#I wish I could put those small ass animals on the intro post but the ten image limit :/

[okcoolthanks]

ooo i like the new theme :]

THANKYOYIUUY I literally just saw the post card header image was was like “oo pretty” and I went around that :D

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch56: Worthy

Intro: A few weeks post the Time Heist the team are finally ready to reverse the snap. The only problem is, when you mess with time it tends to mess back…

Warnings: “Language!” 

Pairing:  Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: Another huge thanks to @angrybirdcr​ for her edits…

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 55

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

October 2023

Katie walked over to the dresser in Nat’s room and smiled at the photos that stood on the shiny, dark wood surface. There were a few shots that stood in frames, one of Nat with Clint, Laura and the Kids, one of her, Katie and Pepper at Tony’s wedding, but it was the biggest one that she reached out to pick up. It was a photo that Katie had taken in her and Steve’s back garden a few months before on Jamie’s third birthday. Nat had Jamie balanced on her hip and Emmy to her other side, arm round the teens shoulder. She was smiling, happily at the camera, almost like she had no care in the world.

“Hey.” A soft voice spoke behind her and she turned to look at Steve, already dressed in his Captain America suit. “I’m not even gonna ask how you got in here.” “I already had access.” Katie shrugged, replacing the photo back down. “She had access to ours as well, although she never used it much, especially not after that time she walked in on us on the couch and got an eyeful of your ass going ten to the-“ “Yeah, yeah, I remember.” Steve snorted, leaning on the doorframe, the pink tinge spreading up his neck to his cheeks as he recalled the incident. They’d been going at it pretty furiously when Nat had walked in. There had been a lot of yelling, shrieks, giggles and one strategically placed throw cushion as he had stood up and reversed hastily to the bedroom out of view. “She told me she needed four bottles of bleach for her eyeballs.”

Katie sniggered before she sighed. “I miss her, Steve.”

“I know.” He said gently, walking into the room and she melted into his arms. “I wish I could tell you it goes away but it doesn’t. You just learn to live with it. I promise it will get easier though.” Katie smiled at his words. She knew full well what living with grief was like, they’d done it enough over the past five years but he wasn’t trying to be patronising, merely trying to lend her some comfort and she loved him for that.

“Given that Halloween isn’t for another two weeks I take it you’re dressed in your Spangles for a reason?” She pulled back and Steve nodded.

“We’re ready.” He gave her a significant look.

Katie let out a breath. They’d been working on the gauntlet now for the past few weeks. Thor, Rocket, Tony and Banner all spending hours at a time in the lab. Given that the Time and Soul stones were the only ones they had in their true gem form the first challenge get the others into the same state. For the most, all that meant was smashing open the various items they were contained within- namely the Tesseract, Sceptre and Orb. But even that had to be done in a controlled way so no stone was damaged or disturbed. Then, a slightly trickier task, they’d had to figure out how to solidify the Aether. Thor had been extremely nervous about this given his history with it and how it was able to “consume” people it decided to use as hosts. After days of brainstorming and various ideas they dismissed, Tony had come up with the idea of using the 3D printer to create a vessel, using a scan of one of the other stones.

“So, err…it’s time?” Steve nodded. “Everyone’s meeting in the lab.” He nodded to the photos on the side. “Time to make her sacrifice worthwhile.”

Katie followed his eye line and nodded. “Yeah,” she turned back to him, “I’ll go grab my suit.” He bent down to give her a soft peck on the lips and watched her go before he cast a cursory glance around the room. It was a little untidy, but that had been Nat all over. ‘Organised chaos’ she had described her nature as.

“You weren’t wrong, Widow.” Steve smiled gently, before he turned and shut the door behind him, striding back to the lab.

He arrived just in time to see Tony stood by the glass case housing the Gauntlet, his hand carefully manipulating the machines to cautiously place all six stones in their respective places within the glove.

“Boom!” Rocket let out a yell and both Tony and Bruce jumped a little. Tony turned to glare at the raccoon who was sniggering at his joke.

Steve rolled his eyes, he still wasn’t sure about the animal but he couldn’t deny he’d been useful, his knowledge filling in a lot of gaps they had.

“Asshole.” Tony grumbled as Steve crossed the room to pick up his helmet which was lying on a desk. Tony looked up at him. “You find Kiddo?” “Exactly where I thought she’d be.” Steve nodded. “She’s gone to suit up.” It wasn’t long before she returned with Clint and Scott. Scott was already in his Ant-Man suit, Clint in his Hawkeye get up and Katie in her leathers, the bangle that contained her Supernova suit gleaming on her wrist. Steve’s eyes travelled over everyone as they checked their various bits of equipment, and he took a deep breath, nervous excitement coursing through his veins.

Everything they had been through over the past five years and, more recently, the sacrifice their best friend had made all came down to this. A literal snap of the fingers.

Eventually, a silence fell over the room as everyone crowded round the gauntlet. A quick headcount told Steve they were one short, and he didn’t mean Natasha either. Nebula was absent but he assumed she was elsewhere at the request of Tony for some reason, maybe doing some checks in other areas. He was about to ask when Rocket spoke up.

“All right. The glove’s ready.” His arms folded across his chest. “Question is, who’s gonna snap their freaking fingers?”

“I’ll do it.” Thor spoke immediately and they all turned to face him, Lang speaking the words at the forefront of Steve’s mind.

“Excuse me?”

“It’s okay.” Thor nodded, heading towards the gauntlet where he was immediately met with a barrage of protests from around the room.

“No, no, no, whoa.”

“Stop. Stop.”

“Wait a sec. Hey, hey!”

“Wait, wait, Thor, just wait.” Steve shook his head gently, his arm reaching out to stop the God before he put his arm in the glove. “We haven’t decided who’s gonna put that on yet.”

“I’m sorry. What, we’re just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?” Thor snapped back.

“We should at least discuss it.” Katie nodded, trying to appease him.

“No, no, sitting here staring at that thing is not gonna bring everybody back.” Thor looked at her, shaking his head. “I’m the strongest Avenger, okay? So this responsibility falls upon me. It’s my duty.”

“It’s not about–“

“It’s not that– Stop it! Just let me!” Thor pleaded as he started to get teary eyed. Katie took a breath as she could almost feel the guilt that was radiating off him in waves. “Just let me do it. Just let me do something good. Something right.”

“Look, it’s not just the fact that that glove is channelling enough energy to light up a continent, I’m telling you, you’re in no condition.” Tony shook his head.

“He’s right, Thor.” Katie looked at him. “Let’s just think about it, please?”

“What do you-“ Thor shook his head as he looked at Katie, his blue eyes then flicking to Tony “What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?”

Katie took a deep breath and crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking at Steve who mimicked her action subconsciously, shaking his head slightly.

“Cheez Whiz?” Rhodey supplied from the side of the room. Thor pointed at him, shooting him a glare but all Rhodey did was shrug.

“Lightning.” He stated simply.

“Lightning won’t help you, pal.” Banner spoke softly, as everyone turned to look at him “It’s gotta be me.”

Katie glanced at Steve who was frowning a little, his attention completely on the large hulk of a man who gave a small shrug.

“You saw what those stones did to Thanos. It almost killed him. None of you could survive.” Banner’s eyes were focussed on the red gauntlet as he walked towards it.

“How do we know you will?” Steve questioned as Banner passed him by.

“We don’t. But the radiation’s mostly gamma,” he stated, in a matter of fact way, his eyes still on the gauntlet, as he clearly contemplated. With a smile he turned to look at Katie, then Tony as he spoke again. “It’s like….uh…I was made for this.”

Katie’s head whipped round to look at Tony, before they both glanced back at Banner who smiled at them again, the siblings instantly understanding what he was referring to.

“You know, I’ve got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart.” Tony said, pointing at the Arc-Reactor in his chest as he walked towards Bruce “But this- this stops it. This little circle of light”

“Because that’s the same…” Katie said sarcastically rolling my eyes.

“The point is its part of me now, not just armor.” Tony ignored her as he stood opposite Banner, looking at him through you clear screen as lines of data swam across it. “It’s a… terrible privilege.

“But you can control it.” Bruce pointed out.

“Because I learned how”

“It’s different.” Bruce returned back to the computer screen but Tony slid the data aside with his fingers so the two could see face-to-face without interruption.

“Hey, I’ve read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you.”

“That’s true…” Katie said, watching the exchange.

“So you’re saying that the Hulk…” he paused, smiling sadly as he correcting himself whilst Tony raised his eyebrows “The other guy saved my life?”

Katie looked at Tony. His eyes were flashing bright as Bruce looked back at him. Tony gave him a significant look.

“That’s nice, it’s a nice sentiment.” Bruce said as Tony moved back to his computer. “Saved it for what?”

Tony hesitated and looked up, “I guess we’ll find out.

And it seemed they just had.

Unlike Steve, Katie did believe in fate and destiny, certainly to an extent anyway. After everything she had seen and experienced over the past twelve years or so she couldn’t help but consider there was an element of truth in the fact that they were all pawns in a bigger game.

She glanced at Steve who was studying Banner, but made no move to stop him. He couldn’t argue with the man’s logic. So, as no one else protested, Tony moved to remove the gauntlet from the casing before he handed it to the Doctor.

“Good to go, yeah?” Tony asked.

Bruce nodded. “Let’s do it,”

“You remember. Everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago and just bring them back to now.” Tony reminded Bruce. “Don’t change anything from the last five years,”

Bruce nodded again. “Got it.”

“Good luck.” Katie encouraged before she twisted the star on her bangle causing her suit to flow over her body, Tony doing the same with his chest piece whilst Steve gripped his shield on his arm. Katie’s own shield beamed out of the suit and she held it in front of her, glancing to Steve where he stood to her left. He flashed her a small smile which she returned before her helmet slid round her head.

“FRIDAY do me a favour and activate Barn Door Protocol” Tony announced as he stepped in line with Clint, a shield springing from his suit. Thor stepped in front of Rocket whilst Rhodey and Scott also fully engaged their suits.

“Yes boss,” she replied and around them all the facility went into lock down as shutters closed over the doors, windows and roof.

Katie engaged her scanners, checking the heads up display which was monitoring the energy levels on the stones and she moved her feet slightly apart, adopting an almost identical stance to Steve, their defences raised in front of them.

 Bruce looked at the gauntlet in his hand for a second. “Everybody comes home,” and with that he slid his fingers into the glove which nanobotically expanded to fit his hand. There was a sudden whoosh, and as they watched, the stones lit up in different colours, tendrils of bright light spreading up Bruce’s arm as their power surged up towards his shoulder and neck. He cried out in pain, almost falling and Katie watched worriedly as the man continued to shout and groan, his teeth grit together.

“Bruce?” She asked as Steve shifted besides her, his legs apart ready to dive in if he had to. Bruce then crashed down to his knees, his face contorted in pain.

“Take it off. Take it off!” Thor cried out, starting towards him.

“No, wait!” Steve urged, holding his hand up. They knew something like this was going to happen, they’d seen the mess left of Thanos’ arm. But they couldn’t quit, not now. “Bruce, are you okay?“ 

“Talk to me, Banner.” Tony demanded.

“I’m okay, I’m okay!” Bruce grit out through his teeth, giving a jerky nod as Thor gave him two thumbs.

After what felt like hours, Bruce slowly raised his arm. With a final grit of his teeth, he moved his fingers and everyone braced themselves. Steve moved himself in front of his wife with his shield raised, even though she was probably more protected than he was, such was his force of habit. With a loud yell, and a laboured effort, Bruce snapped his fingers. Steve’s shield raised automatically over his face in an attempt to shield himself and Katie form the blinding white light that pulsed out from the Gauntlet, filling the room.

But it was gone as soon as it had appeared.

Steve had to admit he had expected more, but his concern at the moment was Bruce who collapsed backwards to the floor and the gauntlet slid off his hand dropping to the tiles with a clang.

“Bruce!” He called, kneeling down beside him as Clint booted the gauntlet across the room away from them all.

“Don’t move him.” Tony instructed as he dropped to his knees besides Bruce who was gripping onto Steve’s arm with his left hand, blinking in pain. Tony opened his palm, spraying Bruce’s right arm with foam to cool him off.

“Did it work?” Bruce breathed out, blinking slightly.

Katie glanced around, her helmet retracting as she did so. “I don’t know.” As she continued to look around for a clue, anything that would indicate if they’d been successful, she spotted Scott walking towards the windows of the facility, the blinds sliding back as the lock down reversed.

“Worth a shot.” Thor sighed, clearly having already decided it hadn’t. He knelt down besides Banner “It’s okay…”

As Steve, Tony and Thor tended to Bruce, Katie continued to watch Scott who stood by the window, his mouth forming a little O of surprise. She squinted, wondering what it was he had seen, and then she spotted a few birds in the tree on the patio area. She swallowed slightly, whilst birds hadn’t been uncommon in the five years, they had certainly been down in numbers, and it was unusual for four of them at once to be in a tree that small.

She was then distracted by Clint who had given a sharp intake of breath and she spun to watch him as he picked up his phone from one of the desks with a shaking hand.

“Honey?” He croaked, and Katie watched as his face contorted into raw emotion, his words failing to form out of the sheer emotion he was clearly feeling. “Honey?”

There was only one person that could be, and if it was her then…

“Guys, I think it worked,” Scott spoke from his spot and Katie took a deep breath as her own tears threatened to overwhelm her. She locked eyes with Steve, who glanced up at her, his own eyes shining as he smiled.

“We did it.” Katie breathed out, looking round as she gave a watery laugh, wiping away her tears. “Son of a bitch, we actually-“

But she didn’t get chance to finish her sentence as suddenly there was a huge explosion, and the ground fell open beneath her.

*****

Smoke. Fire. Ash. Gushing Water.

That was all Katie could see, hear and feel. She was vaguely aware that FRIDAY was yelling something in her ear. As she shook her head slightly, she groaned, waiting for her senses to catch up with the rest of her.

Then, she heard Tony, and as she moved to get up, she realised she couldn’t. There was something crushing her into the ground, something ridiculously heavy which was pressing on her back. She tried to push herself up, but the weight was too much. 

And then it was gone, and a strong arm was hoisting her to her feet.

“Little Stark?” Thor asked as Katie gave another groan, retracting her helmet. “Are you okay?”

“No serious injuries detected.” FRIDAY informed her, and she nodded to the God.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good.” She blinked, looking around as she tried to figure out what the fuck had just happened. “Where’s…”

“I take it that wasn’t the snap.” Tony mumbled, distracting her as she glanced down to her left as he blasted away a piece of concrete that had been pinning his legs down. He stood up, and the three of them took a moment to look around where they were stood in the ruins of the compound, before Thor gave a lowly growl and walked to the edge of the blown apart building, looking down into the huge crater.

“No, it was him.” He nodded. Katie and Tony both walked towards him, drawing up on either side, and Katie gave a sharp gasp as she saw Thanos in a distance, sat on a rock.

“Where’s Steve?” Katie’s brain suddenly remembered who it was she’d been looking for earlier, and she, glancing round furiously. She engaged her helmet again and FRIDAY scanned the piles of rubble but she needn’t have bothered, she spotted him almost immediately. She quickly moved towards him, kicking some more rubble and wreckage out of the way before she dropped gently to Steve’s side where he lay unconscious, FRIDAY informing her that his life signs were fine.

“Stevie?” She he said gently, shaking his shoulder. “Come on honey, wake up.” With a sharp intake of breath, Steve’s eyes flew open and Katie let out a sigh of relief, as she looked up to see Tony smiling, Steve’s shield on his arm.

“That’s my man.” Tony nodded, leaning down towards Steve who glanced up, his breathing evening out. “Lose this again,” Tony held out the shield, “I’m keeping it.”

Steve grimaced and turned to look at his wife. “You okay?” “Yeah.” She nodded, “turns out Tony’s suits are pretty good, who knew huh?” Tony scoffed as Steve blinked, getting his bearings, taking in the debris and rubble of the compound. “What happened?” 

“You mess with time it tends to mess back,” Tony spoke gently, glancing at Katie sniffed a little, wiping at her nose, fear flickering across her face. “You’ll see.”

“Thanos?” Steve swallowed, and Katie nodded. Steve exhaled again as Tony helped him to his feet and the three of them walked over to Thor, who was stood exactly where Katie and Tony had left him earlier.

“What’s he been doing?” Tony asked, standing to Thor’s left as Katie stood to the God’s right in between him and her husband as the four of them glanced down at the Titan.

“Absolutely nothing.” Thor’s voice was low.

Steve had no idea how the Titan was there, but he didn’t really give a shit either. There was one thing they had to do, and that was all that mattered.

“Where are the stones?” He asked.

“Somewhere under all this,” Katie gestured to pile of ruins under their feet. “All we know is that he doesn’t have them.”

“So we keep it that way.” Steve spoke simply, steely determination lacing his voice, his eyes not moving from the Titan.

“You know this is a trap, right?” Thor asked, his gaze also locked on the large warrior.

“Yeah. I don’t much, care.” Tony replied with a shrug.

“Good. Just as long as we’re all in agreement.” Thor nodded, and with that there was a large crack of thunder. Bright beams and shards of lightning surround the God as he stretched out both his hands to summon Stormbreaker and Mjolnir. His casual clothes transformed into his armour and cape, his beard flowing into a braid, giving him a distinctive Viking Warrior look as his eyes glowed bright white, every inch of his face lined with fury.

“Good to have you back, Thunder God.” Katie smiled at him as he took a deep breath, the lightning dying down as he looked over her shoulder at Steve, who nodded at him.

“Let’s kill him properly this time.” Thor’s voice was a low growl as he jumped off the edge of the ruins they were stood on, landing with a loud crash on the ground. Katie moved to one side of Steve, wrapping her arm around his as Tony did the same, the three of them flying forward and landing with a little more grace than Thor had done.

Once more the four of them exchanged looks before the started to walk cautiously towards Thanos, but Katie stopped as Steve pulled on her arm.

“You need to promise me.” He looked at her as her. “If this starts to go sideways…” “I think we’re a bit past that.” She breathed out and Steve shook his head, looking down.

“Baby, the kids. I need you to promise me that if it looks like, well, you need to go back for them.” “Steve.” Katie took a shaky breath, her eyes filling with tears. “There’s no point making me promise anything like that, because if we don’t get rid of him, then there might not be anything to go back for.”

Her words hit him harder than any punch could, and Steve felt his chest contract, painfully. He tore his eyes off her which were now full of tears as he looked up at Tony and Thor who continued to advance ahead of them, his hand running down his face.

She was right and whilst he wanted her as far away as possible, with their kids, safe, he knew it was futile because nothing was safe now. He could send her away, get her out of the fight, but if they failed then she was as good as dead anyway, they all were.

Because Steve didn’t believe for a second that Thanos would make the mistake of leaving who died this time round down to chance.  

“If we go, we go.” Katie’s voice ripped him from his thoughts as he turned back to her, the tears in her eyes dancing with the flames that reflected from the various fires dotted around. “We have to try or they don’t stand a chance. Whatever it takes.”

Steve couldn’t bring himself to reply. Instead he gave her a curt nod and the two of them strode forward to confront the man who had haunted their dreams for the past five years.

“You could not live with your own failure,” Thanos spoke for the first time as they drew closer. “Where did that bring you? Back to me. I thought by eliminating half of life the other half would thrive. But you’ve shown me that’s impossible.”

The four of them split up, as they began to surround Thanos, circling him, whilst he spoke.

“As long as there are those that remembered what was, there are always those that are unable to accept what can be. They will resist.”

“Yeah, we’re all kinds of stubborn.” Tony continued his pacing to stand behind the Titan.

“I’m thankful, because now I know what I must do,” Thanos stood up, “I will shred this universe down to its last atom.” He reached for his helmet which had been propped up on the edge of his double edged blade where it was stuck into the ground in front of him. “And then with the stones that you’ve collected for me,” he placed the helmet on top of his head, “I’ll create a new one, teeming with life,” he pulled his weapon from the ground, twirling it in his large hand, “that knows not what is lost, only what has been given,”

There was a rush and a flash as the lighting flew round Thor’s axe and hammer, his eyes flashing as he stood to Thanos’ left, Katie now to his right.

“A grateful universe.” Thanos concluded.

“Born out of blood,” Steve glared up at the man, anger lancing through every cell in his body.

“They’ll never know it,” Thanos cocked his head to the right, “because you won’t be alive to tell them.”

At that, having heard enough, Thor gave a loud cry as he surged forward, beginning the fight. Tony and Katie both launched into the air and Steve threw himself in, shield first, as the four of them began to work in tandem.

Lightning flashed, shots fired, metal clanged on metal as they all deployed their various weapons. It was brutal, hard, just as Steve had remembered from Wakanda, only this time they were engaged directly with the Titan, and it was fast becoming apparent that this Thanos was equally as vicious an opponent than his future self had been. 

“Okay, Thor. Hit me.” Tony’s voice rang over Steve’s comms as Katie flew up out of the way of the Titan’s sword as he swung it at her, deflecting the shot she’d taken at him from her repulsors.

As Steve launched his shield again, Thor banged his axe and hammer together, charging Tony’s suit with lightening. Tony then shot the extra energy out using his hands and body, Katie joining him as she hovered off to the left. Thanos twirled his blade in front of him, diverting the energy and Steve gave a yell as it rebounded back to Katie, her suit taking a full shot causing her to fly off to the side, colliding harshly with a huge piece of the compound structure, falling to the floor.

With a roar of rage, Thor grabbed Stormbreaker and used it to bat his hammer to hit Thanos, who used Tony as a shield, casting the man aside where he too landed harshly, remaining motionless on the ground.

Steve launched forward but was flung away, landing and taking a heavy thump to the head. With a groan, he blinked away the spots of light that had formed in front of his eyes from the impact of the blow, and glanced around, giving a sigh of relieve as he saw Katie was pushing herself up on her hands, rising to all fours. With the ringing still in his ears, he then saw Thanos pounding down on Thor, Tony still motionless in the background.

With a loud grunt, Steve ground his teeth together in stubborn determination and reached out to push himself up, but he paused when a sudden shock of warmth vibrated up his arm. He instantly glanced down at his hand and realised he’d flattened his palm against Thor’s hammer, not the ground. He frowned for a moment, as the vibrations continued. It felt like the throb of his motorbike engine, a warm purr. The last time he had tried to move, sure, it had given a little, but he hadn’t felt anything like that…

Could he? Was it possible?

With an automatic movement, one that seemed completely out of his control, Steve rose to his feet and reached out, gripping the handle. He sucked in a breath and as he pulled up his arm, the hammer came with him.

**** With a groan, Katie blinked, shaking off the daze that had descended over her thanks to the heavy blow she’d taken from Tony’s deflected fire. She looked around, the ringing loud in her ears as she saw Thanos flip Thor to the floor, pressing him back up against a rock. Thor reached for his axe, and as the pair of them grappled, Thanos gained the upper hand and began to attempt to push Stombreaker through Thor’s chest. 

Immediately, Katie took off and began to fly towards Thor, raising her palms to shoot a beam at Thanos, but as she neared something whizzed straight across her path and she stopped dead in the air, her sight focussed on Mjolnir as it soared towards Thanos, where it whacked him harshly in the side of the head, sending him flying away. It carried on for a while before it stopped, and boomeranged back right round but it didn’t stop at Thor.

Instead it continued, and Katie felt her mouth drop open as she followed it with her eyes as it flew into Steve’s waiting hand, his fingers curling round the handle as he caught it.

“Holy shit…” She spluttered at the same time as Thor breathed a little smugly into the comms.

“I knew it!”  

Steve was wielding the hammer. Steve Rogers, the kid from Brooklyn that was too dumb to run away from a fight was worthy.

But then, as Katie watched him turn to look at Thanos, hammer in hand, that determined expression on his face as he sized up his opponent, she realised there was no one else more worthy than the man who had done nothing but continually put his life on the line for others.

Thanos kicked Thor harshly in the chest sending him straight through the rock he was up against and then Steve proceeded to charge at Thanos, swinging Mjolnir. He caught Thanos perfectly on the chin with an upper cut from the hammer, which sent him flying through the air, where he landed, and jumped up.

Katie took off towards the two, as Steve launched his shield, but Thanos deflected it easily. As it swung back towards him, Steve threw the hammer straight at it, creating a shockwave which knocked Thanos back off his feet.

Then, the Captain went completely on the offensive, shield and hammer flying through the air again and again before he lined his arm back up and summonsed the lighting. Shooting a shock at Thanos he blasted the Titan off his feet before Katie landed in front of him giving a yell. Just as Thor had done before to Tony, he charged up her suit and she powered everything she had into the Titan as he lay on the floor.

Steve drew to her side as she unloaded, but before she could say or do anything else Thanos’ sword flew back at her and she dodged out of the way, but wasn’t quite quick enough. It hit her hard in the chest and sent her skidding backwards against the floor where she collided with a metal pipe.

Thanos advanced on Steve, menacingly swinging his weapon and, one on one, Steve was no match for him. He lost the hammer and, after receiving a nasty stab to the leg and gash to his arm, he could do nothing but hold his shield up to deflect the blow that was coming his way.

Only it didn’t. Thanos’ double edged weapon sank straight into the Vibranium like it was butter.

Steve looked at it in shock and horror, never once had anything ever penetrated the metal, but he didn’t have chance to think about it as the blows continued. Pieces of his shield were shearing away left, right and centre and then Thanos picked him up by the front of his suit and tossed him aside like he was a rag doll.

He landed harshly a few feet away from Katie and rolled onto his back, his eyes closing and his chest heaving with exertion. He gave a little gulp, a low gasp that was almost a cry flew from his mouth as he felt sheer desperation flood his system, the faces of his kids and his wife flashing through his mind.

Steve Rogers might be worthy, but he was beat.

**** Chapter 57

 **Original Posting**

[princeleyjeans]

My first OC: An intro to Amelia.

As some of ya’ll know, Wallace and Gromit was what got me writing, literally, soon as i saw the movie all my chubby 10 year old butt wanted to do was make my own episode for the show and while I knew I was too little to work for Aardman Animations, that didn’t stop me writing fanfiction and beginning a fun and disturbing trot into the fandom world.  Amy, was my first character, the one who started it all and yes, her story, is not one of cute mishaps and crime solving like that of her husbands (Well, husband’s dog but you know), it’s not twisted but it’s not light either, she is and always has been hella un-canon to the series, to the world they reside in and sure, as a kid I was told Mr Park wouldn’t touch such a mature plot-line with a barge pole, but it didn’t stop me and here we are today.  Amelia Quartermaine:  Age: 28 Gender: Female.  Height: 5/11. Description: Pale skin, ginger/reddish hair with your stereotype freckles across the nose area of the face with piercing hazel eyes, larger than most cartoon creators like but not technically unhealthy, a physical blend of muscle and squish, huntress thicc, slight hourglass figure but the weight is a little wider than commonly described.  --- Amelia begins as a brief glace during a routine visit to her almost stepmother/aunt figure, Totty, as I mentioned earlier, she’s appeared on the specific day to collect the last of Hutch’s things since he’s now living with her family, it’s not an idea situation and Lady T is less than okay with losing her one real link to Wallace, a missed love interest who declined her marriage/business proposal, but knowing of Amelia fondness for him and dedication to animals (Philip the dog, the family’s various large frightening birds and imported Vampire deer happily scattered around Victor’s less impressive manor house) she accepts the idea he’ll be happier there and leaves the matter at that.  Speaking of love, it’s obviously Cupid firing arrows at a solid wall, nothing gets through for a while until Wallace suffers a minor injury during a tour of the Quartermaine estate, caused by Lady Tottington asking for his company on a visit to her ex boyfriends estate to attend a live auction of Victor’s hunting gear, various expensive/rare guns and weaponry finally being taken away from his weak grasp following the whole being beaten to a pulp by the angry mob and left needing rehab/reconstructive surgery on his legs/right shoulder.  Don’t get confused, this isn’t a choice he’s made, no no, it’s his children, Amelia and her brothers, seeing his altered state and lack of ability to properly hold a rifle and deciding the best option is to save Victor from himself and remove temptation from his home, keeping the good shit for themselves but making sure he can’t get his mitts on any random weapons to use against animals, people, Wallace, you get the idea. He’s a cranky old man at this point and will happily deck the one who put him in crutches/permanent knee brace so what’s safer than remove 99% of all his shooty shoot toys.  After said auction, Amelia walks her aunt and Wallace through the hand planted woodland, ranging 500 years old and full of some of the freakiest birds you ever saw, along with the little vampire deers that aren’t actually scary and really like people and small corn snacks, no sooner have they cleared a path and entered the most beautiful memorial pond area for the girls mother, Wallace trips over something and ends face down in the dirt with a vamp deer climbing on his back to reach a random grub on a nearby tree, the whole fiasco causes Tottys almost step-daughter to burst out laughing and thus begins the inevitable woo of the Quartermaine girl as any man capable of making even the coldest of people laugh must be one worth knowing.  Of course, with all his love interests, this one holds an unspoken truth Gromit wishes to solve fast, especially given her status, and even with Hutch acting as a comforting example Amelia can be kind, he needs to uncover the other side, when things get tough, how many skeletons fall from the closet?  ---- Now: A little background.  Amelia is one of three children, being the youngest while her brothers, twins Marcus (Short for Machello) and Dametre are joint first, all birthed via Victors first wife and only love, Giovanna, who was lost to a long running genetic condition with no known cure or explanation.  Amelia grew up under the wing of her father, favoring hunting/taxidermy/general gruesome hobbies as the twins preferred a variety of tailoring, cooking, knitting, gardening and lighter crafts, similar to Gromit.  They were equally close to each parent although you get the idea that Victor held a certain admiration for his daughter given their shared blood lust, the familiar craving of the hunt and urge to display their kills for the world to see, plus being of similar mind yet him being the obviously weaker of the pair, Amelia dutifully going through with the plan while he either got angry with all the complicated steps or just failed to follow up.  Victor, as a younger man, was very much one of those snobby “I’ll kill it, eat it and show you it’s skin because I’m hella macho”, while his daughter, was...well, a killer, a darker presence his weakness clung to, like a mother unable to let go of her son due to fear his partner will replace her in his heart, lack of power, lack of ones own worth so he taught her to be the best, the hunter capable of a big kill, no fear, all confidence and knowledge of entitlement and worth.  No surprise, though never actually murdering a person, Amelia was a skilled fighter, handy with a sword, steady with a pistol and indestructible, mentally and physically....at least, until the death of her mother.  Although staying strong, it left a rift, a rift concealed by a large vault door and locked tight so nobody could see just how sad it was to lose the only rational/in tact person in her life.  Yes, she loved her father but Victor was a proud man, a proud father, giddy over having a child so devoted to the hunt just as he was, as his own father and grandfather, having someone to carry on not just the bloodline but that legacy, that path, despite loving his daughter, his sons, Victor was not someone you could actually...talk to.  Giovanna was, she was that small hint of sanity in a strange, abnormal world, riddled in blood and destruction, she was that light at the end, the warm water washing away the deeds of the day, the listening ear and giver of advice, the forgiving hug, the confessional Amelia could tell her sins to with all the promise of them never seeing the outside.  Regardless of being a hunter, Amelia also cared about animals, and her relationship with the forest was a complicated sort, it was hypocritical and ironic but she refused to engage that part of herself, she wanted to have her cake and eat it too, no matter of the internal struggles between just and evil.  After the mothers death, the brothers took over, Amelia hunted but the twins were her protectors, the homemakers and general kindness of the estate as Victor got more into his cruel habits and needing of money, he did it all for them, but at the same time, he also did it to ease the heartache, the loss, the pain of having his wife around, without her being with him. He believed that the ones you loved never left, but at the same time, never seeing their faces was enough to put all those feelings to the test, all that faith, all that sense out the window.  --- Back to the present: With her father’s condition now requiring support/aid, Amelia has taken position as one of the estates breadwinners, next to her brother Dam while Marcus stays home and looks after Victor, the arrangement is stable but with the intro of Hutch and her sudden taking to Wallace, things are looking...rocky, soon to become worse as Gromit gets involved to uncover just how much of her childhood has stuck. (Spoiler: SHE DECKS A BEAR AND PUTS THE VICAR THROUGH A PEW!)  Welp Imma end this here, prob gonna do another story post at some point but for now I need a pee and my ass hurts from sitting so long

[thefeckisthis]

manifestation and religion

disclaimer: im going to write my opinions on religion and if you consider yourself a believer - dont get offended as we all have different experiences and beliefs. also, i will be mentioning some stuff that most people find weird and unusual so please keep your mind open and leave your judgment somewhere else.

i wrote quite a bit and then my clumsy ass accidentally closed all tabs and everything was gone so this time ill write my intro in short version. so we all heard the saying ‘’be careful what you wish for it may come true’’. well it does come true and it has proved to me so many times, and before i get to the basics of law of attraction and manifestation I am going to say a bit of background how i got to it all.

as most of my country i was raised christian and had to practice the religion until i was 14/15 and got my holy confirmation so after that i was finally happy that i did not have to go to church if i did not want to. my family is not super religious, we do follow the holiday traditions and such as its normal in our country, but personally i dont give them much meaning. two of my family members are religious and i am grateful because in a place as my hometown our parents gave us free will when i came to religion (after our confirmation only :P) .

 with all my experience and research i came to realise that christianity is most rotten, corrupted, vile and disgusting religion there is. there are exceptions that were better than rest, that is a small number unfortunately. i always considered myself agnostic, there is no defined god but there is something bigger than humankind and its still unknown. and you look at all the religions you will find that mostly all of them have same stories, people and facts, just bit amended  to their culture.  so to explain a bit, here is internet definition of agnosticism # Agnosticism is the view that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient rational grounds to justify either the belief that God exists or the belief that God does not exist."  and no, atheist is not the same. heres couple of pictures giving some insights 

so now that we have that sorted out i would like to stress out that i never had anything against people who believe in god or dont believe in god, i have friends who are strong believers and friends who are atheist, its just called being adult and accepting people as they are. not enough people can do that. 

so i did lots of research on religions and i do like polytheism  ( Polytheism is the worship of or belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religions and rituals) so i always had huge interest in roman and Greek deities, Egyptian as well and for a while was reading about Hinduism. of course i read a lot about all other older civilizations and most of them are based on polytheism. 

during my exploring i came across a doctrine about paganism (havent fully finished all the books and here is a link if anyone would be interested in buying https://despot-infinitus.com/proizvod/paganizam-u-teoriji-i-praksi-doktrina-paganizma/) and i really liked the whole idea of it and i am still actively considering of becoming a white witch/wicca and reading those books inspired adding bit more on my pentagram tattoo, which is actually representing five elements so with added moons it represents triple goddess symbol.

many people ask me is that devils sign and am i a satanist, and that is ridiculous assumption based on only one symbol. and as a matter of fact i have been  reading about satanism itself as well (of course i have) and its quite surprisingly peaceful religion and makes more sense than christianity does. to read more about their rules (which are way better than 10 commandments) click here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaVeyan_Satanism#Basic_tenets

those who know me a bit better know that i love paranormal stuff and that i have strong connection with it and that caused a lot of paranormal experiences in my life (i bring all the ghosts to your yard aaayyy) so i recently also discovered demonology ( Demonology is the study of demons or beliefs about demons. They may be human, or nonhuman, separable souls, or discarnate spirits which have never inhabited a body.) and that you can actually learn how to practice it and cant lie that also interests me as well as you contact demons and entities and you work together to learn about world and history and you give them chance to peacefully experience the world (they literally posses you and that way they get to taste food and emotions etc)

yes this is quite informative post as well. and yes, you will all probably deem me insane after reading all this. and what i noticed is that all of them mentioned above work on the principle of cooperation, you have to give to receive. and i dont mean like you have to make blood sacrifices to get your wishes, i mean you have to put in some effort in it and show good intentions and most important of all  - you have to show some respect.

so to finally get to the reason why you are all here. manifestation and law of attraction.

there were loads of instances in my life where i noticed small details that most of people wouldnt notice and after googling them one word kept coming up - universe. so automatically when you start look into that law of attraction and manifestation  come up as well, they all g hand in hand like little happy family.

So law of attraction is something you all definitely had experience with. Basically its what you put out to the world is what you get. Simple change of mindset can change everything in your life. Have you noticed when you are happy and spreading happiness everything around you seems nicer, people are nicer to you, nice things happen and then when you are in bad mood everything is going bad.

Sounds familiar? That is law of attraction for you people. you’re releasing/giving good vibes to the atmosphere and people around you so universe makes sure to give good things back. notice that give and take relationship here? Dont be fooled tho, its not always as simple as it sounds. it is especially hard when you get into that deep hole of feeling bad a and depressed. it is really hard to change your train of thoughts and get yourself to think positive. universe wont award you for one good thought, it has to be series of it and you really need to feel them. you truly need to be in a good moment to get something back from universe.

say thank you to people serving you, ask people how are they, show that you care, pick up a paper from street and throw it in a bin, smile to everyone, pet a random animal on a street, anything counts. and dont do it just because you expect something huge from universe as most of the time universe will give back with good things as well, someone will help you, smeone will compliment you, you’ll get free cup of coffee, just random things like that. you will be surprised that good things will come to you in a moment you need. it also makes you more grateful for everything in your life and makes your everyday nicer and more positive.

then we come to manifestation. 

thiiiiiis my people is bit more complicated than just law of attraction, but one without other does not go. there is no definition of the manifestation, but it is a fact that if you want something really bad universe will give it to you. i had universe manifest so many of my things that i wanted, just took a bit of time. maybe it has happened for you too. sit and think how many things did you wish for and you have them now? there are certainly more than few things that come to your mind. i can easily name at least 10 things that universe manifested for me without even realizing that was it.

there are many ways to manifest something and it is impossible for me to write everything about it in this post as it is bit more complicated than law of attraction, but i will try to outline some things and believe me when you google manifestation you will find loads of examples and you can read for days about it. 

every single wish you want to manifest you can, it just requires some work and that is the hardest part. there are many ways of manifesting something, scribbling, drawing, visualizing, meditating and many more - you need to find something that works the best for you. you need to have clear vision of what you want (general idea wont work), you have to want it really strongly and you need to start working towards it, even little steps - remember when i said you have to give to receive, same with universe. it wont just drop it in your lap because you decided it would be beneficial for you. 

and have in mind very important thing universe will always provide and it will give you what you deserve when you are ready for it.

so yes, it means it can take waaaay longer than you expect it, it may not be hours, days it may be years, it just means that you are not ready for it yet but that doesnt mean universe is not working on bringing it to you. all the work you put into it will definitely be worth it.

for example i fell in love in marketing in university and always wanted a job in that field. it did not get easy to me at all. i spent long five years applying for the jobs and either getting rejections or no answer. and believe me that could put me in such bad mood sometimes that i just wanted to give up on everything. add to that anxiety struggles and that makes it even harder. and as mentioned in the last year i worked on myself mentally, my anxiety has been on lower levels for a while and it does spike up now and then and it messes things up, but i’ve been happier mentally then i ever was in last 5 years and towards end of the last year more and more good things started to come my way and then i finally got that long awaited job.

i am still looking a proper way to thank universe for making it happen for me as that is also important thing for manifestation.

going to use myself as example - being a cheerleader, moving to another country, going to enrique iglesias concerts, visiting loch ness and Neuschwanstein Castle and many more were just big wishes at one point and so far they all came true and i couldnt be happier. it can be small things as well, once i tried to test it and i wanted to manifest a drink date. so i kept thinking how i will go for a drink with someone next week. and it happened, next week i went for a drink with a guy i just met, completely unexpectedly. i didnt specify anything else other than gooing for a drink at that was the only thing that happened.

once wished for more money (also nothing specific stupid me haha) and after two days i found €5 on the floor. not much but universe did provide what i wanted :D

as i’ve said, manifestation is more complicated than law attraction and requires strong mind and strong will, so not only that you get what you wish and work for - it makes you a better person as well! To end this i am going to leave couple of links you can visit and see more about them, or if you’re more adventurous just google manifestation and enjoy your journey :) https://medium.com/thrive-global/9-principles-of-conscious-manifestation-3d2df7a4a87

https://elysesantilli.com/what-is-manifestation/

https://blog.mindvalley.com/manifestation/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZNFXNnKOLdA5ZD7Sn2p5aQ/videos

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvptCAXYmDZMOffniGRfomQ/videos

[destiny-smasher]

Kingdom Hearts 3 impressions

So, uh, I will ONLY be talking about stuff up until the very start of the second World, and only AFTER the break. Kingdom Hearts 1 was an incredibly important and influential piece of media when I was growing up. I was writing fic based on Smash Bros. just before KH rolled onto the scene was like, “Yo, Disney and Final Fantasy, BAM, fuckin’ random? fucking RADDDD” and I was all about it. You had FF characters remixed with OCs remixed with Disney characters, and the villains were all crossing over to form the League of Bad Cartoons, it was a great time. And then Nomura realized his gamble was a win and decided to waste the next 15 years of everyone’s time shoving in every trope he liked, every IDEA that felt “cool” together into a mish mash of whatever the hell this “narrative” has become. Suffice it to say, I’ve got beef with Kingdom Hearts as a “story.” It just occurred to me today that a big part of this is thematic/tonal.

But it’s also VERY rare, maybe even unprecedented, for a piece of media like Kingdom Hearts 3 to come around. For years, then months, then weeks, then days, I told myself, “It’s not real, that game doesn’t exist, I won’t believe it until I’m literally playing it” and just could not be bothered to be hype or interested, if only because Nomura’s “vision”, from my perspective, warped something I admired in my youth into a fucking train wreck, leaving me very little to feel emotionally invested in outside of Aqua and by proxy the two lads she is trying to protect. (also I GUESS I’m slightly invested in Axel/Xion/Roxas.../Namine? for similar reasons now that I think about it?) Well, guess what? Kingdom Hearts VERY WELL might be real, and I very well might be about three hours into it. And for all of the beef I have with the plot, I am fucking relieved that those three hours have felt/sounded good, as a video game. NOW we’re gonna talk about the first World. --

When I first heard that Olympus was gonna be the first World in KH3 I was disappointed and BAFFLED. We’re visiting that place a THIRD time? And why THAT World? Turns out, there’s actually some substantial thematic relevance and that’s actually A-OK, not to mention that starting with a familiar world after ALL OF THIS TIME is not such a bad way to kick things off. First off, structurally, I actually really enjoyed the way this world played out. Two of my biggest problems with KH as a video game series have been that worlds feel like empty, vacant, haunted houses, and that said worlds are usually small and linear with a lot of pointless backtracking. Olympus fixes all of this. There are NPCs. Actual fucking PEOPLE in this world. Sure, they’re just people in danger, calling for help, but they’re THERE for once! And they have vocies! EVERY line of dialogue (except for like one “plot” moment) has actually been voiced so far! About time. Also. This World is not as linear as most KH Worlds. In fact, it help more open and dynamic than ANY World in any KH game so far, not to mention it featured three, THREE (wtf) unique and distinct types of settings. The city, the mountain, and Olympus. Nice. ALSO also. The music. We’ve been here before. We KNOW that Olympus theme from earlier games. And as you traverse the city, up the mountain, you hear this more sweeping, movie-like version, and it’s like “oh whoa nice” aaaaand then you get TO Olympus and it KICKS in, the old song, up to modern snuff. That was great. That was a thing that really helped convey “Kingdom Hearts is back, baby.” The World was big, compared to typical KH worlds. It had multiple nooks and crannies to explore, side-paths to go down, treasure to find hidden away. There is a LOT of verticality. Running up walls and seamlessly hopping over things in the environment makes traversal more enjoyable than it ever has been. Even though a lot of the World is technically a linear path it’s not structured like a path. Going off and exploring rewards you with items and the like, and the World is big enough to actually feel like you have places to poke around in. Having said this, WHY is there no...map? Like. You literally COLLECT Maps from Chests like you used to. But near as I can tell, there’s no way to pull up an actual MAP, to seer where the main path is, to see where the side paths are. It’s boggling. Maybe the game has the option hidden away somewhere but if so, that’s just silly. And if there’s just no actual map option at ALL that’s just...baffling. There were barely any load times for how much SPACE there was to navigate, and things looked very shiny and pretty, and ran at a smooth 60 fps MOST of the time. Tech specs aren’t everything, but when your brand is built on “looking pretty” it sure af helps when you bring scale AND a smooth framerate to match. It’s weird, and a bit jarring, sometimes in a good way, to see all of this stuff rendered in modern tech. Stuff looks...a little too plasticy a lot of the time, (which actually ought to pay off when we get to Toy Story?) but the environments so far feel rich and vast and detailed all at once in a way we just have never seen the series, because we’re basically jumping from PS2-level tech to PS4. So that difference in production is more noticeable for the wait -- I just wish things looked a bit more...I guess cel-shaded? Like the original trailer. Things (specifically, characters) look a little too flat/plasticy at times, for how pretty things are. Combat seems to be as flashy as ever and I’m sure I’ll feel differently as I get further in and unlock more options but it’s still too easy, simple, and mashy for my tastes. I am HOPING we get more moments that require quick reflexes and specific tactics like the harder moments of older KH games. The amusement rides mechanic is...weird. It’s given NO context in universe. And they last a little too long/feel too overpowered for how easy they are to utilize. Similarly, there are frequently seemingly random party-member tag-team attacks that...just seem like “press triangle to win” moves. I wish they entailed more interaction, and/or felt less common/random. I like the IDEA of these kinds of moves, especially ones that change your controls/method of attack for a few seconds (like Hercules’ team attack) but the execution makes them feel too cheap and easy to abuse, with combat that’s ALREADY skewing on the “too easy” side for the genre. I like the “form change” for keyblades, and that you can swap keyblades in the middle of a fight. Really hoping this allows for some good tactical stuff later -- buuuuut that would also require the game to ASK OF ME to do more than “mash X,” which KH as a brand typically does not do... Characters SPEAK in reaction to gameplay moments, when you initiate things in the environment, etc. It’s a nice touch that makes them feel more like characters in an RPG. Donald and Goofy are ALWAYS in the party, alongside the Disney member(s). NICE. Maybe KH3 is putting its best foot forward, but overall, I was pleasantly surprised with Olympus. It single-handedly corrected MOST of the issues I’ve ever had with Kingdom Hearts level design. I only hope the momentum keeps going. Moving on, Gummi Ships. What little I played is easily the best they have every been. I love having an open world with optional places/fights to explore, while still giving me those shmup-like bursts of action. The Gummi Phone seems like a fun mechanic, and taking selfies/photos makes SENSE for this game because of how visually detailed it is -- but the pleasant surprise was how I took selfies with Donald and Goofy and they REACTED to it, starting to pose and commenting on it. On the other hand, the loading screen being nonsensical “social media” posts from KH characters...I don’t like it thanks go away. x’D I’ve spent only a few minutes in Twilight Town and INSTANTLY I am so much more enamored than I ever was in previous games. Not just due to the bump up in visual fidelity, but also because -- GASP -- NPCs??? Are you trying to tell me this is an actual TOWN that people LIVE IN?? Holy shit, Kingdom Hearts, I never knew! For all of this stuff I liked, though, KH3 is still...a KH game. Which means after you get through the intro, after you gear up to land in Olympus, the game flashes the title: “Kingdom Hearts II.9″ ...no. Just no. Fuck. Stop doing this shit. Whenever an Organization 13 member (or EX member) shows up and starts speaking all cocky in riddles like the flamboyant anime jackass they are, whenever Mickey starts dead-ass blathering about weird nonsense whenever the plot HAS to acknowledge “oh right Sora golly gawrsh ya FURRGOT this random bullshit a-FYUCK better shove this expository throwaway dialogue right in here before we go n’ furrget again!” whenever Kairi continues to be irrelevant and invisible after ALL THIS TIME whenever Rikku has to say some obligatory thing about his darkness or his copy of himself or Ansem or whatever whenever the plot informs Sorta/Dornold/Goffy about another convoluted ridiculous THING that we already know about and they MAYBE already know about because it is OBLIGATED to because this game’s entire purpose has become to “wrap things up already Nomura” I am reminded of the freshly opened scar on my heart from how much SHIT this series has dragged itself through for...what? Nothing worth all of this, IMO. Thankfully, these moments feel less and less pressing in KH3′s opening hours than they certainly could be, though I’m sure the closing hours of the game -- once they’ve tidily gotten all of that silly, inconsequential DISNEY CONTENT out of the way (even though that’s the BULK of the game environments and HALF of the series’ identity/purpose) -- those closing hours will surely be packed to the gills with all of this crazy crap. Maybe by then I might finally care enough to finally get the catharsis I’ve waited over a decade for. I dunno. I’m just relieved the game looks, plays, sounds, and feels as good as it does so far. EDIT: almost forgot to mention this since it hasn’t actually come up yet BUT I picked up a BUNCH of “ingredients”??? Like. FOR COOKING??? Which is one of my all-time favorite mechanics in a video game?? (thanks Paper Mario) So I’m at LEAST excited to see what THAT is all about.

[cc-crossover-collision-rpg]

// readme.doc from RPfighter version 1.02 [23/4/2012]

will edit colours into post later (like with the doc), dark red for features that don’t work yet, and dark blue for features that are new (compared to the last version)

Hi, you who is reading this. You should know me from online messengers such as MSN (shadowed-knight-989@hotmail.com), and AIM (SpeedPhantom7) under the display name of ‘Vizard’. // I had a Bleach phase back then, okay? lmao

Anyway, welcome to the late RPfighter version 1.02 (23/4/2012). I am a big fan of anime/manga, and video games, in particular crossover games like Marvel vs. Capcom, Super Smash Bros Brawl and Jump Ultimate Stars, which is where the basic goal of this aims at: to simulate crossover matches! Much like in MUGEN where you could put any kind of character sprite sets into one of its gaming engines, you can put in a canon or original character of your own into this simple (for now) turn based 1 on 1 fighter.

Things in dark red do not work yet… so try to avoid using them in the game for now to avoid the game from crashing or you taking damage.

Things in dark blue are new features/changes added since the last update/version.

THE FILES

RPfighter.exe: Open this to start the game. If you have the data.txt file open, an error message will pop up, so then close data.txt and try again.

data.txt: This is where all the character and move data are stored. data.xls: You can rename this however you want, this is just a spreadsheet for you to keep all your data nice and neat. Here will also the explanations in this readme and such to help you while character creating. Through multiple spreadsheets I will be adding ‘character batches’ of my own in them as I keep on upgrading the battle system (a way to test things and create characters of my own), all you got to do is simply copy and paste it all under each other in data.txt. This way you can add/have as little or many characters in there as you please at any one time and exchange characters from other people too!

(folder/directory) pix: All the pictures and icons are stored here.

How the battle system works

1. Player’s Attack Phase: You select a move and use it by clicking the button (at the top centre) or by pressing the enter/return key 2. Opponent’s Defence Phase: The opponent then randomly selects one of the following defensive actions (which later you can manually choose for yourself) - Do Nothing: Really doubt anyone would want to choose this, but if you got a big enough ego, go for it bro.

- Block: Deducts/lessens damage taken by up to 50%

- Dodge: There’s a 50/50 chance of taking the full damage or not taking damage, it is dependent on your luck, chances can be increased with evasive techs.

- Counter (with selected move) This depends on the type of move it is: - - Physical/Energy Attack: You hit the attack coming at you with one of your own, effectively blocking some to all of the move damage depending on its power. If it is stronger, it will do the overpowered damage back at your opponent. - - Evasive: The base dodge chance of any move is 50% for fairness, you can change this to be greater than 50. It is set at 75% in the example characters as a baseline. .Be careful though this does use the same amount of energy as if attacking, so make sure it counts,

3. Opponent’s Attack Phase: Opponent randomly selects one of its moves 4. Player’s Defence Phase: You choose a defensive move to react with. Note that using a transformation/energy recovery tech in this phase will not work, you will be hit instead. 5. Back to step 1 Fight ends when you or your opponent’s HP reaches 0 (if it is 1 vs 1).

If you or the opponent team have more than one character (thus ‘team’ battle)

1. You can freely switch characters by selecting them during the attack phase 2. Opponent is unable to switch in and out for now during the defence phase. 3. Opponent is unable to switch in and out for now during the attack phase 4. You can freely switch characters by selecting them during the defence phase, enabling ally actions.

Any character with HP down to 0 or less, they will be unusable in battle. Once you KO one of your opponent’s characters, the next character in line will replace them. Fight ends when all members of the opposing team are KOed.

How to add a character into the game (also in the ‘data.xls’ comments at the top)

Within data.txt, the first row has character info: Character: Name of the Character however you want, just make sure you can recognise it. Series: If they’re from a particular series, name it here. Race: So, ‘what’ are they exactly? Affiliation: Even those of the same race can have different loyalties Rank: Within certain affiliations, statuses and races, there are ranks in them, name it here if applicable Intro: What your character would say/do at the beginning of the battle

Win: What your character would say/do when they win the battle Lose: What your character would say/do when they lose the battle Info: This is where you put in more detailed information not covered above, such as who made this character/what it is for, etc.

The rest that follow (until the next character row) are moves for that character above Move: Name of the move Type: These are split into multiple categories, series examples will follow for clarification Physical Attack: An attack that is of a physical nature, usually requiring little or no energy to use. e.g. punches, kicks, weapon/sword attacks, tool like projectiles, etc. Energy Attack: An attack of a non-physical nature, usually some form of energy/element which usually uses up energy. e.g. Ki Blast, Hado, Rasengan, Fire Dragon’s Roar, Firaga, etc.

At the moment, there is no difference between the two, but they will be as attack effects/additional move types are introduced.

Transformation: A move that changes the character’s attributes, appearance and moves set. e.g. Super Saiyan, Bankai, Gear Second, Dragon Force, Sage Mode, etc.

Healing: Regaining of HP. e.g. Medical Ninjutsu, High Speed Regeneration, Recover, etc Energy Recovery: Regaining of energy. e.g. Ki Charge, Mask Regeneration, Chakra Recovery etc Evasive: A move used to dodge other moves. e.g. After Image Technique, Substitution Jutsu, Flash Step, Double Team, etc

Defensive: A move used to block other moves. e.g. Danku, Ki Shield, Mud Wall Jutsu, Barrier etc Offensive Technique: These do indirect damage or assist with it, includes blinds, binds, weakening and such, e.g. Solar Flare, Sealing Jutsu, Binding Arts, Screech, Slow etc. 

Power: How powerful the move is at what is does, specific for each move category: Physical/Energy Attack: How much damage the attack does

Transformation: What the character transforms into (Ichigo Kurosaki ‘Shikai’ => Ichigo Kurosaki ‘Bankai’) Healing/Energy Regen/Absorption: How much HP/energy would be regained once used. Evasive: Dodge chance to changed to (50+), if you use it to evade a move, dodge chance will be increased beyond the base. This also reduces the dodge chance of your own moves (if you used it before an attack) if the opponent tries to dodge them.

Note that using it multiple times in the attack phase will not make it stackable, you’ll be just wasting energy.. Defensive: The maximum amount of possible blocked damage (75 => up to 75% damage blocked)

Offensive Technique: Stuns (stun\3 => stuns for 3 turns, attack\50 => Attack damage is halved)

Energy: How much energy the move costs With the introduction of transformations, the last move (if there is no attack that uses no energy) should be a ‘revert’ move that transforms the user into a form that does have an attack that has requires no energy tp ise, usually a base form. See the sample characters for examples. 

RP: Describe or RP the move out however you want, make it dialog, do a quick text action, do a long ass RP, it’s up to you. The AI will choose a RP randomly to represent this particular move if you so choose. You will notice that intro, win, lose and RP have the character ‘|’ in between lots of text in the example characters. Your character can have as many of these as they want, anzd all you have to do is put a ‘|’ to start a new one.

How to add pictures to your own/any character and their moves into the game

You got your character and their moves set up, have some pics? 1. Go into the ‘pix’ folder 2. Create a new folder and name it as your character’s name 3. Now inside the folder is where you will put your pictures 4. The picture names must be exactly the same as your move names (otherwise it’ll just be the ‘no image’ one instead in error), and should be saved as ‘.jpg’ for them to work

5. In the game, move pictures are split into ‘charging’ and ‘attacking’ types, the ‘attacking’ picture will have a ‘2’ at the end while the ‘charging’ one will just be the move nam       e.

eg.  Folder name in the ‘pix’ folder: Naruto Uzumaki Charging move pic => Rasengan.jpg Attacking move pic => Rasengan2.jpg

Now if you don’t have 2 pictures then you can just use the same one (copy and paste it and rename it with a 2 at the end) if you wish. 

Now aside from moves there are some other pictures as well that will be specific to your character: icon.jpg: This represents your character like any icon would hit.jpg: Picture used when you are hit by a move, this includes failed defensive attempts. dodge.jpg: Picture used when you successfully dodge block.jpg: Picture used when you block trans.jpg: Picture used when the user transforms/reverts into the form preview.jpg: Picture for when you are selecting that particular character (form) win.jpg: Battle victory picture lose.jpg: Battle loss/KOed picture

Doesn’t matter how big or small the image is, it will stretch or shrink to the game’s size, which is for now 160x120 pixels. Note that Player 2’s pictures will be flipped horizontally, so you might want the character facing the left if possible so things look better.

NEW FEATURES SINCE THE LAST VERSION (1.01) - Character select screen - Image shakes when you get hit/block - Added numbers for block./dodging so user can see how close/far they were at dong it, especially when using evasive moves - Working Transformations (switch to another character form, or even another character if it makes sense) - Team Battles (switch ins/outs on attack/defending, team attacks are being worked on) - ‘Turns’ have been added for convenience for those reading the battle logs

THINGS BEING WORKED UPON FOR THE NEXT VERSION (1.03) - Stat System - Defensive/Offensive Techniques - Targeting System (for attacking other opponents/assisting other allies)

[thelongestdamnreviews]

Another Metroid II Remake

This review covers v1.2.10, and I didn't know 1.3.1 was already out by the time I finished.  I used an Xbox 360 controller and according to the final stats screen, it took me 4h47m44s to finish the game, with 84% item completion.  I got locked out of the extra features because I suck, but more on those later.

I own the original Metroid II and I only beat it once many years ago, with a clear time of 10h07m.  I don't really remember much about it, other than I got lost about constantly.  No, I didn't make maps.  It was okay but I didn't really get into it.  I haven't gone back because I'm honestly spoiled by things like the automap.  I haven't beaten the original Metroid because of that, actually.  But yeah, my poor memory of the original will lead to poor comparisons, so forgive me for that ahead of time. 

Another Metroid 2 Remake looks to try to give this game the Zero Mission treatment.  A bigger view area, actual colors, better spritework, more items, new items that weren't in the original Metroid 2, new bosses...  It sucks that this was DCMA'd by Nintendo, though who would've thought they were remaking this game too after the poor reception of Other M and Federation Force? 

The story's still the same as in original Metroid II.  The Galactic Federation, realizing the threat that the Metroids serve to the galaxy's peace, orders Samus Aran to go exterminate them on their homeworld of SR388.  You land and leave your ship and prepare to start kicking ass all over the planet.  Things are a little bit different now and that extends to more than just the graphics. 

Parts of the original game were changed around to account for new content such as Power Bombs and the Speed Booster.  You still have the hidden tank upgrades that require different powerups to access, but that's typical Metroid for you.  You get items in a different order and because beams actually stack in this game, you don't need to remember where the Ice Beam was before you tackle the final area.  You actually get the Ice Beam near the end of the game, but you get Space Jump relatively early so you're still free to explore without your floating platforms.  I might not've been paying attention in other games, but this was the first time I noticed that destructible blocks could actually regenerate themselves after a moment.  Not all of them do that but it's one of those things that got me to do a double-take. 

Pretty neat puzzle involving you steering an Autoad to drop Super Missiles onto platforms to make a path for Samus. 

Fighting Metroids in this game is between annoying and dangerous.  I remember in the original M2, you just plugged them with missiles as fast as you could when they appeared.  That still largely applies here but this time you need to hit them in their soft undersides or your missiles will just bounce off.  All of the Metroids have new attacks, like the Alphas having a charge attack or a quick move to avoid your shots, and the Zeta and Omega Metroids no longer fly and they're a lot bigger too.  You still have the warning signs of the discarded shells before you encounter one, though be prepared for a sudden SKREE and fight.  The short cutscenes introducing the next evolutionary step were a nice bonus too.

  There are new bosses as well, some of which come from come from other Metroid games.  You encounter Serris for example near the end of the game, serving as a nice bonus callback to Fusion since Serris is from SR388 too.  Some of the new bosses are mechanical in nature, owing to the Chozo being a technologically-advanced race, so expect to get shot at with beams and missiles at some points.  There's a Logbook feature somewhat like the Prime series that automatically scans new environments and bosses, and that can give you hints about what you're fighting. 

“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?” “I didn’t take nuffin’, honest!”

I don't remember the music in Metroid II at all, apart from the main cave theme, the final area theme, and the repetitive Metroid fight theme.  Everything else was ambient.  The music in AM2R takes some cues from the Prime series with the instrumentation, but nothing about it was bad.  The composers deserve credit for making the Metroid fight themes actually high-tempo without sounding like a fast copy of the intro to the Jaws theme.  The sound effects worked fine and there's no voice work except for the very end of the game for a well-known pair of lines. 

Controls were fine and there were several options, such as having the Spider Ball be a hold button or toggle, if aiming was Super Metroid styled with L and R aiming down and up, or like Zero Mission where you stayed diagonal and pressed up or down to switch, and so on.  I think I used the dedicated Morph Ball button more than the usual way of doing it too.  Speed Booster works like in Fusion/ZM with just running until it activates instead of there being a run button like in Super.  There's an option to use the analog stick to have Samus walk, but I never used this and I don't think there's any place it actually is useful, but it's nice to see a rarely-used animation. 

Guess who’s coming to dinner.

I thought the graphics work was great.  They went for sprites and 2D as opposed to Metroid Samus Returns' 3D on a 2D plane, so it has more in line with the GBA games.  The way sprites are rotated in Gamemaker Studio was kinda off but you don't really see it too much (for example, Samus' gunship coming in to land at an angle before leveling off is where it was most obvious for me).  I kinda wish I had a comparison spritesheet but everything in general is just more detailed.  Having an actual background that isn't stark black is a big improvement in any case.  A nice touch was how a couple of areas had entirely different door designs even though they worked the same as normal. 

Speaking of doors...

Difficulty felt about right for Normal, but I hear Hard Mode lives up to its name.  Enemies do a lot more damage and they have some new tactics, but I'm not brave enough to dive into that.  I died to a couple of bosses on Normal just by virtue of taking too much damage without being able to respond in turn.  Omega Metroids had their damage output nerfed in 1.1 but I think the recent fanmade updates put their numbers back where they were, so prepare to lose a few Energy Tanks to each one you fight.  A few bosses at least give you things to shoot to spawn recovery items, so that's some relief. 

Every single one of those dots ignores mercy invincibility.  Every single one of those dots can activate the other bombs.  This is how Metroid can become a bullet hell.  

If you clear the game in under four hours, you unlock New Game+ and Random Game+.  Both set the lava level down low so you're given a lot more freedom to explore and get items in a different order than the linear nature of the game originally allowed, but Random Game+ completely changes the order of items so you might end up getting the Screw Attack very early or Power Bombs instead of regular Bombs, for example.  New Game+ doesn't start you with any previous equipment you had so it's a little bit of a misnomer, but you can always use a save editor to give you some extras before you head out. 

Overall, I enjoyed the game, short as it was.  It's a hell of a lot better than the original Metroid II, not like that's particularly hard to pull off.  I dunno if I want to go back through the game to finish in under four to unlock the extra features, but at least that's something that'll get me to come back, as will future updates.  Part of the DMCA clause said that the original creator of this fangame couldn't work on any more updates, so fans have reverse-engineered what they can and are continuing to bugfix and add small content to the game, like giving the Queen Metroid a new attack and there's plans for a post-credits stinger revealing the X Parasites coming out of dormancy now their predator is long gone... 

Record of Samus