#Shout out to civilians in hero comics

[theusernameiwantisntavailable]

Going insane over civilian characters in hero comics again

[autismsupermusicalassassin]

Moonlight 🌙

moon boys x fem reader

plot: Your chasing an hell hound and .....a Jackal, plus meeting a male copycat?

Warning: ( everything , I don’t own any moon knight shit because Jake Lockley owes me money, incarcerate deception of D.I.D, and it’s sister , swearing,  Camilla earns her own warning)

The Chase 

 Y/N (zed pov):

  Out of all of the nights why would it be this night ? we were suppose to be getting ready for a test that happening tomorrow , when I “we”  I mean my other two people that are living inside me Emmy who is this body I’m been controlling most of her life , and Camilla who is a this English, Latina woman who is really a protector but I see her as the pretty little killer . Anyway our goddess Artemis warn us that the sorceress Circe was here  and she let out a hell hound on the loose , apparently Camilla agree to do it because she was in control at the time. “We should have been in bed ,studying and have some tea” I heard Emmy in my head arguing with Camilla  “Eh not my fault you two are boring ass personalities who don’t know how to have fun-” she scold her after cursing something in Spanish “Will you two shut the hell up in there , We’re supposed to find that hell hound before it hurts an innocent person or worst.....kill a kid” I told them sternly which they shut up “thank you” I replay and continue scouting the area and found not only the Hell Hound but Circe herself  looking like a 60′s super villianess in  comics . She spotted me and gave me a cat like smile “why... isn’t it the famous Moon Knight “ Circe said wickedly while petting the hound “I see that your not wearing that old ceremony armor  anymore “ she gesture at my suit which was black with stars patterns , with a white cape the phases moon belt and three moon on the chest “shame, you should have seen the other two suits Bitch” I shot back “I guess it is the usual villains tell the hero evil plan and get your ass kick in the process “

“ZED!?” Emmy shrieked at my language while Camilla just laughs manically at Circe reaction   to my comment  . “How dare you Moon Knight.” She yet out  when I use  my moon dart to throw at her now bleeding hand  “ I’m just stating the facts now....witch “ I told her getting ready to punch her in the face I bet Mother Freaking Wonder Woman and her so called wonder girls ever did that when they fought her “I protect the people of the night , from what my goddess told me is that you let out the hell hound to what kill the people, MY people of night ? “   Circe didn’t like that at all “I’ll make you regret crossing me!” she shouted and tries to shoot at me with her magic and fails “HA ya miss!” me and Camilla said together not before Circe said this “Μην στέκεσαι εκεί, σκότωσε τους θνητούς!” to the hell hound and pointed at the civilians that made my blood ran cold as I see the hound attacking the innocents “Well don’t just stand there get the Hound Out of here !” I heard Artemis yelled in a Damning way. I look at Her and nod “Hey you giant fur ball !” that got its attention and then I lead them away from the innocents.

Leaping from building to building and getting injury at the process of getting the monster away from the crowded area “come on, come on “ I muttered angry not hearing the danger in Artemis voice “Damn it child it a tra-” Suddenly a purple light flashed around us for a bit but I was so focusing  getting rid of the hound in.... London? wait a darn minute  how in the hell did I got here ?  Okay less thinking and more getting rid of the hell hound.   The Hell Hound yet out a growl but strangely not at me but what “AGHHH” I scream and saw what bite me it... was something far more uglier than the hound “OH bullocks that’s an Jackal” I heard Emmy said “A what now?!?” Camilla asked as i continue fighting off the two hounds off of me heck even throwing the moon dagger in the creature eye “A jackal,but not just any Jackal but it’s an Egyptian Jackal” Emmy told us “but I don’t understand how Circe even pull this off-” 

 “It’s doesn't matter “  I shouted at them and summoning Artemis arrow to shoot at the monsters , but the wound on my shoulder strangely didn’t heal and better yet where the heck is the goddess and why  isn’t the healing working ? as I about to get to fight   when the Jackal gotten hit  with something golden embedded in it chest, “Nice shot amiga” Camilla expland “T-That wasn’t me?”I told them and look at where  the golden thing came from and   There was an man  was the familiar white but it was different and its eyes were glowing white  and mummy looking. and He just stood there watching the interactions, still as a statue.

“who is that Zed?” Emmy asked “and why does he have a similar suit to Camilla?”  ‘A copycat’ I thought but then he jumps and kills my targets while am bleeding out. “Who are you ?” I asked weakly he just look at me those white moon color eyes looking straight into my blue moon eyes strangely felt somehow.......attractive to him whoa where did that came from ? “ooohh it seems we find mister copycat attractive” Camilla said making a smirk and Emmy covering her face like a little girl on her first stage play “I ask Who are you?” I shouted at him as my suit was peeling way to relive my Identity and “I’m Moon Knight , and  Your bleeding kid” he stated with both stern and concern in his voice wait what “NO ,NO Man can be Artemis’s champion her MOON KNIGHT “I shouted and tries punching his chest but grab my wrist and twist my good arm  to keep me in place “I don’t know who told you that kid but ,this Artemis lady  is wrong  “ he told me “Will you stay still or you’ll bleed out more than you already are” after he said that me Emmy and, Camilla all black out.

A/N: Heres the first part of MOON LIGHT I hope you enjoy it 

Translation:

Μην στέκεσαι εκεί, σκότωσε τους θνητούς!- Don’t just stand there,kill the mortals

Tags: @rmoonstoner @ask-jake-lockley @missdictatorme​ @ihavetolistentothaystupidpiegon  

[moxfirefly]

I don't see many who ask for it and I adore the last one you did.

So IF it strikes your creative juices to do so, I would love another Abe Sapien NFSW with a female reader.

I don't have a specific scenario in mind, I thought I would leave that to something that may have been brewing in your mind for awhile. Eh, maybe bonus points for reader being regular bystander type person. But no real emphasis on that.

Again, only if the mood strikes you. I am the type that can only write when it hits me, the story, the timing, etc, so I like to give others a out if the mood never strikes them.

Adore and worship your writing 💞💞💞

Some Abe loving? Heck yes my dude! Also big fan of your stuff! I think this is the first time I have you in the inbox 💕

Rated Explicit (18+ only)

There’s many things that have stricken Abe. He feels things perhaps even more strongly than many could. The super hero gig brings a lot of emotions to the forefront, is he just a well treated captive with morals? Maybe. It’s protecting mankind something stands for? Most certainly.

Still doesn’t make the job any less harder.

And sure some civilians would rather spit at him and his comrades, treat them as less, as freaks.

Which brings him to right now, hiding behind a strangers couch while the authorities speak to her.

“Are you sure you didn’t see anything suspicious?” The too well dressed agent ask once more. You shake your head.

“Like I said, I heard noises but I wasn’t about to stick my head out the window” Actually you had, and that’s when you saw blue and large black eyes. The supposed cop writes something down, gives you once last glance behind your shoulder before thanking you for the cooperation.

The evening had gone from completely quiet to a few shouts and gun fire, which was common in this neck of the woods but when you chanced a glance and saw Abe (he had politely introduced himself) you noticed the wound on his arm.

“I think you’re clear, for now at least” You whispered as you locked the door, Abe slowly stood from behind the couch, large eyes blinking.

“I cannot begin to express my gratitude….” You held your hands up and shook your head before he could continue. “I just, it felt wrong to leave you out there and much more to turn you in” Your eyes followed the blood on his arm, it hit you again and you jittery went about looking for a towel or anything whilst apologizing profusely.

Between stopping the bleeding and getting a crash course on suturing with dental floss and a needle, the hours had passed between that and gentle speaking. Abe had explained who he is and what he does. His busted up communicator had been the first problem of the night, getting separated from his team had been the second. Your superstitious brain had its way upon learning that creatures of all sort (good or bad) basically roam the earth.

“Have you ever thought about leaving?” You had asked over a warm cup of coffee. Those bottomless eyes of his had twitched slightly.

Abe’s thought of it. Packing up randomly and just leaving. To see how true it is that he’s the last of his kind, the last of his family.

When a stranger says it, it feels sort of possible.

Doable.

He shakes his head instead, the edges of his mouth betraying only slightly. “No, I can’t” He leaves it that and you silently accept it.

Curiosity gets a hold of you as you tentatively pressed an index and forefinger to his forearm. He’s naturally cool, insanely soft but firm. You smile genuinely surprised, if anything mesmerized by the look of him.

You did always feel at home in the water. To see somebody who, for them, the water was first nature for them. Well it made all those stories your nana would tell you about the sea life feel so real. Just like that you let both fingers trail down his forearm, a gentle path without words.

And yet it spoke so greatly to Abe.

“I’m not a mermaid” He laughed softly, your wide eyes too comical for him to handle.

“Forgive me, but I have other abilities that allow me to… well to read you better” Did he just admit to being a mind reader?

You swallow, embarrassment tinting your cheeks and a hand still resting atop his own. Abe, not wishing to, read every alarmed thought and even ones that would’ve made him blush if he could. His hand held your wrist gently. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you” His apology was genuine, you shook your head with a shy smile.

What a strange turn of events the night had been. After some chatter and another pot of coffee, Abe was standing to take his leave. He had to somehow find his way back to the main camp, from there alert everyone that he was safe and had just been taking shelter.

In the company of a beautiful lady.

He swallowed, absently he ran a hand over the bandages you had so carefully wrapped around his arm. “All things considered, I’m glad you showed up at my window” You walked him over to said window, you both chuckled.

“All things considered, thank you for helping me… I fear I wouldn’t have had the same luck with the family of four beneath you” That pulled another series of chuckles from the two of you. There was an awkward pause, Abe stuck his hand towards you. You licked your lips and shook your head.

Instead you wrapped him up in a hug.

It left him quite stumped and not many things stumped Abe. Slowly he wrapped his arms around you, palms resting at the middle for your back. You thought about how nice he felt against you and it was enough to make his body feel something.

You pulled away gently, fingers lingering over cold scales. Those big dark doe eyes of his blinked in their unique inquisitive way.

Something inside of you said, ‘screw it’

Abe feels lips against his own, soft and unsure but nevertheless, perfect.

Kissing didn’t seem like something he’d ever partake in, needless to say it didn’t mean he often thought about it.

And now, with your lips against his own, he feels so much more than just your curiosity. He feels the shape of you against him, hands cupping his cheeks, the gentle tug to bend just enough to better kiss him. It’s almost intimidating how wrapped up he is in it.

When you seize with a gentle final press to the bottom of his lip, Abe’s forgotten his original intention of bidding you adieu.

Instead, he captures your lips once more and chances upon a firmer kiss. You follow it, follow the shyness and inexperience but the mechanics are there, the knowledge is there and you sweetly guide him in the dance of it. You find yourself pressed against the very window he was about exit out of and the cold of his skin in front you rivals the cold of the glass behind you. He’s firm, not at all jacked up like your past lovers but there’s an enticing strength to his lean body.

There’s something even more enticing how the blue of his skin contrast against your own human tone. The buckle of his belt digs into your navel when you urge him closer, lost in his cold lips. That very hand that could read anything it touches, finds your neck and lingers in warmer flesh.

You want him. It’s insane but you know you want whatever may happen.

He reads that, it makes him shudder because up until now he knew no one would ever consider him to be a lover.

And yet here you were, pressing your lower half against his own and letting a soft moan scatter inside his mouth and down his throat. It goes straight to his gut, so much more lower and it’s enough to make him stop and consider you once more.

“I want to…” He already knows the ending to that sentence.

“You, you don’t know me” He’s trying to find a inch of reluctance somewhere inside of you.

But he finds none.

Just lust, just need.

Just the thought of him and what lies beneath his-

Abe swallows, dark eyes blinking when he feels the palm of your hand against his stomach. “You said you’re the good guy in all this, yeah?” Your voice is teasing, nails tempting him further when they scratch closer to the buckle of his belt. Abe only nods, head tilting down to watch that very hand unfasten it, his weapon and other utensils fall.

“Then, unless you don’t want me, I don’t see why we can’t” Your tongue snakes out to lick your lips and Abe follows the movement.

“I- I do” A part of him feels shameful, feels he’s taking advantage but it’s not the case? Is it? Just insecurity trying to claim him once more. He feels your hands grasp his wrist and guides them to your chest-

Oh that’s, they feel very, very soft.

He goes in again, kissing you just a little more feverishly, enjoying that noise he swallowed not too long ago again.

Somewhere between more kissing and curious hands he has you bare before him and you’ve just finished nudging his shorts with the heal of your foot. The glass behind you in already hot, somewhat steamed with your body heat. It’s tricky and he’s self conscious but the few glances you sneak between the two of you find you even more in lust with the shape of him. You sit on the windowsill and bring him in closer.

You wrap a hand around him and feel his head drop against your shoulder with a shudder. Careful about it, you pump him a few times to get a better sense of his size. “I’ve ne-never-“ You kiss his cheek, kiss the worry away. “It’s okay, want me to lead?” You ask softly against his neck with another languid stroke to his shaft.

Abe nods against your shoulder blade.

When you lead him in, slide him inside with little to no issue, he’s gut punched by the warmth. How tightly you engulf him, the pulsating that has him stuttering his hips and sighing. You wrap your legs around him, a hand shooting up to grip his shoulder. He sees your head thrown back, resting against the glass a picture of eroticism he’s read about.

But here? In real time? With everything that’s coursing in him?

No book could ever amount to this.

He kisses you again, feels more words and cusses filtering into him, breast tightly against his chest and god he’s making you feel this. You watch those bottomless eyes watch every inch of yourself move against him. The wet slide of him leaving and entering you with each thrust picking up more and more. The slap of yourself against the window echoes along with the noises you both make.

You grip his waist with your legs, keeping him locked in place, wanting more of this intoxicating feeling, the coldness of his skin contrasting against your warm one. It’s so good, fuck it’s so good.

His hand finds your own, lifts it above your head not in a show of possession. More so in an intimate need to connect further with you. You hold his hand, grip tightening the more you feel yourself closer to release. With the way he’s breathing you know he is too, the wonderment that he’s probably never done this hits you hard.

“Y-you’re-“ Your mouth opens. “Doing so fucking good” You manage to finish off in the midst of a moan.

And that breaks Abe apart.

Has him burying his face in your neck, a whimper and something you barely make out as a competent sentence. He cums just like that, glued to you, surrounded by your scent and the feel of your hot sweaty skin. He manages to keep going a few minutes more to have you cumin. Abe feels that, the way you tighten and constrict around his cock and the oversensitivity is enough to hook him.

You both try catching air, eyes glued to one another.

A quiet understanding that this simply can’t be the last of it.

[serenawitchwriter]

BNHA Fusion (LOV/Deku)

shigideku

oh boy

both have been deeply wronged by society

unstable but also instantly aware that they��re more compatible than either is comfortable with

insane, muttering, constantly arguing with them-self

black curls that’s longer the deku’s hair normally is. scarred so badly. but decent skin. eye bags, big green eyes. Mikumo vibes

twitchy hands, will scratch anywhere, plays with lip, constantly writing. hands are never still

wears one fingered gloved so he doesn’t decay everything constantly

a genius, master of planning and deconstruction. take the moral limiters of izuku and he could end any hero quirkless

has a level of morality but it’s hard to define. totally down for crime most of the time, loves fighting, but doesn’t target kids or civilians. has a lot clearer motives than shigaraki did alone

they are gonna take down the government probably

daddy issues x2

laughs like a crazy person, wide scary smile

traumatized, ptsd, anxiety, dissociates, ocd. babe has a lot of mental illnesses

plays video games to calm down

loves homemade food

a loner

paranoid

quirk is just... oof. like a nuke going off basically. so fucking destructive, and you know they know how to use it

hates everyone including them-self

self aware of their situation. recognized that they’re being used and targeted and manipulated. on both ends. Shigi sees how he’s being used by afo, Izu sees how the adults in his life have failed him

honestly kinda baby, they need fucking love

hero students and lov members would put aside differences to help them honestly. the world wouldn’t be okay with it, but their friends are loyal

not quite a villain anymore, but definitely not a hero. constantly has internal conflict over this. like they don’t want to give up on hero dreams times 2 but also recognize how utterly fucked society is and wants to tear it down. they’re so full of hate, but want to maintain hope just out of spite at this point

whatever the hell they’re doing they’re not giving up on it

has the power to reshape society and is going to fucking use it

i don’t need to tell you that they’re fucking terrifying

togodeku

obsessive x2

love heroes x2

long curly green hair worn in twin pony tails, 

short, decent sized chest, big red eyes, and a smile that’s too big. fangs. freckles. 

muscular but in a compact way

more stable than they should be

loves themselves.

in love with uraraka, but gets crushes on everyone else extremely easily. ura is their forever girl though

loves making and consuming fan content. a fangirl to a scary degree

an all might stan

naturally, also loves k-pop

no fashion sense, they wish they had it, but they don’t. probably just wearing t-shirts and jeans most of the time. is still kinda hot, but isn’t doing anything to play it up

will hunt you for sport

incredibly fast, loves running and chasing in general

bunny themed outfit still

changing into others is one of their passions. izu lowkey loves this quirk. they’re experts at mimicking others. izuku’s analysis skills makes them too good at this

feral x2

honestly just here for the lols

still wants to be a hero, but isn’t doing a good job of it

easily distracted

probably knits for some reason?

makes gifts for friends and crushes

way more dangerous than they’re letting on. too many people are underestimating them

cute as a button

dabideku

daddy issue x2

bitter as hell

black and white hair, curly. darker at the roots. 

keeps dabi’s scars. green eyes. tall and muscular, lots of piercings. most of Izuku’s details are lost in the scaring

coffee addict

self centered, has a lot of enemies. including endeavor and bakugou, and every middle school bully.

more empathetic though, can have friends and value them, just don’t piss him off because he will hold lifelong grudges

very good at switching back and forth between scary and threatening to cute and innocent. usually the innocence is mocking but it can read as genuine

a good actor in general, but a terrible liar

quirk is not doing him any favors, still has the feedback, but flaming tentacles gives him more control over the fire itself

reads a lot of comic books

a hypocrite

likes to dramatically point at things while shouting

loves solving mysteries and kinda wants to go down a sherlock holmes or batman route

is not pulling that off, maybe jason todd vibes at best

high key just a dramatic dork that’s too good at murder

chaotic neutral to chaotic good

talks too much

good at pissing people off

kinda deserves to get the shit beaten out of him, and i feel like bakugou can pull it off

twicedeku

neurotic

they love their friends so much though

oblivious as hell

like a genius in observation and knowing stuff, but a dumbass at applying that knowledge

would make a good information broker if they could learn to shut the hell up

are they basically deadpool? kinda.

short green hair, cut close to their head

long face, covered in scars, tallish, looks like an adult

pouts and cries easily

smartass

talks to himself x2 god help us

overpowered with his quirk. god help us

laughs at his own jokes

always hungry

winks at the fourth wall

has many stims and hobbies, hands are litterally never not doing something. he’s the kind of person you’ll glance away from, turn back, and find juggling.

we’re talking cat’s craddle, rubix cubes, instruments, puzzles, tearing up candy wrappers, painting his nails, braiding friendship bracelets. he is never still

directionless. lacks motivation

internalizes criticism really easily, to the point that he gets depressed and struggles to act

indecisive to a clinical degree

probably has and anxiety disorder but refuses to acknowledge it

is pretty fucking baby. protect him

spindeku

lol what a nerd

fanboy x2

cries easily. izuku’s habit of crying does not decrease

ultimate ride or die

still a lizard, mohawk is green instead of pink

mixed feelings on stain

searching for the ultimate person to stan. all might stays in their heart, but they want to be edgier

absolutely uses a sword. not the dumb one that spinner uses but it is still a buster sword that’s too large for them. they’re strong enough to swing it around like nothing, i’m picturing cloud from final fantasy’s sword. again they’re really nerdy

disillusioned with society and heroes. both are marked by discrimination and have recognized the failure of heroes and government. aren’t as bitter but determined to do something

sassy but not quite sarcastic

gives really good advice. the friend you go to to have an emotional breakdown

considering pursuing psychology more for this reason. realizes he can use the skill to help a lot of people

isn’t willing to give up fighting or using his sword though. he has an aesthetic

would get along fantastically with tokoyami

also the friend that feeds you. can’t cook very well but always has something on him to give you when he notices you haven’t eaten in a long time.

loves bubble tea

social anxiety, if it weren’t for the fact that he already had friends and a mission, he probably wouldn’t leave the house

surprisingly close to shigaraki, enough of a gamer to play with him, and even gets away with calling him out

(i’m debating how comfortable i am with fusing kids with adults. it seems weird to me, especially the bigger the age difference)

(masterlist)

[shih-coulda-had-it]

Series/film ask, BHNA, and I want your opinion on everyone's fashion sense. ✨

the ask game in question

because i have the fashion sense of a shut-in, i'm actually 80% affectionate of horikoshi's design choices. my least favorite include mineta and a lot of the female pro-heroes outfits (creati, midnight, bubble girl, mirko) because... i can't stop myself from thinking about tiddy physics.

let's see if i can structure this around my favorite characters

casual wear/civilian clothes

nana: LOVE THEM. i can see myself wearing them, and also her half up-do is iconic. the overcoat? the scarf? mom jeans? yes yes yes.

torino: prime torino's black turtleneck short sleeve shirt is very sexy. i know in my heart he's a leather jacket with fleece collar guy, because he's cool. as old torino, i'm a big fan of his button-up, jeans, and cowboy boots with the flames, and i love his belt buckle because it's easy to make fun of it.

all might: his fashion sense is impeccable. leave his banana-yellow pinstripe suit alone!!! his cargo pants have many pockets and are thus useful!!! my current favorite items of his include the aviators of Cool Might, the letterman jacket of Young Might, and his winter overcoat.

hero gear

nana: 8/10. jumpsuit shows off her arms, which is very sexy. billowing white cape with the red skirt-thing to contrast, also sexy. yellow gloves like torino? yes. -1 for continuing to confuse me about the jumpsuit palette, and another -1 for the continuity error in vestigeland, when horikoshi inked in sleeves.

torino: 10/10. iconic. easy to draw from memory. tubby gloves and tubby boots are adorable. he has a G for belt buckle like fashion designer Hermes has an H. there are green buttons for some reason? canonically his jumpsuit's neckline is probably below the cape collar, but i like to hike it up for repressed reasons. i'd like to add that him wearing a domino mask that may or may not have opaque lenses makes him a classic comic book hero.

all might: ??/10. he has so many iterations! and all of them are so fiddly with design that i both love and hate. why doesn't he wear gloves? why are all his jumpsuits vacuum-sealed to his muscles? his belt buckle is designed to have his eyebrows/bangs + the eye shadows, and i think that's lovely.

special shout-outs

en's high collar jacket that makes me think his hero name was smokestack

afo's popped collar overcoat that is so dramatic but indicative that he's a Bad Guy

izuku's shirts that keep having silly names written on the front

hawks' wristwatch fashion ad

lady nagant's "bitch i bet you thought you'd seen the last of me" dress during her fight with izuku

[mirkosteponme]

By Your Side

Kirishima x GN! Reader

Word Count: a little over 1k

Warnings: angst, kirishima being too good for this world, character death, repetitive repetition 

It wasn’t supposed to be like this

The screams of civilians, roars of fires, groans of tumbling buildings, wails of sirens, and shouts of heroes all fade into nothing but a ringing in Kirishima’s ears as he sees his worst nightmare come to life. 

***

“I’m sorry, what?” 

Your drink almost comes out of your nose as you laugh and almost choke from the end of the completely outrageous story your boyfriend just told you. 

“The pelican was the mastermind behind the comic book store raid!” 

Kirishima’s eyes light up when he laughs and you wonder if he knows. His sharp toothy smile is a work of art and his contagious laugh is your favorite song. 

He tilts his head to the side and pouts. “You good babe? You’re staring.” 

He’s just too cute. “Yeah, I’m good- great, actually. You ready to go?” 

Kirishima stands and extends his hand to take yours once you’ve gathered your things. He’s got a habit of swinging your arms back and forth as you walk. Exiting the café, you look down at your intertwined hands and smile. 

It doesn’t get better than this. 

***

He’s running, he took off without realizing. He’s jumping over rubble and hurtling over debris to make his way to where he needs to be, where he promised to always be, by your side. 

“(Y/N)!”

***

Walking in through the doors of class 1-A, the first thing you realize is the crowd of classmates at your desk, for the fifth time this week. 

“(Y/l/n)’s secret admirer has struck once again!”

“Who do you think it could be?”

“Do you think it’s someone from another class?”

“Whoever it is, they sure are dedicated.”

The class parts to make way for you at your desk. You find that today’s treat is an assortment of your favorite snacks and candies in a cute woven basket. But today’s gift is slightly different from the rest. 

“There’s a note this time.” You murmur as you slide into your seat. 

“Open it!” Mina practically roars. She’s probably been the most invested person out of everyone, even once trying to convince you to spy on your desk to catch the admirer. 

It seems as if the whole class is looming over you as you tear open the envelope. 

“Alright, take your seats.”

 The sudden appearance of Aizawa-Sensei effectively scared the class. 

“Whoever it is should hurry up and confess so I can get back to properly teaching my class.” He says, emerging from his sleeping bag. Secretly, he himself was also dying to know who it was. 

As class begins to start, you move the basket carefully to the floor, and you slip the letter out of the envelope as discreetly as possible. Of course no matter how slick you thought you were, the whole class's eyes were on you anyway. The letter is written in a writing you’ve seen before, but can't quite place where from.

(Y/n),

Words cannot describe how much you mean to me, or how much I want to be with you, but I think I’ve found words that come close. After school, meet me under the largest tree in the courtyard. 

                                                            ~

As you walk towards the tree after school, it seems taller than it's ever been. Sunlight flows through the gaps of the leaves and branches and one particular ray falls onto who could only be your secret admirer. Their back is turned and everything about them screams nervousness. You feel it too, hoping it’s who you’ve been pining after for so long. They hear your footsteps and turn around, both of you seem to lose your breath. It’s him. 

He’s holding a single red rose just as vibrant as his hair. He extends it out to you with a slightly shaking hand.

“(Y/n)! If you’ll let me, I promise to be the manliest boyfriend ever and always stay by your side! Please give me the honor of being your boyfriend!”

There’s a period of silence and Kirishima is wondering if he’s done the right thing by confessing. 

But the thought is immediately dismissed when he has to drop the rose to catch you into his arms. 

“Yes!”

You’re both laughing as he spins you around and there are cheers close by from the 1-A windows.

One of the best days of your life.

***

“Let me through!” Kirishima is being blocked by fellow pro-heroes and paramedics alike. He can see a group of them in a circle, but he can't see you.

He saw you. Just a moment ago, falling. He saw you before this disaster, patrolling by his side, discussing what you’d both have for dinner. He saw you just this morning, waking up to you beside him.

Beside him. 

“(Y/n)! Please let me through!” The ring of people surrounding you keeps turning to look at him, quietly discussing until they decide to let him through.

Kirishima rushes in and stumbles to the ground by your side. He takes your head into his lap and winces at the grimace you make. He makes eye contact with who seems to be the lead paramedic. They simply shake their head. Kirishima feels like dying.

“Ei? Is that you?”

The ringing fades from Kirishima’s ears as he hears your voice. 

Your eyes are bleary and fading in and out of focus, but his hair and the outline of his face is engraved in your mind. You’d know the love of your life from anywhere. 

Even on death’s door.

Kirishima struggles to hold back tears, and the feeling of suffocation intensifies. He nearly chokes on his response.

“Yeah honey, it’s me.”

“You’re upside down, love.” You say and Kirishima laughs as the tears finally begin to flow down his face. Your favorite song brings a small smile to your face. 

You reach to hold his face and he grasps his hand in yours, leaning into your touch while he still can. 

“Ei?” You whisper.

“Yes, my love.” 

“Stay with me?’”

“Always, you know I’ll always be by your side.”

You hum, content; close your eyes and smile.

Your hand drops. Strength finally gone. The ringing in Kirishima’s ears returns. He cannot hear the sound of his own screams and wails.

heyyyy besties im back 👉🏾👈🏾

[cornholio4]

Scarlet Lady Au: Two Halves of Marinette’s Heart

Author’s Note: Based on Zoe-Oneesama's Tumblr comic Scarlet Lady which is my fave Ladybug fan content or tied along with LadyBugOut. Only there and the amnesiac Adrien in the episode Oblivion do I ship Adrienette. Also happy birthday to Zoe.

@zoe-oneesama

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was smiling as he was riding on the back of one of her boyfriends Luka Couffaine's bike as he had insisted on giving her a ride to school. He and Adrien Agreste had recently revealed their feelings to her and she was torn between them: the cute and nice Adrien and the cool but also dorky like her Luka. It was tough to think it through even after they had both assured her that they don't want to hurt their friendship with her no matter what she choose. It was Alya who stepped in after healing her dilemma had said that she can just date them both since she had two hands for the each of them. Luka and Adrien were fine with this as long as Marinette was happy and it was then their relationship happened over the weekend.

They had let their family know and they accepted it well: Anarka was quite over the top in her excitement, Marinette's parents and embarrassed her by saying that she had got them 2 sons in law; Juleka had likewise already claimed Marinette as her sister in law and Adrien's father... Marinette and Luka looked at him in sympathy when he just shook his head saying that he was too busy to get a chance to tell him. Marinette comforted him with a hug not really liking how her favourite designer was so cold to his own son. Pollen was more than happy about his Miraculous' owner's new relationship and said his queen deserved all the love that she gets.

Marinette kissed Luka on the cheek after she got off and Adrien was there to greet them as they posed together for a picture smiling which Juleka took with Adrien's photo. Luka and Adrien showed off their custom necklaces around their necks made by Marinette of two halves of a heart with "Marinette's heart" inscribed on them.

"Are you sure that you are ready for everyone to know about you three?" Juleka asked giving Adrien back his phone and they nodded without hesitation.

"I don't really care as much for father's opinion but he seems to like Marinette as an up and coming designer so I think he will give approval." Adrien said with a huffed voice which had them silent.

"I wouldn't want to hide being with Marinette at all; I would sing it with my soul." Luka said Adrien posted the picture on social media with the caption:

Me with Luka Couffaine and our amazing new girlfriend Marinette Dupain-Cheng!

They got in and as students saw the notice they began crowding Marinette and Adrien as they came in holding hands as they went to their classroom. There were students wanting to get a look at 2 3rds of the new couple as they heard the comments:

"Marinette scored herself with 2 cute guys!"

"Are you going to be modelling Marinette's designs now Adrien?"

"So are you going to be Marinette Dupain-Cheng-Agreste-Couffaine in the future?"

They ignored them and walked into class with Juleka not far behind them to see their excited classmates wanting to know the details.

"So Adrien, will you and Luka be fighting eachother to get the most out of Marinette's time?" Alix asked as Marinette glared at her while Rose was squealing about how romantic it was. Marinette was taken aback when she noticed Lila and Sabrina glaring at their direction while looking quite jealous.

She was shocked by this thinking that she was getting along with Lila and Sabrina was forming a good friendship with her while helping her start over from her toxic so called 'friendship' that she had with Chloe. Marinette's eyes widened when she noticed that Adrien went to get to his seat and their looks were going to his direction, so it was Adrien they were angry at?

"Can I please ask if Adrien has done something to anger you?" Marinette asked as they both shook their heads and there were laughter.

"Marinette, they are just jealous that Adrien and Luka got to you first!" Alya told her grinning as they ended up nodding slightly a bit embarrassed.

"You helped me be more truthful about myself and I still remember how in love that I felt when I heard you badmouth that terrible Scarlet Lady!" Lila said as Marinette was open mouthed wondering just could she possibly remember that since she was Volpina at the time. Marinette did remember that while she was telling the love struck Volpina that she hated Hawk Moth more than Scarlet Lady, that she a bit scared that Volpina was going to kidnap her as a bride for her comment alone.

"You've always been so nice to me Marinette and never held what I did for Chloe against me, even when I tried to steal your diary for her and lied my way into your room. You've been more of a friend to me than Chloe ever was and you are so amazing." Sabrina told her as Marinette didn't know what to say.

"I bet Luka and Adrien wouldn't mind if you wanted to date Marinette as well, if Marc is alright with Nathaniel wanting to go after Marinette as well." Rose suggested as Marinette, Sabrina, Lila and Nathaniel were now red in the face.

"Dupain-Cheng!" screamed an unwelcome voice as the entire class groaned in unison as they should have dreaded this reaction as Chloe came in looking angrier than they had ever saw her which was quite an accomplishment for her. "How dare you steal my Adrikins away from me! I could care less if you wanted to waste your time with that loser with the guitar as losers belong together, that do you think that I was going to sit back and let you keep them both for yourself when Adrien is mine!" Chloe thundered as the class glared at her.

"Watch what you say about Marinette or my brother!" Juleka said speaking up using courage that almost never comes to her.

"Adrien is not a prize to be won or yours to claim Chloe; it's his choice who he wants to be with!" Marinette told her as Chloe smirked getting out her phone.

"Managed to get a picture of your little notebook when you had it open and wasn't looking Dupain-Cheng." Chloe said showing off a drawing of a love heart around Chat Noir as Marinette was open mouthed at that picture being shown to the class and red in her face but while angry at Chloe, Adrien couldn't help but smile a bit at the picture. "So do you want to claim the mangy cat as well Dupain-Cheng with how pathetic you are?" Chloe snarked looking victorious but Adrien spoke up.

"Nothing wrong with having a celebrity crush Chloe, I have one on Marigold myself." Adrien said taking out his notebook and showing that it had a photo of the Bee heroine Marigold with a heart drawing around it as Marinette was redder in the face while Chloe was open mouthed.

"Nothing wrong with that dude, she is pretty much the best hero that Paris has now!" Nino said with everyone smiling and nodding in agreement besides Chloe and Marinette. Marigold has with her fighting tenacity, warm comforting words to Akuma victims after they were being freed and happy to help civilians in need made her a more popular hero. She had given interviews and how valued Chat Noir was as a partner and helped Paris realise how hard he had to fight against the Akumas.

"Excuse me but Scarlet Lady is by far Paris' best hero!" Chloe retorted by Alya got out her phone and showed the poll that the news station had made asking Paris citizens who they liked the best.

Marigold was in the lead followed by Chat Noir, Maotif the one time temporary Chat Noir was in 3rd place and in a very distant 4th place with barely 1% vote was Scarlet Lady. "Paris disagrees Chloe." Alya told her and Chloe was furious. People were being interviewed and the stories of people's interactions with Scarlet Lady were now circulating.

"Adrien, you can't seriously be okay with this! I'm your friend and we would be much better than stupid Dupain-Cheng!" Chloe told Adrien but he shook his head.

"'Were' your friend Chloe, 'were' as in we used to be and haven't really been friends for a long time but I am just making it official!" Adrien thundered and Chloe was open mouthed and this surprised the class. "Sorry Chloe, I have tried to give you some time to better yourself but you keep pulling these stunts while being a cruel bully to our classmates and treating me like a possession of yours. Calling my girlfriend and my new bro losers was me losing all patience and I can't pretend anymore. I am sorry Chloe but I can't be friends with you anymore, you are different from the friend that I used to have." Adrien said and Chloe furiously charged at Marinette.

Adrien caught her hand and glared at her hard before letting go, Chloe began ranting and shouting on the spot while kicking the desk and Ms Bustier had to tell her off and send her to the principal's office.

"Sorry about that Adrien..." Marinette said since as much bad blood as there was between her and Chloe, the bully did used to be a friend to Adrien.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, just keep being the girl that I love." Adrien told her and she smiled back.

Later in the week, after school they were at a park bench as Marinette was at Luka's lap and Adrien was in Marinette's as the three relaxed together. However they heard screaming and saw an Akuma attacking people in the streets.

Marinette jumped out of Luka's lap and helped Adrien up who was in a similar panic as her's. "Sorry guys, I hate to break up a perfect moment but... I have to get a cake to Nadja and I don't want to be earlier than I was last time since it didn't go so well..." Marinette said thinking on the spot.

"Don't worry... I just remembered an event that my dad would want me to be at..." Adrien said as they both ran off in separate directions.

Luka smiled as she dusted himself off and went home chuckling at them, after a few days of this did they really think that he would not pierce it together? No matter, this means that he could talk to Adrien about Marigold and bond over them crushing on her.

[escapist-dreams]

Fix it ~ Invincible Fanfiction

Summary: Rex's hand gets damaged in a fight. No one is willing to help him, so he helps himself.

Warnings: spoilers for both the Invincible animated show(episode 7) and comics(issue #40) concerning Rex-Splode, injuries(nothing nearly as graphic as the source material)

Word Count: 2.3k

This is my first Invincible fanfic, and one of the first fics I've written in awhile! Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy! Feel free to tell me what you think about it! Constructive criticism would be appreciated :D

"We meet yet again, Invincible!" D.A. Sinclair shouted with his usual dramatic flair. He had escaped from the government facility a couple months ago and holed up in a sewer, making more of his fucked up 'reanimen' who the new Guardians of the Globe were now fighting.

His army of cyborgs were unleashed onto the fleeing crowd, more destructive than self destructive this time. Sinclair must've taken notes from his previous failures.

While they targeted the heroes, civilians were caught in the crossfire left and right. Dupli-Kate evacuated the remaining civilians while Shrinking-Rae fought off any cyborgs coming near. The rest of the team tried to disarm the cyborgs without killing them, which Mark made them agree to do before the fight.

Invincible went through one after the other, knocking out the cyborgs, one could tell he was holding back. Monster Girl knocked out a good chunk of them, but accidentally killed one or two with the strength of her monster form. One of them slammed her against a building, sending a big crack up the wall, no doubt affecting civilians in the upper floors. Shrinking-Rae rushed to save those in the building affected by the crack, while Monster Girl slumped against the wall, down for the count.

Rex-Splode made it past the wall of reanimen defending Sinclair and shot a projectile at his torso. He stumbled as the magnet hit his side and exploded, only grazing him but doing damage all the same. He cupped a hand around the wound, and when he regained his composure, looked directly at Rex.

"You'll pay for that!" With a movement of his hand, D. A. Sinclair ordered the cyborg to target Rex-Splode.

"Sure I will, asshole!" Rex smirked and raised his hand again, aiming for Sinclair's head. The cyborg intervened, lunging towards Rex, who dodged and backed away. He couldn't kill the guy, but he really didn't want to get beat to a bloody pulp today. He made a split second decision to shoot him in the legs to slow him down. He did so, but all he received for his efforts was the sound of a small metal impact. He'd missed the human parts, the projectile only slightly slowed the cyborg.

Just as he was about to shoot again, the cyborg grabbed his hand, crushing flesh and metal alike. Rex doubled over as a wave of pain hit him like a brick. He tried to push past it after a few moments, looking up just in time to see Robot come up behind the reaniman, knocking him out with a punch. Invincible grabbed a piece of metal from a street sign that had been crushed in the wreckage of the battle and bent it tightly around Sinclair, effectively trapping him. And since the cyborgs were all either knocked out or no longer under his control, the battle was over.

"You couldnt've done that earlier?" Rex complained as Mark tied up Sinclair, wincing in pain. Several members of the team gave him a familiar look of annoyance.

"Maybe if you weren't too busy cowering we would've finished this sooner." Samson stated.

"I wasn't--!" Rex began, but he doubled over again before he could finish, another wave of pain hitting him.

The rest of the team had sustained some injuries as well, but they were able to shake it off for the most part by the time they arrived back at the guardians' base.

"Hey Robot-" Rex tried to catch him before they fully returned to the group.

"It's Rudy."

"Right. Rudy, can you uh.." he pointed to his busted up hand, the blood dried onto the metal. Rudy made a wincing sound at the sight, then looked to their friends, who were in a group celebrating the won battle.

"Hm.. That's going to take a bit to fix, if you can wait I'll fix it in a couple minutes." he decided. Rex opened his mouth to protest, but closed it and nodded in agreement. The two rejoined the group.

They spent a few minutes having conversations in small groups, some about the fight, and some about completely different things. After about half an hour passed, Mark got up from his seat, explaining that he needed to get back home, as he had some homework to finish up. Slowly the group dissolved, rejoining their everyday lives. Rex ran to catch Rudy before he and Amanda left.

"Hey Rudy, can you fix this thing before you go? If you couldn't tell, it *kinda* hurts." Rex gestured to his hand, pulling the glove up a bit to show the broken metal and bloody skin.

"Can it wait, Rex? Me and Amanda are getting lunch." he paused, conflicted, "you can join if you want." he offered politely, but judging by the looks on his and Amanda's face, it wasn't an invitation.

"I'll pass." Rex sighed, unsure if he was more angry or sad about it at this point. Rudy shrugged as if to say "your loss", and he and Amanda left the base. Rex left as well a few moments later, Kate and Rae's conversation fading behind him as he made his way to his apartment.

Rex tried to ignore it, he really did. But god, it hurt. He must've been in shock before, but now that he had time to really think about and feel the injury, the pain set in. The metal of his hand had torn into his flesh and he was afraid to move it for fear of further lodging it into his arm. After awhile of trying to ignore the injury, Rex decided he couldn't take it anymore. If no one would help him, he would help himself.

Rex knew a thing or two about robotics since he got his powers from the devices in his wrists, and had been taught a bit at the facility for use in battlefield situations. So he got some spare tools he used for small repairs on his arms and got to work fixing his hand. It took just about all night, but by the end he was fairly confident that he'd at least helped the situation.

He must've done something right because next time the guardians fought a villain, he was able to shoot the projectiles from his hand. No need to ask Rudy for help. And the next time it was damaged, and he fixed it himself again. This time his aim was slightly off. He hit several walls, the ground, and nearly a civilian before his desired target, but it was fine, right? He hit the guy eventually, he missed the civilian, and it still worked decently well.

He continued to repair it himself, using the knowledge from his previous mishaps to improve upon it. It continued to have slight malfunctions, but it worked.

Until it didn't.

He aimed, and shot, but the small explosive wouldn't budge. It wouldn't leave his hand, something blocked it. The BB lit up as he tried to shoot, but it exploded in his hand.

"Fuck!" Rex yelled, throwing a magnet from his belt with his offhand and dodging out of the way of an oncoming attack.

The team made quick work of the enemy, but not before they got a few good hits in on Dupli-Kate and Monster Girl as well. Amanda was slumped against a wall while Kate Prime nursed an injury on her side.

Back at the base, Rudy was busy being at Amanda's side. She had a minor concussion, but overall she was alright. The excessive blood from a cut on her head made the injury look more serious than it was. They were thankful that she was alright, minus a bit of blood loss and a head injury.

Rex wanted to celebrate her quick recovery longer than he did, but hesitantly left after drinks were had and the party died down a bit. He knew he would have to work on his hand for awhile to get it in working order and get any sleep that night.

It was already much later in the day by the time he arrived at his apartment. Repairs went well for the most part. He had passed out before realigning the metal, but quickly aligned it before heading to the base that morning, presumably deeming it functional, which was an achievement in Rex's opinion considering how badly it was broken and lack of materials. He got hardly any sleep, but he wasn't exactly the type to usually get a full eight hours every night anyways.

The next day after training, Rudy approached Rex unexpectedly.

"Hey Rex, I noticed your hand got busted up pretty badly yesterday. Need me to fix it?" Rudy offered, glancing at Rex's barely-together hand with a hint of what might be worry. Rex scoffed.

"Oh no it's fine," he said, half proud of his work and half bitter at Rudy. "I figured it out."

Rudy gave him a curious look, pausing for a moment before repeating, "You 'figured it out'?"

Rex nodded, taking off his glove and showing off his hand, which he'd barely been able to peice back together the night before. "I figured it out."

He'd had to patch up the hand with spare metal parts and slightly off-size bolts, but it wasn't too bad of a job. From a certain angle, it'd look fine even. A bit busted up, used for sure, but functional. Now, from the angle of someone with as much knowledge in robotics as Rudy had, the sight was returned after a long pause with a vaguely annoyed, "this is going to take awhile."

"What're you two doing?" Amanda asked, walking into the workroom with a half empty carton of disguised booze.

"Rex tried to fix his hand. By himself." Rudy explained condescendingly after a pause that made it obvious he was focused on his work. Rex scoffed at the answer.

"I think I did a great job, thank you very much." And besides being proud of his attempt at fixing it, the way he phrased it made Rex sound like an idiot, as if he hadn't asked for help several times before deciding to fix the problem himself.

"You put the metal covering back in place just off enough to block the projectile, the bolts are all the wrong size, and part of it is still jabbing into your arm. This isn't even the right kind of.." he trailed off, clicking a new bolt in place before mumbling, "how did you even fight like this-?!"

"Well it's not like you bothered to help me when I asked.." Rex answered with the tone of an upset child.

"You didn't say how bad it was."

"I showed you! You saw it!" Rex nearly shouted, frustration and anger bubbling up in his chest and out his mouth.

"I would have fixed this easily if you'd asked sooner."

"I did ask sooner!"

"You could've asked when I wasn't busy." Rudy spoke nearly absent-mindedly, focusing intently on prying part of the metal out of damaged tissue that tried to heal around it.

Rex hissed in pain before responding, "When were you not busy? I asked you like three times, you told me to wait!"

"I just told you, I was busy. Why didn't you go to Cecil for this?"

"Oh yeah, like I'm asking some creepy ass guy from the government to fix my hand- No fucking way!" Rex tried to ignore the hint of fear in his chest at the idea of some shady government operative poking and prodding at him in a blindingly white room.

"You'd rather bother me than ask someone whose job it is to fix things for help?"

"I'd rather ask my friend for help!"

"You could have asked when I wasn't busy." Rudy repeated, obviously struggling to keep his cool. "I'm not going to drop everything for you, Rex!"

"Yeah? Of course not, but I bet you'd drop everything for her." Rex pointed at Amanda, who had a front row seat to the argument standing in the doorway. The two locked eyes for a moment, then Rudy looked away to glare at Rex.

"At least she offers something to the team. She's an invaluable asset and I need to keep her safe." He didn't need to shout, his tone and words cut deeper than raw anger could.

"Well pardon me for wanting to be able to use my fucking hand--"

"Excuse me?" Amanda snapped, glaring at Rudy. "Rex is my friend, and I won't reciprocate your crush on me just because you look like him and aged down for me. I don't owe you shit. And being a dick to the guy whose face you stole doesn't make you more appealing."

"But I--" Rudy was at a loss for words; a rare occurrence. Scrambling to regain his composure, he blurted out, "But I did this for you!"

"I don't owe you shit for that." she repeated firmly. "And if how you treat Rex is any indication, I wouldn't want to be with you, if this is how you treat a long time friend who needs help."

"Exactly!" Rex agreed, relieved that Amanda stepped in. Rudy glared at him before catching himself and looking back towards Amanda, who sighed angrily.

"He couldn't have asked Cecil!?" Rudy reiterated, grasping at straws trying to 'win' the argument he'd already lost.

"He's obviously uncomfortable with that, or he would've done it already. Something you would notice if you bothered to give him a second glance." Amanda snapped back. "He came to you for help, and you lectured him for it."

"I.."

"Let's go, Rex. This asshole isn't worth our time." she decided. Rex followed her out the door to rejoin the rest of the group with a satisfied sort of pride in his chest. It felt nice to be defended by someone other than himself.

The door slammed shut.

[fantasticstoryteller]

New Amsterdam Chapter 24

Peter sighed as he stopped for a moment, in front of store with a reflective window, and rubbed his face wearily. There weren’t enough hours in the day. He couldn't be a lab assistant to Dr. Stacey, work on Norman’s research, get pictures and do odd jobs for the Bugle, and patrol as Spiderman. He couldn't do it. He was going to have to cut back on one of them. He couldn't cut back on working at the Tower or the Bugle, because those were the jobs that actually paid. He couldn't cut back working for Norman, because Harry’s life was in the balance.

He stared miserably at his reflection. It didn’t matter how he turned the facts around in his head. He was going to have to quit being Spiderman for a while, and hope that nothing truly terrifying happened while he did.

He continued trudging towards his next job when a thought occurred to him; Spiderman couldn't just vanish. Deadpool would notice—and would likely take the city apart trying to find him. He could just see it now; Deadpool cornering some random thug going, “Are you sure you don’t know where Spiderman is? Let’s see if a little stabby-stabby will jog your memory.”

Peter couldn't do that to his city. All right, the people Deadpool would attack would probably deserve it (and much worse), but he still couldn't do that to his city. He had to protect it.

He slipped into one of the computer’s blind spots and changed before swinging out over the city to find Deadpool. Who was, at that moment, stopping a bank robbery. Not the way that Peter would have done, but stopping it all the same. And, most importantly, managing to stop the robbery without either killing or seriously maiming the culprits. There were some stab wounds (expected) and some bruises (also expected), but no one, during the whole thing, was in danger of dying. Except Deadpool, who was exceptionally careless with his own life (again, as expected).

Deadpool was booted out of the crime scene and he left, muttering to himself as Peter slowly climbed down the side of the building to get close the mercenary. “Stupid—no, you did! Of course we couldn't—shut up!” he growled to himself. “I know we fucked up!”

“I thought you did really well,” Peter called as he hung upside-down on the fire escape.

Deadpool whirled and gave a comic stare. “Spidey! You—you were watching?”

“Yup.” Peter let go of the fire escape and tumbled to where he was standing in front of Deadpool. He ticked off what he’d seen on the fingers of his hand. “You got the attention of the robbers away from the hostages, you restrained yourself to non-lethal means of incapacitation, and you didn’t even maim anyone. You did really well,” he reiterated firmly.

A thought struck his mind. It was a horrible, evil thought. The heroes of New Amsterdam would freak out. The Avengers would hate him.

The Avengers could kiss his ass.

“And this is good news,” Peter said firmly.

“He sounds happy. You sound happy.”

“I am. And I am incredibly proud of you.”

Deadpool didn’t seem to know what to make of that, but he nodded and followed Peter up to a roof. “It feels like I’m about to get news I don’t want to hear,” the mercenary said.

“Probably,” said Peter thoughtfully. When they were out of range of bystanders he turned to Deadpool. “I can’t go into details,” because Deadpool would figure out who he was, “but my civilian life just became—complicated. It’s going to take a while to fix.” He heaved a sigh. “I won’t be able to watch the city while I’m fixing them,” he admitted.

The admission cost more than he thought it would. It felt like he was admitting he wasn’t good enough, wasn’t strong enough, wasn’t enough—

And he wasn’t. But he was, as had been forcibly shown to him, only human. He couldn't keep doing all he was doing without breaking.

He moved on with his speech. “So, since you’ve been doing so well, I thought I’d leave you in charge of the city.”

Deadpool blinked at him several times. Peter began to get nervous; what if he didn’t want to? What if he thought Spiderman was ditching him?

“You—trust me?” asked Deadpool sounding shocked and nervous at the same time. “With your city?”

“Our city,” Peter said firmly. He reached out and put a hand on Deadpool’s shoulder. “You’ve been looking after it too.” Deadpool stared at the hand on his shoulder and Peter wished, for just a moment, he knew what was going through the other man’s head.

“What about the other heroes?” asked Deadpool finally. “The Avengers, the Four, good old Double D?”

Peter shrugged. “What about them?” he asked curiously. What did they have to do with anything?

“Well—they’re not going to be happy about me watching the city for you.”

Ah. Peter leaned against the edge of the building. “Tell me something; how many of them did you see while you were helping with that bank robbery?”

“I didn’t—none?”

Peter nodded. “Exactly. The Avengers move when the planet is threatened. That’s kind of their thing. The Four only mobilize for Dr. Doom. And Daredevil doesn’t poke his nose out of Hell’s Kitchen. What I do, what you’ve been doing is much, much smaller. The muggers, the carjackers, the rapists, the bank robbers—they’re all outside of everyone else’s notice. You and I are the only ones looking after the streets of the city.”

“Our city,” breathed Deadpool.

Peter nodded in encouragement. “That’s right. Our city. If they don’t like it, they can move their asses to help take care of it!”

Deadpool leaped to his feet, suddenly energized. “That’s right!” he shouted. “This is our city bitches! Bad guys beware!”

Peter grinned under his mask. “Exactly,” he said with satisfaction. “Want to do one more patrol before I have to focus on civilian life?”

“I thought you’d never ask!” As they headed towards the edge of the roof, he asked, “Am I—am I the only one who knows?”

Peter thought quickly and then told a half-truth. “Peter knows,” he said to the mercenary. “I saw him before I saw you,” he said, thinking of that reflective window. “Sometimes I think the only reason he eats is the pictures he sells of me,” he added with absolute confidence.

“Aw! You’re such a softy Spidey!” chirped Wade happily before they dove off the side of the roof, Peter catching Wade before swinging them up to another one.

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: West Coast Avengers #2: “BLANKING OUT!”

October, 1984

"Up Against the BLANK!”

Beware his crosshatching!

So the formation of the West Coast Avengers continues! I guess! It looks like Tigra, Wonder Man, and Iron Man stuck around at least long enough to be on this cover.

We’ll see if the prospect of being on a team led by Hawkeye manages to win them over.

So last time on West Coast Avengers: Hawkeye was sent by the Vision to create an All-New All-Different Avengers team on the West Coast. A kind of West Coast Avengers. Like the Avengers but in LA.

Vision sent out invites to Wonder Man, Tigra, and Rhodey Iron Man but didn’t tell them what they were being invited for. Leading to not only some hesitance to commit once they learned what was what but also Tigra’s friend the Shroud following her to the LA Avengers Compound because the vague invite worried Tigra’s other friend Jessica Drew. Phew.

The Shroud puts up such a great fight when the hypothetical West Coast Avengers attack him (assuming that some dude breaking in is up to something) that Hawkeye offers him the open spot on the team but Shroud turns it down.

By this point in the East Coast Avengers’ history, depending on where you count it starting, they either got punked by Loki or by a Space Phantom. So, the West Coast Avengers aren’t actually doing so bad, even though they’re not technically officially a team yet.

Its all a matter of perspective.

Huh. We’re like ten years too early for Iron Man to be trying to kill everyone.

To kinda spoil the game early, this is a training exercise.

Hawkeye is attempting to prove a point that Captain America told him “with the proper teamwork, even the strongest opponent can be beaten!”

It gets back to the Avengers’ whole Earth’s mightiest heroes banding together to fight the foes no single hero can overcome thing. It’s a sales pitch for why these reluctant West Coasts should Avenger.

And even given that Iron Man far outmuscles Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Tigra, teamwork and skill does prove capable of bringing him down. Kinda.

Hawkeye uses some smokescreen arrows to try to cloud Iron Man’s vision but he has infrared lenses. He tries to tackle Tigra but she outmaneuvers him and jumps on his back. Distracting him so Mockingbird can bonk him in the head with her staves and Hawkeye can gum up Iron Man’s boot jets.

Its good teamwork but while Hawkeye is explaining that it’s good teamwork, Iron Man repulsors the ground and knocks the other three on their asses to demonstrate another important lesson.

Iron Man: “Never count your enemy out, until you’re sure he’s really out!”

Although. This WAS a training exercise.

While you raise a good point, Rhodey, surely you didn’t want them to break your armor or knock you out for a training exercise?

Anyway, after the exercise is over, Hawkeye tells Iron Man (James Rhodes) that it reminds him of when they used to go at it (back when Hawkeye was an accidental villain) and Rhodey Iron Man just awkwardly says that he’s glad they’re buds now. Because THIS IS EXACTLY WHY HE QUIT THE AVENGERS IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Having to awkwardly tip toe around not being the original guy!

But on the other hand, he liked working with the Avengers in Secret Wars, which made him reconsider the team thing. While he doesn’t want to lean on someone else’s reputation, he also doesn’t want to be treated like an amateur. So awkward it is.

Hawkeye tells Iron Man maybe don’t knock him on his ass so hard next time.

I do love Clint and Bobbi’s relationship. They’re delightful.

While Rhodey is rethinking his reluctance to Avenge, Tigra isn’t. This training exercise about how weaker heroes can team up to bring down a stronger opponent is not landing.

Tigra: I’ll bet Iron Man could have blown us away whenever he felt like it... He was probably just toying with us during the whole workout! I’m not anywhere near being in his league... Why did I let Hawkeye talk me into joining his new Avengers team?

There’s always one person on the Avengers whose whole thing is insecurity and the West Coast Avengers is practically full of them. Hawkeye, Wonder Man, Tigra have all served that role in the past. Mockingbird is worrying that she doesn’t belong.

I’d rather Tigra stuck with the insecurity rather than what she gets when West Coast Avengers gets an ongoing...

Anyway, over at Simon Williams, Wonder Stuntman’s house, he’s packing up his house to move to Avengers compound.

Since the house was prefab and pretty shoddily built, the whole wall swings up like a garage door so Simon can just pull all his possessions out and put them in a big crate.

Simon’s good stuntman pal Freddy asks if Simon is really going to go back to the superhero life.

Wonder Man: “Freddy, for good or bad, Wonder Man is what I am! It’s taken me awhile to become comfortable with that. But I finally have. And you know, I think being a stuntman these last few months helped! Doing stunt work day after day has really given me a sense of my own worth. You and the rest of the stunt crews helped me find a new life... I owe you a lot! But I also owe the Avengers! When Hawkeye offered me an active role in the Avengers new west coast expansion team, I surprised myself by signing on. I guess what I’m saying is that the Avengers is part of my life, too. And I found myself missing it more than I’d expected!”

Good for you, you waffling man. But you’d better be careful you don’t end up in a Hank Pym spiral where you bounce between your superhero and civilian lives and don’t find satisfaction in half assing either. Find yourself a good work life balance.

Anyway, Simon doesn’t plan to quit the stunt work. He’s going to try to juggle it and the Avengers.

Now that I’m not sure he’ll manage. Movies and super-heroics both have demanding schedules without set hours.

Simon and Freddy take a break to go buy more nails at the hardware store for Simon to hammer in with his bare hands. But on their way, they hear an alarm at the bank.

Crosshatch man from the cover is robbing the bank, just casually strolling out with a bag of money while bullets bounce off of him.

The Blank: “I have a gun too! And it doesn’t shoot blanks! Hah-haha-ha!!”

I’ve long held that the unspoken rule in comics book is that one of the first things someone shouts about you becomes your name.

Just ask poor Ben Grimm, the Thing.

So when a random person shouts that the bank robber is blank, the robber is like ‘huh, that’s catchy!’

Anyway, the robber confidently strolls out of the bank and right into Simon Wonder Man Williams.

The Blank shoots his gun at Simon and to his dismay finds out that he’s not the only one who bullets bounce off of.

Then Simon punches the guy twenty feet back INTO the bank.

The Blank woozily proclaims that Wonder Man can’t stop the Blank so Wonder Man just kinda picks him up and tucks him under arm. Although the Blank does manage to pistol whip the sunglasses right off of Simon’s face.

Doesn’t hurt him but it does freak everyone in the bank out.

Dunno if you remember but due to being reborn as an energy being, Simon’s eyes are red and full of kirby krackle. He can turn it off if he concentrates but he prefers to wear the glasses.

And while Simon is telling the people in the bank that there’s no need to panic on his account, the Blank slips right out of his grip and jumps through the window.

When Simon comes out to the street, he finds that the Blank has somehow managed to disappear into the crowd, despite being a screentone man.

Probably because the Blank just turned the effect off and pretended to be a Perfectly Normal Man on the Street.

Sneaky.

The guy returns to his apartment and yuks it up at the news report about him making a clean getaway, police baffled.

The Blank: “After a lifetime of bad breaks, Lady Luck has finally smiled on me! Hah-ha! And to think I owe it to lousy bus service...”

So this origin is a lot. And its amazing.

In the Blank’s flashback, he’s waiting at the bus stop for a late bus when an ex-employee of Stark International who quit when Stane took over the company shows up and starts complaining about the bus service. And then smoothly shifts to complaining about his old job.

Very annoyed scientist: “If it’s not one thing it’s another! But it’s no wonder the world’s in the shape it’s in... Not with the quality of management today! They’re idiots... all idiots!”

He tells this random guy he doesn’t know that when he quit, he took his newest invention with him.

Very annoyed scientist: “I put too much work into my brainchild to let that leech Stane get it! I’m going into business for myself!”

And then, as he’s boasting that he’ll be rich enough to buy and sell Stane in a year, the very annoyed scientist walks into the street without looking and gets hit by a car.

The very annoyed scientist’s briefcase lands right at the pre-Blank’s feet who definitely doesn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. So he took it home and after a few months figured out how to operate the invention: a slippery force-field.

Back in the present, he charges the force field belt up and then heads off after a big score. Not noticing a man shaped cloud of energy coming out of the charger pleading for more energy.

Huh.

Weird.

Over at Avengers Compound, the West Coast Avengers are assembled. Hawkeye has gotten the go-ahead of the LAPD to take this Blank case but Wonder Man insists that the Avengers can find him but he’s going to make the collar.

Yup, Simon has gotten a bug in his collar about letting the guy get away.

Wonder Man: “I had him in my hands, and he slipped right through them! What good am I to the Avengers if I can’t handle one gimmicky bank robber by myself?”

Hawkeye: “No good at all, if you worry more about personal performance than you do about how you work as part of this team! What do you want to do, search all of Greater L.A. on your own? That’s crazy!”

Geez, Wonder Man. That’s how gimmick criminals are supposed to work. Its not a gimmick if you beat it in the first encounter. The gimmick trips you up at the beginning of the story so you look like a smarty for figuring it out for the resolution.

The other Avengers chime in a plan divide the city into sections and each search that section. And whoever finds him will call the others.

Wonder Man admits that the plan makes a lot of sense and storms off in a fit of ‘WHAT A REASONABLE SUGGESTION, GOODNIGHT.’

Mockingbird: “Well, hotshot, you just weathered your first leadership crisis. Why the thoughtful look?”

Hawkeye: “I was just remembering how I used to be the one who always blew his stack. Honey, all of a sudden I feel old... real old!”

Hah!

You’ve wanted this for years Hawkeye. AND you’ve built up a lot of lets say debt with the universe by being a jerk about it at times.

Although, Wonder Man isn’t really a great Hawkeye. He’s pretty mellow most of the time. Of the people I expected to get a random obsession with a not very dangerous criminal, it wasn’t Wonder Man.

He has always had a streak of insecurity (which is the secret ingredient when making a Hawkeye) and not being able to stop this guy right when he was feeling good and ready to superhero again. A real situational case.

But Tigra is the one feeling the insecurity the hardest so I’m afraid you’ll need another character beat, Simon. Hothead is available.

So the West Coast Avengers split up and patrol different parts of the urban sprawl. Tigra lurks the rooftops of Chinatown, Iron Man scans the area around the Santa Monica Mountains, Hawkeye flies above the high-rises of Marina Del Rey on his skycycle, Mockingbird cruises L.A.’s freeways in her custom pink convertible, Wonder Man hangs out on the L.A. City Hall in the downtown searching by binoculars, and I learn what the different bits of L.A. are.

Productive night for everyone.

But over in Inglewood, the Blank prepares for his Big Job.

He’s going to heist a Wells Fargo armored car.

Wait, would an armored car be a bigger heist than robbing an actual bank??

And if you somehow got the idea that the Blank is a criminal mastermind, he’s not. The armored car guards spot him coming and just decide to take off when a screentoned man starts running at them.

The Blank shoots one of the guards so he doesn’t manage to lock the rear of the money car but the other guard is locked up tight in the front and refuses to stop even when the Blank is threatening to kill his partner.

Wow. Guess other people’s money is more important to the guy than his co-worker’s life.

Since the guy tells the Blank that he’s driving the armored car right to the nearest police station, the Blank just grabs as much money as he can carry. Then he jumps out the back and slides to a stop on his belly like a penguin.

What a useful force field.

But the Blank’s bad night gets worse because then Mockingbird, Hawkeye, and Iron Man all show up, alerted by the police report.

The Blank at least has a realistic view of his capabilities. In that he’s not the guy that thinks a simple gimmick will let him start taking over the world. He just wants to rob a few banks and armored cars. And he does not want to fight the Avengers!

Especially not Iron Man!

Iron Man’s armor has all kinds of stuff in it and he might figure out a way through the force field!

So the guy decides to tackle some gas pumps.

Which naturally causes an enormous fire.

Not a bad plan, really. The explosion will launch the Blank from the scene with the force field keeping him safe and the heroes will stop to save lives as heroes tend to do.

While Hawkeye and Mockingbird help the gas station employees away from the fire, Iron man picks up a dump truck full of sand and puts out the fire.

Wonder Man and Tigra arrive as he’s doing that and Hawkeye has to tell Simon that the Blank got away or exploded.

Simon actually takes it pretty chill, just betting that no way a tough customer like the Blank died in the explosion.

And he’s right. Although the guy isn’t really a tough customer.

Actually, he’s planning on skipping town.

Avengers heat is too much heat for him. Plus, yeah, the force field protected him from the explosion but he was blown three blocks away and the impact of landing knocked him silly for five minutes and he was terrified he’d be caught anyway. Plus, he lost all that sweet Wells Fargo money.

So he’s going to take the bank robbery money from the morning and move somewhere with fewer superheroes.

He’s just gonna charge the force field for the road and- whoa dang a whole ass man popped out of thin air.

And its Graviton??

What were you doing in thin air, Graviton?

The Blank assumes this guy - wearing a costume and a cape - why he’s gotta be a superhero! And he immediately surrenders! He’ll return the money, turn over the force field device, go to jail, just don’t make him deal with those Avengers again!

Graviton is like hey buddy, I’m not with the Avengers and if you’re skipping town because of them, don’t bother. “Help me, and you’ll never have to worry about Avengers again!”

Ruh roh.

Now Graviton is, historically, kind of a dingus considering he’s a mad scientist, but he is powerful enough that he soloed a pretty powerful Avengers roster which had Iron Man, Thor, Wonder Man, and Vision.

The West Coast Avengers has Iron Man and Wonder Man but also has the more street level Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Tigra. They don’t have the do-anything bullshit of Scarlet Witch or Vision’s robot brain or Cap’s strategy. Or whatever esoteric power the wild card Avenger of the era has like Captain Marvel’s command of the electromagnetic spectrum, Starfox’s PLEASURE POWERS or Moondragon’s psychic powers.

If Graviton decides to set up in L.A., then the newly formed West Coast Avengers could be in big trouble.

Maybe even two issues worth of trouble!

... What? This is a miniseries! There’s only so much he’s going to be able to do in the time left!

Follow @essential-avengers​ because you want to see what happens next, probably? Also, like and reblog because you want to?

[bbwoulfc]

The final chapter of my lukanette fic, You Shouldn’t Bear It All is finally finished.  This final chapter is dedicated to @edendaphne for her birthday.  Happy Birthday Eden!

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It had been three days since the incident with the construction based akuma...and the scare with Marinette.  Three days to let his mind process everything that happened.

Unfortunately, those three days of letting all the events sink in didn’t ease any of the pain.  Sure, he looked calmer, but internally, he was still buzzing from everything.  The weight of assumptions flowing through his head that Marinette deals with revolving around as guardian, all the responsibilities on top of the responsibilities as a civilian.  

A few tears slid down his cheeks as memories of seeing her unconscious in the water and on the boat began to plague him again.  He’s already spent the last few days dealing with nightmares, nowhere near to the ones he’s dealt with being Viperion.  What nightmare wouldn’t be worse when you knew the person behind the mask?

There was no way he could begin to imagine the amount of stress Marinette probably dealt with...alone.  He felt like he failed her, failed to see the signs that might have given him a glimpse into her hidden life that held the struggles.

They needed to talk, but he wanted to give Marinette the control and waited for her to call or text when she was ready.  There was nothing more important to him than to help her release everything that she’s kept bottled up and closed off to her group of supporters.  Why would she hide this from those who could help her?

His chest ached as he heaved a sigh, turning his gaze towards the porthole and looking over the small view of the Seine.  The waters calm and silent, the houseboat slightly swaying as if the river was trying to lullaby him from his own stress.  

He was thankful for having his own private quarters.  The last thing he wanted was to be questioned by Juleka.  It didn’t go unnoticed by him that she and their mother have been keeping a close eye on him since the akuma attack.  Which was understandable, all Couffaines looked out for each other, but, right now, this wasn’t something that his sister and mother could fully help with.

Bing.

Hearing his phone, Luka reached beside him where it was laying and picked the device up.  Clicking the home button and lighting the screen, he saw a text message from Marinette.  Entering his passcode, he read her message.

Marinette: Thank you for being patient and waiting.  I’m ready to talk.  Can you come over?

Luka smiled, some of the anxiety easing from his body now that the chance to finally talk and figure a way to help his overworked girlfriend was available.

Luka: Of course.  I’m leaving now.  Front or side door?

Marinette: Side door.

Luka: K, see ya soon.  Love you, Melody.

Pushing himself off his bed, he pocketed his phone into the back of his charcoal smoke grey jean pocket.  Grabbing a thin navy long-sleeved hoodie shirt, he threw it over his black tank top and rolled up the sleeves to his elbows.  Heading to his desk, he picked up his keys and wallet, and exited his bedroom and passed through the living space; ignoring the silent gaze from his family.

Up above the desk, Luka passed the boardwalk and onto the dock and straight to the motorcycle chained on the metal pole.  Unlocking the chains, he rolled the bike to the street, hopped into the seat, and put his helmet on before igniting life into the engine.  Revving the motor a few times, he spun the bike into gear and rode off towards the bakery.

Riding passed buildings and down the maze of roads, he couldn’t wait to reach the bakery and pull Marinette in his arms.  It sucked having the boat docked further away, but the ride towards Marinette’s home gave him time to prepare himself for the long-awaited talk.  

When Luka finally arrived at the bakery, he pulled his motorcycle up to the back of the bakery in the alleyway, locking it up.  Removing his helmet, he sent a text message to Marinette to inform her of his arrival and walked back towards the side entrance of the Dupain-Cheng home.  A few seconds later he heard the door jiggle and sound of the lock clicking before opening up and being greeted by Marinette.

“Hey, babe,” greeted Marinette.

“Hey, bug.”  

She gave him a small knowing smile and opened the door wider to allow Luka in and moved away to walk up the stairs.  Closing the door behind him, Luka locked the door and followed Marinette up the stairs to the main area of the Dupain-Cheng home.  Once they entered the living space, Marinette continued her way towards the stairs that led to her bedroom; Luka closed the front door and looked around the home.  It was quiet, no sight of Sabine and Tom anywhere.

“Where are your parents?” he asked as he followed Marinette to the stairs leading to her room.

“They’re catering a large banquet down in another city.  Just me for another day, so we won’t have to worry about anyone interrupting us” she responded.

The moment they entered her bedroom, Marinette walked to the middle of her room and stopped, hunched slightly as her back faced him.  He watched her quietly and noted her movement when one of her hands gripped her opposite arm in nervousness.  It was a common gesture he’d seen plenty of times and one that typically led to her apologizing or thinking the worst.

“Luka,” she breathed, “I’m so sor-” she spun to look at him but was cut off when she felt arms wrap around her and her head leaning against Luka’s chest.

He heard her gasp below him, most likely not expecting to have him embrace her.  There was no way in hell he was gonna have her apologize for something that she could not control.  One could only control their own fate for so long before fate itself regained control and led one down a path most necessary.  And right now, fate brought them to this moment and he wasn’t going to let Marinette waste it with apologizing.  So, he embraced her tighter and felt relieved to feel her own arms wrap around him in return.

Luka rested his face against her raven locks and silently breathed in her scent to help ground him and cherish the feeling of having his girlfriend in his arms after everything they all went through.

“I love you so much,” he breathed against her.  “I wish you would have told someone or me about all these responsibilities.”

“No one is supposed to know.”

“Says who, Melody?”

She was silent, but then he heard her whisper, “Fu.”

Who the hell was Fu?  A mentor?

Luka led Marinette to her chaise as they sat down and he looked straight at her and asked, “Who’s Fu, love?”

She looked down, staring at her hands and fiddling with her fingers before closing her eyes, “He was the guardian before me.”

He listened as Marinette explained everything from when she first met Master Fu, to the time she’d go to his place to learn and train in the role of guardianship, to the day Master Fu passed on the role to Marinette.

Luka stood and paced along Marinette’s room, silently seething after hearing everything she told him.  Crossing his arms, he sighed deeply and closed his eyes.

“No matter what happened to Fu, I despise him for what he burdened you with.”

“Luka...he had no choice.”

He looked at her with hurt and pain, but not for himself, but for her and everyone that took a role as a hero.

“What gave him the right to deem you and all of us that weld a miraculous with these responsibilities?”

“I’m the one who chose all of you.  Well, mostly everyone.”

“Yet, he’s the one who put you in the situation.”

Silence filled between them.  

There were not many things that pushed Luka past his calm exterior and mellowed mind, but even he had his limits.  Those limits beached by simply knowing that an adult passed on a role to a child.  Life these days was already a struggle with them handling school, jobs, and building a future.  What kind of future could you build when you have to revolve your life around a box full of magical jewels that could take things that could only ever be believed from fantasy and comics?

Shaking his head, he just felt pain knowing his girlfriend has been revolving her life around a burden of a role thrust upon her when she should be focusing on building a future of her own without worrying about being the guardian.

Looking back at Marinette, he took in her appearance for the first time.  The shadows under her eyes could not go unnoticed no matter the attempt to hide them with make-up.  Her skin looked a slightly paler than the full warmth she’s had when they first met all those years ago.  

Life was a struggle that everyone dealt with, but in front of him, he felt like he was staring into a shell of a person reaching for help but held back by fear.

“You can’t keep doing this alone, Melody.  This has to stop.”

Marinette stood and walked around her room, “I can’t.  No one is supposed to know.”  

She turned to him, “There’s already risks with you knowing about my identity!  Fu said no one is to know identities.  He warned me of the dangers and I failed him!  A guardian is the protector of the miracle box and I couldn’t even protect my own identity!”  Tears broke the surface as they streamed down her face, “I’m not a worthy guardian!  I failed to be a good guardian like Fu!  I knew I couldn’t measure up to him like I-”

“Enough!” he shouted with firmness, cutting her off from her rambled speech.

Marinette stopped and turned to Luka, looking at him with surprise.  He stood there gazing at her with stiffness and fire in his eyes like she was a mere child about to be berated by a parent. 

“Enough,” he stated again, softer though still holding firmness like the first.  He walked towards her and took hold of her shoulders to ensure she looked at nothing else but him.  “Listen to me, Marinette, and listen hard.  You’re not Fu.  Stop trying to be like Fu.”

He emphasized each word of his last sentence, watched as she continued to stare at him, doe-eyed wide, before she finally blinked and broke their gaze.  Quietly, Luka led her back to her chaise and sat side by side, facing one another as he let her take a breather.  There was no way to describe everything on how he felt, nor hers.

However, regardless of the swirl of emotions and tension surrounding them, he felt like he finally got through to her with his statement.

“But he taught me everything, Luka.  It’s all I know before he left.”

Marinette looked lost, slightly defeated, but overall, just exhausted.  She looked like a person who’s just trying to push forward and survive.

“And do you agree with the things he taught you?”

He watched her hesitate, curl up and she looked down.

“Please, Marinette, be honest with me.  You’ve never had trouble talking to me about anything before.”

“No...I never approved of some of the things he taught me.  It was hard enough to tell him that he needed to include Chat Noir with his presence as guardian.”

Luka didn’t speak, he sat there on her bedroom floor, waiting for her to look at him again.  He wanted to be patient.  If there was going to be a chance to lift the weight of all these burdens and responsibilities from Marinette, there had to be passiveness.

Thankfully, after a few moments, Marinette finally looked back up.

“If you didn’t agree with hiding things from Chat Noir, then why burden yourself with the very thing you went against?  If you didn’t feel comfortable telling me, why didn’t you confide with Chat Noir?  Surely your partner would be willing to help you.”  

He watched Marinette shift on her chaise and pull up legs and wrapped her arms around them, lowering her head on his knees.

“Because I’m afraid, Luka.  I’m afraid of failing.  Fu mentioned the dangers and I don’t want to risk the ones I love with those dangers.”

Luka shifted as he moved closer to Marinette, sliding his legs underneath her chaise and resting his hands around her legs, gently rubbing his thumb along the smoothness of her skin.

“Marinette, I want to ask you some questions.  Can you handle that?”

She gave him a small nod and waited.

“Everything that Fu taught you, is it teachings that run from guardian to guardian?”

She raised her head slightly, confused as she gave him a questioning gaze, “What?”

“The teachings that Fu taught you as the future guardian, was it stuff that was taught to him?  Like actual guidelines to being a guardian.”

He watched as her brows lowered in deep thought, eyes moving around as she discussed within her own space.  Then, she looked back at him.

“N-no.  I remember him saying that when he was a kid, he made a mistake that caused all the guardians to disappear along with other miracle boxes.  Until the monster he created was destroyed by me and Chat Noir a couple of years ago.”

Taking in the information, Luka nodded to everything being told to him and calmly took a breath and prepared himself for the awaited discussion.

“Alright.  So, if I understood correctly, Fu had no one to train him as guardian, right?”  He watched her nod, and he couldn’t help but offer her a small smile.  “Then what dictates Fu’s rules and sayings as fact and truth?”

Marinette was about to respond, but he watched with a hopefulness that she didn’t have an answer to his question.  And it was right now that gave Luka enough courage to finally try and convince her that she doesn’t have to do this alone.

“Listen to me, Marinette,” he started softly, “Everything that Fu taught you doesn’t mean you have to do things like him.  From what it sounds like, he was doing things that he believed was right in hopes to survive and make work.  What he taught you were things he learned through mistakes, but that doesn’t mean his ways are absolute.  He taught you foundations of basics that would help you begin as guardian, but not to form your life around it.”

He gave her a stronger smile that displayed how proud he was for her.  There was never doubt that Marinette would be a great guardian, but every now and then, she let fears and worry lead her astray.  This is what made him feel persistent that his melody needed confidants and helpers.

“Fu saw something in you to make you Ladybug and guardian.  And I can’t even begin to express how proud I am to know that he chose you, because there’s no one else I can imagine being guardian or the heroine.  But you can’t be a great guardian if you’re trying to be someone you’re not.”  

He took a deep breath and held Marinette with a look of determination and took her hands, “So, tell me, what is it that guardian Marinette wants?”

Luka held his gaze with hers and waited, offering her hands a squeeze in silent support.  It was hard, he knew it.  There was no doubt this was all hard for Marinette and that it’s been a burden for so long.  But he had hope, he always had hope when it came to Marinette.  She was a stubborn one and knew she could triumph from this overwhelming past.

He felt the weight of her hands returning a squeeze and looked up to catch a new fresh trail of tears flowing down her cheeks.

“I want help,” she swallowed and hiccuped from the emotions flowing through her, “I don’t want to do this alone.” 

Relief filled Luka as he heard those precious words.  The tension that surrounded them slowly diminished from the room.  He couldn’t begin to wonder how long Marinette wanted to reach out for help.

Pushing himself up, Luka moved to the top of the chaise and pulled Marinette into a loving embrace.  He felt her hands grip the front of his shirt as she broke down in relief; releasing all the tension she held on her shoulders from the past three years.  And as she cried, he just held her close, laying his head above hers and rubbed his hand along her back, whispering soothing words.

As the sobs softened to mere sniffles, there was a welcoming new energized air that floated within the room.  It looked and felt brighter, like an internal grey cloud long gone with nothing but the warmth of love.

Seeing some movement to his side, Luka looked over to Marinette’s desk and saw Tikki quietly watching them with wonder and relief within those large ocean sea eyes.  Motioning the kwami over, the little god floated towards the couple and lowered herself to her chosen’s shoulder and nuzzled against the girl’s face.

Luka watched Marinette push herself up, his hands falling to her waist as his girlfriend reached for her kwami.

“Tikki,” she smiled.

“I’m so sorry, Marinette.  I should have done better to help you.  It was only until the recent akuma and talking with Luka that I realized how different everything is and that time is not what it was with Fu.”

Marinette pulled Tikki against her again as their version of a hug.  To Luka, he was glad Marinette had the little god in her life.  If it were anything like him with Sass, they had a bond with one another that knew no bounds.

“So,” spoke Luka, “What do you want to do?  As guardian, your word is the law.”

“He’s right, Marinette,” came Tikki’s voice, “As guardian you can choose to do whatever you wish.  It’s not up to us, kwami to tell you what to do.  If having help gives you more strength, then do it.”  

The god of creation gave her a supportive smile.

Luka and Tikki watched as Marinette fell silent and into her own space as her eyes became distant and moved in thought.  

It was like a new spark was beginning to take over his Melody and he couldn’t be more excited to see that gleam in her eyes.

“Tikki, can you send a message to Plagg and Longg to inform Chat Noir and Ryuuko to meet up at the Eiffel Tower at ten tonight?”

Giving the girl a nod, Luka watched Tikki float to Marinette’s desk and fall into a trance when Marinette turned her attention to him.

Marinette launched herself into her boyfriend’s arms and embraced him, “Thank you, Luka.”

“Anytime, love.”

Breaking the embrace, he watched as Marinette stood up and went over to the chest where the miracle box hid and returned with a smaller box in hand, sitting back on the chaise next to him.  Marinette handed what he knew was the snake miraculous.

“What?” he asked, confusion taking over and looking back to her.

“I’m taking your advice and for that, I need to give you, Sass.”

At a loss of words, he looked back to the miraculous box and opened the case when a familiar green glow burst and disappeared to reveal Sass.  The little reptile smiling back at him with long-awaited excitement.

“Luka!” Sass exclaimed before launching to the musician.  Both boys giggling at their own little reunion.

Looking up to Marinette, he was at a loss on what Marinette had planned.  He wanted to know what the holder of creation had up her sleeve.

“What’s your plan?”

Marinette smiled as she watched him and Sass reunite, “I’ll explain when we meet up with the others.  For now, I feel exhausted after releasing what I held back.  How do you feel about a nap and dinner before meeting up with Chat and Ryuuko?”

He smiled as Sass nuzzled against him and flew off towards Tikki.  Moving closer to Marinette, he pushed himself towards the head of the chaise and opened his arms for Marinette and smiled, “It sounds like a plan.”  

Taking the offer, Marinette pushed herself into Luka’s embrace as they laid in the chaise, closed their eyes, and fell into a slumber.

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

 Hours later, the sky dark as the open ocean under the light of the moon, Marinette and Luka opened the sun window up the balcony of her bedroom, Tikki and Sass following close behind.

“Ready?” asked Luka.

He watched her smile as she looked up to the night sky and closed her eyes, inhaling the cool air.

“I am.  I’m ready to move forward with a fresh start.”

Luka moved next to her and wrapped an arm around her waist.

“I’m proud of you, you know.  I know it’s hard for you at times to ask for help, but I’m glad you’re taking that step for yourself.  And no matter what you decide tonight, remember you have people who will support you.”

Marinette turned and wrapped her arms around Luka’s shoulders and pushed herself up on her toes.  Following her motion, Luka lowered his head until their lips touched for a small kiss.  When they broke apart, Marinette’s eyes gleamed with newfound happiness.

“Thanks for being my rock, Luka.”

Embracing Marinette in a quick hug, he looked out into the city of Paris, bright with city lights in the distance near the Eiffel Tower.

“Let’s go.”  Turning to her kwami, “Tikki, Spots On.”

In a flash of pink, Luka watched in elation as his girlfriend transformed into the spotted heroine.  When the transformation finished, his elation turned into awe.

“Your suit changed.”

He watched Marinette blink in surprise as she took in her new look.  Gone was the red suit and black dots.  In place, her suit looked more mature as her suit split into sections of red and black.

Similar to his suit as Cardinalis, fingers black like a fingerless glove, her palms and up to her forearms coated in red and black spots.  Her biceps sectioned in black, only for her shoulders and torso to regain the red and black spotted pattern; the shoulder area looking like shoulder-padded armor.  The thighs take on the full black, but switch to the red with black spots from her calves down, only to fade to full red at her feet.  And unlike her old design, her feet became boot-like with small one inch heels.  Lastly, in the center, was a black belt wrapped around her waist area where her yo-yo latched onto.      

“H-how?”  she asked in equal surprise and confusion.

“If I had to guess, I would say with you taking the step in acknowledging you need help and taking action to better yourself, the miraculous took it as a sign of growth.”  Taking in her attire as a whole, “You look beautiful.”

Taking that as his cue, he followed in Marinette’s footsteps and called upon his transformation.

“Sass, Scales Slither.”

With a flash of turquoise, his body took on the transformation, though when the transformation finished, like Ladybug’s, his suit altered from his original Viperion design.  Still bearing his Viperion color palette, his suit took on the design layout from when he was Cardinalis but taking on more black as the main base.

“Looks like I’m not the only one with an upgrade,” said Ladybug.

“Makes me wonder since the two of us gained upgrades if Chat Noir and Ryuuko will obtain them as well.”

Well, with what I have planned, I’m sure they will.”

Unhooking her yo-yo and wrapped her free arm around Viperion, “Better hold on.”

With a flick of her wrist, the two launched off her balcony and made their way towards the Eiffel Tower.

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

 In minutes, Ladybug and Viperion landed on the cool metal beams of the Eiffel Tower and looked up at the approaching figures of Chat Noir and Ryuuko.

When Ladybug and Chat Noir made eye contact, the cat holder broke out in a run and embraced his partner.  Returning the gesture, Ladybug wrapped her arms around his chest, sinking in her partner’s embrace.

“Hey, Chat.”

“I was so worried about you.”

“I’m sorry I made you wait.  I had a lot going through my head and it’s time we talked.”

Releasing his partner, Chat Noir took a step back, concern etched in his face but pushed it aside for the moment when he took in his partner’s new attire.  

“I have to say, looking good with the new look, LB.  I take it this has something to do with what you want to talk about?”

She gave a nod, “You got it.”

Ladybug looked to her right and smiled at seeing Ryuuko standing, waiting patiently, with a smile of her own at the heroine.

“Hello, Ryuuko.  I’m glad you were able to make it tonight.  All four of us have some discussions ahead of us.  Let’s move towards the top of the structure where we have better stability and cover.”

Giving her a nod, all three heroes followed Ladybug to the top of the Eiffel Tower and waited for further instructions.  Silence filling the space around them except for the creaking of the iron of the structure swaying from the small breeze in the air.

They waited quietly as Ladybug took a breather and then opened her mouth to speak.

“I’m sure you all have questions, but, first,” -looking at Chat Noir- “I’d like to apologize to you.”

“Me?” Chat Noir stated, clearly off guard and confused.  “What do you have to apologize for?”

“For not listening to you a couple of years ago about revealing identities shortly after I became guardian.”

“LB, it’s okay.  You had your reasons and I respect that.  You don’t have to apologize for worrying about your safety and everyone else's.

Ladybug crossed her arms as she looked away from her partner.

“If only that were true, Chat.  It wasn’t because that’s what I wanted, it was because that’s what was engraved into me and I believed it.  If it weren’t for Viperion, I would never have realized how unhealthy that choice to believe everything would affect me in the end.”

Worry filled both Chat Noir and Ryuuko’s face, except for Viperion as he stood and listened to his girlfriend take the long-awaited step she’s been craving for so long.  He may not have shown much emotion other than a small smile, but he was damn proud of her.

“It was because of Viperion and Tikki that made me realize that as a guardian, everything taught to me doesn’t mean I have to follow it and live it word for word.  And as the guardian, I can make my own choices that I believe and feel could benefit us all.” -she swallowed and pushed out a tensioned breath- “So, as the guardian, I want to ask you, as my partner...would you still be willing to a reveal between all four of us?  I mean I know we know Viperion and Ryuuko, but you know what I mean.”

“Why us two?” asked Ryuuko.

“Because what I have planned revolves around the four of us.”

“Then let’s do it,” smiled Chat Noir, “If this is going to help you then my decision is already decided for me.”

Nerves started to take hold of Ladybug; she was about to learn who her long time partner was and she was buzzing with mixtures of nervousness and excitement.

“How about we count to three and all release our transformation?” offered Viperion.

Nodding quickly, Ladybug started the countdown and the others joined in.  When they reached one all closed their eyes and called off their transformations.

Luka and Kagami were the first ones to open their eyes and looked at each other and simply smiled at each other.  During the past three years and watching Marinette and Adrien become inseparable friends, they two became close friends with one another and couldn’t hold back the silent chuckles.  

Taking a quick look at their significant other, both Luka and Kagami stepped aside and embraced one another.

“Glad to finally give you a hug.  Learning you were Ryuuko shouldn’t have surprised me as much three days ago.  Only a badass spitfire could be the badass dragon.”

“And only a wise old snake would be the one to become a temporary Ladybug.”

Both giggled and looked over at Marinette and Adrien, still with eyes closed.  Most like each internally motivating them to prepare for the reveal.

“How much surprise do you think they’ll have once they see each other?” Luka whispered to Kagami.

“A lot.  There might be tears,” she responded. 

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

 Taking a breather, Marinette spoke between her and her partner, “Ready?”

“Yea.”

He was just as breathless, but together, they opened their eyes and blue met green.  Both Adrien and Marinette stood frozen as they stared into the eyes of their best friend, not just as partners but as civilians.

Green eyes glistened as tears surfaced when everything that happened the past three days resurfaced in his head and let the tears flow.  Moving forward, Adrien embraced Marinette in his arms, far tighter than before.  For Marinette, she simply collapsed into Adrien’s arms and both broke out in soft sobs.  She slipped her arms stuck between them and wrapped her arms around his chest and pulled him closer.

“O-oh god, Adrien,”  mumbled Marinette.

“I c-can’t believe I almost l-lost you.  M-my best friend,” he cried on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, so sorry.  I-I didn’t w-want anyone to worry.”

Adrien clung tighter and heaved, “You and your stubbornness.”

Marinette gave a watery laugh, earning one from Adrien as well.

“You enjoy this stubbornness you crazy cat,” she stated softly.

Breaking the embrace, the two heroes smiled at one another when Adrien shook his head, “I can’t believe it’s been you all this time.” -he looked at his friend seriously but out of care- “You should have asked for help, Marinette?”

“You know me and how I let myself let fear take over sometimes.”

Adrien shook his head, giving her a smirk, “I hope Luka knocked some sense into you.”

She huffed out and drawled, “Yes.”

He chuckled, “Good.”  -looking over to Luka and Kagami talking- “Should we continue the rest of what you have planned then?  I’m curious.”

Marinette smiled, “Of course.  Then let’s head to the others so I can explain the rest of my plan.”

Giving her a nod, Adrien and Marinette walked over to where Kagami and Luka stood to talk amongst themselves.

“Hey, guys,” breaking the two from their deep conversation and turning to Marinette.  Gesturing everyone to sit, they all followed Marinette and all sat in the form of a small circle.

“As I mentioned earlier, I was struggling a lot, but I always hid it from others.  It wasn’t till the recent incident that required Luka to take my place temporarily that my life revolved around a lot of responsibilities.  So much so, that I let the guardian life through Fu’s views take over and misguide me a bit.  If it weren’t for Luka’s insight, I don’t think I would have ever taken the necessary step to better my life.  So, what I’m about to ask is asking a lot.  But if you wish to not take it I completely understand.”

Taking a breather, she looked at Luka and Kagami.

“First off, I would like you two to become permanent members of the miraculous team,” -looking at Adrien- “What say you, partner?”

“I couldn’t ask for a finer duo to add to the team.  I’m all for it.”

He gave a wink to Kagami, only for his girlfriend to roll her eyes, but smiled.

“I have a question though,” asked Kagami, turning to Marinette.  “Why Luka and I?  Why not Alya and Nino?”

The ladybug holder gave a small smile, “I love those two, I do.  However, my reason for not making them permanent is because Alya has a tendency to be...hyperactive.  I know she can be serious, but I also know her love of superheroes and Ladyblog can sometimes get in the way.  But with what I have in mind, I didn’t want to risk the issues of identities knowing she has the Ladyblog.  As for Nino, he’s not great at keeping secrets and I know for fact he and Alya share a lot between each other.”

“You got that right,” mumbled Adrien under his breath.

“I love them both, but Adrien and I need two people who are mature and insightful.  That’s why I chose you and Luka as a permanent holder along with a reveal.”

Still confused, Kagami asked, “Then...what’s the last part of your plan?”

Looking at Adrien, Kagami, and Luka seriously, she swallowed and breathed out, “I’d like to make you three guardian of the miracle box with me.”

All three members went wide-eyed and mouths dropped from her answer, fully speechless.  Before any of them could speak, Marinette continued.

“Luka was right.  I can’t do this alone anymore.  I’m tired of being alone and with all these secrets.”  Sitting up straighter, she spoke with strength, “If you are willing, I’d like to teach you in the ways as guardians and learn the ways of the miraculous and all the history that follows it.  I’d like to have our own guardianship where we have each other to rely and fall back on.  But, most importantly, to support one another.  If an akuma attack were to happen and I couldn’t get away to retrieve a miraculous or other guardian business, we have others who can do that for us.” -Looking at each of them separately- “So, would you three be guardians with me?”

“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Luka being the first to speak.  “If this is what it takes to lift some of these burdens off your shoulder, then I’m all in.”

“It would be an honor to serve alongside you as guardian, Marinette.  If this is what it takes to allow you to live a healthier life, I’ll gladly accept the role.”

Marinette felt relieved and excited.  Not only was she not going to be alone anymore, but she was going to have a family within a guardianship.  Turning to Adrien, she waited but knew everything was going to be okay when she watched Adrien give her a full smile.

“We’ve been partners this long, haven’t we?  I’ve always got your back, princess.  You can count this cat in.”

She sighed, all the tension she didn’t know she held was finally gone. 

“You have no idea how happy you all made me.  I’m so excited to share this with you.”  Reaching out her hand, “Reach out your hand, please,” -she watched as the others reach out their hands in which she placed all three between her hands- “I, Ladybug, hereby add Chat Noir, Ryuuko, and Viperion as guardians of the miracle box and miraculous.”

Adrien, Kagami, and Luka felt a sudden soft bolt of energy through their bodies.

Releasing their hands, Marinette gave them a smile and nod, “Welcome to the guardianship.”

Looking up at the darkening sky, she decided to end the meeting for tonight.

“We’ll meet up in a couple of days and work on schedules and plans.  But, for now, I think it’s time we all head home.”

They all stood up and Kagami was the first to hug Marinette and wish her a good night, moving over to Luka to do the same as Adrien walked over to his long time partner.  Giving her one final embrace, both Adrien and Kagami called on their transformations, coated in green and red light.  When the lights faded, both heroes prepared to say their final goodbyes but stopped once they caught Luka and Marinette’s grins.

“What?” asked Chat Noir.

“Looks like the two of you are now starting anew with us in the new attires,” answered Luka.

Both Chat Noir and Ryuuko looked down to find their old designs gone and replaced with new looks.

“We’ll discuss more next time, for now, the two of you better get home before your parents find out.  Though do enjoy your new outfits on the way home,” stated Marinette.

Giving the couple one more round of smiles, Chat Noir and Ryuuko laughed as they took off into the night together and towards home.  Luka and Marinette gave their own laughs as they watched the couple have fun and chase after one another.

“You did amazing tonight, my melody,” Luka turned to his girlfriend as she looked at him with those blue doe eyes.

“Well, I have you to thank.  It was fate that landed me in the Seine that day.  And it was fate that gave me all my friends, especially the three of you.”

Bringing Marinette into a lover’s embrace, they stood there in each other’s arms as the small breeze blew around them and their kwamis snuggled on their shoulders.

Fate brought him closer to his girlfriend, but it was fate that gave him the chance to change the hardship that Marinette struggled within her life.  And with Adrien and Kagami, the responsibilities that Marinette once held as burdens can now give her peace and strength.  Together, they’ll be able to tackle whatever fate decides to throw their way next.

[dereksmcgrath]

Y’all are talking up Star and Stripe, while I’m impressed how this series finally gave interiority to Stain.

“No Man Is an Island,” My Hero Academia Chapter 328. By Kohei Horikoshi, translation by Caleb Cook, lettering by John Hunt. Available from Viz.

Content warnings regarding rape and violence against women.

Before I get to Stain, let’s start with the end of this chapter, given how much of a splash Star and Stripe, our newest character, has made so far with readers.

Is Star and Stripe All Might’s student? I don’t want to bring out the Todoroki red-string board determining a list of All Might’s potential offspring, and I don’t think that’s her role in this story, as calling her mentor her “master” is far more a student-teacher relationship than anything else. But if she is All Might’s student, what does that change in what I have considered about All Might up to this point? I have frequently derided his skills as a teacher, and nothing in the story has suggested otherwise that he isn’t used to it: flashbacks we’ve had of Nezu talking with All Might implied teaching would be something new for him, his innate learning clashes with someone like Izuku who prefers things explained to him, and the series has made gags about how he needed the equivalent of Teaching for Dummies to know basic pep talks to give to Izuku’s classmates. That’s not to say he was never a teacher to Star and Stripe--but it is to say that it has not been obvious to me that he had such experiences, or was that suited for it. It may be that All Might, despite himself and what he thinks of himself, was indeed a teacher to Star and Stripe, or at least she thought he did a good job as one, whether directly or, as is just as likely, serving as the role model, literally the person she has modeled her look and theming around.

You’ll also forgive me if I look at that chapter’s title and not still think how much All Might isolated himself for so long, so it’s rich to have such a title like that, when it’s too little, too late, for All Might to suddenly engage in the collaborative work that heroes should engage it, that has been part of Izuku’s ethos for so long, that is at the heart of One For All, when All Might has kept trying to handle everything on his own with no help from others. Granted, I’m being unfair: All Might has seemed to have more coordination with the police than other Pro Heroes from what we’ve seen in the comics, and it’s not like they can’t retroactively change that (Big Red Dot refers to All Might as a “friend” in this chapter, so maybe All Might is a more collaborative hero than I’m giving him credit.) Weirdly, All Might’s tendency to work alone kind of makes him and Stain alike in a lot of ways--but we’ll get to Stain later. And yes, I can also see the island conceit is referring to Tartarus, but I’m looking at the subtext first before the text.

But turning back to Star and Stripe, and without whining too much about this point, it is bizarre this late in the game to get yet another character who was influenced by All Might. But it’s not unbelievable. Of course there are more than just Izuku and Bakugo who modeled their look or name after All Might. Of course there are more than just Melissa Shield and Nighteye inspired to go into support or hero work by his example. And of course, when All Might studied and practiced in the United States, and whose theming is built around Superman, the quintessential United States superhero (albeit one co-created by a Canadian creator), of course we’d get a US Pro Hero inspired by him. And she’s a woman, and I appreciate that inclusiveness and representation.

Too bad, as usual, including another woman in the story leads to two problems I have with fans’ reactions: one, for fans who are fixated on objectifying women characters, and two, for an Edgar Allan Poe scholar like me who keeps reading into things, rightly or wrongly, and thinking everything is going to turn into killing off a woman character to motivate the men characters.

I really wish I wouldn’t have to write this ridiculous disclaimer, but the “horny on main” crowd on social media gets tiresome. It’d be nice to have a new woman character be introduced without immediate reactions being primarily “she’s hot.” Sometimes you just want to enjoy a new character like Star and Stripe as a Captain America-style pastiche and their superpower work without just seeing her as another freaking waifu for someone. Nothing precludes her from being someone that people find attractive; I just find it tiresome when it seems like still that this tends to happen to women more frequently, especially with the long history of reducing women, in real life or in fiction, for objectification and not seeing them as fully realized people where, yes, any sexuality or asexuality is part of them, but just a part, not all of them.

And while I criticize the “horny on main” crowd, it’s not like I don’t have my own problems in writing these reviews regarding women characters: I have set a countdown clock for how long before Star and Stripe gets fridged, because that’s my fear. At least recent art in the newest My Hero Academia volume in Japan features new artwork of Nagant, so fingers crossed she’s not quite dead following All For One’s inevitable explode-y betrayal. And it’s not as if this series lacks diverse representations of girls and women, especially in roles they take (Pro Hero, Villain, Vigilante, or civilian) and personalities. And it’s not fair for me to risk limiting the story’s potential by insisting a character not be killed off. But when I think popular culture at large still limits roles for girls and women in action stories, especially in superhero stories and shonen, it’s hard for me not to cringe with worry that, shortly after a girl or woman character is introduced to the story, that she’s going to be sidelined in some way, whether objectified or killed off, largely for the sake of boys and men fans and characters.

Or maybe I’m just annoyed seeing as this chapter starts with a Tartarus escapee shouting about “females” like Quark from DS9 before Stain kills him. Thoughts and prayers for that dead jackass.

Still, that character’s presence is troublesome. In Horikoshi’s works, and spinoffs like Vigilantes, violence against women perpetuates as a way of identifying someone as really super-duper evil. It feels like that Mark Millar quotation referring to rape as one of the ways to really clue in the audience that this person is evil, no different than if a villain decapitated someone. It’s far more complicated than that when writing in fiction for two reasons. First, it’s victimizing women for a story so that it traditionally falls upon the protagonist, usually a man, to avenge those women--so, Stain killing this guy kind of fits that cliche. Second, it’s not believable, and it does a lot of harm acting like a rapist is that obvious villain over there rather than a lot of people that we keep thinking are nice guys before, bam, we realize they’re fucking awful. It’s the banality of evil that perpetuates, to ignore that rapists in real life are not just mustache-twirling villains but can be people of all types, even people in the highest levels of government, entertainment, and business who are supposed to come across as reasonable, normal individuals who contribute to society but instead are also freaking monsters who committed sexual violence against someone else.

I wish I had any sort of transition to get back to other parts of this chapter, so the best I can say is, let’s turn back to Stain.

I do appreciate what this chapter does with him, especially giving us something we haven’t had from him in a long time, if ever: interiority. Getting into Stain’s mind should be petrifying, like how his stance against the Pro Heroes froze them in place, with or without use of his Quirks. (If it turns out he actually had a “Quirk awakening” like Toga and Shigaraki, I’m throwing copies I have of this manga against the wall.) Instead, Stain is weirdly rational. He assesses the situation, sees how chaotic things are in this prison, realizes things must be chaotic outside, so his first stop is to see who has information, such as any computer data, and that’s where he’s lucky enough to find the last surviving Tartarus guard protecting the hard drive that he passes onto All Might. He’s even weirdly honorable to not take that weapon on his way out, not kill this dying guard, and not just be evil for evil’s sake. As Stain himself said, he’s an ally, but also a beast.

It’s incredible. What character progression.

I was ticked off with the last chapter having Hawks dismiss Stain’s note as a “love letter” to All Might: that’s right up there with UA dismissing Shigaraki initially as a “man-child.” These characters are more complicated than these off-putting insults that seem to be more about criticizing men for failing to stand up to some expected behavior. Like, if you’re going to go after Stain and Shigaraki, I would start with the fact that they are freaking murderers before lambasting one as looking up to All Might and the other as enjoying video games and being immature for his age.

So, after how annoying those character derisions are, I’m impressed how this chapter took us through Stain’s thought process in a way to have him be more than the crazed vigilante we saw in Vigilantes and the Hosu Arc. It added depth to him without negating what evils he has done. It showed his thought process beyond cliches of some Death Wish hyper-violent weirdo without, again, retconning those aspects as if they were never part of him. This chapter isn’t quite a retcon, so much as a fleshing out of a character to show how he was able to get the jump on Pro Heroes and kill or disable so many of them. This makes him look smart and capable rather than, as I will continue to complain about Villains like All For One, just lucky and the beneficiaries of plot contrivances. That contrast, to have Stain looking at All For One, who stands before escaped prisoners like the Messiah (or Anti-Christ) figure he thinks he is, just cements for me how well Stain is written, and how poorly in contrast All For One comes across.

Then again, Stain did just happen upon the guard having those drives of digital information, so he could have just been the lucky beneficiary of a plot contrivance. Or, as at least one person online wrote, All For One planted that evidence to trick the Pro Heroes into thinking Shigaraki is nearing his finalization so he can draw them into a trap. For now, though, I’m choosing to take this as an example for how an antagonist should be written: capable, smart, and not just getting by on the plot deciding they should win.

I had said about the previous chapter how that one felt incomplete. But I can’t say that any of Stain’s story in this arc has felt incomplete. I usually hate bouncing back and forth between flashbacks and timeskips in stories (but I’ll say more about that later when getting back to some Episode 7 posts), but going back to explain how Stain got the information from Tartarus worked for me. It wasn’t just to fill in back story; it also clarified what Stain thinks his role is right now, after what he did in Vigilantes and what he did to Iida’s brother: at least to me, or maybe because by now readers are more familiar with him, he seems to have more self-awareness. There is no glee like there seemed to be when he took down crime bosses and unintentional Villains in Vigilantes, or when he disabled Tensei. He seems oddly more rational--which is terrifying, given how much to shit society has gone in the manga, where someone like Stain seems reasonable compared to All For One gathering enforcers from Tartarus. It’s kind of fitting that the chapter that really re-introduced Stain to this series was titled “Who Are You Really?” which is pretty much the question that surviving Tartarus guard said to Stain, whether he will be a hero or another villain.

(Speaking of that guard: we’re told pretty much all the guards at Tartarus died, whether killed by the prison escape, the building’s damage, or drowning. But wasn’t there one guard that All For One’s team took with them to pilot their escape? I’m not getting my hopes up that Shishikura’s father survived, but it would be a waste to kill him off just to motivate Shishikura instead of that motivation being in part to rescue his dad. Granted, I’m skittish around killing characters before their usefulness is exploited, as awful as that is to phrase, but unfortunately, I just complained about fridging, so I’m being annoying right now.)

After that back story for Stain, we catch up to All Might returning from his pep talk to Izuku to meet with Tsukauchi. For a lot of reasons, Tsukauchi has been criticized by fans, some of inspired for good reasons by our moment of reception (many police not meeting the standards set for them in the wake of their unjustified violence, especially against marginalized people) and some that are either plot-based (he is not the biggest fan of our protagonists in Vigilantes and actively upsets their work) or undeserved (he’s actually been competent by this point in the manga). So, it’s weird to hear him complain about needing Stain’s help--when, given how bad things are in Japan in this story, he’s not exactly doing that great a job himself.

Also, poor Sansa back there has a head scar now.

Where this chapter falls apart a bit for me is its attempt at worldbuilding. I appreciate that we are learning along with All Might just how One For All works. He himself didn’t quite get what Izuku was seeing of the Vestiges way back in the Sports Festival Arc, so it makes sense that he is our audience surrogate to explain to Sansa and readers just what he can and can’t sense of them when near Izuku. The problem I’m having is that this is information related to about a month or so ago when he was with Izuku in the hospital. It wasn’t as clear to me then that All Might had this much of a deep understanding of One For All, so to now have it explained in this detail feels like we’re skipping some steps in logic. It’s not unbelievable that All Might needed that month to finally understand all of this; it’s just bothersome as a reader to have the info dump happen in this manner. I understand that info-dump would have disrupted the narrative flow in those earlier chapters; I also think delaying that information until now is frustrating, the equivalent of having to set down this chapter to go back to the earlier ones. It’s not the joy of re-reading a story with new appreciation for something else to discover in the earlier chapters; it’s more like reading a textbook and having to skip to endnotes at the back of the book to read something in more detail.

And speaking of getting buried in needless confusing self-contradicting explanations: the manga then cuts to a Pro Hero version of the United Nations, full of shadowy people explaining how it’s too difficult to coordinate nations to convince them to let their Pro Heroes go to Japan and help with relief efforts. It’s bad enough how much I hate “shadowy people in government” as a trope: it felt lazy in the first Avengers film, and after more than four years in the United States having to hear deep state bullshit by hucksters and far-right fascists, no, I’m not up for such symbols that don’t put a face on the people responsible. I know I’m invoking Avatar: The Last Airbender so soon after talking it up in the previous chapter review, but we delayed showing Ozai’s face to make him faceless so that, when it is finally revealed, and he looks like a normal guy, we realize how this evil can come from even the most normal looking person, especially as a contrast between his unscarred face and Zuko’s scarred face, where the scar in a lot of stories is traditionally used to mark someone as ugly and therefore evil, while Avatar shows how obviously prejudiced, wrong, and illogical such mental and symbolic associations are. I know it would take more work to draw designs for all these bureaucrats, but give them faces, make them known, make them actual characters. I get that making them relatable causes as much of a problem as making them too relatable and therefore making their absurd points logical, but I can’t stand to keep perpetuating “deep state shadow government” nonsense in destabilized times.

Then again, when it comes to the delays in sending out the Pro Heroes, it’s not that unbelievable or unrealistic, given how bureaucracy hampers international relief efforts all the time in the real world. But it’s just bizarre, for a work of fiction that has shown Pro Hero society making so many advancements yet still bogged down by something so quotidian in a fantastic setting. Granted, I’ve repeated over and over again in these reviews how I thought this setting was a utopia--a world where people of different abilities and sizes had accommodations with regard to clothing, housing, and buildings--only to have later chapters undermine all of that--housing for giant-size people is in inconvenient locations, subsidies are not easy to get for being giant-size, people with non-human appearances are abused and tormented.

But, to the story’s credit, ending with Star and Stripe ignoring such bureaucracy, so, this is very much Horikoshi having his cake and eating it, too.

And I hate to end this review on a down note, but I am cringing at potential unfortunate implications incoming. Star and Stripe is riding atop what looks like a futuristic fighter plane that, I have to imagine, within this plot, is related to the United States government and, if not, at least by her entire US-patriotic theming, might as well be. And she’s flying a couple of these fighter planes to Japan. I really, really am trying not to cringe at potential invoking of the United States’ attack on Japan during World War II, and I’m really trying to hope the story won’t make some misguided references to nuclear bombing. I know this is a stretch, but after the trouble Horikoshi rightly faced for how he named All For One’s doctor, it would not surprise me. Plus, it’s not as if this hasn’t been a difficulty in localizing these Japanese works in United States audiences: I play that Bungo Stray Dogs mobile app game all the time, but there’s a reason that game, upon initial release in the United States, almost immediately changed a special move’s name from “Kamikaze” to “Beatdown.” And seeing as that Bungo film ends with Agatha Christie almost carpet-bombing Japan, yeah, you’ll forgive me if a lot of these thoughts are circulating in my mind anticipating what could happen next in this series.

[xhanisai]

AU where Adrien is darker and has less morals

- Similar to how things are in canon but the show would be rated r15 cos of heavy violence >:D - Basically Adrien looks like a cinnamon roll but could actually kill you. Marinette looks like a cinnamon roll and is a cinnamon roll. - During the umbrella scene in Origins, Adrien works out that Marinette is Ladybug. He keeps quiet about it though to respect her privacy and will wait till she's ready to share on her own terms. - Marinette is unaware that Adrien and Chat Noir are the same person whilst Adrien is oblivious to her humongous crush on him. He tries to subtly win her over both as Adrien and as Chat, resulting in Blushinette or Sassinette. - Whenever an Akuma manages to get a hit on Ladybug or any of Chat's friends, he doesn't hesitate to pummel them down vigorously. - Ladybug always has to scold him for being too harsh on the Akumas, constantly reminding him that there's an innocent victim underneath being used as a puppet. - Imagine a scenario: "Goodness Chaton! Just because they gave me a black eye doesn't mean you can go ahead and break their arm or toss them off the Eiffel Tower! Only God would know what would happen if I were to bleed from an itty bitty scratch," "Then that would be the day we find out what Cataclysm does to a person, M'Lady," "...N-Nice joke Chat." "I wasn't joking Ladybug." - Since he already knows, Chat isn't insistent on knowing her identity or asking if they could reveal themselves to each other. - This mad lad is very protective over Marinette in school in his own way. He's infamously known for having eyes that would "burn your soul" if you get on his wrong side - He is sarcastic and sharp with Chloe, especially when he finds out that she made Marinette's school life a nightmare before he and Alya joined. In fact his mumbled threats have Chloe shit scared to come near him or Mari. - Chloe does try to improve as a person but our lovely trio: Alya, Adrien and Nino repels Chloe from coming near Marinette. Our Asian girl is blissfully unaware of this set up, too busy thinking about tonight's patrol with Chat. - Though, Adrien can be really sweet and selfless. When Nino admits that he's crushing on Marinette too despite knowing Adrien is aiming for her, Adrien encourages him to go for her. It killed him inside but Adrien thought that if he can't make Marinette happy, at least she'd be in great hands with Nino (Animan episode). Thankfully, Alya and Nino gets locked in a cage, bonds, and BOOM we have Djwifi~ - Chat Noir's solo patrols is when the beast wakes up. The good people of Paris may see him and Ladybug as a comforting presence but the bad, evil people know how brutal Chat can be. - Chat has broken limbs belonging to thieves, shattered ribs belonging to abusive people, left killers in a near death state. - Adrien feels bad enough that Ladybug is unaware of his actions during the night and the last thing he wants to do is shed unnecessary blood, scaring the heroine. - Plagg fully supports Adrien's actions as he's chaotic neutral "Listen kid, this is why the power of Destruction, us, serve as a counterpart to the power of Creation. We exist to show that mercy is a luxury and the consequences that befalls on the people that take advantage of kindness. Ladybug may turn the other cheek and forgive; we fight fire with with fire. We will take away life if necessary. So don't feel guilty at all." "Thanks Plagg...I just want to keep Paris...and my Marinette safe no matter what. I'd do anything. Everything." - (See the parallels between Adrien and Gabriel here~? ;D) - Hawkmoth/Gabriel is very intimidated by Chat Noir and Adrien also managed to scare him a few times. - When Ladybug contacted Chat Noir to protect Marinette whilst she plays as bait and goes on the date with Evillustrator, he cataclysmed Chloe's balcony to dust in rage for her recklessness. - During Horrificator, Chloe didn't interrupt the kiss between Marinette and Adrien; she stood there gawking. Adrien was a smitten kitten, full on kissed Marinette that Nino and Alya had to shout their names so that they pulled apart. - "Girl, you're one of the most smartest people out there yet you can't grasp the fact that Mini Agreste is head over heels for you???" "Alya-aaa! You're just saying that to make me feel hopeful..." "He. Made. Out. With. You. For. Ages. On. That. Film. We. Did." "Cos it was in the script!" "There was tongue!" "He was making it realistic?" "MON DIEU MARINETTE DUPAIN CHENG! HE WAS LIKE A SATISFIED CAT THAT GOT THE CREAM AFTER THAT DAMMIT!" - Oblivious Marinette is best Marinette. - During the Dark Cupid/Dislocoeur event, after getting hit by an arrow, Chat successfully cataclysmed Ladybug's mask. She pulls him in for a kiss to not only break the spell but also to hide her face. - When Chat regains consciousness, Ladybug found a plastic bag conveniently blowing past, puts it over her head to hide her identity. - The rest of the event goes as canon except Marinette had a plastic bag on her head this whole time. - Tikki finds out that Adrien is both Chat Noir and that he has known Ladybug's identity from the start. She finds that it makes sense with how extra protective he is over her civilian identity and thanks Adrien for keeping Marinette safe at all times as well as being a worthy partner. - A secret group of criminals that are against the heroes, plot the downfall of Ladybug and Chat Noir together. - Chat Noir, having underground links and connections from his feats, catches wind of this. - He's too late and Ladybug gets shot by a special bullet straight after an akuma attack, right in the chest. - Chat Noir cataclysms every single criminal that was part of the organisation into rotting corpses in pure rage. Hawkmoth tries to akumatise him but Chat cataclysms the butterfly too into dust. - Marinette luckily survives thanks to the hospital receiving her so quickly. She was born with Dextrocardia with Situs Inversus (which means that her heart is on the right side rather than the left). If her heart was in the normal position, she would have died. - Adrien doesn't leave her side during the day and Chat Noir during the night. Marinette has no recollection of the incident she got shot. - When Lila comes along, Adrien knew she was trouble and a liar from the start. He had the urge to cataclysm the whole school as they bought into Lila's lies without any questioning. Plagg almost encouraged him. - Adrien took the opportunity to mess with Lila. "I am Volpina. A hero much, much better and stronger than Ladybug. This is my miraculous," "Hehe...Lila, Lila, oh Lila... showing me your precious miraculous is a huge mistake. If you don't want a first hand view of a fox getting skinned alive, you will listen to I, Hawkmoth, and hand over your miraculous to me." - Lila literally runs off, scared shitless, shouting that she was joking and that Volpina doesn't exist. - Marinette overhears everything and has a crisis. "OH NO TIKKI WHAT DO I DO!? THE LOVE OF MY LIFE IS THE ENEMY OF PARIS AND ICANTFIGHTHIMWHAAAAT!?" - It takes Tikki 15 minutes to calm Marinette down and promise that Adrien isn't Hawkmoth. Said kwami swears internally to teach both Plagg and Adrien a lesson for riling Mari up to this level. - Adrien overhears Marinette's freakout cos he's literally 6 feet away and both he and Plagg are wearing shit eating grins. "Ah, so the stammering and shyness makes sense now. Love of her life hmmm? I love the sound of that~" "Keep your whiskers on kitten and run before Tikki throttles me for letting you go too far with that joke!" "Aww... but I wanna ask Marinette for a little kiss," "YOU WILL CAUSE THE LITTLE BUG TO COMBUST AND DIE AND BOOM PARIS IS A GONER!"

My artworks for this AU:

(x) - Doodles

(x) - Horrificator kiss 

(x) - Mini Comic

[whoisbxcky]

After School Special

request: Your writing is amazing!!!! I have a request for a peter Parker imagine where the reader has healing powers and he falls for her and he gets hurt on a mission and she rushes in to save him and she heals him and the gets hurt and peter carries her out and stays by her side the whole time? Sorry if that was confusing

pairing: peter parker x reader (!!reader and peter both 16 in this fic!!)

word count: 3500 +/-

warnings: reader suffering from anxiety and a lil panic attack thrown in the mix, some angst but a lot of fluff also, descriptive violence, gunshot wound

author’s note: Okay first ever Peter Parker fic, apologies if it’s a little iffy (especially at the end- i flopped lol) I really struggled getting this one written despite the fact it ended up being uber long by my standards! I think I struggle writing for Peter purely because of the ‘trying to get into the mindset of a teenager’ thing lmao. 

But as always, feedback welcomed and appreciated, big huge thank you to anon for the request, and I am currently accepting requested so hit that inbox my lovelies! ~ Toria <3

“You ready for your first ever mission tonight, Y/N?”

You practically jumped out of your skin, your head crashing into the top of your locker with a sickening thwack.

With a groan of pain, you spun on your heel, murderous eyes fixating on Peter Parker, who was now stood staring at you with a mixture of shock and fear etched rather comically on his face.

“Well, geez, Peter. Hard to say, you think I can manage it with a concussion?”

You softened your gaze, shaking your head with a rueful smile as you brought a hand tentatively to your head and letting it rest over the knot that was rapidly growing there.

You let your eyelids flutter shut, summoning a warm, white light to your palm and allowing the healing energy to envelop your injury, smiling softly as you did.

When you opened your eyes, your head felt good as new, and you were met with Peter’s wide, curious gaze.

You frowned at him then, raising your brow dubiously as he continued to stare. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, you cleared your throat, narrowing your eyes at him.

“Something the matter?”

Peter blinked a few times, his cheeks donning an unmistakable pink hue as his gaze shifted anywhere and everywhere that wasn’t your face. You strained to contain an eye roll as your fellow Avenger stuttered uselessly for a minute.

“I… Well no… No, it’s just… Well… Mr. Stark said we shouldn’t use our powers just out in the open like that and well…”

He trailed off, swallowing hard as you fixed him with your best ‘keep-going-and-I’ll-flatten-you’ stare. You had to hand it to the guy, usually when you gave people that look, they turned tail and got as far away as possible from you in the other direction.

“Well, what Mr. Stark doesn’t know won’t land me with another lecture, now will it, Peter?”

You folded your arms, flashing him with a conspirator’s grin.

“Besides, you’re the one announcing tonight’s mission to the whole school.”

You raised your brows, turning to slam your locker shut before grinning at him once more, taking off towards the school exit, after a few beats, you heard Peter scrambling to catch up with you.

The two of you discussed the task ahead of you in hushed tones as you left the school building and hastily made your way across campus. You tried to focus on the conversation at hand, but the nausea gripping your stomach at the thought of your first ever mission made it increasingly difficult.

It had been a year since Tony Stark had found you and recruited you.

A whole year of missing school dances, mall dates with your friends, even class sometimes, in the interest of training to become one of the Earth’s ‘mightiest’ heroes.

You winced at the thought.

After the alien invasion in NYC back in 2012, footage had emerged of an eleven-year-old you healing wounded civilians, an ability you had been entirely unaware of possessing up until that day.

You’d thought nothing of it at the time, given that the video quality was… questionable, at best, and you magically healing the wounded was far from the strangest thing to have occurred in NYC that day.

And, despite the magical healing hands, you had done a spectacular job at being a regular old, boring high school student. Right up until Stark had shown up on your doorstep and told you the Avenger’s needed your unique skill set, and you had found yourself agreeing, against your better judgement.  

Now here you were, a year into your training and about to embark on your first ever mission as a fully-fledged Avenger.

Oh joy.

Your inner musings were interrupted by Peter’s distant voice, alerting you to the fact you had arrived at the tower. You had been so lost in thought, you hadn’t even registered getting into the car Tony had sent for you both.

You reluctantly made your way up to the briefing room, nervously chewing on your thumbnail as Steve hit you with the ‘health and safety come first’ speech, in between briefing you for the mission at hand.

The task was simple: you, Peter, Sam and Wanda would head to a warehouse housing a Hydra sleeper cell, you would infiltrate the building, eliminate any threats and gather as much intel as you could. Easy-peasy. What could go wrong?

A few hours later, the Quinjet was parked up a little way away from the warehouse, and you and Peter were stood just outside the sole entrance, neither of you saying a word.

Sam and Wanda had gone inside already to do a primary sweep, ordering the two of you to wait outside as backup, as well as taking out any hostiles that may try to flee.

Five minutes had past, and the silence was becoming deafening. You could see Peter out of the corner of your eye, his body poised and ready, his focus absolute.

You let out a defeated sigh, before clearing your throat, your eyes fixated on the pebble you were kicking around at your feet.

“They’ve been in there for a while… You think they’re alright?”

You glanced up to find Peter’s perplexed expression staring back at you, sighing again, you continued.

“I mean I know they’re the professionals and all… But shouldn’t they be back by now? What if something’s gone wrong and they-“

You were cut off in surprise as a gentle hand on your shoulder caused you to flinch. When your eyes snapped up once more, Peter was stood just inches from you, a soft smile on his face and warmth in his eyes.

“They’ll be just fine, Y/N. We’re Avengers, this mission will be a piece of cake, you’ll see.”

You felt an uncomfortable heat rising in your cheeks and you studiously averted your eyes, clearing your throat in embarrassment.

“Oh… Of course.”

Peter chuckled then, offering you a boyish grin before your amicable exchange was interrupted by the sound of shouting, followed by gunfire, followed by an explosion.

As the two of you whipped around to face the warehouse, you half registered the fact that Peter had your hand in his and had pulled you to stand behind him. But the sound of Sam’s panicked voice over the coms kept you from thinking too much about it.

“Parker, Y/L/N, we need backup, now. Get in here-“

There was more gunfire, a yell, and the coms cut off. You felt your stomach drop.

You stumbled slightly as your arm was pulled forward, and you yanked it back, your wide eyes meeting Peter’s.

“Y/N? Let’s go, they need us!”

“I… I can’t…”

Peter stared at you incredulously, glancing back at the warehouse that was now half on fire. More gunshots. More yelling.

“Our teammates are in danger, we have to-“

“I know! But I… I can’t do it, I…”

You could feel the ice-cold jaws of panic latch around your throat, making breathing feel almost impossible. You looked around frantically for a way out, but only found the chaos unfolding in front of you.

Peter let out a breath of despair, before turning on his heel and running into the building ahead of you. You moved to call him back but found that the words would not leave your throat. They were trapped there, fear holding them in place and making you choke.

I can’t do this… I’m not a hero. I’m just a sophomore for gods sake. I should be doing homework right now, making weekend plans with friends… Not running into a burning building to risk my life fighting god knows what…

You let out a sob of frustration, falling to your knees in the gravel, your hands coming up to grip your hair desperately. Your breathing was erratic, and you knew you were having a panic attack.

As you willed your breathing to slow, trying to find a calm place in your mind, Peter’s face materialised in your thoughts. You found your mind subconsciously wandering back to the first day you met in the Avenger’s Tower, your surprise at learning your classmate was the infamous Spider-man...

“I can’t believe it, Peter Parker, a hero… And… Part spider…?”

Peter gave a short barking laugh, and you flashed him a sharp-toothed grin. The two of you were sat on the balcony of the Avenger’s tower, the day of your recruitment. Despite the fact you were both freshman at the same school, it was the first time you’d ever conversed with the guy.

“I mean, yeah, you could say that. Here, check this out…”

He grinned at you then, his eyes twinkling in the growing darkness around you. With a flick of his wrist, a strand of web shot out, attaching to the rafter above you. Next thing you knew, he had pulled himself up on the web and was now dangling upside down in front of you, waving his free arm in a mock ‘ta-dah’ fashion.

You grinned at him once more, overcome with a fit of giggles as he let himself drop back to the ground, tripping over the chair as he did.

“Very cool. Doesn’t it scare you though? Putting your life at risk for complete strangers like you do…?”

You trailed of, worrying your lip between your teeth as you stared out onto the skyline. Peter paused for a moment before responding, his gaze moving from the view to rest fondly on you.

“I guess a little… But you got to do what you got to do, right?”

“I suppose… but why you? I mean… There’s a whole tower of heroes here, couldn’t you just… Not? You know, have a normal life?”

Peter chuckled then, and you slid your gaze from the city below to find his eyes fixated on you, and you smiled shyly at him.

“The way I see it? Those with the power to make a difference who chose not to, are just as bad as the bad guys.”

You stared at him for a beat, his words settling deep in your subconscious. After a moment of thoughtful silence, he hopped to his feet, offering you a hand.

“Come on, let’s go check out the cinema room.”

Your eyes lit up, and you accepted his hand as he pulled you to your feet, steadying you with a hand on your waist.

“You guys have a cinema room here!?”

Peter’s laugh mingling with your own faded into the darkness of your subconscious once more, a nearby blast drawing you out of your memories.

You found yourself back on your feet, breathing even once more and a new-found resolve coursing through your veins.

Peter was right, you were afraid, and that was okay. But if you let your fear win and abandoned your teammates right now, you didn’t deserve to call yourself an Avenger.

Sprinting towards the now half destroyed warehouse, you paused for a moment to pick up a nearby steal pipe that was laying in the gravel, likely thrown there in one of the explosions. You may have healing powers, but combat lessons had not been your strong suit, so you hadn’t bothered to bring a weapon with you, other than some knuckle dusters that Natasha had gifted you and a mace from Rhodey.

As you entered the building, your senses were momentarily overloaded. You could see Wanda facing off against an armada of automatic weaponry, bullets raining down on her in succession. Sam was off to your right, engaged with a particularly large man with a suit that echoed Tony’s Iron-man get up. And there, in front of you, Peter was taking on the bulk of the Hydra forces, dipping and weaving to avoid their gunfire while taking them out one-by-one.

A yell to your left alerted you to an incoming hostile, and you cried out in determination as you swung the pipe at the man’s face, knocking him out and onto his back.

You ducked behind a slab of concrete to your right as gunfire peppered the wall behind you, cursing as a stray bullet whizzed past your ear, far too close for comfort.

With a grimace, you stood up, ready to throw yourself back into the fray, when Sam’s voice screaming down the coms made you stop dead in your tracks.

“Grenade, everyone down!”

You threw yourself back behind the concrete slab, your heart stopping in your chest as a deafening boom went off from the other side of the room. You were vaguely aware of debris, fire and the occasional body flying over your head, and you screwed your eyes closed.

You thought things couldn’t get any worse than this, surely, they couldn’t get worse.

You were wrong.

“Peter is down!”

Wanda’s panicked tone came crackling over the coms and you felt bile rise in your throat.

Without thinking, you clambered to your feet, steel pipe abandoned. You stumbled over concrete, bodies and scrap metal as you blindly made your way over to where you had last seen your friend.

“Peter!?”

You heard a voice screaming and took a moment to realise it was your own, horse and cracking with fear as you scrambled to find him amongst the wreckage on the far side on the room.

There, a flash of red and blue under a few wooden beams.

“Peter!”

You called out for him, rushing to his side as you began to dig him out of the rubble. You almost sobbed in relief when he let out a groan of disapproval, helping you shift the largest beam from his torso. He glanced up at you with a lopsided grin, although the pain in his eyes was unmistakable.

“You came.”

You stared back at him, the relief at him being alive giving way to worry for the wounds he had clearly sustained in the explosion.

“I did. Hold still while I fix you up.”

Without another word, you placed your hands gingerly on his chest, willing the warm, white light to manifest in your palms and spread throughout Peter’s whole body.

You heard him gasp and felt his whole body relax, as tendrils of your focused energy reached out throughout his wounded form, finding cuts, breaks and bruises and restoring them as you went.

Once you were done, you summoned the white light back into your palms, sagging forward in exhaustion as your eyelids fluttered open.

Peter sat up, entirely healthy once more, to catch your shoulders.

“Are you alright, Y/N?”

You smiled up at him weakly, nodding.

“Mhm. I’ve just never healed that many injuries all at once before, it’s… Taken it out of me a little”

He gave you a warm smile back, and a whistle from behind you made you both spin around to attention. You found Sam and Wanda heading your way, delicately navigating the warehouse floor.

“You two alright?”

Sam called out, fixing you with a concerned look.

“Yeah, we’re good.”

Peter called back, hopping to his feet and offering you a hand up, which you gladly accepted. You felt completely drained, both from the adrenaline that was now depleting in your blood stream and the expended energy, but you managed to hold yourself up steadily in front of your fellow Avengers.

“Good. That seems to be the last of them. Let’s get to the control room, get those damn files and get the hell out of dodge.”

Sam started walking towards a gaping hole in the wall behind you, which you recalled from the building’s blueprints would lead to a concrete bunker under the warehouse. Everyone nodded in agreement, moving to follow him.

You had only taken a few steps when the sound of a gunshot rang out, thunderously loud in the silence of the decimated room.

Everything seemed to happen at half-speed then.

Your eyes caught the flash of the sniper rifle on one of the corridors above you.

Wanda, without missing a beat, captured the perpetrator in a net of red energy, launching him from the balcony and through a hole in the warehouse roof.

There was a deafening ringing in your ears, making the world around you feel blurry. You became numbly aware of the sensation of warm liquid running down your arm and chest, freezing in terror as you glanced down to see a stream of red on your tactical vest.

You’d just been shot.

Your legs gave out from under you, your eyes rolling to the back of your head in shock. However, the feeling of your body hitting concrete never came.

Instead, when you opened your eyes once more you found yourself in Peter’s arms, his face twisted in fear, panic and rage as he called to you, telling you to hold on, to stay awake.

You could hear Sam telling Wanda to fetch the first aid kit while he started up the Quinjet to extract you.

Wanda’s voice in your mind telling you to stay awake, that you’d be okay.

You took in a shaky breath, willing your voice to return to you as the ringing in your ears finally subsided, and everything became clear once more.

“Stop!”

You half-croaked, half-yelled. Your fellow Avengers stopped dead in their tracks, staring at you in confusion.

Peter grabbed your hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze as he held you.

“Don’t worry, Y/N. You’re fine, okay? You’re fine-“

“It’s not that.”

You winced as a fit of coughing racked your trembling form, and you met each of your teammates’ stares with a determined one of your own.

“We have a mission to complete. You guys go and get the files.”

Stares of confusion turned to disbelief, and it was Wanda who finally broke the stunned silence.

“That bullet has torn through your chest, Y/N, you need assistance right now.”

You coughed again, struggling to sit up, but Peter held you firmly down in his arms, moving to speak before you cut him off.

“I can stem the bleeding with what’s left of my energy. That’ll keep me going while you guys do what we came here for.”

You met Sam’s gaze, your eyes burning with fierce resolve, and he nodded slowly.

“Alright then, Parker, you get her outside and into the Quinjet ready to go. We’ll be as fast as possible. Y/N, you hang tough until we get back, you hear?”

You nodded in response, offering him a small smile as he and Wanda took off running down the corridor.

Peter followed by scooping you up in his arms bridal style, murmuring reassurances to you as he briskly navigated your way back through the debris and out of the warehouse. You let your head fall against his chest, focusing your energy on the part of your chest the bullet had gone through.

By the time you were both safely aboard the Quinjet, you had successfully stopped the bleeding and made a haphazard attempt at patching the skin up, but given the complete lack of energy you now possessed, it was far from your finest work.

Peter gently lowered himself to the floor, keeping you securely in his arms and bringing you to settle in his lap. When he finally spoke, his voice held an unmistakable waiver of emotion, and you glanced up to see the worry mixed with pride etched on his face as he spoke.

“That, what you did back there, Y/N… That was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen.”

He smiled gently down at you, reaching up to your face to move a stray strand of hair from your eye, you smiled in response.

“Honestly, I just thought to myself: what would Peter do? The confidence came naturally after that.”

You grinned up at him, wincing as a giggle bubbled up in your throat.

Peter began to chuckle in turn, shaking his head with a dazed smile.

“First official day as an Avenger, and you take a bullet to the chest. That’s pretty badass, you know.”

You smirked, the pain from your wound subsiding as you lost yourself in oak-brown of his eyes.

“Badass enough to take you on, I think. What do you say, sparring session when we get back?”

“Oh, it’s a date, Y/N!”

You both burst into a fit of laughter, half delirious with exhaustion, half relieved at having survived the day.

Despite your fear, despite your doubts, despite getting shot on your first day on the job, you became absolutely clear of one thing in the safety of Peter’s grasp.

With him by your side, you had the strength to be an Avenger.

[rocket-remmy]

Captain Moose and The Vicious Vampire || Otto and Remmy

TIMING: Late September PARTIES: @gravityfissure and @whatsin-yourhead SUMMARY: Remmy tries on their new fair prize for size. Otto needs to stop taking walks at night.

Ever since Bea’s birthday party, Remmy had been feeling an uplift in their mood. There was still a lot to be worried or even upset about, but if there was one thing they had learned, it was that attitude was more important than the situation. If they could just keep their head up, then things wouldn’t seem so bad. Couldn’t be so bad. They would find a way to fix things, and they’d find a way to fit into their new life. Even if they still felt that little tremor of panic when they went outside. Going for walks daily had helped, but Remmy still had an aversion to going outside at night. Today, they’d donned their new craft fair socks and spent most of the day walking around the common. And the more they walked, the more confident they felt. In fact, they began wondering why they didn’t go out more. There were so many people who needed help. A kid whose ice cream had fallen needed a new cone. A woman who had lost her phone needed help finding it. (They found it one of the trash cans wrapped in her sandwich paper). A man was following a girl home and Remmy stepped in to stop him, giving a pleasant, innocent smile and badgering him till the girl was safe inside.

 But there was more to be done. They couldn’t let anyone see their face, though, right? They needed to be careful about this. They needed some sort of disguise. Perhaps a mask. Maybe even a cape, to cover themself with should the need arise. Morgan was out for the night, as was Deirdre, and Remmy took it upon themself to dig through the linen closet, grabbing the first things they could find that looked good enough. Snipped it to fit right, cut out holes or the eyes, and then donned their favorite shirt-- “Home is wherever my dog is”-- a pair of black pants and their only pair of boots. Gloves for extra measure, in case punching needed to happen. It was with this set up-- a cape with little cat’s with witch’s hats on, and a bandana for a mask that was a pink, sparkly galaxy, full of glitter-- that they found themself trouncing through the alleys of White Crest. And when they saw a shadowy figure following someone down an alley, they knew it was time to swoop in. 

It was late and recent events had left Otto feeling more drained than he cared to admit. Being dragged along on Deirdre’s shroom adventures had very real and damaging repercussions. One that had ended in the operating theatre and doctors claiming it was no small miracle by which he’d survived the impaling he’d suffered after his ‘fall’. The pain meds he’d been given took the edge off, but work rolled on and there was hardly any time that could be taken off even for a through and through laceration meaning the walk home at 3AM was inevitable. 

 The pain meds were also the reason Otto failed to notice the creature silently stalking him down the alleyway until it launched itself at his back colliding with enough force that he staggered, tipped over some bins and fell with an echoing clang while claws slashed and teeth gnashed; seeking purchase anywhere they might be capable of rending flesh from bone. “Fuck!” blind fingers scrabbled, seeking anything that might be able to help until they curled around a trash can lid dragging it across and shoving it in the way of the creature’s teeth. “”Help!” as if that would do anything. In a town like this he was almost certainly done for. Hells, what an underwhelming way to go out.

 The poor man in the alley was thrown from his spot by the larger, hulking figure. Remmy swooped down quickly. “Halt!” they shouted, the towel rustling behind them. The vampire, confused, turned to look at them. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own, erm--” Remmy looked the vampire up and down, realizing how much taller they were than them, but swallowed, standing confident again, “--strength!” Yeah, that made sense. That made a lot of sense. The vampire, still confused, dropped the other man and turned to face Remmy. “And who the fuck are you supposed to be, then, huh? This ain’t comic con, kid, go back to where you--” but before he could finish his sentence, Remmy had grabbed the front of his shirt and was tossing him up and over them. He landed hard on his back at the entrance of the alleyway, crashing into a few trash cans on his way. Remmy smirked. “Wanna try that again, villain?” they asked, before turning to look back at the guy. His arm was already in a sling, it was a good thing they’d shown up. “Are you alright?” they asked, holding a hand out to him. 

 Otto tasted asphalt and felt the sting of the ground against his face as he skidded to a stop. He also felt a wet stickiness against the lower right quadrant of his tee and a pain that made him suspect the stitches he’d gotten had popped, his hand immediately went to as voices continued behind him. Pushing himself over awkwardly, Otto propped himself up against one of the walls staring at the weird scenario playing out in front of him. A scenario whereby a masked and caped hero seemed to think it fitting to swoop in and save the day in- was that cape printed with cats wearing witches hats? The fuck? He blinked in apparent confusion, those pain meds must’ve been doing something seriously fucked up to his head. No way was his imagination usually this creative. But then the caped crusader was rag-dolling the vampire into the bins and Otto couldn’t bring himself to question the weirdness of this. “Uh.... sure?” his eyes flickered back to the pissed off looking vampire getting up out of the trash as he cautiously took the proffered hand and clambered to his feet still looking over the figure’s shoulder, “might uh-- wanna do something ‘bout that guy.”

 The poor, innocent civilian looked pretty banged up and scared, but that was okay. Remmy was here to rescue him now. Turning back as the villain rose from his heap on the ground, shaking garbage from his limbs and glaring them down. “Don’t worry-- I’ll take out the trash!” They spoke with a crooked smirk on their face, before running straight at the vampire, catching him off guard. Two punches to the face startled him enough to nearly topple him again, and Remmy spun to give him a good kick straight to chest. The vampire went flying from the alley, landing in the middle of the street and tumbling a few feet before skidding to a stop. “If I were you, I’d give up now,” they said, hands on their hips, as the vampire scraped himself up from the street, skin scored from the asphalt. Shaking his head, fangs bared, he leapt at them. Remmy shook their head, disappointed, before striking up another stance. They quickly moved out of the way, expecting him to turn and follow them but-- “Hey!” the beastly man kept going, charging at the victim in the alleyway. “Oh no!” they shouted, leaping for the vampire, trying to stop him before he got to the man. Fists dug into the vampire’s shirt, yanking, and the two went tumblring to the ground hard, rolling just past the wounded man. “Don’t even think about it,” they demanded, wrenching his arm up behind his back.

 Otto could only stare at the weird scene unfolding in front of him. The corny one-liners ripped straight out of some kind of comic strip that he’d normally roll his eyes at. Hells was this what his life had become? But the stranger seemed intent on fulfilling their caped crusader fantasy and hey? Who was he to stop them from punching his would-be assailant in the face. It was kind of entertaining to watch all things considered, at least, it was until he had a full grown vampire bearing down on him again. “Oh fuck!” he ducked out of the way just in time to see them both go toppling by and feeling the need to help grabbed the nearest thing he could find; a half broken baseball bat sticking out of a dumpster. It would have to do. Rushing up to the duo he slammed the wood with a sickening crack against the back of the vampire’s skull twice for good measure. If he could just get a decent angle it wouldn’t be hard to shove the splintered bat through this bastard’s heart. It was the least he deserved Otto just needed to find an opening.

Remmy ducked and rolled with the vampire, slamming him to the ground, just in time to be thrown onto their own back, slamming against the ground. It didn’t exactly hurt, but the surprise caught them off guard enough to not be able to right themselves in time to dodge the incoming fist to their face. The vampire’s hand curled around the eye patch on their face and yanked, pulling off. Remmy tried to push them off, only to hear wood crack against the back of his skull. The man flopped down, face first into the cement. Ow, that was gonna hurt in the morning. Wincing, Remmy shoved them off and scrambled to stand, stumbling only slightly. They looked down at him, then over to the man they’d been trying to save, watching him raise the splintered bat above the vampire’s heart. “No!” they said, running over and grabbing for the bat. “Don’t kill him! You can’t kill him!”

 The cry for mercy came right at the very moment the splintered wood of the bat plunged downward piercing the flesh of the dazed undead creature. Good riddance. Otto thought, grunting as he put his full bodyweight behind the act before the piercing scream echoed off the walls of the darkened alley. There was a bright flash of flame as though the figure had been doused in gasoline before vanishing into nothing but ash and leaving Otto to fall to his knees breathing hard. The clatter of wood on asphalt rang loud and clear. The tremors came a few moments later as the adrenaline began to subside. “He-- He was trying to kill me!” 

 “No, no, wait--” Remmy tried again, but they were too late. The wood splintered through the vampire’s back, and in an instant, he was dead. They stood still for a moment, unbelieving of their eyes, before dropping to their knees. “You killed him,” they stuttered, “why-- why would you do that? I had it handled!” They stood up again and began rooting around the alley, looking for a container-- something they could scoop the ashes up into. They needed to move them. Even if that vampire had been attacking someone, they needed to lay him to rest somewhere that wasn’t an alley filled with garbage. “You can’t-- you can’t justify killing with more killing! That’s not how it works! You have to-- someone has to break the cycle,” they said to the man, “someone has to be better.”

 “You had it handled? How do you call him almost ripping my throat out two times handled??” There was a minor note of panic in his voice as Otto waved at the pile of ash that was being blown away by an autumnal breeze drifting through the alleyway. He tossed the piece of wood aside, backing up one step and then two away from the strange caped crusader. “Break the cycle?” his expression mirrored his look of disbelief at the sheer faith this individual seemed to have in law, order and justice. He couldn’t help the slight huff under his breath “break the cycle of death? In this town? Good fuckin’ luck with that.” No way that was going to happen after all. But hey if they wanted to hop on that train bound for failure who was he to stop them? “Sorry Captain Washline, that sort of sunshine BS really isn’t gonna fly here.”

 “But he didn’t rip your throat out! I saved you!” Remmy insisted, feeling their chest heave again. This man was yelling at them when all they’d done was help. Sure, they made a little mistake, but everything had turned out alright. Except for the dead vampire. Remmy found a jar and started scooping the ash into it, looking over at the man with a furrowed brow. “Yeah, well, with that attitude, of course you wouldn’t think it was possible. But it’s gotta start with someone,” they muttered, standing up straight. “It’s Captain Moose to you, too,” they snapped, closing the lid on the jar. “And you’re welcome. For saving your ass.” They brushed their hands off and started heading out of the alley way. “You can believe whatever you want to, but I’m going to believe in the good of people. Even you, Mister Stakes-a-lot.” 

 “I don’t count near brushes with death as good things but thanks.” Otto answered shortly still wondering how of all the people in this town to come to his rescue it was someone dressed in a witch hat cat cape. The town certainly knew how to make a niche even its so-called heroes didn’t stick to the norm. His eyes narrowed a fraction, half tempted to ask if there were antlers to go with that name. “Aye, sure,” he tipped a salute from his temple, scoffed and backed into the alley. Hells he needed to stop going out after dark. 

 As the man said his last words-- more like spat-- Remmy stuck the jar in their pocket and sighed. He was backing away and taking off now, not even a thanks in tow. But then again, they hadn’t done it for the thanks, right? They’d done it to feel like they could still help someone, that they still could be worth something. They sighed again, gathering up their cape and brushing off their pants, then turned to head out of the alley as well. They patted the jar in their pocket. “So,” they asked, glancing left and right, “where should we spread your ashes?”

[bronzeflower]

That’s not how Imaginary Friends are Supposed to Work!

This is a fic based on a comic by@franeridart which can be found here

This fic is also on ao3

-----

When Eijirou was really young, he had an imaginary friend. Most children do. Except he didn’t really make someone up like everyone else did.

Eijirou was in his family’s living room, sitting on the floor and leaning over the coffee table as he drew pictures with both hands at once and hummed a made-up tune.

But the tune he was humming was the only thing he made up in this experience.

Because one moment, Eijirou was drawing peacefully, and, the next, he was interrupted by shouting, the sound making Eijirou tense up.

“WHAT THE FU-” A man suddenly appeared, blurry at first, but he soon came into focus.

Eijirou relaxed slightly as he and the man started staring at each other. This gave Eijirou time to observe him.

He was big, or, at the very least, much bigger than Eijirou, and his bigness was accentuated by the huge red cape he wore that had a tattered edge and a furry collar. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, but he was wearing a bunch of necklaces and a pair of earrings that looked like teeth. He also had really spiky blond hair and red eyes.

As they continued staring at each other, Eijirou figured that if the man wanted to hurt him, he would have done so by now, so he was maybe, probably, trustworthy.

“Uhm,” Eijirou began, tilting his head to the side and bringing his hands closer to himself. “Who are you, Mister?”

The man’s eyes widened as he leaned a little bit away from Eijirou before answering.

“I’m Bakugou Katsuki, the Barbarian King!” Katsuki said very proudly, puffing his chest out as he said it.

“I’m Eijirou. It’s nice to meet you,” Eijirou wasn’t really supposed to talk to strangers, but this Katsuki guy didn’t seem all that bad. And he looked super cool! “And, um, if you don’t mind me askin’, how’d you get here?”

“Uh,” Katsuki seemed to be a bit at a loss for words, so Eijirou quickly tried to think of something.

“Here!” Eijirou handed over one of his crayons - the red one. “You could draw it out!”

“Smart idea,” Katsuki praised, and he took the crayon and started doodling on one of the papers Eijirou had.

Katsuki’s expression quickly changed from surprised to angry.

“I was fighting a mage with the powers of time and space,”

“Uh-huh,” Eijirou nodded, looking at the picture of Katsuki he drew. It was a drawing of what was definitely Katsuki with a depiction of the person who was probably the mage. “You have a sword!”

“It’s a cutlass,” Katsuki corrected. “But yeah, I do.”

“Where is it?” Eijirou asked excitedly, and Katsuki’s face turned sour.

“I dropped it what this nasty fucking bitch transported me to god knows where.”

“Gasp! Those are bad words, Mister!” Eijirou declared, and Katsuki let out a chuckle.

“And she’s a bad person, so it fits!”

“Ehhh! So you’re a hero!” Eijirou picked up the drawing Katsuki did, grinning at it and imagining what was surely an awesome battle in his head.

“Hah! You may say so, yeah!”

“So cool!” Eijirou praised.

“You bet!” Katsuki grinned before he turned more neutral, looking down towards the crayon he still held. “More importantly, what kind of charm was used to make this stick write red?”

“That’s a crayon!” Eijirou answered, very confused as to why Katsuki would ask a question like that.

“Crayon? What’s that?”

Before Eijirou could explain, Katsuki got all blurry again, and it seemed his words did so too, sounding almost garbled.

“Ah. Looks like I’m going b-” And then Katsuki was gone.

“...oh.” Eijirou said, feeling pretty sad and very surprised that his new friend had disappeared. It looked like Katsuki had dropped the crayon he was holding too. “Bye-bye then.”

Eijirou wasn’t all that sad for long, getting distracted easily enough. He started to draw out Katsuki and imagined adventures he went on.

After he finished doing that, he grinned at his work, picking up his favorite and going over to one of his moms.

“Mama! Mama!” Eijirou shouted out. “Look what I drew!”

“Oh!” Mama gasped. “It’s so nice! And who is this in the picture?”

“He’s the Beerbarian King!” Eijirou announced, and Mama tilted her head a bit.

“The Barbarian King?”

“Yeah! He’s a hero!”

“Oh yeah?” Mama smiled. “And Barbarian King is his hero name?”

“Uh-huh!” Eijirou confirmed. “He told me about how he was fighting a villain! And the villain could use time and space powers.”

“That’s some powerful quirk. And how did this fight go?”

“I think he’s still fighting it,” Eijirou answered. “He dropped his sword before he came here because of the villain’s quirk.”

“And what’s the Barbarian King’s quirk?” Mama asked. Eijirou thought for a moment, his face in deep concentration.

“I don’t know,” Eijirou finally said. “He didn’t tell me. He had to leave because he was still in battle.”

“And he didn’t want to harm you because you’re a civilian, right?”

“No, it’s cause he’s still being affected by the villain’s quirk.”

“I’m sure he’ll come out on top, no matter how powerful the villain is. Heroes always win after all.”

“Yeah!”

“What do you want for dinner, sweetie? I’m trying to decide between donburi and tonkatsu.”

“Tonkatsu! It’s got, um, katsu! For victory! And Katsuki!” Eijirou then brought his voice down to a whisper, or at least as much of a whisper as he could manage. “That was the Beerbarian King’s name.”

“Surely making tonkatsu will bring him victory, then!” Mama grinned. “Now, do you wanna help me?”

Eijirou nodded vigorously, and, when dinner was finished, Eijirou spoke about Katsuki for the duration of the meal.

Maybe making tonkatsu wasn’t necessary because Katsuki already had victory in his name, but Eijirou figured a little extra victory couldn’t hurt.

After that, Eijirou almost forgot about Katsuki, but especially when his quirk manifested, and he had to be rushed to the hospital.

It hurt a lot, but Eijirou got a cool scar from it, and heroes always had scars, so it was obviously a sign that he would become a great hero!

After his quirk came, Eijirou also started losing his baby teeth, which all came out pretty quickly as his adult teeth came in. And his adult teeth were cool! And sharp!

One day, while Eijirou was bundled up in a hoodie while playing games on his DS, he heard a familiar voice.

“-ack.”

Eijirou quickly turned his head towards the source of the noise, a smile already on his face.

“Gasp! Mister! You’re back!”

“Or not,” Katsuki had his body posed for a fight, but his stance relaxed as Eijirou jumped off the bed and approached him.

“I thought you had left forever!”

Katsuki kneeled down so that he was at eye level with Eijirou.

“Hey, Eijirou, how long was I gone?”

“How...long?” Eijirou’s grin dropped as he thought.

“Yeah, how long.”

“Uh...uhm…” Eijirou puffed his cheeks out before giving an answer. “...Three?”

“Three what?”

“...Maybe more than three?” Eijirou looked down in frustration.

“Y-yeah?” Katsuki snorted as he held back laughter.

“Hm…”

“More than three?”

“Hm-hm.”

“I-I see,” Katsuki was hiding his smile behind a hand, but he soon became blurry like last time. “Ah fuck, there I go again.”

“Aw, already?”

And Katsuki was gone. Eijirou frowned, but he did his best to rationalize that Katsuki probably couldn’t control when or where he went.

But Eijirou didn’t have to wait too long for Katsuki to appear again, with him showing up about a week later.

“Ah, I’m here again,” Katsuki spoke, and Eijirou grinned up at him.

“Yay!” Eijirou cheered. “Hopefully you can stay for longer this time.”

“Hopefully.”

“I wanna know more about you,” Eijirou said.

“Yeah? What do you wanna know?”

“Uhm…” Eijirou thought for a moment. He didn’t really prepare any questions beforehand. “What’s your quirk?”

“What’s a quirk?” Katsuki tilted his head slightly, as if analyzing the word.

“It’s like, um, a power that a person has,” Eijirou decided on. “Mine is hardening! See! I can make my body go all sharp and rocky!”

Eijirou did his best to demonstrate, but he couldn’t harden all that much.

“It’s not all that strong now, but if I train a lot it will be!” Eijirou declared, and Katsuki nodded in understanding.

“So like magic.”

“Sure!”

“I can summon explosions,” Katsuki explained, opening up his palm towards Eijirou and making small explosions.

“Woah! That’s so cool!”

“I can go bigger, but I don’t wanna hurt you.”

Eijirou frowned at that before grinning.

“I’ll just have to get good enough at hardening! Then you won’t be able to hurt me!”

“That’s the spirit!” Katsuki affectionately ruffled Eijirou’s hair before disappearing again.

“I’m gonna have to think of better questions,” Eijirou announced to himself.

Eijirou spent the next few minutes attempting to think up questions.

“Favorite color is always a good one! Or is it too boring? Hmmm...No, it’s a classic for a reason! And, um, favorite animal? Hobbies? Oh! I could ask about his sword! Like, is it special? He said something about magic...maybe I can ask about that? Obviously favorite number. His friends too! I gotta know about them!”

Soon enough, Eijirou got bored and started playing with his toys.

Katsuki doesn’t come back for a long time. For basically forever, to the point where the winter months were over. But he did show up, and Eijirou was prepared, more or less.

“Tell me about your friends!” Eijirou shouted as soon as he noticed Katsuki appear.

“Huh? I don’t got friends,” Katsuki responded.

“What!? What about your adventuring buddies?” Eijirou asked. “You have those, right?”

“I guess I do have a few travel companions. They’re all annoying though.”

“Tell me! Tell me about them!” Eijirou demanded, and Katsuki caved and sat down. They were surrounded by Eijirou’s action figures, so Katsuki picked one up to demonstrate.

“Obviously there’s me. I lead a group of five idiots right now.”

“That’s not a very nice thing to say.”

“I’ve only got one permanent companion,” Katsuki explained. “My lover and best friend.”

“I thought you said you didn’t have any friends.”

“Shut up.”

“Well, what’s she like?” Eijirou questioned, and Katsuki made a face at it.

“He’s a guy. And he’s super manly and strong, and he’s a dragon.”

“A dragon!?” Eijirou exclaimed, his eyes lighting up in excitement. “I wanna be a dragon! What’s he look like?”

“As a dragon?” Katsuki questioned, and he continued when he was met with a nod. “He’s huge. Bigger than a house, and he’s covered in red scales that are impervious to pretty much everything, and he can breathe fire.”

“Awesome!”

“He sure is!” Katsuki boasted.

“What about the others you’re traveling with?”

“Well, Sparky’s the whole reason why I have to travel with a bunch of idiots in the first place. He’s an envoy who’s supposed to deliver a message to the Kingdom of Endeavor, although he mostly flirts and plays the lute badly.”

“Is Sparky his actual name?”

“No, but he has lightning magic. With how powerful that kind of magic is though, I suspect he’s actually a runaway prince or something.”

“Ohhhh.”

“He brought along Ears, who’s a knight. She’s good at finding out information.”

“Why Ears?”

“Her magic manifests physically, so her earlobes are really long,” Katsuki answered. “Sparky also brought along Tape-Face and Black Eyes. Tape-Face was, like, the owner of some establishment, but he owed Sparky a favor, so he joined in on the trip, but he’s got some useful survival skills. Black Eyes was part of my kingdom - she’s another barbarian, which means she’s super strong, obviously. All barbarians are strong.”

“Why did she come with?”

“Overheard us talking about the trip in Tape-Face’s tavern, and she decided to come with for some reason.”

“Why do you got mean names for all of them?” Eijirou frowned. “You brag about them, but why are you mean to them?”

“I’ve got a reputation to uphold,” Katsuki said.

“Then change your reputation,” Eijirou advised, as if really was as simple as that.

“I’ve gotta act scary to protect those I care about,” Katsuki announced. “Scares away all the villains.”

Eijirou nodded in understanding but frowned.

“That’s sad. You should be able to scare off the villains and be friends with people.”

“It’s fine. I’ve got you.”

“I’m your friend?” Eijirou asked, pointing towards himself, and he grinned when Katsuki confirmed. “Yay!”

And Katsuki left, and, while Eijirou was still bummed about it, Katsuki managed to stay for much longer than usual, so Eijirou was pretty happy about that.

At dinner, Eijirou talked about what Katsuki told him.

“He’s got a buncha people traveling with him, but he calls them all mean names,” Eijirou spoke.

“Why does he call them mean names?” Mama inquired, looking somewhat concerned.

“Uhm, he said that he wants to scare away villains to protect people. I said that was sad and that he should make friends, but he said I was his friend, so I hope that will help him make more friends!”

“And you want him to have lots of friends?”

“Yeah! Heroes shouldn’t feel lonely because, um, because they save us, and they deserve to be happy.”

Eijirou continued to chatter away about the Barbarian King, and, sure enough, Katsuki would always appear again, sometimes after a month or more, sometimes after a few weeks, and sometimes even after just a few hours. The time he stayed varied too, although more frequent visits seemed to mean shorter visits as well, although he rarely stayed for more than half an hour.

“I wanna be a dragon!” Eijirou declared when Katsuki appeared one day. “Let’s play pretend! I’ll be a dragon protecting the castle, and you’ll be the king of the castle. We’re protecting the kingdom from villains!”

“Of course we’ll win! No one’s gonna even touch our kingdom!”

“Wait! Is your dragon husband a king too?” Kirishima asked, and Katsuki blushed.

“We aren’t married yet, so no.”

“Oh,” Kirishima frowned. “You should marry him cause then he’ll be a king, and being a king AND a dragon is awesome!”

“You’re right. If I marry him, he might even become cooler than me,” Katsuki smirked. “Tell you what, I’ll propose to him the next time I see him, yeah? Then he’ll become the coolest and manliest person in the world.”

“Yeah!” Eijirou cheered.

“Hmmm, and I’ll love him with all my heart and-” Katsuki started, but he was interrupted by Eijirou making a disgusted face.

“Gross!”

“What? You were the one just encouraging the marriage,” Katsuki pointed out.

“Yeah, but the mushy stuff is gross!”

“Even if I say something like I’m going to fight side by side with him for the rest of my life?”

“Mmmm, that’s fine,” Eijirou decided. “Because it’s fighting. And a dragon king is cool. But love is all mushy and gross.”

Katsuki laughed.

“Sure is.”

“Yeah, you should just duel him instead of kiss at the wedding.”

“Sounds good to me,” Katsuki was doing his best not to laugh hysterically, but he ultimately failed, and so Eijirou started laughing along with him.

Once they finished laughing, they managed to get in a few minutes of playing pretend before Katsuki blurred and left.

That night, while Eijirou was explaining his adventures with Katsuki to his moms, he found out exactly what other people thought of Katsuki - that he was imaginary.

Something about that didn’t sit right with Eijirou. Katsuki wasn’t imaginary. He was definitely real, and Eijirou was going to prove it.

So, the next time Katsuki showed up, Eijirou set his plan into action.

“Sit down,” Eijirou ordered, and Katsuki sat down as Eijirou climbed into his lap. See! If Eijirou could touch him and be above the ground while doing so, then Katsuki was real!

“What’s this for?” Katsuki asked, absentmindedly picking up an All Might figurine that was lying around.

“Mama says you’re my imaginary friend,” Eijirou announced, looking down at his own figurine - a Crimson Riot one.

“Does she now?”

“What’s imaginary mean?” Eijirou questioned, more to have something to say than through any actual curiosity.

“It means you got what it takes to be a bard, kid,” Katsuki answered, and Eijirou immediately protested.

“I don’t wanna be a beard! I wanna be a hero!”

“Oh yeah?” Katsuki let out a little laugh. “I think you’d make an amazing beard though.”

“I don’t care!” Eijirou declared.

“Too bad,” Katsuki mocked. “You’re a beard now, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Noooooo!” Eijirou dramatically whined. “I’m gonna be a hero! Like Crimson Riot!”

Eijirou brandished the toy he was holding towards Katsuki.

“Is that him?”

Eijirou nodded.

“He’s got a quirk like mine.”

“Sounds like you can be his successor.”

Eijirou’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah! That’d be so cool! I’ll be, um, uh…” Eijirou froze as he did his best to come up with a hero name. “Like, Crimson Riot Jr. or something.”

“How about Red Riot?” Katsuki suggested, and Eijirou grinned.

“Perfect! I’ll be Red Riot! And I’ll protect everyone!”

“Yeah, you will,” Katsuki’s voice got garbled near the end, and Eijirou found himself falling backward, and he landed on his back. It didn’t hurt a lot, but it was very clear that Katsuki had held him up away from the ground.

Eijirou had his proof that Katsuki was real.

Eijirou saw Katuki a few more times before he arrived for the last and final time. They played superheroes and played pretend and talked.

Eijirou found out Katuki’s favorite color was orange because it was the color of fire, his favorite animal was a wolf because they represented strength, his favorite number was one because he was going to be the best at everything. His second favorite number was four because it sounded like die.

Eijirou learned that Katsuki’s hobbies included fighting monsters and kicking ass, which he apparently also got paid to do. Eijirou found out that Katsuki’s cutlass was special and that he got it from saving his lover when they first met. Eijirou didn’t get to learn as much about Katsuki as he wanted to, but he was glad when Katsuki showed up.

But the last day Eijirou saw Katsuki was the day before Eijirou started primary school.

Eijirou was nervous and excited. Nervous because he’d be starting school and excited because he would meet new people. And, while he was in his room looking over the items he had to bring with him tomorrow, Katsuki showed up.

This time, Eijirou didn’t really greet him with open arms, so Katsuki crouched down to eye level.

“Hey, Eijirou. What’s wrong?” Katsuki asked, his voice much softer than Eijirou had ever heard it.

“I’m scared to start school tomorrow,” Eijirou admitted. “What if the other kids don’t like me? What if I don’t do well? What if I don’t understand anything!”

Eijirou couldn’t help but start crying.

“What? No, no, no, shh, it’s okay,” Katsuki blabbered. “It’ll be okay.”

“But what if it isn’t?” Eijirou cried as Katsuki held him in a hug.

“Then I’ll beat up whoever makes fun of you,” Katsuki announced, and Eijirou let out a burst of choked laughter.

“Th-that’s not nice.”

“Even if they’re villains?”

“Maybe,” Eijirou said, tears still going down his face and snot starting to run. “But what if I’m not good at school?”

“Then you work at it until you are good at it,” Katsuki answered. “Becoming the best takes time and effort.”

“Okay,” Eijirou paused for a bit. “Mama’s making tonkatsu tonight. It’s supposed to bring victory for school.”

“Then I’ll be a little extra victory for you, yeah?” Katsuki responded, and Eijirou nodded slightly.

“Thank you.”

After that, Eijirou and Katsuki were silent as Eijirou clung to Katsuki. Eventually, Eijirou relaxed and ended up falling asleep.

When Eijirou woke up, he was tucked into his bed, and the sun was going down.

Eijirou remembered Katsuki’s words as he ate the tonkatsu Mama made, and he thought of them again as he went off to school the next day. He would work real hard! Then he could show Katsuki how good he had gotten at school!

But Eijirou never saw Katsuki after that day.

It wasn’t too sad of a realization, as Eijirou soon forgot about Katsuki, only remembering him as an imaginary friend he had, likely conjured from being homeschooled for his preschool education and not really interacting with too many people his own age.

Now Eijirou was working hard to get into UA to become the hero he always wanted to be. Even if he didn’t move before he could think, he could train until he did do so.

And when Eijirou got his results back, he found that he was second in the practical exam, only behind a guy who got seventy-seven villain points and zero rescue points. The complete opposite of the guy who got zero villain points and sixty rescue points.

Eijirou dyed his hair red and spiked it up for the first day, promising himself that he would live his life with no regrets.

Eijirou found the large door of the 1-A classroom and walked in, and the very first thing he saw was something that was much, much too familiar.

What the fuck!

What Eijirou saw was an angry-looking guy with blond hair that was basically the spitting image of Eijirou’s imaginary friend.

That’s not how imaginary friends were supposed to work!

After Eijirou’s initial shock wore out, he figured that it was just a strange coincidence that the blond looked so similar to the Barbarian King. He was sure that it was only a physical similarity.

That was, until Eraserhead called up the man using the name ‘Bakugou Katsuki’, and Katsuki backed the ball he threw with an explosion.

It was the same name, and the same quirk, and Eijirou had to seriously wonder if his imaginary friend legitimately became real through the power of something he couldn’t control. Maybe it was a secondary quirk that Eijirou had, or maybe he ran into someone who could make imaginary friends real, but a quirk like that would probably only create temporary people, and this Katsuki was certainly not going away any time soon.

Not to mention that Eijirou was pretty sure that the Katsuki here was much younger than his imaginary friend. The Barbarian King had been an adult while Katsuki was his own age.

But it had to be a coincidence, right? Had to be. Absolutely had to be.

Maybe it was possible that Eijirou had met Katsuki or someone he was related to when he was young, and Eijirou ended up creating his imaginary friend based on that. Yeah. That made sense, right? That made more sense than anything else anyway.

Regardless of how strange it was that Katsuki looked and acted so much like the imaginary friend he had when he was young, Eijirou ended up befriending him.

And Katsuki was amazing! Smart! Manly! Strong! And, even if he was pretty rough around the edges, to the point where he was basically a cactus, he still had a good heart. Hell, Katuski even tutored Eijirou! And he enjoyed hanging out with their friend group, no matter how much he protested that he didn’t.

Katsuki loved them, and Eijirou could tell.

But there were occasional things that happened that reminded Eijirou so much of his imaginary friend that shook Eijirou to his core whenever they occurred.

“Sparky! Tape-Face! Get over here!” Katsuki shouted, and Eijirou suddenly remembered the rude nicknames that the Barbarian King gave his traveling companions. And, sure enough, Katsuki called Mina “Black Eyes” and Kyouka “Ears.”

Katsuki would tell Eijirou certain things, and Eijirou would get the sense that he already knew the information.

It was really weird, so, one day, Eijirou decided to tell Katsuki.

“Hey, Bakugou?” Eijirou called out, leaning away from the desk to look towards Katsuki, who was on the bed.

“What do you need help with now?” Katsuki questioned.

“Ah, it’s not really anything about the material,” Eijirou admitted.

“Then why say anything?” Katsuki scoffed.

“Cause I wanna tell you something weird!” Eijirou said. That seemed to get Katsuki’s attention.

“What kind of weird?”

“You know how kids tend to have imaginary friends? Like, making up a friend, which includes their appearance and personality and background and stuff?”

“What about it?”

“Well…” Eijirou laughed a little, suddenly very self-conscious about the topic. “I had an imaginary friend when I was really young.”

“Yeah? That’s not fucking weird, Shitty Hair,” Katsuki pointed out.

“That’s not the weird part!”

“Then get to the point.”

“My imaginary friend looked like you,” Eijirou stated.

“So?”

“No! Seriously, dude! I walked into class the first day, and I saw you, and I was shocked by how similar you looked! And then you had the exact same quirk as him, and I genuinely had the thought that I ran into someone with a quirk that makes people’s imaginary friends real! Even down to the names you call people - it’s completely unreal.”

Katsuki had an expression that was a mixture between confusion and disgust.

“What the fuck.”

“That’s what I thought!” Eijirou shouted. “It was so fucking weird! And-”

“Oh, this is new,” A new voice appeared, along with The Fucking Barbarin King. Just. Appearing. Into the room Eijioru was in. Just like Eijioru remembered happening as a kid.

“What the fuck!” Eijirou screeched, and it sounded like Katsuki had the same reaction. And, apparently, so did the Barbarian King.

“Why do you look like me?” The Barbarian King demanded. “Is this some kind of trick? I’m gonna kill that fucking witch!”

“Eh!?” Katsuki growled out. “I’m the only me there is, you shitty extra!”

“Hold on!” Eijirou shouted in an attempt to stop any sort of escalation. Both Katsukis turned towards him. “What the fuck is going on?”

“I was fighting a mage with space-time powers,” The Barbarian King answered.

“I know that!” Eijirou yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. “But I thought you didn’t exist! I thought you were just, just an imaginary friend I had! When I was a kid!”

“I thought we established that I was very much real,” The Barbarian King said.

“Okay, okay, hold up,” Katsuki got up and held up a very dangerous palm towards The Barbarian King. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Bakugou Katsuki, The Barbarian King.”

“Bullshit! I’m Bakugou Katsuki! And what the fuck is a Barbarian King? Some kind of title you gave yourself?”

“Of course not! I’ve trained my whole life to be a king!”

“Kirishima-” Katsuki was cut off suddenly.

“You don’t call each other by your first names?” The Barbarian King questioned, his eyes widening in surprise.

“What!?” Katsuki’s palms were popping, and his face was red. “Why would we do that?”

“Oh, okay, yeah,” The Barbarian King scowled. “You’re in that stage of your relationship. Got it. Good fucking luck dealing with this emotionally-constipated mess, Eijirou.”

“Don’t call me that, you-”

Someone was knocking at the door.

“I’ll get it!” Eijirou said, getting up to grab the door.

“Hey, dude, Sero and I were wondering if, uh,” Denki had just looked at the madness behind Eijirou. “You...wanted to come…play some video games…”

“Maybe later?” Eijirou grinned sheepishly as Denki took in the scene.

“Holy shit. The squad needs to see this,” Denki proclaimed before bolting before Eijirou could discourage him from doing so.

“Sparky’s here too?” The Barbarian King asked, and Katsuki seemed to get angrier.

“Hey! Only I get to call him that!”

“Awww, Bakugou! You do care about us!” Eijirou grinned, only for Katsuki to respond with a middle finger.

“God, I just want to get back to my own world already!” The Barbarian King groaned, leaning back and shoving his hands in his hair. “And finish beating the ass of that stupid fucking time-space witch! And then propose to Eijirou!”

“To me?” Eijirou asked, only to be met with a scoff.

“Not you Eijirou! My Eijirou! The fucking dragon I told you about when you were a kid!”

“You’re gonna propose to a fucking dragon?” Katsuki questioned.

“Yes! I’m gonna propose to a fucking dragon! Gonna marry him too if I have anything to say about it!”

“Older Bakugou is going to marry a dragon?” Denki asked. The door was open and behind Denki were Hanta, Mina, and Kyouka.

“That’s AWESOME!” Mina declared, barging into the room. Soon enough, the entirety of the bakusquad in addition to The Barbarian King were in Eijirou’s room.

“Are you even real?” Kyouka stared intensely at The Barbarian King, who scowled.

“Of course I’m real! Why the fuck wouldn’t I be!?”

“I’ll be honest,” Hanta commented. “I really didn’t expect there to be an older Bakugou here like Kami said, but I guess I stand corrected.”

“Dude!” Denki’s eyes were twinkling. “We should play some video games with older Bakugou.”

“What the hell is a video game?” The Barbarian King questioned, and Katsuki grinned manically.

“Something I’m going to kick your ass at!”

“Like hell!”

Soon enough, the Bakugou squad was playing video games, and, after explaining what video games were to The Barbarian King, he was kicking everyone’s asses in the games.

“How are you this good when you didn’t even know what video games were until like ten minutes ago!?” Hanta shouted as his character got absolutely obliterated.

“Because I’m the best, obviously,” The Barbarian King gloated.

“Fuck off! I’m the best!” Katsuki retorted.

“Yeah? Then beat me in this, coward!”

“Eh!? I ain’t a coward, you bitch!”

Katsuki plopped down on the couch, grabbed a controller, and starting beating The Barbarian King’s ass into the ground.

During their rematch, however, The Barbarian King blurred and disappeared in the middle of the game, leaving Katsuki to grumble.

“Couldn’t even handle a second beating, the bastard.”

“Nah, he just can’t control the jumps,” Eijirou interjected, a statement which caused the Bakusquad to look at him in confusion. “Okay, you’ve got to give me a minute to explain.”

Eijirou gave the basic rundown of how The Barbarian King was his imaginary friend when he was young and how he had just found out that his imaginary friend was actually real and existed.

“So let me get this straight,” Mina started. “This older Bakugou just kind of...showed up in your childhood, and you just passed it off as being an imaginary friend?”

“What else was I supposed to think!?” Eijirou exclaimed. “A random adult stranger just shows up sometimes and plays with a kid? Someone would have called the cops! It’s a miracle my moms never managed to see him!”

“You know, he does have a fair point,” Hanta pointed out. “It is pretty bonkers.”

“That just makes it weirder!” Mina proclaimed. “Why didn’t you think it was weird?”

“I was a kid!” Eijirou shouted. “How was I supposed to know that was real? As far as I knew, that was how all imaginary friends worked!”

“It’s really not,” Kyouka said, causing Eijirou to groan.

“Well, I know that now.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, imaginary friend stuff, blah, blah, but why the fuck was he an alternate version of me?” Katsuki questioned, and Eijirou shrugged.

“I don’t know, but apparently we’re getting married in that universe, so maybe that has something to do with it!”

“Wait! Kiri’s the dragon!?” Denki yelled. “Holy shit!”

“Awww, it’s true love!” Mina declared, only to get shut down by Katsuki.

“Shut up! True love ain’t shit!”

Kyouka nodded in agreement.

“Booo!” Mina whined. “You’re both terrible and hate love!”

“I don’t hate love!” Kyouka argued. “I just don’t think true love is a thing.”

“It totally is!” Mina countered.

“I’m gonna have to agree with Bakugou and Jirou on this one, Ashido,” Hanta admitted, a shy smile on his face. “Sorry.”

“What! Kami, Kiri, please tell me you two believe in true love! I can’t be alone in this!”

“Well,” Eijirou rubbed the back of his neck. “I like the idea of it, I guess, but isn’t it more appealing to be able to choose who to love and putting time and effort into that relationship no matter what?”

“Kiri!” Denki spoke, a tear in his eye. “That was so manly!”

“Ugh!” Mina groaned. “You’re all terrible!”

“Well, you’re never gonna find love if you don’t work for it, bitch,” Katsuki had a shit-eating grin on his face.

“Don’t tell me I’ll be all alone!” Mina complained. “I just want a nice guy or girl or whatever to love and smooch a little!”

“He didn’t say you’ll be all alone,” Kyouka interjected. “He said you have to put time and effort into a relationship like Kirishima described.”

“Awww, Bakugou! You do care!” Mina jumped up in an attempt to pull Katsuki in a hug, only to be rejected.

“Stay away from me, you witch!”

“Let me love you!” Mina shouted.

“NO!”

“Guys, Bakugou clearly needs our help,” Hanta said before grinning wide. “And you know what that means!”

“Group hug!” Denki launched himself towards Katuski and Mina, knocking both of them over in the process.

“Fuck! No! Get off of me!” Katsuki screamed as Hanta and Kyouka joined in on the hug, which was now less of a hug and more just trapping Katsuki on the floor.

“Nope. You deserve this,” Kyouka said.

“I would help you out, Bakugou…” Eijirou started before joining the hug. “But that would mean missing out on a great group hug!”

“You’re dead to me,” Katsuki said, the ire fading from his voice. “You’re all dead to me.”

“Shush, you love us!” Mina gleefully cheered.

“Like hell I would ever admit it!”

“But you DO love us!” Denki yelled.

“No, I don’t,” Katsuki denied.

“Sure, and that’s why you’re hugging back,” Hanta pointed out.

“I’m going to crush you all.”

“Feel free, bro!” Eijirou exclaimed as Katsuki began his attempt to squeeze the life out of all of them. It was a little bit difficult, but fuck if Katsuki wasn’t trying.

At some point, the hug ended, and the respective members of the Bakusquad started to return to their dorms.

Eijirou walked back with Katsuki because their rooms were right next to each other, but Katsuki stopped him before he entered.

“So,” Katsuki started. “That whole imaginary friend thing was fucking weird.”

“Yeah, it really was,” Eijirou responded. “But I doubt we’ll ever see him again.”

“What about what he said!?” Katsuki’s voice suddenly raised in volume, his cheeks tinting red.

“Which thing?”

“About...him and his world’s Kirishima and all that…”

“Ah, you don’t have to worry about that, Bakugou!” Eijirou claimed. He really didn’t know how to handle this conversation. Eijirou was usually really good at reading Katsuki, but, right now, Katsuki was revealing something that Eijirou had never seen from him. It was new territory.

“What if I wanna worry about it?” Katuski spoke in a rush.

“Wha? Bakugou-”

“Katsuki,” Katsuki corrected.

“Wh-what?” Eijirou stuttered, unsure if he had heard that right.

“I don’t give a shit about what that fucker in another dimension says, but, I guess, he was right about one thing. I like you, and I can’t fucking believe it’s taken me this long to tell you,” Katsuki looked Eijirou directly in the eyes, and Eijirou found that he couldn’t breathe. “So, call me Katsuki.”

“Okay,” Eijioru breathed out, not being able to say anything more.

“And I’m taking you out on a date on the weekend," Katsuki punctuated his statement by poking Eijirou in the chest.

“Okay,” Eijirou repeated, his words still stuck on the back of his tongue.

“And...I’m calling you Eijirou, alright?” Here, Katsuki got shy, his voice decrescendoing as he finished his statement.

“Okay,” Eijirou nodded. “Okay, yeah, yes. Okay.”

Eijirou took a deep breath before smiling wide.

“I like you too, Katsuki!”

“That much was obvious!” Katsuki responded, but he was still a little bashful.

“I’d love to go on a date with you!” Eijirou confirmed, now that he was finally able to get words out.

“Obviously,” Katsuki said with a wobbly voice. “Who wouldn’t want to go on a date with me? I’m great.”

“Of course you can call me, Eijirou, Katsuki.”

“Okay, Eijirou,” Katsuki said softly.

Eijirou couldn’t stop himself from grinning widely, and the brief moment of silence between the two of them was quickly interrupted as Katsuki suddenly raised his voice.

“Goodnight, Eijirou!” Katsuki pointed a finger up towards Eijirou, as if accusing him of something. “I’ll text you the details of our date!”

“Can’t wait! Goodnight, Katsuki!”

Then they parted ways, going to their respective rooms.

Once the door closed behind Eijirou, he found himself giggling and squealing to himself. He started jumping around the room as his heart felt like it was going to beat right out of his chest. 

Katsuki had told Eijirou that he liked him! Katsuki wanted to be on a first-name basis! Katsuki had asked him on a date!

He couldn’t wait!

However, given that it was the start of the week, Eijirou had to wait for basically forever for the date. The days passed by like molasses, to the point where Eijirou felt like he might die of old age before the weekend.

But he didn’t. And, finally, finally, the day came, and Eijirou found himself frantically trying to find a good outfit to wear for his date.

“Kaminari!” Eijirou whined. “Please help me put together an outfit for my date! Please, please, please! I’ll owe you forever, dude!”

“Bro, you don’t need to do anything,” Denki insisted. “It’s basically in the bro code to help your bro with their date outfit.”

“Thank you so much!” Eijirou thanked, but he might have spoken too soon as Kaminari decimated his entire closet.

“Do you have anything in here that isn’t athletic-wear?”

“Uh, I think I have a suit in the back of the closet?”

“Too formal!” Denki cried. “Wait! There’s hope!”

Denki pulled out Eijirou’s Crimson Riot jacket.

“I mean, you’ll look like a huge jock wearing it, but I’m pretty sure that’s one of the few aesthetics that you won’t look super out of place in.”

“I can’t wear that!” Eijirou cried. “It’s limited edition!”

“Jackets are for wearing, Kirishima. You don’t have anything good. Please at least wear this jacket.”

Eijirou and Denki locked themselves in a staring contest that ended with Eijirou sighing in defeat.

“Thank god,” Denki then continued to rummage through Eijirou’s closet. “Please tell me you have jeans somewhere in here. Or just any long pants. I would lend you some of my own stuff, but, let’s be honest, you are way buffer than me and would probably rip everything.”

“That’s fair.”

“Although I’m sure Bakugou would go nuts over you ripping a shirt just by flexing, I’d rather the clothing you wear stay intact by the end of the date,” Denki turned from the closet to shoot Eijirou a flirtatious look. “Or maybe on the floor.”

“Shut up, Kami!” Eijirou shouted, a red flush on his face. “It’s only the first date!”

“Suit yourself,” Denki shrugged and went back to looking through Eijirou’s clothing.

After a long while, Denki managed to get Eijirou into a black graphic tee, the Crimson Riot jacket, a pair of baggy dark wash jeans kept up by a punk rock belt of Denki’s, and some combat boots.

“Holy shit,” Eijirou spoke once he saw himself in the mirror. “I look good.”

“Of course you look good!” Denki proclaimed. “I helped you with the outfit! Now, what do you think about having a little bit of eyeliner? Just to make your eyes pop.”

“I mean, I’ve trusted your judgment this far.”

“Perfect,” Denki took out some eyeliner and carefully held Eijirou’s eyelid down. “Don’t move your eyelid too much. And, there!”

“That was quick.”

“Hold still - I’ve still got to do the other eye,” Denki announced as he did the other eye. “And we’re done. What do you think? I, for one, think your date is going to end up lost in your eyes.”

“Maybe not that extreme,” Eijirou commented, a blush on his face. “But you’re right. It does look really good.”

“Hey, Kirishima, is Kami in here? I-” Mina walked into the room, and she suddenly zeroed in on Eijirou’s outfit. “Holy hell, Kiri, you’re looking fine.”

“Outfit curated by yours truly,” Denki took a dramatic bow.

“Kiri!” Mina gasped. “Are you going on a date?”

“He sure is!” Denki proclaimed.

“I can’t believe you asked Kaminari for outfit advice and not me,” Mina whined. “This is best friend erasure.”

“I can have more than one best friend!” Eijirou defended. “And, sorry, but I didn’t really trust you to put me in something that wasn’t crazy.”

“I’m not that bad!”

“Currently, you are wearing a pink leopard print tank top and leggings that are split in half so one side is space and the other side is purple tiger print,” Denki pointed out. “And how could I possibly forget your famous sequined flip flops.”

“Like you’re any better with your black sweatpants and t-shirt with a lightning pattern on it!” Mina countered.

“I have a brand!”

“Just because you have a lightning quirk doesn’t mean all your clothing has to have lightning bolts on it!”

“Not all of my clothing has lightning bolts on it!” Denki defended.

“Oh, yes, I forgot all your clothing with electric type pokemon on it.”

“Hey! Pikachu is a classic!”

“But you don’t need him on your ass!”

“Guys, guys,” Eijirou interjected. “We got to stop arguing about this.”

“He’s insulting my taste in fashion despite the fact that he has a Benjamin Franklin t-shirt, which he wears without an ounce of irony,” Mina argued.

“Well, yeah,” Eijirou sighed. “But he’s better at fashion than me, and his style is a little more tempered than yours, so.”

“Why couldn’t you have asked Bakugou then?” Mina questioned. “Aren’t his parents fashion designers or something like that?”

“It’d be a little weird to ask your date for advice on what to wear on the date,” Eijirou admitted.

“What!? You two finally got together!? When did this happen and why did you not tell me immediately?”

“I wanted to wait until I actually went on the date, but then I found I desperately needed help with my outfit, so I went to Kaminari,” Eijirou quickly explained. “Please understand.”

“Alright,” Mina sighed before giving Eijirou a hard look. “Those better not be the pants with Geodude on the ass.”

“They’re not!” Denki claimed, but he looked at Eijirou’s rear to check anyway. “Yeah, they’re not.”

“I hate the fact that you had to check,” Eijirou said.

“Wouldn’t you of all people notice if you had Geodude on your butt?” Mina inquired.

“I was just putting on whatever Kaminari handed me.”

“Fair enough,” Mina shrugged. “But you better ask me for help next time.”

“Yeah, I’ll just go one by one through my friend group asking for advice on what to wear on dates,” Eijirou said. “I’ve started with Kaminari, and then I’ll ask you, and then I’ll go to Jirou, then Sero, and then I’ll go over to Tetsutetsu, and, afterward, I’ll start asking other people in our class. Eventually, it will get to the point where I’ve asked every single person in the school what I should wear on a date.”

“Maybe by the end of that, you’ll have a sense of style,” Mina said, and both Eijirou and Denki reacted to the statement.

“Ohhh, sick burn,” Denki said.

“Harsh, but probably fair,” Eijirou stated.

“But seriously,” Denki interrupted. “You should get going. Have fun on your date!”

“Wait!” Mina shouted, leaving and coming back about two minutes later. “You’ll need this!”

“Oh thank God it’s just a rock,” Eijirou breathed out. “I thought it was going to be something else.”

“It’s rose quartz!” Mina explained. “It’s for luck in love! What else would I bring you?”

There was a silence in the room before Mina realized exactly what Eijirou and Denki thought she would bring for Eijirou to take on a date.

“Just! Go on your date!” Mina flushed as she shoved Eijirou out of the room.

“Let’s go,” Katsuki spoke the moment he saw Eijirou, grabbing hold of Eijirou’s wrist and pulling him along.

Eijirou frowned.

“Oi. What’s that face for?”

Eijirou opted not to speak and instead gently guided Katsuki’s hand to let go of his wrist and intertwine with his fingers.

“We’re on a date, right?” Eijirou said as a way of explanation, and he felt a rush of victory when he saw Katsuki blush.

“I guess,” Katsuki grumbled, looking away from Eijirou. Eijirou smiled and swung their arms slightly. He did have to harden his hand slightly so that the crackling of Katsuki’s palms wouldn’t hurt him, but knowing that Katsuki was so flustered around him made Eijirou all bubbly inside.

They weren’t really able to get permission to go off-campus on such short notice, so their date mostly consisted of walking around while holding hands before getting bored and going to work out at the gym.

If Eijirou had to say, it was an amazing date. And, he did have to admit, he was very happy that his imaginary friend wasn’t so imaginary.

After all, The Barbarian King helped Eijirou date and eventually marry the love of his life. Eijirou couldn’t be happier.

---

It was a little jarring to go from seeing Eijirou as a kid to seeing him as an adult, even if Katsuki did see him as a teenager at one point. And, the more Katsuki saw of him, the weirder it was.

Katsuki stayed for a little bit each time when Eijirou was a kid, and then once for a long time as a teenager. Now, he was watching Eijirou as an adult, but almost in snapshots.

One moment he saw Eijirou chatting with friends and the next he was watching his skin turn into stone as he got hit with a hundred swords.

It was like watching his life flash before his eyes, except that it wasn’t his memories, and it was happening in real-time. Eijirou fighting. Eijirou helping. Eijirou getting married.

Suddenly, everything stopped, and Katsuki found himself surrounded by a familiar emerald forest.

“Ah, I’m home,” Katsuki and Eijirou, his Eijirou, ran up to him with tears in his eyes.

“Katsuki! You’re back!” Eijirou cried, bringing Katsuki into a tight hug as he sobbed into Katsuki’s cape.

“Yeah, yeah. No need to be dramatic. It was just a few hours.”

“I missed you,” Eijirou mumbled, and Katsuki could feel the tears on his neck, so Katsuki pulled Eijirou into a more proper hug.

“...I missed you too,” Katsuki whispered, his voice as quiet as he could get it, but it still had Eijirou pulling away from the hug suddenly to look at Katsuki.

“You missed me!?” Eijirou’s eyes again filled with tears, which Katsuki did his best to wipe away.

“Yeah, now shut up and stop crying, Ei.”

“I’m so glad you’re back,” Eijirou gave Katsuki a watery smile, the ghost of tears still on his cheeks, and suddenly Katsuki was speaking before he could think.

“Marry me.”

“What!?” Eijirou’s eyes widened in surprise, but the surprise in his face soon faded as he was right back to crying, but he was smiling joyfully. “Yes! Yes! Of course I’ll marry you!”

Eijirou gleefully picked up Katsuki and spun around, laughing all the while.

“Put me down!” Katsuki demanded, but he was smiling as well.

Once Eijirou put Katsuki down, Katsuki spoke again.

“We’ll get married after this mission, okay?”

“Okay!” Eijirou agreed, and so they met back up with the rest of their traveling companions and finished the mission.

There were lots of ups and downs to it, and they left with plenty of scrapes and bruises, but, finally, Katsuki and Eijirou were able to have their wedding.

It would have been small, but Eijirou was excitable and insisted on inviting all the people they’d gone on adventures with over the years.

So it wasn’t small. But at least the majority of it was simple.

Katsuki and Eijirou’s outfits were the only things that weren't.

Katsuki was shirtless, as always, but he did not have sleeves, instead showing off his many tattoos, but, most importantly, the K on his shoulder that he received when he and Eijiorou started to travel together. He had a different cape on, still red, but one that had a finished edge and golden trim. His pants were simple and white, a little more tightly fitting than his usual garb, but he still wore his normal adventuring boots. His cutlass also rested on his waist.

Of course, Katsuki’s outfit would not have been complete if it weren’t for the array of necklaces he had, evidence of his conquests, along with bracelets that served to decorate his arms beyond his tattoos, not to mention his usual earrings, the ones he obtained from Eijirou himself. Finally, a crown sat atop his head, and his heart beat wildly at the thought of Eijirou receiving a matching one.

Eijirou wore armor, a red chest plate covered in designs. Runes of protection and love and good fortune adorned the armor, and the shoulder pads depicted dragon crests. Eijirou’s tattoos could be clearly seen on his arms. Like Katsuki, his pants were white, but Eijirou’s were baggier, and he had also worn his adventuring boots. Eijiou’s own weapons, his long knives, were also worn at the waist.

Eijirou’s accessories were a little more sparse than Katsuki’s, but he still wore charm bracelets on his wrists. They were decorated in offerings of goodwill. Eijirou’s hair was spiked in the usual stupid way, but it meant the earrings he wore were on clear display. They were orange to match Katsuki’s, and the way the light reflected off of them made it seem like Eijirou was glowing.

There were a few official people at the wedding - after all, this was as much a coronation as it was a wedding, and the crown that was meant to go on Kirishima’s head was resting on a soft pillow.

As the two of them reached the altar and were told to say their vows, Katsuki knew there was only one way to say them.

Katsuki moved to kick Eijirou’s leg. He made contact, and Eijirou began to fall but not before making a move that brought Katsuki down with him.

They spent about a minute freely wrestling on the ground and probably horrifying whoever made their outfits before they were questioned.

“What are you doing!?”

“Our vows, duh,” Katsuki answered as he and Eijirou continued to fight.

After another minute or so, Eijirou had Katsuki pinned, and Katsuki grinned up at Eijirou.

“We’re equals, got it?” Katsuki declared, and Eijirou responded with a megawatt grin.

“Of course!”

With that, the two of them got back up, a little dirty, and held hands at the altar. The ordainer awkwardly said that the two may now kiss, so Katsuki went in for the kill.

He couldn’t believe he was kissing his husband. Husband!

When they parted, Katsuki couldn’t help but go in for another kiss.

After the wedding ceremony, the coronation ceremony began, and Katsuki watched as his husband (!) kneeled down as someone listed off all the things a good king should do before the crown on the pillow was finally delicately placed atop Eijirou’s head.

Katsuki did have to laugh a little because the crown did somewhat mess with Eijirou’s hairstyle, but he had a hard time caring as Eijirou stood up and looked over to him.

Katsuki kissed him again. He would fight a million space-time mages for this man.