah! You’re my hero, after all,” Lance then placed a hand over his mouth and flusters, looking embarrassed that he said that out loud.

Keith saw this and rolled his eyes, but kept the Blue Lion steady.

Shiro smiled, but then glanced over at the remaining people and softened, “And you two?”

Charmcaster was immediate.

“I’m gone.”

And with a magical poof, she actually vanished into thin air, leaving a dust of pink behind.

Ben looked amused, “She does this. But she’ll back…when she’s bored, at least.”

Shiro looked unsure, “What makes you say that?”

Ben grinned as he was then holding up what seems to be a small raggedy pouch of some kind, “Because there’s no way she’d leave me with her magical bag full of unwanted secrets with me~”

Terra almost looked impressed, “Snagged it from her while she wasn’t looking?”

Starfire gasped, “Is that not stealing?”

Ben whistled, twirling the bag around his finger with the strings, “Well, it’s not stealing. More like borrowing~”

Ignoring that for now, Shiro looked to Terra, and waited for her answer with a look, “And you?”

Keith snorted, “Don’t bother, Shiro. If she wants to leave, she can leave. It’s all she’s good at anyways.”

Terra looked at him with narrowed eyes, then placed her hands on her hips as she looked at Shiro coolly, “You know what? Not like I have any place to be, so count me in~”

Keith quirked a brow at her, glaring at her with annoyance while Terra turned to him and stuck her tongue out to annoy him further. Lance glanced at the two of them weirdly but looked over to Shiro, who was just watching them in confusion.

“Sooooo…I guess everyone, minus one that left, are all on board,” Lance noted as he looked at the other man, “Shiro, you’re our senior officer here. What’s our next move?”

Everyone looked towards the man as Shiro then took a deep breath, looking out the window. 

“The Blue Lion knows where to go. I say we trust it…but we're a team now. We should decide together.”

Ben smiled, “My vote never changed.”

“Mine either,” Keith agreed, and it seemed Starfire and Terra also agreed along with Lance, “We trust you.”

Shiro nodded, relaxing a little, “Okay…I guess we’re out of here.”

Once he said this, Keith soon pushed his controllers forward, the Lion soon zooming into the skies and out of Earth’s atmosphere. This surprised most of them except Ben and Shiro, the two already used to space (With Ben being a hero and Shiro…well, from the future and all).

“Amazing. It would take a long trip to travel this far off the galaxy,” Starfire pointed out as she saw the planet that was Kerberos passing by them, “But we are here in a tick…”

Shiro caught this and snapped at her, “You…know that word?”

“What is a tick?” Lance asked as Starfire tilted her head.

“I believe in your Earth terms, it is a measurement of time?”

Shiro didn’t like how his stomach turned at that, but focused on Keith’s piloting when he spotted it.  A glowing blue wormhole appeared in front of them, and Shiro knew that this was it. There was no going back after this.

“You ready?” Shiro asked Keith, who smirked.

“Look who you’re talking to~” Keith soon made Blue go forward, the Lion speeding towards the portal and disappeared through it.

After a few rumbles and tumbles from Blue, everyone was holding on tightly in the confined space they were in as they exited the portal. 

Keith breathed out slowly, blinking his eyes as he looked around, “W-wow…that…was…”

A groan and a hurling sound was heard at his left, Keith closing his eyes with a wince as Terra threw up at the side. Everyone else also looked away with a disgusted look, Terra then finishing with a small apology while holding her sides. 

“Surprised she took this long…” Keith murmured before looking out once more to the window and blinked, “Woah…”

“I don’t recognise any of these constellations…” Starfire murmured as she looked around, Ben also looking around and agreeing with her.

“Okay, maybe this is a part of the galaxy I haven’t been yet. Maybe it’s even farther than Revonnah…we must be a long, long way from Earth…”

“I think the Lion wants to go to that planet over there,” Keith pointed out to everyone as he spotted what seems to be a beautiful looking planet that almost looked like Earth, and Blue was speeding over, “I think…I think this is her home.”

Everyone braced themselves as the Blue Lion was hitting past the atmosphere, growing red hot as she never slowed down one bit, as if excited to be coming home to this unknown planet. But Shiro knew. He knew and was smiling brightly as they got closer. Passed the skies and down to look at the land below.

“Guys, personal space,” Keith murmured as everyone seemed squished against him as he piloted the Lion, then glared at Terra close to him, “Terra, your breath is killing me.”

"Um, is it just me or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious wormhole?” The blonde murmured and then narrowed her eyes at Keith, “Why are we listening to a robotic Lion anyway"?

“This Lion happened to take us to her home planet. So I suggest you shut up and stop complaining. You agreed to come with anyways,” Keith argued, and Lance sighed.

“Don’t be mean to her, Keith, she was just asking…case you haven’t noticed, not everyone is used to being inside a strange robot cat taking us to who knows where?”

Keith looked up at him and cocked a brow, “Ohh, you scared?”

“With you in the helm? Terrified.” Lance said coolly.

"All right, knock it off! We all agreed that we do this together and I know that it’s not a happy situation,“ Shiro interjected between them, trying to calm them down, “But we're here now. If we want to get through this, we've got to do it as a team. Okay?“ 

“Sooo, what do we do?” Ben asked curiously.

“First, we are letting Blue lead us to where she needs to go,” The Castle of Lions should be close by…He added in his mind then glanced over at Keith, “Keith? Is Blue saying anything to you?”

“No, she’s pretty quiet right now.” Keith said with a shrug, and Lance hummed a little, but then blinked when he looked up and leaned over Keith, who then blushed and looked up at the Cuban, “W-what are you—?”

“Guys! There’s a Castle up ahead!”

Everyone looked up and indeed, there was a beautiful view of what seemed to be a shining modernised Castle that was perched on top of some mountain that was nearby what seems to be a beautiful seaside. Shiro felt his eyes well up at seeing the view of the Castle of Lions, his heart yearning. We made it. We’re home, he would think to himself as Blue was zooming to land outside of the Castle, carefully placing their paws on the ground. Somehow, with a purr from Blue, the Castle suddenly lit up in bright blue lights, just like back in the cave.

“Wow!” Starfire and Terra were in awe, and Ben whistled.

“Neat trick,” He stated, but then turned serious with a pursed lips, “…Maybe we should keep our guard up?”

Lance looked over at him, “Something wrong?”

“Who knows what lies inside this Castle. Friend, or foe?”

Shiro sighed as he placed a hand on Ben’s shoulder, “I can assure you, they are friends. Let’s get going.”

Ben wanted to question Shiro, but one by one, everyone was getting out of the Blue Lion and staring right in front of some large doors with some sort of symbol on it. Suddenly, Blue straightened up and roared out loud, causing everyone but Shiro to tense up as if readying for a fight. But they soon turned around when the same doors were glowing brightly and soon opened wide for them.

“Ohhh…the door is open,” Terra breathed out before looking over at Blue, “Heh, s-sorry, thought you were going to eat us.”

Shiro soon rushed forward and started making a beeline to where he knew the Princess and Coran were, and Ben couldn’t help but follow after him. This also caused the rest of them to follow, wondering how in the world Shiro knew where to go? 

‘There’s a lot that Shiro isn’t telling us,’ Ben thought in his head, seeing how Shiro skidded to a halt.

It was then a beam of light appeared as the vestibule activates, Shiro remaining calm while the others sort of freaked out.

“Hold for identity scan.”

“W-what is going on?!” Keith exclaimed as he felt himself being scanned, looking around, “Who goes there?What do you want with us?!”

“Keith, calm down. The Castle is just trying to identify us.” Shiro murmured quietly, and then blinked when it finished scanning and started to light up another hallway for them.

“Welcome, Paladins of Voltron.”

Shiro smiled a little, before making his way down the halls, ignoring the look of suspicion from both Ben and Keith. Either way, yhe lights in the hallway started to glow warmly, the team then started to walk down the lit hallway and down a flight of steps. Soon, they ended up in what seems to be a chamber of some sort of strange looking pillars in them.

Shiro was immediate as he went to the centre of the room and looked over some console, while Ben looked around.

“Where are we? Some kind of control room?"

“Princess Allura…” Shiro murmured as he pressed a button on the console, watching two strange pods rise from the ground, “Hope you and Coran had a good sleep…”

“Alright, Shiro, I think I had enough. Tell us what the heck is going on,” Keith finally snapped and walked by Shiro, who looked over in confusion, “It’s like you know all of this. Like, you’ve been here before?”

Shiro softened and was about to say something until he heard a noise and snapped his head to see four more pods rise from the ground. This caused him to frown, as he remembered in the past these ones were empty. But apparently there seem to be people inside them as well. Alteans? Maybe…

“A-are these guys…dead?” Lance squeaked out in fright, but one of the pods started to open.

Shiro expected Allura’s pod to open, but it was one of the new ones as the glass melted away to reveal a blonde girl with a braid dressed in green. She looked…human.

She gasped, her eyes opening to reveal them to be of obsidian coloured, reaching her hand out and yelled, “Wally!”

Ben was quick to move as he opened his arms out and caught her, the young woman falling into his arms. Shiro was alerted for a moment, almost wanting to step forward but the other pods were opening. Soon, another pod opened to reveal a very young Asianboy in a hoodie, stumbling onto his knees and hands as he then was gasping for air. The next pod opened to reveal another blonde haired girl, this time her hair was down past her shoulders and held back by a black hairband, dressed what seems to be a Wonder Woman shirt and red jogging pants. The last pod opened to reveal some red haired rugged man with almost glowing ruby eyes, in a brown trench coat and even stranger clothes underneath.

Shiro…didn’t know any of these people.

“W-what…where am I?” The woman in Ben’s arms murmured, holding her head, “What the heck happened?”

“You’re…in a Castle. In another planet. Um, hi, I’m Ben.” The brunet introduced himself with a small smile, and the blonde looked up with a squint of her eyes.

“…You’re not Wally.”

“No, I am not. May I ask your name?”

“…”

Suddenly, Ben yelped when he found himself in a restraining hold, twisting her arm over his neck and looking at everyone else in the room.

“Stay back! Are you part of The Reach?!“

“The what?!” Lance yelped as he placed his hands up, almost wanting to step forward to stop her, “No! Let him go! W-we’re just passing through! We don’t know anything!”

“Gambit feels like a Sentinel has hit Gambit over the head one too many times,” The strange red haired man spoke in a deep Cajun accent, rubbing his head before looking around with confusion, “…This isn’t Genosha?”

“Artemis!?!” The other blonde girl there squeaked as she flew over and then placed her fists up to stand in front of the girl holding Ben, “Alright, you Reach scum! You’re not taking us or our home planet!”

Keith was already pulling what seems to be a knife from his jacket, and Shiro was also readying for a fight.

The young teenage boy in the hoodie just was rubbing his head before he looked around, before narrowing his eyes, “…I think everyone should calm down for a moment.”

“What’cha say, short stuff?!” The floating blonde girl looked over at him with a glare, while the boy looked up and gave her the stink eye, which made her flinch back with an unsure look.

“I mean, why are you guys going all aggro the moment waking up in…what I believe are Sleep Chambers,” The boy looked back to where he had come out from and then hummed, “Well, never thought I would be abducted by aliens at the age of fourteen. Sort of thought that would happen later on after I finished my brother’s nerd school—“

“Yo-you’re not abducted,” Shiro spoke up as he managed to calm down too, glancing at the one called Artemis holding Ben hostage, “W-what exactly do you remember before waking up…um—?”

“Hiro. Hiro Hamada,” The boy introduced himself as he looked to Shiro, “You seem to be the ring leader for this operation, correct?”

“Uh, I wouldn’t call myself a ring leader per se…” Shiro murmured before Hiro rolled his eyes.

“Anyways, the last thing I was remember was I was in a science fair with my brother and his friends along with my Aunt. I won and was going to go out to celebrate, but I hung back to double check on my invention one last time. I was the last to leave the building that held a lot of upcoming students’ projects but somehow the building was set on fire. Next thing I knew was I was knocked out and ended up here…”

“C-Can you please let me go now?” Ben tapped at the woman’s arm, before he yelped and was dropped to the ground and the blonde raised a brow.

“My name is Artemis. I’m a former protege of Green Arrow and I was supposed to be with the Justice League and The Team behind them to take down an alien race called the Reach…last thing I remember was watching my boyfriend get fried by some weird machine and I rushed in to push him out of the way and…nothing.”

“Wait, Green Arrow has another protege besides Arsenal?” Ben tilted his head, but then yelped when Artemis glared down at him.

“Arsenal? Do you mean Red Arrow or the real Speedy?”

“Who’s Red Arrow? And….real Speedy?”

Artemis shook her head before looking at the other blonde girl and softened, “Cassie, what are you even doing here? Do you remember what happened?”

Cassie looked sheepish for a moment before shaking her head, “I-I dunno. One minute I was with Robin taking down the Reach’s machines and army and then got a message about Kid Flash, Flash and Impulse being in trouble. I was going to fly to their location when I was zapped and…blacked out too…”

“You know of Robin?” Starfire asked curiously before Cassie looked over and nodded.

“He’s…my teammate,” She looked flushed for a second before coughing, then turned serious, “A-anyways, um, who are the rest of you guys? I only know Artemis since we work with the Justice League.”

“There’s no way you work with the Justice League,” Ben pointed out, “I’ve never met you two before.”

Artemis glared at him, “What? We do work with the Justice League. Who are you to say that?”

“I’ve worked with them plenty of times and I’ve never met you nor your Wonder Woman fangirl here,” Ben pointed to Cassie before looking at Artemis with a grin, “I’m Ben Tennyson. Or Ben 10, ya know, saved the universe a billion times~?”

“…Never heard of you.” Artemis huffed as she stared at him, arms folded. 

Suddenly, a whistle sounded and the strange man in the trench reached a hand up, signalling everyone’s attention.

“Ah, je suis tres desole for interrupting. But Gambit thinks that the other pods are opening,” He pointed to one that was already melting the glass away, and soon was making the move, “La tête haute~!”

He had shoved Lance out of the way when a strange mocha color-skinned woman with white hair and in a dress was reaching her hand out with a gasp, whispering out ‘Father!’ with a breathless tone, and Gambit soon caught her in his arms in time before she fell to the ground.

Shiro almost balked at this, knowing that it wasn’t Lance who caught Allura this time around, but a total stranger. Lance groaned as he was rubbing his butt since he fell when pushed away, Keith walking over and looking over at him, asking if he was okay.

"Who are you? Where am I?" The woman in his arms questioned, looking around for a moment before her eyes landed in front of the red head.

 “Remy LeBeau, chérie. But you can call me Gambit~”

The woman narrowed her eyes up at him, then tilted her head, almost confusing Gambit. She was quiet for a moment, but then blinked she looked into his eyes again, and felt her face flush.

“…Goodness, your eyes?”

Gambit chuckled, giving a charming smile, “Gambit knows. Eyes are attractive, non~?”

Suddenly, she soon brought him into a headlock, but somehow she squeaked when he turned it around on her before holding her in a princess carry.

“Ah, ah, ah, Princesse. There’s no need for violence~” Gambit smiled casually as the woman struggled.

"Who are you? Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my Castle?" She interrogated with a yell, as she tried to break loose from Gambit’s grip.

“Princess Allura calm down!” Shiro approached this time, raising his hands up as he looked to her, “My name is Shiro. Blue brought us here, and we need to find the other lions and quickly before the Galra find out.”

“You know my name—Wait! You have the Blue Lion? What happened to it’s Paladin? What are you all doing here? Unless... How long has it been?" Allura gasped as she looked around then back at the strangers before her, and then felt her heart drop, “No…”

Shiro softened, as he breathed out, “It’s been ten thousand years, Allura. Sorry, but as much as it’s a lot to take in, I’m afraid we don’t have time to explain everything.”

“Oh, I think it’s the perfect time to speak about everything,” Ben spoke up as he looked up at Shiro, “You know more about this than you’re letting on…so start talking.”

Shiro sighed, knowing that Ben was right.

“Alright…I’ll come clean. Let’s…sit down so I can explain everything.”

//So what do you guys think? Do you think I should continue this story? Or should I just stick to writing Quirks and Miracles only? Let me know what you guys think~! Leave a comment below or feel free to message me on questions or anything else of this story. Thank you and have a wonderful rest of your day~!

-Riri-Mun

[arttuff]

thank you to Christine for donating to the DC Gotcha for Gaza fundraiser event!! The prompt was for Big Barda and Mister Miracle hugging and smiling

donations to the DC Gotcha For Gaza fundraiser ARE NOW CLOSED!!! thank you so much to everyone who helped out and donated to this amazing cause!

Find out more here: dcforgaza.carrd.co

[a-reader-and-a-writer-for-all]

Joel Kinnaman Masterlist

Rick Flag

Takeshi Kovacs

Stephen Holder

Ed Baldwin

🌟= new post

🤕= Whump 😥 = Angst 😘= Fluff/ Relationship

✍= reader insert ✉️ = ask/ request

Main Masterlist

Fics:

Schrodinger’s Cat (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 😥 ✍

Rick is about to leave on his next mission with Task Force X, and you have a bad feeling about it….

Bleeding Heart Masterlist (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 🤕 😥 ✍

Rick has a mysterious new recruit on Task Force X. Without being provided any information, Rick will have to learn about this new team member on the job.

Surprise! (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 ✍

Rick loves sneaking up and scaring you when you least expect it. But turnabout is fair play….

The Colonel and the Sergeant Masterlist (Rick Flag x Reader, Past Bucky Barnes x Reader) 😘 🤕 😥 ✍

When you and your boyfriend Rick Flag bump into your ex, Bucky Barnes, at a bar one night, things get a bit awkward. But how will revelations about your past relationship affect your current one?

A Christmas Miracle (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 😥 ✍ ✉️

When you are in an accident and forced to stay in the hospital for Christmas, will your partner Rick Flag be his normal pain in the ass self, or will he surprise you?

Up in Smoke (Hurt/Comfort Edition) (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 🤕 😥 ✍

Rick feels terrible when he has to work late and misses dinner with you, but he is in for a terrible surprise when he gets home.

Up in Smoke (Pure Angst Edition) (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 🤕 😥 ✍

Rick feels terrible when he has to work late and misses dinner with you, but he is in for a deadly surprise when he gets home.

Since That Day (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 😥 ✍

Since the day you lost Rick in Corto Maltese, you have been planning your revenge. And now, the time has come…

Break the Ice (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 😥 ✍ ✉️

When his best friend falls through the ice when skating, Rick tries to save you. But pulling you out of the water might just be the start of things….

All I Want for Christmas is You (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 😥 ✍

Last Christmas Eve, Rick had a special surprise for you. This Christmas Eve, another big event is happening as well.

Christmas is for Friends and Family (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 😥 ✍

When you tell Rick that you don’t do Christmas because it is a time for family and friends, neither of which you have, he makes it his mission to prove you wrong.

Whatever You Need (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 🤕 😥 ✍

When his friend calls him late at night to say you were attacked and needs his help, Rick races to your aid immediately.

The Person I’ve Become (Dark!Rick Flag x Reader) 🤕 😥 ✍ ✉️

After he returned from Corto Maltese, Rick thought his life was over. Until, that is, he is reunited with an old acquaintance. But what happens when the truth comes out and it appears he might lose everything once again?

Not So Friendly Fire (Rick Flag x Reader) 🤕 😥 ✍

When you are captured, Rick Flag will do whatever it takes to get you back.

It’ll Be Okay (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 🤕 😥 ✍ ✉️

Rick and you are captured on a mission by a man looking for information. And he is willing to use any means necessary to get the answers he is looking for.

Promises Masterlist (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 🤕 😥 ✍

Rick has promised you time and time again that he would leave Task Force X, but yet again he has failed to keep his word. And this time you have finally had enough.

Being Afraid Doesn’t Make You Weak Masterlist (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 🤕 😥 ✍

Rick has known about your fear of flying for a while. So when your plane heads directly into a storm on the way to a mission, he tries his best to make you as comfortable as possible. And the flight is just the start of the troubles….

Partners (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 😥 ✍

You and Rick have been partners in DC for years. But when you hear a rumor he might be getting transferred, you can’t help but wonder what this will mean for your friendship.

This Means War (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 😥 ✍

After receiving new commands from Waller, you have no choice but the lead the Suicide Squad into battle against ARGUS. But to make it to the end of the fight, what are you willing to do? And are you willing to take out anyone who stands in your way?

Let Me Teach You (Rick Flag & gn!Reader) 😘 ✍ ✉️

When Rick finds out he has to go to a big military ball, he is horrified. Dancing is definitely not one of his many skills. So, you offer to teach him.

Breakfast For Two (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 😥 ✍

On your first anniversary, Rick tries to surprise you by making eggs for breakfast. While it doesn’t go as planned, you keep up that tradition years later.

Hello Darlin’ (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 😥 ✍ ✉️

Your ex-boyfriend, Rick, broke your heart when he left town months ago. But when he suddenly reappears and wants to talk, can you find a way to forgive him?

Presumed Dead Masterlist (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 🤕 😥 ✍

Rick Flag watched the love of his life fall to her death three months ago. However, when he is captured by the same enemy that stole you from him, he discovers things aren't always what they seem.

Thank You, Colonel Flag (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 ✍

On the one-year anniversary of his near-death experience on Corto Maltese, Rick Flag is left reflecting on the disaster his life has become. But a chance encounter with a familiar stranger may change his perspective.

Eternally Yours Masterlist (Vampire!Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 🤕 😥 ✍

As a vampire, you have walked the Earth alone for thousands of years, resigned to the fact that everyone you ever meet will perish in what seems like a blink of an eye. That is until you find the one person who you can't bear to lose….

I’d Catch a Grenade For You (Rick Flag x Reader) 🤕 😥 ✍

When a mission goes wrong, Rick makes the ultimate sacrifice to protect you.

I Got You (Rick Flag x Reader) 😘 🤕 😥 ✍

The mission went from bad to worse. After you are injured, Rick manages to get you to the safe house. However, after an infection sets in, is there anything else he can do?

Drabbles:

"Where does it hurt?” = Rick Flag x Female!Reader

“You’re so stubborn!”

“All I ever wanted was for you to see me.”

Shielding the other with their body to save/protect them

Person A finding a hand-sketched photo of them on Person B’s desk

A Hand-Sketched Photo (Alternate POV)

Fics:

It’s Still You and It’s Still Me (Takeshi Kovacs x Envoy!Reader) 😘 ✍

You were once an Envoy and lover of Takeshi Kovacs. 250 years ago, you were both killed. Now after a mix up, you are resleeved and alone. That is, until you run across a familiar stranger…..

Eternity (Hades!Takeshi Kovacs x Persephone!Reader) 😘 😥 ✍

A Hades & Persephone AU: Takeshi Kovacs and you are as different as night and day. Yet somehow your relationship works. However, when his lifestyle catches up with you, the two of you must deal with the consequences.

Don’t Hide From Me (Takeshi Kovacs x Reader) 😘 😥 ✍ ✉️

When Takeshi is targeted, you get caught in the crossfire.

Never Threaten a Man’s Profit Margin (Takeshi Kovacs x Reader) 🤕 😥 ✍

Takeshi Kovacs and you go to track down a suspect at Fightdrome. But when you disappear, Tak is in for a terrible surprise.

Sleep is For the Weak (Takeshi Kovacs x F!Reader) 😘 ✍ ✉️

You and Takeshi are trying to track down the suspect in your latest case. But sometimes Tak forgets you are not as unstoppable as you try to make yourself seem.

Impossible Situation (Takeshi Kovacs x Reader) 😘 😥 ✍

When you ran away from your abusive family of criminals, you met Tak and everything seemed perfect. But major crime syndicates will do whatever it takes to reclaim what they view is theirs, leaving Tak with an impossible choice.

Drabbles:

“How did you get in here?”

“It’s alright to feel broken every once in a while. And it’s alright to take time to heal.”

As you begin to fall asleep, you feel a gentle kiss pressed to your temple and a blanket draped over you.

A kisses B, but A can tell there is no feeling behind it anymore.

Fics:

Christmas Magic (Stephen Holder x Reader) 😘 ✍

When you and your partner Holder are forced to go out of town Christmas Eve for a case, you try to find a way to reveal to him your feelings. But when one thing after another goes wrong, can either one of you salvage things?

Someone Always Gets Hurt (Stephen Holder x Reader) 😘 😥 ✍

It was only supposed to be a friends-with-benefits arrangement between you and Holder, but when one of you develops real feelings, things get complicated.

Please Wake Up (Stephen Holder x Reader) 😘 😥 ✍

Stephen goes missing in the middle of a case so you join the search party even though you ended things with him a few weeks ago. However, as you search, some revelations make you rethink your decision to break up with him.

Clowns (Stephen Holder x Reader) 😘 🤕 😥 ✍

Holder and you are trying to track down a suspect, but something about him is making Holder uncomfortable.

My Favorite Song (Stephen Holder x Reader) 😘 😥 ✍

When your boyfriend starts avoiding you, you try everything to figure out what went wrong.

Santa and His Elf (Stephen Holder x Reader) 😘 ✍

Holder signs the two of you up to play Santa and his elf at the local Christmas Village only to show up late. While initially furious with him, things soon take an unexpected turn….

Drabbles:

“Why would you even care?” = Stephen Holder x Female!Reader

“Bake me a cake and we’ll talk.” = Stephen Holder x Female!Reader

“Don’t go on that date.” “Why?” “You know why.” = Stephen Holder x Female!Reader

Surprise Sunday morning breakfast. = Stephen Holder x Female!Reader

Fics:

History Repeats Itself (Ed Baldwin x Reader) 😘 🤕 😥 ✍

When Ed receives a call, he has to experience one of the worst experiences in his life all over again.

You're Going to Be Fine Masterlist (Ed Baldwin x Reader) 😘 🤕 😥 ✍

When things go wrong in space, you only have your other crew member to be there for you. And you will always have Ed Baldwin’s back. Even if that means putting his health and safety before your own.

Distress Call (Ed Baldwin) 😥 ✍

Ed managed to be the last survivor after Jamestown was attacked. But for how much longer?

Focus on Your Next Breath (Ed Baldwin x Reader) 😘 😥 ✍

Set between Seasons 1 and 2 of For All Mankind, Ed has returned from the moon yet he is still dealing with everything that happened to him in the past 6 months: Physically, mentally, and emotionally. Good thing he has his old friend to help talk him through it.

Drabbles:

The Only Way